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International Advisory Board

Dr. A. Coomans, Ex-Professor, State University of Ghent, Belgium

Dr. Randy Gaugler, Director, Centre for Vector Biology, Rutgers University, USA

Dr. S.B. Sharma, Director, Plant Security, South Perth, Australia

Dr. Zahoor Ahmad, Professor, Jubail Industrial College, Saudi Arabia

Advisory Board

Dr. G.N. Qazi, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi

Dr. A.S. Ninawe, Advisor, Deptt. of Biotechnology, New Delhi

Dr. I. Ahmad, Ex-Director, Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi

Dr. N.P. Singh, Coordinator, AICRP Chickpea, IIPR, Kanpur

Dr. Masood Ali, Ex-Director, Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur

Dr. H.S. Gaur, Vice-Chancellor, Sardar Vallabbhai Patel Agricultural University, Meerut

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Founder Editor : Late (Dr.) S.S. Ali, Ex-Emeritus Scientist, Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur

Editor in Chief : Dr. R. Ahmad, Ex – Principal Scientist, Indian Council of Agricultural Research

Dr. Erdogan Esref HAKKI, Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Selcuk University Konya Turkey

Dr. S. K. Agarwal, Principal Lentil Breeder, ICARDA, Moracco

Dr. B.B. Singh, Assistant Director General Oilseed & Pulses, ICAR, New Delhi

Dr. Absar Ahmad, Senior Scientist, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune

Dr. Raman Kapoor, Head, Dept. of Biotechnology, Indian Sugarcane Research Institute, Lucknow

Dr. Rohini Karunakaran, Senior Lecturer, Unit of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, AIMST University, Malaysia

Dr.P.S.Srikumar, Associate Professor, Unit of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, AIMST University, Malaysia

Dr. S.K. Jain, Coordinator, AICRP Nematode, IARI, New Delhi

Dr. Sanjeev Gupta, Coordinator, MULLaRP, IIPR, Kanpur

Dr. Naimuddin, Sr. Scientist (Plant Pathology), IIPR, Kanpur

Dr. Rashid Pervez, Sr. Scientist, Indian Institute of Spices Research, Khozicod, Kerala

Dr. Badre Alam, Associate Prof. Gorakhpur University, U.P.

Dr. Veena B Kushwaha, Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, DDU Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur

Dr. Shabbir Ashraf, Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agril. Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

Dr. Sajad Ali, National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, IARI, Pusa Campus, New Delhi

Prof. Dr. Rachana Patil, L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai

http://www.trendsinbiosciencesjournal.com

REVIEW PAPERS1. Role of Phosphate Solubilising Micro Organisms and Enzymes – A Review 2789

M. M. Sreelakshmi and B. Aparna2. Biochemical Changes During Storage of Indian Jujube Fruit: A Review 2793

Laxman Jat, Sunil Pareek, R.A. Kaushik, Sarla Lakhawat and Manish Kalal3. Improved Farm Technologies for Economic Upliftment of Farmers: A Lens View on Rural Entrepreneurship 2798

Esakkimuthu M and Kameswari VLV4. Water Requirement of Marigold Plants 2802

Kulveer Singh Yadav and Bijendra Kumar Singh5. Climate Change: Implication, Adaptation and Mitigation – An Overview 2804

Brijesh Yadav, M.R. Yadav, R.K.Meena, A.K.Verma, Chiranjeev Kumawat and Sushil Kumar Kharia6. Postharvest Physiology and Ripening Behavior of Indian Jujube Fruit: A Review 2808

Laxman Jat, Sunil Pareek, R.A. Kaushik, Sarla Lakhawat and Manish Kalal7. Adoption of Improved Farm Technologies by Farmers in India 2812

Esakkimuthu M and Kameswari VLV8. Global Dimming: An Overview of Climate Change 2816

Avinash Goyal, Sushil Kumar Kharia and Brijesh Yadav9. Growing of Strawberry in the Home Garden: An Overview 2824

Bijendra Kumar Singh, Akhilendra Verma, and Kulveer Singh YadavRESEARCH PAPERS10. Studies on Damage Caused by Field Rodents on Different Growth Stages of Groundnut 2831

K.K. Adarsh11. Evaluation of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) Genotypes 2833

Ritu Rani Minz, Omesh Thakur and John P. Collis12. Colour Profile of Indian Jujube Fruit under Modified Atmosphere Packaging Storage 2835

Laxman Jat13. Comparative Study of Different Grains on Spawn Development of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus Sp.) 2841

Mahesh M. Chaudhary, Priya John and Dinesh Chaudhary14. Antagonistic Activity of Trichoderma spp Against Some Fungi Causing Fungal Rot Disease of Brinjal 2844

Jahangir Abdullah Koka, Abdul Hamid Wani, Mohd Yaqub Bhat and Shazia Parveen15. Fruiting Behaviour of Different Jackfruit Genotypes 2847

Aditi Guha Choudhury, Sonam Ongmu Bhutia, M.A. Hasan, B.C. Das16. Study on Genetic Diversity of Cowpea Genotypes Based on Morphological and Microsatellite Markers 2849

Hasan Khan and K. P. Viswanatha17. Effect of Micro-Nutrients on Growth and Flowering Attributes of Marigold 2856

Neha Chopde, Patokar, M. J., Bhaskarwar, A. C. and Siddhi Patil18. Heterosis and Combining Ability Studies in Pea (Pisum sativum L.) 2859

M.A. Sheikh, M.W. Marawar and P. M. Ingle19. Effect of Physico-Chemical Changes of Acid Lime Squash at Ambient Storage 2863

J.N. Papade, P.M. Chandan, M.B. Gawande and D.P. Kedar20. Effect of Parthenium Manures and Inorganic Fertilizers on Chlorophyll Content, Leaf Area and 2867

Yield of MaizeD. R. Chamle and S. D. Raut

21. A Case Study for Soil Fertility Assessment of Agricultural Research Station, Badnapur 2871S.S. Dhanve, S.S. Mane and S.J. Supekar

22. Integrated Nitrogen Management in Upland Paddy (Oryza sativa L.) 2875G .S . Ghorpade , Y.R. Jadhav and G. B. Suryavanshi

23. Effect of Integrated Weed Management of Soybean (Glycine max L.) on Growth, Yield, Quality 2878Parameters and EconomicsPinki Yadav, G. B. Suryavanshi and Y.R. Jadhav

Trends in Biosciences Volume 10 Number 16 April, 2017

CONTENTS

24. Genetic Diversity Analysis for Yield Contributing and Quality Traits in Advance Breeding Lines of 2881Rice (Oryza sativa L.)Mahendar Singh Bhinda, M. K. Karnwal and Mahendra Kumar Choudhary

25. An Empirical Investigation on Area, Production and Productivity Trends of Wheat (Triticum aestivum) 2885Crop for Vadodara District of Gujarat by Using Linear and Time Series Statistical ModelsLeimapokpam Netajit Singh, V. B. Darji and D. J. Parmar

26. Environmental Impact Assessment of FCV Tobacco Cultivation in the Andhra Pradesh State of India 2892I.Krishna Teja, S. Rajeswari, I. Bhavani Devi, B. Ravindra Reddy and M. Shireesha

27. Ice Cream Properties Affected by Various Pulp Concentrations of Mango 2894Ankita Makwana, D.K. Varu, V. R. Malam, P. S. Vagadia, Mamta Bhad and K.V. Malam

28. Plant Growth Promoting Effect of Trichoderma on Groundnut, Cotton and Sorghum 2898Anshul Sharma, K. B. Jadeja, Sunil Kumar Pipliwal and Jitendra Kumar Dhakad

29. Biochar on the Growth and Yield Performance of Amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.) 2908Ammu Punnoose and S. Anitha

30. Heterosis for Yield and Yield Component Characters in Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] 2913Mahendra Kumar Choudhary, Y. Ravindrababu and Mahendar Singh Bhinda

31. A Study on the Psychological Disposition of Non Migrant Rural Youth Towards Agriculture and their 2922Continuity BehaviourM. Anamica, T.N. Sujeetha and V.Ravichandran

32. Design Parameters Optimization for Seed Drill’s Pressing Device 2926Pankaj Gupta, K.J. Prajapti and J. J. Chavda

33. Analysis of Physico-Chemical Parameters and Bacteriological Study of Groundwater of Mangrulpir 2930Taluka, Dist-Washim (M. S.) in Relation to PotabilityY. M. Sadhwani and V. S. Zade

