Agriculture and horticulture
F. Beheshti Qolezo; M. Moghaddam; L. Samiei
Abstract
Background and objectives: Maintaining medicinal plants' quality and effective compounds is a fundamental challenge. Salvia L. has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties and is a rich source of biological compounds that destroy free radicals. Salvia ...
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Background and objectives: Maintaining medicinal plants' quality and effective compounds is a fundamental challenge. Salvia L. has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties and is a rich source of biological compounds that destroy free radicals. Salvia virgate Jacq. has several biological activities and is used to treat wounds and various skin diseases and prevent blood cancer. Cadmium is one of the most toxic heavy metals due to its long biological half-life, significant mobility in soil, and capacity to be absorbed by plants. Cadmium's negative effects on plant growth, and physiological and biochemical activities reduce plant quality and performance. Sodium nitroprusside is involved in biological processes and responds to various stresses by releasing nitric oxide (NO).
Methodology: To investigate the effect of different levels of sodium nitroprusside on improving the response of salvia virgata to cadmium stress under in vitro conditions, an experiment was conducted in the Research Institute of Plant Sciences of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad with a factorial design based on a completely randomized design with four replications. The studied factors included different levels of cadmium (0 (control), 25, 50, and 100 µM) and sodium nitroprusside (0 (control), 15, and 30 µM). Murashig and Skoog culture media were used for seed cultivation. In this experiment, different amounts of cadmium nitrate were added to the culture medium before adjusting the pH. Sodium nitroprusside was added to the medium after autoclaving and a sub-laminar filter due to its sensitivity to high temperatures. At first, the seeds were sterilized with 70% alcohol and 2% sodium hypochlorite; then, they were planted in a culture medium. After three months of growth, the seedlings were removed from the culture medium. Growth traits include the fresh and dry weight of the aerial part, root, and whole seedling, and physiological and biochemical traits including photosynthetic pigments (measurement of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, total chlorophyll, and total photosynthetic pigment), flavonoid, total phenol, carbohydrate, proline, protein, and antioxidant activity were measured. The data obtained from this research were analyzed by Minitab software. The mean comparisons were done by the Bonferroni test at the five percent probability level.
Results: According to the results of the analysis of variance of the data, the interaction effect of cadmium and nitroprusside on seedling fresh weight, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, total photosynthetic pigments, total phenol, carbohydrate and proline at the probability level of one percent and seedling dry weight, total chlorophyll, flavonoid, and protein were significant at the five percent probability level. The interaction effect of treatments on antioxidant activity was not significant, but their simple effects were significant. The results of the mean comparison of the data indicated that cadmium stress decreased the fresh and dry weight of seedlings, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, and total photosynthetic pigments in S. virgata, and the application of sodium nitroprusside led to the improvement of these traits; so that the application of 30 μM sodium nitroprusside under cadmium stress with a 50 μM concentration showed the highest fresh and dry weight of seedlings and the proline content, and the application of 15 μM sodium nitroprusside under cadmium stress with a 25 μM concentration showed the highest amount of photosynthetic pigments. Also, this research indicated that cadmium stress increased antioxidant activity, total flavonoid, total phenol, soluble carbohydrate, proline, and protein in the S. virgata plant. However, sodium nitroprusside application improved these negative effects of cadmium stress. So, the application of 30 μM sodium nitroprusside led to an increase in total flavonoid, total phenol, soluble carbohydrate, and protein under cadmium stress conditions at 25 μM concentration.
Conclusion: The results showed that cadmium stress reduces plant growth and physiological and biochemical functions, but sodium nitroprusside application could improve cadmium's negative effects. These findings show that sodium nitroprusside can be used as an effective instrument in cadmium stress management in medicinal plants and help to improve the growth and quality of these plants. This research, in addition to enhancing our knowledge about the mechanisms of plants' response to cadmium stress, helps to analyze the effect of sodium nitroprusside in exposure to environmental life pollutants.
M. Aghighi Shahverdi; H. Omidi; S.J. Tabatabaei
Abstract
This research was aimed to investigate the foliar application of selenium, boron and iron on leaf yield, the photosynthetic pigments rate, antioxidant enzymes activity and the steviol glycosides content under sodium chloride stress conditions. The study was conducted in a factorial experiment in Anzali ...
