The aim of this study was to examine the concentration of total and available forms of heavy metals (Ni, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb and Mn) in the greenhouse soils as well as the distribution of these metals in the different parts of tomato plants grown on these soils. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) was used to determine heavy metals concentration. The concentration of available forms of all examined heavy metals in the soils and in tomato fruits were low, although the total concentration of hazardous heavy metals Ni and Cr in soils exceeded the maximum permissible values, prescribed by legislative rules in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reasons for the low uptake of heavy metals by tomato plants are mainly related to the chemical properties of soil which are not favorable for heavy metal availability. In addition, the results of this study also showed that the accumulation of all examined heavy metals especially Cr and Ni were much higher in the roots than in the fruits. The low accumulation of heavy metals in tomato fruits is the result of synergy of different plant defense mechanisms that limiting or reducing heavy metal transport from root to fruits.

An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of foliar application of seaweed extract (0.2 %) on the growth, yield and quality of cherry tomato under stress and non-stress conditions. The greenhouse experiment was set up in a randomized block design with four treatments in three replications. Treatments were as follows: V1 - seedlings treated by seaweed extract and subjected to drought; V2 - seedlings treated by seaweed extract and regularly watered; V3 - non-treated seedlings subjected to drought; V4 - non-treated seedlings regularly watered. Cherry tomato seedlings treated by seaweed extract had a lower content of proline and higher leaf water potential compared to non-treated seedlings under stress conditions, indicating that application of this fertilizer contributes to better adaptation of cherry tomato seedlings to stress. Treatment with seaweed extract also positively influenced the yield and quality of cherry tomato (total soluble solids, vitamin C, lycopene) under both standard and drought stress conditions as compared to untreated plants in same conditions. Positive effects of seaweed extract on growth and quality of cherry tomato are result of its specific composition, as well as ability of cherry tomato plants to utilize bioactive substances in seaweed extracts for its growth and development.

Murtic S., Oljaca R., Koleska I., Karic L., Todorovic V. (2018): Response of cherry tomato seedlings to liquid fertiliser application under water stress. Hort. Sci. (Prague), 45: 22–28. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of different liquid fertilisers on selected physiological parameters in order to evaluate the drought tolerance of cherry tomato seedlings. The following physiological parameters were investigated: total phenolic and flavonoid content, total antioxidant capacity and proline content of leaf extracts. Total phenolic and flavonoid content were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminium chloride colorimetric methods, respectively. The ferric-reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP assay) was used to measure the total antioxidant capacity, while proline content was evaluated according to the method of Bates. The contents of proline, total phenolics and flavonoids were significantly higher in the leaves of cherry tomato seedlings exposed to water stress, which suggests that the higher synthesis of these substances by plants represents an important defence mechanism of drought tolerance. The results also indicate that the application of all the used fertilisers in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions can significantly increase the content of phenol compounds and total antioxidant capacity of plants under normal growth conditions, thus improving survival under subsequent stress.

Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio ispitati uticaj primjene razlicitih koncentracija sintetski proizvedenih biljnih hormonana parametre razvoja presadnica paprike ( Capsicum annuum L. cv. 'Sivrija'). Biljni hormoni koristeni u ovom ogledu bili su indol-sircetna kiselina (IAA), indol-butilna kiselina (IBA) i benzil adenin (BA), a svaki od njih primijenjen je u pet razlicitih koncentracija: 100, 300, 500, 1000 i 3000 mg l -1 .Od parametara kvaliteta presadnica paprike u ovom istraživanju ispitivani su: masa svježe tvari korijena, broj korijenovih dlacica po jedinici povrsine korijena, povrsina listova, te sadržaj fotosintetskih pigmenata u listovima.Najveci uticaj na povecanje ispitivanih parametara kvaliteta presadnica paprike je iskazala primjenahormonaIAA i IBA u koncentracijama 100 i 300 mg l -1 , te se iste preporucuju za primjenu kod uzgoja presadnica paprike ( Capsicum annuum L. cv. 'Sivrija').U varijantama gdje su hormoni IAA, IBA i BA primijenjeniu koncentracijama od 500 i vise mg l -1 mlade presadnice paprike nisu uspjele nastaviti svoj životni ciklus, te je doslo do njihovog venuca, sto se može objasniti cinjenicom da previsoka koncentracija hormona može iskazati i herbicidni ucinak na biljku, posebno u ranim stadijima razvoja biljke.

Aims: This study explores the total quantity of sulfur secondary metabolites in the plant organs of garlic and ramsons, the content of total phenol and their correlation to the antioxidant capacity (AOC). There are different reports about correlation of secondary

In order to analyze morphological characteristics of locally cultivated common bean landraces from Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), thirteen quantitative and qualitative traits of 40 P. vulgaris accessions, collected from four geographical regions (Northwest B&H, Northeast B&H, Central B&H and Sarajevo) and maintained at the Gene bank of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences in Sarajevo, were examined. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the proportion of variance retained in the first two principal components was 54.35%. The first principal component had high contributing factor loadings from seed width, seed height and seed weight, whilst the second principal component had high contributing factor loadings from the analyzed traits seed per pod and pod length. PCA plot, based on the first two principal components, displayed a high level of variability among the analyzed material. The discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) created 3 discriminant functions (DF), whereby the first two discriminant functions accounted for 90.4% of the variance retained. Based on the retained DFs, DAPC provided group membership probabilities which showed that 70% of the accessions examined were correctly classified between the geographically defined groups. Based on the taxonomic distance, 40 common bean accessions analyzed in this study formed two major clusters, whereas two accessions Acc304 and Acc307 didn’t group in any of those. Acc360 and Acc362, as well as Acc324 and Acc371 displayed a high level of similarity and are probably the same landrace. The present diversity of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s common been landraces could be useful in future breeding programs.