Journal of Medicinal and Industrial Plant Sciences

The 'Sensation' mango fruit is very delicate with respect to post-harvest handling under normal room conditions; therefore, edible coatings could be used as an appropriate tool for mitigating losses from room temperature storage, especially in regions where cold chain logistics are unavailable. An experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of dipping the 'Sensation' mango fruits in four different coatings during their storage at room temperature. Fully mature fruits were harvested during the 2023 and 2024 'Sensation' mango season, sorted for homogeneity and then subjected to five different treatments namely, starch 2%, olive oil, beeswax 2%, sodium benzoate 5% and the untreated control. The fruits were dipped for a maximum of one minute, allowed to air dry then stored at room temperature conditions of 25 +/- 5 deg C and 65-70% relative humidity. Measurements on firmness, moisture, total sugar content, peel and flesh colouring, ascorbic acid, total phenols and sensory attributes on aroma, taste and flavour were taken over a period of 17 days storage. All treatments showed decreasing firmness; however, beeswax treatment produced fruits with higher firmness values both in mean value (7.30) and day-17 firmness (4.20), as opposed to the controls with firmness mean of 6.16 and day-17 firmness of 3.53. Also, starch 2% treatment produced fruits with the best eating quality characteristics with mean aromatics of 8.24, taste 7.57 and flavour 8.02.

In recent years, there has been a marked increase in interest in the cultivation and utilization of medicinal plants for the extraction of therapeutic and pharmaceutical compounds as alternatives to chemically synthesized substances. Among these plants is Stevia rebaudiana, which belongs to the family Asteraceae. According to previous studies, the importance of Stevia also lies in its content of a wide range of antioxidant compounds, making it a valuable dietary supplement for cancer prevention. These compounds include quercetin, kaempferol, and other glycosidic compounds. This review highlights the importance of plant tissue culture technology in the propagation of medicinal plants, including Stevia rebaudiana, which is difficult to propagate through conventional methods due to the self-incompatibility of its seeds and their low fertility. Therefore, it has been successfully propagated via plant tissue culture techniques. The aim of this review is to highlight the necessity of employing plant tissue culture for the propagation of Stevia, as well as studying callus induction from different plant explants. In addition, it emphasizes the importance of using plant growth regulators at appropriate concentrations, as reported in the reviewed studies, to achieve optimal responses.

This study was conducted in Imam Ismail village, Hawija district, Kirkuk governorate, during the 2025 agricultural season. The field study aimed to identify the effect of three types of animal organic fertilizers (poultry manure, sheep manure, and cow manure) and a control treatment (no fertilizer). Additionally, the study investigated the effect of four genotypes of arugula plants on four vegetative characteristics. The study also examined the interaction between genotype and the type of animal fertilizer used on the four aforementioned vegetative characteristics of arugula plants. The results of this study revealed The results) showed that the highest height was 111.83 cm recorded for sheep manure, while the lowest height was 87.75 cm recorded for the control treatment (without fertilizer). The results also showed that the three genetic combinations used had a clear and significant effect on the plant height characteristic, as the highest plant height was recorded at 110.333 cm for the Iranian genetic combination, while the lowest height was 88.333 cm for the local genetic combination . Thus, the results of this study also indicated that the interaction between genetic makeup and types of organic fertilizers had a significant and effective effect on the plant's height characteristic, which was manifested in its highest height of 121.333 cm for the interaction between the Iranian genetic makeup and sheep waste.

A field experiment was conducted at the Grdarasha Research Station, Salahaddin University, Erbil to determine the impact of organic fertilizer on the growth, yield, and quality of both oil type and non-oil type sunflower. Two varieties and four fertilizer treatments were utilized:[oil type"V1"and non-oil type"V2"],[Control"OM0",Animal manure at 5 t ha-1"OM1",Poultry manure at 5 t ha-1"OM2",and combination of Animal manure and Poultry manure at 10 t ha-1"OM3"],employing a factorial randomized complete block design with three replicates. The results showed that application of organic manure, using different varieties and their interaction have notable impact on the growth and yield of sunflower. Application of OM3 obtained the highest value for most plant characteristic such as stem diameter, head diameter, seed index and seed yield that were (33.10cm, 18.23cm, 89.24g and 3.97t ha-1),respectively in comparison to control treatment that obtained the lowest values. Likewise, for most studied characters non-oil sunflower varieties recorded the maximum values for (plant height, number of seed head-1, and seed yield) which were (176.56cm, 483.40 and 3.42t ha-1) respectively. Interaction treatment of (OM2XV2) achieved the highest value of (plant height, stem diameter and seed index) which were(185.05cm, 34.95cm and 92.27g)respectively as compared to other interaction treatment. Application of OM3 and combination of (OM3XV2) had a significant effect on oil content% as a quality measure, the highest values were(22.80 and 23.37)% respectively compared to other treatments. Using cow manure and poultry manure together is an important factor that increase sunflower yield. There are differences in most of traits across sunflower varieties and interaction between organic manure and varieties

This trial was carried out in the experimental fields of the Technical Institute in Hawija District, 35°20′02″N 43°46′54″E Kirkuk Governorate, during the fall season of 2025. Its purpose was to assess the effectiveness of foliar application of potassium at 0, 500, 1000, and 1500 mg L⁻¹, as well as the plant growth regulator Cycocel (CCC) at 0, 150, and 200 mg L⁻¹. The research included the study of several morphological traits: plant height (cm), number of leaves, stem diameter, leaf area (cm²), and dry weight rate. The statistical results of the studied traits indicated a significant increase at the potassium concentration of 1500 mg L⁻¹ in both plant height and number of leaves. The results also showed a significant superiority of the Cycocel treatment at a concentration of 200 mg L⁻¹ in plant height and number of leaves. However, a significant decrease was observed at 200 mg L⁻¹ of Cycocel in the dry weight rate.
Regarding the interaction between the two factors, a significant superiority in plant height was observed at 200 mg L⁻¹ of Cycocel combined with 500 mg L⁻¹ of potassium, reaching 247.33 cm. The interaction between 1000 mg L⁻¹ potassium and 150 mg L⁻¹ Cycocel showed significant superiority in number of leaves and stem diameter, reaching 13.33 and 3.33, respectively. Moreover, the interaction between 1500 mg L⁻¹ potassium and 0 mg L⁻¹ Cycocel achieved a significant superiority in leaf area, reaching 306.6 cm².

The studied plant specimens belonging to the family Asteraceae, namely Aster subulatus, Conyza bonariensis, and Calendula officinalis, were collected from different regions of northern Iraq during the period from October 10 to November 15. The study was conducted at the College of Education for Girls, Department of Life Sciences. All studied species were herbaceous plants, including both annual and perennial forms. Accordingly, the present study focused on members of the family Asteraceae, specifically Aster subulatus L., Calendula officinalis L., and Conyza bonariensis L., which are considered important medicinal species widely used in traditional medicine. The results revealed epidermal characteristics, such as cell dimensions and stomatal features, which have proven to possess significant taxonomic value in distinguishing plant species. Noticeable variation was observed among the studied species, as the ordinary epidermal cells were thicker in Aster subulatus. The results also indicated that stomata were distributed on both leaf surfaces (amphistomatic), i.e., on both the upper and lower epidermis of the leaves. Furthermore, the stomatal type in C. officinalis was identified as anomocytic. The data also suggested that the quantitative and qualitative epidermal traits represent fundamental anatomical characteristics that are no less important than chemical and molecular traits in distinguishing plant species, particularly wild taxa