Production arrowroot depending on the size of the rhizome and substrate in Campo Grande –MS, Brazil
Abstract
The arrowroot starch is much appreciated in the preparation of desserts, breads, cookies and cakes. However the production of starch by the commercial varieties is still made in an amateur way without proper management. The experiment was conducted in a randomized block design in factorial 3 (rhizomes sizes) x 2 (substrates). The three rhizome sizes arrowroot, were classified as small (≤ 15.0 g), medium (≥ 15.01 and ≤ 30.0) and big (≥ 30.01 g) according to their weights. We evaluated: height collect from the region to the apex of the leaf, stem diameter at the collar region survival percentage of rhizomes, shoot dry weight, root dry mass, average number of seedlings per rhizome and calculated the index quality seedlings Dickson. There were no differences in the interaction between plants x substrate. However the size of rhizomes influenced the quality of the seed lings, and the big (≥ 30.01 g) rhizomes was what produced seedlings with the best quality.
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Introduction
Arrowroot (Maranta arundinaceae L.) is a plant belonging to the Marantaceae family that can reach 1.5 to 1.8 m in height, rhizomes with a size between 10 and 25 cm are spindle-shaped, elongated and segmented, separated by slight bottlenecks of scales. Arrowroot is native to South America but species are also found in Southeast Asia, the Caribbean [6], Philippines and India [14,6].
Arrowroot has 25.6 % of starch in its rhizomes with characteristics peculiar to food preparation and a series of products that require high quality starch [12]. The lack of economic interest in culture made many farmers lose interest in this almost endangered crop. Nowadays there is a great tendency to cultivate and consume unconventional vegetables. In this context, arrowroot had a production of 1141 tons in 1996, estimated at R$ 283,565.15 [12]. The low production is a consequence of the lack of technical and market information on the part of the producers. This means that there is no greater interest in largescale arrowrot plantations. According to Zarate & Vieira, (2005), several aspects in the production of seedlings have not yet been studied or have results that are not yet conclusive. These authors also report that care must be taken because the type and quality of the planting material determine differences in the speed of rooting, growth and, consequently, the production and extension of the vegetative cycle. The lack of specific legislation and nurseries specializing in the production of arrowroot seedlings are barriers to be overcome.
Nowadays, the few farmer-producing farmers use the rhizomes of the plants as propagating material, further reducing crop productivity. As there is still no pattern for seedling production of this crop, the ideal substrate is also another factor to be studied.
The use of light commercial substrates, with good drainage and free of contaminants harmful to sanity and vigor of the seedlings, was an advance for the production of commercial seedlings. However, many studies have been carried out in order to reuse industrial waste, agroindustrial and formulations with inert materials, as raw material for formulations of substrates. Among these materials, the fine coal [18], peat plus carbonized rice hulls [16], washed sand [13] and other materials were also highlighted.
Given these problems and lack of studies for the production of arrowroot seedlings to meet future demands, this work aimed to evaluate the quality of arrowroot seedlings from various sizes of rhizome grown on different substrate types.
Conclusion
In general, it is concluded that the arrow seedlings produced in both the commercial substrate and the sand did not differ. Although the seedlings produced in the organic substrate had a better appearance than the seedlings produced in the sand, the size of the rhizome had a direct influence on the quality of the arrowroot seedlings. Thus, it was inferred that the seedlings from the large rhizome, above 30 g, were those that produced better quality seedlings
