Medicinal Plants
Ghasem Esmaeili; Majid Azizi; Hossein Arouiee; Jamil Vaezi
Abstract
Introduction: The genus Salvia L. (Lamiaceae) is one of the most interesting plant genera with a variety of annual, biennial, perennial and shrub forms. According to recent reports, there are 61 species of Salvia genus in Iran, among which 18 species are endemic. The use of Salvia species dates back ...
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Introduction: The genus Salvia L. (Lamiaceae) is one of the most interesting plant genera with a variety of annual, biennial, perennial and shrub forms. According to recent reports, there are 61 species of Salvia genus in Iran, among which 18 species are endemic. The use of Salvia species dates back to ancient times, and they are now being used for different purposes such as antimicrobial, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, tonic, carminative, digestive, Alzheimer’s disease, antispasmodic as well as for traditional medicines and food industries. Compared to crop plants, the breeding programs of medicinal plants are still in nascent stages due to high biological and biochemical variations. Since breeding programs, especially in medicinal plants, are expensive, suitable mating can help reduce the costs of breeding programs. Understanding the flowering biology, reproductive systems and pollination mechanism is essential to management and protection of ecosystems and mating programs. Despite the high diversity of Salvia genus in Iran, there is a paucity of studies on reproductive biology.Materials and methods: seeds of seven Salvia species including S. virgata (with four accessions), S. frigida, S. nemorosa, S. atropatana, S. macrosiphon, S. sclarea, and S. syriaca were collected from different geographical regions. The seeds were treated by various methods such as washing, cold treatment (stratification), scarification (sand and sulfuric acid), Gibberellic acid (GA3) and KNO3 to enhance germination. The seedlings were produced at the greenhouse and after growing as high as 15 cm or reaching the10-leaf stage, the seedlings were transferred to the farm. Plants phenology and flowering duration were recorded in the second year. Furthermore, some flower characteristics and pollinator were monitored. The Various pollination treatments were designed to investigate the breeding system of Salvia species including open pollination, spontaneous autogamy, geitonogamy, xenogamy, apomixis, and control. The self-incompatibility index (ISI) was calculated for each species in different pollination treatment.Results and discussion: The germination study exhibited that washing seeds for 24 h and applying 250 ppm GA3 exerted the highest effect on seed germination. The seedlings in early growth stages required medium to high porosity (high permeability to water and air) like natural habitat, but they were sensitive to dry and high EC at these stages. The phenology studies were shown Salvia virgata (all accessions) and S. nemorosa flowered three months after cultivation and other species flowered in the second year. The results showed that all species had long flowering periods ranging from 15 (S. atropatana) to 41 days (S. virgata). Increased flowering period led to the enhancement of flower over-lapping and the sharing of the pollen among different plants or species. Two species including S. atropatana and S. syriaca had heterostyly flowers (long-styled morph). The staminal-lever-mechanism was observed in all species. The results of manual pollination indicated that open pollination provided the best treatment with the highest average of seed set (73.63%) in all species. Salvia virgata (A1) with a seed set of 90.3% was the best species, and S. syriaca with a seed set of 51.5% demonstrated the poorest performance in open pollination system. The seed set in the xenogamy treatment of different species and accessions was in the range of 10.2 (S. syriaca) to 32.5% (S. frigida). It was observed that seed set among different species in geitonogamy and spontaneous autogamy varied widely from 2.60 - 17.30% and 2.98 - 12.18%, respectively. In treatments with a wide variety of pollen sources, the fruit set was higher, indicating that the pollen limitation triggered low seed set.Conclusion: Salvia species in the present study have a high potential for cultivation as medicinal and ornamental due to suitable adaptability and long flowering period. Salvia species were relatively self-incompatible that intention to the out-crossing and breeders can use in breeding programs as a valuable characteristic. The self-incompatible and specific structure in flower and pollination are the reasons for the diversity of this taxa.
Growing vegetables
Ladan Ajdanian; Hossein Arouiee; Majid Azizi
Abstract
Introduction: As an artificial light source, LED bulbs can help to grow better and faster greenhouse products. Meanwhile, blue and red light are important for plant growth. The quality of light in terms of color and wavelength can affect the morphological structure of the plants. Therefore, the use of ...
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Introduction: As an artificial light source, LED bulbs can help to grow better and faster greenhouse products. Meanwhile, blue and red light are important for plant growth. The quality of light in terms of color and wavelength can affect the morphological structure of the plants. Therefore, the use of additional lights in winter, when light exposure is less than normal, can improve plant growth and flowering. It is also advisable to change the quality of light by using artificial light sources in controlled environments such as greenhouses in order to change the quantity and quality of agricultural products, especially the fruits of the fruit.Materials and Methods: In this research, the effect of complementary light and nutrition (commercial Calfomyth solution containing high calcium phosphorus and calcium elements along with micronutrient elements) as a pot experiment under non-soil culture conditions in the greenhouse, in the form of split-based plots experiment A completely randomized design with 3 light treatments including: natural light (control), 60% red light + 40% light blue and 90% red light + 10% blue light, and 2 nutritional treatments including: non-spraying with commercial fertilizer, Calfomyth and spraying A concentration of 2,000 in 3 replicates was established and implemented. The traits that were studied in this experiment are: 1- leaf number (count of leaves), 2- plant height by meter, with accuracy 0.01 m, 3- diameter with caliber with accuracy 0.01 mm, 4- Number of flowers (counting), 5- Time of flowering until the product reaches (counting the number of days), 6- Performance: Whole and red ripe fruits were planted and weighed separately from the total fruit weight Per plant was obtained in grams per plant. Statistical analysis was performed using JMP8 software and comparison of meanings was done using LSD test at 1% and 5% probability level.Results and Discussion: The results showed that the application of additional light on fruit yield, stem diameter and plant height, yield time and leaf number (p≤0.05) were significant. Spraying with Calfomyth could have a significant effect on stem diameter and number of leaves. In the traits such as fruit yield, number of flowers and leaves, the interaction effect of feeding and supplementary light was also significant. The highest number of leaves belonged to 60% red + 40% blue treatment, as well as spraying with Calfomyth (118), the highest number of flowers (50) was related to 90% red + 10% blue and Calfomyth treatment, and the smallest number ( 15) was related to control treatment. Also, the highest yield (3553 g of fruit per plant) was obtained in Calfomyth treatment with 90% red + 10% blue treatment and the lowest yield (434 g fruit per plant) The control was light and non-foliar treatment. Although light is an important source of photosynthesis, photosynthesis can also be related to a series of optical regulators and optical sensors. Blue and red light cause different optical sensors and expression of genes, each of which can have a positive or negative effect on plant growth and development. Therefore, it can be concluded that the presence of both wavelengths (blue and red) is necessary for conducting, and for this reason, more research is now focused on achieving an appropriate optical composition.Conclusions: In this research, all of the morphological traits examined in the tomato plant were subjected to additional exposure by LED bulbs, each of which had a special effect on their receptors in the plant. Maximize growth and yield in the plant. As expected, blue light on vegetative traits and red light were more effective on reproductive traits. It can be said that the existence of both wavelengths (blue and red) is essential for the better and complete growth of the plant. In addition to the positive effect of wavelengths, the positive effect of leaf spraying can also be observed, which, along with the neodymium, could improve growth. The results of this study showed that the performance and growth under the cover of LED light (red and blue combination) were superior to natural conditions. Therefore, it could be suggested that the use of these lamps, as well as spraying with Calfomyth commercial fertilizer, could be feasible for better production in controlled conditions (greenhouse).It seems that application of complementary lights with proper nutrition can improve the performance and growth of tomato plants in greenhouse conditions.
