Zeinab Safaei; Majid Azizi; Hossein Arouiee; Gholamhossein Davarynejad
Abstract
Introduction: Nigella sativa L. is one of the herbs that has a variety of uses and has been used in Iran’s traditional medicine since old times. Today this plant is considered as one of the most important kinds of medicine. Almost all the metabolic activities of plant cells, including the construction ...
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Introduction: Nigella sativa L. is one of the herbs that has a variety of uses and has been used in Iran’s traditional medicine since old times. Today this plant is considered as one of the most important kinds of medicine. Almost all the metabolic activities of plant cells, including the construction of active ingredients in medicinal plants, depend on lack of absorbable water by plants can lead to the morphological, physiological and biochemical changes, including decrease of cell swelling and growth and thus reduction of leaf area and plant height, stomatal closure and photosynthesis restriction, increase of soluble compounds for regulating the osmotic pressure, reduction of nutrient absorption and ultimately reduction of crop production. The use of anti-transpiration compounds is considered as a promising tool for the regulation of transpiration in respect of water conservation at an optimal level, where the strategies such as the use of anti-transpiration compounds have the potential for transpiration regulation. The aim of the present study is to improve the yield and yield components of medicinal plant N. sativa by anti-transpiration compounds under drought stress conditions.
Materials and Methods: The research was done using a split plot experiment on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The irrigation intervals (8 and 16 days) in main plots and anti-transpiration compounds of chitosan (0.25, 0.5 and 1 %), Plantago psyllium mucilage (0.5, 1 and 1.5 %) and arabic gum (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 %) were put in subplots with three replications. Also, the distance between the main plots in each block and distance between the two blocks were assigned as 100 cm and 200 cm, respectively; so that the moisture content of a plot had no effect on the adjacent plots. Planting date was April 16 and planting was performed by hand in 0.5cm-deep furrows. Anti-transpiration compounds were sprayed simultaneously with applying drought stress till the flowering stage once a week at sunset. Plant height, leaf area index, irrigation water efficiency index, leaf temperature and stomatal conductance were measured.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that there were significant differences between treatments in all studied traits. The best rate of the measured traits was observed at 8-day irrigation interval and chitosan treatment. Providing plant favorite conditions such as reducing plant temperature, increasing morphological traits comparing to rainfed at 16-day irrigation interval. Applying arabic gum did not improve growth but acted as a growth inhibitor. Anti-transpiration compounds led to significant changes in all the studied traits compared to the control, indicating the effectiveness of these natural compounds. Chitosan stimulating abscisic acid synthesis in the treated plant would result in stomatal closure, reduction of stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and water content. It also pointed out that the anti-transpiration effect of chitosan was because of its stimulatory effect in increasing abscisic acid concentration in the treated leaves of bean plant. As the above compounds are natural and biodegradable, as well as safer and less expensive than other chemical anti-transpiration compounds, they can serve as a good alternative to the chemical compounds. Cognition and expertise in water relations of plant and drought stress tolerance is considered as the main program in agriculture and the ability to withstand this stress is of great economic importance.
Conclusion: The important processes, including nutrition, photosynthes is, stomatal opening and closure and growth are all influenced by water. In this study, it was observed canopy temperature and stomatal conductance would increase at 16-day irrigation interval, where the increase is considered as a drought tolerance mechanism. Also, the anti-transpiration compounds led to significant changes in terms of all the studied traits compared to the control, indicating the effectiveness of theses natural compounds. Providing the appropriate conditions, 1% chitosan treatment can enhance the yield under drought stress. Spraying by arabic gum did not improve the growth conditions. According to this experiment, 1% chitosan treatment and 1.5% Plantago psyllium mucilage is considered the most appropriate strategy to enhance the yield of Nigella sativa under drought stress.
Hoda Moradi; Majid Azizi; Vahid Rowshan; Hossein Arouiee
Abstract
Introduction: The genus Nepeta with the common Persian name “Pune-Sa” is one of the most important genera of Lamiaceae family. It has aromatic plants which are endemic of Iran. Its different species are distributed almost in all parts of Iran. Some of these species are valuable in medicine and used ...
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Introduction: The genus Nepeta with the common Persian name “Pune-Sa” is one of the most important genera of Lamiaceae family. It has aromatic plants which are endemic of Iran. Its different species are distributed almost in all parts of Iran. Some of these species are valuable in medicine and used for medicinal purposes. Nepeta glomerulosa Boiss. is one of the most medicinal species of this family. This study was conducted to examine seed germination characteristics and to evaluate cardinal temperature of seed germination of N. glomerulosa.
Materials and Methods: Seeds of N. glomerulosa were collected from Abade region of Fars province in the middle of September 2014. Treatments were including four levels of cold period (1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks at5ºC) and four levels of potassium nitrate (0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 %). Factorial experiment with a completely randomized design in three replications was done, to evaluate seed germination percentage, germination rate, T50, mean germination time, root and shoot length, root and shoot fresh and dry weight. Also, the effects of 8 constant temperatures including 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 ˚C and 3 variable temperatures including 5/15, 10/20 and 20/30 ˚C (12h light/12h dark), was investigated to evaluate germination percentage, germination rate, mean germination time and cardinal temperatures of seed germination.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that cold period and potassium nitrate interaction was significant only on root length. Potassium nitrate had no significant effect on germination rate, but the germination rate was increased by increasing the duration of being at5 ˚C, so that the highest germination rate was observed in 3 and 4 weeks at5 ˚C (1.7 and 1.2 /day respectively). The lowest germination rate (1.0 /day) was observed in 2 weeks at5 ˚C treatment. The maximum shoot length (51.5 mm), shoot fresh weight (30 mg), shoot dry weight (1.3 mg) and root dry weight (0.6 mg) was obtained in 2 weeks at 5 ˚C treatments andpotassium nitrate 0.1% was also the best treatment for abovementioned traits. Among the treatments, 3 weeks cold period and 0.1 % potassium nitrate showed the most positive effect on seed germination characteristics of N. glomerulosa, although, had no significant effect on germination percentage.
Based on the results of the second experiment, temperature had significant effect (P≤0.01) on germination percentage, germination rate and mean germination time. The highest amount of germination percentage (76 and 77.3 %), germination rate (4.4 and 5 /day) and mean germination time (5.1 and 5.4 /day) were recorded in the range of 20 to 25 ˚C. Germination rate and germination percentage were substantially reduced by increasing temperature above 25 ˚C. The day and night variable temperatures had significant effect on seed germination percentage and germination rate of N. glomerulosa seeds. The highest amount of germination percentage (72 and 69.3 %) and germination rate (4.6 and 5.7 /day) were observed at10/20 and 20/30 ˚C. The results of the relationships between temperature and germination rate showed that base, optimum and maximum temperatures for seeds of N. glomerulosa were 15 ˚C, 22 ˚C and 46 ˚C, respectively.
Conclusion: The overall results showed that most chilling occurred under natural conditions during winter and early spring which caused increasing inseed germination of lots of plants. This also found that increasingin chilling period significantly improved the seed germination characteristics of N. glomerulosa. Also, treating with potassium nitrate had significant effects on germination properties of N. glomerulosa. Although applying potassium nitrate and cold period did not show interaction effects on seed germination.
The effects of different day and night temperatures on seed germination rate and percentage have been reported in many medicinal and aromatic plants as may be due to the similarity of these conditions to the natural conditions. Comparing cardinal temperatures of N. glomerulosa with the other species of this genus indicated that they have different cardinal temperatures. Many of researchers reported that germination cardinal temperatures are significantly different amongspecies and different genotypes of species. Determining of cardinal temperatures helps us to estimate temperature range of wild species in natural areas, planting time and also suitable areas for cultivation.
Gonai Baghdadi; Majid Azizi; Naser Sedaghat; Vahid Rowshan; Hossein Arouiee
Abstract
Introduction: The aim of medicinal plant storage is to preserve qualitative and quantitative properties of active substance. Carum copticum fruits (Zenyan in Persian) were used for its therapeutic effects. Seed storage condition after harvest till to extraction time is not suitable in our country and ...
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Introduction: The aim of medicinal plant storage is to preserve qualitative and quantitative properties of active substance. Carum copticum fruits (Zenyan in Persian) were used for its therapeutic effects. Seed storage condition after harvest till to extraction time is not suitable in our country and the major part of seed quality deteriorates during the storage period. So, the loss of seed qualitative and quantitative characteristics will increase during unsuitable storage condition. Appropriate storage conditions and management preserve seed active substance, seed viability and vigor for long periods by reducing the rate of seed deterioration. Optimal seed storage can be achieved by modifying the environment around the seeds. Numerous storage systems have evolved over the years for post harvest preservation of crop seeds. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of various storage conditions and storage time on essential oil percentage and germination factors in C. copticum seeds during the storage period. The results of this research will be used for optimum storage of these seeds to better preserve their quality.
Materials and Methods: In order to investigate the effects of storage conditions (packaging materials and temperature) and storage time on quality of C. copticum stored seeds, a split-plot factorial arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications is performed in Faculty of Agriculture at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during 2013 and 2014.Tukey's range test was performed to determine the significant difference between treatments. The calculations were conducted by JMP 8 software. Temperature) at two levels: 20±3°C and 30±3°C( as main plots and packaging materials (at six levels: paper, polyethylene, aluminum foil under vacuum condition, Polyethylene-polyamide packages under vacuum condition, Polyethylene-polyamide packages with a gas composition of [98%N2 + 2%O2] and [90%N2 +10%O2] ) and storage periods (at four levels: 0, 3, 6 and 9 months) as sub plots were considered. Seed samples were taken randomly from each package at four times period. Essential oil percentage, seed weight, gas composition in packages with modified atmosphere and seed germination factors (seed germination percentage (SGP), germination rate (GR), mean germination time (MGT), and germination Index (GI)) were evaluated during this nine months Storage.
