Analysis of morphological,pomological and yield characteristics of some apricot germplasm in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to characterize the Irano-Caucasian apricot germplasm that was collected in Anatolia, Turkey. Fifteen (pomological, phenological, and yield) parameters were studied in this germplasm, consisting of 128 apricot cultivars and types. A wide variation was found in harvest season, fruit yield, total solids soluble (TSS), total acidity, fruit, pit, and kernel mass. Most of the cultivars and types had a relatively small fruit size; only seven had a fruit mass ≥50 g. In general, fruits had yellow skin ground color and flesh color as well as mostly sweet kernels and high TSS. While there was a high correlation between fruit, pit and kernel mass and also between TSS and total acidity, a low or no significant correlation was determined between other pomological or phenological characteristics. The Levent apricot type possessed a substantially late ripening with a total period of 190–200 days for fruit development, a characteristic that makes this apricot type highly suitable for breeding studies.     

Hydroxycinnamoylmalic acids and their methyl esters from pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) fruit peel

Two novel caffeoylmalic acid methyl esters, 2-O-(trans-caffeoyl)malic acid 1-methyl ester (6) and 2-O-(trans-caffeoyl)malic acid 4-methyl ester (7), were isolated from pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai cv. Chuhwangbae) fruit peels. In addition, 5 known hydroxycinnamoylmalic acids and their methyl esters were identified: 2-O-(trans-coumaroyl)malic acid (1), 2-O-(cis-coumaroyl)malic acid (2), 2-O-(cis-coumaroyl)malic acid 1-methyl ester (3), 2-O-(trans-coumaroyl)malic acid 1-methyl ester (4), and 2-O-(trans-caffeoyl)malic acid (phaselic acid, 5). The chemical structures of these compounds were determined by spectroscopic data from ESI MS and NMR. Of all the isolated compounds, five hydroxycinnamoylmalic acids and their methyl esters (2-4, 6, 7) were identified in the pear for the first time.     

硼对砀山酥梨营养生长和果实品质的影响

为改善砀山酥梨树体营养状况,提高果实品质,在其新梢生长期（3～7月份）,叶面喷施不同浓度水平（0.2%,0.3%,0.4%）的硼肥（硼砂）,研究不同处理对砀山酥梨叶片硼含量及其变化动态、砀山酥梨营养生长和果实品质的影响。结果表明:砀山酥梨叶片硼含量随新梢生长而上升,在新梢停长期含量最高,之后开始下降,呈现低高低的变化趋势;叶面喷施不同浓度水平的硼肥后,在0.2%～0.3%范围内,叶片含硼量随喷施浓度的提高而增加;适量施硼促进了砀山酥梨的新梢生长,显著增加了单叶面积、百叶重、叶片叶绿素含量;提高了砀山酥梨果实的可溶性糖、可溶性固形物含量和果肉硬度,降低了果实含酸量。综合果树生长状况、果实品质和生产成本等因素,砀山酥梨树体缺硼时,在新梢生长期的3～7月份,叶面喷施2～3次0.3% 的硼肥效果最好。     

Effect of nitrogen fertilization on yield and nitrogen and water use efficiencies of winter wheat (durum and bread) varieties grown under conditions found in Central Anatolia

In order to evaluate the influence of different N rates on percent N derived from fertilizer (%Ndff) at different growth stages, on yields and the percent N use efficiency (%NUE) values of two winter wheat varieties (durum and bread), field experiments on fallow were carried out at four different locations in Central Anatolia, in the 1991–1992 and 1992–1993 growing seasons. At each site the rates of N (0, 40, 80 and 120?kg N/ha) were applied as ammonium sulphate [(NH₄)₂SO₄] using a Latin Square experimental design with four replicates. The total amounts of N fertilizer were applied once after seedling emergence at all experimental sites. Labelled (¹⁵NH₄)₂SO₄ fertilizer was applied to sub-plots from which %Ndff values were determined at tillering, booting, grain filling, and harvest stages. Yield sub-plots received unlabelled (NH₄)₂SO₄ from which total dry matter (seed and straw) and N yields were determined. Also the %NUE values were calculated by the ¹⁵N and "difference" methods at the harvest stage. Stored soil moisture at 0–90?cm depth, evapotranspiration and water use efficiency values were calculated as well. The results obtained showed that (1) Gerek-79 variety used both the applied N fertilizer and the available soil moisture more efficiently, (2) the percent NUE values obtained overall were generally less than 20 for both varieties and (3) with the ¹⁵N method, less variable %NUE values were obtained in comparison to the difference method.     

