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19906
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Subject: Horticulture × Author: KAU × End date: 1990 × Start date: 1990 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Quality Characters Of Clove And Nutmeg At Different Stages Of Maturity
    (Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture,vellayani, 1990) Manoj, A M; KAU; Vasanthakumar, K
    The present investigation was carried out at the College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 1988 – 89. The objectives of this study were to characterise the growth pattern of clove flower buds and nutmeg fruits and to develop suitable harvest indices for these crops based on quality characteristics at different stages of maturity. The moisture content in clove buds and rind of nutmeg fruits increased with increase in maturity. However, moisture percentage in nutmeg kernel and mace was found to decrease as maturity advanced. The non – volatile ether extract (NVEE), on dry weight basis, was found to decrease on maturity advanced in clove buds and in mace while in nutmeg kernel the NVEE showed an increasing trend. The volatile oil in clove, nutmeg and mace was more at the immature stages and it progressively decreased at the peak harvesting stages. Eugenol, the chief component in clove oil was the maximum at the flowering stage. Hence for extraction of clove oil which is intended for use in medicine, dentistry and other pharmaceutical uses, it is advisable to harvest clove buds at the anthesis stage. The aromatic ethers which are the chief components that determine the flavour and drug action in nutmeg oil was the maximum one month prior to the fruit splitting stage. In mace oil it was found to be high two months prior to fruit splitting stage. So if nutmeg and mace oils are intended for medicinal purpose, then it may be worthwhile to harvest nutmeg fruits at the 6th month for extracting kernel oil and at the 5th month for extracting mace oil. Considering the fact that the nutmeg fruit yield both nutmeg and mace oil, harvesting separately at different maturity stages for extraction of the different oils is practically difficult. The aromatic phenol and phenol ethers showed a very low value in mace oil one month prior to fruit splitting. So in practice the fruit may be harvested two months prior to fruit splitting for extraction of both nutmeg and mace oils. However the high moisture content at this stage makes drying a problem. So such a practice of early harvesting of nutmeg fruits may be resorted to in places where facilities are available for extraction of oil from the fresh kernel and mace immediately after harvesting.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Standardisation of soft wood grafting in mango (Mangifera indica L.)
    (Department of Horticulture (Pomology & Floriculture and Landscaping), College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1990) Savithri, A; KAU; Gopikumar, K
    The present series of investigations were carried out in the Department of Pomology and Floriculture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during the period from June 1987 to April 1989 with a view to standardise the ideal age of rootstock, height of grafting and the time of defoliation of scion shoot for soft wood grafting in mango using two scion varieties, Neelum and Banganapally. Detailed anatomical studies of the graft union were also conducted to find out the various stages of graft union and the possible reasons for graft failure. The results of the study on the response of agt of rootstock on soft wood grafting using scion variety Neelum showed that two months old rootstock was most ideal with regard to sprouting and survival. The sprouting was minimum for three months old rootstock while survival was minimum for one month old rootstock. With the scion variety Banganapally, one month old rootstock recorded significantly maximum sprouting over two and three months old rootstock. However, survival was maximum with three monthd old rootstock. The height of grafting did not influenee tht sprouting and survival of grafts in both Neelum and Banganapally. With regard to scion defoliation, variety Neelum recorded maximum sprouting and survival with 10 days prior defoliation. while in Banganapally scion shoots defoliated 15 days prior to grafting recorded maximum sprouting and survival. The observations on growth parameters revealed that three months old rootstock recorded significantly maximum new growth in scion variety Neelum till the end of 5th fortnight. But with Banganapally as scion, age of the rootstock did not influence the new growth of scion significantly, with regard to height of grafting., the pooled data revealed maximum new growth of scion when grafted at 10 cm height in both the scion varieties Neelum and Banganapally . in the variety Neelum, scions defoliated 15 