BACKGROUND Consumption of fruit and vegetables is important for health, but is often lower than recommended and tends to be socio-economically patterned with lower consumption in more deprived groups. In 2008, the English Department of Health introduced the Change4Life convenience store programme. This aimed to increase retail access to fresh fruit and vegetables in deprived, urban areas by pro...

BACKGROUND Fruit texture is a primary selection trait in southern highbush blueberry (SHB) breeding to increase fresh fruit postharvest quality and consumer acceptance. A novel crisp fruit texture has recently been identified among SHB germplasm. In this study, we developed a common set of descriptors that align sensory evaluation of blueberry fruit texture with instrumental measures that could...

the effect of ca, zn and b spray application on preharvest fruit drop, sugars, calcium, zinc, and boron concentrations and as well on some physicochemical fruit properties of five commercial asian pear cultivars (‘ks’7, ‘ks’8, ‘ks’11, ‘ks’12 and ‘ks’14) was investigated under tehran province,s environmental conditions. trees were sprayed one month past fruit set until harvest within two week in...

Fresh peaches and nectarines are very popular for their high nutritional and therapeutic value. Unfortunately, they are prone to rapid deterioration after harvest, especially if the cold chain is not well maintained. The objective of this work is to study the environmental fluctuation and the quality change of fresh peaches and nectarines in cold chain. The temperature, relative humidity, and C...

OBJECTIVE To (i) evaluate food choices and consumption patterns of elementary- and middle-school students who participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and (ii) compare students' average nutrient intake from lunch with NSLP standards. DESIGN Plate waste from elementary- and middle-school students' lunch trays was measured in autumn 2010 using a previously validated digital photo...

INTRODUCTION Low-income people are most vulnerable to food insecurity; many turn to community and/or charitable food programs to receive free or low-cost food. This needs assessment aims to collect information on the barriers to accessing food programs, the opportunities for improving food access, the barriers to eating fresh vegetables and fruit, and the opportunities to increasing their consu...

Major insect pests of fresh-market tomato, Lycopersicon esculentumMiller, in eastern Virginia were identified as those responsible for reducing marketable fruit yield from 1998 through 2000. Nineteen arthropod pest species infested springand fall-grown tomato crops, but only thrips, stink bugs, and Lepidopterans, particularly the corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea [Boddie]), reduced yield. Fruit inj...