Effect of harvesting time on nut quality of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) cultivars

The appropriate time of harvest is one of the most important factors affecting the quality of pistachio. Cultivars ‘Ahmad-Aghaii’, ‘Kaleh-Ghoochi’, ‘Ohadi’ and ‘Badami-Zarand’ were evaluated for qualitative indices of nut over a period of four years from 2001 to 2004. Nut samples were collected during eight successive weeks from 23 August to 11 October. Splitting, early splitting, hull cracking and hulling percentage continually increased toward the last harvest week while non-splitting, immaturity, number of nuts per ounce and moisture content decreased during the harvest weeks. The increment of splitting and the number of nuts per ounce was not significant from 20 September to the last week of harvest. Early splitting, hull cracking and aflatoxin contamination of kernel progressively increased from 13 September. Total crude fat and sugar contents showed a peak in the middle of September. The concentration of aflatoxins prior or at maturity stage of selected cultivars was lower than the critical level. In general, the appropriate time of harvest for the cultivars studied is the middle of September to avoid contamination of nuts to aflatoxin and to ensure the nut quality. This study emphasizes different quality indices for determining the optimum harvest time of pistachio crop.     

Fruit thinning in ‘Conference’ pear grown under deficit irrigation: Implications for fruit quality at harvest and after cold storage

Fruit thinning in pear is feasible for mitigation of water stress effects. However, it is not well known how fruit quality at harvest and after cold storage is affected by pre-harvest water stress. Even less is known about the effects of fruit thinning on quality under these circumstances. To elucidate these, we applied deficit irrigation (DI) and fruit thinning treatments to ‘Conference’ pear over the growing seasons of 2008 and 2009. At the onset of Stage II (80 and 67 days before harvest in 2008 and 2009, respectively), two irrigation treatments were applied: full irrigation (FI) and DI. FI trees received 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc). DI trees received no irrigation during the first three weeks of Stage II to induce water stress, but then received 20% of ETc to ensure tree survival. From bud-break until the onset of Stage II and during post-harvest, FI and DI trees received 100% of ETc. Each irrigation treatment received two thinning levels: no thinning leaving commercial crop load (∼180 fruits tree⁻¹), and hand-thinning at the onset of Stage II leaving a light crop load (∼85 fruits tree⁻¹). Under commercial crop loads, DI trees were moderately water-stressed and this had some positive effects on fruit quality. DI increased fruit firmness (FF), soluble solids concentrations (SSC) and acidity at harvest while no changes were observed in fruit maturity (based on ethylene production). Differences in FF and acidity at harvest between FI and DI fruit were maintained during cold storage. DI also reduced fruit weight loss during storage. But fruit size was reduced under DI. Fruit thinning under DI resulted in better fruit composition with no detrimental effect on fresh-market yield compared to un-thinned fruit. Fruit size at harvest and SSC values after five months of cold storage were higher in fruit from thinned trees than fruit from un-thinned trees. Fruit thinning increased fruit ethylene production, indicating advanced maturity. This may lead to earlier harvest which is desirable in years with impending drought. Fruit thinning is therefore a useful technique to enhance pear marketability under water shortage.     

Phenology and drought affects the relationship between daily trunk shrinkage and midday stem water potential of peach trees

Summary

The relationship between maximum daily shrinkage in trunks (MDS), daily trunk growth (DTG), predawn water potential (Ψ_pd) and midday stem water potential (Ψ_stem) were studied in an irrigation experiment in peach trees. Control trees were irrigated to replace evapotranspiration, with trees receiving regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) watered at 35% of this rate during Stage II of fruit development and after harvest. The RDI trees were watered as controls during Stage III of fruit development. Minimum (Ψ_pd and Ψ_stem fell to –0.6.MPa and –1.2 MPa, respectively in RDI plots compared with –0.2 and –0.6 MPa in the controls. Trunk growth was less in the RDI plots than in the controls during drought. In contrast, MDS was higher when deficit irrigation was applied in the RDI trees. When site differences were considered the correlation between (Ψ_pd and accumulated trunk growth over an ample period was loose, while maximum daily shrinkage and midday stem water potential remarkably improved such a correlation. However, pooling all available data, the correlation between Ψ_stem and MDS was very poor (R²=0.44) and it substantially improved only when using data from specific phenological periods (i.e. R²=0.75). A seasonal drift in MDS values was observed and it was related to the seasonal changes in trunk growth rates, (i.e. highest shrinkage was found when growth rates were lowest). We concluded that phenology in combination with drought reduce the reliability of the water status information obtained from MDS.     

