Apple polyphenols delay postharvest senescence and quality deterioration of 'Jinshayou' pummelo fruit during storage.

Introduction: Apple polyphenols (AP), derived from the peel of mature-green apples, are widely used as natural plant-derived preservatives in the postharvest preservation of numerous horticultural products. Methods: The goal of this research was to investigate how AP (at 0.5% and 1.0%) influences senescence-related physiological parameters and antioxidant capacity of 'Jinshayou' pummelo fruits stored at 20°C for 90 d. Results: The treating pummelo fruit with AP could effectively retard the loss of green color and internal nutritional quality, resulting in higher levels of total soluble solid (TSS) content, titratable acidity (TA) content and pericarp firmness, thus maintaining the overall quality. Concurrently, AP treatment promoted the increases in ascorbic acid, reduced glutathione, total phenols (TP) and total flavonoids (TF) contents, increased the scavenging rates of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical (•OH), and enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR) as well as their encoding genes expression (CmSOD, CmCAT, CmPOD, CmAPX, and CmGR), reducing the increases in electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde content and hydrogen peroxide level, resulting in lower fruit decay rate and weight loss rate. The storage quality of 'Jinshayou' pummelo fruit was found to be maintained best with a 1.0% AP concentration. Conclusion: AP treatment can be regarded as a promising and effective preservative of delaying quality deterioration and improving antioxidant capacity of 'Jinshayou' pummelo fruit during storage at room temperature.

Structural Properties, Bioactivities, and Applications of Polysaccharides from Okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench]: A Review.

Okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench], as a kind of nutritive vegetable, is rich in flavonoids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, amino acids, and other bioactive substances and has various biological activities. As one of main bioactive components, okra polysaccharides (OPs), mainly comprising pectic polysaccharides, have various biological activities. OPs have been extensively investigated in recent years. Many studies characterized structures of OPs obtained by different extraction methods, which were confirmed to be rhamnogalacturonan-I-type polysaccharides in most cases. OPs have a thick and slimy texture, suggesting that they can be a promising source of texture modifiers for complex food matrices. They have various biological activities, such as antioxidant activity, immunomodulatory activity, hypoglycaemic activity, and improving intestinal function. Therefore, OPs may potentially serve as novel immunomodulators or an adjuvant for diabetic nephropathy. Up to now, there is no specific summary on the research progress of OPs. In this paper, the latest research progress on the extraction, purification, characterization, rheological properties, biological activities, and applications of OPs is reviewed, to provide the reference for the processing and comprehensive utilization of OPs in the future.

[Study on the Rapid Detection of Triazophos Residues in Flesh of Navel Orange by Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering].

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and quick pre-treatment technology were used to detect triazophos residues in flesh of navel orange. Quantitative analysis model was developed by partial least squares (PLS) algorithm. SERS of different concentration (0.5 to 20 mg x L(-1)) triazophos juice solution with flesh extract as the matrix were collected by laser Raman spectrometer. Three preprocessing methods such as normalization, MSC and SNV were used to optimize Raman signals and PLS models were set up. The results showed that minimum detection concentration for triazophos in navel orange below 0.5 mg L(-1). The model built with normalization pre-processing gave the best result; the values of correlation (R(p)) and Root mean square error of prediction set (RMSEP) were 1.38 and 0.976 6, respectively. The predict recoveries were 95.97%-103.18%, and the absolute values of relative errors were below 5%. T-test (t = -0.018) showed that there was no significant difference between the true values and prediction values. This study demonstrates that this method is accurate and reliable.

Antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of various solvent extracts from Impatiens balsamina L. stems.

UNLABELLED: The antioxidant and antimicrobial activities as well as the quantity of phenolic substances of Impatiens balsamina L. stem extracts obtained with various solvent were determined in this study. All of the extracts possessed moderate antioxidant potential in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and reducing power assays. Antimicrobial activity was estimated using the cylinder-plate and agar dilution methods against four bacterial and six fungal strains. The extracts showed good antimicrobial activity especially antifungal activity against all of the tested microorganisms. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents ranged from 2.88 to 13.63 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dried extract and 0.98 to 7.87 mg quercetin equivalents/g dried extract, respectively. The results presented here indicate that the I. balsamina stem extracts have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties and are therefore a potential source of antioxidant and antimicrobial agents for the food and pharmaceutical industries. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Our work indicates that the I. balsamina stem may be a good candidate as natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agents. It can be applied in food industry for preservation.

Comparison of cell wall metabolism in the pulp of three cultivars of 'Nanfeng' tangerine differing in mastication trait.

BACKGROUND: Like sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), tangerine (Citrus reticulata) is another citrus crop grown widely throughout the world. However, whether it shares a common mechanism with sweet orange in forming a given mastication trait is still unclear. In this study, three 'Nanfeng' tangerine cultivars, 'Yangxiao-26' ('YX-26') with inferior mastication trait, elite 'YX-26' with moderate mastication trait and 'Miguang' ('MG') with superior mastication trait, were selected to investigate the formation mechanism of mastication trait. RESULTS: 'MG' had the lowest contents of total pectin, protopectin and lignin and the highest gene expression levels of citrus polygalacturonase (PG) and pectin methylesterase (PME) at the end of fruit ripening, whereas 'YX-26' had the lowest water-soluble pectin (WSP) content, the highest lignin content and the lowest PG and PME expression levels. The contents of cellulose and hemicellulose were similar among the three tangerines. CONCLUSION: The fruit mastication trait of C. reticulata was determined by the proportions of WSP and protopectin as well as lignin content, not by cellulose and hemicellulose contents. Pectin content could be a major contribution to the feeling of mastication trait, while PG and PME exhibited an important role in forming a given mastication trait according to the present results as well as previous results for C. sinensis.