In a study of the maturity of avocado fruits it is important to elucidate the lipid metabolism in the fruit during growth and storage, since the avocado stores a large amount of lipids in the edible pulp of the fruit. From morphological and physiological viewpoints of fruit development, Schroeder (10) observed that the avocado fruit deviated from, most investigated fruits in its method of devel...

Seed and fruit development are intimately related processes controlled by internal signals and environmental cues. The absence of seeds is usually appreciated by consumers and producers because it increases fruit quality and fruit shelf-life. One method to produce seedless fruit is to develop plants able to produce fruits independently from pollination and fertilization of the ovules. The onset...

Non-uniform heating of fresh fruit caused by variations in radio frequency (RF) fields is a major obstacle in developing postharvest insect control treatments based on RF energy. A fruit mover was developed to evaluate possibilities to improve RF heating uniformity of large fruit, such as oranges and apples, in a 12 kW batch type RF system. This fruit mover provided a means to rotate and move f...

BACKGROUND The National Schools Fruit Scheme (NSFS) is intended to improve fruit intake in young children by providing free daily fruit at school. METHODS We used a parentally completed questionnaire for three consecutive years to study fruit intake in young children before, during and after participation in the NSFS compared with a control region. RESULTS In 2003, 2004 and 2005, a total of...

Star fruit juice is a potent in vitro inhibitor of CYP3A; however, few reports are available on the inhibition of CYP3A activities by star fruit juice in vivo. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the CYP3A-mediated star fruit-drug interaction in vivo. The effect of star fruit juice on carbamazepine pharmacokinetics was examined in rats. In comparison with water, the area under the concent...

Muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) varieties differ in a range of physical and chemical attributes. Aroma is one of the most important factors determining fruit quality and consumer preference. Volatile esters, a major class of compounds contributing to the aroma of muskmelon fruit, are synthesized by alcohol acyl-transferases (AATs). We demonstrate here that volatile aldehydes are most abundant in un...

OBJECTIVE To estimate daily fruit and vegetable intakes and to investigate socio-economic and behavioural differences in fruit and vegetable consumption among urban Moroccan women. DESIGN A cross-sectional survey. Fruit and vegetable intake was measured with a single 24 h recall. SETTINGS A representative population-based survey conducted in the area of Rabat-Salé. SUBJECTS Women (n 894) ...

This study examines the association between parental and child fruit consumption in the context of general parenting, parental education and ethnic background. A cross-sectional study was performed among 1762 parent-child dyads. Mean age of the children was 8 years. One parent completed a questionnaire to measure their own and their child's fruit consumption, parenting style, education level an...

OBJECTIVE To assess consumer understanding of fruit and vegetable serving sizes. DESIGN The Western Australian Health Department launched the Go for 2&5(R) campaign to promote fruit and vegetables in March 2002. The Health & Wellbeing Surveillance System surveyed 1108 adults, aged 16 years and over, between September and November 2002 about what constituted a serving of fruit and of vegetable...

Whereas the regulatory mechanisms that direct fruit ripening have been studied extensively, little is known about the signaling mechanisms underlying this process, especially for nonclimacteric fruits. In this study, we demonstrated that a SUCROSE NONFERMENTING1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE2, designated as FaSnRK2.6, is a negative regulator of fruit development and ripening in the nonclimacteric frui...