Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Regional Centre, Coimbatore-3, Tamil Nadu, India.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i02.31
Key words: Curry leaf, prepackaging, color scores, physiological weight loss, volatile oil
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Abstract: Curry leaf, which is a leafy spice, used in Asian culinary has limited shelf life. Investigation was carried out to extend the shelf life of fresh curry leaf by prepackaging in different packaging materials i.e., polyethylene bags of 38 and 75 micron thickness, polypropylene bags of 20 and 38 micron thickness and stored under ambient (30?2?C) and refrigerated (5 ?1?C) conditions. It was found that prepackaging fresh and stripped curry leaf in polypropylene bag of 20 micron thickness with 0.1 % vent area of 5 mm diameter vent could prolong the keeping quality for 4 days under ambient storage. Also under refrigerated condition, under the same packaging treatment, the sample kept well for a period of 16 days in polyethylene bag of 75 micron thickness.
Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Miki, Kagawa 761-0795, Japan.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i02.17
Key words: AP3, class B gene, double pistils, PaPI, PaTM6, PI, Prunus avium
Abstract: We isolated APETALA3 (AP3)-like and PISTILLATA (PI)-like cDNA clones called PaTM6 and PaPI from sweet cherry (Prunus avium). PaTM6 showed very high similarity to the TM6 lineage of AP3 of other Rosaceae species. PaTM6 contained three amino acid residues (F, T, M) within the MADS box and the (H/Q)YExM sequence near the K box, both of which are characteristic of the AP3 subfamily. A paleo AP3 motif was present at the C-terminal end of PaTM6. PaPI showed very high similarity to PI of other Rosaceae species. PaPI had the serine residue and the KHExL sequence within the MADS box and near the K box, respectively, both of which are characteristic of the PI subfamily. A PI motif was present at the C-terminal end of PaPI. Both PaTM6 and PaPI genes were expressed specifically in petals and stamens, the same expression patterns as those of class B MADS-box genes. These results indicated that PaTM6 and PaPI are homologues of AP3 and PI, respectively.
Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University, Kyoto 606-8522, Japan. Kyoto Prefectural Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seika Town, Kyoto 619-0224, Japan.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i02.18
Key words: Flower bud opening, display value, pyridinedicarboxylic acids senescence, spray-type carnation, vase life.
Abstract: Previously we have developed a method, which uses two criteria, ‘time to flower opening’ and ‘vase life’, for characterizing flower opening profiles in cut spray-type flowers of carnation. These two criteria were used to evaluate the activities of flower preservatives, which accelerate flower bud opening, resulting in shortening the time to flower opening, and delay senescence, resulting in extension of vase life. In the present study, we developed the third criterion ‘gross flower opening’ which characterizes the ability of flower buds to open. Using this criterion the activity of analogs of pyridinedicarboxylic acids was successfully evaluated in addition to the previously-reported evaluation of their activity of acceleration of flower bud opening and extension of vase life.
Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, North Dakota State University, Fargo, USA, Natural Resource Program, North Dakota State University, Fargo, USA.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i02.19
Key words: Vineyards, sensors, variable rate technology (VRT), tree-sensing
Abstract: Sensors have been used to detect tree sizes for agrochemical and fertilizer applications in grape vineyards. Rugged and reliable sensors are required to measure the size and quality of tree canopy volume for variable rate fertilizer application. Real time sensing is important as size of the tree changes with time due to biological factors and management practices. This study evaluated ultrasonic sensor, optical sensor and a laser sensor for their sensing characteristics and field of view (FoV) in a range of conditions. The FoV was established by moving targets perpendicular to the centerline on both sides. The maximum sensig range of sensors varied from 6 to 8 m with ultrasonic sensor having the highest range. The beam widths for ultrasonic sensors were found to be wide (maximum 950 mm) whereas optical sensor has a narrow maximum beam width of 70 mm. The laser sensor has a sharp beam and did not work well in outdoor environment with plant materials. Statistical analysis was also done for sensors and found that P value is lower than 0.001 and R2 value closer to 1.0 which indicates significant better result in the vineyard for sensing characteristics.
