With the rising costs and the declining availabilit y of peat, it is necessary to look for alternative materials to be used as growth media. Clay soil and composted rice straw are cheap and readily available candidates once there pH is adjusted. In the current study, growth of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis was compared in different growth substrates (peat moss, clay and composted rice straw) treated with ferrous sulfate (200 ml/pot) at various time intervals (0, 10, 20 and 30 days). Peat moss produced the best vegetative and flowering growth characteristics along with the highest leaf content of chlorophylls a & b, N, K and Mn in both seasons. Rice straw-grown plant s showed moderate growth proving superior to clay-g rown ones in terms of plant height, branch number, internode number and length, shoot fresh and dry weights, flower diameter, leaf content of arotenoids, P and Cu. Using of ferrous sulfate enhanced the performance of both rice straw and clay. This effect was clear as the frequency of the application was increased and the most frequent application (10-day interval) produced generally the best results. Composted rice straw and clay soil treated with ferrous sulphate at 10-day interval were comparable to peat moss regarding their effect on growth and flowering of gardenia plants.

Changes in the composition of soybean oil during deep-fat frying with wheat dough (WD) and chicken breast meat (CBM) were comparatively investigated using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The amounts of saturated fatty acids (FAs) and short-chain FAs were increased. The amount of unsaturated FAs was decreased as the processing time increased. An increase in the amount of tetradecanoic acid and 9-cis-hexadecanoic acid was observed during the CBM frying only. The FTIR spectrum of frying oil was analyzed by extracting the entire information as the area ratios based on vibration absorptions of the specific functional groups. Changes in content of functional groups, namely cis C=C, trans C=C, C=O, C–O, O–H, and C–H, were studied by the FTIR-based method. Based on the changes in the content of FAs and functional groups, soybean oil fried with CBM degraded more quickly than that fried with WD. Moreover, good linear correlations between the change in contents of functional groups and the mass percentages of FAs were also observed. The FTIR-based method could be used in real time to monitor the quality of frying oil during the deep-fat frying.

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Halophytes are plants that can tolerate and grow on soils having high salt concentration. These plants have been suggested to be more effective in phytoextraction of heavy metals from the contaminated soils compared to the conventional crop plants .This give an offer for a greater potential of phytoremediation research on decontamination of heavy metal polluted soils. Screen house experiment was conducted out to study the accumulation of heavy metals by three halophyte species: Atriplex amnicola, A. undulate and A. lentiformis .Significant differences were found between the studied species in heavy metals concentration (Cd, Pb and Ni) and transport from the roots to the shoots. Atriplex lentiformis could be more effective in the phytextraction of Cd from the contaminated soils.

Halophytes are plants that can tolerate and grow on soils having high salt concentration. These plants have been suggested to be more effective in phytoextraction of heavy metals from the contaminated soils compared to the conventional crop plants .This give an offer for a greater potential of phytoremediation research on decontamination of heavy metal polluted soils. Screen house experiment was conducted out to study the accumulation of heavy metals by three halophyte species: Atriplex amnicola, A. undulate and A. lentiformis .Significant differences were found between the studied species in heavy metals concentration (Cd, Pb and Ni) and transport from the roots to the shoots. Atriplex lentiformis could be more effective in the phytextraction of Cd from the contaminated soils.

Halophytes are plants that can tolerate and grow on soils having high salt concentration. These plants have been suggested to be more effective in phytoextraction of heavy metals from the contaminated soils compared to the conventional crop plants .This give an offer for a greater potential of phytoremediation research on decontamination of heavy metal polluted soils. Screen house experiment was conducted out to study the accumulation of heavy metals by three halophyte species: Atriplex amnicola, A. undulate and A. lentiformis .Significant differences were found between the studied species in heavy metals concentration (Cd, Pb and Ni) and transport from the roots to the shoots. Atriplex lentiformis could be more effective in the phytextraction of Cd from the contaminated soils.

