Ziziphus Mauritiana Research Articles

First report of Cephalerous virescens causing Algal leaf spot of Averrhoa carambola in India.

Averrhoa carambola (Star fruit) is a drought resistant edible fruit belongs to family Oxalidaceae. It is native of Malaysia and further cultivation is extended to China, Southeast Asia, India and Northern South America. Star fruit has juicy texture and used in salads, beverages and traditionally it has been used for ayurvedic medicines in India, Brazil and China (Abduh et al. 2023). In early January 2023, we observed the symptoms of raised, more or less circular, orange to dark brown, velvet textured, scattered algal leaf spots (1-4 mm) on the upper surface of A. carambola leaves at College farm, Agricultural College, Aswaraopet (17.252039 latitude, 81.109573 longitude) (Supplementary Fig 1). The disease was observed in 2 hectare model orchard with incidence of 45% causing leaf defoliation and thereby reducing the yield and quality of fruits. Transverse section cutting of algal spots revealed the algal thalli at subcuticular region and causing necrosis of epidermal cells. Sporangiophores (n=20) raised from algal leaf spot were cylindrical, 4 to 5 celled, 200-450 µm long x 8-20 µm wide, and forming a head cell with suffultory cells and sporangia on the top. Sporangia (n=20) were spherical to elliptical, rusty brown and 17.5-29 µm long × 18-23.6 µm wide and the total number of sporangia produced by each sporangiophores varies from 1 to 6. Setae (n=20) were filamentous with three to six celled, 17.5-50 µm long × 2.5-7.5 µm wide (Supplementary Figure 2). In our collection, mature gametangia were not observed. Morphological characters were studied on 20 diseased leaf samples collected from randomly selected five plants. To isolate pathogen, fresh algal thalli (n=5) were scraped from host tissue, surface sterilized (70% alcohol (30 s), 1% sodium hypochlorite (30 s) and sterile distilled water (3 × 60 s), inoculated to trebouxia liquid media and incubated at 25 ± 2 °C with a 12 hours photoperiod for 72 hours (Vasconcelos et al. 2018). The resultant five algal filaments were subjected to PCR amplification. The primer pair PNS1/NS41 was used in a PCR to amplify a fragment of 18S rRNA (Davis and Kaur 2019). The 18S rRNA gene sequences of the algae were compared using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast/Blast.cgi) showed that our partial sequence had 99.5% similarity to C. virescens (KM020142.1). Hence, it was classified as C. virescens and sequences was deposited in NCBI-GenBank with accession numbers (OR053653, OR243777, OR429406, OR429407 and OR243779). For proving pathogenicity, algal filaments obtained from trebouxia liquid media were inoculated to 6 months old healthy A. carambola plant. Pathogenicity test was negative and typical symptoms could not be produced even up to 150 days of inoculation. In previous studies also, due to difficulty with production of zoospores in synthetic media, Koch's postulates of C. virescens as a plant pathogen has not been demonstrated experimentally (Sunpapao et al. 2017; Sanahuja et al. 2018; Kumar et al. 2019). In the second experiment, zoosporangia spore suspension were prepared from small pieces of algal leaf spot tissue processed in a sterile pestle and mortar and filtered through sterile cheesecloth (Sunpapao et al. 2017). A total of five isolates of zoosporangia spore suspension (1 x 102 to 1 x 104/ml of water) was sprayed on healthy, surface sterilized leaves of A. carambola plants (n=5) until runoff with a handheld airpump sprayer and incubated in green house (T: 25 oC, H: 80%). During the experiment leaves were remain attached to plant (5 days old) and plants were 6 months old grown in plastic pots under controlled conditions. Two plants were inoculated with each isolate and three non inoculated control plants were included. Non inoculated controls were sprayed with sterile distilled water. The pathogenicity experiment was repeated. The initial symptoms were produced 60 days after inoculation and complete algal thalli was observed on 90 days after inoculation, control plants were without any symptoms upto 150 days. Reisolated algal thalli from symptomatic plants were morphologically similar to original algal thalli and molecularly identified as C. virescens (accession number OR067193 and OR243810). Red rust caused by C. virescens is a major algal disease in the world and causing severe leaf defoliation in various horticultural crops viz., Mangifera indica (Vasconcelos et al. 2018), Manilkara zapota (Sunpapao et al. 2017), Psidium guajava (Rajbongshi et al. 2022), Ziziphus mauritiana (Shareefa et al. 2022) and Anacardium occidentale (Dooh et al. 2022). The available literature suggest that, this is the first report of algal leaf spot on A. carambola caused by C. virescens in India. This report extends the range of known pathogens associated with A. carambola plant and serves as a basis for development and implementing disease management strategies.

