ABSTRACT Huanglongbing (HLB) is one of the world’s worst diseases of citrus trees. The research was conducted to characterize positive citrus samples of two local varieties, ‘Kinnow’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) and ‘Mosambi’ orange (C. sinensis (L.) Osbeck), based on morphological, physical and biochemical characters. Physical and biochemical parameters of greening infected and healthy samples of both the cultivars were significantly different. Citrus fruits were lopsided and half to full green in the HLB infected trees compared to healthy. The HLB infected leaves samples were small and narrow. Fruit diameter, leaf area, and juice weight of HLB infected samples were significantly less than healthy samples. The rind thickness of infected fruits (70% and 80%) was significantly higher than healthy ones (20% and 30%). Starch content of leaves from mandarin (5.54 μg mL-1) and orange (6.12 μg mL-1) were significantly higher in HLB infected plants, while juice percentage of HLB infected fruit samples was lesser in mandarin and orange (22.73%, and 14.70%, respectively) than healthy fruits (38.22% and 31.30%, respectively). Acidity was significantly increased in juice of HLB infected mandarin and orange fruits (0.57%, and 0.53%, respectively). Similarly, there was significant reduction in biochemical parameters; total sugars in mandarin and orange (5.16% and 4.79%), total soluble solids (8.54% and 8.28%), total chlorophyll (13.50 and 14.92 mg mL-1) and ascorbic acid (34.28% and 34.12%) in HLB infected samples of both cultivars. This study determined differences of physical and biochemical parameters of two local citrus varieties, commonly cultivated in the Asian region.

Abstract This study was performed to screen out the various species of ‘Cucurbitaceae’ family, musk melon (Kalash and Durga), bottle gourd (Crystal Long and Nuefield) and squash (Green Round, and Squash Malika) against the salt stress. All genotypes were treated with five different levels of NaCl (T0 = control, T1 = 1.5 dS m-1, T2 = 3.0 dS m-1, T3 = 4.5 dS m-1 and T4 = 6.0 dS m-1) and half strength of Hoagland’s nutrients solution as the base nutrient solution. Results showed that the bottle gourd varieties “Nuefield” and “Crystal Long” performed best by maintaining the highest germination (93.2% and 85.6%), number of leaves per plant (4.5 and 5.7), shoot length (16.84 cm and 16.14 cm), root length (13.48 cm and 13.00 cm), plant fresh weight (942.2 g and 918.6 g), plant dry weight (118.4 g and 107.5 g), leaf area (171.2 cm2 and 169.1 cm2), chlorophyll content (3.5 μg/cm-2 and 3.4 μg/cm-2) with low chloride (1.57 ppm and 1.59 ppm) and sodium content (0.47 ppm and 0.51 ppm) under salt stress followed by varieties of Squash (Green Round, and Squash Malika) and musk melon (Kalash and Durga). It was also found that a higher level of salinity (4.5 dS m-1 and 6.0 dS m-1) has more adverse effects on the performance of all selected genotypes. Conclusively, it can be recommended that as compared to all tested species, bottle gourd varieties “Nuefield” and “Crystal Long” have the ability to withstand against salinity stress and should be planted under salt stress conditions.