Two field experiments were conducted at the Agricultural Research Farm,
Faculty of Agric., Minufiya University during seasons of 2004 and 2005 to investigate
the effect of some antioxidants i.e., ascorbic acid (vit. C), thiamine (vit. 81), citric acid
(CA) and salicylic acid (SA) on vegetative growth, chemical composition, head
physical characters and yield and its quality of cabbage grown in summer season.
Results indicate that, all the used antioxidants treatments significantly increased plant
height, stem diameter, fresh weight of stem, leaves / plant and whole plant, dry
matter, total carbohydrates as well as the concentration of N, P and K of cabbage
leaves. Moreover, in the presence of this antioxidants, head length, head diameter,
number and weight of un-wrapped leaves/plant, edible head weight and total yield
were significantly increased. On the other hand, NOJ-N accumulation decreased. In
general, spraying plants with ascorbic acid, thiamine at the rate of 1000 mg II and
salicylic acid at the rate 300 mg / I gave the best values of vegetative growth and head
characteristics.