Rational hydrothermal-assisted green synthesis of blueish emitting carbon dots as an optical sensing platform for antibiotic detection in the milk sample

Carbon dots (CDs) derived from biological entities significantly play a major part in environmental and biomedical applications, comprising electrocatalytic oxidations, antibiotics detection, biosensing, and bioimaging. In the present work, facile green synthesis of blue-emitting CDs has been done using one-step hydrothermal treatment of pulp extract of Ziziphus mauritiana, acting as a natural source of carbon for optical determination of ciprofloxacin (CIP) antibiotics. The process is easy, safe for the environment, and doesn't require any specialized equipment or chemicals. The structural and optical characteristics of the synthesized CDs are done using XRD, FTIR, UV–visible spectroscopies, SEM-EDX, PL, and TEM. CDs were found to have a quasi-spherical shape with an average size of 2.54 nm. Nitrogen (1.2 wt.%), oxygen (41.8 wt.%), and carbon (40.7 wt.%) are the main component found in CDs, as observed by EDX. These CDs showed blue emission under UV light, excitation-dependent emission, and wide excitation-emission spectra. These prepared CDs were used to selectively detect CIP and exhibit a high quantum yield of 30% at the excitation wavelength of 340 nm. After the optimal parameters, the sensor gave the linear detection range from 10 to 100 µM along with a detection limit of 0.56 µM. Moreover, the practical applicability of the developed sensor was confirmed in real milk samples to test the consistency and accuracy of the sensor. In conclusion, the proposed method is a green, rapid, highly sensitive, and selective method for the detection of CIP in real milk samples, demonstrating the potential application of CDs in food detection.

Exploring the potentials of Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. seed kernel oil as pharmaceutical oil base: Physicochemical characterization and ketoconazole soap formulation

Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. (Rhamnaceae) is a large spiny shrub or small tree, native to the Indian subcontinent that can reach a maximum height of 9–15 m. This plant stands as a renowned tropical fruit variety, commonly recognized as the Indian plum, Desert apple, or Indian Jujube. The objective of this study was to examine the standard physicochemical parameters of Z. mauritiana seed kernel oil and to formulate the ketoconazole soap (2 % w/w), using the obtained oil, as a base. The oil was obtained through hexane extraction from the seed kernels. To formulate pharmaceutical ketoconazole soap, Z. mauritiana seed kernel oil was subjected to a basic saponification reaction using potassium hydroxide. All the examined physicochemical parameters, namely acid value (4.71 mg KOH/g), saponification value (229.18 mg KOH/g), peroxide value (4.15 milliequivalents KOH/g), ester value (224.47 mg KOH/g), iodine value (11.19 mg KOH/g), refractive index (1.448), pH (5.93), viscosity (89 cP), and specific gravity (0.912 g/mL) were within the acceptable range for industrial purposes. The examination of quality control parameters, namely drug content (99.49 %), total fatty matter (71.13 %), foam retention time (17.21 min), foam height (18.56 cm), moisture content (9.14 %), and pH (7.16) indicated that the newly formulated ketoconazole soap complied with the acceptable limits. In summary, our research demonstrated the excellent physicochemical stability of Z. mauritiana seed kernel oil and its suitability as a soap base, supporting its promising prospects for cost-effective production of cosmetics, soaps, and shampoos in the pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries, reducing reliance on synthetic bases.

