مجله تولید و فرآوری محصولات زراعی و باغی
سال چهارم شماره 3 (پاییز 1393)

Salinity stress is one of the important limiting factors in agricultural crops production. In order to evaluate salicylic acid (SA) application effects on lettuce growth parameters under salinity stress condition, a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was carried out in greenhouses, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilam, Iran. Factors examined in this study were salinity stress at 3 levels (0, 75 and 150 mM NaCl) and SA at 4 concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mM). The results showed that SA significantly increased growth parameters of lettuce plants under salinity stress condition and reduced adverse effects of stress. With increased salinity severity, proline and malondialdehyde content and antioxidant activity increased but growth parameters decreased. In high concentrations of SA, all the measured parameters were increased while the malondialdehyde content was decreased. In general, SA application with an increase in proline content and antioxidant activity, and a decrease in peroxidation rate of cell membrane lipids led to decrease in adverse effects of salinity stress on lettuce plants.

In order to determine the best method of planting for two varieties of watermelon in Varamin (Charleston Gray and Mahbube) through the three methods of planting (direct sowing of seeds, germinated seeds and transplanting of seedlings), a factorial experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with 4 replicates during two years (2007-2008) at the Agricultural Research Center, Varamin. The results indicated that planting methods and cultivars had significant effects on all traits including fruit yield, fruit weight and fruit yield of first cutting. Al though the method of transplanting resulted in fruit maturation of 14 days earlier than the direct planting, the mean fruit yield in this method was significantly lower than other methods. Among the various methods of cultivation, the highest mean yield was obtained from the using germinated seed with 30890 kg ha. In the germinated seed method, average fruit weight was significantly higher than the other two methods. The highest number of fruits per plant and the lateral branches were produced in the transplanting method but due to the low weight of fruit, it had the lowest fruit yield per hectare. The highest concentrations of dissolved solids in the fruit (8.2%) were obtained in direct planting. Mahbube cultivar with 28,310 kg ha-1 of fruit yield, out yielded the Charleston Gray cultivar with 26250 kg ha-1. For the latter cultivar, first cutting yield and mean fruit weight were also superior compared to the cultivar Charleston Gray. Considering the significant interaction of cultivar and planting methods, maximum fruit yield (31750 kg ha-1) in this study was achieved with Mahbube cultivar when planted with germinated seed method. The results showed that seed germinated seed method is advantage ous compared with the other methods of planting.

In addition to physical and chemical properties of citrus fruit, its quality depends on antioxidant compounds such as ascorbic acid, phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant enzymes. Flavonoids group, especially flavonoid glycosides are dominant in citrus, which prevent chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In this experiment, the total flavonoids, naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, quercetin and catechin were measured in the mature and ripe fruits of six citrus varieties (Thomson, Siavaraz, Moro, Sanguinello, Tarocco and Page) by HPLC analysis. The results showed that all cultivars had high level of total flavonoid at the ripening stage. The amount of naringin was highest in 'Thomson' and 'Tarocco' (with 452.8 and 824.8 μgg-1 respectively) at maturity phase. Hesperidin accumulation was higher in blood oranges than blond varieties. The Sanguinello and Siavaraz had the highest value of neohesperidin especially in ripe fruits. The pulp of Tarocco had the highest level of catechin with 24.36 μgg-1 followed by Siavaraz with 10.6 μgg-1 at ripening stage. The Quercetin levels were higher in immature fruits selected from Thomson, Siavaraz and Tarocco varieties. Among the studied varieties, 'Tarocco' variety showed higher levels of flavonoid compounds at the ripened or mature stage.

