Fruit Position Research Articles

Fruit Quality Evaluation in The Maturation Process of Blueberries Using Image Processing

Blueberries' quality does not change uniformly during ripeness. Blueberries should be harvested fully ripened at the post-climacteric stage with an excellent indicator including consistent color, taste, and ease of removal from plant as excellent indicators. Therefore, the blueberries are not harvested until it has the desired blue color. The reliance on human perception on the fruit's taste and appearance might cause inconsistency and inaccurate judgment of the fruit maturation. This study aimed to develop an image processing algorithm capable of classifying blueberry maturity stages. The Bluecrop Northern highbush blueberry was harvested at five different stages of maturity based on visual grading of the fruit color (green, green-red, red, red-blue, and blue) from various fruit positions on the tree. Image processing with discriminant analysis accurately classified maturity stages at 98.3% accuracy. The image quality attributes of blueberries changed significantly at different maturity stages. Overall, most image quality attributes correlated strongly with well-performed blueberry physicochemical properties. This study showed that image processing during the blueberry maturation process could be a reliable and comprehensible method for estimating changes in color, shape, weight, and ultimately changes in specific physicochemical properties. This study also provided a practical evaluation of the maturity stages and physicochemical properties, which were predicted using image processing.

Increasing Fruit Weight by Editing a Cis-Regulatory Element in Tomato KLUH Promoter Using CRISPR/Cas9.

CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome editing is a powerful approach to accelerate yield enhancement to feed growing populations. Most applications focus on “negative regulators” by targeting coding regions and promoters to create nulls or weak loss-of-function alleles. However, many agriculturally important traits are conferred by gain-of-function alleles. Therefore, creating gain-of-function alleles for “positive regulators” by CRISPR will be of great value for crop improvement. CYP78A family members are the positive regulators of organ weight and size in crops. In this study, we engineered allelic variation by editing tomato KLUH promoter around a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that is highly associated with fruit weight. The SNP was located in a conserved putative cis-regulatory element (CRE) as detected by the homology-based prediction and the Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq). Twenty-one mutant alleles with various insertion and deletion sizes were generated in the LA1589 background. Five mutant alleles (m2+4bp, m3+1bp, m5–1bp, m13–8bp, and m14–9bp) showed a consistent increase in fruit weight and a significant decrease in the proportion of small fruits in all experimental evaluations. Notably, m2+4bp and m3+1bp homozygote significantly increase fruit weight by 10.7–15.7 and 8.7–16.3%, respectively. Further analysis of fruit weight based on fruit position on the inflorescence indicated that the five beneficial alleles increase the weight of all fruits along inflorescence. We also found that allele types and transcriptional changes of SlKLUH were poor predictors of the changes in fruit weight. This study not only provides a way of identifying conserved CRE but also highlights enormous potential for CRISPR/Cas-mediated cis-engineering of CYP78A members in yield improvement.

PENENTUAN POSISI TIGA DIMENSI BUAH JAMBU KRISTAL MATANG MENGGUNAKAN PENGINDERAAN STEREO

Crystal Guava is one type of seedless guava that has high economic value and is favored by the people of Indonesia. Crystal guava fruit has a dark green color when it is still unripe and turns light green when it is ripe. With the decreasing workforce in agriculture, it is necessary to think about developing an automatic crystal guava harvesting process, where the three-dimensional positioning of suitable guava fruit is a very important process. The purpose of this study was to determine the three-dimensional position of ripe Crystal Guava fruit using stereo sensing. Crystal guava plants in pots that have been fruitful are imaged using a stereo camera and then the image of the plants obtained is processed to separate the image of the fruit from other components. The fruit image resulting from image processing is then calculated for its three-dimensional position using the triangulation principle. Stereo cameras were placed at a distance of 30 cm to 70 cm from plants with four treatments, the distances between cameras were 8 cm, 10 cm, 12 cm, and 14 cm. The test results with different camera distances show that the average accuracy of three-dimensional positioning is 99.3%, 99.3%, 98.8%, 98.7%, respectively. The average three-timed Root Mean Square Error values ​​for the four camera distance treatments were 0.34 cm, 0.37 cm, 0.61 cm, 0.57 cm, respectively.