Bioinformatics Centre, Division of Crop Improvement, Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, P.O. Kudlu, Kasaragod 671124, Kerala, India.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.03
Key words: miRNAs, RNA, gene expression, in silico, miRBase, coconut, leaf transcriptome
Abstract: Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are single stranded, small and non-coding endogenous RNA molecules, which control the gene expression at the post-transcriptional level either by suppression or degradation. Because of its highly conserved nature, in silico methods can be employed to predict novel miRNAs in plant species. By using previously known plant miRNAs available at miRBase, we predicted 16 miRNAs, which belongs to 11 miRNA families, and also targets for seven potential miRNAs in coconut leaf transcriptome. A majority of these seem to encode transcription factors. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of in silico prediction and characterization of miRNA from coconut. These findings form an useful resource for future research into miRNA prediction and function prediction in coconut and for studies on their experimental validation and functional analyses.
Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.04
Key words: Potato, India, complex fertilizer, farmyard manure, irrigation, contrasts
Abstract: India is the second largest producer of potatoes in the world. Shallow root system makes potato crop an inefficient nutrient consumer and sensitive to water stress. Anecdotal evidence hints that many potato growers of northwest India prefer complex NPK fertilizers or compound NP fertilizers over the straight fertilizers because they believe the former to be more efficient on agronomic basis. Thus, this study was aimed at conducting a comparative evaluation of various fertilizer sources across different irrigation and FYM regimes over two years on a loamy sand soil. A field experiment in split-split plot design was used with one additional blocking factor of soil variability. The main plot involved two FYM levels (0 and 50 t ha-1) and three irrigation water pan evaporation (IWPE) based irrigation regimes (IR1 with IWPE 2.0, IR2 with IWPE 1.4, and IR3 with IWPE 0.8) in sub-plots. Four fertilizer treatments in sub-sub plot involved a check (T0); T1 with N,P, and K respectively from straight fertilizers urea, single superphosphate (SSP), muriate of potash (MOP); T2 with P from DAP, remaining N from urea, and K from MOP; T3 with P from NPK complex (12:32:16) fertilizer and the remaining N from urea and K from MOP. General trends in tuber yield and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) during the year 2011 and statistically proven results of various a priori single degree of freedom contrasts showed that NPK complex fertilizer and NP compound fertilizer performed better than straight fertilizers.
Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Palermo.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.05
Key words: Plumeria rubra, propagation, adventitious roots, bottom heat, cutting size, frangipani
Abstract: Root development of hardwood cuttings of Plumeria rubra was investigated in relation to basal heat and the size of cuttings. Terminal cuttings of a clone grown in Sicily were trimmed to various lengths, ranging from 10 to 26 cm. To verify the cutting rooting response to basal heat, half of the cuttings were placed on a basal heated bench (28±3 °C, constant temperature) while the remaining were placed on an unheated bench (16-18 °C during the night and 20-22 °C during the day). Percent rooting and cutting survival were not affected by basal heat and cutting length. However, basal heat positively affected number of roots, length of longest root and bud growth. Increases in the length of the cutting resulted in a parallel increase in adventitious root formation. Medium (16-20 cm) and long (22-26 cm) length cuttings exposed to basal heat exhibited the best development in terms of number of roots, root length and bud growth. We suggest that in the Mediterranean region the use of basal heat and of medium/long size cuttings may be beneficial to propagators wishing to produce P. rubra rooted cuttings with well-developed root system.
