حسن نورافکن

Seaweed is considered as a natural source of organic and mineral substances, containing more than 60 minerals and 21 amino acids, several plant growth regulators, manifold and organic acids. It is a factor for increasing growth, absorption of nutrients, resistance to adverse plant stresses, soil fertility and microbial activity. The chemical compounds in algae depend on various factors, such as the type of algae, the duration of residence in the ocean, the geographical area of harvest, being exposed to waves, growth stage, seasonal changes, annual changes, physiological and environmental factors, water temperature, salinity, pH and It depends on the sample analysis method. Research based on compounds derived from seaweed has been carried out in a wide range of biological activities such as antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and insecticidal. Considering that unlike fertilizers and chemical poisons, dry powder or extracts from seaweeds have non-destructive environmental effects for humans, animals and birds, Therefore, it is suggested that in order to achieve sustainable agriculture and pest and disease management, this rich resource should be given more attention and research.

Eremostachys spp. have been considered as common herbal medicine in Iranian folk medicine, with pain relief medical applications. To investigate antinociceptive effects of Eremostachys laevigata, methanol, distilled water, chloroform, N-hexan and acetone extracts of root were extracted and injected to mice 30 minutes before pain induced by formalin, acid acetic injection and hot plate methods, in the concentrations of 100, 200, 300 and 400 mg/kg. The positive and negative controls were morphine and normal saline, respectively. Remarkable antinociceptive effect was observed in plant root methanol extract on the pain caused by formalin injection in both acute and chronic phases, visceral pain induced by acetic acid test, and increasing of pain tolerance duration in hot plate test. In hot plate and formalin test, the plant extract of 400 mg/kg could relief the pain as much as morphine, but not in acetic acid test, indicating that it may act through the central nervous than peripheral system. The phenolic content was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu assay. The total flavonoids were measured spectrophotometrically by the aluminium chloride colorimetric assay. The amount of total phenolic was 6.87 mg/g dry weight, expressed as gallic acid equivalents (GAE) and flavonoid was 0.19 mg/g dry weight expressed as rutin equivalents (RE). Two antipain iridoid glucosides, phloyoside I and Sesamoside have separated reversed-phase preparative HPLC from the root of this plant. Therefore, E. laevigata root methanol extract could be a suitable candidate for being considered as pain reliever.

Lemon balm is an aromatic and perennial bushy plant with interesting pharmacological and biological properties, which extensively distributed in the Mediterranean region and Asia. The effects of salicylic acid (50, 100, 150 and 200 mg.L-1) and chitosan (50, 100, 150 and 200 mg.L-1) foliar application on plant parameters, essential oil and chemical compositions of lemon balm at two different harvest stages (seedling and flowering) were evaluated. The results showed that the highest values of chlorophyll index obtained from foliar application of 150 and 200 mg/L chitosan. Application of chitosan (all concentration levels except 50 mg.L-1) significantly improved the plant height of lemon balm compared with the control. Leaf and dry weight of aerial parts per plant increased with increasing in salicylic acid and chitosan concentrations. The essential oil compounds of lemon balm (citronellal, caryophyllene, linalool, carvacrol, α-pinene, geraniol) at flowering harvest stage were significantly higher than the seedling harvest stage. Foliar application of chitosan was more effective than salicylic acid in increasing essential oil compounds of lemon balm. The essential oil content ranged between 0.07% and 0.09% in the seedling harvest stage and between 0.30% and 0.52% in the flowering harvest stage. The highest value of essential oil (0.52%) was recorded from the flowering harvest stage with foliar application of 200 mg.L-1 chitosan. The findings of the current study showed that both elicitors possess strong potential in biomass production and enhancement of essential oil compounds in lemon balm.

