Pomology
Masud Fattahi; Shirin Pourmoghadam
Abstract
Introduction
Almond (Prunus amygdalus) is considered to be able to tolerate drought stress fairly well during all stages of growth. Water shortages are very frequent in many countries, and, together with the rising demand for the industry, the growth of the human population, climate change and ...
Read More
Introduction
Almond (Prunus amygdalus) is considered to be able to tolerate drought stress fairly well during all stages of growth. Water shortages are very frequent in many countries, and, together with the rising demand for the industry, the growth of the human population, climate change and specifically the trend towards irrigated agriculture, have led to widespread problems of water scarcity in most countries. Plant responses to water deprivation are usually monitored through selected morphological and physiological parameters which have been proven to be good indicators of drought in different studies. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) fluorescence, produced by the Chl a molecule after excitation by light, is a non-invasive and rapid biomarker for the assessment of stress (microbial and environmental) effects on PSII, as well as its structure and function. Fluorescence induction patterns and derived indices have been used as empirical diagnostic tools in stress physiology. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of water stress on chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in two almond genotypes. It is known that the kinetics of fluorescence transients are polyphasic when plotted on a logarithmic time scale labeled as OJIP. This curve rises from an initial low-value F0 (minimal fluorescence) to FJ (fluorescence value at 2 ms) and FI (fluorescence value at about 20–30 ms) and a peak of fluorescence FP (maximal fluorescence or Fm).
Materials and Methods
The Experiment was carried out under a completely randomized design with split arrangement having three replications. Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were determined by the method of Lichtenthaler (1986). Fresh leaves (1 g) were triturated in 80% acetone. The absorbance of the extracts was measured at 645, 663, and 470 nm using a spectrophotometer. Chlorophyll fluorescence was measured 40 days after the start of drought treatment. Full expanded leaves were selected from each plant for measurements. They were measured with a portable photosynthetic efficiency analyzer model (Hansatech, United Kingdom). Calculations were made with computer-assisted analysis using the SPSS 25 software.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that the maximum total fresh and dry mass was recorded in the Mamaei cultivar. The drought stress caused a significant reduction in a, b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids in Rabie (R) as well as Mamaei (M) cultivars but in general, M plants had higher content of pigments in comparison with R plants under drought stress. In both of cultivars, the potential efficiency of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm) was reduced with an increasing drought intensity. The reduction of Fv/Fm was accompanied by a decline in Fv and Fm. The VJ, relative variable fluorescence at J step (2 ms), was increased with increase in drought levels. Plants response to drought depends on PSII ability to respond to this stress. It has been reported that water limitation reduces the quantum yield of PSII electron transport, which in turn decreases the amount of light energy reaching the reaction centers. PSII plays a pivotal role in mediating oxygen evolution activity. In our study, we observed an interaction between cultivar and drought treatment, particularly evident in parameters such as Fm, Fv, Fv/Fm, and PI. Additionally, our findings revealed a robust correlation between the Pi index and total chlorophyll content (0.647), as well as the fresh (0.685) and dry (0.695) weight of plants. Furthermore, our results indicate that drought stress significantly impairs the growth of cultivars grafted on GN15 rootstock. This may be the outcome of the inhibition of water shortage on the photosynthetic apparatus. The results discovered that carotenoids were higher in M cultivar than R cultivar, carotenoids protect the photosynthetic apparatus from photooxidative damage. Protection is afforded by quenching of the triplet state of chlorophyll, thereby preventing the formation of harmful oxidative species. We also found the performance index is the parameter that better reflects the responses of the studied cultivars to progressive drought stress.
Conclusion
We applied chlorophyll fluorescence as a biomarker to assess the growth response and PSII behavior and performance of two almond cultivars to different drought levels. In conclusion, Mamaei was less affected by drought stress in terms of total Chl, Fv/Fm, PI, and total fresh and dry weight followed by Rabie. Differential responses among cultivars under drought stress treatments were observed regarding their capacity to induce PSII activity. Parameters derived from the JIP test proved effective in characterizing the degree of response to drought stress, with PI serving as a particularly responsive multi-parametric expression.
Growing vegetables
Sasan Golcheshmeh; Ghaffar Kiani; Seyyed Kamal Kazemitabar; Saeid Navabpour
Abstract
Introduction
Tomato is a product with a wide range of genotypes with different yields and selection based on this trait and its components can accelerate the breeding programs of this plant. The most important goals of tomato breeders have been to increase yield, disease resistance, early maturity, ...
