Antioxidant Compounds,Nutritional Quality and Colour of Two Strawberry Genotypes from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fragaria</Emphasis> × <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ananassa</Emphasis>

In this study, average weight, colour, soluble solids content and titratable acidity were determined as quality parameters of strawberry fruits while ascorbic acid, total anthocyanins, total phenolics, total flavonoids, minerals and trace elements content as nutritional parameters. All these attributes along with the DPPH radical scavenging activity were screened in two strawberry genotypes grown on the same site at the ripe stage. Also, the phenolic profiles of the strawberry fruits were obtained by HPLC. Except colour, results showed no significant differences between cultivars in quality parameters. Ascorbic acid found for ‘Premial’ cv. (81.62?mg/100?g) was twice the amount found in ‘Magic’ cv. (42.15?mg/100?g), total phenolics varied from 207.95 (cv. ‘Premial’) to 249.98 (cv. ‘Magic’) mg GAE/100?g while total flavonoid content in fruits of ‘Magic’ cultivar (79.56?mg/100?g) was 2?fold higher than the one of the ‘Premial’ cv. The quercetin content ranged from 2.72 to 4.66?mg/100?g, whereas free ellagic acid ranged from 6.79 to 9.03?mg/100?g. The pale shiny fruits of ‘Premial’ cv. (higher L*, h^o and chroma index) had a lower total anthocyanin content (19.07?mg CG/100?g) than the bluish fruits of the ‘Magic’ cv. (23.96?mg CG/100?g). An inverse relationship between the levels of ascorbic acid and anthocyanin contents was also noticed in strawberry samples. Significant differences were found also in minerals and trace elements content of the two strawberry cultivars. The results revealed the importance of genetic background for the content of antioxidant compounds in strawberry fruits.     

Comprehensive evaluation of the Fruit Quality of the Main Cultivars of Pear (Pyrus spp.) in North China

To establish a quality evaluation system of the fruit quality of pear, 15 evaluation indicators of 9 main cultivars of pear (Pyrus spp.) in North China were analyzed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used to form a comprehensive evaluation model and select the characteristic indicators of the fruit quality. All of the 15 evaluation indicators showed significant differences from the results of ANOVA (P?<?0.05) among different cultivars. The values for coefficient of variation (CV) among 15 evaluation indicators ranged from 1.46% to 326.38%. There were different degrees of correlations between the evaluation indicators based on the results of CA. PCA was used to remove the overlapped information between the indicators, and then there were new variables with less information, so that the principal component comprehensive model was established. The rank of the 9 cultivars based on comprehensive scores of the fruit quality was listed as follows: ‘Mili’?>?‘Xuehua’?>?‘Hongxiangsu’?>?‘Daguoxing’?>?‘Yali’?>?‘Huangguan’?>?‘Yuluxiang’?>?‘Hongxiaoli’?>?‘Anli’. By combining HCA and principal component comprehensive model, titratable acid content, sugar-acid ratio, h^* and fruit shape index were selected to be the characteristic indicators for the evaluation of the fruit quality of the main cultivars of pear in North China.

     

Chemical composition of French and Polish cloudy apple juices

Summary

Cloudy juices from six apple cultivars from Poland (‘Ariwa’, ‘Gold Milenium’, ‘Florina’, ‘Melfree’, ‘Novamac’, and ‘Rajka’) and four French cultivars (‘Ariane’, ‘Chanteline’, ‘Judeline’, and ‘Judor’) were produced and chemically characterised. The analyses encompassed 23 chemical parameters and phenolics profiles. The most important parameter, differentiating cloudy juice from clear juice, was turbidity. Cloudy juices were characterised by having an average total turbidity of 1,210 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) and a stability of turbidity of 42%. Some of the results deviated from the accepted ranges given in reference values for apple juices in the Code of Practice of the European Fruit Juice Association. This occurred in the cases of simple sugars and saccharose contents of the Polish apple juices (e.g., up to 56.9 mg l^–1 of saccharose vs. a maximum value of 30 mg l^?1), and for some mineral compounds in the French apple juices (e.g., sodium values up to 10 mg l^?1). Large variations were found in case of important healthconferring components. Water-soluble pectin contents varied from 205 mg l^?1 for ‘Chanteline’, to 1,289 mg l^?1 for ‘Gold Milenium’; while, in the case of phenolic compounds, the range was from 85.7 mg l^?1 for ‘Novamac’, to 524.8 mg l^?1 for ‘Melfree’.     

