Journal of Nuts
Year:2014 | Volume:5 | Issue:1|Papers Count:14

Post-harvest operations have been used in order to increase the efficiency of product production. In the case of walnuts, one of the important processes for improving quality is peeling the walnut’s shell. Because of the amount of walnuts produced in Iran and the necessity to reduce the loss of products, a device for quick removal of the walnut’s shell is needed. This study examined and compared the different types of peeler machines, interior and exterior designs and also miscellaneous patents. Based on existing literature and to the needs of domestic consumers, we determined the important criteria and designed an improved machine for peeling walnuts.

One hundred-thirty soil isolates of A. flavus were collected from commercial pistachio orchards in two main production regions including Rafsanjan (Kerman Province, south-eastern of Iran) and Damghan (Semnan Province, central north of Iran) and assayed for vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs). The sixteen and twenty VCGs were identified for 41 and 37 nit-mutant producing isolates of A. flavus. The variability in morphology was found among A. flavus isolates from different VCGs, but no variability among isolates from the same VCG. VCG diversity for A. flavus isolates from Damghan and Rafsanjan was 54 and 39%, respectively. The high VCG members in small size-isolates of A. flavus from Damghan indicated high genetic variability in fungal population. Because of the small number of sclerotium-producing isolates of A. flavus, we did not determine the relationships between sclerotium production with VCG in two pistachio production regions. This study was the first to determine the strain and VCG diversity of soil isolates of A. flavus from pistachio orchards in Iran.

This research aimed to assess and determine rheological properties of chocolate pistachio produced from various volumes of monoglycoside (1% and 2%), date powders (34, 38 and 42%) and pistachio pastes. The analyses were performed at temperatures of 45oC, 65oC after 3 and 5 hours of processing. These products were found to exhibit non- Newtonian, pseudo-plastic behavior at all treatments. Apparent viscosities versus speed data were successfully fitted to a power law model. The flow behavior index, n, varied in the range of 0.8-0.94. The consistency index, k, was in the range 101.495-167.738 pa - sn. According to statistical analysis, the exponential model was a better model to describe the effect of the soluble solids on the viscosity of chocolate pistachio containing varying percentages of date powder. The activation energy (Ea) was 446.2-41330 j/mol.

The objective of this experiment was evaluation of self-compatibility and identification, introduction and selection of late flowering genotypes as cultivars. This experiment was carried out in order to determine the best pollinator for two commercial almond cultivars, 'Shahrood 12' and 'Shahrood 21'. Applied pollinator cultivars were included pollen from 'Shahrood 21', 'Genco', 'Tuno', '5-15' and 'Super-nova' that were applied on 'Shahrood 21' mother trees, and 'Shahrood 12', 'FeilipCeo', 'Tuno', '5-15' and 'Super-nova'. Results showed no fruit formation in non-pollinated and self-pollinated flowers. Although, results from cross pollination using pollen from other cultivars showed higher fruit set using pollen of 'Genco' for 'Shahrood 21', and '15-5' for 'Shahrood 12' cultivars. Samples were collected using pollinated flowers for further microscopic examinations. Field and microscopic examination of pollen tube growth in the style confirmed above results. The quantitative traits of fruits obtained of some known almond hybrids were assessed in order to evaluation of this phenomenon which known as xenia. The recorded traits were length (L), width (W), thickness (T) of fruits and seeds, and W/L and T/L ratios.

