20 Nov Growing cauliflower for higher nutrition and income
उच्च पोषण और आय के लिए फूलगोभी उगाऐं Cauliflower is one of the most important winter vegetable grown by the farmers of our country. The edible part is the vegetative portion of the plants known as curd. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber and bioactive compounds such as anthocyanins, beta-carotene, glucosinolate. Besides these, it is also high in folate, potassium and calcium. It is considered as cancer (colon cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer) fighting super vegetables due to high vitamin C, potassium, soluble fiber, folate, carotenoids and glucosinolates. It also helps in reducing serum cholesterol and also curing progeria disease, osteoarthritis. The mean glucosinolate content of is given in Table 1. Table 1: Mean Glucosinolate Content (umol g-1 Dry Mass) in the edible tissues of cauliflower Glucosinolates Cauliflower Group Form Aliphatics Sinigrin 9.3±0.1 Gluconapin 0.3±0.2 Glucobrassicanapin 0.1±0.0 Progoitrin 0.3±0.1 Epiprogoitrin 0.0±0.0 Napoleiferin 0.2±0.1 Glucoiberin 0.0±0.0 Glucoraphanin 0.5±0.3 Glucoalysin 0.0±0.0 Phenyl indoles Gluconasturtiin 0.4±0.0 Glucobrassicin 1.3±0.1 4-OH glucobrassicin 1.6±0.0 4CH3OH glucobrassicin 0.2±0.00 Total 15.1 Climate and soil for Cauliflower Cauliflower is thermo-sensitive crop and requires cool moist climate. The early varieties may tolerate higher temperature and long days. The temperature requirement depends on the maturity group. It may transform curding from 5oC to nearly 28-30oC. The optimum temperature for young seedling is 23oC. Growth is also poorer at mean minimums of less than 7°C. Mature curds, if not protected by leaves, can be easily damaged by only a few degrees of frost. Heavy frosts can cause serious damage to the crop, particularly with...