Samane Mohammadi; Majid Azizi; Jamil Vaezi
Abstract
Introduction: Thyme is a perennial plant belongs to Lamiaceae. Thymus is a well–known medicinal plant, native to Southern Europe and its essential oil is manufactured commercially for use in cough drops, mouth-washes, liniments, toothpastes, detergents and perfumes. The herb is approved by Commission ...
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Introduction: Thyme is a perennial plant belongs to Lamiaceae. Thymus is a well–known medicinal plant, native to Southern Europe and its essential oil is manufactured commercially for use in cough drops, mouth-washes, liniments, toothpastes, detergents and perfumes. The herb is approved by Commission E in the treatment of bronchitis, whooping cough and upper respiratory inflammation. The Thymus genus comprises over 300 species of which, 18 are found in Iran, which grow wild in many regions and four of them are endemic. There are serious difficulties in the taxonomical interpretation of the taxa belonging to the genus Thymus owing to the high variability of populations with respect to many morphological and micro-morphological traits. The morphology and different components of essential oils in different species of Thymus are variable due to hybridization and polyploidization, despite its rare self-pollination. In general, intraspecific hybrids of the genus Thymus seem to possess intermediate morphological characteristics and composition of essential oil in comparison with the relevant characteristics of the parent plants. The accumulation of the essential oil takes place in gland hairs, which are distributed on the surface of the epidermis of the aerial parts of the plant. The content of the essential oil can depend on origin, climate, harvest, as well as drying and storage conditions. By carefully examining the structural, phenotypic, chemical and genetic aspects of the natural populations of a plant, it is possible to select either them or samples from them as an important step in the process of breeding the desired medicinal plant.
Material and Methods: In order to have a comparison microscopically and morphologically characteristics of Thymus vulgaris, two landraces of Thymus transcaspicus were studied in completely randomized design with four replications at the faculty of Agriculture in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Inflorescence length, number of flowers per inflorescence, shoot height, leaf, bud and flower length, leaf width, the largest diameter of canopy, weight, fresh and dry herb yield, percent of essential oil, distinct and type of trichomes, were measured. For glands morphological and structure analysis leaves were processed according to conventional techniques for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In order to obtain comparable results the leaves from the third node of the apex were used for SEM analyses. Leaf samples were fixed in glutaraldehyde and paraformaldehyde. After being dehydrated, they were coated with gold in the vacuum evaporator. Finally, the preparations were observed and photographed with a KYKY-2800B SEM.
Results and Discussion: The ANOVA of the data showed that there was considerable variation for all studied characters. Results of mean comparisons showed that the highest height, the largest diameter of canopy and percent of essential oil were for T. vulgaris. Maximum inflorescence length, number of flowers per inflorescence, leaf, bud and flower length, leaf width, was also recorded for T. transcaspicus. Results of essential oil (EOs) analysis by GC/MS showed that thymol and carvacrol were the major compounds of all EOs samples, with highest and lowest content observed thymol and carvacrol in T. vulgaris (64.75 and 6.78 %). T. vulgaris produced more essential oil as compared to another thyme species. Two types of glandular trichomes are distributed on the outside surface of leaf, namely, peltate ones (PGTs) and capitate ones (CGTs). The glandular hairs of Lamiaceae likely release various secretions, such as the essential oil and polysaccharide. When trichomes got matured, essential oil could be found on all of the glandular trichomes on aerial organs of Thymus. Besides essential oil, what else trichomes could secrete needs further study.
Conclusion: The essential oil is highly complex chemical compounds. The content and composition of it vary depending on season, growing conditions, and plant species. High essential oil content is related to a much secretion of glandular trichomes. An application for variety protection was filed for ‘T. vulgaris’, now recommended to producers in Mashhad interested in a thymol-rich thyme. We can carry out a selection program to optimize quality and yield of thyme (T. transcaspicus L.) landraces, with used of T. vulgaris and crossing with clones of T. transcaspicus.
Ornamental plants
Nahid Zomorrodi; Mahmood Shoor; Ali Tehranifar; Morteza Goldani
Abstract
Introduction Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the indiscriminate consumption of fossil fuels has led to a dramatic increase in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Over the past few decades, the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased from 280 to 370 ...
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Introduction Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, the indiscriminate consumption of fossil fuels has led to a dramatic increase in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Over the past few decades, the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased from 280 to 370 ppm and is expected to increase by about 1.8 ppm each year. Carbon dioxide, such as light, appropriate temperature, water and nutrients, is one of the essential nutrients needed by plants, which is currently less than required by plants. In general, plants need to absorb water from the soil and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it in photosynthesis, which This is done by absorbing carbon dioxide through the through the pores. In general, stomatal properties have a major influence on the response of plants to carbon dioxide treatment. Leaf morphology, including stomatal density, may have a significant effect on the response of plants to carbon dioxide. There seems to be a great deal of variation among plant species in terms of how stomata density changes with increasing CO2 concentration. The opening and closing of the stomata through carbon dioxide absorption, regulates the amount of water wasted when adverse environmental conditions. In fact, increasing carbon dioxide in plants reduces stomatal conductance and transpiration, increases water use efficiency, photosynthesis rate and higher light utilization efficiency. Materials and Methods This study was conducted as a split plot experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications in the research greenhouse of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Treatments included three concentrations of carbon dioxide (380 ppm as control, 700 and 1050 ppm) as the main plot and two species of ornamental ficus (Benjamin and Elastic) as sub plots. At first, cuttings were rooted in boxes containing washed sand infused with carbendazim for 8 weeks. After rooting, the cuttings were transferred to culture media containing appropriate soil mixture and exposed to different concentrations of carbon dioxide for 16 weeks. Were affected. Mean daily temperature of 25 and mean night temperature of 18 °C and 65% humidity were considered equal for all treatments. Then, after the treatments, Stomatal traits were measured. Results and Conclusion The results showed that high concentrations of carbon dioxide can affect the anatomical traits of Ficus ornamental species. In this study, the results obtained from the analysis of variance of the studied traits showed that the effect of different concentrations of carbon dioxide was not significant only for the stomatal index, but for other traits studied in this study. The main effect of carbon dioxide concentration was significant at 1% probability level.The results showed that the traits of stomata diameter in plant species and different concentrations of carbon dioxide were significant at 5 and 1% probability levels, respectively. Also with increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide the diameter of the stomatal decreased so that the highest stomatal diameter was related to the concentration of 380 ppm and the lowest to the concentration of 1050 ppm. In fact, increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide from the level of 380 to 1050 ppm led to a decrease of 19.91 percent in the diameter of the stomatal. Increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the environment of plants, initially increases the slope of the concentration of carbon dioxide between the surrounding air and the chamber under their stomata, and then more carbon dioxide through the pores leads to a decrease in the slope due to the abundance of carbon dioxide in the chamber below the stomata, This action reduces the diameter of the stomatal. As the concentration of carbon dioxide increased the stomatal cell density and stomatal area. Among the high concentrations of carbon dioxide the concentration of 700 ppm affected most of the traits, including stomatal diameter, stomatal area, epidermal cell density, stomach length and stomach width. though there was no significant difference between high concentrations of carbon dioxide (700 and 1050 ppm). According to the results of this study, it seems that anatomical traits are influenced by environmental factors and are not recognized as a hereditary factor. Among the species, the elastica species showed the most reaction to carbon dioxideal. Conclusion In general, clarifying the stomatal response to carbon dioxide concentration is important for understanding the stomatal physiology and gas exchange between vegetation and the In general, stomatal properties have a major influence on the response of plants to carbon dioxide treatment. Carbon dioxide at appropriate concentrations can increase growth and also affect the stomach properties to allow the plant to adapt to environmental conditions.
Seyyed Ali Tabatabaei; Ehsan Shakeri
Abstract
Introduction: Ajowan (Carum copticum Benth. & Hook.) is an annual herbaceous essential oil bearing plant belonging to the Apiaceae family, which grows in India, Iran, and Egypt. Ajowan seeds have essential oil as an active substance, which is used in pharmaceutical industry as a diuretic, antivomiting, ...
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Introduction: Ajowan (Carum copticum Benth. & Hook.) is an annual herbaceous essential oil bearing plant belonging to the Apiaceae family, which grows in India, Iran, and Egypt. Ajowan seeds have essential oil as an active substance, which is used in pharmaceutical industry as a diuretic, antivomiting, analgesic, antiasthma, antispasmodic and a carminative. Nitrogen is a part of all living cells and is a necessary part of all proteins, enzymes and metabolic processes involved in the synthesis and transfer of energy. Also, nitrogen is a part of chlorophyll, the green pigment of the plant that is responsible for photosynthesis. Generally, proper agronomic management including suitable plant density has a high influence on growth and yield of medicinal plants. In this regard, Kloss et al., (2012) highlighted the need for strategies to improve crop growth, make irrigation more efficient and sustainable and conserve farmlands. In addition, yield is influenced by inter-row spacing and sowing density. Ghilavizadeh et al., (2013) have reported that application of suitable amount of nitrogen fertilizer and plant density of 25 plan/m2 increased seed yield, essential oil yield and essential oil content of ajowan. In another research, Borumand Rezazadeh et al., (2009) reported that the plant density of 50 plant/m2 have produced the highest seed yield, essential oil yield and essential oil content. Generally, with regard to importance of medicinal plants and the necessity of understanding their crop and the impact of plant density and nitrogen fertilizer on the performance of these plants, this study was conducted to investigate the impact of these factors on some traits of ajowan.
