EFFECT OF FERTILIZATION AND STORAGE CONDITIONS ON THE QUALITY OF LETTUCE

This experiment was carried out in 2019, in the cold greenhouse, covered with polycarbonate, in the early culture, in the experimental field of the Faculty of Horticulture Bucharest, and the lettuce was stored in the Postharvest Technology Laboratory at the Research Center for Studies of Food Quality and Agricultural Products of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest. F1 lettuce hybrids were used: Centore, Analena, Alanis, Shangore and Tizian, fertilized at planting with Best starter 200 kg/ha, K-sol 80 kg/ha, Novatec classic 300 kg/ha and Orgevit 3000 kg/ha. For storage only 2 hybrids, Tizian and Shangore, were used with 2 fertilizers, respectively, Best starter and K-sol. The storage conditions were: in the normal atmosphere at 1 degrees C, 95% humidity and 20% oxygen and in the controlled atmosphere at 1 degrees C, 95% humidity and 2% oxygen for 14 days. There were used 3 packaging variants: unpacked, packaged in food foil and packaged in food foil on cardboard. Plant growth and production were influenced by the fertilizer used, the best results being obtained by fertilizing with Best starter and K-sol, which is why these hybrids were chosen for storage. During the storage period it was observed that the greatest weight loss was in the unpackaged lettuce both in the normal and controlled atmosphere, regardless of the hybrid and the fertilization product used. The content in vitamin C was higher in hybrids fertilized with K-sol, but during the storage period there was a strong decrease especially for the lettuce from stored in controlled atmosphere, for all packaging variants. The acidity of the lettuce did not show major differences.