Muhammad Mumtaz Khan

Structural Features of Some Wheat (Triticum Spp.) Landraces/Cultivars Under Drought and Salt Stress

Seven local landraces of common and durum wheat (Triticum aestivum L. and T. durum L.) from the arid and semi-arid areas of the Sultanate of Oman were examined for specific leaf and stem structural features for water conservation. On the basis of shoot fresh and dry weights (g plant−1), degree of tolerance to drought and salt stresses in these wheat landraces/cultivars can be ranked as S-24 > J-305 > Sarraya > Senain > Cooley > MH-97 > Missani>Hamira > Shwairaa. Modifications related to water conservation were found to be high degree of sclerification, succulence in leaf and stem, low resistance to water conductance in vascular tissue, and pubescence on leaf surface. The salt and drought tolerant cultivar S-24 showed high proportion of chlorenchyma and intensive sclerification in stem structure, and well-developed bulliform cells and dense pubescence on the leaves. These modified features were poorly developed in lesser stress tolerant Omani wheat landraces like Hamira and Shwairaa. Accession Senain also showed stem succulence (solid stem), an important xeromorphic feature. Structural modifications in landrace Missani were found to be increased sclerification in vascular tissue and high number of metaxylem vessels and high proportion of parenchyma in stem, and highly developed bulliform cells in leaf. Overall, the promising anatomical traits in highly stress tolerant landraces/cultivars were chlorenchyma in stem, rigorous sclerification in parenchyma and around vascular tissue, stem and leaf succulence, and enhanced ratio of major conducting tissue.

Date Palm Status and Perspective in Oman

Date palm is the primary agricultural crop in Oman, and it constitutes 80 % of all fruit crops produced and 50 % of the total agricultural area in the country. Oman is the eighth largest producer of dates in the world with an average annual production of 260,000 mt per annum. There are approximately more than over seven million date palms and 250 cultivars in cultivation, primarily in the northern governorates of the sultanate. However, around 70 % of the total date production is harvested from only 10 cultivars, and a small fraction (2.6 %) of the total date production is exported. Only half of the dates produced are used for human consumption, with the other half being utilized primarily for animal feed or considered surplus and wasted. Dates are mainly harvested for fresh fruit consumption; however, alternative uses such as date syrup, date sugar, and other by-products can also be found in the local market. Dubas bug and red palm weevil are the dominant biotic factors that affect date quality and yield in Oman. Traditional methods of cultivation, small farm size, enough labor available, and poor postharvest handling and marketing are the main issues that face date palm production in Oman. New plantlets are produced from tissue culture with a primary focus on superior cultivars that are kept, among other cultivars, in the only date palm ex situ gene bank in the interior of Oman. Enhancing fruit quality by optimizing fruit size and nutritional content and rapid cultivar selectivity based on molecular techniques for better or improved commercial cultivars will increase the marketability of Omani dates. Furthermore, employing modern orchard layouts and mechanization of the labor-dependent cultural practices such as irrigation, pruning, pollination, and harvesting is vital for the sustainable and profitable production of dates in Oman.

Chemical characterisation of bioactive compounds in Medicago sativa growing in the desert of Oman

Medicago sativa Linn growing in Omani desert were chemically characterised using flame photometry, inductively coupled plasma, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis. HPLC analyses were performed to determine the phenolics and flavonoids present in M. sativa. The major compounds detected in M. sativa leaves were protchaechenic acid (3.22%), hydroxyl benzoic acid (1.05%), β-Phenyl caffate (0.97%) and kaempherol (0.89%). Pterostilbene, a cholesterol-lowering compound, was detected in M. sativa.

Symptomatic expression of tristeza-infected citrus plants in Pakistan

Variable symptoms were recorded during a survey in the citrus trees infected or suspected to be infected with citrus tristeza virus based on ELISA tests. Sweet orange manifested main symptoms like bud union crease, pin holing, bark cracking, incompatibility, yellowing and dropping of leaves. Pin holing was particularly prevalent in Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck), Kinnow (Citrus reticulata Blanco) and Grapefruit (Citrus paradisii Mcaf.), while incompatibility was only in Sweet orange and Grapefruit.

