International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Spring 2020

Kazakhstan has very rich walnut genetic resources; however there is no ongoing walnut breeding program. Kazakhstan government has several projects in cooperation with Russia, USA, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Poland for plant breeding purposes. In the present research walnut genetic resources originated from Jabağıl, Tulkıbas, Sayram, Lenger, and Botanical Garden of International Hodja Ahmet Yesevi Turkish-Kazakh University of Kazakhstan were evaluated during 2015-2018. In the pre-selection stage, 47 genotypes were selected according to their lateral bearing, disease and pest tolerance. In the next step, 10 genotypes with high nut quality and high yield were selected. These genotypes were grafted onto seedling walnut rootstocks in Turkey. All of the grafted genotypes had fruit at the first year. Among 47 genotypes, we recorded nut weight between 6.21-15.18 g, kernel weight 2.36-6.64 g, kernel percentage 33.55-70.96% and average nut length 2.61-4.19 cm and nut diameter between 2.65 to 3.39 cm. The selected genotypes have been found to have very low fruit quality compared to commercial walnut varieties in the world. However, these genotypes have been evaluated as a good genetic resource for lateral bearing which can be used in breeding programs.

Litchi is a non-climacteric fruit (Wills et al. 2004) and it deteriorates very fast after harvest. Various technologies have been devised to minimize the post-harvest losses of litchi, one of such technologies is the use of PP bag & low temperature. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the effects of thiLitchi is a non-climacteric fruit and it deteriorates very fast after harvest. Various technologies have been devised to minimize the post-harvest losses of Litchi; one of such technologies is the use of Polypropylene bag and low temperature. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the effects of thickness of polypropylene bags and low temperature on the storage behavior of Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn, var. Bombai). The experiment consisted of two factors including temperature (T1: Ambient temperature, T2: 4ºC temperature); and Polypropylene bags (P1: Control (unwrapped), P2: 50 μm Polypropylene bag, P3: 75 μm Polypropylene bag, P4: 100 μm Polypropylene bag. The experiment was conducted in completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The postharvest treatments caused highly significant variation in the shelf life of Litchi. Among the treated and untreated fruits, 75 μm Polypropylene bags at low temperature (4 ºC) exhibited better storage performance. The fruits wrapped in 75 μm Polypropylene bag at 4 °C showed the longest shelf life (23.67 days) followed by 50 μm and 100 μm Polypropylene bags at 4 °C (23.33 days). The shortest shelf life was obtained in the untreated fruits (3 days). It may be concluded that keeping Litchi in 75 μm Polypropylene bag and stored in low temperature (4 ºC) is the best postharvest approach to extend Litchi shelf life without considerable negative effects on fruit quality. For short-term storage of Litchi fruits 75 μm Polypropylene bag at ambient temperature is recommended.ckness of polypropylene bags and low temperature on the storage behaviour of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn, var. Bombai). The experiment consisted of two factors. Factor A: Temperature viz. T1: Ambient temperature, T2: 4ºC temperature; Factor B: PP bags (Polypropylene bag) viz. P1: Control (unwrapped), P2: 50 micro meter (µm) PP bag, P3: 75µmm PP bag, P4: 100µm PP bag. The experiment was conducted in completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The postharvest treatments showed highly significant variation in the shelf life of litchi. Among the treated and untreated fruits, 75µm pp bag at low temperature (4ºC) treatment exhibited better storage performance. The fruits wrapped in 75µm pp bag at 4°C showed the longest shelf life (23.67 days) followed by 50µm & 100µm pp bag at 4°C (23.33 days) and it was the lowest in the untreated fruits (3 days). More research should be conducted by using other litchi cultivar like Bedana, China-3 etc. It may be concluded that keeping litchi in 75µ PP bag and stored in low temperature (4ºC) is the best to extend its shelf life without affecting the quality. For short-term storage of litchi fruits 75µ PP bag at ambient temperature would be recommended.

Despite recent development in producing chemical medicines, associated side effects have led to increased use of medicinal plants and natural compounds. Soil salinity, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, is a serious threat to global agriculture. Nowadays, efforts have been made to find benchmarks that can effectively select salt-tolerant or salt-resistant genotypes. In this regard, the use of computer software to predict the indices can help us for screening the most tolerant ecotypes. The objectives of the present study were to determine the best indicators of salinity tolerance using intelligent and regression models for eighteen commercial ecotypes of mint. The seedlings were planted in plastic pots and arranged in a split factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. The treatments consisted of four levels of salinity (0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 dS m-1), two levels of harvesting time, and 18 ecotypes. The plants were grown until the flowering stage and then harvested. There was a significant difference between ecotypes in terms of calculated indices at all three levels of salinity. Indicators such as TOL, MP, GMP, YSI, STI and HM showed a significant positive correlation with YS and YP at all three levels of salinity. The cluster analysis divided the ecotypes into three distinct groups based on the calculated indices at all levels of salinity. The principal component analysis revealed that the YP, YS, TOL, MP, GMP, YSI, STI and HM were more suitable among others salt stress indices. The sensitivity analysis at 2.5 dS m-1 salinity level showed that the HM, STI, YSI, YI, SSI and MP indices were of higher importance than the others. At 5 dS m-1 salinity level, the HM, STI, YSI, YI, GMP and MP indices showed the highest importance whereas at 7.5 dS m-1 salinity level, the STI, YSI, YI, GMP and YP indices indicated the highest importance. In general, the results suggest that ANN(MLP) model (R2 = 0.999) is the best model to predict at all salinity levels. E13, E14, E15, E16 and E18 ecotypes are the most salt tolerant ecotypes which can be used for the future breeding program.