Results and Discussion: The highest weight loss was 2/43% in the paper bags stored at 30°C at the fourth to sixth months especially in the fifth month. Aluminum foil package under vacuum condition stored at 30°C had the lowest weight and minimum weight changes during nine months of storage, so it was the best packages compared to others. The results show that Polyethylene-polyamide packages and Aluminum foil packages under vacuum condition are almost impermeable to air and moisture. Increasing weight at 20°C may be due to accumulation of water vapor from the respiration during early period of storage. Seed germination test provides an indication about seedling vigor as well as performance of seed in the field. In most cases, performance relates to the ability of seeds to germinate and produce a seedling that will emerge from the soil and development into a healthy vigorous plant. Packages with different combinations of gas (2% and 10% oxygen) at 30°C,aluminum foil under vacuum condition and Polyethylene-polyamide packages with a gas composition of [98%N2 + 2%O2] at 20°C were packages with higher germination percentage after nine months storage. Based on this results, it appears that packaging materials and storage temperature did not show any significant difference on essential oil percentage and further changes in the amount of oil related to duration of storage. Kumar et al. (2013) showed that the essential oil content and composition were affected by harvest time and storage conditions. Kazaz et al. (2009) investigated the effect of different storage temperatures (0◦C and 3◦C) and durations (7, 14, 21 and 28 days) on oil yield and essential oil components of oil rose (Rosa damascena Mill.). Their results showed that the effect of storage temperatures on oil content were not significant whereas the effect of storage duration was significant and it was similar to our results.
Conclusion: Essential oil percentage as the most important property of Carum copticum and germination percentage decreased significantly with increasing of storage period. Finally, results show that Polyethylene-polyamide packages with a gas composition of [98%N2 + 2%O2] and [90%N2 +10%O2] in 9 months storage time and 30±3°C storage temperature preserve qualitative properties better than other conditions. Whereas, aluminum foil package under vacuum condition and 20±3°C storage temperature are recommended for 6 month storage time.
Zhaleh Zandavifard; Majid Azizi; Hossein Arouiee; Amir Fotovat
Abstract
Introduction: Among the heavy metals, cadmium, because of high mobility and bioavailability in soil and also toxicity at low concentrations is very important. Cadmium (Cd) is known as carcinogen and can induce many types of cancers. Human activities (metallic industries, contaminated fertilizer, herbicides ...
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Introduction: Among the heavy metals, cadmium, because of high mobility and bioavailability in soil and also toxicity at low concentrations is very important. Cadmium (Cd) is known as carcinogen and can induce many types of cancers. Human activities (metallic industries, contaminated fertilizer, herbicides or insecticides, irrigation with contaminated groundwater, and use of contaminated sewage sludge) are largely responsible for accumulation of different levels of Cd in soil. Saint John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is a medicinal plant and belongs to the family Hypericaceae which its extract, one of the best-characterized herbal medicines, known as the Cd-hyperaccumulator, is widely sold for the treatment of depression. Hyperaccumulator plants are species able to accumulate high amounts of heavy metals in their tissue at concentrations of 10 to 100 times higher than tolerated by crop plants. Zinc (Zn) is an essential element occurring in several enzymes, where it plays a catalytic or structural role. Cadmium and zinc have similar electron configuration, valence state as well as affinity to S, N and O donor ligands and thus their geochemical and environmental properties are comparable. The antagonism activity between Cd and Zn in the environment and their chemical similarity can lead to interactions between Cd and Zn during plant uptake, transport from roots to shoots, or accumulation in edible tissues. Ion exchange is one of the methods used for the removal of several toxic substances. In recent years, natural amendments, such as zeolite have been widely used to address trace metals contamination. Therefore, adding zinc and zeolite to the growth medium of plant can be moderating the toxic effects of cadmium.
Materials and Methods: This pot experiment was conducted at the Experimental Field of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM) from September 2013 to June 2014. Treatments consisted of three levels of cadmium (0, 10 and 20 mg Cd kg-1 soil), three levels of zinc (0, 25 and 50 mg Zn kg-1 soil) and three levels of Zeolite (Clinoptilolite) (0, 5 and 10g zeolite kg-1 soil) arranged in a factorial based on Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Cadmium sulfate (CdSO4·4H2O) and zinc sulfate (ZnSO4·7H2O) were purchased from MERCK company. The zeolite used in this research was collected from the Semnan mine, located in South of Semnan Province. After preparing the soil, the pots (30 cm in diameter with 18 kg capacity) were filled with 18 kg soil and thoroughly mixed with appropriate amounts of cadmium, zinc and zeolite diluted in distilled water. Seeds of H. perforatum L. cv. “Topaz” were obtained from the FUM Research Field. After 24 hours of soaking in tap water, the seeds were sown on the surface of moistened soil in each pot and germinated after 10 days. Following germination, the seedlings (about 1.0 cm high) were thinned and only 10 seedlings in each pot were kept. At the full flowering stage, these plants were harvested after 9 months. Plant height, root length, flowering stem and flower number, leaf area, relative chlorophyll and number of black nodules was measured. Chlorophyll (Chl) content were determined by leaf area meter (Li-Cor-1300,USA) and SPAD chlorophyll meter. Data were analyzed statistically by using JMP 8 and Excel software. The differences between averages were tested by Tukeyʼs test at P < 0.05.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that increasing cadmium levels lead to significant decrease of 6.28, 3.45, 2.04, 5.49, 0.82, 15.71 percents in plant height, root length, flowering stem, flower number, leaf area and relative chlorophyll, respectively compared with control. In comparison to control, the number of black nodules in leaf significantly increased by 4.23 percent. Combined application of cadmium and zinc could significantly decline the effects of cadmium on plant height and root length. Meanwhile, interaction effect of cadmium and zeolite was detected significantly on root length and number of flowers. The results of three-way interactions for root length were superior in Zn0Cd0Z10 treatment. Cadmium is an inhibitor of uptake and accumulation of essential mineral nutrients, reduces conductivity of stomata andwater potential of cells and damaged photosystems; therefore, can decrease biomass production in stem, flower and root. The reduction of Chl content could lead to enzymatic degradation of these pigments or inhibition of their biosynthesis, which could be connected with Cd-induced deficiency of iron and zinc, decrease of magnesium content or cadmium bond to essential thiol groups in both the protochlorophyllide reductase protein and other enzymes involved in the light dependent synthesis of 5-aminolevulinic acid. Heavy metal stress with impact on biosynthetic pathways of pharmacologically active molecules can either increase or decrease them. Changes in black nodules number, containing hypericin and other secondary metabolites in H. perforatum in response to heavy metals can help us understand the role of this material in stress conditions. It could be assumed that high metal accumulating ability of plants producing specific secondary metabolites in H. perforatum could be also connected with chelation of toxic metals with mentioned substances.
Conclusions: Our results confirmed that the addition of zeolite and zinc presumably improved plant growth, because of increased availability of essential nutrient elements such as K, Mg, Ca, NH4, and micronutrients in presence of zeolite or decreased Cd sorption and transmission in presence of zinc.
Zeinab Aghakhani; Majid Azizi; Hossein Arouiee
Abstract
Introduction: Evening primrose (OenotherabiennisL.) is a relatively new and valuable oilseed crop for temperate region. Its oilseed is important because of high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, especially gamma-linolenic acid. Seeds contain 20-30% oil which includes 70% linoleic acid (LA) and 10% gamma ...
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Introduction: Evening primrose (OenotherabiennisL.) is a relatively new and valuable oilseed crop for temperate region. Its oilseed is important because of high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, especially gamma-linolenic acid. Seeds contain 20-30% oil which includes 70% linoleic acid (LA) and 10% gamma linolenic acid (GLA). Oil content in O. biennis is a quantitative trait which controlled by many genes and similar to any other quantitative traits varies with environmental conditionssuch factors as age of seed and growth conditions. Evening primrose oil, especially gamma-linolenic acid, has many therapeutic properties, and it uses as cure for many diseases such as Diabetes, Eczema, inflammation, Cardiovascular, Cancer, Autoimmune diseases, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Depression. Studies on Medicinal Plants in nature and farmlands show that the use of sustainable agriculturae andnatural sources are two suitable methods for producing healthy plants.Additionally, the use of bio-fertilizers lead to maximum yield and quality in these plants. Azizi et al.(6) showed that interactions of vermicompost and plant density had significant effect on oil content, oil density and refractive index of evening primrose oil. The best treatments were also including 2 Kg/m2 of vermicompost,20 plants/ m2in terms of oil production,9 plants/ m2in terms of oil quality and ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated, respectively.
Material and Method: The aim of this research was to determine the effect of humic acid and bio-phosphor application on growth parameters in O. biennis. The experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with 8 treatments and three replicates during 2013-2014 growing season, at the experimental farm of the faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.. Treatments consisted of 4 levels of humic acid (0, 1, 3, 5 ml/L) and 2 levels of bio-phosphor (without bio-phosphor or with bio-phosphor). Liquid form of humic acid was used, which has low percentage of organic matters (16.5%) and applied as foliar spray after stem elongation in three stages with 10 days intervals until flowers stage. The use of bio-phosphor contain three strains of phosphate solubilizing bacteria(Pseudomonas pautida, Bacillus circulans and Bacillus subtilus) withCFU 108 numbers of spores (the number of living cells of each bacteria per milliliter). Analysis of variance was calculated using MSTATC andDuncan's multiple range tests was employed at probability level of 5%.
