IRANIAN JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE
Year:2023 | Volume:53 | Issue:2|Papers Count:20

Attention to the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the fruit is very important due to its effect on the yield and quality of olive oil. The aim of this study was to compare the three cultivars Picual, Coratina, Zard and T18 genotype in terms of physiological, quantitative and qualitative indices of olive fruit and oil planned and implemented. Results showed that Picual cultivar had the highest fruit and kernel and larger and heavier fruits. The Picual cultivar with producing 116.75 kg/tree was the best cultivar. After examining the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the oil, it found that the Picual cultivar had the highest amount of total phenol, carotenoid and chlorophyll in the oil and, in contrast, the oil acidity was lower than the others. Coratina cultivar showed the highest amount of oleic acid (72.53 %), the highest ratio of oleic acid to palmitic acid and stearic acid, the highest amount of unsaturated fatty acids (84.03 %) and the lowest palmitic acid. Therefore, according to the results of this study, it can be concluded that Coratina cultivar due to its higher content of phenolic compounds as well as higher amount of unsaturated fatty acids and proper balance between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, it had better quality oil, but the percentage of oil and yield in Picual and Zard cultivars was higher than Coratina cultivar, so the combined cultivation of these three cultivars should be used to maintain quality and higher yield.

Cornelian cherry fruit is an important source of vitamins and antioxidant compounds, and the prevention of the reduction of fruit nutritional value, appearance quality and firmness during the post-harvest period is one of the important issue in this fruit. The effect of phenylalanine postharvest treatment (0, 2, 4, 6 mmol), and different storage times (7, 14 and 21 days) on maintaining the physicochemical properties of cornelian cherry fruit during storage as a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications was investigated in current research. Immediately after treatment, the fruits were placed in a cold storage at 2±1 °C and relative humidity of 85±5%. Based on the results, the maximum content of anthocyanin (2.6 mg CYN-3-GLU/100g FW), flavonoids (13.16 mg QE/100g FW), total phenol (371.8 mg GAE/100g FW), soluble solids (17.66 %) in the third week and maximum content of ascorbic acid (26.89 mg/100g FW) were accompanied by 2 mmol phenylalanine. The lowest amount of H2O2 (0.36 µmol/100g FW) and the percentage of frostbite, and also the highest amount of proline (0.36 mg/g FW) were observed with 6 mmol phenylalanine treatment in the third week. The results showed in order to achieve the important goal of storage cornelian cherry in the cold storage, which maintains the desired physical and chemical characteristics of this fruit and has a longer shelf than storage at normal temperature, 2 mmol phenylalanine can be the most appropriate treatment.

The development of olive cultivation needs detailed studies to achieve the maximum yield and product quality by applying management plans including nutrition. In this research, the interactions of gas exchange and photosynthetic parameters were investigated with leaf nutrients contents of olive trees (cv. ‘Arbequina’) in super high density (SHD) cultivation under saline and calcareous soils condition in Tarom Sofla, Zanjan, Iran. The nutritional disorders and their effects on photosynthetic indices were revealed using the compositional nutrient diagnosis (CND) index micronutrients and macronutrients status. Finally, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine, the effects of all parameters on yield. The results showed that photosynthetic parameters had a significant positive correlation with nutrients such as zinc, phosphorus, and copper. Photosynthesis, transpiration, and stomatal conductance had highly correlated with yield of olive trees, which are important factors in increasing yields. The final CNDr2 index showed nutritional disorders in most orchards in the low yielding group. The average order of nutrient requirement is Ca> Mg> N> P> K in macronutrients and Zn> B> Mn> Cu in micronutrients in the group of low yielding orchards. The principal component analysis showed that highest yield of olive trees had a higher positive correlation than other orchards with P and K in macronutrients and Zn, and Cu in micronutrients; this increased the rate of photosynthesis and yield. PCA also showed the hidden effects of Ca and Mn deficiency on the reduction of photosynthetic parameters and yield.

