Journal of Horticultural Sciences

Introduction
Cucumis sativus L. (2n=2x=14) originates from the south of the Himalayan mountains and has at least 3000 years of history of cultivation in India. According to the latest statistics published by the Ministry of Agriculture, about 75% of greenhouse production belongs to greenhouse cucumbers. This plant, with a cultivated area of 7539 ha-1 and a production amounting to 1923865 t year-1, is considered one of the most important vegetable and summer greenhouse products in the country. Cucumber varieties should have characteristics such as high yield, quality of taste, shelf life and resistance to diseases. Based on this, modified cultivars and imported cultivars must pass compatibility tests in order to be able to enter commercial fields. Recent research in Japan shows that by creating suitable conditions for various factors in the greenhouse (light distribution, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, irrigation, nutrition and pruning), the yield of greenhouse cucumbers can be up to 40 kg m-2 year-1 year. The difference between different varieties of cucumber is primarily due to characteristics such as the number of fruits per plant, fruit size (fruit length and length-to-diameter ratio) and fruit surface characteristics (the presence of grooves, surface smoothness, and fruit color). The number of cucumbers per plant is one of the most important yield components. The study of 9 varieties of cucumbers in greenhouse conditions showed that the range of changes in the number of cucumbers per plant varied from 19 to 54.3, and Khasib variety had the highest yield with the production of 14.9 kg of fresh weight per square meter.

Material and Methods
In order to compare the yield, yield components and some morpho-physiological characteristics of greenhouse cucumber hybrids produced in the country, a research was conducted in 2022 under greenhouse conditions in Varamin city. In this research, 11 greenhouse cucumber hybrids along with 4 regional control cultivars were evaluated in a completely randomized block design with three replications. The initial tillage including plowing, disc and soil disinfection was done through sunning the soil. The width of the seed planting bed was considered to be 70 cm in order to provide the possibility of two-row cultivation. The width of the corridors was considered to be 80 cm in order to provide proper ventilation and access of workers to the bushes for operations and harvest during the period. The drip irrigation system was chosen so that one tape strip could be used for each row of crops. The plant needed fertilizer during the growth period and was determined based on the soil test and provided to the plant through the irrigation system. Fruit yield for different harvests (once every 10 harvests) and total fresh fruit yield based on the total area of the plot (after removing the margins) and traits such as plant height (meters), internode length (cm), leaf length (cm), Leaf width (cm), petiole length (cm), fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (mm), number of fruits per plant and fruit weight per plant (grams) based on the selection of 10 plants per plot was taken. The fruit shape index was obtained from the ratio of the length to the diameter of the fruit. For the experimental hybrids, after harvest fruit color was determined by grouping (light green to green), (green), (green to dark green) and dark green.

Results and Discussion
Based on the obtained results, the hybrid (IR4) with a total fresh fruit yield of 11.49 kg m-2 had a significantly higher performance than other hybrids, but there is not a significant difference between this hybrid and the hybrid (IR5) with a fruit weight of 10.61 kg m-2. 10 harvested stages for two hybrids (IR4) and (IR5) constituted 24.6 and 22.9% of the total yield, respectively. The hybrids (IR11) and (IR6) had the longest and shortest fruit length with 16.60 cm and 11.12 cm, respectively. The fruit shape index (the ratio of fruit length to diameter) in hybrid (IR11) had the highest value (6.35). The hybrids (IR4) and (IR5) that produced the highest yields per hectare had the highest number of fruits plant-1 with 108.72 and 84.22 cucumbers plant-1, respectively. The presence of this number of fruits is one of the important factors for producing high yields in these two hybrids, and the number of fruits in the rest of the hybrids is often in the range of 50 to 70 cucumbers per plant. Although in some studies the number of 135 fruits plant-1 is also mentioned for greenhouse cucumbers, but in most cases this number is less than 50. The color of the fruit is also an important quality attribute that is very important in the cucumber market. This trait varies from light green to dark green. Hybrid (IR9) dark green, hybrids (IR2), (IR6), (IR13) (IR15) dark green to green, hybrids (IR1), (IR3), (IR4), (IR5), (IR12) and (IR14) was green and hybrids (IR7), (IR8), (IR10) and (IR11) had light green to green color. The superior performance of two experimental hybrids and the equal performance of 7 other experimental hybrids (out of 11 studied hybrids) compared to the control hybrids can be a good promise for the production of greenhouse cucumber hybrid varieties by domestic companies.

Introduction
Sweet cherry is very popular due to its early maturity, high transportability, attractive appearance and good taste of the fruit. The high content of sugars, ascorbic acid, vitamins, carbohydrates and organic acids in the fruit increases the interest in this product both in industrial gardening and home gardening. The damage caused by cold in the critical stages of plant growth is one of the important factors in reducing the yield of plants all over the world. Salicylic acid is one of the phenolic compounds that is produced by the roots, and by reducing the activities of reactive oxygen species, it increases the resistance of plants to various environmental stresses (Mahmoudi et al., 2019). Salicylic acid not only plays an important role in determining the quality, color and taste of grape fruit (Hajivand & Rahmati, 2018), but also in the plant's response to environmental stresses such as drought (Miura & Tad, 2014), cold (Kosova et al., 2014) salinity (Noreen et al., 2014) and heavy metal stress (Mahmoudi et al., 2019) are effective. Commercial compounds such as plant growth regulators, including antiperspirant and antifreeze substances, are also used to increase cold resistance or delay the breaking of bud stagnation in horticultural crops (Mahmoudzade et al., 2012). Another way to reduce spring cold damage is to use Natural Plant Antifreeze. These materials either act as a mechanical barrier to prevent the formation of ice crystals on sensitive plant tissues or activate cold resistance systems in the plant (Hajivand & Rahmati, 2018).
Materials and Methods
In order to investigate the effect of the application of growth regulators, on the cold resistance of the cherry tree variety "Siah Daneh Mashhad", a factorial experiment was conducted in the form of a randomized complete block design with 3 factors of growth regulators each at 3 levels. (salicylic acid: zero, 1.5 and 3 mM), (natural antifreeze Thiofer: zero, 2.5 and 5 per 1000) and (soybean oil: zero, 2.5 and 5 per 1000)} and in 4 repetitions It was performed in a commercial garden located in Serain city in 2018 and 2019.
Results and Discussion
The results of the variance analysis revealed that the three-way interactions of the experimental factors significantly influenced the percentage of healthy pistils and the duration of flowering cessation at the 1% probability level. The highest percentage of healthy pistils, reaching 69.25%, was observed in the treatment involving foliar spray application of salicylic acid (1.5 mM) combined with soybean oil (5/1000) and foliar spraying of Thiofer natural antifreeze (5/1000). Furthermore, the combined effect of salicylic acid and natural antifreeze was found to be the most effective in delaying the onset of flower opening. The highest amount of ion leakage percentage was observed in the control treatment and the lowest amount was observed in the 3 mM salicylic acid foliar treatment along with soybean oil (5 per 1000) Thiofer. According to the data variance analysis table (Table 1), the ion leakage index was affected by the simple effect of salicylic acid, soybean oil and antifreeze and the interaction effect of salicylic acid oil × salt, salicylic acid × soybean oil, and soybean oil × antifreeze. The activity of malondialdehyde was affected by the simple effect of salicylic acid and soybean oil and the interaction effect of salicylic acid × year and year × soybean oil (Table 1). The total phenolic content was also affected by the simple effect of salicylic acid and soybean oil (Table 1). According to Figure 10, increasing the concentration of salicylic acid increased the content of total phenol, so that the highest content of total phenol (53.22%) was obtained in the treatment of 3 mM salicylic acid, while there was no significant difference in the treatment of 1.5 mM salicylic acid. To adapt to the cold, phenolic compounds accumulate in plants, which are related to the antioxidant capacity of the plant (Mozafari &Yazdan Panah, 2018). A decrease in temperature increases the accumulation of phenolic compounds in the plant and can act as a mechanism to adapt and overcome the oxidative stress caused by low temperature (Balasundram et al., 2007). Balasundram and colleagues (Balasundram et al., 2007) noted that grape plants exhibit an accumulation of phenolic compounds and proteins while maintaining membrane stability at low temperatures. This accumulation leads to reduced production of malondialdehyde, enhancing the plant's adaptability and tolerance to cold temperatures, thereby reducing the risk of freezing. Similar observations of increased phenolic compound levels during cold adaptation have been reported in pistachios (Palonen, 1999) and apples (Huang & Wang, 1982). Chen and Tian (Chan & Tian, 2006) reported an increase in phenolic compound accumulation following enhanced activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase enzymes in grapes treated with salicylic acid. From their findings, they concluded that salicylic acid plays a pivotal role in the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds and the activation of plant defense genes.
Conclusion
According to the observations of this research, it can be concluded that the use of salicylic acid along with soybean oil and natural antifreeze of Thiofer is a suitable solution in order to delay the opening time of flowers and also to increase the indicators of cherry cold resistance against The tension is cold.

Introduction
Cucumber stands out as a vital greenhouse crop. The continuous cultivation of cucumbers within greenhouse environments, aimed at mass production and the delivery of fresh products, inevitably leads to heightened soil salinity and the onset of soil-borne diseases like Fusarium wilt. Consequently, these factors contribute to a decline in both yield and crop quality, underscoring the necessity for research into methods that enhance the yield and quality of greenhouse produce. Grafting cucumber onto various rootstocks and introducing inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi emerge as the most promising strategies for augmenting the yield and quality of greenhouse-grown cucumbers. With this in mind, the current study was undertaken to examine the impact of different rootstocks and mycorrhizal fungi inoculation on the growth and performance of greenhouse cucumbers under soilless culture conditions.

Materials and Methods
In order to investigate the effect of the rootstock and inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi on the growth and yield of greenhouse cucumber under the soilless culture conditions, a greenhouse factorial experiment was conducted based on the Complete Randomized Block Design (CRBD) with three replications. The first factor was grafting of cucumber cv Nagene on the Shintoza rootstock, and none-grafting; the second factor was symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi (Diversispora versiformis) and non mycorrhizal ones. The Nagene greenhouse cucumber cultivar was obtained as a scion from Enza Zaden Company, Netherlands and the desired mycorrhizal fungus was obtained from the Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz. The scion seeds were planted earlier than the rootstocks. After completing the planting operation, the seedling trays were moved to the greenhouse with a sufficient natural light. The substrate used for planting of seedlings was peat moss and perlite in the ratio of 1:2, impregnated with the desired amount of mycorrhizal fungi inoculum. Seedlings got ready for transplanting at the true single leaf stage and two weeks after planting the scion seeds. Transplantation of splice grafting was done on seedlings both mycorrhizal fungi treatments (inoculated and not inoculated). After 10 days of transplanting, the transplanted seedlings (which we already treated with mycorrhiza inoculation) were transferred to the transplant chamber immediately. Grafted and inoculated seedlings with the control ones were transferred into the 10-liter pots with peat moss and perlite in a ratio of 1:2. At the time of transferring ths seedlings inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi to the pot; to ensure root inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi, the inoculum including spores, hyphae and root fragments was added to the 10-liter pot of peat moss and perlite in the amount of 50 grams per pot with the substrate around the roots of greenhouse cucumber seedlings. All the plants  were fertigated with Hoagland nutrient solution with half strength during the growing period. The pH and electrical conductivity (EC) of the nutrient solution were measured daily. At the end of the research, quantitative and qualitative traits were evaluated.

Results and Discussion
Results showed that there was a significant differences between the rootstock and colonization with the mycorrhizal fungi regarding the growth, yield and qualitative traits. Plants inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi and grafted on Shintoza showed a better growth parameter, fruit number, and yield than the other treatments. This treatment with 2115.62 g per plant had the highest fruit yield and the non-grafted non-mycorrhizal control plants with 1569.64 g per plant had the lowest fruit yields. Therefore, the fruit yield increased about 34% in comparison to control. Also, the fruit quality characteristics such as antioxidant capacity and soluble solids (TSS) content were higher in the grafted and colonized plants with mycorrhizal fungi. In addition, there was no significant difference between the treatments in term of pH and total phenol of fruit and titrable acidity of the fruit. These effects show the high potential of mycorrhizal fungi and rootstock in uptake of the nutrients, which provide nutrients that are unavailable to the plant with a special mechanism, and thus affect the growth and yield of greenhouse cucumbers. They have an effect that ultimately improve the growth and yield of the produced crop.

Conclusion
Based on this experiment results, it can be concluded that the simultaneous application of mycorrhizal fungi and grafting on Shintoza rootstock in the soilless culture using peat moss and perlite as the substrate (2:1) is of one the most efficient techniques to increase the yield and fruit quality of greenhouse cucumbers and therefore it is recommended.

Introduction
The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) belongs to the family Arecaceae is a dioecious trees. Due to the problems of non-overlapping flowering of some male and female palm trees, commercial date production requires artificial pollination. Temperature is an important environmental factor influencing the pollination, fertilization and fruit set of the date palm. Availability of efficient male pollinators are of great importance in date palm production chain and for regular yearly bearing as the quantity and quality of pollen is a yield determining factor. The flowering and pollination period of date palm varies upon cultivar, geographic location and climatic conditions. However, frequent asynchronous flowering of date palm male and female trees occur due to climatic changes and abiotic stress. In such cases, farmers may pollinate their trees with pollen of a known male conserved at ambient conditions from the previous season; however, this is mostly result in a low fruit set and yield.
Materials and Methods
In this study, a factorial test was performed based on a completely random design with three replications at the laboratory of the Horticulture department at Ilam University to determine the rate of germination in five male date palm cultivars. The first factor consisted of nine temperature levels of 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36 and 39 and the second factor referred to the cultivar of the pollinator which had five levels of ‘Ghanami Sorkh’, ‘Ghanami Sabz’, ‘Sabz Parak’, ‘Nare Pakutah’ and ‘Khareji’. The pollen of the above-mentioned cultivars was obtained from the date palm Germplasm collection at the Date Palm and Iranian Tropical Fruits Institute in the city of Ahwaz. In the early days of the flowering season (March), the cultivars under study were identified and labeled. They were then checked on a daily basis and whenever the sheaths were ripe enough, they were picked and preserved in a sterile environment in room temperature. After the sheaths opened, the flower clusters were dried in the same environment and at the same temperature. Then, the cluster strings were separated and kept in a freezer at -18 °C until it was time for the test. Viability and vitality of the pollen was specified through the dying method using Acetocarmine solution.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that there was a significant difference among cultivars, temperature and interactions of them at the level of 1%. Among the studied temperatures, the highest germination of pollen grains in all cultivars occurred at 30 °C, followed by 33 °C and 27 °C, respectively, and the lowest germination percentage were obtained at 15 °C. Among cultivars, the percentage of pollen germination in ‘Ghanami Sorkh’ was quite high (92.45%), and ‘Nare Pakutah’ (87.33%), also, simultaneously ‘Sabz Parak’ (84.82%) and in the ‘Khareji’ cultivar was the lowest. However, the percentage of pollen germination in ‘Ghanami Sorkh’ cultivar was higher than 59% under a wide range of temperature from 21 to 39 °C. Furthermore, the percentage of Pollen germination was reduced rapidly at temperatures less than 21 Cº and reach 15.85% in 15 °C. The germination percentage of pollen grains in ‘Nare Pakutah’ cultivar in the temperature range of 21 to 39 degrees Celsius was higher than 57%. The germination percentage of pollen grains in ‘Sabz Parak’ cultivar decreased with less acceleration than ‘Ghanami Sorkh’ at lower and upper temperatures of 30 °C, so that at 36 and 39 °C had the highest amount of germination compared to the other cultivars. Also, the germination rate of pollens in ‘Ghanami Sorkh’ cultivar were investigated above 57% in the wide temperature range from 21 to 39 °C.
Conclusion
According to the findings of this study, the timing of pollination plays a crucial role in the fertility of male date palm cultivars, with the optimal temperature being around 30°C. It is essential to select cultivars that exhibit a high rate of pollen germination and contribute positively to fruit properties. Male cultivars such as 'Ghanami Sorkh', 'Sabz Parak', and 'Nare Pakutah' demonstrated a broader range of optimum temperatures for pollen germination. Therefore, these cultivars are recommended for climates characterized by significant temperature fluctuations during the flowering period of female date palms.

Introduction
Horticultural waste is one of the top challenges these days. As the population increases, food loss and waste, which has a serious impact on the environment and human health. Horticultural waste is rich in nutrients, polysaccharides and antimicrobial compounds that can be used in the production of edible coatings. Edible coatings protect fruit from nutrient and mineral loss and extend shelf life. Strawberry fruit is one of the commercial horticultural crops because it contains important and diverse sources of natural antioxidants, flavonoids, phenolic acids and minerals. However, the fruit is highly perishable due to its high respiratory rate and metabolic activity, soft texture and lack of protective skin, which can lead to moisture loss, mechanical damage and fungal damage during harvesting, handling and packing. It is estimated that approximately 30% of strawberry fruit is wasted during the post-harvest stage before reaching the consumer. Therefore, reducing the destruction rate of its quantitative and qualitative properties is considered one of the most important challenges. Plant Extract Edible Coating (PEEC) is an environmentally friendly edible coating. Like other edible coatings, PEEC is a thin layer of material applied to the surface of a product. Pomegranate peel extract has biological activities such as antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antifungal. This extract was used alone or in combination with other post-harvest treatments to preserve product quality. Tomatoes contain secondary metabolites called steroidal glycoalkaloids. These compounds primarily act as crop protection agents against insects, bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. This study evaluated the efficacy of pomegranate peel extract and tomato seedlings in maintaining strawberry fruit quality during cold storage and reducing post-harvest waste.
Materials and Methods
Healthy fruits with uniform size, shape, and color were carefully selected from strawberries harvested from an orchard in Kamyaran, Kurdistan. We conducted a study to investigate the effects of coating these strawberries with pomegranate peel extract (1%) and tomato seedling extract (1%) on their physiological and qualitative responses. The fruits were coated with the respective plant extracts and subsequently stored at 4 ± 1°C and 90–95% relative humidity for a duration of 15 days. Strawberry quality was analyzed on the first day of storage and on days 5, 10 and 15. Various qualitative factors such as weight loss, firmness pH, total soluble solids content, titratable acidity, total phenolic content, total anthocyanin content, total antioxidant activity, total flavonoid content, ascorbic acid, color and decay severity were evaluated. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using SAS (version 9.4) and mean comparisons were performed using the Duncan multiple range test.
Results and Discussion
The study on the property retention and long-term cold storage time of pomegranate peel and tomato seedling extracts coating showed that a concentration of 1% of the extracts used have a significant effect on strawberry fruit quality and phytochemical parameters. It was shown to have a significant impact on strawberry fruit quality and phytochemical parameters, improving compared to the control treatment during cultivation. Weight loss increased with all treatments during storage. After 5 days of storage, no differences between treatments were discernible, but at the end of storage all treatments showed a clear decrease in fruit weight. Pomegranate peel and tomato seedling extracts reduced weight loss by 12% and 15%, respectively, while the control  significantly reduced weight loss by 26%. Despite the decrease in fruit tissue firmness during storage, the firmness of the plant extract-coated fruit was maintained and significantly different from the control. PH remained at low levels for all treatments compared to controls. The total acid and total soluble solids content of the fruit are affected by the treatments considered, the storage, and the combination of times and treatments. The total content of phenolic compounds reached 223 mg gallic acid and 236 mg gallic acid per 100 g fresh weight on the 10th and 15th storage days after treatment with pomegranate peel extract. For tomato seedling extract, this corresponds to 207 mg and 182 mg gallic acid per 100 g fresh weight. The total anthocyanin content in all fruits decreases with increasing storage time, but this trend increases after 10 days when tomato seedlings are treated. In all fruits, various treatments increase anthocyanin levels throughout the storage time. ANOVA of antioxidant activity showed no significant effects on treatment-independent and chronotherapy-interaction effects, while the time-independent effect showed a significant effect at 5%. The greatest antioxidant activity is associated with pomegranate peel extract. The frequency of this feature in treatment decreased with increasing storage time. During the treatment period, there was a progressive increase in antioxidant activity from the 10th to the 15th day, demonstrating a significant difference compared to the beginning of the treatment. Average comparison results revealed a slight but significant difference in the treatments concerning flavonoid content. Analysis of variance and comparison of mean results indicated a significant difference in ascorbic acid content during storage among the different treatments. Color indices remained consistent across all treatments. The 15-day shelf life of strawberries was assessed, and the treatments employed effectively reduced decay rates during storage. Upon analysis, it was determined that the 1% concentration of pomegranate peel extract exhibited the highest efficacy in suppressing the severity of spoilage.
Conclusion
Residues from various agricultural sectors have a variety of uses, including their properties as preservatives that extend the shelf life of perishable fruits and enhance the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables. Replacing plant extracts with synthetic compounds can play an important role in preserving the characteristics and quality of strawberry fruits during storage. Based on the results of this study, an edible coating containing plant extracts from pomegranate peel and tomato seedling as natural preservatives was used to extend the shelf life and enhance the nutritional quality of strawberry fruits during cold storage. Finally, using natural compounds such as plant extracts from agricultural waste is a safe and healthy way to manage and preserve the properties of post-harvest agricultural products.

Introduction
Saffron is a plant belonging to the lily family, which is one of the most valuable species of medicinal plants and is often cultivated in areas with dry climates. Saffron is the main source of income for many farmers in the rural areas of the east of the country and after pistachio; it is the most valuable agricultural product in Iran. The yield and quality of saffron is influenced by various economic, social, educational and cultural characteristics of saffron growers. Considering the effect of various environmental factors on the growth and performance of saffron, the process of examining the suitability of land for its cultivation requires the use of comprehensive and diverse spatial information. Applying appropriate management methods to solve the existing limitations will lead to the actual performance approaching the potential performance.  Considering that the level of planting saffron in many parts of the country is increasing, and on the other hand, based on the long-term average statistics, its yield has decreased significantly, the need for continuous monitoring of the level of planting and yield is one of the essential issues of managers. The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between climatic and management factors with saffron yield and to determine the most important parameters affecting yield using saffron information in the Kadkan section of Torbet Heydarieh. It was done to analyze and check the performance of saffron in 2021.

Materials and Methods
In order to investigate the cultivation of saffron and its yield in the Kadkan of Torbat-Hydaria, the data of the cultivation area and yield in 2021 were analyzed. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire included information on cultivation area, production rate, and type of irrigation, age of the farm, education and age of the farmer. In this regard, the questionnaire was conducted from 447 people (at the level of 302 hectares) of saffron farmers. The information of these questionnaires was used to analyze the cultivation of saffron in Kadkan of Torbat Heydarieh in 2021.

Results and Discussion
The saffron yield recorded was 3.8 kg of dry stigmas per hectare, signifying a decrease when compared to previous years, with a decline of 26% and 56% compared to 2019 and 2018, respectively. Analysis of the results revealed that the highest saffron yield was observed in four-year-old farms, amounting to 4.17 kg per hectare. Conversely, fields irrigated from the river exhibited the lowest yield at 2.76 kg per hectare, as per the findings of the current study. Based on this study, there was no significant difference between the yield of saffron stigma in pressure irrigation (4.07 kg/ha) and flood irrigation (4.03 kg/ha) of the researched fields. The yield in saffron farms had an inverse relationship with the age of the farmer, so that with the increase in the age of the farms that were covered by the age of the farmers, the yield decreased and the farms that were under the management of younger people, the yield was higher. According to the results, the saffron farms that were cultivated under the management of uneducated farmers had the lowest yield (2.8 kg/ha) and those with university education had the highest yield of saffron stigma (1.5 kg/ha). The results of the cultivated area data showed that with the increase in the cultivated area of saffron, its yield decreased (the regression coefficient with the first-order model was 26% and the second-order model was 38%).
Temperature and rainfall are two influencing factors on saffron performance. In 2016 and 2017, the yield of saffron decreased significantly due to the following reasons: Decrease in rainfall compared to previous years, Improper distribution of rainfall during the vegetative growth period of saffron, The lower and more negative temperatures in 2019 (November, December, December, February and March) compared to the mentioned years caused a decrease in dry stigma harvest in 2014 compared to 2016 and 2018. Given that the majority of saffron farms in the Kadkan district are approximately 4.16 years old (as indicated in Table 2), it is anticipated that the yield of farms in this district may decline in the upcoming year. However, it's important to note that this prediction is solely based on the age of the farms, and actual outcomes may vary depending on climatic conditions. Due to the prevalence of small-scale ownership of saffron farms in Kadkan, managed within a family exploitation system, the management of these smaller farms is typically more manageable. Consequently, it is foreseeable that smaller farms may experience an increase in yield. Therefore, based on these considerations, saffron cultivation is recommended particularly for small-scale owners rather than larger landholders.