Hexanal Application Extends Shelf-life and Maintains Quality of ‘Umran’ Indian Jujube Fruit by Regulating Antioxidant Activities During Cold Storage

Hexanal Application Extends Shelf-life and Maintains Quality of ‘Umran’ Indian Jujube Fruit by Regulating Antioxidant Activities During Cold Storage

Initial Characterization of Activated Charcoal from the Indigenous Ziziphus mauritiana Wood from Dryland of Sumbawa

Ziziphus mauritiana is widely found in Sumbawa arid and semi-arid area. It is a drought tolerant plant which grows in areas with extreme conditions. While information of the utilisation of Bidara seeds as activated carbon is available, there are limited resources that use Bidara woods. Therefore, this study aims to characterize the activated charcoal derived from Z. mauritiana wood which was activated using 25%, 30% and 35% of H2SO4 and NaOH. The moisture content, ash content, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and iodine absorption capacity were investigated and compared to the Indonesian National Standard (SNI. 06-3730-1995). The result showed that NaOH activated charcoal obtained higher quality compared to the H2SO4 activated charcoal. The best activated charcoal was obtained from 35% of NaOH which has 1.19% moisture content, 13.21% ash content, 1.42% volatile matter, 84.73% fixed carbon, and 1892.40 mg/g iodine number. This study concludes that the characteristics of Z. mauritiana activated charcoal (except the ash content) comply with Indonesian National Standard and potentially can be developed as an adsorbent.

Exogenous application of salicylic acid regulates antioxidant enzyme activities and quality attributes of Umran ber (Ziziphus mauritiana) fruits under cold storage

The present study was carried out to observe the influence of pre-harvest application of salicylic acid (1, 2 and 3 mM) on shelf life and quality attributes of ber fruits cv. Umran (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) under cold storage conditions (7.5±10C and 90–95% RH). The cold-stored fruits were assessed for various physico-chemical attributes and enzymatic activities at 7 days interval up to 28 days of storage. Above study revealed that fruits treated with salicylic acid @3 mM resulted in reduced physiological loss in fruit weight, spoilage and increased firmness, soluble solids content, antioxidant activity and carotenoids. Furthermore, it suppressed activities of cell wall degrading enzymes like PG, PPO, PME and increased the activity of superoxide dismutase peroxidase and catalase enzymes. It was concluded that pre-harvest spray of salicylic acid @3 mM was more effective in regulating enzymatic activities, thereby improving quality attributes and shelf life of ber fruits up to 21 days at cold storage.

Utilization of Ziziphus Mauritiana Leaves for Lowering Cholesterol Level

Abstract: Indonesia as a region with a tropical climate has a variety of plants spread across various regions. These plants contain many chemicals that can easily be used as traditional medicine, one of which is bidara leaves (Ziziphus Mauritiana). Bidara leaves are not only used by people in China, but Indonesian people also use Ziziphus Mauritiana as a medicine for dysentery, diarrhea and gum swelling. Wide distribution and in large quantities in Indonesia makes it easy for people to cultivate and use it. Much research has been conducted to discuss the efficacy of Ziziphus Mauritiana. The research aims to determine the various benefits of Ziziphus mauritiana leaves which have been scientifically proven through research in Indonesia. Method: Conduct a literature search using the Google Scholar application and analyze the literature that meets the inclusion criteria. Results: From the search results and research results, we concluded about the benefits of Ziziphus mauritiana leaves. Conclusion: The greatest benefit of Ziziphus mauritiana leaves is as an antimicrobial, apart from that there are many other benefits such as analgesic, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and functions as a plant that can reduce cholesterol levels in the leaves.