Identification and selection of promising genotypes of fruit tree are primary steps in breeding programs. The economic importance of almond production in the world has stimulated numerous studies related to breeding, quantitative and qualitative traits, the increase of yield and decrease production costs. In this study, morphological and pomological characteristics of 60 cultivar and superior genotypes from Iran, the European Union and the USA were evaluated. Results indicated that tree habit growth, buds, leaf, flowers and fruit attributes were highly diverse among studied cultivar and superior genotypes and, among the varieties and genotypes studied, significant differences revealed in terms of means comparison. Based on the means comparison, the minimum number of buds on the tree was for genotypes “3_ 12” and the maximum number of buds was for “14_ 24”. The “Boty” cultivar had the minimum length of nut shell, whereas the “D_ 99” cultivar had the maximum length. The “Price” cultivar had the minimum width and Marcona had the maximum nutshell width. Cultivars “D_ 99”and “Marcona” had the minimum and maximum nut shell thickness respectively. Cultivar “2_ 22” had the minimum kernel length and “D_ 99” cultivar the maximum. The maximum kernel weight was for “D_ 99” and the minimum for “SH_ 15”. The minimum kernel hardness was for genotype “D_ 124” and the maximum of kernel hardness was for genotypes “16_ 30” and “3_ 17”. In terms of flow ering time, cultivars “Sepid”, “Rabie” and “Mamaie” flowered most early and genotypes “D_ 5” and “D_ 11” most late. Also the maximum and minimum weight for almonds buds was seen in cultivars “Perlis” and “Sh _ 10”, respectively. Genotype “D_ 8” had the maximum bud length and genotype “10_ 8” the minimum.

Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of Pistacia vera L. was used to distinguishing sex type in progeny plants. Varied genotypes of the pistachio were analyzed by PCR amplification of a ten base primer previously found to be linked to the expression of a 945bp amplification band in female trees and its absence in males. Results revealed that genetic material from cultivar samples amplified well with relative primer, but some male progeny produced the 945 bp band when amplified with the 10bp primer. Despite numerous subsequent tests for reamplification of the DNA, unfortunately, these male progeny failed to give reproducible results from its sample. None the less, presence of the 945 bp amplification band in a male sample proved that an error rate of 15% is possible in sex determination of P. vera by RAPD analysis with the 10bp primer.

The common pistachio psyllid, Agonoscena pistaciae, is the key pest of pistachio trees in Iran. Both nymphs and adults suck sap from leaves and reduce plant vigor and yield, increase the number of blank, half growth kernel and unsplit nuts and also cause defoliation and buds drop. Detrimental effects of chemical synthetic insecticides and the resistance of common psyllid pistachio to them and the effect of three botanical insecticides, Sirinol (garlic extract), Tondexir (pepper extract) and Palizin (eucalyptus extract), were investigated as a randomized complete block design experiments in field conditions. The sampling was done 2, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after treatment. The results showed that the highest mortality in Palizin treatment occurred after 2 and 7 days. The sampling of 14, 21 and 28 days post-treatment were showed the highest and lowest mortality in Sirinol and Tondexir treatments, respectively. Generally, there were no significant differences between Sirinol and Palizin 28 days post-treatment, but these compounds showed significant differences with Tondexir. As a result, these botanical insecticides are suitable in integrated pest management of common pistachio psyllid.

In this study, the karyo-systematic studies on the Iranian wild almond species A.communis L., A. corduchoruom Bornm., A. trichamygdalus woronow, Amygdalus lycioides Var. horrida Spach were done by the karyological methods. The meristem cells of the root tip were used for these studies. In each species, ten suitable metaphase plates were chosen and photographed so that the morphology of the chromosomes was completely obvious. The standard karyotype was prepared for the species separately and the parameters of the chromosomes, including the total length of the chromosomes, long arm, short arm, arm ratio, and centromer index, were calculated. There was a significant difference between all of the species that can be employed to recognize the species. All of the studied species were diploid, and the numbers of the chromosomes was 2n=16. The base number of the chromosomes in all of the species was X=8. In Iran, the average size of chromosomes in species of this genus was 2.42 micrometer.. Also, there was a significant difference between all of the homologous chromosomes according to the measured cytological characters. The similarity and the difference between the species were evaluated on the basis of the cytological specificities. The domestic species of A. communis L. had the most similarity with the species of Amygdalus lycioides Var. horrida Spach, and the species of A. trichamygdalus woronow and A. corduchoruom Bornm, also had the most similarity with each other. Finally, the studied species were classified into two cytologically groups.