Brassinolides have a small effect on vegetative growth,and increase reproductive growth of pistachio trees Cv. Owhadi

The effects of different applications of 24-epi-brassinolideon the physiology and yield of ‘Owhadi’ pistachio trees was investigated in Iran over an off and on year. Plants were treated by 24-epi-brassinolide at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1mgl^?1at green tip and tight cluster of bud stage. Brassinolide decreased the incidence nut physiological disorders and increased yield. The sprays decreased the incidence of inflorescence bud abscission, fruit abscission, misshapen nuts, blank, early splitting and indehisced shell compared with the controls. In both on and off years, the effect of brassinolide was dependent on the time of application and concentration used. Application of this compound, especially at tight cluster stage of buds, increased indehisced shell and yield in both on and off years. Brassinolides appear to play a key role in the growth and development of pistachio.     

Effects of Artificial Pollination Using Pollen Suspension Spray on Nut and Kernel Quality of Pistachio Cultivar Owhadi

Yield and nut quality in pistachio are highly dependent on cultural practices especially pollination. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of pollen suspension spray containing 0.01% and 0.02% boric acid combined with 1% (w/v) pollen on nut and kernel quality of pistachio (Pistacia vera L. cv. Owhadi). The experiment was carried out as RCBD with three replications over 2011–12 period. The results showed that application of medium containing agar (A) and 0.01% boric acid (B1) combined with 1% (w/v) pollen decreased fruit set in both years compared to control whereas nut splitting was increased during 2012. Pollen suspension sprays unaffected nut and kernel dimensions in both years but increased kernel proteins and decreased oil during 2011. According to this study, it could be postulated that artificial pollination in pistachio using pollen suspension spray is possible.     

Effects of deficit irrigation on biomass,yield, water productivity and fruit quality of processing tomato under semi-arid Mediterranean climate conditions

Processing tomato is a high water demanding crop, thus requiring irrigation throughout growing season in arid and semiarid areas. The application of deficit irrigation (DI) strategies to this crop may greatly contribute to save irrigation water. A two-year study was carried out in order to assess the effects of DI upon water productivity, final biomass, fruit yield and some quality traits of open-field processing tomato cv. Brigade in a typical semi-arid Mediterranean environment of South Italy. Four irrigation treatments were studied: no irrigation following plant establishment (V0); 100% (V100) or 50% (V50) evapotranspiration (ETc) restoration up to fruit maturity, 100% ETc restoration up to flowering, then 50% ETc restoration (V100-50). Total dry biomass accumulation was significantly depressed by early soil water deficit in V0; irrigation at a reduced rate (50% ETc) from initial stages (V50) or from flowering onwards (V100-50) did not induce any losses in final dry biomass. The marketable yield did not significantly differ among plots irrigated, but an averaged irrigation water saving of 30.4% in V100-50 and 46.2% in V50 was allowed as compared to V100. Marketable yield was negatively affected by the early water shortage in V0, due to the high fruit losses (>44%). The effects of DI on fruit quality were generally the converse of those on fruit yield. DI improved total soluble solids content, titratable acidity and vitamin C content. Water use efficiency was positively affected by DI, suggesting that the crop does not benefits from the water when this last is supplied to fulfil total crop requirements for the whole season. Yield response factor, which indicates the level of tolerance of a crop to water stress, was 0.49 for total dry biomass (Kss) and 0.76 for marketable yield (Ky), indicating that in both cases the reduction in crop productivity is proportionally less than the relative ET deficit. In conclusion, the adoption of DI strategies where a 50% reduction of ETc restored is applied for the whole growing season or part of it could be suggested in processing tomato, to save water improving its use efficiency, minimizing fruit losses and maintaining high fruit quality levels. This aspect is quite important in semi-arid environments, where water scarcity is an increasing concern and water costs are continuously rising.     