Characterisation of the chemical composition of scab-resistant apple pomaces

Summary

Pomaces obtained during the production of cloudy or clear juice from scab-resistant apple cultivars (28 harvested in 2006, and 23 harvested in 2007) were studied as a source of nutritionally important components. It was shown that the average yield of pomace during the production of cloudy juice was 6.4% (w/w), and 4.9% (w/w) for clear juice pressing. The average total dietary fibre (TDF) contents were 48.4% (w/w) and 52.4% (w/w) for cloudy and clear juice pomaces, respectively. Ten pomaces from cloudy apple juice production, and 12 obtained from clear juice production, contained ≥ 2,000 mg kg^?1 of polyphenols.‘Ariwa’ and ‘Rajka’ are apple cultivars suitable for juice production and their pomaces are characterised by having high contents of TDF [50.9% (w/w) and 51.1% (w/w), respectively], with aboveaverage polyphenol and quercetin glycoside concentrations. The mean contents of quercetin glycosides for pomaces from all apple cultivars was 994 mg kg^?1 after clear juice production, and 908.2 mg kg^?1 after cloudy juice production. ‘Topaz’, which became a popular commercial apple cultivar in Europe, was the best source of health-promoting components. Its pomace was the richest source of polyphenols among all 28 cultivars studied. It contained ≥ 2,000 mg kg^?1 quercetin glycosides in both its clear and cloudy juice pomaces.     

Antimicrobial,Antioxidant, and Antimutagenic Activities of Five Turkish Pear Cultivars

The pear (Pyrus spp.) is one of the most important fruits consumed in daily life. The aim of this study was to determine the total phenolic and ascorbic acid contents, as well as the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antimutagenic activities, of various pear cultivars. The fruits of five pear (Pyrus communis L.) cultivars (‘Deveci’, ‘Kizil’, ‘Egirsah’, ‘Gugum’, and ‘Banda’) were used in this study. It was determined that the peel and pulp of the ‘Kizil’ pear had the highest total phenolic content (402.5?mg/100?g and 215.2?mg/100?g, respectively), while those of the ‘Banda’ pear had the lowest total phenolic content (326?mg/100?g and 126.1?mg/100?g, respectively). Additionally, the ‘Kizil’ pear showed the highest antioxidant capacity in the 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) and ferric-reducing ability assay (FRAP) (1.72 μmol TE/g FW and 161.25?μmol Fe II/g FW, respectively) and the highest ascorbic acid content (16.02?mg/100?g). The ‘Banda’ pear showed the highest antibacterial activity against the test bacteria. However, none of the pear extracts displayed antifungal activity. While all doses of the ‘Kizil’, ‘Gugum’, and ‘Banda’ pear extracts used in this study, except 80?μL/plate, exhibited antimutagenic activities, only the lowest dose (10?μL/plate) of the ‘Deveci’ pear extract showed the antimutagenic activity against induced mutagenesis in the Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 strain. Consequently, the five Turkish pear cultivars used in this study exhibited different levels of antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antimutagenic activities.     