Results and Discussion: The results showed thatmaximum plant height (85.59 cm),number of seed per capsules on main shoot (251.17), oil percent (21.75 %) was obtainedby interaction effect between 5 ml/Lhumic acid and without bio-phosphor. Also, seed yield (1080 kg/ha) and oil yield (227 kg/ha) increased byinteraction effect between 3 ml/Lhumic acid and without bio-phosphor. Humic acid had a significant effect on increasing number of lateral branches (26/8), number of capsules on main shoot (117/35), as the highest value of all traits were obtained in 5 ml/L humic acid treatment. The highest number of capsules in lateral branches was observed in bio-phosphor treatment without humic acid. Bio-phosphor application had no significant effect on increasing oil percent. Oil yield was reduced by using of this fertilizer with 1ml/L humic acid treatment but application of 3 and 5 ml/L of humic acid showed no significant difference in comparison to control. Ahmed et al.reported that humic acid is a suspension based on potassium humate, which can be used as a plant growth stimulant in order to increase plant natural resistance against diseases and pests and subsequently increase plant yields. Phosphorus is an important element for cell division, root development and seed formation. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria produce organic acids which increase solubility of phosphorus and make it available for plants. Use of bio-fertilizers not only improves plant structure and activity of beneficial soil microorganisms, also it provides good availability of water and nutrients which finally improve plant yield. It can be said that foliar spray by humic acid stimulates plant growth and increaseevening primrose oil content.
Conclusions: Application of 3 and 5 ml/L of humic acid had the best results on traits andinteraction effect between humic acid and bio-phosphor showed positive effects on all traits except oil percent and oil yield. Generally, humic acid had positive effect on plant growth, oil yield, content and composition. Although, bio-phosphor had good effect on seed yield as a growth trait,its application with humic acid improved this trait.While bio-phosphor had no significant effect on oil content, it can be relative impact on oil composition.
Razieh Valiasill; Majid Azizi; Hossein Arouiee; Masumeh Bahraini; M. Morabaian
Abstract
Introduction: Today, tendency to use drugs and therapies with herbal and natural products are increasing because negative effects of chemical drugs and environmental pollution have been proved. Collection and handling of medicinal plants are not usually done in sanitary conditions and difference in cultivation ...
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Introduction: Today, tendency to use drugs and therapies with herbal and natural products are increasing because negative effects of chemical drugs and environmental pollution have been proved. Collection and handling of medicinal plants are not usually done in sanitary conditions and difference in cultivation conditions can also increase pollution, influencing the maintenance period and damaging the aspect and the potential benefit of medicinal plants. Medicinal plants decontaminate with different methods that each of these methods has different effects on their microbial load. Therefore it seems essential to use of methods that can have the highest effect on microbial load decrease and the lowest effect on active substance of these plants.
Materials and Methods: In order to evaluate the effects of Ozone gas and gamma irradiation on microbial load of Melissa officinalis, an experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications. Plant samples were collected from the Research farm of, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Meliss leaves were treated by Ozone gas concentrations 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 ml/L for 10 and 30 min and irradiated at dosages 3, 7, 10 and 15 KGy by a Co60 source. Then microbial load of Meliss leaves were measured. Coliform bacteria were determined using Violet Red Bile lactose (VRBL) agar (Liofilchem Co., Italia), according to the method of ISO4832. According to ISO 7954, yeast extract of glucose chloramphenicol agar (Liofilchem Co., Italia) was used for determination of mold and yeast. The total count (plate count agar, Liofilchem Co., Italia) was determined by method of ISO 4833, that each replicate was tested with duplicate pour plates. Ozone gas was produced by corona discharge Ozone generator with production capacity 10 g/h of Ozone gas (OZONEAB co. A.S10. Iran). Analysis of variance and means comparison were calculated using SAS 9.1 (Cary, NC, USA, 2002-2003). Means square comparisons were different at the 5% significance level by the least significant difference test.
Results and Discussion: The effect of Gamma radiation on microbial load such as total count, molds, yeasts and Coliform was significant (p
Hassan Farhadi; Majid Azizi; Seyyed Hossein Nemati
Abstract
Introduction: Fenugreek (Trigonalla foenum-graecum L.), an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Coleoidea (Fabaceae) family, has numerous medicinal properties such as decreasing blood glucose, laxative, appetizer, mucus, antipyretic and increasing the amount of milk during lactation . Among the most ...
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Introduction: Fenugreek (Trigonalla foenum-graecum L.), an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Coleoidea (Fabaceae) family, has numerous medicinal properties such as decreasing blood glucose, laxative, appetizer, mucus, antipyretic and increasing the amount of milk during lactation . Among the most important problems in arid and semi-arid regions, drought stress or water shortage will have negative effects on plant growth. Drought stress occurs mostly because of reducing water availability in the soil. This may be due to excessive water loss or absorption problems, or both of them. One of the major factors limiting germination, which occurs in more arid and semi-arid regions, is salt stress. The study was done to evaluate germination of four Iranian population of fenugreek (Amol, Tabriz, Sari and Mashhad) under drought and salinity stresses.
Materials and methods: To investigate the effect of salinity and drought stresses on germination and seedling growth characteristics of native landrace fenugreek, two separate experiments were conducted in a Completely Randomized Design with three replications in Seed Laboratory of University of Mashhad in 2014. The experiment treatments consisted of four levels of salinity (0, 60, 120, 180 mM) that was induced by different concentrations of sodium chloride and drought stress induced by polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) at four levels (0, -3, -6 and -9 Bar) with three replications. The drought stress levels were simulation by polyethylene glycol 6000 and using the Michel and Kaufmann formula. Distilled water was applied as control. Iranian seed population of fenugreek were purchased from the city of Amol, Tabriz, Sari and Mashhad then the seeds were washed with sodium hypochlorite (3 % v/v) for two minutes for disinfestation and washed three times with distilled water. On the twelfth day of experiment, seedling traits such as plumule and root length and weight in Petri dishes were measured.
Results and Discussion: The results of ANOVA showed that salinity and drought stress significantly (p≤0.01) affect germination process. The results of the means comparison confirmed that fenugreek germination in all seed population was reduced by increasing salinity levels. The lowest germination was detected under 180 mM salt stress in “Tabriz” population (12.04%), while the highest germination (95/26%) was calculated in “Mashhad” population at control. Seeds of “Mashhad” population in comparison to other population showed higher germination at other salinity levels. Germination rate also was significantly affected by salinity (p≤0.01). Decreasing of germination rate in fenugreek population of Amol, Tabriz, Sari and Mashhad under 180 mM salinity stress in comparison to control (0 mM) were 84/62, 87/80, 85/93, 82/59, respectively. Mashhad and Amol (second order) populations showed more germination rate stability after changes in salinity levels. The results of analysis of variance from this study showed that interaction effect of salinity and population significantly (p≤0.05) affect root length of the fenugreek. The root length of Mashhad and Amol populations were more stable at high level of salinity. Other researcher also reported that the root length decreased after salinity treatments (10, 13). Salinity stress affect water absorption by seed and decreasing Amylase and lipase activity caused degradation of stored material in seeds and then decreasing root length (23). Salinity, population and interaction between these factors significantly (p≤0.01) affected length of plumule. The results showed that Mashhad population had the highest and Tabriz revealed the lowest length of plumule. Interaction effects of treatments on seedling dry weight showed significant (p≤0.01) differences. Mashhad in comparison to the other populations had the highest seedling dry weight as 9.26, 8.10, 7.22 and 3.6 mg/seedling at different salinity treatments (0, 60, 120, 180 mM), respectively.
Interaction effects of drought stress and population on germination percentage was significant (p≤0.01). Mashhad and Amol (second order) populations were the best populations. At the highest level of drought stress (-9 Bar), these two populations had the lowest decrease in germination percentage. The mechanism of the results was the same as salinity which explained in above. According to the results of analysis of variance (ANOVA), all treatments and all interaction had significant effect (p≤0.01) on germination rate. The Mashhad and Sari populations were more tolerant than other populations against drought stress examined as germination rate as concerned. Analysis of variance showed that the simple effects of drought stress and population on root length were significant at one percent but interaction effect of drought stress and population was not significant statistically. The root length was in the range of 26.78 to 50.29 mm in the tested population. Mashhad population was more tolerant against drought stress in comparison to the other tested populations. Analysis of variance showed that simple effect of drought and population were significant (p≤0.01) on this trait but their interaction was not significant. Length of plumule mean comparison showed that the traite was in the range of 21.74 to 43.31 mm in Tabriz and Mashhad populations, respectively.Acoording to the length of plumule,Mashhad population in comparison to other tested populations under drought stress was tolerant . The water potential (drought stress), population and interaction between them showed significant effect (p≤0.01) on seedling dry weight. Among the evaluated population the Mashhad population was tolerant to drought stress when seedling dry weight was concerned. The highest correlation coefficient (r=0.96) was detected between germination percentage and root length and in second order the correlation coefficient between germination percentage and seedling dry weight was 0.93. The lowest correlation coefficient (0.61) was observed between germination rates and seedling dry weight.
