Studies were carried to evaluated the influence of storage method by temperatures and fillers on yield and quality of seed rhizome in turmeric. Seed rhizome was stored at styrofoam box filled with rice hull and sand (3:1) or vermiculite for 30, 60 and 90 days at different temperatures (5, 10 and 15℃. compared to traditional method (rhizome only). Parameters were obtained for weight loss, cold injury, percentage of decayed in stored rhizome during storage periods. Also, the germination, growth pattern and yield from stored rhizome has been investigated. It was confirmed that storage of turmeric in stored with filled with vermiculite helps in prevention of rhizomes from microbial and fungal attack. The storage of rhizomes in styrofoam box without any filler at low temperature below 10℃. is not advocated due to heavy losses weight and decayed in management of postharvest for turmeric rhizome. Germination percentage, growth pattern and yield was maximum for rhizomes stored at styrofoam box filled with vermiculite for 90 days at 15℃. The paper outlines a brief attempt to assess the efficacy of non-chemical methods including optimal storage method (temperature and filler) of control of decay and moisture losses during storage of turmeric.

This study was carried out to select new pelleting binder and material for seeds from Fraxinus rhynchophylla Hance and Alnus sibirica Fisch. ex Turcz. The optimum treatments of the various concentrations and species of priming agents to improve seed germination of both woody medicinal plants were also estimated. Germinability was increased when the seeds of Fraxinus rhynchophylla Hance was soaked in -1.0 MPa of PEG6000 solution at 15℃ for 4 days significantly, the optimum treatment for improving germination of Alnus sibirica Fisch. ex Turcz was observed when the tested seeds was soaked in 100 mM of KCl at 15℃ for 4 days. The influence of physical and chemical properties of pelleting solid materials, the mixture of gypsum, diatomaceous earth, dalma ceramic and vermicuolite (6:1:1:1 ratio) were found as the best pelleting materials for Fraxinus rhynchophylla Hance and Alnus sibirica Fisch. ex Turcz. seeds. To satisfy the requirements of absorption and compatibility for multi-layer seed pelleting, SGPA (Starch-grafted cross-linked polyacrylates) hydrogel was prepared using starch, acrylonitrile, ceric ammonium nitrate, nitric acid, methyl alcohol and potassium hydroxide. The resulting SGPA hydrogel showed high water absorption but not plant compatibility. It suggested that seed pelleting using pelleting materials and SGPA hydrogel (multi-layer coating) after priming agent treatment is to increase germinability and seedling growth and it can reduced irrigation labours and can also save seed.

In order to evaluate the effect of seed weight on different aspect of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seed germination and growth characteristics. Quantity of sinapine leaked from seed was greater as the viability of seeds was dropped by the time elapsed of seed aging model and long storage condition in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). The cultivar of safflower was Jin-Sun and the seeds that are separated to three different weights of small, middle, and large were used in this experiment. Large seeds revealed the highest germination percent, coleoptiles fresh weight, coleoptiles dry weight, radicle fresh weight and 1000 seed weights than other seed weight. Seed weight had little effect on yield while seed number exerted a positive influence. Interestingly, yield per plant and its major components, number of capsules and capsule weights, revealed a negligible relationship with oil content.

Morus alba (Mulberry) leaves were exposed to fermentation for varying amounts of time: no fermentation (0 min, MANF), medial fermentation (10 h, MAMF), and full fermentation (24 h, MAFF). The chemical compositions of the teas were determined and compared with those of commercial Camellia sinensis teas. The results showed that mulberry leaf teas contained significantly higher amounts of ash and fat than Camellia sinensis tea. Compared with Camellia sinensis teas, all mulberry leaf teas contained significantly more total free amino acids (24.26~54.25mg L-glutamic acid equivalent g-1), but the concentration of caffeine was relatively low for mulberry leaf teas. High thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin contents were found in all mulberry leaf teas, but ascorbic acid and pyridoxine were found at higher levels in Camellia sinensis teas than in mulberry leaf teas. Color measurements demonstrated that mulberry leaf tea infusions generally had lower a* (greenness) and b* (yellowness) values than Camellia sinensis tea infusions. All infusions exhibited low turbidity levels (less than 10%). The contents of total phenols were measured as 71.8 and 74.9mg 100 ml-1 infusion in MANF and MAFF, respectively, but the MAMF tea infusion showed significantly lower total phenols (64.6mg 100ml-1 infusion). The total flavonoid contents of mulberry leaf tea infusions were lower (8.9~20.6mg 100 ml-1 infusion) than those of Camellia sinensis teas and thus had lower antioxidant capacities (DPPH: 326.8~526.9 μm trolox equivalent g-1 and FRAP: 364.6~387.6 μm trolox equivalent g-1) than Camellia sinensis teas. The amounts of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and rutin were higher in fermented mulberry leaf teas; the level of GABA increased with increasing fermentation time and the content was highest in MAFF, but rutin content was highest in MAMF.