Agriculture
Ali Hossainnia; Abbas Mohammadi
Abstract
Saffron is one of the most important herbs and spices in the East of Iran and its production is affected by various pathogens. This study is aimed at isolation, identification and pathogenicity detection of Alternaria alternata isolates as leave spot and corm rot of saffron agents. Soil samples and infected ...
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Saffron is one of the most important herbs and spices in the East of Iran and its production is affected by various pathogens. This study is aimed at isolation, identification and pathogenicity detection of Alternaria alternata isolates as leave spot and corm rot of saffron agents. Soil samples and infected plant tissues were collected from different areas of the Birjand plain (Birjand, Khusf and Sarbishe) during the years 2014-15. Alternaria species were isolated by potato dextrose agar medium and their morphological characteristics were studied on the potato carrot agar medium. For molecular studies, genomic DNA was extracted by the CTAB method and ribosomal subunits of fungal isolates were amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. Based on morphological characteristics, 80 isolates of A. alternata were isolated. The ITS regions sequences of selected isolates had 100 similarities with A. alternata spices sequences in NCBI and MycoBank. These isolates caused chlorosis and necrosis on detached leaves, the inoculated corm was rotten and inoculated plants showed chlorosis and necrosis on leaves after 3-5 days. The results showed that A. alternata in the Birjand plain can cause corm rot and leaf chlorosis and necrosis is saffron. This study is the first report of the virulence of this fungus on saffron tissue in the East of Iran.
Other subject about saffron
Abbas Mohammadi; Simin Najjar; Fahime Sangi Kazem Abad
Abstract
Saffron is the most important medicinal plants in the Khorasan Razavi and South Khorasan provinces, Iran. Aspergillus species can infect saffron tissues during harvesting, storage and transportation. Aflatoxin B1 is one of the important carcinogenic mycotoxin which is produced by Aspergillus species ...
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Saffron is the most important medicinal plants in the Khorasan Razavi and South Khorasan provinces, Iran. Aspergillus species can infect saffron tissues during harvesting, storage and transportation. Aflatoxin B1 is one of the important carcinogenic mycotoxin which is produced by Aspergillus species in saffron tissues. This study was carried out in order to investigate the production of aflatoxin B1 in saffron tissues from farm to food by TLC chromatography during the year 2015. Wet and dry saffron tissues and rice grains (with and without saffron extract) were inoculated with Aspergillus flavus spore suspensions. Production of Aflatoxin B1 in inoculated tissues was investigated by the TLC chromatography method. The results showed that the wet leaves and rice grains were infected with Aspergillus species very quickly. However, this process was very slow in dry tissues. Aflatoxin B1 was detected in all of the tested samples. The amounts of Aflatoxin B1 in the wet saffron tissues and rice grains were more than those found in dry tissues and saffron rice, respectively. The amount of Aflatoxin B1 had a direct correlation with moisture in the environment and the tissues. The contamination of the tissues and production of AflatoxinB1 were increased with increasing the amount of moisture. The results showed that the packaging of saffron before complete drying of its tissue or storing it in conditions with high humidity can increase the risk of infection with the Aspergillus species and production of Aflatoxin B1 in them. Based on our data, saffron can reduce Aspergillus infection and aflatoxin B1 production but not inhibit it. Saffron extract reduces Aspergillus infection and Aflatoxin B1 production in food and grains.
