Juicy Fruit Research Articles

Phloretin alleviates sleep deprivation-induced cognitive impairment by reducing inflammation through PPARγ/NF-κB signaling pathway

Sleep loss leads to significant pathophysiological consequences, including cognitive impairment. The neuroinflammation are pivotal factors in the pathogenesis of cognitive impairment induced by sleep loss. The phloretin (PHL), derived from peel of juicy fruits, has demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory properties. However, the precise influence of PHL on the cognitive impairment triggered by sleep loss and its underlying mechanism remain uncertain. In the present study, mice were subjected to sleep deprivation (SD) paradigm. Cognitive impairment induced by SD were significantly relieved by administration of PHL in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, PHL not only mitigated the synaptic losses but also enhanced dendritic spine density and neuronal activity within mice hippocampus following exposure to SD. Moreover, PHL treatment decreased the microglial numbers and altered microglial morphology in the hippocampus to restore the M1/M2 balances; these effects were accompanied by regulation of pro−/anti-inflammatory cytokine production and secretion in SD-exposed mice. Additionally, in vivo and in vitro studies showed PHL might attenuate the inflammation through the PPARγ/NF-κB pathway. Our findings suggest that PHL exerts inhibitory effects on microglia-mediated neuroinflammation, thereby providing protection against cognitive impairment induced by SD through a PPAR-γ dependent mechanism. The results indicate PHL is expected to provide a valuable candidate for new drug development for SD-induced cognitive impairment in the future.

A Survey of Fruit Quality Properties, Growth, and Yield of Several Melon Varieties (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) Using Fertigation Approach

Melons, <i>Cucumis melo</i> L., belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae. They are popular for their sweet, juicy fruit flesh with pleasant aroma. These melons are packed with numerous essential nutrients for the human body. In this study, the fruit quality properties, growth, and yield of nine different melon varieties were compared via a fertigation approach to deduce the best melon variety to be planted by melon farmers. Quantitative and qualitative traits of all nine melon varieties were collected and compared. As a result, it was discovered that the Japanese Rock Melon F1 Hybrid is an all-rounder best melon variety, with the highest seed germination percentage and fruiting percentage. On the other hand, the Sweet Green Melon F1 can also be considered the second-best choice, but the only downside is that the germination rate is significantly lower compared to others, at merely 37%. Hopefully, this study can serve as a foundation for developing a more comprehensive database for melon varieties to aid melon farmers in decision-making and further improve the industry’s yield.

Double-Heading Produces Larger Fruit via Inhibiting EjFWLs Expression and Promoting Cell Division at the Early Stage of Loquat Fruit Development

Loquat is an evergreen fruit crop which blooms from autumn–winter, and supports human beings with juicy fruit from late spring to early summer. However, the most traditional cultivars of this crop produce small fruit and bear a much lower yield than its relatives like apple, pear and peach. Large-size cultivars have long been a cherished aim of breeders for improving the production yield of loquat. Agronomic practices like panicle thinning, fruit thinning, growth regulator application, fertilization and so on are easier and more accessible ways for growers to produce large-size loquat fruit on existing production trees. Here, we develop a novel pruning method with an annual double back-cut, which provides vigorous shoot with more leaves and thicker branches for bearing much larger loquat fruit. Cellular observation determined that the vigorous shoot training method motivated cell division to produce larger loquat fruit, and that most of these cell layers were proliferated before the appearance of flower blossoms. Gene expression data of four development stages showed that EjFWL1 and EjFWL2 were notably downregulated in flower buds of the vigorously pruned tree. The data here further confirmed that the cell division capacity during flower development greatly influenced both the flower and fruit size of loquat. More importantly, we developed a novel pruning method to inhibit cell division repressors, promote cell proliferation and enlarge fruit size in loquat.

