The papers published in Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, Issue 3, Volume 53, 2025, represent new exciting research in different topics of life science, respectively in plant science, horticulture, agronomy, crop science, and forestry. Among the interesting articles, we invite you to find news about: Livestock-mediated food waste conversion: Advancing resource efficiency and sustainable agriculture; The genetic applications of plant cell and tissue culture techniques: Essential tools for genetic manipulation and crop improvement; Transcriptome analysis of wheat (Triticum aestivum) reveals regulatory mechanisms of adaptation to water deficit stress induced by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; Potential role of nitrogen supplementation in alleviating flooding stress; Ameliorative role of salicylic acid on morpho-anatomy and physiology of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) under lead stress; Enhanced accumulation of total phenolic content and rosmarinic acid in cell suspension cultures of Ehretia asperula using elicitors and precursors; Influence of cultivation conditions on growth and water use efficiency of zucchini seedlings; Synergistic effects of humic acid and boron on quantitative and qualitative traits of tomato; Determination of yield by plant leaf temperature and thermal imaging in banana (Musa spp. AAA) under different cover materials; Biomass, carbon sequestration, and physiological behaviours of Paulownia ‘Shan Tong’ plantation under a semi-arid bioclimate; Variation in survival and stem quality of Douglas-fir provenances: Insights from 47-year-old common garden experiments in Romania.

This study aims to determine the effect of additional compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) light on the production, morphology and physiology of tomato plants, as well as their efficiency. The research also examined the prospects for planting tomatoes in simple plastic houses at the height of the medium in tropical countries. The experiment was conducted in a plastic house in the tropical region of East Java, Indonesia, with a place altitude of 455 m above sea level. The design used was the Split-Plot Design, with 3 replications. The treatment consisted of 2 factors: the main factor was 4 levels of additional CFL light at night (no light/control, 4 hours, 8 hours, and 12 hours), and the sub-factor consisted of four tomato varieties (‘Juliet’, ‘Golden Sweet’ and ‘Betavila’). Tomato plants of the ‘Juliet’ cherry variety (indeterminate) showed a higher plant growth rate when given additional CFL light for 8 hours, while the ‘Betavila’ variety showed a higher plant growth rate when given CFL light for 4 hours. ‘Betavila’ also produced the highest yields, especially under 4 hours of night lighting. Meanwhile, the ‘Juliet’ cherry variety achieved the highest yield with 12 hours of CFL light. Farming analysis showed that the ‘Betavila’ variety was more profitable without CFL lights at night, while, ‘Juliet’ variety was more advantageous when given lights for 4 hours before dawn.

Food waste throughout the agri-food supply chain has significant environmental and economic consequences on a global scale. To address this issue, upcycling food waste through livestock is a promising approach that can help achieve sustainability goals. The upcycling of food waste via livestock involves feeding food waste to animals, such as pigs or chickens, instead of disposing of it as waste. This approach offers multiple benefits, including reducing the amount of food waste that ends up in landfills, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and producing a source of protein, offering a sustainable solution to the food waste problem. Through utilizing food waste as a resource for animal feed, this process adds value while simultaneously tackling environmental concerns linked to food waste. Furthermore, this process can generate income for farmers and lower the cost of animal feed. However, there are regulatory and safety concerns associated with the use of food waste as animal feed, necessitating strict guidelines and monitoring. Despite the challenges, upcycling food waste via livestock provides a promising solution to food waste management issues. It provides a win-win solution for both the environment and economy, presenting a promising way forward for the future of agriculture by minimizing food waste, promoting sustainability in the food industry, and offering a new source of animal feed. This study argues that upcycling food waste through livestock farming has significant potential for minimizing food waste, promoting sustainability in the food industry, and providing a new source of animal feed. It provides a win-win solution for both the environment and economy, representing a promising way forward for the future of agriculture.

