Nasrin Gharaei Masjedi; Mohammad Hossein Shamshiri; Mohammad Reza Dehghani
Abstract
Introduction: Pistachio (Pistacia vera), as one of the most important horticultural products of Iran, has been embraced as one of the main commercial products. Rafsanjan is an important area of pistachio production in the world. High production is primarily dependent on the ability of the trees to produce ...
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Introduction: Pistachio (Pistacia vera), as one of the most important horticultural products of Iran, has been embraced as one of the main commercial products. Rafsanjan is an important area of pistachio production in the world. High production is primarily dependent on the ability of the trees to produce large amounts of photoassimilates during the growing season. Nitrogen is the primary nutrient element needed in the greatest quantities for plant growth and physiology. The greatest impact of nitrogen is in relation to photosynthesis. Therefore, the rate of CO2 assimilation has been closely related to leaf nitrogen status. Nitrogen deficiency leads to the reduction in the activities of enzymes involved in photosynthesis and consequently a decrease in the rate of CO2 assimilation. Regarding the key role of nitrogen in metabolic activities, especially photosynthesis, this research was conducted to investigate the effects of repeated foliar applications of urea on photosynthesis parameters of “Kalleh-ghuchi” pistachio cultivar.
Materials and Methods: This research was conducted to assess the effect of repeated foliar applications of urea on photosynthetic parameters of pistachio trees in different stages of fruit growth, as a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with five replications. In this experiment, urea was applied at the rate of 0.5% at three different stages of fruit growth including initiation of embryo growth, rapid growth of embryo and during flower bud abscission with two weeks interval. Measurement of photosynthesis parameters (including photosynthesis (A), transpiration rate (E) and stomatal conductance (gs) and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci)) were done by used a portable photosynthesis system, after measuring photosynthesis parameters, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (Fv/Fm and PII) were recorded by using a Chlorophyll Fluorometer. Leaf nitrogen content was determined by the kjeldahl method. Leaf chlorophyll and carotenoids content were measured according to porra (2002). Photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE) was calculated as the ratio of photosynthesis to foliar nitrogen content. All above parameters was performed in two times, one day after the last spraying and 10 days after the first stage of measurement. The experimental data was analyzed by SAS software and the significant differences among the treatment were tested by Duncan test.
Results: The results showed that photosynthesis and transpiration rate and stomatal conductance were increased in urea treated trees compared to control in both sampling dates, while intercellular CO2 concentration was decreased by urea application. Three times applications of urea caused a 20% increase in photosynthesis rate compared to control trees. Leaf nitrogen content was also increased by repeated urea application in two sampling dates, as three times application of urea resulted in a 65% increase in leaf nitrogen concentration compared to the control , while photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency decreased by urea application. Fv/Fm and PII were improved by repeated urea applications in two sampling dates. The results also indicated that chlorophyll pigments were increased by urea application. Generally, results showed that the maximum of photosynthesis and related parameters were obtained with three applications of urea at second date of sampling.
Discussion: Any increase in photosynthesis with urea application indicates that more nitrogen maybe allocated to the enzymes of the carbon assimilation. Thus, more CO2 could be used by the plant, therefore increases in CO2 assimilation was accompanied by a decrease in the Ci due to nitrogen application. In the present study, nitrogen application increased stomatal conductance of pistachio trees. Application of nitrogen can influence stomatal opening, and thus transpiration rate. Increased chlorophyll content with applied nitrogen indicates paramount role of nitrogen in determining of chlorophyll synthesis. Increasing photosynthesis rate is always accompany with chlorophyll fluorescence reduction that is in agree with our results. Differences in PNUE are mainly brought about by differences in photosynthetic capacity or foliar nitrogen allocation either within the photosynthetic apparatus or to non-photosynthetic pools (e.g. cell walls, nitrate).
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that urea application can improve photosynthesis capacity by increasing nitrogen content of pistachio leaves. In this experiment, repeated foliar applications of urea in different stages of fruit growth had positive effects on photosynthesis and other dependent parameters which may be effective in reduction of alternate bearing in pistachio trees. On the other hand, the effect of nitrogen application on photosynthesis was continued for more than a month after application, compared to control.
Zahra Ahmadi; Seyyed Hossein Mirdehghan; Hossein Hokmabadi; Mohammad Hossein Shamshiri
Abstract
Fresh pistachio nuts undergo biochemical and physiological changes after harvest and postharvest and as a result, it has a short shelf life. The purpose of this research is to study the effects of packaging type and edible coating on quality and increasing the shelf life of fresh pistachio nut. Therefore, ...
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Fresh pistachio nuts undergo biochemical and physiological changes after harvest and postharvest and as a result, it has a short shelf life. The purpose of this research is to study the effects of packaging type and edible coating on quality and increasing the shelf life of fresh pistachio nut. Therefore, two separate experiment were conducted and in first one the individual fresh pistachio were dipped in different concentration of aloe vera gel (0 (control), 25, 33, 50 %) and also Nanocid at 80 and 100 mgl-1 and kept at 4±2°C for 40 days. In second experiment, to compare the plastics produced through Nano technology and usual plastics (nylon), fresh pistachio nut were packed and stored in mentioned condition. Weight loss, pistachio quality appearance and its marketability were examined every 5 day- interval and fat and soluble carbohydrate at the end of storage. The results showed that Nano films comparing to control were useful significantly (p≤0.01) in controlling the weight loss and keeping fresh pistachio’s appearance. Also weight loss and fresh pistachio browning were lower in aloe vera gel treatments and the best results (higher soluble carbohydrate and appearance) come from 25% aloe gel compared to control.
Najmeh Rasooli; Hamid Reza Roosta; Mohammad Hossein Shamshiri
Abstract
Abstract
Regarding to this issue that nitrogen is one of the main essential elements for plant that growth and efficiency of plant is related to it, and on the other hand most of the water and soil resources in Iran are alkaline; in order to evaluation of the interactive effect of different concentrations ...
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Abstract
Regarding to this issue that nitrogen is one of the main essential elements for plant that growth and efficiency of plant is related to it, and on the other hand most of the water and soil resources in Iran are alkaline; in order to evaluation of the interactive effect of different concentrations of sodium bicarbonate and nitrogen form on snap bean in hydroponic system, this research was done in factorial design with two factors, sodium bicarbonate (0, 1, 5 and 15 mM) and nitrogen form (ammonium and nitrate). Results showed that ammonium decreased vegetative growth compared to nitrate, and on the other hand bicarbonate caused increase of the effect of ammonium toxicity and reduced the plant growth. Ammonium increased flower and pod production compared to nitrate. In the presence of nitrate in nutrient solution, addition of bicarbonate caused reduction in reproductive growth of snap bean plants that can be due to the cumulative effect of bicarbonate and nitrate on the pH increase in nutrient solution.
Keywords: Alkalinity, Ammonium, Bicarbonate, Plant nutrition, Nitrate
