Preliminary Evaluation of the Impact of Antioxidants Polyvinylpyrrolidone and Ascorbic Acid on Patch Budding of Persian Walnut

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of antioxidants on the budding success of three walnut genotypes under greenhouse conditions. After stratification, seeds were planted in a greenhouse at the end of autumn. After about 20 months, the seedlings grew up to 80 cm. The budding was done using scions of Z30, Z60, and B21 genotypes. Scions were immersed in polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) or ascorbic acid in the concentrations 2, 3, and 4 g·dm⁻³ for 1 h before budding. Percentage of successful budding was determined after one month. The results showed that genotype significantly affected the percentage of budding success, but no interaction between genotype and treatments was found. The antioxidant solutions significantly affected all the parameters studied in this research. Ascorbic acid with 3 g·dm⁻³ resulted in the highest percentage of budding success (86.66%); no significant differences were observed with 4 g·dm⁻³ of ascorbic acid and 3 and 4 g·dm⁻³ of PVP. Furthermore, antioxidant solutions significantly affected the content of chlorophylls, and 3 g·dm⁻³ of ascorbic acid resulted in the highest content of chlorophylls in scion leaves.