فهرست مطالب iraj tavassolian

Ferula assafoetida (L.) is one of the most important medicinal plants with many applications in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.  It has been endangered due to overharvesting from natural habitat and long period of seed dormancy. Knowledge of seed germination behavior leads to the development of its conservation and cultivation.

We conducted this research as a factorial experiment in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) to evaluate seed germination in response to low temperature, plant growth regulators (kinetin, gibberellin, carrageenan as plant bio-stimulant) and TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs). The germination percentage and rate, mean germination time, and radicle elongation were measured.

The results showed that the cold (4 °C), GA3, carrageenan, kinetin and TiO2 NPs increased seeds germination rate and percentage. Maximum seed germination percentage (86% or 23% more than control) and minimum mean germination time (26 days or 12.6 days shorter than control) obtained with seeds pretreated by kinetin soaking and TiO2 NPs treatment at 4 °C. Furthermore, most treatments produced healthier and stronger radicles compared to the control which is vital for better establishment and growth.

Research limitations: 

No limitations were found.

Originality/Value: 

The price and demand of asafoetida products have been increased dramatically. The most important constrain to hinder reliable supply of the products is the shortage of plant or difficulty to access its products. Here, we showed the cost effective and environmentally friendly methods to provide high seeds germination with vigorous roots.

Barberry has been used for many centuries due to its highly nutritious benefits, ornamental value, and medicinal properties. Iran is the largest producer of seedless barberry and this has been growing in various regions with dry climates, poor soil conditions and severe water shortages. Alternative bearing is a frequent problem in seedless barberry production. To avoid it, thinning has been employed as a common cultural practice in orchard management.

In this study, three chemical thinners including gibberellic acid (GA3) at 75, 100 and 150 mg/L, naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) at 10, 20 and 40 mg/L and ethephon at 50, 100 and 200 mg/L, and hand thinning (20%) were applied in a commercial orchard in Birjand, Iran, one week after petal fall. Thinning rate, quantitative and qualitative traits were investigated in comparison to the control in the split plot arrangement in a randomized complete block design during 2015 and 2016.

Results showed that NAA at 10 mg/L caused the highest fruit abscission. Vegetative traits such as shoot length, number of leaves per shoot and leaf area showed significant increases under the treatments while shoot diameter had no significant difference with control. Chemical thinning remarkably enhanced the starch and sugar of the shoots, especially in “on” year (2015). The minimum chlorophyll content in “off” year was observed in control and the highest by NAA at 10 ppm. All the treatments increased seedless barberry shrub yield in the “off” year (2016). Biochemical traits such as ascorbic acid, total soluble solids, titratable acidity and anthocyanin improved in most treatments.

Research limitations: 

No limitations were encountered.

Originality/Value: 

To avoid alternative bearing in seedless barberry shrubs, thinning has been employed as a common cultural practice in orchard management. So, the application of NAA 10 mg/l is recommended for control of alternative bearing and also better fruit quality.

Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NPs) offer numerous applications in agriculture, pharmaceutical, and food industries. In this study, Fe3O4-NPs were effectively phytosynthesized by environmentally friendly hairy root extracts. The A4 strain of Agrobacterium rhizogenesis was used to induce the hairy roots of Nepeta bornmuelleri. Leaves in N. bornmuelleri contain important ingredients such as 1, 8 cineol that is one of the most well-known secondary metabolites. The phytosynthesis of Fe3O4-NPs was verified and described by Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The NPs were clustered with a size of less than 20 nm in FESEM analysis and 20-100 nm in TEM and HRTEM analysis. XRD pattern showed a peak of Fe3O4-NPs at 35.28° (220 nm). In the FTIR experiment, amines, alkanes, carbonyls, fluorides, and alcohols were detected as organic molecules involved in the synthesis of NPs. The average size of NPs in their liquid medium was about 53.39 nm, according to DLS analysis. According to TGA analysis, NPs maintained 82% of their weight at a temperature above 700 °C. According to the results of TGA study, Nepeta’s fast-growing hairy roots generated highly pure NPs. TGA analysis revealed that the weight loss of synthesized NPs in hairy roots was smaller than those identical samples produced in the extracts obtained from aerial parts of the plants. The 1, 8 cineol in the hairy root extracts measured by gas chromatography was found to be around 0.001%.

