Pistachio Cultivars Research Articles

Life table parameters of Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) on four commercial pistachio cultivars

Life table parameters of Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), on four pistachio cultivars (Akbari, Ahmad-Aghaii, Fandoghi and Kalehghouchi) were studied in laboratory at 28±0.5°C, 50±5% RH and a photoperiod of 16:8h (L:D). The larvae successfully developed on all cultivars. The shortest and longest larval periods were recorded on Akbari and Kalehghouchi, respectively. The fecundity of females varied from 109.19 to 157.81 eggs on Kalehghouchi and Akbari, respectively. The adult longevity varied from 6.19 to 6.75days on Fandoghi and Akbari, respectively. The intrinsic rate of increase (rm) ranged from 0.0961 to 0.1382 (female/female/day) on Kalehghouchi and Akbari, respectively. The mean generation time (T) was found 35.67 to 31.83days on Kalehghouchi and Akbari, respectively. The Kalehghouchi cultivar was less suitable, and the Akbari cultivar was the most suitable host for P. interpunctella in comparison with other cultivars. These results provide important information on population growth potential of P. interpunctella on four commercial pistachio cultivars.

Botryosphaeriaceae and Diaporthaceae associated with panicle and shoot blight of pistachio in California, USA

Botryosphaeria panicle and shoot blight was considered as one of the single greatest threats to the California pistachio industry in the last two decades. A large number of fungi with typical morphological characteristics of Botryosphaeriaceae and Diaporthe were collected from pistachios in 18 counties in California and deposited in our culture collection. The aims of this study were to identify these isolates, recognize the distribution of these fungal species and test their pathogenicity to pistachio cultivars. A total of 304 California isolates were identified based on comparisons of DNA sequence data of the ITS, TEF-1α and β-tubulin gene regions, and combined with the morphological features of the cultures and conidia. Research results showed that California isolates represent eight species of Botryosphaeriaceae and one species of Diaporthe. These species include Botryosphaeria dothidea, Diplodia seriata, Dothiorella iberica, Dot. sarmentorum, Lasiodiplodia citricola, L. gilanensis, Neofusicoccum mediterraneum, Neof. vitifusiforme and Diaporthe chamaeropis. Of the Botryosphaeriaceae, 86 % of the isolates were identified as Neof. mediterraneum, which distributed in all the sampled counties. On pistachio trees, in addition to isolates from California, Neof. mediterraneum from Arizona, Neof. australe from Australia, B. dothidea, Neof. parvum and Dia. viticola from Greece were also identified. Pathogenicity of the California fungi on pistachio cultivars, Kerman (female) and Peters (male), using a mycelium plug and conidial suspension inoculation methods showed that all these species are pathogenic to the two tested pistachio cultivars, with L. citricola, L. gilanensis being the most pathogenic species, followed by Neof. mediterraneum. This study represents the first comprehensive work on the species identification, distribution and pathogenicity of Botryosphaeriaceae and Diaporthe on pistachio in California.

PHENOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF TWO NEW MALE CULTIVARS OF PISTACHIO (PISTACIA VERA L.): 'CHAPARRILLO' AND 'GUERRERO'

In the present work, the phenology of eight female and ten male pistachio (P. vera L.) cultivars has been characterized, including the first data of agronomic behavior of two new male cultivars obtained recently: ‘Guerrero’ and ‘Chaparrillo’. A phenological synchronization index (FSI) between male and female cultivars has been determined, which will help to find the best choosing between all the different possible combinations. The experiment was conducted at the El Chaparrillo Research Station, Ciudad Real, Spain (3°56’W, 39°0’N; altitude 640 m). For this characterization of the cultivars in study, four leading phenological stages (Guerrero et al., 2008) were taken into account: initial movement, beginning, full and end of flowering period. Data have been collected during seven years. It is noteworthy ‘C-Especial’ and ‘M-38’ male cultivars as more universal to present higher rates of overlap in pollination with most female cultivars under study. The exception is marked by late flowering males, such as ‘Peter’ and ‘02-18’, being the most common for late flowering female cultivar ‘Kerman’. However, the best flowering overlaps are obtained with the two new males ‘Guerrero’ and ‘Chaparrillo’, with an FSI above 0.8 with that female cultivar. Finally, considering that annual climatic differences affect the phenology of each cultivar also differently, it is believed that combining different male cultivars with different flowering dates is recommended to ensure maximum overlap with the female cultivar.

