دکتر فرح فراهانی

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the essential oil of the medicinal plant Thymus vulgaris L. in the production of probiotic dairy products by determining the viability.

Thyme essential oil is used as a flavoring agent in the production of traditional and industrial dairy products (yogurt, buttermilk, and curd). To produce probiotic products and pasteurized dairy products, bacteria are inoculated and different concentrations of thyme essential oil (0, 25, 40, 70, 100 and 130 micrograms/ liter) are added to dairy products. The viability of bacteria in dairy products is checked at specific time intervals (0, 4, 8, 12 and 20 days).

By increasing the concentration of thyme in traditional and industrial dairy products, there is a significant decrease in the logarithm of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium bacteria (P<0.05). The highest viability of bacteria was observed with low concentrations of thyme in traditional yogurt, and with moderate amounts of essential oil in buttermilk and traditional curd, within 20 days. The highest viability of bacteria is in yogurt and industrial butter with high concentration and in industrial curd with a decrease in the amount of essential oil. The highest viability of Bifidobacterium bacteria is found with high concentrations of thyme in yogurt, buttermilk and traditional curd (P<0.05), also with low concentrations of thyme in industrial yogurt and buttermilk, and with high concentrations in industrial curd.

In industrial dairy products with thyme, the viability of Bifidobacterium bacteria is longer, and in traditional dairy products, the shelf life of Lactobacillus bacteria is longer.

Considering the importance of potato in the economy and human nutrition, the need to produce healthy seeds through tissue culture in order to increase the quality of the tuber and ultimately maintain the yield of the product is noticeable. In this regard, the aim of the present study is to evaluate the morphological and biochemical traits in the seedlings of four early and late potato cultivars under in vitro conditions. Four commercial varieties of potato were cultivated as single-node microspecimens in MS culture medium without any plant growth regulators. Seedlings grew after 5 weeks. Seedlings were evaluated in terms of morphological traits (number of seedlings produced from one seedling, stem length, number of branches, nodes, roots and micro-gland) as well as biochemical traits (chlorophyll a, b, carotenoid, anthocyanin, catalase enzyme activity and polyphenol oxidase enzyme activity). In morphological traits, late cultivar Satina, number of seedlings and stem length, and early cultivar Sante showed more roots than other cultivars. In the study of biochemical traits, the late cultivar Agria was superior to other cultivars in terms of the amount of pigments and catalase enzyme. In the same vegetative conditions, different cultivars have different potential in vegetative and biochemical traits. The growth pattern of different genotypes is determined by the synthesis of food and different levels of internal hormones and the balance between them, and as a result, they give different responses to the conditions of the culture environment. The present study showed that in the same vegetative conditions, the early cultivars of Satina in terms of vegetative traits and Agria in terms of the amount of pigments can be selected for mass cultivation.

Punica granatum L. (pomegranate), is among important horticultural plants which is cultivated in many parts of the world and appreciated for its fruit value and medicinal properties. Several pomegranate cultivars are cultivated in Iran which differs in fruit characteristics and agronomical features. In spite of economic importance of pomegranate cultivars, limited knowledge is available on genetic and cytogenetic peculiarities of these cultivars. Therefore, we aimed to investigate cytogenetically twelve unreported cultivars and also compile all available data on chromosome pairing, chiasma frequency and meiotic irregularities in 88 cultivars and carry on a meta analysis. We found all cultivars to have 2n = 2x = 16 chromosome number, but significantly differed in all meiotic features studied. Most of meiotic features studied were significantly correlated while PCA analysis revealed that characters like chiasma frequency and distribution as well as ring bivalents are associated to each other and differentiated the cultivars which were distributed towards longitude. Similarly, characters related to meiotic irregularities such as chromosome stickiness and anaphase failure differentiated the cultivars which were distributed toward altitude. PCA plot placed pomegranate cultivars in three major groups due to meiotic difference. Data obtained can be used in future conservation and breeding of pomegranate.

Apple belong to Malus Miller genus. Today, more of 10000 varieties known in the world, some of varieties are economic , resistance to diseases and sexual proliferation of ability. The vegetative rootstock (M26 and MM106) are early harvesting, yield is high and effect on quality of fruits. The subject of project is research kinds vegetative rootstock of varieties and number of subculture on rate of in vitro proliferation. The basal medium culture MS (Murashige , Skoog, 1962) supplemented with BAP (2 mg/l) and IAA (0.5 mg/l) have prepared. In M26 rootstock, length of stem (1.11 cm) increased during the second and third subcuktures. In mm106 and M26, maximum number of leaves (18.7 and 9.2) produced in two subculture and such as, length of stem elongated during the first subculture. The length of shoot and number of leaves increased with repetitive subcultures but on effected on branching.Apple belong to Malus Miller genus. Today, more of 10000 varieties known in the world, some of varieties are economic , resistance to diseases and sexual proliferation of ability. The vegetative rootstock (M26 and MM106) are early harvesting, yield is high and effect on quality of fruits.

Aloe (Aloe littoralis) is important clinically and economically. This plant is native in Iran and natural and traditional of proliferation is very slow, in the result, needs of medicinal industry do not prepare. Aloe (A. littoralis) can proliferate from micropropagation technique rapidly. The subject of project is micropropagation of Aloe (A. littoralis) native in Iran. The terminal and axillary buds of explants cultured on media culture, MS with BAP (0.5 , 1, 2 mg/l) and IAA (0.5 , 1 mg/l). The largest number of shoot (1.25) and the highest length of shoot (1.13 cm) produced on MS medium culture with BAP (2 mg/l) and IAA (0.5 mg/l), the largest number of leaves (1.25) and root (2.32) and the highest length of root (4.66 cm) produced on MS medium culture with BAP (0.5 mg/l) and IAA (0.5 mg/l). Aloe micropropagation used low concentration of hormones, mother plants are native in south of Iran region, medicinal properties are common with aloe vera (Aloe barbedensis). In the results, cost of production is low and is better economically.