A greenhouse experiment was conducted at Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute, Central Region of Iran to evaluate the effects of some plant growth promoting bacteria and fungi inoculation on growth and minituber yield of potato cultivars. The experiment was arranged as a factorial based on a completely randomized design with ten replications. Three potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) genotypes (Agria, Marfona and Aranda) were treated by eleven biological treatments including bacillus, azotobacter, pseudomonas, glomus, combination of bacillus + glomus, pseudomonas + glomus, azotobacter + glomus, azotobacter + bacillus, azotobacter + pseudomonas, azotobacter + bacillus + glomus, and azotobacter + pseudomonas + glomus during vegetative stage. Analysis of variance results indicated that the effects of biological treatments on number of minituber, yield, and total dry weight of minituber were significant at 1% probability level. But there was not any significant difference in terms of size and weight of each minituber. The interaction of biological treatments and genotypes was also significant for yield and total dry weight of minituber. The highest tuber yield and total dry weight were observed for the Aranda genotype treated with azotobacter + pseudomonas + glomus. Moreover, the results revealed that azotobacter + glomus and azotobacter had the highest plant height and number of lateral shoot, respectively, as compared to other treatments.

This study investigated the effect of salicylic acid (SA) and nitric oxide (NO) and combinations of these treatments at different concentrations on some physical and chemical attributes of apple fruit (cv. Red delicious). Fruits were treated with nitric oxide (at 0, 3, 5 and 7 µmol L-1) and salicylic acid (at 0, 1 and 2 mmol L-1) and stored at 0 to 1oC with 85-95% RH for 2 and 5 months. Fruit quality attributes including firmness, total phenolics, weight losses, decay index and marketability were evaluated. All treatments maintained fruit firmness compared to control. Combination treatment of 5 µmol L-1 NO with 2 mmol L-1 SA significantly prevented fruit softening. Fruits treated with combination of 3 µmol L-1 NO and 1 mmol L-1 SA had higher phenolics content. The lowest weight loss was recorded in the fruits treated with 3 µmol L-1 NO and 2 mmol L-1 SA. Post harvest treatment of fruits with 3 µmol L-1 NO and 2 mmol L-1 SA effectively controlled decaying organisms and retained fruit quality. All treatments significantly maintained fruit marketability. It was concluded that post harvest treatment of fruits with combination of NO and SA is a good alternative to chemicals in post harvest technology of apple fruit.

Walnut is one of the most important nut crops in Iran. Because of its sexual propagation in Iran, the tree shows a high genetic diversity. In this study, the correlations between trunk cross-sectional area, scaffold cross area, crop density per trunk cross-sectional area and scaffold cross area, number of leaves and leaf area per nut, nut number to branch cross-sectional area, leaf number to branch cross-sectional area, leaf area to branch cross-sectional area and alternate bearing in eight terminal and lateral nutting genotypes were studied in walnut collection of Seed and Plant Improvement Institute of Iran in two years. Number of nuts to trunk cross sectional area and number of nuts to scaffold cross area were 1.68 (nuts/cm2) and 19.43 (nuts/m2), respectively. The average number of leaves and leaf area per nut were 4.42 (leaf/nut) and 1346.33 (cm2 leaf/nut), respectively. The lowest nut density (number of nut/cm2 branch cross sectional area) was found to be in genotype H1-1 (2.74) and the highest value was found in ‘Pedro’ (4.36). The correlation coefficient between nut density and leaf area per nut was -0.7. The highest alternate bearing was detected in ‘Hartley’ (15.38 %). This study showed that nut number and branch cross sectional area, nut number and branch leaf area, and branch leaf area and branch cross sectional area had very high correlations, and the polynomial regression model was appropriate for studying the relationship between the evaluated traits with high determination coefficients.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of water stress on the anatomy of xylem and phloem vessels, mesophyll and epidermal cells, relative water content and ion transfer rate of two wheat cultivars including Azar2 as drought tolerant and Shole as drought susceptible cultivars at four leaf stages. Seeds were sown in pots under normal (soil water content at 100% of FC) and the water stress (60% of FC) conditions in a factorial experiment based on CRBD design at the Experimental Farm of Kerman University in 2011. Four samples were taken from different positions of the fully expanded 4th leaf. Results showed that in both cultivars water stress decreased the xylem and phloem vessel diameter and the area of the mesophyll and upper epidermal cells at all positions. However, no significant effect of water stress by cultivar interaction was found on lower surface epidermal cell size and RWC. Water stress effect on the amount of ion leakage up to 30 min after soaking the leaf samples in distilled water was highly significant while it was not significant at 60 min after soaking. The effect of water stress on ion leakage was higher in Shole compared to Azar 2. Anatomical changes of the wheat leaf under water stress condition can be considered as adaptation responses. The effects of such anatomical changes on the final yield need to be investigated in future studies.