Effect of CO2 enrichment on fruit growth and quality in Japanese pear (Pyrus serotina Reheder cv. Kosui)

Six year-old Japanese pear (Pyrus seratina Reheder cv. Kosui) trees grafted on P. serotina cv. Nihonyamanashi were grown in containers filled with Granite Regosol under glasshouse conditions. At different stages of fruit growth, pear trees were exposed to an elevated CO₂ concentration (130 Pa CO₂ ) along with a control (35 Pa CO₂). For one group of plants, CO₂ enrichment was applied for 79 d from 52 d after full bloom (DAB) to fruit maturity (long-term CO₂ enrichment) and for another group the same treatment was applied for 35 d from 96 DAB to fruit maturity (short-term CO₂ enrichment). The effects of the elevated CO₂ concentration on vegetative growth, mineral contents, and fruit production and quality were examined. Long-term CO₂ enrichment enhanced vegetative growth, without any significant effect on the mineral contents in either flower bud or fruit except for a remarkable increase in the K content. Long-term CO₂ enrichment increased the fruit size and fresh weight, but had no significant effect on the fruit quality. On the other hand, the short-term CO₂ enrichment did not induce any significant change in the fruit size but increased the fruit sugar concentration. Along with the reduction of the sorbitol concentration in fruit, the fructose and sucrose concentrations increased and these changes occurred earlier at elevated CO₂ than at ambient CO₂ concentrations. From these results, we concluded that the effect of CO₂ enrichment on fruit growth varies depending upon the growth stages of fruit: during the initial and fruitlet stages when fruit expansion occurs, CO₂ enrichment increases the fruit size, whereas, during maturation when fruit expansion has slowed down and sugar accumulation in fruit is active, it increases the fruit sugar concentration.     

Chemical and antioxidant properties of Laurocerasus officinalis Roem. (cherry laurel) fruit grown in the Black Sea region

Laurocerasus officinalis Roem. is a summer fruit highly characteristic of the Black Sea region. The edible parts of the fruit were tested for chemical composition and antioxidant properties. Total moisture, ash, protein, sugar, pectin, ascorbic acid, phenolic, and mineral contents of the fruit were determined. The antioxidant activity of the fruit was investigated using TLC plate and ferric thiocyanate methods. Its antioxidative character was also tested utilizing hydroxyl, DPPH, and superoxide radical scavenging activity measurements, using BHT, vitamin C, and Trolox as references. Besides being a good source of nutrients, L. officinalis was found to provide a rich source of protective antioxidant compounds. Its antioxidant and radical scavenging activities were comparable to or higher than those of the reference antioxidants. It appeared to have high mineral content. The concentrations of macroelements K, Mg, Ca, and Na were high at 2215 +/- 10.5, 179 +/- 11, 153 +/- 0.8, and 55 +/- 0.3 mg/kg, respectively, and the concentrations of trace elements Mn, Fe, Zn, and Cu were 24.2 +/- 1.3, 8.3 +/- 0.8, 1.9 +/- 0.2, and 0.8 +/- 0.1 mg/kg, respectively. In addition, the fruit showed very low contents of Pb, Ni, Co, and Cr, below the detection limits, which is considered to be a good food quality. As it is a rich source of protein, sugar, ascorbic acid, minerals, and antioxidants, L. officinalis is well worth further studies regarding its components possessing important health benefits and inclusion in the daily diet.     

