Iranian Varieties Research Articles

CHARACTERIZATION OF SELECTED GRAPE SEEDS BASED ON SOME CHEMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS

A large amount of seeds is produced as a by-product after grape processing. In general, mainly due to fatty acid composition, the seeds oil is extracted to be used as potential ingredient for food applications. In the present study, some important chemical and biochemical characteristics of grape seeds from some Iranian varieties were assessed. To this end, protein concentration, fatty acid profile, antioxidant activity, ?-carotene content, and concentration of carbohydrates were determined using standard methods. The results showed that the protein concentration of the seeds ranged from 53.15 to 81.75 mg/g. Major fatty acid identified in all the studied seeds was linoleic acid followed by palmitic acid and oleic acid. Antioxidant activity of the seeds varied from 68.31 to 92.64%. The content of ?-carotene in the seeds was obtained to be in the range of 5.47?12.83 ?g/g. The soluble and insoluble sugars in the seeds varied in the range of 99.45?306.79 mg/g and 60.12?123.81 mg/g, respectively. For all the varieties, soluble sugar content was higher than insoluble one where the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The variance analysis revealed significant (P < 0.05) difference of the variety factor on the studied characteristics of the seeds.

Automated Grapevine Cultivar Identification via Leaf Imaging and Deep Convolutional Neural Networks: A Proof-of-Concept Study Employing Primary Iranian Varieties.

Extending over millennia, grapevine cultivation encompasses several thousand cultivars. Cultivar (cultivated variety) identification is traditionally dealt by ampelography, requiring repeated observations by experts along the growth cycle of fruiting plants. For on-time evaluations, molecular genetics have been successfully performed, though in many instances, they are limited by the lack of referable data or the cost element. This paper presents a convolutional neural network (CNN) framework for automatic identification of grapevine cultivar by using leaf images in the visible spectrum (400–700 nm). The VGG16 architecture was modified by a global average pooling layer, dense layers, a batch normalization layer, and a dropout layer. Distinguishing the intricate visual features of diverse grapevine varieties, and recognizing them according to these features was conceivable by the obtained model. A five-fold cross-validation was performed to evaluate the uncertainty and predictive efficiency of the CNN model. The modified deep learning model was able to recognize different grapevine varieties with an average classification accuracy of over 99%. The obtained model offers a rapid, low-cost and high-throughput grapevine cultivar identification. The ambition of the obtained tool is not to substitute but complement ampelography and quantitative genetics, and in this way, assist cultivar identification services.

Molecular diversity of grapevine Kizil Sapak virus and implications for its detection

To characterize their virome, double stranded RNAs extracted from scrapings of two Iranian grapevine varieties held in the Vassal-Montpellier Grapevine Biological Resources Center were analysed by high-throughput sequencing. In addition to several well-known grapevine viruses, divergent isolates of the newly described grapevine Kizil Sapak virus were identified in both accessions. Four complete genome sequences were determined, as well as two additional partial sequences (1,580 and 3,849 nucleotides long). These genomic sequences highlight the molecular diversity of this poorly known virus. In view of the absence of amplification of the GKSV isolates characterized here using the published primer pair, novel degenerate, polyvalent primers were designed, providing a more robust diagnosis.

Deborah Kim. Topics in the syntax of Sarikoli

The present work, a PhD thesis defended at Leiden University in 2017, presents a detailed study of some chosen syntactic subjects of the Sarikoli language. Sarikoli is a member of the Pamir group of Eastern Iranian. Being spoken south of Kashgar (on the border to Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan) in the eastern Pamir mountains in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, Sarikoli is also geographically the easternmost of the contemporary Iranian varieties. The first chapter provides a ...

Comparative sorption isotherms for colorants present in Dyers’ madder (Rubia tinctorum L.) provide new insights into historical dyeing

Dyers madder (Rubia tinctorum L.) has been famously used throughout history as a source of red dye. The sorption onto mordanted wool of the major colorant components of R. tinctorum, alizarin and the glycosides ruberythric acid and lucidin primeveroside, is studied herein. Sorption of a purified 1:1 mixture of ruberythric acid:lucidin primeveroside most closely followed a Temkin isotherm (R2 0.925), whereas alizarin followed a Freundlich isotherm (R2 0.940). These results were compared with HPLC chromatograms of English, Turkish and Iranian varieties of R. tinctorum before and after dyeing, where it was observed that the glycosides are shown to have the highest uptake onto wool. The higher sorption energy of the purified 1:1 ruberythric acid:lucidin primeveroside mixture (–11.4 kJ mol−1) compared with alizarin (–5.8 kJ mol−1) is in agreement with the HPLC results, indicating that the ruberythric acid/lucidin primeveroside mixture has a substantially higher affinity for wool compared with alizarin. Not only do the glycosides show higher affinity for the wool, but greater interactions between adsorbed species suggest a more extensive aggregation of dye on the surface of the wool. These observations are in contrast with much of the literature and bring into question previous conclusions that alizarin was the main dyeing species throughout history.