Investigation of Bunch Cut at Different Times After Pollination and Flower Position in the Spikelet in Date Palm 'Sukkary' Variety

As many studies on other crops showed an acropetal decline of fruit-set and fruit size in the inflorescence, this paper investigates the effect of flower position in spikelets in the '˜Sukkary' variety of date palm on fruit-set and final fruit weight. Also studied was the best time to apply strand-cut (bunch cut) as an alternative to hand thinning, to increase final fruit weight. Hand thinning is a labor cost operation and worker productivity operation is one adult tree per day maximum. To study fruit-set in relation to fruit position, three types of pollen were used to pollinate female trees: new pollen harvested in March 2018, pollen stored for one year at room temperature (25-35° C), and pollen stored for two years at room temperature. Four weeks after pollination, fruits aborted and those non-aborted in every bunch were counted. Recording was done in every spikelet from proximal to distal. To study the effect of fruit position in spikelet on fruit weight, fresh pollen was used to pollinate 'Sukkary' females. Every two days, fruit weight was measured from pollination to harvest, and fruit growth pattern was drawn. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out for the final fruit weight in every spikelet part. This investigation showed no pattern in fruit-set or in final fruit weight when using new pollen. When pollinated with old pollen that was one and two years old, the proximal '˜Sukkary' flowers of the spikelets showed less fruit-set compared to those of the middle and distal part. This basipetal decline is explained by low viability of old pollen, combined with the basipetal opening of the spathes in date palm...

Apple Fruit Growth and Quality Depend on the Position in Tree Canopy.

Modern apple orchard systems should guarantee homogeneity of fruit internal and external qualities and fruit maturity parameters. However, when orchards reach productive age, a variation of these parameters takes place and mostly it is related to uneven light distribution within the tree canopy. The aim of the study was to evaluate the canopy position’s effect on fruit internal and external quality parameters. This is the first study where all the main fruit quality and maturation parameters were evaluated on the same trees and were related to the light conditions and photosynthetic parameters. Four fruit positions were tested: top of the apple tree, lower inside part of the canopy, and east and west sides of the apple tree. Fruit quality variability was significant for fruit size, blush, colour indices, total sugar content, dry matter concentration, accumulation of secondary metabolites and radical scavenging activity. Fruit position in the canopy did not affect flesh firmness and fruit maturity parameters such as the starch index, Streif index and respiration rate. At the Lithuanian geographical location (55°60′ N), significantly, the highest fruit quality was achieved at the top of the apple tree. The tendency was established that apple fruits from the west side of the canopy have better fruit quality than from the east side and it could be related to better light conditions at the west side of the tree. Inside the canopy, fruits were distinguished only by the higher accumulation of triterpenic compounds and higher content of malic acid. Light is a main factor of fruit quality variation, thus all orchard management practices, including narrow two-dimensional tree canopies and reflecting ground covers which improve light penetration through the tree canopy, should be applied.

Detection of Persimmon Posture by a Convolutional Neural Network for Fully Automating the Peeling Process

