The number of documented outbreaks of human infections associated with the consumption of raw fruits, vegetables, and unpasteurized fruit juices has increased in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the U.S. the number of reported produce-related outbreaks per year doubled between the period 1973-1987 and 1988-1992 (2,24). During both time periods, the e...

A method for determination of trace amounts of the fungicides pyrimethanil and kresoxim-methyl in green groceries, previous headspace solid-phase microextraction (HSSPME), was developed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and selected ion monitoring (GC-MS, SIM). Both fungicides were extracted with a fused-silica fiber coated with 85 microm polyacrylate. The effects of pH, ionic strength...

In this study, we sought to assess the applicability of GC-MS/MS for the identification and quantification of 36 pesticides in strawberry from integrated pest management (IPM) and organic farming (OF). Citrate versions of QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) using dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) and disposable pipette extraction (DPX) for cleanup were compared for...

Humic acids were extracted from cattle, food and paper-waste vermicomposts using an alkali/acid fractionation procedure which produced 1 g dry wt humates from 400 g vermicompost. They were applied to a soilless growth medium, Metro-Mix 360 (MM360), at rates of 0, 250 or 500 mg humates kg–1 dry wt of container medium, to young marigold, pepper, and strawberry plants grown in pots in the greenhou...

BACKGROUND Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) is an economically important soft fruit crop with polyploid genome which complicates the breeding of new cultivars. For certain traits, genetic engineering offers a potential alternative to traditional breeding. However, many strawberry varieties are quite recalcitrant for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, and a method allowing easy handling of l...

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) is a recent invasive pest of soft fruits in North and South America and Europe. Control relies on frequent applications of synthetic insecticides. Additional tactics are needed for development of an effective integrated pest management program. Study objectives were to evaluate the repellency and oviposition deterrent capability of compounds in plant essential oil...

Multiple closely related species with genomic sequences provide an ideal system for studies on comparative and evolutionary genomics, as well as the mechanism of speciation. The whole genome sequences of six strawberry species (Fragaria spp.) have been released, which provide one of the richest genomic resources of any plant genus. In this study, we first generated seven transcriptome sequences...