Quality carrot powder-crop during development in monoculture and associated radish

Abstract

The work had for objective to evaluate the quality carrot ‘Brasília ‘ powder-crop during the development in monoculture and intercropped with radish ‘Crimson Gigante ‘. The sowing was accomplished in stonemasons of the experimental vegetable garden of the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (UFERSA), in Mossoró-RN. The manuring was made according to the demands of the culture. The experiment was conducted in randomized blocks, in the factorial design 2 x 4 (two cropping systems and four crop times) with four repetitions. The carrot roots were harvested in the intervals of 83, 91, 99 and 107 days after the sowing, and soon afterwards they were transported to the Postharvest Laboratory of UFERSA, where the following analyses were proceeded: fresh mass, length, diameter, firmness, soluble solids, pH, titrabable acidity and vitamin C. The studied variables were submitted the variance analysis, the qualitative factor (cropping systems) were compared by Tukey test and the quantitative factor (crop times) were compared by regression analysis. The associated production system of carrot and radish did not influence the characteristics assessed. Except for the diameter of the roots, that was smaller in associated system. The time of the crop, and of the roots influenced in the diameter, pH, titrabable acidity and vitamin C. Except for the pH, the other characteristics increased with the crop time.