Read More
Introduction
Tomato is a product with a wide range of genotypes with different yields and selection based on this trait and its components can accelerate the breeding programs of this plant. The most important goals of tomato breeders have been to increase yield, disease resistance, early maturity, and improve the quality characteristics of the fruit. Therefore, awareness of genetic diversity in the population is an important step in plant breeding, and to achieve this goal, the studied genotypes must first be identified in terms of genetic potential and favorable agronomic traits. The usual approach for describing and evaluating populations requires cultivating sample populations and evaluating their morphological and agronomic characteristics. In this regard, multivariate statistical methods play an important role in studying genetic diversity and selecting appropriate parents. Unfortunately, the tomato cultivars used in Iran are often not at the favorable level in terms of important traits such as the number of days to fruit ripening, fruit weight, fruit yield, fruit length, and width, and few studies have been done on these traits. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the morphological diversity, evaluate the yield and its components among some imported tomato lines using analysis of variance, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis.
Materials and Methods
This study was performed in Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Mazandaran, Iran in 2020. The plant material included 24 tomato lines imported from the Canadian Plant Gene Bank and one check variety. The experimental design used for morphological analysis was a randomized complete block design with three replications. Evaluated characteristics were included of the number of days to first flowering, number of days from germination to first fruit coloring (early ripening), plant height (cm), number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight per plant (g), plant yield (g), length and width of the fruit (cm). After measuring the characteristics at the farm and recording the data, analysis of variance was performed to examine the diversity between lines in terms of the studied variables, and Duncan test was used to compare the means and SAS software was used to test the correlation coefficients of the variables. Cluster analysis for grouping of tomato lines was performed based on the mean of the main data of standardized traits, which was determined by Euclidean distance to determine the distance between the lines, and the UPGMA method was used to merge the clusters. Principal component analysis was performed based on the mean of the main data of morphological traits.
Results and Discussion
The results of the analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference between all lines in terms of the studied characters. Also, principal component analysis based on morphological traits showed that the first two main components accounted for 75% of the total phenotypic variation in the data and the number of days from germination to first fruit coloring (-0.606), the number of days to first flowering (-0.516), fruit weight per plant (0.492), fruit width (0.480), fruit length (0.472), plant height (-0.445), fruit yield per plant (0.395) and the number of fruits per plant (-0.367) had the highest contribution in yield changes. Therefore, these variables might be taken into consideration for effective selection of parents for hybridization programs for broadening the genetic base in the population as well as to develop elite lines or F1 hybrids. UPGMA cluster analysis also divided the studied lines into nine groups. Group IX lines were in good condition in terms of yield traits and components, group VIII lines in terms of maturity and flowering, and group IV lines in terms of fruit number per plant. And the lines in groups I and V were in moderate condition for all traits. According to these results, the cross of the lines in the more distant groups can produce hybrids with high diversity and maximum heterosis.
Conclusion
According to the main purpose of this study, which was to evaluate the yield and its components and according to the analysis performed, lines 8, 11, and 17 due to showing the least number of days to flowering and early, lines 10 and 14 due to having the highest yield, the highest fruit weight, and highest fruit length and width and lines 2, 9, 15, 21, and 24 due to having the highest number of fruits per plant and the favorable height are also recommended for use in tomato breeding programs.
Medicinal Plants
Mahboobeh Naseri; Abbas Abbasian
Abstract
Introduction: Saffron is an annual plant that grows based on underground organs of the plant as corms and can be used for several years under farming conditions. This plant is the main source of income for many farmers in rural areas of eastern Iran. Khorasan Razavi province with 76% of cultivation area ...