Morphological,Biochemical and Antioxidant Properties of Local Loquat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Eriobotrya Japonica</Emphasis> (Thunb.) Lindl.) Germplasm from Turkey

Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica L.) grown well for commercial purposes in subtropical regions nearly 30 countries and originated from China. The most important loquat producers in the world are China, Spain, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Italy and Brazil. In this study, ten pre-selected promising loquat genotypes sampled from eastern Black region and analyzed for their important morphological, biochemical and antioxidant characteristics. The standard cultivar ‘Sayda’ is also included in the study. The results indicated differences for all of the morphological, biochemical and antioxidant characteristics among tested genotypes. Fruit mass and fruit flesh percentage of the genotypes ranged from 35.40?g (LOQ-8) to 46.90?g (LOQ-5) and from 79.40 (%) to 86.32 (%) indicating some local genotypes had higher fruit mass and fruit flesh percentage than standard cultivar ‘Sayda’. Total phenolic content was the highest as 263?μg GAE/g in LOQ-7 genotype while the lowest in LOQ-8 genotype (185?μg GAE/g). LOQ-7 genotype had the highest total antioxidant capacity. Local genotypes in general have higher total phenolic, total carotenoid, vitamin C and antioxidant activity than cv. ‘Sayda’.     

Berry Growth and Biochemical Characteristics of cv. Trakya Ilkeren (<Emphasis Type="Italic">V. vinifera</Emphasis> L.) as Influenced by Various Doses of Pre-Harvest Hydrogen Peroxide and Phenylalanine Applications

Uneven grape ripening, leading to decreases economic valued of grapes is one of the main problems faced by grape growers in early table grape growing. In recent years, there has been increasing concern about improving of fruit quality in fruit crops. Among the various quality improvement methods, different types of foliar compounds are used for this purpose and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and phenylalanine (Phe) can be given as examples to some of these chemicals. This research was carried out during the 2015 growing season by using early ripening table grape cv. Trakya Ilkeren. In the study, it was assessed that how different doses of hydrogen peroxide (0, 10, 20 and 40?mM) and phenylalanine (0, 1, 2 and 4?mM) affected physical and biochemical properties of cv. Trakya Ilkeren. In terms of physical properties, doses of hydrogen peroxide and phenylalanine had only significant effects on grape firmness and cluster length. The best results were obtained from 4?mM Phe application (6.76?N) in grape firmness and were obtained from applications of 10, 20 and 40?mM H₂O₂ (23.66, 23.86 and 23.99?cm) and applications of 1, 2, and 4?mM Phe (23.95, 24.46 and 24.88?cm) in cluster length. However, most of biochemical properties were considerably affected by doses of hydrogen peroxide and phenylalanine except for juice pH and p-value. It was recorded that the highest total phenolic compounds contents varied from 3571.28 (10?mM H₂O₂) to 3871.22?mg GAE kg^?1 fw (40?mM H₂O₂) compared to 0?mM application (2591.48?mg GAE kg^?1 fw). In terms of total anthocyanin content, the highest mean was recorded for 4?mM Phe application (330.56?mg GAE kg^?1 fw) than 0?mM application (168.79?mg GAE kg^?1 fw). As a result, 4?mM Phe application particularly improved the most of biochemical properties in cv. Trakya Ilkeren.     

Determining the Energy Usage Efficiency of Walnut (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Juglans Regia</Emphasis> L.) Cultivation in Turkey

The aim of this study is to reveal the energy balance of walnut in Central Anatolian Region in Turkey. This study has been conducted at the walnut cultivating facilities during the 2014–2015 production season in K?r?ehir, Konya, Nev?ehir and Ni?de provinces of Central Anatolian Region in Turkey, where walnut cultivation is intense. In the study, a total of 28 walnut cultivation facilities, yielding walnut, have been selected through Neyman method and surveys and observations have been performed in these facilities. The agricultural input energies and output energies used in walnut cultivation have been calculated to define the energy use efficiency. According to the study findings, the energy inputs in walnut cultivation are calculated respectively 17,851.33?MJ ha^?1 (74.40%) chemical fertilizer energy, 2229.87?MJ ha^?1 (9.29%) fuel energy, 1640.64?MJ ha^?1 (6.83%) irrigation water energy, 1539?MJ ha^?1 (6.41%) machine energy, 508.02?MJ ha^?1 (%2.11) chemical energy, 180.35?MJ ha^?1 (0.75%) human labour energy and 43.33?MJ ha^?1 (0.18%) farm manure energy. Production outputs have been calculated as 14,679.52?MJ ha^?1. Following the energy calculations, the output/input ratio, specific energy, energy efficiency and net energy calculations have been calculated respectively as 0.61, 30.20?MJ kg^?1, 0.03?kg MJ^?1 and ?9313.02?MJ ha^?1. Benefit-cost ratio was calculated as 1.88, by dividing the gross value of production by the total cost of production per hectare in walnut production.     