Highlights Robots have been developed for fully automated peeling, which is the main operation in the production of dried persimmons. Vision sensors were used to pick and place persimmons that were originally placed in random orientations. A convolutional neural network was used for fast and robust detection. The roots of peduncles and positions of fruits were detected with high accuracy. Abstract. The manufacturing process of dried persimmons includes peeling, drying, and finishing. Although a considerable part of this process is mechanized, manual labor is still required. The purpose of this study is to develop a robot machine vision system for placing persimmons onto a suction cup in a peeling machine to fully automate the peeling process. This article describes a method for detecting the position of the center of an entire persimmon fruit and the root of the peduncle in a two-dimensional image as a preliminary step to estimating the three-dimensional position and orientation of the persimmon, which is required for pick-and-place operations by a robot manipulator. A convolutional neural network (CNN) was used to ensure robust detection regardless of variations in the persimmon shape and surface color. The position of the fruit and the position of the peduncle root were detected with accuracies of 1.0 mm and 2.0 mm, respectively, when the calyx of the persimmon was facing sideways at the time of picking, and the directional accuracy was 3.2°. When placing the persimmon with the calyx facing up, the accuracies of the fruit position and the position of the peduncle root were 0.8 mm and 0.8 mm, respectively. The peduncle root position was detectable even if the peduncle was hidden by the calyx. The main contribution of this article is to confirm that a CNN can detect the center of a persimmon and the root of the peduncle with sufficient speed and accuracy for practical use, which is difficult to achieve with conventional image processing methods due to the variable shape and color of persimmons. Keywords: Automatic peeling machine, Calyx, Dried persimmon, Peduncle, Serial robot, YOLOv3.

Location and model reconstruction algorithm for overlapped and sheltered spherical fruits based on geometry

For fruit picking robot, it is an essential prerequisite for achieving fruit picking using machine vision technology to accurately identify the fruits growing in the natural environment. This article presents a vision system of fruit picking robot to perform fruit location and three-dimensional model reconstruction. Firstly, combining the features of color and shape of fruit to reconstruct the actual contour of overlapped and sheltered fruits. Secondly, the least square method was used to reconstruct the three-dimensional model of each fruit according to the spatial coordinates corresponding to image location. Finally, fruit picking experiments in the laboratory environment are used to verify the feasibility of the proposed vision system. Three parameters including Segmentation Error, Intersection Over Union, and False Negative Rate are used to evaluate the performance of the algorithm. The average Segmentation Error, Intersection Over Union, and False Negative Rate of the fruit location algorithm based on geometry were 6.36%, 87.9%, and 6.72%, respectively. The experimental results showed that the average computation time of the algorithm is 3.2 s and the reconstructed three-dimensional model matched the size and position of fruits in the actual scene. The research results can be applied to the vision system of fruit picking robot.

Physio-morphological and Mechanical propertiesof chillies for Mechanical Harvesting

The plants and its produce characteristics are the basis to design a crop specific harvester. The objective of this study was to determine the physical, morphological and mechanical properties of chilli crop and fruits, that can be used in the design of harvester machine. The observations and data were collected by taking measurements at harvesting stage of three chilli cultivars. The fruit bearing behavior of plants was solitary with fruit position erect in Demon F1 and pendent in Araka Meghana and Mahyco Tejaswini. The plant height ranged between 81.76 to 84.87cm depending on cultivars and fruits per plant were170.25 number for Tejaswini, 158.96 and 156.15 number, respectively for Araka Meghana and Demon F1. It was observed that the length and diameter at shoulder of fruits was in the range of 4.97 to 10.44 cm and 0.8 to 1,25 cm, respectively. The moisture content reduced in leaves, stems and fruits as the maturation changed from matured green fruits bearing of plants to semi dry condition. The detachment force of fruits from plants increased as the fruits colour changed from matured green to fully ripened red and there after decreased.

Within-plant variability in blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) II: Is a shorter harvest interval always the ideal strategy to maximize fruit firmness?

Harvesting blueberries at an optimal maturity stage, is an important determinant of quality, especially when fruit are intended for long term storage. However, because blueberries set and ripen asynchronously, several pickings are needed. In general, shorter harvest intervals (<4 d) are advised to maximize fruit firmness, but due to labor shortages, the industry has sometimes been forced to increase the number of days between harvests. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the postharvest impact of picking regimes where labor is not limiting (every 3 d) vs. a strategy driven by a labor shortage that would force a single harvest on the ninth day (9 d) in two cultivars with contrasting ripening windows: ‘Duke’ (∼30 d) and ‘Brigitta’ (∼60 d). Following an initial synchronizing picking (∼4 – 7% full blue fruit), harvest interval intensity was studied: harvests after 3 d (3 × 1), after 3 and 6 d (3 × 2), after 3, 6, and 9 d (3 × 3), and after 9 d (9 × 1). Of these, only 3 × 1, 3 × 3, and 9 × 1 were evaluated. Fruit position within the canopy (east- and west-oriented sides) was considered as a second factor. Data suggests that shorter harvest intervals (3 d) would be more suitable for cultivars with a prolonged ripening window (e.g., ‘Brigitta’) compared to a cultivar with shorter harvest season (e.g., ‘Duke’), for which longer cycles (9 d) would be preferred. Although the results show that, at harvest time, the picking management strategy had a greater effect than east-west position of the fruit, interactions between the factors were found after storage. Finally, although firmness values at harvest can be an important descriptor of storage potential of each cultivar, the rate and extent of softening after harvest were also strongly impacted by the cultivar.

