Medicinal Plants
R. Raei; V. Akbarpour; M.A. Bahmanyar
Abstract
Introduction Fertilizer management is one of the main factors in achieving sustainable agriculture. Therefore, the integrated agricultural system recommends the use of organic matter along with the optimal use of chemical fertilizers. This method is a balanced way to improve the physical and ...
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Introduction Fertilizer management is one of the main factors in achieving sustainable agriculture. Therefore, the integrated agricultural system recommends the use of organic matter along with the optimal use of chemical fertilizers. This method is a balanced way to improve the physical and chemical properties of the soil, which leads to improved growth and increased plant yield. Organic fertilizers, especially livestock manures, have higher levels of organic matter than chemical fertilizers, and can be considered as sources of nutrients, especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. One of these organic fertilizers is poultry manure, which in addition to having macro and micro elements (manganese, iron, copper, and boron) is one of the cheapest fertilizers compared to other fertilizers used. It is also richer in terms of nitrogen than other animal fertilizers. Soil fertility is the factor that change the amount of active substances and essential oils. Micronutrients such as zinc, although needed in small amounts by plants, play an important role in plant growth and development. The application of zinc sulfate fertilizer improved the quantitative and qualitative attributes of basil, peppermint, sage, and rosemary. Researchers stated that the application of a combination of chemical fertilizers and poultry manure has increased the yield of garlic essential oil. Therefore, in recent years, integrated plant nutrition management has been discussed. Integrated plant nutrition management is based on the simultaneous application of organic, chemical, and biological fertilizers. Because organic fertilizers alone can’t provide the needs of high-yielding plants. Combined application of organic, chemical, and biological fertilizers can improve the physical and chemical conditions of the soil and increase organic carbon and nutrients. Savory is an aromatic medicinal plant from the mint family. This plant has a lot of essential oils and is very important in the food, pharmaceutical, and health industries. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of poultry manure and zinc sulfate in the cultivation of savory.Materials and Methods The present experiment was performed as a factorial in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. The factors consisted of poultry manure with four levels (0, 3, 6, and 9 t.ha-1) and the second factor zinc sulfate with four levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg.kg-1 soil).Results and Discussion According to the obtained results, the effect of poultry manure, zinc sulfate, and their interaction on most of the studied traits was significant. The highest height was observed in the treatment of poultry manure of 9 t.ha-1 + zinc sulfate in 100 mg. kg-1 soil, which showed an increase of 79.26% compared to the control, and the lowest height belonged to the control treatment. The total chlorophyll in the chicken manure treatment of 6 t.ha-1 + zinc sulfate in 150 mg. kg-1 had a significant increase compared to the control. The highest amount of leaf nitrogen was obtained in the treatment of poultry manure of 9 t.ha-1 + 50 mg.kg-1 with an increase of 82.03% compared to the control. Zinc element was observed with a 222.75% increase in poultry manure treatment of 9 t.ha-1 + 150 mg.kg-1. Poultry manure treatment of 6 tons per hectare + 150 mg.kg-1 with 261.53% increase compared to the control contained the highest percentage of essential oil.Conclusion The results of the study showed that the use of combined ratios of poultry organic fertilizer and zinc sulfate has been effective in improving vegetative attributes, available plant elements, and essential oil content.
M. Ghesmati; F. Moradinezhad
Abstract
Introduction: Sour cherry is one of the most strategically important horticultural products in the Khorasan Razavi province that proper nutrition can improve the performance of the plant. This fruit is rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and soluble fiber, which is very useful for lowering blood ...
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Introduction: Sour cherry is one of the most strategically important horticultural products in the Khorasan Razavi province that proper nutrition can improve the performance of the plant. This fruit is rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and soluble fiber, which is very useful for lowering blood pressure. Proper nutrition is one of the important factors in determining the quantity and quality of the fruit. In arid and semi-arid regions, micronutrient elements availability is one of the factors that limits growth, yield, and quality of fruit trees , because absorption of nutrients being limited due to the alkalinity of the soil. So, the use of an appropriate method to provide the required nutrients by plants is necessary. Foliar application of nutrient is one of the important ways in the food supply for plants. Hence, spraying is an effective way to reduce nutritional disorders in plants. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of foliar application of iron and zinc micronutrients on the yield and physicochemical properties of sour cherry fruit.
