Hossein Sheikhi; Mojtaba Delshad; Sasan Aliniaeifard; Kamahldin Haghbeen; Mesbah Bababalar; Rasool Nasiri
Abstract
Lettuce is one of the most important leafy vegetable crops. Despite lettuce being mostly grown in open fields, its greenhouse production is widely increasing. Lettuce growth comprises two distinct stages known as the seedling and head stages. The effect of supplemental lighting (SL) on lettuce growth ...
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Lettuce is one of the most important leafy vegetable crops. Despite lettuce being mostly grown in open fields, its greenhouse production is widely increasing. Lettuce growth comprises two distinct stages known as the seedling and head stages. The effect of supplemental lighting (SL) on lettuce growth was well studied, but the lighting requirement during the early stage of its growth and head development remained unknown. For this purpose, we evaluated nutritional qualities and growth in lettuce in response to SL in separate seedling and head development stages. The experiment involved SL with different daily light integral (DLI) provided by light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Light treatments included supplemental DLI of 8.64, 11.52, 12.96, and 17.28 mol m-2 d-1. The results revealed that the lighting period was more effective on lettuce biomass increase than the light intensity. Although the SL increased the photosynthetic pigment content of lettuce, its impacts on the two growth stages were not the same. In a way, the chlorophyll a,total chlorophyll, and carotenoid contents decreased under the SL conditions (DLI of 17.28 mol m2 d-1 and light intensity of 300 μmol m-2 s1 for 16 h). Increasing DLI caused a significant increase in the nutritional quality of lettuce, but antioxidant accumulation did not follow a similar trend in seedlings and mature plants. These findings confirmed that SL improves lettuce growth and quality, but optimal lighting requirements may vary depending on the growth stage.
Fares Alhaj Alali; Mohammad Ali Askari Sarcheshmeh; Mesbah Bababalar
Abstract
Peach fruit (Prunus persica L.) was harvested at the stage of commercial harvest and was then treated with 0, 1, 2, 3 mM citric acid (CiA). A factorial model was planned on a completely randomized block design with three replications. Two factors were used in the experimental design, i.e. 4 storage durations ...
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Peach fruit (Prunus persica L.) was harvested at the stage of commercial harvest and was then treated with 0, 1, 2, 3 mM citric acid (CiA). A factorial model was planned on a completely randomized block design with three replications. Two factors were used in the experimental design, i.e. 4 storage durations × 4 concentrations of CiA. The impact of CiA was evaluated on postharvest quality parameters, decay incidence (DI), vitamin C, total phenolic compounds, and antioxidant capacity, as the peach fruits were maintained in cold storage at 0 ± 0.5 ˚C and 85-90% relative humidity (RH) for 40 days. By the end of the storage time, peach fruits that were treated with 3 mM CiA showed statistical significance and resulted in the highest values of fruit firmness (FF) (1.75 N), titratable acidity (TA) (0.24%), vitamin C (VC) (3.58 mg.100g-1 FW), total phenolic compounds (TPC) (58.49 mg GAE.100g-1 WF) and antioxidant capacity (AC) (52.96%). CiA treatments significantly controlled the DI by about 30.17 % and remarkably extended the shelf life by about 11.66 days, compared to the control samples during the cold storage. Our findings suggested that using CiA, especially at 3 mM, could be a promising treatment in helping to maintain edibility and to inhibit decay in peach fruits. While these can play an important role in the marketing and export of peach fruits, other benefits include a low cost of the chemical inputs and more safety for human consumption. AbbreviationsCitric acid (CiA), Decay incidence (DI), Vitamin C (VC), Total phenolic compounds (TPC), Antioxidant capacity (AC), Fruit Weight loss (FWL), Fruit firmness (FF), Titratable acidity (TA), Total soluble solid (TSS), Relative humidity (RH)
Hamed Shokri Heydari; Mohammad Ali Askari Sarcheshmeh; Mesbah Babalar; Taha Ranjbar Malidarreh; Ahmad Ahmadi
Abstract
Peach is a highly corrosive fruit with a short shelf life (less than 7 days at room temperature)susceptible to diseases, pathogens and physical damage. The storage or marketable life ofhorticultural crops can be extended by various treatments applied to them after and/or beforeharvesting. Fruits are ...
