The multicolored Asian ladybeetle, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas), aggregates inside dwellings during the winter to survive the cold. Recent published reports have highlighted that overwintering individuals use hydrocarbon markings deposited on surfaces by conspecifics to orient toward aggregation sites. In the current study, monthly GC-MS analyses revealed seasonal modifications in the chemical pr...

BACKGROUND Although beneficial to health, dietary phytonutrients are bitter, acid and/or astringent in taste and therefore reduce consumer choice and acceptance during food selection. Momordica charantia, commonly known as bitter melon has been traditionally used in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine to treat diabetes and its complications. The aim of this study was to develop bitter melon-containi...

Toothed whales (crown Odontoceti) are unique among mammals in their ability to echolocate underwater, using specialized tissue structures. The melon, a structure composed of fat and connective tissue, is an important component in the production of an echolocation beam; it is known to focus high frequency, short duration echolocation clicks. Here, we report on the morphology of the odontocete me...

Hortic. bras., v. 27, n. 1, jan.-mar. 2009 The Northeast region of Brazil responds for nearly 95% of the national melon (Cucumis melo L.) production. Located at this region, States of Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará supply respectively 55 and 28% of the total melon harvested in Brazil (FNP, 2007). The expansion of the area used for melon production in this region, in addition to an intensive year...

BACKGROUND Phosphorus (P) is a major limiting nutrient for plant growth in many soils. Studies in model species have identified genes involved in plant adaptations to low soil P availability. However, little information is available on the genetic bases of these adaptations in vegetable crops. In this respect, sequence data for melon now makes it possible to identify melon orthologues of candid...

The antidiabetic activities of bitter melon powders produced with lyophilization/superfine grinding and hot air drying/normal grinding were investigated in vivo for selecting a suitable bitter melon processing procedure. After a five-week treatment, bitter melon lyophilized superfine grinding powder (BLSP) had a higher antidiabetic activity with reducing fasting blood glucose levels from 21.40...

Oriental melon (Cucumis melo L. var. makuwa) is an important fruit for human consumption. However, this plant species is one of the most recalcitrant to genetic transformation. The lack of an efficient in vitro system limits the development of a reproducible genetic transformation protocol for Oriental melon. In this study, an efficient transgenic production method for Agrobacterium-mediated tr...

Results 13/30, 13/21 and 6/19 were sensitized to profilin, while 14/30, 11/21 and 5/19 were positive to Bet v 1. 40% of profilin positive patients had clinical food allergy with melon or water melon. ISAC profilin results were compared at different cut-off levels with SPT to pure profilin. 11 patients were serologically profilin positive between 0.01 and 0.29 ISU ; 7 of them were SPT profilin p...

Ripening-associated pectin disassembly in melon is characterized by a decrease in molecular mass and an increase in the solubilization of polyuronide, modifications that in other fruit have been attributed to the activity of polygalacturonase (PG). Although it has been reported that PG activity is absent during melon fruit ripening, a mechanism for PG-independent pectin disassembly has not been...

Clinical case Caucasian 16-year-old boy was refered to Immunoalergology Unit for food allergy investigation. Since early childhood the patient avoids ingestion of peach although without any symptoms to mention. At the age of 7 he experienced labial and palpebral angioedema, oropharyngeal pruritis and dyspnoea immediately after ingestion of a non-peeled fresh apple and later with a cooked apple....