34. Assessment and Identification of Onion (Allium cepa L.) genotypes for Higher Yield in Central Dry 2935Zone of KarnatakaPrakash Kerure, Rudragouda, F. Channagouda, Sarvjna, B. Salimath, S. Onkarappa, Gajendra,T. H. Bindu, B. M. and T. H. Gowda

35. Evalution of Different Mutant Lines of Isabgol (Plantago ovata Forsk) for Seed Yield and Biochemical 2938ParametersPoonam Choudhary, A.K. Sharma, Rajveer and Ranjeet Singh Jakhar

36. Effect of Sources and Levels of Sulphur Fertilization on Nutrient Content, Uptake and Yield of Wheat 2941(Triticum aestivum L.) Crop under Grown in Medium Black Calcareous SoilP .K. Karwasara, V .B. Ramani and Rajendra Bhanwaria

37. Response of Cape Gooseberry to Integrated Nutrient Management 2946Akhilendra Verma, S. P. Singh, Bijendra Kumar Singh and Kulveer Singh Yadav

38. Interspecific Hybridization and Hybrid Vigour in Populus 2949Manoj Kumar Singh

39. Response of Post-Shooting Bunch Spray of Chemicals on Yield of Ratoon Banana (Musa paradisiaca L.) 2951cv. Grand NainKachhadia, Palak; Tank, R.V.; Bhanderi, D.R. and Vagadia, P.S.

40. Credit Gap of the Borrower Farmers in Bikaner Region of Rajasthan 2954Raju Kumawat and N.K. Singh

41. Influence of Different Levels of NPK Vermicompost and Rhizobium on Properties of Soil and Yield of 2960Green Gram (Vigna radiata L.) var. SamratAshwani, Arun Alfred David, Tarence Thomas and Narendra Swaroop

42. Integrated Nutrient Management for Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.)-Cotton 2964(Gossypium hirsutum L.) Cropping Sequence Under Rainfed Condition of GujaratH. M. Bhuva, A.C. Detroja and N.N. Chaudhari

43. Land Configuration and Integrated Nutrient Management System for Sustaining Productivity of Rainfed 2968CottonMangesh R. Thakur, Anita B. Chorey and Bharat P. Kolekar

SHORT COMMUNICATION44. Estimation of Genetic Variability, Heritability and Expected Genetic Advance for Seed Index in Mungbean 2972

(Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek)Rupal Dhoot

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REVIEW PAPER

Role of Phosphate Solubilising Micro Organisms and Enzymes – A ReviewM. M. SREELAKSHMI* AND B. APARNA

Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Kerala Agricultural University,College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala*email: [email protected]

Trends in Biosciences 10(16), Print : ISSN 0974-8431, 2789-2792, 2017

ABSTRACTPhosphorus is an essential macronutrient vital for theplant growth. It is the key component of nucleic acids andis associated with complex energy transformations inplants. It is mostly taken up as the primary orthophosphateion (H2PO4-), but in some cases it is also absorbed assecondary and tertiary orthophosphates, depending uponthe pH of the soil. In soil, the major fraction of P exists inorganic and inorganic forms, which is unavailable to plants.Phosphorus solubilising microorganisms and phosphataseenzymes have inevitable role in mineralize the organiccompounds and solubilize the inorganic P compounds,making it available. Acid phosphatase present inrhizosphere plays a major role in the mineralization oforganic phosphorous compounds. It may be secreted bythe roots to the rhizosphere region or may be microbialorigin. PSMO are group of microorganisms capable ofsolubilising the locked phosphorus. Bacillus sp.,Psuedomonas sp., AMF, Aspergillus sp, Pencillium sp.are some of the potent solubilisiers among them. Isolatesof these solubilising microbes can be used as microbialinoculants and thus Phosphorus uptake by plants can beenhanced. So, there should be an extensive study to identifyand characterize the various phosphate solubilising micro-organisms present in the soil.

Key words Phosphorus, Phosphate solubilising microorganisms, Phosphatase enzyme, Bacillus,Pseudomonas, AMF

Soil, the integral part of land wealth is multifarious innature. It is the medium for plant growth, means for waterstorage and gaseous exchange, habitat for organisms,source of many minerals, and has a leading role inmaintaining the ecological balance. Soil acts as thereservoir of nutrients essential for growth and developmentof plants. Nutrient elements are those elements required bythe plants to complete their lifecycle. Out of the 118 elementsso far discussed in periodic table, 17 elements which satisfyArnon and Stout’s essentiality theory are found to beessential to plants. Lack of these nutrients will causespecific deficiency symptoms in plants.

Phosphorus is the 11th abundant element in the earthcrust. 98% of the total P present in soil is observed asprimary/secondary minerals and organic matter. 1-2% isassociated with microorganisms and 0.01% in soluble form(Kumar, 2016). Phosphorus compounds exist mainly in 2different forms, organic and inorganic. Organic phosphatesare composed of Inositol phosphate (phytin),phospholipids, nucleic acids, nucleotides, sugarphosphates etc. It accounts about 30-50% of total P in

most of the soils. Inorganic forms which contribute asizeable fraction of total P, are present in both ionic andcombined form. Depending upon the pH, it combines withFe & Al (7), and other silicate minerals. Ionicforms of P may be H2PO4-, HPO42- or PO43- and concentrationof these ions may vary depending upon the pH of the soil.

Role of phosphorus in plantsPhosphorus performs plethora of functions in plants.

It is one of the fertilizer nutrients which is vital to the plantgrowth and stands next to Nitrogen in terms of nutrientrequirement. It is an essential component of ATP, the energycurrency of plants. The key functions of P include energytransfer and storage, photosynthesis, respiration, celldivision, seed formation etc. (Jain and Khichi, 2014). Itstrengthens the structural tissue and thus preventinglodging. It stimulates the root formation and hastensmaturity. Apart from these, it increases the uptake of Mg,thus preventing grass tetany in grazing animals.

Availability of phosphorus in soilAverage concentration of P in leaves is 0.2%. Plants

exhibit deficiency symptoms if concentration goes below0.1%. Though the phosphorus is necessary for plants, theconcentration in soil is much less. The average content insoil is about 0.02-0.5%. In Indian soil total P ranges from0.01-0.2% on an average of 0.05%. But the available fractionof P is only 0.1% because of the poor solubility and fixationin the soils. So phosphorus is deficient in most of the soils.Majority of P bounds with the Al, Fe and Ca making itunavailable. And hence, the phosphorus requirement ofplants could be met through the judicious application ofphosphatic fertilizers. But the indiscriminate use of highanalysis straight or complex fertilizers causes negativeimpact on the soil health and ruffles its normal functioning,resulting in elevation of p levels (Richardson et al., 2009).This would affect cycling of many other nutrients therebytriggering a chain reaction which would predispose thecrops to pests, diseases and other physiological disorders.Here comes the significance of micro organisms those arepotent to solubilize the native P and offers an acceptablemeans of increasing the various fractions of available P.

Phosphate Solubilising Micro Organisms (PSMO)Phosphate solubilising micro organisms (PSMO) are

group of microbes capable of solubilising the unavailableP. It converts the insoluble fraction of P to the availableform and has great deal in correcting the phosphorusdeficiency of plants (Kumar, 2016). Soil serves as goodreservoir of these micro organisms. It releases the inorganicP form through decomposition of phosphate rich organiccompounds. It is present in every ecological niche. But thepopulation will be considerably very high in the

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2790 Trends in Biosciences 10 (16), 2017

rhizhosphere region, rhizhoplanes and pylloplanes .Rhizosphere region is the active portion of soil where

root exudation seems to be more. Presence of organic anionsand lowered pH due to microbial activity in rhizosphereresults in P solubilisation (Richardson et al., 2009). Acidphosphatases present in rhizosphere plays a major role inthe mineralization of organic phosphorous in soil(Rodrýguez and Fraga., 1999). Microbial population heavilydepends upon the chemical and physical properties of soil.Phosphate solubilising micro organisms plays an importantrole in plant nutrition through increase in the phosphateuptake by plants and hence used as biofertilizers foragricultural crops (Singh et al., 2012) it enhances the growthof plants

PSMO comprises of bacteria, fungi and few speciesof actnomycetes. Bacteria accounts 1-50% , fungi accounts0.1-0.5% (Chen et al., 2006). Phosphorus solubilisingbacterias like Bacillus , Pseudomonas, Rhizobium,Enterobacter species are effective P solubilizers(Mohammadi, 2012). Among the fungi, Pencillin ,Aspergillus, Rhizopus are potential PSMO (Zhu et al., 2011).Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) which is associatedwith almost every vascular species fixes P and makes itavailable to plants (Sharma et al., 2013). Glomus is thepredominant species among them. Genus Streptomyces andMicromonospora are few P solubilising actinomycetes(Hamdali et al., 2008).