An improved binocular localization method for apple based on fruit detection using deep learning

Apple picking robot is now being developed as an alternative to hand picking due to a great demand for labor during apple harvest season. Accurate detection and localization of target fruit is necessary for robotic apple picking. Detection accuracy has a great influence on localization results. Although current researches on detection and localization of apples using traditional image algorithms can obtain good results under laboratory conditions, it is difficult to accurately detect and locate objects in natural field with complex environments. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, accuracy of apple detection based on deep learning has been significantly improved. Therefore, a deep learning-based method was developed to accurately detect and locate the position of fruit. For different localization methods, binocular localization is a widely used localization method for its bionic principle and lower equipment cost. Hence, this paper proposed an improved binocular localization method for apple based on fruit detection using deep learning. First, apples of binocular images were detected by Faster R-CNN. After that, a segmentation based on chromatic aberration and chromatic aberration ratio was applied to segment apple and background pixels in bounding box of detected fruit. Furthermore, template matching with parallel polar line constraint was used to match apples in left and right images. Finally, two feature points on apples were selected to directly calculate three dimensional coordinates of feature points with the binocular localization principle. In this study, Faster R-CNN achieved an AP of 88.12% with an average detection speed of 0.32 s for an image. Meanwhile, standard deviation and localization precision of depth of two feature points on each apple were calculated to evaluate localization. Results showed that the average standard deviation and the average localization precision of 76 groups of datasets were 0.51 cm and 99.64%, respectively. Results indicated that the proposed improved binocular localization method is promising for fruit localization.

Understanding the Effect of the Position of Fruit in the Canopy of Olive Trees on Oil Characteristics

Understanding the Effect of the Position of Fruit in the Canopy of Olive Trees on Oil Characteristics

Influence of the Position of Mango Fruit on the Tree (Mangifera indica L. CV. ‘Zibda’) on Chilling Sensitivity and Antioxidant Enzyme Activity

Mango fruits sourced from tropical yields have had a high commercial comeback from being viewed as susceptible to chilling injury under long storage durations. When the fruits are exposed to cold storage, this results in physiological changes due to the side effects of the storage on the fruits, expanding the rates of loss during the period between harvest and marketing. It is difficult to harvest mangoes as the fruits show varying maturities and are located in different positions on the trees. The purpose of this study was to test the idea that fruits’ location on the tree influences how the fruit behaves during cold storage. During two seasons (2019–2020), the impact of on-tree fruit location, i.e., sunny side (SUN; fruit exposed to the sun for most of the day), shade (SHA; fruit grown on the shady side of trees), and inside the canopy (INS; fruit grown inside the tree canopy), on the chilling sensitivity and the activities of antioxidant enzymes of ‘Zibda’ mangos stored at a low temperature (4 ± 1 °C) for 35 days was determined. In contrast to SHA and SUN mangos, INS fruits were shown to be progressively tolerant to low storage temperatures. These fruits also showed the highest activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). In addition, the contents of O2− and H2O2 decreased in INS fruit during storage. Consequently, the cell membrane compartments were maintained, showing low accumulation of both malondialdehyde (MDA) and the protein carbonyl group (PCG) during storage. These results indicate that the fruit positions can also be considered at the time of harvesting for the classification of fruits before cold storage. This classification can also be added to the mango trading protocol to minimize the loss of economic returns by chilling injury.

