Postharvest physiology
Sajjad Mostafayi; Mohammad Reza Asghari
Abstract
Introduction Apple (Malus domestica) is considered as one of the important members of the Rosaceae family and is among the most consumed fruits in the world. One of the biggest challenges for agricultural researchers is to increase the quantity and quality of food to feed the growing population, without ...
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Introduction Apple (Malus domestica) is considered as one of the important members of the Rosaceae family and is among the most consumed fruits in the world. One of the biggest challenges for agricultural researchers is to increase the quantity and quality of food to feed the growing population, without negatively affecting the health of the soil and agricultural ecosystems. Due to the adverse effects of chemicals on human health and environmental safety, the production of organic products has been considered as one of the most important issues in food production systems. It is utilized in various forms, including fresh fruit or processed as industrial products. Based on the respiratory and ethylene production pattern, apples are classified as climacteric fruits. Metabolic activities and ripening continue after harvest, so apples have the potential to transform into highly perishable products after harvest. Post-harvest treatments are certainly not the most suitable method for preserving the shelf life and quality of fruits during the post-harvest period. Therefore, employing new and effective methods to enhance quality, control decay, and consequently extend the post-harvest life of apples appears to be essential. Organic farming, as an agricultural system to protect human health and the environment, can improve product quality and shelf life. Materials and MethodsThis study was conducted on an apple orchard (Malus domestica) in Zarabad area of Khoy city located in the northwest of Iran (with the same management and growth conditions) in 2018-2019. The experiment was conducted as a factorial in the form of a completely randomized block design in 4 replications. The experimental factors included spraying fruit trees with nano-chitosan in 3 concentrations (zero, 5 and 10 ml) and ferulic acid in 3 concentrations (zero, 0.5 and 1 mM). Apple trees in three times, the first stage in the hazelnut time. Fruit drop, the second stage 20 days after the first stage and the third stage 20 days after the second stage spraying, were sprayed in the afternoon using a Cross mark PB20 manual sprayer. The harvested fruits were sprayed according to the treatments were packed and labeled and transferred to the central laboratory of horticultural sciences of Urmia University. After 24 hours of storage at the laboratory temperature, the measurement of the studied traits started on the fruits, the control treatment in this experiment was distilled water with Tween 80 (0.1/v/v). Results and DiscussionCompared to the control group, fruits treated with a combination of chitosan and ferulic acid exhibited a significant increase in firmness after harvest. Notably, the most effective treatment involved a combination of 10 milliliters of nano-chitosan and 1 millimolar ferulic acid, resulting in the highest level of firmness among all treatments.As a result, the combined treatment of chitosan and ferulic acid can delay the aging process by reducing the activity of enzymes involved in cell wall degradation and maintain firmness in apples, contributing to a positive effect. According to the obtained results, fruits treated with nano-chitosan and ferulic acid showed a higher soluble solid content compared to the control fruits, and this amount increased with the higher concentrations of nano-chitosan and ferulic acid. The minimum level of TA was observed in the control treatment, and the highest level was observed in the treatment with 10 milliliters of chitosan and 1 millimolar ferulic acid. The treatment with 1 millimolar ferulic acid and 10 milliliters of chitosan showed the highest percentage of TA content compared to the control. The combination of nano-chitosan and ferulic acid treatment led to a reduction in fruit juice pH, with the lowest pH observed in the treatment with 1 millimolar ferulic acid and 10 milliliters of chitosan, and the highest pH observed in the control treatment. Vitamin C is the primary water-soluble antioxidant that directly reduces damage caused by free radicals. According to the obtained results, the maximum content of vitamin C was observed in the treatment with 1 millimolar ferulic acid and 10 milliliters of chitosan. According to the obtained results, the maximum PAL enzyme activity was observed in the treatment with 1 millimolar ferulic acid and 10 milliliters of chitosan. Conclusion In general, the findings of the current study showed that pre-harvest treatment with nano-chitosan and ferulic acid had a positive effect on the post-harvest quality of apple fruits. The fruits treated with the highest concentration of nano-chitosan and ferulic acid exhibited the highest fruit firmness, titratable acidity, vitamin C content, PAL enzyme activity, and the lowest pH compared to the control fruits. These results indicate that nano-chitosan and ferulic acid treatment can be proposed as a promising and healthy method for improving the post-harvest quality of apple fruits.
Pomology
Hajali Mohebbi; Ali Ebadi; Mehdi Taheri; Mahboobeh Zarabi; Mohammad Reza Bihamta
Abstract
Introduction Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most important economic plants in the world including Iran. One of the most basic effective factors of the growth of fruit trees is knowing their nutrition. Micronutrients are as important as Macronutrients for better growth, yield and quantity ...
