Sensory Quality Evaluation of Korla Pear from Different Orchards and Analysis of Their Primary and Volatile Metabolites.

Metabolites play vital roles in shaping the quality of fresh fruit. In this study, Korla pear fruit harvested from twelve orchards in South Xinjiang, China, were ranked in sensory quality by fuzzy logic sensory evaluation for two consecutive seasons. Then, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was applied to determine the primary metabolites and volatile compounds. Sensory evaluation results showed that the panelists were more concerned about 'mouth feel' and 'aroma' than about 'fruit size', 'fruit shape' and 'peel color'. In total, 20 primary metabolites and 100 volatiles were detected in the pear fruit. Hexanal, (E)-2-hexenal, nonanal, d-limonene, (Z)-3-hexen-1-yl acetate and hexyl acetate were identified as the major volatile compounds. Correlation analysis revealed that l-(+)-tartaric acid, hexanoic acid, trans-limonene oxide and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate were negatively correlated with sensory scores. Furthermore, OPLS-DA results indicated that the fruit from three orchards with lower ranks in quality could be distinguished from other samples based on the contents of l-(+)-tartaric acid and other eight metabolites, which were all associated with 'mouth feel' and 'aroma'. This study reveals the metabolites that might be closely associated with the sensory quality attributes of Korla pear, which may provide some clues for promoting the fruit quality in actual production.

Traditional Chinese medicine baoxin decoction improves cardiac fibrosis of rats with dilated cardiomyopathy.

We investigated the effect of baoxin decoction (BXD) on myocardial fibrosis and clarified the possible mechanism of action. Dilated myocardiopathy was induced by doxorubicin injected intraperitoneally for 6 weeks. Rats that demonstrated dilated myocardiopathy were randomly divided into five groups plus a control group. Three groups were treated with BXD (7.5/kg, 15 g/kg and 30 g/kg) daily for 4 weeks. One group was treated with 8.75 g/kg of captopril (positive control), and with physiologic saline (negative control). Cardiac function was evaluated using echocardiography. Hematoxylin and eosin, and Massons trichrome staining were performed, PICP and PIIINP were assessed by ELISA, the expression of galectin-3 and collagen types I and III was evaluated with reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, and interrelated proteins were detected by western blot analysis. BXD downregulated galectin-3, collagen I and III and was correlated with a high expression of fibrosis markers. It also significantly decreased myocardial collagen volume fraction (CVF), together with markedly preventing the upregulation of collagen I and III. In addition, BXD downregulated the expression of TGF-ß1 and Smad3 in the myocardial fibrosis rats. Therefore, BXD treatment significantly improved cardiac function and alleviated myocardial fibrosis in a rat model of doxorubicin-induced dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), which is the mechanism that may be associated with inhibiting the TGF-ß1 signaling pathway.