COMPARISON OF BLOOM AND HARVEST DATES, ALTERNATE BEARING INDEX AND NUT QUALITY PARAMETERS OF 'GOLDEN HILLS' AND 'LOST HILLS' PISTACHIO CULTIVARS TO 'KERMAN'

From the 1970s through the first years of the 21st century, U.S. growers were completely dependent on the ‘Kerman’ female and ‘Peters’ male pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) cultivars. As a result of a breeding program conducted by University of California researchers from 1989 to 1996, two female pistachio trees, ‘Golden Hills’ and ‘Lost Hills’ were identified as having valuable traits for the U.S. pistachio industry. The ‘Randy’ male cultivar was selected to provide pollen for these earlier blooming females. The performance of these female selections was compared to ‘Kerman’, the industry standard in replicated trials in randomized and replicated trials conducted from 1997 through 2011 in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley of California. Traits compared included yield, bloom and harvest timing, and nut quality parameters. The pollination period for ‘Randy’ overlapped that of ‘Golden Hills’ and ‘Lost Hills’ and these three cultivars were at full bloom about five days earlier than ‘Kerman’ and ‘Peters’. ‘Golden Hill’s and ‘Lost Hills’ were harvestable two weeks earlier than ‘Kerman’, had a higher split nut percentage and fewer blanks. ‘Lost Hills’ demonstrated less alternate bearing and a greater individual nut weight than ‘Kerman’. ‘Golden Hills’ and ‘Randy’ have become established cultivars in California with significant planted acreage.

INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE ON THE PRODUCTION QUALITY PARAMETERS IN PISTACHIO (PISTACIA VERA L.)

This study is based on the comparison of production data, in terms of crop quality, of eight female pistachio cultivars: ‘Aegina’, ‘Ashoury’, ‘Avdat’, ‘Avidon’ ‘Kerman’, ‘Larnaka’, ‘Mateur’ and ‘Napoletana’ on native rootstock P. terebinthus L. The experiment was conducted at the El Chaparrillo Research Station, Ciudad Real, Spain (3°56’W, 39°0’N; altitude 640 m). Data have been collected during four years, and tree age was between 11 and 14 years. It has been studied the influence of climatic factors on the reproductive physiology of the crop in the aspects related to the commercial quality of the yield: percentage of dehiscent and blank fruits. However, other factors are probably interrelated to understand all these relationships. A close relationship with temperatures has been shown. Heat units above 30°C. (UC30) during the growing season (from May to September) had the best significances with the percentage of split fruits. High temperatures during the vegetative growth of the tree increase the percentage of split fruits, with maximum temperatures in June being those of major influence. Moreover, the percentage of blank fruits showed better relationship with the temperatures of April, when flowering and pollination occurs; generally it is observed that the minimum temperatures of this month affect the final percentage of blank fruits.

IDENTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION OF IRANIAN COMMERCIAL PISTACHIO BY MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