Influence of growth regulators on setting,retention and weight of fruits in two cultivars of litchi

Investigations were undertaken to explore the possibility of improving setting, retention and weight of fruits in ‘Early Seedless’ and ‘Calcuttia’ cultivars of lichi (Litchi chinensis) by means of growth regulators. Indole acetic acid (IAA) at 20, 40 and 80 mg l^?1, 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) at 2,4 and 8 mg l^?1 and gibberellic acid (GA₃) at 50, 100 and 150 mg l^?1 were sprayed on panicles in the first fortnight of April, when 50–100% flowers had opened. All 3 growth regulators caused a favourable effect on fruit setting, fruit retention and weight of individual fruits, but IAA at 20 mg l^?1 proved the best for enhancing setting, GA₃ at 50 mg l^?1 for increasing retention and GA₃ at 100 mg l^?1 for improving fruit weight. IAA and GA₃ should, therefore, be used in combination. Between the 2 cultivars tested, ‘Calcuttia’ proved superior to ‘Early Seedless’ in fruit setting, fruit retention and weight of individual fruits.     

The influence of temperature on photosynthesis of different tomato genotypes

Net photosynthesis and dark respiration from whole plants of various tomato genotypes were measured in a closed system. At low irradiance (27 W m^?2) and low external CO₂ concentration (550 mg m^?3), net photosynthesis of 10 genotypes was found to vary between 0.122 and 0.209 mg CO₂ m^?2 s^?1. Correlation was observed between net photosynthesis, net uptake on a daily basis (8 h photoperiod at 20°C and 16 h nyctoperiod at 10°C), specific leaf weight and leaf area ratio. At high irradiance (243 W m^?2), high external CO₂ concentration (1480 mg m^?3) and ambient temperatures of 10, 18, 20 and 26°C, four genotypes were analysed. ‘F6 I.V.T.’ had the highest rate of photosynthesis at 10°C, while ‘Sonatine’ ranked high at 26°C. Dark respiration increased with temperature, except in the case of ‘Bonabel’ where the effect of temperature was slight.     

Adventitious shoot formation from sections of sweet potato grown in vitro

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas Lam.) root sections were obtained from the cultivars ‘Centennial’, ‘Redmar’ and ‘Jewel’ with a No. 6 cork borer. These sections were cut into 2–3-mm discs and explanted on to modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium consisting of MS high mineral salts, myo-inositol (100 mg l^?1), Staba vitamins, 6-benzyl-aminopurine (2.0 mg l^?1), naphthaleneacetic acid (0.1 mg l^?1), sucrose (30 g l^?1) and agar (10 g l^?1). Root discs from internal regions of the tuberous roots gave rise to calli and meristematic bud-like centers (MBLC's). A small percentage of ‘Centennial’ MBLC's burst open to reveal plantlets which grew and rooted well on the medium. Some of the ‘Jewel’ MBLC's contained only roots, while those of ‘Redmar’ did not differentiate. MBLC-formation occurred most often on discs taken from fresh (unstored) roots of ‘Centennial’. Petiole sections taken from in vitro-cultured plants of all 3 cultivars developed plants quite readily on the medium. Shoots of all 3 cultivars grew rapidly, to yield whole rooted plants which could easily be moved to soil and grown in the greenhouse and field.     

