Red flowers have evolved repeatedly across angiosperms and are frequently examined in an ecological context. However, less is known about the biochemical basis of red colouration in different taxa. In this study, we examine the spectral properties, anthocyanin composition and carotenoid expression of red flowers in the tomato family, Solanaceae, which have evolved independently multiple times a...

The volatile constituents of the essential oils of the peel, flower (neroli) and leaves (petitgrain) of bitter orange (Citrus aurantium L.) growing in Greece were studied by GC-MS. The analytical procedures enabled the quantitative determination of 31 components. More specifically, the components of the essential oils identified were: twelve in the peel, twenty-six in the flowers, and twenty an...

The effect of leaf extracts of Psidium guajava and Piper betle on prolonging vase life of cut carnation flowers was studied. "Carola" and "Pallas Orange" carnation flowers, at bud stage, were pulsed 24 hours with a floral preservative. Then, flowers were placed in a vase solution containing sprite and a "germicide" (leaf extracts of P. guajava and P. betle, 8-HQC, or a copper coin). Flowers tre...

The long-term responses of trees to elevated CO2 are especially crucial (1) to mitigating the rate of atmospheric CO2 increase, (2) to determining the character of future forested natural ecosystems and their spread across the landscape, and (3) to determining the productivity of future agricultural tree crops. Therefore, a long-term CO2-enrichment experiment on sour orange trees was started in...

The daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) and nightlily (H. citrina) are typical examples of a butterfly-pollination system and a hawkmoth-pollination system, respectively. H. fulva has diurnal, reddish or orange-colored flowers and is mainly pollinated by diurnal swallowtail butterflies. H. citrina has nocturnal, yellowish flowers with a sweet fragrance and is pollinated by nocturnal hawkmoths. We eval...

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method (DLLME) combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) was used to determine thiamine (B1), nicotinamide (B3) and pyridoxine (B6) in sour cherry juice. This method was rapid, simple and sensitive. Separation was accomplished using a C18 column. The optimum chromatographic conditions were found to be: mobile ph...