Effects of field age, mother corm weight and ecotype on flower and corm yield and quality traits of saffron

The purposes of this study were evaluation of field age and climatic conditions on corm frequency under Khorasan province (such as Boshruyeh and Torbat-e Heydarieh) and the effects of mother corm weight and ecotype on flower yield, vegetative criteria and quality traits of saffron. The effect of field age and climatic conditions on daughter corm frequency was done as nested design with eight field ages and two climatic conditions under Boshruyeh and Torbat-e Heydarieh regions with three replications. In order to study the effect of mother corm weight on yield of vegetative tissues, flower indices and quality traits of saffron was done as factorial layout based on randomized complete block design with seven corm weights (including 0-2, 2-4, 4-6, 6-8, 8-10, 10-12 and 12-14 g) and two climatic conditions (such as Boshruyeh and Torbat-e Heydarieh regions) with four replications in planting boxes at Islamic Azad University of Mashhad in 2011. Survey results on field age and climatic conditions revealed that daughter corms of Torbat-e Heydarieh ecotype were heavier than other ecotype in the 5th and 6th years. The results of the other experiment on the mother corm weight and ecotype on flower and corm yield of saffron showed that the higher corm weights were enhanced flower yield at the first year, and had positive effects on flowering potential and field efficiency in other years due to improvement in vegetative growth and daughter corm production with higher weight in the later years. The results showed that mother corm weight with >8 g in the 5th– year and 6th-year fields is an applied approach for increasement in saffron field productivity and efficiency. Also, Torbat-e Heydarieh ecotype had higher contents of humidity, Crocin, and Picrocrocin compared with other ecotype, but Safranal content was higher for Boshruyeh ecotype.