Effect of nano nitrogen and phosphorus on growth, yield and quality of ber, Ziziphus mauritiana Lam

An experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Mandor, Jodhpur (Raj.) to find out the effects of nano nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers on growth, yield and quality of ber using Factorial Randomized Block Design with 5 replications from October 2021 to March 2022. The result showed that the maximum rise (6.45 %) in plant height (79.17 cm), number of primary branches (14.72), secondary branches (22.09), chlorophyll contents (55.34 SPAD value), fruit volume (20.63cm3), specific gravity (0.95), fruit length at harvest (3.42 cm), fruit diameter at harvest (3.16 cm), pulp thickness (12.56 mm), pulp weight (15.79 g), pulp: stone ratio (19.20), fruit setting (6.92 %), average fruit weight (18.00 g), yield/ tree (64.57 kg), ascorbic acid (65.75 mg/100g pulp), total soluble solid (15.77°Brix), total sugar (9.20 %), reducing sugar (4.83 %), non-reducing sugar (4.37 %), fruit pH (5.50) whereas minimum stone weight (0.82 g) and fruit drop (49.38 %) was recorded with the application of nano nitrogen @ 2 ml/ litter water + nano phosphorus @ 2 ml/ litter water spray over the control.

Evaluation of in vitro antimalarial activity of <i>Citrus aurantifolia</i> (CHRISTM.) and <i>Ziziphus mauritiana</i> (LAM) using heme polymerization inhibition assay

Citrus aurantifolia and Ziziphus mauritiana (Lam) are plants that have numerous medicinal properties and are used extensively in traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases. Malaria parasites metabolize haemoglobin and detoxify the resulting haem by polymerizing it to form haemozoin (malaria pigment). This study aimed at evaluating the antiplasmodial activity through in vitro cell-free heme polymerization inhibition assay (HPIA) of C. aurantifolia and Z. mauritiana. The analysis was conducted using a 96-well microtiter plate reader at an absorption of 400 nm, at different concentrations (0-2 mg/ml). The IC50 was determined by non-linear regression analysis using GraphPad Prism. The result indicated that both the root extracts of C. aurantifolia and Z. mauritiana showed significant difference (p˂0.0001) with IC50 of 0.81 mg/ml and 0.77 mg/ml respectively compared to positive control. Phytochemical screening of the ethanol root extracts showed the presence of saponins, alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides, steroids, and anthraquinone, while tannins and reducing sugars were not detected in both samples used, flavonoid was detected in C. aurantifolia. Both the extracts exhibited potential for inhibiting heme polymerization in vitro.

Bi2O3 nanoparticles: phytogenic synthesis, effect of calcination on physico-chemical characteristics and photocatalytic activity

ABSTRACT The present work reported the bioinspired synthesis of Bi2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) using Ziziphus mauritiana leaves aqueous extract at four annealing temperatures (300, 400, 500, and 600C°) and examined annealing temperatures effect of on various physicochemical characteristics and photocatalytic activities of NPs. The XRD and Raman results reveal the existence of α and β polymorphs of Bi2O3 in all samples but with increase of calcination temperature the extent of α-phase, particle size, and crystallinity were increased while band gap value decreased. The BET results confirmed the mesoporous structure of all samples. Further, decolorization experiments conducted with crystal violet (CV) dye showed an observable effect of annealing temperature on the adsorption and photocatalytic efficacy of the prepared samples, and the utmost (99.88 %) removal of CV dye was computed with the Bi2O3 nanoparticles calcined at 300oC (B-300). The main active species involved in the photo-mineralization of dye was h+ followed by •OH..