Materials and Methods: In order to evaluate the effect of plant density and nitrogen fertilizer on different traits of ajowan (Carum copticum L.), an experiment was conducted using factorial based on randomized complete block design with three replications at Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Yazd in 2012 growing season. Treatments included three levels of plant density (60, 120 and 180 plant per m2) and three levels of nitrogen fertilizer (60, 90 and 120 kg/ha). The geographical location of the experimental station was 55°52´ S and 29°52´ N with the altitude of 1120 m. Each experimental plot was 6 m long and 2 m wide with the spacing of 30 cm between the rows. Ajowan seeds were directly sown by hand on 3 April, 2012. To measure the characteristics of number of umbel per plant, flowering branches and diameter of top of plant with respect to the margin effect, 10 plants were randomly selected from two central rows of each plot and mentioned traits were measured and the means of each traits in each plot were used in the analysis. For evaluating seed yield, essential oil yield and content, 1 meter of each plot was harvested. For statistical analysis, MSTAT-C software was used to compare means at the 5% probability level by Duncan's multiple range test.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the highest number of flowers per plant (25/27), number of flowering branches (7/77), diameter of top of plant (32 cm), seed yield (301/4 kg/ha) and essential oil yield (12/45 kg/ha) were obtained from 60 plant per m2 and 120 kg/ha nitrogen. Among the treatments, only the effect of nitrogen fertilizer was significant on essential oil content, so that, application of 120 kg/ha nitrogen produced the highest essential oil content (4/07). Our results are in agreement with the findings of Borumand Rezazadeh et al., (2009) who reported that, the highest traits of ajowan was obtained in plant density of 50 plant/m2. Seed yield had positive and significant correlation with plant height, number of umbel per plant and number of flowering branches.
Conclusion: Generally, it is concluded that, increasing the plant density with enhancing the interspecific competition for light, nutrients, water and other resources, had negative effect on traits of ajowan. Furthermore, the findings of this research indicated that ajowan had high requirement for nitrogen to produce a reasonable yield. So, more researches at different conditions are necessary to evaluate the effect of intercropping, rotation, bio-fertilizers and composts on different traits of ajowan. Generally, it seems that more researches are needed for investigating the effect of different plant densities and nitrogen fertilizers on qualitative and quantitative traits of ajowan.
Manizhe Khanian; Davood Ghanbarian
Abstract
Introduction: Because of harvesting of widespread volume of pomegranate production in a short time from late summer to early autumn and due to the lack of appropriate conditions of storage, a large part of which is lost prior to the market presentation or its cost is reduced due to the widespread presentation. ...
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Introduction: Because of harvesting of widespread volume of pomegranate production in a short time from late summer to early autumn and due to the lack of appropriate conditions of storage, a large part of which is lost prior to the market presentation or its cost is reduced due to the widespread presentation. Some studies investigated different methods for long-term storage of pomegranate, including use of alternative heating, low temperature, controlled atmosphere and growth plant regulators. Pomegranates are usually kept at temperatures below 5 °C only for 2 months, and then, frostbite to form of surface stains, skin browning; discolouration and browning of Arils and separator membrane are appeared. However, sensitivity to frostbite is a major problem for pomegranate storage, but generally the most important limiting factor for pomegranate storage is the growth and development of fungal contaminations, especially on the part of the throat. This problem is usually intensified at temperatures above 5 °C to prevent frostbite pomegranate. Therefore, for long-term storage of pomegranate, dual problem exists. It means that to reduce frost, we have to use higher temperatures or plastic covers, and on the other hand all these conditions can intensify the fungal decay in pomegranate. Recently, the interest of consumers has increased to food products with better quality, fresher and easier access. In this regard, packaging materials and packaging methods with the use of modern and appropriate techniques play vital role in reducing food wastes and production which is caused to healthier products. Considering the importance of extended life storage along with the preservation of favorite pomegranate quality, so the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of four types of coverage on the quality of pomegranate.
Materials and Methods: Maikhosh pomegranate cultivar was used for this study. Samples were taken directly from the Najaf Abad city orchards at the same conditions. Fruit weight was measured at the beginning of the experiments using a digital balance and then pomegranate samples were coated and stored at 4 °C for 105 days and every 35 days, the physical and chemical properties of pomegranates were measured. Initial weight of the samples stored were measured every 35 days and the percent of weight loss was calculated using Equation (initial weight-secondary weight / initial weight) × 100. In addition, the outer skin browning of fruits as one of the frostbite indices was examined. The sphericity coefficient i.e., the degree of similarity of each sample to sphere was expressed as Q = (abc) ^(1/3) / a ×100 The total surface area of the samples was determined using relationship S= π〖((abc)〗^(1/3))^2. Area brown skin of the samples was calculated by application of Imag j software. The percent of browning index was calculated by relationship (brown area of sample)/( total surface sample area), and each percentage of browning fruit were given from zero to five and frostbite percent was measured using relationship, percent of frostbite = (marks total ×100)/(number of biopsied sample×5). Firmness was measured using a manually penetrometer (ABI-ASA, Netherlands) equipped with a probe with 8 mm diameter. The pH values were measured using a pH-meter (MTT65, Iran) for the measurement of pH, 1 ml of pomegranate juice was mixed with 9 ml of distilled water using two device buffer solution with pH = 4 and pH =7. The TA was determined by mixing 1 ml of pomegranate juice with 9 ml of distilled water in the presence of phenolphthalein and titrating with 0.1 mol L-1 NaOH (PH 8.1) and using a calculated relationship TA=(M×0/0064×100)/W. TSS contents were recorded in a soluble refractometer (ATAGO, Japan) with values being expressed as 0Brix. The color content and intensity were measured using strewing pomegranate juice into centrifuge tubes with length of 20 ml and was centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 15 minutes. Then, the absorbance within 420-520 nm was measured in a spectrophotometer, and finally the color content and intensity was calculated by A520 + A420 and A420 /A520, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS software. Differences among means were tested for significance by ANOVA procedures and LSD test.
Results and Discussion: The analysis results showed that the coating treatments had a significant effect on all properties while storage period had a significant effect only on pH, percent of weight loss, frosting percent, acidity and soluble solids content. The samples coated by chitosan solvent 1% showed greatly weight loss in comparison with other coating treatments. Because the high concentration of chitosan causes preservation moisture between chitosan and skin of fruit that this could increase the activity of the aerobic pathogens, decay and higher weight loss. Firmness of fruits coated by liquid paraffin greatly reduced during storage period in comparison with other coating treatments. The soluble solids content of fruits covered by chitosan solvent 1% showed greatly an increase during storage period in comparison with other coating treatments. Coating treatments had a significant effect on the color content and intensity at level of 0.05 and 0.01, respectively. The coating aloevera gel treatment showed the lowest color intensity and content which suggests maintaining anthocyanin pigments and reducing brown pigments in samples. Among all coating treatments, the pomegranate peel extract indeed of conservation of apparent quality of fruits and seeds, showed the lower frosting percent approving the favorable effect of this treatment on the preservation of fruit in cold storage.
Conclusions: The results showed that among applied coatings, pomegranate peel extract is the best option due to the conservation of apparent quality of fruits and seeds as well as the lower frosting percent. The coating treatments aloevera gel and pomegranate peel extract showed the lowest color content and intensity and they are more appropriate options due to conservation of transparency and color red, respectively. Therefore, the treatment coating pomegranate peel extract and aloevera gel were chosen as the best options in pomegranate storage.
Majid Azizi; Zainab Safaei
Abstract
Introduction: The ever-increasing tendency to the use of medicinal plants in the world has grown concerns about their cultivation and production processes. As medicinal plants are more compatible with the nature, special interest and attention have recently been given to herb therapy, and use of medicinal ...
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Introduction: The ever-increasing tendency to the use of medicinal plants in the world has grown concerns about their cultivation and production processes. As medicinal plants are more compatible with the nature, special interest and attention have recently been given to herb therapy, and use of medicinal plants, being limited by the rise of pharmaceutical drugs, has become again common and widespread due to a number of reasons. In a sustainable agriculture system, application of the fertilizers which are nature friendly and suitable for plants is essential. This becomes more important when dealing with medicinal plants. Doing studies over the effect of nanopharmax and humic acid fertilizer on the plant, no research findings were obtained. So, in order to use less chemical fertilizers to prevent environmental pollution and encourage farmers to use more organic fertilizer, the present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of foliar application of humic acid and nano-pharmax fertilizer on the growth index, yield, yield components, essential oil content of N. sativa.
Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted at Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in 2012-2013. Land preparation was done in October. The land area was 80 square meters in which three blocks were designed. Eight plots were prepared within each block and each plot was planted with 4 lines. Furrow sowing operations were carried out on October 29. The plants were thinned in 4-6 leaf stage. First irrigation after planting, and subsequent ones were done every 7 days until the end of the growing season. No herbicides were applied in this plan and weeding was done by hand. The test treatments included humic acid and nanopharmax fertilizer with the levels of 0, 1, 3 and 6 mg per liter and 0 and 1 ml per liter, respectively. Fertilizer treatments was applied at the 8-10 leaf stage and continued once every two weeks, three times until after flowering. Foliar application continued until the plants were well treated with the solution. Plant height, leaf area index, dry weight, the number of branches, and the number of capsules per plant, the number of seeds per capsule, seed weight, seed yield, biological yield, essential oil content and yield were measured. The factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design with three replications. For the variance analysis of test data and drawing graphs, Excel and Minitab-16 software was used. All the averages data were compared at the 5 and 1% level, according to LSD test.
