Pomology
F. Javan; Y. Selahvarzi; M. Kamali
Abstract
Introduction
Today, in the commercial production of strawberries, short day cultivars are used due to having large fruits of desirable quality. Among the short day cultivars available in Iranare Camarosa, Atabaki, Gaviota, Queen Aliza, Paros and McDonance, which can be cultivated ...
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Introduction
Today, in the commercial production of strawberries, short day cultivars are used due to having large fruits of desirable quality. Among the short day cultivars available in Iranare Camarosa, Atabaki, Gaviota, Queen Aliza, Paros and McDonance, which can be cultivated at greenhouse. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are one of the metal oxides that exist in three forms of rutile, brookite and anatase, which affect growth, enzymatic activity and photosynthesis. Reported titanium nano dioxide in the highest concentration used (11.5 mg/l) increases fruit formation percentage, leaf chlorophyll content, vitamin C content, fruit ripening index, fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots and yield of strawberries. In another study, it was shown that titanium dioxide treatment under drought stress can increase photosynthetic pigments, total soluble solids, vitamin C, phenol, flavonoid, anthocyanin, and antioxidant activity, and it also improved plant performance. increase the strawberry cultivar Ventana compared to the control treatment. In a research found that spraying titanium increases the biomass, fertility and quality of peach fruit. It has alsow been showed that the pomegranate size of flowers and fruits increased with using titanium nano dioxide, and this can increase the quantity and quality of Alberta peach cultivar. Foliar application of titanium nano dioxide in cucumber has been reported to increase photosynthesis and phenolic content and reduce lipid peroxidation. In a research, it was shown that titanium dioxide nanoparticles increased photosynthesis rate, water conductivity and transpiration rate in tomato leaves. Despite the effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the quantitative and qualitative improvement of some agricultural products, the researches conducted on strawberry plants were not complete or were only conducted on a specific variety. Therefore, with the aim of investigating and comparing the morphological and biochemical traits of some commercial strawberry cultivars under the effect of foliar spraying with titaniumdioxide, the above research was conducted.
Materials and Methods
This research was conducted to investigate the effect of nano titanium dioxide foliar spraying on four strawberry cultivars in the hydroponic greenhouse of the Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2020-2021. Experimental treatments included 4 levels of titanium nano dioxide (0, 5, 10 and 20 mg/l) and 4 strawberry cultivars (Sabrina, Paros, Gaviota and Camarosa) with 4 replications. The research was done in a factorial manner based on a completely random design. JMP 8 software was used to perform variance analysis and compare the averages of the measured traits. Means were compared using Tukey test at 5% probability level and graphs were drawn using Excel 2010 software.
Results and Discussion
According to the tables of mutual effects of titanium dioxide nano treatments and varieties, it can be found that the application of titanium dioxide nanoparticles had a positive effect on the desired characteristics in all four studied strawberry varieties. So that the application of different levels of titanium dioxide nano particles causes a significant increase in quantitative traits (number of leaves, leaf area, root length, fresh and dry weight of aerial and root parts, photosynthetic pigments) The yield-dependent traits compared to the control plants were found in strawberry-strawberry cultivars. Nano titanium dioxide had an effect in increasing the number of fruits and vegetative traits of all investigated cultivars, in such a way that, on the one hand, with a balanced increase in vegetative growth, and on the other hand, improving the efficiency of photosynthesis and absorption through the roots and increasing the percentage of fruit formation. , increased the yield per plant. Also, sprinkling of titanium nanoparticles on all levels caused a significant increase in juice pH, TSS, TA, vitamin C, anthocyanin, total phenol, flavonoid and in general qualitative traits compared to the control. In the treatment of nano titanium dioxide, especially at the level of 10 mg/liter, better results were observed.
Conclusion
According to the results, the use of Paros and Gaviota cultivars is recommended to farmers and agricultural researchers due to its high yield and good quality.