Total arsenic contamination in soil, vegetables, and fruits and its potential health risks in the Chitral Valley, Pakistan

Total arsenic (TAs) contamination is a serious health issue that affects many parts of the world. The sources of TAs in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush Mountains are rocks containing sulfide minerals and coal. The current study investigated the concentrations of TAs in soil, vegetables, and fruits collected from the Chitral Valley in the Hindukush Mountains of Pakistan. Vegetables consisted of Solanum tuberosum (potatoes), Mentha spicata (mint), Chenopodium album (goosefoot), Coriandrum sativum (coriander), Cucumis sativus (cucumber), Amaranthus viridis (green amaranth), and Medicago sativa (alfalfa); and fruits consisted of Prunus armeniaca (apricot), Morus alba (mulberry), Juglans regia (nut), Malus domestica (apple), and Vitis vinifera (grapes). The average concentration of TAs was the highest in the Gabur soils and lowest in the Bamborait soils. In vegetables, the highest TAs concentration was found in goosefoot (11.11 ± 1.9 mg·kg−1) and the lowest in cucumbers (1.38 ± 0.3 mg·kg−1). In fruits, the highest TAs concentration was found in grapes (4.3 ± 0.5 mg·kg−1), while no TAs concentration was detected in nuts (± indicates the one standard deviation range). The transfer factor (TF) values were high only in Bomborait soils (TF > 1). Leafy vegetables and juicy fruits (possessing high water content) were found to be more susceptible to TAs contamination. The daily intake of metals (DIA), human health risk index (HRI), and cancer risk demonstrated that the Chitral Valley is at high risk due to TAs contamination, which may pose a threat to the concerned community and ecosystem. The current findings suggest that leafy vegetables and juicy fruits in the study area should be carefully consumed.

Assortment and assortment policy of Moscow retail enterprises in the subcategory “Juicy fruits”

The purpose of the article is to survey and identify the trade assortment for the fresh fruit subcategory, as well as to determine the directions of assortment policy. The article presents the results of a survey of the assortment of the subcategory “Fresh (juicy) fruits” sold in stores of three retail chains: Globus, Lenta, and Azbuka Vkusa. It has been established that the assortment of fruits in these stores for most types can be characterized as comprehensive and rational. The main directions of the assortment policy of all the surveyed stores are stabilization and deepening, which is due to the nature of demand (stable for most types of fruits) and product supply on the market of fresh fruits, mainly imported and non-specific in terms of the country of origin and pomological varieties, with the exception of apples, pears, and grapes. It is proposed to expand the assortment by including all types of fruits included in the product offering on the market in the autumn, including fresh cranberries.

Light in post-harvest physiology of juicy fruits

Light in post-harvest physiology of juicy fruits

Seasonal features of the diet of predatory mammals in the western regions of Ukraine

The article analyses feeding specifics depending on the season of five species of predatory mammals belonging to two families: Mustelidae and Canidae. It was established that the largest number of food objects in the red fox’s diet is characteristic for the winter period (44 objects). In winter, this species enriches its diet with invertebrates, fish, domestic mammals, and ungulates in small quantities. The main objects of food during this period are rodents (19%) and birds (16.6%). Rodents are also the basis of the weasel’s winter diet (50%). Both species of marten also consume rodents and birds in the winter, however, the pine marten hunts birds more often (17.4%) compared to rodents (13%), whereas the stone marten rarely hunts birds in the winter and the basis of its diet is made up by rodents (23.1%). The spring period is characterised by a sharp decrease in objects of plant origin in the diet of all carnivorous mammals considered. In spring, the stone marten consumes the largest share of animal feed (80%). The share of animals in the pine marten’s diet also increases, but this species actively hunts invertebrates (37.1%). Birds were not detected in the diet of the pine marten in spring, but they are present in the diet of the weasel in this period (5.9%). Almost half of the summer diet of all species considered consists of plant objects. All predators are characterised by the consumption of a large number of invertebrates during this period, with the lowest share of them in the diet of the stone marten (5.6%), whose main food in the summer is plants (55.6%), rodents (22.2%) and birds (16.7%). In autumn, the share of plant components in the diet of predators is more than 50%, and this period is characterised by having the highest share of juicy fruits in the diet throughout the year, except for the weasel, in the diet of which plants are rarely found during this period (21.4%). The basis of the diet of this species during this period is mammals (64.3%). The share of rodents (15.5%) and birds (8.3%) in the red fox’s diet increases in the autumn period. Inedible objects were recorded in food samples of two species: red fox and pine marten. For the marten, the largest number of these objects was registered in the summer period, and for the fox, non-food objects were absent only in the summer diet.