Read More
Introduction: Saffron is an annual plant that grows based on underground organs of the plant as corms and can be used for several years under farming conditions. This plant is the main source of income for many farmers in rural areas of eastern Iran. Khorasan Razavi province with 76% of cultivation area and 74% of production has the first place in saffron production. Among the different cities of Khorasan Razavi province, Torbat Heydariyeh city with a cultivation area of about 8 thousand hectares out of 87 thousand hectares of the whole province has an area equivalent to about 10%. Contrary to the level of cultivation, the average yield in Khorasan Razavi province is 3.4 kg / ha, which is 0.22 kg / ha lower than the national average. Considering that the level of saffron that is increasing in many parts of the country and on the other hand, according to the long-term average statistics, its yield has decreased significantly. The need for continuous monitoring of planting level and yield is one of the most issues for managers and programs. This research was conducted using the information of referral letters issued for guaranteed purchase of saffron in the Torbat-e Heydariyeh Kadkan town to analyze and evaluate the performance of saffron in 2017 and 2019.Materials and Methods: In order to study saffron cultivation and its yield in the Kadkan town, cultivation data and yield data in the years 2017 and 2019 were analyzed. Guaranteed purchase information of saffron was used to collect data. In 2017, 95 people (at the level of 132 hectares) and in 2019, 173 people (at the level of 257 hectares) of saffron farmers in the Kadkan town to deliver saffron to guaranteed shopping centers (Rural Cooperative Office of Torbat Heydariyeh) to Jihad Agricultural Center. They came to Torbat-e Heydarieh Kadkan and received a letter of introduction. The information of these referrals (area under cultivation, dry stigma yield, production rate, village name and amount of saffron delivered) was used to analyze saffron cultivation in Torbat-e Heydariyeh, Kadkan town in 2017 to 2019.Results and Discussion: Based on the results of saffron yield in the Kadkan town in 2017 and 2019, 5.17 and 8.64 kg of dry stigma obtained, respectively. The amount of saffron delivered to shopping centers in 2017 and 2019 was 532 and 1270 kg, respectively. According to the results of saffron yield in 2017 compared to 2019 due to climatic and managerial conditions, has increased by 67%. Fitting of cultivation and yield data of 95 saffron farms in 2017 using a linear model showed that with increasing the area under saffron cultivation, yield decreases R = 0.26 **. Also in the polynomial model. Second degree, with increasing the area under cultivation to the level of five hectares, the yield decreased and since then showed a slight increasing trend (R = 0.26 **). Fitting of cultivation data and yield of 173 saffron farms in 2019 based on the second degree polynomial model R = 0.24 24 ** showed that with increasing the area under cultivation up to seven hectares, the yield has decreased and since then it has an increasing trend. In the third degree polynomial model R = 0.28**, like the second degree of yield, decreased to seven hectares and then increased and then was fixed. Considering that the cultivation area of the most farms in Kadkan town was between 0.1 and 2 hectares and farms up to two hectares in the villages of Kadkan townt, it is non-mechanized, therefore, in these farms, the management of smaller farms could be done more easily and the increase in yield for these farms was predictable.Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, the yield of saffron in 2017 and 2016 was 5.16 and 8.64 kg / ha, respectively. Considering that the average yield of saffron in the country is 3.62 kg per hectare (Statistics of the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture, 2018), the yield of saffron in the Torbat-e-Heydariyeh Kadkan town can be considered as high yield in the country, which is probably due to climatic conditions and is managerial. 67% increase in yield in 2019 compared to 2017due to climatic reasons (increased rainfall) and management (nutrition, agriculture, training, irrigation, proper planting date, use of corms with appropriate weight, disinfection of corms at planting, Summer irrigation, weed control).
Zahra Hassanzadeh; Hamid Hassanpour
Abstract
Introduction: Oleaster (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.), belonging to the Elaeagnaceae family, is usually a shrub or small spiny tree with a height of 2– 5 m. Branches of oleaster are silvery green and the leaves are egg-shaped or bayonet and the flowers are bell -shaped, very fragrant, cream color, and ...
Read More
Introduction: Oleaster (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.), belonging to the Elaeagnaceae family, is usually a shrub or small spiny tree with a height of 2– 5 m. Branches of oleaster are silvery green and the leaves are egg-shaped or bayonet and the flowers are bell -shaped, very fragrant, cream color, and single or clustered. The fruits are oval-shaped with a length of 1.5 –2 cm and their colors are reddish-brown. Oleaster (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) is one of the most valuable fruit tree is grown wildly in northwestern of Iran. The oleaster was distributed in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Queensland in northeastern Australia. This tree was extended along the rivers in many arid and semi-arid regions. It also plays a very important role in maintaining the ecosystem of dry areas, due to high drought tolerance and high salinity and alkalinity tolerance in soil. The evaluation of fruit and seed properties can be useful in selection of superior genotypes for commercially culture. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the physical properties of seed and fruit of some Elaeagnus angustifolia genotypes in east and west Azerbaijan provinces.