Medicinal Plants
M. Fadaei; V. Akbarpour; S. J. Mousavizadeh; K. Ghasemi
Abstract
Introduction
Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) is a medicinal plant belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family and the order Cucurbitals. The seeds of this plant are a rich source of essential oils and proteins for the body. It is used in the production of various drugs such as Peponen, Pepostrin, Grunfig and treatment ...
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Introduction
Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) is a medicinal plant belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family and the order Cucurbitals. The seeds of this plant are a rich source of essential oils and proteins for the body. It is used in the production of various drugs such as Peponen, Pepostrin, Grunfig and treatment of prostate swelling, urinary tract inflammation, atherosclerosis, gastrointestinal regulation, etc. Since the components of medicinal plants are low at natural condition, and could be increased by means of different environmental conditions, nutrition or application of elicitors; thus, it is necessary to work on mentioned parameters effects on quantitative and qualitative attributes of medicinal plants. Recent years, many researches have been done based on natural components for increment of yield and secondary metabolites of medicinal plants. Ascorbic acid is one of these materials which its effect on plant growth has been validated. In the management of agricultural inputs, especially in the cultivation of medicinal plants, the application of substances that have the least harmful side effects on human health and the environment is recommended. Meanwhile, sucrose and ascorbic acid are healthy substances to improve growth and increase crop yield. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the effect of these two substances on yield, yield components and phytochemical characteristics of pumpkins.
Materials and Methods
Pumpkin seeds were prepared from Pakan Bazr Esfahan by purity of 99%. Then, planted in a farm of 500 m2 at Behshar. After plant growth, spray treatments were conducted at three times as before flowering, onset of flowering and fruit set stages. This experiment was conducted in factorial with sucrose factor at four levels (0, 5, 10, 15 g.l-1) and ascorbic acid factor at four levels (0, 15, 30, 45 mM), based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The studied characteristics included number of leaves and fruits, plant yield, 1000-seed weight, total number of seeds, number of healthy seeds, percentage of healthy seeds, number of blank (deaf) seeds, percentage of blank seeds, total chlorophyll, antioxidant activity, phenol, flavonoids, protein and oil percentage. Statistical analysis of data was performed using SAS statistical software and comparison of mean was performed using the least significant difference (LSD) at the level of 5% probability. Figures were graphed with Excel software.
Results and Discussion
According to this study results, the effect of foliar application of sucrose and ascorbic acid and their interaction on most of the studied traits was significant. Application of 15 g.l-1 sucrose with 15 mM ascorbic acid increased the number of fruits to 1.68 per plant, which showed an increase compared to the control treatment. The highest total number of seeds with an average of 464 seeds per fruit was obtained by applying 5 g.l-1 sucrose with 45 mM ascorbic acid, which compared to the control (247.33) recorded an increase of 87.60%. The highest total chlorophyll content was measured with an average of 2.081 (mg.g-1 fresh weight) using 5 g.l-1 sucrose with 15 mM ascorbic acid, which showed an increase of 1.81% compared to the control treatment (2.044). Also, application of 15 g.l-1 sucrose along with 15 mM ascorbic acid increased protein by 40.03%, which showed an increase of 79.26% compared to the control (22.33). Other results indicate that increasing the amount of seed oil up to 44.50% is available with the application of 15 g.l-1 sucrose with 30 mM ascorbic acid and also with the application of 10 g.l-1 sucrose with 45 mM ascorbic acid; which had an increase of 16.61% compared to the control (38.16). The results of the present study showed that the application of combined ratios of sucrose and ascorbic acid has been effective in improving the quantitative and qualitative attributes of pumpkin, including protein content and percentage of pumpkin seed oil.
Conclusion
Since the treatment of sucrose 10 g.l-1 with 45 mM ascorbic acid significantly affected most of important attributes such as total antioxidant activity, total flavonoids, protein content and high oil content, therefore, this combination of treatment can be applied to increase the quality of pumpkin seeds. However, if only quantity is important, the treatment of sucrose 15 g.l-1 with 15 mM ascorbic acid, which caused the highest number of fruits per plant, the highest yield as well as the highest protein, can be recommended.