The main factor affecting fruit quality and post-harvest loss in kiwifruits is improper tree nutrition. In this study, fruits were harvested from 24 different orchards in the east of Guilan province when the total soluble solid content of the fruit was 6.2°. percent the fruts was. Fruits’ mineral content such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium, the mineral elements ratios and also fruits firmness were measured after harvest. Thereafter, fruits were transferred to cold storage at 0 ºC temperature and 90% relative humidity and after 15 weeks, fruit tissue firmness, water loss, ethylene content and respiration severity were measured. There was a significant positive correlation between fruits tissue firmness with fruit calcium content, but a significant negative correlation with potassium and nitrogen content, N:Ca, N+K:Ca. K:Ca and K+Mg:Ca ratios. At the end of storage, there was a significant positive correlation between fruit tissue firmness with calcium content at harvest time and a significant negative correlation with nitrogen, phosphor us and potassium content and N:Ca, N+K:Ca, K:Ca and K+Mg:Ca ratios. Furthermore, fruits’ weight loss showed a significant positive correlation with potassium content. There was a significant negative correlation between ethylene level and fruit tissue firmness at the end of storage and a positive correlation with N:Ca and N+K:Ca ratios. Cluster analysis divided kiwifruit orchards into two main groups. In conclusion, the results showed that the kiwifruit mineral elements’ content and ratio at harvest time can be used as an effective factor for evaluating post-harvest life of kiwifruits.

Peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] is one of the important stone fruits cultivated in subtropical and temperate zones. In temperate zones, peach faces many problems such as late spring cold, incompatibility, low quality, quantity and low yield. In order to select the best peach cultivars in Meshkinshahr, 25 cultivars of peach were planted in Simple Lattice design (SLD) with two replications and 25 experimental blocks with four trees in each block and 3×4 m spacing. In 3 years’ research (from 2008- 2010) vegetative traits such as trunk diameter, annual growth, tree height and canopy extension and repoductive traits (beginning and ending of flowering, flowering period, harvest date, fruit growth period, yield, TSS, acidity, flesh and skin color) were evaluated. After combined analysis of variance, most cultivars showed proper morphological and pomological compatibility in the studied zone. SunCrest, Dixired, Robin, SpringCrest, Earligold, Amesdn, Alberta, Earlired, Red top, Baby gold 7 and Paeez e Meshkin cultivars showed the best compatibility of vegetative traits. J. H. Hale, Red skin, Loring, Red top, Dixired, Baby gold 7, SunCrest and Meril sundans had the highest yield. SpringCrest, Earliglo, Dixired and Earlired were recommended as early cultivars, Alberta, Loring, Redtop, Baby gold 7 and SunCrest as midseason cultivars, and J. H. Hale, Red skin, Meril sundans and Paeez e Meshkin as late season cultivars. Therefore, the latter cultivars are recommended for planting new orchards.