Authentication of Averrhoa carambola L. Using DNA Barcoding: Detection of SNPs and Evaluation of Phylogenetic Relationship

Abstract: Background: Averrhoa carambola L. (star fruit) is an underutilized plant in the family Oxalidaceae. The plant has various pharmacological activities and has fleshy juicy fruit with high nutritional value and is rich in vitamins. Objectives: This study aims to authenticate and examine the evolutionary relationships between various Averrhoa taxa. Materials and Methods: The species identification was verified using the well-established DNA barcoding method. For this, a few predetermined loci including rpoB, matK, atpF-atpH, and rbcL were employed. Results: Amplicons were observed with a molecular weight of 450bp, 950bp, 800bp, and 650bp respectively as reported earlier. The sequences of these loci were submitted to NCBI. The sequences were approved with accession numbers MN447319, MN733917, MT195537, and MT195538 respectively. The amplified loci of the species and related taxa of the genus were compared using bioinformatics tools. 204 numbers of SNPs/indels were identified out of which some are unique for the species. K2P analysis showed that the maximum intraspecific distance (1.3%) was lower than the minimum interspecific distance (2.6%). Conclusion: Among the different universal barcoding loci, matK was found to be most informative in terms of the occurrence of SNPs and genetic distance. So, the information can be utilized for species authentication in the family Oxalidaceae. Keywords: Averrhoa carambola, DNA Barcoding, atpF–atpH, matK, rpoB.

Combined Study of Transcriptome and Metabolome Reveals Involvement of Metabolites and Candidate Genes in Flavonoid Biosynthesis in Prunus avium L.

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is a popular fruit tree grown for its juicy fruit and pleasing appearance. The fruit pf the sweet cherry contains active antioxidants and other chemical compounds essential for human health. For this study, we performed the transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis using young Green Peel (GP) and mature Red Peel (RP) from sweet cherries to understand the underlying genetic mechanism regulating fruit development and ripening. Using high-throughput RNA sequencing and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry, respectively, metabolic and transcript profiling was obtained. Relative to GP, there were equal quantities of pronouncedly varied metabolites in RP (n = 3564). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs, n = 3564), containing 45 transcription factor (TF) families, were recorded in RP. Meanwhile, 182 differentially expressed TF (DETF) members of 37 TF families, were displayed in abundance in RP compared to GP sweet cherries. The largest quantities of DETFs were members of the ERF (25) and basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) (19) families, followed by the MYB (18), WRKY (18), and C2H2 (12) families. Interestingly, most ERF genes were down-regulated, whereas CCCH genes were mainly up-regulated in RP. Other DETFs exhibited significant variations. In addition, RT-QPCR results and metabolomics data together with transcriptomic data revealed that the abundance of catechin, epicatechin, rhoifolin, myricetin, keracyanin, and the other six glycosyltransferase genes was highly increased in RP when compared to GP sweet cherries. The relatively higher expression of DETFs, metabolite, and flavonoid biosynthesis in RP sweet cherries suggests the accumulation of distinct metabolites that cause red coloring during fruit development and ripening. Thus, the metabolomics and transcriptomic analysis of the current study are powerful tools for providing more valuable information for the metabolic engineering of flavonoids biosynthesis in sweet cherries. They are also helpful in understanding the relationship between genotype and phenotype.

