Unripe Tomatoes Research Articles

The escamotages to maintain glamour and turgidity in breast of MtF transexual individuals by the aids of cannabinoids and unripe tomatoes

The escamotages to maintain glamour and turgidity in breast of MtF transexual individuals by the aids of cannabinoids and unripe tomatoes

Potential Human Health Risk from Toxic/Carcinogenic Arsenic in Ripe and Unripe Tomatoes Grown in Wastewater Exposed Zone

Potential Human Health Risk from Toxic/Carcinogenic Arsenic in Ripe and Unripe Tomatoes Grown in Wastewater Exposed Zone

Tomatidine activates autophagy to improve lung injury and inflammation in sepsis by inhibiting NF-κB and MAPK pathways.

Sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI) is a life-threatening medical condition with high mortality and morbidity. Autophagy is involved in the pathophysiological process of sepsis-induced ALI, including inflammation, which indicates that regulating autophagy may be beneficial for this disease. Tomatidine, a natural compound abundant in unripe tomatoes, has been reported to have anti-inflammatory, anti-tumorigenic, and lipid-lowering effects. However, the biological functions and mechanisms of tomatidine in sepsis-induced ALI remain unknown. The principal objective of this study was to investigate the effect of tomatidine on sepsis-induced ALI. Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) was used to induce septic lung injury in mice, and 10mg/kg tomatidine was intraperitoneally injected into mice 2h after the operation. The results of hematoxylin and eosin staining and assessment of lung edema and total protein levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) demonstrated that tomatidine alleviated CLP-induced severe lung injuries such as hemorrhage, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and interstitial and alveolar edema in mice. Additionally, the levels of proinflammatory cytokines in BALF and lung tissues were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the results showed that tomatidine inhibited CLP-induced inflammatory damage to lungs. Moreover, the results of western blotting showed that tomatidine promoted autophagy during CLP-induced ALI. Mechanistically, immunofluorescence staining and western blotting were used to measure the protein levels of TLR4, phosphorylated NF-κB, phosphorylated IκBα, and phosphorylated MAPKs, showing that tomatidine inactivated NF-κB and MAPK signaling in lung tissues of CLP-induced ALI mice. In conclusion, tomatidine exerts protective effects against sepsis-induced severe damage to the lungs by inhibiting inflammation and activating autophagy in CLP-treated mice through inactivating the NF-κB and MAPK pathways, which may be an effective candidate for treating septic ALI.

Agri-Food Waste Recycling for Healthy Remedies: Biomedical Potential of Nutraceuticals from Unripe Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.).

Unripe tomatoes represent an agri-food waste resulting from industrial by-processing products of tomatoes, yielding products with a high content of bioactive compounds with potential nutraceutical properties. The food-matrix biological properties are attributed to the high steroidal glycoalkaloid (SGA) content. Among them, α-tomatine is the main SGA reported in unripe green tomatoes. This review provides an overview of the main chemical and pharmacological features of α-tomatine and green tomato extracts. The extraction processes and methods employed in SGA identification and the quantification are discussed. Special attention was given to the methods used in α-tomatine qualitative and quantitative analyses, including the extraction procedures and the clean-up methods applied in the analysis of Solanum lycopersicum L. extracts. Finally, the health-beneficial properties and the pharmacokinetics and toxicological aspects of SGAs and α-tomatine-containing extracts are considered in depth. In particular, the relevant results of the main in vivo and in vitro studies reporting the therapeutic properties and the mechanisms of action were described in detail.

Phytochemical investigation and antioxidant properties of unripe tomato cultivars (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Unripe tomatoes are among the main waste produced during tomato cultivation and processing. In this study, unripe tomatoes from seven different Italian cultivars have been investigated to evaluate their nutraceutical potential. Phytochemical investigation allowed shedding light on the identification of seventy-five bioactive compounds. The highest amount of polyphenolic and glycoalkaloids along with the high level of antioxidant activities was found in the Datterini tomatoes variety. The peculiarity of this variety is the high chlorogenic acid content, being ten times higher compared to the other cultivars examined. Moreover, the total α-tomatine amount has been found substantially higher (34.699 ± 1.101 mg/g dry weight) with respect to the other tomato varieties analyzed. Furthermore, the cultivars metabolomic profiles were investigated with the PCA approach. Based on Datterini cultivar’s metabolomic profile, its waste-recovery could represent a good option for further added value products in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical areas with a high α-tomatine content.