German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) is cultivated in many countries because of its wide-spread uses in pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries. In order to investigate the effects of different soil properties on the agro-morphological characteristics, essential oil and chamazulene content of German chamomile, a pot experiment was carried out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications under greenhouse conditions. Ten different soils were selected from the soil map of Chaharmahal–Va–Bakhtiari province with the scale of 1:50,000. Soil samples were collected from 0-30 cm depth of the soil series and soil properties including pH, EC, gravel, particle-size distribution, soluble K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+, SO42-, total N, available P, %OC and percentage of CaCO3 were determined. At the harvest time, agro-morphological characteristics, the content of essential oil, yield of essential oil and the percentage of chamazulene were determined. Univariate and multivariate, PCA and RA analyses were performed on the dataset. Univariate analyses showed that the agro-morphological properties of German chamomile were different in the different soil types. Also, the results demonstrated that Boldaji soil series had the highest values for dried flower yield and essential oil yield with 1172 and 7 Kg/ha, respectively. In contrast, the lowest yields with 243 and 0.2 Kg/ha were obtained for Shahrak soil series. Redundancy Analysis (RA) showed that among the soil properties, the content of sulfur, phosphorus, potassium and organic matter had the highest effect on the number of flowers, fresh and dried flower yield, straw yield, yield of essential oil and the percentage of chamazulene.

Salinity is one of the greatest factors that limit the producion of horticultural crops in many parts of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) is an annual herbacious plant whose annual global production is over 80 million tons. In areas with warm and dry climate which are suitable for the production of tomatoes, salt is considered a major problem. This research was done in order to study the salinity effects on growth and physiological characteristics of tomato plant cultivars Super strain–B and Red clud. Firstly, seeds were planted in metal trays filled with sand in the greenhouse environment with sufficient moisture, and then seedlings in two leaf stages were transplanted to hydroponics’ medium with a Johnson nutritional solution. After establishment, the five levels of salinity treatments including, zero (control), 40, 80, 120 and 160 mM of Nacl were applied in three replications. The results showed that salt stress significantly reduces shoot and root dry weight, number of leaves, leaf area, leaf chlorophyll content, and stress index (Fv/Fm) of both cultivars. Specific leaf area (SLA) in both cultivars decreased due to salinity treatment; however, this reduction was not significant in Red clud cultivar. Salinity also significantly increased the amount of proline in shoots in both cultivars. The results were suggestive of the relative resistance of tomato plant cultivar Red clud in comparison with Super strain-B to salinity conditions.

‘Payizeh Znouz’ apple trees have a high capacity for fruit bearing, leading to a small fruit size. Thinning of flowers and fruits can considerably increase the quality of the fruits in prunus trees by improving the size, color, and other features related to the quality of the fruit. An experiment was conducted to study the effects of ammonium thiosulphate (0.25%, 1% and 1.75%) at different stages of blooming (pre blooming, 30% blooming and 90% blooming) and indol acetic acid (15, 30, 45 ppm), at fruitlet size (7-21mm) on thinning percentage, fruit yield and quality of 'Payizeh Znouz' apple in Znouz zone of Marand city in 1390. Trees with relatively the same size, growth and strength were selected. The treatments were given separately on each tree. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with 13 treatments and 3 replications. Some of measured characteristics showed that there was a significant difference between the treatments. The highest thinning percentage and fruit weight were in treatments of ammonium thiosulphate and indol acetic acid when applied at high concentrations. The ammonium thiosulphate increased fruit diameter and indol acetic acid increased fruit length.

This experiment was conducted on rose cut flowers, Red Naomy cultivar, with the length of 35 cm, for 18 hours as a short-term treatment in a factorial based on completely randomized design with five treatments including sucrose + 8-Hydroxyquinoline sulfate, salicylic acid + sucrose + 8-Hydroxyquinoline sulfate, ascorbic acid + sucrose + 8-Hydroxyquinoline sulfate, Salicylic acid + ascorbic acid + sucrose + 8-Hydroxyquinoline sulfate and distilled water as control, and three replications in bottles. Morphological traits such as shelf life, changes in water uptake, fresh weight, flower diameter and physiological traits such as total protein and proline contents were measured. The results showed that combination of Salicylic acid + sucrose + 8-Hydroxyquinoline sulfate treatment significantly affected shelf life compared to control and other treatments. The results also revealed that the combination of Salicylic acid + ascorbic acid + sucrose + 8-Hydroxyquinoline sulfate delayed flowers senescence and increased the amount of water uptake, fresh weight and flower diameter. Moreover, the greatest protein and proline contents were obtained under ascorbic acid + sucrose + 8-Hydroxyquinoline sulfate treatment and sucrose + 8-Hydroxyquinoline sulfate, respectively.