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of foliar spray of salicylic acid and ascorbic acid on some morpho-physiological traits of Pistacia vera cv. Badami-zarand under drought stress. The experiment was conducted during 2017-2018 in the greenhouse condition, in a factorial randomized complete block design with three replications on pot plants. The soil texture of experimental pots was sandy-loam. Moreover, the three factors were considered as follows: first factor, drought stress treatments at three levels; control (100% usable moisture content), moderate stress (60% usable moisture content), and severe stress (30% usable moisture content); second factor, salicylic acid, at three levels (0, 0.5mM, and 1mM); and ascorbic acid at three levels (0, 0.5mM, and 1mM). At the end of experiment related physiological, morphological, and biochemical traits related to 6-month-old seedlings were assessed including the fresh and dry weight of leaf, stem and root, number of leaves, leaf thickness, diameter and length of stem, length of root, relative water content, rate of electrolyte leakage, rate of proline accumulation, rate of glycine betaine accumulation, chlorophyll a content, chlorophyll b content, and total chlorophyll. Generally, the results indicated that the value of morphological traits showed a significant reduction in stress treatments. In this experiment, it was found that the application of salicylic acid and ascorbic acid can also reduce the adverse effects of moderate drought stress. Furthermore, it was identified that the response of plant to salicylic acid treatment is similar to ascorbic acid. In general, the application of salicylic acid with a concentration of 0.5mM and ascorbic acid with concentrations of 0.5mM and 1mM is recommended to improve the adaptation of pistachio seedlings under moderate stress.

Asafoetida (Ferula assa-foetida L.) is an endangered endemic plant which is widely used in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. It is necessary to enhance the quantity and quality of its secondary metabolites in order to meet requirements of the industries.

This study investigated the impact of 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) on biochemical traits, essential oil yield and chemical compositions of Ferula assa-foetida in its natural habitat.

We foliar sprayed the EBL at the concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.5 and 1 µM with three times during a week at fully matured leaves phase. One month after treatments application, leaf sampling and gum gathering of the plants was done and the mentioned parameters were measured.

ANOVA results indicated that 1 µM EBL showed the best results for chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, reduced sugar and protein contents (17.77, 13.08, 31.57, 7.50, 40.45 and 0.34 mg/g FW). The main components of the essential oil are α-pinene (8.82 %), β-pinene (11.57 %) and myrcene (1.12 %) that showed a significant increase at 1 µM of EBL. Although, EBL at 0.5 µM was proved to be the best treatment for leaf total phenol content (79.37 mg/g FW) and sulfurous compounds such as: (E)-1-propenyl sec-butyl disulfide (51.48 %), bis (1-methyl propyl) disulfide (0.9 %) and n-propyl sec-butyl disulfide (0.41 %). The highest amount of flavonoids (146.18; 162.56 mg/g FW) and essential oil yield (7.91 %; 8.16 %) were obtained at 0.5 and 1 µM EBL concentrations, respectively compared to the control (6 %).

Our results indicated the promising and positive effects of EBL, as an environmental friendly strategy, to improve oleo-gum quantity and quality.

