Medicinal Plants
Zh. Zandavifard; Majid Azizi; Majid Darroudi; Azar Hosseini
Abstract
Introduction:
Ganoderma lucidum is a high medicinal value mushroom have been widely used in the Far East countries especially in traditional Chinese medicine as promoting human health and treatment of many diseases. Nowadays, many published studies have established it contains a high source of nutraceutical ...
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Introduction:
Ganoderma lucidum is a high medicinal value mushroom have been widely used in the Far East countries especially in traditional Chinese medicine as promoting human health and treatment of many diseases. Nowadays, many published studies have established it contains a high source of nutraceutical and pharmaceutical substances with potent and unique properties as immune suppressors, hypercholesterolemic agents, or coadjutant treatments in diseases such as cancer, hypertension, insomnia, anorexia, dizziness, and chronic hepatitis, among others. This species is rich in several bioactive compounds (over 400 compounds) mainly, including polysaccharides, triterpenoids, steroids, fatty acids, amino acids, nucleotides, proteins, and alkaloids. Herein, the fruiting bodies of G. lucidum were studied in terms of nutritional value and chemical composition analysis. and further assessment of antioxidant activity of extracts from the fruiting body.
Materials and methods: In order to detection of nutrient elements, the samples were homogenized by microwave digestion (Milestone Ethos, Germany) with 1000 W maximum power and further characterized using Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Biochemical molecule contents were characterized using Acquity Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatograph (UPLC, Waters) coupled to a photodiode array detector (PDA, Waters) and an electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometer (ESI–QTOF/MS; Waters). In order to assess antioxidant activity, two kinds of extract including methanol 80 % (ME) and hot water (HWE) as solvent were prepared by ultrasonic method. Six different in vitro assays are used for the determination of antioxidant capacity including ABTS, DPPH, superoxide (SO), nitric oxide (NO) free radicals scavenging, iron-reducing power (FRAP), and iron chelating activity (ICA). The data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the means were separated by the Newman-Keuls Multiple Comparison test (GraphPad Prism 8, San Diego, CA, USA)). All data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. P ≤ 0.05 values or less were considered to indicate a statistically significant difference. Furthermore, Half-maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) values for each assay were calculated from linear or logarithmic regression using Excel software.
Results and Discussion: G.lucidum was characterized in terms of nutritional value and chemical composition. Generally, to study the nutraceutical value of G.lucidum, 14 elements were analyzed by ICP-OES. Amongst the macronutrient group, phosphorus and potassium (2910.8 and 1510.8 mg/kg dry matter) and in the micronutrient iron and zinc (8.5 and 7.74 mg/kg dry matter) have the highest amounts, respectively. In terms of biochemical compounds, totally 37 compounds were identified in which Ganoderic acid was observed as most abundant (15890.1 ± 232.1 μg per g dry matter) followed by Sinapic acid and Succinic acid (2011.4 ± 28.11 and 1505.33 ± 31.5 μg per g dry matter) were the predominant compounds. The results of antioxidant assays clearly revealed that, the methanolic extract proved to have higher antioxidant potential than one corresponding hot water extract for all assays. In ABTS radical scavenging activity assay, ME with the best antioxidant activity (IC50,48.46±2.42 µg/ml) had a higher activity which was significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) from HWE (163.51±4.51 µg/ml). For DPPH assay, radical scavenging capacity was dose-dependent and IC50 values of ME (111.93±1.39 µg/ml) and HWE (213.48±5.42µg/ml) was a significant difference (P ≤ 0.05). In FRAP assay, The highest level of iron-reduction was observed in the highest level of ME(IC50, 308.13±4.13 µg/ml). This extract had higher iron-chelating activity (IC50, 671.75±5.66 µg/ml) as well. These values in both assays were significantly more potent than HWE (P ≤0.01). In SO assay, ME extract (IC50, 488.8±7.38 µg/ml) and HWE (IC50, 645.92±5.48 µg/ml) showed no difference significantly. In addition, in the NO assay, both extracts released slight weak activity for neutralization of nitric oxide radicals, however, the highest activity level was related to ME (IC50, 1189.5±8.5 µg/ml) in comparison to HWE (IC50, 1343.2±10.6 µg/ml) that was significant (P ≤0.01). The results clearly indicate that different solvents used in this study significantly affected antioxidant capacities and total biochemical contents.
