Medicinal Plants
Hediye Taghizadeh Baghchejooghi; Saeideh Alizadeh Salteh; Mansur Matloobi
Abstract
Introduction
Marigold (Calendula officinalis) is an herbaceous plant belonging to the family Asteraceae. C. officinalis is always one of the most widely used medicinal plants and is widely cultivated for its extract in traditional and herbal medicine especially in Iran. Marigold extract has medicinal ...
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Introduction
Marigold (Calendula officinalis) is an herbaceous plant belonging to the family Asteraceae. C. officinalis is always one of the most widely used medicinal plants and is widely cultivated for its extract in traditional and herbal medicine especially in Iran. Marigold extract has medicinal effects such as wound healing, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, immune stimulating, anti-tumor and anti-AIDS. To achieve the higher yield and quality in this plant, it’s necessary to have enough nutrition. Fulvic acid stimulates plant metabolism, increases enzyme activity as a catalyst in plant respiration, and increases nutrient efficiency and cell pore permeability. On the other hand, triacanthanol is a type of alcohol with a 30-carbon chain and is found naturally in plant epicotyledonous waxes. The use of triacanthanol increases plant dry weight and reduces the content of sugar, amino acids and protein.
Materials and Methods
In order to evaluate the effect of fulvic acid and triacantanol and their interactions on some characteristics of C. officinalis, a factorial experiment with 16 treatments and 3 replications was conducted at greenhouse. Experimental treatments consisted of four levels of fulvic acid (0, 0.5, 1, 2 mg / l) as the first factor and four levels of triacantanol (0, 10-5, 5.5×10-4, 10-4 M) as the second factor. Treatments were sprayed on the plant three times in the form of foliar spray. Physiological factors were measured during the growing season and after applying the treatments. Finally, at the end of the growing season, plants were sampled to measure the parameters. Yield and fresh and dry weight (at flowering stage and in the form of fully opened flowers), shoot height with a ruler, number of leaves and leaf area were measured with a leaf gauge. Number of flowers by counting the number of flowers from the time of the first flower to the end of the experiment without taking into account the unopened buds, the time required for flowering (early flowering, late flowering) in terms of days by noting the date of the day At the time of emergence, the first flower in each treatment was examined. Acetone at 100% was used to measure photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids) and their absorption was measured at 470, 644.8 and 661.6 nm by spectrophotemeter. The measurement of total phenol was performed using a covalent folate reagent in the absorption spectrum of 765 nm in a spectrophotometer. The flavonoid content of all extracts was measured by aluminum chloride colorimetric method. The absorbance of the samples was read at 415 nm by spectrophotometer. Quercetin was used as the standard to obtain the calibration curve. The flavonoid content of the samples was reported as mg quercetin per 100 g fresh plant weight. DPPH free radical scavenger was used to measure antioxidant activity. The absorbance of the samples was read at 517 nm using a spectrophotometer.
Results and Discussion
Based on the results of this study, it was observed that the foliar application of 10-4 M triacantanol led to an increase in flower yield, leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight, number of flowers, flower height, antioxidant activity, and flavonoid content. On the other hand, the application of 10-5 M triacantanol increased the percentage of evergreen dry matter and phenol content more than the other concentrations. Among the different concentrations of fulvic acid tested, the concentration of 2 mg/l showed the greatest positive impact on the number of leaves, leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight, dry matter percentage, antioxidant activity, and total flavonoid content. Overall, the application of 10-4 M triacantanol and 2 mg/l fulvic acid as a leaf treatment significantly improved most of the measured traits in comparison to the control treatment. It is worth noting that plants treated with 2 mg/l fulvic acid flowered later than the other treatments, and there was a significant interaction between triacanthanol and fulvic acid on flower yield and height.
Conclusion
The results of this study in response to the use of the triacantanol and fulvic acid indicate that the use of these two compounds in foliar spraying can be very useful to achieve sustainable production and achieve organic farming. Triacanthanol promotes growth by regulating many of the genes involved in photosynthesis The use of fulvic acid increases the permeability of the cell membrane and better penetration of nutrients from the membrane. Also, soil permeability to nitrogen uptake increases by plant roots.
Mansur Matloobi; Reza Mahootchian asl; Zeynab Sabaghnia
Abstract
Introduction: In greenhouse roses, canopy management has been highly noted and emphasized during the past decades. It was recognized that improving canopy shape by implementing some techniques such as stem bending and flower bud removing can highly affect the marketable quality of cut roses. For most ...