This study was carried out in order to get pistachio cultivars registration of the commercial and native pistachio in the provinces Kerman ('Owhadi', 'Kalleh Ghoochi', 'Ahmdaghaei', 'Akbari', 'Momtaz', and 'Fandoghi 48'), Semnan ('Abasali' and 'Shahpasand'), Ghazvin ('Kaleh Bozi') and Khorasan Razavi ('Badami Sefid'). Evaluation of morphological traits based on national tests and international Descriptors' List was performed. The results showed that the following factors are distinct and exclusive: growth habit, changing of shell color and shape of fruit top for 'Shahpasand' cultivar; trunk color, color of one-year-old shoot, early splitting, seed width, weight of 100 seeds, seed thickness and terminal leaflet margin for 'Kalleh Bozi' cultivar; the terminal leaflet shape for 'Owhadi' and 'Abasali' cultivars; the terminal leaflets top figure for 'Kaleh Ghoochi' cultivar; the section width of petiole, inflorescence density and hull strength for 'Abasali' cultivar; inflorescence axis length, flowering period and loosing fruit from the cluster for 'Fandoghi 48' cultivar; opening time of 50% of the flowers and the first flowering stage after grafting for 'Akbari' cultivar; the shape of flower bud and depression near the junction of fruit for 'Momtaz' cultivar; the hull color for 'Ahmdaghaei' cultivar; color of fruit junction area for 'Abasali' and 'Fandoghi 48' cultivars; position of shell splitting, blank seed percentage, color of kernel skin and flowering time for 'Badami Sefid' cultivar. Study on the coefficient of similarity showed that 'Ahmadaghaei' and 'Akbari' cultivars had the highest similarity in terms of quality characters and 'Ahmadghaei' with 'Kalleh Ghoochi' and 'Kalleh Bozi' with 'Ahmadaghaei' had the lowest similarity. Furthermore, cultivars in the region of Damghan ('Abasali' and 'Shahpasand') grouped in one and 'Kalleh Ghoochi' and 'Owhadi 'cultivars grouped in two separate groups. Grouping exclusive traits and all cultivars were registered by using these characteristics and statistical analysis.

Optimizing the relative water protection (RWP) as novel approach for monitoring drought tolerance in Iranian pistachio cultivars using graphical analysis

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is the most important agricultural crop in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran. In order to optimize and evaluate the ability of relative water protection (RWP) for screening drought-tolerant pistachio cultivars, twenty-one cultivars with wide range of tolerance to drought stress were collected from across the orchards of Rafsanjan (Iran’s center of pistachio cultivation) and were used in a randomized complete block design with three replications under two environmental conditions (normal and drought stress) in 2011-2012. Four different withering times (4h, 6h, 8h and 10h) for measuring RWP were compared to determine the best time for screening tolerant cultivars. The results showed that the RWP increased significantly (P < 0.05) under drought stress, but the increase was not significant in susceptible cultivars. The highest RWP was observed in tolerant cultivars and the lowest rate was detected in susceptible. The visualizing graphics of different statistical methods revealed that the diversity among the cultivars was increased when the withering time to measure RWP was longer (4h to 10h). Three groups of cultivars including tolerant, intermediate and susceptible were not clearly separated from each other at the times 4h and 6h. As a result, the measuring RWP at these withering times are not reliable to identify droughttolerant pistachio cultivars. The time 8h was suitable to separate drought tolerant cultivars from susceptible, but this time was not able to screen cultivars with high tolerance from intermediate under drought condition. The findings adopted the RWP measured at the withering time 10h as ideal time for classification and identification of drought tolerant cultivars. In the present study, Kale Ghoochi 1 and Ancient Badami were selected, respectively, as the most tolerant and susceptible pistachio

Colour optimisation of ground pistachio during roasting

In this research, ‘Ahmad Aghaei’ pistachio cultivar harvested from Iran in 2011 was supplied by the Pistachio Research Institute. The effect of roasting times (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 min) and temperatures (120, 130, 140, 150 and 160 °C) on the colour of pistachio nuts was investigated. Initially, the L value (lightness) decreased for all temperatures and then increased for 120 and 130 °C with increases in roasting temperature and time. Values of a (redness) and ΔE (colour difference) for pistachio samples showed an increase while b decreased. Changes in L, a and b (yellowness) values of pistachio were used to develop and to validate a numerical dynamic model. The developed prediction models satisfactorily described the colour development as a function of roasting temperature and time for L, a, b and ΔE of ground-state measurements. As a result of variance analysis, the effects of the roasting process on colour values of pistachios were found to be statistically significant. In addition, changes in colou...