Phosphatase EnzymePhosphatases are group of enzymes that hydrolyzes

phosphate groups from a wide variety of organicsubstrates, producing phosphate ion and alcohol. Theyare found in all cells. It deserves special attention in soil,because of their significant roles in phosphorusmineralization to inorganic available forms.( Tazisong et al.,2015)

Nomenclature Committee of the International Unionof Biochemistry and Molecular Biology broadly classifiedphosphatase enzymes into different classes which includesphosphomonoesterases, phosphodiesterases,triphosphoric monoester hydrolases and enzymes actingon phosphoryl-containing anhydrides and on P–N bonds.Phosphomonoesterases includes 4 sub classes ; acid andalkaline phosphomonoesterase, phosphoproteinphosphatases, phytases and nucleotidases. (Nannipieri etal., 2011). Acid and alkaline phosphomonoesterasehydrolyses monoester bonds including mononucleotidesand sugar phosphates, phosphoprotein phosphataseshydrolyses phosphoester bonds of phosphoserines,phytases hydrolases phosphates groups from inositolhexaphosphate (phytin). Phospholipases hydrolysephospholipids and pyrophosphatase enzyme hydrolysespyrophosphate to inorganic P. Although phospholipids andnucleic acids, whose degradation is catalysed byphosphodiesterases , phosphomonoesterases gain muchimportance in phosphorus solubilisation in soil. But theiractivities may act sequentially. In case ofPhosphotriesterase, activity in soil is much lower thanacid and alkaline phosphomonoesterase activities (Stegeet al., 2009).

In soil, phosphatases may be derived from plants orfrom microbes. It may be intracellular enzymes or extracellularenzymes leaking from intact cells. Phosphatase enzyme aresecreted from roots to the rhizosphere region when Pavailability becomes limiting. It is observed that acidphosphatase in soils are of both plant and microbial origins,while alkaline phosphatase is mostly of microbial origin. Inacid soils acid activity of phosphomonoesterase would bemore whereas, in alkaline soils alkalinephosphomonoesterase activity prevails more (Turner etal., 2002).

Mechanism Involved in Phosphate SolubilisationPrinciple mechanism involved in the phosphate

solubilising microorganism is lowering of pH (Khan et al.,2009). Phosphate solubilising micro organism releases thecompounds which are capable of dissolving the mineralsor complexes such as CO2 (converts to carbonic acid),organic acids like citric acid, oxalic acid, siderophores etc.Thus P present in the organic compounds are released andin the inorganic compounds are solubilised (Jain and Khichi,2014 ). Protons and Organic anions are primarly involvedin solubilizing precipitated fractions of P like Ca phosphateswhile chelating metal ions are usually associated with thecomplexed forms of soil P (Richardson and Simpson., 2011)AMF will colonise the plant root and release the plant uptakeof phosphorous. There observes a tremendous increase inP uptake by the extra radical mycorrhizal hyphae (George etal., 2008)

It is observed that rock phosphate when inoculatedwith Pseudomonas striata, phosphorous become moreavailable due to solubilisation of rock phosphorous byacids produced by the bacteria (Premono et al., 1996).Studies showed that Bacillus megaterium could easilydissolve the rock phosphate while yeast could solubilizecalcium phosphate more effectively(Qing and WeiYi, 2005).Along with production of organic acids, they are capableof producing phytohormones in rhizosphere. SomePseudomonas sp . act as biocontrol agents againstphytopathogenic fungi (Kumar and Singh., 2012). Amycorrhizal plant shows high uptake of phosphorous evenin poorly soluble phosphorous sources like rock phosphateand Fe and Al phosphates (Bolan, 1991). Acid phosphatase,and alkaline phosphatase have synergistic effects onphosphate dissolution. Phosphatase could utilizesubstrates containing organic phosphates such as calciumphosphate. (Qing and WeiYi, 2005).

P solubilisation by Phosphate solubilising micro-organism from rock phosphate progressively increases asincubation period increases (Shehana and Abraham, 2001).In alkaline calcareous soils, phosphorus fertilizer efficiencyis enhanced through pre-incubation of singlesuperphosphate along with poultry litter. The resultsshowed that application of pre-incubated single superphosphate - poultry litter resulted in higher phosphorousfertilizer efficiency and produced significantly higher drymatter yield (Tahir et al., 2011). Study on bacterial inoculantswith bio fertilizer showed that genus Bacillus showed thebetter phosphorus solubilisation (Singh et al., 2012).Besides the phosphorous solubilising activity Bacillus

SREELAKSHMI and APARNA, Role of Phosphate Solubilising Micro Organisms and Enzymes – A Review 2791

megatherium have a major role in remediation of B, Pb, Cdfrom the contaminated soil and thus improving the soilhealth (Esrýngu et al., 2014).

Effectiveness of phosphate solubilising microorganisms may be affected by factors like PhosphateSolubilizing Bacteria (PSB) used, nutritional status of soiland environmental factors The main influencing factorsare pH, temperature, carbon sources, N sources, nutrientcomposition and insoluble phosphate content are thepredominating depending factors. At pH 6, bacterialpopulation will be predominant, at pH 5-6 fungi populationand above 7-8, there cause a reduction in the phosphoroussolubilisation. And so, pH is important in improving theactivities of phosphate solubilizing organisms. (Abubakarand Muhammad, 2015). Temperature is another limitingfactor. 25-30 °C is the optimum temperature for the microbialgrowth. At 20-30°C Pseudomonas population is observedas high, at 30 °C fungi population and above 40 °C there isa reduction in phosphorous solubilisation. As aerationincreases phosphorous solubilisation also increases.

Inoculation of Phosphate solubilising microorganisms improves the soil health. It benefits many cropslike cereals, legumes, vegetable making phosphorousavailable them. When phosphorus-solubilizing Bacillusmegaterium var. phosphaticum is inoculated along withnitrogen-fixing bacterias like Stenotrophomonasmaltophilia and Ralstonia pickettii, results obtained wassimilar to chemical fertilizers. It enhances nitrogen uptakeefficiency, nitrogen translocation efficiency, nitrogen useefficiency, the agronomic efficiency, and the water useefficiency. So bacterial combination may be recommendedas an alternative to fertilization method (Bulut, 2013) that is,as bio fertilizers. Seed inoculation with phosphorussolublising bacteria showed better results in many crops.The grain yield per plant increased due to inoculationtreatment and higher level of P (Umale et al., 2002).Application of organic acid like oxalic acid improves thephosphate solubilising ability of microbes while microbialinoculation. Among the organic acids, oxalic acids are moreprominent in solubilising the locked phosphorus than citricacid due to this strong binding ability (Panhwar et al., 2013).

Phosphatic fertilizers like Diammonium phosphate andsingle super phosphate when inoculated with biofertilizer,Rhizobium showed an enhanced P uptake, growth and yieldin legumes. (Khajuria et al., 2014). Aforementioned,phosphorus solubilising microbes should be isolated fromthe soil and can be use as microbial inoculants. But somestudies reveal that isolating soil conditions cannot becompletely recreated in the laboratories. Also indicates thatsome specific genes may be linked with the phosphatesolublising property .So along with the chemical aspectsdealing with phosphate solubilisation, there should be apeep into the biotechnological aspects too.

Current ScenarioAttaining self sufficiency in food grain production is

the uttermost aim of every agricultural practice. Expansionof cropping area, use of high yielding varieties of crops,judicious application of high analysis fertilizers, farmmechanization are the strategic elements to attain it . But

these technology driven cultivation practices impairs thesoil productivity and fertility. Declining soil health withinshort span of time warned us to switch on to alternativeways to sustain the soil life and led to the evolution ofconcept, the sustainable agriculture.

Heeding all dimensions of sustainable agriculture,phosphate solubilising bacteria opens a new horizon forbetter crop production, besides sustaining the soil health.Extensive study to identify and characterize the phosphatesolubilising micro-organisms suitable for the field conditionsshould be taken into consideration.

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of Bacillus megaterium and pH on the solubility of Sokoto RockPhosphate in soil. J. Pure Appl. Sci. 8(2): 1-6.

Bolan, N. S. 1991. A critical review on the role of mycorrhizal fungiin the uptake of phosphorus by plants. Plant Soil 134(2): 189–207.