An Ethnobotanical Study of Important Woody Medicinal Plants of Jalaun District of Bundelkhand Region

The present investigation deals with the folk knowledge of important woody medicinal plants species that are used by the rural folks of the five sites of Jalaun district of Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, India for the management of different kinds of ailments, found in these sites. The majority of the common vegetation in the Jalaun district is represented by tropical dry deciduous forest and scrub thorn forest. The ethnobotanical investigation revealed 51 woody plant species belonging to 46 genera and 31 families. In this investigation Caesalpiniaceae (5 sp.) was the dominant family followed by Mimosaceae, Moraceae (4 sp. each), Apocynaceae, Boraginaceae and Fabaceae (3 sp. each). Acacia catechu, Acacia nilotica, Azadirachta indica, Albizia lebbeck, Bauhinia variegata, Calotropis gigantea, Terminalia arjuna, Aegle marmelos, Justicia adhatoda, Ziziphus mauritiana and Dalbergia sissoo were the most common plant species in the district. The investigation reveals that there is not any involvement of younger generation in this research so such knowledge is at the risk of disappearance in the future.

Chinee Apple (Ziziphus mauritiana): A Comprehensive Review of Its Weediness, Ecological Impacts and Management Approaches.

Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. (Rhamnaceae) (Chinee Apple, Indian Jujube, or Ber) is a significant woody weed in the drier tropics of northern Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. Throughout these regions, its densely formed thickets influence the structure, function, and composition of rangeland ecosystems by outcompeting native pasture species. Despite this, the recent literature is heavily focused on the horticultural value of domesticated Ziziphus species in South Asia (China, India, and Pakistan), particularly its potential for poverty alleviation in arid or semi-arid areas. In fact, there has been comparatively little research undertaken on its invasiveness or associated ecological factors in pastoral contexts. Currently, the management of Z. mauritiana is limited to the application of synthetic herbicides or mechanical clearing operations. There is also considerable interest in the exploitation of host-specific, natural enemies (biological control agents, herbivorous insects, fungi, bacteria, or viruses) for limiting the vigour, competitiveness, or reproductive capacity of Z. mauritiana in northern Australia. The development of a "bioherbicide" in lieu of synthetic counterparts may foster a more resilient coexistence between agricultural systems and the natural environment owing to its reduced environmental persistence and increased target specificity. This review summarises the current literature on the weediness, ecological impacts, and current management of this problematic weed, thereby identifying (i) opportunities for further research and (ii) recommendations for improved management within its invasive range.

Morphological diversity of Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana) in Sumbawa Island, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Abstract. Nikmatullah A, Nairfana I, Dewi SM, Sarjan M. 2023. Morphological diversity of Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana) in Sumbawa Island, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 24: 4597-4608. Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. (Indian jujube or Bidara) is an evergreen shrub or small tree tolerant to drought, salinity, and high-temperature stress with various ethnobotanical and ecological values. However, minimal information is available on its diversity in Indonesia. The current study aims to assess the morphological diversity of Z. mauritiana accessions collected from 18 locations in Sumbawa Island, Indonesia. The plant's qualitative and quantitative morphological attributes were collected, including size, L/W ratio and color of leaf and fruit, length, and occurrence of spine and stem surface. The results revealed significant differences in some observed characters among the accessions. Petiole length varied from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, leaf length ranged from 2.9 to 5.0 cm, leaf width ranged from 2.6 to 4.2 cm, and leaf L/W ratio was 1.07 to 1.46. All samples of Z. mauritiana in Sumbawa Island had a spine that occurred evenly in every node, ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 cm. Most accessions had single spinal per node except two accessions, which had double horn-shaped spines in each node. The quantitative characters for fruits also varied, either orbicular or oblong. The fruit length ranged from 1.2 to 1.9 cm, the fruit width varied between 1.1 to 1.8 cm, and the fruit L/W ratio was between 1.0 and 1.2. There were also morphological differences in leaf color, fruit color, shape, and taste (sweet, sour, or bitter). The finding suggests some degree of morphological diversity of Z. mauritiana in Sumbawa, as shown by quantitative and qualitative attributes of the leaf, thorn, and fruit.

