Sequential defoliations influencing the development and yield components of castor plants (Ricinus communis L.)

Influence of the limitation of axillary bud growth on grain and oil yield of castor bean hybrids

“…This response is likely due to the higher amount of leaves as well as the period of green foliar area in the control plants, considering that the oil is one of the last components accumulated during grain development (Moshkin, 1986). Severino et al (2010) observed linear reduction in seed oil content of castor bean for defoliation levels between 15 and 60%.…”

Seed coat specific weight and endosperm composition define the oil content of castor seed

“…• by repeated defoliations, because the cell number in the endosperm was formed in a given physiological condition, but the plant's reserve was depleted during seed filling (Severino et al, 2010); • spraying with the herbicide glyphosate in the moment when seeds were in the filling phase -probably because translocation of reserves to the seed was impaired (McKeon and Brichta, 2014), • by low temperatures during seed filling (Nagabhushanam and Raghavaiah, 2005) because castor seed metabolism is very sensitive to low temperatures (Severino and Auld, 2014), • by salt stress associated with low nitrogen availability. The oil content was sharply reduced specifically in the secondary racemes of the plants subjected to high salinity and low nitrogen, probably because of a high seed abortion rate as the oil content fell from around 48-52% to 0-15% between primary and secondary racemes (Lima et al, 2015).…”

Evaluación del rendimiento y calidad del aceite de siete variedades de Ricinus communis.

“…Por ende el rendimiento estimado por hectárea podría ser menor a lo proyectado en función de la densidad de siembra establecida para esta investigación. El número de racimos es uno de los factores que afectan de forma directa el rendimiento del grano, ya que al tener un número mayor de ramas se presenta la posibilidad de tener un incremento en el número de inflorescencias (Severino, 2010). Sin embargo, esta teoría no necesariamente aplica para todas las variedades de higuerilla, ya que la variedad NIC, a pesar de no poseer diferencias estadísticas con las demás variedades, obtuvo un mayor número de ramas productivas, pero el rendimiento hallado fue muy inferior a los otros cultivares, dada la cantidad de frutos presentada.…”