Disassembly of cell wall polysaccharides by various cell wall hydrolases during fruit softening causes structural changes in hemicellulose and pectin that affect the physical properties and softening of tomato fruit. In a previous study, we showed that the changes in pectin during tomato fruit ripening were unique in each fruit tissue. In this study, to clarify the changes in hemicellulose in t...

ThebraconidparasitoidFopiusarisanus(Sonan)(Hymenoptera:Braconidae)isacandidate for augmentative biological control of tephritid fruit ßies. In the Puna district of Hawaii Island, F. arisanus parasitized 41Ð72% of oriental fruit ßies, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), in wild common guava, Psidium guajava L.; strawberry guava, Psidium cattleianum Sabine; and tropical almond, Terminalia catappa L. In...

The colors of fleshy fruits are considered to be a signal to seed-dispersing animals, but their diversity remains poorly understood. Using an avian color space to derive a sensory morphospace for fruit color, we tested four hypotheses of fruit color diversity: fruit colors occupy a limited area of the color space; they are less diverse than flower colors; fruit colors within localities are simi...

The low fruit set is one of the main factors leading to poor yield of pear orchards in Brazil. The exogenous application of thidiazuron (TDZ) and aminoethoxyvinilglycine (AVG) has shown promising results in some pear cultivars and other temperate fruit trees. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of TDZ and AVG on fruit set, yield, and fruit quality of 'Hosui' and 'Packham's Tr...

Biennial bearing of apple trees can be overcome either by the use of a blossom chemical thinner or by early application of a postbloom thinner. Carbaryl (Sevin) is a postbloom fruit-thinning chemical with an effective thinning period of 4 to 5 weeks after bloom. Sevin was compared in 1992 and 1993 with NAA as an early petal-fall spray. Sevin treatments reduced fruit set to one fruit per cluster...

Abnormalities in ripening lead, in some years, to substantial losses of fruit. For example, in tomato, there is a physiological disorder known as "blotchy" fruit which has been related to alterations in the cell wall metabolism (7). Some areas within the fruit fail to soften normally resulting in hard spots in the otherwise ripe fruit. This reduction in quality of the fruit often results in rej...

Dabai or Canarium odontophyllum Miq., from the family Burseraceae, is an important indigenous fruit to Borneo Island. However, it is a highly perishable fruit with short shelf life. Postharvest technology such as modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) can be used to maintain highly perishable fresh fruit quality and increase its shelf life. There is not much work has been carried out to study effe...

The objective of the present study was to assess to what extent fruit and vegetable intakes track over a 24-year time period and to assess longitudinal associations between fruit and vegetable intakes and (change in) BMI and sum of skinfolds. Dietary intake and anthropometrics were repeatedly assessed for 168 men and women between the ages of 12 and 36 years. Linear general estimating equations...

In seed-dispersal mutualisms, the number of fruit a plant displays is a key trait, as it acts as a signal for seed dispersers that entails fruit removal and exportation of reproductive units (fruit crop size hypothesis). Although this hypothesis has gained general acceptance, forces driving the shape and strength of natural selection exerted by birds on fruit crop size remains an unresolved mat...