Evaluation of Silica Uptake from Foliar-Applied Silicon Nanoparticles in Melon (Cucumis melo L.) under Soilless Culture

Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is a fruit commodity that gets a great interest to be developed in Indonesia and has a high nutritional value. However, the fungal infection and pathogens in melon cultivation are considered significant problems that are difficult to manage. Therefore, efforts are needed to improve the productivity and quality of melon and prevent pest and disease attacks. One mineral nutrient that is assumed to enhance plant resistance and increase the quality and production of melon is silica. The purpose of the research was to evaluate silica absorption from foliar-applied silicon nanoparticles in melon under soilless culture and improve melon fruit's growth and quality by applying silica fertilizer. The experimental design used was a split-plot randomized complete block design 3 x 2 factorial pattern with four replicates. The main plot factor is silica fertilizer (Novelgro, water-soluble), consisting of three silica concentrations of 0.67; 1.33 ppm, and control. The spray volume of each treatment was 160 ml per plant with seven days' intervals and a frequency of three times. The subplot factor is melon varieties consisting of “Alisha” and “Glamour”. The findings showed that silica fertilizer significantly increased the plant height, stem diameter, internode length, total number of hermaphrodite flowers, number of hermaphrodite flowers that are swelling, while decreased the fruit moisture content and gave the best average fruit position. Instead, The “Glamour” variety gave the best response to plant growth and fruit quality. Moreover, the melon plant could absorb silica in the low category (&lt;1% Si). The highest silica contents were found in the “Alisha” cultivar leaves and the “Glamour” cultivar's rinds treated with the silica concentration of 1.33 ppm as much as 0.34% and 0.30%, respectively.

GROWTH, PHYSIOLOGY AND YIELD RESPONSES OF FOUR ROCK MELON (CUCUMIS MELO VAR. CANTALOUPENSIS) CULTIVARS IN ELEVATED TEMPERATURE

Rock melon is a high value greenhouse crop. Reduction of economical crop yield in high temperature stress due to global warming is an emerging issue with Rock melon. Therefore, this study was conducted for evaluate the growth, physiology and yield of different Rock melon cultivars grown under high temperature stress. Four cultivars of rock melon (Lady-gold, Lady-green, Himalai-99 and Glamour) were evaluated for their physiological behaviors under two temperature (42±3°C and 47 ±3°C) regimes. In four cultivars of rock melon, leaf area, specific leaf area, relative growth rate, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular carbon dioxide concentration, transpiration rate, malondialdehyde content and fruit yield of Rock melon were significantly differ in each temperature regime. Temperature significantly affects the fruit position in main branch. When temperature increases, Rock melon fruits shifts in to upper branches. While Lady-green and Glamour shown similar attributes in extreme temperature, most susceptible cultivar was the Lady-gold and most tolerant cultivar was the Himalai-99.This study identified the issues of extreme temperature related to the economical yield of rock melon cultivars which can be use in future crop modification and breeding.

The Effect of Beans Position of the Fruit and Liquid Organic Fertilizer on the Cocoa Seedlings

&#x0D; Introduction: This study was aimed to examine the effect of beans positions of the fruit and Liquid Organic Fertilizer (LOF) on the growth of the cocoa seedlings (Theobroma cacao ) in early nurseries.&#x0D; Materials and Methods: This study was conducted at the agricultural experiment land, Universitas Tjut Nyak Dhien, Medan Helvetia District, Medan City from April to June 2020. This study used a Randomized Block Design (RBD) within two factors. The first factor was beans position of the fruit (B0= peduncular, B1= median, B2= apical). The second factor was LOF application (D0= un-treated, D1= 3 ml.l-1, D2= 5 ml.l-1). The variables including radicle length, seedlings height, number of leaves, leaf area, stem diameter, and root fresh weight were then processed using ANOVA and BNT at the rate of 5%.&#x0D; Results: The beans position of the cocoa fruit was an insignificant effect on all parameters of seedlings. LOF application was significant on seedlings height at 4, 6, and 8 weeks after planting (WAP) and also the number of leaves at 8 WAP, but it had an insignificant effect on radicle length, leaf area, stem diameter, and root fresh weight. The interaction of beans position of the fruit and LOF application on the vegetative growth of cocoa seedlings in the early nursery also did insignificant in all parameters of this study.&#x0D;

