Agriculture
Zohreh Natavan; Rooholla Moradi; Mahdi Naghizadeh; Nasibeh Pourghasemian
Abstract
In order to study the effect of different chemical and organic mulch types on various soil characteristics and qualitative and quantitative yield of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), an experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications at Qaen region in during 2018-2019. ...
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In order to study the effect of different chemical and organic mulch types on various soil characteristics and qualitative and quantitative yield of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), an experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications at Qaen region in during 2018-2019. The experimental treatments were application of various mulch types for weed control (no weed control, hand weeding, transparent polyethylene, black polyethylene, beeswax waste, residues of grape leaf, wheat straw, pomegranate leaf, pistachio leaf, barley straw and saffron corm dunnage). The results showed that all the treatments except black and transparent polyethylene significantly improved the potassium contents of soil compared to hand weeding treatment. Treatments of beeswax waste (0.083%), pistachio leaf (0.081%) and transparent polyethylene (0.080%) included the highest amount of soil nitrogen. The highest amount of carbon (0.838%) and soil organic matter (1.17%) was also observed in beeswax waste mulch treatment. This treatment also led to soil acidification compared to other treatments. Application of all the mulches except transparent polyethylene caused a significant increase in stigmas yield of saffron compared to non-weeding conditions. Beeswax waste and wheat straw had the highest stigma yield (4.89 and 4.32 kg ha-1), respectively; which these increased the stigma yield by 213% and 177% compared to the no weeding treatment. Black polyethylene, pomegranate leaf and grape leaf did not show a significant difference with hand weeding in terms of stigma yield of saffron. The highest amount of safranal, crocin and picrocrocin in saffron was obtained to the black polyethylene mulch treatment. In general, the results confirmed that the application of all the studied mulches with the exception of transparent polyethylene led to improving soil characteristics and saffron yield compared to no weed control treatment and are recommended to farmers.
Agriculture
Aliasghar Armak; Hassan Feizi; Masoud Alipanah
Abstract
This study is aimed at investigating the effect of using humic, bio and nano fertilizers and levels of nitrogen fertilizers in flower yield of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) at the University of Torbat Heydarieh research farm located in Zaveh in 2014-2015. Treatments consisted of three levels of nitrogen ...
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This study is aimed at investigating the effect of using humic, bio and nano fertilizers and levels of nitrogen fertilizers in flower yield of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) at the University of Torbat Heydarieh research farm located in Zaveh in 2014-2015. Treatments consisted of three levels of nitrogen application and use of fertilizer sources as the main factor, including Bioumik, Super Humic, combined Super Humic and Bioumik, Humi Ful, Nitrokara and no fertilizer as sub plots as split plot based on randomized complete block design with 18 treatments and three replications. Analysis of data showed that the effect of year and fertilizer sources on all traits measured was significant. The effect of nitrogen treatments was significant (at 1%) except on number of flowers, dry style, mean dry weight stigma, and mean dry weight. Fertilizer sources increased all measured traits significantly. Application of Biomic increased petals and sepals dry weight (736.34 g/m2) by 46.78% in comparison with the control (464.19 g/m2). The highest dry weight stigma (524.2 g/m2) was seen in Super Humic + Bioumik treatment compared to the control group (443.1 g/m2). Super Humic treatment increased dry weight stigma by 86.49% relative to control. It seems that the use of humic, bio and nano fertilizers has a good effect on saffron performance.
Agriculture
Elnaz Zamani; Hooman Salari; Mokhtar Ghobadi
Abstract
AbstractWe studied the effects of foliar application of iron chelate on relative leaf water content, electrolyte leakage, leaf chlorophyll content, carotenoids content, leaf soluble sugars content and proline for saffron in Kermanshah (Iran). A two-year trial (2013–2015) was conducted in the factorial ...
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AbstractWe studied the effects of foliar application of iron chelate on relative leaf water content, electrolyte leakage, leaf chlorophyll content, carotenoids content, leaf soluble sugars content and proline for saffron in Kermanshah (Iran). A two-year trial (2013–2015) was conducted in the factorial experiment based on complete randomized design (CRD) in triplicates at the research farm of Razi University; Iran. The traits were studied in the second year of experiment. The foliar iron chelated was applied at the three considered times namely early vegetative (November), mid-vegetative (January), and the end of vegetative growth (March). The seven concentrations of iron chelate were considered i.e. zero (control), 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 and 3000 ppm. The results showed that chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll and electrolyte leakage were not influenced by the time of foliar application. However, carotenoids have been affected significantly by the time (p≤0.05) and the other traits were affected very significantly (p≤0.01). The concentration of iron solution and the interaction between two factors affected all the traits highly significant (p≤0.01) apart from the electrolyte leakage which was significantly influenced (p≤0.05). The foliar application of iron chelate with the concentration of 2000 ppm leads to increase for chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll, and carotenoids in comparison with control for 45.4%, 42.4%, and 63.6% at the mid-vegetative, respectively. Soluble sugar content also has been raised for the foliar application at the end of vegetative growth for 2000 ppm for 63.5% compare with control. Also, generally can be claimed that the foliar application of iron chelate at the mid-vegetative was more effective than others.
Agriculture
Seyed Mohammad Moosavipoor; Hassan Feizi; hossein sahabi; Hamid-reza Fallahi
Abstract
Recognizing the potential role of seaweed in improving saffron yield and the utilization of micronutrient elements like Ca, Mg, Fe, and Mn to enhance stigma yield, an experiment was conducted. The study investigated the impact of foliar spraying of seaweed extract and selected nutritional elements on ...