Introduction
Strawberry is known as one of the most important temperate small fruits which is cultivated in the field, greenhouse and high tunnels in the most regions of the world. The role of gibberellin and auxin in increasing fruit size of strawberries have been reported. One of the major problems of strawberry production in greenhouse is the fruits malformation which has reduced the market value of the fruit. Gibberellin and auxin have been different effects in vegetative and reproductive of growth stages. The purpose of this research was to improve the vegetative and reproductive indices of the fruit and to control the malformation problem by stimulating the development of seeds on the fruit and stimulating the growth of the fruit receptacle by gibberellin GA3.

Materials and Methods
Experiments were conducted in a commercial greenhouse in Karaj, Hashtgerd New City, Phase 7 during 2017-2019. Two separate experiments (spraying hormones on whole plant or immersing individual fruitlets on hormone solution) were designed and implemented in a commercial greenhouse unit. In the first experiment: GA3 was at concentrations of 50, 100 and 150 ppm and IBA at concentrations of 20, 40 and 60 ppm in growth stages of 60 and 65 according to BBCH worldwide model. In the second experiment, fruits were immersed in NAA with concentrations of 20, 40 and 60 ppm and GA3 with concentrations of 25, 50 and 100 ppm at fruit growth stages 70 and 73 according to BBCH procedure. After reaching the red stage, the fruits were manually harvested and transferred to the laboratories for additional tests. Vegetative and reproductive traits were evaluated including leaf area, number of leaves, crown circumference, plant height, number of flowers and fruit dimensions. Fruit biochemical characteristics include: total soluble solids, titratable acid content of fruit, anthocyanin and antioxidant capacity, total phenolics, catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes activities and content of vitamin C were evaluated. The experiments were designed and implemented in the frame of a randomized complete block design. The data were analyzed by SAS ver.9.4 and SPSS ver. 22 software, the mean data were compared based on Duncan's multi-range test, and the graphs were drawn by Excel 2013 software.

Results and Discussion
Foliar spraying with gibberellin had a significant effect on several characteristics, including leaf area, crown circumference, number of flowers, and plant height at the 1% level of significance. However, it did not yield a significant impact on the attribute of leaf number. The increase in vegetative growth could be due to the synthesis of more amino acids in the stimulation of gibberellin treatment. Gibberellin treatments increased the vegetative growth of the plant and increased the number of flowers, but their growth was stopped after fruit formation and no fruits were formed in gibberellin spraying. This can be due to the existence of an antagonistic relationship between vegetative parts and fruit developments. Auxin hormone treatments had a significant effect on increasing fruit size and reducing the percentage of malformed fruits. GA3 at concentration of 50 ppm improved plant vegetative characteristics such as: plant leaf area, plant crown circumference, plant height and number of flowers, while IBA reduced fruit deformity by 40% and also increased the amount of total soluble solids, the titratable acid content of the fruit and the antioxidant content of the fruit. In general, gibberellin at a concentration of 50 ppm in order to increase plant vegetative indices and auxin at a concentration of 60 ppm were statistically effective. In second experiment, it seems that three levels of gibberellin treatment have increased all traits related to fruit compared to auxin and control. GA3 at a concentration of 100 ppm, causing an increase in fruit size, fruit weight and the biochemical properties of the fruit and the deformity decreased by 37/5% while NAA at a concentration of 60 ppm increased the amount of fruit anthocyanin as well as total fruit phenolics and vitamin C content.

Conclusion
In the first experiment, gibberellin foliar application at a concentration of 50 ppm had the greatest effect on vegetative growth indicators. Also, in the same experiment, it was found that the use of GA3 in high concentrations has the negative effects on flowering and fruit growth., while it increases the amount of runner production. Also, IBA at a concentration of 60 ppm was the most effective treatment in fruit indices. In the second experiment, gibberellin at a concentration of 100 ppm was the most effective treatment in fruit and its biochemical traits, while NAA auxin in the second experiment showed a lower response to fruit than IBA auxin in the first experiment.

Introduction
In recent years, the use of organic acids has increased due to their role in the quantitative and qualitative yield and resistance to environmental stresses. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is one of the important antioxidants and plays a role as the primary substrate in cyclic pathways to remove toxicity and neutralize superoxide and single oxygen radicals. Ascorbate is also involved in the regulation of cell division and photosynthesis and has nutritional value for humans and is probably important for the tolerance of plants against photo-oxidative stress. Oxalic acid is a metabolic end product in plants that has many physiological functions, the main ones is the induction of resistance to disease and environmental stress by increasing the activity of enzymes involved in resistance and secondary metabolites such as phenol, flavonoid, etc. Considering the importance of the physiological traits of the plant in the production of quantitative and qualitative yield of strawberry and on the other hand, the lack of sufficient information about the effect of external application of ascorbic acid and oxalic acid on the physiological traits of the plant, the present research work aimed to investigate some physiological and qualitative traits of strawberry leaves and fruits affected by foliar spraying of ascorbic acid and oxalic acid.

Materials and Methods
The experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications in Darkalate village of Ramiyan city of Golestan province to investigate some physiological responses of strawberry cv. Camarosa to the foliar application of organic acids. The experimental treatments consisted of three levels: non-spraying as control, spraying with 1 mM ascorbic acid and 1 mM oxalic acid, which was performed in three stages (from end flowering stage to the green fruit stage) at 6 days intervals. Finally, three plants were selected from each experimental unit and leaf samples were taken and transferred to the laboratory to measure physiological traits i.e. leaf area, fresh and dry weights, total chlorophylls, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, total carotenoids, total sugars, total phenols and flavonoids. Also, when at least 75 percent of the fruit surface turned red, the fruits were harvested from each plot separately and immediately transferred to the Plant Physiology Laboratory of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The physicochemical traits of strawberry fruits including total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), flavor index, vitamin C, total phenol, flavonoid, antioxidant activity, total anthocyanins were measured. Analysis of data were performed using SAS 9.2 statistical software and comparison of mean data were undertaken based on LSD statistical test.

Results and discussion
The results showed that the foliar application of ascorbic acid and organic acid had a significant effect on the leaf area, fresh and dry weights, total chlorophylls, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, total sugars, phenols and flavonoids. The highest mean leaf area (314.08 cm2), leaf fresh and dry weights (1.78 and 0.56 grams, respectively), chlorophyll a (0.43 mg/g), total carotenoids (0.29 mg/g), total sugars (1.43 µg/g), total phenols (0.70 mg/g) and flavonoids (0.19 mg/g) were observed in the application of oxalic acid. The control had the lowest mean in all studied traits (except carotenoids). The application of both ascorbic acid and oxalic acid resulted in an increase in photosynthetic pigments, elevating the total chlorophyll content by an average of 22% compared to the control group. Additionally, foliar spraying with ascorbic and oxalic acid led to higher levels of total soluble solids, increased antioxidant activity, and enhanced total flavonoid content in the fruit compared to the control group.Moreover, fruits harvested from plants treated with oxalic acid before harvest exhibited higher levels of total anthocyanin and phenol compared to fruits from plants treated with ascorbic acid before harvest and the control group. Fruits of plants treated with ascorbic acid compared to plants treated with oxalic acid had lower vitamin C and titratable acidity and higher flavor index. The physiological influence of oxalic acid was more superior than that of ascorbic acid and had higher positive effects in the studied traits were recorded. However, since ascorbate is one of the precursors of oxalic acid biosynthesis. Therefore, the changes caused by oxalic acid are indirectly influenced by ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid acts as a cofactor in photosynthetic reactions and prevents the destruction of chlorophylls and carotenoids due to its antioxidant property, and by interfering in cell division and increasing the surface area of leaves; it increases photosynthesis and the production of carbohydrates. In general, according to the results, it was found that the application of ascorbic acid and oxalic acid improved the quality characteristics and the content of health related compounds of Camarosa strawberry fruit by increasing photosynthetic pigments and biomass.

Introduction
The aquaponic cultivation system, which is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponic systems, is among the novel cultivation systems. In an aquaponics system, it is possible to simultaneously produce aquatic animals and vegetables. One of the most important components of each soil-free system is the selection of a suitable substrate. This substrate makes water and nutrients available for the root system and also contributes to the proper establishment of the plant. It must also be non-toxic and should not impair plant growth. Another point to consider in the selection of the substrate is its cost and availability, as the transport process will increase the costs of initial establishments in such systems. Amon vegetables, basil is a special crop with a short growing season and high economic value, which is also highly suitable for an aquaponic system. The present study was carried out with the aim of comparing some morphological and physiological traits of 'purple' and 'green' basil cultivars in different substrates in the aquaponics system.
Materials and Methods
The present study was conducted as a factorial based on a completely randomized design with three replicates in a research greenhouse located in Zanjan city. The experimental treatments included 10 substrates (cocopeat, perlite, sand, pumice, cocopeat + perlite (50:50), cocopeat + pumice (50:50), cocopeat + sand (50:50), pumice + sand (50:50), pumice + perlite (50:50) and sand + perlite (50:50)) and two basil cultivars ('green' and pueple). The aquaponic system in this study comprised of a 300 L fish tank containing 100 common carps. The fish were nurtured twice a day with powdered fish feed containing protein, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, etc. The water in the fish tank was filtered and fish wastes were removed in a filtration tank before entering the aquaponics medium to be used by the plant root system. Chemical properties of the fish water including pH, and nitrite (NO2), nitrate (NO3), and ammonium (NH4) concentrations were controlled using diagnostic kits on a weekly basis. At the flowering stage, various traits including plant height, dry and fresh weights of roots and shoots, number of nods, number of leaves, and leaf area were measured to investigate the growth of basil plants. Also, physio-phytochemical traits including the contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid and anthocyanin were measured. Analysis of variance of the data was carried out using the SAS software. Also, the least significant difference method (LSD) was used for the comparison of means.
Results and Discussion
According to the results, the greatest plant height (60.57 cm), shoot fresh weight (90.57 g), root fresh weight (22.33 g), and leaf number (133.99) belonged to purple basil and the lowest value for these traits were observed in green basil cultivar. The results of the mean comparison for the morphological traits indicate the superiority of perlite + cocopeat compared with the other substrates. Basil plants cultivated in sand substrate exhibited the lowest values for growth traits compared to other treatments. Analysis of the interaction effect between substrate and cultivar revealed that the highest number of nodes (10.5), dry weight of shoots (25.17 g), dry weight of roots (4.67 g), and leaf area (17.13 cm2) were observed in the perlite + cocopeat substrate with purple basil. Conversely, the lowest values for these traits (5.23, 12.93 g, 1.46 g, and 11.03 cm2, respectively) were recorded in the silt substrate with the green basil cultivar. The results related to physio-phytochemical traits showed that the highest content of chlorophyll a (1.57 mg g -1 FW) and total chlorophyll (2.1 mg g -1 FW) were observed in the perlite + cocopeat substrate and green basil. Also, anthocyanin content was the highest (0.17 mg g -1 FW) when the purple cultivar was grown in the perlite + c cocopeat substrate. The lowest content of chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll were recorded in the sand substrate and purple cultivar with 0.96 and 1.17 mg g -1 FW, respectively. Also, the lowest content of anthocyanin was related to the green basil cultivar with 0.058 mg g -1 FW.

Conclusion
Overall, the 'purple' cultivar of basil was superior to the 'green' cultivar regarding most traits in the aquaponic system. Also, substrates containing perlite and cocopeat led to better results compared with the other substrates, whereas the basil plants grown in sand and pumice had lower growth, relatively.

Introduction
The medicinal plant of Balangu Shirazi (Lalemantia royleana Benth) to the Lamiaceae or Labiateae family. This medicinal plant is native to the tropical regions of Asia, India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. This plant is also found in various regions of the Middle East and Europe, especially Turkey, Iran and in the Siberian regions of Russia, i.e. in Western Siberia. Due to the presence of high mucilage content, Lallemantia royleana seeds quickly absorb water through the hydration process and produce a sticky, cloudy and tasteless liquid that can be used as a new source of hydrocolloid in food formulations as well. Soil salinity is a growing problem in agricultural ecosystems that endangers the growth and productivity of plants. Salinity causes ionic toxicity, nutritional imbalance, pigment destruction and inhibition of photosynthesis, oxidative and osmotic stress, limited release of CO2 in leaves, changes in metabolic pathways, cell deformation, premature aging and finally cell death in it becomes a plant. Therefore, effective solutions to deal with soil salinity under agricultural management systems can include all kinds of salt-resistant species and biotechnological approaches such as the use of beneficial microorganisms that are able to improve plant tolerance to salt. Mycorrhizal fungi, one of the common soil microbes, can occupy the roots of most terrestrial plant species. Notably, mycorrhizal fungi can improve host plant tolerance to salinity stress by a series of physiological and biochemical mechanisms, including higher water use efficiency, photosynthetic capacity, maintaining ion homeostasis, osmotic protection, maintaining cell ultrastructure and enhancing antioxidant metabolism. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of three mycorrhizal fungi on seed yield, physiological characteristics and mineral elements (N, P and K) of the medicinal plant L. royleana under salt stress conditions.

Materials and Methods
This experiment was factorial based on a completely randomized design including the treatment of mycorrhizal fungi at three levels (R. irregularis, G. versiform, F. mosseae) with the number of spores 5 x 106 per milliliter of inoculum and salinity stress including four level (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 dS/m of sodium chloride salt) was done in three repetitions. This experiment was carried out in 2018 in a greenhouse at Islamic Azad University, Mahabad Branch, day and night temperatures were 25 and 22 degrees Celsius, respectively, with two relative humidity levels of 60 (during the day) and 40 (at night). The percentage and amount of carbon dioxide was about (mMol.mol-1) 500-600. Shirazi Balangu seeds were obtained from Pakan Seed Company of Isfahan with 99% purity and 80% potency. Distilled water was used for zero treatment (control) and pure sodium chloride salt (Merck, Germany) was used to prepare solutions with electrical conductivity of 2, 4, 6 and 8 dS/m. Balango seeds were sown in the middle of Mehr in pots with an opening diameter of 20 cm and a length of 18 cm containing soil, sand and manure (2:1:1) at a depth of 0.5-1 cm. Three fungi G. versiform, R. irregularis and F. mosseae were used for mycorrhiza inoculation, and there were at least 50 live spores in each gram of soil. The ratio of the inoculant used to the soil was one to nine (by volume) and in layers. In order to prevent any deficiency of nutrients, 10 ml of Hoagland nutrient solution with half the concentration of phosphorus was added to all the pots every week. The traits under study encompassed the seed yield of a single plant, seed oil percentage, antioxidant capacity, proline content, as well as the leakage of ionic substances and nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted on the data using SAS 9.1 statistical software. Mean comparisons among traits were performed utilizing Duncan's test at a significance level of 5%.

Results and Discussion
The results showed that the traits evaluated in the present study were affected by mycorrhizal fungus treatments, salinity stress and the mutual effect of fungi in salinity stress. Seedlings inoculated with mycorrhizal fungus R. irregularis had the highest seed yield, percentage of oil, proline, antioxidant power and mineral elements compared to the other two strains of mycorrhizal fungus. Salinity stress increased the percentage of oil, proline, and antioxidant power of L. royleana medicinal plant leaves, and increasing the salinity stress from 0 to 8 dS/m decreased grain yield and mineral elements. According to the comparison results of the average effect of fungus interaction in salt stress, the highest amount of seed yield and mineral elements in plant inoculation with R. irregularis fungus was observed in the absence of salt stress, as well as the highest amount of traits of oil percentage, proline and antioxidant power. It was obtained in a tension of 8 dS/m. According to the results of the present research, the use of R. irregularis mushroom strain had the most positive effect on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of L. royleana medicinal plant compared to the absence of mushroom inoculation.

Conclusion
In general, the results of this study showed that mycorrhizal inoculation had a positive and significant effect on seed yield, antioxidant capacity, oil percentage, proline content and the concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium elements in L. royleana plant. Also, the results indicated that the use of mycorrhiza in the cultivation of L. royleana can partially prevent the occurrence of element deficiency in saline soils and reduce the high consumption of chemical fertilizers. This assertion has been corroborated by research conducted by other scholars focusing on medicinal plants. Employing mycorrhizal symbiosis in saline soils has been shown to enhance plant resistance to salinity. Therefore, by employing a suitable mycorrhizal strain with salinity resistance, it becomes feasible to mitigate the departure of saline soils from the production cycle, thereby averting consumption-related issues. Furthermore, the excessive use of chemical fertilizers has led to numerous problems, highlighting the need for alternative approaches.

Introduction
In addition to providing the necessary energy for photosynthesis, light controls many plant metabolic processes. Nowadays, the use of supplemental light significantly improves the quality of the food product in the conditions of lack of natural light in the autumn and winter seasons. Light-emitting diodes have been proposed as alternative light sources in controlled agricultural environments. These lamps are the first light sources with the ability to control the light spectrum. Therefore, by controlling the light spectrum and matching the wavelength of LED lamps with the photoreceptors of the plant, the performance and quality of the plant is improved. Cucumber is one of the most important greenhouse plants and its seedlings are generally produced during the autumn and winter seasons, when natural light is relatively low; therefore, the use of supplementary light is required. The use of artificial light sources in fully controlled conditions can change and improve the growth conditions of the plant and also improve its quantitative and qualitative traits. In this research, the aim was to investigate the effect of different qualities of light on the morphophysiological indicators of cucumber seedlings.

Materials and Methods
This research was performed at the Horticultural Plants Biotechnology Department, Industrial Biotechnology Research Institute of Khorasan Razavi. First, the seeds of the cucumber plant (Cucumis sativus L. var. Officer) were planted in a planting tray, and placed under the light panel with different light treatments. The experimental treatments included four light qualities including white light (6000-6500K) blue light (460-470 nm), red light (625 nm) and combined light (blue + red + white). The amount of photosynthetic photon flux was considered the same in all light treatments, which was equal to 2.75 µol m-2 s-1 CO2 assimilation. Thirty days after planting of seeds, the growth of plants were measured in three stages every 10 days. In each stage, 4 plant samples were selected and then plant height, leaf area, fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots, plant dry matter index and leaf chlorophyll content were measured. Data preparation was done in Excel software, data analysis was done using JMP-8 software and treatment averages were compared using LSD test at 5% probability level.

Results and Discussion
The results of the experiments showed that the quality of light was significantly effective on the growth indicators of Cucumber plants. Plant height in red light and blue light treatments compared to the white light and combined light (red+blue+white with the same intensity) treatments, increased by more than 130% and 60%, respectively. The lowest height was observed in plants grown under combined light, 9 and 14.25 cm after 40 and 50 days of cultivation respectively. The exposure of cucumber seedlings to the red and combined lights recorded the highest and the lowest leaf area in the plants, 618.65 and 377.26 cm2 respectively. Also white light significantly improved the dry weight of the roots. It is worth to mention that the highest plant fresh weight was observed in blue and white lights, 20.9 and 19.5 g respectively. For parameters such as dry weight, dry matter index, and pigment content, the light treatments did not exert a significant effect. However, the utilization of red and blue light, both individually and in combination, positively impacted plant growth. Notably, exposure to red light alone led to a significant increase in leaf surface area, root dry weight, and plant height compared to other light conditions. Previous studies have indicated that red light enhances leaf area, stem length, and fresh weight of plants. Leaves play a critical role in plant photosynthesis and overall growth. Therefore, increasing the leaf area in the plant increases the amount of photosynthesis, growth and development of the plant. In this study, with the increases of the leaf area in the plant and the subsequent increases in the amount of photosynthesis, allocation of dry mater to root increased. The results of the research has been shown that the combination of blue and red wavelengths in pepper, tomato and cucumber seedlings is effective in stimulating plant growth and improving the morphological characteristics under controlled conditions. Blue and red lights can increase the proton flow rate of epidermal cells through the separation mechanism and thus affect leaf development. Blue light directly through the interaction with proton pumps and indirectly through receptors, affects proton pumps by modulating passive ion conduction of potassium and calcium channels.

Conclusion
According to the results of this research, it was found that exposing the plant to different light quality had different responses in the cucumber plants. Although variables such as dry weight and the amount of photosynthetic pigments were not significantly affected by light quality, however, traits such as plant height, leaf area, root dry weight, and plant fresh weight were affected by light quality. The affected parameters are among the traits that are influenced by the gibberellin hormone and according to the reports related to the effect of light quality on the gibberellin biosynthesis and response to this hormone. It seems that plant action to the quality of light can be attributed to the regulation of this hormone. So it is possible to choose the appropriate light quality in fully controlled conditions according to the production goal and results. In this research, according to the plant leaf rea, root dry weight and plant height, it was determined that white light can be used in the seedling production stage.

Introduction
The Peruvian Groundcherry (Physalis peruviana L.) is a perennial plant that is native to the South American regions and belongs to the Solanaceae family. The harvested fruits are vulnerable to both biotic and abiotic stresses, which can trigger unfavorable physiological and biochemical changes. As a result, the quality and marketability of the product may decrease by the time it reaches the consumer. The fruit of the Peruvian Groundcherry has a high water content and is sensitive to ethylene, causing rapid ripening with a high respiration rate, making it highly perishable. To ensure quality maintenance after harvest, various postharvest treatments are being studied; however, some methods may not be practical due to low customer preference or lack of effectiveness verification. Therefore, alternative treatments need to be found to prolong shelf life and reduce postharvest losses. Currently, environmentally friendly technologies and treatments are recommended. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) postharvest treatment on the respiration rate, antioxidant activities, and fruit quality of the Peruvian Groundcherry during 21 days of storage, addressing a research gap in this area.
Materials and Methods
Handpicked Peruvian Groundcherry fruits were taken from a commercial greenhouse located in Fars province, Iran. The fruits were picked at two stages of maturity based on their color, which was either yellowish green or orange. Following the harvest, the fruits were taken to a horticulture laboratory where they were assessed for appearance, size, color, and any damages. The experimental design was factorial based on a completely randomized design with three replications, each containing 25 fruits. Experimental factors included the GABA concentration (0, 5, 10 and 15 mM), storage time (7, 14 and 21 days) and fruit maturity stage based on color at harvest (yellowish green and orange). Following dip treatments in GABA solutions, fruits were packed in plastic clamshells measuring 20×5×10 cm3 and with a hole ratio of 3%. Fruits were stored at a temperature of 15 ◦C for 21 days, and their quality characteristics and respiration rate were evaluated on a weekly basis.
Results and Discussion
The findings indicated that both groups of treated fruits had a slower increase in respiration rate and lower final respiration rate compared to the control group. The effect of different concentrations of GABA on the final respiration rate of fruits was similar for each stage of fruit maturity. During the storage period, the changes in total soluble solids and total acids of the treated fruits were less than the control group. At the end of the storage period, yellowish green fruits treated with 10 and 15 mM GABA had the lowest amount of total soluble solids; orange fruits had the lowest amount with 15 mM GABA treatment. GABA concentrations had a similar effect on total acids retention of yellowish green fruits, but 15 mM GABA treatment was more effective for orange fruits. Ascorbic acid content and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase enzyme activity were consistently higher in treated fruits than in the control group. In green fruits treated with GABA concentrations, the amount of ascorbic acid increased significantly and continuously, with no significant difference between treatments at the end of storage period. Orange fruits showed a significant increase until the second week of storage, followed by a non-significant decrease. Higher amounts of ascorbic acid in orange fruits were detected by applying higher GABA concentrations. Both groups of fruits had significantly higher amounts of total phenol, carotenoid, and antioxidant capacity in response to increasing GABA concentration, while the minimum amount of these compounds during the storage period was related to the control group. However, orange-colored fruits were more sensitive to treatments compared to yellowish green fruits.
Conclusions
The results of the present study indicate a positive effect of postharvest GABA treatment on reducing respiration rate, improving antioxidant activities, and maintaining the quality and nutritional value of Peruvian groundcherry fruit during a 21-day storage period. Considering the global preference and demand among governments and consumers to use environmentally-friendly treatments of biological origin that pose no risk to human health, we recommend the use of GABA treatment for optimal storage of Peruvian groundcherry fruit. Finally, it is recommended to assess the efficacy of GABA or other safe and environmentally-friendly postharvest treatments on the quality and shelf life of other valuable horticultural commodities.