Department of Crops, Horticulture & Soils, Egerton University, P.O. Box 536, Egerton - 20115, Kenya.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.06
Key words: Lily, bulb, dormancy, gibberellic acid, benzyl adenine, chilling, flowering
Abstract: Dormancy in Oriental lily bulbs (Lilium spp) is a major bottleneck in lily flower production by small scale farmers because they cannot afford expensive chilled bulbs that have been induced to break dormancy. Thus for developing alternative and low cost dormancy mitigation techniques, the study investigated the effects of lily bulb pre-treatments with benzyl adenine (BA) and gibberellic acid (GA3) on dormancy breaking, emergence rates, time to flowering and bulb multiplication. Bulbs were pre-soaked for 24 hours in prepared solutions of various concentrations of BA and GA3 (0; 25; 50; 100 and 150 mg/L) and their combinations, plus a positive control of chilled bulbs. An unbalanced factorial arrangement in a randomized complete block design with three replications was used. The experiment was repeated in two seasons. Results showed that treating bulbs with BA and GA3 significantly influenced dormancy breaking in both the trials and was comparable with the chilling treatment. The highest sprouting was observed in bulbs treated with 50 mg/L BA (92%) and 50 mg/L GA3 (96.67%) in both trials; compared to chilled bulbs with 100% sprouting. The number of days to 50% bulb emergence was significantly reduced in trial 1 with various combinations of GA3 and BA (50 mg/L:100 mg/L; 150 mg/L:100 mg/L and 150 mg/L :150 mg/L ). Combining the plant growth regulators also decreased the number of days to flowering; with 25 mg/L BA + 150 mg/L GA3; 50 mg/L BA + 100 mg/L GA3; 50 mg/L BA + 150 mg/L GA3 and 100 mg/L BA + 100 mg/L GA, respectively, significantly decreasing the number of days to flowering to 124 compared with 132 for the control in trial 2.
Division of Post Harvest Technology, Division of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Division of Fruit crops, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake P.O., Bangalore-560089, India.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.01
Key words: Vitis vinifera, Pinot Noir, aroma, GC MS, mesoclimate, headspace volatiles, phenolics.
Abstract: The effect of vineyard shading on the composition, sensory quality and volatile flavours of grape wines from Vitis vinifera L. cv. Pinot Noir under Bangalore conditions, a region endowed with mild tropical climate, was studied. Wines from 50 and 75 per cent shaded vineyards were found to have better sensory appeal, significantly higher titratable acidity and lower levels of phenolics than those from open conditions. The wine colour parameters viz., hue and chroma, were significantly superior in wines prepared from berries of open vineyards. Head space volatile analysis showed that wines from shaded vineyards possessed higher levels of Pinot Noir aroma varietal specific compounds such as phenyl ethyl alcohol, methyl anthranillate, methyl and ethyl hexanoate, linalool, octanoic acid, and decanoic acids. The study showed the possibility of improving Pinot Noir wine quality by vineyard shade management in warmer viticulture areas...
Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra-136119, Haryana, India.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.07
Key words: 5-Sulfosalicylic acid, 6-benzylaminopurine, ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, ethanol, guaiacol peroxidase, malondialdehyde, membrane stability index, protein, senescence, sucrose, superoxide dismutase and vase life
Abstract: This investigation was carried out to assess not only the efficacy of ethanol (EtOH) with that of sucrose (both are the product of plant metabolism) but also with 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BAP) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid (5-SSA) which are well known plant growth regulators (PGRs) to minimize the decline in certain antioxidant enzymes in the cut flowers of Calendua officinalis L. and Salvia splendens Sellow ex J. A. Schultes. An effect of sucrose was also studied when it was present either alone or in combination with other chemicals (EtOH/6-BAP/5-SSA) in the vase solution. Control cut C. officinalis flowers looked fresh for 1-day, while flowers in sucrose solution lasted for about 2-day whereas other chemicals could extend the vase life from 4 to 7 days. The order of effectiveness of applied chemicals was EtOH + sucrose (Suc) > 5-SSA + Suc > EtOH/5-SSA > 6-BAP > 6-BAP + Suc > Suc in C. officinalis whereas it was EtOH/EtOH + Suc > 5-SSA > 5-SSA + Suc > 6-BAP + Suc > 6-BAP > Suc in S. splendens. In both the plants, petals of untreated flowers exhibited a gradual reduction in activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD); and protein levels and membrane stability index (MSI) values whereas malondialdehyde (MDA) level and guaiacol peroxidase (GPOX) activity registered increment. However, individual treatment of metabolites like ethanol and sucrose, plant growth regulators like 6-BAP and 5-SSA were able to reduce not only protein content but also activities of APX, CAT and SOD. The combined effect of EtOH + Suc was more effective than 6-BAP + Suc or 5-SSA + Suc.