Medicinal Plants
Zeinab Safaei; Majid Azizi; Gholamhossein Davarinejad; Hossein Arouiee
Abstract
IntroductionThe 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 has recently been given to herb therapy, and use of medicinal ...
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IntroductionThe 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 has 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. Nigella sativa L. is one of the herbs that has a variety of uses and has been being used in iran’s traditional medicine since old times. Today this plant is considered as one of the most important kinds of medicine. Therefore, it is of great importance to conduct some researches on the herbs around the country due to different ecological requirements. N. sativa belonging to buttercup family, with the scientific name of Ranunculaceae, is an annual, dicotyledonous, herbaceous plant. In several studies, N. sativa has been reported to have anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, strengthening of immune system, and anti-histamine and oil extract properties. Furthermore, several effects such as lowering blood sugar, lipids, and hypertension, excretion of bile and uric acid, protection of liver, kidney and cardiovascular tissues as well as anti-seizure, anti-cancer, anti-microbial and anti-parasitic effects related to this plant have been reported. The aim of the present study is to improve the yield and yield components and oil of medicinal plant N. sativa by anti-transpiration compounds under drought stress conditions. Materials and MethodsAn experiment was conducted at Research Station,Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, in 2012-2013. The research was performed using a split plot experiment based 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%), Plantogopsyllium 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 April16 and planting was performed by hand in 0.5cm-deep furrows. Throughout the growing season, anti-transpiration compounds were applied concurrently with the imposition of drought stress, administered weekly at sunset until the flowering stage. Subsequently, yield, yield components, and oil content were measured. Results and Discussion Results showed that irrigation intervals had significant effects on all studied characteristics with the exception of 1000 seed weight. ncreasing irrigation intervals reduced percentage yield and yield components and oil of black cumin grains. Anti-transpirants compounds did have significant effects on percentage of oil and yield and yield components of black cumin grains. There were significant difference between different anti-transpirants compounds in terms of oil and yield components yield and of black cumin grains. The 8 days irrigation interval produced more grain yield compared with 16 days irrigation intervals (621.56 vs. 484.23 kg/ha). The highest oil (27.74%) and lowest (21.74%), respectively, at treatment anti-transpirants compound chitosan1 percent With 8 days irrigation interval and gam arabic 0.25 percent was obtained with 16 days irrigation interval and chitosan stimulating abscisic acid synthesis in the treated plant would result in stomatal closure, reduction of stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and water content. They 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 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.
Medicinal Plants
Mehdi Moradi; Bahram Abedi; Hossein Arouiee; Sasan Aliniaeifard; Kamal Ghasemi Bezdi
Abstract
Background and objectives
Light is the main environmental factor for plant growth and development. Different attributes of light such as intensity, quality and duration affect plant growth and productivity. Light spectrum of growing environment is a determinant factor for plant growth ...
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Background and objectives
Light is the main environmental factor for plant growth and development. Different attributes of light such as intensity, quality and duration affect plant growth and productivity. Light spectrum of growing environment is a determinant factor for plant growth and photosynthesis. The photosynthetic reactions are directly affected by various light parameters including its spectrum and intensity. Photosystem I and II (PSI and PSII) in the electron transport chain of photosynthetic apparatus are involved in converting solar energy to chemical compounds in plants. It has been found that the PSII is sensitive to light quality. Using The OJIP test, we can investigate the efficiency of various biological phases of the electron transport system. Light sources such as metal-halide, fluorescent, high-pressure sodium, neon lamps and light-emitting diode (LED) can be used for production of plants in closed environments instead of sunlight. Manipulation of the light spectrum of the lamps could trigger potential benefits by enhancing plant growth. Nowadays, by using the LED technology, it is possible to study the physiological effect of different light spectra for optimization of growth conditions and for increase the production of plants in controlled environments. This research was conducted to investigate photosynthetic apparatus, growth parameters, stomatal characteristics, transpiration rate and essential oil content of Salvia officinalis under different light spectra.
Materials and Methods
In this study, the effects of different light spectra were implemented and performed as a pot experiment using soilless media in the plant growth chamber based on a completely randomized design with 6 lighting spectra including White, Blue, Red and three combinations of R and B lights (R30:B70, R50:B50 and R70:B30) with three replications. The light intensity in all growth chambers was adjusted to photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 250 ±10 μmol m-2s-1 and light spectrum were monitored using a sekonic light meter (Sekonic C-7000, Japan). Growth condition was set at 14/10 h day/night cycles, 25/22oC day/night temperatures and 40% relative humidity. Three month following plant growth under different light spectra, the plants were evaluated for their growth parameters, stomatal characteristics (stomatal length, stomatal width, pore length or aperture) transpiration rate (E), relative water content (RWC), photosynthetic apparatus (evaluation of OJIP) and essential oil content. Data analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using IBM SAS software (Version 9.1) and the differences between means were assessed using Duncan’s multiple range tests at p≤ 0.05.
Results
The results showed that the stomata characteristics, photosynthetic performance, growth characteristics and essential oil content of Salvia officinalis were affected by different light spectra. Increasing the ratio of red light especially combined Red and Blue lights (R70:B30) led to the improvement of growth characteristics. Transient induction of chlorophyll fluorescence showed that the highest fluorescence intensities at all OJIP steps were detected in Red light. The lowest Fv/F0 and Fv/Fm were obtained in plants grown under Red light. Occurrence of leaf epinasty and decrease in Fv/Fm indicative of phenomenon of red light syndrome in the plants under Red treatment. Red light caused a reduction in performance index per absorbed light efficiency of (PIABS) and increase in quantum energy dissipation (ΦD0), light absorption (ABS/RC) and electron trapping (TR0/RC) per reaction center. The highest Fv/F0, Fv/Fm and PIABS were obtained under combination of Red and Rlue light. The highest ΦE0 was also detected in combination of Red and Blue light. The narrow and large stomatal apertures were detected under Red and Blue light, respectively. The highest transpiration rate was achieved in plants grown under Blue light LED. Increasing the ratio of Red light resulted in reduction in transpiration rate and improvement of leaf capacity to control water loss via reducing the opening of stomata. The highest amount of essential oil (1/75% v/w) was achieved in plants exposed to combination of Red:Blue light spectra (R70:B30).