Modulation of antioxidant compounds in organic vs conventional fruit (peach,Prunus persica L., and pear,Pyrus communis L.)

Despite the increasing interest in organic products, knowledge about how different levels of fertilization affect nutritionally relevant components is still limited. The concentration of polyphenols and the activity of polyphenoloxidase (PPO), together with the content in ascorbic acid, citric acid, and alpha- and gamma-tocopherol, were assayed in conventional and organic peach (Prunus persica L., cv. Regina bianca) and pear (Pyrus communis L., cv. Williams). 2-Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and the tocopherolquinone/alpha-tocopherol ratio were used as markers of oxidative damage in fruits. A parallel increase in polyphenol content and PPO activity of organic peach and pear as compared with the corresponding conventional samples was found. Ascorbic and citric acids were higher in organic than conventional peaches, whereas alpha-tocopherol was increased in organic pear. The concentration of oxidation products in organic samples of both fruits was comparable to that of the corresponding conventional ones. These data provide evidence that an improvement in the antioxidant defense system of the plant occurred as a consequence of the organic cultivation practice. This is likely to exert protection against damage of fruit when grown in the absence of pesticides.     

Incongruence between RFLPs of chloroplast DNA and morphological classification in east Asian pear (Pyrus spp.)

Polymorphism of chloroplast DNA of 106 accessions of Pyrus (mainly east Asian accessions) was examined. Four haplotypes were observed with the combination of three independent restriction site mutations digested by EcoO109 I, Sal I, and Xba I, respectively. In the occidental pear accessions only the most plesiomorphic type was observed, whereas all four types appeared in the oriental pear accessions. This suggests that the oriental species of Pyrus and occidental ones may have evolved independently. The distribution of four haplotypes in the east Asian pear was quite incongruent with the species or infrageneric classification using mainly morphological characters. Considering the high crossability and much occurrence of suspected interspecific hybrids in wild populations, this disaccord is inferred to be the results of the hybridization and introgression between species.     

Seed morphological characteristics,storage behavior,and germination pattern of Combretum indicum (L.) DeFilipps

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Combretum indicum (L.) DeFilipps seeds have anthelmintic properties and are recognized to be medicinal; however, the array of their morphological characters,...     

Influence of cultivar and fruit ripening on olive (Olea europaea) fruit protein content, composition, and antioxidant activity

Proteins of olive fruit mesocarp are not very well-known at present. However, they have been shown to pass, at least partially, to the olive oil during its elaboration and therefore might be contributing to some of the special characteristics of this vegetable oil. In this study, protein content and composition were determined in olive fruits, cv. Arbequina and Picual, at three stages of ripening: green, spotted, and purple. Mesocarp proteins constituted 1.3-1.8% of the dry weight of the olive fruit, and cultivar and fruit ripening did not produce important changes in mesocarp protein content or composition. In addition, this composition was also similar to the amino acid composition of a 4.6-kDa polypeptide, which is the major protein component of olive oils and of oil bodies of olive fruit mesocarp, suggesting that this polypeptide is likely to be a major component of mesocarp proteins. There was, also, a relationship between the oil content of the olive fruit and the protein content determined, suggesting a stabilizing function of these proteins in the oil bodies of the olive fruit, analogously to the role suggested for oleosins. This stabilizing function does not seem to be extended to olive oils because when the polypeptides isolated were added at 20 ppm to soybean oil, the stability of the oil increased only slightly, suggesting that if these compounds play some role in the stability of the oils, this should be mostly a consequence of the possible interactions among these protein components and other olive oil antioxidant constituents.     