Materials and Methods: In this study, thirty-eight genotypes of Elaeagnus angustifolia L., according to free of pest and disease characteristics were selected and labeled from east and west Azerbaijan provinces, Iran. The fully matured fruits were collected from studied genotypes and then transferred to the lab and different parameters such as physicochemical characterizations of fruit and seed such as weight, length and width of fruit and seed and fruit color parameter were measured. Fruit color was determined by Chroma meter CR-400 (Konica Minolta, Japan). After collected data, to calculate descriptive statistics, correlation and cluster analysis based on Ward’s method was used SPSS Software (Version 22). The factor analysis was also performed using varimax rotation method.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that there was high diversity in some of the attributes such as leaf width, leaf length/leaf width ratio and flesh weight. The highest diversity was observed in leaf width (37.56 %) and the fruit surface area had lowest diversity (2.09 %). The mean of fruit length, fruit width and fruit width, fruit geometric mean diameter and sphericity were 22.99, 16.09 cm, 1.69 g, 18.09 mm and 79.22 %, respectively. Ersoy et al. (2013) revealed that length, width, thickness and weight of fruit were 2.86 cm, 1.88 cm, 1.87 cm and 2.90 g respectively. The mean of seed length, width, thickness and weight were 2.42 cm, 0.508 cm, 0.503 cm and 0.38 g, respectively. Leaf length was positively correlated with leaf width, fruit length/fruit width ratio, and seed length and seed length/seed width ratio and negatively with fruit sphericity. In the present study, the mean of traits related to fruit color including L*, a*, b*, hue and chroma were 48.09, 13.99, 18.51, 52.18, and 28.23, respectively. In the study of Zare et al. (2012), the mean of L*, a*, b* were 12.42, 2.73 and 2.39, respectively. In the present study, the mean of traits related to fruit color was higher than the mean mentioned in Zare et al. (2012) study, and this discrepancy can be due to different environmental conditions and studied genotypes. In this study, based on factor analysis, the eight main factors were explained a total of 85.92 % of the variance, which 20.59% were related to the first factor and 18.69% to the second factor. The two-dimensional scatter plot was constructed for graphical overview of the relationships among genotypes. According to scatter plot created by two first factors, all studied genotypes were located in two groups. The scatter plot revealed geometrical distances among genotypes reflecting phenotypic and in this regard presumably genetic dissimilarity among them. According to the cluster analysis, genotypes were divided into two main groups. Genotypes in group first had the highest average fruit and seed length, width and weight. The traits related to color such as L*, a*, b*, hue, chroma had a significant role in separation of second group. Therefore, the presence of genotypes in different clusters represented high diversity in terms of evaluated traits among the all genotypes.
Conclusions This research is a preliminary study that can be based to select the desired genotypes. The study also provides important information on the physical characteristics and fruit color of some Elaeagnus angustifolia genotypes in the east and west Azerbaijan provinces. In general, the results of this study showed that there is high diversity among the studied genotypes.The results obtained might be helpful for breeding programs and introducing of cultivar in Elaeagnus angustifolia.
Behrouz Moradi Ashour; Mohammad Rabiei; Behrooz Shiran; Sadollah Hooshmand
Abstract
Introduction: Pomegranate (Punica granatum L., Punicaceae family), a native Iranian horticultural plant, is used as fresh fruit and also for other products and has special economic position in the world. It is estimated that pomegranate fruit production in Iran was about 900000 tons in 2016 which provinces ...
Read More
Introduction: Pomegranate (Punica granatum L., Punicaceae family), a native Iranian horticultural plant, is used as fresh fruit and also for other products and has special economic position in the world. It is estimated that pomegranate fruit production in Iran was about 900000 tons in 2016 which provinces of Fars, Markazi, Khorasan, Yazd and Isfahan had the highest production respectively. Iran is the center of diversity and most probably center of origin of Pomegranate, so during the years, many attempts have been done to collect different genotypes. The National Research Station of Pomegranate of Saveh has three set collections including 760 genotypes collected from all around of Iran. Assessment of genetic variation among these genotypes to use in breeding programs should be considered as first priority. Researchers use different methods to measure genetic diversity of plants including DNA markers, isozymes and morphological traits. Using morphological characteristics that are easily measured and have high heritability is a convenient tool to assess the amount of genetic diversity of plants.
