CONTRIBUTION OF ORGANICALLY GROWN SPELT TO THE GRAIN QUALITY

The content of nutritionally important minerals (Fe, Mg, Zn, Ca, Mn) and some antioxidants were analyzed in spelt wheat grown during four different seasons and in semiarid conditions. The spelt wheat was organically grown in the period 2012-2015, at Maize Research Institute Zemun Polje. The crop was sown on the area of 0.33 ha and after harvesting, grain yield was measured from all production area and calculated with 14% of moisture. Then, grains were milled and content of nutrients Mg, Fe, Mn, Ca and Zn, as well as inorganic phosphorus (Pi), phytic phosphorus (Pphy), phenolics, β-carotene and glutathione (GSH), were determined in grains. The variations in content of minerals and antioxidants followed variations in sum of precipitation, as well as average air temperature. The content of Mg was significantly higher in 2015, while the Ca content was lower. Concentration of Zn and Mn continuously decreased from 2012 to 2015. The highest content of almost all investigated antioxidants was observed mostly in 2013. GSH and β-carotene content variations were also affected by the meteorological conditions of the growing season

THE EFFECT OF COVER CROPS ON THE CONTENT OF PROTEIN IN GRAIN OF SWEET MAIZE

The study was conducted in the experimental field of the Maize Research Institute Zemun Polje, Serbia, during 2013/14-2014/15. The experiment was established as a block design with four replications. As winter cover crops-CC (factor A) the following plants were grown: CV–common vetch (Vicia sativa L.), FP-field pea (Pisum sativum L.), WO-winter oats, (Avena sativa L.), FK-fodder kale (Brassica oleracea (L.) convar. acephala), two mixture variants of legume crops with oats (CV+WO and FP+WO) and two control treatments: a variant in which the surface was covered with dead organic mulch (DOM) and traditional variant: after ploughing in the fall plot stayed uncovered during the winter (TV). Green biomass of the cover crops was incorporated in the soil, immediately after, half of the elementary plot was infested with bio-fertilizer (BF) - Uniker (mobilizer of nutrients) in an amount of 10 l ha-1 (factor B), which contains the strains of cellulolytic and proteolytic bacteria to support the mineralization of entered crop residues. The seeds of sweet maize ‘ZPSC 421su (FAO 400) were sown at the arrangement of 70 cm between rows and 22 cm between plants in the row (65,000 plants per ha). Preceding crop in both years was winter wheat. The kernel protein content was measured on infrared analyser. The data were processed by ANOVA. The investigated factors (CC and BF) showed significant effect on protein content in sweet maize kernel in both years. As it was expected, the greatest impact on protein content was exhibited in leguminous species grown alone, or in mixtures with oats, particularly in the dry, 2015. Small grains intercropped with legumes obtained higher values of protein content than small grain grown as monocrops