Antidepressant-like effects of tomatidine and tomatine, steroidal alkaloids from unripe tomatoes, via activation of mTORC1 in the medial prefrontal cortex in lipopolysaccharide-induced depression model mice

ABSTRACT Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, produces rapid antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression. However, owing to the undesirable adverse effects of ketamine, there is an urgent need for developing safer and more effective prophylactic and therapeutic interventions for depression. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) mediates the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine. The steroidal alkaloid tomatidine and its glycoside α-tomatine (tomatine) can activate mTORC1 signaling in peripheral tissues/cells. We examined whether tomatidine and tomatine exerted prophylactic and therapeutic antidepressant-like actions via mPFC mTORC1 activation using a mouse model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced depression. Male mice were intraperitoneally (i.p.) administered tomatidine/tomatine before and after the LPS challenge to test their prophylactic and therapeutic effects, respectively. LPS-induced depression-like behaviors in the tail suspension test (TST) and forced swim test (FST) were significantly reversed by prophylactic and therapeutic tomatidine/tomatine administration. LPS-induced anhedonia in the female urine sniffing test was reversed by prophylactic, but not therapeutic, injection of tomatidine, and by prophylactic and therapeutic administration of tomatine. Intra-mPFC infusion of rapamycin, an mTORC1 inhibitor, blocked the prophylactic and therapeutic antidepressant-like effects of tomatidine/tomatine in TST and FST. Moreover, both tomatidine and tomatine produced antidepressant-like effects in ovariectomized female mice, a model of menopause-associated depression. These results indicate that tomatidine and tomatine exert prophylactic and therapeutic antidepressant-like effects via mTORC1 activation in the mPFC and suggest these compounds as promising candidates for novel prophylactic and therapeutic agents for depression.

Kirlenmiş Bir Alanda Olgun ve Olgunlaşmamış Domateslerdeki Kritik Hammadde Grubundan Toksik Elementler: Birikim ve Potansiyel Sağlık Riski Değerlendirmesi

Accumulation and health risk assessment of cobalt (Co), antimony (Sb), vanadium (V), and lanthanum (La) in tomatoes growing in an area contaminated with municipal wastewater were investigated. For this aim, tomatoe samples were taken and sepertaed into root, stem and leaf parts. Co, Sb, V and La concentrations were detected in plant organs. The arrangement of the elements in the root, stem, and leaf of ripe and unripe tomatoes was V>Co>La>Sb. According to total element values in the ripe and unripe tomatoes; the highest values were 23±1.1 mg/kg and 35±1.7 mg/kg for V, respectively. Co, Sb, V, and La values accumulated by ripe and unripe tomatoes were determined as 24.65 and 25.6 times for Co, 1.8 and 2.7 times for Sb, 46 and 70 times for V and 4.4 and 6.15 times for La, respectively when compared with control. Total Co, Sb, V, and La were male

TOMATO MATURITY DETECTION SYSTEM USING COLOR HISTOGRAM METHOD AND NEAREST NEIGHBOR

<p class="AbstractL-MAG">Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill) is a type of horticultural plant that has a relatively fast maturity time compared to other fruits. In order to accelerate the implementation of smart farming in Indonesia, various methods that support agriculture have been developed. One of the technologies that can be applied to develop agriculture in Indonesia is image processing. This study aims to utilize image processing technology to detect and classify ripe and unripe tomatoes. The system is made using static images taken using a digital camera. The marker used in making the system to detect tomato ripeness is the color histogram. While the method for grouping tomatoes uses the nearest neighbor method. This study proves that the performance of the color histogram and nearest negihbor can be used to detect and classify tomatoes that are not ripe or ripe. The accuracy value obtained using this method is 80% while the precision value obtained is 80.53% and the recall value is 81.5%. The results of this study are expected to support the implementation of smart farming 4.0 in Indonesia.</p><p> </p><p class="IndexL-MAG">Index Terms—Approximately four key words or phrases in alphabetical order, separated by commas. The first one must be the article’s main subject.</p>

Degradation of Imidacloprid Residues on Unripe Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) by AOPs and Its Analysis using Spectrophotometer and HPLC

Imidacloprid is an insecticide-active ingredient used by farmers to kill and control insects. Imidacloprid residue can be found in unripe tomatoes. Consuming unripe tomatoes contaminated with imidacloprid can cause human health problems such as cancer, chronic kidney disease, neurological disorders, and reproductive issues. In this study, imidacloprid pesticide residues on unripe tomatoes were degraded by the Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) method, namely ozonolysis, sonolysis, and sonozolysis at various processing times (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 minutes) in 50 g sample mass and 100 mL water volume. The changes in imidacloprid concentration before and after degradation were measured using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer and HPLC. The results of imidacloprid residue degradation by sonolysis was 66.99%, ozonolysis was 74.87%, and sonozolysis was 66.00%. The degradation kinetics of the imidacloprid residue was then studied. Kinetic study of all AOPs methods found that imidacloprid degradation followed a first-order kinetic model. The kinetics data showed that ozonolysis degradation is faster than sonolysis and sonozolysis, with a half-life (t1/2) of 16.90 minutes.