Growth,yield and water use efficiency response of greenhouse-grown hot pepper under Time-Space deficit irrigation

Greenhouse-grown hot pepper was used to investigate the effect of Time-Space deficit irrigation (TSDI), a newly developing irrigation technique based on regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and partial rootzone drying (PRD), by measuring plant growth, yield and irrigation water use efficiency. The treatments consisted of factorial combinations of three factors, organized following an orthogonal L₉ (3)⁴ test design with four growing stages. Three irrigation strategies (conventional furrow irrigation with full-water when soil water content was lower by 80% of field capacity (F), conventional furrow irrigation with 50% of full-water (D) and alternate furrow irrigation with 50% of full-water (P)) as the main plot factor were applied to select the optimum irrigation parameter at different stages of crop development, the treatment in which irrigation water was applied to both sides of root system when soil water content was lower by 80% of field capacity during all stages was considered as control (FFFF). Water consumption showed some significant effect of irrigation treatment during the growing period of different drought stress patterns application, and therefore decreased in these treatments to a level around 54.68–70.33% of FFFF. Total dry mass was reduced by 1.17–38.66% in TSDI treatments compared to FFFF. However, the root–shoot ratio of FFFF was lower than other treatments and the differences from FFFF and other TSDI treatments were statistically significant. The highest total fresh fruit yield (19.57 T ha⁻¹) was obtained in the FFFF treatment. All deficit irrigations increased the water use efficiency of hot pepper from a minimum of 1.33% to a maximum of 54.49%. At harvest, although there was difference recorded as single fruit weight and single fruit volume were reduced under the TSDI treatments, total soluble solids concentration of fruit harvested under the water-deficit treatments were higher compared to FFFF.     

Physical,compositional and sensory differences in nuts among pistachio (Pistachia vera L.) varieties

Differences in some physical, compositional and sensory characteristics among eight varieties of pistachio nuts (Aegina, Pontikis, Bronte, Cerasola, Joley, Kerman, Mumtaz and Sirora) from different origins were studied. The evaluated varieties were cultivated under the same field conditions and the dried nuts were utilised. The percentage of split nuts ranged from 93.8% (Sirora) to 80.2% (Aegina), the 10-nut weight from 15.23 g (Kerman) to 9.7 g (Cerasola), the kernel/nut percentage from 57.24% (w/w) (Pontikis) to 47.08% (w/w) (Kerman) and the ratio of length/width of nut from 1.81 (Aegina and Joley) to 1.56 (Mumtaz). Colour measurements showed the highest shell L* (80.26) for Kerman, the lowest shell h° (81.19) for Mumtaz, the lowest kernel membrane h° (24.43) for Cerasola, and the highest h° (107.23) on the inner kernel of Aegina. Crude protein content varied between 21.87 (Cerasola) and 18.99% d.w. (Joley), and the fat between 57.62 (Joley) and 49.79% d.w. (Cerasola). Among the major fatty acids in kernel oil, oleic ranged from 67.86% in Cerasola to 51.6% in Kerman, linoleic from 27.03% in Kerman to 11.56% in Pontikis and palmitic from 10.24% in Kerman to 8.54% in Cerasola. Linolenic acid was highest in Kerman (0.5%). Myristic, palmitoleic, stearic, vaccenic, arachidic and gondoic acids were also found in all samples. Negative and significant linear correlations were found between oleic and linoleic, and between mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids. Most of the physical and compositional characteristics measured were affected significantly by variety. Panelists preferred nuts of big size with a naturally yellowish shell colour. Visual differences in kernels were not significant, whereas Kerman, Sirora and Cerasola gained the panelists’ overall flavour preference among the varieties evaluated.     

Combining cover cropping with deficit irrigation in a Mediterranean low vigor vineyard

The aim of this research was to test the effects of vineyard soil management practices combined with deficit irrigation strategies on the performance of the grapevine (Vitisvinifera L.) red variety Tempranillo. Two soil management practices (soil tillage – ST and permanent resident vegetation – RV) were combined with three deficit irrigation treatments (regulated deficit irrigation – RDI, partial rootzone drying – PRD and conventional sustained deficit irrigation – DI) during two growing cycles. Compared to ST, RV reduced soil water content during spring, inducing a significant reduction in vine vegetative growth, yield and must titratable acidity. The effects of irrigation treatments were not much pronounced. Only in the second season RDI showed a significant reduction on vine vegetative growth, yield and must titratable acidity as compared to PRD and DI whose results were similar to one another.     

