THE INFLUENCE OF NITROGEN AND SUPLHUR FERTILIZATION ON THE YIELD FORMATION AND QUALITY OF BROCCOLI

In the field experiment with broccoli, we investigated an effect of four different variants of nitrogen and sulphur fertilization on the yield formation and broccoli quality in the term of acid ascorbic content and nitrate accumulation in broccoli florets. The influence of fertilization on the selected parameters of broccoli yield was similar in different years. The broccoli yield was statistically significantly increased at all fertilization variants compared to the control variant. The highest yield of broccoli was reached at the variant 4 when it was fertilized on the level of nutrients N:S = 200:60 kg ha^-1. The increase of yield compared with the control variant was 26.8 %. The applied fertilization positively affected the accumulation of acid ascorbic in the broccoli florets. The highest content of ascorbic
acid was determined at the variant 2 (N = 200 kg.ha-1). In comparison with control variant, the ascorbic acid content was increased about 12.9 %. On the other hand, the applied nutrition resulted in increased accumulation of nitrates in the broccoli. The greatest increase of nitrates content, in comparison with the control variant, was ascertained at the variant 4 (about 31.0 %).