Journal of Nuts
Volume:11 Issue: 4, Autumn 2020

The Fandogloo jungle is located in the Ardabil province of northwestern Iran, and contains the largest in situ germplasm collection of hazelnuts (Corylus avellana L.) in Iran. In this study, 12 quantitative and 21 qualitative traits of 70 wild hazelnut genotypes native to Fandogloo were studied, including traits of nuts, kernel and tree morphology. Results showed that, hazelnut genotypes from Fandogloo were phenotypically diverse with significant variation found across most traits studied. Interestingly, they had a smaller nut and kernel size and weight, compared to some hazelnut germplasm pools previously studied around the world, overall they exhibited a higher kernel to shell ratio. Results also showed, there were strong correlations between kernel length and kernel thickness (r=0.878), nut length and nut thickness (r=0.875), and kernel percentage and chlorophyll index (r=0.617). Positive correlations were also found between branching density and suckering (r=0.487) and between the curvature of the nut basal scar and size of the pistil scar (r=0.352). Principal component analysis of quantitative variables revealed that the first four principal components (PCs) accounted for 74.2% of the total variation. Regarding qualitative variables, the first nine PCs accounted for 64.3% of the total variation. Cluster analysis based on quantitative and qualitative traits resulted in a dendrogram with seven and eight main clusters, respectively. Some of the genotypes were not grouped according to their geographical distribution. Overall, this study revealed the presence of high phenotypic diversity in the hazelnut genotypes from Fandogloo region, supporting their breeding value for possible use in future.

The almond is one of the most important nut crops in many countries, including Iran. On the other hand, due to the difficult rooting in conventional propagation methods such as cuttings, its propagation has faced challenges. Therefore, this study was aimed at optimizing in vitro culture conditions for the promising 2-22 genotype as a high-yield and late-blooming cultivar. To this end, after collecting apical and lateral buds of 2-22 genotype, surface sterilization and establishment treatments were applied to explants. The second-order equation is selected for the central compound design (CCD) with two variables (HgCl2 and NaClO) to obtain a good fit in the sterilization treatment.  The results showed that 1.8 % NaClO for 12 min + 0.1 % HgCl2 for 3 min and 1.5 % NaClO for 8 min with 81.25%, and 100% of healthy seedlings were the best treatment in contamination control and explant Viability, respectively. The experimental establishment was conducted as a factorial experiment using a completely randomized design (CRD) with four replications. The establishment treatments indicated that the WPM medium was more effective than the MS medium and Knop medium. The hormonal composition of 1 mgL-1 BA + 0.05 mgL-1 IBA had the best results in the percentage of the establishment (72.25%), number of foliage (7.24), and shoot length (13.77 mm).

Pistachio is one of the most important and strategic crops in Iran which is typically cultivated under relatively saline soils and hot weather conditions. The present paper represents the results of an experiment which mainly focused on evaluating the tolerance of pistachio female and male genotypes to salinity stress. This experiment was carried out at the greenhouse of the Pistachio Research Center at Kerman, Iran, during 2016. The hybrids obtained from crosses between 17 male genotypes with a female genotype “Fandoghi” and also the combinations of 19 female genotypes after crossing with a male genotype “M15” were cultured in a completely randomized design with three replications under salt stress (4.2 dS m-1) without drainage in the greenhouse condition for a period of four months. The results show an increasing of the average soil salinity in pots to 32 dS m-1.The results also indicate that salinity might negatively affect growth parameters of pistachio. Therefore, selecting genotypes in this condition might lead to release tolerant genotypes. During the research, some yielded hybrids indicated the higher values for morphological parameters, the lower and higher concentration of Na+ and K+ under salinity stress, respectively. Meanwhile, it was found that, ‘Khanjari Damghan’ and ‘Mohseni’ among female parents, and M10, M15, and M25 among male parents are possible tolerant genotypes for further assessment in the area and also for releasing new rootstocks. The analysis of two clusters, i.e., cluster 1 (‘Khanjari Damghan’, ‘Mohseni’, ‘Lak Sirizi’, ‘Ebrahimi’, ‘Sifadini’, ‘Badami Zarand’, ‘Sephid Peste Nogh’, and ‘Post Kaghazi’) and cluster 2 (M10, M15, M24, M25, and M26) for female and male genotypes, respectively, exhibits that higher morphological parameters and also higher tolerance to salinity. More importantly, the analysis showed that these two categorized sets of genotypes can be proper choices for future breeding programs or to use directly in salinity conditions.

