The role of pre-harvest aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) treatments on bioactive compounds, fruit ripening and quality of Japanese plum fruits (Prunus salicina Lindell cv. ‘Fortune’) were investigated in this study. Whole trees were sprayed once with an aqueous solution containing AVG (0, 100 and 200 mg L^-1) two weeks before the anticipated commercial harvest. Compared to control treatment, AVG applications retarded fruit ripening and peel red color formation of fortune plum fruits. Respiration rate and ethylene production in fruit were decreased by AVG applications. Respiration rate and ethylene production in control fruit were 57% and 60% higher than those in 200 mg L^-1 AVG-treated fruit at the last harvest date respectively. The total phenolics and total antioxidant activity were significantly reduced by AVG treatments. Antioxidant activities of fruits treated at the date with AVG were approximate 2 fold higher than those of control fruits at the last harvest date. The chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, rutin and kaempferol contents decreased with both AVG concentrations at all harvest dates.

Pectinases have multiple nature and various forms which are necessary for hydrolysis of pectin in natural processes. The pectinolytic activity of three isolates of the pathogenic fungus Boeremia strasseri was demonstrated. The pectinases production was studied using a liquid Mandels-Weber medium, containing 1.0% citric pectin as a carbon source. Optimum pH and temperature for pectinases activity were 4.7 and 40°C respectively. The pectinases were totally stable at 40°C for 80 min. The greatest loss of activity was observed during the heating of the enzymes at 70°C.

In this study the use of 73 bacteria, isolated from rhizosphere area of tea (Camellia sinensis) plants in Black Sea Region in Turkey, as potential biocontrol agent against root rot disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani that was known as an important disease on potato and bean plants in Turkey and in the world were investigated. In in vitro conditions, 73 bacteria used for antagonistic tests, and 15 out of 74 were found to be effective against R. solani and formed between 0.20–2.30 cm inhibition zone and inhibited mycelium development of the pathogen. In vivo pot experiment also showed that antagonist bacteria strains had various level inhibition effect (between 12% and 83%) on R. solani compared to control. The study revealed that biocontrol agents might play an essential role in management of root rot diseases in potato and bean.

Vegetables have a significant place in the healthy eating pyramid. It is recommended that vegetables should be consumed as often as possible to provide nutritional and biologically active substances. The aim of the present study was to determine the biological value of the leaves of rocket as affected by different regimes of plant nitrogen and potassium nutrition. Plants were grown in a peat-based medium under greenhouse conditions. After harvest, the contents of L-ascorbic acid, chlorophyll, flavonoids, glucosinolates and essential oil were determined in the rocket leaves. The average content of chlorophyll a + b per 100 g of rocket fresh biomass was 1.16 mg, while the L-ascorbic acid concentration – 92.66 mg. 100 g of dried rocket leaves contained on average 0.84 g of flavonoids and 0.15 ml of essential oil, while 1 g of dry plant material was characterized by the presence of 10.56 μmol of glucosinolates, on average. Potassium chloride proved to be an interesting source of potassium; its application significantly increased the concentration of glucosinolates in the rocket leaves. However, this form of potassium was not found to have a significant effect on the accumulation of L-ascorbic acid, chlorophyll, flavonoids, and essential oil. An increased rate of nitrogen contributed to a decrease in the content of L-ascorbic acid and glucosinolates. The presented results show that it is possible to modify the chemical composition of rocket leaves by using an appropriate system of plant mineral nutrition.

The raw material of medicinal plants should fulfill the growing demands of herbal and cosmetic industries about its quality esp.: active substance content, sufficient yield, lack of pesticides and heavy metals residues and microbiologically clean. Therefore, more often organic origin of herbal raw material is welcome. The main aim of the experiment was evaluation and comparison the value of lemon balm herb from organic and conventional cultivation. In 2008–2010, in the field experiment, the yield and quality of lemon balm herb in organic cultivation were tested. The experiment was established in four different locations in Poland. The following features were evaluated: fresh and dried herb yields, seed yield, weight of 1000 seeds, essential oil content and its composition and microbiological contamination. Lemon balm herb yield from organic experiments was lower compared with the yield from conventional cultivation. The content of essential oil in both organic and conventional herbs were similar. The content of essential oil and its composition of lemon balm herb did not depend on localization. The content of two, main oil compounds: neral and geranial was higher in the conventional herbs. The satisfied yield of lemon balm seeds was obtained in organic experiments. The investigated lemon balm raw materials were below the level of standard contamination for raw materials treated with hot water (A) according to European Pharmacopoeia 7.0.