Molecular identification of 16S rII phytoplasma group in commercial pistachio cultivars in Iran

Evaluation of phytoplasmas infection was conducted in the pistachio-growing areas of Iran (Rafsanjan in Kerman province) in early autumn of 2011. A total of 30 pistachio trees collected from a pistachio orchard in Rafsanjan showing Psylla damage symptoms and 10 samples with different abnormal symptoms from miscellaneous orchards were tested for the presence of phytoplasma. By using nested PCR with primer pairs P1/P7 and internal primer sets R16F2N/R16R2 and fU3-rU5, amplified fragment of expected size was observed in some trees with deformation and yellowing symptoms. On the basis of nucleotide sequence analysis of 16S rDNA amplified by PCR, this phytoplasma was classified in group 16S rII. In addition, we observed false positive reaction in three trees of Ahmadaghaei cultivar by using primer sets R16F2N/R16R2 and sequence analysis of ~1250bp PCR product indicated that amplified fragment was related to Schinus terebinthifolius; a species of flowering plant in the Anacardiaceae family.

Feeding indices and enzymatic activities of carob moth Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: pyrallidae) on two commercial pistachio cultivars and an artificial diet

Feeding indices and enzymatic activities of Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller) were studied in a growth chamber under controlled conditions (29±2°C, relative humidity of 70±5% and a photoperiod of 16:8 (L:D) hours) on two commercial Pistachio cultivars (Akbari and Kalequchi) and an artificial diet. Feeding indices of E. ceratoniae larvae differed significantly on three hosts (P<0.05). The relative consumption rate was calculated to be 5.36±0.009, 11.10±1.49 and 10.631±0.599 (mg/mg/day) on artificial diet, Akbari and Kalequchi cultivars, respectively. Carob moth larvae reared on Akbari cultivar showed the highest efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD) (5.64±0.43). The highest amount of efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) was obtained on artificial diet but approximate digestibility (AD) was the lowest on this diet. The highest enzymatic activities of alpha-amylase, general proteases and lipase were observed in the midgut of larvae reared on artificial diet. Total protein and lipid value were highest in larvae that were reared on artificial diet.

Effect of different rootstocks on PAL activity and phenolic compounds in flowers, leaves, hulls and kernels of three pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) cultivars

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) is a biochemical marker of environmental stress and plays a pivotal role in phenolic synthesis. Lower ROS levels and oxidative damage were observed in grafted plants; moreover, the rootstocks have a profound influence on the biochemical composition, especially of phenolic compounds. Regarding the importance of the effect rootstocks have on scion in pistachio trees, this study was carried out to assess and compare three pistachio cultivars (Ahmadaghaii, Ohadi and Kallehghuchi) on four rootstocks (Mutica, Ahli, Sarakhs and Atlantica). PAL activity, phenolic compounds, and flavonoid and anthocyanin contents in leaves, flowers and fruits were measured for the selection of the most suitable and compatible rootstock/scion resistant to environmental stresses. The results showed that PAL activity was different among the cultivars and organs. A positive correlation was observed between PAL activity and phenolic compounds in the leaves and flowers of Mutica-Ahmadaghaii, suggesting that it was more resistant than the others to environmental stresses. PAL activity and total phenolics in pistachio fruits suffered a decrease when the maturation processes began. The hulls of the pistachio fruits contained high levels of phenolic compounds, especially in Mutica-Ahmadaghaii, suggesting its function as a protective layer and a defense chemical against ultraviolet radiation and pathogens. Our results indicated the presence of a number of bioactive compounds in kernels with the highest amount belonging to Mutica-Ahmadaghaii. Therefore, we concluded that pistachio rootstocks mighy affect the antioxidant compounds in kernels.

