Medicinal Plants
Mansoureh Fadaei; Vahid Akbarpour; Seyyed Javad Mousavizadeh; Kamran Ghasemi
Abstract
Introduction
Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) is a medicinal plant belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family and the order Cucurbitals. The seeds of this plant are a rich source of essential oils and proteins for the body. It is used in the production of various drugs such as Peponen, Pepostrin, Grunfig and treatment ...
Read More
Introduction
Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) is a medicinal plant belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family and the order Cucurbitals. The seeds of this plant are a rich source of essential oils and proteins for the body. It is used in the production of various drugs such as Peponen, Pepostrin, Grunfig and treatment of prostate swelling, urinary tract inflammation, atherosclerosis, gastrointestinal regulation, etc. Since the components of medicinal plants are low at natural condition, and could be increased by means of different environmental conditions, nutrition or application of elicitors; thus, it is necessary to work on mentioned parameters effects on quantitative and qualitative attributes of medicinal plants. Recent years, many researches have been done based on natural components for increment of yield and secondary metabolites of medicinal plants. Ascorbic acid is one of these materials which its effect on plant growth has been validated. In the management of agricultural inputs, especially in the cultivation of medicinal plants, the application of substances that have the least harmful side effects on human health and the environment is recommended. Meanwhile, sucrose and ascorbic acid are healthy substances to improve growth and increase crop yield. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the effect of these two substances on yield, yield components and phytochemical characteristics of pumpkins.
Materials and Methods
Pumpkin seeds were prepared from Pakan Bazr Esfahan by purity of 99%. Then, planted in a farm of 500 m2 at Behshar. After plant growth, spray treatments were conducted at three times as before flowering, onset of flowering and fruit set stages. This experiment was conducted in factorial with sucrose factor at four levels (0, 5, 10, 15 g.l-1) and ascorbic acid factor at four levels (0, 15, 30, 45 mM), based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The studied characteristics included number of leaves and fruits, plant yield, 1000-seed weight, total number of seeds, number of healthy seeds, percentage of healthy seeds, number of blank (deaf) seeds, percentage of blank seeds, total chlorophyll, antioxidant activity, phenol, flavonoids, protein and oil percentage. Statistical analysis of data was performed using SAS statistical software and comparison of mean was performed using the least significant difference (LSD) at the level of 5% probability. Figures were graphed with Excel software.
Results and Discussion
According to this study results, the effect of foliar application of sucrose and ascorbic acid and their interaction on most of the studied traits was significant. Application of 15 g.l-1 sucrose with 15 mM ascorbic acid increased the number of fruits to 1.68 per plant, which showed an increase compared to the control treatment. The highest total number of seeds with an average of 464 seeds per fruit was obtained by applying 5 g.l-1 sucrose with 45 mM ascorbic acid, which compared to the control (247.33) recorded an increase of 87.60%. The highest total chlorophyll content was measured with an average of 2.081 (mg.g-1 fresh weight) using 5 g.l-1 sucrose with 15 mM ascorbic acid, which showed an increase of 1.81% compared to the control treatment (2.044). Also, application of 15 g.l-1 sucrose along with 15 mM ascorbic acid increased protein by 40.03%, which showed an increase of 79.26% compared to the control (22.33). Other results indicate that increasing the amount of seed oil up to 44.50% is available with the application of 15 g.l-1 sucrose with 30 mM ascorbic acid and also with the application of 10 g.l-1 sucrose with 45 mM ascorbic acid; which had an increase of 16.61% compared to the control (38.16). The results of the present study showed that the application of combined ratios of sucrose and ascorbic acid has been effective in improving the quantitative and qualitative attributes of pumpkin, including protein content and percentage of pumpkin seed oil.
Conclusion
Since the treatment of sucrose 10 g.l-1 with 45 mM ascorbic acid significantly affected most of important attributes such as total antioxidant activity, total flavonoids, protein content and high oil content, therefore, this combination of treatment can be applied to increase the quality of pumpkin seeds. However, if only quantity is important, the treatment of sucrose 15 g.l-1 with 15 mM ascorbic acid, which caused the highest number of fruits per plant, the highest yield as well as the highest protein, can be recommended.