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This research was aimed to investigate the foliar application of selenium, boron and iron on leaf yield, the photosynthetic pigments rate, antioxidant enzymes activity and the steviol glycosides content under sodium chloride stress conditions. The study was conducted in a factorial experiment in Anzali of Guilan Province based on a completely randomized design in three replications in 2105-16. The salinity stress levels were used by sodium chloride at four levels: control (less than 10), 30, 60 and 90 mM, and the foliar application of iron, boron, and selenium was applied. The results showed that the effect of salinity stress and foliar application was significant on the leaf yield, the chlorophyll pigments rate (a, b and total), carotenoid, protein content, antioxidant activity catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the steviol glycosides composition. The highest total chlorophyll content, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b were obtained in the integrated application of iron, boron and selenium in free-salinity conditions (with means of 39.48, 24.86 and 14.63 mg/g fresh weight, respectively). The highest protein content was observed in the foliar application of iron and selenium at 90 mM NaCl, resulted in an increase of 5.3 times compared to the control treatment. The highest CAT and SOD activities were in the integrated foliar application of three elements and selenium and iron composition at salinity level of 90 mM, increasing the activity of these enzymes by approximately 130 and 11 times, respectively. The highest and lowest rates of rebaudioside A, stevioside, and rebaudioside C were obtained in the integrated application of three elements (iron, boron, and selenium) at salinity levels of 30 mM and non-spraying in 90 mM salinity, respectively. Generally, to achieve a higher amount of steviol glycosides, the integrated application of three elements iron, boron, and selenium and salinity stress up to 30 mM is recommended.
H. Abedini Aboksari; D. Hashemabadi; B. Kaviani
Abstract
To study the effect of organic compounds and bio-fertilizer on some attributes of ivy geranium (Pelarginum peltatum Soland.), an experiment was carried out based on R.C.B.D using two factors including phosphate bio-fertilizer (Barvar 2) and different substrates in 16 treatments, 4 replications, 64 experimental ...
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To study the effect of organic compounds and bio-fertilizer on some attributes of ivy geranium (Pelarginum peltatum Soland.), an experiment was carried out based on R.C.B.D using two factors including phosphate bio-fertilizer (Barvar 2) and different substrates in 16 treatments, 4 replications, 64 experimental plots and 256 plants. Barvar 2 at two levels (application and non-application) and different substrates including 8 treatments containing garden soil and sand along with different organic compounds (v/v) were applied. In this study, stem length, shoot number, root length, number of floret per inflorescence, fresh weight of aerial part, root and petals, protein content, chlorophyll content, leaf phosphorus and available phosphorus content in the substrates were evaluated after harvest of plant. Results showed that both main effects and interactions were significant on all traits. In addition, Barvar 2 along with the cultivation beds containing a variety of organic resources such as garden soil + sand + solid waste compost + water tank soil and sand + tea compost + cocopeat + water tank soil had a better function on these traits. The measured physical and chemical characteristics in the cultivation bed of sand + tea compost + cocopeat + water tank soil were more desirable as compared with other beds. The plants grown in this cultivation bed showed a higher performance in traits such as shoot number, number of floret per inflorescence, and chlorophyll content with an average of 5.90 and 6.42 floret per inflorescence, and 5.37 mg.g FW as compared with other treatments. Our results clearly showed that application of Barvar 2 along with this substrate could be recommended as a suitable supplement for the cultivation bed, providing a better growth of ivy geranium.
M. Abdolahi; S. Maleki Farahani
Abstract
Irrigation treatments were applied at two levels of 40% and 60% available soil water (ASW) depletion on Mashhad and Urmia ecotypes of two Lallemantia speciesincluding L. iberica Fisch. & C.A.Mey. and L. royleana. (Benth.) Benth. Increased available soil water depletion caused an increased seed mucilage ...
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Irrigation treatments were applied at two levels of 40% and 60% available soil water (ASW) depletion on Mashhad and Urmia ecotypes of two Lallemantia speciesincluding L. iberica Fisch. & C.A.Mey. and L. royleana. (Benth.) Benth. Increased available soil water depletion caused an increased seed mucilage percentage. The highest percentage of seed mucilage was obtained in 60% ASW depletion, L. royleana, and ecotype of Mashhad. The highest (11.22kg/ha) and lowest (6.25kg/ha) seed mucilage yield was obtained in 40% and 60% ASW depletion, respectively. In L. iberica, seed mucilage yield of Mashhad ecotype was 34.04 kg/ha higher as compared to Urmia ecotype. By increasing available soil water depletion, seed protein content decreased to 7.30% in L. iberica; however, it remained unchanged in L. royleana. Oil content was not affected by irrigation treatments. Oil yield of Mashhad ecotype of L. iberica was 41.5% higher as compared with Urmia ecotype. The highest grain yield (208.4kg/ha) was obtained at 40% available soil water depletion. The grain yield at 60% available soil water depletion (107.3kg/ha) decreased to 43.84% as compared to 40% available soil water depletion. Contrary to L. iberica, significant differences were observed among the ecotypes of L. royleana in terms of grain yield. In general, under deficit irrigation, seed mucilage percentage of balangu increased, however, the protein percentage decreased.
