Epoca di raccolta, areale di coltivazione e qualità dell’asparago verde in Capitanata

In the present study it was evaluated the effect of harvesting time and of cultivation site (flat or hilly area) in Foggia province (‘Capitanata’) on qualitative parameters of spears. From April to June 2005 five spear harvests were performed from commercial fields located in the plane area (‘Foggia’) and in hilly area (‘Giardinetto’) of Foggia Province. At each harvest 4 samples (1 kg) from each location were randomly collected. Marketable spears (h=21 cm) from plane area fields showed i) decreasing weight (and size) in the last two harvests compared to the preceding harvests (23 vs 16 g), ii) in the first harvests, higher texture in the basal part compared to the spears picked from the hilly area fields (73 vs 41 N), iii) a progressively more intense green colour during harvest season (a*/b* from -0.19 to –0.47). In the spears harvested from hilly area fields, spear weight (20 g), color (a*/b*= -0.40) and texture (shear force= 55 N) resulted more stable during the harvesting season.