Conclusions: G. lucidum, as a high medicinal value mushroom, proved is a very important source of nutrients and antioxidant compounds such as terpenoids, especially triterpenoids, and polysaccharides. The free radical scavenging properties, reducing power and iron-chelating inhibition of G. lucidum seemed to be correlated with phenolic compounds and triterpenoids mostly. Therefore, based on the nutritional and biochemical profile of G. lucidum, and also its antioxidant power, this mushroom possesses a high nutrient potential that reflects positively on its health benefits.
Ara Alinejad Elahshah; Hossein Moradi; Hossein Sadeghi
Abstract
Introduction: Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassaDuch.,Rosaceae). fruitis rich of fiber, vitamin C, potassium and antioxidants. Since the balance of nutrients at the appropriate time for commercial fruit production, yield improvement and fruit quality is essential, so foliar application at key stages could ...
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Introduction: Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassaDuch.,Rosaceae). fruitis rich of fiber, vitamin C, potassium and antioxidants. Since the balance of nutrients at the appropriate time for commercial fruit production, yield improvement and fruit quality is essential, so foliar application at key stages could have a positive effect on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of perennial crop fruits. Among essential mineral nutrients that are involved on plant physiology, micronutrients of zinc (Zn) and boron (B) because of their association with synthetic hormones are particularly important. In a study by Lolaei et al. (2012) conducted showed that the foliar application at flowering stage increased fruit quality and yield of strawberrycultivar ʻCamarosa’. The results of Rafeii and Pakkish(2014) indicated that spraying of strawberry cultivar ʻCamarosa’ with boric acid had a significant effect on yield, fruit weight, chlorophyll and leaf area. So according to the importance of micronutrients on horticultural yield improving and environmental protection, this investigation was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar application of zinc and boron and combination of them on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of strawberry cultivar ʻAromas’ in hydroponic system.
Material and Methods: The experiment was arranged in factorial based on a complete randomized block design with 9 treatments and 9 replications in 2015 and 2016 in greenhouse and laboratory of Genetics and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute of Tabarestan (GABIT), Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran. Experimental treatments were included: zinc at three levels (0, 100 and 200 mg l-1) of fertilizer source zinc sulfate and boron at three levels (0, 500 and 1000 mg l-1) of fertilizer source boric acid as alone or combined. Spraying of strawberry cultivar ʻAromas’ at 3 stages in hydroponic system were applied after the chilling requirement treatment. When Fruits were stained 75-80% and have appropriate size, were harvested. Traits that were evaluated include: vitamin C, antioxidant activity, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), taste index (TSS/TA), pH of fruit juice, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, fruit weight, fruit length and diameter, leaf number, petiole length and plant height. The data collected were statistically analyzed using the computer software using SAS 9.1 and MSTATC, Analysis of variance techniques were employed to test the overall significance of the data, while the least significant difference (LSD) test (P ≤ 0.05) was used to compare the treatment means.