Remote sensing technology is widely used in environmental and agricultural research, and nowadays it has become a valuable and reliable source of information for the management of crop production and assessment of global supply and demands for these products. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using MODIS data and vegetation indices based on sugar beet growth monitoring. For this purpose, MODIS 8-day red and near infrared surface reflectance data at 250 m spatial resolution (MOD09Q1 collection 5) was used. Imagery data was acquired from mid-May to the end of December 2011 from the sugar beet fields located in Eqlid, Fars province, Iran. Results showed that although red and near infrared reflectance differences were relatively small at the beginning of sugar beet growing season, these differences were enhanced with canopy development and ground cover. The most red absorption and near infrared reflectance were in the maximum ground cover, and the most dramatic declines in the near infrared reflectance and relative increase in red reflectance were observed at harvest time. It was found that the RVI is able to show the status of red absorption and reflection during the growth of sugar beet canopy. The SR and NDVI change patterns demonstrated how to grow sugar beet over the growing season. Thus in the existing climate and crop management conditions in Fars province and Iran, MODIS data and vegetation indices can be used to monitor changes in canopy growth of such crops as sugar beet.

Pistachio is one of the most important products exported from the country, which due to the low rainfall, its production is faced with water deficiency in Iran. One of the strategies adopted to deal with water deficiency and drought stress in recent years is the use of mycorrhizal fungi and phosphate solubilizing bacteria. Therefore, to study the effect of co-inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae and Pseudomonas fluorescens P52 strain bacteria on nutrient uptake of pistachio seedling (Pistacia vera cv. Qazvini) under drought stress, a greenhouse experiment was conducted using four levels of drought stress (%100 Field capacity (FC) as control and 75, 50 and 25 %FC) and four levels of biofertilizer (plant without mycorrhizae and bacteria as control, mycorrhizae alone (100 gr of mycorrhizal inoculum in every pot), bacteria alone (two ml of the bacterial suspension in every pot) and mycorrhizae and bacteria combination (100 gr of mycorrhizal inoculum and two ml of the bacterial suspension in every pot)) in a completely randomized design as factorial with four replications. The experiment was carried out between the years of 2010 to 2011 on 3-months old seedlings with three seedlings per pot. In this experiment, bacteria inoculation in different levels of drought had no significant effect on root colonization by mycorrhizae, but regardless of bacterial treatment, an increase in drought intensity had a promotive effect on root colonization. The amount of phosphorus was increased using biofertilizer and in many cases the greatest amount of phosphorus was obtained in mycorrhizae and mixed treatments under 25 and 50% FC. The K+ content of shoot was maximum in the mixed treatment. The greatest amount of root Ca+ was recorded under 25% FC. Drought stress caused a significant increase in micronutrients compared with control at 25% of field capacity, but was ineffective in the roots. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that in many cases the combination treatment of mycorrhizae and bacteria increased drought resistance in seedlings by increasing nutrient uptake and especially phosphorus in the drought stress condition.

Valencia is one of the major orange cultivars which is grown in south of Iran. A great portion of annual fruits is usually cold stored for several months. This experiment was carried out to determine the effects of putrescine and methyl jasmonate on some of orange (Citrus sinensis) “Valencia” fruit characteristics. Fruits were treated with 0 (control), 2.5 and 5 millimoles of putrescine and 0 (control), 10 and 20 micromoles of methyl jasmonate and then stored at 5±1°C, 85-90% relative humidity for 4 months. Oranges treated with 5 millimoles of putrescine and10 micromoles of methyl jasmonate indicated significantly reduced chilling injuries and fruit weight loss compared to the control treatment. During storage, ascorbic acid, organic acids, total soluble solids of the treated and control fruits reduced, and pH increased though, putrescine and methyl jasmonate treatments led to decreases in the latter changes, relative to the control. In conclusion, fruits treated with 5 millimoles of putrescine showed the best appearance with the most controlling effect on chilling injury.

