Zinnia elegans, an annual flowering plant of the genus Zinnia, is one of the best known zinnias. Present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different growing media on the growth and flowering of Zinnia elegans. Seven different growth media including coconut compost, silt, soil loam, leaf manure, (leaf manure+silt; 2:1), (coconut compost+soil loam; 1:1) and (leaf manure+soil loam+silt; 1:1:1) were used for growing Zinnia. The experiment was laid out in Complete Randomized Design (CRD) giving equal importance to treatments. Number of flowers, length of lateral branches, number of lateral branches, stem diameter, plant height (cm), diameter of flower, vase life (day) and fresh and dry root, shoot and total were determined. The present study confirms the fact that selection of the appropriate medium of growth for potted flowering plants in this case Zinnia elegans was very important from aesthetic and marketing point of view. The medium must ensure the production of plants of the required quality on cost effective basis. In the present study, leaf manure produced significantly the maximum vase life and diameter of flower while the maximum vase life and diameter of flower was obtained with mix (coconut compost+soil loam; 1:1).

Background: Citrus is among the cold temperature (freezing) susceptible plants. The performance of storage and breeding of horticultural crops is mainly dependent on the correlation among the traits. Objectives: The present study was conducted to identify the physiological and biochemical traits of some citrus cultivars with the greatest influence on stress tolerance and determine the direct and indirect effects of these traits on the median Lethal Time (LT50) using integrated pathway analysis (i.e., stepwise regression and causality coefficient). Methods: Pathway analysis (i.e., stepwise regression and causality coefficient) based on additive models, which is among the robust statistical methods to describe the relationship among the traits, was used to investigate the physiological and biochemical characteristics of four citrus cultivars (i.e., Japanese mandarin, Thomson orange, Ruby Star grapefruit, and Lisbon lemon) at temperature levels (-8, -4, and +4°C) in a completely randomized design with three replications in 2021. Results: The results showed that Japanese mandarin and Thomson orange cultivars had the highest stress tolerance (LT50). The results of the correlation coefficient demonstrated that the highest positive and significant correlations belonged to the LT50 with total flavonoid (0.443**), chlorophyll a with chlorophyll b (0.613**), carotenoid with chlorophyll a (0.929**), chlorophyll b (0.573**), and total chlorophyll (0.849**), relative moisture content with malondialdehyde (0.559**), glycine-betaine with catalase (0.919**), hydrogen peroxide with total flavonoid (0.405**), and catalase (0.611**). Conclusions: The results of stepwise regression for all traits indicated the importance and critical role of total flavonoid, proline, and LT50 characteristics.

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Dracocephalum polychaetum Bornm and Nepeta cataria L. are two plants from the Lamiaceae family with antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. This study evaluated the phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and effect of aqueous extracts on the survival of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium animalis in a simulated gastrointestinal environment. Method: The aerial parts of plants were collected at the vegetative growth stage from the Hanza-Kuh's highlands in the Bahr Asman region of Jiroft city, Iran, in spring 2018. The total phenolic content of plants and antioxidant activity were measured using Folin-Ciocalteau and DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1picrylhydrazyl) methods, respectively. For investigating the survival of probiotic bacteria in a simulated gastrointestinal environment, bacterial suspension was inserted into tubes containing 0, 100, 250, 500, and 1000 ppm of extracts and then incubated in a simulated gastrointestinal environment. The probiotic bacteria were counted using an MRS agar medium at various incubation times. Results:The results showed that the amount of total phenolic compounds in the D. polychaetum Bornm extract (44.55 mg/g dry matter) was higher than that of N. cataria L. (18.37 mg/g dry matter). With increased extracts concentrations, the percentage of DPPH-free radicals increased, and D. polychaetum Bornm extract in all concentrations showed higher DPPH free radical inhibitory content compared to the N. cataria L. extract. The viability results in the same gastrointestinal environment showed that samples containing N. cataria extract had a more remarkable survival rate than the controls and D. polychaetum Bornm extract. Conclusion: Using less than 500 ppm of D. polychaetum Bornm and N. cataria L. aqueous extracts can increase probiotic bacteria growth and viability.

The poinsettia's species name pulcherrima means "most beautiful" and that it is. Poinsettia's brilliant red floral display held against rich green foliage has made this unlikely species a holiday favorite. Its appealing presentation of the traditional Christmas colors has so endeared poinsettia that it is now second only to the Christmas tree as the most popular holiday plant. Studies have shown that rooting substrate is one of the effective factors at rooting of hard rhizogenetic plant such as poinsettia. The purpose of this study is to determine an appropriate concentration of Salicylic Acid (SA) on rooting of poinsettia. Present study showed that there was a great variation in most of the measured characters at p<0.05 percent level. The obtained results showed that salicylic acid treatments have caused the increase of percent of rooting. The use of salicylic acid caused a positive effect on rooting. The callus percentage was obtained in control and 400 treatments. This study shows that plant growth regulator salicylic acid have a profound influence on rooting of poinsettia.