板栗新品种‘怀丰’

 ‘怀丰’是通过实生选优获得的板栗新品种,丰产,优质,耐贮,适应性强。坚果综合性状优良,果形整齐,平均单粒质量为8.9 g,平均每苞含坚果3粒。栗皮黑褐色,极少茸毛,果面光滑美观。栗仁黄色,煮食细糯,鲜食香甜,成熟果果肉含水量54.8%,总糖6.73%,淀粉39.80%,粗纤维1.30%,脂肪0.90%,蛋白质5.25%。北京地区9月中上旬成熟,适宜在燕山地区栽培。     

早实核桃新品种‘青川 1 号’

 ‘青川1 号’是从四川省青川县实生核桃群体中选育出的早实核桃新品种。坚果近圆形,外 观微黄白色,壳面光滑。平均单果质量14.2 g,壳厚0.94 mm。核仁饱满,口感香,易取整仁,出仁率59%。 丰产性强,进入盛果期后产量可达3 750 kg · hm^-2,有较强的抗旱和抗病能力。     

调亏灌溉条件下鸭梨营养生长、产量和果实品质反应的研究

调亏灌溉条件下的研究结果表明,无论在1期(萌芽至盛花后25d)还是在2期(盛花后25～80d)进行调亏灌溉,树体营养生长受到显著抑制,新梢长度较对照下降15%～25%,夏季修剪量减少18%～33%,树体叶片的相对含水量显著下降,对成龄叶片叶面积和比叶重的影响差异不显著。各处理其花朵坐果率均大于85%,没有显著抑制果径和果实鲜重的增长。在水分胁迫处理结束时,2期胁迫和1+2胁迫处理果实的可溶性固形物含量、还原糖含量和全K含量显著高于对照,1+2胁迫处理的果径和果实鲜重也受到了显著抑制。在采收时各水分胁迫处理与对照相比,在产量、单果重和果实可溶性固形物含量方面无显著差异。     

避晚霜核桃新品种——元林的选育

元林是以中国核桃元丰为母本与美国核桃强特勒为父本杂交育成的早实核桃新品种。该品种坚果长圆形,纵径4.25 cm,横径3.6 cm,侧径3.42 cm,平均单果质量16.84 g。壳面刻沟较浅,较光滑美观,浅黄色。壳厚1.26 mm左右;内褶壁退化,易取整仁;核仁充实饱满,出仁率55.42%左右,脂肪质量分数为63.6%,蛋白质质量分数为18.25%,味香微涩。果实成熟期8月下旬;具有果个大、萌芽晚、避晚霜、早实、丰产特点。     

Deficit irrigation as a strategy to control growth in ornamental plants and enhance their ability to adapt to drought conditions

The shortage of water in many parts of the world has led to the development of new irrigation strategies such as regulated deficit irrigation and sustained deficit irrigation. Water deficit induces different morphological and physiological responses in ornamental plants, but the application of irrigation strategies can obtain quality plants well adapted to the environment. Deficit irrigation controls plant growth, and can be considered a sustainable technique which avoids the use of plant growth regulators. In addition, root system morphology can be modified by water stress to improve the ability to extract water from the soil and strengthen a plant’s physical support. In addition, the application of deficit irrigation during nursery period is a technique frequently used to harden plants before transplanting. Water deficit affects morphological and physiological aspects that might provide a capacity to adapt to adverse conditions. All these features contribute to increasing water use efficiency and the root to shoot ratio and root density, promoting the more rapid establishment of ornamental plants in garden or landscape settings. In view of the results obtained, it is possible to apply and validate the most appropriate irrigation strategy for each species and to obtain the full benefits of applying deficit irrigation.

Abbreviations: DI, Deficit irrigation; ETc, Crop evapotranspiration; gs, stomatal conductance; Pn, Net photosynthesis; RDI, Regulated deficit irrigation; SLA, Specific leaf area; WUE, Water use efficiency     

核桃坚果呼吸特性研究

１、坚果含水量是影响呼吸速率的主要因了，呼吸速度与坚果含水量呈指数型相关，含水量８％以上下时，呼吸速率较低，变化较小。２、呼吸速率与环境温度呈抛物线型相关，最高值出现在３３℃。３．不同时期采收的坚果，其呼吸速率有明显差异，与出仁率及种仁脂类含量呈显著正相关。４．不同种及品种的坚果，呼吸速率有明显差异，与坚果缝合线紧密度呈显著负相关。     

Regulated deficit irrigation in potted Dianthus plants: Effects of severe and moderate water stress on growth and physiological responses

