The leaf diagnosis is quite useful for the determination of the nutritional state of plants. The nutritional banana tree demands can differ in accordance with genetic characteristics. The aim of present work was to determinate the macro and micronutrients contents in the third leaf of banana genotypes. Twenty four banana genotypes were selected (triploids and tetraploids), in two production cycles (1999 and 2000), in the Active Germoplasm Bank of Banana at Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura Tropical, in Cruz das Almas, Bahia, Brazil. The leaf contents of macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) and micronutrients (B, Cl, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) were determined. The results showed that occurred variation in leaf contents among plants in the same genome group and between the first and second production cycles, with higher medium levels in the second cycle for N, P, Ca, Mg, S, Cu and Mn and lower ones for K, Cl, B, Fe and Zn. The nitrogen contents 21.6 to 28.5 g kg-1 and K 13.7 to 30.8 g kg-1 and they were the macronutrients with the highest contents in the leaves. The chlorine contents was 10.4 to 24.7 g kg-1, manganese 43 to 574 mg kg-1 and iron 56 to 212 mg kg-1,and they were the micronutrients with the highest contents in leaves.
Musa spp.; triploids; tetraploids; macronutrients; micronutrients