In this study, the effects of four types of mulch including wood chips, municipal compost, sawdust and gravel in three different thicknesses on temperature soil, moisture and growth characteristics of two cultivars of Tagetes (Tagetes patella var Durango Bee and Tagetes erecta var Antigua) were examined in Mashhad area with semi-arid climate. The research was conducted as a split plot based on a completely random block design with four replications. Treatments included control (no mulching) and four types of mulch including wood chips, municipal compost, sawdust and gravel in three thickness levels (4, 8 and 12 cm). During the study, soil moisture and temperature, total flower number, fresh and dry weight of plant, plant height and fresh weight of root were measured. Sawdust mulch with 12 cm thickness had the highest soil moisture (23.62%) and lowest soil temperature (25.01ºC), and led to greater increases in growth characteristics of the two cultivars. In both cultivars, increasing of mulch thickness led to the increased rate of growth. The Antigua cultivar showed a better vegetative growth, smaller flower number, and larger flowers in comparison with Durango Bee cultivar. All mulch types were significantly different from control. Overall, in both cultivars the highest and smallest growth taits were detected in sawdust and control, respectively. It seems that sawdust by preserving soil moisture and reducing drought stress out performs the other mulches in dry and semi-arid areas.

Knowledge on physical and mechanical properties of fruits is necessary for designing and optimizing processing systems. In this study, several physical and mechanical properties of date fruit (Kabkab cultivar) and its seed were determined. The average of length, width, thickness, unit mass, 1000 fruit mass, geometric mean diameter, unit volume, surface and projected areas, sphericity, fruit true and bulk densities, porosity of Kabkab cultivar date fruit were 36.89, 18.68, 23.56 mm, 8264.07 and 8.25 g, 25.24 mm, 8507.8 mm3, 2008.27 mm2, 502.07 mm2, 0.96 g/cm3, 0.51 g/cm3, 46.20%, respectively. The respective values for its seeds were 22.98, 6.25, 7.48 mm, 789.2 and 0.79 g, 10.23 mm, 568.24 mm3, 330.30 mm2, 82.58 mm2, 0.99 g/cm3, 0.65 g/cm3, 30.45%, respectively. The static coefficients of friction were 0.34 for galvanized, 0.30 for steel, 0.32 for plexiglass, 0.31 for glass and 0.42 for plywood. Compressive loading testes were conducted at three loading rates of 5, 15 and 25 mm/min for deformation of fruit until 15%, 30% and 45% of thickness of fruit with seven replications. Some mechanical parameters such as force-deformation, energy and toughness were determined. The results showed that the loading rates affected the mechanical parameters significantly. By increasing the loading rate, the mean values of the mechanical parameters increased significantly.

To evaluate the yield and nitrate concentration in five Iranian spinach landraces, a study was conducted in 2011 using a randomized complete block design with four replications at Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Station. In this field experiment, the evaluated landraces included spiny seed Varamin, Varamin leafy, Shahreza, Najaf Abad and Kashan. Varamin spiny seed landrace with 47830 kg ha-1 produced the maximum yield among the landraces. Greater numbers of leaves (more than 20 leaves) and lateral branches (more than 3.5) in the spiny seeds Varamin, Varamin leafy, and Kashan was the reason behind their higher yield. In all five landraces tested, nitrate concentration in the middle leaves of the plant was higher than the upper or lower leaves, though there was no significant difference between the upper and lower leaves in terms of nitrate content. Leaf nitrate concentration in spiny seed Varamin landrace was the highest (1380 ppm based on fresh weight) but there was no significant difference between the amounts of nitrate in this landrace and other landraces (except Kashan landrace). The results showed that the spiny seed Varamin landrace, with acceptable yield and nitrate content can be used as a substitute for genotypes that are common in Isfahan province.