In countries where spring frost frequently causes damage to pear flowers, cropping is possible through natural and induced parthenocarpy. The tendency to bear parthenocarpic fruit is a genetic feature so it differs between cultivars. The goal of the study was to assess the influence of the cultivar and rootstock on the occurrence of parthenocarpy and to determine the influence of the number of seeds on the quality of fruit and the speed with which it ripens. Pears of five European cultivars were collected from trees planted in 2002 at a distance of 4 × 1.5 m. Each cultivar was grown on three different rootstocks. The experiment was conducted in 2008 and 2011. There was a spring frost during the flowering period and many flowers were killed. Nevertheless, the trees cropped, which was the reason to expect an increased occurrence of parthenocarpy. During harvest, each pear was examined in respect of: firmness, TSS, acidity, skin base colour and starch pattern. After the tests, the pears were cut and the number of seeds was counted. The number of seedless pears varied between 2.2% (‘Carola’) and 46.7% (’Amfora‘) in 2008, and between 26.7% (‘Dicolor’) and 84.1% (‘Amfora’) in 2011. The rootstock influenced the number of seedless pears of each cultivar. The largest number of parthenocarpic pears was harvested from trees grown on Quince S₁. The number of seeds influenced some quality parameters, like the mass of fruit, firmness and TSS. Parthenocarpy was also found to affect the speed in which fruit ripens, as measured by the starch disintegration and Streif indices. Only acidity and base skin colour were slightly or not at all dependent on the occurrence of parthenocarpy or on the number of seeds.

Pyricularia grisea, the causal agent blast disease in rice, is considered as one of the most important fungus in paddy fields. Isolates of Pyricularia grisea were analyzed by SSR to determine the amount of genetic variability in populations. Fourteen primers were applied and DNA bands of 95-640 bp were produced. Cluster analysis using UPGMA method gave three groups. Group 1 was the major group and most of isolates which collected from west of Guilan belonged to this group. Groups 2 and 3 belonged to the center of Guilan isolates and the east of Guilan isolates, respectively. The results revealed although genetic distance was high between isolates of west and east of Guilan and the genetic similarity among these isolates of these two populations was low, but there was the maximum of genetic distance or the minimum of genetic similarity between the population of center of Guilan isolates and population of east of Guilan isolates. The minimum of genetic distance or the maximum of genetic similarity there was between the population of center of Guilan isolates and population of west of Guilan isolates. Overall, results confirmed that microsatellite primers are good and suitable markers for analyzing the population structure of Pyricularia grisea.

Acquiring high quality in sweet cherry production is of great importance. Plant growth regulators have been used to increase yield and quality in the production of sweet cherries. Brassinosteroids, a relatively new group of plant growth regulators, have been found with interesting results on plant growth and development. This research was carried out to evaluate the role of brassinosteroids and gibberellins in development of fruit quality and occurrence of physiological disorders in ‘0900 Ziraat’ sweet cherry. Gibberellic acid (GA₃) and 22S, 23S-homobrassinolide were applied with a sprayer at full bloom and at the beginning of fruit development for a 2-year period. GA₃ was applied in concentrations of 25, 50, and 100 mg l^-1 and 22S, 23S-homobrassinolide was applied in concentrations of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5 mg l^-1. A combined application of 100 mg l^-1 GA₃ + 0.1 mg l^-1 22S, 23S-homobrassinolide was also applied. Plant growth regulator applications mainly caused an increase in fruit weight and flesh to seed ration, and a decrease in fruit length. The effect was mainly due to gibberellin. Both Total soluble solids and titratable acidity were affected by the hormones and the seasons. Neither growth regulators had an influence on occurrence of the physiological disorders. They were at a lesser level in the second seasons.