Canadian Humalite International Inc., 15723-116 Ave, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5M 3W1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.08
Key words: Lactuca sativa L., deep water culture growing units, humic substances, plant, root, leaf, growth
Abstract: Seedlings of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) variety Grand Rapids were grown in deep water culture growing units. The units contained growing solution with limited amount of nutrients and different concentrations of humic substances. Six treatments and one control, 12 replications each, were evaluated in a two month period. Only one plant perished from a total of 84, indicating that the growing units were effective. A liquid product containing 13,800 mg L-1 humic substances of small particulate sizing (1.1 ± 0.64 ?m in mean diameter) was utilized as a source of humic substances. Significant plant (root and leaf) growth was observed at low product rates between 70 and 500 mg L-1, corresponding to 1 and 7 mg L-1 humic substances. At increased rates, the growth was reduced. At much higher rates, plant growth was again observed, that was likely caused by the presence of nutrients in the product. These experiments demonstrated the efficacy of humic substances on plant growth, a critical finding in the context of sustainable horticulture, in which maximum yields from minimum input would be desired.
College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh - 362 001 (Gujarat), India.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.09
Key words: African marigold, chlorophyll content, flower yield, nitrogen, phosphorus, variety
Abstract: A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of N and P2O5 nutrition on growth, flowering, yield and chlorophyll content of different varieties of African marigold on the medium black calcareous soil during two consecutive years. The treatments consisted of all combination of three levels of nitrogen (100, 150 and 200 kg N ha-1) and three levels of phosphorus (50, 100 and 150 kg P2O5 ha-1) with three varieties of African marigold viz., Local Orange (V1), Pusa Basanti (V2) and Pusa Narangi (V3). The growth parameters like plant height, number of primary and secondary branches as well as leaf area exhibited increasing trend with increase in nitrogen level which were highest at N3 (200 kg N ha-1). The phosphorus application failed to influence the growth of plant except plant spread. The maximum total chlorophyll content, 1.452 and 1.431 mg g-1, respectively was found due to addition of nitrogen and phosphorus. The higher number of flowers, diameter of flower, number of ray florets per flower and flower yield was recorded at higher level of each nutrient i.e. N3 (200 kg N ha-1), and P3 (150 kg P2O5 ha-1). Number of days to first flower was advanced with increasing levels of N. Variety Pusa Narangi produced the biggest flower diameter (6.20 cm), highest number of flowers per plant (56.34), flower yield (183.0 quintal ha-1), leaf area (13.89 cm2) and total chlorophyll content (1.432 mg g-1) in leaves. The interaction effect of N and P was found significant for plant spread at 60 DAT and at the end of harvest season. The combination N3P3 (200 kg N ha-1 and 150 kg P2O5 ha-1) recorded maximum plant spread (42.87 and 56.65 cm) at 60 DAT and at the end of harvest season, respectively. Treatment combination N2P3 (150 kg N ha-1 and 150 kg P2O5 ha-1) recorded significantly larger flower diameter (7.79 cm).
Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar-1900 07. J & K. India.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.10
Key words: Apple, Red Chief, anti browning agents, drying, quality, ascorbic acid, citric acid
Abstract: Apples of Red Chief variety after stabilization at room temperature (20±2 °C) were initially washed with chlorinated water (100 ppm sodium hypochlorite) to prevent surface contamination. After manual peeling, apples were cut in to disc shaped slices of 2 and 3 mm thickness (having uniform diameter of 20 mm) and treated with 1% ascorbic acid and 1% citric acid (anti browning agents) for studying their effect on drying time and quality of apple slices. Slice size and pre-drying treatments of ascorbic acid and citric acid has resulted in significant (P<0.05) variation for drying time, rehydration, dry matter contents, firmness, quality and total colour change. Significantly minimum time (300 minutes) for drying of apple slices, maximum rehydration ratio (4.9), and maximum firmness (11.9 RI) was recorded in case of 2 mm slices treated with 1% ascorbic acid and 1% citric acid. Maximum TSS (18.9° Brix) was recorded in 2 mm slices and 3 mm slices (18.7° Brix) treated with citric acid and ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid and citric acid were effective to stabilize the ascorbic acid content and maximum (18.0 mg/100g) was recorded in case of slices of 2 mm thickness treated with 1 % ascorbic acid and 1% citric acid. Similarly size of slices and anti browning agents were significantly effective to reduce the total colour change in apple slices and minimum colour change was observed in 2 mm slices (10.0) treated with 1 % ascorbic acid and citric acid and 3 mm slices (12.25) treated with 1% ascorbic acid and 1% citric acid. It can be concluded that apple slices of 2 mm thickness and pre drying treated with 1% citric acid and 1% ascorbic acid as anti browning agents took minimum time for dehydration with minimum changes in colour, firmness, quality, and retained maximum compositional attributes with minimum browning.