Responses of day-neutral,June-bearing and everbearing strawberry cultiv ars to gibberellic acid and phthalimide treatments

Field grown day-neutral, June-bearing and everbearing strawberry cultivars responded similarly to GA₃ in most cases. GA₃ stimulated daughter-plant production in ‘Hecker’ (DN) and suppressed it in ‘Guardian’ (June). Fifty mg l^?1 GA₃ increased initial runner production of all cultivars, while both 50 and 100 mg l^?1 GA₃ increased fruit yield the year following treatment. In greenhouse studies, GA₃ initially increased leaf number, petiole length and runner production, but the effects diminished with time. Phthalimide at 1000 mg l^?1 was most effective in increasing leaf number.     

Some Physicochemical Characteristics,Bioactive Content and Antioxidant Characteristics of Non-Sprayed Barberry (Berberis vulgaris L.) Fruits from Turkey

Increasing consumer demands for indigenous, non-sprayed with pesticides and less-known or “forgotten” fruits necessitate knowledge on their breeding, cultivation, biochemical content, harvesting and marketing. Anatolia is rich for wild edible fruit species and barberry is abundant throughout Anatolia. The aim of this study was to determine some important physicochemical characteristics, bioactive content and antioxidant capacity of fruits from nineteen promising barberry (Berberis vulgaris L.) genotypes grown in the Coruh valley, Northeastern Anatolia. The results indicated genotype-specific differences for most of the physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant capacity and the content of some bioactive compounds. Fruit mass ranged from 0.073 (‘Coruh-7’) to 0.267 g (‘Coruh-11’). Total phenolic content ranged from 2532 (‘Coruh-’) to 3719 mg GAE per liter fruit juice (‘Coruh-11’). The genotype ‘Coruh-12’ had the highest total monomeric anthocyanin content (1004 mg per liter fruit juice) as cyanidin-3-glucoside. The highest total antioxidant capacity was observed in fruits of ‘Coruh-8’ and ‘Coruh-9’ genotypes with all three antioxidant-determining methods. We conclude that the barberry fruits represent a good source of bioactive phytochemicals because of their high phenolic and anthocyanin contents.     

Effect of Planting and Harvesting Dates on Strawberry Fruit Quality under High Tunnels

ABSTRACT

There is an increasing demand in the market to improve strawberry quality by promoting human-health compounds content, as these may play a significant role in the prevention of chronic diseases. Strawberry cultivars, environmental conditions, and agronomical conditions have an effect on fruit characteristics; therefore, it is necessary to constantly generate information about the cultivar response to different production areas and cultural practices. The goal of this work was to evaluate the effect of two planting dates, two harvest dates, and four strawberry cultivars on total phenolic acid (gallic acid equivalent), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and soluble solid content?titratable acidity-1 (SSC?TA-1) ratio in Huelva, Spain. Sixteen treatments resulted from the combination of four cultivars, two planting dates, and two harvest dates. Strawberry ‘Camarosa’, ‘Sabrosa’, ‘Aguedilla’, and ‘Fuentepina’ were selected for both seasons and planted on 7 Oct. (early planting) and 21 Oct. (late planting). Mid-February and mid-April were considered early and late harvest, respectively. Nutraceutical and organoleptic responses were specifics for each cultivar. The highest SSC?TA-1 ratio was observed in ‘Fuentepina’ planted late and harvested early. ‘Aguedilla’ resulted in the highest phenolic content when harvested in the late season. Additionally, phenolic content was significantly higher when using late planting combined with late harvest in most of the cultivars. Late harvested ‘Camarosa’ showed the highest TA concentration, whereas ‘Sabrosa’ resulted in the highest SSC regardless of harvesting date. Additionally, ‘Aguedilla’ and ‘Sabrosa’ showed the highest ascorbic content. Strawberry quality could be improved by selecting the adequate planting and harvesting dates according to specific cultivars.     