Introduction
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an annual plant in the Cucurbitaceae family, which has 90 genera and 750 species. Iran, with an under-cultivation area of 89,632 hectares and a production rate of 1,804,184 tons of cucumbers, yield of 201,289 tons per hectare, and it is the third largest cucumber producing country in the world in terms of production. Use of fruits of these vegetable is different depending on the country and the consumer's taste and demand, and it is cultivated for fresh consumption as well as processing (pickled vegetables or cucumbers). The utilization of local genotypes or unmodified native reserves for production has led to very low yield of cucumbers in some countries of the world. The general objectives of cucumber breeding are resistance to diseases and pests, fruit quality and yield increase. Considering the history of cultivation of this product in Iran and due to the large under-cultivation areas of cucumber in the country, little breeding research has been done on this product and the country's required seeds are supplied annually through imports. Therefore, practical and applied research on the breeding of cucumber plant seems necessary. The present study was conducted to evaluate 27 cucumber plant lines using factor analysis and cluster analysis as a tool to identify superior genotypes and more effective traits.

Materials and Methods
This study was carried out in the research greenhouse of Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, with a longitude of 49 degrees and 36 minutes east and latitude 37 degrees and 16 minutes north with a height of 7 meters from the level of the open sea in February 2021. Overall, 35 cucumber inbred lines, available in the Germplasm Bank, University of Guilan, were selected and on completely randomized design, in three separate rows, and with three replications. A code was assigned to each of the lines in order to facilitate the naming of lines and easier evaluation. In the winter of 2019, the desired genotypes were first planted in the seedling tray and kept there until the second true leaves were observed. Then they were transferred to the greenhouse in the form of a completely randomized design with 27 lines of inbred cucumbers, in three separate rows with 3 replications and 3 observations. The length of the plant breeding period continued until the economic fruiting of the plant. During the growing season, various traits were checked and recorded according to the national guidelines for tests of differentiation, uniformity and stability in cucumber prepared by the Research Institute of Registration and Certification of Seeds and Seedlings. These traits are the Fruit diameter (mm), Fruit length (mm), Fruit number, Weight of single fruit (g), Total fruit weight (g), Number of female flowers in 15 nodes, Number of female flowers per node, Width of the end of the terminal leaf(cm), Length of the end of the terminal leaf(cm), Number of lateral branches in 15 nodes, Length of 15 internodes (cm).

Results and Discussion
Genetic diversity in plant genotypes is essential for a successful breeding program. Understanding the degree of variability in plant species is of importance because it provides the basis for selection. The results of variance analysis show that there is a highly significant variation between the studied lines at the level of 1%. The significant difference observed between genotypes for all traits indicates the existence of inherent genetic variation among genotypes.
The evaluation results show that the average fruit weight trait varied from 1371.7 grams (L57) to 157.71 grams (L35) among the examined lines. Furthermore, genotype L57 (117.56 grams) had the highest statistical position in terms of single fruit weight. The results of the mean comparison table showed that L34 line had the highest fruit length values (161.84 mm) and L49 line had the highest fruit diameter values (39.83 mm). Moreover, L55 and L34 lines had the lowest values of fruit length (92.46 mm) and diameter (24.61 mm), respectively. The leaf area variable varied from 426.52 cm2 (L57) to 204.24 cm2 (L31) among the studied lines. The results of chlorophyll index traits investigation and total soluble solids showed that L51 line had the highest values in both traits.
The results of statistical analyses pertaining to genotypic and phenotypic variance, as well as general heritability, revealed that the trait with the highest heritability, at 99.44%, was fruit weight. With the exception of five traits-length of 15 primary internodes, leaf surface, length and width of the terminal leaf, and single fruit weight-whose heritability values were 87.35%, 73.83%, 63.59%, 61.27%, and 26.23%, respectively, the heritability exceeded 90% for the remaining traits. These findings indicate that most of the traits examined exhibited high heritability, suggesting they were less influenced by environmental factors. Factor analysis, an essential multivariate technique, was employed to explore trait relationships and assess the genetic diversity among genotypes. The results of factor analysis for 27 evaluated cucumber genotypes show that eight factors were identified. They were 23.52, 12.63, 11.81, 9.95, 8.6, 7.34, 6.27, 4.21 percent. in total explained 88% of the total diversity of traits in the studied population. In total, they justified 88% diversity of total traits in the studied population. The results of the cluster analysis placed the studied genotypes in four different groups based on the mean of traits. To ensure the cut-point in the dendrogram and to determine the actual number of groups, the discrimination function analysis method was used. The results of discrimination function analysis showed that the success of cluster analysis in grouping genotypes was 100%. Since the genotypes in each of the clusters have a greater genetic affinity with the genotypes in the same cluster and, conversely, a greater genetic distance with the genotypes in different clusters, hybridization can be done among the genotypes in different clusters according to the value of traits average for each cluster for more productivity of phenomena such as heterosis and transgressive segregation. On this basis, it seems that it is possible to produce hybrids that are superior to their parents in terms of various traits by hybridization between the genotypes in the first and second clusters with the genotypes in the third and fourth clusters.

Conclusion
According to the results obtained from this study, L57 and L54 genotypes had higher values than the rest of the genotypes in terms of fruit number and total fruit weight. Also, according to the results of cluster analysis, L57 line had higher total mean values in traits of total fruit weight, single fruit weight, diameter of the tail of the fruit, fruit, kernel diameter, fresh and dry weight of leaves and leaf area. In this study, the genotypes of the second and third groups in the fruit number trait, and the genotypes of the first and third groups in the fruit weight trait, due to having the maximum difference, were found suitable for use in crosses in order to create more diversity. In general, the results of this research showed that there was a suitable diversity among the studied lines in terms of all measured traits. In addition to the fact that the results obtained from this research can be used in future breeding programs, the results of multivariate statistical methods also show solutions for the scientific crossing of genotypes in future research. So that the genotypes placed in different groups in cluster analysis (Group 1: L57, Group 2: L54, L52, L47, L32, L49, and L27, Group 3: L43 and L35, Group 4: L59, L53, L51, L34, L26, L55, L25, L39, L31, L30, L33, L28, L29, L36, L24, L44, L22, and L20) and had superior characteristics in terms of different components, can be crossed together to create recombinant genotypes.

Introduction
The medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicine for a long time all over the world. Over 80% of the world population depends on herbal medicines and products for healthy living, and also, a large part of pharmaceutical materials are derived directly or indirectly from plant sources. According to the new approach to the use of medicines and herbal products, the investigation of the medicinal properties of endemic plants in each region, is of particular importance. Morphological and phytochemical traits of medicinal plants are affected by the different environmental conditions as well as genetic variations. Therefore, investigating the changes in morphological and phytochemical traits of different populations of these plants in various regions and identifying the amount and constituents of their essential oils, can be effective for creating a suitable field for their planting or breeding, as well as standardizing their derived medicine products. The Achillea genus, a medicinal plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, is highly diverse in terms of morphological characteristics and essential oil constituents. 19 species of herbaceous and aromatic plants of this genus have been identified in Iran, of which 7 species are endemic. Some of the Achillea species have therapeutic properties such as reducing blood pressure and lipids, sedative, antispasmodic, analgesic, wounds treatment, antiseptic properties, treatment of stomach pain and diarrhea, stopping bleeding, etc.

Materials and Methods
This study was conducted in May 2022 in order to evaluate the diversity of morphological traits and essential oil constituents of A. santolinoides subsp. wilhelmsii (K. Koch) Greuter populations in 11 regions of Hamedan province. The plant samples were collected in the flowering stage and after measuring some morphological traits (plant height, number of flowering stem, stem diameter, inflorescence diameter, fresh and dry weight of plant, number of inflorescence, number of leaf, etc.), they were dried in shade condition. In order to investigate the physical and chemical properties of soil, soil samples were collected from a depth of 30 cm. and were transferred to the soil laboratory. The essential oils were extracted using hydro-distillation method which lasted for 4 hours. Then they were analyzed by GC and GC/MS in the Institute of Medicinal Plants in Karaj. Gas chromatography was carried out on Agilent 6890. The grouping of populations based on morphological traits and essential oil constituents, was done by cluster analysis in SPSS using the Ward method. Also, the traits correlation (quantitative) was done using the Pearson method.

Results and Discussion
The results indicated that the Vahnan population exhibited the tallest plant height at 23.20 cm, a significant difference compared to other populations. Conversely, the Nazool population displayed the lowest plant height at 13.60 cm. Regarding stem diameter, the Yalfan population showed the greatest diameter at 2.50 mm, a measure not significantly different from the populations of Islamabad, Nazool, and Varayeneh. In contrast, the Koohani population had the smallest stem diameter at 1.52 mm. The highest inflorescence diameter (4.30 cm) belonged to the Islamabad population, which statistically had no significant difference with the populations of Koohani, Vahnan and Yekan Abad, and the lowest (2.30 cm) was observed in Joorab population. The Vahnan population had the highest number of inflorescence (6.20), which statistically had no significant difference with Islam Abad, Zanganeh, Koohani, Yekan Abad and Nazool populations, and the lowest was related to the Yalfan population (3.40). The maximum leaf length was related to Varayeneh population (3 cm), which was statistically not significantly different from Yalfan, Islam Abad and Vahnan populations, and the lowest was related to Naseh Abad population (1.70 cm). Varayeneh and Yekan Abad populations respectively had the largest leaf width (4 mm and 3.80 mm) and the lowest leaf width (2 mm) was observed in the Joorab population. The highest number of flowering stems (13.80) and the maximum number of leaves (168) were belonged to Nazool population, and the lowest number of flowering stems (3.80) was related to Naseh Abad population and the lowest number of leaves (61) was related to Koohani population. Regarding the fresh and dry weight of the plant, the highest values of these traits (3.92 and 2.24 gr, respectively) was related to the Yalfan population and the lowest (1.60 and 0.79 gr, respectively) was related to the Naseh Abad population. Analysis of the essential oils chemical compositions using GC-MS, showed 28 compounds. Camphor, Fragranol, -pinene, 1,8-cineole and Sabinene were the main constituents of the essential oil. The essential oils yield varied from 0.3 to 0.6% which the highest was related to Varayenh and Nazool populations (0.6%) and the lowest belonged to Heydareh Bala Shahr population (0.3%). Also, Islam Abad population (with the highest altitude), had the highest percentage of fragranol (43.29%). This indicates that environmental factors similar to genetic factors are effective in creating diversity in morphological and phytochemical characteristics of this plant.

Conclusion
Identifying the compounds in the Iranian native plants, can provide a suitable field for the practical use of its plant resources and may be the basis of breeding programs. The various studies conducted on different species and populations of Achillea genus, have mentioned the valuable use of their extracts and essential oils in various fields such as pharmaceutical industries (in order to standardizing medicinal products), food, health cosmetics, making insecticides, etc. Researchers who have studied the essential oils of different populations of Achillea species in many regions of Iran, have emphasized on the significant difference between type and amount of the essential oil constituents. In this study, compounds such as Camphor, Fragranol, -pinene, 1,8-cineole and Sabinene were the main components of the populations essential oils. Since fragranol is used in manufacturing the insecticides and pheromones, Islam Abad population can be used in this industry due to having high fragranol (43.29%). Also, due to the high amount of camphor in the essential oils of most of the studied populations and many uses of this compound, it can be used as an important economic resource in the health-cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries to make various creams and ointments.

Introduction
Cantaloupes, are a group of Cucumis melo cultivars, that have round, fragrant fruits with netted skin. Our country, is one of the top five producers of cantaloupe, and melon in the world. Its original origin, is still debated, but one of the important centers of its diversity, is Iran. Although, native cultivars, such as, Saveh cantaloupe, Samsoori, Rish Baba, and various types of Tiles, are often of good quality, and taste, but they are sensitive to a variety of fungal and viral diseases and as a result, their yield is low. On the other hand, every year new cultivars and hybrids, are introduced by seed companies, which are welcomed by farmers, due to, their better agronomic characteristics, and resistance to a wider range of diseases. Continuation of this process, in addition to severe genetic erosion of native cultivars, and populations, and even the complete elimination of some of them, will have consequences such as, dependence of production on foreign companies, annual departure of currency from the country, and non-exploitation of the country's genetic resources. Therefore, it seemed that by creating a diverse population resulting from the crossing of superior native cultivars with cultivars of commercially resistant hybrid to diseases, and then, successive selections, new cultivars, with desirable traits of both parents, could be achieved. Thus, in this study, heritability, minimum and maximum mean values of parents, and F1 and F2 generations, aggressive segregation, and relative frequency of qualitative traits, in F2 generation, and selection of the best genotypes, in two dispersing NGF2 populations, were investigated.

Materials and Methods
Parental cross, was performed in the spring of 2017, between Samsoori cantaloupe cultivar (round, striped fruit, cream skin color, completely reticulate, green flesh, very early ripening fruit, poor transportability and durability, free pollinator and high homogeneity) as the selected native paternal parent, and commercial cultivar from Gallia group, that called Cory and as maternal parent (round fruit, completely reticulate, no striped skin, yellow to cream skin color, high transportability and durability, green and very sweet flesh, high resistance to various plant diseases and viral diseases) and produced by Seminis Company. The first-generation seeds, obtained from parental crosses, were planted in the greenhouse in the fall of 2017, and were self-sown. In the spring of 1397, 1000 seeds of F2 generation, along with parent seeds, and their first generation, were planted in a seedling tray, in the greenhouses of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology (Aborihan) of Tehran University, and transplanted to the ground, in the rental research production farm, located, in Filistan village-Golzar sector-Pakdasht. Controlled pollination, (isolation of male flowers, and manual inoculation) was performed, for all second-generation plants. Selection for subsequent generations, was done by pedigree method, all plants in F2 generation, were evaluated, and selected. Morphological traits, such as, plant form and phenological traits, such as, day to fruit harvest, were evaluated, and recorded. Plant health, was assessed against common and important fungal, viral and mites, under normal field conditions by scoring the severity of infections in four categories. Fruit quality traits were measured based on nominal, sequential and interval scales and quantitative fruit traits were also measured. Tables of minimum and maximum values, variances, general heritability, transgressive segregation, etc for quantitative traits, also relative frequency percentages and observed genetic ratios for quantitative traits, were calculated.

Results and Discussion
The results showed that all quantitative traits in the F2 population had a general heritability above 90%. The mean of all quantitative traits except soluble solids and fruit flesh thickness in F1 population was lower than the parental average. In F2 population, for all quantitative traits, positive transgressive segregation was observed, compared to, the superior parent, and negative transgressive segregation was observed, compared to, the less valuable parent. In the F2 population, nearly 80% of the genotypes, were completely reticulate, and 20% had less or no netting, on the fruit skin. These results were almost consistent with genetic ratios of 3.1. Also, 35% of F2 population genotypes, were striped and more than 80% of them had yellowish skin color and green flesh color. Due to, the fact that, selection based on traits with high heritability, will be more reliable, and successful in early generations, so, it is better, to select the best genotypes, in this population, based on fruit weight, soluble solids, and early maturity, respectively.

Conclusion
In the F2 population, positive transgressive segregation was evident for all quantitative traits, favoring the superior parent, while negative segregation was observed for the less valuable parent. Traits exhibiting high heritability showcased a pronounced influence of genetic variance over environmental variance. Consequently, selecting cultivars based on these traits in early generations is expected to yield more reliable and successful outcomes. Therefore, it is better, to selection, the best genotypes in the early generations, in the F2 population, based on fruit weight, (with high genetic efficiency), soluble solids, day to fruit ripening, and with the pedigree management, of the populations, it is finally, possible to achieve lines, that have the desirable traits, of both parental cultivars. The resulting lines, can be used to produce, new hybrids, or provided, to the farmer, as a single cultivar.

Introduction
Recently, the market demand for high quality tomato fruit is increasing. This product is one of the most important vegetables produced all over the world, and in the last few decades, there has always been a growing trend for its production and consumption. Today, seedling production is considered as a specialized and profitable industry all over the world, which also has a good development speed in our country. The production of healthy and strong seedlings is a prerequisite for proper plant growth and economic production, and nutrition plays an important role in this. Today, the use of natural and organic compounds in various sectors of production and agriculture is increasing. One of these organic compounds, is γ-aminobutyric acid. Biofertilizers are used in order to reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers and thus reduce the negative environmental effects and increase the yield of plants in agricultural systems. Salicylic acid is a natural phenolic compound and one of the endogenous plant regulators that exists in most plants and is an important component in the signaling pathway. Salicylic acid is effective in regulating the process of plant growth and development, germination, flowering, opening and closing of stomata, respiration, absorption and transfer of ions, photosynthesis, maintaining membrane integrity and plant growth rate. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of varying concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid and salicylic acid compounds on the physiological attributes, photosynthetic components, and quality traits of Lycopersicum esculentum cv. Seyran seedlings. The aim was to identify the most effective concentration of these hormonal and pseudo-hormonal compounds under the specific conditions of this research.

Materials and Methods
This experiment was conducted in 2017 in the research greenhouse of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman as a factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications. Lycopersicum esculentum cv. Seyran seeds were planted and after the seedlings reached the stage of three to four leaves and were well established, the first foliar spraying was done with complete NPK fertilizer containing other micronutrients. After 75 % of the seedlings reached the five leaf stage, foliar spraying of the treatments with γ-aminobutyric acid with concentrations of 0, 5 and 10 mg/l and half an hour later with salicylic acid with concentrations of 0, 0.5 and 1.5 mM was performed. After 15 days, the second foliar spraying steps of the treatments were repeated. Traits studied include; seedling stem diameter, ion leakage, relative water content, total chlorophyll, yield, stomatal conductance, net photosynthesis rate, catalase, peroxidase, proline and malondialdehyde.

Results and Discussion
Based on the results of analysis of variance, the simple effect of GABA and the simple effect of salicylic acid on seedling diameter, ion leakage and total chlorophyll were significant at the level of one percent and their interaction was significant at the level of five percent. In the characteristics of relative water content and yield, the simple effects of GABA and salicylic acid, as well as the interaction of the two, were significant at the 1% level (Table 1). Results showed that the largest plant diameter and relative water content in GABA 10 mg/l and with the combined use of 1.5 mM salicylic acid and the lowest plant diameter and relative water content in the condition of not using GABA and using salicylic acid in the amount 0.5 mM was obtained. Also, the highest amount of ion leakage occurred in the control plants and the lowest amount of ion leakage is related to the treatment of 10 mg/l GABA combined with 1.5 mM salicylic acid. Investigations showed that a increase in performance compared to the control occurs when using the combination of GABA 10 mg/l along with 0.5 and 1.5 mM salicylic acid (Table 3). According to the analysis of variance results, both the individual effects of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and salicylic acid on leaf stomatal conductance and net photosynthesis rate were found to be significant at the one percent level, with their interaction being significant at the five percent level. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that the individual and combined effects of GABA and salicylic acid on catalase enzyme activity were significant at the five percent level. Additionally, the individual effect of GABA at the one percent level, the individual effect of salicylic acid, and their combined effect on malondialdehyde levels were all significant at the five percent level (refer to Table 2). According to the average comparison results, the highest level of leaf stomatal conductance was observed in the concentration of 1.5 mM salicylic acid in all three application levels of GABA, and the interaction treatment of 10 mg/l GABA with 1.5 mM salicylic acid had the highest net photosynthesis rate and activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes. The highest amount of proline accumulation occurred in the treatment combination of GABA 10 mg/l along with each of the three concentrations of salicylic acid. The highest accumulation of malondialdehyde was observed in the control sample (without the use of γ-aminobutyric acid and salicylic acid) and the lowest amount of this characteristic was obtained in the combined treatment of GABA 10 mg/l with 0.5 mM salicylic acid (Table 4).

Conclusion
In summary, the utilization of γ-aminobutyric acid as a biological compound and salicylic acid as a growth regulator exhibited a beneficial impact on most of the studied traits in Lycopersicum esculentum cv. Seyran seedlings. This included enhancements in seedling diameter, relative water content, total chlorophyll levels, yield, catalase and peroxidase enzyme activity, proline content, as well as reductions in ion leakage and malondialdehyde levels. It appears that the highest applied concentration of GABA (10 mg/l) and the highest concentration of salicylic acid (1.5 mM) yielded the most favorable results, effectively improving seedling production while preserving its quality.

Introduction
Various methods of stress directly affected the growth and production yield of numerous plants. For example, environmental stress reduces the tomato manufacturing by the disrupting its natural metabolism, or, salinity stresses affect the it is growth and development from the germination stage to the fruit ripening stage. Salinity in tomatoes by stimulating the biosynthesis of growth regulators such as ethylene and abscisic acid leads to the acceleration of the aging of the leaves. Therefore, development of different methods to induce salinity stress tolerance in plants is necessary. Some approaches were studied to develop the salinity tolerant plants such as genetic breeding, environmental improvements and usage of phytohormones and signal molecules. Salicylic acid or orthohydroxybenzoic acid plays an important role in regulating the physiological and biochemical responses of plants to stress conditions, which improves the plant's resistance to adverse environmental conditions. For instance, salicylic acid is a facile and effective way to increase plant productivity under salt stress conditions. Considering the positive effects of salicylic acid in modulating the effects of salinity, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effects of salicylic acid’s usage in modulating the harmful effects of salinity on some vegetative, physiological, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of two tomato cultivars of Baneh local mass and Semi Dwarf line.
Materials and Methods
To investigate the effect of salicylic acid in modulating the effects of salinity stress in tomato, a factorial experiment was conducted in the form of a randomized complete block design, with 12 treatments, in 3 replications and with a total of 36 experimental units in the hydroponic greenhouse of the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, and university of Tabriz. The treatments included two levels of salicylic acid (0 and 1 mM) and salinity levels (0, 35 and 70 mM NaCl) on two tomato cultivars of Baneh and Semi Dwarf.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that in Baneh and Semi Dwarf cultivars, the increase in salinity levels caused a decrease in vegetative indices, meanwhile the treatment of salicylic acid along with salt stress increased same indices. Also, salt stress caused yield reduction in both Baneh and Semi Dwarf cultivars. By examining the qualitative indicators, it was observed that titratable acidity and vitamin C increased with salt stress and salicylic acid treatment in both cultivars. In terms of physiological indicators, the amount of proline increased at different salinity levels with salicylic acid treatment, but the amount of leaf chlorophyll index decreased with the increase of same condition.
Conclusion
The results of testing the effect of salicylic acid and the effects of salinity stress on vegetative, quantitative, qualitative and physiological indicators in Baneh and Semi Dwarf tomatoes showed a remarkable difference in terms of significance. In terms of vegetative traits; Plant height, leaf area index, shoot wet in Baneh and Semi Dwarf cultivars decreased with increasing salinity levels of vegetative indices, but salicylic acid treatment along with salinity stress increased same indices. Indicators such as yield, fresh weight of fruit, and percentage of dry matter of fruit showed different responses to different levels of salinity and salicylic acid treatment. The fresh weight of fruit increased with the application of salicylic acid. Also, salt stress caused an increase in the percentage of dry matter of the fruit. But salt stress caused yield reduction in both Baneh and Semi Dwarf cultivars. In terms of quality indicators; the amount of titratable acidity and vitamin C increased with salt stress and salicylic acid treatment in both cultivars. In terms of physiological indicators, the level of proline increased across various salinity levels with salicylic acid treatment. However, the leaf chlorophyll index decreased with rising salinity levels, even in the presence of salicylic acid treatment. Overall, salinity stress caused a decrease in most analyzed traits in the Baneh and Semi Dwarf cultivars. Nevertheless, it led to improvements in certain quality traits. Additionally, salicylic acid treatment enhanced the mentioned indices in most of the examined traits in both cultivars. Therefore, considering the positive effects of salicylic acid treatment on Baneh and Semi Dwarf cultivars under salinity stress conditions, its use is recommended.

Introduction
Kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa) is rich in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Kiwi fruit is sensitive to ethylene and has high perishability. There are some physical and chemical methods to delay aging and maintain postharvest quality of fruits. Light irradiation is a physical and pollution-free method that has been reported to be effective in controlling fruit decay and increasing its shelf life. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP) acts as an important signal in some physiological activities of the plant. SNP improved the quality and durability after fruit harvest in some fruits.Amino acids are effective in delaying the aging process and increasing the postharvest life of horticultural crops. Arginine plays an important and vital role in plant growth and development processes. The positive effect of arginine in increasing the shelf life of some fruits has been reported. The aim of this study was to increase the shelf life and quantitative and qualitative characteristics of ‘Hayward’ kiwi fruit after harvesting with the use of blue light, SNP and arginine.

Material and Methods
Healthy and uniform fruits were selected and exposed to blue light (6, 12 and 24 h) at a wavelength range of 470 nm by LED lamps, SNP (0.5, 1 and 2 mM) and arginine (0.5, 1 and 2 mM). The experiment was performed in a completely random design with 10 treatments in 3 replications with 30 plots and 10 fruits per plot. After immersing the fruits at different levels of arginine, SNP and distilled water (control treatment), the surface of the fruits was dried and then sterilized. The fruits were monitored daily and their quantitative and qualitative properties were recorded during the experiment. Parameters of shelf life, tissue firmness, flavor index, loss of fresh weight, proline, ionic leakage, malondialdehyde (MDA), and dry matter, as well the activity of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymes were measured. Analysis of data obtained from sampling during the experimental period and laboratory were performed using SPSS statistical software and comparisons of means was done based on LSD statistical test.