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Introduction Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most important economic plants in the world including Iran. One of the most basic effective factors of the growth of fruit trees is knowing their nutrition. Micronutrients are as important as Macronutrients for better growth, yield and quantity in plants. Garden plants suffer from severe zinc deficiency, followed by boron, manganese, iron and molybdenum. Foliar application of fertilizers is a useful tool to increase the nutritional effects of fertilizers or eliminate nutrient deficiencies during the growing season. The aim of this study was to study the nutritional effects of consumption of different compounds of micronutrient fertilizers of zinc chelate, iron and manganese as foliar consumption on the morpho-physiological traits of grape plant.Materials and Methods Field experiments were carried out to evaluate the effects of micronutrients alone and in combination on growth and fruit yield in grape grown at Iran, Zanjan province during 2016-18. Physical and chemical properties of the soil were evaluated before the experiment. During the two years of the research, no organic or chemical fertilizers were used except for the combination of fertilizer treatments of the relevant design. Treatments consist of foliar consumption of micronutrients fertilizers included two levels of EDDHA-Zn (0.1 and 0.3 %), EDDHA-Fe (0.1 and 0.2 %), and EDDHA-Mn fertilizers (0.1 and 0.2 %) and control levels (0 %) for them. This experiment was implemented in a factorial format based on a randomized complete block design with three replications and repeated for two consecutive ys. The measured traits consist of Length of the First inflorescence (X1), Number of Inflorescences per Branch (X2), Number of clusters per branch (X3), Number of Clusters per Plant (X4), Weight of a Cluster (X5), Cluster Size (X6), Berry Size (X7), Number of Berries per Cluster (X8), Weight of single Barry, X10: Leaf Area Surface. Leaf Dry Matter (X11), TSS (X12), Sugar Fruit Juice (X13), Fruit Juice Acidity (X14), Fruit Dry Matter (X15), Fruit Firmness (X16), Yield per Plant (X17), Yield per Hectare (X18). The experiment was performed in factorial format with three factors, each at three levels, based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in three locations (g; G) and in each location for two consecutive ys (Y). The analysis of each g was analyzed in the form of factorial experiment design and the effect of location factor was analyzed in the form of factorial-split (time) composite analysis in place. In the statistical model used, time and place factor considered as random and treatment was fixed.Results and Discussion Evaluation of morpho-physiological traits showed that the use of these fertilizers individually or in combination has significant positive effects on all measured traits (18 traits) at different stages of development. The simple effect of the factor of the y was significant only on some of the measured traits and the two and three-way interactions between this factor with the levels of treatment in the majority of traits were not significant; which indicates the probability that the factor of the y has no effect on the measured traits. Based on these results, the treatment combination of Fe 0.2 + Zn 0.3 + Mn 0.2 % EDTA was superior to other combinations, and traits of the number of inflorescence and number of clusters per branch and number of clusters per plant showed the best response than other measured traits. Consumption of micronutrients, especially iron, zinc and manganese, has favorable effects on yield indices, better fruit formation and fruit production per unit area, which affects photosynthetic activities and important metabolic pathways in plants, leading to produce higher amounts of primary metabolites such as higher sugar production in fruit, increase in soluble solids, also increase in growth indices such as leaf area, more yield-related traits such as number of inflorescences and number of spikes per branch and per plant, number and the dimensions of the cube are in clusters. On the other hand, these compounds help to absorb the main nutrients and play an active role in initiating metabolic processes such as cell wall development, respiration, photosynthesis, chlorophyll formation, enzymatic activities, production of growth regulators, and nitrogen fixation and reduction. Accordingly, these compounds were able to show better performance compared to the control level by accelerating the absorption of other nutrients, strengthening biochemical pathways and growth indices.Conclusion According to these results, the application of three fertilizers of zinc, iron and manganese EDTA individually or in combinations of two or three of them, especially at high concentrations simultaneously, is superior in comparison. And the treatment composition of 0.3% zinc + 0.2% iron + 0.2% manganese EDTA and then 0.3% zinc + 0.2% iron + 0.1% manganese EDTA has more significant and positive on measured traits and therefore as fertilizer compositions are recommended in vineyards in the form of leaves.
Roohallah Montaghemi Rad; Ebrahim Ahmadi; Hassan Sarikhani
Abstract
Introduction: The maintenance of the quality of fresh produce is still a major challenge for the consumers. The most important qualitative attributes contributing to the marketability of fresh fruit a reappearance, color, texture, flavor, nutritional value and microbial safety. Storage conditions of ...
