Morphoagronomic and Nutritional Performance of Amazonian Spinach (Alternanthera sessilis L.) DC under Shade of Colored Screens and Different Fertilization Levels

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess the morphoagronomic and nutritional performance of Amazonian spinach cultivated under colored screens with varying NPK doses. The experimental design employed a Completely Randomized Block design in a 4 x 4 factorial scheme. The first factor consisted of four colors of shading screens: T1 = Full sunlight control 0%, T2 = red photoconvertible screen 50%, T3 = black screen 50%, and T4 = aluminum screen 50%. The second factor comprised four NPK doses: 0 kg ha^-1, 110 kg ha^-1, 220 kg ha^-1, and 440 kg ha^-1, totaling 16 treatments with 4 repetitions each. Morphoagronomic characteristics assessed included plant height, stem diameter, number of branches, number of leaves, fresh shoot mass, dry masses of the shoot and root, and nutritional variables such as total crude protein, ash content, and moisture. Means were compared using the Tukey test at a 5% probability for the colored screen factor and non-linear polynomial regression for NPK doses. Therefore, it is concluded that there is a dependence between the type of colored screen and NPK doses for the performance of the number of leaves, protein, and ash content of Amazonian spinach.