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Recognizing the potential role of seaweed in improving saffron yield and the utilization of micronutrient elements like Ca, Mg, Fe, and Mn to enhance stigma yield, an experiment was conducted. The study investigated the impact of foliar spraying of seaweed extract and selected nutritional elements on saffron's quantitative and qualitative traits of saffron.This research was conducted, as factorial based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications during 2021-2022 in Neishabur, Iran. The first factor consisted of seaweed extract (0 and 2 L.ha-1) and the second factor consisted of foliar application of nutrients including no foliar application (as control), and the defender of some elements including iron (1.5 L.ha-1 containing Fe, N, and amino acids), zinc, boron (1 L.ha-1 containing B and amino acids), manganese (1.5 L.ha-1 containing Mn, Zn and S), magnesium and calcium (2 L.ha-1 containing Ca and N). The use of all nutrients compared to the control (no-nutrients) and the use of seaweed extract compared to no-seaweed application caused an increase in flower and stigma yields. Based on the interaction effects of the experimental factors, the highest number of flowers (68.8 No.m-2) was obtained in the combined application of manganese and seaweed extract, the highest flower yield (33.5 g.m-2) was gained with the combined application of seaweed and boron, and the highest dry stigma yield (0.48 g.m-2) was obtained from the simultaneous application of magnesium and seaweed extract, which were 63.8, 16.7 and 17.0%, more than the control treatment (no-seaweed & No-nutrients), respectively. Without nutrient application, the utilization of seaweed extract resulted in a notable rise in the Picrocrocin content of the stigma by 15.9%, Crocin by 9.5%, and Safranal by 10.6% compared to the absence of seaweed application.Combined consumption of calcium with seaweed increased the content of Picrocrocin and Crocin, while simultaneous application of other nutrients with seaweed did not improve these indices. The highest and the lowest content of Safranal (37.7 and 32.35 absorption at 330 nm) were obtained from magnesium + no-seaweed and control (no-seaweed & no-nutrients) treatments, respectively. Overall, although all of the studied elements combined with seaweed extract improved stigma yield in order to increase stigma yield, application of Mg in combination to seaweed recommended and to enhance saffron quality using seaweed suggested.
Agriculture
Mohammad Hossein Aminifard; faride ahmadi
Abstract
components of saffron were evaluated under field conditions. Treatments were four levels cow manure (0, 10, 20 and 30 t.ha-1) and three fulvic acid (0, 5 and 10 kg.ha-1). This experiment was carried out as factorial based on randomized completely block design with three replications in research farm ...
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components of saffron were evaluated under field conditions. Treatments were four levels cow manure (0, 10, 20 and 30 t.ha-1) and three fulvic acid (0, 5 and 10 kg.ha-1). This experiment was carried out as factorial based on randomized completely block design with three replications in research farm of Birjand University, Iran, during cropping year 2015-2016. Results showed that cow manure improved the active ingredients of stigma (picrocrocin, safranal and crocin) in first year of study. Also, results showed that petal antioxidant compounds (total phenol and anthocyanin) and active ingredients of stigma were influenced by cow manure in second year of study. The highest safranal was obtained in plants treated with 10 t.ha-1 cow manure in first year of experiment. Results also showed that fulvic acid has a positive effect active ingredients of stigma (picrocrocin and crocin), anthocyanin and total phenol in two years of experiment and the highest rate of anthocyanin and total phenol were obtained with 5 kg.ha-1 fulvic acid while the lowest values were recorded in control. Application of different levels of cow manure and fulvic acid had a positive effect on the active ingredients of stigma in two years of experiment and anthocyanin and phenol in second year of study. Thus, results showed that cow manure and fulvic acid have significant impact on antioxidant compounds and active ingredients of saffron under field conditions.
Agriculture
Sakineh Khandan Deh Arbab; Mohammad Hossein Aminifard; Hamid Reza Fallahi; Hamed Kaveh
Abstract
In order to investigate the impact bio fertilizer novafol and mother corm weight on leaves growth, chlorophyll content and flower and stigma yields of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), an experiment was done as randomized complete block design with three replications in the Agricultural Research Station, ...
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In order to investigate the impact bio fertilizer novafol and mother corm weight on leaves growth, chlorophyll content and flower and stigma yields of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), an experiment was done as randomized complete block design with three replications in the Agricultural Research Station, University of Birjand, during the growth season of 2016-17. Experimental factors were amino acid application (Novafol, containing 28% amino-acid. Applied as corm soaking + fertigation in three levels: 0, 2 and 4 L.ha-1) and mother corm weight (0.1-4, 4.1-8 and 8.1-12 g). The effect of bio-fertilizer novafol was significant on the flower number, flower yield, dry stigma yield and chlorophyll a content. The highest flower number (16.5 per m-2), flower yield (5.63 g m-2), dry stigma yield (0.108 g m-2) and chlorophyll a content (1.09 mg. g-1 FW) were obtained from 4 L.ha-1, while, the lowest flower number (14.22 per m-2), flower yield (4.55 g m-2), stigma yield (0.085 g. m-2) and chlorophyll a (0.97 mg. g-1 FW) were gained in control treatment, but, there was no significant difference between two levels (2 and 4 L.ha-1) novafol bio fertilizer. Corm weights aslo significantly affected all studied traits. The highest stigma length (25.1 mm), flower yield (10.4 g m2), leaf length (31.42 cm) and fresh and dry weight of leaves (0.29 and 0.083 g per plant, respectively) were obtained from big corms, but the lowest of them were obtained from small ones. Interaction effect of corm weight and novafol bio fertilizer was significant on chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll contents and number of leaves per plant. The highest chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll (1.77 and 2.95 mg. g-1 FW, respectively) and number of leaves (7.58 per plant) were obtained from 4 L.ha-1 of novafol bio fertilizer and big corm. Overall, application of novafol bio fertilizer (4 L.ha-1) improved the vegetative and reproductive growth parameters. Big corms planting also had an important role in increasing the growth and yield of saffron.
