Nutritional changes in Anchote [Coccinia abyssinica (Lam.) Cogn.] root cultivar under the use ofmixed NPSB and FYM fertilizers rates

Anchote [Coccinia abyssinica (Lam.) (Cogn.)] is one of Ethiopia’s most important endemic crops, produced mostly for its edible root in the country’s south and southwest [1]. When considering a crop as a food source, the nutritional content is the most important consideration. It’s well-known among other root and tuber crops in the Wollega area of the country’s Oromiya Regional State. Because of its deep traditional ties with the Oromo peoples of Ethiopia, Anchote is held in high regard in the region. The genus isn’t widely investigated in Ethiopia, and there are over eight taxa identified, spread across the country [2]. In Ethiopia, there are roughly ten different species of Coccinia. Only Cocciniaabyssinica, however, is farmed[3]. It is found in both cultivated and wild forms within Ethiopia [4].

It is a highly valuable food source that, according to local farmers, aids in the rapid healing of fractured bones and displaced joints due to its higher calcium and protein content than other common and widely distributed root and tuber crops in the country [3]. It is also traditionally thought that its consumption and inclusion in meals helps nursing moms healthier and stronger, allowing them to produce more milk [5].

Anchote, like many other root crops, is never consumed in its raw state [6]. It is shown to be extremely essential in the medicinal, cultural, social, and economic lives of country residents.It’s extremely significant in a variety of ethnic meals and diets, especially between September and November in the Wollega zone of the country, because it’s primarily and typically gathered during these months. Because other food crops will not be ready for eating during these times, it is highly regarded for its contributions to food security [7]. It has been used by the Oromo people to assemble a variety of food items for their traditional ceremonies, special cuisine for guests, and animal fattening [3].

For leaf and root plant portions of Anchote, the association of several nutrients with protein, organic matter, and ash appears to reveal a contradiction [8]. The use of inorganic substances has a minor impact on the nutritional components of this root crop. Total ash content is closely proportional to the inorganic element content of Anchote [9]. As a result, samples containing a high percentage of ash are expected to contain significant concentrations of various mineral elements, which are beneficial for speeding up metabolic processes and improving the expansion and development of the entire plant.

Organic manures are a variety of organic soil amendments derived from both livestock waste and crop residues that contain high levels of nutrients that are processed by soil microbes and slowly made available to plants over time [10]. Farmyard manure is another source of nitrogen, as well as other nutrients, that are utilized to improve the soil texture while also enhancing soil fertility [11].

Organic manures have a number of advantages, including improving soil physical qualities, soil water holding capacity, and organic carbon content, in addition to providing high-quality nutrients to the soil [12]. As a result, combining inorganic and organic fertilizers is regarded to be more desirable and advantageous in terms of Anchorquality features. As a result, the study was conducted and disbursed with the goal of determining how varied rates of NPSB and farmyard manure affected the quality features of the Anchote cultivar.

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2.1. Description of the study area:

During the year 2018-19, the experiment was done in Jimma town at JUCAVM experimental site Horticultural Garden, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia, under irrigation conditions between September and January. The research region is located at an altitude of 1710 m above mean water level, with approximate geographic coordinates of 06°36′ N and 37°12′ E. It has an annual average rainfall of 1500 mm at this time of year, with mean minimum and maximum temperatures of 11.4°C and 26.8°C throughout the year. Around the year, the mean minimum and maximum ratios were observed to range from 39.92 percent to 91.4 percent [13].After the crop reached sufficient maturity, the entire crop was harvested, and Anchote root samples were collected from each replication independently and sent to the Food Science laboratory of Jimma University, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (JUCAVM) in Ethiopia for analysis of nutritional data.

Desta 01 was the Anchote cultivar employed in this experiment. It was released in 2018 by the DebreZeit Agricultural Centre, Ethiopia Institute of Agriculture Research (DZARC/EIAR). The variety has a creamy root flesh color and is more adaptable in the country’s mid-lowlands to highlands.

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The Ethiopian government has adopted NPSB compound fertilizer, which contains Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Sulphur, and Boron in a ratio of 18.9% N, 37.7% P₂O₅, 6.9% S, and 0.1 B as the main source of phosphorous [14]. According to government recommendations, the majority of farmers in the country use NPSB compound fertilizers as the main source of phosphorus for a variety of grown crops in order to increase productivity.Six levels of NPSB fertilizers (0, 58, 116, 175, 233, and 291 kg ha^-1) were used, as well as three levels of farmyard manure (FYM) (0, 5, and 10 t ha^-1). As a source of fertilizer, locally available and adequately decomposed farmyard manure (FYM) was made available. The study was set up in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 6 x 3 factorial patterns and was reproduced three times. Within each block, each treatment combination was assigned to the experimental units at random. There were 54 experimental unit plots devoted to the 18 treatment combinations, each measuring two meters by two meters (four square meters) and with a spacing of 40 centimeters between rows and 10 centimeters between plants. Similarly, a gap of 0.5 m was maintained between the two unit plots, and a distance of 1 m was maintained between the two blocks for proper separation.