Tomato Recognition for Harvesting Robots Considering Overlapping Leaves and Stems

In recent years, the declining and aging population of farmers has become a serious problem. Smart agriculture has been promoted to solve these problems. It is a type of agriculture that utilizes robotics, and information and communication technology to promote labor saving, precision, and realization of high-quality production. In this research, we focused on robots that can harvest tomatoes. Tomatoes are delicate vegetables with a thin skin and a relatively large yield. During automatic harvesting of tomatoes, to ensure the operation of the harvesting arm, an input by image processing is crucial to determine the color of the tomatoes at the time of harvesting. Research on robot image processing technology is indispensable for accurate operation of the arm. In an environment where tomatoes are harvested, obstacles such as leaves, stems, and unripe tomatoes should be taken into consideration. Therefore, in this research, we propose a method of image processing to provide an appropriate route for the arm to ensure easy harvesting, considering the surrounding obstacles.

Development of a farmer‐friendly portable color sorter cum grader for tomatoes

AbstractTomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a major horticulture crop grown worldwide. The ripened tomatoes are excellent source of antioxidants. On the other hand, the transportation of ripened tomatoes to long distances is a challenging task. However, the unripe tomatoes are opted for long‐distance transportation because of their extended shelf‐life. A sensor was developed with an efficient color sorting program using integrated circuits along with a divergent rolling grader. The developed color sorter cum size grader works on the principle of energetic reflection based on measuring the intensity of light and it comprises feed hopper, chain conveyor, belt conveyor, three color sensor (TCS3200), collecting ducts, inlet hopper, grader, outlet section, and collecting trays. Developed machine was operated by a single‐phase 2 hp motor. The performance of the developed machine was analyzed by measuring capacity, sorting efficiency, overall grading efficiency, and skin damage. Based on the performance evaluation, the maximum sorting efficiency and overall grading efficiency obtained were 94.5% and 94.1, 94.1, and 94.6% for ripe and unripe fruits, respectively.Practical ApplicationsTomato is one of the important commodities, fetching highly fluctuating market values. Color sorting and size grading are very much needed at the field level to overcome human drudgery and to enhance the market value. In this context, a portable color sensor cum grader has been developed, which can be used by the farmers/traders to get higher prices in the market. The capacity of newly developed equipment was approximately 40 kg/hr. The cost of operation of color sorting cum grading equipment was Rs. 3/kg of tomatoes.

Tomatidine protects against ischemic neuronal injury by improving lysosomal function

Cerebral ischemia is a severe neurological disorder with limited therapy. Autophagy refers to the intracellular degradation process via an autophagosome-lysosome pathway. Emerging studies indicated the neuroprotective effects of autophagy against ischemic neuronal injury, suggesting the potential neuroprotection of autophagy-inducing compounds. Tomatidine is a gut microbiota-derived metabolite from unripe tomatoes. Tomatidine activates autophagy either in mammal cells or C elegans. However, potential neuroprotection of tomatidine against ischemic neuronal injury has not been determined. In the present investigation, N2a cells and primary cultured mice cortical neurons were subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation followed by reperfusion (OGD/R). Cell injury was determined by MTT and lactate dehydrogenase release. Autophagosomes and autolysosomes were visualized by transfecting mCherry-GFP-tandem fluorescent LC3. The protein levels of LC3, Cathepsin D, Cathepsin B, and transcription factor EB (TFEB) were detected by Western blot. Lysosomes were stained with LysoTracker Red and dequenched-bovine serum albumin (DQ-BSA red). Tomatidine alleviated OGD/R-induced injury in N2a cells and neurons. Interestingly, tomatidine treatment attenuated, rather than reinforced, the OGD/R-elevated LC3-II, which can be reversed by lysosome inhibitor. These results indicated enhanced lysosomal activity rather than autophagosome generation with tomatidine treatment in our models. Indeed, tomatidine increased the lysosome number, proteolytic activities, as well as the expression of Cathepsin D and Cathepsin B. In addition, tomatidine increased the expression and nucleus translocation of (TFEB). Besides, lysosomal inhibitors chloroquine and bafilomycin, but not wortmannin, abolished the protection of tomatidine. In conclusion, the present study revealed the neuroprotection of tomatidine against ischemic injury by promoting lysosomal activity, possibly with the involvement of TFEB-related mechanisms.

