Yellow Style Research Articles

Taraxacum sectum sp. nov., a new member of T. sect. Erythrosperma (Asteraceae) from the Baltic island Öland, Sweden

Taraxacum sectum is described as a new member of T. sect. Erythrosperma from the Baltic island of Öland, Sweden, where it has been found at ca 15 sites in alvar habitats as well as in somewhat disturbed dry and sandy grasslands. The new species is similar to T. saphycraspedum, T. marginatum and T. taeniatum but differs from all of these by a combination of characters: pale greenish yellow styles, ± vertically erect leaves, strongly recurved outer phyllaries, hairy scapes and conspicuously light grayish hairy basal parts.

DETERMINATION OF CROCIN CONTENT AND VOLATILE COMPONENTS IN DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF IRANIAN SAFFRON

Saffron, obtained from dried stigmas of Crocus sativus L. flowers, is widely used as a food colouring and flavouring spice. The aim of this study was to determine crocin content and volatile constituents of saffron belonging to different quality categories. The quality categories of saffron samples differ in red stigmas (Sargol-I and Sargol-II) and threads with yellow styles (Pushal-I, Pushal-II and Bunch). The total amount of the crocin component was identified with HPLC as highest in the Sargol-I sample (66.67 mg/g) and lowest in the Bunch sample (51.66 mg/g). SPME followed by GC-MS was used to screen of saffron volatile composition. As the result of study, 40 volatile compounds were detected by 3 different fibers (PA, PDMS and CAR/PDMS). GC-MS (PDMS). Safranal, the main volatile compound of saffron, was determined in the Sargol-I, Sargol-II, Pushal-I, Pushal-II and Bunch category samples as 49.64%, 50.29%, 50.42%, 57.02% and 61.31%, respectively.

Integration of computer vision and electronic nose as non-destructive systems for saffron adulteration detection

This work deals with the development and evaluation of an integrated system based on computer vision system (CVS) and electronic nose (e-nose) for saffron adulteration detection. Ten saffron samples adulterated with two common illegal constituents, namely, Artificially Colored Safflower (ACS) and Artificially Colored Yellow Styles of Saffron (ACYSS) at levels ranging from 10 to 50% (w/w) were characterized in this work. First, the developed CVS and e-nose system were integrated to form a unit system. This set up was utilized to extract color and aroma characteristic variables of each sample. The extracted variables were processed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), and Support Vectors Machines (SVMs) to demonstrate the discrimination capability of the developed system. Two multilayer artificial neural network (ANN-MLP) models were also employed for saffron color and aroma strength prediction based on ISO standards. PCA and HCA results of the color and aroma datasets revealed that the adulterated samples have different color and aroma strength compared to authentic saffron and they can clearly be distinguished. SVMs classifier showed good agreement with the PCA results and reached 89% and 100% success rate in the recognition of the different saffron samples based on their color and aroma datasets, respectively. Results of the two ANN-MLP models proved that the developed system is capable of differentiating the authentic and adulterated saffron samples based on their color and aroma strength (RColoranalysis2⩾0.95 and RAromaanalysis2⩾0.97).

Detection of Adulteration in Saffron Samples Using Electronic Nose

Saffron is the commercial name of the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus L. flower. Due to the high cost of saffron, adulteration sometimes occurs in the local market. In this study, the aroma fingerprints of saffron, saffron with yellow styles, safflower, and dyed corn stigma were detected by an electronic nose system. The features of the obtained signals from electronic nose system were extracted and used for data analysis. In this work, principal component analysis was used and the results were confirmed by back propagation artificial neural networks. The results revealed that the system can recognize the saffron adulteration satisfactorily. As a conclusion, it was found that the electronic nose could provide good separation of the saffron and adulterated one (safflower and other adulteration) as 100 and 86.87% classification accuracy, respectively, by means of artificial neural networks. The electronic nose was able to differentiate non-adulterated and adulterated saffron at higher than 10% adulteration level successfully.