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of chitosan and salicylic acid on morphological traits of the medicinal plant Galega officinalis L. in field conditions in a completely randomized design with three replications in 2017 in the research farm of Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch. The treatments included foliar application with four levels of salicylic acid (0.5, 1, 2, and 3 mM/l), foliar application with four levels of chitosan (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 g/l) and foliar application with distilled water (the control). The results showed that foliar application of biological stimulants had a significant impact on all evaluated traits, except plant height and leaf dry weight. By increasing the concentration of chitosan and salicylic acid, the fresh and dry weight of the stem have decreased so that the highest values in the two traits have belonged to the treatments of chitosan 0.4 and 0.2 g/l and 1 and 0.5 mM/l salicylic acid. Maximum number of internodes (with a numerical mean of 4.80), root length in chitosan treatment (0.4 g/l), and the highest number of leaf (at a concentration of 0.6 g/l chitosan) has been observed. In the study of leaf and root characteristics, chitosan with concentrations of 0.2 and 0.4 g/l and in inflorescence characteristics, salicylic acid with concentrations of 2 and 3 mM/l have been more effective. In general, the use of concentrations of 0.4 and 0.2 g/l chitosan have had a more optimal effect on the morphological traits of the medicinal plant Galega officinalis L., making it ultimately recommended thanks to its positive effect on most of the plant's growth characteristics due to its rapid absorption to achieve the desired yield in a sustainable agricultural path.

Assessing the genetic diversity of natural and protected germplasm is one of the most strategic global activities and as the national capital of each country. Over the years, various mutations and crosses have caused the accumulation of some useful genes in this germplasm and can be used as genetic resources in critical situations. Evaluation of diversity based on morphological and phenotypic traits is not stable due to the influence of the environment and the interaction of genotype in the environment. Therefore, the use of DNA-based markers that have high reproducibility. Codon-based DNA amplifier-based markers have recently been used to translate SCoT in plants due to heritability and reproducibility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of hazelnut genetic germplasms in the forests of the northwest of the Iran by SCoT markers and it’s accordance to diversity estimates based on national markers of hazelnut differentiation tests.

In this study, 77 genotypes from hazelnut forests of Ardabil, Miyaneh and Arasbaran were selected by locating each genotype using GPS. Qualitative traits were evaluated using the national guidelines for uniform differentiation and hazelnut stability tests. after DNA extraction from leaf tissue, their polymorphism diversity was assessed using 15 SCoT-specific primers.

The results showed that the genotypes were classified according to the qualitative traits of differentiation of 17 clusters. Using 15 SCoT markers, 165 polymorphic bands were produced with an average of 11 bands per marker and the average percentage of polymorphisms with an average of 11 bands per marker and the average percentage of polymorphisms for markers 90.2% of genotypes based on these markers in 19 sub-clusters Were grouped.

Analysis of qualitative traits based on bands created in SCoT showed that markers 3, 5, 11, 12, 18 and 20 had more genetic diversity and that the degree of  accordance of genotype grouping based on the SCoT markers was 0.87 on The basis of the Mantel test.

Using two genetic markers, 75% (R2) of the variety of hazelnut differentiation descriptors can be accessed.

Salinity is one of the most limiting factors in crop growth and hence many attempts have been undertaken to reduce this stress. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of the interaction of salicylic acid and ascorbic acid on salt stress in St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) using a completely randomized factorial design. Different concentration of salicylic acid (0.0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 mm), ascorbic acid (0.0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3) and salt stress (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 mM) were used. The results showed that pre-treatment of seed priming of salineexposed plants with ascorbic and salicylic acids significantly improved germination percent, germination rate, and germination average time, but had negative effects on these traits. According to the results of this study, It can be concluded that seed priming of St. John's wort either with salicylic or ascorbic acid improves germination traits and plant resistance to salinity.