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Introduction: In greenhouse roses, canopy management has been highly noted and emphasized during the past decades. It was recognized that improving canopy shape by implementing some techniques such as stem bending and flower bud removing can highly affect the marketable quality of cut roses. For most growers, the best method of flower bud treatment has not yet been described and determined physiologically. This experiment was designed to answer some questions related to this problem.
Materials and Methods: A plastic commercial cut rose greenhouse was selected to carry out the trial. Three greenhouse rose cultivars, namely Eros, Cherry Brandy and Dancing Queen, were selected as the first factor, and three methods of flower bud treatment along with bending types were chosen as the second factor. Cuttings were taken from mother plants and rooted under mist conditions. The first shoot emerging from the cutting was treated at pea bud stage by one of the following methods: shoot bending at stem base with intact bud, immediate shoot bending at stem base after removing flower bud and shoot bending at stem base two weeks after flower bud removal. Some marketable stem properties including stem length, diameter and weight, and characteristics related to bud growth potential were measured, and then the data were subjected to statistical analysis.
Results and Discussion: Analysis of variance showed that cultivars differ in their marketable features. Cherry Brandy produced longer cut flowers with higher stem diameter compared to the two other cultivars. This cultivar was also good in stem weight trait; however its difference from Eros was not significant. Dancing Queen did not perform well in producing high quality stems on the whole. Regarding number of days until bud release and growth, Cherry Brandy’s buds spent fewest days until growing. In many studies, the effect of cultivar on rose shoot growth quality has been documented and explained. For instance, it was determined in Rosa hybrida ‘Fire and Ice’ that the rate of increase in stem length was about two times more than that in ‘Kardinal’ cultivar when both compared to control cultivar. These differences may have genetic and/or environmental origins. Methods of stem treatment significantly affected some shoot characteristics such as bud burst time, number and weight of growing shoots on bent stems and flower diameter, but no significant effect was observed on most important marketable traits. However, this factor interacted significantly with cultivar in some characteristics such as time of bud burst and the number of growing shoots on bent stems, showing that similar stem treatments can cause different results in different cultivars. Methods of stem treatment unexpectedly did not change the stem marketable qualities such as stem length and diameter, while it significantly altered time of bud burst, flower diameter and weight of shoot sprouts on bent stems. The most interesting result was that time of bud burst decreased from about 10 days in the immediate stem bending with intact bud to about 5 days in the treatment containing bending practice two weeks after the flower bud removal. This feature can be valuable, since it can decrease time of shoot growth and harvest time, thereby increasing stem production per time scale. The highest weight of shoot sprouts on bent stems obtained when bud removal performed at bending time, indicating that this phenomenon occurs as a consequence of apical dominance removal. Growers can adjust leaf area per plant by controlling the rate of bud growth with or without the number of bud sprouts on the bent stems through implementing different flower shoot management systems. It was reported in many studies that altering stem position, removing flower bud, defoliating and practicing similar activities can change hormone and carbohydrate balance inside the plant, which, in turn, may lead to new shape of plant canopy with different leaf areas and distribution patterns as a result of varying bud growth potential scattered in different positions within the canopy. On the other hand, interactive relations between sink and source organs can positively or negatively affect bud growth potential, which can be a powerful tool for growers to manipulate plant canopy development and cut flower quality.
Conclusion: In commercial rose greenhouses, growers are usually seeking methods which are simple and effective in practice. One of these important methods can be found in training and treating ways of growing stems. The findings of this study suggest that choosing a proper time for apical bud treatment and stem bending can highly influence some important qualitative traits in greenhouse roses. For instance, if the aim is to delay the crop harvest time, the practice of delayed apical bud removal treatment can be chosen as the best option to cause the delay. On the other hand, crop leaf area during the sunny summer days can be increased by adopting a proper treatment which leads to higher rate of bud burst on bent stems. During the winter days, however taking a practice with the potential of producing lower leaf area (by accurate timing and proper management of apical flower bud sink) can be a more useful way of efficient intercepting of incoming light. Taken together and assuming these kinds of manipulations as a tool, growers can make good decisions according to their existing greenhouse conditions, scheduled harvest time and many other influencing factors in order to obtain the highest possible number of cut flower stems.