Acid limes are highly nutraceutical and have great market demand. In Pakistan, two lime varieties are cultivated including ‘Mexican lime’ and ‘Eustis limequat’. Hence, other potential varieties were characterized for morphogenetic variability. Leaf shape was elliptic in ‘Mexican lime’ and ‘Eustis limequat’ and obcordate in ‘Tahiti lime’, ‘Seedless lime’ and ‘Tavares limequat’ while the leaf area was greater in ‘Seedless lime’. ‘Tavares limequat’ developed the heaviest fruit (74.55 g) with greater fruit length while fruit diameter was higher in ‘Seedless lime’. Juice weight and juice percentage were greater in ‘Tavares limequat’ and ‘Seedless lime’ respectively. ‘Tahiti lime’, ‘Seedless lime’ and ‘Tavares limequat’ were found as a seedless variety. Titratable acidity was higher in ‘Eustis limequat’ while sugar to acid ratio was lower in ‘Eustis limequat’, ‘Mexican lime’ and ‘Seedless lime’ varieties. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers analysis revealed great genetic diversity among populations. Maximum alleles (9-11) were amplified by using CAC23 and CTT01 markers which showed higher discrimination and heterozygosity. CAC23 and CTT01 markers effectively amplified three alleles in triploids (‘Tahiti lime’ and ‘Seedless lime’), a single allele in diploids (‘Mexican lime’, ‘Eustis limequat’) and two alleles, including a unique allele in diploid ‘Tavares limequat’. Cluster analysis bunched closely related genotypes into two groups, STRUCTURE analysis confirmed the admixture nature of all genotypes and ‘Tavares limequat’ was found to be the most divergent. Conclusively, selected SSR markers effectively discriminated among diploid and polyploid acid limes and may be extended to other citrus species as well. These findings could be helpful for the selection and conservation of heterozygous material and utilization in breeding and germplasm enhancement programs.

Heavy metals, due to their pervasiveness is serious threat to crop productivity. Lead (Pb) is an incredibly toxic and unnecessary heavy metal that makes its entry into the plants via contaminated soil. Salicylic acid (SA), a plant-derived hormone has the ability to assist pants to strengthen their immune system against toxic metals like lead (Pb). This research intends to investigate the alleviating impact of salicylic acid on the morphology, anatomy and physiology of B. napus (rapeseed) plants during the toxicity of lead (Pb). The plants were treated with 3 levels of lead (lead nitrate) i.e. 1 mM, 2 mM, and 4 mM along with salicylic acid and without salicylic acid. Two levels of salicylic acid i.e. 0.5 mM and 1 mM were used in the form of foliar spray. The results indicated that Pb induced damage is alleviated by SA and the morphological traits were improved i.e root length (58%), shoot length (16%), root fresh weight (73%), shoot fresh weight (79%) and dry weight of root (66%) and shoot (74%), number of leaves (87%), leaf area (61%), and yield (78%) as compared to Pb stress. Similarly, the anatomical features i.e. epidermal thickness (46-63%), vascular tissue area (42-54%), cellular thickness (27-59%) of the plant also improved with SA treatment in comparison to Pb stress. The physiological parameter i.e chlorophyll pigments (chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll) were also increased by 2-4% with SA as compared to Pb toxicity. However, the higher level of SA (1 mM) proved less beneficial as compared to the lower level (0.5 mM) in mitigating the effects caused by stress. According to these outcomes, SA could serve as a helpful approach for enhancing the tolerance of B. napus to withstand stressed conditions, hence improving crop resilience in Pb-containing soils.

Immortelle (Helichrysum italicum) is a perennial Mediterranean plant known for its medicinal and aromatic properties. Various biotic and abiotic factors influence the yield and quality of immortelle. Mulching is a sustainable agricultural practice that conserves soil moisture, prevents weed growth, and regulates soil temperature. The aim of this research was to examine the influence of different types of mulch on the yield and quality of immortelles. The study had three types of mulch (alfalfa, straw, and perennial mulch) and a control (no mulch). The research mulches significantly affected the yield, essential oil (EO) content and content of bioactive compounds. The highest yield of inflorescences was recorded with alfalfa mulch (67.5 g-¹), while the control had the lowest yield (37.3 g-¹). The EO content was highest in treatments with straw and control (0.33 mL 100 g-1), whereas the lowest content was observed with alfalfa mulch (0.28 mL/100 g). The total phenolic content reached its maximum in the control variant (75.1 mg GAE g¹), while perennial mulch resulted in the highest flavonoid content (20.4 mg CAE g-¹). A total of 63 constituents were identified in the EO. The largest share was: neryl acetate, α-curcumen, italidione, α-pinene and D-limonene, and others in smaller quantities.