Physalis alkekengi L. belongs to the Solanacae family and its fruit is widely used in traditional medicine to treat diseases such as kidney and urinary tract stones, gout and hepatitis. Since the use of biostimulants in agriculture can be effective in improving the quantity and quality of active ingredients of medicinal plants and improving their yield, in this study, to evaluate the effect of salicylic acid and urea foliar application on morphological characteristics and phytochemical composition of this plant an experiment in a completely randomized design in research greenhouse of Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch in 2019 was conducted. Spraying salicylic acid (0.001, 0.0025, 0.005 and 0.01 mM) and urea (0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2%) was applied in three stages with an interval of 10 days in three repetitions. Extraction was performed simultaneously with harvest (mid-September) by soaking method and the amount of phytochemical compounds in the shoot was determined using HPLC. Based on the results of variance analysis, the effect of foliar application on all morphological traits of shoots (except leaf width), root morphological traits and yield traits was significant. Increasing the concentration of urea and salicylic acid in most of the measured traits showed a positive effect. The highest increase in the mentioned traits was mainly related to the concentrations of 1% and 2% urea and salicylic acid 0.01 mM. Compared to the control, concentrations of 1% urea and 0.01 mM salicylic acid increased the number of fruits (76.8% and 64.6%, respectively), fruit diameter (17.3% and 25.7%, respectively), fruit length (15.07 and 33.4%, respectively), fresh weight of shoots (29.9 and 56.4%, respectively) and dry weight of shoots (28.4 and 61.4%, respectively). In addition, with increasing salicylic acid concentration the amount of luteolin, quercetin, campferol, ferulic acid and chlorogenic acid increased compared to the control treatment.

Linum usitatissimum L. is one of the most important oilseed crops in the world and moreover, its oil is a valuable source of essential fatty acids composed of omega-3 such as alpha-linolenic acid. This plant is sensitive to fertilizer that is poured near the stem. Therefore, foliar application of nutrients is used as an efficient method with a major impact on the growth, quantity and quality of active ingredients in this product. This factorial experiment was performed based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in the Medicinal Plants Research Farm of Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch, during 2019 to assess  the effect of foliar application of different concentrations of boric acid, salicylic acid and urea at different hours of the day on increasing the quantity and quality of essential fatty acids. Treatments were applied at ten-day intervals in three periods after the beginning of flowering and the final harvest was performed to extract the oil with N-hexane solvent after capsule maturity. The percentage of fatty acid profile of flaxseed oil were determined using GC and GC-MS connected to mass spectrometer. Based on the results, the foliar application 50 mg/l salicylic acid on the percentage of alpha-linolenic acid and 3 liters of boric acid on linoleic acid after sunset, and 100 mg/l salicylic acid on eicosadienoic acid before sunrise and 5 g/l urea on palmitoleic acid after sunset were effective. Therefore, a combination of environmental effects on the plant before and during foliar application and plant physiology during and after uptake determines the effect of foliar application.

Eugenia caryophyllata (Clove) has long been used as a medicinal plant to treat infections and prevent food spoilage. In this study, with three methods of hydro distillation, steam distillation and hydro-steam distillation, clove buds were extracted and the yields of these methods were 10.9, 9.9 and 8.3%, respectively, which had the highest efficiency for water extraction method. Essential oils obtained by different methods were analyzed by GC-MS and 17 essential oil components were identified. Among these components, acetic acid, eugenol, eugenol acetate, m-eugenol, caryophyllene, hexadecanoic acid were the predominant components, the amount of which in all three types of essential oils were significantly different from each other. Also, the antibacterial effect of essential oils along with 12 common antibiotics on three types of Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus epidermidis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were studied and compared. The results showed that the essential oil extracted with hydro-steam, compared to other extraction methods, has a significant antibacterial effect so that its effect on Staphylococcus aureus from Erythromycin, penicillin, glucosacin, vancomycin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, ceftriaxone Amikacin and gentamicin were stronger, and the effect was similar to that of ampicillin, tobramycin. In conclusion, obtained results showed that clove essential oil can be used as antimicrobial compenent for different appliactions as well as for food applications.

