## 3 Results and Discussion
### Nitrate Accumulation  
The nitrate content was affected by the cultivar and cut interaction (Figure 3). Aroma 2 and Eleonora recorded, on average, a decreased nitrate content of \(\sim\)33% in the second cut; in contrast, Italiano Classico showed an opposite trend with a higher nitrate concentration of 1130.97 mg kg\({}^{-1}\) fw (+116%) in the second harvest. Nitrate is the primary source of nitrogen for plants that are accumulated in considerable amounts in their tissues. However, scientific evidence regarding the correlation of nitrate consumption with chronic disease onset relegates it among the most widely recognized anti-nutritional compounds [25]. Usually, nitrate is safe due to its rapid excretion in the urine [42], but under specific conditions, it can be reduced to nitrite [43], \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Source of Variance** & \multicolumn{2}{c}{L *} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**a *} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**b *} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Chroma**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Hue Angle**} \\ \hline Cultivar (C) & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & \\ Aroma 2 & 45.80 & \(\pm\) & 0.91 & \(-\)7.31 & \(\pm\) & 0.29 & 20.06 & \(\pm\) & 0.66 & ab & 21.36 & \(\pm\) & 0.71 & ab & 110.10 & \(\pm\) & 0.37 \\ Eleonora & 45.90 & \(\pm\) & 0.73 & \(-\)6.85 & \(\pm\) & 0.35 & 18.64 & \(\pm\) & 0.57 & b & 19.89 & \(\pm\) & 0.60 & b & 110.32 & \(\pm\) & 0.87 \\ Italiano Classico & 45.40 & \(\pm\) & 0.64 & \(-\)7.59 & \(\pm\) & 0.22 & 21.62 & \(\pm\) & 0.42 & a & 22.93 & \(\pm\) & 0.45 & a & 109.49 & \(\pm\) & 0.46 \\  & & n.s. & & & & & & & & & & & & & n.s. & \\ Cut (CT) & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & \\ CT 1 & 46.41 & \(\pm\) & 0.66 & \(-\)6.81 & \(\pm\) & 0.23 & 20.00 & \(\pm\) & 0.62 & & 21.14 & \(\pm\) & 0.66 & & 108.84 & \(\pm\) & 0.25 \\ CT 2 & 44.79 & \(\pm\) & 0.38 & \(-\)7.69 & \(\pm\) & 0.17 & 20.20 & \(\pm\) & 0.61 & & 21.64 & \(\pm\) & 0.62 & & 111.09 & \(\pm\) & 0.33 \\ \(\ast\ast\ast\) & & & & & & & & & & & n.s. & & & & & n.s. & \\ C \(\times\) CT & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & \\ Arroma 2 \(\times\) CT2 & 46.74 & \(\pm\) & 1.62 & \(-\)6.97 & \(\pm\) & 0.35 & 19.96 & \(\pm\) & 1.08 & & 21.15 & \(\pm\) & 1.13 & 109.34 & \(\pm\) & 0.22 \\ Arroma 2 \(\times\) CT2 & 44.86 & \(\pm\) & 0.78 & \(-\)7.65 & \(\pm\) & 0.43 & 20.15 & \(\pm\) & 1.00 & & 21.56 & \(\pm\) & 1.08 & 110.86 & \(\pm\) & 0.22 \\ Eleonora \(\times\) CT1 & 47.02 & \(\pm\) & 0.73 & \(-\)6.21 & \(\pm\) & 0.45 & 18.48 & \(\pm\) & 0.95 & 19.52 & \(\pm\) & 1.04 & 108.65 & \(\pm\) & 0.60 \\ Eleonora \(\times\) CT2 & 44.16 & \(\pm\) & 0.26 & \(-\)7.49 & \(\pm\) & 0.09 & 18.79 & \(\pm\) & 0.82 & 20.25 & \(\pm\) & 0.77 & 111.98 & \(\pm\) & 0.81 \\ Italiano Classico \(\times\) CT1 & 45.46 & \(\pm\) & 1.16 & \(-\)7.24 & \(\pm\) & 0.09 & 21.57 & \(\pm\) & 0.45 & 22.77 & \(\pm\) & 0.43 & 108.54 & \(\pm\) & 0.39 \\ Italiano Classico \(\times\) CT2 & 45.34 & \(\pm\) & 0.84 & \(-\)7.94 & \(\pm\) & 0.34 & 21.67 & \(\pm\) & 0.83 & 23.10 & \(\pm\) & 0.89 & 110.43 & \(\pm\) & 0.04 \\  & n.s. & & n.s. & & n.s. & & n.s. & & n.s. & & n.s. & & n.s. & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} n.s., *, **, and *** non-significant or significant at \(p\leq\) 0.05, 0.01, and 0.001, respectively. According to [PERSON]’s multiple range test (\(p=0.05\)), different letters indicate significant differences. Cut means were compared by a \(t\)-test. All data are expressed as mean \(\pm\) SE (n = 3). L *. lightness; a *: greenness; b *: yellowness.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Effect of cultivar and cut on CIELAB colorimetric coordinates, chroma, and hue angle of basil leaves. Figure 3: Nitrate content in different cultivars and cuts. n.s. and *** non-significant or significant at \(p\leq 0.001\), respectively. According to [PERSON]’s multiple range test (\(p=0.05\)), different letters indicate significant differences. which is acknowledged to play a crucial role in carcinogenesis and the incidence of blood diseases such as methemoglobinemia [27].