Relaciones entre el área foliar, cobertura, peso fresco y seco en verdolaga (Portulaca oleracea)

The purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) in Mexico appears in agricultural fields as weeds, where it is collected and used as food for its nutritional and medicinal properties. The production of fresh (yield) and dry matter of P. oleracea may be a function of the leaf area and its coverage. To determine the degree of relationship between these variables with the yield was the objective of the present study, which was carried out under glasshouse conditions, in Montecillo, Municipality of Texcoco, Mexico State, Mexico (19 ° N, 98 ° W and 2240 m altitude) of temperate climate. Ten pots of five kg capacity were used, with irrigation intervals every third day, where purslane developed naturally. The emergency was on December 8, 2017 and the harvest was on January 25, 2018 (48 days of study). The yield of purslane is determined to a greater extent by the coverage of the plant (R2 = 0.82), followed by the leaf area (R2 = 0.80). The coverage of the plant showed a high relation with the leaf área (R2 = 0.90). The weight of the fresh matter is an appropriate estimator of the net photosynthesis (weight of the dry matter, R2 = 0.98). In all cases, the estimation model responded to the linear type (Y = a + bx).