Curly Types Research Articles

Bridging Sensory Evaluation and Consumer Research for Strategic Leafy Brassica (Brassica oleracea) Improvement.

Plant breeders working with new or underrepresented horticultural crops often have minimal sensory resources available to aid in the breeding and selection of new varieties. Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) is a recently popularized horticultural crop in Western markets, however, plant breeding programs have little knowledge regarding the underlying sensory characteristics motivating this trend. We employed a multilayered, sensory-driven approach to understand the inherent consumer values, sensory attributes, and consumer preferences for kale types currently available on the market and novel genotypes from the Cornell AgriTech vegetable breeding program. Underlying consumer values related to storability, health and wellbeing, and sensory characteristics were identified through Qualitative Multivariate Analysis (QMA). A trained descriptive panel developed a lexicon of 44 sensory attributes common within kale germplasm, 21 of which exhibited significant differences among the 15 tested kale genotypes. Following a consumer test, four clusters of kale consumers were identified with agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) and external preference mapping was used to connect consumer hedonic scores with descriptive data. Consumers demonstrated a preference for familiar kale types (that is, curly types), while new test hybrids scored favorably within flavor and appearance modalities. Preference mapping highlighted the utility of plant breeding in developing products to expand the existing sensory space. This work provides important resources for horticultural crop selection efforts, and it serves as a strategic model for breeding programs working with new or unfamiliar traits. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Plant breeders are responsible for selecting and improving traits that influence consumer acceptance, including quality traits such as appearance and flavor. Understanding the relative importance of sensory characteristics and the variation of these sensory characteristics can help plant breeders prioritize these traits within their program. We have developed a standardized sensory lexicon for kale and related leafy Brassicas, identified variation for texture and flavor in our breeding program, and gained a better understanding of consumer preferences to guide future breeding efforts.

Antioxidant properties of minimally processed endives and escaroles vary as influenced by the cultivation site, cultivar and storage time

The influence of cultivar (CV), growth site (GS) and storage time (ST) on the quality of minimally processed endives was investigated by targeting curly and smooth-leafed cultivars, which were grown in two planting areas (Fiumicino and Fucino) and bagged in modified atmosphere at fixed conditions. The changes of antioxidant properties were examined at one and seven days post-packaging by measuring both contents of total flavonols (Fol), flavonoids (Fid), carotenes (Car) and chlorophylls (Chl) and the antioxidant capacity (AOC) through chemical (ORAC) and erythrocyte-based methods (CAA-RBC and hemolytic assays). Referring to one day of storage, curly types differed from smooth ones due to the total contents of Fid (341.0–891.7 vs 312.3–572.3 mg kg−1 CE), Fol (312.0–452.7 vs 194.3–520.3 mg kg−1 QE), Car (72.4–110.5 vs 7.3–38.8 mg kg−1) and Chl (342.7–824.6 vs 276.5–490.4 mg kg−1). CV and GS majorly affected the content variation, whilst ST did not exert any impact on the amounts of pigments (Chl and Car). As for the AOC at one day post packaging, curly and smooth endives respectively showed ORAC mean values of 5045± 2287 and 4822 ± 573 mmol kg−1 TE, CAA-RBC units of 27.5 ± 5.4 and 21.1 ± 2.6 μmol kg−1 QE, and hemolysis percentage of 62.5 ± 5.9 and 57.9 ± 10.9. The three factors acted on the AOC variation at the single level and CV x GS was the most affecting interaction. The ORAC values showed positive correlations with Fid, Fol and Chl contents as well as those of CAA-RBC vs Fid and pigment amounts, while only the Fol raise agreed with increased anti-hemolytic effects. Positive correlations among the AOC assays were significant just for ORAC vs CAA-RBC units. Finally, the principal component analysis clearly pointed at the curly types from Fiumicino as bearing the highest antioxidant quality.

Curl Reversion and Damage: The Effect of Different Temperature Treatments on Hair

Background and objective: Consumers following the Natural hair movement want to style their hair without thermal damage concerns. When women used a hotter styler, their hair could not revert back to its natural pattern after wetting and they expressed anxiety about heat damage. This study supports these observations using objective measurements of reversion and damage after heat treatment. Methods: Curly tresses were straightened fifty times at 185°C or 220°C. Reversion was compared between treatments and to natural variation after immersion in water. The damage was explored using differential scanning calorimetry and tensile testing. Results: The treatment at 220°C causes a significant shift to less curly types indicating that the fibres were unable to revert back to their original curl pattern. The DSC and tensile results suggest that the cortex structure has been damaged and the fibres have become less stiff and break more easily after the treatment at 220°C but not at 185°C. Conclusions: The structural damage at 220°C suggests that the shape memory effect cannot be triggered adequately by the presence of water and the fibres cannot return to their natural curl state.

