International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology
Volume:11 Issue: 4, Autumn 2024

Boron deficiency is a prevalent challenge for plant nutrition supply in many alkaline/calcareous soils. The current research had seven treatments, including control, boric acid as fertigation (0.5, 1, and 2 g L-1), and foliar application (0.5, 1, and 2 g L-1) with three replications in controlled greenhouse conditions. The treatments were applied on Lorca bell peppers in a completely randomized design. The results showed that fertigation and foliar application increased all measured characteristics compared to the control treatment. Increasing the concentration of boric acid in the foliar application treatment caused a decrease in fruit count per plant, fruit fresh weight, fruit yield per plant, and fruit width. Both fertigation and foliar boric acid application (0.5 g L-1) as separate treatments caused the highest fruit weight, length, width, and fruit count per plant. Higher boric acid concentrations caused an increase in chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll, leaf carotenoid content, soluble sugars, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, total phenol, and fruit ascorbic acid content. The highest levels of chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophyll, leaf carotenoid content, and fruit ascorbic acid were observed in response to the high concentration of boric acid foliar application (2 g L-1). Overall, the boron supplement as a foliar application (0.5 to 1 g L-1) or fertigation (0.5 to 1 g L-1) improved quantitative and qualitative performance in bell pepper.

Sucrose plays a significant role in the process of microtuberzation in Potato. Sucrose acts as a crucial modifier, influencing the growth and development of microtuber in potato. Understanding the role of sucrose in microtuberzation is vital for improving potato cultivation practices and enhancing crop productivity. In this experiment, different concentrations of sucrose (3, 6, 9, 12, and 15%) were investigated to determine their effects on the microtuberization of the potato cultivar ‘Sante’. The findings revealed that higher concentrations of sucrose (12 and 15%) inhibited the microtuberization percentage, microtuber number, and shoot growth. The tuberization percentage reached its maximum value (100%) when exposed to a sucrose concentration of 9%. Additionally, the microtuber number per explant was observed to be 2, whereas it was 4.6 per vessel. However, the use of a 12% sucrose concentration resulted in the highest microtuber diameter (5mm), as well as the highest fresh weight (120 mg) and dry weight (26 mg) of microtubers and microtuber yield (FW: 752 mg; DW: 170 mg). On the other hand, the highest explant fresh weight (44 mg) and dry weight (9.5 mg) was observed in the 15% sucrose concentration. The allocation of biomass was influenced by the sucrose concentration, with higher concentrations leading to a greater allocation of biomass to the microtuber and explant rather than the shoot. Based on the outcomes obtained, it can be concluded that the optimal treatment for microtuber production of the potato Sante cultivar is a sucrose concentration of 12%.

Cyclamen, a popular decorative plant, is commonly found in gardens and pots. As wild Cyclamens are endangered, a study was conducted to explore the genetic potential for wild Cyclamen, focusing on their morphology and chromosomal diversity among eight accessions. A total of 23 phenotypic-biochemical traits were evaluated along with chromosome counting. The morphological measures showed a humble range of variation, particularly in the number of flowers, peduncle diameter, number of leaves, hypocotyl length, and hypocotyl weight, with the Kordkuy accession being the largest and the Deylaman region being the most seeded. Cyclamen chromosome counting indicated 15 chromosomal levels, implying a significant chromosomal diversity among the accessions, with the Pasand accession exhibiting the highest level of chromosomal diversity (14 chromosomal levels). Furthermore, only the Pasand accession had the greatest chromosomal level (2n = 48) among the accessions. Additionally, describing the results based on the median, the fewest chromosome diversity was recorded for Kordkuy accession. On the whole, with the participation of all morphological, biochemical, and chromosomal level data, and with the help of principle components and cluster analyses, Cyclamen accessions were divided into two main clusters and a single accession. The Kordkuy accession was put alone and separated from other accessions. HCA analysis confirmed the separation of Kordkuy accession from other accessions, as expected from its superiority in most morphological traits. The findings of the present research can be used to improve Cyclamen breeding programs as well as evolutionary studies.