Results and Discussion
The results showed that SNP at a concentration of 2 mM caused the highest shelf life (117.20 days) and the highest proline content (80.14 mg/kg) in kiwi fruits. The reason for this increased shelf life may be that SNP delays ethylene production process by activating the genetic and biochemical mechanisms, thus increase the postharvest life of ethylene-sensitive products. The highest firmness (4.56 kg/cm2) and the lowest fresh weight loss (1.26%) was obtained in fruits treated with 12 h of blue light. Some of the most important causes of this finding are that blue light delays the peak time of ethylene production, and as a fungal agent, reduces fruits decay after harvesting. The data showed that 12-h irradiation of blue light and 2 mM SNP caused a significant increase in the amount of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD and APX) of kiwifruit. Other traits such as flavor index, dry matter content, ion leakage and malondialdehyde were also measured. Blue light treatment can effectively reduce the decay of many fruits during postharvest storage. The study on kiwifruit showed that the qualitative treatments of different lights on various cultivars at different times had a significant effect on some physiological, morphological and gene expression traits. LED irradiation was found to be a suitable method for improving the quality of nutrients and the quality of flavor after harvest of some fruits. SNP was a good treatment to maintain fruit quality and improve disease resistance in kiwi cultivar ‘Bruno’ during storage. Fruits treatment with arginine is a promising technology to reduce cold and brown damages by stimulating the activity of antioxidant enzymes. Plant resistance to environmental stresses due to the use of arginine is in order to the effect of this substance on polyamine accumulation through increasing arginine decarboxylase and ornithine decarboxylase enzymes and increasing proline accumulation by enhancing ornithine amino-transferase enzyme activity as well as increasing nitric oxide through increasing the activity of nitric oxide synthase enzyme. Quality of kiwi fruit decreases during storage due to rapid softening and contamination with some fungi. In this study, effective treatments were used to reduce these complications. Overall, the results of this study showed that 2 mM SNP caused the highest shelf life. The highest firmness and the lowest fresh weight loss were observed in fruits treated with 12 h blue light. 12-h irradiation of blue light and 2 mM SNP caused a significant increase in the antioxidant enzymes of kiwifruit.

Introduction
Almond (Prunus amygdalus) is considered to be able to tolerate drought stress fairly well during all stages of growth. Water shortages are very frequent in many countries, and, together with the rising demand for the industry, the growth of the human population, climate change and specifically the trend towards irrigated agriculture, have led to widespread problems of water scarcity in most countries. Plant responses to water deprivation are usually monitored through selected morphological and physiological parameters which have been proven to be good indicators of drought in different studies. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) fluorescence, produced by the Chl a molecule after excitation by light, is a non-invasive and rapid biomarker for the assessment of stress (microbial and environmental) effects on PSII, as well as its structure and function. Fluorescence induction patterns and derived indices have been used as empirical diagnostic tools in stress physiology. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of water stress on chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in two almond genotypes. It is known that the kinetics of fluorescence transients are polyphasic when plotted on a logarithmic time scale labeled as OJIP. This curve rises from an initial low-value F0 (minimal fluorescence) to FJ (fluorescence value at 2 ms) and FI (fluorescence value at about 20–30 ms) and a peak of fluorescence FP (maximal fluorescence or Fm).
Materials and Methods
The Experiment was carried out under a completely randomized design with split arrangement having three replications. Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were determined by the method of Lichtenthaler (1986). Fresh leaves (1 g) were triturated in 80% acetone. The absorbance of the extracts was measured at 645, 663, and 470 nm using a spectrophotometer. Chlorophyll fluorescence was measured 40 days after the start of drought treatment. Full expanded leaves were selected from each plant for measurements. They were measured with a portable photosynthetic efficiency analyzer model (Hansatech, United Kingdom). Calculations were made with computer-assisted analysis using the SPSS 25 software.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that the maximum total fresh and dry mass was recorded in the Mamaei cultivar. The drought stress caused a significant reduction in a, b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids in Rabie (R) as well as Mamaei (M) cultivars but in general, M plants had higher content of pigments in comparison with R plants under drought stress. In both of cultivars, the potential efficiency of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm) was reduced with an increasing drought intensity. The reduction of Fv/Fm was accompanied by a decline in Fv and Fm. The VJ, relative variable fluorescence at J step (2 ms), was increased with increase in drought levels. Plants response to drought depends on PSII ability to respond to this stress. It has been reported that water limitation reduces the quantum yield of PSII electron transport, which in turn decreases the amount of light energy reaching the reaction centers. PSII plays a pivotal role in mediating oxygen evolution activity. In our study, we observed an interaction between cultivar and drought treatment, particularly evident in parameters such as Fm, Fv, Fv/Fm, and PI. Additionally, our findings revealed a robust correlation between the Pi index and total chlorophyll content (0.647), as well as the fresh (0.685) and dry (0.695) weight of plants. Furthermore, our results indicate that drought stress significantly impairs the growth of cultivars grafted on GN15 rootstock. This may be the outcome of the inhibition of water shortage on the photosynthetic apparatus. The results discovered that carotenoids were higher in M cultivar than R cultivar, carotenoids protect the photosynthetic apparatus from photooxidative damage. Protection is afforded by quenching of the triplet state of chlorophyll, thereby preventing the formation of harmful oxidative species. We also found the performance index is the parameter that better reflects the responses of the studied cultivars to progressive drought stress.
Conclusion
We applied chlorophyll fluorescence as a biomarker to assess the growth response and PSII behavior and performance of two almond cultivars to different drought levels. In conclusion, Mamaei was less affected by drought stress in terms of total Chl, Fv/Fm, PI, and total fresh and dry weight followed by Rabie. Differential responses among cultivars under drought stress treatments were observed regarding their capacity to induce PSII activity. Parameters derived from the JIP test proved effective in characterizing the degree of response to drought stress, with PI serving as a particularly responsive multi-parametric expression.

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.

Introduction
Borage (Borago officinalis L.) is a valuable annual medicinal herb suitable for cultivation in many countries, including Iran. Borage is considered as a native of both Europe and Asia. Several species around the world fall under the denomination of “borage”. The presence of the γ-linolenic acid in the seeds of borage makes borage distinctively important mainly for the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical research. γ-Linolenic acid is an omega -6 polyunsaturated fatty acid which cannot be synthesized in the body and hence falls into the category of essential fatty acids (Evesh et al., 2019).
Chemical fertilizer is an indispensable abiotic factor in agricultural production, especially nitrogen fertilizer. However, in order to improve the yield, people fertilize a lot, which not only wastes resources, but also brings a series of serious problems to the environment, such as greenhouse gas emissions, soil fertility degradation and water resources pollution. Therefore, developing new fertilizers, improving crop nutrient utilization efficiency, replacing chemical fertilizers and reducing environmental pollution is an important direction of agricultural sustainable developme (Zhang et al ., 2020).
Biochar is a carbon rich product formed by pyrolysis of agricultural and forestry wastes under limited air availability. It is generally alkaline in nature, with the characteristics of rich carbon content, large specific surface area and strong adsorption. Biochar addition can reduce soil bulk density and increase porosity, pH, water holding capacity and nutrient content. Additionally, the unique physical properties of biochar can also promote the colonization and growth of some specific microorganisms, which may participate in the mineralization of biochar and promote nutrient cycling. Therefore, biochar has been widely used on improving soil quality and increasing crop productivity. Biochar has a positive effect on root structure and nutrient absorption of plant. Several studies have shown biochar can significantly increase the root length, root biomass, root surface area and specific root length. The study also found that biochar significantly increased the number of plant root tips, the most active part of root, and then increased the ability of plants to absorb nutrients from soil (Zhang et al, 2020).

Materials and Methods
In order to evaluate the effect of damask rose waste (DRW), walnut green skin waste (WGW) and cow manure biochars on biochemical, physiological and yield characteristics of European borage, an experiment was carried out based on a completely randomized design at the greenhouse conditions in Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. The experimental treatments contain: without of biochar (control), biochars of cow manure (0.75%, 1.25%, 2.5% and 5% w/w), walnut green skin biochar (WGW) (0.75%, 1.25%, 2.5% and 5% w/w) and damask rose waste biochar (DRW) (0.75, 1.25, 2.5 and 5% w/w). The physicochemical properties of the biochars and soil were analyzed. Five seeds were planted in three-kilogram pots at a depth of 1.5 to 2 cm. The greenhouse was maintained at an average temperature of 25 °C during the day and 20 °C at night, with a relative humidity level of 60%. Upon concluding the experiment, various biochemical, physiological, and functional characteristics of European borage were assessed and measured.

Results and Discussion
The results showed that DRW (60%) and WGW (13%) biochars had the highest and lowest amount of stable organic carbon, respectively. The investigated treatments significantly (p≤ 0.01) affected the biochemical, physiological and performance traits of European borage. Application of DRW and manure biochars caused a significant (p ≤ 0.01) increase in yield and photosynthetic pigments of European borage compared to the control. Applying WGW biochar at the level of 2.5% increased the shoot dry weight of the plant by 119% compared to the control treatment. Application of 1.25% of cow manure biochar also increased the shoot dry weight by 29.7%. WGW biochar applying not only had no positive effect on the growth and yield of the European borage, but also lead the decreasing growth and prevent flower production of borage. The highest CAT activity related to applying 2.5% of DRW biochar and 1.25% of manure biochar. Application of WGW in concentration of 0.75% significantly increased the proline contents. Using biochar improves soil fertility.

Conclusion
In general, applying DRW biochar in concentration of 2.5% and cow manure biochar in concentration of 1.25% were the most suitable treatments.

Introduction
Rose is one of the important cut flowers, which has different types. Extending the vase life of rose-cut flowers is very important in the floriculture industry. Every year, due to the lack of proper storage conditions after harvesting, the efficiency of rose production decreases. Therefore, always using materials that help increase the shelf life of cut flowers is valuable. Today, substances that improve the quality of cut flowers are very important. They include materials such as calcium and silver. Nanoparticles are materials with sizes smaller than 100 nanometers. On the other hand, the important role of calcium and silver in improving quality of the cut flowers is interesting for scientists. In this research, the effect of pre-harvest application of calcium nanoparticles along with the post-harvest application of silver nanoparticles on the morpho-physiological characteristics of rose cut flowers (CV: Classic Cezanne) was investigated.

Material and Methods
The current research was carried out during the year 2021 in a commercial rose production greenhouse in Nazarabad city. calcium nanoparticles with different concentrations (0, 5 and 10 mg.L-1) were sprayed on rose bushes every ten days (two months before harvest). After harvesting the flowers and transferring them to the laboratory, silver nanoparticles were added to the flower preservation solution at different concentrations (0, 5 and 10 mg.L-1). After harvesting, the traits (vase life, flower diameter, fresh weight, vase solution uptake, total protein, malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase) were evaluated on the treated flowers (on days 0, 4, 8 and 12). Experiment was performed as factorial based on completely randomized design, included 9 treatments with 3 replications.

Results and Discussion
Based on the results of analysis of variance of treatment with calcium nanoparticles and silver nanoparticles for the quality of shelf life at the 1% level of Duncan's test, it showed a significant difference. Also, based on the results, the highest amount of vase life is related to the treatment of calcium nanoparticles with a concentration of 10 mg.L-1 with the silver nanoparticle treatment in the time after harvesting was at concentrations of 5 and 10 mg (11 days) and the lowest amount was related to the control treatment (7 days).Vase life increased under the effect of treatment with calcium nanoparticles and silver nanoparticles (10 mg.L-1) and caused an increase of 4 days compared to the control (0 mg.L-1) The treatments decreased the amount of malondialdehyde and also increased the relative amount of absorbed solution, total protein and superoxide dismutase enzyme. Based on the results of this study, calcium and silver nanoparticles improved qualitative traits. The simultaneous treatment of calcium and silver nanoparticles (concentration 10 mg.L-1) compared to the control (0 mg.L-1) caused an increase (14%) in flower diameter, fresh weight (12%), vase solution uptake (46%), superoxide dismutase (21%) and malondialdehyde reduction (37%). Two other important findings emerged from this work: (1) The nanoparticles used in this experiment caused the activation of the enzyme antioxidant system in the treatments (2) The simultaneous treatment of nanoparticles calcium before harvesting and silver nanoparticles treatment after harvesting by activating the antioxidant enzyme system and maintaining the ability to absorb the solution increased the vase life of rose cut flowers. In general, the treatment with calcium nanoparticles at a concentration of 10 mg. L-1 before harvesting and the treatment with silver nanoparticles at a concentration of 10 mg.L-1 after harvesting were the most effective treatments in most traits.

Conclusion
Calcium is one of the most effective factors in increasing the vase life of rose cut flowers. Treatments containing calcium increase absorption of vase solution uptake. The treatment of calcium nanoparticles increases the total protein and superoxide enzyme compared to the control, so that the simultaneous use of silver and calcium nanoparticles increases the vase life of rose-cut flowers compared to the control. Calcium probably activated a chain of reactions by activating the message transmission system and caused the expression of genes involved in the antioxidant system of the samples. silver nanoparticles by affecting the absorption of vase solution uptake and reducing the amount of malondialdehyde and increasing the total protein and superoxide dismutase enzyme compared to the control, increase the vase life of cut flowers. According to the results obtained from the present research, it can be concluded that use of calcium nanoparticles with silver nanoparticles had great effects on most of traits in compared to control treatment. The use of calcium nanoparticles with silver nanoparticles improves the vase life conditions by increasing water uptake and consequently increasing the relative fresh weight.

Introduction
The diverse and magnificent plant kingdom of the world is widely known for its medicinal importance. Natural substances obtained from medicinal plants and their plant extracts are used for the treatment of a lot of diseases in human pathology as well as plant pathology. Therefore, it is important to understand the relationship between medicinal plant species and their environment in terms of producing optimal secondary metabolites. Salvia officinalis L., which belongs to Lamiaceae family, as the main herb in the world is cultivated in many countries. Essential oil from S. officinalis aerial parts is used as raw material in pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. It has been known that different harvest times have a great effect on both quality and quantity of essential metabolites. Furthermore, the drying process, which is one of the post-harvest processes, is very expensive, but if it is done correctly, it significantly increases the efficiency and components of the essential oil after harvesting. In large-scale agriculture, S. officinalis raw materials needs a lot of space and high cost for drying process due to the large volume of material at harvest time. In this case, if it is possible to directly extract the essential oil with the desired quantity and quality from the fresh plant, the production cost will be significantly reduced from the economic point of view. For these reasons, it is necessary to determine optimum harvesting time(s) and plant material kinds affecting essential oil quantity and quality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the yield and quality of valuable medicinal plant essential oil of S. officinalis in different harvesting times of fresh and dried plants throughout the year in Fars province to determine the yield and quality of essential oil.

Materials and Methods
For these purposes, aerial parts of S. officinalis in full flowering stage were collected from selected plants from a 3-year farm located in Saadatshahr city of Fars province. A factorial experiment based on a completely randomized blocks design with three replications and two factors include three different harvesting times (5th of May, 26th of July and 5th of November, 2020) and two types of plant materials (fresh and dry) was performed in the farm. The essential oils of different S. officinalis samples were extracted by hydro-distillation using Clevenger apparatus and with three replications. The yields were calculated based on dry weight and the oils were analyzed by a combination of GC-FID and GC-MS techniques, to check for chemical variability based on British Pharmacopoeia. At the end of the experiment, data analysis was performed using SAS software (version: 9.4). The means were compared by Duncan's multi-range test at a statistical level of 1%.

Results and Discussion
The results of the current study revealed that the essential oil content of S. officinalis aerial parts harvested at different times and plant materials ranged from 0.19% to 1.18% (w/w). It was found that the interaction effects of harvesting times and plant materials on the essential oil yield was significant at the 1% probability level, and the comparison of the average interaction effects of harvesting times and plant materials showed that the highest essential oil yield of S. officinalis was related to the second harvesting time (26th of July, 2020) and the dry plant material (1.18 % w/w). Meanwhile, the lowest yield of essential oil (0.19% w/w) was obtained in the first harvesting time (5th of May, 2020) and in fresh plant material. 34 different constituents have been identified in which 22 compounds were common. Monoterpene hydrocarbons were the main group of compounds in all studied plant samples. The key compounds of essential oil were 1,8-cineol, α-thujone, β-pinene and camphor. The comparison of the average interaction effects of harvesting times and plant materials on the main compounds of the essential oil demonstrated that the interaction effects on α-thujone and camphor constituents were significant at the 1% probability level and for β-pinene were were significant at the 5% probability level. The results of this research showed that the yield of essential oil in dry plant materials was higher than in fresh plant materials and different harvesting times had a significant effect on the quantitative and qualitative performance of essential oil.

Conclusion
Eventually, the results obtained from this study showed that the quantity and quality of essential oil in S. officinalis were influenced by the different harvesting times and plant materials. In order to achieve the maximum quantity and quality of essential oil in this species, the best type of plant materials was dry plant material and the best harvesting times was the summer harvesting in the full flowering stage. Due to the fact that the performance of essential oil at different harvesting times fluctuates in terms of quantity and quality during the growing season, it is necessary to have the essential oil certificated from each harvest in order to successfully enter the market.

Background and objectives
Light is the main environmental factor for plant growth and development. Different attributes of light such as intensity, quality and duration affect plant growth and productivity. Light spectrum of growing environment is a determinant factor for plant growth and photosynthesis. The photosynthetic reactions are directly affected by various light parameters including its spectrum and intensity. Photosystem I and II (PSI and PSII) in the electron transport chain of photosynthetic apparatus are involved in converting solar energy to chemical compounds in plants. It has been found that the PSII is sensitive to light quality. Using The OJIP test, we can investigate the efficiency of various biological phases of the electron transport system. Light sources such as metal-halide, fluorescent, high-pressure sodium, neon lamps and light-emitting diode (LED) can be used for production of plants in closed environments instead of sunlight. Manipulation of the light spectrum of the lamps could trigger potential benefits by enhancing plant growth. Nowadays, by using the LED technology, it is possible to study the physiological effect of different light spectra for optimization of growth conditions and for increase the production of plants in controlled environments. This research was conducted to investigate photosynthetic apparatus, growth parameters, stomatal characteristics, transpiration rate and essential oil content of Salvia officinalis under different light spectra.

Materials and Methods
In this study, the effects of different light spectra were implemented and performed as a pot experiment using soilless media in the plant growth chamber based on a completely randomized design with 6 lighting spectra including White, Blue, Red and three combinations of R and B lights (R30:B70, R50:B50 and R70:B30) with three replications. The light intensity in all growth chambers was adjusted to photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 250 ±10 μmol m-2s-1 and light spectrum were monitored using a sekonic light meter (Sekonic C-7000, Japan). Growth condition was set at 14/10 h day/night cycles, 25/22oC day/night temperatures and 40% relative humidity. Three month following plant growth under different light spectra, the plants were evaluated for their growth parameters, stomatal characteristics (stomatal length, stomatal width, pore length or aperture) transpiration rate (E), relative water content (RWC), photosynthetic apparatus (evaluation of OJIP) and essential oil content. Data analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using IBM SAS software (Version 9.1) and the differences between means were assessed using Duncan’s multiple range tests at p≤ 0.05.

Results
The results showed that the stomata characteristics, photosynthetic performance, growth characteristics and essential oil content of Salvia officinalis were affected by different light spectra. Increasing the ratio of red light especially combined Red and Blue lights (R70:B30) led to the improvement of growth characteristics. Transient induction of chlorophyll fluorescence showed that the highest fluorescence intensities at all OJIP steps were detected in Red light. The lowest Fv/F0 and Fv/Fm were obtained in plants grown under Red light. Occurrence of leaf epinasty and decrease in Fv/Fm indicative of phenomenon of red light syndrome in the plants under Red treatment. Red light caused a reduction in performance index per absorbed light efficiency of (PIABS) and increase in quantum energy dissipation (ΦD0), light absorption (ABS/RC) and electron trapping (TR0/RC) per reaction center. The highest Fv/F0, Fv/Fm and PIABS were obtained under combination of Red and Rlue light. The highest ΦE0 was also detected in combination of Red and Blue light. The narrow and large stomatal apertures were detected under Red and Blue light, respectively. The highest transpiration rate was achieved in plants grown under Blue light LED. Increasing the ratio of Red light resulted in reduction in transpiration rate and improvement of leaf capacity to control water loss via reducing the opening of stomata. The highest amount of essential oil (1/75% v/w) was achieved in plants exposed to combination of Red:Blue light spectra (R70:B30).
Conclusion
light spectrum during plant growth can change plant metabolism, LED can be used in favor of producing good-quality food in controlled environment agriculture due to their ease of application, waveband manipulation and limited heat production. Our result showed that photosynthetic apparatus, growth parameters, stomatal characteristics, transpiration rate, relative water content and essential oil content of plants were considerably influenced by light spectra. Using OJIP test confirmed that plants grown under monochromatic Red and Blue lights were less efficient to successfully transfer the excitons and most of the absorbed energy by the photosystems was dissipated as heat. In conclusion, combined Red and Blue lights (especially R70:B30) caused favorable growth, photosynthetic functionality and maximum essential oil content of Salvia officinalis. Therefore, combination of R and B lights (R70:B30) should be considered for production of Salvia officinalis under artificial light systems during commercial controlled environment production of plants.

Introduction
Low temperature storage is the most important method used to preserve harvested products. Keeping products at low temperatures, above the freezing point up to 10 degrees Celsius, can cause frost damage in fruits and vegetables, especially tropical and subtropical products. The use of heat treatments as safe, organic and alternative physical methods is increasing, these treatments are used to maintain the quality after harvesting and also to prevent frostbite of garden products. Also, one of the recommended methods to reduce fruit waste is to increase the calcium concentration of the fruit by using calcium solutions. Calcium is one of the most important mineral elements that is involved in determining the quality of the fruit and its shelf life. Studies conducted on the use of nano fertilizers in some species of fruit trees has shown their potential role in improving the yield of the product and the physical and chemical properties of the fruitThis study was conducted to investigate the effect of postharvest treatments of calcium chloride and nano chelated calcium fertilizers on chilling injury and physiological characteristics of local orange fruits stored at 2 ±0.5° C and 85% relative humidity for 60 to 120 days.

Materials and Methods
In this research, orange fruits of the local cultivar Citrus sinensis at the stage of commercial maturity based on the taste index (10TSS/TA⋍) were prepared from Darab city of Fars province and transferred to the Physiology Laboratory of Horticultural Sciences Department of Shiraz University. Then the fruits were disinfected with 2% sodium hypochlorite and washed with distilled water. Treatments included calcium chloride and nano chelated calcium fertilizers at different concentrations of zero, 3 and 6 dissolved in cold water (20°C) and hot water at 45 °C for 25 and 15 min, respectively. Sampling was done on days 60 and 120. To simulate shelf life conditions, before measuring the parameters, the fruits were kept at laboratory temperature for two days. In this research, the changes in fruit tissue firmness, freezing index, weight loss percentage, soluble solids, total acidity, ascorbic acid, ion leakage, potassium ion leakage, malondialdehyde, calcium content of fruit skin and flesh, fruit color, catalase enzymes and peroxidase were measured. Data analysis was done using SAS software version 4.9 and comparison of averages was done by LSD test at 5% probability level.

Results and Discussion
There was a significant difference between nano chelated calcium and calcium chloride in calcium enrichment in pulp and fruit skin Calcium chloride and nano chelated calcium treatments dissolved in hot water reduced weight loss, soluble solids content, acidity, ascorbic acid, ion leakage and malondialdehyde and the activity of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and peroxidase. Nano chelated calcium increased calcium content by 44% in fruit skin and up to 41% in fruit pulp compared to calcium chloride. Nano chelated calcium 3 and 6 % showed more stability in fruit weight (159 and 400%, respectively) compared to calcium chloride after two months of storage. After 60 and 120 days of storage, the content of ascorbic acid in fruits treated with 6 nano chelated calcium was 73% higher than calcium chloride. Nano chelated calcium 3 % compared to calcium chloride prevented 39.6 of potassium ion leakage during 60 days of storage. The amount of ascorbic acid in the 3% and 6% nano calcium treatment and the tissue hardness in the 3% nano calcium chelate treatment after two months of storage were estimated to be higher than the control and calcium chloride. Calcium nano chelate 6% improved the calcium content of fruit flesh and skin due to increased permeability. Warm water pretreatment with calcium compounds is an efficient and recommendable treatment for the preservation of orange fruits in cold storage conditions due to the improvement and reduction of the severity of the increase in indicators related to the occurrence of frost damage in the skin of fruits.

