BACKGROUND The spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura, is native to Asia and was first detected in the North American mainland and Europe in 2008-2010. Drosophila suzukii is a serious economic pest to stone and small fruits because the female lays eggs within ripening fruit on a plant before harvest, which can lead to crop loss. The aim of this study was to evaluate the susceptib...

Grape (Vitis vinifera) yield is largely dependent on the fecundity of the cultivar. The average number of inflorescences per shoot (i.e. shoot fruitfulness) is a trait related to fecundity of each grapevine. Berry number and weight per bunch are other features affecting grape yield. An ovule-specific auxin-synthesizing (DefH9-iaaM) transgene that increases the indole-3-acetic acid content of gr...

Microwave vacuum drying has been investigated as promising potential for high-quality dried fruits. In this study, a batch microwave vacuum dryer was used to understand the effect of levels of microwave power on the drying characteristics and moisture content of grapes. Thompson seedless grapes were treated 1st for 30, 60, and 90 min at fixed levels of 500, 750, 1000, 1250, and 1500 W at a redu...

Silwet L-77, an organosilicone surfactant, was applied to several arthropod pests of California table grapes. Eggs of grape mealybug, Pseudococcus maritimus (Ehrhorn), and omnivorous leafroller, Platynota stultana Walsingham, were tolerant to 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5% treatment solutions; however, eggs of Pacific spider mite, Tetranychus pacificus McGregor, were highly susceptible with mortality >99....