Identification and quantification of phenolic and flavonoid components in straw and seed husk of some rice varieties (Oryza sativaL.) and their antioxidant properties

Plant foods are rich sources of bioactive compounds that can act as antioxidants to prevent heart disease, reduce inflammation, reduce the incidence of cancers and diabetes. This study aimed to determine the phenolics and flavonoids profiling in three varieties of rice straw and five varieties of the seed husk of Iranian rice using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Furthermore, the antioxidant activities of the extracts were evaluated by using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and nitric oxide assays. HPLC analyses showed that the gallic acid, pyrogallol, apigenin and rutin were the main phenolic and flavonoid compounds in all varieties of rice. In addition, the methanolic extracts of Hashemi and Ali Kazemi varieties showed the highest amounts of phenolic and flavonoid contents, respectively. Rice straw and husk of Iranian varieties showed considerable antioxidant activity and Hashemi indicated significantly (P < 0.01) higher DPPH and nitric oxide free radical scavenging activities when compared to the other varieties. The present study revealed that rice straw and seed husk of Iranian varieties shows high antioxidant activities and they contain various types of phenolic and flavonoid compounds that could be use in food and medical industries.

Preliminary evaluation of resistance genes in rice against bacterial leaf blight in Guilan Province—Iran

The reactions of rice bacterial leaf blight races were identified in Guilan province—Iran on 12 near-isogenic lines and 14 pyramiding lines from International Network for Genetic Evaluation of rice (INGER) and 8 local and improved Iranian varieties were evaluated under natural photoperiod condition in the field. Inoculation was done at panicle initiation by clipping the sterilized scissors in the bacterial suspension to booting stage. Scoring of inoculated plants was made 21 days after inoculation. Infection levels of pyramiding lines containing two to five resistance genes, expect, IRBB53 and IRBB61 with respectively resistance gene combination, Xa5 + Xa13 and Xa4 + Xa5 + Xa7, were not so clear. Among near-isogenic lines IRBB1, IRBB2, IRBB4 and IRBB10 carrying resistance gene Xa1, Xa2, Xa4 and Xa10 were susceptible; IRBB8, IRBB11, IRBB3, IRBB5 and IRBB13 were moderately susceptible; (having resistance gene Xa8, Xa11, Xa3, Xa5 and Xa13) IRBB14, IRBB21 and IRBB7 with respectively resistance gene Xa14, Xa21 and Xa7 were moderately resistance to bacterial blight. Furthermore, most of the time gene combinations support the strategy of pyramiding appropriate resistance gene. Local varieties were more susceptible than improved varieties to leaf blight disease. Among local varieties, Tarom was the most susceptible. And also, there were no significant differences among improved varieties and all of them were moderately resistance.

Backernagel is Wackernagel Lite. On the “P-Minus 2” Clitics of Santali

Abstract Santali presents structures with subject clitics in “P minus 2” (P-2) position, before the final verb and enclitic on the preverbal element, a position called “Backernagel” by Kidwai (2005). P-2 is commonly considered to lack clear cross-linguistic support; moreover, while generative accounts can accommodate utterance-second position (P2) as adjunction to a left-peripheral projection, they have no ready way of accommodating P -2. The history and synchrony of Munda “P-2” have elicited several accounts. Anderson (2007) considers three possibilities: Reanalysis of Proto-Munda subject proclitics as enclitic; extension of postverbal object clitics to preverbal subject function; attachment of original resumptive pronouns to the preverbal element. I present evidence for a different hypothesis: The Santali Backernagel clitics originate as P 2 or classical Wackernagel elements. A more fine-grained definition of Wackernagel in terms of different prosodic domains (such as utterance/theme vs. rheme) permits the hypothesis that the apparent P -2 is still a W ackernagel position, but within the rheme rather than the entire utterance, and that within the rheme, the prosodically strongest, preverbal-focus element is the most attractive clitic host. I support my account with evidence from Santali and other Kherwarian languages (which offer traces of an original P 2 position) and parallel developments in Iranian (where the different stages in the development can be traced in greater detail). Backernagel, thus, is a subtype of Wackernagel, and there is no need to assume a typologically problematic P -2 position for Munda (or for various Iranian varieties).