Bulut, S. 2013. Evaluation of efficiency parameters of phosphorous-solubilizing and N-fixing bacteria inoculations in wheat (Triticumaestivum L.) Turkish J. Agri. and For. 37(6) : 734-743

Chen, Y. P., P. D. Rekha, A. B. Arunshen, W. A. Lai and C. C. Young.2006. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria from subtropical soil andtheir tricalcium phosphate solubilizing abilities. Appl. Soil Ecol.34:33-41.

Esrýngu, A., Turan, M., Gunes, A., and Karaman, M. R. 2014. Rolesof Bacillus megaterium in remediation of boron, lead, andcadmium from contaminated soil. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.5(13): 1741-1759.

George,E., Marschner,H., and Jakobsen, I. 1995. Role of ArbuscularMycorrhizal Fungi in Uptake of Phosphorus and Nitrogen FromSoil, Criti. rev. in biotechnol. 15 (3) : 257-270

Hamdali, H., Bouizgame, B., Hafidi.M., Lebrihi,A., Virolle, M,J.,andOuhdouch,Y. 2008. Screening for rock phosphate solubilisingActinimycetes from Moroccan phosphate mines. Appl soil ecol.38 (1):12-19

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Khajuria, S., Thomas, T., and Kumar.V. 2014. Effect of biofertilizerand different sources of phosphatic fertilizers on the growth andyield of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) in alluvial soil. Int. J. Agri.Sci. 10 (1):162-166

Khan, A., Jilani, G., Akhtar, M. S., and Rasheed, M. 2009. A biannualpublication of PMAS Arid. Agric. Biol. Sci. 1(1): 48-58.

Kumar, A . 2016. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria in agriculturebiotechnology: Diversity, mechanism and their role in plantgrowth and crop yield. International. J. Adv. Res. 4(4): 116-124

Kumar, V. and Singh, K. P. 2001. Enriching vermicompost bynitrogen fixing and phosphate solubilizing bacteria. BioresourceTechnol. 76: 173-175.

Mohammadi, K. 2012. Phosphorus Solubilizing Bacteria: Occurrence,Mechanisms and Their Role in Crop Production, Resour. andEnviron. 2(1): 80-85

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Panhwar,Q.A., Jusop,S., Naher,U.A., Othman,R., and Razi, M.I.2013. Application of Potential Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteriaand Organic Acids on Phosphate Solubilization from PhosphateRock in Aerobic Rice, The Sci. World J. Article ID 272409

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of phosphate-solubilizing Pseudomonas putida on the growthof maize and its survival in the rhizosphere. Indonesian J. CropSci. 11: 13-23.

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Received on 10-04-2017 Accepted on 16-04-2017

REVIEW PAPER

Biochemical Changes During Storage of Indian Jujube Fruit: A ReviewLAXMAN JAT1*, SUNIL PAREEK2, R.A. KAUSHIK1, SARLA LAKHAWAT3 AND MANISH KALAL1

1Department of Horticulture, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan2Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, NIFTEM, Kundli, Haryana3Department of Food & Nutrition, College of Home Science, MPUAT, Udaipur*email: [email protected]


ABSTRACTIndian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk. 2n=48) is animportant fruit crops belongs to the family Rhamnaceae.It is being considered as poor man’s apple due to highnutritive value. The storage life of ber fruit is extremelyshort and the rapid perishability of the fruit is a problem.At ambient temperature the shelf life of 2-4 day is commondue to the surplus of fruits in the local markets duringpeak season, a substantial quantity goes waste, resultingin heavy post harvest losses. This paper reviewsinformation on biochemical changes during storage ofjujube fruit, the topics deal with changes in qualityattributes during ripening and storage such as total solublesolids, firmness, water content, sugars, ascorbic acid,enzymes, phenol, organic acids and phospholipids. Webelieve this review will serve as a useful reference for thosestudying and investigating postharvest aspects ofJujube fruit.

Key words Biochemical Changes, Storage, IndianJujube Fruit

Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) is one of theimportant underutilized fruit of India belongs to the familyRhamnaceae. Native place of Ziziphus mauritiana is centralAsia (Morton, 1987). It is being considered as poor man’sapple due to high nutritive value. It is ideally suited forgrowing in the arid and semi arid regions of India, particularlyin waste and marginal lands and it is gaining popularitywith the growers because of higher yield and good returnson investment. It is mainly grown in the states of MadhyaPradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan,Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Ber productionhas increased many folds in recent years mainly due toavailability of a wide range of high yielding and earlybearing cultivars suitable to specific regions of India (Jat,2011).

Nutritionally, ber fruit is widely acclaimed for its richsource of ascorbic acid (70-165 mg 100g-1) (Bal, et al., 1978).Apart of this, it is a good source of essential minerals likeCa, P and Fe (Pareek, 1983). Pulp contains 12.8-13.6 percent carbohydrates (Jawanda et al., 1981). Gola ber contain20.10 per cent TSS, 0.34 per cent acidity, 160.56 mg 100g-1ascorbic acid and 6.97 per cent total sugars (Pareek et al.,2002). As ber fruit has delicious taste and eaten as fresh, ithas a fairly good market in central and northern India.Extensive studies have been carried out to prepare variousprocessed products from ber fruit such as candy, preserve,dehydrated product including osmo-dehydrated products,jam, jelly, juice, squash and pickle (Pareek and Yahia, 2011).

The storage life of ber fruit is extremely short and the

rapid perishability of the fruit is a problem. At ambienttemperature the shelf life of 2-4 day is common due to thesurplus of fruits in the local markets during peak season, asubstantial quantity goes waste, resulting in heavy postharvest losses. Ber production is highly remunerative butrequires proper handling with respect to pre-harvest,harvesting and postharvest treatments, packaging,transportation, storage, postharvest pathology, processingetc. Profits could be enhanced if efforts to increaseproduction are supplemented with efforts to minimizepostharvest loss and enhance shelf life (Pareek et al., 2009).To overcome postharvest losses and to extend shelf life ofber fruits, different chemicals, growth regulators and storagetemperatures were tried. Therefore we attempt here to reviewseveral important aspects such as maturity and harvestingindices, and quality changes during storage.

Fruit composition and nutritional variability of ber fruitMuch of the data relating to Indian jujube fruits are

cultivar specific; however the information can besummarized to provide a general picture. The pulp of thefruit is of most importance in relation to nutrition. Someworkers have investigated the composition of jujube fruitand biological activities. Ber fruits have a high nutritivevalue, being a rich source of vitamin C, A, and B complex,and also of Ca, K, Br, Rb, and La minerals (Tiwari and Banafer,1995). In general, the fruits contain 81.6-83.0 per centmoisture, 17.0 per cent carbohydrate, 0.8 per cent protein,0.07 per cent fat, 0.76-1.8 per cent iron, 0.03 per cent each ofcalcium and phosphorus, 0.021 mg carotene, 0.02-0.024 mgthiamine, 0.02-0.038 mg riboflavin, 0.7-0.87 mg niacin, 0.2-1.1 mg citric acid, 65.8-76.0 mg ascorbic acid, 21.66 g sugars,1.28 g fiber and 0.21 g fat with a calorific value of 104100g-1 (Morton, 1987). Galactose, fructose and glucose weremajor sugars found in ber fruit (Muchuweti, et al., 2005). P-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic, ferulic acid and ñ-coumaricacid were most abundant phenolic compounds in ber withconcentrations of 365.94, 30.76, 19.64 and 19.28 mg kg-1dry mass, respectively whereas vanillic acid was the leastabundant with a concentration of 2.52 mg kg-1. Guil-Guerrero, et al. (2004) analyzed several ber varieties fromSpain for fatty acid and carotene contents. Tryglycerideshaving medium chain fatty acids were most abundant in allsamples. The main fatty acids were 12:0 (18.3 ± 9.97), 10:0(12.5 ± 19.0), 18.2n6 (9.27 ± 7.26), 16:1n7 (8.50 ± 5.77), 16:0(7.25 ± 4.35), and 18:1n9 (5.34 ± 2.52) on total saponifiableoil. The fruit yield 1.33 ± 0.17 g 100g-1 saponifiable oil on adry weight basis. Carotenes were found to be in goodagreement with other fruits, varying from 4.12 to 5.98 mg100g-1 on a dry weight basis. Citric acid, malonic acid andmalic acid were identified as major acids in ber fruits(Muchuweti, et al., 2005). Pareek (1983) recorded 81-97 per



cent pulp in fresh, mature fruit and Jawanda, et al. (1980)considered the range 91.6-92.9 per cent.