Due to the economic importance of longevity of cut flowers, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of nano-silver, silver thiosulfate, hydroxyl quinoline and a natural compound, thymol, on vase life and number of bacteria in cut stem ends of Rose flowers cv. Dolce vita. Cut flowers were transferred to laboratory at 22 ± 1ºC temperature and 60 ± 5% relative humidity. Cut flowers were pulse-treated with 2.5, 5 and 10 mg L-1 nano-silver, 0.5,1 and 2 mM silver thiosulfate, 50, 100 and 200 mg L-1 hydroxy quinoline and 50, 100, 200 mg L-1 thymol with 5% sucrose. Experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 8 replications and one flower in each experimental unit. Based on the results, all of the treatments showed positive effects on the vase life of flowers and number of bacteria in cut stem ends during the vase period, and no bacteria were found in 5 and 10 mg L-1 SNP treatments. The nano-silver (5 and 10 mg L-1) treatments showed the greatest mean longevity (19 days). Considering the results and economical and functional aspects of the tested materials, nano-silver treatment can be used for increasing the vase life of ‘Dolce vita’rose.

Due to problems in storage, transportation and price fluctuation of fresh potato, production of ready-to-use products like French fries is of particular importance. French fries quality mainly depends on the appearance, taste, color, texture and oil uptake. One of the important steps in product processing is blanching. This step improves product texture and color due to the decrease in reducing sugar content, and causes reduction of oil uptake due to the gelatinization of surface starch. Therefore, by selecting a suitable method and condition, the improvement of product quality is possible. In order to investigate the effect of blanching temperature on kinetic of the reducing sugar content and changes in potato stick color and texture, sticks with 0.8 0.8 8 cm dimensions were prepared and blanching was carried out with hot water at different temperatures (60, 70, 80 and 90°C) and various times up to 120 minutes. Color, texture and reducing sugar content of samples were measured during blanching. The results showed that reducing sugar content was reduced during the blanching as a function of temperature and time. Also, product color and texture were mainly affected by blanching temperature, with the low temperature being more suitable to improve potato stick quality. According to the results, there was no significant difference between blanching at 80, 90°C and 60°C for reducing sugar content. Also, for this parameter, there was no significant difference between times of 100 and 5 minutes at 60°C. The least texture damage was obtained by blanching at 60°C in a short time. It could be concluded that to preserve potato stick color and texture and reduce energy consumption, blanching can be done at 60°C for 5 minutes if enzymes are inactivated.

In order to study the effects of inoculation of rhizobium and mycorhizae on the response of alfafa cultivars to different salinity levels a pot experiment was conducted. The experiment was arranged as factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The treatments included three alfafa cultivars (Rehnani, Hamadani and Bami), four levels of salinity (0, 60, 120 and 180 mmol (NaCl), and four inoculations (rhizobium, mycorhizae, rhizobium + mycorhizae, and control). There was a decrease in plant height, leaf area, shoot and root dry matter, percentage of mycorhizae infection, and root characteristics. The highest amounts of the above-mentioned growth characteristics were obtained in rhizobium + mycorhizae, mycorhizae, rhizobium, and control, respectively. The highest values of root mycorhizal infection and the number and weight of nodules were also achieved in dual inoculation treatment. Root was more affected than shoot by inoculation. The extent of positive effect of mycorhizae on alfalfa was greater than that of rhizobium. Rehnani was recognized to be more a salt tolerant cultivar as compared to Hamadani and Bami. The decrease in plant dry matter due to salinity was more in non-inoculated than in inoculated treatments. The results of our experiment showed that coinoculation of rhizobium and mycorhizae may cause synergistic effects on alfalfa dry matter accumulation. However, dual inoculation was not significantly superior to other inoculation treatments in terms of the alleviation of salinity effects.