Conclusion
One of the primary concerns during storage is the loss of fruit weight. Calcium nano chelate, in comparison to the control and calcium chloride treatments, exhibited the least weight loss over the two months of storage. This is attributed to the critical role of calcium in influencing the shelf life of fruits. It was observed that immersing fruits in calcium compounds dissolved in hot water and utilizing 6% nano chelated calcium had a significant positive impact on enhancing and preserving the quality of orange fruits during cold storage.

Introduction
Given the economic importance of growing flowers and plants in the world, the use of new technologies and methods in the improvement of ornamental plants in order to market them can play a significant role in marketing of these products and their trade in the international markets. Marigold (Tagetes spp.), is an annual and essential plant that is cultivated as an ornamental plant in many parts of the world (Neher, 1968). But in recent years, marigolds have been used as a commercial source of essential oils, biological compounds, pigments and cosmetics (Anonymous, 1976), control of malaria mosquitoes (Wanzala and Ogoma, 2013), antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, antimicrobial, antimicrobial (Senatore and Feo, 1999), and control of nematode (Prasad et al., 1992). Anther or microspore culture is known to be an effective method for producing haploid plants (Henry and De Baizer, 1980). Hybrid seed production requires pure line (as a parent), and the double haploid method can reduce the production period of pure lines to 5-6 years. Production of hybrid seeds in this valuable plant is of great importance, and the double haploid method can be important in this regard.

Materials and Methods
In the anther culture of marigold, a culture medium containing 0.2 mg/l of Naphthalene acetic acid and 1 mg /l of 6-Benzylaminopurine was used. In this study, the effect of genotype, bud size and mannitol on androgenesis induction of marigold anthers was evaluated during two separate experiments. A factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with two factors including genotype at 5 levels (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5) and bud size at three levels (3-5, 5-10 and 10-15 mm) for first experiment. The second experiment was also performed as a factorial in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. In the recent experiment, the first factor included the method of mannitol application and the second factor included the different concentrations of mannitol (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 M). The factor of application method was in 2 levels: 1: adding different concentrations of mannitol to the solid culture medium and 2: pre-treating the anthers with the liquid culture medium containing different concentrations of mannitol for 24 hours. The T4 genotype was used in the second experiment.

Results
In the first experiment, the effect of different bud sizes and 5 different genotypes on callus formation, mean number of shoot per anther, mean number of shoot per callus and percentage of complete plant regeneration in anther culture of marigold were studied. The results of this experiment showed that buds with the length of 5-10 mm have anthers which their microspores are at the proper growth and development stage for callogenesis and shoot production. The T3 and T4 genotypes, (both of them belonging to French species, Tagetes patula), produced the highest percentage of plant regeneration among the various cultivars. In the second experiment, we explored the impact of mannitol treatment on androgenic traits in marigold anther culture. Specifically, we examined two concentrations: 0.1 M and 0.2 M mannitol, both applied in the form of solid culture medium. Additionally, we investigated two concentrations, 0.0 M and 0.2 M mannitol, when applied as a pre-treatment in a liquid medium containing mannitol. These treatments yielded the highest percentage of callus formation. While the pre-treatment of anthers with a liquid culture medium containing 0.5 M mannitol led to the highest mean number of shoot per anther and the mean number of shoots per callus. Also, the pre-treatment with liquid medium containing 0.2 M mannitol showed the highest percentage of complete plant regeneration.

Conclusion
Results showed that in marigold, buds with the size of 5-10 mm contained microspores with mid-uninucleate stage to early bi-nucleate stage showed the highest response to the induction of androgenesis. Also, T3 and T4 genotypes belong to the French species showed the highest response to the regeneration. In another experiment, the pre-treatment of anthers with 0.2 and 0.5 M mannitol by using mannitol in a liquid culture medium for 24 hours, respectively showed the highest percentage of complete plant regeneration and the highest mean number of shoot per callus and anther. Chromosome counting results showed that 3 out of 5 examined plants were dihaploid and had 24 chromosomes in their root tip cells, while examined mother plants were tetraploid and showed 48 chromosomes in their root tip cells.

Introduction
Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) as one of the invaluable medicinal plants, is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry due to its vitamins, mucilage, antioxidants, alkaloids and phenolic compounds. South Khorasan province is the most important area of jujube fruit production in Iran. Optimum supply of nutrients in fruit trees can increase fruit quality. Calcium is one of the most important elements that can affect quantity, quality, storability and marketability of many horticultural crops. Due to the relatively high amount of lime in the agricultural soils of South Khorasan province, the amount of calcium in these soils is almost high. However, due to low mobility of calcium from soil to plant, calcium deficiency is common in horticultural plants. Also, potassium is required for cellular osmotic and ionic balances, electrochemical processes, neutralization of organic acids, regulation of stomatal function, cell division, enzyme activation, protein synthesis, as well as the synthesis and translocation of sugars. Foliar spraying is an effective way to supply nutrients needed by plants, especially in calcareous soils with high pH. In this method, nutrients are directly available to different parts of the plant in a short period of time. Studies have shown that leaf feeding with calcium and potassium can be useful for increasing the qualitative characteristics of fruit in most products, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Nevertheless, little information is available regarding the foliar application of this element on jujube plant. Hence, the current research was aimed to investigate the effects of foliar application of calcium chloride and potassium sulfate on physicochemical properties and quality of fresh jujube fruit.

Materials and Methods
In order to investigate the effect of foliar application of calcium chloride and potassium sulfate on the physical and biochemical properties of the fruit of the jujube plant, two separate factorial experiment was conducted in the form of a randomized complete block design in three replications in two areas of Siojan and Mazhan, Khosef city in 2022. Experimental treatments included calcium chloride (0, 0.5 and 1%) and potassium sulfate (0, 0.1 and 0.3%). Fresh fruit was harvested at a crisp mature (white-red) stage mid in August. Data were analysed using SAS software (ver. 9.4) and comparison of means was made with LSD test at 1 and 5% probability.

Results and Discussion
The results of analysis of variance showed that calcium chloride foliar application in Siojan garden had significant effect on the physical and biochemical characteristics of jujube fruit. So that the highest fresh weight (4.07 gr), dry weight (1.89 gr), length (29.11 mm), diameter (21.52 mm) and texture firmness (18.81 N/cm2) of fruit were obtained from the level of 0.5% calcium chloride. Also, the foliar spraying treatment with 0.5% calcium chloride had the highest amount of carotenoid and total phenol in the fruit. The highest amount of calcium and potassium in the fruit was obtained from the level of 1% calcium chloride. The effect of foliar application of calcium chloride on physical and biochemical properties of jujube fruit in Mazhan garden was significant. In Mazhan garden, the highest fresh weight (3.9 gr), dry weight (1.37 gr), length (28.41 mm), diameter (20.91 mm) and texture firmness (18.61 N/cm2) of fruit were obtained from foliar application of 0.5% calcium chloride. The highest amount of carotenoids (0.443 mg/100 g of fresh weight) and phenol (9.53 mg of gallic acid per 100 g of fresh weight) in Mazhan garden was obtained from the level of 0.5% calcium chloride. The content of calcium and potassium of jujube fruit in Mazhan region was maximized with the application of 1% calcium chloride. The results showed that the application of potassium sulfate in Siojan garden had an significant effect on the physical and biochemical characteristics of the fruit. The highest fresh weight (3.63 gr) and dry fruit weight (1.89 gr), length and diameter and texture firmness  of fruit was obtained from the level of 0.3% potassium sulfate. Also, the highest amount of biochemical indices of jujube fruit in Siojan garden was obtained from the level of 0.3% potassium sulfate. The interaction effect of foliar application of calcium chloride and potassium sulfate on fresh and dry fruit weight, fruit length and carotenoids of fruit in Siojan garden was significant. In Mazhan garden, the fresh and dry weight of fruit, amount of carotenoids and total phenol of fruit were affected by the interaction effect of experimental treatments, and the highest level of these characteristics was obtained from the level of 0.5% calcium chloride and 0.3% potassium sulfate.

Conclusion
The results of foliar spraying of calcium chloride and potassium sulfate in both studied orchards showed that these treatments, both solely and in combination, had a positive and significant effect on various characteristics of jujube fruit. So the highest physical and biochemical characteristics of the fruit were obtained from the simultaneous application of 0.5% calcium chloride and 0.3% potassium sulfate. Therefore, Based on the results of this research, foliar spraying 0.5% calcium chloride and 0.3% potassium sulfate can have an effective role in increasing the quantity and quality of jujube fruit.

Introduction
Iran is undoubtedly one of the most important and potential areas of fruit production in the world due to having diverse climatic zones and also the existence of different cultivars and rich germplasm for many horticultural products. Meanwhile, cherries are very important because of their good taste, high nutritional value and short ripening period. Despite the relatively high production, Iran ranks 46th among cherry exporting countries, which can be attributed to the non-uniformity of cultivars in orchards and mixed cultivation of several cultivars, lack of attention to the incompatibility of cherries and the lack of suitable pollinizer, the drought, the lack of availability of cultivars and rootstocks suitable for climate and soil changes, pest damage, etc. At present, in Khorasan-Razavi province, Takdane cherry trees have not yield well, which experts have sometimes attributed to self-incompatibility or lack of proper pollinizer. The gardener spends a lot of money to build a orchard that is not profitable; Therefore, instead of cutting down the trees, it is suggested to do grafting and in one turn, to replace the cultivars of your orchards with cultivars suitable for the region, which have good yield, quantitative and qualitative characteristics, and are self-fertile. Top-working is a new approach to increasing the productivity of old orchards, rejuvenating and changing their varieties. With this aim, a research was conducted in Razavi Khorasan province over three years.

Matherial and Methods
This project was carried out in three regions of Chenaran, Neishabur and Torghabeh Shandiz and included three independent experiments. After the growth of scion, the degree of adaptation and percentage of grafting success, vegetative growth of scion, beginning of fruiting, yield, and economic evaluation were investigated. In the first experiment, in order to determine the type of grafting and the cultivar on the success and percentage of grafting, a factorial experiment was used in the form of a randomized complete block design in three replications and each replication included 3 transplants. The first factor was grafting type in two levels (bark grafting and cleft grafing) and the second factor was cultivar in three levels (Stella, Sweetheart and Sunburst). In the second experiment, the evaluation of the effect of tree age and type of grafting on success percentage of grafting was carried out. In order to carry out this stage of the factorial experiment, two factors were used. The first factor was tree age at two levels (10 and 20 years) and the second factor was the type of graft (bark grafting and cleft grafing) used. In the third experiment, the effect of nurse branch and cultivar on the percentage of grafting success was investigated. This stage was a two factorial experiment where the first factor was the presence or absence of the nurse branch and the second factor was the cultivar in three levels (Stella, Sunburst, Sweetheart), used.

Result and Discussion
The results of first experiment showed that the Sunburst cultivar with the highest percentage (86.8%) and the Stella cultivar had the lowest percentage (64.3%) of grafting success. This result is consistent with the reports of Soleimani et al. (2008) who found that the success percentage of different cultivars were significantly different from each other. Also, cleft grafting had a higher percentage than bark grafting. Therefore, cleft grafting was more successful at 65% than bark grafting at 13%. These results are consistent with the findings of Mahmouzadeh (2012), who reported that the cleft graft had a higher percentage of success  other than bark grafting.
The results of second experiment showed that as the age of the tree increased, the percentage of grafting decreased greatly. The grafting percentage was about 68% in young trees and 8% in trees over 25 years old. Based on this, it is not recommended to perform branch grafting in old trees. The results of third experiment showed that the maintenance of the nurse branch in the cherry tree does not have a significant effect on grafting. The grafting percentage was about 78% in trees without nurse branches and about 63% in trees with nurse branches. Based on this, it is not recommended to keep the nurse branch in the cherry branch.
Analysis of variance of the simple and mutual effects of year and branching location on grafting percentage of cherry trees was significant at 1% level and it was found that the percentage of grafting was higher in the second year than the first year due to the skills of transplanters. Also, the percentage of graftng success in Torghabeh and Shandiz, was higher than Chenaran and Neishabur. These results are in agreement with the findings of Mng'omba et al. (2010) who reported that grafting success largely depends on the skill of the transplanters, is consistent.

Conclusion
In general, Top-working in sweet cherry trees is recommended in order to change the variety of the orchard and also, improve the productivity of the orchard.

Introduction
Pepper is a rich source of essential vitamins and minerals. Like tomatoes, pepper plays an important role in preventing heart diseases due to its high amount of antioxidants. Fruit yield is a complex trait that is not only controlled by several genes, but also greatly influenced by the environment. On the other hand, fruit yield is affected by a large number of other traits and their interaction. Therefore, it is very important for plant breeders to know the relationships between these traits and their interaction effects. The path coefficient analysis is a method that clarifies the relationships between traits and their direct and indirect effects on fruit yield. In this method, the correlation coefficient between two attributes is divided into components that measure direct and indirect effects. Considering the limited studies regarding the evaluation of relationships between fruit yield and other traits affecting fruit yield in pepper, this research was conducted with the aim of identifying these important relationships and evaluating their direct and indirect effects in Iranian pepper populations.

Materials and Methods
In order to carry out this research, the seeds of 30 Iranian pepper accessions were collected directly from the farmers. The experiment was conducted in the form of pot cultivation in the research greenhouse of the Faculty of Agriculture of Urmia University in a completely randomized design with five replications during 2015-2016. After the flowering stage, the desired traits were estimated. Variance analysis was estimated, after examining the basic hypotheses of variance analysis by SAS9.4, as well as the genotypic and phenotypic correlation between traits based on the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) procedure in the SAS9.4 software. Step-by-step regression analysis was used to determine the traits with the most variation justified the fruit yield. The Durbin-Watson test was performed to investigate the independence of experimental errors. Analysis of path coefficients was performed based on the results of stepwise regression and genotypic correlation of traits in the R V.4.0.5.

Results and Discussion
In order to understand the relationships between traits and use them in breeding programs, the phenotypic correlation was estimated.  In this study based on the results of phenotypic correlation, leaf width and leaf length (0.651), single fruit weight and fruit circumference (0.784), fruit circumference and fruit diameter (0.625) and pulp weight and fruit diameter (0.610), showed positive and significant correlation. The purpose of estimating genotypic correlation coefficient is to determine relationships in conditions which in environmental factors are not involved. In the investigation of genotypic correlation, a positive, strong and significant relationship between fruit yield and pulp weight (0.907), fruit circumference (0.891), fruit diameter (0.697), single fruit weight (0.646) and around the plant (0.381) were observed. Given that most of these traits are factors contributing to fruit yield, the presence of such positive and significant genotypic correlation coefficients is reasonable. It can be inferred that pepper accessions with higher fruit characteristics, encompassing factors such as plant density and branching, are likely to exhibit higher fruit yields as well. It's important to note that correlation coefficients are mathematical tools used to measure the linear relationship between two variables. Their significance lies in their mathematical interpretation, and as such, they alone do not provide sufficient proof of a cause-and-effect relationship. Utilizing the results of stepwise regression, less impactful traits or those with minimal effects were eliminated from the model. As a result, seven key traits were identified as the most influential factors affecting fruit yield: pulp weight, plant density, fruit diameter, fruit count, plant height, total seed weight, and branch count.The first characteristic was pulp weight, which was included in the model and explained 78.8% of the fruit yield changes between genotypes. The second characteristic (around the plant) along with pulp weight explained 80.9% of the fruit yield variations. Fruit diameter, together with the previous two characteristics, explained 81.5% of fruit yield variations. In total, the traits included in the model for fruit yield justified 84.6% of the total changes in fruit yield in 30 pepper accessions. In order to better understanding and more accurately interpret of the results, as well as to know the direct and indirect effects and the effect of the traits that were entered into the model through stepwise regression, the path coefficient analysis method was used in this research. Fruit diameter (0.709) and pulp weight (0.289) respectively showed the most positive and direct effect on fruit yield. Fruit pulp weight through fruit diameter had the most positive indirect effect (0.595) on fruit yield. Around the plant showed an indirect positive effect on fruit yield through pulp weight (0.157), fruit diameter (0.392) and number of branches (0.080).

Conclusion
In the present study, the trait of fruit diameter had a positive, strong and significant genotypic correlation (0.697) with fruit yield, and it also showed a positive direct effect (0.709) on fruit yield, these two coefficients can be considered equal, Approximately. Therefore, direct selection based on fruit diameter proves to be a valuable strategy for enhancing fruit yield. The magnitude of residual effects serves as an indicator of the model's accuracy in path analysis. When this value is substantial, it may be advisable to incorporate additional causal variables into the model. In the current study, the residual effects value (0.213) affirms the model's optimal accuracy.This research highlights the effectiveness of employing stepwise multivariate regression and path coefficient analysis to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental relationships between traits. It underscores that relying solely on correlation relationships is insufficient for comprehensively justifying the associations between these traits.

Introduction
Confronting the crisis of water scarcity and the looming challenge of dwindling water resources is undeniably a grave concern. Consequently, the focus of agricultural science researchers has shifted towards the utilization of wastewater. One of the notable advantages of incorporating wastewater in agriculture is the potential to curtail the expenses associated with procuring irrigation water and employing chemical fertilizers.

Materials and Methods
Sari has a longitude and latitude of 53°01′ E and 36°33′ N, respectively, and its weather conditions are humid according to De-marten's climate classification. Its elevation is 21 above sea level and average annual temperature and precipitation, are17.9 ºC and 650 mm, respectively). In order to evaluate the effect of water stress and urban wastewater on the concentration of heavy metals, yield and some characteristics of basil, an experiment in a factorial format based on a completely randomized design with experimental treatments including; The first factor is the source of irrigation (I): [treated wastewater (TWW) and well water (WW)], and the second factor is water stress (S): [the lowest stress (S1, S2), medium stress (S3, S4) and severe stress (S5, S6)] were performed in three replications at the research farm of Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (SANRU), Iran. Finally, the obtained data were analyzed using ANOVA of SAS9.2, and the SNK post hoc test was employed to compare treatment means.

Results and Discussion
Based on the findings, Irrigation with wastewater increased plant height, stem diameter, fresh and dry weight compared to irrigation with well water. So that the highest plant height, stem diameter, wet and dry weight were related to irrigation with wastewater with 44.3 cm, 3.1 mm, 8.5 and 3.3 g, respectively. Also, the effect of using treated wastewater on chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids was significant (P ≤ 0.01). while it did not have significant effect on flavonoid, phenol and antioxidant activity. In the lowest stress, especially the S1 level, the amount of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid, flavonoid, phenol and antioxidant activity compared to the S6 level decreased by 63.3, 32.8, 40.7, 45.8, 46.3, 55.5, and 9.8%, respectively. while the highest amount of plant height, fresh weight, dry weight and stem diameter at the S1 level was observed with 48.6 cm, 11.5 g, 3.51 g and 3.4 mm, respectively. The result shown that the Pb and Cd concentration in basil under irrigation with wastewater was 3.4 and 2.5 mg.kg-1, respectively, which increased by 13 and 9% compared to well water. Water stress affected the Pb and Cd concentration, but the Cr and Ni concentration did not change significantly. The highest Pb and Cd concentration was related to high stress level S5 and medium stress level S4 and the lowest level was observed in the lowest stress levels (S1 and S2). Also, the results showed that the Pb and Cd concentration was affected by the interaction effect of irrigation source and water stress. Thus, the highest Pb concentration was observed in irrigation with wastewater and water stress levels S4 and S5 with 3.41 and 3.40 mg.kg-1, respectively, and the lowest was related to irrigation with well water and water stress level S1 with 2.2 mg.kg-1. The highest Cd concentration was related to irrigation with wastewater and stress levels S4 and S5 with 2.6 and 2.5 mg/kg, respectively, and the lowest amount were observed in well water irrigation and stress levels S1 and S2, with 1.51 and 1.50 mg.kg-1, respectively. while the Cr and Ni concentrations did not significant.

Conclusion
Based on the findings of this research, irrigation with treated wastewater and application of water stress had significant effect on the morphological and phytochemical characteristics of basil. while the use of treated wastewater was ineffective on the biochemical characteristics of basil and only water stress conditions affected their levels. The Pb and Cd concentration in basil increased under the influence of irrigation with wastewater and water stress levels. But this increase was lower than the standards authorized reported by the researchers and did not cause much concern. the results shown that the water stress levels S4 and S5 can be considered appropriate in water efficiency and recommend the use of treated wastewater in basil irrigation considering the authorized standards.

Introduction
Tomato is a self-pollinated crop and has a high potential for heterosis production. Tomato has a wide range of diversity in terms of vegetative and fruit traits. Therefore, learning information about the genetics of the tomato plant and the inheritance of its various traits to the next generation will help plant breeders to use appropriate breeding methods to improve them. One of the methods that is used to know the genetic structure of plants, identify parental lines and determine their combining ability is line × tester analysis. Line × tester analysis provides information about general and specific combining of parents and can be useful in estimating different types of gene effects such as additive and non-additive effects. In most of the developed countries, many researches have been done in relation to hybrid production and combining ability among tomato lines, and sometimes the inferred results are different from each other. In Iran, few studies have been done about crossing cultivars and their hybrids, and most of the seeds used by farmers are imported from other countries. Therefore, this study intends to evaluate genetic variance components, general and specific combining ability of some quantitative traits in a number of tomato lines and testers and their hybrids by using line × tester analysis.

Materials and Methods
This research was conducted in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Mazandaran Province, Iran in 2022. Two modified cultivars SC and V as lines and three modified cultivars L, R and MZ as testers were crossed with each other to create F1 hybrids. Six F1 genotypes and their parents (11 treatments in total) were cultivated in the farm in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The evaluated traits included the number of days to the first flowering, earliness, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight per plant (g), fruit yield (g), fruit length and width (cm). In order to analyze the variance of the experimental design to search for diversity between treatments, to separate the effects of treatments into their components based on line × tester analysis, to mean comparison with Duncan's test, and also to calculate the general and specific combining ability, R statistical software was used. Also, in order to calculate additive and non-additive variances, Singh and Chaudhary's method was used.

Results and Discussion
The results of line × tester variance analysis showed that the mean squares of parents and testers were significant for all traits except fruit length and width, and the mean squares of crosses and lines were significant for all traits except fruit length. The effect of line × tester was significant for all traits except the number of fruits per plant and fruit length. The line of SC to improve the number of days to first flowering, earliness, plant height, fruit weight per plant, and fruit width, and the line of V to improve the number of fruit per plant were the best general combiners with testers. The tester of L for improve all traits except yield, and the tester of MZ for improve plant height were the best general combiners with the maternal lines. Among the crosses, the SC×L cross for improve earliness and fruit width, and the SC×R and V×MZ crosses for improve plant height and fruit weight per plant, respectively, were favorable specific combiners. The mean comparison of the genotypes for some important traits showed that among the parental cultivars, the line of SC and among the crosses, the SC×L genotype had the lowest means for the number of days to first flowering and earliness. Also, the line of SC for the number of fruits per plant and the SC×L genotype for fruit weight per plant, yield and fruit width had the highest means. Also, the estimation of additive and non-additive variances indicated that in plant height and fruit weight per plant traits, additive variance plays the main role. While for the traits of the number of days to first flowering, earliness and yield, the contribution of non-additive variance was more than the additive variance.

Conclusion
According to the results obtained from this study, in future projects it is recommended to use parents that have significant general combining ability (GCA) for traits. Because such parents easily transfer the trait to their next generation. In this way, the line of SC was a good general combiner for the number of days to first flowering, earliness, plant height, fruit weight per plant and fruit width, and the line of V was a good general combiner for the number of fruits per plant. Among the testers, the tester of L was a good general combiner for improve the number of days to first flowering, earliness, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight per plant, and fruit width, and the tester of MZ recorded a high GCA for the plant height. Also, for the improvement of earliness and fruit width, the SC×L cross and for plant height and fruit weight per plant, SC×R and V×MZ crosses were favorable specific combiner. Mean comparison of genotypes showed that the SC×L cross is superior to its parents for the number of days to first flowering, earliness, fruit weight per plant, fruit yield, and fruit length and width. The traits of plant height and fruit weight per plant are more affected by additive variance, so the best breeding method to improve plant height and fruit weight per plant is selection from among the segregating population. The traits of number of days to first flowering, earliness and yield were affected by non-additive variance, so hybrid production is recommended to improve the mentioned traits.

Introduction
To specify the diversity of pepper plant (Capsicum ssp.) population and the inheritance of fruit characteristics for use in seed production breeding programs, there is a need for a diverse population in terms of the characteristics affecting fruit yield. By a large variety of options available for each product, there is a greater probability of selecting the best decision. A population's genetic variety may be used in several ways, including selection and hybridization. Pepper is a plant belonging to the genus Capsicum and the family Solanaceae. It is cultivated globally, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. The genus Capsicum contains more than 30 wild and domestic species, which are classified according to flower structure, fruit, and the number of chromosomes (2n= 24, 26).