Taking the decreasing water supplies into consideration, more attention should be paid to reasonable water management. However, in order to be able to minimise the water use and manage it reasonably, it seems necessary to investigate the plants water management and their reactions to water stress. Most of the previous studies concerning the effects of irrigation and fertilisation was conducted on apple orchards and there is little information in the literature about the influence of these factors on stone fruit trees.The study was conducted in 2011, 2013 and 2014 years in the Agricultural Experimental Station in Lipnik. The objective of the present study was to assess the impact of irrigation and mineral fertilization on photosynthetic activity, water use and yielding in cherry cv. ’Kelleris 16’. The first factor of the study was under-crown watering: 0 – controlled objects, with no irrigation, W – irrigated objects, with soil water potential below – 0.01 MPa. The secondary factor was nitrogen and potassium fertilization: 0 NK (control, no fertilization), 1 NK – 80 kg^.ha^-1 (40 + 40), 2 NK – 160 kg^.ha^-1 (80 + 80). The measurements of the leaves photosynthetic activity in each year were taken in the dynamic fashion, using a LCA-4 analyser (ADC Bioscentific LTD, Hoddeson, Great Britain). WUE increased under water shortage conditions and decreased when water was more available. The calculated water use efficiencies, both WUE and WUEI, were higher for the objects fertilized with 1NK dose. The application of the supplementary irrigation as well as NK fertilization significantly influenced the increase in cherry cv. ’Kelleris 16’ yielding. Moreover, it was found a significant positive correlation between yielding and intensity of assimilation, as well as between yielding and water use efficiency (WUE).

Harvested potatoes and pumpkins are usually stored before processing or consumption. This makes it critical to understand the effect of storage on the chemical composition changes in these products. Prolonged storage can cause a decrease/increase or maintain the level of some nutrient. The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in chemical composition during storage of the great pumpkin cvs. ‘Justynka F₁’, ‘Karowita’, ‘Amazonka’ fruit flesh and the coloured fleshed potato cvs. ‘Blue Congo’, ‘Vitelotte’ and ‘Blue Danube’ tubers. Standard methods were applied to determine the following: dry matter, crude fibre, crude ash and weight loss. After four months of storage, the dry matter content significantly increased in all potato cultivars tubers. The largest increase in dry matter was measured in tubers of ‘Blue Congo’ (2.34%). During storage, crude ash content changed non-significantly in all cultivars. Crude fibre content decreased significantly in ‘Blue Danube’ (1.02%) and ‘Vitelotte’ (0.50%) tubers. After four months of storage the largest weight losses were found in tubers of ‘Vitelotte’. After storage period dry matter significantly decreased in all tested pumpkin cultivars. The maximum dry matter and weight loss decrease was found in flesh of ‘Justynka F₁’ (5.36%). The content of crude ash tended to increase in flesh of all cultivars, but no significant differences were found before and after storage period. Crude fibre content significantly decreased in all pumpkin cultivars. The highest crude fibre decrease was found in flesh of ‘Justynka F₁’ (17.05%).

Growth retardants may affect some morphological and physiological traits of plants. The aim of the research was to evaluate the influence of a single, flurprimidol spray on transpiration, growth and flowering of geranium. Flurprimidol (Topflor 015 SL) was applied once, as a foliar spray at 7.5, 15.0 or 22.5 mg dm^-3. The desirable heights of ‘Classic Noblesse’ and ‘Classic Diabolo’ geraniums were obtained with flurprimidol at concentrations of 22.5 and 15.0 mg dm^-3, respectively. Flurprimidol had no influence on stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, the number of days to flower, diminished plant diameter, leaf area, plant fresh and dry mass, inflorescence area index, inflorescence number and increased the inflorescence area to plant height ratio. Chemical name used: α-(1-methylethyl)-α-[4-(trifluromethoxy)phenyl]-5-pyrimidinemethanol (flurprimidol).

Biostimulators are preparations intended to improve plant growth and development, especially under stressful conditions. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of two biostimulators: AlgaminoPlant (0.2%) and Route (0.1%) on rooting of Cotinus coggygria Scop. ‘Royal Purple’ and their influence on biochemical changes, respiration efficiency and photosynthetic rate during this process. Cuttings were sprayed with water solution of biostimulators once, twice or three times during the rooting period at week intervals. The effectiveness of biostimulators was compared with the formulations traditionally used in the nursery production, i.e. with a rooting powder Rhizopon AA containing a synthetic auxin IBA (2%) or a water solution of IBA (200 mg·dm^-3) applied on leaves. Triple treatments of microcuttings with AlgaminoPlant and a single one with Route significantly increased a rooting degree relative to the untreated control. The highest photosynthesis rate was observed in cuttings sprayed once with AlgaminoPlant and twice with Route. Respiration efficiency was the highest in cuttings treated once and thrice with AlgaminoPlant. The significant increases in chlorophyll (a + b), total soluble and reducing sugars contents were observed in cuttings treated with both biostimulators in comparison to the control. The results suggest that biostimulators applied on cuttings may cause biochemical and physiological changes which increase the stem ability to regenerate roots therefore their application should be considered in nursery practice.