Conclusion
light spectrum during plant growth can change plant metabolism, LED can be used in favor of producing good-quality food in controlled environment agriculture due to their ease of application, waveband manipulation and limited heat production. Our result showed that photosynthetic apparatus, growth parameters, stomatal characteristics, transpiration rate, relative water content and essential oil content of plants were considerably influenced by light spectra. Using OJIP test confirmed that plants grown under monochromatic Red and Blue lights were less efficient to successfully transfer the excitons and most of the absorbed energy by the photosystems was dissipated as heat. In conclusion, combined Red and Blue lights (especially R70:B30) caused favorable growth, photosynthetic functionality and maximum essential oil content of Salvia officinalis. Therefore, combination of R and B lights (R70:B30) should be considered for production of Salvia officinalis under artificial light systems during commercial controlled environment production of plants.
Medicinal Plants
Tayebeh Baeradeh; Hossein Arouiee; Mahboobeh Naseri; Mojtaba Mamarabadi
Abstract
Introduction
Fruits and vegetables are perishable due to high humidity and biological activity after harvesting (breathing, transpiration and biochemical activities). Covering fruits with antimicrobial compounds, while being edible and safe for consumers, is an effective solution to prevent the spoilage ...
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Introduction
Fruits and vegetables are perishable due to high humidity and biological activity after harvesting (breathing, transpiration and biochemical activities). Covering fruits with antimicrobial compounds, while being edible and safe for consumers, is an effective solution to prevent the spoilage of fruits and increase their shelf life. In developing countries, packaging, storage and transportation technologies for these products have not been developed yet. One of the cheap and high-performance methods to increase the shelf life of fruit and maintain its quality during the storage period is to use a coating on the fruit. The purpose of coating application is to reduce water loss, slow aging, polish and better marketing. In addition to improving quality, coating can protect the fruit from pathogens and contamination. Edible coatings create a thin layer on the surface of the food that are effective and eco-friendly alternatives and maintain the firmness of fresh fruits and vegetables. The main components of edible coatings are natural polysaccharides, including starch, cellulose, pectin, alginates and chitosan. These coatings apply by spraying, immersion or rubbing. The use of essential oils and other extracts of medicinal plants has been evaluated in the development of edible coatings.
Adding Ziziphora tenuior L. essential oil to food has been considered as an antioxidant and antimicrobial compound. Directly use of essential oils for fruits and vegetable shelf life has some limitations due to low solubility in water, high vapor pressure and physical and chemical instability. One of the ways to reduce these limitations is the nanoencapsulation of essential oil as. Applications of nano technology to the development of edible coatings (included various nanosystems, including polymeric nanoparticles, nanoemulsions), efforts to control the release of essential oils. Aloe vera gel, which is extracted from the inner parts of the leaves, is clear, odorless, completely healthy and environmentally friendly and can replace the coverings used after harvesting fruits. This is a polysaccharide gel, it dissolves easily in water and has advantages such as preserving the aromatic substances inside the fruit, covering the wound and cuts and it is possible to add substances such as vitamins and essential oils to this gel. Due to the antibacterial properties of aloe vera, adding aloe vera gel to edible coatings can increase the antibacterial properties of this biodegradable coating. On the other hand, using nano technology can increase the efficiency, consistency and better quality of food coatings.
Materials and Methods
The aim of the present study was to prepare and produce an oral coating of nanoecapsule containing Ziziphora tenuior L. essential oil. The components of the nanocapsule of Aloe vera gel was water, toewin and Ziziphora tenuior L. essential oil. Fresh Aloe vera leaves were used to prepare gel. Zeta-average diameter, particle size distribution, scattering index (PDI) and zeta potential (particle surface charge) were measured. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging was used to evaluate the morphology of the nanocapsule. The stability of produced nanocapsule was evaluated by measuring the particle size changes for 3 months.
Results and Discussion
21 compounds were identified in the essential oil of Ziziphora tenuior. The main and important constituents of Ziziphora tenuior L. essential oil were Pulegone, Menthofuran and 1,8-Cineole. The results showed that the particle size of nanocapsule containing essential oil was 84.46 nm and zeta potential was -16.02 mV. The results of transmission electron microscope (TEM) photos showed that the size of the particles is less than 200 nanometers and the shape of the particles is almost spherical. The outer surface of the capsules is completely smooth and uniform. Stability studies of particle size and zeta potential for 3 months showed that nanocapsule containing essential oils had good stability. In this formulation, the zeta potential was about -16 mV, which is due to the non-ionic parts of the surfactant on the surface of the nanocapsule, which contributes to the repulsion force and caused the stability of the size of the nanocapsules. In order to determine the amount of essential oil in the nanocapsule, spectrophotometric method was used. The percentage of essential oil in nanocapsule was 83.25%.
Conclusion
Nanoencapsulation of essential is one of the ways to reduce the limitations of essential oil aplication. In the present study, a nancapsule with natural and biodegradable materials (Aloe vera gel) containing Ziziphora tenuior L. essential oil was prepared and the results showed that Ziziphora tenuior L. essential oil was successfully encapsulated in Aloe vera gel. In general, the results of the present study showed that the nanocapsule of Aloe vera gel is a suitable carrier for Ziziphora tenuior L. essential oil and can be used as an oral coating to preserve fruits and vegetables.
Medicinal Plants
Mahsa Khodabandeh; Majid Azizi; Ahmad Balandary; Hossein Arouiee
Abstract
Introduction
Barberries are a broad class of spiny evergreen or deciduous shrubs belonging to the Berberidaceae family. They are of great importance due to their different parts' nutritional and medicinal properties and their ornamental applications. Genus Berberis, the biggest genus ...
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Introduction
Barberries are a broad class of spiny evergreen or deciduous shrubs belonging to the Berberidaceae family. They are of great importance due to their different parts' nutritional and medicinal properties and their ornamental applications. Genus Berberis, the biggest genus in Berberidaceae, includes more than 660 species. Barberry grows in Asia and Europe and has been used extensively as a medicinal plant in traditional medicine. In Iranian traditional medicine, several properties, such as antibacterial, antipyretic, antipruritic and antiarrhythmic, have been reported with unknown mechanisms of action. Incredible structural diversity among barberries' active components makes them a valuable source of novel therapeutic compounds. Seedless barberry (Berberis integerrima 'Asperma') is one of Iran's valuable indigenous medicinal plants. Common asexual propagation of this plant over the years and consequently low genetic diversity in populations of the seedless barberry restricts selection outcomes in breeding programs. Utilizing the indigenous wild genotypes of the barberry genus, which are easily able to cross-pollinate, is one of the best methods to increase genetic diversity. Accordingly, several wild seedy barberry genotypes were identified from all over Iran, collected and established in a collection in Mashhad; then, 16 genotypes were selected and their physical properties were studied.