Conclusions: The decline in germination percentage, germination rate, root length, shoot length and dry weight of seedlings with increased water osmotic potential in Mashhad population was less than other evaluated populations. Seed germination rate was more sensitive than seed germination percentage in both salt and drought stress therefore this trait is a suitable criterion for screening of tolerant population for future breeding purpose. The order for tolerance to salinity and drought stress in evaluated population was Mashhad, Tabriz, Sari and Amol.
Majid Azizi; Zainab Safaei
Abstract
Introduction: The ever-increasing tendency to the use of medicinal plants in the world has grown concerns about their cultivation and production processes. As medicinal plants are more compatible with the nature, special interest and attention have recently been given to herb therapy, and use of medicinal ...
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Introduction: The ever-increasing tendency to the use of medicinal plants in the world has grown concerns about their cultivation and production processes. As medicinal plants are more compatible with the nature, special interest and attention have recently been given to herb therapy, and use of medicinal plants, being limited by the rise of pharmaceutical drugs, has become again common and widespread due to a number of reasons. In a sustainable agriculture system, application of the fertilizers which are nature friendly and suitable for plants is essential. This becomes more important when dealing with medicinal plants. Doing studies over the effect of nanopharmax and humic acid fertilizer on the plant, no research findings were obtained. So, in order to use less chemical fertilizers to prevent environmental pollution and encourage farmers to use more organic fertilizer, the present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of foliar application of humic acid and nano-pharmax fertilizer on the growth index, yield, yield components, essential oil content of N. sativa.
Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted at Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in 2012-2013. Land preparation was done in October. The land area was 80 square meters in which three blocks were designed. Eight plots were prepared within each block and each plot was planted with 4 lines. Furrow sowing operations were carried out on October 29. The plants were thinned in 4-6 leaf stage. First irrigation after planting, and subsequent ones were done every 7 days until the end of the growing season. No herbicides were applied in this plan and weeding was done by hand. The test treatments included humic acid and nanopharmax fertilizer with the levels of 0, 1, 3 and 6 mg per liter and 0 and 1 ml per liter, respectively. Fertilizer treatments was applied at the 8-10 leaf stage and continued once every two weeks, three times until after flowering. Foliar application continued until the plants were well treated with the solution. Plant height, leaf area index, dry weight, the number of branches, and the number of capsules per plant, the number of seeds per capsule, seed weight, seed yield, biological yield, essential oil content and yield were measured. The factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design with three replications. For the variance analysis of test data and drawing graphs, Excel and Minitab-16 software was used. All the averages data were compared at the 5 and 1% level, according to LSD test.
Results and Discussion: Different levels of humic acid imposed a significant effect on plant height, leaf area index, dry weight, the number of branches, and the number of capsules per plant, the number of seeds per capsule, seed weight, seed yield, biological yield, essential oil content and yield. Nano fertilizer application significantly increased the yield and essential oil content of Nigella sativa. Combined treatment at various levels had significant effect on dry weight, seed weight, biological yield and essential oil content and yield. According to the results, it can be concluded that the levels of 6 mg.l-1 of humic acid and Nano fertilizer (Farmks®) application the treatments were more effective in the increase of growth index, yield, yield components, essential oil content on other traits. The increased seed yield affected by humic acid and nano fertilizer can be attributed to the better vegetative growth, canopy development and consequently, more appropriate use of solar radiation and high photosynthesis. Using nano fertilizer, the time and speed of nutrients dispersion is coordinated by food requirements of the plant and thus, the plant will be able to absorb the maximum amount of nutrients and therefore, while reducing the leaching of nutrients and the crop yield increases.
Conclusion: The results showed that the use of nano fertilizer and humic acid can have positive effects on yield components and yield of N. sativa. Application of nano fertilizer and humic acid concentrations of 6 mg/l showed higher yield than other treatments. Intensifying the vegetative growth, these treatments increased the yield in N. sativa species. The combined treatments significantly increased the seed weight, growth index, seed yield, biological yield essential oil content and yield. Therefore, on the basis of the results of current study, it sounds like that nano fertilizer and humic acid can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and environmental pollution. They also play an important role in achieving the goals of sustainable agriculture.
Zahra Karimian; Ali Tehranifar; Mohammad Bannayan Aval; Majid Azizi; Fatemeh Kazemi
Abstract
Introduction: With regard to two adverse climatic phenomena of urban heat islands and global warming that has been leading to increase temperature in many cities in the world, providing human thermal comfort especially in large cities with hot and dry climates, during the hottest periods of the year ...
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Introduction: With regard to two adverse climatic phenomena of urban heat islands and global warming that has been leading to increase temperature in many cities in the world, providing human thermal comfort especially in large cities with hot and dry climates, during the hottest periods of the year is crucial. Mainly vegetation with three methods: shading, evapotranspiration and wind breaking can affect micro-climate. The aim of this study was to asses and simulate the impact of existing and proposed vegetation on the human thermal comfort and micro climate changes in some residential areas of Mashhad during the hottest periods of the year by using a modeling and computer simulation approach.
Materials and Methods: This research was performed in the Ghasemabad residential area, Andisheh and Hesabi blocks, and in the hottest period of the year 2012 in Mashhad. Recorded data in the residential sites along with observed data from Mashhad weather station that included temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction. Soil data (soil temperature and humidity, soil\ type), plant data (plant type, plant height, leaf area index) and building data (inner temperature in the building, height and area buildings) as input data were used in the ENVI-met model. Both two sites, Andishe and Hesabi residential blocks, with vegetation (different trees and bushes plants, for example Acacia, ash, sycamore, mulberry, chinaberry, barberry, boxwood and Cotoneaster that all of them are tolerant and semi-tolerant to drought) about 20% were simulated. Regarding the area of simulating, 3 receptors were considered in per sites. Simulation was commenced from 6 AM and continued until 18 pm, but just data of 11-15 hours were analysed (the hours of peak traffic).
Results and Discussion: Analysis of outputs data revealed that the temperature of two residential sites in all three receptors during the study were almost the same. In general, the maximum temperature difference between receptors was obtained at 13 hour. The trend of relative humidity changes was very similar in both residential sites. In these two sites the most differences in the relative humidity was obtained at 12 oclock.. In addition, the trend of Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) in Andisheh residential block showed that these changes in central and south-west part of the site were similar. The simulation with vegetation in the sites, also, showed that the trend of temperature and relative humidity changes were similar. The trends of temperature changes in residential site, Hesabi, in the defined receptors were very similar. So that temperature increased from 12 oclock to 15. While the trend of relative humidity changes was quite the reverse. This study results showed that the difference in temperature, relative humidity and PMV between measured and simulated data were minimal in both residential sites. Moreover, the data comparison of PMV indicated that in both residential sites, despite of simulation with vegetation, the human thermal comfort did not improve, so that these sites were in the range of extreme heat stress. There are several reasons to justify this issue, such as the percentage and the type of vegetation, factors related to the topography and geography of area, building distribution and density, type and color of the building materials and surfaces, etc. However, in this part of the study, other factors were constant, except vegetation. It seems that with increase of percentage and the ratio of vegetation, changes in temperature, relative humidity and other micro-climate factors, are created, but sometimes for the reasons stated, the temperature during the hottest period of the year is too high so that increase in vegetation will have little impact on outdoor thermal comfort. It might be the simulated area on these sites as well as the type and the ratio of the selected species to reduce the temperature and increase the relative humidity have been not adequately represent all conditions which be able to improve thermal comfort.
Conclusions: In this study eventually we can conclude that in the simulated sites with about 20 percent vegetation cover,, despite the slight decrease and increase in temperature and relative humidity, respectively compared with the real sites, the thermal comfort range was similar. It is advisable in the future studies to simulate the green area in shape of the vertical and horizontal, changes in species composition in green area like trees, shrubs, and cover plants and also the test of different combinations of type and percentage of vegetation.
Golnar GhazianTafrishi; Hossein Arouiee; Majid Azizi; Hamidreza Khazaie; Saeid Reza Vessal
Abstract
Introduction: Plants native to tropical and subtropical climates which grown in the temperate climate zone, suffer chilling injury when exposed to non-freezing temperatures for a certain period of time. The optimum growth temperature for cucumber (a tropical plant) is 20 to 25°C. Cucumber is sensitive ...
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Introduction: Plants native to tropical and subtropical climates which grown in the temperate climate zone, suffer chilling injury when exposed to non-freezing temperatures for a certain period of time. The optimum growth temperature for cucumber (a tropical plant) is 20 to 25°C. Cucumber is sensitive to temperatures lower than 10 °C. Cucumber area of production exposes to late spring and early autumn cold weather in Khorasan-e-Razavai, Iran. Studies showed that chilling leads to an alteration in fatty acid composition of membrane lipids and its permeability, changes in photosynthetic pigments content and decrease in photosynthesis. Many researchers pointed to a possible role of polyamine compounds in plant defense against environmental stresses. Exog enous application Spd could prevent the electrolyte and amino acid leakage or recovering the plasma membrane damage in rice and cucumber in response to salinity, chilling and water stressed conditions.
Materials and methods: A factorial experiment, based on completely randomized design was conducted to investigate the effect of short-term chilling on cucumber plantlets which was earlier treated with spermidine. Factors were included two levels of temperature (6 and 12°C) and four levels of spermidine (0, 0.25, 0.5 and .0.75 mg/L). The studied cultivar was ‘Super-Dominus’. In order to determine the extent of chilling injury, plants of each treatment were rated based on visual symptoms. By assigning values of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 while 1: no visible symptoms 2:5% of leaf area necrotic, 3: 5-25% of leaf area necrotic, 4: 26-50% of leaf area necrotic but plant still alive, 5: lost, entire plant necrotic and collapsed. Measured traits were root and shoot length, root and shoot dry weight, root and leaf electrical leakage, and leaf chlorophyll content.