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Peach is a highly corrosive fruit with a short shelf life (less than 7 days at room temperature)susceptible to diseases, pathogens and physical damage. The storage or marketable life ofhorticultural crops can be extended by various treatments applied to them after and/or beforeharvesting. Fruits are usually treated with a range of materials [(e.g. salicylic acid (SA)] toimprove their appearance or delay deterioration. In the present study, effects of pre-harvesttreatment of SA (1, 2, and 4 mM) and iron sequestrine (Fe) (5 and 10 mg L-1) on antioxidantcapacity, ion leakage, ethylene production, ascorbic acid and carotenoids content of peachfruit (Prunus persica L. Batsch cv. Za'ferani) were examined. The results showed that Fe andSA treatments are effective methods for alleviating ion leakage, weight loss and ethyleneproduction in peach fruit during cold storage. Application of 4.0 mM SA and 10.0 mg L-1 Fewere the most effective treatments to maintain fruits quality parameters. SA and Fe treatmentsmaintained peach fruits quality parameters until 40 days. These results suggest that the SAand Fe treatment are useful materials with potential postharvest application for reducingethylene production, maintain quality, and improve the health benefits of peach fruit byincreasing its antioxidant capacity.
Safoora Dehghanipoodeh; Mohammad Ali Askari; Ali Reza Talaei; Mesbah Babalar
Abstract
Apple is one of the most important fruits in temperate zones with a long post-harvest life during cold storage. A factorial experiment, in a randomized completely block design was used to investigate the preharvest application of Iron (0, 500 and 1000 mg Fe-EDDHA per tree) and nitrogen (0, 48 and 96 ...
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Apple is one of the most important fruits in temperate zones with a long post-harvest life during cold storage. A factorial experiment, in a randomized completely block design was used to investigate the preharvest application of Iron (0, 500 and 1000 mg Fe-EDDHA per tree) and nitrogen (0, 48 and 96 g ammonium nitrate per tree( on some postharvest qualitative characteristics in "Red spur" and "Granny smith" apple cultivars. Iron and nitrogen treatments in all 72 trees were applied in three stages (full bloom, 30 and 60 days after full bloom). Fruit quality parameters including colorskin color parameters (L*, a*, b*), flesh firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), Titratable acidity (TA), flavor index (TSS/TA) and total antioxidant activity were measured. According to the results, a decrease in fruit firmness, TA and increase in TSS/TA in both cultivars were observed during cold storage irrespective of treatments. The results showed that in “Red spur” cultivar, Fe application decreased fruit firmness, TSS, b* parameter values and increased TSS/TA, a* parameter values, while, N application increased TSS. Fruit firmness was decreased and TSS, TSS/TA, b* parameter values were increased by Fe application in “Granny smith” cultivar. Fruit firmness, TSS and L* parameter values were decreased and TA was increased by N application on this cultivar. In conclusion, Fe and N application in proper levels improved some postharvest qualitative characteristics in "Red spur" and "Granny smith" apple cultivars during cold storage.
Mina Mohebi; Mesbah Babalar; Mohammad Ali Askari; Alireza Talaei; Allen.V. Barker
Abstract
Different dates for apples fruit harvest (Malus domestica Borkh. Cv. Fuji) were studied to determine physiochemical changes during the storage. Fuji apples were harvested from 9 September till 23 October, at five different times and stored at 0±0.5 °C and 95% relative humidity ...
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Different dates for apples fruit harvest (Malus domestica Borkh. Cv. Fuji) were studied to determine physiochemical changes during the storage. Fuji apples were harvested from 9 September till 23 October, at five different times and stored at 0±0.5 °C and 95% relative humidity for 120 days. To determine the best harvest date for maximum quality and storability, physical and chemical parameters were measured at each harvesting time and after 40-day periods until the end of 120 days of storage. Results showed that, the fruit quality parameters at harvest and after storage, depends on the degree of the ripeness at which the apples were harvested. Fruits from the first harvest, were firmest before and after storage and had the lowest phenolic compounds at the end of storage. First, second and third harvest date samples, had a decrease in phenolic content and total antioxidants activity during storage, but the fourth and fifth harvested fruits were opposite. Total soluble solids and Titrable acidity were affected by the harvest date and duration of storage. First and second harvest date samples showed an increase in total soluble solids during 120 days of storage but it was opposite in third, fourth and fifth harvested samples. The fifth harvest date samples characterized with oblate fruit shape and high weight loss during storage.