Materials and Methods
In this study, ripe fruits of sixteen unique genotypes (i.e., Iranian seedless barberry and fifteen seedy genotypes) were harvested in October- November 2015 and kept in a refrigerator in order to measure some of their physical properties in fresh fruits (berry dimension, 100-berry weight, juice content and color indices). For other properties, fruits were dried at room temperature. Fruit cluster length was measured by means of a ruler, the number of berries/cluster and the number of set/aborted seeds in berry by counting, berry dimensions by a digital caliper, weight of fresh and dried 100-berry, percentage of pulp and seed as well as fruit juice content by a scale with 0.001 accuracy. Moisture content was determined using an oven with 75 ºC temperature for 48 hours. Color indices, including L*, a* and b*, were measured using a portable colorimeter (Konica Minolta Chroma Meters CR-410). This study was performed using a completely randomized design with three replications. Data were analyzed by Minitab software version 16 using analysis of variance (ANOVA), and differences among means were determined for significance at p<0.05 using the Bonferroni test.
Results and Discussion
The results indicated significant differences among genotypes. Based on the results, cluster length ranged between 1.67cm (code 5-3) and 6.29 cm (code 10-1); moisture content was between 8.20% and 11.84% in genotypes 8-3 and 13-2, respectively. The fruit juice content range of the studied genotypes was between 51.22% and 71.87%. Genotype 2-1 had the highest dimension values and the highest 100-berry fresh weight (30.72g) and dry weight (10.00g) fruits. The lowest weights of 100-berry were related to 14-1 and seedless barberry. Genotypes 5-2 had the highest pulp percentage (98.17%) and the lowest seed percentage (1.50%) and 10-1 had the lowest pulp percentage (51.93%) and the highest seed percentage (48.07%). The highest number of set seeds (1.73) and the lowest number of aborted seeds (zero) were found in (10-1) and (14-2), respectively. Based on the results, seedless barberry had the lowest number of set seeds (0.00) and the highest number of aborted seeds (3.27). Regarding fruit color indices, genotypes showed significant variability from orange to brown and dark blue. Color indices L*, a* and b* ranged (from 22.83 to 38.13), (2.31 to 37.76) and (1.18 to 2.28), respectively.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that all genotypes have considerable variability in fruit traits (color, fruit dimensions, pulp/seed percentage, moisture content, etc.). Based on the result of this study, genotype 5-2 was the most similar genotype to seedless barberry. The seedless barberry populations have low genetic diversity due to asexual propagation through suckers over many years. Indigenous genotypes can be a valuable genetic resource for future breeding programs to improve the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of seedless barberry and introduce new cultivars of seedless barberry with different colors and consequently different nutritional- medicinal properties.
Growing vegetables
Meisam Najafi; Hossein Arouiee; Mohammad Hossein Aminifard
Abstract
Introduction: The deficiency of organic matter in the soil is one of the factors limiting cultivating and growing of plants. While the organic matter is the main factor of soil fertility and the ideal organic matter content of agricultural soils is about 4-6% according to the experiments performed, this ...
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Introduction: The deficiency of organic matter in the soil is one of the factors limiting cultivating and growing of plants. While the organic matter is the main factor of soil fertility and the ideal organic matter content of agricultural soils is about 4-6% according to the experiments performed, this amount is very low in arid and desert areas such as those in Iran. The significant capability of humic fertilizers in the rapid improvement of soil fertilization level is quite recognizable. Humic acid has a direct role in determining the producing potential of the soil. Humic substances can have a positive effect on plant growth in different ways. Humic acid results in an increasing nitrogen uptake by plants and stimulates and enhances the uptake of Ca, Mg, P, and K. By enhancing the resistance to environmental stresses, increasing chlorophyll concentration and thus affecting photosynthesis, amino acids are effective in plant growth and yield. Given the conditions that agriculture faces, drought is the main limiting factor of agricultural production in the present and future. Research has reported that the improvement of plant growth under stress conditions by application of humic substances and amino acid. The use of these factors that increase plant growth in stressful conditions and improve yield is a useful and effective method. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of organic fertilizers on growth traits of cucumber plants under drought stress.Materials and Methods: In order to explore the effect of drought stress on cucumber plant, an experiment was carried out in the research field of agriculture faculty of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2015-2016. This study was performed as a factorial design in a completely randomized block design with three replications. The first factor was fertilization at four levels (control, humic acid application (200 ppm), glycine amino acid and glutamic acid application (6 liters per hectare), and combined application of humic acid (200 ppm), glycine amino acid and glutamic acid (6 liters per hectare), and the second factor was irrigation at three levels of 3, 5 and 7 days. Furrows with 2 m apart, 40 cm deep, 50 cm wide and 20 m long were created. Following the soil irrigation, the cucumber seeds were planted on the edge of the experimental hills (4-5 seeds per hill) that were spaced 50 cm apart. The treatments were applied via irrigation at specified concentration. At the end of the experiment Morphophysiological traits were measured.Results and Discussion: The results showed that drought stress reduced fresh and dry weights of plant, a number of branches, root length, stem length, and internode length. The amount of available water to plants affects their growth traits. Increasing irrigation interval decreased vegetative growth parameters in this plant, which is undoubtedly due to the lack of water available to the plant. Drought stress leads to stomata closure, plant wilt, swelling reduction, and reduced water content and total potential of the leaf, resulting in decreased cell division, especially in shoots and leaves. As a result, the first effects of dehydration in plants can be seen in their smaller leaf size and lower height than normal conditions. The highest level of drought stress (7 days) decreases all the traits. Unfortunately, the use of humic acid and acid amine had no effect on the highest levels of stress (7 days). The application of humic acid alone could improve the effects of drought stress on the plant. Humic acid enhances plant growth by affecting plant cell metabolism as well as chelating power, increasing nutrient uptake, and increasing nitrogen content. Experimental studies have shown that glycine betaine strengthens enzymatic structures and activities and protein components, and cell wall stability against the damaging effects of environmental stresses is considered to be one of its activities. It seems that organic matter and humic compounds including humic acid through positive physiological effects including effects on plant cells metabolism, increased leaf chlorophyll concentration, increased metabolism within cells, and increased durability of photosynthetic tissues (Increasing leaf durability) leads to increase of production performance and biomass production in plants.Conclusion: The use of humic acid alone led to improved leaf area, root length, and other traits. These factors caused an improvement in the photosynthetic rate in the plant, resulting in improved yield and growth under drought stress conditions (increased irrigation intervals). The protective and moderating role of the humic acid application under drought stress is one of the reasons for growth improvement by these compounds. In general, the combined application of humic acid and amino acid in the form of irrigation fertilizer in cucumber under drought stress improved growth traits and prevented yield reduction.
Mahboobeh Naseri; Hossein Arouiee; Maryam Mohammadi
Abstract
Introduction: Spinacia olerace is the most important leaf vegetable of the Chenopodiacea family, which has a special place in human nutrition because of its variety of minerals and vitamins. Cultivation of this plant in Iran is several thousand years old and accordingly Iran is considered as the main ...