Container characteristics and density of Aedes aegypti larvae: a field trial of Ziziphus mauritiana leaf extract

The application of larvicide from botanical origin was extensively studied as an essential part of mosquito prevention. This study aimed to assess the difference in container index (CI) based on the characteristics of water containers using <em>Ziziphus mauritiana</em> leaf extract solution. A quasi- experiment research was done among 300 selected containers with temephos as a control and 9% of <em>Ziziphus mauritiana</em> leaf extract solution as a treatment. The types of containers observed in this study were the type of water, container materials, location, container lids, and community behavior regarding immature <em>Aedes aegypti</em> breeding eradication. Water containers without lids and outside the house had a significantly higher CI among treatment (OR=26; 3.69–18.34; p=0.001 and OR=20; 2.04–19.64; p=0.003) and control group (OR= 10.83; 95% CI=1.96–59.83; p=0.005 and OR=6.43; 95% CI=1.02–40.26; p=0.04). Negative community behavior regarding the prevention and eradication of <em>Aedes</em> immatures was significantly associated with greater odds of high CI among treatment and control, with OR=37.5; 3.64–38.65; p=0.001 and OR=16.88; 2.56-11.4; p=0.002, respectively. Furthermore, containers with rainwater out of the treatment group had a higher presence of <em>Aedes larvae</em> (OR=11.25; 1.15–11.05; p=0.03).

Glyceamic Modulatory Effects of a Recipe from Some Commonly Consumed Fruit Pulps in Normal and Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats

Plants continue to play an important role in the treatment and management of many diseases, including diabetes mellitus, in many developing economies. Most often, a cocktail of plant mixtures is normally used in traditional practice rather than single plant, which are believed to offer more benefits. Adansonia digitata, Hyphaene thebaica, Ziziphus spina-christi, and Ziziphus mauritiana are some of those plants that are reported to have medicinal benefits and, most importantly, anti-diabetic activity. This study evaluated the hypoglyceamic and antidiabetic activity of the aqueous extracts of the fruit pulps and a recipe combining all the fruits in experimental rats. Aqueous extracts of the different fruits and the recipe were orally administered to normoglyceamic and Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats, and their blood glucose was monitored over a period of 3 hours in the screening study. Two different doses of the recipe were also administered daily for four (4) weeks to STZ-diabetic rats to study the antidiabetic potential of the recipe. All the extracts did not significantly reduce the fasting blood glucose (FBG) of the normoglyceamic rats in the hypoglyceamic screening study. In the antidiabetic screening study, all the extracts lowered the FBG of their respective groups with percent reductions of 32%, 21%, 17%, and 46%, respectively, for Z. spina-christi, Z. mauritiana, A. digitata and H. thebaica extractives. The maximum percent reduction observed for the recipe was 25.5%. The daily administration of the recipe for four weeks also produced significant reductions that were not dose dependent. The 200 mg/kg bd. wt. dose showed a maximum reduction of 59.9%. The percentage reductions observed in the recipe-treated group were, however, lower than the percentage reductions seen in the insulin and glibenclamide-treated groups. The study confirms the antidiabetic properties of the individual fruits and the recipe, and thus confirms the traditional use of the fruits in the management of diabetes mellitus.

A Note on the Rediscovery of the Sand Wasp <i>Bembecinus proximus</i> (Handlirsch) from an Urban Habitat

The wasp species Bembecinus proximus was described by Handlirsch (1892) but the type locality of the specimen remains inconclusive and was supposed to have been collected from Barrackpore, West Bengal, India. The species is known to be distributed in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India, but the current status of the genus and the species in India remains uninvestigated since the last publication of the species by Krombein 1984. This species has been rediscovered from India after a span of more than three decades from an urban roof-top garden and its ecological role in the urban habitat has been briefly explored and explained. Ziziphus mauritiana has been first reported as its nectaring plant. The significance of these artificial green habitats for urban entomofaunal conservation has been highlighted.