Material and Methods: In order to determine genetic variation and heritability on morpho-pomological traits, pomegranate genotypes were selected from different habitats of Iran that are already planted in the collection of National Research Station of Pomegranate of Saveh in 2016. Genotypes that had similar descriptor or genotypes that had not sufficient fruit to get involved in the experiment, were excluded. Selected genotypes (156 genotypes) were evaluated based on a completely randomized design with three replications using nine morphological traits including length of calyx, width of calyx, number of seed in 100-gram aril, thickness of peel, weight of fruit, length of fruit, width of fruit, weight of peel, weight of aril. Biochemical characteristics of fruit including total soluble solids, titrable acidity, maturity index, pH, EC, anthocyanincontain and absorbable color of juice were measured for each genotype without replication (five fruit were selected randomly for each genotype). Statistical analyses including analysis of variance, correlation coefficient, and broad sense heritability, phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation were estimated using SAS 9.0 software.
Results and Discussion: Analysis of variance showed that the effect of genotypes in each trait is highly significant (p-value=0.01), indicating a wide variation among these genotypes. Considering range for each trait reveals remarkable differences between genotypes especially for number of seed in 100-gram aril and anthocyanin content. Results showed that among 9 morphological traits, aril seed (g 100 aril-1) and peel thickness, also among 7 chemical traits, anthocyanin content, absorbable color of juice and maturity index had the highest variation. The most positive and significant correlation coefficients was observed between fruits weight with length and diameter of fruit, length and diameter of calyx, aril weight, seed number (g 100 aril-1) and peel thickness. Correlation between qualitative and quantitative traits were not significant. The highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation was observed on fruit weight, peel thickness, seed number (g 100 aril-1) and aril weight. A high broad sense heritability was observed for aril weight (g 100 aril-1), fruit weight and peel thickness.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, there was a high genetic variation among genotypes for most traits. As it was expected, Iranian collection of pomegranate is a rich source for this plant and highly supporter for other breeding researches. High correlation coefficient of fruit weight with other morphological traits is useful for early selection of high performance genotypes. For instant, genotypes with high diameter of calyx most probably will produce high yield. There was not statistically significant correlation between morphological and biochemical characteristics. That is to say genotypes with low yield should not be excluded in further research programs because of their beneficial biochemical traits; they can be involved in crosses with high yield genotypes to improve their biochemical characteristics. Pomnograte genotypes with good quality traits are also useful for industrial, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical purposes. Results of our experiment indicate that due high broad sense heritability of aril weight, fruit weight, peel thickness and aril weight, environmental effect on these traits is less than genetic effect. Therefore, selection based on these traits could successfully be used to improve genetic base of pomegranate genotypes in the next generations. Also based on the results of this research Hasteriz- Shahdad and Domaze- Izeh genotypes were the best for soft seed, color and flavor fruit.
Amirhassan Hosseini; Ali Tehranifar; Leila Samiei; Mahmood Shoor; Farshid Memariani
Abstract
Introduction: Allium is one of the greatest genera in Amarylidaceae family with more than 900 species distributed in northern hemisphere from temperate region to tropical and subtropical areas. There are more than 135 Allium species in Iran, many of which have the ornamental potential and can be exploited ...
Read More
Introduction: Allium is one of the greatest genera in Amarylidaceae family with more than 900 species distributed in northern hemisphere from temperate region to tropical and subtropical areas. There are more than 135 Allium species in Iran, many of which have the ornamental potential and can be exploited in floriculture industry. Northeast of Iran with more than 35 species especially in Razavi and North Khorassan provinces is regarded as one of the main centers of diversity of Alliums. The species of Allium have the great potential to be used either as cut flower and potted plant or as outdoor plant in urban landscape. There are indeed a rich germplasm of Allium in Iran with diverse characteristics of flower colour, size and form. For the utilization of the wild species, it is necessary to identify and fully assess their main morphological and phenotypic characteristics as the initial step. Morphological markers are one of the commonly used tools which are applied in phenotypic evaluation, taxonomic classification and collection management of plant species. The aim of present study was to evaluate morphological traits and genetic diversity of some of the native Allium species of Razavi khorassan in Iran.
