مجله علوم و فنون باغبانی ایران
سال بیست و چهارم شماره 3 (پاییز 1402)

A study was carried out to investigate the effect of combined treatment of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with different concentrations of Inian clove essential oil (M) on the storage life of Ahmad Aghaei pistachio cultivar. This research was carried out as a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design. Treatments in two levels, one concentration of edible coating: control (distilled water), 0.5% CMC along with three different concentrations of M oil including; 400, 800 and 1200 mgL-1 and the second factor of the storage period was investigated at two levels (25 and 50 days). The results showed that during storage period, hull and kernel moisture, aroma and taste decreased in all treatments, but the amount of ion leakage, peroxidas activity, browning, decay and chilling injury were increased. The application of CMC along with 400 and 1200 mgL-1 of M recorded the best taste compared to the control sample. The lowest of ion leakage was related to the combined treatment of CMC with 1200 mg, which was not significantly different from the combined treatment of CMC with 800 mgL-1. Pistachios treated with distilled water showed a higher level of decay (22%), chilling injury (22%) and peroxidase enzyme activity (48%), compared to the combined treatments.

Fluorescence parameters and chlorophyll content are the most important factors to determine the photosynthetic capacity during the life of plants. In this research, the effect of SiO2 nanoparticles was investigated on the characteristics of RWC, membrane stability, photosynthetic pigments and the functioning of photosystem II under sodium chloride salinity stress conditions in five olive cultivars. Two olive cultivars (Koroneiki and Conservalia as salinity-resistant and sensitive controls, respectively) and three selected genotypes (Deira, Kolahfaraj and Shiraz) at two levels of salinity (0 and 150 mM sodium chloride) and three levels of nanoparticles of SiO2 (0, 1 and 2 mM) were investigated. The results showed that in all investigated cultivars, membrane stability and relative water content decreased in sodium chloride salinity treated plants. On the other hand, the application of SiO2 nanoparticles increased the relative water content, membrane stability and the amount of photosynthetic pigment in both control and salinity conditions. Shiraz genotype is more tolerant to sodium chloride salinity due to its superiority in most traits related to salinity tolerance compared to other cultivars. The results showed that application of SiO2 nanoparticles increased photosynthetic pigments under salinity stress. In general, it can be concluded that salinity stress reduced the content of photosynthetic pigments, relative water content, membrane stability and also the performance of photosystem II, and SiO2 nanoparticles improved these traits. It seems that the application of SiO2 at a concentration of 2 mM reduces the destructive effects of sodium chloride salinity stress in the studied olive cultivars.

Among the valuable plants of Iran, the Artemisia species belongs to the Asteraceae family, which is relatively widely distributed in different parts of Iran. Considering that the antioxidant potential is significantly dependent on the nature of the solvent, the extraction method of the plant collected from each region also depends on many parameters such as weather, altitude, and light. In this study, wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) was collected from three different regions of Iran and the antioxidant potential of these ecotypes was evaluated. In this research, the medicinal properties, including the antioxidant content (by DPPH and FRAP assays), flavonoid content (TFC), and total phenol (TPC) were evaluated in polar (ethanol) and semi polar (ethyl acetate) extracts, and the percentage and variety of essential oil compounds were evaluated. The Gilan ecotype has the most antioxidants, The Semnan ecotype showed the least antioxidant inhibition, and the non-polar solvent ethyl acetate showed a higher regenerating activity, which indicates that the type of solvent used in extraction is very effective for antioxidant activity. The AC values of the ecotypes ranged from 78.65 to 92.58 % extract (by DPPH assay) and from 11.76 to 18.88 Mmol Fe (by FRAP assay) respectively. Gilan ecotype has the highest phenolic content in polar extract, and the Golestan ecotype showed the highest flavonoid content in non-polar extract. Semnan ecotype had the most oxygenated monoterpene compounds, and the most composition in essential oil among other ecotypes. Golestan ecotype had the highest percentage of essential oil among other ecotypes. The diversity of phenolic contents, essential oil, and antioxidant compounds observed in the three studied ecotypes can be due to various ecological, genetic, geographical, and nutritional factors.