Efficient Adsorption Kinetic Studies of Chromium from Effluents Using Ziziphus mauritiana Leaf Extract Mediated TiO2 Nanoparticles

Water plays a remarkable role in the natural structure of a living organism as people's bodies comprise 60% water by weight. Water contamination due to negative industrialization and anthropogenic activities is a huge hazard to humanity. The water quality is degraded by the discharge of organic and Inorganic compounds, Pathogens, herbicides, pesticides, drugs, heavy metals, and macroscopic pollutants in the water bodies, leading to a decrease in the oxygen in the water. Heavy metals are well-defined habitat pollutants because of their toxicity and bio accumulative nature. The adsorption method is more appealing to researchers because of its extraordinary potential to remove toxic metals, in which adsorbate are attached to the solid surface of adsorbent through physiochemical interactions. In the current research, the plant leaf extract of Ziziphus mauritiana was subjected to synthesize TiO2. For Chromium removal from an aqueous solution, TiO2 nanoparticles will be used. UV-Visible, FTIR, powder and SEM will be employed to characterize nanoparticle synthesis. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer will be employed for heavy metal removal analysis before and after adsorption. pH, dosage rate, concentration, and contact time were among the various experimental activities used. Finally, to improve the results, experimental statistics were applied to all recorded data.

Plant-insect interactions in different genotypes of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana L) against fruit borer (Meridarchis scyrodes Meyrick)

Differences in genotypes of ber plant characters may affect insect-plant herbivore interactions, and variation in genotype traits is responsible for modifying the bottom-up effects. We evaluated the performance of different genotypes of Z. mauritiana against fruit borer, Meridarchis scyrodes Meyrick, under field conditions in the semi-arid region of India. We found that: (i) four genotypes were resistant; 5 genotypes were moderately resistant; 7 genotypes were susceptible, and seven genotypes were highly susceptible to fruit borers infestation; (ii) per cent fruit infestation was highest in Sanur-5 (75.09 %) and lowest in Safeda (13.27 %) followed by Tikadi (14.01 %); (iii) phenols (0.96), Tannins (0.95), flavonoid (0.95) contents and pericarp thickness (0.88) had significant negative correlations with per cent fruit infestation of fruit borer, M. scyrodes; (iv) fruit length (0.50) and pulp: stone ratio (0.77) showed significant positive correlations with per cent fruit infestation of fruit borer, M. scyrodes and (v) flavonoid contents explained 91.40% of the total variation in fruit borer, M. scyrodes infestation. Two principal components (PCs) were extracted, explaining the cumulative variation of 88.48 %. PC1 explained 64.34 % of the variation, while PC2 explained 24.14 n. In conclusion, growers can adopt the potential resistant genotype (Safeda) of Z. mauritiana with minimal financial investment to obtain higher yields.

Matters of the desert: A perspective on achieving food and nutrition security through plants of the (semi) arid regions

The semi- and arid agro-climatic zones of India harbor numerous plants, many occurring as wild and neglected inhabitants of the desert landscape, that bear edible fruits. They are capable of growing in extreme temperatures, on marginal lands and water-scarce conditions. These also represent sustainable food sources for the future. The benefits that they confer to the ecosystems and communities can be manifold: (a) as influencers of agricultural productivity for other crops (like cereals) in agroforestry systems; (b) as balanced functional foods by way of providing high quality protein, macro- and micronutrients to target protein-calorie malnutrition; (c) as sources of antioxidants, nutraceuticals and bioactive leads to target the ever-increasing burden of non-communicable diseases like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. A few representative examples of the promising desert plants include: Prosopis cineraria, Acacia senegal, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (cluster bean), Capparis decidua, Ziziphus mauritiana (Indian jujube), Cordia dichotoma, Leptadenia pyrotechnica, Calligonum polygonoides, and millets. Even though the potential of such plants has been recognized by food and agricultural scientists, research gaps like low yield, disease vulnerability, presence of anti-nutrients, unavailable genomic sequence information, exclusion from the formal food value chain, and poor marketing strategies, prevent the realization of their full potential. The current perspective looks at the promise afforded by underutilized plants of the Indian desert regions in ensuring food and nutrition security as well as the possibility of developing value-added agri-food products from them. The complementary role that food processing technologies can play in achieving the desired goals would also be highlighted so as to transform the desert plants from traditional to ‘climate-smart’ future foods.