Under salinity stress nitrogen and other plant nutrients uptake is reduced. In order to study the effect of nitrogen on growth and nutrient concentrations of Valencia orange grafted on lemon seedlings, a factorial experiment was carried out. The first factor was irrigation water salinity at four levels (0.86, 2, 4 and 6 dS m-1) and the second factor was nitrogen at five levels (50, 80, 120, 160 and 200 mg N kg-1 soil as ammonium sulfate). Salinity increased sodium and chloride ions concentration in plant leaf and roots to toxic levels and reduced the plant leaf and root dry weight. The highest level of salinity increased the sodium content in leaves and roots and also chlorine in leaves by 9, 5 and 20 times compared to salinity of 0.86, respectively. Although nitrogen had no significant effect on sodium concentration in plant leaves, at salinity levels of 2, 4 and 6 dS m-1, increasing the application of nitrogen from 50 to 200 mg kg-1 soil reduced 19, 16 and 18% of leaf chlorine and increased the corresponding dry weight of leaves by 117, 39 and 42%, respectively. Salinity decreased nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micro nutrients concentration in plant leaf and in some cases reached them to sub optimal levels. In contrast, nitrogen alleviated this adverse effect by increasing the concentration of these elements in plant tissues. Based on the results, by taking into account of environmental considerations, nitrogen levels above the optimum limits can be used to reduce the adverse effects of salinity in saline conditions.

Preharvest fruit splitting of citrus is a physiological disorder that every year in susceptible cultivars such as 'Page' mandarin, reduces the marketable crop and increases the fungal infection of fruits in orchard and storage. Due to the role that three elements potassium, calcium and boron can play in the strength of citrus peel, a research was performed based on randomized complete blocks design to determine the effects of single foliar application of 'Page' mandarin trees with different ratios of three minerals: potassium nitrate (1 %), calcium nitrate (1 %) and boric acid (0.5 %) at the end of June drop on severity of splitting, polygalacturonase activity and yield traits. The results showed that the treatments did not affect the activity of polygalacturonase, but reduced the splitting percent from about 12.3 % to 8.3 % and increased tree yield, fruit weight and juice percent of fruits. Based on the findings, the lowest splitting was observed in calcium-containing combined treatments. Potassium-containing treatments had the highest yield, fruit weight and juice content. Therefore, 'Page' mandarin producers can be recommended to foliar application of trees by a combination of all three elements of potassium, calcium and boron at the end of June drop to reduce the splitting percent and improve the quantity and quality of production.

In order to investigate freezing tolerance in withania under controlled conditions, a completely randomized design was carried out with four replications and nine temperature treatments (0, -3, -6, -9, -12, -15, -18, -21 °C and control treatment 25°C). Studied traits included electrolyte leakage, cell membrane stability, proline content, chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll degree, 50% lethal temperature based on survival (LT50su) and 50% lethal temperature based on electrolyte leakage (LT50el). Results showed that the effect of freezing stress on all traits was significant at a probability of one percent. Electrolyte leakage showed increased and cell membrane stability decreased. The leaf chlorophyll fluorescence decreased with increasing freezing stress, so that it reached its lowest point at temperatures below -9°C. Chlorophyll content index was also affected by the effect of freezing stress, which decreased at a steep slope of 0 to -6°C and lowered to -6 °C with lower slope. The highest content of proline was related to treatment at -6°C, which increased by 53% compared to control treatment. By decreasing the temperature, the survival rate decreased, so that the plants disappeared at temperatures below -9°C. Also, LT50el and LT50su occurred at temperatures of -10.153 and -8.958°C, respectively. Finally, the findings in this study showed that the medicinal plants withania can be tolerate at -6°C.

Potato is the world's fourth-largest food crop after maize, wheat, and rice. Potato is seriously affected by both single and mixed viral infections because of vegetative propagation. In plants, RNA silencing is a protective mechanism against viral infections. Some researchers have been used RNA silencing technique to silence viral genes, but ultimately, due to the activity of viral RNA silencing-suppressor proteins, the resistance of plants is broken down and the virus can replicate and make the damage. The purpose of this study was to provide simultaneous resistance to three important viruses including Potato X Virus, Potato Leafroll Virus, and Cucumber Mosaic Virus. From genes corresponding to proteins of suppressoer of RNA silencing in these viruses (P0, P25 and 2b, respectively), a fragment was amplified with specific primers by PCR and ligtaed to each other. The recombinant final fragment was cloned in the form of sense and antisense orientations with an intron between them, in pFGC5941 plasmid under 35S promoter to produce a hairpin RNA after transcription in plant. The T-DNA of recombinant hairpin vector was transformed into potato (cv. Agria) genome by Agrobacterium. The obtained transgenic plants were screened by PCR to confirm the presence of the transgenes. The resistance of selected tansgenic lines will be assessed against three viruses.

