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.     

Effects of Various Parameters on Removal of NO2 Gases in Fixed Beds by Adsorption on Sepiolite

Removal of NO₂ gases in fixed beds was investigatedby using brownish, whitish and regenerated whitish sepioliteand perlite as adsorbents. For this purpose, NO₂ wasproduced by reaction of copper with nitric acid. The producedgas was mixed with air and the mixture was sent through a fixedbed. Studies were conducted using various gas flow rates,NO₂ concentrations, packing sizes and heights of bed.Remaining NO₂ within the gas mixture leaving the column,unadsorbed on packing, was further absorbed by passing itthrough a series of washing bottles, filled by a solution ofNaOH. At the end of the study, it was observed that theadsorption capacity of sepiolites, especially whitishsepiolite, was much higher than that of perlite. Additionally,it was seen that its adsorption capacity increased withincreasing bed height, particle size, NO₂ concentrationand decreasing gas flow rate.     

S_allele identification and genetic diversity analysis of apricot cultivars

In this study, the sexual incompatibility and S-allele diversity of 24 Turkish apricot cultivars, Paviot and Sak?t-1 as parents and 127 F₁ progenies were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing techniques. Additionally, genetic diversity and relatedness among the 24 cultivars were determined using 18 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers from the genus Prunus. PCR for S_alleles identified nine different S-RNase alleles in the 24 apricot cultivars, namely S_c, S₁, S₂, S₈, S₉, S₂₀, S₂₄, S₅₂, and S₅₃. All primers amplified only one S_allele in the cultivars Adilcevaz-1, Adilcevaz-3, Ethembey, Pasamismisi, Canakkale, and Soganci. Most of the Turkish cultivars were self-incompatible. The S_c allele was present in only three cultivars (Canakkale, Ethembey, Imrahor) that are, therefore, self-compatible. The S_alleles of cultivars Paviot and Sak?t-1 displayed homology with the S_c, S₂ and S₂₀, and S₅₂ alleles. In the 127 F₁ genotypes, the two S_alleles of Paviot were inherited by roughly half of the offspring, while about 76% of the offspring inherited the S₅₂ allele from Sak?t-1, and less than 24% inherited S₂₀. The amplification using all SSR 18 primers was successful and produced 128 polymorphic alleles with an average of 7.11 alleles per locus. Among the apricot cultivars studied, expected heterozygosity (He) ranged from 0.33 to 0.72, observed heterozygosity (Ho) ranged from 0.42 to 1.00, PIC values were between 0.28 and 0.89, and similarity rates were between 0.30 and 0.68. The cultivars Levent and Ozal were genetically closest (0.68) while cultivars Sak?t-3 and Soganc? were the most distinct (0.30).