The Growth of Apple Central Fruits as Affected by Thinning with NAA,BA and Naphthenic Acids

Plant growth regulators such as α?naphthylacetic acid (NAA) or 6?benzyladenine (BA) are commonly used for thinning apple fruits. NAs exhibits an auxin- and gibberellin-type biological activity, stimulate the uptake and translocation of auxins in plant tissue, as well as IAA synthesis and act as surfactants. It was assumed that NAs applied at the stadium of early fruit growth might cause fruit abscission in apple, similarly to NAA. The goal of the research was to test the presumed thinning effect of naphthenic acids on apple cultivars ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Red Delicious’. Three treatments were applied on both apple cultivars including 16.5?μL L^?1 NAA, 200?μL L^?1?BA and 2.63?mg L^?1?potassium salts of NAs. Cortical cell size and the number of cell layers were measured in order to determine the contribution of cell size and cell division in early fruit growth, as affected by chemical thinning treatments. The effects of plant growth regulators NAA, BA and NAs on fruit set, fruit size and the anatomy of the fruit cortex highly depend on varietal differences. In ‘Golden Delicious’ fruit set reduction by chemical thinning increases both the number of cell layers and cell size of apple fruit, while in ‘Red Delicious’ NAA inhibits fruit growth, while BA is ineffective. Cell growth promoting activity of NAA and NAs, accompanied by the decrease in fruit set and reduced competition among fruits within the canopy, results in a significant fruit weight increase at harvest. The research confirms the auxinic properties of NAs, and their assumed thinning activity.     

Study on Antioxidant Components in Rosé Wine Originating from the Wine Growing Region of Moravia,Czech Republic

The estimation of antioxidants in fruit, vegetables, beverages, and foodstuffs has been discussed in a great number of scientific studies, but until now, problems concerning the analysis of antioxidant components of rosé wine has not been adequately investigated. This paper presented results of a study on antioxidant components contained in some samples of rosé wine originating from the Moravian wine growing region. The experiments involved altogether 48 samples of rosé wine made of grapes of the varieties ‘Blaufränkisch’, ‘Blauer Portugieser’, ‘Pinot Noir’, ‘Sankt Laurent’, and ‘Zweigeltrebe’. Grapes were harvested in 2013. Spectrophotometry was used to estimated antioxidant activity (53–73?mg?L^?1 GAE), content of total polyphenols (152–369?mg?L^?1), hydrocinnamic acid (52–148?mg?L^?1), flavonols (25–294?mg?L^?1) and anthocyanins (88–1754?mg?L^?1). The HPLC method was used for the detection of some important antioxidants, i.?e. catechin, epicatechin, malvidin-3-glucoside, cis- and trans-resveratrol, ferrulic acid, coumaric acid and caftaric acid. This study enabled to determine basic profiles of the most important antioxidant components of the most popular Moravian red grapevine varieties. The studied wines were analyzed from several different aspects, which is not standard.     

Cyanogenic D-amygdalin contents of the kernels of cultivated almonds and wild Amygdalus webbii Spach.

SUMMARY

D-amygdalin is a toxic compound found in the kernels of some bitter almond cultivars.This compound is toxic because of its potential to release poisonous hydrogen cyanide. The D-amygdalin contents of the kernels of 18 commercial almond cultivars (Prunus dulcis Mill. = Amygdalus communis L.) and three wild genotypes (Amygdalus webbii Spach.) were determined by HPLC. In initial tests, two extraction procedures [100% (v/v) methanol or 4% (w/v) citric acid)], two different kernel cutting sizes (powdered or roughly-cut pieces), and two shaking techniques (mechanical shaking or sonication) were assessed. The results obtained showed that the method of extraction can have a strong effect on the extent of recovery of the potentially toxic compound, which varied by a factor of approx. 20-fold across the different extraction techniques.The greatest recovery of D-amygdalin from wild almond kernels was achieved with mechanical shaking of roughly-cut kernels in 100% (v/v) methanol, and this procedure was applied for all subsequent analyses of the D-amygdalin contents of all genotypes. The highest amounts of D-amygdalin were found in “bitter” cultivars and wild genotypes (716 – 23,025 mg kg^–1), with lower values in “sweet” cultivars (0 – 158 mg kg^–1). High levels of variability were observed both among the 18 almond cultivars and the A. webbii genotypes tested.     