Indian jujubes (Indian jujube) are perishable fruits with a short storage life after harvest. In this study, the role of 1% chitosan (CHS), 1 mM putrescine (PUT), and 1% CHS combined with 1 mM PUT (CHS+PUT) treatment on maintaining the quality of Indian jujube fruits during storage at 5°C and 90% RH for 30 days were investigated. Physicochemical characteristics and cell wall degrading enzymes were measured at 10-day intervals. The results indicated that the efficiency of the CHS+PUT was better than CHS or PUT individual treatment. CHS+PUT treatment substantially decreased weight loss, decay incidence, and malondialdehyde content of Indian jujube fruits. Loss of bioactive compounds (ascorbic acid and phenols), total antioxidant activity, and titratable acidity were minimized in response to CHS+PUT treatment. In addition, CHS+PUT treatment delayed fruit softening by suppressing the activity of polygalacturonase and pectin methylesterase enzymes. The soluble solids content significantly increased with the progression of storage time but, the application of CHS and PUT individually or in combination inhibited this increase. These results clearly confirm that the 1% CHS and 1 mM PUT treatment is an effective means to improve the postharvest quality and storage life of Indian jujube fruits.

Artificial neural networks (ANN) can be used as a nondestructive method for estimating the shelf life and quality attributes of fruits and vegetables. In this research, in order to model the storage process of fruit grapes (Vitis vinifera cv. Rishbaba) coated with maltodextrin, including different levels of potassium nanocarbonate (0 and 2%) and pyracantha extract (0 and 1.5%), artificial neural network was used. After applying these coatings, the fruits were stored for 60 days in a cold storage with a temperature of -1°C and a relative humidity of 90%. Weight loss percentage, Titrable acidity (TA), pH, texture firmness, color index (a*) and general acceptance of fruit grapes were investigated. Artificial neural networks were used to predict changes. By examining different networks, the feedforward backpropagation network with 3-10-6 topologies with coefficient of determination (R²) greater than 0.988 and mean square error (MSE) less than 0.005 and by using hyperbolic sigmoid tangent activation function, resilient learning pattern and 1000 learning process were determined as the best neural method. On the other hand, the results of the optimized models showed that this model had the highest and lowest accuracy for predicting the weight loss percentage (R2= 0.9975) and a* (R2= 0.5671) of the samples respectively.

Protected environment and substrate, as well as interaction between both, influence the formation of pepper seedlings and promote adequate plant growth. The present study evaluated different types of protected environments and substrate compositions in the initial growth of “Guaraci Cumari do Pará” pepper (Capsicum chinense) seedlings. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, in a 4 x 5 factorial scheme (4 protected environments x 5 substrate compositions). Agricultural screenhouse with black polyethylene screens of 18% and 30% of shading and agricultural greenhouses with polyethylene screens of 35% and 42-50% shading under the plastic film was used. Inside the environments, substrates 100% Carolina Soil® + 0% vermiculite, 80% Carolina Soil® + 20% vermiculite, 60% Carolina Soil® + 40% vermiculite; 40% Carolina Soil® + 60% vermiculite and 20% Carolina Soil® + 80% vermiculite were tested. The environment that provided higher growth for all substrates was with 35% shading, increasing seedling's quality by 2.9 times. In the 30% shading environment, a better performance of the substrate (80% Carolina Soil® + 20% Vermiculite) was observed, while in the 35% shading environment, a better performance of the commercial substrate (100% Carolina Soil®) was observed, with greater plant height, steam diameter, number of leaves, dry mass, however, the 35% shading environment increased 2.4 times the quality of seedlings with the commercial substrat, regarding 40% Carolina Soil® + 60% vermiculite. In seedling quality, the best substrate was commercial substrat, was 95% superior to 40% Carolina Soil® + 60% vermiculite, in the average of the environments.