Cabbage Yield and Glucosinolate Concentrations as Affected by Nitrogen and Sulfur Fertility

By C. Rosen, V. Fritz, G. Gardner, S. Hecht, S. Carmella, P. Kenney. 2005

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Glucosinolates are a class of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) containing compounds shown to have cancer-preventing properties in animal models and widely found in crucifer- ous plants. The overall objective of this study was to determine whether N and S fertility affects glucosinolate concentrations in cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. Capitata group). Field studies on a sandy soil low in available N and S were conducted over a 2-year period with both green ('Grand Slam') and red ('Vorox') cabbage cultivars. Treatments evaluated each year were the interactive effects of N (125 and 250 kg·ha -1 ) and S (0, and 110 kg·ha -1 ) fertil- izer application. Yield of both cabbage cultivars increased with increasing N and S in the second year of the study, but not in the fi rst. Tissue N concentrations in heads at harvest increased with N application and tissue S concentrations increased with S application. When S was not applied, tissue S decreased signifi cantly as N rate increased, while N rate had no effect on tissue S concentrations when S was applied. The dominant glucosinolate detected in both cabbage cultivars was glucobrassicin, with indole forms accounting for about 80% of the total glucosinolates regardless of treatment. Tissue N was negatively correlated and tissue S and S to N ratio were positively correlated with total glucosinolate concentration, although all correlations were generally weak (r 2 < 0.5). Total glucosinolates and glucobras- sicin concentrations were maximized in both cultivars at the low N and high S application rates. Except for sinigrin in one of the 2 years, all glucosinolates detected were higher in Vorox than in 'Grand Slam'. Based on these results, glucosinolates in cabbage can be ma- nipulated by cultural management practices as well as genetics. Glucosinolates are secondary nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) containing compounds in plants that have been studied extensively in recent years for their effects on animal health. While glucosinolates are known to be present in 16 families of plants, most of the edible glucosinolate-containing species are found in the family of Cruciferae (Fahey et al., 2001). About 120 glucosinolate compounds have been identifi ed in plants, although there is only lim- ited information on the specifi c effects of each compound and their breakdown products. Activity of glucosinolates has been linked to increased insect resistance (Fenwick et al., 1983; Wolfson, 1982) as well as stimulation of insect feeding (Fenwick et al., 1983). The compounds and breakdown products have also been shown to be allelopathic and increase disease resistance of plants (Angus et al., 1994; Bending and Lincoln, 1999; Rosa et al., 1997). When ingested, some glucosinolates have been shown to impart a bitter fl avor, cause goitro- genic effects, and reduce meal quality of animal feed (Drewnowski and Gomez-Carneros, 2000; Fenwick et al., 1983). One major positive attribute of glucosino- lates is that they have been shown to inhibit the activity of some chemical carcinogens. The plant enzyme myrosinase is released upon consumption of glucosinolate containing veg- etables and catalyzes glucosinolate hydrolysis (Fenwick et al., 1983). Products of hydrolysis depend on the structure of the glucosinolate. Alkyl and arylalkyl glucosinolates yield mainly isothiocyanates upon myrosinase-catalyzed hydrolysis, whereas indolyl glucosinolates (glucobrassicins) yield primarily indole-3-car- binol or related substituted indole-3-carbinols (Fahey et al., 2001; Fenwick et al., 1989; Mc- Danell et al., 1988). Isothiocyanates as well as indole-3-carbinol are chemopreventive agents against carcinogenesis of the lung and other tissues in laboratory animals, and they exert protective effects such as inhibition of car- cinogen activating enzymes, enhancement of carcinogen detoxifying enzymes, and induction of apoptosis (Hecht, 1999). However, indole- 3-carbinol has also been shown to have tumor promoting activity in animal feeding studies (Fahey and Stephenson, 1999; Hecht, 1999),

Subfields: Agronomy and Crop Science, Molecular Biology, Plant Science

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