The Effect of Spraying with Sugar Alcohols on the Vegetative Growth Traits and Yield of Two Hybrids of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Italica(

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during the 2024-2025 growing season at the Agricultural

Research Station of the College of Agriculture at the University of Basra. The aim was to study

the effect of three concentrations of sugar alcohol (sorbitol) (0, 5, and 10) g/L on two hybrids of

broccoli (Umbrella , Jasmine( .A completely randomized block design was used for a factorial

experiment with three replicates. Average results were analyzed using the statistical program

tdec-2008-31 GenStat, and the modified least significant difference test was used to compare

averages at a probability level of 0.05. The most important results are summarized as follows:

The results showed that the vegetative growth indicators and the yield of the hybrids showed a

significant effect, as the hybrid Umbralla recorded a significant superiority. In terms of plant

height and leaf number, the results showed that the hybrid Umbralla was significantly superior in

terms of main disc weight, main disc diameter, and number of secondary discs, which reached

1129 g/plant-1, 25.32 cm, and 6.20 discs/plant-1, respectively. Sorbitol had a significant effect on

vegetative growth and yield, with the 10 g/L treatment being superior in terms of plant height, leaf

number, and main disc weight The diameter of the main inflorescence and the number of

secondary inflorescences were measured, with average values estimated at 57.54 cm, 34.48

leaves/plant-1, 1142 g/g plant-1, 25.73 cm, and 6.63 inflorescences/plant-1, respectively. The

interaction between sorbitol at a concentration of 10 g L-1 and the hybrid 'Umbralla' was

significantly higher in plant height, leaf number, main inflorescence weight, main inflorescence

diameter, and number of secondary inflorescences.