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Introduction: The maintenance of the quality of fresh produce is still a major challenge for the consumers. The most important qualitative attributes contributing to the marketability of fresh fruit a reappearance, color, texture, flavor, nutritional value and microbial safety. Storage conditions of product after harvest and storage duration are important factors with specific effect on products qualitativeproperties such as acidity, soluble solids materials, phenolic compounds and density. The amount of soluble solids materials is an important qualitative factor that is directly related to fruit quality and ripening.The existence of phenolic compounds, phenol absorption and changes phenol in product has caused changes in color. Shape, size, arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter, mass, volume, density, and sphericity coefficient are some of the physical properties of products that are crucial to analyze the behavior of matter in the handling.Furthermore, adequate knowledge about the physical properties of the products is of high importance in machines design, transportation and processing of product.
Materials and Methods: In this study, two types of olives, which were bitter and sweeten with 1.5%NaOHbefore the storage, were collected and their physical properties (length, width, thickness, arithmetic and geometric mean diameter, sphericity coefficient, mass, volume, density and primary moisture) were evaluated. Then, tostudy the effect of storage duration,the sweetened olives were stored at two temperatures (25℃ and 4℃temperature of the refrigerator) for 3 months,and during this period, sampling was performed at 10-dayintervals and the amount of total acidity (TA was determined by diluting each 1 ml aliquot of strawberry juice in 10 ml distilled water and then titrated to pH 8.1 using 0.1 N NaOH), total soluble solids materials (TSS was determined by a handheld refractometer device and expressed as ° Brix), phenolic compounds and the density weremeasured. The study was carried out as factorial based oncompletely randomized designwith twoindependent factors of temperature and storage time.
Results and Discussion: Results obtained for physical properties showed that the means of length, width andthickness insweet olive were 9.72, 1.34 and 1.11%respectivelyhigherthan bitter type. Penetration and absorption of NaOH and processing methods of the product can be considered among the possible causes of this increase. Linear regression relations between physical properties for sweet and bitter olives showed that mass and volume of fruit areestimated accurately according to the main dimensions. The results of data variance analysis also showed thatdensity and soluble solids materialswere significantly affected by themain and interaction effects of the twofactors at 1% probability level. Moreover, the main effect of storage time on total acidity and phenolic compoundswassignificant at 5% and 1% levels, respectively. With increasing storage time, density of sweet olive increased and soluble solids materials and phenolic compounds decreased. Acidity changes of olive during storage fluctuated, and an increase was found in the values of density and soluble solids materials along with theincrease of storage temperature from 4℃ to 25℃.With respect to density, the third month of storage showedhigherincrease compared toother months, and maximum value was reported for sweet olive in temperature of 25℃ and 19thday. Increase ofstorage duration resulted in the reduction of moisture content,whichin turns leads to the reductionof product volume and increase of density. The reductionfound in acidity in the second and third months of storage resultedfrom maturation and ripening processes of the fruit. Organic acids are a source of energy,which are consumed in the time ofmetabolism increaseand fruit ripening.Decreasein phenolic compounds also occurs as the result ofphenol penetration from olive flesh into the water - salt solution.
Conclusion: Results of this study showed that length, width, thickness, mass and volume of sweet olive weregreaterthan bitter type, but,by contrast,sphericity coefficient was higher in bitter olive. Moreover, storage time, increase caused an increase in thedensity of sweet olive and decrease insoluble solids materials and phenolic compounds.There was fluctuation inacidity during different storage times. An increase was found in the values of density and soluble solids materials along with the increase in storage temperature from 4℃ to 25℃.
Reza Sharifiasl; Abdolali Shojaeiyan; Mehdi Seyedi; Alireza Giti
Abstract
In order to study the effects of reducivs irrigation water alkalinity and acidity on quality and quantify of geranium growth in pot with soil mixteur medium , the research work was carried out during 2007-2008 in a green house ,using a factorial assay and a randomized complete block design with three ...
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In order to study the effects of reducivs irrigation water alkalinity and acidity on quality and quantify of geranium growth in pot with soil mixteur medium , the research work was carried out during 2007-2008 in a green house ,using a factorial assay and a randomized complete block design with three replication. The main plot assigned to cultivar (white and red colored flower geranium) and the subplot assigned to irrigation water acidity viz, pH1=4, pH2= 4/5, pH3=5, pH4=5/5, pH5=6 and pH6(well water)=7/8.Results showed that irrigation water acidification significantly increased number of total flowers and opened flowers per inflorescence ,chlorophil and magnesium content of leaves. But its effects on petiole length was not significant. Cultivar and water acidification interactions had highly significant impacts on stem length, leaf size, fresh and dry weight of plant foliages , number of inflorescence per plant and Iron content and significant impacts on inflorescence diameter and number of lateral branches at five percent of probability. Comparison of means and neutralizing alkalinity and acidifying of irrigation water to PH=5/5 con increase nutrients absorbsion and improve quantitative and qualitative traits of geranium
