Nutritional Composition and Storage Stability of Groundnut (Arachis Hypogaea L.) Seeds Cultivated with Organic Fertilizers

I Brintha 1 , T Mahendran2* and TH Seran1

Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Eastern University of Sri Lanka

Abstrsact

A research study was conducted to determine the nutritional composition and storage stability of groundnut seeds (Arachis hypogaea L.) that were cultivated with organic fertilizers. The mature seeds were collected separately from groundnut plant grown with inorganic and organic fertilizers as basal and organic liquid fertilizer, known as Amuthakaraisal (mixture of cow dung, urine and molasses) applied as top dressing at different vegetative growth stages of groundnut. The collected seeds were dried and stored for further analysis. Protein, fat, moisture, fiber, total soluble solid and mineral contents were determined using the standard methods. The results revealed that there were significant differences (P<0.05) in protein, fat, fiber and total soluble solid content of the groundnut and there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in moisture and mineral contents among treatments while acid value and saponification value of the groundnut oil differed significantly (P<0.01). Based on the results of the nutritional composition of the seeds and physic-chemical aspects of the oil, the organic liquid fertilizer applied at 15, 30, 45 days after planting produce high nutritional quality and storage stability seeds compared with other tested treatments.

Key words: Acid value, Groundnut, Nutrients, Organic liquid fertilizer, Saponification value

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* - Corresponding Author

Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Mapalana, Kamburupitiya, Sri Lanka

Copyright © 2007 by the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna

Print ISSN 1391-3646 Online ISSN 2386-1533