Division of Fruit Crops; Division of Plant Physiology & Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake, Bangalore-560 089, Karnataka, India. Faculty of Agriculture, Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed University), Gandhigram,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.11
Key words: Fig, growth characters, pruning, fruit quality, tree spacing, fruit yield, photosynthesis, leaf water potential
Abstract: Effects of tree spacing (5x2 m, 5x2.5 m, 5x3 m, 5x3.5 m and 5x4 m) and pruning (8 buds/cane, 6 buds/cane and 4 buds/cane) on growth, physiological parameters, fruit yield and quality were studied in fig cv. Poona during 3rd and 4th years of planting. Results indicated that the fig responded more to tree spacing than the pruning levels in terms of morpho-physiological characters and yield. With increase in in-row tree spacing from 5x2.5 m to 5x4 m, the vegetative growth parameters like leaf number, shoot length, internodal length, tree spread, tree height and tree circumference and the fruit yield both in terms of fruit number and fruit weight per tree declined under different pruning levels and closer tree spacing of 5x2.5 m recorded higher values. Physiological parameters like photosynthesis rate and leaf water potential remained at higher levels under closer spacing as compared to the wider spacing under different pruning levels. The increased pruning levels from 8 buds/cane to 4 buds/cane resulted in reduction of tree height while yield characters were marginally influenced by the pruning. The interaction effects between pruning and spacing levels were, however, non-significant. Under 5x2.5 m, the average fruit size and TSS recorded the highest values with no marked differences in acidity. The fruit yield calculated on per tree basis showed highest fruit number of 84.3-253.0 and 232.3-321.5 and fruit weight of 2.69-8.61 and 7.43-9.44 kg, respectively during 3rd and 4th year of planting under closer spacing of 5x2.5 m with 8 buds/cane pruning. The yield per hectare under various pruning levels recorded high values under the closer spacing of 5x2.5 m or 5x2.0 m with 8 buds/cane pruning. Overall results showed that 5x2.5 m tree spacing in combination with light pruning level of 8 buds/cane is ideal for achieving higher growth and yield in fig during 3rd and 4th year of planting.
Department of Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow-226025, U.P., India.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2015.v17i01.12
Key words: Wilt disease, Fusarium solani, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, cellulolytic enzyme, pesticides, Solanum melongena, Lycopersicon esculantum
Abstract: Soil-borne pathogens (Fusarium solani and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici) were isolated from the diseased plants of brinjal and tomato, identified by morphological analysis viz., PCM (Phase contrast microscopy) and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy). These pathogens produced cellulolytic enzyme in vitro and the activity of this enzyme increased with the increase in age of the culture. F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici produced more cellulolytic enzyme than F. solani. The activity of cellulolytic enzyme by F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici was more in 14th day-old culture and decreased with the increase of culture age whereas the activity of cellulolytic enzyme produced by F. solani did not decrease and enzyme activity increased with the increase in the age of culture (23rd day-old culture). In vitro efficacy of systemic fungicides viz., Roco (Thiophanate methyl 70% WP) and Chlorothalonil (non-systemic fungicide), herbicides viz., Syncore (Metribuzin 70% WP), 2, 4- D (2, 4- Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid) and insecticides viz., Nuvan (Dichlorvos 76% EC), Prima (Acetamiprid 20% SP) against F. solani and F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici were evaluated using poisoned food technique at 100, 200, 400 ppm concentrations on 7th day of inoculation. The fungicide (Chlorothalonil) inhibited the mycelial growth of F. solani by 82.34%, while Thiophanate methyl inhibited F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici by 77.96% respectively at 400 ppm concentration. Herbicide (Metribuzin) inhibited the mycelial growth of F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and F. solani by 75% and 62.50%, respectively at same concentration followed by insecticides Dichlorvos (56.87%) and Acetamiprid (53.12%), respectively.