Gamma irradiation can be used to increase post harvest quality of medicinal plants by decreasing microbial load and decontamination. Microbiological changes associated with food irradiation include the reduction or elimination of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, insect disinfestation and parasite disinfection. This factorial experiment was conducted on the basis of randomized complete block design with three replications. The effects of gamma irradiation on decreasing the microbial load of some medicinal plants including (Mentha piperita), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), Summer savory (Satureja hortensis) and (Zataria multiflora) were investigated. Leaves of Lemon Balm, summer savory, pepper minit and thyme were irradiated at dosages of 3, 7, 10 and 15 KGy by a Co60 source, then total count, total Coliform and mold and yeast of the samples were studied. Gamma irradiation decreased microbial load of medicinal plant samples. The microbial load was detected in samples treated with 15 KGy radiation and control. Also, the result showed the highest and the lowest microbial load in peppermint and Iranian thyme, respectively. Results of this study show that gamma irradiation can be used as an important decontamination method to reduce the microbial load of medicinal plants.

Relationship of is one of the most useful interactions in terrestrial ecosystems that its positive effects on growth, physiology and ecology of different plants has been documented. This study investigated the relationship between important physicochemical characteristics of soils such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil texture, organic carbon percentage, soil potassium percentage and the amount of accessible phosphorus with population of mycorrhizal fungi. After dividing the study region into four areas, 43 samples of soil were collected. The results of statistical analysis on physico-chemical characteristics of soil and their relation with population density of spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi showed that there was a negative correlation between electrical conductivity (EC), pH, clay percent, and percent of soil available phosphorus, potassium percent, and percentage of organic carbon with the mean number of fungi. There were positive correlations between silt and sand percentages and mean number of spores present in the soil. Based on the coefficien of determination and based on study conditions, the best model for the rhizosphere was found tobe the one in wich available phosphorus percent of soil was the independent variable, and mean population of fungi as the dependant variable. The correlation between available phosphorus percent in soil samples with average fungi population density negative (P<0/05), but there was not a meaningful correlation between other traits and population density of fungi.

In order to evaluate cold tolerance of twenty barley genotypes under field conditions, an experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design at 3 sowing dates of October 5, November 5, and December 5 in Saatlu Agricultural Research Station, West Azarbaijan, Iran, during 2010-11 seasons. Also, another experiment was conducted on the same genotypes based on a completely randomized design under greenhouse conditions. in wich Cold stress was applied up to -25°C at two, four and six leaf development stages. LT50, ion leakage and dry matter were measured and apex photographed. Field experiment results showed the lowest significant differences at p≤0.05 between different levels of sowing date, genotype, and interaction between them for plant height, spike/m2, kernel per spike, 1000-kernel weight, grain yield and total dry matter. Genotypes of winter growth type had higher grain yield (4250kg/ha) than those with spring growth type (4190kg/ha). There were significant differences for ion leakage and dry matter at 4 and 6 leaf development stages under greenhouse conditions. Genotype 1 (winter growth type) with lowest values of range and standard deviation for grain yield, total dry matter and LT50 = -38 °C showed a relatively low ion leakage. In contrast, genotypes 5, 10 and 14 (spring growth type) were identified sensitive to cold stress due to having more values of range, standard deviation for grain yield and total dry matter, LT50 = -18 to -27 °C and ion leakage from 25 to 33µS/m. Regression analysis showed 1000-kernel weight and total dry matter to remain at final model. Cluster analysis indicated that genotypes 2, 18, 1, 17 and 19 were superior genotypes. In principal component analysis, four components showed 80% of total variations, and the first component with 26% of variation was an important yield component for improving grain yield of barley genotypes. In conclusion, grain yields of winter and spring barley genotypes were affected by different planting dates.