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is a new natural host of Hop stunt viroid

Besides hop, Hop stunt viroid (HpSVd) infects many woody species including grapevine, citrus, peach, plum, apricot, almond, pomegranate, mulberry and jujube. Here, we report the first detection of HpSVd in pistachio (Pistacia vera L.). Samples corresponding to 16 pistachio cultivars were obtained from a nearby almond collection. From these samples, low molecular weight RNAs were extracted for double polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, northern-blot analysis and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays. HpSVd was detected in 4 of the 16 pistachio cultivars in the first year and in 6 in the second, being also detected in the almond collection. Examination of the nucleotide sequences of pistachio and almond isolates revealed 13 new sequence variants. Sequences from pistachio shared 92-96% similarity with the first reported HpSVd sequence (GenBank X00009), and multiple alignment and phylogenetic analyses showed that one pistachio isolate (HpSVdPis67Jabari) clustered with the plum group, whereas all the others clustered with the hop, and the recombinants plum-citrus and plum-Hop/cit3 groups. By identifying pistachio as a new natural host, we confirm that HpSVd is an ubiquitous and genetically variable viroid that infects many different fruit trees cultivated worldwide.

Pistachio (Pistacia vera var Kerman) from Argentinean cultivars. A natural product with potential to improve human health

The chemical profile, mineral content as well as antioxidant activities of three cultivars of Pistacia vera cv Kerman were investigated. The total phenolic (TP) content flavonoids (FT) and anthocyanins (TA) were measured. Additionally, the profile of polyphenols was analyzed. A slight, not significant, increment was observed in TP content between cultivars with different age (5, 9 and 11years old). The 9years old cultivar showed the highest FL value, while the 11years old cultivar had the higher TA content. Main polyphenols were separated by HPLC and identified by electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled to quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (LC–ESI–QTOF–MS). Gallic acid and (+)-catechin were present in higher amounts. The presence of myricetin, isoquercitrin and a dimer of procyanidin are reported for the first time in pistachio. Additionally, K, Ca and Mg were found in high proportion. The highest antioxidant capacity was measured in the 11years old pistachio cultivar. This work presents the first evidence that Pistacia vera cv Kerman from Argentinean cultivars could be considered as a functional food or ingredient in a diet, with potential to improve human health.

In vitro antioxidant and in vivo photoprotective effect of pistachio (Pistacia vera L., variety Bronte) seed and skin extracts

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) nuts are a rich source of phenolic compounds, known for their high antioxidant activity, and contained not only in the seeds but also in the skin. A pistachio cultivar of high quality is typical of Bronte, Sicily, Italy. The purpose of our study was to investigate the chemical composition and antioxidant properties of two polyphenol-rich extracts from skins (TP) and decorticated seeds (SP) of Bronte pistachios, and to verify the potential use of these extracts for topical photoprotective products.Chemical analysis showed that the TP and SP extracts contain high levels of phenolic compounds, but the TP extract is about ten times richer in phenols than the SP extract, being anthocyanins the most abundant compounds found in the TP extract. Both these extracts, and especially the TP extract, possess good radical scavenger/antioxidant properties, as shown in a series of in vitro assays carried out using homogenous and non-homogenous chemical environment. Furthermore both the TP extract and, although at a lower degree, the SP extract reduce, when topically applied, UV-B-induced skin erythema in human volunteers. These findings suggest that extracts from Bronte TP and SP could be successfully employed as photoprotective ingredients in topical cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations.

Investigation of Antioxidant Capacity and Some Bioactive Compounds of Iranian Pistachio (Pistachio vera L.) Cultivars