Phenotypic diversity analysis of grain yield and yellow pigment content in germplasm collected from Iranian durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) landraces

This study was undertaken to compare patterns of agronomic characters and yellow pigment content diversity between Iranian durum landraces and modern varieties. In four field experiments, a collection of 127 accessions of landraces and 23 modern cultivars tetraploid wheat representing Iranian and global genetic diversity were tested under optimum and rain-fed conditions. Across the environments, the yellow pigment concentrations ranged from 1.85 mg kg−1 to 8.95 mg kg−1 in the field-grown samples. Multivariate analysis detected five groups, four including landraces and one comprising modern cultivars. As a group, modern cultivars were the most productive and showed high mean values for harvest index, grains per spike and yellow pigment, but they had the lowest plant height. Landraces had the highest mean number of spikes per m2 and 1000-kernel weight, but were characterized by low plant height and yellow pigment content. Clustering analysis also showed that, based on yield and yellow pigment content, the accessions in different groups were of different origins, suggesting that there was no clear relationship between accessions and geographical diversity. According to our results, Iranian landraces can be particularly useful as germplasm in breeding programmes to improve spikes per m2 and 1000-kernel weights.

Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) Markers to Study Genetic Diversity Among Cotton Cultivars in Associated with Salt Tolerance

Developing salt-tolerant crops is very important as a significant proportion of cultivated land is salt-affected . Screening and selection of salt tolerant genotypes of cotton using DNA molecular markers not only introduce tolerant cultivars useful for hybridization and breeding programs but also detect DNA regions involved in mechanism of salinity tolerance. To study this, 28 cotton cultivars, including 8 Iranian cotton varieties were grown in pots under greenhouse condition and three salt treatments were imposed with salt solutions (0, 70 and 140 mM NaCl). Eight agronomic traits including root length, root fresh weight, root dry weight, chlorophyll and fluorescence index, K + and Na + contents in shoot (above ground biomass), and K + /Na + ratio were measured. Cluster analysis of cultivars based on measured agronomic traits, showed ‘Cindose’ and ‘Ciacra’ as the most tolerant cultivars, and ‘B-557’ and ‘43347’ as the most sensitive cultivars of salt damage. A total of 65 polymorphic DNA fragments were generated at 14 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) loci. Plants of 28 cultivars of cotton grouped into three clusters based on ISSR markers. Regression analysis of markers in relation with traits data showed that 23, 33 and 30 markers associated with the measured traits in three salt treatments respectively. These markers might help breeders in any marker assisted selection program in order to improving cotton cultivars against salt stress.

EVALUATION OF ANTIRADICAL AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF TWO ACORN VARIETIES AND DETECTION OF PHENOLIC COMPOUND WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

In this study, total phenolics and flavonoids content, antiradical and antimicrobial activity of methanolic extract of two Iranian acorn varieties, namely Quercus.castaneifolia var castaneifolia and Quercus.branti var persica were evaluated. Total phenolic and flavonoid content and extraction yield of methanolic extract of castaneifolia variety (MC) were significantly higher than that of the extract of persica variety (MP). Extracts were also tested for their antioxidant activities using scavenging activity of 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and compared with synthetic antioxidant namely BHA and BHT. EC50 values for MC, MP, BHA and BHT were 42.84, 70.40, 89.46 and 41.73 mg/ml, respectively. The extracts also showed good antimicrobial activity against all of tested microorganisms and the tested gram-negative bacteria was more resistant to the inhibitory effect of extracts. The ranges of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extracts were 0.312-5 and 1.25-5 mg/ml for MC and MP, respectively. There was no difference between the MIC of MC and MB extract against Salmonella typhi and Shigella dysenteriae but MC extract showed the strongest activity on Escherichia coli and Yersinia entrocolitica at lower concentration. MP extract at concentration of 5mg/ml had bactericidal effect on all of gram negative bacteria (except Citrobacter). The most efficient bactericidal activity of MC extract was against Bacillus cereus, with MBC = 0.312 mg/ml while Shigella dysenteriae had the highest MBC (10mg/ml). A high-performance liquid chromatography was used for determination of phenolic acids of extracts. gallic, caffeic, p-coumaric and cholorogenic acid were found in MC and Gallic, caffeic, cholorogenic and sirinjic acid were detected in MP extract. Keywords: Acorn fruit, Antimicrobial activity, Gallic acid, Methanolic extract, Phenolic Compounds

Stoichiometric and free radical-scavenging kinetic studies of extractable polyphenols from pomegranate husk and pistachio hull

In this work, the antiradical activity of fresh and aged skins of two Iranian varieties of pomegranate husk and pistachio hull was measured in order to assess their concentration in antioxidant potential usable in various fields. The radical scavenging capacity (RSC) of pomegranate husks and pistachio hulls samples were studied using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH.) assay. To determine the RSC and stoichiometric factor of the samplers, the second-order rate constants (k2) and total H-atom-donating capacities (n) for the oxidation of polyphenol extracts by DPPH. were evaluated. The resulting k2 values were also compared with those of the natural and synthetic antioxidants. The order of relative second-order rate constants in methanol at 25 °C found to be pomegranate husk > gallic acid > tannic acid > pistachio hull. Furthermore, the RSCs based on the calculation of area under kinetic curve (AUC), total stoichiometric factor of natural phenolics and commercial antioxidants were also compared.

