It is recommended that kidney disease patients receiving dialysis have limited potassium intake including intake of vegetables with high potassium content. Dialysis patients cannot absorb other nutrients contained in vegetables. To solve these problems, methods of cultivating vegetables with low potassium contents as compared to normal vegetables were studied. In leafy vegetables, the potassium contents were reduced as much with 60–70% by the cultivation without potassium applications during the latter half of the growth period compared with the controls, with no change in plant growth. In tomato, the potassium content in the potassium-restricted group was also reduced to 50–89% of the control. There was no change in the fresh weight per fruit of the tomatoes; however, the total yield was reduced. In this chapter, we introduce the researches of the cultivation method for leafy vegetables and tomatoes with low potassium content while still maintaining normal plant growth. Furthermore, the changes of the contents in minerals, ascorbic acid, and sugar in low potassium vegetables were reported.
Part of the book: Potassium