The richness of the pulp in nutritive compounds hasbeen widely recognized. Nonetheless there are no definitivevalues for pulp composition. However, ber is richer thanapple in protein, phosphorus, calcium, carotene and vitaminC (Bakhshi and Singh, 1974) and oranges in phosphorus,iron, vitamin C and carbohydrate and exceeds them incalorific value. Ripe fruits provide 20.9 K calories 100g-1 ofpulp (Singh, et al., 1973).

In terms of carbohydrate, pulp contains 12.8–13.6 percent (Singh, et al., 1967; Jawanda, et al., 1981) of which 5.6per cent is sucrose, 1.5 per cent glucose, 2.1 per cent fructoseand 1 per cent starch. Total sugars content is markedlydifferent according to cultivar (Singh, et al., 1983). Theamino acids asparagine, aspartic acid, glycine, glutamicacid, serine, aserine and threonine, are found in the pulp(Bal, 1981) but not many analyses or comparisons havebeen made.

A wide range of varietal variability for quality traitswas detected in 30 cultivars of ber (Bisla and Daulta, 1986).The cultivar ‘Umran’ has 19 per cent TSS and 1.2 per centacidity. In the case of ‘Kathaphal’, the TSS was 23 per centand acidity was 0.77 per cent while in ‘Gola’, the TSS was17-19 per cent and 0.46-0.5 per cent acidity. In ‘Kaithli’, TSSwas 18 per cent and acidity 0.5 per cent (Daulta andChauhan, 1982). Ber germplasm indicated significantvariation in physicochemical characteristics of 23genotypes, and out of them 10 produced fruits of excellentquality (Lal, et al., 2003). Variation in 10 local ber genotypesgrown in West Bengal, were noted for soluble solids, totalsugars, acidity and ascorbic acid content; ranges of theseparameters were 9.53-19.13 per cent, 4.94-12.30 per cent,0.38-2.60 per cent and 17.25-51.98 mg 100g-1, respectively(Ghosh and Mitra, 2004). Godara (1980) evaluated 16 cultivarsfor quality characters. The fruits of ‘Mundia Murhara’ and‘Chhuhara’ had the highest TSS content (22.8 and 22.4%,respectively). ‘Banarasi Karaka’ fruits had the highestnutritive value (Tiwari and Banafar, 1995). Some cultivarsshow variation in acidity (0.23-0.78%) and ascorbic acid(80.85-178.04 mg 100g-1 pulp) (Godara, 1980). The ascorbicacid content in several ber cultivars ranged from 70 to165mg 100g-1 of pulp (Jawanda and Bal, 1978). Bisla, et al. (1980)observed the highest vitamin C content (120.15 mg 100g-1)in cv. ‘Illaichi’. The vitamin C content was highest in‘Narikelee’, followed by ‘Kaithli’ 165 and 125 mg 100g-1 fruitpulp, respectively (Gupta, 1977). ‘Jinsi 3’ and ‘Jinsi 4’ (bothsmall fruited), had sugar content over 35 per cent (Chen, etal., 2003). ‘Godhan’ was the most nutritive with regard tototal soluble solids and ascorbic acid content, whereas‘Kharki’ was the sweetest at Hoshangabad, MadhyaPradesh, India. The highest acidity (0.49%) was exhibitedby ‘Soni’ while the lowest acidity (0.25%) was exhibited by‘Kabra’ and ‘Amrabati’. The highest total sugar content(14.48%) was exhibited by ‘Bekanta’ and the lowest (8.5%)by ‘Karka’ (Gupta, et al., 2004). The highest total solublesolids were recorded for ‘Umran’ and the highest acidcontent in ‘Sanaur 4’ at Bhatinda, India (Tomar and Singh,1987)

Biochemical changes during storage

Total soluble solids (TSS)The TSS content of the fruit remained low during

initial stages of growth, but increases throughout the growthperiod and reached a peak in physiologically mature fruits(Jawanda and Bal, 1980; Bal, 1981; Abbas and Saggar, 1989;Abbas et al., 1988; Abbas et al., 1994). A gradual increasein starch content was observed upto maturity and then itdecreased during ripening in ‘Sanaur 2’ (Bal, 1981), and in‘Gola’, ‘Kaithli’, and ‘Umran’ (Bhatia and Gupta, 1985).

SugarsReducing and non reducing sugars increased up to

maturity (Bal et al., 1979; Jawanda and Bal, 1980; Bal, 1981).Total sugars increased gradually up to certain period ofgrowth and then decreased rapidly (Bal and Singh, 1978;Jawanda and Bal, 1980; Bal, 1981; Gupta et al., 1984; Bhatiaand Gupta, 1985; Pandey et al., 1990; Kadam et al., 1993).Bal et al. (1979) reported that in ‘Umran’ ber, sucrose andfructose continued to increase whereas glucose decreasedslightly with advancement of ripening.

The stages of harvest had a significant effect on totalsugars. Delaying the picking of fruits to later maturity stagesresulted in higher sugars after ripening (Bal and Chauhan,1981; Bal, 1986). While working on four Indian jujubecultivars (‘Gaolangyihao’, ‘Xinshiji’, ‘Mizao’,‘Miandianchangguo’) in China. Ling et al. (2008) reportedthat the soluble sugar mainly consisted of sucrose, glucoseand fructose. The sucrose contents in fruits of four cultivarsincreased quickly from mid-late stage of inflation to ripening,and the rate of sucrose accumulation in ‘Gaolangyihao’was faster than that of the other three cultivars. The rule offructose and glucose accumulation in ‘Gaolangyihao’ wassimilar to that of ‘Xinshiji’, and fructose content was almostequal to glucose content, the change in those contentswere not obvious during the fruit development. The contentof fructose was significantly higher than that of the glucosein ‘Mizao’ and ‘Miandianchangguo’ fruit (Ling et al., 2008).

AcidsThe acid content of the fruit was high during the

initial stage of fruit growth, and decreased as the fruitmatures (Bal and Singh, 1978; Singh et al., 1981; Abbas etal., 1988). The acidity decreased with each delay in the dateof harvest thereafter reached the minimum at the last harvestdate. During this period, available organic acids have beenutilized at faster rate in respiratory process and thus theacid content decreased considerably (Bal et al., 1995a).

Ascorbic acidThe ascorbic acid content of ber fruits was initially

low, and continued to increase till the fruit reachedphysiological maturity (Abbas, 1997). The increase inascorbic acid content with the advancement of ripeningwas noticed in ber fruit and reached peak value i.e., 559 mg100g-1 on 15th day of storage (Kader et al., 1984). Bal et al.(1995b) also noted the increase in vitamin C content as thematurity advanced in ‘Umran’ ber fruits.

pHThe total phenols decreased with the advancement

JAT et al., Biochemical Changes During Storage of Indian Jujube Fruit: A Review 2795

of maturity (Bal and Singh, 1978; Bal, 1981b; Al-Niami et al.,1992; Bal et al., 1995b). This reduction in phenolics duringthe ripening could be due to its hydrolysis into sugars,acids or any other compounds or owing to theirtransformation from a soluble into an insoluble form (Singhet al., 1981). Both on tree as well as stored ‘Umran’ berfruits showed decrease in total phenols with theadvancement of ripening (Sharma, 1996) and tannins alsodecreased (Kadam et al., 1993). Total phenolics weredecreased in Chinese ber after 3 day at 20ºC and againincreased on 15 day of storage period (Kader et al., 1982).

PhenolThe total phenols decreased with the advancement

of maturity (Bal and Singh, 1978; Bal, 1981b; Al-Niami et al.,1992; Bal et al., 1995b). This reduction in phenolics duringthe ripening could be due to its hydrolysis into sugars,acids or any other compounds or owing to theirtransformation from a soluble into an insoluble form (Singhet al., 1981). Both on tree as well as stored ‘Umran’ berfruits showed decrease in total phenols with theadvancement of ripening (Sharma, 1996) and tannins alsodecreased (Kadam et al., 1993). Total phenolics weredecreased in Chinese ber after 3 day at 20ºC and againincreased on 15 day of storage period (Kader et al., 1982).

