Abstract:
Anchote (Coccinia abyssinica (Lam.) Cogn.) is a critically important root crop native to Ethiopia on the African continent. In terms of nutrition, economics, medical, and social welfare, it is a highly valued food source that is abundant throughout the Western part country. The nutrient makeup of the crop may be affected by the application of various organic and inorganic fertilizers. The effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the nutritional content of the Anchote food crop, on the other hand, are unknown. As a result, during the 2019-20 cropping season, a field experiment was conducted in the southwestern part of Ethiopia to see how the Anchote variety (Desta 01) responded to various levels of NPSB and farmyard manure in terms of yield and nutritional components. Six rates of mixed NPSB fertilizer (0, 58,116,175,233, and 291 kg ha-1) and three levels of Farmyard Manure (FYM) (0, 5, and 10 t ha-1) were treated within the experimental plot in the field to assess the yield and nutritional composition of the Anchote variety. In a randomized complete block design, the experiment was set up in 3 x 6 factorial patterns with three replications.For laboratory analysis, samples of its roots from all three replications were collected separately after the crop maturity and subjected to SAS (version 9.3) software, which was used to assess nutritional characteristics such as dry matter content of roots (DMC) (percent), crude fat (percent), moisture content (percent), total soluble solid (TSS), and total ash (percent). The results of the laboratory analysis revealed that the interaction effects of blended NPSB fertilizer and FYM levels significantly changed nutritional features such as dry matter and moisture content (P0.01). DMC, ash percent, TSS, moisture content, and crude fat were all significantly (P0.01) affected by FYM and NPSB application in the field, whereas the interaction effects of both NPSB and FYM treatment in the field had a significant (P0.01) impact on laboratory parameters like ash and crude fat content of Anchote cultivar. Finally, the results of the laboratory experiment showed that applying blended NPSB fertilizer and FYMtogether to the field had an effect on the quality and nutritional attributes of the Anchote cultivar gathered for laboratory testing in the research region.