Pollination and reproductive biology of thirteen species of <i>Begonia</i> in the Serra do Mar State Park, São Paulo, Brazil

The reproductive biology of 13 monoecious species of Begonia that occur in the Serra do Mar State Park, São Paulo, Brazil, was investigated. These species flower annually and present flowers with mostly white tepals, sweet odour, pollen as a reward but no nectar, numerous yellow stamens, and yellow styles. Anthesis is diurnal and floral duration is long (6 - 15 days). The unusual appearance of pistillate flowers of these species supports the view that they are intersexual mimics of the staminate flowers. Despite consistently high levels of fruit-set, none of the 11 species tested proved to be apomictic. In contrast to earlier reports of self-compatibility in Begonia, self-pollinations of B. integerrima and B. itatinensis produced no fruits or seeds, and the complete absence of pollen tubes in the styles of self-pollinated flowers of B. integerrima suggests that the species is self-incompatible. Flowers pollinated under natural conditions showed many pollen tubes that reached ovules, suggesting that adequate numbers of compatible pollen grains had been transported by pollinators. The principal pollinators were bees of the Apidae and Halictidae. Ten species of bees were observed to visit eight species of Begonia, and pollen collection occurred by vibration, except for Trigona spinipes. Visits to rewarding staminate flowers were significantly more frequent than visits to unrewarding pistillate flowers. Duration of visits to pistillate flowers also was significantly shorter than the duration of visits to staminate flowers. We conclude that visits to pistillate flowers occur by mistake but with sufficient frequency to allow for successful reproduction in natural populations of these species.

Inheritance of Style Color in Hazelnut

The style color of standard hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivars ranges from pink to dark purple. Styles with an unusual yellow color were first noted in seedlings of the progeny `Goodpasture' × `Compton', and the ratio was ≈3 red: 1 yellow. Controlled crosses were made to investigate the genetic control of style color. The same 3:1 ratio was observed in four additional crosses in which both parents had red styles. Two crosses of a red and a yellow parent gave ≈50% yellow styles, while a cross of two selections with yellow styles gave only seedlings with yellow styles. These segregation ratios indicate control by a single locus, with yellow style color recessive to red. Seedlings with yellow styles have green buds and catkins and a more upright growth habit than their siblings with red styles. Inspection of the pedigrees of these progenies shows that `Daviana', `Willamette', `Butler', `Compton', `Goodpasture', and `Lansing #1' are heterozygous. `Daviana' appears to be the original source of the allele for yellow styles, as it is a known or suspected parent or ancestor of the others. Ratios in a progeny segregating simultaneously for growth habit (normal vs. contorted) and style color indicated independence of the traits. However, in a progeny segregating simultaneously for leaf color (red vs. green) and style color, no redleaf seedlings had yellow styles. The S-alleles of eight genotypes with yellow styles were determined, and indicate a possible linkage between the yellow style locus and the S locus that controls pollen-stigma incompatibility. One explanation is that the yellow style trait is conferred by an allele (ays) at the anthocyanin (A) locus that controls leaf color. A second explanation is that there is a yellow style locus closely linked to the A locus. The A locus is known to be loosely linked to the S locus.

Didymocarpus geitleri, a remarkable new species ofGesneriaceae with deceptive pollen flowers

Didymocarpus geitleri spec. nov. is described from Sungai Pandan, Kuantan distr., Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. Distinctive features include: leaden-grey leaves with long, erect hairs on the upper side and whitish, campanulate flowers with a long exserted, bright yellow style. The colouring of the latter is caused by densely arranged glands. Together with two yellow blotches in front of the filament insertion, the style apparently acts as an anther (pollen) dummy.

Two New Species of Conyza (Compositae) from Ethiopia

A herb with leafy stems, the vegetative parts (when dry) tawny-green and shortly scabrid-pubescent throughout. Inflorescence of terminal and axillary cymose panicles of 5-15 capitula, the capitula fairly loosely arranged on pubescent peduncles bearing hairs up to 1-5 mm long. Involucre hemispherical, composed of several rows of phyllaries. Outer phyllaries elliptic, obtuse to acute, nearly entirely herbaceous, brownish-green, with about 6 longitudinal resinous vein-like lines in addition to the only slightly more prominent midrib, the central part of the phyllary with a few scattered sessile glands and a dense pubescence of white hairs 1 mm long. Inner phyllaries narrowly oblong, acute, hyaline with a central brown herbaceous stripe. Receptacle barely fimbrillate. Female florets very many, filiform, 3-1 mm long, of which 1 mm is a pale yellow bifid ligule shorter than the yellow style, the top of the corolla tube with a fringe of multicellular hairs. Achenes of female flowers fertile, obovoid, compressed, 2-ribbed, pilose. Hermaphrodite flowers c. 20, 4 mm long, with a short basal tube 1-5 mm long and a wider portion 2-5 mm long, at the apex with 5 lobes, the tube and lobes bearing both multicellular hairs and sessile glands. Achenes of hermaphrodite flowers apparently fertile, larger than those of the female flowers, often 4-ribbed, pilose. Pappus of about 25 hairs in 1 row, including about 5 very short bristles.