ProteinsThe soluble protein in fruit on a fresh weight basis

ranged from 9.37 to 26.90 mg 100g-1 in 42 cultivars of Z.mauritiana (Kumar et al., 1999). Free amino acids isolatedfrom fruit pulp of wild taxa and 40 cultivars of Z. mauritianadid not show any relationship between the number andtypes of amino acids in wild samples and cultivars (Gill etal., 1997). In wild samples, the number of amino acids persample was in the range 4-8. Of the 17 free amino acidsrepresented in wild samples, glutamic acid, amino-butyricacid, threonine, proline and alanine were well represented.In cultivated ber the number of amino acids per sample wasin the range 3-10. Of the 22 amino acids represented inthese cultivars, arginine, cysteine, cystine, alanine andproline were common. The most widely represented aminoacids in cultivars (arginine, cysteine and cystine) wereabsent in wild taxa. The commonly represented amino acidsin wild samples (glutamic acid, amino-butyric acid andthreonine) were not common in cultivars. Proteins in ‘Umran’ber were reported to be decreased with the delay inharvesting dates (Bal et al., 1979). Protein content in ‘Umran’and ‘Sanaur-2’ was high in immature fruits but decreasedtoward maturity (Bal et al., 1978). Gupta et al. (1984)observed that the crude protein contents in ‘Jogia’ berdecreased rapidly during the first 6 weeks followed by asharp decrease up to 11 weeks and then a gradual declinetill ripening. Total proteins decreased and soluble proteinsremained unchanged during ripening on trees as well as instorage in ‘Umran’ ber fruits (Sharma, 1996). The proteincontent of the fruit falls during development from an initiallyhigh value in the green fruit to minimum value as the fruitbecomes physiologically mature, then rises again to peakvalue as the fruit enters the ripening phase and finallydecreases toward over ripeness (Abbas, 1997).

EnzymesThe activity of polygalacturonase (PG) and â-D-

galactosidase increased with the advancement of ripeningof ‘Umran’ ber fruits, while the activity of cellulase andpectin methyl esterase increased up to fully ripe stage andthen showed a decrease at over-ripe stage, both on tree aswell as in storage (Sharma, 1996). The activity of â-D-galactosidase was significantly higher in mature green‘Umran’ ber fruits, and there was no difference betweenunpeeled and peeled fruits. The high activity of â-D-galactosidase probably was in the connection with thebeginning of ripening of ber fruits (Kovacs et al., 2010). PGactivity was not different in mature green and yellow fruits.In the outer part of fruits (unpeeled) the PG activity wassignificantly higher than in peeled ones. The change in PGactivity seems to correlate with the solubilisation of pectinin ber fruits (Kovacs et al., 2010). The ber fruits had a highPG activity, and there was a direct correlation between PGactivity and fruit softening (Muchuweti et al., 2005). PGactivity of control Indian jujube fruit increased sharply forthe first 4 day of storage and reached a maximum value 4.5-fold higher than initial activity. Thereafter, it decreasedsharply. PG activity in chitosan coated fruit reached a peaklevel 3.6-fold higher than initial activity level after 7 daystorage at room temperature. 1-MCP treatment greatlyretatrded PG activity increase in the first 7 day. The maximumPG levels of 1-MCP and 1-MCP + chitosan treated fruitswere observed on day 13, being 3.0-fold and 2.6-fold higherthan initial levels, respectively (Qiuping and Wenshui, 2007).

Increase in peroxidase activity in ber fruit duringripening on tree and during storage was reported by Kadamet al. (1993). The activities of peroxidase and proteaseincreased while the amylase decreased progressively withthe advancement of ripening in ‘Umran’ ber fruits. Theincreased activities of peroxidase and protease wereresponsible for oxidising phenols and ascorbic acid anddecreasing the protein content of fruit, respectively. Theactivities of polyphenol oxidase and catalase first increasedup to fully yellow stage and at later stages it decreased.The activity of catalase is responsible for respiration andautocatalytic synthesis of ethylene (Sharma, 1996).

Ripening of the fruits increased the pectin methylesterase (PME) activity (Bal et al., 1995a). Randhawa et al.(1987) reported that artificial ripening of ber fruits withethephon increased the PME activity. During the storagethe rotting of fruit depends upon the activity of cellulaseenzyme. Higher activity of this enzyme results in fruitsoftening, which subsequently leads to decay of the fruits.In ‘Umran’ ber fruits, cellulase activity was progressivelyincreased during storage up to 20 day and thereafterdecreased (Jawandha et al., 2009a; Jawandha et al., 2009b).The cellulase activity also depends on the exogenousapplication of CaCl2 and GA3. After 20 day of storage,minimum cellulase activity was recorded in GA3 (60 ppm)treated fruits followed by CaCl2 (2%) treatment in ‘Umran’ber (Jawandha et al., 2009).

During plant senescence, the membrane lipidperoxidation is the main cause for membrane decomposition.Lipoxygenase (LOX) is involved in the onset of membrane


lipid peroxidation. LOX activity in controlled Indian jujubefruit increased sharply within the early 4 day, and thenremained at high level during 4-7 days storage. LOX activityof chitosan treatment increased slowly during the first 4day of storage and reached a high peak at 7th day, and thendecreased. LOX levels of coated and non-coated fruit treatedwith 1-MCP were completely suppressed compared tocontrol through 10 day and then increased, reaching peakvalues at 13 day of storage at room temperature. MaximumLOX levels of 1-MCP or 1-MCP + chitosan treated fruitcompared with control and coated fruit reduced about 15.6per cent and 13.3 per cent, respectively (Qiuping andWenshui, 2007). Sankhla et al. (2006) also observed that 1-MCP treated fruits of ‘Seb’ ber were found to be associatedwith lower LOX activity.

The effect of brassinosteroids (BR) in jujube fruitson phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), polyphenol oxidase(PPO), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) wasreported (Zhu et al., 2010). PAL activity in BR-treated fruitshowed a peak on the first day after treatment, and wasconsiderably higher than that of the controls. PPO activityin control fruit quickly reached the maximum level on thesecond day and subsequently dropped. In BR-treated fruitsalso similar trend observed. The control fruit had an initialincrease in CAT activity and a constant decrease afterwards.Compared with the control, the increase in CAT activitywas higher in BR-treated fruit and was maintained at arelatively higher level. SOD activity declined continuouslyin control fruits, but there was a slight decrease in SODactivity in BR-treated fruit (Zhu et al., 2010).

VolatilesThe aroma of yellow ‘Umran’ ber was characterized

by the presence of even carbon number ethyl esters fromC4 to C14. The total amount of volatiles was very low inmature green ‘Umran’ ber fruits. The mature green fruit ischaracterized with the presence of cis-3-hexanol, hexanoland hexanoic acid, while lactones were totally missing.Different esters (ethyl butyrate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyloctanoate, -decanoate, -dodecanoate, -tetradecanoate) werepresent in yellow fruits. The esters with a low carbon chainlength have a fruity, floral odour while those with highercarbon number have a heavy soapy smell. Lactones(gamma-octalactone, gamma-decalactone, and gamma-dodecalactone) were present in smaller amount, which havelow odour threshold (Kovacs et al., 2010).

CONCLUSIONSIndian jujube fruit is a climacteric fruit and quality

changes is accelerated by high respiration and ethyleneproduction rate in storage. Fruit ripening increased withthe advancement of storage from green mature to fully ripestage, then again declined in over-ripe fruits. The higherstorage temperature accelerated biochemical changes andlower temperature reduce these changes. Further studiesshould include different storage temperature, chemical,packaging, handling and reliable maturity indices andinternational standards with respect to quality should bemaintained during storage.

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REVIEW PAPER

Improved Farm Technologies for Economic Upliftment of Farmers: A Lens Viewon Rural EntrepreneurshipESAKKIMUTHU M AND KAMESWARI VLV

Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,Pantnagaremail: [email protected]


India’s economic status continues to be determinedby the agriculture sector, and the situation is not likely tochange in the foreseeable future. The country recordedimpressive achievements in agriculture during threedecades since the onset of Green Revolution in late sixties.This enabled the country to overcome widespread hungerand starvation, achieve self-sufficiency in food, reducepoverty and bring economic transformation of millions ofrural families. The sector, however, began to stagnate inmid-nineties with slowdown in growth rate, which resultedin stagnation or even decline in farmers’ income leading toagrarian distress. At present, agriculture supports 58% ofthe population, as against 75% at the time of independence.Small and marginal holdings constitute 80% of the totalholdings in India. Small farmers face several problems likeabsence of marketing network, lack of value additiontechnology, non-availability of quality inputs, lack of timelycredit, etc. The small scale agriculture can be made profitablethrough product diversification, value addition and agri-entrepreneurship. Small scale agri-enterprises provide anexcellent opportunity for employment generation andimproving their socio-economic condition.

