Influence of macro nutrients and plant growth regulators on biochemical traits and antioxidant production in strawberry

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during 2010-12 to study the effect of different levels of macro-nutrients viz. nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) in combination with plant growth regulators viz. gibberellic acid (GA3) and paclobutrazol (PP333) on bio-chemical attributes of strawberry cv. Chandler. The experiment was laid out in the factorial randomized block design with three replications and three plants per replication. The treatments were formulated with 3 levels of N (40, 60 and 100 Kg ha-1) and K (20, 40 and 60 kg ha-1) applied in the form of urea and MOP, respectively along with foliar spray of 50 ppm GA3 and 300 ppm PP333. Among the treatment combinations, application of 60 kg of N and 40 kg of K along with 300 ppm PP333 was found to be superior in terms of total soluble solids (9.39 and 9.46 oBrix), total sugars (6.94 and 7.09%) and total anthocyanin content (46.67 and 48.77 mg 100g-1 edible portion) during 2010-11 and 2011-12, respectively, while total soluble proteins and total free amino acids were significantly more in plants supplied with 60:40 kg ha-1 N:K combined with 50 ppm GA3 and plants treated with 100:60 kg ha-1 N:K in combination with 50 ppm GA3 in both the years, respectively.