Results and Discussion: Different levels of humic acid imposed a significant effect on plant height, leaf area index, dry weight, the number of branches, and the number of capsules per plant, the number of seeds per capsule, seed weight, seed yield, biological yield, essential oil content and yield. Nano fertilizer application significantly increased the yield and essential oil content of Nigella sativa. Combined treatment at various levels had significant effect on dry weight, seed weight, biological yield and essential oil content and yield. According to the results, it can be concluded that the levels of 6 mg.l-1 of humic acid and Nano fertilizer (Farmks®) application the treatments were more effective in the increase of growth index, yield, yield components, essential oil content on other traits. The increased seed yield affected by humic acid and nano fertilizer can be attributed to the better vegetative growth, canopy development and consequently, more appropriate use of solar radiation and high photosynthesis. Using nano fertilizer, the time and speed of nutrients dispersion is coordinated by food requirements of the plant and thus, the plant will be able to absorb the maximum amount of nutrients and therefore, while reducing the leaching of nutrients and the crop yield increases.
Conclusion: The results showed that the use of nano fertilizer and humic acid can have positive effects on yield components and yield of N. sativa. Application of nano fertilizer and humic acid concentrations of 6 mg/l showed higher yield than other treatments. Intensifying the vegetative growth, these treatments increased the yield in N. sativa species. The combined treatments significantly increased the seed weight, growth index, seed yield, biological yield essential oil content and yield. Therefore, on the basis of the results of current study, it sounds like that nano fertilizer and humic acid can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and environmental pollution. They also play an important role in achieving the goals of sustainable agriculture.
Reza Rezaee; Ghasem Hasani; Seyed Edris Salehi
Abstract
Introduction: Apple is a major commercial fruit crop grown in Iran. The country produces approximately 1.6 - 2.7 million tonnes of apples and was one of the top 10 apple producing countries in the world during the last decade. West Azerbaijan province, with more than 50,000 hectare of apple orchards ...
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Introduction: Apple is a major commercial fruit crop grown in Iran. The country produces approximately 1.6 - 2.7 million tonnes of apples and was one of the top 10 apple producing countries in the world during the last decade. West Azerbaijan province, with more than 50,000 hectare of apple orchards and by producing of approximately one million tonne of fresh apple, is one of the main regions of apple production in Iran. In this region, two common apple cultivars Red Delicious and Golden Delicious are dominant (>90%), which needs to be updated by new apple cultivars to satisfy different technical/management as well as worldwide marketing requirements. Apple cultivars evaluations was started in Iran since 1953 and a lot of apple collection were established, but and until new apple cultivar was not introduced to farmers, As a first step for introduction of alternative cultivars, in this study, vegetative growth, flowering time, fruit ripening time as well as fruit quality of 12 apple (Malus pumilla Mill) cultivars were evaluated under Urmia climatic conditions. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate vegetative growth, quality and compatibility of some apple cultivars to allow selection of alternative cultivars for commercial apple production in the northwest province of Iran.
Materials and methods: This experiment was conducted at the Kahriz Horticultural Research Station located in Urmia-Iran (latitude 44°07' E; 37º 53' N.; altitude, 1325 m above sea level). The experimental design was randomized complete blocks, with 12 treatments (cultivars) and three replications. The apple cultivars including Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Red Spur, Fuji, Delbar Stival, Golden Smothee, Jonagold, Gholab-Kohanz, Golab-Kermanshah, Mahali Shikhi and Shafie Abadi were grafted on MM 111 rootstock. Trees were 10-year-old with a planting distance of 3 x 4 m and were trained as modified leader system. Data collected for annual shoot growth, time of blooming as well as fruit quality traits for one growth season and all data obtained from the trial were analysed using combined ANOVA and means were compared using the Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT). SPSS (version 20) was used to analyse the data.
Results and Discussion: Analysis of variance showed that apple cultivars were significantly different for all traits. Based on the means comparison test, the most and least annual shoot growth was observed in Red Delicious and Red Spur with 51.80 and 26.23 cm, respectively. The studied apple cultivars were ranked in three and five groups in terms of flowering and fruit ripening time, respectively. Flowering time is important for breeding as well as pollination purposes and in this regard there were significant differences among cultivars. The highest and the lowest fruit weight 236.07 and 63.28 g was obtained from Red Delicious and Mahale Sheikhi, respectively. The highest fruit firmness was observed in Fuji (9.17), followed by Golab Kermanshah (9.13), Red Delicious (9.03) and Golden Delicious (8.76). The highest (18.6%) TSS was observed in Fuji cultivar followed by Red Delicious (17.00%), and the lowest TSS was observed in all of early ripening cultivars. Titratable acidity (TA) was also significantly different among cultivars with Fuji showing the highest (1.32) and Golab Kermanshah, Golab Kohanz and Golshahi were the lowest (0.31-0.44) values. Compared to the other cultivars, Red Spur and Jonagold with a more L/D ratio (0.91) showed an elongated fruit form. Fruit shape especially the ratio of L/D has an important role in marketing. In addition, due to low growth and dense canopy as well as good fruit quality, the two recent cultivars are recommended for high density planting.
Conclusion: Final ranking of cultivars based on cumulative ranks from different traits showed that the higher ranks for Fuji, Red Spur and Goden Smothee, indicating their higher potential as an alternative to the Red and Golden delicious. Among the evaluated cultivars, three cultivars including Jonagold, Golshahi and Delbar Stivel were the best option to fulfill market demands for fresh fruit during mid-summer trough early autumn. It should be emphasized that these cultivars may be suitable for similar climates, but because of the effects of growing conditions (i.e. soil type, climate, cultural practices etc.) on the results of cultivar evaluation projects, complementary trials should be done in other regions before commercial planting commences. Continuous evaluation of new apple cultivars is an important prerequisite for sustainable apple industry.
Shadab Faramarzi; Abbas Yadollahi; Ghasem Karimzadeh
Abstract
Introduction: Apple (Malus Miller) belongs to Rosacease family and the subfamily of Pomoideae. This fruit is at first place among fruits of temperate zones. The cultivated apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) is a complex hybrid of the apple species. Chromosomal basis of this subfamily are x = 17 and the ...
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Introduction: Apple (Malus Miller) belongs to Rosacease family and the subfamily of Pomoideae. This fruit is at first place among fruits of temperate zones. The cultivated apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) is a complex hybrid of the apple species. Chromosomal basis of this subfamily are x = 17 and the ploidy levels have been reported for diploid (2n=2x = 34), triploid (2n =3x= 51) and tetraploid (2n= 4x= 68). Since Iran is close to the apple diversity region (Central Asia), it has a good variation of apple varieties. Despite the high levels of variation in apple cultivars and species in Iran, there is not still a database of genome size. Classification of plants according to their genome size, especially at lower taxonomic levels is important for breeders. Over the past years, several methods for estimation of nuclear DNA content (genome size) was common, but recently, the use of flow cytometry (FCM) has been increasingly used. Flow cytometry is the best method to estimate DNA c-value and ploidy levels in apples. In this study, DNA c-Value and ploidy level of Iranian apple varieties has been estimated by flow cytometry and propidum iodide staining.
Materials and Methods: Fully expanded young leaves of all apple varieties were collected in the summer 2013. Nuclear extraction was performed using Partec kit as following: 1 cm2 apple leaf and 1 cm2 parsley leaf (as internal standard) were co-chopped with razor blade after adding 500 µl of nuclear extraction buffer. Then, the extract was filtered by two kind of filters (50 and 30 um). One ml of staining buffer, 4 µl of RNAase and 4 µl ofpropidium iodide was added for 15 min at room temperature. Finally, nuclei were counted using flow cytometry (BD FACSCanto II, USA) at Tarbiat Modarres University. The genome size was estimated according to bellow formula:
DNA 2C-value sample =
Also, given the high levels of phenolic compounds in apples, treating with PVP and PVP 1% were performed to evaluate the effect of phenolic compounds on estimation of genome size. Finally, Histogram analysis and DNA c-value estimation were done with Partec Flow Max software. The difference between means was obtained by SAS software ver. 9.2 and LSD tests.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that genome size obtained from Partec Flow Max software and ranged from 1.57 pg for ‘Golab- Bastam’ to 1.73 pg for ‘Golab- Kermanshah’. Histogram analysis was demonstrated that all studied cultivars are diploid. The average genome size in this study was 1.62 pg. Research conducted on foreign apple varieties have showed that the genome size of diploid species from was obtained 1.45 for M. fusca to1.68 pg for M. ransitoria. The genome size for triploid species was ranged from 2.37 to 2.57 pg. In this study, genome size was calculated in terms of mega base pairs and was different from 748 Mbp in ‘Golab- Bastam’ to 846 Mbp in ‘Golab- Kermanshah’. Thus, the size of the genome was closed to M. ransitoria (1.68 pg). This species is native to China, which is a Crab apple and used as an ornamental tree. It has been reported that Iranian apple are M. domestica Borkh. In another study, genome size was identified in the range from1.245 pg for diploid species of M. tschonoskii to 1.653 pg for M. florentina. M. florentina species is native to Balkans and Italy, that is an ornamental tree and its genome size is close to M. domestica Borkh. (1.653 pg).