Dust is one of the inevitable climatic features of Iran. Today, farmer’s most problem in the date regions is the effect of dust on date palm trees. This study carried out to investigate the effect of dust on Mazafati date fruit's chemical composition in three regions: Saravn, Jalq, and Routak in Sistan and Baluchistan province in 2016 and 2017. In each region five groves and in each grove, five palm trees with the same age (eight-year-old), height, number of reproductive years (third year of reproduction) were selected and marked for sampling the studied traits. Saravan region pollen was used to fertilize all trees. Some traits such as total soluble solids (TSS), total sugar content, pH, and also nutritional elements nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were measured. Statistical analysis of the estimated traits was performed for two consecutive years based on the nested design. The result showed that the effect of the region (amount of dust) was significant for all traits. In Routak region with high dust content, total sugar was estimated to be 26.16% less than the Saravan region with low dust content. The percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium elements in Saravan region with low dust level was estimated 0.49, 0.68 and 1.48, respectively, and in Rotek region with high dust level was 0.32, 0.49 and 1.24, respectively. Since the three regions were different in terms of dust content, we can say that dust reduces the nutrients of Mazafati date fruit and reduces the quality and marketability.

In this study, in order to investigate morphological characteristics, yield of fiber, essential oil and seed oil yields, seeds of two native ecotypes from Iran and one foreign variety (Fedora17) with its progenies (Fedora17-2) were cultivated in research fields of three locations (Gilan, Golestan, and Alborz province) in Iran and their morphological and phytochemical characteristics were studied. The greatest height and shoot dry matter were observed in Fedora17 and its progenies while the widest coverage and thickest stem was observed in the native ecotypes of Iran. Also, the oil content varied from 18.88% in Fedora17-2 to 40.09 % in Yazd. The highest oil yield was observed in native ecotype of Fars (820 kg ha-1) and Yazd (830 kg ha-1). Plant height fluctuated from 99.7 cm in Safrabasteh to 197.5 cm in Alborz. Fiber yield ranged from 1569 kg ha-1 in Safrabasteh to13991 kg ha-1 in Alborz. The hemp cultivated in Alborz, in terms of morphological and reproductive properties and fiber yield was significantly better compared to the other stations. The oil yield per plant was 11.35 kg in Chalaky station to 36.39 kg in Alborz  station. Therefore, cannabis cultivation is recommended in Alborz with average production of 13991 kg ha-1 fiber, 2.2 t ha-1 essential oil and 1110 kg ha-1 seed oil. The foreign cultivars with the tallest stem and the highest percentage of stem dry matter were proper for fiber production. In addition, the morphological characteristics of Fedora 17 were also preserved in its progeny.

Effective nutrition of fruit trees with the least input can significantly help in the optimal use of chemical fertilizers and reduce costs. On the other hand, the type of soil management also plays an undeniable role in the ability of plant roots to access nutrients. Therefore, three-year study (2017, 2018 and 2019) was carried out to evaluate the effect of soil management type (conventional tillage and no-tillage) and fertilizer type (control, hydrogel, complete fertilizer, complete fertilizer + hydrogel and humic acid) on photosynthetic indices and leaf nutrients in apple Delbar Estivale grafted on the base of MM106 located in Kamalshahr, Karaj county. The results showed that the highest percentage of leaf nitrogen (2.74%) was observed in conventional tillage ×hydrogel treatment and the lowest percentage of leaf nitrogen (2.14%) was observed in conventional tillage ×hydrogel treatment. The highest percentage of leaf phosphorus (0.22%) belonged to conventional till treatment in 1398, while the lowest percentage of leaf phosphorus (0.18%) belonged to conventional tillage treatment in 2019. The highest leaf copper (40.4 mg.kg-1 dry) belonged to the triple interaction of hydrogel and no- tillage in 2019. Also, the lowest leaf copper (9.9 mg.kg-1 dry) belonged to the triple interaction of humic acid and conventional till in 2018. In general, it seems that the positive effects of no-tillage in orchard are not achievable in the short term and the transition stage from conventional tillage to no-tillage must be completed.