Agriculture
Hassan Mosaferyzyaaldiny; Amin Alizadeh; Parviz Rezvani Moghaddam
Abstract
An experiment was conducted in a strip-plot layout based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in the 2016-2017 growing season at the Bakhrez county, Khorasan Razavi province, Iran in order to study quantitative performance and water use efficiency of a few saffron criteria in ...
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An experiment was conducted in a strip-plot layout based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in the 2016-2017 growing season at the Bakhrez county, Khorasan Razavi province, Iran in order to study quantitative performance and water use efficiency of a few saffron criteria in response to different irrigation volumes and intervals. Irrigation intervals was allocated as horizontal factor (factor A) in four levels (a1=15, a2 =30, a3 = 45, and a4 = 90 days) and irrigation water volume performed as vertical factor (factor B) in four volumes (b1 = 250, b2 = 500, b3 = 1000 and b4 = 1250 m3.ha-1). The results showed that the highest saffron flower and corm yields were obtained in the a2b3 treatment (total water volume of 6000 m3.ha-1). The highest reduction in corm yield is shown in the a4b1 treatment (total water volume 750 m3.ha-1) with a decrease of 72.1% compared to a1b2 (total water volume 5500 m3.ha-1). The lowest fresh flower yield was obtained in the a4b1 treatment (total water volume 750 m3.ha-1) with a decrease of 76.5% compared to a1b2 (total water volume 5500 m3.ha-1), and the lowest yield of corm yield was shown in treatment with a4b1 volume (total water volume 750 m3.ha-1) with a decrease of 70.6% compared to the a2b3 volume (The total volume of water was 6000 m3.ha-1). Also, the results showed that the highest decrease in corm water use efficiency was obtained in the a1b4 treatment (total water volume 13750 m3.ha-1) decreased by 85.4 percent compared to a3b1 (total volume of water 1000 m3.ha-1) and the greatest decrease in fresh flower water use efficiency was shown in the a1b4 treatment (total volume of water 13750 m3.ha-1) decreased by 82.4% compared to a2b1 (total volume of water 1500 m3.ha-1). According to the results, the use of 250 to 500 m3.ha-1 irrigation in 30-day intervals (1500 to 3000 m3.ha-1) is recommended for maximum water use efficiency in saffron cultivation.
Agriculture
Seyed Masoud Ziaei; hasan feizi; abbas khashei; hossein sahabi
Abstract
Saffron is a valuable plant that generally faces water stress in its life cycle. Therefore, in order to investigate the effect of corm priming of saffron on physiological and corm characteristics of this product under drought stress conditions, a split plot experiment was carried out in a randomized ...
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Saffron is a valuable plant that generally faces water stress in its life cycle. Therefore, in order to investigate the effect of corm priming of saffron on physiological and corm characteristics of this product under drought stress conditions, a split plot experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The experimental treatments included two levels of irrigation based on 70 and 50% of field capacity as a main plot and six corm priming treatments including no priming (control), potassium nitrate, auxin, gibberellin, silicon dioxide nanoparticles, and hydro-priming as sub plot. The results showed that the increase of intensity in drought stress from 70 to 50% of field capacity caused an increase of 38.5%, 59.1% and 57.3% in the amount of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoids, respectively, and a decrease of 32.6% and 20% to the ratio of chlorophyll a/b and the amount of protein respectively. Priming of mother corn with two hormones of auxin and gibberellin, significantly increased the amount of protein and the highest weight of daughter corm was observed at gibberellin hormone treatment at the rate of 3.72 grams per plant. The two treatment levels of gibberellin and auxin hormones, under conditions of medium drought stress, significantly showed the highest number of daughter corms and gibberellin hormone, under medium drought stress conditions, significantly increased the diameter of daughter corm at the rate of 28 mm. In generally, corm priming of saffron with two hormones of gibberellin and auxin, is recommended to improve the physiological traits and tuber characteristics, especially in the conditions of drought stress.
Processing, food industry and biochemistry
Nasrin Moshtaghi; Elham Hamidi; Abdolreza Bagheri; Ahmad Sharifi; Abbas Hemati Kakhki
Abstract
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is the most valuable food additive in the world which little production and high price of it caused some adulterations such as plant and chemical material similar to saffron. There are several methods for detecting these fraudulent based on morphological and chemical tests ...
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Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is the most valuable food additive in the world which little production and high price of it caused some adulterations such as plant and chemical material similar to saffron. There are several methods for detecting these fraudulent based on morphological and chemical tests but they are not effective in some cases. In this research a novel molecular method based on ITS-2 marker is introduced. A common forward primer based on 5.8s rDNA for all plant frauds such as safflower, corn stigmas, pomegranate, turmeric and capsicum slices was designed then specific reverse primers based on ITS-2 for any frauds have been designed for polymerase chain reaction. Related ITS-2 bands were amplified in any adulterations in saffron. Specific primer for camel and cow meet fibers was designed based on cytochrome b gene and could amplified the related bands. Multiplex PCR with all of these primers could amplify all of the bands related to any adulterations. Furthermore, using 20% polyacrylamide gel lead to good segregation of bands. This method can be used successfully for detection of low percentage (1%) of fraudulent in saffron. So this marker can be used efficiently for detection of these frauds in commercial saffron.
