Protein yield and mineral contents in Pereskia aculeata under high-density planting system

Abstract

The development of technologies to increase the yield of Pereskia aculeata Mill. may contribute to its market insertion as an excellent source of protein. This study aimed to assess the influence of plant density on protein yield and mineral contents of P. aculeata leaves and branches. The experiment consisted of five treatments (1 plant m-², 5 plants m-², 10 plants m-², 25 plants m-² and 50 plants m-²), in three blocks. Eight consecutive harvests were obtained over 12 months, and 10 plants m-² was considered the best density, with yields of 144.0 t ha-1 year-1, 25.6 t ha-1 year-1, 310.8 t ha-1 year-1 and 58.3 t ha-1 year-1, respectively for leaf fresh and dry matter, and branch fresh and dry matter. The average leaf protein content (22.4 %) was not influenced by plant density. The estimated total protein yields were 5,759 kg ha-1 year-1 and 9,035.3 kg ha-1 year-1, respectively in the leaves and branches with leaves. The high-density system with 10 plants m-2 in successive harvests is a fast way to produce large amounts of vegetable protein and mineral-rich leaves per area and time for human and animal feeding.

Barbados gooseberry sprout production in a high-density plantation system

“…Although the 10×10 treatment had the highest number of plants per unit area (100 plants/m 2 ), it showed lower number of sprouts and fresh matter, as well as less fresh matter of leaves per area in comparison to the 30×30FS system (Table 1) because it had multiple base stems that produced many sprouts. Souza et al (2020) estimated that there would be 1,182.5 g/0.25 m 2 (as less as value converted from original units of t/ ha/yr) of fresh matter from all developed leaves harvested from the entire top of the plants for 90 days on a BGB plantation stand of 41.4 plants/m 2 , which was 26.9% lower than the 30×30FS (11.1 plants/m 2 ) and 14.2% higher than the 10×10 (100 plants/m 2 ) treatment presented here (Table 1). We emphasize that only sprouts were harvested in the present work and that the 10×10 system endured frequent thinning to leave one sprout per plant, which may account for the difference in our results from those of Souza et al (2020).…”

“…Its tender, fleshy leaves are also rich in other nutrients, such as calcium, iron, lysine, and mucilage (Souza et al, 2020;Tofanelli & Mógor, 2021). BGB is also used as hedge plant, as well as ornamental plant due to its showy flower (Santos et al, 2012).…”

“…Thereby, to manage spineless portion of plant would decrease the risk of hurting the grower. In addition, BGB sprouts also have a distinctive flavor (Almeida & Corrêa, 2012;Souza et al, 2020) and possibly a higher protein content than the mature leaves that are generally used for cooking or feeding.…”

“…However, the knowledge on the use of these plants is limited, especially in terms of cultivation and preparation. The lack of agronomic data contributes to the hesitation in using these plants as crops, which has precluded their presence from farms and markets, and consequently from consumer's tables (Tuler et al, 2019;Souza et al, 2020).…”

Pereskia aculeata Miller as a Novel Food Source: A Review

“…In this sense, the Pereskia genus is considered an ancestral of the modern cacti. Although the species belonging to the Pereskia genus can grow under limited water availability (as a conventional cactus does), they differ from the other cacti mainly because they do not possess a photosynthetic stem and also because they present well-developed leaves, in which water and most nutrients are accumulated [14,21,24,25]. Among the Pereskia species, Pereskia aculeata Miller (OPN), in particular, is traditionally employed as food in Brazilian rural communities due to the sensorial acceptance and high nutritional content of its leaves, including significant amounts of proteins, fibers, minerals, and vitamins [14,26,27].…”