A factorial experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Zanjan University (during 1396-97 and 1397-98). Salicylic-acid (control, 50, 100 and 150 mM) and methyl-jasmonate (control, 50, 100 and 200 μM) treatments were sprayed on Echinacea plants (four plants per plot) in the first and second years (two stages, 20 days interval). The results showed that salicylic-acid and methyl-jasmonate have a significant effect on vase-life of flower, leaf-area, fresh and dry weight of roots, chlorophylls a and b and catalase and peroxidase. Also, the highest vase-life of flower was obtained in treatment of 100 mM salicylic-acid and 200 μM methyl-jasmonate and the highest fresh and dry weight of roots and leaf-area were obtained in treatment of 100 mM salicylic-acid and 100 μM methyl-jasmonate. The highest relative water-content of petal and catalase were obtained in treatment of 100 mM salicylic-acid and 100 μM of methyl-jasmonate (first year) and in treatment of 100 mM of salicylic-acid and 50 μM of methyl-jasmonate (second year). The amount of peroxidase was also high in treatments of 100 mM salicylic-acid and 200 μM methyl-jasmonate (first year) and 100 mM salicylic-acid and 100 μM methyl-jasmonate (second year). The highest amount of chlorophyll a in both years and chlorophyll b in the first year were in 100 mM salicylic-acid and 50 μM methyl-jasmonate treatment. Also, the highest amount of total-chlorophyll was obtained in 50 mM salicylic-acid and 200 μmol methyl-jasmonate (first year) and 100 mmol salicylic-acid and 50 μM methyl-jasmonate treatment (second year).

In order to study the morphologies and biochemistry of ornamental cabbage under salt stress, a factorial experiment was carried out based on completely randomized design in three replications. The treatments included salinity at three levels (4 and 8 dS.m-1 and control (no salinity) and growth stimulating bacteria at three levels (no inoculation Pseudomonas putida and Bacillus subtilis). Plant growth characteristics, including plant height, number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of leaves, fresh and dry weight of plant and root, showed a significant decrease compared to the control treatment with increasing salinity stress, and inoculation with growth-promoting bacteria, especially Pseudomonas putida, improved these attributes. Antioxidant activity and total phenol increased with increasing salinity, so that the highest amount of phenol and antioxidant was observed at treatment 8 dS/m (1.08 mg/g FW and 62.52 μmol/g FW, respectively). On the other hand, the use of Bacillus bacteria could increase the amount of total phenol and antioxidants in contrast with salinity (1.08 mg/g FW and 62.78 μmol/g FW). The amount of proline in leaves also had an increasing trend at different levels of salinity stress, and its highest level was observed at the highest level of salinity stress and the application of Bacillus subtilis bacteria. The interaction between bacteria and salinity stress reduced the accumulation of sodium element and increased the amount of potassium element. The results of this experiment showed that growth-promoting bacteria, especially Pseudomonas putida bacteria, reduce the damage caused by salt stress in ornamental cabbage plants.

Today, due to the importance of producing organic products and increasing demand, the use of healthy and organic compounds such as amino acids (glutamic acid) to increase the quality and quantity of the product, is very important. In this study, the effect of glutamic acid at three levels (0, 200 and 300 mg / l) as a foliar application on some quantitative and qualitative characteristics of strawberry cultivar Albion under hydroponic conditions was investigated. According to the results, effect of glutamic acid on plant height, fruit shape, total yield, fruit flavor, titratable acidity, firmness, total anthocyanin and vitamin C of fruit tissue was significant. The highest total yield, soluble solids, tissue firmness, total anthocyanin and vitamin C of fruit tissue was observed in glutamic acid treatment with a concentration of 300 mg / l. Also, the highest titratable acidity was recorded in the control treatment. According to this study, the use of glutamic acid at a concentration of 300 mg / l is recommended to improve the quantitative and qualitative properties of strawberry fruit, but requires further research.