To study the genetic diversity and grouping of rice recombinant inbred lines (RILs), 144 RILs derived from a cross between two Iranian rice varieties, Nemat and Hashemi, were evaluated in Rice Research Institute of Iran, Rasht, Iran, in two crop seasons, 2018 and 2019. The experiment was carried out based on augmented design with four varieties (two parents, Hashemi and Nemat, and two other varieties, Ali Kazemi and Khazar) as control treatments in randomize complete block design with three replications. The results of data analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference among rice genotypes for all studied traits. The highest coefficient of variation in both years was observed for panicle exertion and grain yield, respectively, and the lowest for milling ratio. Comparison of means showed that some lines were superior to others in terms of yield and other important agronomic traits. Cluster analysis based on the average of two years data grouped the studied genotypes into four clusters. The results of principal component analysis showed that five independent principal components explained about 82% of the total variation and the related two dimensional plot also classified the studied genotypes into three groupes. According to the results of comparison of means, cluster analysis and principal component analysis, the RILs 157, 113, 114, 142 and 130 with the highest grain yield and the lowest early maturity were selected as the superior lines in this study and can be used to introduce cultivar and/or hybrid production in future breeding programs.

Salicylic acid is an important intermediate molecule for the response of plants to environmental stresses. To study the effect of seed priming by salicylic acid on germination of milk thistle under salinity stress, a factorial experiment was conducted based on completely randomized design in three replications in 1394 at the Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh. Treatment was conducted seed priming with salicylic acid each with four levels (0, 100, 200 and 300 mg/L) and four NaCl levels (0, 40, 80 and 120 mM/L). The end of experiment, germination percentage, germination rate, root length, seedling length, seedling fresh weight, root fresh weight, vigor index seed and vigor index seedling were measured. Increase in salinity concentration reduced germination indices but priming by salicylic acid under salinity had improved on germination indices. The most appropriate level of salicylic acid was to reduced salinity effects and improve germination with 200 mg/L salicylic acid with or without salinity stress. Therefore, seed priming by salicylic acid with 200 mg/L can cause resistance of seed milk thistle under salinity stress.

Seed germination is an important stage in the most plants and salinity tolerance is important at this stage. In order to evaluate the application of nano-iron and nano-potassium chelated on germination and growth traits of black cumin (Nigella sativa) under salinity stress, a factorial experiment was conducted based on completely randomized design with three replications in Horticultural Sciences Laboratory at Islamic Azad University - Miyaneh Branch. The first factor was seed pretreatment with nano-iron and nano-potassium chelated at three levels of 1000, 2000 and 3000 ppm and distilled water as control, and the second factor was four salinity levels in 0, 25, 50, 75 mM NaCl. The results showed that high levels of NaCl decreased significantly germination indices and seedling growth. Also, application of nano-potassium chelate had more positive effect on germination and seedling growth of Nigella sativa in stress and non-saline conditions than nano-iron chelate. By using nano-potassium chlorate alone or under salinity stress, germination indices and seedling growth showed more efficiency. In general, pretreatment of nano-potassium chelate can be used to reduce the adverse effects of salinity on seed germination.

To study the effect of nano-chelated iron and potassium foliar spraying on quality and quantity of damask rose essential oil and morpho-physiological characteristics, an experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design in 2018 at Medicinal Plant Research Farm of Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch. One year after the complete establishment of damask rose and during the blooming stage, plants were sprayed three times at intervals of 10 days by 0.5, 1 and 1.5 g/L nano chelated iron and potassium. The traits evaluated in this experiment were leaf fresh and dry weights, flower fresh weight, leaf length and width, chlorophyll content, flower and receptacle diameter, petal number, plant height, essential oil quantity and quality. Application of nano-chelated iron increased the leaf fresh and dry weights. The highest and the lowest percentages of essential oil were observed in nano-chelated potassium at 1 g/L (0.2%) and nano-chelated potassium at 1.5 g/L (0.06%), respectively. 18 combinations were identified in essential oil of damask rose and the highest components were determined in citronellol, geraniol, tricosane, nonadecane and henicosane. The citronellol (27.3%) and geraniol (14.17%) was obtained from nano-chelated potassium at 1 gr/L and highest nonadecane (3.12%) and tricosane (21.17%) was obtained from nano-chelated iron at 1.5 g/L. The highest amount of henicosane (21.53%) was obtained in control treatment. Therefore, nano-chelated potassium at 1 g/L. can be used to give the highest essential oil yield and extraction of citronelol and geraniol, which are one of the most important economic compounds in damask rose.

