Physiological response of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. Cv. Fetească albă) at the climatic conditions of 2012 in Iaşi and Cotnari wine regions

As a result of global climate change, strongly felt in recent years, the grapevine is becoming increasingly exposed to abiotic stress factors. Among these, temperature, light intensity and rainfall, with significant variations from normal, play an important role in the occurrence of changes in the physiological activity of the plant. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological response of Fetească alba grapevine variety at the climatic conditions of the year 2012, in Iaşi and Cotnari wine regions. A source-sink relationship was analyzed based on photosynthetic activity, water use efficiency and storage of metabolites in different plant organs. In the phenophases of flowering, grapes growth and grape maturation were found changes in photosynthetic activity and water use efficiency of the plant, caused by different climate conditions, without significant quantitative differences in the assimilate storage. This means that, at Vitis vinifera L cv Fetească albă, better adaptated to environmental conditions in this two regions, reduced photosynthetic activity due to insufficient light or rainfall can be compensated by an efficient transport and storage of assimilates, demonstrated by the grape production and dry matter accumulation on the grapevine leaf or canes level

Influenţa stresului salin asupra conţinutului de acid ascorbic (vitamina c) din fructele unor genotipuri de tomate din Nord-Estul României

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is an organic acid with antioxidant properties, involved in a number of processes taking place in living cells. Through their efforts to adapt to the saline stress, plants have to increase the antioxidant level by increasing, mainly, the ascorbic acid. The research was conducted under greenhouse condition. The biological material was represented by seven local tomatoes populations collected from areas with saline soils from Moldavia region and compared with commercial type salt-tolerant tomato.Tomato genotypes in the study were subjected to salt stress for a period of 30 days is constantly wetted with saline solution to a concentration of 100 mM and 200 mM.The content of vitamin C in fruit was determined by using the titrimetric method. The research on the vitamin C content from tomatoes fruit showed that, as the concentration saline increases, the concentration of ascorbic acid raises too

Influence of foliar fertilisers on biochemical and physiological properties in Nepeta racemosa Lam.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate some elements of physiology and biochemistry in Nepeta racemosa Lam. in the pedo-climatic conditions of the Moldavian forest steppe. The parameters were quantified under conditions of differentiated fertilisation with three foliar products (KSC 1, KSC 2, and Corona K). Biochemical analysis by GC/MS revealed the highest concentration of the following components: nepetallic acid (Untreat - 54.33%, KSC 1 - 55.50%, KSC 2 - 56.90%, Corona K - 53.77), eucalyptol (Untreat . 9.87%, KSC 1 - 10.70%, KSC 2- 12.80%, Corona K - 10.78%), 3-hydroxy- (4S, 4aS, 7S, 7aS)-dihydronepetalactone (Untreat - 5.87%, KSC 1 - 5.37%, KSC 2 - 4.87, Corona K - 3.67%), and (4aS, 7S, 7aS)-trans, cis-nepetalactone (Untreat - 4.30%, KSC 1 - 5.00%, KSC 2 - 4.20%, Corona K - 5.23%). Polyphenols were present in large quantities in the Corona K variant, with 33.1 mg GA/g dw at the first harvest and 27.88 mg GA/g dw at the second harvest. The highest concentration of flavonoids was identified in the Corona K variant (26.34 mg QE/g dw - first harvest and 56.77 mg QE/g dw - second harvest). The antioxidant activity was between 14.76 and 38.54% at the first harvest, and from 12.18 to 22.95% at the second harvest. Chlorophyll pigments ranged from 13.12- 17.68 μg/ml-1 for chlorophyll a, 5.43-9.66 μg/ml-1 for chlorophyll b, and 2.07-3.34 μg/ml-1 for carotenoids. The highest grass production per m2 was achieved in the version fertilised with KSC 1 for both crops, with 986.66 g/m2 for the first harvest and 861.33 g/m2 for the second. Iridoids are a class of substances that are commonly used for pesticide role. The study aims to highlight these substances and determine whether differentiated fertilization influences. The presented data confirm the results in the literature for polyphenols and flavonoids, but also present chemotypic novelties in terms of chemical composition and represent a direction to follow for future research

The Influence of Salt Stress on the Content of Vitamin C in the Leaves of some Varieties and Lines of Bitter Cucumber (Momordica charantia)