The effect of cultivar and harvesting stage on the chemical composition of processing tomato fruit

Field-grown processing tomatoes are harvested in the red stage, however a significant part of fruits remaining on the crop are at the turning stage and in the mature-green stage. This is a part of the crop that can still be used after post-harvest ripening. The aim of the study was to compare the quality of the three determinate tomato cultivars harvested in the field during the red stage with that of red tomatoes obtained after ripening on shelf (harvested in the turning and mature-green stages). Red fruits were analysed immediately after harvest. The remaining fruits were stored and analysed after they had reached the red stage. Experiment showed that unripe tomatoes harvested in mature green phase during shelf ripening can achieve a good fruit quality, comparable to those harvested red. There was found no impact of the degree of ripeness at harvest on the content of dry matter. The relationship between content of extract, soluble sugars and organic acids and the degree of ripeness at harvest depended on the vegetation period. In 2009 fruits harvested green or pink reached higher content of extract, soluble sugars and organic acids than fruits harvested red. In 2010 it was quite contrary; all parameters were worst in fruits collected green or pink. In 2011 there were no differences in extract, whereas level of sugars and organic acids were higher in fruits collected unripe, stored and analysed after they had reached the red stage. Regardless of the year of research, vitamin C level was always the highest in the fruits collected red.

Fruit monitoring system using multi-layered neural network

A fruit monitoring system based on image processing technology and multi-layer neural network is proposed. The advantage of the proposed fruit monitoring system allows it to be remotely controlled by PCs and the graphical user interface (GUI) program by LabVIEW which has been designed for more intuitive and convenient operation of this system. In addition, the neural network can reduce nonlinearity of the system compared to the calculation based system. Therefore, experienced workers and novices can easily judge the ripeness of the fruits using the GUI program without necessarily going to the orchards. In this study, the color is used as a criterion to judge the maturity of tomatoes. Ripe tomatoes will appear to be red, while the unripe tomatoes will be green in color. The region of interest (ROI) function and Canny edge detection are applied to crop the image and remove the background, then the pixel data obtained are to supply the use of neural network. After that the maturity level of tomatoes is judged by the neural network. In laboratory test, 50 experiments have been down, 48 of which were successful, 2 of which failed, so the recognition rate was 96%. The experiments of this fruit monitoring system in the greenhouse on real growing tomatoes has been conducted. Therefore, 10 experiments on the red and green tomatoes has been conducted, respectively. As a result, the recognition rate of the red tomatoes is 100%, and recognition rate of the green tomatoes is 90%. The experimental results show that the proposed mobile fruit monitoring system has a very high recognition rate of accuracy.

Accelerating ripening of greenhouse tomatoes in autumn at the end of harvest with ethylene application

Accelerating maturation of greenhouse tomatoes at the end of the growing season permits to save energy and to reduce the quantity of unripe tomatoes. Indeed, at the end of the cropping season, several kg m-2 of tomatoes do not reach a degree of maturity permitting them to be sold. In Switzerland, it was possible to accelerate the ripening of tomatoes by applying ethephon, a product which releases ethylene. Since August 2014, this product is no longer authorized, in Switzerland. An alternative is the application of ethylene, a naturally occurring hormone, directly in the greenhouse. In collaboration with the company Carbagas, Agroscope tested the effect of ethylene application on tomato ripening. The trials were conducted in 2012 and 2013 in two identical compartments of a Venlo greenhouse. In one compartment, ethylene was injected at a concentration of 10 ppm during nine or ten nights. The other compartment served as control. In 2012, tomatoes 'Levanzo', 'Komeett' and 'Endeavour' were planted and in 2013 'Endeavour'. In average over the two years, the application of ethylene enabled to harvest 1.5 truss m-2 or 0.75 kg m-2 (1.5% of the total yield) more compared to the control compartment. The quality of tomatoes at harvest (acidity, firmness and total soluble substances) was only slightly influenced by the addition of ethylene. Economically, such an application seems profitable. Registration for the application of ethylene in greenhouse is in progress in Switzerland.