Socio-economic and communication characteristics offarmers

According to Squire and Ntshaliki (2001) in a studyon agricultural enterprises owned by women farmers inBotswana found that 53 per cent of the respondentsbelonged to 41 and above age group, 25 per cent were inthe age group of 31-40 and 22 per cent of the respondentswere in the age group of 21-30 years. It was also reportedthat 42 per cent of respondents had secondary school leveleducation, 40 per cent had primary educational level andonly 4 per cent of the respondents never attended school;Vijaykumar (2001) in a study on entrepreneurial behaviourof floriculture farmers found that half of the respondents(50.83%) were in middle age category followed by 30.84 percent in young age category and 18.33 per cent in old agecategory; Bhagyalaxmi et al. (2003) in a study on profile ofthe rural women micro-entrepreneurs found that majority(66.67%) of the respondents belonged to middle age groupfollowed by young age (22.22%) and old age (11.11%);Shashidhara (2004) in a study on factors influencingadoption of drip irrigation by horticulture farmers of Bijapurdistrict found that, 40.00 per cent of the respondentsparticipated in group meetings followed by exhibition (41.66per cent) and 18.34 per cent of the respondents participatedin Krishimela; Suresh (2004) in a study on entrepreneurialbehaviour of milk producers found that 64.58 per cent ofrespondents belonged to middle age, followed by 17.92 percent in young age group and 17.50 per cent in old age

group; Zahir (2004) in a study on entrepreneurship in Punjabrevealed that 82.5 per cent of the farmers were less than 40years in age. Of these, over 42 per cent were in the agegroup of 20-30 years, indicating that the younger generationwas relatively more adventurous, risk taking, dynamic andinnovative; Kapoor (2009) noted from a study onentrepreneurial behavior among women entrepreneurs thatmajority of the entrepreneurs were young, educated,married, belonged to nuclear family and had medium familysize. It was found that most of the respondents hadindependent form of business; Vural and Karaman (2009)in a study on socio-economic analysis of beekeeping andthe effects of beehive types on honey production foundthat the average age of the beekeepers was 43.88 and theyhad an experience about 14.05 years in beekeeping. Apartfrom this, maximum number of beekeepers had approximately6.5 years education and family size per apiary was overfour persons. Total land was 4.75 hectares in these apiariesand 94.48 % of total land was owned by of beekeepers. Theaverage number of colonies varied from 67.44 and to 280.49by groups and also beekeeping was the main source ofincome for 68.40% beekeepers who own more than 160colonies. It could be inferred from the above researchstudies found that, majority of the farmers engaged inentrepreneurial activities belonged to young and middleage group, had semi-medium land holdings, were educatedup to middle school, belonged to large family, earnedmedium and low annual income, had medium to low level ofmass media exposure and medium level of extension agencycontact, extension participation and credit orientation.

Entrepreneurial characteristics of farmersAccordingly, Sharma (1975) in a study on

entrepreneurs in six districts of Uttar Pradesh viz. Kanpur,Agra, Faizabad, Varanasi and Meerut found that they hadhigher entrepreneurial commitment and achievement; Patelet al. (1989) in a study conducted in rural area in Anandtaluka of Gujarat found that all agri-entrepreneurs showedsimilar level of need for achievement, need for power andmotivation; Jayalekshmi (1996) in a study on entrepreneurialbehavior of rural women found that self-confidencecontributed to the extent of 18.7% towards explainingentrepreneurial behavior of untrained rural women;Chandrapaul (1998) in a study on entrepreneurial behaviourof vegetable growers found that 52.50 per cent ofentrepreneurs had medium level of achievement motivation,followed by of 22.50 who had low level of achievementmotivation and 25.00 per cent of entrepreneurs had highlevel of achievement motivation; Shailaja et al. (2000) in astudy on entrepreneurial behavior of rural women revealedthat economic motivation was the major factor which


ESAKKIMUTHU and KAMESWARI, Improved Farm Technologies for Economic Upliftment of Farmers 2799

explained the entrepreneurial behaviour of five categoriesof rural women (16-43%) followed by achievementmotivation (7-35%), decision making ability (4-30%) risktaking ability (10-24%), management orientation (6-16%),and competition orientation (0-15%); Vijaykumar (2001) in astudy on entrepreneurial behaviour of floriculture farmersfound that 47.50 per cent of entrepreneurs had in low levelof innovativeness, followed by 31.66 per cent ofentrepreneurs who had medium level of innovativeness and20.84 per cent reported high level of innovativeness;Subramanyam (2002) in a study on impact of agriculturalmarket yard committee level training programmes found that75.00 per cent of the trained farmers had medium level ofrisk preference, followed by high (13.34%) and low (11.66%)levels of risk preference; Bhagyalaxmi et al., (2003) in astudy on profile of the rural women micro-entrepreneursfound that majority of the entrepreneurs (75.56%) hadmedium level of risk orientation, followed by low (15.56%)and high (13.33%) levels of risk orientation and 69.44 percent of the entrepreneurs had medium level ofinnovativeness, followed by 15.56 and 15.00 per cent ofrespondents who had high and low level of innovativeness,respectively; Jhamtani et al. (2003) in a study onentrepreneurial orientation of educated unemployed ruralyouth identified ten dimensions of entrepreneurship; viz.risk taking ability, hope to success, feedback usage,persistence, confidence, knowledge, manageability,achievement motivation, persuabilty and innovativeness.Higher the score on the dimension, higher is the selfassessment of an individual on his ability and characteristicsreflecting entrepreneurship. Majority (60.8%) of the ruralyouth had medium level of entrepreneurial orientation. Theywere followed by 31.11 per cent respondents whopossessed high level of entrepreneurial orientation. A smallper cent (8%) had low level of entrepreneurial orientation.

A view point put forth by Suresh (2004) in a study onentrepreneurial behaviour of milk producers found that61.25 per cent of the dairy entrepreneurs had medium levelof achievement motivation, followed by low level (20.42 %)and high level (18.33 %) levels of achievement motivation;Sharma and Verma (2008) in a study on women empowermentthrough entrepreneurship activities of SHGs revealed thatthere was an increase in the social recognition of self, statusof family in the society, size of social circle and involvementin intra family and entrepreneurial decision making afterjoining the SHGs. They further pointed out thatentrepreneurship education and trainings could beintroduced at all levels from basic education. There was anincrease in self confidence, self reliance and independenceof rural women due to involvement in the entrepreneurialactivities; It can be inferred from the above research studiesthat majority of rural entrepreneurs have medium levels ofrisk bearing capacity, economic motivation, innovativeness,and low levels of self-confidence and need for achievement.

Relationship between socio-economic andcommunication characteristics and entrepreneurialbehaviour of farmers.

In a study on entrepreneurial behaviour of sugarcanegrowers found that, education status exerted high directeffect on entrepreneurial behaviour of sugarcane growers

in Maharashtra state Patel and Sanoria (1997). Accordingly,Kumar and Narayanaswamy (2000) in a study onentrepreneurial behaviour and socio-economiccharacteristics of farmers revealed that there was asignificant difference in the entrepreneurial behaviour offarmers having land holding of different sizes and therewas positive relationship between entrepreneurialbehaviour and sustainable agricultural practices adoptedby farmers; Subramanyeswari and Reddy (2003) in a studyon entrepreneurial behaviour of rural dairy women foundthat there was a significant relationship betweenentrepreneurial behaviour of dairy women and their income;Patel et al. (2003) in a study on communication factors andentrepreneurial behaviour of sugarcane growers found apositive association between mass media exposure offarmers with their entrepreneurial behaviour; Anitha (2004)in a study on entrepreneurial behaviour and marketparticipation of farm women revealed that, there is positivesignificant relationship between age and entrepreneurialbehaviour of respondents, but occupation of respondentsdid not show a significant relationship with theirentrepreneurial behaviour. It also found that there was nosignificant relationship of level of aspiration with theentrepreneurial behaviour of the respondents. It can beinferred from the above research studies that there is asignificant positive relationship between socio-economiccharacteristics of farmers and their entrepreneurialbehaviour.