Genetic diversity in West African okra (Abelmoschus caillei) (A. Chev.) Stevels — Multivariate analysis of morphological and agronomic characteristics

Summary Factor, Principal component and canonical analyses were used to study the extent of genetic diversity among 30 accessions of West African okra. Genetic variability among the accessions proved to be large. Pigmentation of various parts of the accessions and fruit characteristics contributed significantly to the total variation observed. Factor analysis and principal component analysis produced similar results which were substantially different from those produced by canonical analysis. The first three canonical variables accounted for 100% of the total variance while the number of pods per plant, and pod weight primarily accounted for the first canonical variable. Whereas the second canonical variable was primarily loaded by number of seeds per pod and fruit colour, the third canonical variable was comprised of a weight of 100 seeds and number of epicalyx segments.The level of variability observed supports the opinion (Stevels, 1988, 1990) that this okra type constitutes a separate species.     

Composition of phenolic compounds in a Portuguese pear (Pyrus communis L. var. S. Bartolomeu) and changes after sun-drying

The composition of phenolic compounds of a Portuguese pear cultivar (Pyrus communis L. var. S. Bartolomeu) was determined by HPLC after thioacidolysis. The average concentration of phenolic compounds in pear harvested at commercial maturity stage was 3.7 g per kg of fresh pulp. Procyanidins were the predominant phenolics (96%), with a mean degree of polymerization (mDP) of 13-44; hydroxycinnamic acids (2%), arbutin (0.8%), and catechins (0.7%) were also present. The most abundant monomer in the procyanidin structures was (-)-epicatechin (99%), which was found as extension and terminal units; (+)-catechin (1%) was found only as a terminal unit. Sun-drying of these pears caused a decrease of 64% (on a dry pulp basis) in the total amount of native phenolic compounds. Hydroxycinnamic acids and procyanidins showed the largest decrease; the B2 procyanidin was not found at all in the sun-dried pear. Less affected were arbutin and catechins. In the sun-dried pear, the procyanidins with high mDP became unextractable in the solvents used.     

Some effects of fly ash (from coal burning) on bush bean plants grown in solution culture

Abstract

Bush bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L. C. V. Improved Tendergreen) were grown for 14 days in 3700‐ml solution cultures with varying application rates of fly ash from a coal burning plant in California. Plants were also grown in a solution culture experiment in the presence of tiie chelating agent DTPA (diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid) and also in solutions acidified with HCl. The latter treatments were to determine if metals in the fly ash could be made more available to plants. The higher levels of fly ash (5 to 10 g/3700 ml) resulted in increased Ca, B, Si, Sr, and Ba in leaves, stems, and roots. No plants, however, appeared to have an excess of trace metals. In another experiment DTPA and HCl amendments failed to increase greatly the availability of trace metals from the fly ash in solution culture except for Zn. In this experiment the fly ash was the sole source of Ca and plants were deficient in Ca because insufficient fly ash was added. The fly ash resulted in increased Zn, Ca, Fe, Mn, B, Al, Si, Ti, Mo, Li, Sr, Ba in leaves, stems, and roots and increased V, Co, and Ni in roots. There was 3 to 4 μg/g Sn and 0.6 μg/g Be in the roots of plants grown with fly ash. In another experiment, fly ash supplied all the Ca necessary for plant growth without decreased yields resulting from any trace metal.     

Evaluation of Heavy Metals' (Cd,Cu, Ni,Ph, and Zn) Distribution in Sowing Regions of Potato Fields in the Province of Niğde,Turkey

Water, Air, &; Soil Pollution - The Province of Ni?de, located in central Anatolia, supplies approximately 25% of the total potato production in Turkey. In order to investigate selected...     