Investigation of the Chip Types in High Speed Machining of SKD11 Steel

High speed machining is very popular and widely used in industry recently, and it has been accepted as a key technology for die and mold steel manufacturing because it has much advantage as compared with conventional machining such as low cutting resistance, low cutting heat generation and high production rate, etc. The finite element method is utilized in this study to simulate the processes of chip formation during high speed machining of SKD11 die steel workpiece step by step from an incipient of tool-workpiece engagement to a steady state of chip formation. The effects of different combinations of cutting conditions such as cutting velocity, feed rate, rake angle and nose radius of the tool on the curly types of chip formation are investigated thoroughly for establishing the related skill for high speed machining or for predicting the chip morphology in advance.

Salmonella flagella: in vitro reconstruction and over-all shapes of flagellar filaments

In vitro reconstitution of flagellar filaments from monomeric flagellins was carried out by the method used previously ( Asakura, Eguchi & Iino, 1964 ) using flagella isolated from Salmonella strains SJ670, SJ25, SL23 and SJ30: the former three strains possess flagella of the normal type and carry different H-antigen types, and the last one is a curly flagellar mutant obtained from SL23. Monomeric flagellins and short fragments of flagella prepared from these strains were mixed in various combinations to re-form not only homogeneous filaments but also heterogeneous ones. Kinetic studies of these processes by viscosity measurement and by electron microscope observation showed: (1) that for initiating polymerization of any kind of monomer, it is necessary in practice to add short fragments or “seeds”, which need not necessarily be homologous with the monomer; (2) that the over-all rate of polymerization is largely dependent on the nature of monomer, the order of rapidity being SJ670 > SJ25 > SJ30 > SL23; (3) that polymerization of flagellin takes place at a rate less than first order with respect to the concentration of monomer; and (4) that copolymerization of monomers of SJ670 and SJ30 proceeds at a rate markedly less than the sum of polymerization rates of the constituent monomers. These results were consistently explained by assuming trans-conformation of flagellin on polymerization. Over-all shapes of reconstituted filaments were examined by a low-magnification electron microscope. Not only homogeneous filaments but also heterogeneous ones and copolymers could be classified into either one of the two major types, namely the normal and curly types. When a small amount of short fragment was used, the shape of reconstituted filament was determined by the nature of monomer. When, however, a moderately long fragment of SJ30 flagellum (curly) was used for polymerizing the comparable concentration of SJ25 monomer (normal), the grown part of each filament was found to be curly. Copolymerization of comparable concentrations of SJ670, SJ25 or SL23 monomer with SJ30 monomer produced filament of the curlytype, irrespective of the nature of the added fragment. These experimental results show a dimorphic nature of flagellins. The normal type filament was often transformed into the curly type when it was incubated for a long time. The transformed filaments were reversed into the normal type by treatment with low concentrations of pyrophosphate or ATP. From these results it is concluded that the normal type filament possesses an intrinsic ability to transform between the normal and curly types, depending on external conditions, and that this transformation is akin to dimorphic transition in crystals.

Curly Flagellar Mutants in Salmonella

SUMMARY: A curly flagellar mutant obtained from a strain of Salmonella typhimurium was unstable and repeatedly dissociated ‘curly’ and normal subclones. Examination of flagellar antigens of the normal and the curly flagellar subclones demonstrated that the changes in flagellar shape corresponded exactly with phase variation: subclones with curly flagella were always in phase-1 (antigen-i), those with normal flagella were in phase-2 (antigen-1, 2). In transduction from a normal flagellar strain to the curly phase-1 strain, transductional clones with normal flagella were isolated. The transductional clones showed the antigen of the donor in phase-1 and that of the recipient in phase-2. This indicates that the phase-1 curly determinant is closely associated with the phase-1 antigen type determinant, H1 . Seven curly mutants were obtained from a strain of Salmonella abortus-equi: one with antigen-a (phase-1), and four with antigen-e, n, x (phase-2), and two with antigen-1, 2 (phase-2) from a transductional recombinant given antigen-1, 2. Transductional analysis with these strains showed that the phase-2 curly determinant is closely associated with the phase-2 antigen type determinant, H2 ; and the phase-1 curly determinant with H1 . In cross-absorption experiments with antisera prepared against flagella of either normal or curly mutant, no antigenic difference between normal and curly flagella could be detected. It is inferred that H1 and H2 are the primary structural determinants of flagellar protein in phase-1 and phase-2 respectively; mutation in H1 or H2 may cause an altered configuration of flagellar protein, resulting in a change in antigenic type, or in flagellar shape, or it may cause the failure of flagellar morphogenesis. Attempts to obtain recombination by transduction between the curly flagellar determinants in each of the phases have beeen unsuccessful; this suggests that in each phase the mutant sites of the curly types are very closely linked or identical.