Results and Discussion: Results indicated that foliar application of Zn and B significantly affected on the vitamin C, antioxidant activity, TSS, TA, TSS/TA, pH of fruit juice, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, fruit weight, fruit length and diameter, leaf number and plant height (1% or 5% of probably level), while the Petiole length was not significantly affected. Between the different nutrient levels of zinc sulfate application at the concentrations of 100 and 200 mg l-1, boric acid application at the concentration of 500 mg l-1, the combination of zinc sulfate at 100 and 200 mg l-1 with boric acid at 500 mg l-1 play a significant role at increasing studying characteristicsexcept the content of TA. Zinc is effective at the formation of growth hormones and chloroplasts, it is also necessary for chlorophyll biosynthesis and also plays a very important role at cell division and the protein synthesis and carbohydrates metabolism. It seems this subject caused increased plant height, leaf number, petiole length, diameter, length and weight of the fruit and chlorophyll by foliar application. Boron is an element which increases weight by effect of reproductive growth and help to material production, production and transfer of carbohydrate, and nutrient by boron is necessary for fruit set and fruit retention. The results showed that zinc sulfate is effective on TSS, TA, taste index and pH, the increase may be attributed to their effects on different enzymes which are involved in the formation of proteins, acids and sugars, also enough amounts of boron in the plant, increased carbohydrate transport to fruit and areas of active growth and its effect is evident in increasing the amount of fruit sugar. Because of increased vitamin C and antioxidant capacity of plants had been sprayed with boron and zinc can be attributed to zinc that plays an active role in auxin production in plants, and vitamin C increases the production of auxin. Similarly, Kazemi (2014) reported the highest pH of fruit juice, TSS and TA at 150 mg l-1 of Zn for strawberry cultivar ʻPajaro’ and the lowest of these parameters was recorded in control. The results of our study is in accordance with Mashayekhi and Atashi(2012) who reported a significant positive correlation between chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoid content of strawberry cultivar ʻCamarosa’ leaves that had been sprayed by B and sucrose. As Khan et al. (2015) simultaneously combined application of Zn and B in the ʻKinnow’ mandarin fruit increased vitamin C, tree height and fruit weight, diameter and length significantly that was consistent with our results.
Conclusions: Since the foliar application of zinc sulfate at 100 and 200 mg l-1 with boric acid at 500 mg l-1 showed significant effect on quantitative and qualitative properties of strawberry, so to reduce the environmental effects caused by the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers, foliar application of micronutrients is recommended as an effective management solution in the production of strawberry cultivar ʻAromas’ under hydroponic culture.
Mohammad javad Nazari deljou; Neda Allahverdizadeh
Abstract
To study the effect of foliar application of humic acid on morpho-physiological traits, nutrients uptake and postharvest vase life of cut marigold, an experiment was conducted with five levels of humic acid (0, 250, 500, 750 and 1000 ppm) based on completely randomized design with three replications. ...
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To study the effect of foliar application of humic acid on morpho-physiological traits, nutrients uptake and postharvest vase life of cut marigold, an experiment was conducted with five levels of humic acid (0, 250, 500, 750 and 1000 ppm) based on completely randomized design with three replications. Based on the results, in compared with control, leaf number and leaf area, total phenol and aerial and root dry weight significantly influenced by humic acid. Accordingly, the highest flower number in compare with control plants was observed in 250 and 500 ppm concentrations. Also, foliar application of humic acid showed a significant effect on phosphorous and calcium uptake (P
Z. Mohammadi; Hamid Reza Roosta; A. Tajabadipour; Hossein Hokmabadi
Abstract
This research carried out in the Rafsanjan pistachio orchard to investigate the effect of N form, manure, K and Fe on yield, nut quality and leaf mineral nutrients concentrations of Pistacia vera L. cv. Fandoghi grafted on Badami-Riz Zarand rootstock. The experiment was as factorial with four factors ...
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This research carried out in the Rafsanjan pistachio orchard to investigate the effect of N form, manure, K and Fe on yield, nut quality and leaf mineral nutrients concentrations of Pistacia vera L. cv. Fandoghi grafted on Badami-Riz Zarand rootstock. The experiment was as factorial with four factors including; manure (without manure and 10 kg tree-1 sheep manure), N form (ammonium sulfate and calcium nitrate), K (without K and 600 kg K tree-1) and Fe (without Fe and 100 g Fe tree-1) and randomized complete blocks design with 6 replications. Fertilizers were added to the soil in holes with 40-60 cm depth on two sides of trees, and treatments effects was evaluated during two years. The results showed that ammonium application increased the nut yield compared to nitrate fertilizer, this increase in yield is may related to the higher N and Fe in plants and consequently leaf chlorosis alleviation due to the chlorophyll contents elevation by these elements. Combination of ammonium-N and Fe increased split pistachio nuts. In this research, ammonium application increased the concentration of Fe, Zn, N and K and reduced P, Ca and Mg concentrations in leaves. Therefore, it is suggested to use N fertilizer containing ammonium rather than nitrate in pistachio orchards with mainly high soil pH.