Materials and Methods
To compare different pepper species based on fruit morphology, a greenhouse experiment was conducted under hydroponic conditions in Zarandieh region, Markazi province, in a completely randomized design with three repetitions in 2021. The seeds of 42 pepper genotypes from 7 species were obtained from Gene Bank of Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK). Initially, the seeds were sown in dedicated planting trays. Once the seedlings had grown six leaves, they were transplanted to the main greenhouse. Within the greenhouse, the rows of cultivation were spaced 160 cm apart, with a 25 cm gap between individual plants. Each genotype was represented by ten plants. Throughout the growing season, the plants were managed by maintaining two branches and removing any surplus ones. In this research, the following characteristics were evaluated: fruit production across three harvests, fruit weight, fruit length and diameter, fruit flesh thickness, fruit flavor (spicy or sweet), unripe fruit color, and ripe fruit color. Descriptive statistics of evaluated trait, including mean, minimum and maximum traits and the percentage of phenotypic and genotypic diversity coefficients, heritability, and the analysis of variance and comparison of means, were used to analyze the data.

Results and Discussion
A diverse collection of pepper was evaluated due to the fruit morphological traits and significant differences among different genotypes in terms of these traits. The average fruit weight of the assessed population was 26.54 g. The minimum and maximum fruit weights of 152.70 and 0.13 g were related to genotypes 409 and 276, respectively. Genotype 318, with an average weight of 144.20 g, was not significantly different from genotype 409. Both genotypes were of the species annuum, but were in two separate groups regarding fruit morphology. The heritability rate of fruit weight was 93%, which is consistent with the results of Usman et al. (2014). Length, diameter and length to diameter ratio (fruit morphology index) are the most important factors in marketing pepper fruit. The mean fruit length, diameter and morphology index were 6.35, 2.57 cm and 3.04, respectively. The highest fruit length was related to genotypes 296 and 318 at 26.33, 20.20 and 19 cm, while the lowest fruit length was 0.70, related to genotype 277. The genotypes with the highest lengths were long pepper and Kapia sweet pepper, respectively, and the genotypes with the shortest lengths tasted spicy. Genotypes 409, 200, 318, 326, 272 and 348 had the largest diameter with 6.50, 6.23, 5.80, 5.67, 5.60 and 5.30 cm, respectively. These genotypes are bell, round, Kapia, triangular, triangular, round and sweet in terms of morphology. The smallest fruit diameter belonged to genotype 293 (0.30 cm), and the nineteen genotypes with a diameter of less than 2 cm did not differ significantly from 293. Twenty genotypes with the smallest fruit diameter have a pungent flavor (Table 1). The range of the fruit morphology index was from 0.56 to 8.99. The lowest and highest values were associated with genotypes 342 and 296, respectively (Table 3). The fruit of genotype 296 was sweet, whereas the fruit of genotype 342 was spicy. The heritability of length, diameter and fruit morphology index were 0.97, 0.97 and 0.98%, respectively. The lowest and highest numbers of fruits per plant in each hand-harvest were 1 and 67 fruits, respectively, belonging to genotypes 342 and 326. However, regarding shallow length, diameter, pulp thickness and, consequently, the low weight of the fruit in genotype 342, an almost low yield of this genotype was obtained in three harvests (2742.67 kg/ha). In contrast, genotype 318, despite its small number of fruits per hand-harvest (3 fruits per hand-harvest), had the highest fruit yield of 25379.20 kg Per hectare due to having fruits with large size and pulp thickness and as a result of high fruit weight. The lowest yields related to genotypes 276 and 293 belonged to C. frutescens L., with fruit yields of 17.60 and 44.00 kg/ha in three harvests. However, there was no statistically significant difference among the performance of these genotypes and the genotypes 277, 210, 282, 358, 261, 332, 394, 304, 311, 407, 321, 215, 427, 203, 342 and 200. The percentage of phenotypic and genetic variations in fruit yield was 61, 55% and the heritability of fruit yield was 81%.

Conclusion
This study evaluated a diverse collection of different species of pepper with a wide range of appearance traits. However, the most desirable and marketable characteristics of the fruit were obtained from genotypes belonging to C. annuum. However, genotypes belonging to other species, which were not addressed due to the high number of fruits per plant and resistance to pests and diseases, can play a complementary role in hybrid seed production breeding programs. Based on the results, genotypes 318 (Kapia, yellow and sweet), 287 (long, red and spicy), 348 (round, red and sweet), 272 (triangular, red and sweet), 309 (black, red and sweet) and 296 (long, red and sweet) could be introduced as cultivars after evaluating their compatibility, in terms of their high yield, suitable size fruits and marketability. In addition, because to the substantial variety of the examined population, breeding efforts might develop hybrid cultivars with unique traits.

Introduction
Excessive use of chemical fertilizers threatens the environment and leads to production of unsafe food products. Currently, the market share of organic vegetables is constantly increasing due to customer demand for safer and healthier food. Therefore, it is necessary to find alternatives instead of using chemical fertilizers in plant production.
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), belongs to Asteraceae family is considered as one of the most popular salad vegetables as a cool season crop. It is also one of the most important vegetables due to its rapid growth and commercial value. Plant growth promoting bacteria promote plant growth directly by facilitating nutrient uptake through fixing nitrogen, solubiliszation of phosphorus, production of hormones and iron uptake. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi establish symbioses with plant roots which help to improve nutrient uptake by the host plant and alter its physiology to withstand external abiotic factors and pathogens. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi interactions with bacteria have been reported to enhance plant growth through phosphate solubilization, nitrogen fixation, increased AMF spore germination and colonization of plant roots. The potential of co-inoculation of these two organisms in promoting the growth of horticultural crops like tomato, strawberry, lettuce and spinach have also been reported.

Materials and Methods
In order to compare the effect of growth-promoting bacteria, mycorrhiza fungi and chemical fertilizers on morphological and physiological properties of lettuce (Lactuca sativa cv. New Red Fire), the experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with three replications. Experiment treatments consisted of 14 treatments including three levels of potassium solubilizing bacteria (Pseudomonas vancouverensis, Pseudomonas koreensis, Pseudomonas vancouverensis + Pseudomonas koreensis) + 100% N and P, three levels of phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (Pantoea agglomerans, Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas putida + Pantoea agglomerans) + 100% N and K, and one level of potassium and phosphorus solubilizing combined bacteria (Pantoea agglomerans+ Pseudomonas koreensis+ Pseudomonas putida+ Pseudomonas vancouverensis) + 100% N, mycorrhiza fungi combination of three Glomus species (G. mosseae, G. etunicatum and G. intraradices) + 100% N and K and five chemical fertilizer levels (N100P100K100, N100P100K0, N100P0K100, N100P25K100 and N100P100K25) according to soil test results, and control treatment without bio-mineral fertilizers.
The “New Red Fire” lettuce seeds were surface sterilized with 0.5% (v/v) sodium hypochlorite for 10 min, and germinated at 20ºC. After germination, seedlings of similar size were transplanted singly into pots containing agricultural soil. Plants were grown under greenhouse condition of 60/70% (day/night) relative humidity, 15/18 °C (day/night) temperature. After a growth period of 75 days, plants were removed from the pots. The root system was separated from the shoot and washed to remove adhered soil. Root and shoot fresh weight, chlorophyll, vitamin C, anthocyanin, TA, TSS and nitrate contents were measured.

Results
The results showed that application of potassium and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria and mycorrhiza fungi significantly increased plant growth compared to control plant. The highest fresh shoot weight (increase of 42.3%) and crown diameter (increase of 14.4%) was obtained with application of combined potassium and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria treatment + 100% N fertilizer compared to control plants. Application of Pseudomonas koreensis + 100% N and P resulted in the maximum content of anthocyanin (increase of 62.2%) and total soluble solids (increase of 82.5%) compared to control plants. Ascorbic acid, a well-known antioxidant and organic compound, is an essential vitamin can be obtained from fruits and vegetables. The highest vitamin C content (32.3 mg 100 mL-1) was observed at plant treated with N100P100K100 fertilizer. The maximum titratable acidity content was obtained with application of Pseudomonas vancouverensis + 100% N and P, and combined potassium and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria treatment +100% N fertilizer. The nitrate content is an important quality index of leafy vegetables; low nitrate content is associated with enhanced quality. Application of chemical fertilizers significantly increased nitrate accumulation compared to biofertilizers and control plants, so that the minimum nitrate accumulation content was observed in control plant and combined potassium and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria treatment + 100% N fertilizer (21.14 µg g-1FW), respectively.

Conclusion
With continuous development of economy and society, people pay an increasing attention to the quality of fruits and vegetables. Improving the crop yield means that attention must also be given to improving vegetables quality, resulting in chemical fertilizer nutrition problem. To conclude, our study suggested that after the control treatment (without using any chemical fertilizers), which had the lowest accumulation of nitrate, application of growth-promoting bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi in combination with nitrogen fertilizer caused lower nitrate accumulation than chemical fertilizers treatments. So, the use of combined and pure bacteria treatments and mycorrhizal fungus treatment can be used to improve the growth, quality and antioxidant properties and increase the concentration of nutrients and also reducing nitrate accumulation in lettuce.

Introduction
Date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the oldest known fruit crops and is considered as an important component of the diet in many Middle Eastern and North African countries. The fruit of date is nutritious, which is incredibly rich in carbohydrates, minerals, dietary fibers and amino acids. Dates are one of the most important tropical fruits that play an important role in the country's economy. Among the date palm cultivars in Hormozgan province, Piyarom is one of the most commercial cultivars.
Recent studies by scientists have shown that the use of chemical compounds, in addition to environmental hazards, will cause various diseases in consumers due to the residual transfer of toxins to their bodies. Therefore, the management orientation of food preservation methods has moved towards reducing and eliminating chemicals and determining suitable alternatives, so that a certain time frame was set for the removal of some of the most important tobacco toxins.
In recent years, attention has been paid to aloe vera gel as a coating layer for fruits and vegetables to maintain their storage quality, and because it has no smell or taste, eating it does not pose a problem for humans and it is even good for health. L-arginine is one of the 20 major amino acids of living cells, which is a semi-essential amino acid in the human body. L-arginine and D-arginine are natural forms of common isomers of this type of amino acid.
The aim of the present investigation was the assess the effect of L-Arginine and Aloe vera gel edible coating on maintaining the external properties and the quality of semi-dried date fruit cultivars including Piyarom during storage.

Material and Method
The experiment was conducted as a factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design. The first factor was including seven treatments consisting of control, L-Arginine (1, 2, and 8 mM) and Aloe vera gel (25, 50, and 75%) and the second factor included storing (sampling) time for 9 months. In every measurement, the different attributes were evaluated such as weight loss percent; TSS; total acid; total phenol; flavonoid; color indexes including L*, a*, and b*; and antioxidant capacity. The level of antioxidant activity was evaluated by antioxidant agents by the method described by based on the trapping of free radicals of 2, 2-diphenyl 1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH). DPPH solution was well combined with the methanol extract by means of a vortex and was incubated in the dark for 30 min. Then the absorption rate was read at 517 nm using a spectrophotometer. The color was determined using a colorimeter (Minolta, CR-400, Japan) after different months of storage. All measurements were done in triplicates. L* (100=white, 0=black), a* (–green, +red) and b* (–blue, +yellow) values were obtained at 400-700 nm range. The assay of the total phenol content was performed by applying the Folin–Ciocalteu colorimetric procedure. The total soluble solid (TSS) content of the fruit juice obtained for each replicate was determined using a hand-held refractometer Atago (Atago Co. Japan) at 25 °C; the results are expressed as % (°Brix). Titratable acidity (TA) was measured by titrating diluted juice with 0.1 N NaOH to a phenolphthalein end-point (pH 8.1-8.3). The results are expressed as citric acid %.

Results and Discussion
Based on the results, the treatments of Aloe vera gel and L-Arginine had significant effect on the quantitative and qualitative traits of Piyarom date fruits during storage. Storing time had significant influence (p<0.01) on the all parameters so that by passing storage time, the parameters including L*, a*, b*, a weight loss percent significantly increased and the parameters such as phenol, flavonoid and antioxidant significantly decreased. In the Piyarom cultivar, the treatments had significant effects on a*, b*, weight loss percent, phenol, flavonoid, and antioxidant, but it had no significant influence on TSS and total acid, so that the highest a* and b* color indexes was observed in the use of L-Arginine 1 mM, the greatest phenol and flavonoid in the application of L-Arginine 2 mM, the lowest weight loss percent in the use of Aloe vera gel 25 and 75%, respectively.

Conclusion
According to the results, 1 mM L-arginine treatment and 75% Aloe vera gel had a more effective role in maintaining the storage quality of Piyarom dates. The use of these treatments requires more extensive research on soft and dry dates.

Introduction
While grapes are considered as non-climacteric fruits, during the post-harvest stages, due to the softening of the tissue, it is very prone to decay, which shortens its post-harvest life. Today, due to the desire of consumers to use high quality food, the use of biodegradable films and coatings with antimicrobial properties, is a suitable alternative to synthetic preservatives, in order to maintain food security and prevent wastage of significant capital. Edible coatings are edible thin layers that are used to increase the shelf life and quality of fruits. This material increases the quality and health of the product by creating a semi-permeable barrier to water vapor and oxygen and carbon dioxide gases between the product and the environment, and to prevent anaerobic respiration, it absorbs a certain amount of gases and to this Sequence increases product shelf life. One of the most important ways to increase the shelf life and maintain the quality of agricultural products, especially fruits, is the use of edible coatings on the crop surface. Chitosan is one of the most important natural derivatives of chitin, of which about 50% of its acetyl’s groups have been removed. Due to the fact that Aloe vera gel has no taste and odor, can be considered a good option as a cover for fruits after harvest and due to its elasticity and strength solution in water, as a suitable layer on the product. Located and protects the fruit from mechanical damage and moisture loss.

Material and Methods
In this study, 12-year-old mature grape trees of ‘Asgari’ cultivar in the scaffolding garden of Abestan region of Khorramabad city in 1398 were studied. In the pre-harvest stage, chitosan was sprayed on the tree and in the post-harvest stage, Aloe vera gel was applied by dipping the fruit in Aloe vera gel in the laboratory. After treatment, the fruits were stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of 4 ± 0.5 ° C and were examined at different time stages for quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the fruit. 20 identical grape trees (in terms of fruit size and load, with 50 to 70 annual branches in 8-14 buds) selected and grape clusters with different concentrations of chitosan (control (distilled water), 2 and 3 Percentage of chitosan) at different stages of growth (fruit set), 35 and 50 days later) were sprayed directly with 4 liters per vine, by hand sprayer (2 ml Tween 80% was added as the active surfactant). For this stage, immediately after harvesting the grapes, take them to the laboratory and immerse them in concentrations (zero, 25 and 33%) of Aloe vera gel for 10 to 20 seconds and then in the air. They dried. Then, grape fruits weighing about 360-300 g in each experimental unit were stored for 28 days at 4 ° C and examined. This study was performed as a factorial experiment (2 factors) in a completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor is the effect of the treatments studied in seven levels including: control, 2% chitosan (CTS 2%), 3% chitosan (CTS 3%), chitosan 2% + Aloe vera gel 25% (AVG 25% + CTS 2%), chitosan 3% + Aloe vera gel 25% (AVG 25% + CTS 3%), 2% chitosan + 33% Aloe vera gel (AVG 33% + CTS 2%), chitosan 3% + Aloe vera gel 33% (AVG 33% + CTS 3%) and the second factor was storage time at five levels (zero, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after harvest). Data analysis was performed using SAS software and a significant difference between treatments for each trait with a minimum significant difference at the probability level = 0.05 α was determined.

Results and Discussion
The results of analysis of variance showed that the effect of treatment and storage time on the desired traits was significant at the level of one percent. Fruits treated with chitosan and Aloe vera gel had higher texture firmness, taste index, phenolic content, antioxidant activity and titratable acids and caries index and pH were lower than the control. The highest content of phenol, antioxidant, flavor index and titratable acidity in all five measurement times belonged to 2% chitosan treatments with both concentrations of Aloe vera gel (25 and 33%) and the lowest amount belonged to the control treatment. In control treatment, the percentage of caries index increased during storage and in grapes treated with chitosan and Aloe vera gel, the caries process was slower and the lowest rate of caries was observed in 2% chitosan treatment with aloe vera gel on the 14th day. In general, it was observed that pre-harvest application of chitosan and post-harvest Aloe vera gel increase the post-harvest life of ‘Asgari’ grapes and improve its quality traits. Chitosan creates a barrier with selective permeability to oxygen and carbon dioxide gases, and by placing carbon dioxide at a higher level and reducing oxygen, it creates a modified atmosphere around the fruit, which reduces respiration and ethylene production. As a result, it reduces the aging process and reduces the consumption of organic acids and sugars and prevents the increase of pH. Low pH prevents browning of the fruit due to the activity of catechins and chlorogenic acid enzymes. Aloe vera gel coating maintains and increases the antioxidant capacity of the whole fruit by reducing fruit juice loss, reducing respiration, reducing ethylene production and delaying aging.

Conclusion
The combined treatment of chitosan 2% and Aloe vera gel (25 and 33%) increased fruit firmness, titratable acidity, taste index, total phenol content and antioxidant activity of grapes and reduced pH and caries index. Application of these treatments increased the post-harvest life of ‘Asgari’ grapes by 14 days, so it can be stated that the use of chitosan in the pre-harvest stage and the use of Aloe vera gel in the post-harvest stage as biodegradable and natural compounds to increase Shelf life of ‘Asgari’ grape fruit is recommended.

Introduction
Medicinal plants have reservoirs rich in the active ingredients of many medicines. Medicinal plants have rich reservoirs of essential active ingredients of many drugs. Considering the importance of medicinal plants, especially in the pharmaceutical industry and their scarcity in nature, it is very important to study the various agricultural aspects of these plants, considering the increasing spread of saline soils, to find a solution. It seems necessary to prevent living and non-living environmental stresses or at least reduce them. One of these methods is the use of symbiotic relationships between mycorrhizal fungi and host plants, which reduces the stress caused by salinity. Due to the increasing expansion of saline soils, it seems necessary to find solutions that can prevent or at least reduce the living and non-living environmental stresses. There are different ways to overcome these tensions in different situations. Water salinization is one of the most important environmental limiting factors for crop production, especially in arid and semi-arid regions of the world, since Iran is located in the arid region of the world, given that salinity is one of the environmental factors. Are that have a strong effect on the growth and activity of lemongrass; There are also vast resources of saline and semi-saline groundwater, although not currently used and likely to be used in the future. Solutions to address abiotic stresses include the use of biofertilizers. One of these methods is to use the symbiosis of fungi with host plants, which leads to a reduction in salinity stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. On vegetative and biochemical traits of lemongrass under salinity stress. Salinity is one of the most important factors limiting the growth and production of crops. Fungi as a biological fertilizer can be useful in meeting the nutritional needs of plants and reducing the effects of environmental stresses on plants.

Materials and Methods
The experiment was a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with two factors of four salinity levels (0, 5, 10 and 15 ds.m-1 NaCl) and fungi (no inoculation and fungal inoculation). For inoculation of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi with mixed potting soil was applied to the lemongrass. Plant height, root length, fresh and dry weight of leaves, relative water content, catalase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase were measured.

Results and Discussion
The results indicate that all studied traits were significantly affected by the interaction of mycorrhiza and salinity stress. The application of mycorrhizal fungi in the presence of salinity stress due to the absorption of nutrients and water led to improved growth of lemongrass. The results showed that under salinity stress of 150 mM plant height, root length, fresh and dry weight of leaves, relative water content, catalase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase enzymes in lemongrass inoculated with arbuscular fungus at 23.05, 32.69, 25.31, 48.14, 31.83, 30.33, 52.72 and 33.41% respectively, increased compared to the control (no inoculation). In general, based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that the use of mycorrhizal fungi can increase the salinity tolerance of lemongrass and cultivate it in saline soil.

Conclusion
In summary, the results of the present study showed that inoculation of the fungi can protect the lemongrass plant against salinity stress. In addition, the effect of mycorrhizal fungi on lemongrass under salinity stress has been investigated for the first time. According to the results obtained in this study, salinity reduced morphological parameters and lemongrass as a reaction to salinity to maintain its status to increase the amount of enzyme activity through the mechanism of osmotic regulation to stress conditions. Compromise and to some extent deal with salinity. In the study, it was observed that inoculation with Arbuscular had a positive effect on all measured traits. The application of mycorrhizal fungi in the presence of salinity stress due to the absorption of nutrients and water led to improved growth of lemongrass. By examining all the measured traits, it can be concluded that by using mycorrhizal fungi, the salinity resistance of lemongrass can be increased and cultivated in saline soil. Arbuscular species seems to be more suitable for improving the growth of lemongrass in all conditions.

Introduction
The Rotabi grape cultivar holds significant importance in the Bavanat region of Fars province. There are two distinct methods of pruning employed for this cultivar: Cane pruning and Spur pruning. These methods vary primarily in the length of one-year-old wood that is preserved after pruning. Cane pruning involves retaining long fruiting canes, typically those with more than 3 buds per cane. Conversely, Spur pruning utilizes shorter canes, usually those with 1-2 buds. The common method of training Rotabi vines in Shiraz vineyards is in the form of bush training. This method of vine training is compatible with spur pruning, in which the canes are usually pruned into 2 to 3 buds. For this reason, there is not enough information about the response of this cultivar to cane pruning. This study was conducted in order to determine the correct method of pruning Rotabi vines based on scientific principles appropriate to its genetic characteristics.

Materials and Methods
This study was performed on 17-year-old vines of Rotabi cultivar in one of the vineyards of Shiraz of Fars province (Iran). In this study, the response of this cultivar to two levels of pruning severity (light pruning with formula 40 + 20 and severe with formula 20 + 20) and three levels of the number of the buds per cane (3, 6, and 9 buds) during three years in Shiraz region of Fars province (Iran) was evaluated. A factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design was used with three blocks. Quantitative and qualitative characteristics such as yield, average weight of cluster, average number of clusters/vine, titratable acidity (TA), pH of fruit juice, TSS%, bud fruitfulness, the average weight and the number of berries/bunch was recorded.

Results and Discussion
Results showed that effects of pruning severity on yield, the number of bunch/vine, bunch weight, pH, bud fruitfulness and berry weight was significant (p≤0.01). Effect of cane length on yield, the number of bunch/vine, bunch weight, bud fruitfulness and the number of berry/bunch was significant (p≤0.01). but on berry weight, TA, pH and TSS% of fruit juice was not significant. Interactions between pruning severity with buds per bearing unit on yield, the number of bunch/vine, berry weight and the number of berry/bunch (p≤0.01) and on TA (p≤0.05) was significant. The highest fruit production per hectare (yield) and the number of bunches per vine were obtained in vines subjected to light pruning. However, in vines that underwent severe pruning, bud fruitfulness and berry weight were greater than in lightly pruned vines. The most substantial yield was achieved with 6-bud and 9-bud canes. Yet, the highest number of bunches was observed in vines with 3-bud and 6-bud canes. Bud fruitfulness reached its peak in the 6-bud cane category, while it was at its lowest in the 3-bud cane group. The number of berries was the same in the 3-bud and 9-bud cane treatments, and it exceeded the number of berries in the 6-bud cane group. Notably, due to the interaction between pruning severity levels and the number of buds per cane, the highest yield was recorded in light pruned vines that underwent cane pruning, specifically in the groups of light pruning with 6-bud canes and light pruning with 9-bud canes. The highest number of berries was observed in light pruning with 9 buds. As a result of this study, it was found that by increasing the number of buds/cane or in other words by increasing the cane length to 6 and 9 buds in this cultivar, the fruit yield/vine increased, and but fruitfullness decreased. Increased yield in light pruning can be due to the increase in the number of bunches/vine due to the increase in the number of buds in this type of pruning. Therefore, to increase the yield of this cultivar, cane pruning + 9 buds/cane should be applied. This type of pruning is not compatible with conventional pruning methods (spur pruning) in the cultivation area of this cultivar. Therefore, it is necessary to develop training systems compatible with cane pruning (such as four-arm kniffin system) in these areas.

