Effect of Pre-Harvest Foliar Application of Citric Acid and Malic Acid on Chlorophyll Content and Post-Harvest Vase Life of Lilium cv. Brunello

Citric acid is a regular ingredient in many vase solution formulations but pre-harvest use of citric acid is a novel method in vase life extension of cut flowers, which is reported on tuberose earlier. In order to verify previous result, and check for possible substitution of citric acid by malic acid, the current research was designed. Citric acid (0, 0.075, 0.15% w/v) and malic acid (0, 0.075, 0.15% w/v) were used in a factorial design with three replications. Foliar sprays were applied two times during growth period of Lilium plants. The results point out that 0.15% citric acid alone had increased vase life from 11.8 in control treatment to 14 days (α < 0.05). The interesting finding was the effect of citric acid on bulbil weight, which was decreased from 9 g in control to 1.5 g in treatment containing combination of 0.075% citric acid and 0.075% malic acid. Malic acid while having no direct effect on pre-mentioned traits surprisingly increased the chlorophyll content significantly. The interaction effect between citric acid and malic acid on vase life and chlorophyll content proved significant and was evident in results, both as antagonistic and synergistic in various traits

Karyotype Analysis of several Ecotypes of Capsicum annuum L. in Iran

Capsicum (pepper) is a member of the Solanaceae family and this genus has a great economic importance in food, drug, spices and industry. In this study, seeds of ten ecotypes of Capsicum spp. were obtained from the plant gene bank of Seed and Plant Improvement Institute of Karaj, Iran. The standard karyotype was prepared for the ecotypes and the characteristics of the chromosomes including long arm, short arm, total length (TL), arm ratio and centromeric index were calculated and chromosome types were determined. The number of chromosomes in somatic cells of all genotypes was 24 (2n=2x=24). All genotypes had a pair of satellite chromosome. The first 2 principal component analysis (PCA) justified over 99% of the total variations determined for cytological parameters. The highest total haploid length (51.65 μm) was detected in G7 while G8 demonstrated the least (43.46 μm). Cluster analysis was carried out for chromosomal parameters, classifying genotypes in three classes.<br /