Fatemeh Ghorbanalizade; Mahnaz Karimi; Kamran Ghasemi; Mehrnaz Hatami
Abstract
Introduction: Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is one of the world’s most prevalent invasive aquatic plants. Due to the environmental and economic concerns associated with the water hyacinth spread, control of this plant seems will be necessary. Composting is promising techniques for controlling ...
Read More
Introduction: Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is one of the world’s most prevalent invasive aquatic plants. Due to the environmental and economic concerns associated with the water hyacinth spread, control of this plant seems will be necessary. Composting is promising techniques for controlling water hyacinth. Humic acid is the fraction of naturally occurring organic materials, which derive from the decomposition of plant and animal residues. Humic acid plays important roles in plants through stimulation of root growth and increase of water and nutrient uptake by plants. In this study, we evaluated the effect of water hyacinth compost and humic acid on the vegetative and reproductive characteristics of gerbera flowers
Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted as a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor was water hyacinth compost (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% v/v) and the second factor was humic acid (0, 250 and 500 mg L-1). The peat moss + perlite (2:1 v/v) was considered as a control treatment. To prepare water hyacinth compost, the water hyacinth was collected from a river in Sari, Mazandaran, Iran. Water hyacinth leaves were exposed to direct sunlight for eight hours to wither then chopped to fine pieces and eventually was spread on the surface. The thickness of leaves is five-centimeter. One centimeter thickness of animal manure was added on top of the water hyacinth leaves and then a layer of ash and lime respectively added. This step was repeated until the height of the layer reached to one meter, finally the top layer was covered with dry leaves of native trees and black polyethylene sheets. The mass was mixed up every 15 days to get a better result (uniform decomposition). Finally, after three months, the compost was prepared. Gerbera (cv. Artist) seedlings with uniform size (15 cm) were planted in plastic pots at different levels of compost. Humic acid was used once every ten days. The average day and night temperature in the greenhouse during the experiment was 17±2 and 23±2ºC, respectively, and the average greenhouse humidity was 65 to 75%. Flowering time, number of flowers, number of leaves, stem length, flower stem diameter, flower disk diameter, fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots, phenol content, total chlorophyll and carotenoids, concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium in the leaves, ion leakage of petals and vase life were evaluated.
Result and Discussion: According to the results of the effect of compost, humic acid and their interaction on most of the studied characteristics were significant. The highest number of flowers with 117% increase compared to the control treatment was related to 50% compost + 500 mg L-1 humic acid. In this treatment, the time of flower emergence occurred 40 days earlier than the control. The highest chlorophyll content with 155.52% increase compared to control was observed in 25% compost + 500% humic acid. Mineral elements in the leaf of the Gerbera plant were significantly affected by growth media and humic acid. The highest nitrogen content was found in 50% compost + 500 mg L-1 humic acid (a 50% increase compared to control). The highest potassium content was observed in 50% compost + 250 mg L-1 humic acid. The highest concentrations of calcium were found in the leaves of plants grown in 50% compost + 500 mg L-1 humic acid. The highest vase life with a 71.67% increase compared to the control treatment was related to plants that were grown in 25% or 50% compost+ 500 mg L-1 humic acid. The lowest ion leakage was recorded in 50% compost + 500% humic acid with 56.79% decrease compared to the control. In the present study, most of the growth media and humic acid significantly affected most of the Gerbera plant parameters. The best results were obtained from 25% and 50% compost +250, 500 mg L-1 humic acid. Due to proper drainage, increased water retention, a pseudo hormonal compound such as auxin and increased absorption of elements, compost improve the chemical and physical structure of growing media. Also, high leaf nitrogen content was observed in most compost-containing substrates. This element plays a key role in vegetative growth. The concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in compost is usually 5 to 11 times higher than soil which is gradually delivered to the plant and increases the growth and flowering of the plant. Humic acid plays important roles in plants through stimulation of root growth and increase of water and nutrient uptake by plants. In our study the application of humic acid at 250 and 500 mg L-1 significantly increased concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and potassium as compared with control. It has also been reported that humic acid provides growth regulators to regulate and control hormone levels in plants and stimulates the production of plant enzymes and hormones, which ultimately increases the vegetative and reproductive growth of the plant.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that water hyacinth compost with humic acid due to improving the root environment and increasing the absorption of nutrients, increased quantitative, qualitative and vase life characteristics of Gerbera in comparison with control (peat + perlite). 50% compost was introduced as the best treatment in combination with concentrations of 250 and 500 mg L-1 of humic acid.