Results and discussion: Plants which exposed to low temperature showed chilling injury symptoms (5-25% leaf area necrotic). The symptoms reduced (less than 5% leaf area necrotic) by using 0.25 and 0.5 mg/L spermidine. The symptoms enhanced by 50% by applying 0.75 mg/L spermidine at 6°C. Analysis of variance showed that there was significant difference between temperature levels, spermidine levels and interaction between them in respect to root length, shoot length, shoot dry weight and root and leaf electrical leakage. Root dry weight, root to shoot ratio and chlorophyll content just affected by temperature and spermidines levels but not by interaction between them. Root and shoot length and dry weight decreased by low temperature. At cold stress condition growth decreased due to a reduction in photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism .Root and shoot length decreased more than 79% at 6°C compare with 12°. Root to shoot ratio increased at cold condition which was the result of lower root weight loss in response to cold temperature compared with shoot weight losses. Electrical leakage (EL) enhanced in leaf and root cells at chilling temperature, but the enhancement was significantly more at root cells. Electrical leakage enhanced more than 52% in root cells at 6°C compared with 35% in leaf cells. EL suppressed, using 0.25 and 0.5 mg/L spermidine while an increase observed in El at 0.75 mg/L spermidine. The lowest EL percentage observed for leaf samples treated with 0.25 and 0.5 mg/L spermidine at 12°C. The highest EL percentage belonged to root samples treated with 0.75 mg/L Spd at 6°C .Chlorophyll content (ChlC) decreased at cold condition. ChlC was 52% at12°C compared with 37% at 6°C. High significant correlation observed between chlorophyll content and shoot dry matter (r2= 0.96**). Root and shoot length and dry weight and leaf chlorophyll content enhanced using 0.25 and 0.5 mg/L spermidine at both chilling and control temperatures. A decrease observed in measured traits applying 0.75mg/L spermidine. There was no significant difference between 0.25 and 0.5 mg/L spermidine levels in respect of measured traits expect for shoot dry weight. Spermidine enhances chilling tolerance in cucumber by prohibiting the activity of NADPH oxidase. The capacity of PAs to enhance the tolerance of cucumber to chilling injury is attributed to the scavenging of H2O2 production under chilling condition.
Conclusion: Results showed that root and shoot length and weight, root and leaf electrical leakage and chlorophyll content of leaf adversely affected by chilling stress. Using 0.25 mg/L spermidine modulates plant responses to chilling stress. There was no significant difference between 0.25 and 0.5 mg/L spermidine in respect of measured traits. But all measured traits adversely affected using 0.75 mg/L spermidine at both 6 and 12°C.
Mohammadtaghi Ebadi; Majid Azizi; Fatemeh Sefidkon; Noorollah Ahmadi
Abstract
Introduction: Organic fertilizers with beneficial effects on soil structure and nutrient availability help maintain yield and quality, and they are less costly than synthetic fertilizers. Vermicompost and vermiwash are two organic fertilizers that they contain a biologically active mixture of bacteria, ...
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Introduction: Organic fertilizers with beneficial effects on soil structure and nutrient availability help maintain yield and quality, and they are less costly than synthetic fertilizers. Vermicompost and vermiwash are two organic fertilizers that they contain a biologically active mixture of bacteria, enzymes and phytohormones, also these organic fertilizers can supply the nutritional needs of plants. Lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora Kunth, Verbenaceae) is an evergreen perennial aromatic plant. The lemon-scented essential oil from the lemon verbena has been widely used for its digestive, relaxing, antimalarial and lemony flavor properties. In order to decrease the use of chemical fertilizers for reduction of environmental pollution, this research was undertaken to determine effects of vermicompost and vermiwash in comparison with chemical fertilizer on leaf yield, essential oil content and composition of lemon verbena.
Materials and Methods: A pot experiment based on a completely randomized design with six treatments and three replications on Lemon verbena was carried out in the experimental greenhouse of the Department of Horticulture Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, 2012. Treatments consisted of 10, 20 and 30 % by volume of vermicompost and vermiwash (with an addition to irrigation in three steps, including: two weeks after the establishment of plants in pots, the appearing of branches and three weeks before harvest), complete fertilizer and control without any fertilizer. Each replication contained six pots and each pot contained one plant of Lemon verbena provided from Institute of Medicinal Plants, Karaj, therefore 108 pots were used in this experiment. The pots were filled up by a mixture contained 3/5 soil and 2/5 sand (v/v). After three months, plant aerial parts were harvested concomitantly at starting of the flowering stage. Aerial parts were dried at room temperature for 72 hours and dry weights of dried branches and leaves were measured. For isolation of essential oils, about 20 g of dried leaves (three replications of each treatment) was subjected to hydro-distillation for 2 h with a Clevenger apparatus. The extracted essential oils were dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate and then they analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The data were subjected to analysis of variance using SAS software and means compared with Duncan's multiple range test.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that differences between treated plants with organic fertilizers were not significant for aerial part yield, but leaf yield and essential oil content were affected by fertilizer type (p
Majid Azizi; Mansour Mashreghi; Fatemeh Oroojalian; Naser Shahyahmasebi
Abstract
To study the interaction of silver nanoparticles with antibacterial effects of Kelussia odoratissima and Teucrium polium essential oils consolidated trial based on calculation of MIC and FIC index or differential inhibitory concentration and simple method checkboard designed and implemented. Essential ...
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To study the interaction of silver nanoparticles with antibacterial effects of Kelussia odoratissima and Teucrium polium essential oils consolidated trial based on calculation of MIC and FIC index or differential inhibitory concentration and simple method checkboard designed and implemented. Essential oil of the plants extracted by hydro-distillation using clevenger apparatus. In this study, common food contaminant bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157: H7, Salmonella enterica and Ps. aureogenosa were used. The results showed that the antibacterial properties of the essential oil of Teucrium is stronger (MIC between 0.16 to 1.25 mg/ ml) than of the oil of Kelussia (MIC between 0.3 to 2.5 mg/ml). Antibacterial properties of silver nanoparticles (MIC between 0.006 to 0.025 mg) were stronger significantly. Calculate the differential inhibitory concentration index (FICi) implies the existence of synergistic and additive effect between silver nanoparticles and oil of both plant which will depend on the type of pathogen. This means that the combined use of silver nanoparticles and essential oil of the plant especially Teucrium essential oils strong inhibitory effect with lower concentrations of the essential oils was observed. Antagonistic interaction between silver nanoparticles and oil treatments in any of these two plants were observed.
Masoud Azimi; Majid Azizi; Mohammad Farsi; Seyyed Hossein Nemati
Abstract
Introduction: Nowadays, mushroom and fungi are one of the most promising organisms which are used in biotechnology research (industry, medicine and agriculture). In the meantime, medicinal mushroom (mostly consumed as edible and medicinal products) have become a valuable biological resourcesin the pharmaceutical ...
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Introduction: Nowadays, mushroom and fungi are one of the most promising organisms which are used in biotechnology research (industry, medicine and agriculture). In the meantime, medicinal mushroom (mostly consumed as edible and medicinal products) have become a valuable biological resourcesin the pharmaceutical industry. Ganoderma the most legendary species of fungi in China with a long history dating back more than two thousand years.Ganodermalucidum (Fr.) Karst isa species belonging to the order of Aphyllophorales and family Basidiomycetes. The mushroom only growth on two or three types of trees among 10,000 known trees in the world and therefore is very rare. Ganoderma fruiting bodies and spores contain about 400 different bioactive compounds, which mainly includeTriterpenes, polysaccharides, nucleotides, sterols, steroids, fatty acids, proteins andpeptides. The mushroom polysaccharides, in addition to cancer treatment have showed antiviral properties, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive and prevent blood clotting. Tavana et al (1) in the evaluation of the use of some agricultural and forest wastes material for production of the mushroom stated that the residue are suitable as a helpful supplements for the activity. Gonzalez-Matute et al (11) used sunflower seed shell after oil extraction as a substrate. They concluded that the sunflower seed shell can be used as the main energy source in the substrate to grow the mushroom. There are different agricultural wastematerials which are good sources for growing mushroom in our country. The use of agricultural residues has attracted much attention in recent years. To the best of our knowledge there are a few published studieson the production of Ganoderma in the field condition. This study was performed on Reishi mushroom (Ganodermalucidum) to investigate the effects of different agricultural wastes on some morphological characteristics (growth rate, fresh weight and dry weight of mycelia, biological yield andcrude polysaccharide content) and polysaccharide contents of fruits.