Физиологические аспекты созревания и продления срока хранения сочных плодов

This review discusses the physiological aspects of the ripening of juicy fruits in relation to the problem of extending the shelf life of horticultural products. The achievements of molecular biology in the field of genetic regulation of plant quality formation processes are used. Particular attention is paid to the hormonal regulation of the accumulation of nutrients and biologically active substances in fruits. The role of ARF/IAA and DELLA receptor proteins in the interaction of auxin and GA signalling pathways during the growth of tomato, strawberry, and grape fruits is demonstrated. The involvement of DELLA proteins in integrating the function of other phytohormones – cytokinin, ethylene, abscisic acid, brassinosteroids and jasmonic acid – is noted. Evidence is presented for the interaction of cytokinin with auxin and GA in the regulation of early development and fruit size. The combination of transcription factors and epigenetic modifications during fruit development and senescence is considered. The involvement of mechanisms of senescence and loss of fruit shelf life in the absence of external signs is shown. The ripening characteristics of climacteric and nonclimacteric fruits are considered. One of the key regulators of the ripening process in both climacteric and non-climacteric fruits is the MADS domain transcription factor RIPENING INHIBITOR (RIN). The regulation of non-climacteric fruit ripening is reviewed using grape and strawberry as examples. Special attention is paid to growth processes, water exchange, photosynthesis, primary and secondary metabolism of developing and ripening fruits. The formation of integuments and cell walls as a structural basis for the physical properties of products is considered. Promising methods of using regulators of vital processes in the post-harvest period to slow down the fruit senescence are given. Increased knowledge of genetic, hormonal and metabolic networks opens up broad prospects for improving and maintaining the quality of fleshy horticultural products.

Supplementation of Bouea macrophylla Fruit Juice Prevent Oxidative Stress in Rats Fed with High-Fat High-Cholesterol Diet through Attenuation of Lipid Peroxidation

Fruits are rich in fiber and antioxidant compounds that can prevent and treat health disorders related to oxidative stress caused by high-fat high-cholesterol diet (HFHCD). Bouea macrophylla is a tropical fruit plant with edible juicy fruits. In this study, we conducted experiments to prove the effectiveness of B. macrophylla fruit juice (BMFJ) as an antioxidant agent in rats fed with HFHCD. Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed with HFHCD for 100 days and simultaneously orally supplemented with BMFJ. Atorvastatin was used as a positive control. At the end of the experiment, the blood and hepar were collected and assayed for malondialdehyde (MDA). The in vitro antioxidant activity of BMFJ was also evaluated using the DPPH method. Total phenols and flavonoids contents were determined using Folin Ciocalteu and AlCl3 methods, respectively. Results of the experiments showed that total phenols and flavonoids in BMFJ were 570 mg GAE/g and 31.89 mg QE/g, respectively, and the IC50 of radical scavenging activity was 564.271 ppm. The in vivo antioxidant evaluation showed that supplementation of BMFJ significantly prevents the increase of MDA levels, both in serum and liver of rats fed with HFHCD. These findings clearly indicate that supplementation of B. macrophylla fruit juice significantly prevents oxidative stress in rats fed with high-fat high-cholesterol diets through attenuation of lipid peroxidation.

Check the biodiversity of the Lonchaeidae Family (Diptera)

Larvae (Lonchaeidae Family ) are found under the bark of trees, in tunnels made by bark beetles, in decaying wood and other decaying plant material or debris, such as manure. The larvae of some species form galls on plants (including cereals); others live on juicy fruits. Flies are found on tree trunks, stumps, cut wood, leaves, and in grass. Some species are agricultural pests. The aim of this manuscript was to carry out check the biodiversity of the Lonchaeidae Family (Diptera) related to its biogeography, bioecology, habitat, geographic distribution, taxonomy, life cycle, phenology and taxonomic and conceptual aspects of the Family, Subfamilies and Species. To this end, a bibliographic survey of Ichneumonidae was carried out in the years 1937 to 2022. Only complete articles published in scientific journals and expanded abstracts presented at national and international scientific events, Doctoral Thesis and Master's Dissertation were considered. Data were also obtained from platforms such as: Academia.edu, Frontiers, Qeios, Pubmed, Biological Abstract, Publons, Dialnet, World, Wide Science, Springer, RefSeek, Microsoft Academic, Science and ERIC.