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Introduction: Spinacia olerace is the most important leaf vegetable of the Chenopodiacea family, which has a special place in human nutrition because of its variety of minerals and vitamins. Cultivation of this plant in Iran is several thousand years old and accordingly Iran is considered as the main place and a source of spinach in the world. Growth of plants is affected by genetics, environmental conditions, growing season, nutrients, and soil, harvesting method, temperature, intensity and quality of light. Among these factors, soil nutrients have a significant influence on plant growth and yield. Nowadays, the consumption of organic matter as fertilizer due to its high cost and limited availability is not sufficient and the major nutritional needs of plants are met by chemical fertilizers, which can lead to environmental problems and, over time, reduced yields. In this connection humic acid is a naturally occurring organic compound and contains 2% to 5% organic matter. Humic acid can be used to seedling nutrition and improve its quality and quantity. Given the recent use of organic acids such as humic acid to improve crops and horticulture, but little research has been done on transplant birth, this experiment was conducted to investigate the application of different levels of humic acid in irrigation water at the time of irrigation. Different effects and their effects on growth indices and spinach production were investigated.
Material and Methods: The present experiment was conducted to investigate the application of different concentrations of humic acid at different times and its effects on quantitative and qualitative indices of spinach in a factorial completely randomized design with three replications in research greenhouse at Torbat Heydariyeh University. Treatments consisted of three concentrations of humic acid (0, 3 and 6 ml/L) at two application times (one-week and two-week). The mean daily greenhouse temperature at the time of plant growth was 25°C and the mean nighttime temperature was 18°C, the average relative humidity was 60%. After seedlings were planted in the main pots at four-leaf stage, they were irrigated with humic acid (0, 3 and 6 ml/L) at different intervals once a week, twice weekly. The humic fertilizer used belonged to Green Seed Company, containing 24% humic acid and 3% folic acid and 2% potassium. Five weeks after treatment, the traits were measured. Transplant growth indices including number of leaves (by counting the number of shoots per plant), leaf length and width, leaf area, canopy, height, chlorophyll index, chlorophyll a, b, carotenoid and dry weight of each plant were determined.
Results and Discussion: Based on the results of this experiment, the effect of humic acid concentration on morphological and physiological traits of spinach transplant was significant. The highest leaf number (4.6) at 3 ml concentration and the lowest number (3.5) were at zero concentration. These traits were subjected to humic acid titer, but the increase in concentration had no significant effect on these traits. The increased number of leaves and traits mentioned in the early stages of transplant growth is probably due to the rapid expansion of the root system of the plant at high concentrations of humic acid, which in turn leads to increased nutrient uptake, better plant growth and subsequent growth. Leaf number and other traits become leaf dependent. The results showed that the highest chlorophyll a (1.8 ml/g fresh leaf), chlorophyll b (2.5 ml/ml fresh leaf), carotenoids (7.1 ml/ml). Fresh leaf g) and biomass (150 mg) at 3 ml concentration and the lowest at zero concentration. The highest chlorophyll index (74.1 ml/ml fresh leaf g) was also found in the concentration of 6 ml and the lowest was obtained from zero concentration. Humic acid increased spinach transplant biomass by increasing the amount of photosynthetic pigments and leaf area or the same photosynthetic capacity. In most of the traits, the two-week application time was higher than the one-week, so that spinach transplant biomass increased by 110% over the two-week application period. So that spinach transplant biomass was 156 at the two-week application and 74 mg at the one-week application. Based on the results of this experiment, humic acid application can improve the quantitative and qualitative traits of spinach transplant and its production.
Conclusion: Production of vegetable seedlings have an important role in the production and olericulture economy. Specializing in different activities in the vegetable production process will simplify the production process and increase efficiency. This means that the best conditions for seedling growth should be provided during transplanting. Application of humic acid organic fertilizer instead of chemical fertilizer can reduce environmental pollution in line with sustainable agriculture and healthy eating with vegetables to prevent the accumulation of chemicals in the human body to be effective. In this regard, the results of this study showed that using low humic acid as organic fertilizer can improve morphophysiological traits of spinach transplant.
Majid Azizi; Hoda Ahmadi; Hossein Arouiee
Abstract
Introduction: Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis L.) is a relatively new oilseed crops with high value which its oil is the most important source of gamma linolenic acid. In this study, seed of Evening primrose was stored in different temperature and packaging materials to improve the content and quality ...
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Introduction: Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis L.) is a relatively new oilseed crops with high value which its oil is the most important source of gamma linolenic acid. In this study, seed of Evening primrose was stored in different temperature and packaging materials to improve the content and quality of its oil.
Materials and Methods: In order to study the effect of packaging, storage temperature and storage period on Evening primrose seed oil properties, a split-plot in time experiment was conducted on the basis of completely randomized design at 32 treatments and three replications. Treatments included four levels of storage period (3, 6, 9 and 12 months) as main plot, four levels of packaging (Paper with 0.15 mm, Aluminum with 0.12 mm, PolyVinylChloride (PVC) with 0.09 mm and Cellophane with 0.07 mm thickness) and two levels of temperature (4 °C and Ambient temperature (20 °C)) as sub plots. Seed packages of 100 grams stored in plant physiology laboratory of horticulture department of Ferdowsi university of Mashhad from May 2014 to May 2015. After each period of storage seed oil (extracted by soxhelet) acid and peroxide value were examined as oil quality index. The statistical analysis was performed using the JMP software version 8 and data means were compared using LSD test’s in 5% level of probability. Acid and peroxide value were measured according to standards of EEC REG 2568/91 and AOCS cd 8-53, respectively.
