Postharvest indices of radish and coriander in intercropped systems under green manure and population densities

The objective of this work was to estimate the postharvest quality indices of radish and coriander products in an intercropping system based on different equitable amounts of hairy woodrose (Merremia aegyptia L.) and roostertree (Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br) biomass in two cropping seasons in a semi-arid environment. The experiment was set up in completely randomized blocks with treatments arranged in a 4 × 4 factorial scheme, with 4 replications. The first factor consisted of equitable amounts of biomass mixtures of hairy woodrose and roostertree at doses of 20, 35, 50, and 65 t ha−1 on a dry basis, and the second factor of coriander population densities of 400, 600, 800, and 1,000 thousand plants ha−1, intercropped with 500 thousand plants ha−1 of radish. The characteristics evaluated in both crops were pH, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), SS/TA ratio, total soluble sugars (TSS) and vitamin C content (vitamin C), and the chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoid contents were also evaluated in coriander. Fertilization with green manures M. aegyptia and C. procera increased the radish postharvest indices, SS, TA, and TSS, reaching maximum values in the biomass amounts of 39.35, 20, and 40.65 t ha−1, respectively, and improved the quality of radish roots grown in intercropping with coriander. This practice with these green fertilizers promoted improvements in the quality of coriander pigments after intercropping with radish, which was expressed as increases in chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoid contents in the biomass amounts of 43, 53, 43, and 65 t ha−1, respectively.