Nutritional Value of Garden Dill (Anethum graveolens L.), Depending on Genotype

The yield, chemical composition and antioxidant activity of eight genotypes ('Krezus', 'Turkus', 'Kozak', 'Szmaragd', 'Lukullus', 'Herkules', 'Ambrozja', 'Moravan') of garden dill (Anethum graveolens L.) biomass was estimated. Field experiments were conducted in 2011-2013 in Poland. The crop lasted 44 days and plants were collected at the 4-5 true leaf stage (a bunch harvest). The highest marketable yield was obtained for 'Krezus' and 'Szmaragd' cultivars (1.18 kg(-2)), while the lowest for 'Herkules' (0.53 kg.m(-2)). The dry matter of leaves ranged from 15.17% ('Ambrozja') to 19.27% ('Krezus'). The study also proved that the genotype influenced the content of chlorophylls a+b, e.g. 1.10 g.kg(-1) ('Moravan') and 0.78 g.kg(-1) ('Lukullus'), respectively carotenoids: 21.43 mg.100 g(-1) ('Moravan') and 11.78 mg.100 g(-1) ('Szmaragd'). The content of nitrates (371.48 mg.kg(-)(1) 'Lukullus' - 110 mg.kg(-1) 'Szmaragd'), K (11.30% 'Moravan' - 5.37% 'Kozak'), Ca (2.06% 'Turkus' - 1.77% 'Kozak'), and oils (99.13% 'Lukullus' - 93.82% Ambrozja') was also varied. In most cases the content of Mg, P, sugars and ascorbic acid was on similar level. The antioxidant activity was significantly different between tested groups (12.22 mu M.g(-1) 'Turkus' - 6.27 mu M.g(-1) 'Krezus'). The presented research proved that the genotype of garden dill affects yield and chemical composition of plants.