Results and Discussion: Based on the results, the simple effect of temperature, packaging material and storage time was significant on all the properties of evening primrose oil. Before storage, seed oil content was 16.45% (w/w) but after three months of storage the oil content increased to 19.75% w/w. From third month of storage until 9th a sharp decline was observed, and the oil content was 12.71 % w/w at the end of 9th months. Finally the seed oil content slightly increased until 12thmonth. Before storage, acid and peroxide value were reported 1.16 (mg KOH/g oil) and 2.4 (meq O2/Kg oil), respectively. During storage, acid value showed descending trend so that at the end of 6 and 12 months storage obtained 1.08 and 0.96 mg KOH/g oil, respectively. Oil peroxide value after third months reached to 3.14 (meq O2/Kg oil) and its maximum (9.82 meq O2/Kg oil) was detected at the end of storage period. Ambient temperature in terms of oil content and 4 °C in terms of oil quality were optimum condition for Oenothera seed storage. Seeds samples which packed in paper and cellophane material showed the most oil content (17.29% and 16.75%, respectively). Cellophane packaging in terms of acid (0.89 mgKOH/g oil) and peroxide value (5.05 meq O2/Kg oil) was diagnosed the best packaging material to preserve the quality of the oil during storage. Interaction between storage temperature and storage period on oil percentage was significant at 1%. The highest oil percentage (59/22%) was detected after three months of storage at ambient temperature. Interaction between packaging and storage temperature on acid value of evening primrose seed oil was significant at 1% as aluminum packaging at ambient temperature and paper packaging in both temperatures had the highest acid value (1.15 and 1.11mg KOH/g oil, respectively). The lowest acid value (0.82 mg KOH/g oil) was detected in cellophane packaged seeds at 4°C temperature. Interaction between packaging material and storage period on acid value of evening primrose seed oil was significant at 1%. The highest acid value (1.24 mg KOH/g oil) obtained after six months in paper packaged seeds and seeds samples which packed in cellophane material had the lowest acid value (0.72 mg KOH/g oil) after nine months of storage. Interaction between storage temperature and storage period on acid value of evening primrose oil was significant at 1%. The highest acid value (1.11mgKOH/g oil) was detected after 12 months of storage at ambient temperature. At the end of 12th months at 4 °C temperature, the lowest acid value (0.81mg KOH/g oil) was reported. Interaction between packaging material, storage temperature and storage period on acid value of evening primrose seed oil was significant at 1% as paper packaged seeds after six months of storage at 4°C temperature and cellophane packaged seeds after 12 months of storage at ambient temperature showed the highest acid value (1.34 mg KOH/g oil). The end of 9th months in cellophane packaged seeds at both temperature, the lowest acid value (0.72 mg KOH/g oil) obtained. Interaction between packaging material and storage period on peroxide value of evening primrose oil was significant at 1% as paper packaged seeds after 12 months of storage had the highest peroxide value (11meq O2/Kg oil). Seeds samples which packed in PVC and cellophane material after three months showed the lowest peroxide value (2.15 and 1.85 meq O2/Kg oil, respectively). Interaction between storage temperature and storage period on peroxide value of evening primrose oil was significant at 1%. The highest peroxide value (10.01meq O2/Kg oil) was detected after 12 months of storage at ambient temperature. After three months of storage at 4°C temperature the lowest peroxide value (2.65 meq O2/Kg oil) obtained. Interaction between packaging material, storage temperature and storage period on peroxide value of evening primrose seed oil was significant at 1% as paper packaged seeds after 12 months of storage at 4°C temperature had the highest peroxide value (12 meq O2/Kg oil). The lowest peroxide value (1.60 meq O2/Kg oil) was detected in cellophane packaged seeds after three months of storage at 4 °C temperature.
Conclusion: Overall, evening primrose seed storage in paper and cellophane packaging during three months at ambient temperature to improve the content of oil was desirable. Seed storage in paper packaging at ambient temperature after12 months, reduced oil quality. Seeds samples which packed in PVC and cellophane material at 4°C temperature preserved the quality of evening primrose oil.
Zeinab Safaei; Majid Azizi; Hossein Arouiee; Gholamhossein Davarynejad
Abstract
Introduction: Nowadays Nigella Sativa plant is considered as a 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 water. Lack of absorbable water by plants can lead to the morphological, ...
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Introduction: Nowadays Nigella Sativa plant is considered as a 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 water. 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 in the 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 biochemical characteristics 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 based 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. The distance between the main plots in each block and distance between the two blocks were also assigned as 100 cm and 200 cm, respectively; so that the moisture content of a plot had no effect on the adjacent plots. Anti-transpiration compounds were sprayed simultaneously with applying drought stress till the flowering stage once a week at sunset. Phenolic compounds, proline, chlorophyll, carotenoids, essential oil 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. The results obtained from the study showed that the effect of irrigation intervals and anti-transpiration compounds on the measured traits were significant. The best rate of the measured traits was observed at 8-day irrigation interval and chitosan treatment. The amount of phenolic compounds, proline, chlorophyll and carotenoids increased at 16-day irrigation interval, in which the increase is considered a type of drought tolerance mechanism. Different levels of anti-transpiration compounds decreased the chlorophyll, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, proline, essential oil percentage and yield. Conclusion: The important processes, including nutrition, photosynthesis, stomatal opening and closure and growth are all influenced by water. Plants are constantly living in tension and develop morphological and physiological changes in the structures and compositions and chemical processes for coping with this tension. In this study, it was observed that the level of phenols, proline, chlorophyll and carotenoids would increase at 16-day irrigation interval, where the increase is considered as a drought tolerance mechanism. The anti-transpiration compounds also led to the significant changes in terms of all the studied traits compared to the control, indicating the effectiveness of theses natural compounds. 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.
Shahabedin Ahooi; Ladan Ajdanian; Seyyed Hossein Nemati; Hossein Arouiee; Mehdi Babaei
Abstract
Introduction: In the past decades, chemical fertilizers are used by farmers have numerous environmental impacts, including various types of water and soil contamination, and cause many problems to human health and other organisms. Sustainable agricultural policy and sustainable agricultural development ...
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Introduction: In the past decades, chemical fertilizers are used by farmers have numerous environmental impacts, including various types of water and soil contamination, and cause many problems to human health and other organisms. Sustainable agricultural policy and sustainable agricultural development have prompted experts to make greater use of soil organisms to meet the plant's nutritional needs, and that is why the production of biofertilizers began. Biological imbalances in the field of sustainable agriculture can be attributed to the fungi of myoderma and its species. According to various studies, it seems that this microorganism having high ability to compete for food and space, and the establishment of spores in the environment and in particular soil around the roots of most crops and non-farm and can induce plant resistance not only reduces pathogen agents Vermicompost is a microbiologically rich, nutrient-rich, organic modifier that is produced by the interaction between earthworms and microorganisms during the decomposition of organic matter. This type of organic fertilizer contains the waste of certain species of earthworms as a result of alteration, conversion, and relative organic residues as they pass through the digestive tract of these animals. Research has shown that vermicompost has a positive effect on growth, crop development, and crop yield. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different amounts of vermicompost and different concentrations of Trichoderma Bi isolate on different properties of celery. