Mature avocado fruit (Persea americana Mill. cvs ‘Ettinger’, ‘Hass’, ‘Reed’ and ‘Fuerte’), harvested during the commercial harvesting season, were treated with various concentrations of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) for 24 h at 22°C and after ventilation, were exposed to 300 ml l ethylene for 24 h at 22°C. The fruit were then stored at 22°C in ethylene-free air for ripening assessment. Ethylene ...

Color of fruits is a relevant parameter to determine ripeness and optimal harvest time. For olives 6 ripening phases based on skin color distribution have been defined. A widely used method by the olive oil and table olives producers is to inspect the olive surface, and estimate the color and ripening phase visually. This method is simple but it is highly subjective and imprecise. This paper pr...

Traditional cheeses harbour complex microbial consortia that play an important role in shaping typical sensorial properties. However, the microbial metabolism is considered difficult to control. Microbial community succession and the related gene expression were analysed during ripening of a traditional Italian cheese, identifying parameters that could be modified to accelerate ripening. Afterw...

The ripening of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) fruit slices was inhibited whether they were floated in water or in buffered aqueous 0.3 m mannitol, 0.25 m KCl, and sucrose. There was no evidence to support the contention that ripening occurred when the tonicity of the bathing medium was increased. Decreased gaseous exchange is considered to be a major cause of this inhibition because by utili...

Fruit ripening is a highly coordinated developmental process that coincides with seed maturation. The ripening process is regulated by thousands of genes that control progressive softening and/or lignification of pericarp layers, accumulation of sugars, acids, pigments, and release of volatiles. Key to crop improvement is a deeper understanding of the processes underlying fruit ripening. In tom...

As a thermodynamic process, Ostwald ripening is inevitable in solid solution or liquid sol, which usually leads to inhomogeneous morphologies and poor particle size distributions. For decades, how prevent control has been challenge material preparation, especially for obtaining excellent nanomaterials. Here, we propose two important concepts, critical concentration time window, as the keys inhi...

Prior to parturition the non-pliable uterine cervix undergoes a ripening process ("softens" and dilates) to allow a timely passage of the fetus at term. The exact mechanism(s) triggering and involved in cervical ripening are unknown, though evidence for a role for sensory neurons and their contained neuropeptides is emerging. Moreover, an apparent increase in neuropeptide immunoreactive nerves ...

The maturation and ripening of fleshy fruits contributes a major component of human diets, nutrition and agricultural activity. While ripening brings about highly desirable changes in fruit character and chemistry in terms of flavor, appearance, texture and nutrition, the advanced stages of ripening lead to sub-optimal fruit quality and eventually post-harvest loss. Fruit biologists have studie...

The traditional definition of climacteric and non-climacteric fruits has been put into question. A significant example of this paradox is the climacteric fig fruit. Surprisingly, ripening-related ethylene production increases following pre- or postharvest 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) application in an unexpected auto-inhibitory manner. In this study, ethylene production and the expression of po...