In this study, lettuce cultivars and genotypes native to the country, including two domestic cultivars and six domestic genotypes along with five iceberg lettuce genotypes were evaluated for production in greenhouse conditions. Evaluation was performed in the research greenhouse of the Horticultural Sciences Research Institute in Karaj. The greenhouse experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications in spring of 2018. In this study different indices including, number of leaves, leaf length and width, head length and diameter, depth of incisions leaf, , head firmness and yield and qualitative indices like leaf color, texture tenderness, the presence of anthocyanin and maturity were measured. Data were analysed with SPSS ver.16, means comparison was done with Duncan test. Correlation of quantitative traits with yield was done by person test and regression of independent variables with yield was done by linear stepwise method. Results showed a significant positive correlation between the yield and variables including head length and diameter, leaf length and width, leaf numbers. So that, Grizzly cultivar and Borazjan accession with the most head and leaves’ length and diameter had the highest yield in the experiment. Linear regression of the traits with yield revealed that only head’s length had the significant effect on the yield. There were variations in quantitative traits and maturity between accessions and cultivars. The cultivars Bombola, Grizzly, Borazjan, Peache-Ahvaz and Varesh had the good marketable, taste and flavour. Altogether, the superior accessions and cultivars such as Bombola, Grizzly, Borazjan, Peache-Ahvaz and Varesh for using in breeding program or cultivation under greenhouse condition were selected.

After harvesting, strawberry fruit is sensitive and susceptible to pathogens due to its bitterness, soft texture, high water content, and therefore has a short storage life. This study was designed and implemented in order to investigate the effect of mucilage edible coatings and plant essential oils to increase the storage life and maintain the quality of digital Paros strawberries during 12 days of storage in a warehouse with a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of 75±5%. The effect of essential oils of thyme (Thymus vulgaris), ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi L.) and mucilage of psyllium (Plantago ovata L.) and flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) and their combination with each other were used to coat strawberry fruit. Factorial experiment in the form of completely randomized design and parameters such as percentage of decay, firmness of fruit tissue, ascorbic acid, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and acidity (pH) of fruit juice 4, 8 and 12 days It was measured after storage. Based on the results, with the progress of storage time, there was a decrease in parameters such as vitamin C, TA, tissue firmness and anthocyanin, and an increase in the decay percentage and pH of fruit juice. In general, mucilage and essential oil coating treatments alone or in combination with each other are suitable for the storage and after harvesting of Paros variety strawberries. The combined treatment of psyllium along with essential oils of thyme and ajowan having the greatest effect on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of strawberry fruits is introduced as the best treatments in this research.

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of extracts from Harmel, Lavender, Fennel, and Cinnamon on the post-harvest characteristics of "Samurai" rose flowers. To this end, various concentrations of the aforementioned plant extracts were employed, along with fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea and calcium chloride. The findings demonstrated that Cinnamon and Harmel, at a concentration of 2000 ppm, exhibited the highest vase life and the least changes in flower weight, whereas distilled water manifested the highest changes in flower diameter. Furthermore, Harmel, at a concentration of 2000 ppm, yielded the highest relative leaf water content, while Cinnamon, at the same concentration, demonstrated the highest relative petal water content. Notably, the control and fennel treatments at 500 and 1000 ppm resulted in the lowest flowering life. Based on these results, it can be inferred that Cinnamon and Harmel treatments show promise as natural compounds for enhancing the flowering life of cut "Samurai" rose flowers.

Leaf chlorosis and early leaf loss disturb the growth of plane trees in the urban landscape of Iranian cities. The present experiment was conducted to study the effect of trunk injection using the low-pressure Fertinyect endotherapy system with iron sources and seaweed extract for reducing leaf chlorosis of plane trees compared to soil application of iron sequestrone in the randomized complete block design with 3 replications. The experimental treatments included the injection of iron amino chelate, iron gluconate, iron citrate, and iron sulfate in combination with seaweed extract compared to the soil application of iron sequestrone and the control. Chlorophyll content, leaf iron, Fv/Fm ratio, leaf relative water content, stomatal carbon dioxide, photosynthesis, transpiration rate, water use efficiency and tree visual quality were evaluated. The iron amino chelate 4% + seaweed extract 2% and iron gluconate 4% + seaweed extract 2% compared to other treatments led to the most significant increase in leaf chlorophyll, iron content, leaf relative water content, Fv/Fm ratio, tree visual quality, and the improvement of the photosynthetic parameters. In general, trunk injection with iron in combination with seaweed extract was beneficial due to the effect of iron on chlorophyll synthesis, and growth stimulation by seaweed extract.