This study was carried out at the Experimental Orchard, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Egypt, to investigate the response of Manfalouty pomegranate trees for Azotin (bio-fertilizer) and Enciaben (slow release-N fertilizers) during 2013 and 2014 seasons. The experiment was arranged in a complete randomized block design with six treatments and three replications, each one tree. The results of this study showed that all studied fertilization treatments significantly increased the leaf area as well as percentage of N, P and K in leaves compared to use the recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) as fast mineral nitrogen source only. No significant differences on these traits due to use slow release-N fertilizer at any dose as well as 60% of RDN as two or three forms. All studied fertilization treatments studied significant increasing the yield/tree and decrease the fruit splitting percentage compared to use (RDN) as fast mineral-N source only. The maximum yield/tree and least fruit splitting percentage were recorded on the trees that fertilized by three different fertilization source (three forms). Fertilization with the slow release dose, two forms (mineral plus bio) or three forms (mineral plus bio and slow release) significantly improved the fruit quality in terms of increasing the fruit weight, pulp % and total soluble solids % as well as sugar, vitamin C and anthocyanin contents and decreasing the total acidity and tannin content compared to use the RDN as release mineral-N source. Hence, the cost wise evaluation of the application of these N sources is in favour of 60% RDN at either two, three forms or slow release-N. It is evident from the obtained results that such fertilization programs are very important for the production of pomegranate fruits since it improves the fruit quality and packable yield and reduces the production costs and environ-mental pollution

This study was carried out at the Experimental Orchard, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Egypt, to investigate the response of Manfalouty pomegranate trees for Azotin (bio-fertilizer) and Enciaben (slow release-N fertilizers) during 2013 and 2014 seasons. The experiment was arranged in a complete randomized block design with six treatments and three replications, each one tree. The results of this study showed that all studied fertilization treatments significantly increased the leaf area as well as percentage of N, P and K in leaves compared to use the recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) as fast mineral nitrogen source only. No significant differences on these traits due to use slow release-N fertilizer at any dose as well as 60% of RDN as two or three forms. All studied fertilization treatments studied significant increasing the yield/tree and decrease the fruit splitting percentage compared to use (RDN) as fast mineral-N source only. The maximum yield/tree and least fruit splitting percentage were recorded on the trees that fertilized by three different fertilization source (three forms). Fertilization with the slow release dose, two forms (mineral plus bio) or three forms (mineral plus bio and slow release) significantly improved the fruit quality in terms of increasing the fruit weight, pulp % and total soluble solids % as well as sugar, vitamin C and anthocyanin contents and decreasing the total acidity and tannin content compared to use the RDN as release mineral-N source. Hence, the cost wise evaluation of the application of these N sources is in favour of 60% RDN at either two, three forms or slow release-N. It is evident from the obtained results that such fertilization programs are very important for the production of pomegranate fruits since it improves the fruit quality and packable yield and reduces the production costs and environ-mental pollution

A field study was performed on Seewy date palms grown in a private orchard located at El-Dakhla Oasis, New Valley, Egypt, during 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of different bagging treatments on yield and fruit quality. The bunches were subjected to seven bagging treatments, white, blue, black and green perforated polyethylene bags as well as sackcloth, gauze bags and unbagged (control). Bagging bunches was performed at pre-fruit coloring stage and remained covered until harvest date. The results show that bagging bunches significantly increased the bunch weight, accelerated ripening and improved fruit quality compared with the unbagged ones. Blue and black polyethylene bags increased fruit weight and flesh percentage compared to other treatments. Blue color surpassed the other bagging treatments in these traits. The bagging with blue or black perforated polyethylene bags recorded the highest scores dealt with fruiting quality. Contrarily, the least score for dates quality was recorded by bagging with sackcloth and gauze bags. From this study it could be recommended the use of blue or black perforated polyethylene bags for Seewy date plant bunches at pre-fruit coloring stage under such conditions.

A field study was performed on Seewy date palms grown in a private orchard located at El-Dakhla Oasis, New Valley, Egypt, during 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of different bagging treatments on yield and fruit quality. The bunches were subjected to seven bagging treatments, white, blue, black and green perforated polyethylene bags as well as sackcloth, gauze bags and unbagged (control). Bagging bunches was performed at pre-fruit coloring stage and remained covered until harvest date. The results show that bagging bunches significantly increased the bunch weight, accelerated ripening and improved fruit quality compared with the unbagged ones. Blue and black polyethylene bags increased fruit weight and flesh percentage compared to other treatments. Blue color surpassed the other bagging treatments in these traits. The bagging with blue or black perforated polyethylene bags recorded the highest scores dealt with fruiting quality. Contrarily, the least score for dates quality was recorded by bagging with sackcloth and gauze bags. From this study it could be recommended the use of blue or black perforated polyethylene bags for Seewy date plant bunches at pre-fruit coloring stage under such conditions.