Fruit maturity and location identification of beef tomato using R-CNN and binocular imaging technology

The objective of this study was to identify the maturity and position of tomatoes in greenhouse. Three parts have been included in this study: building the model of image capturing and object detection, position identification of mature fruits and prediction of the size of the mature fruits. For the first part, image capturing in different time and object detection will be conducted in the greenhouse for identification of mature fruits. For the second part, the relative 3D position of the mature fruits calculated by the binocular vision was compared with the actual measured position. For the third part, the size of the bounding box from the object detection was compared with the actual size of the mature fruit, and the correlation was calculated in order to pre-adjust the width of the gripper for plucking operation in the future. The precision and the recall of the mature fruits of this study are over 95%. The average error of the 3D position is 0.5 cm. The actual size of the fruits and the R-squared of the size of the bounding box are over 0.9.

FINANCIAL-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCER GROUPS IN POLAND, AND CONDITIONS FOR THE FUNCTIONING OF PRODUCER GROUPS

Poland occupies a high position in both global and European fruit and vegetable production. The large number of small-sized farms has been one of the problems of Polish agriculture for years.National and EU financial help has increased interest in associating producers into groups. The effective functioning of these groups is conditioned by many factors related to the specificity ofhorticultural production, legislation and the market situation. Organizations on the fruit and vegetable market show significant variation in functioning as well as in the production andeconomic results achieved.The aim of the article is to assess the financial and economic situation and provide strategic analysis of the conditions for the operation of fruit and vegetable producer groups in Poland.Research was conducted on the basis of data contained in the financial statements from 2016-2017 and the financial liquidity and profitability ratios calculated on their basis. A general assessmentof the conditions needed for the functioning of producer groups is also presented in the paper.Low profitability and financial liquidity of producer groups were noted in the analyzed years. Key strategic factors for the functioning of producer groups included: the visible impact offinancial assistance, the functioning of producer groups and economies of scale resulting from greater aggregation of competition, and the fact that farmers are still reluctant to associate andoften have limited business competences to run producer groups.

Domestication of Chili Pepper Has Altered Fruit Traits Affecting the Oviposition and Feeding Behavior of the Pepper Weevil.

Simple SummaryThe pepper weevil is an economically important pest that causes major damage to fruits of chili pepper varieties selected for consumption. However, the impact of this pest on wild and ornamental peppers remains unknown. Therefore, we studied the effect of chili domestication on the feeding and oviposition behavior of pepper weevil when exposed to wild chili, ornamental varieties, and varieties used for consumption. More specifically, we examined how changes in fruit and flower size, fruit thickness, spiciness level, and fruit position as a result of the domestication of chili peppers affected their susceptibility to this specialist pepper pest. In addition, we recorded that fruits and flowers from wild and ornamental plants were less susceptible to pepper weevil attacks than those from chili varieties selected for consumption. Our results have important implications for chili pepper breeders and could guide the selection of new resistant varieties against this pest.The pepper weevil, Anthonomus eugenii, Cano (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is one of the most destructive pests of chili pepper. It causes extensive damage on varieties selected for consumption. However, the occurrence of this pest on wild and ornamental peppers remains unknown. We investigated the consequences of chili domestication on the feeding and oviposition of A. eugenii on fruits and flowers. We used plants of one wild accession, Bird Eye Pepper, five ornamental varieties (Pops Yellow, Black Pearl, Sedona Sun, Chilli Chilli, and Salsa Deep), and two domesticated varieties selected for consumption (Scotch Bonnet and Jalapeño). First, we characterized the plants according to their fruit and flower sizes, pericarp thickness, capsaicin level, fruit position, and flower color. Then, we evaluated the susceptibility of fruits and flowers to A. eugenii. Overall, domestication increased fruit and flower sizes and pericarp thickness, altered capsaicin levels, and altered fruit position and flower color. Weevils laid more eggs and caused more feeding damage on varieties selected for consumption than on wild and ornamental plants. Our results add to the growing literature on the consequences of crop domestication on herbivores. This knowledge could be integrated into breeding programs to select varieties resistant against the pepper weevil.