days prior to grafting recorded maximum new growth during early periods of observation. But in Banganapally, scions defoliated 10 days before grafting were found superior with respect to new growth particularly during the early periods of observation. Regarding leaf production, in variety Neolura, the pooled data revealed the superiority of two months old rootstock particularly from 5th fortnight onwards. While in Banganapally , three months old rootstock was found to be the best in this regard. Grafting at 10 cm height produced maximum number of leaves in both the varieties Neelum and Banganappally, , In general in both the scion varieties scions defoliated 5 days prior to grafting produced maximum number of leaves, m the variety Neelum, the girth of new growth, scion and rootstock were significantly influenced by the age and height of rootstock and defoliation of scion shoots while in Banganappally, the effects were not found to be significant
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Interspecific hybridization in capsicum
    (Department of Olericulture, College of horticulture, Vellanikkara, 1990) Pradeepkumar, T; KAU; Gopalakrishnan, T R
    The present investigation "Interspecific hybridization in Capsicum" was carried out at the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, Thrissur during September 1988-April 1990 to study cross compatibility among five Capsicum species and to exploit heterosis in interspecific hybrids. Eighty four chilli accessions, when subjected to the modern taxonomic treatments were found to fall under C. annum L. (62), C. frutescens L. (7), C. chinense Jacq. (14) and C. baccatum L. (1) Protein electrophoretic focussing revealed species specific protein bands in C. chinense, C. baccatum and C. chacoense. Fruit set was obtained in all the 28 crosses made among C. annuum.C. frutescens, C. chinense, C. baccatum and C. chacoense. Viable F1 and F2 seeds were obtained in eight crosses viz., C. annuum x C. chinense (P), C. annuum x C. chinense (NP), C.frutescens x C. annuum, C.chacoense x C. annuum, C. frutescens x C. chinense (P), C. chinense (P) x C. frutescens, C. frutescens x C. chinense (NP) and C. chinense (NP) x C. frutescens.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Relative response of explant material of myristica fragrans houtt to in vitro culture
    (Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1990) Jayasree, K; KAU; Ramachandran Nair, S
    Attempts were made to study the relative response of explant material of Myristica fragrans Houtt to in vitro culture. The experiment was carried out in the Tissue Culture Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani. Explants from nutmeg of various ontogenic age were selected for culture. Various basal media including MS medium, SH medium, LS medium and woody plant Medium were tried. Shoot explants from 3 – 6 month old seedlings registered a higher percentage of culture establishment and initial callusing rate. Woody Plant Medium supported relatively higher survival and initial growth of explants. Experiments using various chemicals for preculture treatment showed that explants could be effectively surface sterilised using 0.1 per cent mercuric chloride with a treatment time of 12 minutes. Preculture treatment using pvp (0.7%) + sucrose (2%) for thirty minutes was effective for reducing the interference of phenolics. Normal strength MS medium was unsuitable for culture establishment and initial callusing of nutmeg explants. Incorporation of GA3 in the medium did not influence shoot proliferation or growth of cultures. Callus proliferation did not occur on MS medium even after subculturing. Callus production was made possible from shoot apex explants of young seedlings. Efforts to induce Callus proliferation were not successful. The procedure of In vitro culture using anther/flower bud/endosperm of nutmeg were not successful. Among the various basal media tried, woody Plant Medium was found suitable for initial callusing of nutmeg.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Ex vitro establishment of jack (Artocarpus Heterophyllus Lam.) plantlets
    (Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1990) Ramesh, B; KAU; Rajmohan, K