First Report of Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae Causing Postharvest Fruit Rot on Indian Jujube in China.

Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamarck), is one of the most popular fruit crops in South China. In March 2023, a fruit rot of indian jujube with about 5% disease incidence was observed in two supermarkets of Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China. Initially, the symptoms appeared as slightly brown spots on the fruit surface, with disease progression, the lesions gradually expanded and covered with a layer of hyphae. Small pieces (3 to 4 mm2) from the periphery of 15 diseased fruit were surface disinfected using 1% sodium hypochlorite for 30 s, rinsed three times in sterilized distilled water, air dried, and then aseptically placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) media and incubated at 25°C for three days. A total of ten single spore isolates with similar morphology were obtained. Colonies of these consisted of initially white, gradually turning gray and eventually becoming black, and aerial hyphae were dense and fluffy. Conidiogenous cells were smooth, hyaline, cylinder-shaped, and holoblastic. Conidia were ellipsoidal, top and base-rounded, and thick-walled, immature conidia were colorless, hyaline, and aseptate, compared with dark brown color of the mature conidia, which were one-septate with longitudinal striations, ranging in size from 22.8 to 31.8 (mean 27.6) µm in length and 12.2 to 20 (mean 14.6) µm in width. The morphological characteristics were consistent with the characteristics of the Lasiodiplodia species (Phillips et al. 2013). To accurately identify the strain, three representative isolates, namely JFRL 03-1147, JFRL 03-1148, and JFRL 03-1149, were selected for further identification. The internal transcribed spacers (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1-α), and beta-tubulin (TUB2) genes/regions were amplified and sequenced using primers ITS1/ITS4, EF1-688F/EF1-1251R, and Bt2a/Bt2b, respectively (Chen et al. 2021). These nucleotide sequences were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers OQ804425-OQ804427 (ITS), OQ818097-OQ818099 (TEF1-α), and OQ818100-OQ818102 (TUB2). A BLASTn homology search for these nucleotides showed 99-100% identity to ITS (EF622077, 487 nt/487 nt), TEF1-α (EF622057, 306 nt/307 nt) and TUB2 (EU673111, 434 nt/434 nt) sequences of Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae CBS 116459 (ex-type). The maximum likelihood analyses were performed for the combined ITS, TEF1-α and TUB2 data set using IQtree web server (Trifinopoulos et al. 2016). The phylogenetic tree showed that the three isolates clustered with Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae in a clade with 99% bootstrap support. Therefore, the fungus was identified as L. pseudotheobromae based on morphological and molecular characteristics. To evaluate pathogenicity, 4 healthy fruits of indian jujube were surface sterilized with 75% ethanol and wounded by sterile needle, and a 5-mm-diameter agar with 5-days-old mycelium of the isolate JFRL 03-1148 cultured on PDA at 25°C was put on the wound. Another set of 4 fruits was inoculated with sterile agar plugs as controls. The fruits were cultured at 25℃ and 85% relative humidity, and the test was repeated twice. These fruits inoculated with L. pseudotheobromae showed similar rot symptoms after 3 days, while the control group remained asymptomatic. To fulfill Koch's postulates, the pathogen was re-isolated from the inoculated fruits and confirmed as L. pseudotheobromae by morphological and molecular analysis. L. pseudotheobromae has previously been reported causing fruit rot on citrus, mango and papaya (Alam et al. 2021; Chen et al. 2021; Netto et al. 2014). But to our knowledge, this is the first report of L. pseudotheobromae caused postharvest fruit rot on indian jujube in China. Therefore, managers should pay more attention to postharvest fruit rot disease caused by L. pseudotheobromae, and formulate appropriate disease control measures to reduce its losses.