Conclusion
While severe pruning led to higher bud fruitfulness, it resulted in lower fruit production per vine (yield) compared to lightly pruned vines. One possible explanation for this difference is that light pruning retained more buds compared to severe pruning. As a consequence, light pruning produced more bunches, ultimately yielding a greater quantity of fruit compared to the severe pruning method. The highest yield (31.3 t/ha) and the highest number of bunches/vine (103) was observed in light pruned vines. Also, the highest yield was obtained in 6-bud and 9-bud canes (31.4 and 31.3 t/ha) respectively. Yield increased with increasing cane length to 6 or 9 buds. Therefore, in order to achieve more yields in this cultivar, cane pruning of at least 6 buds should be applied. But in the end, for better management of vines and the possibility of using standard vine training systems compatible with cane pruning, preferably cane pruning with 9-bud/vine is recommended.

Introduction
Humic acid as an organic matter, made during chemical processes in the soil leads to improved root growth and aerial part of the plant. It increases the penetration of elements in the plant and improves water permeability. Zinc is involved in the maintenance of root cell membranes, the activation of antioxidant enzymes, and the production of RNA and DNA. This study aimed to investigate the effect of applying humic acid and zinc sulfate on some morphological and phytochemical traits of Salvia officinalis L.

Materials and Methods
In this regard, this experiment was conducted as a factorial based in a completely randomized design with two factors (concentrations of 0, 1.5, 3 and 4.5 g/l humic acids and concentrations of 0, 3, 6 and 9 g/l zinc sulfate) in five replications in 2021. The studied traits included plant height, stem diameter, fresh weight, and dry weight, number of sub-branches, chlorophyll, carotenoids, phenols, flavonoids and essential oils. Seedlings of the same size and age as sage were grown under equal. The properties of the soil used in the laboratory were examined. Treatments were sprayed with humic acid 6% and zinc sulfate 34% in five steps, every two weeks.

Results and Discussion
Result showed that application of humic acid and zinc sulfate had no significant effect on plant height and only their simultaneous use had a significant effect on this trait and the highest plant height was observed for treatment of 1.5 g/l humic acid and 9 g/l zinc sulfate (66.50 cm). In stem diameter analysis, the use of humic acid (p≤0.01) and the application of zinc sulfate (p≤0.05) and the interaction of these two treatments(p≤0.05) affected the stem diameter. According to the results, the highest stem diameter was 8.69 mm, which occurred in the treatment of 4.5 g/l humic acid and 3 g/l zinc sulfate. Application of humic acid significantly (p ≤ 0.01) affected the fresh weight of the plant. Application of zinc sulfate also had a significant effect (p ≤ 0.05) on fresh weight. The effect of simultaneous use of humic acid and zinc sulfate on the fresh weight of this plant was significant at the level of 1% probability and the highest fresh weight was 87.26 g.plant-1, which achieved at a concentration of 4.5 g/l humic acid and 6 g/l zinc sulfate. Compared to the control plant, it has increased by 12.56 grams. The effect of humic acid on dry weight was significant at the level of 5% probability, while the effect of zinc sulfate application on this trait was not significant. The combined use of humic acid and zinc sulfate was significant at the 1% probability level. The maximum dry weight reached 29.73 grams per plant, achieved with a concentration of 4.5 grams per liter of humic acids and 3 grams per liter of zinc sulfate. Both humic acid and zinc sulfate exhibited a significant effect (at the one percent level) on the number of branches. Furthermore, the combined application of humic acid and zinc sulfate proved to be highly effective (p<0.01). The greatest number of sub-branches was observed at the 1.5 grams per liter level of humic acid. Humic acid had a substantial impact on chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoids (p≤ 0.01). Similarly, the application of zinc sulfate showed significant effects on chlorophyll a, b, and carotenoids (p≤ 0.01), as well as on total chlorophyll (p≤ 0.05). In the end, the simultaneous application of humic acid and zinc sulfate significantly influenced chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoids (p<0.01). The most significant effects on photosynthetic pigments (carotenoids, chlorophyll a, and total chlorophyll) were observed with concentrations of 4.5 grams/liter of humic acid and 6 grams/liter of zinc sulfate. The highest chlorophyll b content was obtained with the treatment of 3 grams/liter of humic acid and 6 grams/liter of zinc sulfate. The effect of humic acid and zinc sulfate application as well as their simultaneous use on the amount of phenols and flavonoids was significant at the level of 1% probability. The highest amount of phenol was 0.372 (mg gallic acid per gram of fresh tissue) which was obtained at a concentration of zero zinc sulfate and 3 g/l humic acid. The highest flavonoid content was 0.527 (mg quercin per gram of fresh tissue) which was observed in the treatment of 4.5 g/l humic acids. The use of humic acid had significant effect on the amount of essential oil. The percentage of essential oil reached the highest levels at the concentrations of 1.5 and 3 g/l humic acids.

Conclusion
Based on the results, the use of humic acid alone and in combination with zinc sulfate, had the greatest effect on most of the studied traits.

Introduction
Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) is one of the most important cut flowers of the world. This flower is sensitive to postharvest ethylene and water stress and has short vase life. The use of retardants or inhibitors compounds of ethylene is an effective way to increase the postharvest life of carnation. Polyamines including putrescine (diamine), spermidine (triamine) and spermine (tetraamine) as new groups of plant growth regulators that are involved in various processes including increasing cell division, increasing enzyme biosynthesis, regulation of different developmental stages, differentiation, flowering, embryogenesis, rooting and maturity. These compounds exert their anti-aging properties by competing with ethylene production. Polyamines are low molecular weight organic compounds with aliphatic nitrogen groups that have different hydrocarbon rings and two or more amino groups (positive charge agents). These organic compounds bind to cell membranes, nucleic acids, and other macromolecules and are involved in chromatin formation, ion channel control, free radical neutralization, and gene expression. Cell membrane strength and stability play an important role in increasing the post-harvest life of horticultural crops. Putrescine is the major polyamine in plants, which is a precursor to the synthesis of spermidine and spermine, and its positive effect on increasing the vase life of some cut flowers has been reported. Vase life of cut flowers of chrysanthemum, rose and gladiolus was increased by application of putrescine. The purpose of the present research was to increase the vase life of cut carnation flower using different putrescine concentrations and application methods.

Materials and Methods
A factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with 10 treatments in 3 replicates, 30 plots and 150 cut flowers was employed to investigate the effect of different concentrations of putrescine (0.01, 0.02 and 0.05 mM) and its application methods (continuous, pulse and spray) on vase life of cut carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) flowers. Some other traits such as water uptake, dry mater percentage, decrease of fresh weight, the content of leaf chlorophyll and sepal carotenoid, POD and SOD enzymes activity, MDA, decrease of °Brix (sucrose percentage in flower stalk, soluble sugar in stem end and sepal), ionic leakage, ethylene were also measured. The statistical analysis of data was performed using SAS. The least significant difference (LSD) test at P < 0.05 was used for comparisons of different means of various treatments.

Results and Discussion
Results showed that the maximum vase life was recorded in cut flowers treated with 0.02 mM putrescine as spray application. The lowest ethylene production, the highest water uptake and superoxide dismutase enzyme activity was observed in 0.02 mM putrescine treatment. Some physiological parameters and enzymatic activity were also evaluated. The control treatment generally yielded the minimum values for most of the observed traits. Factors such as water stress, reduced carbohydrate levels, increased ethylene production, and the presence of microorganisms play pivotal roles in reducing the vase life of cut flowers. Polyamines are key in counteracting these stressors and delaying aging. They fulfill this role by fortifying the plasma membrane, suppressing the activity of hydrolytic enzymes, and inhibiting ethylene synthesis. Additionally, polyamines bind to cell wall pectin, safeguarding them from detrimental cell wall enzymes, including pectinase. They further impede flower maturation by inhibiting the production of essential enzymes required for ethylene synthesis and by dampening ethylene activity. Increasing polyamines by inhibiting lipid peroxidation is probably one of the mechanisms responsible for the anti-aging effect of polyamines. Polyamines have antioxidant properties so they reduce the number of oxygen free radicals and the permeability of plasma membranes by decreasing the activity of lipoxygenase, thereby increasing the vase life and quality of flowers. The use of polyamines to increase the vase life of some cut flowers has been reported, which the results of the present study are consistent with the results of these studies. Treatment of 20 mg l–1 spermine and 10 mg l–1 putrescine had the greatest effect on increasing vase life and reducing senescence of cut Alstroemeria flowers. Spermidine delayed the aging of carnation flowers. In cut rose cv. ‘Doles Vita’ flowers, the use of polyamines increased vase life. Treatment of 2 mM spermidine was the most suitable treatment to increase the vase life of cut carnation cv. ‘Red Corsa’ flowers. Cut rose flowers treated with humic acid and putrescine had the highest vase life compared to the control. Polyamines increased the vase life of cut gladiolus flowers by increasing the stability of plasma membranes. The addition of polyamines to the carnation flower preservative solution reduced their aging and prevented the production of ethylene. Polyamines appear to increase vase life in cut flowers by inhibiting ACC-synthase activity and reducing ethylene production. SOD, POD and catalase (CAT) enzymes, as antioxidant compounds, protect plants against reactive oxygen species and free radicals. Polyamines neutralize free radicals and are also involved in the synthesis of enzymes. Binding of polyamines to proteins protects them from the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species and free radicals. Treatment of 20 mg l–1 spermine increased the activity of SOD enzyme in cut Alstroemeria flowers. Concentrations of 10 and 20 mg l–1 putrescine and spermine significantly increased catalase activity. Spermidine treatment significantly increased the activity of free radical scavenging enzymes such as SOD and CAT. Putrescine in sunflower stimulated the catalase enzyme. At the first onset of senescence, antioxidant enzymes such as POD increase in petal cells to reduce the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species.

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.

Introduction
Drought stress is one of the most common environmental stresses that limits agricultural production through disruption of physiological processes and reduces plant performance. Since in most parts of the world, including in Iran, melon plants and generally pumpkins are cultivated in hot and dry areas, and in these areas the main challenge is due to the limitation of suitable water for agriculture, the possibility of various types of stress, including  water deficit stress (partial or severe) in the cultivation of these plants is relatively high. From this point of view, it seems necessary to study and know the tolerant cultivars and masses and ways to improve water management. Among the physiological characteristics, leaf water status, membrane stability, photosynthesis changes and related factors are of special importance in relation to tolerance of stressful conditions and especially dehydration. A review of scientific sources shows that due to the relative importance of melons among fruit vegetables, no comprehensive research has been done on the effect of water stress on the yield and stress level evaluation indicators in Garmak and Dudaim groups. This research has tried to investigate and evaluate this issue in some products of this group of vegetables that have been less studied.

Materials and Methods
This experiment was carried out in the form of a split plot design in the form of randomized complete blocks and in four replications in the Mahan greenhouse complex located 25 km from Kerman province. Experimental treatments include; There were three plants (Shahdad and Isfahan cantaloupe (Garmak) and Birjand dudaim (Cucumis melo group dudaim)) and three levels of irrigation in order to apply stress (starting irrigation at matric potentials of -45 (control), -55 and -65 kPa). The parameters of net photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, leaf transpiration rate, leaf chlorophyll index, water potential, osmosis and turgor potential of leaves, water use efficiency and leaf relative humidity were measured and evaluated.

Results and Discussion
Based on the results of the first and third tables, the three population were different in the changes in the net rate of photosynthesis under different levels of dehydration stress, but the change process in them was largely similar. The highest rate of net photosynthesis and leaf stomatal conductance was obtained in Isfahan cantaloupe population plants under control irrigation (-45 kPa), which, of course, did not have a significant difference with plants under -55 kPa dehydration stress, and the lowest rate of these traits in Birjand dudaim under irrigation at matric potential -65 kPa was measured. A more severe level of dehydration stress (starting irrigation at matric potential of -65 kPa) reduced the net photosynthetic rate in all three plants compared to control irrigation (-45 kPa). It seems that under the conditions of this experiment, the reduction of the relative humidity of the leaves occurs following the reduction of the water potential in the leaves and leads to the closing of the stomata in order to increase the resistance of the mesophyll cells against the dehydration stress and parallel to these changes, the reduction it happens in the amount of stomatal conductance and as a result the rate of net photosynthesis. The rate of leaf transpiration in matric potentials of -55 and -65 kPa has decreased significantly compared to control irrigation. The decrease in transpiration rate in plants under stress is probably due to stomatal closure and reduction of stomatal conductance. Plants under stress prevent excessive water loss through transpiration by regulating stomata. Based on the results of the second and fourth tables, by measuring the water potential, osmosis and turgor potential of the leaves of the three population used, it was shown that the water potential of the leaf decreased with the increase in the water stress levels. The slope of this decrease is such that the potential values are equal to the osmotic potential values of the leaf and the turgor potential, which is the result of the difference between the osmotic and water potentials of the leaf, also decreases, but it is the turgor pressure that has increased and in a more positive way. even at the end of the stress period and at the most extreme level of stress, it reaches zero. This same turgor pressure maintains the normal state of the membrane in cells under dehydration stress. In fact, the extreme level of water stress in this experiment significantly reduced the osmotic potential of the leaf. The highest amount of osmotic potential (8.5 Bar) for these plants was obtained in the usual or control irrigation treatment and the lowest (22 Bar) in the more severe level of dehydration stress treatment (watering as soon as the matric potential reaches -65 kPa) was obtained. At matric potentials of -45 and -55, there was no significant difference between the three population in terms of leaf relative humidity percentage, but in Garmak and Dudaim populations, the relative humidity of leaves was significantly reduced by applying stress at the matric potential of -65 kPa. This is despite the fact that in the Isfahan cantaloupe, the decrease in the relative humidity of the leaf was not significant. The existence of this difference in the reduction of the relative humidity of the leaves in the conditions of stress between the three plants may be due to the genetic differences in the ability of the stomata of the plants to lose water. In fact, more drought tolerant population (Isfahan Garmak) compared to Shahdad Garmak and Birjand dudaim have better maintained relative humidity until the end of the stress. 

Conclusion
Plants with the ability to regulate osmosis can be considered as drought tolerant plants. This adjustment in the plants of this experiment occurred in the condition that in all three population, the osmotic potential decreased by -19 to -22 Bar. This event is to some extent guaranteeing the performance of pure photosynthesis, although at a low rate in these plants, in the condition that the water potential of the cell has become negative at the level of severe water deficit stress, at the end of growth.

Introduction
    Salinity is the most important environmental parameter limiting plant growth and productivity. The detrimental effects of high salinity on plants can be observed at the whole-plant level as the death of plants and/or decreases in productivity. Increasing salinity is accompanied by significant reductions in number of leaves per plant, shoot weight, root weight, shoot length, and root length. With an increase in salinity, water potential and osmotic potential of plants become more negative. Two medicinal species of Coriandrum sativum L. and Anethum graveolens L. are herbaceous and annual plants of the Apiaceae family, which have many uses in the pharmaceutical and food industries. Considering the importance of these two medicinal species and the increase of environmental stresses including salinity stress in recent years, this research aims to investigate the effect of external application of melatonin on resistance to salinity stress in Coriandrum sativum L. and Anethum graveolens L. species and its effect on some morphological and physiological characteristics of these two species under salt stress.

Materials and Methods
    This research was conducted in a factorial experimental format based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. Experimental treatments include five levels of salinity (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 mM) and two levels of melatonin foliar spraying (0 and 100 μM). After the end of the treatment period, the morphological and physiological characteristics of the plant were measured by the different methods. Data analyses were performed using SPSS software version 20. Results were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison test. The results were expressed as mean values and standard error (SE) of the means.

Results and Discussion
    The results of variance analysis indicated that species, melatonin and salinity stress have a significant effect on all morphological factors at the p < 0.05. The results of compare means showed that the number of leaves in both plants has a significant decrease at the probability level of 5% with the increase in salinity. However, the amount of this decrease in the samples that have been affected by melatonin is lower than the samples without melatonin. The use of melatonin has reduced the negative effects of salinity stress in two plants, so that at the salinity level of 160 mM sodium chloride, the use of melatonin has increased the fresh and dry weight of coriandrum sativum L. shoots by 7 and 3.61 times, respectively. The results of variance analysis showed that melatonin and salinity stress have a significant effect on all pigments. The results shown that with the increase in the level of salinity stress, a significant decrease (p < 0.05) was observed in the amount of chlorophyll and anthocyanin pigments of two species. The results of variance analysis showed that species and melatonin have a significant effect at the p < 0.01 on all physiological parameters, and salt stress has a significant effect at the p < 0.01 on all the physiological parameters except of relative water content. Also, the interaction effects of species with salinity, species with melatonin, melatonin with salinity and the interaction of all three factors have a significant effect at the 1% probability level on the parameters of proline and total phenol.With the increase in salinity, the amount of total protein in both species decreased, but the amount of this decrease was lower in the plants that were treated with melatonin. In coriandrum sativum L. plant, the amount of total protein reduction at 160 mM salinity level is 42.31% compared to the control, but this reduction was 28.9% in the plants that were treated with melatonin. Also, in the Anethum graveolens L., the amount of total protein reduction at the salinity level of 160 mM was 29.78% and 21.06% respectively, in the samples without melatonin treatment and under melatonin treatment.

Conclusions
    The results of variance analysis of the data showed that melatonin has a significant effect at the probability level of 1 and 5% on all morphological and physiological parameters measured in both plants. Also, the compare means showed that with the increase in the level of salinity stress, a significant decrease in the probability level of 5% was observed in the parameters measured in two plants. In general, the external application of melatonin moderates the negative effects of salinity stress, and therefore melatonin can be used to improve the growth of plants under stress.

Introduction
Chromium pollution of the soil due to natural processes or industrial activities such as metal refining, chrome plating, stainless-steel production, leather tanning, and chemical dye production is a globle environmental issue. Excessive soil Cr levels cause detrimental effects on plant physiological processes including photosynthesis, water relations and mineral nutrition as well as the growth of roots, stems and leaves, which may decrease the biomass and yield of plants. Currently, soil application of organic amendments particularly humic acid seems to be an effective procedure to enhance relative plant tolerance to Cr stress. Humic acids are complexes of heterogeneous poly electrolytes with abundant functional groups that act as a weak poly electrolytic acid. Their structures, the degree to which these functional groups are protonated or ionized and environmental conditions influence the interaction between HA and soil pollutants. The complex compounds form by interaction of HA and heavy metals that cannot be uptaken by plants. Humic acid may play a significant role in the mobility and uptake of Cr which leads to a significant increase in plant biomass and growth. The aim of this research was to investigate the ability of humic acid to reduce Cr uptake and translocation by lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) from Cr-contaminated soil.

Materials and Methods
The present study through a greenhouse pot experiment was conducted in the greenhouse of Ferdowsi university of Mashhad. The experiment was arranged in a factorial manner in a randomized complete design with three replications and treatments consisted of 3 levels of Cr (0, 25, and 50 mg kg-1as K2Cr2O7) and 3 rates of HA (0, 5 and 10 %). The soil samples were dried at room temperature, ground and sieved with a 2-mm mesh screen for further analysis. The bioavailable concentrations of Cr in the soils were assessed by DTPA. Three lettuce seedlings were grown in each pot containing five air-dried soil and watered to a near field capacity with distilled water as needed. After 100 days plant tissues were harvested, carefully washed with deionized water and the leaf, stem and root parts separated. All of them were oven-dried at 65-75 °C to constant weight and the dry weight of lettuce tissue samples was recorded. To determine the Cr concentrations, the tissues were ground, passed through a 0.3-mm sieve and digested in di-acid mixture (HNO3:HClO4). Concentrations of Cr in the digested solutions and soil extractions were determined using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP OES). Translocation factor (TF) is determined from the ratio of the concentration of Cr in the plant’s shoots compared to that in the plant’s roots. Bioaccumulation factor (BAF) was evaluated as defined as the accumulated concentration of Cr in plant divided by concentration to that in respective soil. A two-way analysis of variance was done by using a statistical package, JMP version 8.0. The differences between the treatments were determined using LSD multiple range tests at significance level of P ≤ 0.05 and P ≤ 0.001.
Results and Discussion
The results of the present study clearly demonstrate that all Cr treatments significantly reduced leaf, stem, shoot and root dry weights. In unamended soils, both Cr treatments alone reduced leaf, shoot, stem and root dry weights 83%, 101%, 207% and 65% (for Cr 25 mg kg-1) and 194%, 219%, 355% and 92% (for Cr 50 mg kg-1) respectively as compared to control. Using HA (5 and 10%) and Cr treatments (25 and 50 mg kg-1), showed that leaf, shoot, stem and root dry weights were significantly increased as compared to Cr contaminated control. The lowest values of these parameters were recorded in Cr treatments without addition of HA, whereas at each Cr level, the highest values of them were obtained with application of 10% HA. The Cr concentrations in shoot and root samples significantly were affected by adding HA and Cr levels in soil. It was observed that Cr contents in shoots and roots, transfer factor and bioaccumulation factor of shoots and roots significantly increased by increasing soil Cr levels. Moreover, HA application negatively affected Cr content in shoot compared to Cr treatment alone. The interaction of chromium and humic acid caused a significant decrease in the concentration of chromium in the aerial parts, the shoot accumulation factor and a significant increase in the concentration of chromium in the roots and consequently reduced translocation factor. The highest value of Cr in shoot (47.7 mg kg-1) was obtained in those plants grown in soil with addition of 50 mg kg-1 Cr alone, whereas at each Cr level the lowest value of Cr in shoot was found in those plants grown in soil with the application of 10% HA. HA application in soil increased Cr concentration in root compared with Cr contaminated control. The maximum Cr concentration in the root (367 mg kg-1) and root bioaccumulation factor (28.5) was obtained after exposure to 50 mg kg-1 Cr +10% HA treatment. Also, the regression models showed that the transfer factor and shoot bioaccumulation factor decreased significantly and linearly with increasing shoot dry weight. Moreover, the regression model of shoot dry weight and shoot bioaccumulation factor was able to predict traslocation factor and shoot bioaccumulation factor with Adjusted R2 = -0.78** and R2 = -0.93**, respectively.

Conclusion
Results demonstrated that Cr toxicity markedly reduced plant growth parameters for instance leaf, stem, shoot and root dry weight and enhanced the concentration of Cr in shoot and root as compared to control. Humic acid application in Cr contaminated soil induced increased plant biomass, root bioaccumulation factor, Cr contents in roots and reduced Cr concentration in leaves, translocation factor and shoot bioaccumulation factor. Therefore, the application of HA specially at higher dose (10%) seems to be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method for the restriction of Cr accumulation and its transfer from contaminated soil to edible parts of lettuce, thus helping to enhance food security.

Introduction
Water shortage is very frequent in many countries, and, together with the rising demand for industry, growth of human population, climate change and specifically the trend towards irrigated agriculture, has led to widespread problems of water scarcity, especially in Middle East countries. This situation imposes the need to optimize water use in all human activities. Among the different productive uses of water, agriculture is by far the main water user in most water scarce regions and, consequently, any potential improvement in the use of the available water resources may play a significant role toward achieving a more sustainable use of water. Plant responses to water deprivation are usually monitored through selected morphological and physiological parameters which have been proven to be good indicators of drought in different studies. Some of the most important standards for evaluating plant genotypes under drought stress are measurements of morphological parameters such as height, leaf characters and root growth.

Materials and Methods
To compare the growth response of different almond cultivars to different levels of water stress, an experiment was conducted as a split plot in the base of randomized complete block design with three replications in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province in two growing season 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. Different irrigation periods based on the percentage of usable soil moisture between filed capacity to wilting point, including 70% filed capacity (control or no stress), 50% filed capacity (mild stress), 30% filed capacity (medium stress) and 10% of field capacity (severe stress) were considered as the main factor of the experiment. The sub-factor included 14 commercial cultivars of almonds (Mamaei, Rabi, Saba, Araz, Eskandar, Aidin, Shahrood 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13 and 21 and GN vegetative rootstock), all of which were grafted on GN rootstock. In this study, uniformly grafted seedlings in terms of age, stem diameter and height were selected and planted. In the second year after planting the seedlings, in order to apply drought stress, tubes for hygrometer (TDR) were installed in each experimental plot and based on soil moisture content, irrigation cycle was determined for different treatments.