This study was performed in 2018 to investigate the effect of edaphic conditions on latex yield of (Ferula assa-foetida L.) in two natural habitats of Kerman province located in elevation of 2600 m. Soil and This plant samplings were done using completely randomized method. After extraction of later essential oil by hydro-distillation method, and were analyzed by using GC-MS. The results of T-test showed that moisture, silt, organic matter, phosphorous (p<0.01) and nitrogen (p<0.05) parameters had a significant increase in Paseeb habitat but in Sardar habitat other parameters including sand percentage, calcium carbonate and potassium were significant (p<0.01). Total amount of latex and the essential oil content indicated a significant increase and decrease in Paseeb habitat (66.86 gr and 6%) compared to Sardar habitat (56.37 gr and 8%), respectively. The main compounds percentages such as (E)-1-propenyl sec butyl disulfide (51.48%), α-Pinene (6.92%), β-Pinene (9.34%) and Cis-Ocimene (7.65%) in Sardar region was more than Paseeb habitat (49.75%, 3.22%, 5.87% and 7.64%, respectively). Both habitats had the most latex yield in 10 incisions. Based on the results, there was positive and significant correlation between latex yield with the moisture, silt, organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorous. There was a negative correlation between essential oil contents, sulfurous compounds, α-Pinene, β-Pinene and Limonene with moisture but a positive correlation between these parameters with lime amount (p<0.01).  The results indicated that the difference in latex yield, quantity and quality of essential oil can be due to edaphic conditions or genetic changes. In order to maintain and sustainable use of this plant, harvesting is recommended during 10 stages of razor cutting.

Endemic yarrow (Achillea eriophora DC.) has been widely used in folk medicine for centuries. The impact of climatic and edaphic conditions was investigated on essential oil (EO) yield and compositions of different yarrow ecotypes, native to Kerman province in southeast of Iran. The aerial part of plants was collected from 13 naturalhabitats. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed a significant variation in EO yield and compositions among ecotypes. 116 components were identified from 13 regions. EO extraction yields fluctuated from 0.71 to 5.83% (v/w) in KP12 and KP02 regions, respectively. The predominant components were L-borneol (0-45.93%), bornyl acetate (0-22.45%), bornyl ester (0-10.46%), (E)-α-ionol (0-28.77%), 6βBicyclo [4.3.0] nonane5β-iodomethyl-1β-isopropenyl-4α, 5α-dimethyl (0-12.14%) and eucalyptol (0- 3.96%). For the first time, the presence of hexadecenoic acid, 6β-bicyclo [4.3.0] nonane and 5β-iodomethyl-1β-isopropenyl-4α, 5α-dimethyl were reported in A. eriophora. EO yields and compositions were affected by the ecological factors. Among them, soil pH and latitude showed the most significant impacts.

Sustainable land use pattern relies on a precise assessment of ecological resources. Medicinal plants demand special environmental conditions, therefore, researchers and experts have special attention to land suitability evaluation and appropriately discover and assess ecological resources and finally, make feasibility studies for specific aims applying agricultural and ecological models. The present study aimed to identify effective climatological, topographic, and physical-chemical properties of soil on the habitat of the Ferula assafoetida medicinal herb, and zoning of suitable areas for cropping of these crops by means of Geographical Information System (GIS) in the Chatrod region of Kerman province. In the first step, the ecological requirements of Ferula assafoetida identified for determining scientific resources and thus, classified to provide thematic maps. Thematic maps also prepared and categorized by sampling the soil from the surface area at 14 points. The examined parameters included precipitation, temperature, altitude, sand, silt, clay, lime, pH, electrical conductivity, potassium, saturation, phosphorus, organic matter, and nitrogen. Finally, by integrating and matching the weighted maps in GIS software, the zoning of the habitat of the Ferula assafoetida extracted. The results of the zoning showed that Ferula assafoetida was in four zones (very suitable, suitable, moderate and poor) in terms of land suitability. Approximately 4826 hectares (16.9%) of the Chatrod region had highly suitable for growing the Ferula assafoetida herb. It is because of the specific characteristics of this area, such as low electrical conductivity, low acidity, high organic matter, and the height of 1900 to 2500 meters was. However, approximately 6819.6 hectares (23.8%) of the area of land evaluated as unsuitable zones because of low rainfall, high altitude and organic matter to grow of Ferula assafoetida.