The purpose of this study was to analyze the physiological and morphological response of carnation plants to different levels of irrigation and to evaluate regulated deficit irrigation as a possible technique for saving water through the application of controlled drought stress. Carnations, Dianthus caryophyllus L. cultivar, were pot-grown in an unheated greenhouse and submitted to two experiments. In the first experiment, the plants were exposed to three irrigation treatments: (control); 70% of the control (moderate deficit irrigation, MDI) and 35% of the control (severe deficit irrigation, SDI). In the second experiment, the plants were submitted to a control treatment, deficit irrigation (DI, 50% of the control) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). After 15 weeks, MDI plants showed a slightly reduced total dry weight, plant height and leaf area, while SDI had clearly reduced all the plant size parameters. RDI plants had similar leaf area and total dry weight to the control treatment during the blooming phase. MDI did not affect the number of flowers and no great differences in the colour parameters were observed. RDI plants had higher flower dry weight, while plant quality was affected by the SDI (lower number of shoots and flowers, lower relative chlorophyll content). Leaf osmotic potential decreased with deficit irrigation, but more markedly in SDI, which induced higher values of leaf pressure. Stomatal conductance (g_s) decreased in drought conditions more than the photosynthetic rate (P_n). Osmotic adjustment of 0.3 MPa accompanied by decreases in elasticity in response to drought resulted in turgor less at lower leaf water potentials and prevented turgor loss during drought periods.     

优质抗寒核桃新品种‘金薄香 6 号’

 ‘金薄香6 号’核桃是80 年代初从新疆引入的薄壳核桃品种中实生选育出的新品种。丰产 性好,抗寒性强。坚果长卵圆形,缝合线明显,平均单果质量17.12 g,果仁质量8.97 g,果仁饱满,壳 厚1.18 mm,质地致密,出仁率52.4%。果仁乳白色,颜色亮,肉乳白,肉质细腻,香味浓,商品性好。     

The effect of predetermined deficit irrigation on the performance of cv. Muhasan olives (Oleaeuropaea L.) in the eastern coastal plain of Israel

The response of cv. Muhasan trees and its fruit characteristics to a 50% regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) was studied. The general response to the reduced irrigation was relatively small. However, the schedule of water application was very significant for various fruit characteristics. In the best schedule the 50% reduction in annual irrigation water reduced the oil yield over 4 years by only 12.2% and that of the fruit yield by 18.5%. The most efficient schedule was based on applying all the irrigation water after stone hardening. In lighter soils however, with lower water holding capacity or in regions with a lower rainfall diverting some of the water to the pre-bloom and fruit set period might be needed. The fruit mesocarp/endocarp (flesh/pit) ratio was dependent on the water availability during the stone hardening period. This ratio was significantly improved when water availability during the stone hardening period was reduced. The rate of oil accumulation was also affected by the irrigation schedule but was about the same in ‘on’ and ‘off’ years. Fruit growth was less affected by the irrigation schedule but most significantly by the yield load. All the affects of the irrigation schedules were more expressed in the ‘on’ years than in the ‘off’ years. No clear cut differences or consistent effects of the irrigation schedule were found on the degree of alternant bearing and mineral content of the leaves.     

板栗早熟新品种‘京暑红’

 ：‘京暑红’是实生选育的板栗早熟新品种,在北京地区4 月中旬萌芽,6 月中旬盛花,8 月 22 日左右成熟,果实发育期约75 d。总苞呈椭圆形,每苞平均含坚果2.1 个,苞皮较薄,刺密,出实率 为41.2%。坚果红褐色,果面光滑美观,平均单粒质量8.2g,果肉含水量57.2%,灰分2.0%,脂肪4.5%, 蛋白质5.6%,总糖20.4%,淀粉38.2%,氨基酸1.5%。内果皮易剥离,果肉黄色,质地细糯,风味香甜。 嫁接后第3 年株产可达2.5 kg,在北京板栗产区为极早熟类型。适宜密植栽培,株距2 ~ 3 m,行距3 ~ 4 m。 授粉树配置以‘燕山红栗’、‘燕山早丰’为宜。     

‘南亚2号澳洲坚果’

 ‘南亚2号澳洲坚果’是从实生后代群体中选育出的新品种。树势中等,早结丰产,适应性强。壳果大小中等,平均单粒质量7.52 g,果仁平均单粒质量2.6 g,出仁率30.6% ~ 30.7%,一级果仁率100%,含油率76.5% ~ 78.3%,蛋白质9.5%。在广东湛江地区9月下旬—10月上旬成熟。