In the production of flowers and ornamental plants, especially in the advanced greenhouse conditions, it is important to have a good light source and its accurate management. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of light quality on morphological and biochemical traits of two Marigold genotypes (Iranian-native and Gitana). This experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications. The treatments included five light qualities including red, blue, 70% red:30% blue (70%:30%), and white lights with an intensity of 500 μmol m-2 s-1 [photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD)] and greenhouse natural light (with an average intensity of 650 PPFD). The results showed that light quality had significant effects on all studied traits at p

In the present study, the effect of seed priming with magnetic field (MF; 45, 90, 200 and 250mT for 5, 10, 20 and 30 min) was evaluated in 60-day-old Hyssopus officinalis plants grownunder 8 days irrigation intervals. The assessments were consisted of biomass, membranestability, photosynthetic pigments concentrations, polyphenols content, antioxidant enzymesactivities and antioxidant capacity. In comparison with the exclusively water-stressed plants,MF-priming significantly altered these parameters, particularly at 200 mT/5 min. At thisintensity, the level of biomass, total chlorophyll and polyphenols content increased by 2.2, 2.5and 7.7 folds, respectively. Furthermore, electrolyte leakage and MDA content decreased by35 and 33%. Reducing power, DPPH and superoxide anion scavenging activities highlyaugmented by MF. MF-priming at 200 mT increased catalase (+92%) and ascorbateperoxidase (+2.3 folds) activities. But, the highest activity of guaiacol peroxidase wasrecorded for MF-primed H. officinalis at 90 mT. In conclusion, seed priming with MFincreases drought tolerance in H. officinalis through protection of cellular membrane integrity,maintenance of photosynthetic pigments content and also alternation of antioxidant enzymeactivities. It also improves medicinal properties of the shoots via increasing polyphenolsconcentration and antioxidant capacity.

The growing demands of consumers for edible seed oils containing high unsaturated fatty acid and antioxidant content have resulted in considerable efforts to investigate plants as possible sources of oils and nuts. In this research, the amount of fatty acid compositions, total flavonoid, phenol and antioxidant properties of Pistacia atlantica and Pistacia khinjuk were evaluated. The kernel oil content of P. atlantica and P. khinjuk were 24.33 ± 0.333% and 31.00 ± 0.577%, respectively. Palmitic acid, Stearic acid, Oleic acid, Linoleic acid, and Palmitoleic acid were the main components in the oil of the two Pistacia species. The results showed that unsaturated fatty acids accounted for approximately 77.65% and 74.87% of total fatty acids in P. atlantica and P. khinjuk, respectively. The two Pistacia species were rich in phenolic compounds (130.77± 3.11 and 126.91± 4.41 mg quercetin/100 g oil) and had high antioxidant properties (4.545± 0.655 and 15.733± 0.689 mg/g oil) in P. atlantica and P. khinjuk, respectively. Oil content and Oleic acid of the two species of Pistacia are shown/known to be higher than some other edible oils. This research showed that the kernel oil of the two species of Pistacia have the same value in terms of quality, taste and natural antioxidant qualities with other edible oils.

Enrichment of zeolite and sponge as ethylene absorbent with potassium permanganate was theidea of this study to provide an efficient way to scavenge ethylene during storage period ofthree Rosa hybrida cv. ‘Shiraz’, ‘Avalanche’, and ‘After-party’ cut flowers. A preliminaryexperiment revealed that two mL of potassium permanganate solution (1 mM) was enough toenrich two grams of zeolite and two cm3 of sponge. Additionally, one μL L-1 of externalethylene also found to be effective on induction of quality damage to certain cut flowers ofrose cultivars, which were selected for injection in each isolated container for furtherevaluations. The treatments used in this study included control (without absorbent), enrichedzeolite or sponge, enriched zeolite or sponge + ethylene (one μL L-1). The quality of flowers,weight, number of dropped petals, electrical conductivity of vase solution, ethyleneconcentration in the container and petal anthocyanins evaluated through/the end ofexperiment. Results revealed that change or reduction in the quality parameters were minor(more maintenance or stability of quality was achieved) with enriched zeolite and thenenriched sponge compared to the control. Enriched zeolite could even maintain the quality ofcut flowers at the level of control under external ethylene injection superior to enrichedsponge treatment. ‘Avalanche’ and ‘Shiraz’ cultivars figured as the most sensitive andresistant cultivars to the evaluated level of external ethylene concentration, respectively.

Peach is a highly corrosive fruit with a short shelf life (less than 7 days at room temperature)susceptible to diseases, pathogens and physical damage. The storage or marketable life ofhorticultural crops can be extended by various treatments applied to them after and/or beforeharvesting. Fruits are usually treated with a range of materials [(e.g. salicylic acid (SA)] toimprove their appearance or delay deterioration. In the present study, effects of pre-harvesttreatment of SA (1, 2, and 4 mM) and iron sequestrine (Fe) (5 and 10 mg L-1) on antioxidantcapacity, ion leakage, ethylene production, ascorbic acid and carotenoids content of peachfruit (Prunus persica L. Batsch cv. Za'ferani) were examined. The results showed that Fe andSA treatments are effective methods for alleviating ion leakage, weight loss and ethyleneproduction in peach fruit during cold storage. Application of 4.0 mM SA and 10.0 mg L-1 Fewere the most effective treatments to maintain fruits quality parameters. SA and Fe treatmentsmaintained peach fruits quality parameters until 40 days. These results suggest that the SAand Fe treatment are useful materials with potential postharvest application for reducingethylene production, maintain quality, and improve the health benefits of peach fruit byincreasing its antioxidant capacity.