This experiment was conducted in order to investigate effects of drought stress and 24-epibrassinolide effects on some physiological and antioxidant enzyme activity of medicinal Coriandrum sativum L. as split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Jiroft, south of Kerman. The treatments consisted of three levels of irrigation at -2 bar (moderate drought), irrigation at -3.5 bar(mediate drought) of matric potential, mediate drought and -4.5 bar of matric potential (severe drought) as the main factor and three concentrations of 24-epibrassinolide as foliar spraying (0, 0.5 and 1 µM) as the sub factor. Results showed that according to significant effects of drought levels, the most values of RWC, total chlorophyll, carotenoide content and soluble protein and also, the most values of ion leakage percentage and reduced sugars were obtained in plants treated under moderate drought level (-2 bar). The effect of foliar spraying with 24-epibrassinolide was significant on ion leakage percentage and soluble proteins. The least values of ion leakage percent and the most value of soluble protein were obtaind in plants treated with 1µM of brassinolide. The mutual effects between drought levels and spraying with brassinolide were significant on vegetative yield of coriander. The most average of vegetative yield was obtained in plants under moderate drought at all three concentrations of brassinolide that they had not significant difference with yield average of plants treated by mediate level of drought and 0.5 µM of brassinolide.

Date palm is one of the most important horticultural crops in Iran. The yield and fruit quality of this crop depend on several factors especially the pollen source. In order to determine the effect of pollen source on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of fruit of tissue cultured "Zahedi" date palm, the experiment was carried out as factorial based on randomized complete block design with three male genotypes (M001, M002 and M003) and three stages of fruit growth (Khalal, Rutab and Tamar). Some quantitative and qualitative characteristics of fruit were studied at the fruit growth stages. Results showed that fruit length, diameter, and fresh weight as well as pH, TA, TSS, TSS/TA, total sugar content, and yield are affected by the type of pollen. It was found that fruit and seed size and volume and fruit TA were decreased while fruit TSS, pH, TSS/TA and total sugar content were significantly increased toward Tamar stage. It was found that M001 compared to other studied male genotypes improved the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of fruit and increased the yield (28.9 kg) of "Zahedi" cultivar.

To investigate the effects of priming and foliar spray by 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) on some of Marigold morphological, biological and biochemical traits, an experiment was conducted as factorial on completely randomized design with three replications at experimental laboratory of department of horticulture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman in 2014. Each of priming and foliar spray of EBR had four concentrations (0, 0.1, 1 and 10 µM). Results showed that growth parameters and photosynthetic pigments increased proportional to the increment of EBR in priming and foliar spray treatments. . The greatest shoot weight (79 percent), root (33 percent), fresh (28 percent) and dry (26 percent) weights of pot marigold compared to control were obtained at priming with 0.1 µM plus foliar spray at 0.1 µM of EBR. Furthermore, the highest chlorophyll a, b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids were found at the same concentration (0.1 µM priming 0.1 µM foliar spray of EBR) with 2.4, 3.1, 2.6 and 2.7 percent increase respectively. The EBR increased protein and reduced sugar up to (35 percent) and (18.3 percent) compared with control. The results of this experiment indicated that application of EBR can be used to improve the growth and development traits of pot marigold.

Sodium/proton exchangers (NHX) are key players in plant responses to salinity and have a central role in establishing ion homeostasis. NHXs can be localized in tonoplast or plasma membranes, where they exchange sodium ions for protons, resulting in the removal of ions from the cytosol into vacuole or extracellular spaces. In the present study, the expression pattern of the gene encoding Na+/H+ antiporter in the vacuolar membrane (NHX1 gene) in Leptochloa fusca (Kallar grass) was measured by a semi-quantitative RT-PCR method under different treatments of NaCl and CdCl2. Results indicated that NaCl positively affected expression levels of LfNHX1, and that the amount of LfNHX1 mRNA increased in conjunction with the rise of salinity pressure, This finding suggests that vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter might play an important role in the salt tolerance ability of kallar grass. The results also showed that cadmium exposure significantly modulated the mRNA expression of the LfNHX1 gene, suggesting that cadmium exposure disturbed Na+ homeostasis across the tonoplast and decreased the salt tolerance ability of kallar grass.