dc.description.abstract | Lettuce, or Lactuca sativa L., is a leafy vegetable from Asteraceae family, that
has great nutritional value and it is beneficial for human health. Leaves of this
annual plant are great source of fiber in addition to bioactive compounds and
are mostly consumed fresh, whereas in some cultures stems are also being
prepared as meals. Cultivars of this cool-seasoned vegetable differ by the leaf
number, color, size, shape and edges, stem and rosette development, etc. In this
study, five lettuce cultivars were analyzed in order to inspect their impact on
morphological properties and yield: Aleppo (type Lollo Bionda), Carmesi
(Lollo Rosso), Murai (Red Oak leaf), Kiribati (Green Oak leaf) and Tourbillon
(Crystal). The experiment was conducted in plastic greenhouse, using the
method of randomized block design, where each of four repetitions consisted
of eight plants. The analyzed traits were: number of leaves, fresh leaves weight,
stem weight, diameter and height of plants, rosette diameter and height, whole
plant weight. Statistical analyses pointed out significant differences for each
examined morphological aspect. The largest diameter of the rosette was
measured in cultivar Crystal (26.6 cm), as well as the diameter (25.9 mm),
weight (7.3 g) and the height of the stem (44.6 mm). Further, cultivar Green
Oak leaf was formed the largest number of leaves (39.7) in addition to greatest
fresh leaves weight (343.5 g) and whole plant weight (347.0 g). Cultivar Lollo
Rosso was achieved the highest rosette (18.5 cm) among others, whereas the
lowest values in all parameters were obtained from Red Oak leaf cultivar. | sr |