The Importance of Plants in Ancient Cultures Against the Background of New Research Concerning Intelligence of Plants

Juicy fruit, healthy vegetables, herbs for all the ailments, delightful flowers, a shelter under the spreading branches of an old tree - can plants be something more for man, and can they be even equal to him? Where is their place in the world, which is dominated by man and his helpers - animals? This article leads the reader through the thoughts and beliefs of ancient peoples, showing their respect for everything that lives until the modern times, when scientists try to relate the definition of intelligence and consciousness to plants. Myths from various parts of the globe, illustrate how important a role plants had in the past, that they were much more than food, medicine, or refuge. Since the beginning of time, without new technologies, people felt the power of nature and respected the otherness of creatures, wandering with them, step by step, with fear and awe. Plants, though “immobilised”, could create, and decided on the world’s fate, and were messengers between men and other organisms, an essential link, unique and holy. Today, when one can analyse plants’ functions and behaviour, observe how they communicate with the world, using all of the senses not located in specific organs, but spread all over the organism, man starts to notice what his ancestors saw a long time ago: that plants remember, decide, learn and give humans a wide range of opportunities. Having far more senses than man, showing humans a different kind of consciousness and intelligence, not centralised, to which one is used to, but dispersed, though not less efficient, plants are becoming very interesting subjects of scientific research.

Granny's Kitchen by Sadé Smith

Reviewed by: Granny's Kitchen by Sadé Smith Elizabeth Bush Smith, Sadé Granny's Kitchen; illus. by Ken Daley. Feiwel, 2022 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781250806338 $18.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 5-8 yrs On the "beautiful island of Jamaica, where the sun is always shining and the weather is sweet," Shelly-Ann works up a hunger playing outside—hunger that fresh fruits, vegetables, and Granny's excellent cooking skills can always satisfy. Now, though, when she asks Granny for something to eat, Granny has a new answer: "GYAL, YOU BETTA CAN COOK!" Shelly-Ann is willing to learn and follows Granny's recipes as she recites them from memory or reads from well-worn cards, but the [End Page 365] results are always disappointing, even with Granny's reassurance. The morning Granny stays in bed and leaves a discouraged Shelly-Ann to her own devices, the girl gives it all one more try and presents Granny with a breakfast tray of dishes that win her enthusiastic approval. This is, of course, the climax listeners will anticipate, but it's the denouement that delivers the honesty, giggles, and punch as a proud Shelly-Ann runs an assessment of her accomplishment: "The dumplins were not burned … well, maybe a little. … The saltfish was not too salty … nothing a little pepper couldn't fix." Daley's digital illustrations, in eye-popping hues of juicy fruit and turquoise sea, convey the easy give-and-take of the close-knit pair, with snazzy-spectacled Granny patiently cheerleading her determined but frustrated granddaughter through some rough culinary challenges. Shelly-Ann's four recipes are included for foodie families to try together, and a page of fun facts on Jamaica are a bonus for armchair travelers. Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Historical and Contemporary Uses of Sea Buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides L., in the Nordic Countries

Human interest in certain plants can vary considerably over time. At the end of the twentieth century, the orange-yellow fruits of sea buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides Linnaeus, became a trendy addition to the diet in some Nordic countries, especially in Sweden and Finland. The soft and juicy fruits are very rich in vitamin B12, C and E, and this fact has greatly contributed to its popularity among contemporary healthconscious consumers. As a cultivated plant, it is nowadays suitable also for a colder climate, and yields an abundant harvest.
 In pre-industrial times, the sour-tasting sea buckthorn berries were rarely harvested, although some examples are known from older sources. In 1732, Carl Linnaeus recorded that the berries were used to make a kind of simple sauce served with fish along the Swedish coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. In the nineteenth century, increasing availability of sugar made it possible to consume and preserve the berries on a larger scale, and today they are used in confectionery, cordial, ice-cream, jam, juice, marmalade, mash, parfaits, smoothies, sweets, beer, yogurt products and hygiene products (shampoo and soap).
 This article discusses how a rather unknown wild shrub, mostly unnoticed in peasant folk botany along the northern European coasts, has become common as a cultivated plant. Sea buckthorn is a classic example of how the interest in a particular plant and its edible parts varies over time due to economic, cultural and social changes. Ethnobiologist must study not only the human-plant relationships (folk knowledge and utilisation) in the specific socio-cultural context, but also answer questions about how a plant was utilised and viewed, when, where and by whom, as well as why.