Materials and Methods: In this study the Allium species were collected from diverse regions of Khorassan, Iran and were cultured as a collection in Research Center for Plant Sciences (RCPS) of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in a completely randomized block design. Following the establishment of the Allium species, 29 qualitative and 13 quantitative traits were recorded during the growing season in two successive years. Analysis of variance and comparison of all traits were performed using JMP8 software and simple correlation and factor analysis was calculated using SPSS software. Principal component analysis as well as maximum variance was also performed on the collected data.
Results and Discussion: The results exhibited that the species and genotypes were significantly different in their morphological characteristics. Some of the traits like scape length, leaf colour, flower diameter and length and width of perianth were more diverse among the species and consequently were considered as the most discriminating traits whereas some qualitative traits like perianth segment form, ovary form and perianth tip form remain uniform amongst the species. There are number of studies indicating the existence of high genetic diversity in phenotypic characteristics of some species of Allium like garlic, onion and shallot .The traits having the higher coefficient of variance bring the opportunity for the wider range of selection. Correlation analysis revealed the significant correlations among some of the studied traits. High positive correlation observed among leaf length with scape length, scape diameter with perianth length, leaf width with scape diameter and scape diameter with flower diameter. In garlic, similar positive correlation was reported on leaf length and width with scape length. Considering the quantitative traits, various parameters like environmental conditions are also effective in correlation between traits along with the corresponding genetic controlling. Factor analysis is used to identify the most important factors involving in discriminating among the species and genotypes. Based on the results, the 42 morphological characters were classified into five main factors which could justify 91.62% of total variance. Characters like inflorescence diameter, scape diameter, flower form, pedicel length, filament length and ovary and style length were placed in the first factor and expressed 30.03% of the variation. The second factor that could explain 24.9% of variation was included scape form and length, leaf length and pedicel colour. The selected discriminating traits of this study were similar to the ones of Allium roseum which had been earlier introduced by Zammuri et al (2009). The first two factors explained the highest amount of diversity while the 3rd to fifth factors could define 16.10%, 12.265% and 9.19% of variance, respectively. Traits like scape length, leaf form and colour and inflorescence diameter are amongst the main factors for the selection of ornamental plants.
Conclusion: In overall, substantial valuable information obtained for some of the native species of Alliums of Iran for the first time. This information can help in selection of desired species for specific landscape designing however characterization of the native germplasm can also be a very beneficial task in future breeding program as well as the conservation strategies for preserving the endangered species.
Alireza Sobhany; Majid Reza Kiani
Abstract
Introduction: Melon is a tropical species that originates from Iran or Africa and Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India and China are the most important centers of genetic diversity of cultivated varieties (1). The original area for cantaloupe and melon is Iran. Dry and warm climate ...
Read More
Introduction: Melon is a tropical species that originates from Iran or Africa and Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India and China are the most important centers of genetic diversity of cultivated varieties (1). The original area for cantaloupe and melon is Iran. Dry and warm climate is the best condition for Melon. This plant needs heat and light for good grows. Cloudy and rainy weather at the time of fruit ripening may affect melon taste and quality(2). According to the FAO statistics in 2012, the total area devoted to melon was 1,339,006 hectares with an average yield of 23.8 tons per hectare and 31,925,787 tons production. The highest production belonged to China (55% of world production). Iran produces about 5.4 percent of world production which is about 1450000 tons from 80,000 hectares (2).
Recently, a great number of studies have studied the correlation between melon yield and its components. The first branch (5), the number of primary branches, the number of fruits per plant and fruit weight per plant (6), length and width of fruit and fruit shape index were the most important melons traits which have been evaluated by other studies (4). Fruit yield has significant positive correlation with the length of the stem, primary branches, the date of the first appearance of female flowers and fruit weight. Studies revealed that there is a negative correlation between the number of fruits per plant and the average fruit weight.
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in 2008 with 17 landrace seeds collected from different locations of Khorasan provinces included Kashmar, sarakhs, Boshruye, Sabzevar, Dargaz and Bajestan. Experiment was designed based on randomized complete block design with three replications at agricultural Research Station of Khorasan Razavi.