Results and Discussion
In both years, three months after applied water stress growth traits and nutrient concentrations in the leaves of treated seedlings were measured. Based on the results of analysis of variance, the morphological traits of almond seedlings were significantly affected by cultivar type and drought stress level. In all almond cultivars, the highest height was belonged to seedlings that were grown in non-stress conditions and with increasing the drought stress intensity, the height of almond seedlings was decreased. Under severe drought stress, GN and Mamaei cultivars had the highest (183.93 cm) and the lowest (94.60 cm) height, respectively. Seedling height in GN, Shahrood 12, Saba and Shahrood 10 cultivars showed the lowest decrement under severe drought stress. In all cultivars, drought stress caused a significant reduction in the length and width of the seedlings crown, and the greatest decreasing was recorded in severe drought stress (10% FC). Under severe drought stress, cultivar GN had the largest crown and cultivars Rabi, Shahrood 7 and Eskandar had the smallest crown. Increasing the drought stress intensity significantly reduced the branches growth of seeding in terms of number and length of sub-branches. As the intensity of drought stress increased, the length of sub-branches decreased however the number of intermediates in sub-branches increased. In non-stressed condition, the cultivar GN had the longest branch (55.95 cm), which was significantly higher than the other studied almond cultivars. The shortest branches were also observed in Saba (29.94 cm) and Eskandar (29.47 cm) cultivars. Increasing drought stress caused a significant reduction of leaf area in all studied cultivars and the highest decreasing was observed under severe drought stress. The GN (37.76 cm²) and Shahrood 10 (31.81 cm²) had the highest leaf area in non-stress and drought stress conditions. Under severe drought stress (10% FC) cultivar Shahrood 6 showed the lowest leaf area. The results of this study showed that increasing the intensity of dehydration significantly reduced the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, manganese and zinc in the leaves of the studied cultivars of almonds, however, the amount of potassium and iron in stressed plants increased under drought stress. Based on the results of the present study, under severe drought stress the GN, Shahrood 8 and Shahrood 12 cultivars in terms of growth indices including seedling height, stem diameter, canopy growth, branch growth and concentration of macro and micro elements was superior compared with the other studied cultivars.

Conclusion
Based on the results of this study, drought stress significantly reduced growth indices and nutrient concentrations, although the reaction of almond cultivars to different levels of drought stress was different. In this study, among the studied almond cultivars GN, Shahrood 8 and Shahrood 12 cultivars in terms of growth characters including seedling height, stem diameter, canopy growth, branch growth and concentration of macro and micro elements showed higher tolerance to different level of drought stress. These cultivars less affected by the high intensities of dehydration. Therefore, GN, Shahrood 8 and Shahrood 12 cultivars can be used in future studies to evaluate the possibility of cultivating these cultivars in areas with water deficit.

Introduction
Today, in the commercial production of strawberries, short day cultivars  are used due to having large fruits of desirable quality. Among  the short  day cultivars available in Iranare Camarosa, Atabaki, Gaviota, Queen Aliza, Paros and McDonance, which can be cultivated at greenhouse. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are one of the metal oxides that exist in three forms of rutile, brookite and anatase, which affect growth, enzymatic activity and photosynthesis. Reported titanium nano dioxide in the highest concentration used (11.5 mg/l) increases fruit formation  percentage, leaf chlorophyll content, vitamin C content, fruit  ripening index, fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots and yield of strawberries. In another study, it was shown that titanium dioxide treatment under drought stress can increase photosynthetic pigments, total soluble solids, vitamin C, phenol, flavonoid, anthocyanin, and antioxidant activity, and it also improved plant performance. increase the strawberry cultivar Ventana compared to the control treatment. In a research found that spraying titanium increases the biomass, fertility and quality of peach fruit. It has alsow been showed that the pomegranate size of flowers and fruits increased with using titanium nano dioxide, and this can increase the quantity and quality of Alberta peach cultivar. Foliar application of titanium nano dioxide in cucumber has been reported to increase photosynthesis  and  phenolic content  and reduce lipid peroxidation. In a research, it was shown that titanium dioxide nanoparticles increased photosynthesis rate, water conductivity and transpiration rate in tomato leaves. Despite the effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the quantitative and qualitative improvement of some agricultural products, the researches conducted on strawberry plants were not complete or were only conducted on a specific variety. Therefore, with the aim of investigating and comparing the morphological and biochemical traits of some commercial strawberry cultivars under the effect of foliar spraying with titanium¬dioxide, the above research was conducted.

Materials and Methods
This research was conducted to investigate the effect of nano titanium dioxide foliar spraying on four strawberry cultivars in the hydroponic greenhouse of the Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2020-2021. Experimental treatments included 4 levels of titanium nano dioxide (0, 5, 10 and 20 mg/l) and 4 strawberry cultivars (Sabrina, Paros, Gaviota and Camarosa) with 4 replications. The research was done in a factorial manner based on a completely random design. JMP 8 software was used to perform variance analysis and compare the averages of the measured traits. Means were compared using Tukey test at 5% probability level and graphs were drawn using Excel 2010 software.
Results and Discussion
According to the tables of mutual effects of titanium dioxide nano treatments and varieties, it can be found that the application of titanium dioxide nanoparticles had a positive effect on the desired characteristics in all four studied strawberry varieties. So that the application of different levels of titanium dioxide nano particles causes a significant increase in quantitative traits (number of leaves, leaf area, root length, fresh and dry weight of aerial and root parts, photosynthetic pigments) The yield-dependent traits compared to the control plants were found in strawberry-strawberry cultivars. Nano titanium dioxide had an effect in increasing the number of fruits and vegetative traits of all investigated cultivars, in such a way that, on the one hand, with a balanced increase in vegetative growth, and on the other hand, improving the efficiency of photosynthesis and absorption through the roots and increasing the percentage of fruit formation. , increased the yield per plant. Also, sprinkling of titanium nanoparticles on all levels caused a significant increase in juice pH, TSS, TA, vitamin C, anthocyanin, total phenol, flavonoid and in general qualitative traits compared to the control. In the treatment of nano titanium dioxide, especially at the level of 10 mg/liter, better results were observed.


Conclusion
According to the results, the use of Paros and Gaviota cultivars is recommended to farmers and agricultural researchers due to its high yield and good quality.

Introduction
Plants are sometimes exposed to several stresses during their growth and development. Salinity stress is one of the most common abiotic stresses that significantly reduces the growth and yield of most plant species. A large part of the soils and a significant volume of all water resources in Iran are affected by salinity to varying degrees. Due to the rapid population growth and the need for more food and the water crisis, the use of unconventional water such as salt water or wells and treated wastewater in agriculture has received more attention. Soil and water salinity is one of the integrative problems in agriculture and is one of the most important barriers to crop production in the world. Salinity stress reduces the ratio of carbon dioxide to oxygen in the leaves by closing the leaves stomata and prevents the stabilization of carbon dioxide. Under these conditions, the formation rate of reactive oxygen species in chloroplasts and mitochondria increases, the electrons produced react with oxygen by photosynthesis and lead to the production of oxygen free radicals. These affects the growth, yield and quality of agricultural products. The use of antioxidant compounds can moderate the effects of this stress. Many compounds have been used to reduce the harmful effects of salinity stress. Ascorbic acid is a water soluble antioxidant and has some effects on plant resistance against environmental stresses by neutralizing free radicals. Researches showed that ascorbic acid increased plant resistance on various stresses such as salinity and drought. It has been widely used to control the effects of salinity stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ascorbic acid on resistance to salinity stress in bell pepper seedlings.

Materials and Methods
This study was done as a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design including ascorbic acid treatment (0, 1, 3 and 5 mM) and salinity stress of sodium chloride (0 and 100 mM) in 3 replications. The seeds of bell pepper Cv. California Wonder were planted in a seedling tray containing cocopeat. After emergence of cotyledons, they were fertilized with complete fertilizer (N20, P20, K20). At the stage of three true leaves the  salinity treatment were started. One week before the beginning of salinity treatment, ascorbic acid was sprayed on plants and repeated two more times by seven days interval. Salinity treatment was applied by irigation for three weeks. After producing 5 leaves, a few growth properties (plant fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight, leaf number and leaf area), biochemical characteristics (amounts of total chlorophyll, proline, soluble proteins, ion leakage and malondialdehyde and activity of Catalase an Proxidase enzymes) and amounts of some elements (K, P, Na, Fe, Zn and Cu) were measured.

Results and Discussion
Based on the results, the simple effect of salinity stress, ascorbic acid and the combined effect of them on ion leakage and amounts of malondialdehyde were significant at the level of 1% probability. Salinity stress increased the amounts of ion leakage and malondialdehyde and application of 5 mM ascorbic acid reduced the amount of these traits to 41.01% and 46.58% compared to the control respectively. The effect of salinity stress, ascorbic acid and the combined effect of them on the concentration of proline and chlorophyll in the leaves of bell pepper were significant at the level of 1% probability. Salinity stress increased the amount of proline but decreased chlorophyll and leaf protein of pepper seedlings and application of 5 mM ascorbic acid increased them to 79.42% and 46.57% compare to control respectively. Under salinity stress the uptake of iron, zinc, copper and phosphorus decreased; using of 5 mM ascorbic acid increasing accumulation of these elements in leaves .On the other hand ascorbic asid could decrease the amounts of sodium accumulation in seedling,s leaves. The results showed that, salinity decreased growth indices (number of leaves, leaf surface, fresh weight of roots and plants) and ascorbic acid reduced the effect of salinity stress on growth parameters. Under salinity stress, 5 mM ascorbic acid treatment increased the leaf surface to 36.30% compared to salinity without ascorbic acid tretment. The effects of salinity stress and the combined effect of salinity stress and ascorbic acid on the amount of catalase and peroxidase enzymes were significant at the level of 1% probability. The effect of ascorbic acid was significant for catalase at 5% probability level and peroxidase at 1% probability level. Although salinity increased the amounts of the antioxidant catalase and peroxidase enzymes but ascorbic acid could increased the activity of them in saline condition.

Conclusion
It seems that application of ascorbic acid as an antioxidant could reduce the effects of salinity stress by increasing the activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes, reducing sodium uptake and increasing the uptake of phosphorus, potassium, iron, zinc and copper. These could have positive effects on the growth parameters of bell pepper seedlings in salinity conditions. Generally, on based of obtained results, spraying 5 mM Ascorbic acid on bell pepper seedlings modified the resistance of them in salinity stress conditions.

Introduction
Drought stress in tomatoes reduces fruit quality and yield, also fall leaves and cause of blossom rot. It has been reported that drought stress reduces cell division and causes the stomata to close, followed by a decrease in the flow of carbon dioxide to the mesophyll cells of the leaf. Several methods have been proposed to overcome the drought stress in tomato plants, which can be mentioned the use of drought tolerance genotypes, genetic engineering to identify drought resistant genes and transfer them to sensitive plants, as well as the use of tolerancet rootstocks. It has reported that type of rootstock can effected on tolerance of tomato plants to drought stress. For this reason, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of wild eggplant rootstock on the drought tolerance of two tomato cultivars.

Material and Methods
In order to find the effect of the wild eggplant rootstock on the tolerance of two tomato cultivars, a factorial experiment was conducted as completely randomized design with two factors. Factors were included irrigation period three levels of 3 (control), 6 and 9-day and grafting combination at 6 levels involved non-grafted Dafnis, non-grafted Isabella, self-grafted Dafnis, self grafting Isabella, Isabella grafted on wild eggplant rootstock (S. torvum), and Dafnis grafted on wild eggplant rootstock. The plants were exposed to drought for 54 days. At the end of experiment growth and physiological parmeters including leaf specific, plant height dry weight of shoot as well as photosynthesis parameters, RWC and plant nutrients were measured. The amount of leaf proline was measured according to Paquin and Lichasur methodusing a spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 515 nm. The phenolic compounds of the leaves were measured at a wavelength of 725 nm using a spectrophotometer (Isfendiyaroglu and Zeker, 2002). Also, the membrane stability index (ion leakage percentage) was measured according to Lutts et al.'s method (Lutts et al., 1996).

Results and Discussion
The results showed that with increasing irrigation period decreased the most of vegetative parameters, photosynthesis pigments, and mineral nutrients, so that, the highest value was showed at the 3-day irrigation period and the lowest value was at the 9-day irrigation period. Shoot weight decrese is probably due to morphological changes in plant roots, which is a plant response to drought stress. The results also showed that the interaction of irrigation period and grafted combination on some vegetative and ecophysiological parameters was significant. The lowest dry weight of shoot was observed at 9-day of irrigation period in plants of Dafnis grafted on torvum rootstock., Tthe highest dry weight root volume, leaf potassium and phosphorous concentration were at the 3-day irrigation period in self-grafted Dafnis plants.The results also showed that the amount of phenolic compounds in plants of Isabella grafted on torvum rootstock was the highest in 9 days irrigation period which may be due to the rootstock effect on the synthesis of these compounds in the scion. According to the results, the concentration of leaf magnesium in non-grafted plants increased with the increase of the irrigation cycle from 3 days to 9 days, althougth no significant difference was observed between self-grafted and non-grafted plants. In the 9-day irrigation period, the highest concentration of leaf magnesium was observed to non-grafted Daphnis plants, which was significantly different from other grafting combinations compounds except Daphnis self-grafted plants.

Conclusion
The results of the present study showed that drought stress had the greatest effect on dry matter, and the amount of photosynthetic indices and pigments in tomato plants. Based on the results of the present study, it was found that the most of the reduce vegetative and physiological parameters was observed in Daphnis cultivar grafted on the thorum rootstock, were significantly reduced compared to self-grafted or non-grafted plants, which it was due to the dwarfing effects of this rootstock or grafting incompatibility. According to the results of the present study, it can be postulated that in drought stress Isabella cultivars grafted on the wild eggplant rootstock had more growh than other combination grafting. Hence it proposed more studies in this case.

Introduction
Nitrogen plays an important role in the uniformity and quality of citrus trees. Several studies previously reported that a low level of nitrogen in citrus trees is generally caused a reduction in yield and fruit quality (Aziz, 1997; Khan et al., 2009). In this regard, applying urea is recommended as the most suitable form of nitrogen for foliar application. The polyamines are included; putrescine, spermidine, and spermine which have been considered as plant growth regulators (Alcazar et al., 2010; Khezri et al., 2010). The role of nitrogen in vegetative and reproductive growth and yield, as well as the correlation between polyamines, flower induction and fruit set in other plants, were proved in previous studies. In this regard, the results of the current study will increase our understanding about the role of polyamines in the morphology of the tree and also the mechanism of regulating the alternate bearing of Kinnow mandarin leading to an approach method to address this problem.

Materials and Methods
To conduct this study a 17-year-old uniform of Kinnow Mandarin (Citrus reticulate Blanco) grafted onto Bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) rootstock, which grown in a commercial orchard, located in Dezful (Khuzestan Province in Iran). For sampling, the branches which possess leaves and nodes were selected from four sides of each tree, then leaves and nodes were collected at three different time points (one, three, and five weeks post-treatment). Samples were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen after excision and transported to the Physiology Laboratory of fruit trees within 2h for determining the N fractions and polyamines. The concentration of N in dried leaves and nodes was determined using the colorimetry technique as described by Walling et al. (1989). The experiment was set up as a factorial treatment based on a randomized complete block design with three replications to investigate the effect of different concentrations of urea foliar application (0, 0.75%, 1.5%) on nitrogen and polyamines contents at different time points (Dec 22, Jan 5, Jan 20) followed by evaluating flower characteristics and yield in Kinnow mandarin plant. Data analysis including variance was carried out using MSTATC and SAS software. To compare the mean of polyamines and nitrogen in leaves and nodes, the cut-out method was used, and also for comparison of pistil dimensions, number of flowers, and yields, Duncan's multiple range test (DMRT) was performed. 

Results and Discussion
Results indicated that polyamines concentration and nitrogen decreased during the period of time and also, in most cases, polyamines concentration was lower in the nodes than the leaves. High levels of polyamines and nitrogen were obtained in leaves and nodes which were treated with the foliar application of 1.5 % urea concentration after Jan 20. The polyamines content in leaves and nodes was greatly dependent on the spraying time and urea concentration used. Spermine (Spm) was the dominant polyamines in leaves and nodes with the highest values of 44.01 nmol/gF.W, 34.41 nmol/gF.W, respectively. Regarding the fact that flower density was higher in trees that treated with urea concentration of 1.5 % after Jan 5 y than other treatments, however, their yield was lower than the trees that treated on Dec 22 with the same urea concentration. This was probably due to the flower abscission as well as the fruit abscission in June. The results of this study showed that the highest yield was obtained with 1.5 % urea concentration after foliar application on Dec 22 compared with other treatments. Regarding the fact that flower differentiation in mandarin occurs during the late January until late February (in Dezful conditions), it can be explained that the foliar application on Dec 22 was performed before differentiation and consequently, the trees have received their required nitrogen. Also, the low-temperature is considered as natural inducer of citrus flowering in the Dezful, likewise, foliar fertilizer application in winter along with the natural factor (low temperature) stimulates flowering in a larger number of buds resulting in increasing the flowering. As nitrogen promotes vegetative and reproductive growth, it can be said that increasing the nitrogen content of leaves followed by transfering to the nodes, increases the number of buds, especially reproductive buds, which leads to an increase in flowering and yield. According to this study, the foliar application of urea in winter with 1.5% concentration can increase yield in Kinnow mandarin trees. Therefore, polyamines can play an important physiological role in flower development of Kinnow mandarin.

Conclusion
In this study, we focused on the effect of the foliar application urea during winter on leaves and nodes of Kinnow mandarin trees and investigated the polyamines, Put, Spm, and Spd contents upon treatments. In conclusion, the application of foliar urea in winter resulted in the significant endogenous increase of polyamines and N in the leaves and nodes of Kinnow mandarin trees. Also, yield, flower density, and pistil diameter were increased by spraying urea. There is a possibility that free polyamines affect on physiological processes.

Introduction
Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is one of the medicinal plants of the Asteraceae family that contains natural compounds, especially stevioside and ribaodioside A, which are estimated to be 150 to 400 times sweeter than sucrose. Plants are exposed to various environmental stresses during growth and development under natural and agricultural conditions. Among these, drought is one the most severe environmental stresses affecting plant productivity. About 80–95% of the fresh biomass of the plant body is comprised of water, which plays a vital role in various physiological processes including many aspects of plant growth, development, and metabolism. Stevia is susceptible to various environmental stresses but the major effects are contributed by drought. Today, the fungal species Stevia rebaudiana is used as a biofertilizer and increases the production of secondary metabolites of economically valuable plants and also increases the growth and seed production of many plants. This fungal endophyte produces a significant amount of acid phosphatase for mobility in a wide range of insoluble or complex forms of phosphate, enabling the host plant to have adequate access to inactive phosphorus reserves in the soil. However, medicinal plants that are cultivated have often been reported to have lower abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the rhizosphere, which significantly reduces plant survival. Considering the coexistence role of mycorrhizal fungi in modulating the effects of drought stress, the aim of this study was to investigate the morphological, physiological and biochemical traits of stevia in response to the effects of mycorrhizal inoculation and drought stress.

Materials and Methods
This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of P. indica endophytic fungus under water stress conditions on vegetative characteristics, physiological parameters and micronutrients of stevia. A factorial experiment was employed based a completely randomized design with four replications in the research greenhouse of Islamic Azad University, Mahabad Branch in 2017. The first factor was drought stress at four levels (25, 45, 60 and 80% of field capacity) and the second factor was inoculation of seedlings with fungus at two levels (no inoculation and inoculation with P. indica). Water stress was applied based on a combination of plant appearance symptoms (no wilting to severe wilting) and soil moisture. Investigated traits included root colonization, dry weight, leaf number, plant height, stem diameter, chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, proline, soluble sugars, antioxidant power and micronutrients including copper, iron, zinc and manganese. To analyze the data variance, SAS 9.1 statistical software was used to analyze the variance of the data.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that the evaluated traits in the present study were affected by the main treatments of fungus and drought stress. Seedlings inoculated with P. indica endophytic fungi had the highest percentage of root colonization, growth parameters, photosynthetic pigment content, soluble compounds and micronutrients compared to no inoculation. Drought stress increased soluble sugars, proline content and antioxidant power of stevia leaves and decreased the other traits by increasing the stress level from 25 to 80%. The highest rate of root colonization (26.90%), stem diameter (3.21 mm) and carotenoid content (1.71 μg/ml) was observed in the treatment of plant inoculation with fungi and 25% drought stress. While the highest antioxidant power was found in the treatment of plant inoculation with fungi and 80% drought stress. According to the results of the present study, use of P. indica fungus had the most positive effect on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of stevia medicinal plant compared to no fungus inoculation.

Conclusion
This study showed the positive effect of P. indica endophyte inoculation on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of root colonization, dry weight, number of leaves, plant height, stem diameter, chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, proline, soluble sugars, antioxidant power and The micronutrients of calcium, iron, zinc and manganese showed stevia, and drought stress reduced the studied traits except for proline content, soluble sugars and antioxidant power. Inoculation of stevia seedlings with P. indica endophytic fungi at drought stress levels had the highest rate of root colonization, stem diameter, carotenoid content and antioxidant power compared to non-fungal inoculation. Therefore, due to the effect of biological compounds of natural origin and the production of plants with healthier active secondary compounds, the use of P. indica endophytic fungi can be recommended.

Introduction
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important food and cash crop having the first rank in the world from non grain crops to ensure food security. The tubers produced through the conventional propagation are characterized by low multiplication rate and susceptibility to pathogens. Microtubers are an ideal propagating material for producing high quality seed potatoes. Nowadays, the production, application, and biological risk assessment of nano-scaled products have attracted global concerns in various fields such as agricultural, biotechnological, medicinal, and plant sciences. Chitosan, a biocompatible polymer, has been widely utilized to improve the production of nano-chemicals, thereby improving crop growth, productivity, and immunity. Nanotechnology plays an important role in modern agriculture to address global challenges such as climate change, severity of plant diseases and the limited availability of important plant nutrients. Polymer-based nano-formulations have recently received the greatest attention with the key objectives of developing less harmful, plant growth promoting and protective agents of biodegradable and natural origin. Use of chitosan-based nanoparticles in agriculture field is still in a budding phase. Significant outcomes have been reported in in vitro and a few in vivo studies in plant growth and protection by chitosan-based nanomaterials.

Materials and Methods
MS medium containing 80 g of sucrose, containing glycine betaine at concentrations of 20 and 40 mg/l, chitosan at a concentration of 240 mg/l, glycine betaine 20 and chitosan 240 mg/l, glycine betaine 40 and chitosan 240 mg/l, 120 mg/l, glycine betaine nanocomposite coated with chitosan 120 and 240 mg/l and control treatment, as well as nonsalinity treatments with the same compounds and concentrations mentioned for salinity were cultured. The study was performed in randomized complete block design with three replications and sixteen treatment. Glycine betaine nanocomposite coated with chitosan were prepared at Maragheh University as follows. Chitosan, glycine betaine, and triphosphate are major consumables. First, chitosan was dissolved well with acetic acid under the influence of temperature. Then, a certain amount of glycine betaine was dissolved in distilled water and added to the chitosan. Tri-polyphosphate (TPP) was dissolved in distilled water at a certain volume ratio and added dropwise to the mixture of chitosan and glycine betaine. The precipitate obtained under the freeze-drying process lead to the preparation of its powder.


Results and Discussion
According to the comparison of the means, treatment of glycine betaine coated with chitosan nanocomposite at a concentration of 120 mg/l produced the highest number of microtuber during the experiment from the first month to the final month. The nanocomposite was more capable of improving growth and biomass than the bare ZnONPs in pepper. The application of the nanocomposite increased the concentration of chlorophylls (51%), carotenoids (70%), proline (2-fold), and proteins (about 2- fold). The supplementation of culture medium with the nanomaterials upregulated enzymatic antioxidant biomarkers (catalase and peroxidase) (Asgari-targhi et al., 2021). The highest mean microtuber weight was related to the nanocomposite treatment of 120 mg/l with a weight of 29 mg. In the microtuber diameter, this treatment had the highest value. The results of analysis of variance in Table 1 indicate that the effect of moderate salinity and the interaction of moderate salinity and nanocomposite treatments are not significant and the effect of experimental treatments is significant at the level of 5% probability. Due to the fact that the most important trait in the potato microtuberization is microtuber yield, so in the experiment, the highest microtuber yield was earned nanocomposite treatment with 131 mg and the lowest in control treatment with 87 mg. It seems that by using stress-reducing compounds such as glycine betaine and chitosan and nanocomposites, these compounds increase the amount of genes responsible for the formation of microtuber, and as a result, increasing the proteins involved in stresses induce more microtuberization. Also, nanocomposite materials, more assimilated materials may be transferred from the roots to microtuberization processes.

Conclusion
The microtuber produced in the glycine betaine coated with chitosan nanocomposite treatment produced the highest number of microtubers in the first, second, third, and final months. In treatments with moderate salinity in the first, second, third and final months, the number of microtuber and eyes and sprouted microtubers had the highest amount compared to the treatment without moderate salinity. Also, plants treated with glycine betaine voated with chitosan nanocomposite in the microtuber trate showed a greater effect than chitosan and glycine betaine with chitosan. According to the findings of this study, it seems that the use of nanocomposite materials in increasing the microtuber and reducing the vegetative growth of potato shoots has been made in Agria cultivar.