A Comparative Study on the Morphological & Biochemical Characteristics of Three Types of Broccoli (Brassica oleraceae) Produced in Chittagong Region Bangladesh

Broccoli is a green vegetable (Brassica oleracea var.italica) plant which is characterized by green flower heads arranged in a tree like branches are attached with a thick, edible stalk. It is a popular vegetable crop with a good source of various remarkable nutritional composition like rich source of antioxidant including Vitamin C, K and A, also contains several important minerals including potassium, calcium and iron and numerous health benefits. Morphological Parameter such as, leaf area, node density, bud number change etc.in many plant species in response to factors such as light availability, soil compaction, organic matter removal etc. are compared. Recently, it has just started cultivating in Bangladesh. In this study, three varieties of Broccoli have been selected, named as BC1 (BARI-1), BC2 (Crown Green) and BC3 (a hybrid variety of Broccoli) for experimental analysis. As shown in, three varieties of Broccoli identified from the morphological and physico-chemical characters such as- Plant Height (cm), Vegetable weight (g), Vegetable Floret weight (g), Vegetable Stem Weight (g), Head Length (L), Stalk Diameter (Ds), Shape, Color, and Compactness. The aim of this work is to evaluate effect of conventional mineral fertilizers, which are considered as a major source of plant nutrients and wastewater on vegetative growth in addition to Biochemical properties of the Broccoli plants. The data which was obtained from the chemical characters of three varieties of broccoli such as pH (6.23 to 6.55), moisture (86.22to 89.32%), Ash (0.80 to 0.83 %), TA (0.41 to 0.54 %), TSS (7.32 to 9.63°Brix), Total Sugar (6.04 to 5.60 %), Reducing Sugar (4.22 to 4.58%), Non-Reducing Sugar (0.92 to 1.46%), Lipid (0.30 to 0.33%), Water Soluble Protein (2.12 to 2.22 %), Vitamin-C (84.3 to 88.6%). In this Experiment, nine important minerals content were analyzed. It was observed that, among the three varieties of Broccoli high sources of Iron and its amount was varied between 17.8 to 24.5 mg%. Potassium and Calcium are also considered as good sources of broccoli. In conclusion, all the three promising varieties, BC1 cultivar is much better than BC2 and BC3 in the context of nutrient contents.