Growing vegetables
K. Arabsalmani; A. Hooshang Jalali; P. Jafari
Abstract
Introduction: Eggplant (Solanum melongena) is a diploid plant (2n= 24). Eggplant cultivated as perennial in the tropics regions and grown as an annual in temperate areas According to the statistics of FAO, the area under eggplant cultivation in Iran were about to 21.3 thousand hectares, with an average ...
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Introduction: Eggplant (Solanum melongena) is a diploid plant (2n= 24). Eggplant cultivated as perennial in the tropics regions and grown as an annual in temperate areas According to the statistics of FAO, the area under eggplant cultivation in Iran were about to 21.3 thousand hectares, with an average yield of 31.4 tons per hectare. Eggplants grow into large plants that causes too much plant canopy, so pruning the plant is a good way to reduce the number of branches, leaves and to increase fruit set. Normally, pruning is not done on the eggplant plant and only 2 plants per square meter could be grown in the field and also greenhouse conditions. However, pruning operations should be performed in greenhouse conditions and plants might be kept with 2 to 4 branches. A study was conducted to evaluate the best method of eggplant pruning in greenhouse conditions in the Netherlands and the plants were pruned into one or two branches. Plants were pruned again from the second branch in different cases including the first, third, sixth and ninth nodes. The results showed that severe pruning had a positive effect on plant conditions and fruitset was better in heavily pruned plants.Material and Methods: This experiment was conducted in 2018 and 2019 in greenhouse conditions in Varamin city. This area located 40 km from Tehran with an altitude of 1000 meters above sea level, an area of approximately 1500 square kilometers, longitude 50 degrees and 51 minutes, latitude 19 degrees and 35 minutes and the amount of first and second-degree agricultural lands 75 thousand Hectares. The average long-term annual rainfall is 120 mm, and the prevailing wind direction is southeast to northwest. The combined analysis based on a randomized complete block design experiment with three replications conducted and the treatments included three methods of plant pruning (two-branch, three-branch and four-branch). The seeds of Bellen variety planted in culture trays containing enriched peat moss and placed in an environment with a temperature of approximately 27 °C and relative humidity of 80%. After germination of seeds, the ambient temperature decreased to 24 °C during the day and 18 °C during the night. After the seedlings reached 3-4 leaves, they transferred to the main greenhouse. Pruning and guiding the plant on the scaffolding began with the first flower appearing on the meristem axis. All the male branches removed before the mentioned flower and the sub-branches branching from the main axis were allowed to grow above the first flower position. After data collection, data analyzed by SAS software and the means compared by Duncan test.Results and Discussion: The effect of year on yield and yield components of eggplant were not statistically significant (Duncan 5%). Effect of pruning treatments on yield components, number of fruits in the first cut and early maturity index at 5% level and on total yield, the total number of fruits and number of fruits per plant were also statistically significant at 1% level. Two-branch and four-branch pruning treatments were statistically superior to three-branch pruning treatments, but considering the yield in the first four harvests, two-branch pruning treatment with the production of 5.33 t ha-1, compared to two three-pruning treatments and four branches showed a significant increase. Earliness index of plants that pruning in two, three and four plant branches were 12.21, 9.5 and 8.83%, respectively. The total yield in three pruning treatments of two, three and four branches were 44.45, 46.67 and 49.87 t ha-1, respectively. The results showed that branch pruning had positive effects on eggplant yield and based on the purpose of the research, including early crop production or higher total performance, the type of pruning will be different. Examination of the correlation coefficients of the traits measured in the experiment also showed that the relationship between pruning (branch removal) and yield in both totals (0.69*) and the first four harvests (0.80**) was significant. The correlation between the number of branches and eggplant yield has reported in some other studies nevertheless in some studies has not the different relationship between performance and number of plant branches. In reviewing the performance and diversity of morphological traits of some local varieties of Iranian eggplant relationship between fruit yield and number of fruits per plant were positive and significant.