Constraints experienced by farmers in adoption ofimproved farm technologies

Farm constraints operationalised as difficulties facedby farmers in running the agriculture venture. Accordingly,Sunilkumar (2004) in a study on farmers knowledge andadoption of production and post harvest technology oftomato growers in Belgaum district found that majority ofthe farmers (75.83 per cent) faced the problem of lack oftechnical knowledge and guidance about improvedcultivation practices as well as post-harvest technologywhereas 65.00 per cent of the respondents faced the problemof high fluctuation in market price followed by hightransportation cost (62.53%), labour shortage and highwages (55.83%), lack of irrigation facilities and powershortage (46.66%); Dwivedi et al. (2006) in a study inWestern Uttar Pradesh concluded that the importantproblem faced by farmers was marketing of agroforestryproduce due to obstacles created by the police department.In addition to this, non-existence of agro-forestry co-operatives (77.5%), lack of market information (57.5%) andlack of risk bearing ability (61.67%) were the majorconstraints faced by the farmers; Singh and Singh (2006) ina study on constraints faced by women entrepreneurs inJammu district found that 83.33% women entrepreneursfaced financial problem, 87.5% women came across theproblem of marketing and 59.58% women expressed familyconstraints as major problems that did not allow them to bea successful entrepreneur; Rao et al. (2008) in a study inAndhra Pradesh found that one of the most importantconstraint faced by farmers in adopting agriculturaldiversification, particularly by smallholders, was non-availability of credit to harness the potential of high value


commodities. They further stated that informal sources ofcredit dominate the rural credit sector where the interestrates are high (ranging between 24 to 40% as compared to12–15% from formal sources), which added to the cost ofborrowing; Vural (2008) in a study on honey productionand marketing in Turkey reported that, honey producersdo not produce according to economic conventions andalso do not have enough information about the marketingof honey; Vural and Karaman (2009) in a study on socio-economic analysis of beekeeping and the effect of beehivetypes on honey production revealed that constraints facedby beekeepers include deficiency of qualified queen, lackof standards in beehives, use of formic acid at higherconcentration, problem in choosing suitable place,inadequate advertising of bee products to consumers andmarketing of honey and other products; Dhaka and Poonia(2010) in a study in Bundi district of Rajasthan found thatsocioeconomic constraints of vegetable producing farmersinclude limited availability of resources, small size holding,poor extension support, land fragmentation and lowavailability of labour during the peak seasons. They furtherconcluded that high perishability of vegetables, smallquantity of produce, lack of organized marketing, lack ofknowledge about marketing infrastructure were the otherconstraints faced by vegetable growers; Paul et al. (2001)in a study on socio-economic constrains in developmentof mushroom enterprise found that lack of proper knowledgeof composting, losses on account of perishable nature ofmushroom, difficulty in getting loans, lack of educationabout nutritional value of mushroom and lack of storagefacilities were major constraints confronting mushroomgrowers. From the above research studies indicate thatimportant problems faced by the farmers were lack oftechnical guidance, lack of transport facilities, difficulty inborrowing loan from credit institutions, lack of informationabout marketing and wide price fluctuation.

CONCLUSIONEntrepreneurship development among rural people

is increasingly being recognized as a means of overalldevelopment of rural community. One way of fosteringregional development on the basis of entrepreneurship isto motivate and encourage people in the area to start theirown entrepreneurial careers. The research revealed that,more than 80 per cent of the beekeepers had high level ofentrepreneurial potential. It shows that, though rural farmershave high potential to take beekeeping as a businessventure. They were facing lack of governmental policyinitiative for beekeepers, financial assistance, marketing ofproduce, price fluctuation etc.

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participation of farmwomen in Bangalore rural district ofKarnataka. Thesis, M. Sc. University of Agricultural Sciences,Bangalore. 182p.

Bhagyalaxmi, K., Gopalakrishna Rao, V. and Sudarshanreddy, M.2003. Profile of the rural women micro-entrepreneurs. Journalof Research. Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University,Hyderabad, 31(4): 51-54.

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M. Sc. Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad.68p.

Dhaka, B.L. and Poonia, M.K. 2010. Identification of constraintsencountered by the farmers in production and marketing ofvegetables in Bundi district of Rajasthan. Indian Journal ofAgricultural Marketing. 24(1): 67-70.

Dwivedi, R.P., Kareemulla, K., Rizvi, R.H., Singh, R and Kumar K.2006 Sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods- A synthesis.Journal of Agricultural Economics Research Review. 19: 1-22.

Jayalekshmi, G. 1996. Entrepreneurial behaviour of rural women inThiruvananthapuram District. M.Sc. (Ag.) thesis, KeralaAgricultural University, Vellanikkara, 144p.

Jhamtani, A., Sharma, J.P., Singh, R., Singh, A. and Chhibber, V.2003. Entrepreneurial orientation of educated unemployed ruralyouth. Indian Journal of Extension Education. 39(3&4): 123-132.

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Patel, M. M. and Sanoria, Y. C. 1997. Correlates of entrepreneurialbehaviour of sugarcane growers. Maharashtra Journal ofExtension Education. XVI : 344- 346.

Patel, M. M., Sanoria, Y. C. and Amit Chatterjee. 2003.Communication factors and entrepreneurial behaviour ofsugarcane growers. Journal of Research, Acharya N. G. RangaAgricultural University, Hyderabad, 31(3): 62-67.

Patel, N.L. and Kher, A.O.1989. An evaluation of training programmefor extension personnel. Indian Journal of Extension Education.39(4):24-31.

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Rao, B., Ravikumar, K.N., and Sreelakshmi, K. 2008. Economics ofmajor farming systems in north coastal zone of Andhra Pradesh.Extension Research Review. National Institute of AgriculturalInformation Management. 1:10-32.

Shailaja, S. 1990. Role of women in mixed farming. Thesis, Ph.D.University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. 284p.

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Sharma, P and Verma, S.K. 2008. Women empowerment throughentrepreneurship activities of SHGs. Indian Research Journalof Extension Education. 8(1): 46-51.

Shashidhara, K. K. 2003. A study on socio-economic profile of dropirrigation farmers in Shimoga and Davanagere districts ofKaranataka. Thesis, M.Sc. University of Agricultural Sciences,Dharwad.

Singh, L., and Singh, S. P. 2006. Constraints faced by womenentrepreneurs in Jammu district. Indian Journal of ExtensionEducation. 6 (1 & 2), pp. 41-45.

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Sunilkumar, G. M.2004. A study on farmers knowledge and adoptionof production and post harvest technology in tomato crop ofBelgaum district in Karnataka. Thesis, M. Sc. University ofAgricultural Sciences, Dharwad. 106p.

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http://www.notulaebotanicae.ro.


REVIEW PAPER

Water Requirement of Marigold PlantsKULVEER SINGH YADAV AND BIJENDRA KUMAR SINGH

Department of Horticulture, Institute of Agricultural Sciences Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradeshemail: [email protected]


Conservation of water and nutrient resources hasbecome increasingly important to horticultural operationsdue to cost and environmental pollution. In recent years,the use of water-saving irrigation systems has increasedthe producer’s ability to reduce the amount of water usedto grow a crop. To properly conserve water while producinga high-quality commercial crop, regardless of irrigationsystem used, information on actual plant water requirementsunder specified conditions is necessary. Evapotranspirationof potted plants is affected by many factors, eitherenvironmental (e.g., ambient temperature, radiation,humidity, air speed) and plant related characteristics (e.g.,the stage of growth, leaf area, fresh weight, leaf waterpotential) and kind of growing medium or size of container.The irrigation frequency of plants growing on pots can bebased on measured or calculated evapotranspiration. Anymethod used to accurately estimate plant waterrequirements must account these environmental and plantfactors (Lucia, 2010).

The most widely used system in commercialgreenhouse ornamental production employ timers to controlirrigation frequency (water applied for a given time at agiven frequency). There are several methods used todetermine when and how much to irrigate. Growers maydecide when to irrigate based on visual observation of theircrops. However, this visual observation is based on waterstress levels that are often not optimal for crop productionand the quantity of water applied usually exceeds crop

needs. Recent advances in sensors to measure the soilmoisture tension of container media have resulted in thedevelopment of solid-state, electronic tensiometer units formeasuring soil water status. Changes in soil moisture statuscan be monitored and the amount of water applied can becontrolled by a computer used in combination with thetensiometer. With such a system, water use may beminimized without affecting crop quality and yield. However,many commercial producers do not have instrumentation,technical expertise, or desire to use such models. A simplifiedmethod with practical application to commercial operationsis required for commercial horticultural operations (Lucia,2010).

In the first experiment, designed to develop theprediction equation, a total of 25 plants were used andmeasurements were taken for 25 consecutive days whengreenhouse air temperatures ranged from 16 to 34 ºC. Acomputer controlled drip-irrigation system with GEM-IIIsoftware was used to water all plants simultaneously. The

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