Bitter cucumber is a tropical and subtropical plant with a long history of medicinal use. Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress that affects the morphology and physiology of plants leading to reduced growth, production yield or in some cases their death. Salt stress increases the accumulation of reactive oxygen species in plants. They developed adaptation mechanisms by increasing the level of antioxidants, including vitamin C. The aim was to estimate the amount of vitamin C in the studied plants to determine the ability to adapt to salinity and improve nutritional properties. To carry out the experiment, two varieties and three experimental lines of bitter cucumber subjected to saline stress through treatments with saline solutions of different concentrations were used. The estimation of vitamin C content was carried out by UV-Vis spectrophotometry using the calibration curve method with standard L-ascorbic acid and KMnO4. After performing the analysis of variance on the varieties and lines of bitter cucumber, subjected to salt stress by applying the two treatments, it was found that the accumulation of vitamin C was insignificantly influenced by the factor a-the number of the treatment, but it was significantly influenced by the factor b-the concentration saline solution

Studies regarding the influence of some phenotypic parameters on raw material’s quality of different genotypes from Mentha genus

Peppermint (Mentha sp.) is one of the most cultivated medicinal plant worldwide due to its diverse range of products in which it can be used. The main natural product (Herba Menthae) is used in pharmaceutical industry, as an additive and flavor in food industry and the extracted essential oil is used in numerous cosmetic and selfcare products. This study’s purpose is to quantify a series of biometrical and physiological elements of some species which pertain to Mentha genus from USAMV’s “Collection of Medicinal Plants”, which influence the raw material’s quality and the quantity of essential oils. The studied mint species are Mentha viridis var. crispata (Schrod) Beck Ecotype 2, Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson Ecotype 2, Mentha spicata var. viridis L., Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson Ecotip 1, Mentha viridis var. crispata (Schrod) Beck Ecotype 1. The study followed the influence of the leaf surface, the content of chlorophyll pigments, but also the total leaf number on the production of volatile oil. Being a very important parameter in the reception and estimation of needed quantity of raw material, drying efficiency was determined for each cultivar. The highest amount of volatile oil was obtained from two ecotypes of the Mentha viridis var. crispata (Schrod) Beck species, in a percentage of 0.54% and 0.58%, and the lowest amount from Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson Ecotype 2. The results are showing that the quantity of volatile oil is influenced by the leaf surface, especially by the basal leaves. It is being proved that the amount of the volatile oil is influenced by the leaf surface, its placement and the chlorophyll pigments content and the cultivar factor, in the same environmental conditions

Transformări chimice şi caracterizarea spectrală la lignina Protobind 3000

Lignin derivative (the commercial product -Protobind 3000) offered by the Granit Recherche Developement S.A. company, Lausanne-Schwitzerlandwas synthesized from annual plants. The present study’s aim was tomodify commercial lignins by the reaction of hydroxymethylation (produced in alkaline medium) and epoxydation (reaction with epichlorohydrin was performed in basic catalysis, aiming at increase the functionality) and to characterize the lignin derivatives chemical, spectral (1H NMR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). Studies have revealed some functional changes related to the difference in reactivity and reaction conditions

The impact of salinity stress on antioxidant response and bioactive compounds of Nepeta cataria L.

In this study, the ability of Nepeta cataria L. to grow and synthesize bioactive compounds on soil treated with different salt concentrations was tested to evaluate the opportunity of cultivating it in soils affected by salinization. N. cataria L. was grown in soil containing specific amounts of NaCl, Na2SO4, and their mixture. After harvesting, the plants were analyzed from the morphological and physiological point of view. Salinity stress inhibited the growth, with the highest decrease of the plant yield up to about 70% in the case of salt mixture, and smaller values for the separate salt treatments. In the same time, as a defense mechanism, there was an increase of granular trichomes’ density, as observed with the scanning electron microscope. For mild concentrations of salt, the amount of chlorophyll pigments was enhanced, while for stronger salinity stress, it decreased. The opposite behavior was evidenced for the polyphenol content, as antioxidant activity was used as a protective mechanism against reactive oxygen species produced under salinity stress. The antioxidant activity was considerably higher for separate NaCl and Na2SO4 treatments than for the salt mixture variants. The results showed that the species Nepeta cataria L. reacts well to high salinity levels, with an increased content of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity even for the highest studied salinity conditions