Kamran Ghasemi; Seied Mostafa Emadi; Yousef Ghasemi
Abstract
Introduction: Broccoli is one of the valuable vegetables among brassicas which has received great attention throughout the world and is cultivated both in soil and soilless culture. Currently, we face restriction in high quality of the soils and water resources as two essential inputs in agriculture. ...
Read More
Introduction: Broccoli is one of the valuable vegetables among brassicas which has received great attention throughout the world and is cultivated both in soil and soilless culture. Currently, we face restriction in high quality of the soils and water resources as two essential inputs in agriculture. Like other parts of the world, Iran is losing hundred hectares of its arable and fertile land annually due to salinity, alkalinity and waterlogging. One of the important strategies to overcome these adverse conditions is soilless culture systems. Among the different methods of soilless culture, substrate culture is more common and cheaper than others. Different kinds of organic and inorganic substances are used in soilless culture system, but the optimum mixture of growing medium is still a challenging issue. Physical and chemical characteristics of growing media can potentially affect the yield and product quality in direct and indirect ways. A good medium for soilless culture should have easy drainage, appropriate aeration, high water holding capacity and low price, as well as no weed seeds and pathogens. Therefore, this research was aimed to evaluate different prevalent growing media in broccoli soilless culture system.
Materials and Methods: This experiment was conducted as an outdoor soilless culture system in outdoor hydroponic site in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Recourses University (SANRU). To begin with, broccoli seeds were sown in transplanting tray, and after five weeks, the developed transplants were cultivated in growing bags in a soilless system. In this work, different mixtures of culture media were evaluated for yield component and mineral elements of broccoli. Ten kinds of different media comprising of cocopeat, perlite, sand, sawdust, sand+sawdust, sand+vermicompost, cocopeat+perlite, cocopeat+LECA, cocopeat+ pumice, and cocopeat+perlite+ vermicompost were compared in completely randomized design with tree replications. At the end of the growing season, vegetative growth and yield components of broccoli were measured. The macro nutrients including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (k), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and sulfur (S) were then analyzed in the harvested broccoli. Four important micro elements such as Iron (Fe), cooper (Cu), boron (B) and zinc (Zn) were measured as well. A statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance in Statistical Analysis System (SAS) software (version 9.1) and means were compared using Duncan’s multiple range test at 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels.
Results and Discussion: According to the results, culture medium showed no significant effect on plant height, dry matter and the number of auxiliary heads, while it significantly affected diameter and weight of main head (p≤0.01). The highest head diameter was seen in sand+vermicompost mixture which had no significant difference from cocopeat, cocopeat+LECA, and prlite+cocopeat+vemicompost. The mixture of sand+vermicompost resulted in the heaviest broccoli heads that were significantly greater than all other growing media used in the experiment. Since vermicompost contains some mineral elements like calcium, magnesium and phosphorus and some growth stimulators as well, mixing this substrate with sand can create an appropriate and ideal culture for root growth and development. Pure perlite and sawdust media contributed to the lowest yield with no significant differences from each other. The macro and micro nutrients of broccoli head were not significantly affected by growing medium, except for nitrogen and zinc. The highest concentration of nitrogen in broccoli head was recorded for pure perlite and sawdust which was significantly more than other media. The highest zinc concentration in broccoli head was observed in Sawdust medium (p≤0.05). A significant negative correlation was observed between plant height and three main macro nutrients (N, P and K). The negative correlation between some macro nutrients and plant growth can be related to the excessive amount of these elements in nutrient solution. Positive and significant correlation was also seen among plant height, head diameter and head weight. In other word, the tallest plants could produce bigger and heavier head.
Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that a mixture of organic and inorganic substances can be better than a single substance medium. On the other hand, our results showed that role of medium substances and composition is not as important as nutrient solution, so an appropriate nutrient solution with a proper rate can potentially provide all plant's needs regardless of media composition.