Agriculture
Hamid Reza Tavakkoli kakhki; Ali Mokhtarian; Mohamad Hossein Binabaji; Hassan Hamidi; Ramin Esmi
Abstract
In order to investigate the effect of planting density and maternal corm weight on some characteristics of daughter corms and agronomic characteristics of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) a field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Mashhad. This experiment ...
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In order to investigate the effect of planting density and maternal corm weight on some characteristics of daughter corms and agronomic characteristics of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) a field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Mashhad. This experiment was carried out as a factorial split plot in time based on complete block design with three replications and 12 treatments during the years 2010-2014. The experimental factors were 3 levels of density (40, 80 and160 corm in m2) and 4 levels of mother corm weight (≤3, 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12 g per corm) as a main plot and time as a sub plot. The results showed that density, maternal corm weight and year had significant effects on daughter corm’s weight, but the effect of interaction density × corm weight and density × weight × year were not significant for the most characteristics. The mean comparison of interaction effect of density × weight for number of daughter corm showed that maternal corm weight (9-12 g) × planting density (160 m2) had the highest number for daughter corms (771 m2). Maternal corms with higher initial weight produced the highest number of corms in different corm classes. In addition, the results showed that maternal corm with lower initial weight produced heavy daughter corms compared to other maternal corm weight classes. Flower weight and stigma dry weight of saffron (m2) were increased by increasing planting density and maternal corm weight flower number. The highest dry stigma (0.65 g.m-2) yield was produced by maternal corm (9-12 g per corm) weight class.
Agriculture
Ghorban Ali Asadi; Parviz Rezvani Moghaddam; Fatemeh Hassanzadeh Aval
Abstract
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most important crops and medicinal plants in Iran. Appropriate application of nutrients has special important role on replacement corm growth and flower yield of saffron. In order to investigate the effects of different levels of soil and foliar nutrients applications ...
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Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most important crops and medicinal plants in Iran. Appropriate application of nutrients has special important role on replacement corm growth and flower yield of saffron. In order to investigate the effects of different levels of soil and foliar nutrients applications by using mixture fertilizer on replacement corm production and flower yield of saffron, an experiment was conducted by using a factorial layout based on complete randomized block design with three replications at the Agricultural Research Station, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during 2011- 2012 growing season. The experimental treatments were all combinations of four levels of soil nutrition (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg.ha-1) and three levels of foliar spray (0, 5 and 10 per 1000). Results of variance analysis showed that the soil application of treatments had positive significant effects on weight of replacement corms and number and weight of flower and stigma yield of saffron but these treatments had no significant effects on total corm number. The number and yield of replacement corms and flowers were not affected by simple effect of foliar spray and soil and foliar applications interactions. The results of this research showed that the using 150 kg.ha-1 of nutrients soil application in early March had more positive and significant effect on yield of fresh and dry flower (120 and 963 kg.ha-1, respectively), yield of fresh and dry stigma (45.5 and 7.90 kg.ha-1, respectively) and weight of replacement corms (1646 g.m-2) than other treatments but foliar application of nutrients in this time had no significant effects on flower and corm yield of saffron.
Agriculture
Hamid Reza Osmani Roudi; Ali Masoumi; Hassan Hamidi; Seyed AliReza Razavi
Abstract
In order to investigate the effects of first irrigation date and organic fertilizers on growth and yield characteristics of saffron, an experiment was conducted as a split-plot based on a randomized complete-block design with three replications, in Khaf city during growing season 2013-2014. Date of first ...
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In order to investigate the effects of first irrigation date and organic fertilizers on growth and yield characteristics of saffron, an experiment was conducted as a split-plot based on a randomized complete-block design with three replications, in Khaf city during growing season 2013-2014. Date of first irrigation treatment in three levels (15 September, 30 October and 15 November) was allocated as main plots and fertilizer treatment in five levels (control, humic acid at 5 and 40 liters per hectare, cow manure at 5 and 40 t.ha-1) was set as subplots. Analysis of variance showed that the date of first irrigation had a significant effect on all studied traits except for total fresh weight of corm and the average weight of corm of saffron. Effects of different organic fertilizer treatments on all studied traits were significant, except for corm number with 8 g (8.00) weight were obtained in first irrigation on 6th November. The first irrigation at 7th October was superior to the other irrigation treatments for corm number with
Agriculture
Mahdi Ghesmati; Mohammed Hossein Aminifard; Masume Abdollahi; Masume Shakeri
Abstract
In order to evaluate the allelopathic effects of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) corm and leaf aqueous solution on germination characteristics and preliminary growth of weed species including wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) and couch grass (Agropayron repense) two separate experiments for each species were ...
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In order to evaluate the allelopathic effects of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) corm and leaf aqueous solution on germination characteristics and preliminary growth of weed species including wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) and couch grass (Agropayron repense) two separate experiments for each species were conducted at the research laboratory of the School of Agriculture of the University of Birjand in 2016. A factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted for each species. The factors included saffron organs at two levels (leaves and corms) and water extract concentrations at 5 levels (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 percent). The results indicated that the lowest seed germination percentage of wild barley and couch grass were observed at a concentration of 2% of leaf and concentration of 2% of corm, respectively. The results indicated that the lowest rate of germination of wild barley and couch grass were observed at a concentration of 2% of leaf and corm extract, respectively. Different concentrations of leaf and corm extracts significantly decreased the length of radicle, seedling fresh weight and seedling dry weight of two weeds. The logistic model provided a successful estimation of the relationship between leaf water extract and germination percentage of two weeds. Based on orthogonal comparison tests, the allelopathic inhibitory effects of saffron leaves and corms were the same for two weeds. The results showed that leaf extract of saffron the most influence on wild barley and corm extract of saffron the best effect on couch grass. Therefore, results of this study, confirm that can be used the allelopathic effects of saffron to reduce these two weeds in the field.