Transcriptomics of Differential Ripening in 'd'Anjou' Pear (Pyrus communis L.).

Estimating maturity in pome fruits is a critical task that directs virtually all postharvest supply chain decisions. This is especially important for European pear (Pyrus communis) cultivars because losses due to spoilage and senescence must be minimized while ensuring proper ripening capacity is achieved (in part by satisfying a fruit chilling requirement). Reliable methods are lacking for accurate estimation of pear fruit maturity, and because ripening is maturity dependent it makes predicting ripening capacity a challenge. In this study of the European pear cultivar ‘d’Anjou’, we sorted fruit at harvest based upon on-tree fruit position to build contrasts of maturity. Our sorting scheme showed clear contrasts of maturity between canopy positions, yet there was substantial overlap in the distribution of values for the index of absorbance difference (IAD), a non-destructive spectroscopic measurement that has been used as a proxy for pome fruit maturity. This presented an opportunity to explore a contrast of maturity that was more subtle than IAD could differentiate, and thus guided our subsequent transcriptome analysis of tissue samples taken at harvest and during storage. Using a novel approach that tests for condition-specific differences of co-expressed genes, we discovered genes with a phased character that mirrored our sorting scheme. The expression patterns of these genes are associated with fruit quality and ripening differences across the experiment. Functional profiles of these co-expressed genes are concordant with previous findings, and also offer new clues, and thus hypotheses, about genes involved in pear fruit quality, maturity, and ripening. This work may lead to new tools for enhanced postharvest management based on activity of gene co-expression modules, rather than individual genes. Further, our results indicate that modules may have utility within specific windows of time during postharvest management of ‘d’Anjou’ pear.

A study on diversity and distribution of Ficus L. (Dicotyledonae: Moraceae) species at Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), India

Ficus L., commonly known as Fig, is a member of the family Moraceae (mulberry family) comprises 37 genera and approximately 1,100 species distributed in diverse ecosystems, especially in tropical and temperate regions of the world. The Ficus genus stands out as a keystone resource provider in many tropical forests, which is probably because of continuous non-seasonal fruiting in many species. It is one of the largest genera in the angiosperms about 750 species. The present study was carried out in the Forest Research Institute (FRI) campus, Dehradun (Uttarakhand), India. The phytodiversity of Ficus L. and their socio-economic values worked out during the investigation, religious-spiritual attachment, food of wild animals, ethnomedicinal and timber significance. There were 16 species of Ficus L. recorded from New Forest, FRI, Dehradun based on the morphological observations of taxonomically significant characteristics. The species found in FRI New Forest Dehradun were, Ficus benjamina, F. religiosa, F. racemosa, F. rumphii, F. retusa, F. krishnae, F. elastica, F. virens, F. semicordata, F. auriculata, F. hispida, F. pumila, F. palmata, F. drupacea, F. benghalensis, F. pomifera. Out of the notified 16 species of Ficus, 11 species were trees, 3 shrubs and 2 climbers in nature. The maximum leaf size (30×27cm2) was reported in F. auriculata, followed by F. semicordata (28×10cm2), F. benghalensis (25×11cm2). However, minimum leaf size was noticed in F. benjamina (4×2cm2) and F. retusa (4×3cm2). Among, 15 species, axillary fig (fruit) arrangement was observed, while one species (F. racemosa) has stem position of fruits. The current finding is itself a pioneer study to present a glimpse of such immense species diversity of single genera from sub-valley areas and will be a milestone for future studies in conservation and management of these wild varieties.