Conclusion: Classification of plants according to their genome size seems to be important, especially at lower taxonomic. Genome size, even in very close species can also be different, for example, northern corn with more heterochromatin has larger genomes than those who are located in south (less heterochromatin). This study appears the variation of DNA 2C-value in Golab cultivars, even though Golab cultivars are known clones with low genetic diversity. Therefore, it is likely that Iranian apple varieties, with the same ploidy level, have been had difference in genome size. There are various ploidy level in apple, including diploid (2n = 34), triploid (2n = 51), tetraploid (2n = 68) and hexaploid (2n = 102). Thus, it is expected that current apple M. × domestica Borkh., have been contributed some several species such as M. prunifolia (Willd.) Borkh., M. baccata (L.) Borkh., M. sieboldii (Regel) Rehder, M. sylvestris, ،M. orientalis Uglitzk and M. sieversii.
Pomology
Seyyedeh Fatemeh Motevalian; Bahram Abedy; Yahya Selahvarzi; Ali Tehranifar
Abstract
Introduction Major problems of pomegranate production, which is common in almost all of the world's pomegranate growing areas, especially in warm and dry regions, is the splitting of fruit, which is the most damaging to gardeners after pomegranate fruit moth. On the other hand, different studies ...
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Introduction Major problems of pomegranate production, which is common in almost all of the world's pomegranate growing areas, especially in warm and dry regions, is the splitting of fruit, which is the most damaging to gardeners after pomegranate fruit moth. On the other hand, different studies indicate that girdling affects the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of different fruit trees. In the gird, the trunk skin must be completely removed so that the upper to lower skin relationship is completely cut off. The raw material that is absorbed by the root and rising through the xylem is transformed into a sap in the leaf, and in the return path through the phloem, it hits the barrier and accumulated above the wound site. Due to this process, sugar and plant hormones and starch reach the upper part of the wound girdling in trees for various purposes, such as raising the percentage of fruition of the plant, increasing size and increasing the quality and accelerating the fruition is done.Material and Methods An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of girdling time on quantitative and qualitative properties of two red peel sweet and tart varieties in the Mahdi Shahr city, Semnan province. The girdling was taken at three full bloom days, two months after full bloom and four months after full bloom. To do a girdling, a double-edged knife was plunged into the trunk, and the ring-like cutting was done around the trunk. So that the layer of bark was cut from the trunk with a diameter of less than 2 to 3 mm continuously and separated from the trunk completely, so that the relationship between the top and the bottom was cut off. To evaluate qualitative and quantitative traits, 3 fruits were selected from the northern, southern and middle parts of each tree and transferred to the laboratory for measuring morphological and physiological traits. Physiochemical traits including pH, titratable acidity content, total soluble solids and morphological traits including weight, volume, average weight of 100 aryls and percentage of fruit juice, Ariel seed weight percentage, and split percentage were investigated.Results and Discussion The results indicated that girdling at full bloom and two months after full bloom significantly reduced the percentage of fruit blooming in both cultivars compared to the control (non-girdling) treatment. Also, among the studied cultivars, percentage of splitting in red peel was higher than that of sour-sweet. In addition, girdling at full bloom and four months after bloom was able to increase weight, volume, and average weight of 100 aryls. Among two studied cultivars, sour-sweet showed higher soluble solids content and titratable acid percentage than red peel. It can be stated that photosynthetic materials in the crown of the tree are blocked by conducting a loop on the branch of the plant and prevent the transfer of these materials to the root. This allows the carbohydrates from photosynthesis to be transferred to fruits that are growing. As a result, the fruit grows more and subsequently increases its weight, volume, and number of aryls. In addition, the growth of root is reduced as a result of girdling and water, mineral salts, as well as growth regulators to the canopy and terminal meristem of the plant are slowed down, thereby significantly decreasing vegetative growth to be seen in the tree. Subsequently, with decreasing vegetative growth in the tree, the carbohydrate which is produced in the leaves is allocated to the growing fruits. This also increases the weight and volume of fruit in the tree. Since the girdling treatments are associated with meiosis (in full blooming stage) and in the stage of the growing of fruits cells (4 months after full bloom), it can be justified to enhancement of the weight and reduction of splitting percentage in the fruits of trees which is girdled. The main reason for this difference is the tension entered into the girdled trees at the interval between the application of the treatment and the wound healing.Conclusion According to the results of this study, it was found that the process of girdling results in weight and volume enhancement of the fruit. In addition, the quantitative and qualitative traits investigated in the experiment were different in the two cultivars of red peel sweet and sour-sweet. In addition, girdling was effective on the pomegranate splitting, which is one of the important issues in the plantation of this fruit. However, the timing of the girdling at the full bloom and the four months after full blooming had the greatest effect on reduction of the severity of this complication.
Javad Fattahi Moghadam; Seyyedeh Elham Seyedghasemi; Kazem Najafi
Abstract
Introduction: According to a breeding program that was carried out in Citrus and Subtropical Fruits Research Center, Noushin (C. reticulata cv Clementine × C. sinensis cv. Salustiana) and Shahin (C. reticulata cv Clementine × C. sinensis cv. Hamlin) mandarins were released by using crossing method ...
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Introduction: According to a breeding program that was carried out in Citrus and Subtropical Fruits Research Center, Noushin (C. reticulata cv Clementine × C. sinensis cv. Salustiana) and Shahin (C. reticulata cv Clementine × C. sinensis cv. Hamlin) mandarins were released by using crossing method in 20-year program. In general, mandarins do not have the ability of being kept in common or cold storage for long time compared to oranges. The main problem is the change of fruit taste during storage, therefore, it is an attracted subject for researchers. Furthermore, storage temperature plays an important role in the quality of the taste of mandarins. The new released mandarins, which hve not been yet studied completely for their storability, need to be evaluated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate fruit physico-chemical and sensory characteristics of Noushin and Shahin varieties in common and cold storages for two years.
Materials and Methods: In this study, fruits of Noshin and Shahin mandarins were harvested at seasonal harvesting time and then placed in could storage (5 oC and 85% RH) and common storage (7-10 oC and 60-70 %RH) based on completely randomized design with three replications for 60 days every year. Fruits on days 0 (at harvesting time), 20, 40 and 60 of storage were sampled. Various physico-chemical and sensory characteristics were evaluated including iuice percentage, weight loss, peel color indices (L*, a*, b*, hue angle, chroma and CCI), total soluble solid (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), technological index (TI), skin disorder index (SDI), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total phenolic, ascorbic acid, antioxidant capacity and sensory parameters during experiment. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using statistical software MSTAT-C. Analysis of variance combined in a randomized complete design (two years) with three replications for each variety.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the amount of fruit weight loss and juice percentage did not show significant changes during storage. The ranges of weight loss in Noushin and Shahin varieties were 7-8% and 3.45-5.1%, respectively. Generally, peeling in Shahin was harder than Noushin but it gradually decreased until the end of storage. With the exception of citrus color index (CCI) in Noushin that was high at the beginning of storage, other color indices had no significant differences according to the type of variety and storage. Totally, TSS: TA ratio increased during storage depending on the type of storage, so that the ratio was higher (Noushin with 39.64 and Shahin with 13.34) in common storage than cold storage (Noushin with 31.04 and Shahin with 13.62) at the end of storage. Amount of electrical conductivity (EC) and technological index (TI) increased significantly in both varieties and storages. Shahin variety with 3.74 and 26.19% was so sensitive to rind disorder index and rind disorder percentage, respectively. Phenolic compounds in both varieties declined during both cold and common storages. The amount of reduction depends on the type of mandarin, with Shahin showing higher decline than Noushin variety. Besides, the content of ascorbic acid and antioxidant capacity in both peel and pulp showed a decreasing pattern with the passing of harvesting time during storage. According to sensory analysis, Noushin fruit can be stored in common storage for 20 days and in cold storage for 40 days. Moreover, results revealed that Shahin fruits did not have storability more than 40 days in common and cold storages.
Conclusion: Generally, Noushin variety was sensitive to low moisture of the storage and fruits lost extra moisture during storage. Since Noshin was an early ripening variety, TSS: TA ratio increased rapidly at the end of storage. Although Noushin had the lowest ascorbic acid content but its fruit antioxidant capacity was higher than shahin at the end of storage. On contrast, Shahin was a mid-ripening variety with higher ascorbic acid content. On the other hand, shahin peel was so sensitive to skin disorder index (SDI), therefor it should not be maintained in low moisture and temperature storage. Based on sensory analysis and physicochemical measurements, Noushin can be stored for 20 days and shahin for 40 days in common and cold storage. Finally, we found that Noushin and Shahin cannot be maintained in storage longer than other mandarins.
Marjan Hosseini; Seyyed Morteza Zahedi; Mahdieh Karimi; Asghar Ebrahimzadeh
Abstract
Introduction: Mango (Mangifera indica) is a tropical fruit native to India whose global production in 2014 reached nearly 45 million tones. Mango is a commercially important fruit and improvement in its storage is of special importance. Mango is a Climacteric fruit whose ripening is done by exogenous ...