Iodine and selenium together fulfill important functional roles in organisms of humans and animals. Conducting simultaneous biofortification (enrichment) of plants with these elements is justified as combined endemic deficiency of I and Se (hidden hunger) is often encountered. Relatively little is known about the interaction between I and Se in plants, not only with respect to their accumulative efficiency, but also its influence on mineral nutrition or biological quality of crop. The study (conducted in 2012–2014) included soil fertilization of lettuce cv. ‘Valeska’ with I and Se in the following combinations: control, KI, KIO₃, Na₂SeO₄, Na₂SeO₃, KI + Na₂SeO₄, KIO₃ + Na₂SeO₄, KI + Na₂SeO₃, KIO₃ + Na₂SeO₃. Iodine and selenium were applied twice: before sowing and as a top-dressing (each of 2.5 kg I·ha^-1 + 0.5 kg Se·ha^-1) – a total dose of 5 kg I·ha^-1 and 1 kg Se·ha^-1 was used. Diversified weather conditions significantly modified the impact fertilization with I and Se had on tested aspects of nitrogen metabolism and biological quality of lettuce – except for the lettuce heads mass and the sucrose content. Based on the results concerning average lettuce weight as well as the level of sugars, phenolic compounds, phenylpropanoids, flavonols and antioxidizing activity it was concluded that the application of Na₂SeO₄ alone or together with iodine acted as a stress factor for cultivated plants.

The influence of light emitted by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) of different spectral composition towards white fluorescent light FL (W) on the photosynthetic activity of leaves and yield of lettuce was evaluated in pot experiments conducted in controlled conditions at PPFD of 200 µmol m^-2 s^-1. The LEDs emitting white (12W), red (12R) and red-blue (R/B) radiation from lamps of different ratio of red diodes (R) towards the blue ones (B) (9R+3B; 10R+2B; 11R+1B) was used. The results showed that the lowest yield was found in plants grown under LED (12W), and the highest one under FL (W) light. The mass and leaf area of plants illuminated by FL (W) and LED (12R) were similar. The increase of radiation R and decrease of B caused an increase in biomass, leaf area (LA), and specific leaf area (SLA) decrease of chlorophyll concentrations in leaves. Leaves of plants cultivated under LED (R/B) had the higher stomatal conductance, photosynthesis and transpiration parameters than under other treatments. The lowest value of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (Fo, Fm, Fv/Fm) were noted under the LED (12R) lighting. However, taking into account the energy consumption by the using light sources, the plant yielding, and other determined parameters, the most beneficial for lettuce production seems to be LED (11R + 1B) light. Taking into account the energy consumption of light sources, the plant yielding, and other determined in the study parameters, LED (11R + 1B) light appears the most beneficial for lettuce production.

Cities devastate the natural habitats of animals, but simultaneously form new ecological niches and create conditions far different from natural environments. In these new conditions some insects, such as aphids, can develop quickly and they become important pests. This paper presents the population dynamics of aphids inhabiting the Norway maple in the urban conditions of Lublin. Also shown are relationships among the aphid species inhabiting the studied tree. We have shown that aphids are abundant on Acer platanoides and the most numerous species was Periphyllus aceris. This species was clear superdominant in both of the studied sites (the housing estate site and the street site). Using ecological indices allows us to determine that housing estate site is predominantly characterised by a larger species diversity than the street site. We have also presented that weather conditions have a significant influence on the number of aphids on the Norway maple. The highest number of aphids was observed in 2008, which was characterised by a warm spring. This paper is an attempt to answer the question whether the changes in the number of aphids are a result, of weather and habitat conditions, or, perhaps, also of mutual relations among species.