Growth and Yield Response to Fertilizer Application and Nutritive Quality of Huckleberry (Solanum scabrum Mill.) Varieties Cultivatedin the Mount Cameroon Region

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of fertilizer on growth, yield and the nutritive value of three varieties of huckleberry (“White stem”, “Bamenda” and “Foumbot”). The treatments were NPK (20:10:10) at levels 0, 100, 150, 200Kg/ha and 10 Mg/ha poultry manure and the experiment was a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The Kjeldahl procedure was used for crude protein determination. The lipid content was determined with the soxlet reflux heat extraction method. The ß-carotene content was determined using spectrophotometry. Results indicated that plants supplied with 200 Kg NPK/ha fertilizer treatment had the highest plant height (66 cm) and leaf number (242) in “White stem” and “Bamenda” varieties respectively and these were significantly different from the control (P = 0.05). Leaf area was highest in “Foumbot” variety (343.1 cm2). The longest tap root length and number of primary lateral roots were noted particularly in “White stem” control plants and this was significantly different (P = 0.05) from plants supplied with fertilizers. Plants supplied with 10 Mg/ha poultry manure recorded the highest total yield for “White stem” (44.83 Mg/ha) while plants supplied 200 Kg NPK/ha had maximum yield for the “Bamenda” and “Foumbot” varieties (36.96 and 31.84 Mg/ha respectively). The “White stem” variety had the highest crude protein (303.8 mg/100 g) and ß-carotene content (1.9 mg/100 g); “Bamenda” variety had the highest total lipid (8.15%), and crude fibre (14.15%) contents, while total ash was highest in “Foumbot” (16.54%). Appropriate fertilizer levels would considerably improve huckleberry yield as well as improve income of vegetable farmers.