Materials and Methods: In order to investigate the effect of spraying of iron chelate and zinc sulfate on yield and qualitative characteristics of the sour cherry fruit, a factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications in the commercial orchard of Astan Quds Razavi, Mashhad, Iran. The first factor was spraying iron 6% Fe-EDDHA at 3 levels (0, 2 and 4 g l-1) and the second factor was spraying zinc sulfate at 3 levels (0, 2 and 4 g l-1). The treatments were applied in two stages, 20 days after the whole flowering stage and 20 days after the first spraying. Spraying chemicals was done in the morning when temperature and humidity were not high.. Fruit and leaves samples were collected, at the commercial maturity stage of fruit, from each tree include one kilogram of fruit and half kilogram leaves. Thereafter, healthy fruits and leaves of the same shape, size, and color were selected to determine the biochemical properties of fruit and chlorophyll leaves. In this experiment, 36 grilled cherry trees of 10 years old with a spacing of 3×4 m were used. The general conditions of the selected trees were similar to other garden trees, and irrigation (dripping), pest and disease control were applied uniformly to all treated trees. The studied traits included the fresh weight of fruit, dry matter percentage, fruit yield, fruit juice acidity, soluble solids, total antioxidant, trace related to chlorophyll content, iron and zinc concentration in leaves.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that different levels of iron chelate, zinc sulfate, and their interaction increased fruit fresh weight, dry matter percentage, fruit yield and chlorophyll traits. An individual application of 4 g l-1 of iron or zinc, and also their combination application showed the greatest values on evaluated traits In addition, the soluble solids, total antioxidant, and iron leaf values were only affected by different levels of chelate iron, which improved with increasing spraying levels of the studied traits. Sprayed with zinc sulfate could increase the concentration of zinc in the leaves but the acidity of juice was not affected by the treatments. The results showed that different levels of zinc significantly affected all quantitative traits of sour cherry fruit than iron chelate. However, spraying with iron chelate had a significant effect on the quality traits of fruit, including total soluble solids and total antioxidants. Moreover, the combination effect of chelate iron and zinc sulfate in comparison to their individual application had a better effect on the quantitative and chlorophyll traits of the cherry leaf. The highest increase in both zinc and iron content of leaf samples were obtained in trees that were treated with 4 g l-1 of zinc or iron solutions, respectively. The results show that foliar application of high concentrations of both chemicals increased zinc or iron content of leaf samples about 30% compared to the control. Thus, not only higher yield but also quality improvement of sourcherry fruit occurred in treated trees. Our results was in accordance with the findings of previous studies on different fruit tress like grapes, pistachio and orange. According to the results, it can be concluded that spraying with zinc sulfate and iron chelate during plant growth season can increase yield and improve the physical and chemical properties of the sour cherry fruit.
Zhaleh Zandavifard; Majid Azizi; Hossein Aroiee; Amir Fotovat
Abstract
Introduction: Among the heavy metals, cadmium, because of high mobility and bioavailability in soil and also toxicity at low concentrations is very important. Cadmium (Cd) is known as carcinogen and can induce many types of cancers. Human activities (metallic industries, contaminated fertilizer, herbicides ...