Modeling the Fracture Resistance of Sunflower Seed and Its Kernel as a Function of Moisture Content, Variety, Size and Loading Orientation

The aim of this work was to develop a mathematical model describing the evolution of rupture force, absorbed energy and deformation at rupture point. The models exploit the theory of the mechanical behavior of sunflower seeds and its kernel with moisture content, variety, size and loading orientation. The proposed models have been tested on three common Iranian varieties of sunflower seeds and their kernels namely Azargol, Shahroodi and Fandoghi. The results showed that rupture forces for both sunflower seed and kernel decreased with increasing moisture content, while in both loading orientations and for all varieties and size categories, the absorbed energy and deformation at rupture point increased as moisture content increased. The required compressive forces in both orientations, to initiate sunflower seed hulls rupture were higher (30.06 – 117.46 N) than those required to rupture the kernels (11.64 – 39.98 N). The seeds required lower dehulling compressive force when loaded under horizontal orientation than vertical orientation. However, an opposite trend was observed for the kernels. The deformation of kernels was substantially higher (1.92 – 2.90 mm) than the seeds (0.47 – 1.66 mm) for all variables.

Nigella sativa L.: Chemical composition and physicochemical characteristics of lipid fraction

Physicochemical properties of two Nigella seed varieties, having a Tunisian and Iranian origin, were determined. Physical and chemical analyses of crude oils extracted from the seeds by a cold solvent method were also performed. The following results (on a dry-weight basis) were obtained for Tunisian and Iranian varieties, respectively: protein 26.7% and 22.6%, oil 28.48% and 40.35%, ash 4.86% and 4.41%, and total carbohydrate 40.0% and 32.7%. The major unsaturated fatty acids were linoleic acid (50.3–49.2%), followed by oleic acid (25.0–23.7%), while the main saturated fatty acid was palmitic acid (17.2–18.4%). Myristic, myristoleic, palmitoleic, margaric, margaroleic, stearic, linolenic, arachidic, eicosenoic, behenic and lignoceric acids were also detected. Thermal profiles of both Nigella seed varieties, determined by their DSC melting curves, revealed different thermograms. Sensorial profiles of Tunisian and Iranian seed oils were defined through the CieLab ( L ∗, a ∗, b ∗) colour, oxidative stability by Rancimat test and viscosity. Physicochemical properties of the oils for Tunisian and Iranian varieties, respectively, include: saponification number 211 and 217, peroxide value 5.65 and 4.35, iodine index 120 and 101, and an acidity of 22.7% and 18.6%. Results suggested that Nigella seed oil could deserve further consideration and investigation as a potential new multi-purpose product for industrial, cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses.

Influence of Temperature and Air Velocity on Drying Time and Quality Parameters of Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.)

Drying is one of the important steps in pistachio processing. In this step kernel moisture content is decreased from 50 to less than 5% (d.b.) which will result in suitable condition for storage. Study of effective parameters in pistachio drying is important since these parameters influence drying time and kernel quality. In this research, a mono layer of pistachios was dried at three different temperatures (60, 75, and 90°C), and three levels of drying air velocity (1.5, 2, and 2.5 m/s). Changes of drying time, protein, fat and peroxide value were investigated for two common Iranian pistachio varieties Kalehghouchi and Fandoghi. Sensory tests were also used to check flavor of pistachios dried at the three temperature levels (60, 75, and 90°C). Statistical analysis of the data indicated that increasing the temperature to 90°C reduced drying time down by about 37% and caused a change in pistachio flavour. Taste tests indicated a consumer preference for pistachios dried at 75°C. If the air velocity is increased from 1.5 to 2.5 m/s, drying time reduces about 10 percent. Changes in temperature and air velocity have no significant effects on protein and fat content of pistachios, but if temperature reaches 90°C, peroxide value will increase to 0.55 meq/kg, which is still within the permissible limit for processed pistachios.

Characteristics of date pit oil

AbstractDate pit oils of three Iranian varieties of dates were examined for their fatty acid composition and some of their characteristics. The properties and compositions of the pit oils did not differ significantly from each other or from previously published literature values.