FArzaneh Kheiri; Taher Barzegar; Zahra Ghahremani; Vali Rabiei
Abstract
In order to study the effects of chitosan and hot water treatments on storability and fruit quality of sweet pepper "Paks", an experiment was conducted as a factorial design in the base of CRD with three replications.Fruits were treated withchitosan at four levels (0, 1, 1.5 and 2 percent) and hot water ...
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In order to study the effects of chitosan and hot water treatments on storability and fruit quality of sweet pepper "Paks", an experiment was conducted as a factorial design in the base of CRD with three replications.Fruits were treated withchitosan at four levels (0, 1, 1.5 and 2 percent) and hot water at 20 and 45ºC (dipping for 2 min time) and 60ºC (dipping for 2o sec time), then stored for 12, 24 and 35 days at 8°C and 98% RH in refrigerator. The results showed that the quality and vitamin Ccontent of fruits decreased during storage. Coating of pepper with chitosan significantly delayed loss of TSS, firmness, vitamin C, weight losses and fruit quality. Pepper coated with 2% chitosan had the highest effect on keeping fruit quality. Hot water had significant effect on fruit quality. Water with 45°C as hot water treatment improved firmness, titrable acidity, vitamin C, visual quality and activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes. Heat damage was observed on fruit dipping at 60°C. According to the results, treatment of 2 percent chitosan with hot water 45°C had the best effect on the studied parameters.
Amir hooshang Jalali; Peyman Jafari
Abstract
To investigate the effect of K fertilizer on yield and yield components of three watermelon cultivars, a two-year study (2007-2008) was conducted in Ardestan Agricultural Research Center (Isfahan province) by using of split plot randomized based on complete block design in three replications. Three watermelon ...
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To investigate the effect of K fertilizer on yield and yield components of three watermelon cultivars, a two-year study (2007-2008) was conducted in Ardestan Agricultural Research Center (Isfahan province) by using of split plot randomized based on complete block design in three replications. Three watermelon cultivars (‘Sugar baby’, ‘Charleston Grey’ and ‘Mahbubi’), were assigned as main plots and four K fertilizer levels (zero, 50, 100, and 150 kg K.ha-1) were assigned as subplots. Two and three times higher than consumption of K fertilizer (100 and 150 kg K.ha-1) in compared to normal conditions (without salinity), led to a 24.8 and 18.5 percent increase in yield of ‘Charlston Gray’ and ‘Sugar Baby’, respectively. The highest fruit yield (39112 kg.ha-1), was obtained using 150 kg K.ha-1 in ‘Charleston Gray’ cultivar. Potassium applications at all levels, increased fruit number in ‘Sugar Baby’ and fruit weight in ‘Charleston Gray’, were considered as the main reason for increasing yield. By increasing of K application, the ratio of Na/K in the leaves from 0.61 to 0.33 and in the stems from 0.81 to 0.4 was decreased. The results indicated that in saline conditions, higher levels of K fertilizers can reduce the deleterious effects of salinity and thus may improve watermelon yield.