The polyphenolic content and antioxidant capacity in the seeds of 11 red grape varieties (five international and six native) widely cultivated in Turkey were investigated. Total phenolic, total flavanol and total polymeric procyanidin content ranged from 79.2 to 154.6, 89.2 to 179.4, and 27.0 to 43.3mg/g seed, respectively. While (+)-catechin (4.71-23.8mg/g seed) was found as main flavanol, gal...

Rainfall and temperature are the primary limiting factors for optimum quality and yield of cultivated jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.). Adaptation to arid and cool environments has been and remains an important goal of many jujube improvement programs. This study summarized the survey results of 116 Chinese jujube varieties grown at 33 sites in China. The objective was to identify the environment...

Zingiber officinale Roscoe. (Family Zingiberaceae) is well known in Asia. The plant is widely cultivated in village gardens in the tropics for its medicinal properties and as a marketable spice in Malaysia. Ginger varieties are rich in physiologically active phenolics and flavonoids with a range of pharmacological activities. Experiments were conducted to determine the feasibility of increasing...

Seed is the basic input in agriculture. The quality of seed used by farmers determines the status of agriculture they practice. However, for maximum gain in productivity the use of both improved varieties and improved integrated crop management practices are required. Not only do they contribute to increasing productivity individually, but they also act synergistically. Seed of improved varieti...

Sorghum vegetative tissues are becoming increasingly important for biofuel production. The composition of sorghum stem tissues is influenced by genotype, environment and photoperiod sensitivity, and varies widely between varieties and also between different stem tissues (outer rind vs inner pith). Here, the amount of cellulose, (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan, arabinose and xylose in the stems of twelve div...

Rice (Oryza sativa) was cultivated by Asian Neolithic farmers >11,000 years ago, and different cultures have selected for divergent starch qualities in the rice grain during and after the domestication process. An intron 1 splice donor site mutation of the Waxy gene is responsible for the absence of amylose in glutinous rice varieties. This mutation appears to have also played an important role...

The origin and spread of novel agronomic traits during crop domestication are complex events in plant evolution. Wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) has red grains due to the accumulation of proanthocyanidins, whereas most cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) varieties have white grains induced by a defective allele in the Rc basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene. Although the events surrounding the origin and ...

The chili pepper is a very important plant used worldwide as a vegetable, as a spice, and as an external medicine. In this work, eight different varieties of Capsicum annuum L. have been characterized by their capsaicinoids content. The chili pepper fruits were cultivated in the Comarca Lagunera region in North of Mexico. The qualitative and quantitative determination of the major and minor cap...

Weedy rice (WR) is found in many direct-seeded rice fields. WR possesses morphological characteristics that are similar to cultivated rice varieties in the early stage of growth, making them more difficult to control than other weeds. A comparative morphological study was conducted by collecting WR accessions from four sites within the Pulau Pinang rice growing areas. The objective of the study...

The genus Curcuma is a member of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) that has recently become popular for use as flowering pot plants, both indoors and as patio and landscape plants. We used PCR-based molecular markers (SSRs) to elucidate genetic variation and relationships between five varieties of Curcuma (Curcuma alismatifolia) cultivated in Malaysia. Of the primers tested, 8 (of 17) SSR prime...