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Introduction: Mango (Mangifera indica) is a tropical fruit native to India whose global production in 2014 reached nearly 45 million tones. Mango is a commercially important fruit and improvement in its storage is of special importance. Mango is a Climacteric fruit whose ripening is done by exogenous or endogenous ethylene. In plants, Polyamines such as spermine, spermidine, and putrescine contradict ethylene because of a common precursor (s-adenosyl methionine (SAM). During ripening, different qualitative and nutritional changes occur in the fruit, e. g. changes in color, tissue softening, accumulation of sugars and organic acids, and great changes in taste, flavor, aroma and plant biochemical materials. Fruit ripening is a complicated process, complementary to fruit development, and a start to its senescence. In general, senescence of a fruit is related to loss of membrane lipids, destabilization of membrane matrix, and lipid peroxidation. Recently, naturally active biological products are applied in a large amount for increasing the storage life and quality of the fruits and delaying their senescence.This study was carried out to investigate the effect of different concentrations of spermidine on the quality and vase life of a local mango variety of Minab.
Materials and Methods: Healthy fruits, uniform in size, shape, color, and degree of maturity were selected from a mango orchard in Minab and their original physical and chemical characteristics on the first day were measured after washing with water and drying. Statistical analysis of data was done by a general linear model (GLM) with SAS (version 9.1) and mean comparisons were performed using Duncan's multiple range test. Treatment solution in the rate of 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 mM spermidine (SIGMA) was made and its pH was set to 5 using NaOH. One liter of distilled water was used in the control treatment. The treated samples were immersed in solutions of different concentrations of spermidine just once for 30 minutes. During 24-days of shelf life, storage temperature was 15 °C and the relative humidity was 85 to 90 percent. Measurements were on the zero, 8th, 16th, and 24th days. Characteristics such as weight, firmness, flavor index, phenol, ascorbic acid, qualitative characteristics (PH, TA and TSS), and sensory evaluation were measured.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that physical and biochemical qualities in the control fruit were lower compared to the other treatments. The Polyamine treatment with spermidine, especially at the concentration of 2 mM, significantly maintained weight loss and reduction of vitamin C during storage of fruits. Spermidine treatments increased ascorbic acid and other organic acids in fruit juice and reduced pH. Increased acidity in spermidine treatments of these substances play an active role in coping with storage stress. Moreover, with reduction of tissue respiration, the consumption of organic acids decreased during storage. The results showed that increasing the concentration of spermidine leads to the least decrease in the phenol flesh. Firmness gradually decreased during storage and at the end of shelf life, there was significant difference between the treatments. It was found that treatments with 1 and 2 mM spermidine were the best. Furthermore, the effect of spermidine on the total soluble solid solutions in the flesh of mango fruit was not significant during storage. But skin color, taste, flavor, and aroma index were more favorable. Treatments that delay production of structural lipids led to the production of aromatic volatile substances, which produced a favorable aroma in fruits. It seems that increasing spermidine concentration plays an important role in mango fruit fragrance at the end of shelf-life. The 2 mM spermidine treatment led to the highest total content of phenol and showed the lowest pH in fruit juice.
Conclusions: Spermidine, that is naturally present in animals and plants in particular, belongs to the amine groups. The results indicated that spermidine maintains firmness and extends shelf life of mango fruits and has a significant and beneficial impact on the quality characteristics including weight, color, taste, aroma, and vitamin C during storage. It seems that spermidine of 2 mM concentration has tangible impact on mango fruits and it is recommended in mango store rooms. There is a competition in production of Ethylene and polyamides of spermine, spermidine, and putrescine in plants, due to their common precursor namely S-adenosyl methionine, yet they act oppositely in ripening and senescence processes. Application of polyamides had extraordinary effects on the quality of some fruits during storage.
Javad Janpoor; Mohammad Farsi; Fatemeh Gholizade; Hamid Reza Pourianfar; Sharareh Rezaeian
Abstract
Introduction: King oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) belongs to Basidiomycota division, Agaricomycetes class and Pleurotaceae family. This mushroom generally grows on wood wastes of Apiaceae family. The Pleurotus eryngii is found in pastures, meadows, gardens and seldom in grassy forest clearings and ...
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Introduction: King oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) belongs to Basidiomycota division, Agaricomycetes class and Pleurotaceae family. This mushroom generally grows on wood wastes of Apiaceae family. The Pleurotus eryngii is found in pastures, meadows, gardens and seldom in grassy forest clearings and hilly areas. The Pleurotus of the Umbellifers occupy an area in the Northern hemisphere between the 30 and 50º N. These species are mainly found in the subtropical regions of the Mediterranean, Central Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia and Iran. The P. eryngii sensulato is the only taxon within the genus, which grows in association with plants. P. eryngii has distinguishable characteristics such as coherent texture, unique form, favorable taste and high durability. Mushroom cultivation represents the only current economically viable biotechnology process for the conversion of waste plant residues from forests and agriculture. The species of these genera show much diversity in their adaptation the varying agro-climatic condition which makes more cultivated species than other mushrooms. Special ability of Pleurotus family is growing in lingocellulosic plant or agricultural wastes without needing to prepared compost and casing soil. Pleurotus is an efficient lignin- degrading mushroom and can grow and yield well on different types of lignocellulolosic materials. Type of substrates for mushroom growing depends on available plant or agricultural wastes. In Europe, wheat straw is used for mushroom growing; whereas in Asian South-East countries sawdust is more popular. Different materials for cultivating of P. eryngii have been suggested in different regions of the world; but a few studies have been done on suitability of various lignocellulosic affordable wastes for P. eryngii production in Iran. Therefore, the current study aims to evaluate effects of various locally available agro wastes on the growth characteristics of King oyster mushroom (P. eryngii).
Materials and Methods: Sawdust was utilized as the main substrate obtained from beech and populous trees (1:1). After being rinsed off in water and supplemented with calcium sulfate (3%) and calcium carbonate (3%), the substrate was filled in 20 × 40 cm polyethylene bags weighted to 800 grams. Sterilization was performed at 121 °C under pressure of 1.5 bars for two hours. A cultivated P. eryngii strain was then inoculated in the cooled material at a rate of 3% of dry/fresh substrate. The experiments were conducted based on a completely randomized design with five treatments and four replications, measuring mycelial growth (MG), number of fruiting bodies (NFB), mushroom weight, and biological efficiency (BE). AMG was measured in both test tubes and in petri plates in different pH levels (5.5, 7, and 8.5). Data were analyzed by JAMP 4.0, while graphs were drawn by Microsoft Excel 2007 and SigmaPlot 12.0 software.
Results and Discussion: The pH of 7 was found to be the best for obtaining maximal MG under all treatments after seven days. The highest amount of MG was obtained with substrate No. 1, while the least was observed in the culture of substrate No. 5. The substrates No. 1 and No. 5 generated the highest and lowest NFBs (p≤0.05). However, there was no significant difference (p≥0.05) in NFB between substrates No. 1 and 3 or between substrates No. 2, 4 and 5. The BE percentages obtained from experimental treatments No. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were 64.81, 49.74, 59.22, 28.72, and 19.8, respectively. The comparison of means of different growth characteristics revealed that there was no significant difference between substrates No. 1 and 3 or between substrates No. 4 and 5 (p≥0.05).
Conclusion: In this time, only two species (Agaricus bisporus and P. ostreatus) are producing in Iran, whereas at least 10 species of edible mushrooms are cultivating in the world. King oyster mushroom has low cost of production and distinguishable characteristics. Therefore, this mushroom can be use as alternative for button mushroom (A. bisporus). Many kind of agricultural wastes are in use for mushroom cultivation. Understanding the effects of substrate materials on mushroom production will be very valuable. The average number of fruits and biological efficiency of treatment No.1 showed significant difference with other treatments. Hence, the treatment No. 1 could be used for commercial production of King oyster mushrooms in Iran. Growth rate of P. eryngii was very diverse, in respect to the determinate values of the environmental factors. On the basis of the average growth rate of the strains, we could conclude what are the optimum ecological values of the species, though these conclusions did not always coincide with the optimum values of the certain strains. However, more research needs to be done to obtain regular and homogeneous supply of this mushroom.
Zahra Falati; Mohammadreza Fattahi; Ali Ebady
Abstract
Introduction: Plums (Prunus spp.) as one of the most popular stone fruits, have low calories and high nutritional value. Over the past decades global production of European and Japanese plums reached from 6,110,870 tons in 1990 to 11,528,337 tons in 2013. In the same period plum production in Iran reached ...
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Introduction: Plums (Prunus spp.) as one of the most popular stone fruits, have low calories and high nutritional value. Over the past decades global production of European and Japanese plums reached from 6,110,870 tons in 1990 to 11,528,337 tons in 2013. In the same period plum production in Iran reached from 118,936 tons to 305,262 tons. Great variety of plum fruits caused differences in chemical composition as well. Plum fruits are rich in bioactive compounds or biochemicals such as vitamins (A, C and E), anthocyanins and other phenolic compounds which have high antioxidant activity.
Materials and Methods: This research was done in a randomized complete block design with three replications in Horticultural Research Station at College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Tehran University in 2013-2015. Fruit quality characteristics such as vitamin C content, color traits of the fruit skin and flesh, the content of carotenoids, anthocyanins, total phenolics and antioxidant capacity of 16 plum and prune cultivars and genotypes were evaluated.