Selecting an appropriate breeding method depends on the type and relative proportion of genetic components. In this study, six generations P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1 and BC2 from a cross between two cucurbita varieties crossing of hull-less seed pumpkin and squash, S10×P25, were constructed and evaluated for main stem length. Yield and its components (number of fruit per hectare, number of seeds per fruit, fruit weight and 100- seed weight) were also evaluated. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications in 2019. The results showed significant differences among generations for main stem length. Scaling and Chi-square (χ2) tests suggests the presence of digenic epistasis for this trait. According to the results, additive variance was more important for most of the traits, meaning that selection is a good way to improve these traits. High heterosis was observed in the F1 hybrid for all of the traits. High narrow-sense heritability estimates were shown for all of the traits. Therefore, according to the results of estimating the genetic effects of traits, especially traits related to growth habit and reaching a shorter stem length, the selection method can be used.

In this study, the genetic diversity of 63 hazelnut genotypes was evaluated using 10 ISSR primers, two retrotransposon markers and seven combined ISSR and retrotransposon primers, which of the seven combined primers, only three showed scorable bands and other primers did not form a band. The 15 primers used in this study were able to create a total of 116 polymorphic bands. The UBC822 produced the highest number of polymorphic bands with 14 bands, the UBC814 with 3 bands had the least number of bands. The polymorphic information content and marker index of primers ranged from 0.18 to 0.44 as well as 0.50 to 11.31 respectively. Principal coordinate analysis showed that the first three components were able to explain a total of 37.12% of the total variance. COMPLET cluster analysis divided 63 studied genotypes into seven groups, which were 8, 13, 7, 3, 3, 13, 16 genotypes, respectively. The accuracy of grouping obtained from cluster analysis was confirmed by the Fisher linear focal detection function with 0.81 percent. Overall, primers UBC822, UBC813, TOS-2 and TOS-1+TOS2 can be introduced as useful and desirable for separation of genotypes and cultivars of hazelnut.

In order to study effect of foliar application of calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) and fruit position in the canopy on physicochemical characteristics of ‘Thomson Navel’ orange trees (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck, a two-year factorial experiment based on randomized complete blocks design carried out with two factors including the type of foliar spray in four levels (Ca(NO3)2, KNO3, Ca(NO3)2+KNO3, and Control) and fruit position in the tree canopy in two levels (inside or outside) with three replications. The results showed that peel thickness, citrus color index (CCI), and a ratio of total soluble solid to titratable acid (TSS/TA) were higher in the fruits harvested from the outer canopy compared to the canopy inside (P<0.05). Also, the results showed that the peel thickness of the fruit increased with foliar application and the highest increase was found in the foliar spray of K and K+Ca. With Ca foliar application (Ca and K+Ca), TSS and TA significantly decreased compared to the control and potassium foliar application alone, but the ratio between the two indices increased. The results showed that the effect of foliar application on total phenol and antioxidant capacity depends on the position of the fruit on the tree canopy. In conclusion, foliar application of K and Ca cause improve the fruit quality of the ‘Thomson Navel’ sweet orange. Besides, fruit at different canopy positions vary in their physicochemical characteristics and should be harvested separately to have uniform quality and get the maximum economic return.

In order to investigate the state of carbohydrates and the effect of naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) application on yield and alternate bearing of Miyagawa Satsuma mandarin, two separate experiments were performed an Miyagawa Satsuma mandarin oechard. In the first experiment, the trend of changes in the concentration of carbohydrates (soluble sugars and starches) in the leaves and roots of trees were investigated. The second experiment were performed as randomized complete blocks design with 4 replications during 7 years. Treatments included: control; 150, 300 and 450 mg/l NAA spraying before physiological abscission of fruitlets. The results of the first experiment showed that the average changes of starch and soluble sugars in foliar leaves and roots were about 6.3 times and 2.34 times higher, respectively. The results of the second experiment showed that NAA application in the first stage of fruit growth in “on” years, increased yield in “off” years, and gradually yield variation in “on” and “off” years decreased. So that treatment 300 mg NAA l-1 had the highest cumulative yield and the lowest alternate bearing index. However, all NAA treatments reduced alternate bearing index compare to control, significantly. Therefore, based on the results of this project to modulate alternate bearing, spray NAA in “on” at a concentration of 300 milligrams per liter from 25 days after flowering to about 40 days after flowering is recommended.