Seyyed Mehdi Hosseinifarahi; Ghazanfar Mohamadineia
Abstract
Introduction: Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) belongs to solanaceae family, which is cultivated and consumed in the world due to its high economic value. Bell peppers also have valuable nutritional and medicinal compounds, including natural colors, antioxidants and vitamins A, B and E. Salinity stress ...
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Introduction: Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) belongs to solanaceae family, which is cultivated and consumed in the world due to its high economic value. Bell peppers also have valuable nutritional and medicinal compounds, including natural colors, antioxidants and vitamins A, B and E. Salinity stress is one of the most important environmental factors limiting growth, which has very adverse effects on plant growth and yield. Salinity stress reduced the yield of agricultural products due to the effect on the competitive absorption and transfer of nutrients in the plant. Nowadays, the increased tolerance of plants to environmental stresses from different pathways involve breeding programs and the use of plant growth regulators and organic substances. In comparison to breeding methods that are often long-term and cost-intensive, it is easy and inexpensive to use plant growth regulators such as Salicylic Acid (SA) and humic acid (HA).
Material and Methods: To investigate the effect of Salicylic Acid (SA) and Humic Acid (HA) on the improvement of tolerance to salinity and absorption of mineral elements under salinity stress in greenhouse culture, a factorial experiment based on Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was conducted in Yasooj. The first factor was SA in three levels (0, 1, and 2 mM), the second factors HA in two levels (0 and 5 g l-1), and the third factors salinity in three levels (0, 50, and 100 mM). The bell pepper seedlings cv. California were obtained from a commercial producer and planted in 4-liter plastic pots containing perlite and cocopeat (1:1) in 2015. Plants were grown in a hydroponic greenhouse with day/night temperature (24.3 and 15.4 oC) and 60 to 80% RH in the village of Nahrgah in Yasouj. After the plants were established (having about 4–5 leaves), sodium chloride salt was used in the concentrations of 0, 50, and 100 mmol in the nutrient solution for salinity stress. To prevent a sudden shock, the first one week all the pots were irrigated with a 10 mM-food solution and in the second week with a 25 mM salt solution. After that, the plants irrigated 50 and finally 100 mg of sodium chloride. Traits such as plant height, number of leaves, number of flowers, number of fruits, and average fruit weight, and yield, fresh and dry weight of leaf were measured. The content of K, Ca, Fe and Na elements in the leaves and roots of treated and untreated plants were measured by an atomic absorption device equipped with a graphite furnace system. Data analysis (ANOVA) was performed using MSTAT-C statistical software. The means were compared with the Tukey test (P≤ 0.05) and the graphs were plotted with Excel.
Results and Discussion: Results showed that the salinity has negative effects on growth factors. The application of HA and SA reduced the negative effects of salinity and increased growth parameters. The application of HA and Salicylic acid increased the number of pepper fruits under salt stress conditions. The highest number of fruits was obtained in the plants treated with 5 g l-1 HA and 2 mM salicylic acid compared to the other treatments. The results of this experiment showed that the application of HA and Salicylic acid had a significant effect on the content of mineral elements in the leaves and roots of sweet peppers under salt stress. The highest amount of Fe was observed in the leaves of pepper plants treated with 100 mM and the lowest in untreated plants. The highest amount of leaf calcium was obtained in peppers treated with SA 2 mM and HA 5 g l-1 in comparison to other treatments. Application of SA 1 and 2 mM increased the concentration of calcium of the leaves and roots of the pepper plant. The highest root potassium were obtained in plants treated with 5 g l-1 HA and 1mM SA at salinity level of 100 mM in comparison to the other treatments.
Conclusion: Salinity is an environmental factor limiting the production of crops in plants. According to the results of present study, it can be concluded that salinity reduced the growth parameters of the bell pepper plant. The use of SA and HA increased bell pepper tolerance to salinity and improved the vegetative and reproductive characteristics and absorption of mineral elements. Therefore, the application of HA 5 g l-1 and 2 mM SA is suggested to reduce the negative effects of salinity stress on bell pepper.