Results and Discussion: The cultivars did not show any different in the time of emergence as all of them emerged 4 to 7 days after the first irrigation. The comparison showed that melon cultivars were significantly different in all traits except of number of stems per plant. Melon cultivars KohsorkhKashmar, Abbasshori, Haji Mashallah and Jafarabadi were similar in yield and showed greater yield than other cultivars. In this experiment, Khatooni with maximum area in khorasan had highest yield in compare with other cultivars. Khatooni yield was 28.72 tons per hectare. The lowest yield belonged to ghanat s Boshrooye (equal to 18.83 tons per hectare), chahPaliz (17.4 tons per hectare) and kharmansarakhs (with 16.94 ton per hectar). Jafarabadi cultivar had the biggest fruits and ghanatboshrooye and bakharmansarakhs had the smallest fruits. The average weight of a melon fruit Jafarabadiwas 3.50 kg in white ghanat Boshruye or bakharman sarakhs was 1.93 kg. kohsorkh kashmar and abbasshory with 3.4 fruits per plant and mahali boshroye and zinabadwith 2 fruits per plant had the highest and lowest number of fruits respectively.
Cluster analysis for all of traits put 17 melon cultivars into four groups, first group consists of a ghasri, zemestani Mashhad, the second group consisted of ghanat Boshrooyeh, Jabbari, mahali sarakhs, Jafarabadi,chah Faliz, mahalli Boshrooyeh, Dargazi, zinabadi, Bakharman sarakhs, the third group were included Abbaspoor and KohsorkhKashmar and finally Haj Masha Allah, khatoni and bandi were placed in fourth.
Cluster Analysis for yield put melon genotypes into 4 groups, first group consisted of dargazi, zinabadi, zemestani mashahd, mahalli boshrooyeh, mahalli sarakhs, ghasri and khaghani with average yield of 24.7 t/ha and the second group consisted of bakharman sarakhs, chah faliz and ghanat boshrooyeh genotypes with average yield of 23.6 t/ha, Jabbari and khatoni put in thrid group with average yield of 29.2 t/ha and the other genotypes put in 4th group with average of 30 t/ha yield.
Cluster Analysis for number of fruits divided melon genotypes to 4 groups, First group with highest number of fruit consisted of dargazi, zinabadi, zemestani mashahd, mahalli boshrooyeh, bakharman sarakhs, chah faliz, ghanat boshrooyeh with average of 2.5 fruits.
Factor analysis showed that traits used in this experiment covered 73 percent of variation in melong genotypes and traits were divided to 4 components the first one consisted of yield, fruit weight, fruit number, fruit length, fruit width, seed weight and dry weight which covered 16 percent of variations. The second component included length of plant with covering 11.7 percent of variation, fruit Hole diameter and fruit width were put in third and fourth component with covering 10 and 7 percent of variation respectively.
Sanaz Molaie; Ali Soleimani; Mehrshad Zeinolabedini
Abstract
Introduction Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) has special position in Iran fruit culture industry. In terms of cultivation and producing, Iran is one of the major countries in the world but in terms of export Iran is ranked 23. For this reason, research on necessities of fruit culture industries and access ...
Read More
Introduction Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) has special position in Iran fruit culture industry. In terms of cultivation and producing, Iran is one of the major countries in the world but in terms of export Iran is ranked 23. For this reason, research on necessities of fruit culture industries and access to new cultivars by breeding project is required. Obviously, paying attention to quality and quantity of products and using of local germplasm that known completely, played a significant role in this project. Apricot with genomic feature 2n=16, has extensive diversity due to sexual propagation and cultivation in different areas. Central Asia and Caucasian groups of apricot that involving Iranian and Turkish cultivars, have greatest phenotypic variations, while European group including cultivars that cultivated in North America, Australia and South Africa have the lowest diversity. Climate adaptation, increasing of fruits quality, self-compatibility and resistance to diseases are the most important goals of apricot breeding. Of course, the quality of fruits depends on sugar and acid balance and special aroma. One of the important targets of apricot breeding is introduce and develop of cultivars that can be cultivated in extensive areas. Target of recent study is primary evaluating of morphological and pomological traits of some cultivar and genotypes of apricot grown in Zanjan province. In order to introduce the cultivars that produces fruit with high quality and complete scientific researches to selection of ideal cultivars in this region for future.