Results and Discussion: Analysis of variance showed significant differences in terms of all measured factors. The highest L* index (brightness) of fruit skin was observed in 'Tanasgol" and "Compooti" and then in "Golden Drop" and "Shams" cultivars and the lowest level of that was measured in "Sugar" and "Gogeh Sabz" cultivars. "Black Star" and "Gogeh Germez" Showed the highest brightness of fruit flesh among examined cultivars and the lowest brightness of fruit flesh was investigated in "Sugar". A* color index of skin and flesh of fruit also showed significant differences among investigated cultivars and the highest level of that in "Ozarak" cultivar was observed. "Gogeh Sabz" and "Golden Drop" also had the lowest level of this index. "Gogeh Germez" had the highest of a*color index of fruit flesh and "Japanese" cultivar was in second place. The lowest level of this index was measured in "Ozarak" and "Shams" cultivars. "Tanasgol" and "Compooti" had the highest fruit skin b*color index among cultivars and "Santarsa", "Sugar," "Stanley" and "Bukhara" showed the lowest of that. "Black Star" and after that "Tanasgol" and "Dargazi" had the highest b*color index of fruit flesh. "Japanese" had also the lowest b* color index of fruit flesh. The intensity or color purity varied among cultivars and the highest of that was observed in "Tanasgol" and "Compooti" and then in "Ozarak". "Black Star" had the highest chroma of fruit skin and the highest fruit flesh color intensity. The lowest of this index in the fruit flesh was observed in "Santarosa", "Sugar" and "Japanese" cultivars. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) content varied in investigate cultivars. "Gogeh Germez" and "Japanese" had the highest vitamin C content and "Stanley" was showed the lowest amount of vitamin C. "Golden Drop ","Santarosa" and "Compooti" showed the highest total carotenoid among examined cultivars and "Gogeh Germez" had the lowest total carotenoid. "Gogeh Germez" and "Compooti" had the highest and lowest amount of anthocyanin index respectively. The highest total phenol and antioxidant activity was measured in "Ozarak". The lowest total antioxidant capacity was in"Gogeh Sabz". The results showed that There was high correlation (r= 0.93) between antioxidant capacity and a* fruit skin color index. High correlation (r= 0.83) between phenol content and antioxidant capacity of fruits was also observed. Between a* color index of fruit skin and phenolic content was observed high correlation (r= 0.89). As well as between anthocyanin and phenolic content and between anthocyanin and a* fruit skin color index, respectively (r= 0.86) and (r= 0.59) high correlation was detected.
Conclusions: "Ozarak" in terms of antioxidant activity and total phenol component was superior. The highest amount of anthocyanin related to the "Gogeh Germez". "Golden Drop"," Santarosa" and "Compooti " had the highest total carotenoid and "Gogeh Germez" and "Japanese" had the highest vitamin C content among investigated cultivars. By identification of superior cultivars In terms of phytochemical compounds, these cultivars can be used in breeding programs to improve these nutritional quality of fruits. The results showed that the major phenolic compounds were gathered on the skin of plum fruits. Hence the "Ozarak" cultivar having the highest a*color index of fruit skin had the highest total phenol and antioxidant capacity among the investigated cultivars but "Gogeh Germez" by having the highest a*color index of fruit flesh and anthocyanins content higher than "Ozarak" cultivar, had low phenolic content and antioxidant capacity compared to the "Ozarak".
Maria Beihaghi; Abdolreza Bagheri; Seyyed Hassan Marashi; Mojtaba Sankian; Afsaneh sadat Farsad
Abstract
Introduction: Plant tissue culture is a collection of techniques used to maintain or grow plant cells, tissues or organs under sterile conditions on a nutrient culture medium of known composition and widely used to produce clones of a plant in a method known as micropropagation. Plant research often ...
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Introduction: Plant tissue culture is a collection of techniques used to maintain or grow plant cells, tissues or organs under sterile conditions on a nutrient culture medium of known composition and widely used to produce clones of a plant in a method known as micropropagation. Plant research often involves growing new plants in a controlled environment. These may be plants that we have genetically altered in some way or may be plants of which we need many copies all exactly alike. These things can be accomplished through tissue culture of small tissue pieces from the plant of interest. These small pieces may come from a single mother plant or they may be the result of genetic transformation of single plant cells which are then encouraged to grow and to ultimately develop into a whole plant. Tissue culture techniques are often used for commercial production of plants as well as for plant research. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is one of the most important model plants used in the physiologic, genetic and tissue culture studies. The manipulation of tobacco genetic structure requires an efficient technique of gene transferring and regeneration. Whereas, the tobacco plant is a very effective bioreactor in the production of recombinant proteins, in this research we optimized the best tissue culture system and also, genetic transformation process of this plant.
Materials and Methods: Our plant tissue culture protocols, Include helpful information for Murashige and Skoog media, plant growth regulators, plant growth hormones, plant transformation systems, and other products for plant tissue culture. For this purpose, different concentrations of sucrose and 4 combinations of growth regulators (BAP and NAA) on callus induction, direct shoot regeneration and rooting were examined in a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with 3 replications. The sensitivity of tobacco explants to kanamycin was examined through the cultivation of them on the selective medium with different concentrations of antibiotic. For genetic transformation, agrobacterium tumifacious (GV3101) harboring plasmid pBI121 was used and the transgenic plants were confirmed by PCR analysis.
Results and Discussion: The results of variance analysis and the means comparison showed that the best medium for callus induction was M1 (0.1 mg/l NAA and 1 mg/l BAP) with 15 g/l sucrose in the leaf explants, while the most direct shoot regeneration rate was obtained on the M1 medium with 30 g/l sucrose concentration. High-frequency of rooting was also influenced by 0/1 mg/l NAA and 60 g/l sucrose. So, supplementing the medium with NAA and BAP at different concentrations facilitated induction of multiple shoots from explants. NAA was proved to be the best and the number of shoots increased with increase in the concentration up to (0.1 mg/l), and exceeding this concentration resulted in decline in percent response as well as number of shoots was recorded shoot regeneration. The concentration of BAP was further increased a linear increase in the number of shoots was observed up to an optimal level (1 mg/l). Beyond the optimal concentration (1 mg/l), a decrease in the response as well as number of shoots was recorded due to profuse basal callusing. The effect of cytokinins on multiple shoot regeneration, higher concentrations of NAA found to be inhibitory for shoot regeneration because of huge callusing which hampered the growth and development of new shoots. Also different concentrations of sucrose have a different effect on the shoots and callus. The concentration of sucrose had significant effect on direct shoot regeneration. The main effect of sucrose concentration, concentration of 30 grams per liter, compared with a concentration of 15 grams per liter had the highest direct shoot regeneration. Concentration of 50 mg/l kanamycin could completely prevent the regeneration of untransformed explants so was used in the selective culture medium. Subsequently, the presence of nptII gene (798 bp) in the transgenic plants was confirmed and the transformation efficiency obtained by using the agrobacterium-mediated transformation was more than 95%.
Conclusions In present research, an efficient in vitro regeneration protocol has been developed for tobacco, where different factors including the age of the explant and plant growth regulators were optimized for maximum propagation of tobacco. The results showed that regeneration and transformation method described here is highly efficient and fast for the introduction of any foreign gene directly in tobacco plant.
Pomology
Najme Zeinoldini; Hamid Reza Karimi; Fatemeh Nazoori; Seyyed Rasul Sahhafi
Abstract
Introduction
Pistachio is one of the most important horticultural crops in Iran. Most pistachio orchards are located in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran, which have a lack of irrigation water. Drought stress is considered as one of the most important limiting factors for the production of plants in ...
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Introduction
Pistachio is one of the most important horticultural crops in Iran. Most pistachio orchards are located in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran, which have a lack of irrigation water. Drought stress is considered as one of the most important limiting factors for the production of plants in dry areas. Pistachio (P. vera L.) is one of the drought-resistant fruit trees due to its deep roots, but it has been reported that water stress reduces the yield and dry quality of this product. The degree of resistance to drought stress in pistachios depends on the type of rootstock, so the evaluation of pistachio species from the point of view of the rootstock is important.
Material and Methods
In order to evaluate the resistance of four pistachio rootstocks to drought stress, a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with two drought factors at three levels (3, 6 and 9 days irrigation intervals) and a rootstock at four levels, 'Badami- e- Riz-e-Zarand', 'Ghazvini', Eurycarpa (Pistacia euricarpa), and an interspecific hybrid (P. vera × P. terebinthus) with three replications were performed under greenhouse conditions. Hybrid rootstocks produce in a breeding program using hybridization of P. vera and P. terebinthus. At the end of the experiment, the growth parameters including the number of leaves, leaf area, stem height, as well as stem diameter at a height of one centimeter above the soil surface, leaf fresh and dry weight, shoot fresh and dry weight, and root fresh and dry weight, as well as physiological and biochemical parameters including chlorophyll fluorescence (FV/FM), SPAD index, PI, Cha, Chb, total chlorophyll and carotenoids, RWC, proline, soluble carbohydrates, and phenolic compounds and concentrations of Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Iron elements in leaves were measured.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that drought stress reduced growth and physiological indices so that the lowest reduction in shoot dry weight was related to the hybrid rootstock and the highest reduction was related to 'Ghazvini'. It has been reported that the height and diameter of the stem of pistachio seedlings decrease significantly with the increase in irrigation period. This decrease can be attributed to the reduction of the cell turgor pressure under stress. In response to drought stress, the content of proline and soluble carbohydrates in the leaves of the studied rootstock increased. The results of this study are in line of other studies on pistachio. The highest content of proline and the lowest content of soluble carbohydrates were observed in 'Badami- e- Riz-e-Zarand’. The highest content of soluble carbohydrates belonged to Eurycarpa and hybrid rootstocks. The reason for the increase of soluble carbohydrates in the present study can be due to the decrease in the amount of photosynthesis. Drought stress exerted an influence on the nutrient concentrations within both shoots and roots, leading to an increase in potassium content. The highest concentrations of potassium in shoots and roots were noted in the Eurycarpa and hybrid rootstocks, respectively. This elevation in potassium concentration in both roots and shoots could be attributed to active absorption of this element. Plants enhance potassium absorption by expending energy to sustain stomatal conductance, cell turgor pressure, and osmotic regulation.