Contamination and Consumption in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market: A Food Studies Perspective

The aim of this article is to analyse the work of the English poet Christina Rossetti from the perspective of Victorian gender norms directed at girls. In her poem “Goblin Market” Rossetti describes sisters Laura and Lizzie, whose idyllic existence is disturbed by the arrival of sinister goblin fruit sellers. While Lizzie maintains proper restraint, Laura greedily devours the juicy fruits, for which she is punished – she loses strength and sinks into apathy. She is saved only by the sacrifice of her sister, who risks her life to purchase more delicacies and feed them to the weakened Laura. The sisters’ fantastic adventures have been interpreted in various ways, from a story of sin and salvation, to one of food poisoning to an allegory of thecreative process. All these approaches, however, see the eating of sweet fruit as a form of transgression as a result of which Laura is banished from the idyllic self-sufficiency of their small farm, where the girls are not troubled by any sorrows. However, having learned the sweet taste of the fruit, Laura does not want to milk cows, feed hens and bake cakes without a word of complaint. Using the framework of food studies enriched with the tools of conceptual metaphor theory, the article argues that the contamination Laura suffers through forbidden consumption is not presented by Rossetti as unambiguously negative. This interpretation also becomes bolstered by comparing Rossetti’s piece with how other Victorian female writers defined the role of young women in relation to food, including especially the aspect of their apprenticeship to be housewives. In this view, the goblin fruit gains a new dimension: its consumption highlights the oppressive nature of the norms to which young women were subjected in the Victorian era.

Episodic recruitment in the saguaro cactus is driven by multidecadal periodicities.

Each year, an individual mature large saguaro cactus produces about one million seeds in attractive juicy fruits that lure seed predators and seed dispersers to a 3-month feast. From the million seeds produced, however, only a few will persist into mature saguaros. A century of research on saguaro population dynamics has led to the conclusion that saguaro recruitment is an episodic event that depends on the convergence of suitable conditions for survival during the critical early stages. Because most data have been collected in Arizona, particularly in the surroundings of Tucson, most research has relied on a limited amount of environmental variation. In this study, we upscaled this knowledge on saguaro recruitment to a regional scale with a new method that used the inverse-growth modeling of 1,487 saguaros belonging to 13 populations in a latitudinal gradient ranging from arid desert to tropical thornscrub forest in Sonora, Mexico. Using generalized linear and additive mixed models, we created two 110-yr-long saguaro recruitment curves: one driven only by previous size, and the second driven by size, drought, and soil structure. We found evidence that saguaro recruitment is indeed episodic, with periodicities of 20-30yr, possibly related to strong El Niño Southern Oscillation events. Our results suggest that saguaros rely on multidecadal periodic pulses of good beneficial years to incorporate new individuals into their populations. Inverse-growth modeling can be used in a wide variety of plant species to study their recruitment dynamics.

“Here I can like watermelon”: culinary redemption among the African Hebrew Israelites

ABSTRACT Every May, the African Hebrew Israelite Community (AHIC), a transnational millenarian group with its headquarters in the Israeli desert town of Dimona, celebrates its most important festival, “New World Passover.” Commemorating their exodus from “the land of the great captivity” (the US) to Israel, the colorful, joyful event has a striking culinary feature: a huge pile of several tons of watermelon is set in the park amidst the celebrants, who feast on the juicy fruit along with their many guests. In this article, based on long-term ethnographic study conducted in Dimona’s “Kfar HaShalom” (Village of Peace), the AHIC spiritual and administrative center, we explore the various meanings attributed by group members to the watermelon as a healthy, tasty marker of the season; as a natural aphrodisiac; and as an expression of the community’s freedom in Israel. We coin the term “culinary redemption” to engage theoretically with these transformations in substance and meaning that are attributed to the watermelon. We argue that the community’s positive manipulations of watermelons, which are otherwise associated with African-American culture in adverse modes, are material and spiritual expressions of the AHIC’s transformation that allows its members to demonstrate their belonging to the land and people of Israel while dealing with and overcoming American and Israeli prejudice and racism.

