The present investigation aimed to evaluating the combined effect of post harvest treatments, packaging and storage conditions on the changes in sugars and lycopene content of tomato. Tomato fruits with stalk and without stalk were harvested at breaker stage and subjected for shelf life studies. The fruits with best harvesting method (fruits with stalk) were treated with chlorine by first dippi...

The directed deterrence hypothesis posits that secondary metabolites in ripe fruit function to deter fruit consumption by vertebrates that do not disperse seeds, while not impacting consumption by those that do. We tested this hypothesis in two species of wild chilies (Capsicum spp.). Both produce fruits that contain capsaicinoids, the compounds responsible for the pungency of chilies. Previous...

The present experiment was conducted to study the effect of pre-harvest bagging and spray of CaCl2 and K2SO4 on quality and shelf life of mango fruits cv. Amrapali during two succeeding years. Trees of Amrapali mango were sprayed three times at 30, 20, and10 days before harvesting and bagging with brown paper bag 20 days before harvesting of fruits. Harvested fruits were stored under the ambien...

Plants use volatile terpene compounds as odor cues for communicating with the environment. Fleshy fruits are particularly rich in volatiles that deter herbivores and attract seed dispersal agents. We have investigated how terpenes in citrus fruit peels affect the interaction between the plant, insects, and microorganisms. Because limonene represents up to 97% of the total volatiles in orange (C...

The retention (binding to or association with the plant) of Escherichia coli by cut leaves and fruits after vigorous water washing was compared with that by sprouts. Retention by fruits and leaves was similar but differed from retention by sprouts in rate, effect of wounding and requirement for poly-β,1-6-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. Escherichia coli was retained by cut ends of lettuce leaves within...

Laboratory experiments tested whether two economically-important sibling species of tephritid fruit flies have evolved distinct egg-laying responses to chemical stimuli on the fruits of their respective hostplants. The egg-laying preferences displayed by apple maggot flies, R. pomonella, and blueberry maggot flies, R. mendax, on artificial fruits treated with apple and blueberry extract paralle...

The relationship between fleshy-fruited indigenous species and adventive weeds in the diet of 500 mist-netted birds was studied in forest remnants of differing size and degree of modification. Fruit abundance peaked in March and April, and most fruit was either red/orange or purple/black. The physical parameters of adventive and indigenous fruits were not significantly different. Six of the 15 ...

In the pineapple sector of Benin, poor fruit quality prevents pineapple producers to enter the European market. We investigated effects of common cultural practices, flowering and maturity synchronisation, (1) to quantify the trade-offs of flowering and maturity synchronisation for pineapple quality and the proportion of fruits exportable to European markets, and (2) to determine the effect of ...

BACKGROUND The complex network of direct and indirect relationships determines not only the species abundances but also the community characteristics such as diversity and stability. In this context, seed predation is a direct interaction that affects the reproductive success of the plant. For Acrocomia aculeata, the seed predation by Pachymerus cardo and Speciomerus revoili in post-dispersal m...

In order to clarify the influence of the rootstock cultivar and fruit storage on the texture of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) fruit, we examined the physical properties of the fruit, i.e., flesh firmness, placental firmness, skin toughness, and the crispness index. Cucumber fruits from own-rooted plants and from plants grafted onto the three rootstock cultivars of ‘Shin-tosa’ (Cucurbita maxima ...