Conclusion
Drought stress is considered one of the most important environmental stresses, the first effects of which appear in plants in the form of reduced growth and disturbance in physiological parameters. Based on the present study, most of the measured parameters were subjected to drought treatment and the investigated rootstocks showed different reactions, so that hybrid and Eurycarpa rootstocks were less affected by drought stress than other rootstocks. According to the results of the present study, it can be postulated that Eurycarpa and hybrid rootstocks have a high potential for drought resistance.
Yahya Selahvarzi; Ali Tehranifar; Ali Gazanchian; Hossein Arouiee
Abstract
Abstract
The lack of water is the most important problem in extensive landscape especially turfgrass in arid and semi arid regions. The root responses in native and commercial grasses under drought stress were investigated. This experiment was in a factorial experiment based on unbalanced completely ...
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Abstract
The lack of water is the most important problem in extensive landscape especially turfgrass in arid and semi arid regions. The root responses in native and commercial grasses under drought stress were investigated. This experiment was in a factorial experiment based on unbalanced completely random design on the year 2006. The specious that we used in this experiment included (i) commercial tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) (ii) commercial perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) (iii) native tall fescue population (Festuca arundinacea). The drought stress levels included (i) 50%FC (ii) 25% FC (iii) recovery from drought stress and 3 groups of pots that was always in the field capacity condition. The replicates for control pots and drought/recovery treatments were 3 and 4 respectively. The results showed that root dry weigh of commercial and native tall fescue increased 40%, 11.9% respectively compared with control under severe drought stress. Whereas it decrease 33.6% in lolium perenne compared with control at same condition. Another root traits such as volume, total area and root total length in the native tall fescue increase 60.1%, 34.6%, 70.1% respectively compared with control under severe drought stress. This traits in plus 54% decrease in root diameter caused increased in rank of absorption and depletion of water from dry soil. That it caused better yield of this grass under drought stress. Ability of recovery in most morphological root characters increase in commercial grass after rewatering in compare with severe drought stress condition.
Keywords: Avoidance, Native population, Drought stress, Re-growth, Root
Ali Tehranifar; Yahya Selahvarzi; Ali Gazanchian; Hossein Arouiee
Abstract
Abstract
Many uses of landscape and important roll of ground covers aspect turfgrasses caused extensive of this plant in the cities. This study focuses on shoot responses and tolerance of native and commercial turf grasses under drought stress in a factorial experiment based on unbalanced completely ...
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Abstract
Many uses of landscape and important roll of ground covers aspect turfgrasses caused extensive of this plant in the cities. This study focuses on shoot responses and tolerance of native and commercial turf grasses under drought stress in a factorial experiment based on unbalanced completely random design on the year 2006. The specious that we used in this experiment included (i) commercial tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) (ii) commercial perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) (iii) native tall fescue population (Festuca arundinacea). The drought stress levels included (i) 50%FC (ii) 25% FC (iii) recovery from drought stress and 3 groups of pots that was always in the field capacity condition. The results of this study showed that dry weight decreased 26.4% in 25% FC traits in compare with control traits under severe drought stress. Decreased in leaf wide, leaf total area, leaf total length and increase in leaf diameter caused decrease in evaportanspiration under drought stress in festuca genus. Parameter of quality change (TQ) and decrease in total chlorophyll content was minimum in native tall fescue and maximum in commercial ryegrass, from perfect irrigation to sever drought stress. Shoot dry weight, leaf width, total leaf area and total leaf length, visual quality and leaf total chlorophyll content increased 18.2%, 103.3%, 74.4%, 28.8%, 64.1%, 40.8% respectively, and mean leaf diameter decreased 53.2% in compare with sever drought stress condition after 14 days rewatering.
Key words: Recovery, Drought stress, Native fescue, Visual quality, Chlorophyll content
Gholamhossein Davarynejad; Majid Azizi; Maryam Akheratee
Abstract
Abstract
Pistachio ( Pistacia vera L.) is an important crop in our country and has a unique position in export goods. In respect to better nut quality this research was conducted during 2005-2006. Macro and micronutrients were used as foliar application to surmount soil limitations in nutrient uptake ...
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Abstract
Pistachio ( Pistacia vera L.) is an important crop in our country and has a unique position in export goods. In respect to better nut quality this research was conducted during 2005-2006. Macro and micronutrients were used as foliar application to surmount soil limitations in nutrient uptake and alternate bearing control with “Owhadi” cultivar in RCBD with 3 replications. The treatments were control( water), NPK, Fe, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn, Cu and mixture of all mention nutrients in three stage(15 day AFB, kernel filling and one month before harvest). Factors such as: dehisced nuts(%), blankness(%), number of fruit/stem cross section area, vegetative growth, leaf chlorophyll and nutrient content were determined. Treatments affected dehisced nuts properties at significant level as the highest level of dehisced nuts was detected in Ca treatment and the lowest one in control. There is not significant differences between treatments as blankness and chlorophyll content as concerned. Fruit yield / stem cross section area in two successive year had significant diffrerences. In two years the highest yield was produced in NPK and Cu treatment respectively but the lowest yield produced in mixture nutrients. All treatment affected vegetative growth significantly as the highest growth take placed in Cu treatment and the lowest growth was detected in mixture nutrients. Leaf nutrients analysis showed significant difference as Nitrogen, Phosphorus and K content between control, NPK and mixture nutrients treatment. All the nutrient were higher in NPK and mixture treatment as compared to control. Manganese content of the leaf was higher in Mn and mixture treatments than control. In conclusion , foliar nutrition can affect growth, fruit quality and alternate bearing of the trees.
Keywords: Pistacia, Alternate bearing, Blankness, Dehisced nuts, Nutrient, Foliar application
Azam Seyyedi; Ali Ebady; Mesbah Babalar; Behrooz Saeedi
Abstract
Abstract
Strawberry is one of the most important fruit crops in the world. In this study, effect of different plant densities were studied on yield and fruit quality of strawberry 'Selva' in greenhouse and laboratories of university college of agriculture and natural resources during 2002-2003. Uniform ...
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Abstract
Strawberry is one of the most important fruit crops in the world. In this study, effect of different plant densities were studied on yield and fruit quality of strawberry 'Selva' in greenhouse and laboratories of university college of agriculture and natural resources during 2002-2003. Uniform stolens of strawberry were planted in holes of plastic column according to Factorial in Completely Randomized Block Design with three replications. In each column, 16 or 24 stolens were planted and space among columns was 75 or 100 cm. according to statistical design. Results showed that number of plants in each column had significant effect on each plant yield. However, different space among columns had significant effect on each plant and each column yield in a way that yield was higher when 16 stolens were planted in each column and distance among columns was 100cm. In each column, stolens in top of plastic column had higher yield compared with those in bottom of plastic column (each plant at the top 50 cm. of plastic top had 50gr more yield which ended up to 300gr more yield for that part of column). In spite of higher yield for above-mentioned treatment, plant density of 24 plants per column and distance of 75cm. among columns produced more fruits per unit (m2) of greenhouse. The above-mentioned treatments had some effects on most qualitative characteristics of fruits such as length and diameter of fruits, vitamin C content, pH, TSS, TA, TSS/TA, which generally were higher for treatment of 16 plant/column and distance of 100cm. among columns. However, these differences did not reach significant level.
Keywords: Strawberry, Selva, Plant density, Vertical system, Yield, Quality
Ghasem Hasani; Shabnam Jalilzade
Abstract
Abstract
The goal of this experiment was to save apricot flowers from late spring frost damage. This experiment was conducted during 2007-2008 to examine the effect of application of different concentrations of gibberellic acid in two forms pure (GA3) and impure (Berelex) at (0, 50, 100, 200, 300 mgL-1) ...
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Abstract
The goal of this experiment was to save apricot flowers from late spring frost damage. This experiment was conducted during 2007-2008 to examine the effect of application of different concentrations of gibberellic acid in two forms pure (GA3) and impure (Berelex) at (0, 50, 100, 200, 300 mgL-1) at 23 August and 23 September to delay flowering in apricot Asgarabad cultivar. A factorial experiment with two factors (time and concentration of spray) was conducted in layout of randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) with 3 replications. Results showed that the effect of both of pure and impure gibberellic acid on delaying flowering were significant. According to the results, 50 mgL-1 of gibberellic acid applied at 23 September was the best treatment which delayed full bloom about 7 days. Application of Gibberellic acid increased fruit set, but reduced fruit weight. Effect of time and concentration of GA3 spray was significant on TSS so that in treatments delaying flowering, the TSS of fruits decreased.