Edible nuts have an increasing role in human diet. Pistachio is a popular but less known kind of edible nut nevertheless it is rich in health benefiting nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins. Therefore, this study attempts to determine the antioxidants capacity, total phenolics and amount of some major elements (nitrogen, potassium, calcium and phosphorus), present in the most important Iranian pistachio nut, to enhance the health benefits, and use in breeding programs. For this reason eleven pistachio cultivars (‘Akbary’, ‘Ahmad Aghaii’, ‘Daneshmandi’, ‘Kalle Ghoochi 1’, ‘Kalle Ghoochi 2’, ‘Garmeh’, ‘Ohadi 1’, ‘Ohadi 2’, ‘Sefid’, ‘Momtaz’, and chance seedling tree (None-grafted) as control) which are grown in commercial orchards of Fayzabad (Khorasan-e-Razavi) were analyzed for determination of some major elements, antioxidants capacity and total phenolics contents. The results showed that the amounts of the nutrients in 100 g kernel were within the following ranges: N 2.5-4.1 g, P 355.9-546.6 mg, K 573.6-994.9 mg and Ca 61.5-134.5 mg. Total phenolics content varied from 5.3-9.9 mg gallic acid equivalents in g fresh weight. The results also showed that the capacity of antioxidant ranged from 1.6-3.7 (mg ascorbic acid equivalents in g fresh weight). Weak correlation was observed between total phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity (r 2 =0.3824). The result demonstrates that there is adequate variation in major elements, antioxidants capacity and total phenolics contents within pistachio cultivars and hence there is potential for improvement towards enhancing these health-promoting photochemical in this nuts.

Investigation of Antioxidant Capacity and Some Bioactive Compounds of Iranian Pistachio (Pistachio vera L.) Cultivars

Edible nuts have an increasing role in human diet. Pistachio is a popular but less known kind of edible nut nevertheless it is rich in health benefiting nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins. Therefore, this study attempts to determine the antioxidants capacity, total phenolics and amount of some major elements (nitrogen, potassium, calcium and phosphorus), present in the most important Iranian pistachio nut, to enhance the health benefits, and use in breeding programs. For this reason eleven pistachio cultivars (‘Akbary’, ‘Ahmad Aghaii’, ‘Daneshmandi’, ‘Kalle Ghoochi 1’, ‘Kalle Ghoochi 2’, ‘Garmeh’, ‘Ohadi 1’, ‘Ohadi 2’, ‘Sefid’, ‘Momtaz’, and chance seedling tree ("None-grafted") as control) which are grown in commercial orchards of Fayzabad (Khorasan-e-Razavi) were analyzed for determination of some major elements, antioxidants capacity and total phenolics contents. The results showed that the amounts of the nutrients in 100 g kernel were within the following ranges: N 2.5-4.1 g, P 355.9-546.6 mg, K 573.6-994.9 mg and Ca 61.5-134.5 mg. Total phenolics content varied from 5.3-9.9 mg gallic acid equivalents in g fresh weight. The results also showed that the capacity of antioxidant ranged from 1.6-3.7 (mg ascorbic acid equivalents in g fresh weight). Weak correlation was observed between total phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity (r2=0.3824). The result demonstrates that there is adequate variation in major elements, antioxidants capacity and total phenolics contents within pistachio cultivars and hence there is potential for improvement towards enhancing these health-promoting photochemical in this nuts.

Effect of roasting on colour and volatile composition of pistachios (Pistacia vera L.)

SummaryPistachios have been roasted following the Iranian traditional method (soaking in salty water, drying and roasting at 135 °C). Three Iranian pistachio cultivars (Ahmad Aghaei, Akbari and Kaleghouchi) were compared for their volatile compositions, colour and odour intensity. Lightness decreased in the course of roasting, which resulted from Maillard reaction. Raw pistachios had lower concentrations of most volatiles than roasted. A total of twenty‐six compounds were detected in roasted pistachios; these included aldehydes, terpenes, alcohols and only two pyrazines and one furan. These mixtures of volatiles implied that the Iranian roasting system is very soft, and samples retained most of the vegetable notes from fresh pistachios and some roasted notes were generated as well (from 2‐ethyl‐5‐methylpyrazine and 2,6‐dimethyl‐3‐ethylpyrazine). Sample from cultivar Akbari presented higher odour intensity than those by the other two cultivars, due mainly to higher concentrations of pyrazines developed during the roasting step.

