BACKGROUND: Seabuckthorn (SBT) has recently gained worldwide attention for its medicinal and nutritional potential. Many of the claims associated with SBT are related to its phenolics and antioxidants.
OBJECTIVE:The work aimed at studying the variability and genotypic effects on total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in seed. METHOD: Seed extracts of nine natural population of SBT (122 plants) were studied for TPC, TFC and TAC content. RESULTS: SBT seed were found to be rich in TPC ranging from 32 to 208 mg gallic acid equivalent/g DW. Flavonoid content ranged from 8 to 38 mg quercetin equivalent/g of DW. The free radical-scavenging activity in terms of inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) ranged from 0.3 to 9.2 mg/ml and ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) from 11 to 97 mmol Fe (II)/g. CONCLUSION: A variation of 1-6.5 fold in TPC, 1-4.7 fold variation in TFC, 1-8.8 fold in ferric reducing antioxidant potential and, 1-30.6 folds in IC 50 by 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay among the examined seeds across nine populations underlines the important role played by genetic background and the geographical location for determining the health promoting compounds.
Trench greenhouse is a low cost underground rectangular structure (30'×10'×3'; L×W×D) in north-south orientation with stone wall on four sides. It is covered with polyethylene sheet at ground level during winter months. The air temperature inside the trench was found to be 20.7±2.8 °C warmer during day and 7.0±1.2 °C at night that support growing of leafy vegetables during winter (mid October to early March). Three cycles of crops were grown in a year in the greenhouses as against single crop in open field condition in cold trans-Himalayan Ladakh region. Spinach production was 64 kg -70 kg per trench during mid October to early March. Black plastic mulch significantly increased spinach production during winter months. Vegetable seedlings (13,000 to 39,000 numbers per trench) were raised during late March to early May, which is not possible in open field condition otherwise. A variety of warm-season vegetables were harvested (6 kg -210 kg per trench) from the trenches during summer months.
Consumer concern about poor taste of fresh apricots is increasing and knowledge about the more suitable production requirement is essential. Genetic component influencing apricots quality is well known. However, there is limited information on environmental effect on fruit quality. This study aims to evaluate influence of altitude on phenological and fruit quality characters of apricot genotypes. Fruits from 162 genotype were collected from nine locations from 3006-3346 m asl in trans-Himalaya. The altitude had a marked influence on date of flowering, fruit weight, moisture and TSS content. For every 100 m increase in altitude, flowering and fruit ripening delayed by 3.3 and 7.1 day, respectively. Inverse relationship between altitude and fruit weight (R2=0.310) was observed. For every 100 m increase in altitude the fruit weight decrease by 0.5 g. Fruit moisture content decreased significantly with increase in elevation (R2=0.585). Decrease in moisture content was 1.9% for every 100 m increase in elevation. Altitude showed linear relationship with fruit TSS content (R2=0.726). For every 100 m increase in altitude, the fruit TSS increased by 1.2ºBrix. Knowledge from the present study on the impact of altitude on fruit quality characters provides a useful guide for selecting orchard location towards improving fruit quality
One year old growth stem cutting (2.9 ± 0.8 mm thickness), which is less than half of the conventional pencil thickness (7-8 mm) hardwood cutting, was studied for vegetative propagation of seabuckthorn (SBT). Rooting trial tested the effects of 14 media and 6 concentration of indole-3-butyric acid treatment. Over 94 % rooting was observed in all the media tested. The mean rooting percentage was 97.6 ± 2.2. Exogenous auxin treatments lack any benefit and rooting was over 97 % without hormonal treatment. Sevenfold more number of cuttings was obtained per plant as compared to pencil thickness hardwood cuttings, which is the conventional method of SBT propagation. The result of the present study could facilitate establishment of a vegetative propagation method wherein larger number of cuttings per plant can be propagated with higher rooting success rate without the need of exogenous application of rooting hormone.
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