Keywords: plant growth regulators, Late blooming, Fruit quality, Apricot
Masoomeh Abbasy; Abdolrasul Zakerin; Mokhtar Heidari
Abstract
Abstract
Mango is one of the most important tropical fruits in Iran and salinity is an important problem to mango production in ‘Hormozgan’ province and other mango growing areas in Iran. At present experiment the effects of saline irrigation water of different sodium chloride concentration on vegetative ...
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Abstract
Mango is one of the most important tropical fruits in Iran and salinity is an important problem to mango production in ‘Hormozgan’ province and other mango growing areas in Iran. At present experiment the effects of saline irrigation water of different sodium chloride concentration on vegetative growth and ion content of mango was evaluated. Treatments comprised two type of cultivars (‘Sendry’ and ‘Charak’) and four water irrigation salinity regimes (1.5, 3.0, 4.5 or 6.0 ds/m). Results showed that salinity significantly decreased shoot and root dry weight, water content and increased root/ shoot dry weight ratio. Salinity significantly increased the sodium and chloride ions in shoot or roots and decreased the potassium content in roots. Also, salinity decreased the potassium/ sodium ratio in roots and shoots. The results demonstrated that ‘Sendry’ cultivar was slightly more tolerant to salinity than ‘Charak’.
Keywords: Mango(Mangifera indica L.), Salinity, Vegetative growth, Ion
Reza Mansouri Dehshoaibi; Gholamhossein Davarynejad; Hossein Hokmabadi; Ali Tehranifar
Abstract
Abstract
The present research was done to evaluate proline, proteins and sugars of flower buds of pistachio trees during phonological stages. This study was conducted using a split-plot design with three replications considered time as main factor (5 Stages) and cultivars (Ahmad-aghaee, Ouhadi, Kaleh-ghochi ...
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Abstract
The present research was done to evaluate proline, proteins and sugars of flower buds of pistachio trees during phonological stages. This study was conducted using a split-plot design with three replications considered time as main factor (5 Stages) and cultivars (Ahmad-aghaee, Ouhadi, Kaleh-ghochi and Akbari) as secondary factor. The experiment was conducted at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and Institute of Pistachio Research of Iran (PRI). The Studied Variables included proline, soluble sugars and total protein which were assessed during rest (winter), flowering (beginning of spring) and after spring frost. The highest (27.36 mili mol/gram weight of fresh flower bud) and lowest (7.86 mili mol/gram weight of fresh flower bud) rates of proline were found in Ahmad-aghaee after chilling injury and bud swelling, respectively. The highest rate of total protein was shown by Akbari (70.79%) and Ouhadi (71.25%) at flower burst, and the lowest amount was obtained at bud swelling of Ouhadi (25.39%). Results indicated that sugars accumulated during winter and reduced by beginning of spring. Amount of proline increased during flowering and after spring frost. overall proteins were fixed and low after falling leaves (autumn) to bud dormancy (winter), but its amounts increased after bud dormancy till after flowering and spring frost
Keywords: Cold resistance, Spring frost, Late autumn frost
Shohreh Nikkhah
Abstract
Abstract
Harvesting date of pear cvs. "Spadona" and "Coscia" and the effect of different CaCl2 concentrations on fruit quality in cold storage were studied. The experimental design was structured as factorial with 4 factors and 3 replicates based on completely randomized design. Pear cv. " Coscia " ...
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Abstract
Harvesting date of pear cvs. "Spadona" and "Coscia" and the effect of different CaCl2 concentrations on fruit quality in cold storage were studied. The experimental design was structured as factorial with 4 factors and 3 replicates based on completely randomized design. Pear cv. " Coscia " was harvested in July 24th, July 31st and August 6th and " Spadona" in August 7th, August 14th and August 21st. After treatment with CaCl2 solutions (0, 4% and 6%), the fruits were transferred to cold storage (at 0 - 1 º C, 85-90% RH) and preserved for 6 months. The qualitative characteristics of fruits were calcium content, total soluble solids, titrable acidity, TSS/TA, reduced sugar and flesh firmness. They were measured immediately after harvesting and after 30, 60, 90, 120, 135, 150, 165 and 180 days stored in cold storage. At the end of storage time, sensory attributes (texture, color, taste, odor and overall quality) were determined. Results revealed that flesh firmness of cv. Coscia was higher (1.3 lb/in2) but cv. Spadona has higher total soluble solids and TSS/TA. Besides the scores of texture, color, odor and overall quality were higher in cv. Spadona. The results showed that pear cv. Spadona that was harvested in August 21st (heat unit=1986/8, full bloom=140 days) and treated with 6% CaCl2 solution, had highest calcium content and gained the highest score of panelist for overall quality. Totally this treatment maintained the best qualitative and quantitative characteristics and sensory attributes after 180 storing days in cold storage.
Keywords: Pear cultivars, Harvesting date, CaCl2 solutions, Calcium content, Overall quality
Nasrin Majidian; Rohangiz Naderi; Ahmad Khalighi; Majid Majidian
Abstract
Abstract
In order to study of two hormones effects of gibberellin and benzyl adenine on (Zantedeschia aethiopica cv.childsiana) pot plant characteristics, non dormant rhizomes dipped preplanting in gibberellin solution with concentrations including (0, 100, 200 and 500 ppm) and sprayed in two weeks ...
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Abstract
In order to study of two hormones effects of gibberellin and benzyl adenine on (Zantedeschia aethiopica cv.childsiana) pot plant characteristics, non dormant rhizomes dipped preplanting in gibberellin solution with concentrations including (0, 100, 200 and 500 ppm) and sprayed in two weeks once to flowering time with benzyl adenine solutions including (0, 100, 200 and 500 ppm). Interaction effect between these two factors was significant on number days from planting to emergencing in 1% Probability level. The max number days from planting to emergencing, occured in control treatment during 24 days, and also min of that, by application of 500 ppm gibberellin solution and 100 ppm benzyl adenine solution. Interaction effect between two hormones on chlorophyll content was significant in 5% Probability level. maximum of chlorophyll content related to application of 500 ppm gibberellin and 500 ppm benzyl adenine and min of that, was seen in control treatment. Interaction effect between was used hormones was significant on plant leaf number. Maximum leaf number was produced in application of 0 ppm gibberellin and 500 ppm benzyl adenine, also min of leaf number produced when we use 500 ppm gibberellin solution and 0 ppm benzyl adenine. The comparison of means of interaction effects between different levels on rhizome weight increasing after flowering showed that application of these hormones resulted that less increasing in rhizome weight after flowering. Respectively, with increasing of hormone concentrations, resulted decreased, rhizome weight increasing rather than control treatment.
Keywords: Calla lily, Pot plant, Gibberellin, Benzyl adenine, Chlorophyll, Leaf number
Shima Alaei; Enayatollah Tafazoli
Abstract
Salinity is a limiting factor for plant growth and crop production. A study was conducted to determine the salt tolerance of olive (Olea europaea cv. Roughani) and its effects as combined with application of kinetin and cycocel plant growth regulators on Na and K distribution. The experiment was carried ...
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Salinity is a limiting factor for plant growth and crop production. A study was conducted to determine the salt tolerance of olive (Olea europaea cv. Roughani) and its effects as combined with application of kinetin and cycocel plant growth regulators on Na and K distribution. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangements with four replications. Accumulation of Na and K in aerial parts and roots of plants were determined. The results indicated that increasing salinity level caused a increase in Na content but a decrease in K/Na ratio. Sodium concentration was higher in roots. At 200 mM salinity leaf and shoot Na and increased significantly at 5% level. Also at 100 and 200 mM salinity, Leaf K decreased significantly at 5% level. K/Na ratio at 50,100 and 200 mM salinity level decreased. Application of 250 mg/l kinetin at the 200 mM salinity increased leaf Na that was significantly different at 5% level ,DNMRT. Application of 500 and 1000 mg/l cycocel, decreased shoot K (at the 100 mM salinity) and leaf K (at the 0 and 50 mM salinity). The decrease was statistically significant (p
Jalal Baradaran Motie; Mohsen Shakeri
Abstract
Conditional monitoring is prerequisite to prevent severe damage or falling down the trees. Problems such as trunk decays, reduces trees resistance against wind and floods. In this study, a mathematical modeling technique is being selected to determine the trees strength against such events. Finally, ...
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Conditional monitoring is prerequisite to prevent severe damage or falling down the trees. Problems such as trunk decays, reduces trees resistance against wind and floods. In this study, a mathematical modeling technique is being selected to determine the trees strength against such events. Finally, an applicable model for safety factor was created By having numeral (dimensions of crown and trunk, crown density, crown volume, section diameter, internal cavity diameter etc.) and mechanical (modulus of elasticity of wood, allowable stress, maximum wind speed, crown and trunk weight) parameters of tree. By using this model we may estimate the total maximum stress in critical plane of the trunk. Comparing allowable stress of trunk wood leads us to calculate the safety factor of the tree. The results indicated that the total maximum stress in trunk increases exponentially after the diameter of internal cavity exceeds 40 percent of trunk in critical plane.