Agriculture
Saeideh Madahi; mahdi Parsa; Morteza Goldani; Mohammad Kafi
Abstract
An experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications at a field located in the Rivash town in the Khorasan Razavi province during the growing season 2013-2014 in order to compare and evaluate the effects of chemical fertilizer (Containing 12% N from Urea and nitrate ...
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An experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications at a field located in the Rivash town in the Khorasan Razavi province during the growing season 2013-2014 in order to compare and evaluate the effects of chemical fertilizer (Containing 12% N from Urea and nitrate sources, 8% P, 4%K and also Zn, Cu, Mg, Fe, Chelates), vermiwash and different levels of manure and vermicompost fertilizer with the use of biological EM (effective microorganisms) on the characteristics of corm in Saffron. Treatments included: 1.fertilizer chemical (containing 12% nitrogen from urea and nitrate, %8-P, 4% potassium and chelates together iron, zinc, manganese and copper) 2.Manure 40 t.ha-1, 3.manure 40 t.ha-1 + EM, 4.manure 80 t.ha-1, 5.manure 80 t.ha-1 + EM, 6.vermicompost 10 t.ha-1, 7.vermicompost 10 t.ha-1 + EM, 8.vermicompost 15 t.ha-1, 9.vermicompost 15 t.ha-1 + EM 10.vermicompost 20 t.ha-1 , 11.vermicompost 20 t.ha-1 + EM, 12.vermiwash, 13.vermiwash+ EM, 14.Manure 40 t.ha-1+ vermiwash, 15.Manure 40 t.ha-1 + vermiwash + EM, 16.Control (no fertilizer application). The results of analysis of variance showed a significant effect of treatments on all of the characteristics with the exception of the total number of saffron corms. The results indicated that the highest increase in total yield of corm (715 g.m-2), corm number more than 8 grams (57 corms.m-2), was obtained as a result of the use of chemical fertilizers and was equal to the combined application of Manure 40 t.ha-1+ vermiwash + EM. The orthogonal comparisons showed that the use of EM with vermicompost and manure versus using vermicompost and manure alone significantly reduced the traits of saffron.
Agriculture
Mahdi Ebrahimi; Mohsen Pouyan; Mohammad Mahdi Nezhad
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different organic amendments (cow manure, humic acid (Humax® 95–WSG), an organic-mineral-based emulsion (Omic®) and unfertilized control) and mother-corm weight (0 to 4 g, 4.1 to 8 g and 8.1 to 12 g) on flower and corm yield of saffron. ...
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This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different organic amendments (cow manure, humic acid (Humax® 95–WSG), an organic-mineral-based emulsion (Omic®) and unfertilized control) and mother-corm weight (0 to 4 g, 4.1 to 8 g and 8.1 to 12 g) on flower and corm yield of saffron. The experiment was conducted as factorial experiment in randomized complete block design with three replications in the Research Complex of Medicinal Plants, ACECR of Southern Khorasan Province, Iran in 2017-18. According the results, evaluating the main effect of nutrition factor revealed no significant impact on most studied traits in the first year. However, in the second year and during the 21-day period of saffron flowering, cow manure treatment increased stigma dry weight by 77.3, 71.7 and 58.9% compared with control, Humax and Omic treatments, respectively. By fitting the regression line between the cumulative dry weight of the stigma and days after flowering, it was found that stigma dry weight increased 19.1, 11.43, 10.92 and 10.65 mg.day-1 in cow manure, Omic, Humax and control treatments, respectively. In addition, the highest flower dry weight with 2858 mg.m-2 was recorded in cow manure treatment. The highest and lowest amount of the studeid tratis in both years belonged to big and small corm treatments, respectively. In the first year, stigma dry weight in big corm treatment with 22.28 mg.m-2 was about 190 times higher than that of small one. However the difference in the second year fell to less than 3 times. In addition, the highest number (466.36 m-2) and weight (936.559 g. m-2) of daughter corms were obtained in big mother corms treatment. In the second year however by the reduction of the differences between mother corm weight treatments, stigma dry weight, flower dry weight and number of flowers in big and medium corm treatments were not statistically significant. Overall, the results of this study showed that the advantages of using manure in saffron cultivation due to its unique characteristics, such as improving the physical conditions of the soil is not compensable by other organic amendments. Moreover, the avoidence of planting mother corms less than 4g because of their adverse effects on saffron yeild is of main importance in saffron cultivation and must be considered by farmers.
Biotechnology and genetics
Masoumeh Aliakbari; Rouhollah Shamloo-Dashtpagerdi; Esmaeil Ebrahimie
Abstract
Functional genomics methods such as Expressed Sequenced Tag (EST) analysis have provided possibilities for identification, expression analysis and study of transcripts involved in metabolic and regulatory networks. In order to identify of genome orientation and to determine gene networks involved in ...
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Functional genomics methods such as Expressed Sequenced Tag (EST) analysis have provided possibilities for identification, expression analysis and study of transcripts involved in metabolic and regulatory networks. In order to identify of genome orientation and to determine gene networks involved in the evolution of saffron stigma, 6202 EST sequences from mature saffron stigma were analyzed. After initial trimming, sequences clustering and assembling resulted in 910 unigenes (604 Contigs and 304 Singleton). BLAST X revealed that 570 unigene had significant hit among the Arabidopsis protein database, whereas the remaining unigenes displayed no significant match with the any hit. Classifying and gene enrichment analysis of unigenes, put them into 31 distinct functional groups, where 12 groups of them were statistically significant at α=0.01. Gene network of high represented Contigs (which had greater than 20 transcripts), showed that there is a complex gene interaction in mature saffron stigmas. Results revealed that jasmonic acid signalling pathway and its transcription factors such as MYB21 and Zinc fingers play a key role in regulating of stigma primary and secondary metabolism, especially in metabolism of carotenoids (as the most important saffron metabolites). The genes identified in this study could be good candidates for manipulating the evolution and metabolism of saffron stigma.