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Introduction: Among the heavy metals, cadmium, because of high mobility and bioavailability in soil and also toxicity at low concentrations is very important. Cadmium (Cd) is known as carcinogen and can induce many types of cancers. Human activities (metallic industries, contaminated fertilizer, herbicides or insecticides, irrigation with contaminated groundwater, and use of contaminated sewage sludge) are largely responsible for accumulation of different levels of Cd in soil. Saint John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is a medicinal plant and belongs to the family Hypericaceae which its extract, one of the best-characterized herbal medicines, known as the Cd-hyperaccumulator, is widely sold for the treatment of depression. Hyperaccumulator plants are species able to accumulate high amounts of heavy metals in their tissue at concentrations of 10 to 100 times higher than tolerated by crop plants. Zinc (Zn) is an essential element occurring in several enzymes, where it plays a catalytic or structural role. Cadmium and zinc have similar electron configuration, valence state as well as affinity to S, N and O donor ligands and thus their geochemical and environmental properties are comparable. The antagonism activity between Cd and Zn in the environment and their chemical similarity can lead to interactions between Cd and Zn during plant uptake, transport from roots to shoots, or accumulation in edible tissues. Ion exchange is one of the methods used for the removal of several toxic substances. In recent years, natural amendments, such as zeolite have been widely used to address trace metals contamination. Therefore, adding zinc and zeolite to the growth medium of plant can be moderating the toxic effects of cadmium.
Materials and Methods: This pot experiment was conducted at the Experimental Field of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM) from September 2013 to June 2014. Treatments consisted of three levels of cadmium (0, 10 and 20 mg Cd kg-1 soil), three levels of zinc (0, 25 and 50 mg Zn kg-1 soil) and three levels of Zeolite (Clinoptilolite) (0, 5 and 10g zeolite kg-1 soil) arranged in a factorial based on Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Cadmium sulfate (CdSO4·4H2O) and zinc sulfate (ZnSO4·7H2O) were purchased from MERCK company. The zeolite used in this research was collected from the Semnan mine, located in South of Semnan Province. After preparing the soil, the pots (30 cm in diameter with 18 kg capacity) were filled with 18 kg soil and thoroughly mixed with appropriate amounts of cadmium, zinc and zeolite diluted in distilled water. Seeds of H. perforatum L. cv. “Topaz” were obtained from the FUM Research Field. After 24 hours of soaking in tap water, the seeds were sown on the surface of moistened soil in each pot and germinated after 10 days. Following germination, the seedlings (about 1.0 cm high) were thinned and only 10 seedlings in each pot were kept. At the full flowering stage, these plants were harvested after 9 months. Plant height, root length, flowering stem and flower number, leaf area, relative chlorophyll and number of black nodules was measured. Chlorophyll (Chl) content were determined by leaf area meter (Li-Cor-1300,USA) and SPAD chlorophyll meter. Data were analyzed statistically by using JMP 8 and Excel software. The differences between averages were tested by Tukeyʼs test at P < 0.05.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that increasing cadmium levels lead to significant decrease of 6.28, 3.45, 2.04, 5.49, 0.82, 15.71 percents in plant height, root length, flowering stem, flower number, leaf area and relative chlorophyll, respectively compared with control. In comparison to control, the number of black nodules in leaf significantly increased by 4.23 percent. Combined application of cadmium and zinc could significantly decline the effects of cadmium on plant height and root length. Meanwhile, interaction effect of cadmium and zeolite was detected significantly on root length and number of flowers. The results of three-way interactions for root length were superior in Zn0Cd0Z10 treatment. Cadmium is an inhibitor of uptake and accumulation of essential mineral nutrients, reduces conductivity of stomata andwater potential of cells and damaged photosystems; therefore, can decrease biomass production in stem, flower and root. The reduction of Chl content could lead to enzymatic degradation of these pigments or inhibition of their biosynthesis, which could be connected with Cd-induced deficiency of iron and zinc, decrease of magnesium content or cadmium bond to essential thiol groups in both the protochlorophyllide reductase protein and other enzymes involved in the light dependent synthesis of 5-aminolevulinic acid. Heavy metal stress with impact on biosynthetic pathways of pharmacologically active molecules can either increase or decrease them. Changes in black nodules number, containing hypericin and other secondary metabolites in H. perforatum in response to heavy metals can help us understand the role of this material in stress conditions. It could be assumed that high metal accumulating ability of plants producing specific secondary metabolites in H. perforatum could be also connected with chelation of toxic metals with mentioned substances.
Conclusions: Our results confirmed that the addition of zeolite and zinc presumably improved plant growth, because of increased availability of essential nutrient elements such as K, Mg, Ca, NH4, and micronutrients in presence of zeolite or decreased Cd sorption and transmission in presence of zinc.
