Ninth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

This study investigated the growth, development and quality of five selected baby spinach cultivars. Treatments consisted of five selected baby spinach cultivars viz., Ohio, Dash, Monstrous Viroflay, Guitar F1 and Lazio arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times. Parameters recorded were morphological characteristics (plant height, petiole length, leaf blade length and number of leaves per plant), biomass (fresh and dry leaf mass, fresh and dry root mass), Physiological parameters (chlorophyll content, leaf area index, photosynthetically active radiation), minerals and amino acids. The results showed that cultivar Dash had longer leaf size, petiole and leaf blade, and was not significantly different from Ohio, which had the highest leaf number (8.4) while Monstrous Viroflay had higher biomass ranging from 13.43 to 15.11 g, compared to other cultivars. Cultivar Ohio indicated a significantly high level of photosynthetically active radiation 893.00 µmol m-2 S-1 and leaf area index of 0.05. Cultivar Dash had the highest mineral concentrations, ranging from 0.11 to 36.40 mg g-1 compared to other cultivars. The aliphatic (Isoleucine, Leucine, Valine), aromatic (Phenylalanine, Tryptophan, Tyrosine), acidic (Aspartic acid), basic (Arginine, Histidine), sulphur (Cysteamine, Methionine) and amidic amino acids (Aspargine, Glutamine) were dormant in baby spinach. The cultivation of Dash baby spinach by both small- and large-scale producers in north of Pretoria, Gauteng Province of South Africa is recommended