Chemical composition of winter pea plants in the Southern Steppe of Ukraine

Topicality. When new crop varieties or cultivars are introduced into production, their chemical composition should be studied, since the latter depends on the climatic conditions of the region and cultivation technologies. Therefore, the study of the peculiarities of the formation of macro- and microelements composition of a new variety of winter peas in the climatic conditions of the Southern Steppe is advisable. Purpose. To evaluate the chemical composition of winter pea and the distribution of macro- and microelements in the structural parts of plants depending on their development stages in the Southern Steppe of Ukraine. Methods. Samples of winter peas were selected by development stages in stationary and temporary experiments, as well as in production and testing crops of agricultural farms of the Odesa region. The following methods were used: laboratory method to determine content of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and microelements; statistical method to perform correlation, analysis of variance and statistical evaluation of research results. Results. The paper presents the data on the chemical composition of winter pea cultivated in the Southern Steppe of Ukraine. The peculiarities of accumulation and distribution of macro- and microelements by the leaf-stem mass, grain and roots of winter pea are established. It was found that the rate of toxic elements accumulation in the vegetative mass of pea plants increased and decreased when they moved from plant leaves and stems to grain. Conclusions. The average content of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and microelements in grain and by-products of winter pea in the Southern Steppe of Ukraine were determined. We found significant changes in the microelement composition of the leaves and stems, grain and roots of winter pea. A higher variability of microelement content (12.7–70.7 %) was noted in contrast to the macroelement content (7.7–48.3 %). The low resistance of root barriers to the entry of Cd and Pb toxicants into the aboveground organs of winter pea over the entire growing season and the high intensity of the leaf-stem mass resistance to the absorption of these metals by grain were determined. Key words: winter peas, microelements, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, content