Physalis (Physalis peruviana L.) is a popular fruit, which has received great attention due to its nutritional and medicinal properties. This valuable fruit has a short shelf life and so far, very little research has been done on postharvest physiology of shelf life. For this purpose, a factorial experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor was the different levels of γ- aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations (0, 5, 10 and 15 mM), the second factor was the storage time in three levels (7, 14 and 21 days) and the third factor was the harvesting stage (based on the appearance color of the fruit into two levels: yellowish green and orange). The obtained results showed that the weight loss in fruit treated with GABA at the end of the storage period was lower than untreated fruit, and the most weight loss (12.62%) was found in fruit harvested in the orange stage without any treatment. At the end of the storage period, the fruit firmness in fruit treated with GABA showed a lower decrease compared to the untreated fruit, so that the maximum decrease was observed in the orange stage after 21 days of storage in the untreated fruits. The application of GABA significantly reduced the fruit decay. The highest fruit decay (43.83%) was observed in the fruit harvested at the orange stage without GABA at the end of storage. The results showed that the application of GABA increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes during the storage period compared to untreated fruit. The highest activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzymes was observed in fruit treated with 15 mM GABA compared to untreated fruit. Overall, application of GABA after harvesting at a concentration of 15 mM is recommended to maintain the quality of physalis fruit.

Capsicum annuum L. is an annual fruit vegetable of the family Solanaceae, native to Mexico and South America, and has always had a special place in the diets of various communities. Excessive accumulation of nitrate and nitrite is one of the criteria for reducing the quality of vegetables. In this study, the effect of foliar application of different concentrations of humic acid and Origanum majorana extract on nitrate, nitrite, and some quantitative, qualitative, and biochemical traits of two greenhouse-grown bell pepper cultivars (Paramo and Taranto) was investigated. The treatments were the control, humic acid (0.2, 0.6, and 1 gl-l), and marjoram extract (3 and 6%). All treatments were sprayed on plants for 12 consecutive weeks. In this study, traits such as fruit nitrate and nitrite content, fruit length, fruit diameter, number of fruits per plant, TSS, fruit potassium and calcium content, total yield, anthocyanin content, and weight loss percentage after harvest were measured. The results showed that the Taranto cultivar treated with the humic acid (0.6 gl-l) had better and more desirable nitrate and nitrite levels (52.2 and 3.2 mg/kg, respectively) compared to the control and other treatments. Moreover, the Taranto cultivar treated with the humic acid (0.6 gl-l) showed better results in terms of the fruit length and the number of fruits per plant. The Paramo cultivar treated with the humic acid (0.6 gl-l) had better TSS. Comparing the individual effect of cultivar on the traits showed that the Taranto cultivar had better potential than Paramo in most traits. Results indicated that humic acid 0.6 gl-1 had lower and more desirable nitrate and nitrite compared control and other treatments.

Some morphological parameters are suitable indicators for distinguishing Ficus cultivars, which can be used as descriptors for the classification of this species. Therefore, the current research focused on the specific identification of four fig cultivars based on physiological and vegetative characteristics and determining the storage life. This research was arranged as a completely randomized block design with three replications in Sabz, Ghani, Fereydoni and Sefidak fig cultivars in Mashaikh village, Doshmen Ziyari district, Mamsani city in 2022. The results showed that growth habit, terminal bud color, petiole color, fruit shape, fruit skin color, one-year-old branch color, main leaf lobe shape, branch density, branch bending and growth vigour of four fig cultivars can be considered as key traits to identify fig cultivars. Ghani recorded the highest leaf ion leakage (92.24%). The Sabz cultivar had the highest content of leaf chlorophyll a and carotenoids with the value of 8.13 and 11.06 mg/g, respectively. Fereydoni cultivar had the highest percentage of soluble solids (18.66%) and the number of fruits per branch (7.33). The lowest fresh and dry weight of fruit, leaf dry weight matter, and the percent of ion leakage (15.37%) was found in Fereydoni cultivar. The lowest leaf length (94.09 mm), leaf number (3.33), internode number (5.66), and the highest stalk length (15.81 mm) were observed in the Sefidak cultivar. According to the cluster analysis and morphological traits, Ghani and Sefidak cultivars were more closely related to each other, and Fereydoni and Sabz cultivars were also placed in the same group. The storage life of Ghani cultivar was the highest compared with other ones.