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Trichoderma and vermicompost as a biofertilizer promoting growth in research greenhouse at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad with an average daily temperature of 15-27 °C and relative humidity of 40-70%. The present study was a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replicates as a pot experiment under no-tillage conditions in the greenhouse. The first factor consisted of four concentrations of Trichoderma harizianum isolate Bi: zero percent (control), 5%, 10%, and 15% volume of 50 liters of water consumed. The second factor also included four vermicompost treatments: zero percent (control), 25 percent, 50 percent, and 75 percent pot volume. Celery seeds were sown in transplant trays. The transplants were ready for transfer to the main litter after 10 weeks. The pots used were of plastic-type with a span diameter of 20 cm and a height of 25 cm. The plant media consisted of a mixture of 20% cocoon and 80% perlite, the roots of which were easily separable. After full harvest of plants at the commercial size, when a complete set of petiole sets was created (40 days after transplanting) morphological traits including the fresh and dry weight of roots and stems, a number of leaves, stem diameter, stem and root lengths were evaluated. The dry and dry weight of plant root was measured using a digital marking scale and with an accuracy of 0.01 g. Dry weight was determined after placing the specimens in the oven at 72 ° C for 48 hours. Also, the stem diameter was measured using a caliper machine with 0.01 mm accuracy. Root and shoot lengths were measured separately in the laboratory by a ruler in cm. Chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids were read at 663 nm, 653 nm and 470 nm for absorption by spectrophotometer, respectively. Data were analyzed using JMP8 software and ANOVA was performed using the LSD test at 5% probability level. Charts were drawn using Excel 2013 software. Results and Discussion: The results of this study showed a positive and optimal effect of combined vermicompost and Trichoderma fungi. The highest shoot dry weight (49.23 g), leaf number (46), stem diameter (15 mm) and chlorophyll and carotenoid were observed in the effect of vermicompost and Trichoderma fungi compared to the control treatment. The main stem length (77.20 cm) was affected by the fungus with a 10% concentration at the highest rate compared to other treatments. Also, 50% vermicompost treatment had the highest root length (36.66 cm). The highest chlorophyll a was observed at 75% vermicompost interaction at 15% fungi concentration (10.02 mg / g fresh leaf weight). Application of vermicompost in the culture medium and application of Trichoderma fungus extract resulted in improved growth and yield. As can be seen in the results, the best treatment was 15% and 75% vermicompost, respectively. They can be used to improve plant growth and function. Many researchers believe that mainly isolates of Trichoderma produce biochemical stimuli to stimulate plant growth or reduce the inhibitory effects of certain compounds, biological and chemical toxins. According to available reports, the application of vermicompost with 30% volume in ornamental Lilium increased leaf area, fresh and dry weight of plant and plant height. So, fresh and dry weights of bean stem under vermicompost application significantly increased compared to the control treatment, which is in line with the results of this study. However, the researchers believe that the wet and dry weight gain of the plant body if used with vermicompost is probably due to the high amount of humic acids in this biofertilizer. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study and other studies on vermicompost as an enriched fertilizer with numerous growth enzymes and hormones, as well as Trichoderma, it can be concluded that the use of bio-fertilizers plays an important role in the production of high-quality products. Also, the effect we find depends on the concentration used, but in the end, even their application at the lowest concentration compared to the control treatment increased growth and morphological characteristics of the plant. Overall, the results of this study showed that, in the case of the studied species, the combination of vermicompost and Trichoderma had a significant advantage over their separate application, and considering the superiority results of most traits at the time of application of these two together. Therefore, a combination of Trichoderma and vermicompost based on the results (concurrent use of 15% fungus extract and 75% vermicompost) is recommended to improve plant growth and yield.
Masud Ghasemi; Hossein Arouiee; Pejman Azadi; Atoosa Ali Ahmadi
Abstract
Introduction: Greater celandine (Chelidonium sp) is one of the plants that its propagation through seed occurs slowly. In addition, Chelidonium majus L. has limited habitats in Iran. For this reason, micropropagation can be considered as an effective method for its rapid and massive propagation and conservation, ...
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Introduction: Greater celandine (Chelidonium sp) is one of the plants that its propagation through seed occurs slowly. In addition, Chelidonium majus L. has limited habitats in Iran. For this reason, micropropagation can be considered as an effective method for its rapid and massive propagation and conservation, which can lead to the production of highly uniform plants. Chelidonium majus L. also contains a large amount of secondary metabolites of Isoquinoline alkaloids, including Chelidonine, Sanguinarine, Captesin, Berberrine and Chloritrine, and phenolic compounds. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate micropropagation of Chelidonium majus L. and compare the total phenol content in leaf, stem and root in obtained plantlets.
Materials and Methods: To begin the experiment, seeds of Chelidonium majus L. were first washed with distilled water containing a few drops of tween20. Then they were washed with 70% alcohol for 1 min and were finally washed with double-distilled water. Next, they were disinfected with 1% sodium hypochlorite for 5 min, and again were rinsed with distilled water for 3 times of 5, 15, and 180 min under laminar air flow hood. The effects of TDZ at concentrations 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 mg/L, BAP at concentrations 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 mg/L considered. Then, the effect of best treatment in combination with NAA and IBA at 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 mg/L on growth parameters (number of shoot, shoot length and shoot formation capacity index), were studied. The effect of IBA, NAA and IAA at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 mg/L on rooting parameters (number of root and root length) in MS medium supplemented with 3 g/L activated charcoal in in vitro conditions were evaluated. Then different ratios of cocopeat, perlite and peat moss were used for acclimatization of the obtaining plants. Folin method was used to measure total phenol content. The experiment was conducted as factorial in a completely randomized design with four replications.
Results: The results of analysis of variance for proliferation and rooting traits showed that there were significant differences among the treatments at 1% probability level. The results of means comparison showed that the highest numbers of shoots and shoot formation capacity index were obtained from the treatment of 0.5 mg/L TDZ with the average of 8.12, which did not show a significant difference from the concentration of 0.25 mg/L TDZ, and the lowest shoot number was related to the control treatment. Increasing the amount of TDZ hormone led to the reduction in shoot number, so that at concentration of 1 mg/L TDZ, the average shoot number per explant was four. Combination of 0.5 mg/L TDZ with IBA and NAA had lower effect on Chelidonium majus L. proliferation. Moreover, the greatest shoot length was observed in the treatment of 2 mg/L BAP. Comparison of means values showed no significant difference between the treatments of 2 and 1.5 mg/L BAP at 1% probability level. In this study, MS medium containing 1.5 mg/L IBA was the most appropriate treatment for root formation. The effect of NAA hormone on root number of Chelidonium majus L. showed that the highest number of root was obtained from the treatment of 2 mg/L NAA. Besides, the effect of IAA on root number of Chelidonium majus L. showed that the highest number of root was observed in the treatment of 1 mg/L IAA, and the lowest number of root was related to the control treatment .The results of means comparison for the percentage of acclimatized plants showed that the ratio of 0:2:1 had a significant difference from the rest of the culture media and 85% of the plants were acclimatized, while the ratio of 1:2:1 showed the lowest percentage of acclimatization (20%). Furthermore, the results showed that the culture media had significant effect on acclimatization stage at 1% probability level. The results of the analysis of variance for total phenol content in leaf, stem and root tissues showed that there were significant differences among these three tissues. The results showed that the amount of total phenol in leaf was higher than in the stem, and the amount of phenol in root was insignificant.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, micropropagation can be used as a method for commercial production of this species under in vitro conditions.
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.
Ali Farhadi; Hossein Arouiee; Seyyed Hossein Nemati; Reza Salehi; Francesco Giuffrida
Abstract
Introduction: Salinity stress is regarded as one of the most important abiotic factors in plant limiting growth, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. The reduction of plant growth by salinity stress has been well documented. When water supply is limited, plant structure is modified by increasing ...
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Introduction: Salinity stress is regarded as one of the most important abiotic factors in plant limiting growth, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. The reduction of plant growth by salinity stress has been well documented. When water supply is limited, plant structure is modified by increasing the root: shoot ratio. To reduce of losses in vegetative growth and production of plant and to improve water use efficiency under saline conditions in high-yielding genotypes grafting them onto rootstocks could bereduced the effect of saline stress on plant shoot. Grafting is a routine technique in continuous cropping systems. Most of the species of cucurbits are distributed in the dry regions. The objective of this studywas investigated the effectiveness of salinity stress on accessions of cucurbita and hybrid inter specific which enter from another country to Iran.