Material and Methods:The main portion of the medium for production of Ganodermalucidum was wood chips as 5-10 mm long that supplemented with different agricultural wastes included black seed waste, tea waste, hazelnut waste, coconut waste, almond wasteand sesame waste, with two types of bran (wheat and rice). The statistical design was afactorial experiment on the basis of completely randomized design with threereplications. The treatment were included
Wood chips (80 percent) + black seed waste (10 percent) + rice bran (10 percent)
Wood chips (80 percent) + tea waste (10 percent) + rice bran (10 percent)
Wood chips (80 percent) + sesame waste (10 percent) + rice bran (10 percent)
Wood chips (80 percent) + hazelnut waste (10 percent) + rice bran (10 percent)
Wood chips (80 percent) + coconut waste (10 percent) + rice bran (10 percent)
Wood chips (80 percent) + black seed waste (10 percent) + wheat bran (10 percent)
Wood chips (80 percent) + almond waste (10 percent) + wheat bran (10 percent)
Wood chips (80 percent) + sesame waste (10 percent) + wheat bran (10 percent)
Wood chips (80 percent) + hazelnut waste (10 percent) + wheat bran (10 percent)
Wood chips (80 percent) + coconut waste (10 percent) + wheat bran (10 percent)
At first Wood chips soaked in water for 2 days until the their moisture reached60-65 then the other agricultural waste materials added on the basis of the treatments and the autoclavable propylene bags filledwith the mixture and autoclaved for 2 hours at 121ºC. After cooling, all bags inoculated with wheat spawn of the Ganodermalucidium and the bags putunderdark condition in growth chamber with 85-95% humidity at 30ºC. After full colonization of the bags, they transfer to the light condition (200-500 Lux) at 25ºC until primordial formation. Then the light increased to 500-700 Lux until fruiting body formation.
Results and Discussion: The results of analysis of variance showed that the use of these agricultural wastes had a significant effect (P≤0.01) on growth rate, fresh weight, dry weight of myceliumand biological yield. The highest growth rate of mycelia (on the basis of days after inoculation to medium colonized completely) was detected in media enriched with tea waste, hazelnut waste, coconut waste and almond waste (15.33, 16.67, 15.33 and 14.33 days, respectively). The lowest growth rate of mycelium was detected in media enriched with black seed waste (30.33 days). The substrate supplemented with almond waste produced the highest amount of fresh fruit weight (31 g) and the lowest fresh fruit weight (15.74 g) was detected under coconut waste treatment. The highest amount of fruit dry weight (6.51 g) observed under the almond waste treatment and the lowest one observed under the coconut waste treatment (3.75 g). The media supplemented with almond wastes produced the highest biological yield (7.75%), but tea waste, hazelnut waste and coconut waste treatments had the lowest biological yield (4.75, 5.32, 5.27 and 3.93 percent, respectively) without significant differences (P≤0.01).
Helale Kaboli Farshchi; Majid Azizi; Seyyed Hossein Nemati; Vahid Rowshan
Abstract
Introduction: Medicinal and aromatic plants can play an important role in commercial crops, which also represent a safe alternative for chemical pharmaceutical industries. St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) due to its therapeutic efficacy has been used for decades in folk medicine and is considered ...
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Introduction: Medicinal and aromatic plants can play an important role in commercial crops, which also represent a safe alternative for chemical pharmaceutical industries. St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) due to its therapeutic efficacy has been used for decades in folk medicine and is considered as a promising medicinal plant with valuable potential as a source of hypericin, essential oils and antioxidants. Studies on agronomic factors such as application of potassium and humic acid as well as nitrogen fertilization on yield, essential oil and antioxidant activity of Hypericum perforatum have not been investigated thoroughly until now. This study was designed to study the effect of using humic acid and potassium sulphate on morphological and phytochemical characteristics of Hypericum perforatum.
Materials and Methods: The plant material was prepared from Science and Technology Park in Khorasan-e Razzavi–Mashhad. In spring, the plants were transplanted into the field of Horticulture department, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, for fertilizing treatments. The experimental layout was factorial in a complete randomized design (CRD), with three replications. Potassium Sulphate (K2SO4) was applied at the rates of 0.0 (K0), 60 (K60) and 100 (K100) kg ha-1. The other treatment were humic acid, which was applied at three rates 0 (H0), 20 (H20) and 40 (H40) L ha-1. Plants were treated at two stages, before flowering by potassium fertilizer and fertigated four times in 15-day intervals with humic acid. Besides the fresh and dry weight, number of flowers, stem height and number of flowering stems were determined at the end of the growing stage.
Results and Discussion: The ANOVA indicated that most of measured attributes of Hypericum perforatum plant were significantly affected by both treatments. Data presented revealed that the highest stem (91.6 cm) was recorded at the highest level of potassium sulphate (K100) treatment, while the shortest height (60.4 cm) was recorded at the lowest level of potassium sulphate (K0) treatment. On the other hand, the highest stem (80.33 cm) was achieved with the highest level of humic acid treatment. No significant difference was observed between the highest level of humic acid (H40) and the second level (H20), while both mentioned levels showed a significant difference with control (H0). This means that the control plants possessed the lowest stem height (66.7 cm). The DPPH method for evaluation of antioxidant activity reflects the ability of the present compounds to scavenge hydrophilic free radicals. DPPH inhibition was investigated and the results were evaluated as relative activities against α-tocopherol as positive control. A lower EC50 indicates a higher antioxidant activity. As it is shown, the least EC50 which indicates the highest antioxidant activity belonged to plants treated with potassium sulphate at (100 kg.ha-1). Control plants possessed the least antioxidant activity and showed no significant difference compared with plants treated with 60 kg.ha-1 of this fertilizer. Humic acid had a significant effect on antioxidant activity of H. perforatum. The lowest value of EC50 was related to the highest level of humic acid, while the highest value of EC50 was obtained from control plants. There was also significant difference between control and two other levels (20 and 40 L ha-1) of humic acid. Applied fertilizers at their high levels showed significant effects on EC50 decrease, which means the increment of antioxidant activity of H. perforatum. The high antioxidant activity of this medicinal plant is the reason of flavonoids and phenols existence. It seems that application of these fertilizers have led to increment of the mentioned secondary metabolites and followed by an increase of antioxidant activity in comparison with control plants. Totally, H. perforatum possessed a high antioxidant activity. Based on recorded data of the present study, application of the mentioned fertilizers separately or simultaneously caused the increase of this important medicinal plant fresh and dry weight, and finally the yield. Number of flowers, stem height and flowering stems reached the highest value at the highest level of both fertilizers (K100H40). As potassium plays an important role in the development of reproductive parts of plants, it might be one of the reasons of the above mentioned increase. The highest essential oil content was recorded at high levels of both fertilizers (K100H40). Since the highest essential oil content accumulates in the flowering stems, an increase of these stems height and a higher number of flowers would lead to an increase of essential oil content of H. perforatum. Antioxidant activity of this plant is flavonoids contributed. It seems that application of these fertilizers increased the antioxidant activity by an increase of this pigment content.
Sonayye Beigi; Majid Azizi; Seyyed Hossein Nemati; Vahid Rowshan
Abstract
Introduction: Medicinal plants are rich in active substances and primarily have been used in the manufacture of many drugs. Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is one of the important medicinal plants whichbelongs to the Lamiaceae family. Basil essential oil content (between 0.5 to 1.5 percent) varies according ...
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Introduction: Medicinal plants are rich in active substances and primarily have been used in the manufacture of many drugs. Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is one of the important medicinal plants whichbelongs to the Lamiaceae family. Basil essential oil content (between 0.5 to 1.5 percent) varies according to climatic conditions of habitat location. Basilneeds a lot of water during growth period and it is very sensitive to water stress and shows wilting symptoms very soon after water shortage. Iran is located in an arid and semi-arid region which has little precipitation that is not enough for crop water requirements. Nowadays, the use of superabsorbent polymers is one of the ways to create sustainable agriculture and increase irrigation efficiency. They can store high water or aqueous solutions in root zone of plants and to reduce negative effects of drought stress. So, improvement of plant growth, increasing of irrigation intervals, reducing water loss and costs of irrigation is due to the application of superabsorbent polymers. Mucilages are also the herbal polysaccharides, soluble in water, and commonly include carbohydrates and can be used as hydrophilic polymers. The aims of this investigation were to study the effects of hydrophilic polymers on water use efficiency, morphological characteristics (dry matter, leaf area, and leaf number), essential oil quantity and yield of basil to harden plant to drought stress and to evaluate its potential to cultivate in arid regions. In addition, taking steps forward towards sustainable agriculture, by reducing the cost of agricultural production, helps protecting the environment.
Materials and Methods: This research was conducted as a pot experiment at the department of Horticultural Science‚ college of Agricultural‚ Ferdowsi University of Mashhad‚ Iran, during 2012-2013.The research was set out in a factorial experiment on the basis of completely randomized block design with three replications.Two hydrophilic polymer Stockosorb® (industrial) and malva leaf (herbal) with two application methods (mixed with soil, mixed with soil+root) at 4concentrations (0, 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% w/w) were used. Leaf number, leaf area, dry matter yield, water use efficiency, essential oil quantity and yield were measured. Improved seeds of Ocimum basilicum var. Keshkeniluvelou were sown and seedlings were transplanted to the pots in four-leaf stage. Hydrogels were prepared and mixed with water after weighing the polymers according to determined concentration. After establishment, all pots were irrigated with a determined amount of water after reaching to the highest concentration (0.3%) of the wilting point. So, in this state in addition to the treatment at 0.3% treatment, lower levels (0.2% and 0.1%)were reached to wilting point earlierand were exposed to water stress.
Results and Discussion: Superabsorbent polymers can by absorption of irrigation and rain water, prevent deep percolation of water and with decreasing irrigation interval and reduced water consumption and increase water use efficiency. The results showed that using Stockosorb superabsorbent polymer and malva leaf as herbal hydrophilic polymersare useful for water supply of the plant in water stress.Application of these substances on morphological characteristics, water use efficiency and basil oil, were superior to the control.According to the obtained results, malva leaf use in soil and roots in treatmentless than (0.1% and 0.2%)number and leaf area and higher than (0.3%)increased dry matter yield, water use efficiency and the essential oil quantity and yield. Stockosorb (0.2%) byboth applying methods increased dry matter yield and water use efficiency. Also Stockosorb (0.2%),soil application increased leaf number and area. The essential oil yield and quantity increasedwith use of Stockosorb in soil + root in for0.2% and 0.3% treatments, respectively.