Tomatidine enhances lifespan and healthspan in C. elegans through mitophagy induction via the SKN-1/Nrf2 pathway

Aging is a major international concern that brings formidable socioeconomic and healthcare challenges. Small molecules capable of improving the health of older individuals are being explored. Small molecules that enhance cellular stress resistance are a promising avenue to alleviate declines seen in human aging. Tomatidine, a natural compound abundant in unripe tomatoes, inhibits age-related skeletal muscle atrophy in mice. Here we show that tomatidine extends lifespan and healthspan in C. elegans, an animal model of aging which shares many major longevity pathways with mammals. Tomatidine improves many C. elegans behaviors related to healthspan and muscle health, including increased pharyngeal pumping, swimming movement, and reduced percentage of severely damaged muscle cells. Microarray, imaging, and behavioral analyses reveal that tomatidine maintains mitochondrial homeostasis by modulating mitochondrial biogenesis and PINK-1/DCT-1-dependent mitophagy. Mechanistically, tomatidine induces mitochondrial hormesis by mildly inducing ROS production, which in turn activates the SKN-1/Nrf2 pathway and possibly other cellular antioxidant response pathways, followed by increased mitophagy. This mechanism occurs in C. elegans, primary rat neurons, and human cells. Our data suggest that tomatidine may delay some physiological aspects of aging, and points to new approaches for pharmacological interventions for diseases of aging.

Image Processing for Save Life Predictions of Tomato Fruit using RGB Method

Tomatoes are agricultural commodities has the high consumption for Indonesian people. Tomato fruit shave different shape and color, the color of a tomato can characterize the level of maturity. This research has been determine the level of maturity of tomatoes based on the color. The simulcast tomatoes for counting levels of tomato color image using a digital camera. Image color of Tomato levels obtained by calculating the average value of RGB components of the tomatoes picture. The red color more than 60 percent (ripe) indicates shelf life 7-10 days, the red color more than 40 percent (half-ripe tomatoes) indicates shelf life 10-12 days, the red color more than 20 percent (half-unripe tomatoes) indicates shelf life 1315 days, and the red color less than 20 percent (unripe tomatoes) over 15 days. This research shows the levels of red and green color affect the level ripeness of tomatoes. The higher the red colors and decreasing green color of fruit tomatoes indicate tomatoes more ripened. The position of tomatoes simulcast affect the level of accuracy, when tomatoes simulcast from the side reached accuracy 100 percent, while from the top reached 62.5 percent.

Use of portable devices and confocal Raman spectrometers at different wavelength to obtain the spectral information of the main organic components in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit samples, in two ripening stages, ripe (red) and unripe (green), collected from a cultivar in the North of Spain (Barrika, Basque Country), were analyzed directly, without any sample pretreatment, with two different Raman instruments (portable spectrometer coupled to a micro-videocamera and a confocal Raman microscope), using two different laser excitation wavelengths (514 and 785nm, only for the confocal microscope). The combined use of these laser excitation wavelengths allows obtaining, in a short period of time, the maximum spectral information about the main organic compounds present in this fruit. The major identified components of unripe tomatoes were cutin and cuticular waxes. On the other hand, the main components on ripe tomatoes were carotenes, polyphenoles and polysaccharides. Among the carotenes, it was possible to distinguish the presence of lycopene from β-carotene with the help of both excitation wavelengths, but specially using the 514nm one, which revealed specific overtones and combination tones of this type of carotene.

A practical solution for ripe tomato recognition and localisation

This article presents straightforward and fast algorithms that achieve low-cost computation of a software/hardware process for a practical robot vision solution for ripe tomato picking in greenhouses. The solution has three steps. First, it uses a single-colour component V in a YUV colour space to segment out the ROI (region of interest) of ripe tomatoes from the background, green stems and foliage. Second, an edge extractor with a constrained curvature is developed to extract the arc edges within a certain radius range based on the ripe tomato model for calculating the central points of each ripe tomato that was detected in the first step. Finally, according to the circle---circle relationship found in the geometric analysis, the overlapping area between two ripe tomatoes is calculated, and the depth ordering of the two overlapping ripe tomatoes is determined. The key contribution of this proposed solution is the real-time recognition and localisation of ripe tomatoes that are covered by green foliage, stems and unripe tomatoes in the real world. Simplicity and practicality are the key considerations of this solution.

Cellulose mediates attachment of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium to tomatoes

Fresh fruit and vegetables are important components of a healthy and balanced diet. However, they are increasingly being recognized as important vehicles for transmission of human pathogens that were traditionally classified as zoonotic. There is a significant gap in our knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms by which human pathogens colonize and survive on or in fruits and vegetables. In this study we investigated the binding of Salmonella enterica to tomato fruits (Solanum lycopersicum), which is becoming a major source of human infection. We report that Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium and Senftenberg bound to the surface of unripe tomatoes in an aggregative pattern, while serovar Thompson adhered diffusely. We found that while flagella did not have a role in binding, bcsC S. Typhimurim mutants, deficient in cellulose production, exhibited significantly reduced level of attachment to tomatoes. Trans complementation of the mutation restored adhesion to the wild-type level.