Fruits, vegetables, oils, coffee, nuts, and tea contain coumarin. The scientific attraction of coumarins is attributed to their pharmacological activity. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed  in the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory to evaluate the potentialities of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) as a carrier for 3-acetyl-6-methyl-4-hydroxy-coumarin. The natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis suggested that the functionalized nanotube plays the role of an electron donor and 3-acetyl-6-methyl -4-hydroxy- coumarin molecule acts as an electron acceptor at the SWCNT -coumarin complex. Variations of density and dipole moment values of coumarin after interaction were studied. Also, the frontier orbital energies, HOMO-LUMO gap, chemical hardness (η), electrophilicity index (ω), charge transferred (ΔNmax) and chemical potential (μ) were computed.  Pure coumarin is less conductive and smoother than SWCNT -coumarin. Our results show efficient coumarin loading with the interaction energy of -1.19 eV. NBO analysis shows that the occupied orbitals in the coumarin and the unoccupied orbitals in the nanotube overlap.

Huge genetic diversity of Persian walnut in Iran provides a great opportunity for walnut breeders to use it for introducing varieties with desirable traits. In this regard, evaluating the genetic diversity and introducing superior genotypes is the foundation step of a walnut breeding program. This study was conducted to exploit the genetic diversity in Savadkuh county, Mazandaran province, Iran to identify some superior genotypes during 2013-2016. In the first step, 91 seed-originated genotypes were selected based on questionnaire. In the second stage, the morphological characteristics of the selected genotypes were studied using two IPGRI and UPOV descriptors in 2015. The results showed that nut and kernel weight ranged between 7.3-16.7 g and 3.2-8.6 g, respectively. Also, kernel percentage and shell thickness varied from 36 to 60.74% and from 0.8 to 2.8 mm, respectively. According to the morphological evaluation, 9 out of 91 genotypes (SR7, SR8, SR14, SR23, SR24, SR33, SR52, SR60 and SR83) were selected as superior genotypes. The selected superior genotypes were morphologically evaluated for two consecutive years (2015-2016). These superior walnut genotypes had high yield, lateral bearing habit (45-60%), heavy (13.4-16.7 g) and large nuts, high kernel percentage (48.6-56.6%), thin to moderate shell (1.1-1.6 mm) with light kernel color. Due to distinct and desirable characteristics, the selected superior genotypes can not only be used as parents in the further breeding program, but also some of them have the potential to release as commercial varieties.

Paclitaxel (taxol) has been recognized as a very effective anti-cancer drug. Today, hazelnuts, as one of the natural sources of this medicinal compound, have been heeded more than before. Optimizing culture conditions to promote hairy root growth is an important step towards the production of medicinal metabolites. In this study, we developed an efficient culture medium to increase the production of hazelnut hairy roots. To achieve this aim, different intensities (full,  and ) of WPM, SH, NRM, and DKW media, and the replacement of vitamins with the B5 medium vitamins were evaluated. We found that   WPM + vit B5 increased hairy roots growth in solid nursery medium and   SH + vit B5 was the effective media for hairy roots development in liquid culture media. Appling 100 mg l-1 ascorbic acid and citric acid reduced the browning of hairy roots and improved their growth rate. The paclitaxel production in hairy roots was assured by using HPLC.