Effect of preharvest conditions on cut-flower quality.

The cut flower industry has a global reach as flowers are often produced in countries around the equator and transported by plane or ship (reefer) mostly to the global north. Vase-life issues are often regarded as linked to only postharvest conditions while cultivation factors are just as important. Here, we review the main causes for quality reduction in cut flowers with the emphasis on the importance of preharvest conditions.

The association between the susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea and the levels of volatile and non-volatile metabolites in red ripe strawberry genotypes.

The relations between physical and chemical characteristics (e.g., color, firmness, volatile and non-volatile metabolites) of red ripe strawberry fruit and the natural spoilage caused by Botrytis cinerea were investigated.

High CO Reduces Spoilage Caused by in Strawberry Without Impairing Fruit Quality.

High CO (> 20 kPa) conditions are beneficial for suppressing spoilage caused by in strawberry fruit; however, these conditions are often accompanied by discoloration, off-flavors, and faster softening. Stepwise increments of CO concentrations have been proposed to alleviate injuries in fruits caused by high CO. In this study, we investigated whether stepwise increments of CO, up to 30 kPa and under a reduced O concentration, are beneficial for reducing fungal spoilage without inducing CO injury symptoms in strawberry fruit.

Additional Blue LED during Cultivation Induces Cold Tolerance in Tomato Fruit but Only to an Optimum.

Tomato is a chilling-sensitive fruit. The aim of this study is to examine the role of preharvest blue LED lighting (BL) to induce cold tolerance in 'Foundation' tomatoes. Blue and red supplemental LED light was applied to achieve either 0, 12 or 24% additional BL (0B, 12B and 24B).

Low Oxygen Storage Improves Tomato Postharvest Cold Tolerance, Especially for Tomatoes Cultivated with Far-Red LED Light.

We investigated the effects of low oxygen storage on chilling injury development, colour development, respiration and HO levels of 'Merlice' tomatoes cultivated with and without far red (FR) LED lighting during 20 days of shelf-life. Mature green (MG) and red (R) tomatoes were stored at 2 °C in combination with 0.5, 2.

Effects of exogenous compound sprays on cherry cracking: skin properties and gene expression.

Background: Cherry fruit cracking is a costly problem for cherry growers. The effect of repeated sprayings (gibberellic acid - GA ; abscisic acid - ABA; salicylic acid - SA; glycine betaine - GB, and Ascophyllum nodosum - AN) combined with CaCl , on 'Sweetheart' cherry fruit-cracking characteristics was investigated. Cracking was quantified in terms of cracking incidence, crack morphology, confocal scanning laser microscopy, cuticular wax content, cell-wall modification, and cuticular wax gene expression.

Mango Firmness Modeling as Affected by Transport and Ethylene Treatments.

More and more, tropical fruit are subjected to accelerated ripening at receiving markets until "ready to eat." We propose a kinetic model that incorporates the effects of temperature and ethylene on the firmness behavior of "Keitt" and "Kent" mangoes. Stiffness of individual mangoes, as measured by the acoustic firmness tester, was measured repeatedly over time.

Corrigendum: Factors Affecting Quality and Health Promoting Compounds during Growth and Postharvest Life of Sweet Cherry ( L.).

[This corrects the article on p. 2166 in vol. 8, PMID: 29312407.

Anthocyanin Biosynthesis and Degradation Mechanisms in Vegetables: A Review.

Anthocyanins are a group of polyphenolic pigments that are ubiquitously found in the plant kingdom. In plants, anthocyanins play a role not only in reproduction, by attracting pollinators and seed dispersers, but also in protection against various abiotic and biotic stresses. There is accumulating evidence that anthocyanins have health-promoting properties, which makes anthocyanin metabolism an interesting target for breeders and researchers.

Factors Affecting Quality and Health Promoting Compounds during Growth and Postharvest Life of Sweet Cherry ( L.).

Sweet cherries are attractive fruits due to their taste, color, nutritional value, and beneficial health effects. Sweet cherry is a highly perishable fruit and all quality attributes and the level of health promoting compounds are affected by growth conditions, picking, packing, transport, and storage. During production, the correct combination of scion × rootstock will produce fruits with higher firmness, weight, sugars, vitamins, and phenolic compounds that boost the fruit antioxidant activity.

Modelling the biological variance of the yellow aspect of Granny Smith apple colour.

Background: The yellow aspect of colour is usually not considered for produce with a green-to-red or a green-to-yellow transition upon ripening. The magnitude of change is simply too small and, additionally, masked by a large variation. The colour of 'Granny Smith' apples, harvested from three orchards at two stages of maturity, was measured individually using the CIE L*a*b* system during storage in a regular atmosphere at three temperatures: 1, 4 and 10 degrees C.