Biotransformation is the process of converting an inert precursor into the medicinally valuable product. In this research, a pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of artificial citral and geranial spraying in concentrations of 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 ppm, besides distilled water and without spraying (control) on essential oils quality and quantity of lemon verbena with in greenhouse conditions at Islamic Azad University – Miyaneh Branch, Iran in 2015. The first foliar application was done when the plantlets reached the height of 25. The second and the third spraying were done with 7 and 14 days span after the first spraying respectively. One week after the last spraying, lemon verbena leaves were harvested. The essential oils were extracted from the leaves by hydro distillation method by using Clevenger apparatus. Citral and geranial especially in low concentrations (100 ppm) and distilled water spraying had positive effect in essential oils yield. The chemical composition of essential oils was analyzed by GC and GC-MS methods. On the whole, 21 components were identified and the most important components were limonene, geranial and neral. Citral and geranial spraying especially in high concentrations increased limonene content and the highest limonene content was in geranial 500 ppm and citral 400 ppm in the amount of 28.24 and 24.54%, respectively. Also, the lowest limonene content was 17.83% in control. However, citral and geranial spraying had not positive effect on neral and geranial content.

Chitosan is one of the bio-elicitors that cause physiological and morphological changes in plants. To this end, two separate experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of chitosan on morphological and physiological traits of lemon verbena under in vitro and field conditions. 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 ppm concentrations of chitosan were added to MS culture medium and their effects on lemon verbena growth indices were evaluated. The results showed that chitosan had a significant effect on all traits, except for the normal plantlet percentage, lateral shoots and chlorotic leaf numbers evaluated. Increasing chitosan concentrations up to 50 and 100 ppm under in vitro condition increased longest shoot length, chlorophyll content and plantlet length in lemon verbena explants but it reduced node numbers of the longest shoot when all concentrations of chitosan were used. Increasing the effect of chitosan on rooting percentage and root numbers were positive and reached the highest levels at concentrations of 50 and 100 ppm. It was also found that the shoot fresh weight, the leaf number and longest root have a positive effect on chitosan and had a better effect on concentrations less than 100 ppm. However, the use of chitosan showed irregular changes in the amount of citral. The effect of chitosan with 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 ppm concentrations were evaluated on growth indices of lemon verbena under field condition. The positive effect of chitosan concentration of 50 ppm was observed for inflorescence number, inflorescence length and leaf fresh weight. Because of positive effects of chitosan concentrations of 50 and 100 ppm, on most growth characteristics of lemon verbena in field and tissue culture conditions their applications could be recommended in plantations of this tree.

Salinity is one of the most important and common environmental stresses on plants. On the other hand, salicylic acid is effective as a plant growth regulator on inducing mechanisms in plant resistance enhancment against biotic and abiotic stresses. Apot experiment was conducted as factorial based on completely randomized design to evaluate the effect of salicylic acid on improving morpho-physiological indices of basil under salt stress. Seedlings with six to eight leaves were sprayed by salicylic acid at concentrations of 0.1, 0.5 and 1 mM before salinity stress application and continued for three weeks. The salinity stresses were applied by irrigation of plants with saline solutions at concentrations of 20, 40 and 80 mM of sodium chloride. At flowering stage, plant height, stem diameter, leaf length and width, leaf and inflorescence number, leaf, stem, and root fresh and dry weight, the longest inflorescence and root and internode length, stem node number, leaf, stemç and root dry weight percentage, leaf electrolyte leakage, relative humidity, leaf chlorophyll index, leaf area indexç and special leaf area were measured. Salinity stress reduced leaf length and width, leaf area index, branch nodes number, stem diameter, root fresh and dry weight, stem dry weight, special leaf area and increased leaf electrolyte leakage and leaf number. In contrast, using salicylic acid was effective in reducing of the adverse impacts of salinity stress in most of the traits. Also, salicylic acid spraying had more compensatory effect on salinity stress at concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5 mM. Therefore, salicylic acid spraying can be recommended as a contsructive approach to prevent adverse impacts in basil under salinity stress conditions.