Yaghooti grape is the most important horticultural crop in the Sistan region that the cluster compactness of this grape has affected its marketability. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of chemical and physical thinning on the compactness of Yaghooti grape cluster and also evaluate its economic efficiency. This experiment has been conducted in three projects in the form of randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The first experiment consisted of four levels of GA3 (0 (control), 10, 20 and 30 mg.L-1), the second experiment consisted of four levels of defoliation (non-defoliation (control), defoliation of two nodes lower fertile branches, defoliation of four nodes lower fertile branches, and defoliation of six nodes lower fertile branches) and the third experiment consisted of four levels of cluster thinning (no thinning (control), removal of 1 cm from the end of the cluster, removal of 2 cm from the end of the cluster and brushing the clusters). Mean comparison of the cluster compactness in 3 experiments showed that the use of 30 mg.l-1 gibberellic acid caused the greatest reduction in cluster compaction. The benefit/cost of using gibberellic acid and defoliation was significant, however it was not significant for cluster thinning. Mean comparison of utilizing gibberellic acid and defoliation showed that the highest benefit/cost was related to all levels of gibberellic acid application. The benefit/cost of using 30 mg.l-1 gibberellin was 31.4% and 41.5% higher than 20 and 10 mg.l-1 gibberellin application, respectively. In general, applying 30 mg.l-1 gibberellin increased 85.2% of benefit/cost compared to the defoliation of six nodes and it is recommended to decrease the cluster compactness.

This research was established to evaluate the effect of mycorrhizal symbiosis on nutritional elements absorption, morphological and physiological traits of gloxinia. Plants substrate was containing of zero (control), 8 and 16 V/V of Glomus hoei and Glomus intraradices (GI16, GH16, GI8, GH8). At the end of the experiment, leaf area, number of leaves, flower diameter, number of flowers, fresh and dry weight, chlorophyll and carotenoid content and amounts of N, P, K, Mn, Fe and Mg were measured. No significantly differences were observed between treatments in flower number and diameter, fresh weight, chlorophyll b and carotenoid contents. GI16 treatment had the highest amounts of N and Mn and the lowest amounts of Mg, and GH16 exhibited the highest amounts of P and K content. The highest and lowest Fe was absorbed tin GH8 and GI8, respectively. The control treatment showed the lowest amounts of N, P, K and Mn, however it had the highest Mg, but mycorrhizal treatments had the lowest Mg and thereby the lowest contents of chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll. Control plants showed a better growth and significantly differences than mycorrhizal treatments in traits such as leaf area, number of leaves, root length, root volume and dry weight, therefore, it can be concluded that G. hoei and G. intraradices cannot form a successful symbiosis.

This study was conducted for create genetic diversity and access to suitable hybrids in terms of agronomic traits, marketability and adaptation to climatic conditions and tolerance to water deficit stress in Ardabil region during two years (2017 and 2018). The experiment was splitplot based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The main plot was deficit irrigationat three levels (100, 80 and 60% of plant water requirement) and the sub plot consisted of 12 potato populations. Results of analysis of variance showed that there was significant difference between different levels of deficit irrigation, genotypes and their interactions in terms of number and weight of tuber per plant, tuber yield, number of main stems per plant and length of stolon and in terms of tuber dry matter percentage, only significant difference was observed between genotypes. In this experiment of the 279 successful crossings 244 hybrids were selected. Selected hybrids had an average of 975.5 g and 7.5 tubers per plant. In all three environmental conditions, the highest tuber weight per plant and tuber yield was related to ♂Agria × ♀Ceaser hybrid, and in normal and moderate stress conditionsbelonged to ♂Savalan × ♀Ceaser hybrid. The highest water use efficiency was observed in all three environmental conditions in hybrids 2 [Agria (mother parent) × Caeser (mother parent)] and 9 [Caeser (mother parent) × Savalan (father parent)].