Biotechnology and genetics
Mohammadreza Rezaei; Hamidreza sharifi; Alireza Seifi
Abstract
Crocus sativus is a triploide plant and propagating by vegetative propagation. Therefore, trait segregation and genetic diversity are limited in this plant. EST-SSR markers have some priority, for example co-dominant inheritance, locus specific and highly polymorphic against all other markers. Due to ...
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Crocus sativus is a triploide plant and propagating by vegetative propagation. Therefore, trait segregation and genetic diversity are limited in this plant. EST-SSR markers have some priority, for example co-dominant inheritance, locus specific and highly polymorphic against all other markers. Due to the availability of transcriptome data, it is possible to develop EST-SSR markers and polymorphism studies in saffron. Development of EST-SSR markers in C. sativus make it possible to study genetic diversity and molecular polymorphism in different genotypes. In order to develop EST-SSR marker for C. sativus, we downloaded public available C. sativus RNA-seq data. Quality control and preprocessing of raw reads were done using FastQC and Trimmomatic tools, respectively. We performed de novo transcriptome assembly using RNA-Bloom. CD-HIT-EST was used in order to reduce redundancy in transcriptome assembly. The assembly quality was evaluated using the BUSCO software and completeness of transcriptome assembly was 90%. After achieving to high quality transcriptome assembly of C. sativus, EST-SSRs were identified by MISA tool. The EST-SSRs primers were designed using Primer3. 35459 SSR-containing sequences were detected and primer pairs were designed for them. Ten EST-SSR primer pairs were randomly selected to amplify C. sativus DNA. Seven pairs of the primers (70%) generated clear and reproducible bands with the expected size. These EST-SSR markers can be functional and useful for C. sativus genetic studies.
Agriculture
Hamid-reza Fallahi; Mohammad. Ali Behdani; Parviz Rezvani Moghaddam; Majid Jami Al-Ahmadi
Abstract
Many activities during production, processing, trade and consumption of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in Iran, are based on indigenous knowledge. Most share of saffron production in the country is obtained from small fields with family cooperation and using local environmental friendly inputs and technologies. ...
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Many activities during production, processing, trade and consumption of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in Iran, are based on indigenous knowledge. Most share of saffron production in the country is obtained from small fields with family cooperation and using local environmental friendly inputs and technologies. Accordingly, a cosidarable part of saffron produced in Iran is close to the principles of organic farming, but in terms of rules and standards related to this production system, it is considered only as a quasi-organic product. Organic farming is a comprehensive production system that focuses on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of agricultural product during the production cycle (from farm to fork), as well as issues such as justice, social relations, soil health and the rights of all macro and mico organisms. Based on this definition and considering the principles and methods which are used for saffron production in Iranian agroecosystems, it is possible to create a targeted procrdure for its organic production, by perparation a standard. The preparation of this standard, while increasing farmers' incomes, will lead to maintaining and increasing Iran's share of the global market of this valuable medicinal plant. In this article, for all stages of saffron production cycle, using the results of scientific researches on saffron, as well as international, regional and national standards related to organic production, a set of general principles, suggestions (recommendations), requirements and notes are provided. The recommendations are mainly suitable for increasing the quantitative yield, while higher quality of saffron can be achieved by observing the proposed requirements. The guidelines proposed in this paper, besides improving the quantity and quality of the product, will also ensure the other objectives and rules related to organic farming. In the current proposed program, issues related to agronomy (corm production and selection, land selection and preparation, planting, soil nutrition, irrigation, control of biotic stresses, etc.), breeding, harvesting and post-harvest (flowers carrying and storage; separation, drying, grading, packing, labeling and storage of stigma) as well as processing and legal issues have been considered.
Agriculture
Amir Akbari; Alinaghi Ziaei; Seyed Mohammadreza Naghedifar; Parviz Rezvani Moghaddam; Mahdi Gholami Sharafkhane
Abstract
Saffron is one of the most valuable spices in the world and due to its high economic value and low water requirement, it is widely cultivated in eastern Iran. In this research, which took place in the research farm of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in 2021-2022, the AquaCrop model to simulate ...
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Saffron is one of the most valuable spices in the world and due to its high economic value and low water requirement, it is widely cultivated in eastern Iran. In this research, which took place in the research farm of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in 2021-2022, the AquaCrop model to simulate the yield of the saffron plant was calibrated and validated using field measurements. Therefore, soil moisture, biomass, and plant canopy cover area were measured with a relatively high time resolution during the growing season. Pearson's correlation coefficient, root mean square, error, index of agreement and Nash–Sutcliffe index for moisture simulation were 0.87, 7.8 mm, 0.92 and 0.62 respectively, plant biomass was 0.99, 0.3 t.ha-1, 0.99, 0.98 and also 0.98 , 5%, 0.98 and 0.93 were obtained for canopy cover . The sensitive stages of the saffron plant were determined by examining the changes in daughter corms weight, biomass, and water productivity during different stages of growth in response to water stress, and a revised scenario was proposed to improve field irrigation. By applying this scenario and running the model, the amount of daughter corms weight production increased from 5.550 to 7.693 t.ha-1 and biomass from 7.204 to 9.395 t.ha-1. The water productivity value also increased from 3.50 to 3.69 kg.m-3 and 85 mm was saved in water consumption.