Background and purpose:

Anemia is one of the most common and a widespread disease in the world and about one third of the world’s population are affected. Today, despite the efforts made in conventional medicine, the treatment of some types of anemia has not been successful. In the sources of traditional Persian medicine many medicinal herbs have been introduced for the prevention and treatment of anemia due to the adaptation of the body with natural medicines and less severe side effects. The purpose of this research was to identify and introduce medicinal herbs known in traditional Persian medicine sources as hematopoietic or tonic drugs.

Methods and Materials:

This research was conducted by reviewing important books of traditional Persian medicine and comprehensive herbal monographs. Also, comparisons were made between chemical drugs and plant monomers in terms of influencing iron deficiency anemia, aplastic anemia, hemolytic anemia, anemia associated with chronic diseases, anemia due to abnormalities such as ionizing radiation, and pancytopenia.

Finally, 50 medicinal herbs were extracted and labeled as blood makers. These plants were classified according to the therapeutic characteristics. Among the most important herbs that have been considered in treating different types of anemia, mention could be made of grapes, coconuts, pomegranates, astragalus, and wheatgrass.

This study can be used as a basis for clinical trial studies using medicinal herbs or compound herbal drugs production for the treatment of various types of anemia.

Seed priming is a technique in which seeds are physiologically and biochemically prepared to germinate prior to planting and facing with environmental conditions. In this way, two separate experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of priming of clary sage seeds with plant growth promoting bacteria and plant growth regulators as a completely randomized design with three replications in the Horticultural Sciences Laboratory at Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch, Miyaneh, Iran in 2015. Biopriming treatments including 15 types of PGPRs belonged to Herbaspirillum, Azotobacter-12, Azospirillum, Flavobacterium and Pseudomonas genera and hormonal priming including gibberellic acid and kintin at concentrations of 50 and 100 ppm along with hydroperiming and control (no priming) tratments. Twenty five primed seeds were placed in each petri dishes containing filter paper and seed germination numbers were recorded every other day. Results showed that biopriming affected on all traits exept mean germination time (MGT) and coefficient of velocity of germination (CVG). Biopriming with Azotobacter-12 reduced germination percentage (GP), germination speed (GS) and mean daily germination (MDG) and only increased daily germination speed (DGS). In hormonal priming, all germination indices were affected by treatments and application of growth regulators reduced CVG and increased MGT. Also, kinetin at 100 ppm concentration reduced GP, GS and MDG and only increased DGS.

Environmental factors including temperature and anticipation have critical impact on vegetative and reproductive growth as well as secondary metabolites and quantity and quality of essential oils in medicinal plants. In this study, phytochemical characteristics of German chamomilelandraces collected fromthree watershed areas of Kaleibarchai, Hajilarchai, and Mardanagim of Arasbaran, Iran was surveyed using plotting method. Foliar essential oils were extracted by hydro-distillation using Clevenger apparatus and their yield and compositions were determined using gas chromatography and gas chromatography mass spectrometer methods. On the whole, 22 components were identified in German chamomile essential oils with α-bisabolol, Camazulene, α-phellandrene, E- β-Franesol, Z-E- Feranesol, and α-bisabolol oxide as the most important identified components. High temperature and anticipation caused increasing of α-phellandrene, α-bisabolol oxide Z-E- Feranesol in Kaleibarchai region. Also, low anticipation in Hajilarchai increased Camazulene and E- β-Franesol. On the other hand, low temperature in Mardanagim increased Camazulene and α-bisabolol oxide in collected samples. Therefore, collection of German chamomile from Mardanagim for high amounts active medicinal ingredients is recommended.