Estimating maturity by measuring pH, sugar, dry matter, water and vitamin C content of cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale) from remote spectral reflectance data using neural network

In agricultural sector, maturity is the main decision criterion for starting the harvest. This criterion is usually revealed by a number of parameters such as pH, sugar, dry matter, water and vitamin C, which are informative but technically tedious to measure. The cashew apple is the hypertrophied peduncle which is attached to the cashew nut. It is a nutritious (very juicy fruit (85 to 90% water), sweet (7 to 13% carbohydrates), acidic and vitamin C content) fruit with high therapeutic and medicinal properties. The cashew apple is used as a raw material for many industrial applications (juice and alcohol). This research was conducted as a preliminary step towards the development of a real-time remote sensing technique for assessing the quality of tropical fruits. Spectral acquisitions were carried out from intact cashew apple using optical system composed reflector coupled with spectrometer USB 4000 FL from Ocean Optics (350-1100 nm). Immediately after spectral acquisition, the samples were analyzed by using chemical methods (sugar content, dry matter content, water content, vitamin C and pH). Preprocessing treatment method, bootstrap method was required to create statistical new samples and to increase the number of samples required. This method was used to improve the predictive performance of calibration model. Statistical models of prediction were developed using an artificial neural network (ANN) method. The results obtained from the models built by ANN showed strong relationships between predicted and experimental values: (Rsquare = 0.9870, RMSE= 0.0262) for pH, (Rsquare=0.9869, RMSE=0.1392) for Sugar, (Rsquare=0.9726, RMSE=0.3333) for water content, (Rsquare=0.9703, RMSE=0.3464) for vitamin C and (Rsquare=0.9922, RMSE= 5.0304, RMSE=5.0304) for dry matter. These results confirm the potential of visible spectroscopy to predict quality parameters of cashew apples remotely and make decisions about best harvest time

Порівняльний аналіз раціону представників родин Mustelidae та Canidae

The article analyzes 151 food samples of carnivoran mammals of two families. It was found that the diet includes 49 food items in the studied species of the family Canidae and 42 items in species of the family Mustelidae, of both plant and animal origin. It was revealed that plant food is an important component of the diet of predators, since the frequency of registration of these objects is 46.4%. Most often, it is the remains of cereals and plant seeds. Rodents are the main food for both families (19% in Canidae, 21% in Mustelidae). A seasonal change in diet for both families was noted. Members of the family Mustelidae consume plants more often in summer and winter, while in in spring and autumn mammals prevail in their diet when the share of juicy fruits is the lowest. Rodents are consumed throughout the year, but their largest share was noted in spring, when this family is characterized by the greatest variety of food (Shannon's index is 2.0). For members of the family Canidae, the most important component of the diet in winter is dry fruits. The number of rodents in their diet also increases in spring. The summer period is characterized by the consumption of invertebrates and the absence of animal carcasses in the diet. In autumn, the share of juicy fruits increases and during this period the diet of Canidae is the most diverse (1.9). The lowest variety of food in species of the two families was registered in summer. Competition between the studied families may increase in spring when the most important food for the representatives of both Canidae and Mustelidae is rodents. There are some sex-related trophic preferences in both families. In particular, males of the family Mustelidae consume rodents more often (68.7%), while females more often feed on plants (56.1%). As for the family Canidae, the analysis was carried out on the example of the red fox. It was found that females of this species prefer plant foods and there are no ungulates in their diet. Males consume fewer plants (41.4%) and often forage in cattle burial grounds and landfills. Accordingly, the diet of males is more diverse compared to that in females. The Shannon index is 3.3 and 2.5, respectively.