m.k. souri

Artichoke as a vegetable crop has difficulties regarding seed germination and uniformity of germinated seedlings. This experiment was done to evaluate the effects of some seed priming treatments on germination quality in Artichoke. The experiment carried out as a factorial based on a completely randomized design under laboratory conditions. Treatments were control (without any treatment), and seed priming with distilled water, potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate, calcium sulfate in the same concentrations of 10 mM, as well as PEG6000 with osmotic potential of 0.5 MP, and two priming time of 12 and 24 hour.  The results showed that the highest root length was detected in KNO3 and d-water treatments, and the lowest root length control treatment. The highest stem length was in KNO3 that showed no difference with CaNO3. The highest seedling length was in 12 h KNO3 treatment which had significant difference to other treatments. The highest seedling fresh weight was in 12 h KNO3, 24 h CaNO3 and 24 KNO3 without significant difference among them. Regarding germination percentage, 12h and 24 h KNO3 treatments led to the highest germination percentage, while 24 h CaNO3 showed the highest germination rate. The highest and the lowest abnormal seedlings were in 24 h PEG and CaNO3 treatments, respectively. Therefore, priming for 12 h using potassium nitrate or 24 h using calcium nitrate for improving germination characteristics of artichoke is suggested.

Castor oil due to extraordinary physicochemical properties has numerous applications in pharmaceutical, chemical, hygienic, biodiesel and nowadays in food industries. During plant growth and development, as well as during postharvest and processing, different factors may affect caster oil properties. This study was conducted to evaluate oil content and physiochemical properties under different sowing dates under climatic conditions of Tehran. The highest seed yield (1590.67 kg ha-1) and oil yield (774.43 kg ha-1) were obtained from 5th April Sowing date, that had significant difference with other sowing dates. In analyzed samples oil content were (%34.45-49/97), moisture content (%0.97-2.12), refractive index (1.470-1.473), chlorophyll content (0.26-0.40 mg Pheophytin/kg oil), acid value (0.28-0.62mg NaOH/g oil), peroxide value (0 meq O2/kg oil), soponification value (165.62-181.34 mg KOH/g oil) and iodine value (82.43-89.22 g I2/100 g oil). The results revealed significant differences for moisture and chlorophyll content, acid value (p

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of sowing date on morphology,yield parameters, as well as oil percentage and fatty acids composition of castor bean. The experiment was carried out at research farm of Tarbiat Modares University, in randomized complete blocks design with three replications during 2010. Plants were grown at six sowing dates of 5th April, 20th April, 5th May, 20th May, 5th June and 20th June. The results showed that morphological traits and yield traits were influenced by sowing dates. The highest seed yield (1590.67 kg/h), oil yields (774.43 kg/g) were obtained at 5th April, and delay in sowing date, led to significant reduction in these traits. Fifteen fatty acids were detected in oil. Nevertheless, the highest amount of fatty acid belonged to Ricinoleic acid. Results showed that fatty acid composition of castor oil influenced by sowing date. Therefore, it can be concluded, that 15th April could be recommended as an appropriate sowing date in the studied location and similar climates for achieved high oil yield of castor bean.