Conclusion: Due to the importance of cultivation of medicinal plants to provide conditions to increase essential oil yield and quantity at the same time, the best method used were malva leaf and Stockosorb with concentrations higher than (0.3%) and soil application methodor the use of both polymers with application method in soil + root in the moderate concentration (0.2%).For that purpose, we obtained favorable conditions for improving the morphological characteristics, water use efficiency and increasing the quantity and of essential oil yield in drought stress simultaneously. The results showed that natural compounds can be a good alternative for chemical compounds, but further experiments are needed for their commercialization.
Majid Azizi; Zeinab Safaei; Somaye Mirmostafaee; Shadi Bolorian; Negar Rahimi
Abstract
Introduction: Fresh-cut produce graduated to retail during the1990s, especially for lettuce, cabbage, carrots and other similar vegetables. The high microbial loads of these products after harvest can be substantially reduced through a cleaning in flowing chlorinated water and adistribution under ensured ...
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Introduction: Fresh-cut produce graduated to retail during the1990s, especially for lettuce, cabbage, carrots and other similar vegetables. The high microbial loads of these products after harvest can be substantially reduced through a cleaning in flowing chlorinated water and adistribution under ensured controlledrefrigeration. Therefore, a good number of convenient ready-to-use greens were launched to the market in the past decade. Nowadays, theuse of this technology to achieve similar results in fruit products is one of the most challengingtargets for processors. However, there is anumber of issues that still need to beovercomebeforefresh-cut fruit commodities can be sparked off to anoutstanding position in the segment of lightly-treatedrefrigerated foods. The importance of freshly cut products increases day by day. Tissue and cell rupture leads to a decrease in the shelf life of these products. On the other hand, these products due to increased enzyme activity, respiration rate and microbiological considerations that affect the health of these productsrequires highly attention.To increase the shelf life of the products and prevent undesirable changes in cut slices of fruit or vegetables a coating on the surface of these products has been suggested. Mucilages and essential oils of herbs are natural compounds that can be used to create such covers. The advantages of these coatings are their bactericidal effect, maintenanceof pleasant taste and other physical and chemical characteristics of the product and even decrease of environmental pollution. In this research, the effect of natural compounds such as Zataria multiflora essential oil (EO) and Plantagopsyllium mucilage on storage life and microbial load of fresh cut carrot was studied.
Materials and Methods: The research was conducted in two separate experiments on fresh-cut carrot: In the first experiment, the effect of different concentrations of Plantago psyllium mucilage (0,100, 200, and 400mgL-1) and four concentrations of Zataria multiflora essential oil (0,100, 250,and 500 mgL-1), in a factorial experiment on the basis of completely randomized designwith16treatments and three replications was evaluated. In the second experiment application of essential oil and mucilage on microbial load of fresh-cut carrot was examined in a split plot experiment on the basis of randomized complete blocks design with six treatments and three replications which Zataria multiflora EO (500 mgL-1) and Plantago psyllium mucilage (400 mgL-1) was set as main plot and storage time was set as subplot. The serial dilution technique and cultivation in special culture media were used to determine the microbial load. Treated samples were then packaged in polyethylene trays (175mL) and were stored at 4°C. After10 days of treatment different parameters such as weight loss, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), pH, color, organoleptic properties, the amount of skin whitening and microbial load were evaluated.Means were compared using LSD test at the significant 5% probability level.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the treatments had a significant effect on weight loss. Essential oil and mucilage treated samples with different concentrations and also a combination of the two had less weight loss than the control. Different concentrations of essential oil and mucilage individually significantly affected titra table acidity, soluble solids and pH. Samples treated with 100 and 250 mgL-1essential oil, and with 100 and 200 mgL-1 mucilage had the highest acidity, and showed significant increase compared to the control. A little color changes occurred in the treated samples and their colors were very close to the control. Combination treatment with 100 mg.L-1essentialoil plus 100 mgL-1mucilagesignificantlyreduced skin whitening of fresh cut carrot. Analysis of variance indicates significant effect of treatments on all microbial contaminations which were evaluated. The means of aerobic mesophilic bacterial contamination and the coliform bacterial contamination were 6.67 log CFU/g and6.37 log CFU/g, respectively. Only mold and yeast contamination significantly increased during storage and was more pronounced in samples treated with psylliummucilage. After 10 days of storage, although some bacterial contamination increased, this increase was not significant. Fungal contamination starts at 5.35 log CFU/g and endsat 6.64 log CFU/g, which is approximately 1.3 log CFU/g increased. E. coli contamination was not observed in samples.According to the standards threshold, in this experiment, aerobic mesophilic bacteria contamination of the samples (except for samples coated with mucilage after 10 days of storage which their contamination exceeded) was in the standard threshold.However, coliform bacteria, mold and yeast contamination in all samples exceeded.
Conclusion: In general, results of this study showed that application of natural compounds of medicinal plants as edible coatings improved the quality and -extend the shelf life of fresh cut carrot. .However, disinfection of the product in this experiment was not sufficient to reduce the microbial contamination properly and treatments used could not reduce it at the standard limits, appropriate disinfection methods such as radiation and higher concentrations are also investigated in order to export this recommended product
Majid Azizi; Soheila Shahriari; Hossein Arouiee; Hossein Ansari
Abstract
Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) from Lamiaceae family is one of the most important medicinal plants, used in food, sanitary and cosmetic industries. A field experiment was carried out in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2010-2011 to evaluate the effects of three irrigation levels (100, 80 and 60 percent ...
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Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) from Lamiaceae family is one of the most important medicinal plants, used in food, sanitary and cosmetic industries. A field experiment was carried out in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2010-2011 to evaluate the effects of three irrigation levels (100, 80 and 60 percent of water requirements calculated by evaporation pan class A) and two mulch types (black plastic and wood chips) in comparison to control (without mulch) on physiological parameter and essential oils content in a factorial experiments on the basis of Randimised Complete Block Desing with four replications. The data obtained from each harvest analyzed as a factorial experiment on the basis of randomized complete block design with four replications and the results of two harvests analyzed as split plot on time. The results of two harvest indicated that peppermint plants grow better in the first harvest than the second harvest. Plants collected in the first harvest showed higher dry matter and essential oil yield. The highest dry herb yield (44.12 g/plant), the highest percentage of essential oil (2.835 %v/w) and the highest essential oil yield (116.7 l/ha) detected in plots treated with third level of irrigation and use of wood chips mulch. In conclusion the results also confirmed that the highest dry herb and the highest oil yield per area unit were observed in plots treated with third level of irrigation with use of wood chips mulch.
Rohollah Ameri; Majid Azizi; Ali Tehranifar; Vahid Rowshan
Abstract
In order to study the effect of natural antitranspirant compound and water stress on growth, development and essential oil content of Ocimumbasilicum a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replicates was conducted. 3 levels of water stress (500 as control, 375 and 250 ...
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In order to study the effect of natural antitranspirant compound and water stress on growth, development and essential oil content of Ocimumbasilicum a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replicates was conducted. 3 levels of water stress (500 as control, 375 and 250 ml/day) and 3 antitranspirant compound (chitosan, plantago mucilage and psyllium mucilage) in 3 levels of 0.5, 1 and 1.5% (m/v) and applied during the plant growth. Photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal conductance, stomatal chamber CO2, leaf temperature, fresh and dry weight of herb, essential oil percentage and content were measured. The results showed that water stress and antitranspirant application had a significant effect on all measured traits (P≤0.05 and P≤0.01). The highest values of these traits were observed in control for water stress treatment and different levels of antitranspirant compounds. Transpiration levels from leaf were significantly decreased by antitranspirant compounds application. Chitosan (1 and 1.5%) decreased transpiration by 200% over control. Photosynthesis was also increased up to 30% by chitosan treatment (0.5 and 1) in comparison to control.Also, antitranspirant compounds increasing dry matter yield in water stress condition but reducing essential oil % and yield in comparison with control. In general, according to the result of this experiment, antitranspirant compounds with natural origin are safe, biodegradable, easy available, low cost and alternatives which can be used in substitution with common chemical types.
Samane Mohammadi; Majid Azizi
Abstract
In this research, the effect of foliar spraying times and different levels of Farmax® nano fertilizer on morphological characteristic and dry and fresh flower yield, essential oil and chamazulene percentage of chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) CV. Bodegold was studied. The experiment was factorial ...
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In this research, the effect of foliar spraying times and different levels of Farmax® nano fertilizer on morphological characteristic and dry and fresh flower yield, essential oil and chamazulene percentage of chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) CV. Bodegold was studied. The experiment was factorial in the bacic of randomized complete blocked design (RCBD) with eight treatment and four replications. The treatments included four amounts of nano fertilizer (0, 1, 3 and 5ml\l) as first factor and two foliar spraying times (tiller stage and 2 after weeks) as second factor. The results indicated that foliar spraying time had a significant effect on plant height, numbers of tiller, total fresh weight plant and dry flower yield. Different of levels Farmax® nano fertilizer had significant effect on majority characteristic. The interaction effect had significant effect on height plant and root and dry flower yield. So, maximum height plant (103.5cm) and dry flower yield (174.38g/m2) were obtained at 2 foliar spraying times and 3ml/l nano fertilizer concentration and maximum height root was obtained at one foliar spraying times and 5 ml/l nano fertilizer concentration, but 2 foliar spraying times and 3ml/l nano fertilizer concentration treatment to be increased on the most of the characteristic especially essential oil percent (0.753 weight percent) but do not have effect significant. The total results showed that 2 foliar sparing times and 3 ml/l nano fertilizer concentration was the best of treatment.