Diversity in phytochemical composition of omani fenugreek (Trigonella foenum - graecum L.) accessions

Trigonella foenum-graecum L. is an annual dicotyledonous plant, which belongs to the subfamily Papilionaceae of the Leguminaceae family (Acharya et al., 2006b). Historically, it has always been known as a medicinal herb for over two thousand years in various parts of the world (Srinivasan, 2006; Raja and Kudesia, 2012). Due to its distinct smell, it was described as a ‘malodorous’ plant (Pour et al., 2012; Lust, 2014). It imparts a pleasant flavour, colour and aroma to foods that make it a highly desirable supplement to be used in culinary practices. Srinivasan (2006) documented that fenugreek is one of the important ingredients in making up of curry powders. Fenugreek seeds contain significant amounts of galactomannans also called fenugreek gum, which are the main polysaccharide in fenugreek seeds and may contain up to about 50% of seed weight (Reid et al., 2003). They are used as industrial thickener and food emulsifier and for various medicinal purposes (Pandya et al., 1991; McCormick et al., 2006; Youssef et al., 2009, Kumar et al., 2009b; Raghuram et al., 1994; Raja and Kudesia, 2012). Its green leaves are rich in calcium, iron, betacarotene and other vitamins (Sinha et al., 2007). In Ethiopia and Egypt, it is also used to supplement the maize and wheat flours for bread-making (Al-Habori and Raman, 2002). The medicinal value of fenugreek seeds is well documented (Mishra et al., 2004; Lubbe and Verpoorte, 2011; Rajor et al., 2012). It is used as a carminative to improve digestion and prevention of flatulence and treating gastric ulcers, as a galactagogue and an aphrodisiac agent (Mir et al., 1998; Tiran, 2003, Srinivasan, 2006). It is reported to have antipyretic, antinociceptive (Prabha et al., 2010), anthelmintic (Babu et al., 2010), hypolipidemic and hypocholesterolemic effects, anti-diabetic and anti-cancer properties (Bhatti et al., 1996; Mishra et al., 2004, Edison, 1995; Yadav et al., 2007). Fenugreek seeds contain diosgenin, a steroidal saponin, which is used to make synthetic estrogen and can induce the apoptosis in a variety of tumor cells (Edison, 1995). Because of the presence of a small cysteine-rich peptide in the fenugreek seeds they show anti-microbial and antifungal activities (Bhatti et al., 1996; Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 53(4), 851-862; 2016 ISSN (Print) 0552-9034, ISSN (Online) 2076-0906 DOI: 10.21162/PAKJAS/16.5559 http://www.pakjas.com.pk

Effect of Micronutrients on Vegetative Growth and Essential Oil Contents of Ocimum sanctum

Abstract The present study was designed to investigate the effect of micronutrients (Fe, B, Zn, Mn, Cu and Mo) on vegetative growth and essential oil contents of Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum). The concentrations of the primary nutrients (N, K and P) and secondary nutrients (Ca, Mg and S) were kept constant while concentrations of the micronutrients (Fe, B, Zn, Mn, Cu and Mo) were varied during different experimental trials. The effects of different concentrations of these micronutrients on the growth, herb weight and essential oil contents were studied. There was a considerable difference in the growth and herb weight of Ocimum sanctum under investigation due to the influence of different concentrations of micronutrients. It was concluded that application of 0.05–0.06 ppm of copper along with 0.10 ppm zinc could improve the essential oil and fresh herb yield of Ocimum sanctum plant.

Effect of Organically Amended Growing Substrates on the Growth and Physiological Attributes of Citrus Plants

The present experiment was conducted to study the influence of growing substrates on the growth of citrus plants. Rough lemon and Kinnow mandarin were selected as rootstock and scion cultivars, respectively. Eleven potting mixes were assessed along with the control, mixed on a v/v basis. Citrus seedlings cultivated in potting mix growing substrate (GM11) (sand + silt + farm yard manure + compost, 1:1:1:1) exhibited better plant development followed by the plants grown in GM12 (sand + silt + farm yard manure + coconut husk, 1:1:1:1). The saplings cultivated in substrates containing compost and coconut husk having optimum pH of 5.5–7.5 resulted in substantial improvement in horticultural traits and physiological variables when compared with the control. In sum, the growing substrate GM11 significantly improved the growth and development of citrus saplings due to increased mineral contents, leaf area index, photosynthetic rate (PN), stomatal conductance (gs), and transpiration rate (E) of citrus plants.