    The problem of poor ex vitro establishment of jack plantlets was addressed in a study conducted during 1988-90 at the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani. A reliable protocol could be standardized based on the analysis of the factors influencing plantlet production and their ex vitro establishment and characterization of the morphological, histological and physiological peculiarities of the in vitro raised plantlets. A rooting medium (MS) containing half strength inorganic nutrients (particularly inorganic nitrogen and calcium salt), sucrose 30.0 g/l and agar 6.0 g/l was identified as ideal for the in vitro rooting and ex vitro establishment of jack plantlets. Activated charcoal was not useful for the purpose. Shoots of 3.0 cm length, with three to four leaves, recorded 100.0 percent rooting, 5.5 roots per shoot and good root branching (2.75). Erlenmeyer flasks of 100 or 150ml capacity were the superior culture vessels for in vitro rooting. A light intensity of 50 µE m-2S-2 for 21 days was required during the prior to planting out stage for successful ex vitro establishment. Plantlets of 18 days and above old recorded the maximum survival ex vitro. Sand was identified as the best potting medium. However the moisture level of sand has to be maintained at an optimum of 13.4g/100g of soil. Plastic pot (5.0 x 5.0 x 7.5 cm size with small holes) was found to be superior to the other containers tried. Mist chamber was found to be convenient and successful as a humidity maintenance device for the hardening of the plantlets. Use of antitranspirants was not advantageous for the establishment of the plantlets. Inoculation of the potting medium with the vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza Glomus fasciculatum and G etunicatum favoured 80.0 to 100.0 percent ex vitro establishment of the plantlets; the plant growth was significantly increased in such cases. Nutrient starter solutions cannot be recommended during the initial period of acclimatization as they reduced the survival of the plantlets. Leaves of the in vitro raised plantlets had improper deposit of epicuticular wax and underdeveloped palisade parenchyma, Spongy parenchyma, mechanical tissues and vascular bundles. The stomatal aperture was comparatively large. The stomata did not close when exposed to stress conditions. The morphological and histological peculiarities caused high rate of water loss (16.0 mg/cm2 in 105 minutes) from the plantlets when planted out and hence necessitated an initial humidity acclimatization. The mean number of stomata per unit area, total chlorophyll chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b contents were less in the in vitro grown leaves. The morphological, histological and physiological characteristics of the plantlets were normalized during the ex vitro establishment, especially as the new leaves were produced.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Effect of time of planting on the growth and flowering of popular bedding plants
    (Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 1990) Rose Mary, Joice; KAU; Philipose, Joshua
    A field experiment was conducted at the college of Agriculture, Vellayani during 1988-89 to study the effect of time of planting on the growth and flowering of popular bedding plants namely Marigold, Zinnia , Balsam, Phlox and Salvia. For reasons not absolutely known stand of adequate size could not be obtained for Salvia and Phlox and hence the two crops were not carried over through the remaining part of experiment. Time of planting had profound influence on characters like plant height, number of branches per plant, number of days to flower, number of flowers per plant, size of flowers, longevity of flowers and duration of flowering in Marigold, Zinnia and Balsam. In Marigold the number of days taken for 50 percent germination of seeds and the percentage of germination of seeds were not much influenced by sowing dates. Transplantation during the months of September, October and November is ideal for early flower initiation, maximum number of flowers and branches and less plant height. February and March planting gave longer duration of flowering with medium sized flowers and good flower longevity. In Zinnia the number of days taken for 50 percent germination of seeds were not much affected by sowing time. But the sowing time influenced the percentage germination of seeds. May sowing gave the highest percentage germination of seeds. Transplantation during the months of February, March, April and May is ideal for getting maximum number of large sized long lasting flowers with longer duration of flowering. However, it was noticed that incidence of leaf blight disease was more during these months, as compared to other months. September, October and November gave lesser plant height with more number of branches and earlier flowering. Sowing time did not influence the number of days taken for 50 percent germination of seeds in Balsam. However sowing time influenced the percentage germination of seeds. June sowing gave the highest germination percentage. Plant height was reduced by planting in September, October, November, December and January. Transplantation during the months of February, March, April and May is ideal for getting maximum number of large sized flowers with maximum number of branches. However, it was noticed that incidence of leaf spot disease was more during these months, as compared to other months. November, December, January and February transplanting are ideal for getting maximum duration of flowering.