Using inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers to study genetic polymorphism of pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) in Algeria

Pistacia vera L. is a widely represented plant in Algerian semi-arid regions. It is potentially used to restore degraded ecosystems. Genetic relationships among the cultivars was assessed by using six inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers. During the ISSR screening in this study, good amplification products were obtained from primers based on guanine-adenine (GA), cytosine-adenine (CA) and guanine-adenine-adenine (GAA) repeats. Primers based on cytosine-tyrosine (CT) and CAA repeats produced few large separate bands, so these primers were not selected for the final analysis (eliminated for the final analysis). This study shows that ISSR-PCR analysis is quick, reliable and produces sufficient polymorphisms for large-scale DNA fingerprinting purposes. The total of 111 bands of which 60 were polymorphic, (with 54.04%) was amplified by the six primers, an average of seven bands per primer. The total number of amplified fragments was between five to ten and the number of polymorphic fragments ranged from four to seven. The range of genetic similarity was from 0/84 to 1 and the constructed unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA), dendrogram classified the tested genotypes into two main clusters. This study shows that there was low genetic diversity among the tested cultivars and the ISSR-PCR analysis produced sufficient polymorphisms for large-scale DNA fingerprinting. This study reports the first application of the ISSR technique in characterization of Algerian pistachio cultivars original from Syria.

Influence of salt stress on growth, pigments, soluble sugars and ion accumulation in three pistachio cultivars

In this study, three pistachio cultivars were treated with different concentration of salt solution to provide a reference for the cultivation of salt tolerant rootstocks. The results revealed that increasing the salinity stress resulted in decreasing growth performances of the plants in the three pistachio cultivars. This decrease was not significant in salinity of 100 mM but was significant in other salinities compared to control. In all salinity levels and control conditions, Akbari (Ak) cultivar exhibited larger growth performances of the plants in comparison with the other two cultivars; this state is more sensible in salinities of 200 and 300 mM. Ak cultivar assumed significantly higher pigment amount than the other two cultivars in high salinities. Impact of salinity on reduction of chlorophyll amount was significant in all cultivars starting from salinity of 200 mM. Moderate and high salinity led to an increase in amount of total soluble sugars in Ak cultivar while no significant contrast was achieved between the other two cultivars compared to control conditions. The impacts of different salinities on Na and Cl were nearly similar and the amounts of these elements increased with exceeding salinity stress in different cultivars compared to control condition. The high stress level resulted in remarkable enhancement of Cl and Na amounts in Ouhadi (Ou) and Kalehghouchi (Ka) cultivars. However, the low and moderate salinities increased the concentration of potassium in AK cultivar compared to the other two cultivars. Therefore, higher plant growth and photosynthetic pigments, lower Na and Cl content, greater accumulation of soluble sugars and K could explain the greater salt-tolerance of AK compared to that of Ka and Ou. Key words: Pistachio cultivars, salinity, growth, ion accumulation.

The Effect of Sorting on Aflatoxin Reduction of Pistachio Nuts

Quality of dried sorted pistachio nuts could have an important role in the aflatoxin B 1 content of final pistachio lot. In order to determine this effect in different pistachio cultivars, samples of Fandoghi, Ahmad Aghaei and Kale-Ghoochi lots were divided to 7 categories based on the physical appearance of dried pistachios which were yellowish-brown stain, dark-greyish stain, large, medium, tiny, damaged and non-split. The aflatoxin content was measured by the TLC-Scanner method and results showed that the average aflatoxin content of the yellowish-brown stained nuts of the Fandoghi, Ahmad Aghaei, and Kale-Ghoochi cultivars were 136.2, 632.4 and 120.3 ng g -1 , respectively, while in the dark-greyish stained nuts contained 28.7, 292.8, 7.3 ng g -1 , respectively. The amount of aflatoxin in the Fandoghi, Ahmad Aghaei and Kale-Ghoochi lots can be significantly (P<0.05) reduced to 94.6%, 97.2% and 98.8%, respectively, if all the stained nuts were removed from the lot during sorting. The highest aflatoxin B 1 content was detected in the stained nuts of all the cultivars studied. This study showed that segregation or removal of all the stained nuts from the unstained portion during the sorting process could contribute to the reduction of aflatoxin content in the final dried pistachio lot.