The current study was aimed to assess the chemical compositions of Melia azedarach Linn (Chinaberry) leaves aqueous extracts. Additionally, the extracts were also tested to investigate its antifungal potentials against Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Leaf extract of M. azedarach was obtained by maceration technique, subsequently analyzed using UV-Visible Spectrophotometer, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The total phenolic and flavonoids contents were; 67.5 ± 0.4 mg GAE/g DW and 12.7 ± 0.2 mg QE /g DW respectively. The presence phytochemicals were confirmed from various functional groups recorded in FT-IR spectra. The results were further validated through GC-MS analysis where a total of 18 compounds were identified with seven major compounds; namely 1-Butanol, 3-methyl-, acetate (11.53%), followed by coumaran (10.04%), (R, S)-2-propyl-5-oxohexanal (7.07%), 10-octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (5.16%) and 5,7-Octadien-2-one, 3-acetyl (3.06%). The extract exhibited antifungal activities against two major aflatoxin-producing fungi, A. flavus and A. parasiticus. The aqueous extract (31.25 to 500 mg mL-1) was active to inhibit the spore germination, mycelial growth, biomass production and aflatoxin biosynthesis. Spore germination was significantly reduced, with maximum inhibition of 83% against A. flavus and 85% against A. parasiticus at 500 mg mL-1. Mycelial growth and fungal biomass were markedly declined with increasing trend in extract concentration. The recorded biomass inhibition was 73.2% and 76.9% respectively against A. flavus and A. parasiticus. The extract also significantly suppressed the aflatoxin production in the selected fungal strains at higher concentrations, exceeded from 75% with respect to aflatoxins B₁, B₂, G₁, and G₂. The findings suggest that M. azedarach leaves extract is a valuable source of bioactive compounds possessing strong antifungal and anti-aflatoxigenic properties and could be considered as a promising natural alternative for controlling aflatoxins contamination in agricultural food sectors.

Fire blight is responsible for significant losses and affects production quality in all growing countries worldwide, including Romania. Despite the availability of various prevention and control strategies, their practical effectiveness has been notably limited, and no viable technologies have yet emerged. This research aims to investigate the impact of climatic conditions, genetic material and cultivation methods on the intensity of Erwinia amylovora attack on quince by using field determination techniques and satellite sensor systems. Over three years in a quince orchard naturally infected with E. amylovora, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Red Edge (NDRE) indices were tested along with analyses of attack intensity (I), degree of attack (DA) and frequency (F). The results obtained showed that the genetic sensitivity and/or tolerance of the varieties is essential, together with the specific local climatic conditions. The two analyzed varieties (‘Bereczky’ and ‘Aurii’) cultivated under organic technology, showed different levels of tolerance to fire blight. While a significant correlation exists between the two vegetation indices, NDRE demonstrates higher accuracy due to its ability to conduct spectral analyses within the plant canopy. Furthermore, NDRE values closely align with those observed through assessments of attack intensity and frequency in the orchard.

Astragalus membranaceus, valued for its health benefits due to flavonoids, saponins, and polysaccharides, has been studied mainly for its roots. However, the regulatory role of MYB transcription factors (TFs) in flavonoid biosynthesis under different light conditions remains largely unexplored. In this study, sterile plants were cultured for six weeks under white, red, and blue light. Transcriptome analysis identified MYB genes, which were further characterized by sequence alignment, conserved domain searches, and phylogenetic analysis with AtMYB and GmMYB176. Gene structures, conserved motifs, and cis-regulatory elements were examined using bioinformatics tools. Expression levels of selected genes were validated by real-time PCR using the 2−ΔΔCt method. Two candidate genes, one R2R3-MYB and one R1-MYB, were found to be involved in flavonoid biosynthesis. Both showed high expression under white light, with AmMYB12 exhibiting nearly 20-fold higher expression compared with other conditions. Motif and promoter analyses indicated the presence of multiple MYB-binding sites, suggesting strong regulatory potential. Together, these results indicate that AmMYB12 may play a critical role in light-regulated flavonoid biosynthesis. This study provides essential data for functional analysis of MYB TFs and enhances understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying flavonoid accumulation in A. membranaceus in response to artificial light.

In recent years, second-generation perennial energy grasses have gained attention for their potential role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the possible health risks associated with their large-scale cultivation remain insufficiently addressed. This paper presents a narrative literature review of the potential allergenic effects of the main perennial grass energy crops (Phalaris arundinacea, Phragmites australis, Miscanthus × giganteus, Arundo donax), with Zea mays used as a reference first-generation energy crop. A structured search was conducted in major electronic databases using predefined keywords related to bioenergy crops, pollen dispersal, and allergenicity. The search identified a wide body of literature on crop biology and bioenergy potential, but only a limited number of studies addressed allergenic outcomes directly. The evidence suggests that, except for P. arundinacea, most second-generation grasses are late-flowering species. If cultivated on a larger scale near urban centers, these crops could alter the seasonal pattern of allergenic pollen exposure by shifting the allergic burden toward the late growing season (August-October). While the expected overall impact on the annual pollen load appears modest-potentially reducing the June peak typical for Europe while slightly increasing exposure later in the season-these changes warrant consideration in land-use and public health planning.