Method and material: This research carried out on four cultivars (Badami, Daneshkadeh, Shekarpareh, Shahroodi) and two genotypes (C and D) and was conducted in a completely randomize design with three replications. Evaluating of tree, branch, leaf, flower and some fruit traits performed based on existing descriptor. For determining some important pomological traits, fruits harvested in commercial time and transferred to laboratory. For measuring total soluble solid (TSS), refractometer (model: ATAGO-N1) was used. To determinetitratableacidity (TA) titration with 0.1 N NaOH method and for measuring pH content, pH-meter (model: JENWAY 3020) was used. The weight of fruit and stone was measured with digital balance. Flesh fresh weight also was determined with digital balance and flesh dry weight was measured after 72 hours dried in oven. Finally flesh firmness was determined with presser meter (model: OSK 1618). For evaluating fruit set percent, flowers of some branches in every cultivar was numerated then primary and final fruit set percent was calculated after 10 and 30 days, respectively. Data analysis was done with SAS 9.1, SPSS 20 and Statistica 10 software.
Results and discussion: The results of qualitative data that analysis with non- parametric (Kruskal-wallis) method showed significant differences among some genotypes and cultivars. In terms of corebitternes strait genotype D showed significant differences with other cultivar and genotypes. Due to this trait, genotype D is suitable for use as rootstockbecause the genotypes with kernel are suitable for cultivation in lime and semi dry soil and also are resistant nematode. In terms of blooming time, genotype D (late blooming)had significant differences with genotype C, Badami and Shahroodi cultivars. Because of this trait, genotype D is resistance to late spring chilling injury. Based on trees growth habit, genotype C (long growth habit) showed significant differences with Shekarpareh cultivar (widespread growth habit). In terms of flower bud distributions genotype C (blooming on annual branches) showed significant differences with genotype D and Daneshkadeh cultivar (blooming on spurs). According to these traits genotype C is suitable for dense cultivation orchards and need to prune every year like peach. Results of correlations among traits showed that TA has negative significant correlations with flesh dry weight, TSS/TA ratio and flesh weight/stone weight ratio. During fruit ripening TA rates was decreased and TSS rates were increased, so during of TSS increasing as one of the non-structural components of dry matter, flesh dry weight increasing simultaneously. Positive correlations between flesh dry weight and TSS/TA ratio indicate that cultivars with big fruits have high dry matter, so they are sweeter than other cultivars. Also aprincipal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine the number of important factors that influenced on morphological identification. The results of PCA showed that total variance (90.2%) is justified by two factors. The first factor (73.05%) included all fruit traits, leaf length and first and second fruit set percent. The second factor (17.21%) contained flower diameter, core length and juice percent. Consider to this analysis, Shahrodi, Daneshkadeh and Shekarpareh cultivars were settled near each other but Badami cultivar, Cand D genotypes were placed separately.
Conclusion: According to the results, high diversity was observed among genotypes and cultivars. This diversity provides suitable genetic resources for breeding works. Results of this study showed that Daneshkadeh cultivar has the biggest fruits and Shahroodi cultivar has the most rates of TSS and flesh firmness, so this cultivar has long storage life. Finally, the Shekarpareh cultivar showed the most flesh dry weight and flesh weight/stone weight ratio, so this cultivar is suitable for processing.
Askar Ghani; Seyyed Hossein Nemati; Majid Azizi; Mohammad Jamal Sahar khiz; Mohammad Farsi
Abstract
A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the extract biochemical variations among 25 spearmint population. The experiment was a randomized complete design (RCD) with 25 treatments (population) and three replications. For this purpose, three rhizomes with 5 cm length were selected and planted in each ...
Read More
A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the extract biochemical variations among 25 spearmint population. The experiment was a randomized complete design (RCD) with 25 treatments (population) and three replications. For this purpose, three rhizomes with 5 cm length were selected and planted in each pot. All pots were kept out side. The plant samples of all treatments were harvested at full flowering stage and the most important extract biochemical factors such as chlorophyll a, b and total, carotenoide, flavone and flavonol, total flavonoide, total phenolic compound, antioxidant activity, and carbohydrate content were measured. Moreover, all characteristics of studied population were subjected to cluster analysis and correlation between factors was determined. There were significant differences among population in all studied factors. The highest and lowest chlorophyll contents (35.77 and 10.5 mg/g FW) were obtained in Fars- Khafr 2 and Mazandaran-Nour population, respectively. Among studied population, Isfahan 2, Mazandaran-Qaemshahr, Mazandaran-Nour and Yasouj were superior in extract biochemical valuable properties like antioxidant activity, total phenolic compounds, total flavonoides, and total carbohydrates. Also, some population of Fars province constituted more carotenoide and chlorophyll contents and were superior to others. Furthermore, a positive correlation was detected between antioxidant activity, phenolic compound, and total flavonoides.