Agriculture
Hasan Rivandi; Hamid Marvi; Matin Jami Moeini
Abstract
In order to investigate the effect of effective microorganism application method on saffron growth characteristics in the presence of chemical and organic fertilizers, a field experiment was conducted at Sheshtamad County during the growing season of 2013-2014. The experiment was carried out as split ...
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In order to investigate the effect of effective microorganism application method on saffron growth characteristics in the presence of chemical and organic fertilizers, a field experiment was conducted at Sheshtamad County during the growing season of 2013-2014. The experiment was carried out as split plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The experimental factors included effective microorganisms (EM) application method as main plots (no application, soil application and foliar application of EM) and chemical and organic fertilizers application as subplots (no application, soil application of humic acid, soil application of 20, 20, 20+TE and soil application of humic acid + 20, 20, 20+TE). The results showed that soil and foliar application of EM had no significant effect on plant height, but it significantly increased corm number, corm yield, shoot dry weight and number of buds per corm. The average corm weight was reduced in response to soil and foliar application of EM. The highest corm number (220.33), corm yield (1023.33 g m-2) and shoot dry weight (43.02 g m-2) were obtained in soil application of EM treatment. The maximum number of buds per corm (8.68) and average corm weight (5.10 g) were observed in foliar application and no application of EM conditions, respectively. Application of 20, 20, 20+TE and combined application of humic acid and 20, 20, 20+TE increased corm number, corm yield, shoot dry weight and number of bud per corm compared to control and soil application of humic acid. Soil application of humic acid produced the highest average corm weight. Soil and foliar application of EM improved the response of saffron growth characteristics to organic and chemical fertilizers. According to the results, soil applications of EM and 20, 20, 20+TE are recommended to produce maximum corm yield in saffron.
Agriculture
Amin Ensaf; Bahman Zahedi; Ali Asghar Aliloo
Abstract
In order to evaluate the adaptability of saffron ecotypes under Maragheh climatic conditions, an experiment was conducted based on a Randomized Complete Block design (RCBD) with three replications during the growing seasons of 2013 and 2014. The ecotypes used were Bardaskan, Abrud, Sabzevar, Bonab1, ...
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In order to evaluate the adaptability of saffron ecotypes under Maragheh climatic conditions, an experiment was conducted based on a Randomized Complete Block design (RCBD) with three replications during the growing seasons of 2013 and 2014. The ecotypes used were Bardaskan, Abrud, Sabzevar, Bonab1, Torbat-e-Heydarieh, Bonab2, Marand1, Marand2, Kashmar, Taybad, Esfiukh and Mahvelat. The following traits were evaluated: fresh weight of stigma, dry weight of stigma, length of stigma, emergence percentage, emergence rate, flowering percentage, flowering rate, dry and fresh weight of flowers and dry yield of stigma in the area. The results showed that the ecotypes established very well in the first year of the experiment, but frosty days of the winter severely damaged Abrud, Taybad and Esfiukh ecotypes. There were significant differences among the ecotypes for the traits: the number of flowers, emergence, flowering percent and fresh weight of saffron. Also, a significant difference was recorded among the studied ecotypes for flowering and emergence rate. The highest emergence percentage was observed in Marand 2, while Sabzevar had the highest rate of flowering and flowering percentage. Despite the low yields for Marand1 and Sabzevar in the first year of the experiment, these ecotypes with 1.5 and 1.4 kg per hectare produced the high stigma yields, respectively in the second year. In conclusion, the results showed that the ecotypes of Marand are suitable for cultivate in the Maragheh climate conditions and the use of exotic corms is not recommended. Adaptability, Corm, Flowering percentage, Stigma yield
Agriculture
Mahdi Naghizadeh; Mahmood Gholami shabestari; Mohadeseh shamsaddin saied
Abstract
In order to study some physiological responses of saffron under saline conditions, three landraces of saffron which were collected from Gonabad, Ferdows and Torbat-e-Heydarieh were compared under 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 dS/m electrical conductivity of saline water during two years under a rain shield in pots ...
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In order to study some physiological responses of saffron under saline conditions, three landraces of saffron which were collected from Gonabad, Ferdows and Torbat-e-Heydarieh were compared under 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 dS/m electrical conductivity of saline water during two years under a rain shield in pots in a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Research Center of Yazd which three levels of the landraces and five salinity levels were distributed as factorial. After uniform emerging of the buds, NaCl solutions with the above mentioned levels of salinity were used gradually for pots irrigation with 30% leaching fraction in order to control soil water salinity in desired levels. The results showed that with increasing salinity, relative water content 6.26%, dry weight 19.80%, the total number of leaves 17.042%, the dry weight of corm 49.42%, the concentration of sugars in the leaves and corms 43.36 and 23.72% were reduced and corms and leaves ion leakage 34 and 27%, sodium concentration70%, sodium to potassium ratio 66.66% and proline in leaves 2.88 times were increased that in most cases these fluctuations were observed in 3dS/m of irrigation water.
Agriculture
Surur Khorramdel; Mahmoud Mokhtari; Hoda Latifi
Abstract
The goal of meta-analysis is to provide knowledge and better understanding of the phenomena under study. The statistical technique of a large collection of analysis results from individual studies for the purpose of integrating the findings. We conducted a global meta-analysis to evaluate the effect ...