Gholamhossein Davarynejad; Sakineh Arefkhani; Majid Azizi; Mehdi Zarei
Abstract
In order to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of postharvest salicylic acid and calcium chloride on shelf life, quality characteristics and antioxidant activity of peach fruit cv. Amesden, an experiment was conducted as factorial based on randomized completely design with three replications. ...
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In order to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of postharvest salicylic acid and calcium chloride on shelf life, quality characteristics and antioxidant activity of peach fruit cv. Amesden, an experiment was conducted as factorial based on randomized completely design with three replications. Fruits were harvested at the commercial ripening stage, and fruits were immerged in different concentrations of salicylic acid (1 and 2 mM), calcium chloride (1.5 and 3%), combined salicylic acid and calcium chloride (1-1.5, 1-3, 2-1.5 and 2-3), and distilled water (control) for 5 min, then fruits were packed in boxes with polyethylene cover and stored at 4°C with 80-85% relative humidity for 35 days. The changes in weight loss, fruit firmness, rot percentage; pH, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity were estimated in 0 and 35 days during storage. The results showed that the weight loss, rot percentage, pH and total soluble solids significantly increased, while the fruit firmness, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity significantly decreased at the end of storage period. The salicylic acid and calcium chloride treatments significantly reduced the weight loss and maintained their firmness. In this condition, the highest of titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity were observed in treatments of salicylic acid and calcium chloride, while the lowest of total soluble solids and rot percentage was showed in treatments of salicylic acid and calcium chloride than in the control treatment. Also, combined treatment (salicylic acid + calcium chloride) had an important effect in relative to each treatment separately. The data indicated that the use of salicylic acid and calcium chloride may be introduced as an effective and successful strategy in postharvest technology of the peach.
Mansour Mashreghi; Majid Azizi; Fatemeh Oroojalian; Naser Shahyahmasebi
Abstract
In this research the essential oils (EOs) of Kelussia odoratissima and Teucrium polium were extracted by hydrodistillation. Extracted essential oils constituents were analyzed by gas chromatograph (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry and the essential oils constituents identified according to retention time ...
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In this research the essential oils (EOs) of Kelussia odoratissima and Teucrium polium were extracted by hydrodistillation. Extracted essential oils constituents were analyzed by gas chromatograph (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry and the essential oils constituents identified according to retention time and mass spectrum. Then minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the essential oils against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes، Escherichia coli O157H7, Salmonella enterica, and Pseudomonas aureogenosa were determined by microdilution technique using ELISA reader. The results showed that there are differences between the essential oils constituents as the main constituents in Kelussia odoratissima were (Z)-ligustilide, (Z)-3-butylidene-phthalide, limonene+-phellandren B. The main constituents of Teucrium polium essential oils were β-caryophylene, Germacrene D, γ-cadinene, (Z)- nerolidol, camphor, β-pinene, α- camphene, linalool, α-humulene. The MIC of Kelussia odoratissima EO was between 0.31 mg/ml (for S. aureus) to 2.5 mg/ml (for Salmonella enterica) but MIC of the Teucrium polium EO was between 0.16 mg/ml (for S. aureus) and 1.25 mg/ml (for Salmonella enterica). In conclusion, indigenous medicinal plants could be used for effective control of food borne pathogens as a complementary method that has less unfavorable effect on organoleptic attitudes of each products
Fatemeh Roozdar; Majid Azizi; Askar Ghani; Gholamhossein Davarynejad
Abstract
In this research an experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications and 11 treatments was conducted of Mentha piperita. Treatments consisted of dryer drying, artificial shade drying, oven drying (50 and 70 °C), and microwave drying with different powers (100, 180, 300, 450, ...
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In this research an experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications and 11 treatments was conducted of Mentha piperita. Treatments consisted of dryer drying, artificial shade drying, oven drying (50 and 70 °C), and microwave drying with different powers (100, 180, 300, 450, 600 and 900 w) and fresh sample as control. The end time of each treatment determined on the basis of moisture content equal to 0.10 on the basis of dried weight. After drying the samples, traits such as drying time, essential oil content, color parameters (L*, a*, b*, Hue and Chroma) and some biochemical parameters (total polyphenolic content, total flavonoids, flavone and flavonols, total carbohydrate and antioxidant activity) were studied. The results showed a significant effect of different drying methods on the studied traits. The minimum and maximum drying times (5.03 and 570 minutes) associated with microwave dried (900w) and drying method of dryer, respectively. The maximum essential oil content (2.6%) obtained from dryer dried samples. The highest amount of chroma and b* index related to fresh, artificial shade and dryer dried samples while the minimum content related to microwave dried samples (180 and 900 w). Also, the maximum amount of polyphenol compound obtained in fresh sample and microwave (900 w) and artificial shade dried samples, respectively. While the minimum content obtained to oven dried samples (70 °C). The most antioxidant activity (percentage of radical scavenging activity) obtained to fresh, artificial shade dried and microwave dried (600 and 900 and 450w) samples and the minimum amount were observed on oven dried samples (70 and 50 °C).
Hamideh Fatemi; Hossein Arouiee; Majid Azizi; Seyyed Hossein Nemati
Abstract
Plastic mulches have been used in vegetable production in the most parts of the world. In order to evaluate the performance of the colored plastic mulch and different plant density on Cucurbita pepo var. Rada, an experiment was conducted in Agriculture Faculty of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during ...
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Plastic mulches have been used in vegetable production in the most parts of the world. In order to evaluate the performance of the colored plastic mulch and different plant density on Cucurbita pepo var. Rada, an experiment was conducted in Agriculture Faculty of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during the cultural seasons at 2010. The experiment was arranged in factorial experiment based on randomized complete design with four replications. Treatments were mulch at three levels (blue, red and without mulch) and plant spacing at two levels (120 × 30 and 120 × 40 cm). The results indicated that reducing the planting distance (120 × 30 cm) significantly increased the fruit weight and yield. The highest numbers of harvest and fruit yield were found in the red mulch treatment. The fruit yield per plant was 5/36, 3/57 and 2/69 kg in the red, blue mulch and control, respectively.
Mohammad Shahin Daneshmandi; Majid Azizi; Reza Farhoosh
Abstract
In this research, we studied physical, chemical and biochemical characteristics of pistachio entitled Pistacia vera cv. Daneshmandi and was compared to three pistachio including of Badami Sefid, Kalle Ghoochi and Akbari. The examined characteristics were fresh and dry weight of seed, green shell and ...
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In this research, we studied physical, chemical and biochemical characteristics of pistachio entitled Pistacia vera cv. Daneshmandi and was compared to three pistachio including of Badami Sefid, Kalle Ghoochi and Akbari. The examined characteristics were fresh and dry weight of seed, green shell and also kernel, weight of hard shell, seedless and early opening nut, comparing the seed and kernel dimensions, percentage of oil, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, acid value, peroxide value, total tocopherols, and total phenolics. The results indicated that Pistacia vera cv. Daneshmandi in some characteristics holds a distinction amongst the other types and particulary in some qualities such as kernel weight, percentage early opening nut and kernel/seed proportion. This cultivar was high-oil (51.28%) and also the highest in the ratio of poly unsaturated to saturated fatty acids (2.82). The second place of pistachio Daneshmandi was the amount of antioxidant material. In front, was lowest peroxide value in the Daneshmandi cultivar (2.702 mil equivgr.kg-1 oil). Also 27% decreased the amount of acid value in the Daneshmandi cultivar (0.49 mg.g-1 oil) of compared of the Kalleghoochi cultivar (0.627 mg.g-1 oil). In total, Pistacia vera Cv. Daneshmandi can be considered to be a good cultivar for commercial production and to have a top position among the national product exported.
Hajar Neamati Darbandi; Majid Azizi; Samane Mohammadi; Sajede Karimpour
Abstract
To investigate the effect of spraying with different concentrations of Vermiwash solution on the morphological traits, percentage and yield of essential oil of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.), this experiment was conducted as Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications in experimental ...
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To investigate the effect of spraying with different concentrations of Vermiwash solution on the morphological traits, percentage and yield of essential oil of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.), this experiment was conducted as Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications in experimental field of Agricultural Faculty of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM). The treatments were included 4 different concentrations of Vermiwash solution (0, 3000. 6000 and 12000 ppm). At the flowering stage, morphological characteristics include of plant height, number of nod and internodes length, as well as total fresh weight, leaf area, dry weight of plant, yield and percentage of essential oil were determined. Results showed that there was a significant difference between different treatments in terms of plant height, number of node, internodes length, leaf area, and dry weight of plant and essential oil yield. The highest height (84.91 cm), number of node (23.20), leaf area (8853.52 cm2) and plant dry weight (174.31 g) related to vermiwash concentration of 3000 ppm and the longest internodes (7.02 cm) and essential oil yield (6 g/m2) related to concentration of 1200 ppm. In conclusion, application of 3000 ppm vermiwash was the superior among the all studied treatments that confirmed activity of plant growth regulators in low concentration of vermiwash and availability of nutrient in the solution.