Mentha spp. are the main source of menthol essential oils. Medicinal plants sprayed with alcohols such as methanol and ethanol may cause vegetative growth and secondary metabolites improvement. The current study was carried out to evaluate ethanol and methanol foliar application efficiency on peppermint essential oils composition at Medicinal Plant Research Farm of Islamic Azad University, Miyaneh Branch based on randomized complete block design. One month aged peppermint plantlets were sprayed by 10, 20, 30 and 40% (v/v) ethanol and methanol aqueous solutions repeated twice two and four weeks after. The plants were harvested in flowering stage and their essential oils were extracted using hydro-distillation. The essential oils composition was specified using GC and GC-MS techniques. All phytochemicals in peppermint essential oils were significantly affected by hydroalcoholic solutions application but transpulegol, cis-pulegol, menthyl acetate, e-caryophyllene, α-himochalene and germacrene D. Plants sprayed by upper than 10% hydroalcohol solutions contained more menthol, significantly. Moreover, menthol amount was in higher values in the case of methanol application than ethanol. However, most of phytochemicals of peppermint were effectively promoted using ethanol 30%. Also, menthone and isomenthone negatively affected by methanol spraying in peppermint. Therefore, considering current research findings, methanol spraying is recommending to increase peppermint essence quality.

Choose a suitable culture medium for Lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora H.B.K.) is one of the prerequisite for success in tissue culture. The nodal explants containing a lateral node for shoot micropropagation were cultured in different concentrations of MS and B5 medium with ¼, ½ or full micro and macro elements concentration. All culture media amended by activated charcoal in 1 gL-1. They were stored for six weeks in growth chamber condition. Experiment was conducted based on completely randomized design in three replications. Full root generation was obtained in full micro- and macro-elements concentrations of MS and B5. The most number of nodes in the highest shoot, the longest shoot, the most number of leaves in highest shoot, the largest leaves, the highest leaf chlorophyll content index, the most number of roots, the widest callus, and the heaviest fresh and dry root were observed in full concentration of MS. It could be because of higher ionic strength of MS medium compared to other media use. The least leaf necrosis on the highest shoots and plantlet was observed in full concentration of B5. Regarding research finding, MS medium with activated charcoal (1 gL-1) would be recommendable for lemon verbena high performance propagation in tissue culture condition.

To study the effect of seed priming by salicylic acid and nano-iron chelate on germination and initial growth of lentil under salinity stress, a factorial experiment was conducted based on completely randomized design with three replications. Treatments was contained priming with salicylic acid and nano-iron chelate each with three levels (1000, 2000 and 3000 mg.L-1), hydropriming with distilled water and control (non-priming) and four salinity levels (control, 1000, 2000 and 3000 mg.L-1). The results showed that seed priming by salicylic acid and nano-iron chelate had significant effect on germination percentage and rate, emergence percentage and rate, mean of germination and emergence time mean, plumule length, fresh and dry weight under salinity stress. The sodium chloride salt with 3000 mg.L-1 rate caused significant decrement in seedling germination and initial growth characteristics, comparing to control. In the present study, salicylic acid showed positive effect on germination and growth characteristics of lentil seedling under salinity stress with and without nano-iron chelate, so that germination and initial growth characteristics of lentil seedling were increased by application of salicylic acid in sole and under salinity stress, comparing to control. Therefore, applying seed priming by salicylic acid with 3000 mg.L-1 to improve germination and establishment of seedling with or without salinity stress condition is going to be recommended.