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Within the month of September 2018, the experimental field was cleared and plowed twice with an oxen plow, and plots were prepared and leveled manually. Seeds were planted at a depth of 5 cm in well-prepared plots with five rows in each bed. On September 30^th, 2018, sowing was completed. FYM was made up of well-dried waste collected from the JUCAVM animal farm and stored and heaped for proper decomposition before being applied to the trial plots.The manure was used and applied after it turned brown, was thoroughly decomposed, had a low bad odor, and was applied one month prior to sowing on the designated treatments or plots. This was done to ensure that the organic manure had completely decomposed. Similarly, during the sowing period, blended NPSB fertilizer was applied at defined rates and the right depth of placement was maintained inside the soil.With two seeds per hill, seeds were planted directly on the prepared beds. For the higher plant change sphere, all relevant agronomic and cultural operations such as watering, weeding, hoeing, and stacking activities were carried out suitably. When the crop produced a vine, it was stacked to allow the Anchote vine to mature.Living plants, live fences, dead timber poles, or wire poles created for the purpose are used to stack. The crop was produced under irrigation management, so water was applied according to the crop’s needs until it reached maturity. Harvesting was completed in February 2019 when about 90% of the plants in a particular plot had reached physiological maturity (at >90%) and the leaves were approaching senescence. The entire crop was harvested when it reached maturity, and rootsamples were collected from each replication separately and sent to the Food Science Laboratory of Jimma University, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (JUCAVM) in Ethiopia for nutritional data analysis.

Where: DM (%) = Percent Root Dry Matter, WTDM = Weight of dried sample roots, WTFW = Fresh Weight of the same sample before drying.

2.5.2. Crude fat (%): The official method 4.5.01 was utilized to determine the crude fat utilizing the ether extract method with a soxhlet extraction device [15]. Each of the extraction thimbles (Whatman International LTD Maidstone, England) was weighed with two grams of moisture-free sample and covered in a two-centimeter layer of fat-free cotton.

For the extraction process, cleaned and dried receiving beakers were weighed and filled with 70 ml of diethyl ether (Sigma-Aldrich, USA) before being placed into the soxhlet apparatus (Shanghai Qianjian Instrument Co., Ltd). The ether in the receiving beakers was allowed to evaporate for at least 30 minutes in a drying oven (CintexPrecision, India) at 92⁰C before being cooled inside desiccators after four hours of extraction. Finally, the crude fat content in percent was calculated using the following formula:

Where: 

We: weight of the aluminum cup

W₀: Weight of dried aluminum

Ws: weight of the sample

D_M: dry matter percent

2.5.3. Moisture content (%): The official technique 925.09 was used to assess moisture content {16]. Aluminum crucibles were cleansed and dried in a drying oven before being placed in desiccators to cool (CSN-SIMAX). First, the mass of each dried crucible was determined (M₁), and then approximately 5g of the sample was weighed in a clean and dried crucible (M₂) using an analytical balance (Adventurer, OHAUS, China). After that, the crucibles containing the samples were placed in a 105°C oven to dry the samples to a consistent weight (M₃). Finally, the moisture content was estimated using the equation below:

                                 Moisture Content (%) = *100

Where;

M₃: Mass of the crucible and the sample after drying

M₂: Mass of the crucible and the sample before drying

M₁: Mass of the crucible

2.5.4. Total soluble solid (TSS):The total soluble solid in Anchote root extract was evaluated using a Hand Refract meter. A sensitive balance was used to weigh two grams of its root powder. Two milliliters of distilled water were added to the beaker and stirred with the produced powder. After fully mixing, the soluble form of the product was placed on a soft cloth and squeezed to determine the total soluble solid using a refractometer.

2.5.6 Total ash (%):The total ash content was determined using the official method 923.03, [16]. The crucibles were cleaned and dried in a 100°C oven, then cooled in desiccators before being weighed using an analytical balance (LA 204, Measure tech). (M1). Using a 4-gram sample (M₂), the crucibles were extensively charred on a hot plate at a low temperature beneath a hood (Nordia, London E17 6AB) and then placed in a muffle furnace (Carbolite CSF, 1200) at around 550 ⁰C for around five hours until the sample transformed to grayish-white ash. The crucibles containing the ignited sample were cooled inside desiccators to obtain the final mass (M3) (CSN-SIMAX). Finally, the total ash content was determined with the help of the following equation:

Where:

M₁: Mass of the dried dish.

M₂: Mass of the dish and the sample

M₃: Mass of the dish and the sample after ashing

Using SAS (Statistical Analysis Software) version 9.3, all measured data were validated for assumptions of analysis of variance and submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA) [17]. The Least Significant Difference (LSD) test was used to separate the means at a 1% level of significance.

One representative composite sample was taken at a depth of 0-30 cm diagonally across the experimental field using an auger before planting and bulking. The sample was air-dried and ground using a pestle and mortar and sieved with a 2 mm mesh. Farmyard manure was also analyzed for chemical composition. Working samples were analyzed and determined for selected physico-chemical properties mainly texture, soil pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), total N, available P, and organic matter and texture using standard laboratory procedures. The organic matter content of the soil was determined by the volumetric method[18].

Total N was analyzed using indigestion, distillation and titration method as described by Ethio SIS [19], by oxidizing the organic matter in concentrated sulfuric acid solution (0.1N H2SO4). The pH of the soil was determined on 1:2:5 (weight/volume) soil samples to water ratio using a pH meter [20]. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) was measured titrimetrically by distillation of ammonium that was displaced by sodium from NaCl solution [21]. On the other hand, available phosphorus in Farm yard manure was determined by using procedures of Ethio SIS for estimation of available Phosphorus in soils by extracting with Sodium Bicarbonate [19].

Selected physio-chemical properties of soil of the experimental site are presented in Table 2. The site has clay textural class with a particle distribution of 46% clay, 34% silt, and 20% sand. Soil pH (H₂O) was 5.5 which wasmoderately acidic and moderately alkaline in the case of FYM (7.43) [21]. This shows that essential plant nutrients are fixed in soil colloidal practices and nutrient was unavailable to plant growth. The organic carbon (OC) content was 3.65 % which was medium in the soil and in the case of FYM and it was31.68 very high. The soil of the study area had low level (0.31 %) of nitrogen and a medium level (3.65 %) of organic carbon matter while under the FYM (2.73 %) total nitrogen and (31.68 %) organic carbon matter in very high manner were observed.