Regeneration from in-vitro leaves of ‘Conference’ and other pear cultivars (Pyrus communis L.)

Summary

Regeneration of shoots from in-vitro grown leaf tissues of the pear cv. Conference was achieved at rates of up to 40%. The highest regeneration percentage was achieved using a phytohormone combination of benzylamino purine (5 mg 1^?1) and 1-naphthalene acetic acid (1.0 mg 1^?1) on a basal medium of Murashige and Skoog, to which had been added 200 mg I^?1 of the antibiotic cefotaxime. The percentage regeneration was reduced when a higher concentration of cefotaxime (400 mg 1^?1) was used. Cefotaxime had little beneficial effect on regeneration at a lower concentration of 1-naphthalene acetic acid (0.5 mg l^?1). Regenerated shoots were easily micropropagated, rooted and transplanted to soil. To date, the plants have a true-to-type phenotypic appearance. Regeneration was also achieved with other cultivars—‘Abbé Fetel’, ‘Doyenne d’Hiver’, ‘Doyenne du Comice’ and ‘Passé Crassane’—but percentage regeneration was lower and, apart from ‘Passé Crassane’, the regenerated shoots were weak and could not be subcultured.     

Influence of Melatonin Treatments on Fruit Quality and Storage Life of Sweet Cherry cv. ‘Sweetheart’

The study was carried out to determine the effect of melatonin on quality and postharvest life of sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) cv. ‘Sweetheart’ during storage. The fruits were dipped at different concentrations of melatonin (0, 250, 500 and 1000?µmol l^?1 for 10?min) and distilled water as control. The changes of sweet cherries were assessed at 7?day intervals by evaluating the following quality parameters: firmness, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, respiration rate, color values (L* and chroma), ascorbic acid content, total anthocyanin content, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity. The results showed that increasing the dose to 1000?µmol l^?1 melatonin had a remarkable effect on maintaining the quality of sweet cherry. 1000?µmol l^?1 and 500?µmol l^?1 melatonin treatments significantly inhibited the decrease in firmness, ascorbic acid, total phenols, total anthocyanin, antioxidant content and reduced color changes and respiration rate. However, the total soluble solids content and titratable acidity of the fruit were not influenced by melatonin applications. These findings indicate that melatonin treatment may be effective in maintaining quality and bioactive compounds of sweet cherry fruit.

     

Preharvest applications of ethephon reduce superficial scald of ‘Fuji’ and ‘Granny Smith’ apples in storage

In 1989 and 1990, preharvest applications of 2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid (ethephon) at dosages from 50–400 mg 1’1 were applied to ‘Fuji’ and ‘Granny Smith’ apples. In 1989, the greatest reduction in scald after storage on both ‘Fuji’ and ‘Granny Smith’, relative to the untreated control resulted from applying 400 mg 1^?1 ethephon five weeks before harvest and was 45% and 55% of controls, respectively. On ‘Granny Smith’ 400 mg 1^? was also effective when applied three weeks before harvest. In 1990, preharvest applications of ethephon at either 200 or 400 mg 1^?1 reduced scald in both cultivars relative to the controls. Ethephon applied six weeks before harvest had no dosage effect on scald reduction after storage. There was no consistent effect on fruit maturity at harvest from any treatment in either year, and no effect on quality of fruit out of storage.