Masoud Sharifkhah; Davood Bakhshi; Mohammadreza Pourghayoumi; Soma Abdi; Hossein Hokmabadi
Abstract
To obtain the best quality and quantity of pistachio fruits, knowing the most suitable time of pollination, is of paramount importance. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of pollination time, different stages of female flower development, including A (lower florets opened and clusters ...
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To obtain the best quality and quantity of pistachio fruits, knowing the most suitable time of pollination, is of paramount importance. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of pollination time, different stages of female flower development, including A (lower florets opened and clusters were green), B (lower and medial florets opened and clusters were green), C (all florets opened and clusters were light green), D (the stigma in the lowest florets was light pink), and E (the stigma in the lowest and medial florets was pink) on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of fruits in three pistachio cultivars (‘Ghermez Peste’, ‘Kal Khandan’, and ‘Kaleh Bozi’). Results showed that the highest yield in ‘GhermezPeste’ obtained when the manual pollination carried out at the stage that the cluster were green (early flowering period) while the highest yield In ‘KalKhandan’ and ‘KalehBozi’ were observed when the pollination carried out at the full bloom stage. The highest amount of total phenolics, total flavonoid, and antioxidant activity of fruits observed when pollination carried out at the stage that lower florets opened and clusters were green. The Lowest amount of total flavonoid and antioxidant capacity were obtained in the fruits that pollination carried out in the stage that the stigma in middle and lower florets were pink. As a first step towards identifying the best time for manual pollination of pistachio trees, our results showed manual pollination in the suitable blooming stage led to higher yield and quality of pistachio nuts.
Hossein Meighani; Mahmood Ghasemnezhad; Davood Bakhshi
Abstract
The pomegranate fruit is a good source of bioactive compounds. The present study has investigated the biochemical and sensory characteristics of the arils of four Iranian commercial pomegranate cultivars namely Malase Shirine Saveh (MSS), Malase Torshe Saveh (MTS), Alak Shirine Saveh (ASS) and Agha Mohammad ...
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The pomegranate fruit is a good source of bioactive compounds. The present study has investigated the biochemical and sensory characteristics of the arils of four Iranian commercial pomegranate cultivars namely Malase Shirine Saveh (MSS), Malase Torshe Saveh (MTS), Alak Shirine Saveh (ASS) and Agha Mohammad Ali (AMA) for several developmental and ripening stages during 45–180 days after fruit set (DAFS). The results showed that the total soluble solids (TSS), individual and total anthocyanin concentrations, and color parameters including chroma and a* values significantly increased, in contrast, the total phenolic concentration and color parameters (L* and hue angle) gradually decreased during developmental stages. Six anthocyanin pigments were found responsible for the red color of pomegranate juice. The quantity and the quality of the anthocyanin pigments were different among the cultivars and the various developmental stages. The predominant anthocyanin pigment at all developmental stages in all cultivars was cyanidin 3,5-diglucosides. The maximum total phenolic concentration was recorded at 45 DAFS for all cultivars. The highest antioxidant activity was recorded at 45 DAFS, and gradually decreased until 135 DAFS. Similar decrease was observed in total phenolic and flavonoid concentrations. Notably, increasing of antioxidant activity at the late-developmental stage was due to induction of the flavonoids and anthocyanins accumulation.