不同强度的运输振动对黄花梨的机械损伤及贮藏品质的影响

为了研究运输过程中不同强度的振动对黄花梨的机械损伤及储藏品质的影响,检测和比较了运输过程中卡车前后不同位置的振动情况以及对应位置装载的黄花梨的机械损伤情况,并对黄花梨运输后室温（23℃）储藏过程中硬度,果胶酶活性和果胶物质含量进行了检测。结果表明,车厢后部的振动加速度为1.91 m/s^2,显著高于车厢前部的振动加速度1.62 m/s^2（p〈0.05）。这导致了在车厢后部装载的梨的平均损伤个数和损伤表面积显著高于车厢前部（p〈0.05）;车厢后部装载的梨的果胶甲酯酶（PE）,多聚半乳糖醛酸酶（PG）活性较高,导致了与硬度有关的细胞壁果胶成分快速降低,引起了黄花梨果实的较快软化,说明较强的运输振动不但造成黄花梨严重的机械损伤,还影响运输结束后黄花梨的储藏品质。     

Relationships among <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crataegus</Emphasis> accessions sampled from Hatay,Turkey, as assessed by fruit characteristics and RAPD

The genus Crataegus known as hawthorns, is the largest genus among the Maloideae, which comprises 265 species. Turkey is one of the genetic centers of Crataegus and there are more than 20 species found in Turkey. The fruits of Crataegus are used as food and have high flavonoid, vitamin C, glycoside, anthocyanidin, saponin, tannin, and antioxidant levels. In this study, we attempted to characterize 15 Crataegus accessions sampled from Hatay, located in Eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. The accessions belonged to several species; C. aronia (L.) DC. var. aronia, C. aronia var. dentata Browicz, C. aronia var. minuta Browicz, C. monogyna Jacq. subsp. azarella (Griseb.) Franco, and C. orientalis Pall. ex M. Bieb. var. orientalis. Fruit characteristics of the accessions exhibited considerable variation. The multivariate, principle component and cluster analyses indicated that the accessions belonged to three groups: (1) C. aronia var. arona accessions; (2) C. aronia var. dentata accessions; and, (3) C. monogyna subsp. azarella and C. orientalis var. orientalis accessions. The principle component analysis results also revealed that the first three components explained 46, 21, and 14% of the variation, comprising a total of 81%. The fruit length and width, leaf area, and soluble solids contents were highly correlated characteristics for the first three components. The 19 RAPD primers generated a total of 107 bands, where 76 of these were polymorphic. The molecular data analyses by principle coordinate and clustering showed similar results to those of pomological characteristics. There were three groups, (1) C. aronia var. arona accessions; (2) C. aronia var. dentata accession; and, (3) C. monogyna subsp. azarella. C. orientalis var. orientalis accession grouped with C. aronia var. arona accessions. Therefore, it can be concluded that, overall, the diversity patterns of pomological and molecular data, generated by RAPD, for Crataegus are in good agreement and the accessions of C. aronia var. aronia, C. aronia var. minuta, C. monogyna subsp. azarella and C. orientalis var. orientalis accessions.     

Quantitative study of fruit flavonoids in citrus hybrids of King (C. nobilis) and Mukaku Kishu (C. kinokuni)

Twenty-four Citrus hybrids of King (C. nobilis) and Mukaku Kishu (C. kinokuni) were examined for their flavonoid profiles of the edible part by reversed-phase HPLC analysis. Two hybrids (G-155 and G-156) contained higher amounts of natsudaidain than their parents, whereas the remainder of the hybrids had a character intermediate between those of King and Mukaku Kishu on the basis of polymethoxylated flavone composition. Principal component analysis revealed the distribution of the hybrids by quantifying 23 flavonoid contents.     

Characterization of volatiles in strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum Sabine) fruit.

Volatile compounds were isolated from strawberry guava fruit by simultaneous steam distillation-solvent extraction according to Likens-Nickerson. Compounds were identified by capillary GC-MS and sensorially characterized by sniffing GC. Two hundred and four compounds were identified in the aroma concentrate, of which ethanol, alpha-pinene, (Z)-3-hexenol, (E)-beta-caryophyllene, and hexadecanoic acid were found to be the major constituents. The presence of many aliphatic esters and terpenic compounds is thought to contribute to the unique flavor of the strawberry guava fruit.