Edible Ratio Research Articles

Phenotypic characterization of Stauntonia obovatifoliola Hayata subsp. urophylla germplasm: a potential new fruit crop

Stauntonia obovatifoliola Hayata subsp. urophylla is perennial, evergreen vine producing large edible fruits commonly known as “Jiuyuehuang” (September yellow) in China. In fact, rich nutritional value and favorite taste of S. obovatifoliola Hayata subsp. urophylla give it new potential as a new edible fruit crop. Investigation on genetic diversity is the basis for the conservation and utilization of genetic resources in agriculture. In the current study, we compared 16 morphological traits including single fruit weight (SFW), fruit length (FL), fruit width (FW), peel thickness (PT), peel weight (PW), soluble solids content (SSC), seed weight, edible ratio (ER), hundred-seed weight, seed length, seed width, seed number, petiole length of compound leaf, petiolule length, leaflet length and leaflet width of S. obovatifoliola Hayata subsp. urophylla populations collected from four regions in Hunan Province, China. The results showed that the fruit weight in the four populations ranged from 70.38 to 263.27 g with an average of 155.99 g, FL and FW ranged from 69.85 to 154.16 mm and 40.54 to 63.38 mm, respectively. The SSC and ER varied from 10.10 to 20.60% and 24.84 to 68.14%, respectively. ANOVA indicated that the variances of SFW, FL, FW, PT, and PW that related to fruit traits between populations were greater than within populations while the fruit traits SSC, ER has no significant differences between populations. The fruit weight showed highly positive correlations with FL (r = 0.89, p < 0.01), FW (r = 0.80, p < 0.01), PT (r = 0.71, p < 0.01) and PW (r = 0.88, p < 0.01). Morphological cluster analysis showed two distinct clusters between the evaluated individuals, the genotypes JS-9, ZJ-19, JS-12, JS-7, ZJ-17, ZJ-18 and JS-8 that can be considered as elite accessions for use in the future breeding programmes. The present study provides the baseline information for further evaluation and the exploitation of germplasm of S. obovatifoliola subsp. urophylla.

Genetic analysis of fruit traits and selection of superior clonal lines in Akebia trifoliate (Lardizabalaceae)

Akebia trifoliata belongs to the Lardizabalaceae family of flowering plants, has tremendous potential as a new fruit crop for further domestication and commercialization in China. However, the selection of A. trifoliata is extremely limited due to lack of information about basic inheritance of fruit traits. In this study, 11 key fruit characters, including single fruit weight (SFW), fruit length (FL), fruit width (FW), peel thickness (PT), peel weight (PW), soluble solids content (SSC), seed weight (SW), pulp weight (PuW), edible ratio (ER), hundred-grain weight (HGW) and seed number (SN) were evaluated, and genetic parameters were analyzed. The results showed that the 11 tested traits have high repeatability range from 0.87 to 0.95. Correlation analysis showed that SFW was positively correlated with FL, FW, PT, PW and PuW, but negatively correlated with ER. The Smith–Hazel-index based multitrait selection was used to select superior lines. The SH selection index identified superior lines with high SFW and ER, and low SN. Taken together, our results provide important information for domestication and breeding program of Akebia trifoliate.

Application of Visible/Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Combined with Machine Vision Technique to Evaluate the Ripeness of Melons (Cucumis melo L.)

Visible/near-infrared (Vis/NIR) spectroscopy was applied to determine the ripeness of melons (Cucumis melo L.). The total soluble solids (TSS) and flesh color distribution around the equator fracture surface was studied, and a high correlation between TSS and flesh color in the outer mesocarp region was observed. A new ripeness index, defined as the edible ratio (ER), was proposed. One hundred and twenty melons with similar sizes were selected as samples and divided into a calibration set and a prediction set. Spectra of melons were acquired separately under transmittance and interactance modes. A machine vision system was established to acquire images of the melon fracture surfaces to further calculate the ER values of the melons. Partial least squares (PLS) calibration models were developed to predict the melon ripeness indices, including TSS, surface color (SC), and ER value. The results were promising for TSS, Hunter a, and ER value. For Hunter b, the results were insufficient. In addition, by comparing the performances of the calibration models developed under different detection modes, it was concluded that the best calibration results for TSS and ER were achieved under the transmittance mode, while for Hunter a, the best result was obtained using interactance spectra.

Morphometric analysis of indigenous, exotic and crossbred chickens (&lt;i&gt;gallus domesticus&lt;/i&gt; L.) In Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Context: The quantification of morphometric variations has been regarded as peripheral to the mechanistic study of development of a species. This is now changing because the rapidly advancing knowledge of development in post-genomic biology is creating a need for more refined measurements of the morphometric changes produced by genetic perturbations or treatments. Objective: To estimate the age at marketable size and body morphometric parameters of indigenous, exotic and crossbred chicken to use such parameters as discriminate variables and to investigate the relationships among the variables of the chicken breeds under study. Materials and Methods: Six chicken breeds namely an indigenous (non descriptive, Deshi), four exotics as Broiler, Cockerel, Fayoumi and RIR, and a crossbred called Sonali (RIR?× Fayoumi?), were used for the study. Results: Age and nine morphometric parameters viz., gross weight (GW), blood weight (BW), feather weight (FW), skin weight (SW), body weight after skinning (BWS), visceral weight (VW), offal weight (OW), net edible weight (NEW) and edible ratio (ER), were determined from a total of 30 adult chickens (6 breeds _ 5 replicates each). All the parameters except FW showed significant differences among the breeds (P&lt;0.01). RIR showed the highest values for all parameters except ER, which was the highest in Cockerel (1.77±0.23) and the lowest in RIR (1.47±0.01). Association between GW and NEW was statistically significant in Indigenous (P&lt;0.001), Sonali (P&lt;0.01) and all exotics except Broiler (P&lt;0.001). Conclusion: Present results indicate that Cockerel, Fayoumi, Indigenous and Sonali chickens are advantageous genotypes as they had higher ER values compared to Broiler and RIR breeds. Keywords: Gallus domesticus; body morphometric traits; net edible weight; edible ratio DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbs.v18i0.8782 JBS 2010; 18(0): 94-98