Role of organic and mineral fertilization and soil mulching on quality characteristics of broccoli

To study the effect of organic and mineral fertilization and soil mulching on quality characteristic of broccoli a field experiment was conducted during the season 2013- 2014 at the vegetable field of Hort. Dept., Agric. Coll., Abu-Ghraib, Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) within split plot arrangement was used main plots include type of soil mulching (without mulch M0, black M1, blue M2, red plastic mulch M3) and sub-plot represented by 5 fertilizer treatments: Recommended chemical fertilizers (RCF) T1, Spent Mushroom Compost (SMC) 5% v/v + 75% RCF (T2), SMC 10% v/v + 50% RCF (T3), SMC 15% v/v + 25% RCF (T4) and 20% v/v (SMC) T5. Results showed superiority of black plastic mulch M1 in TSS%, Vitamin C content, high Folic acid, carbohydrate and protein in curd (.8.8%), ).1826 mg.100g-1), (078.1 mcg.100g-1), (4812 %) and (62844 %), while low nitrate content of curd (1842 mg.g-1), respectively compared with control treatment M0. Treatment T4 resulted in highest percentage of TSS ).8.8%(, Vitamin C ( 18880 mg.100g-1), carbohydrate (4818%) and protein (64879%) in cured, while highest Folic acid )0784. mc.100g-1) was found in T3, and lowest nitrate content of curds was in T5 (6.67 mg.g-1) as compared to T1.