Materials and Methods: This research was conducted in laboratory and greenhouse at the Research Center of Agricultural and Natural Resources of Isfahan during 2013-2014 growing season. A factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications was conducted for rootstock and irrigation water salinity.. In the first experiment 25 seeds of rootstocks were sown in petri dishes with 10 cm diameter and irrigated by 10 ml of saline water. Rootstocks included 20 different local landraces and interspecific hybrids (C.moschata cv. Isfahan and Koshk, C.pepo cv. Alvar, Tiran, Koshk and Asgharabad, C. maxima cv. Kermanshah, Shahreza, Mohamadiyeh and Alvar, Lagenaria Siceraria, Luffa cylindrica, Trichosanthes cucumerina, RZ-Ferro, Es113, Ews910, Ews909, Ews913, 426 and Es152). Salinity stress was 6 levels (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 ds/m of NaCl). Germination, diameter of stem, height of root and stem, shoot and root fresh mass, vigor index and root: shoot ratio were evaluated. In the second experiment seeds were sown in plastic pot by soil media. Seedlings were irrigated daily with 200 ml of saline water (0, 2 and 4 ds/m) for 35 days. Excess solution was allowed to drain from the plants through drainage holes in the base of the pots. Hybrids of 152,426 and Trichosanthes cucumerina, Luffa cylindrical and Cucurbita pepo con. Pepo var. Styriaca was added. In the second phase measured shoot and root dry mass, SPAD index, relatively water content and seedling vigor index.
Results and Discussion: the results showed that all parameters were significantly influenced by salinity except root: shoot ratio in Petri dish. Salinity stress reduced chlorophyll index (SPAD), relative water content in cucurbita leaves than control (without saline) and also seeds germination, seedlings fresh mass and seedlings vigour by 51%, 53%, and 75 % respectively. .The shoot dry biomass of local landrace and inter specific hybrids in both experiment decreased linearly in response to increasing saline stress. Recorded data in Petri dish and plastic pot were significantly influenced by rootstock, whereas no significant difference was observed on germination rate and vigor index for plastic pot in greenhouse. The lowest seed germination percentage, seedling growth, vigor index and root: shoot ratio recorded on high saline concentration. NaCl threshold damage to cucurbits was evaluated 4 ds/m. Populations of C. maxima cv.Kermanshah and Shahreza, C.moschata cv. Isfahan and inters pecific hybrids Ferro, 909 and 910 were showed tolerant to salinity. It is proven that crop growth decreases with increasing saline stress (Rouphael, et al., 2012). Hybrids of C. moschata cv. Koshk, C. pepo cv. Koshk and Asgharabad, Lagenaria Siceraria, Es113 and Cucurbita pepo con. Pepo var. Styriaca were sensitive to saline stress. Kumar et al, (2008) also reported plant response to salinity depends on type of salt, salt concentration and plant genotype.
Conclusions: Salinity stress adversely affect biomass and leaf water content of cucurbita. Our results indicated that local and hybrid cucurbit plants exhibited different response to saline stress. Hybrid rootstocks 909, 910 and Ferro were tolerant to salinity. Although local landrace C. maxima. cv. Shahreza and Kermanshah, C. moschata cv. Isfahan and C. pepo cv. Tiran were tolerant to salinity. Sensitivity to saline stress was similar between some local landrace and hybrid plants. Finally, after grafting in cucurbita rootstocks needs more research to use water, wast water, NaCl and other resources of salinity and to find the most tolerant rootstock.
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
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.
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.
Saeid Nadi; Mohammad Farsi; Seyyed Hossein Nemati; Hossein Arouiee; Gholamhossein Davarnejad
Abstract
In this study, the recovery of casing soil consumed in the white button mushroom was investigated. Casing soil is used as a layer on compost (culture medium) to a diameter of 3-5to stimulate fruiting on the white button mushroom(Agaricus bisporus) . The expense od casing soil is about 30 percent of production ...
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In this study, the recovery of casing soil consumed in the white button mushroom was investigated. Casing soil is used as a layer on compost (culture medium) to a diameter of 3-5to stimulate fruiting on the white button mushroom(Agaricus bisporus) . The expense od casing soil is about 30 percent of production costs. In the first step of this experiment, in order to separate casing soil from compost easily (at the end of production period),by distribution of a mesh with pores of 5 mm between compost and casing soil in the casing step, which we could separate and easily collect casing soil at the end. The most important altering factor between chemical and physical properties of recycling casing soil, is EC that was reduced by leaching process. An experiment was conducted based on split plot design with two factors and three replications. The main plots were treated with two levels of with and without a plastic mesh. Percentages of recycled soils in combination with fresh casing soil applied in sub plots. Subplot included 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% and 0% of recycled soil. Three traits included fruit yield, fruit average weight and fruit number were analyzed using SAS software. None of the traits showed significant differences. No significant difference was obsereved between with and without plastic mesh. Further more no difference was observed between different percentages of recycled soil mixed with fresh peat. It is thus concluded that using recycled casing soil in production of the white button mushroom is possible and profitable.
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.
Raheleh Khatibzadeh; Majid Azizi; Hossein Arouiee; Mohammad Farsi
Abstract
To protect and multiply important and rare plant resources, in vitro culture serves as a more efficient alternative to traditional propagation approaches. Levisticum officinale Koch. a member of Apiaceae is an important, endangered and neglected species in Iran, which has been shown to have diuretic, ...
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To protect and multiply important and rare plant resources, in vitro culture serves as a more efficient alternative to traditional propagation approaches. Levisticum officinale Koch. a member of Apiaceae is an important, endangered and neglected species in Iran, which has been shown to have diuretic, spasmolytic and carminative effects. In order to supply enough plant materials for micro-propagation of this herb and study effects of different methods of disinfection and stratification on in vitro seed germination, a factorial experiment laid out in a completely randomized design was set out to establish sterile plants out of seed culture. It was concluded that a pre-chilling treatment for 3 months resulted in maximum percent of germination (92%) and the largest germination rate. The best superficial sterilization protocol was proofed to be soaking in 70% (v:v) ethanol for 30 s and then, using of 2% (v:v) dilution of NaOCl for 15 min, followed by 3 rinses in sterile distilled water.
Elahe Mirabi; Seyyed Hossein Nemati; Gholamhossein Davarynejad; Hossein Arouiee
Abstract
Pepino (Solanum muricatum), a new vegetable crops, is from Solanaceae family and cultivated as annual crops. In order to investigate the effects of mulch on weed dry weight in pepino and soil humidity and temperature, an experiment was conducted based on randomized completely design with three replication ...
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Pepino (Solanum muricatum), a new vegetable crops, is from Solanaceae family and cultivated as annual crops. In order to investigate the effects of mulch on weed dry weight in pepino and soil humidity and temperature, an experiment was conducted based on randomized completely design with three replication at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad green house, during 2009. Treatments included rice straw mulch, wood chips mulch and control. sampling was recorded at four stages. The result indicated that the effect of mulch was significant (P