A. Salehi; S. Fallah; A. Abasi; R. Iranipour; M. Heidari
Abstract
One of the aspects of the production of medicinal plants is lower consumption of chemical inputs which could be effective in protecting the environment in addition to maintaining or improving product quality. Therefore,this study was conducted in order to investigate the effect of integrated management ...
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One of the aspects of the production of medicinal plants is lower consumption of chemical inputs which could be effective in protecting the environment in addition to maintaining or improving product quality. Therefore,this study was conducted in order to investigate the effect of integrated management of organic and chemical fertilizers on yield and qualitative characteristics in black cumin (Nigella sativa L.). This experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with nine treatments and three replications at the Shahrekord University in 2012. The treatments consisted of control (no amended nitrogen), cattle manure, urea, three levels of split integrated fertilizer ( cattle manure + urea, cattle manure + cattle manure + urea), and three levels of full integrated fertilizer ( cattle manure + urea, cattle manure + cattle manure + urea). Results indicated that the application of N-fertilizer caused significant increase in oil, protein and essence contents and their production in black cumin (p< 0.01). Integrated application of organic manure + chemical fertilizer produced higher amount of oil, essence and protein in comparison with solitary application (p< 0.01). The full dose application of urea fertilizer (FDA) significantly enhanced the content and production of oil (322 g kg -1 and 674 kg ha-1, respectively), protein (248 gkg-1 and 595 kg ha-1, respectively), essence (3.1 gkg-1 and 7.2 kgha-1, respectively) in comparison with split application. In conclusion, the full dose application of urea fertilizer (FDA) in integration with organic manure could enhance the quality of black cumin seed.
S. Asadi Sanam; M. Zavareh; H. Pirdashti; F. Sefidkon; Gh.A. Nematzadeh; A. Hashempour
Abstract
This research was aimed to investigate the effect of planting date and soil flooding duration on some biochemical characteristics of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) in Sari region. The study was conducted in a RCBD based split plot with three replications in the Research Farm of the ...
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This research was aimed to investigate the effect of planting date and soil flooding duration on some biochemical characteristics of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) in Sari region. The study was conducted in a RCBD based split plot with three replications in the Research Farm of the Genetics and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute of Tabarestan, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, in 2012. Experimental treatments included three planting dates (June 30, July 30 and August 29) and three soil flooding durations (without flooding as control, three and five-day flooding) which were considered as main and sub-plots, respectively. Malondialdehyde (MDA), total phenols and flavonoids contents, protein oxidation of the leaves, enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), as well as percentage of DPPH free radical inhibition were determined. Results of this experiment showed a significant increment of malondialdehyde (MDA) content in purple coneflower leaf with the highest level in five-day flooding duration and in August 29 planting date. The highest decrease in total protein was found in the same planting data and flooding duration with 90 % decline than control.The highest activity of antioxidant enzymes of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) was recorded in the purple coneflowers leaves, cultivated in June 30, and flooded for three days, while the highest activity of peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) were observed in plants cultivated in July 30. Five-day soil flooding markedly increased the total phenols and flavonoids content just in plants transplanted in June 30. In addition, the highest percentage of DPPH free radical inhibition was measured in plants subjected to continues five-day soil flooding and cultivated in August 29. In conclusion, it seems that the coneflower plant relatively showed a good tolerance to flooding stress.
M. Ghorbanli; N. Adib hashemi; M. Peyvandi
Abstract
In this study, the sodium chloride and ascorbic acid interaction on growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls a, b and (a+b), carotenoids), amount of soluble sugar and total protein in Nigella sativa L. were investigated in greenhouse condition. This experiment was conducted in randomized ...
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In this study, the sodium chloride and ascorbic acid interaction on growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls a, b and (a+b), carotenoids), amount of soluble sugar and total protein in Nigella sativa L. were investigated in greenhouse condition. This experiment was conducted in randomized design based on three replications. Plants were exposed to different concentrations of sodium chloride (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mM) and ascorbic acid (0 and 10 mM). In plants only exposed to sodium chloride, with the increase of sodium chloride concentration growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments and protein amount decreased compared to control samples while, amount of soluble sugar increased. In plants exposed to sodium chloride and ascorbic acid, growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, amount of soluble sugars and total protein were higher compared to plants only exposed to sodium chloride. The result showed that spray of ascorbic acid (as an antioxidant) caused resistance against salt stress and decreased side effects of sodium chloride in Nigella sativa L.
