Research in Plant Metabolites

Research in Plant Metabolites

Effect of Ethephon and Boric Acid on Performance and Seed Oil Percentage of Medicinal Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L var. styriaca)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Saeideh Alizadeh Salteh 1
Babak Rezakhah 2
Sahebali Bolandnazar 2
Mohammad Adlipoor 2
1 Department of horticultural scences, faculty of agriculture, university of Tabriz
2 University of Tabriz
10.22034/jrpsm.2025.512948.1060
Abstract
Cucurbita pepo L. var. styriaca, a valuable medicinal plant, is economically and medicinally significant due to its seeds containing bioactive compounds like beta-sitosterol, fatty acids, and vitamin E. These compounds are used in treating conditions such as prostate hyperplasia and urinary tract inflammation. This study aimed to investigate the effects of ethephon and boric acid foliar sprays on the morphological and biochemical characteristics of Cucurbita pepo L. var. styriaca. The experiment was conducted in a factorial design using ethephon (0, 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 M) and boric acid (0, 0.01, 0.02, and 0.03 M) in a randomized complete block design with five replications at the Khelatpoushan Research Station, University of Tabriz. The results showed that ethephon significantly affected the number of male and female flowers, the male-to-female flower ratio, fruit number per plant, seed length and thickness, thousand-seed weight, and fruit weight. Ethephon application reduced male flowers and increased female flowers, with the lowest male flower count (5.6) at 0.1 M ethephon and the highest female flower count (13.67) at 0.05 M ethephon. The highest female-to-male flower ratio (2.88) was observed at 0.03 M ethephon. Ethephon increased fruit number per plant, with the highest count (2.75) at 0.1 M ethephon. However, ethephon decreased fruit weight, seed length and thickness, and thousand-seed weight. Boric acid application only significantly affected female flower count, with the highest count (13.83) at 0.03 M boric acid. The findings suggest that ethephon can increase fruit number per plant in Cucurbita pepo L. var. styriaca. The highest oil percentage (47.1%) was observed at the fourth level of ethephon, while the lowest (35.9%) was in the control treatment.
Keywords
Number of flowers
Cucurbita pepo
Oil yield and Fruit number