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The goal of meta-analysis is to provide knowledge and better understanding of the phenomena under study. The statistical technique of a large collection of analysis results from individual studies for the purpose of integrating the findings. We conducted a global meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of various fertilizers on saffron yield using data obtained from peer-reviewed publication (71 studies representing 14 studies on biofertilizers, 16 studies on compost, 14 studies on humic acid, 26 studies on chemical fertilizers (NPK) and 16 studies integrated application of fertilizers). Based on the results, the highest effect size was related to the impact of humic acid on dried weight of stigma (g=3.434). After humic acid, biofertilizer, chemical fertilizer and compost were computed in the next ranks. The standard error for compost (E = 0.101) was calculated less and with higher accuracy, so it is recommended with 95% confidence interval. Based on the results of Begg and Mazumdar correlation, all studies except humic acid on dried weight of stigma, humic acid on fresh weight of stigma, manure on flower number, chemical fertilizers on dried weight of stigma and chemical fertilizers on fresh weight of flower were homogeneous. Among the application of manure rate, 60 t cow manure per ha and 5 t poultry manure per ha had the highest and lowest effects, respectively. The results of meta-analysis for compost rates on dried weight of stigma indicated that 60 t per ha had the maximum impact. The highest effect of humic acid on dried weight of stigma was computed for 30 kg/ha. Based on the results it seems that there is no good long-term plan to resolve existing problems of soil fertilizers on saffron production systems and most of the experiments are based on researcher’s opinion, ease of implementation or following published articles in credible journals. Generally, the meta-analysis results provide a basis for conducting trade-off analyses to support the fertilizer management and development strategies based on available scientific findings.
Agriculture
Mohammad Ali Behdani; Gholamreza Zamani; Hamid-reza Fallahi; Mohammad Hassan Sayyari Zohan; Alireza Samadzadeh
Abstract
The use of corms with appropriate weight is one of the main factors in the flowering of saffron. Thus, the impacts of six organic (OS) and conventional (CS) production systems on the growth of saffron replacement corms was studied during one growth cycle from October 2015 up to May 2016 in this experiment. ...
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The use of corms with appropriate weight is one of the main factors in the flowering of saffron. Thus, the impacts of six organic (OS) and conventional (CS) production systems on the growth of saffron replacement corms was studied during one growth cycle from October 2015 up to May 2016 in this experiment. The experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete block design with three replications and six treatments including low, medium and high input organic systems as well as low, medium and high input conventional systems. A transition period of 24 months was considered in the chosen field before corm planting. Based on the results of an analysis of variance, the effect of experimental treatments was significant on the growth properties of most replacement corms (RC). The results of means comparison revealed that the differences within each organic or conventional system were insignificant but they were found to be considerable between the two OS and CS production systems. Total RC weight per clone and the number of flowering buds per RC in the OS production system were on the average 40% more than that of the CS production system. The amount of mean RC weight for OS and CS was 4.75 and 2.54g, respectively. The percent of RC with weight of less than 5g in the CS production system was higher than that of the OS production system (70 vs. 84%), while the percent of RC in 5-10g (13 vs. 14.5%) and more than 10g (3 vs. 15.7%) categories in the OS production system were more than that of the CS production system. The mean value of flowering buds had a significant correlation with the total RC weights per clone (+0.58**), mean RC weight (+0.64**), number of small RC (-0.57**) and number of large corm per clone (+0.61**). In addition, there was a significant correlation between the mean RC weight with the number of RC per clone (-0.55**), the RC weight per clone (+0.73**), the number of small RC (-0.89**) and the number of large RC per clone (+0.81**). Overall, the employment of OS had a significant positive effect on the growth of saffron replacement corms especially on mean corm weight and the number of flowering buds.
Agriculture
Fatemeh Tashakkori; Ali Mohammadi Torkashvand; Abbas Ahmadi; Mehrdad Esfandiari
Abstract
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most expensive crop which is grown in restricted areas of the world. Due to its economic values, some farmers, based on similarities of climatic conditions have cultivated it in some regions of country regardless of land capability and suitability, which sometimes ...
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Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is one of the most expensive crop which is grown in restricted areas of the world. Due to its economic values, some farmers, based on similarities of climatic conditions have cultivated it in some regions of country regardless of land capability and suitability, which sometimes the result was not satisfactory. Saffron yield prediction based on soil properties enables us to assess the land suitably for cultivation of this valuable plant. For this purpose, 100 soil samples were collected from Vamenan Saffron fields in Golestan province and the soil chemical and physical properties including the percentage of constituents of the mineral part of soil texture (Sand, Silt, Clay), Phosphorus, potassium, Nitrogen, pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic matter and Calcium Carbonate Equivalent were measured. In addition, the weight of Saffron wet flower (kg.Ha-1) was measured. In the present study, various combinations of soil properties as input were applied and nine models were developed using artificial neural networks and multiple linear regression models for predicting the saffron yield. Performance of the models was validated using Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Correlation Coefficient (R) and Geometric Mean of Error Ratio (GMER) methods. The results of the correlation analyses showed phosphorus and organic matter are most effective factors in the production of Saffron. Results showed that performance of the models is much different where R2 value varies from 0.45 to 0.89. Comparing the performance of Saffron yield estimation models indicated the optimal model was obtained from the combination of phosphorous, organic matter, potassium and calcium carbonate equivalent as input and values of R2 and RMSE equal to 0.874 and 0.996 kg.ha-1, respectively.Evaluation of model results indicated that the coefficient varied was obtained from 0.45 to 0.89. The best model in saffron yield estimation was obtained when phosphorous, organic matter, potassium and electrical conductivity were as the input, so that values of R2 and root mean square error (RMSE) were obtained 0.891 and 0.89 kg.ha-1, respectively.
