The freshwater alga, Chara corallina, is often used as a model system in studies of cell-wall mechanics. Chara has a unique and very simple architecture, in which a number of node cells form the interface between two giant internode cells. Given this architecture, when investigating a specimen comprising a single internode cell, a tensile test stresses just its cell walls. However, when investigating a specimen comprising two internode cells and their intervening node, the stress is imposed on both the cellulosic cell wall components but also on the (in-series) pectin middle lamellae between the cells comprising the node. This setup should allow comparative study of the properties of the cellulose of the cell walls in the absence of middle lamellae and also of the pectin layers of the middle lamellae in the node. Such information would be of particular interest in the case of fruit skins that in tension typically fail along the middle lamellae causing separation of adjacent cells. The objectives were to establish whether the mechanical properties of the pectin middle lamellae between the Chara node cells may be inferred by comparing tensile properties of an internode cell and of a node. Chara cell walls are composed of cellulose and de-esterified pectins as indexed by staining with calcofluorwhite and LM19. Staining with 2F4 indicates the presence of homogalacturonans crosslinked by Ca. Compared with internodes, nodes had lower stiffness, lower maximum force at failure and lower maximum strain. For the internode+node+internode samples, failure in the internode was more frequent than failure in the node. Lowering the medium pH had no effect on stiffness, maximum force at fracture or maximum strain of either internodes or nodes but it did increase the frequency of node vs. internode failure. Incubation in EGTA extracted Ca and decreased stiffness, maximum force at fracture and maximum strain of both internode and node samples. There was little effect of EGTA on the frequency of node vs. internode failure. Incubating internodes and nodes in pectinase decreased stiffness, maximum force at failure and maximum strain. The pectin components of Chara cells are almost identical to those of fruit skin cells. The tensile properties of both internodes and nodes are affected by pectins. This makes it difficult to infer those of the interfacing middle lamellae.

The suitability of different packaging materials i.e. jute, nylon, polypropylene, cotton, low density polyethylene, medium density polyethylene and high density polyethylene were studied along with the control on the premium potato variety “Lady Rosetta”. After the harvest potato tubers were washed, sorted, graded, cured and subsequently stored in different packaging materials at ambient temperature (25±2 o C). Transition in quality attributes of potato tubers under different packaging materials were studied on the basis of their physico-chemical and functional parameters. Overall results revealed that packaging materials had significant (p ≤ 0.05) effect on most of the quality attributes studied. In general weight loss, glucose, glycoalkaloids, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase, increased while ascorbic acid contents decreased with the increase of storage time. Total phenolic contents and radical scavenging activity showed a sort of parabolic trend during the storage period. Amongst different packaging employed potato stored in polypropylene and low density polyethylene packaging presented best overall retention of vital quality attributes during 63 days storage however, tensile strength of polypropylene packaging made it advantageous for prolonged potato storage coupled with easy transit operations during marketing.

Subsequent to a short chronicle of the history of applied research in plant biology in Germany, the relevance of modern Applied Botany is illustrated by three relevant post-harvest processes. The metabolic reactions that play a key role in the determination of quality of the related plant-derived commodities from each are presented. Increased understanding of the processes involved in these processes has facilitated improvement of product quality in the resulting products. In each instance, it has been necessary to regard plant metabolism comprehensively and not to focus on a single physiological process. Moreover, the various interactions with the environment have to be considered. These illustrations demonstrate that transfer and application of basic plant knowledge into product-related research can provide significant information that is valuable for improvement of plant-derived products. In some instances, these correlations can even account for traditional and well-established processes, as illustrated for the malting process. However, interdisciplinary work and intensive cooperation with growers and producers must be an integral part of developing feasible and economically acceptable solutions that can be transferred into practice. Ultimately, the major challenge in Applied Botany today is the implementation of new concepts and ideas into product-related research. In consequence, modern Applied Botany acts as a mediator between basic plant science and industrial, product-related research.

In this study, the change in softening and its related genes expression under influence of 500 nl L-1 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) was assessed in the two Chinese pear fruit, ‘Jingbaili’ (Pyrus ussuriensis Maxim) and ‘Yali’ (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd), which exhibit different softening characteristics. ‘Jingbaili’ pear fruit softened rapidly after harvest, and was strongly inhibited by 1-MCP. In contrast, there was no obvious change of firmness compared to the control after 1-MCP treatment in ‘Yali’ pear fruit. The respiration and ethylene production rates were reduced by 1-MCP at early storage in both two cultivars. ‘Jingbaili’ pear fruit exhibited dramatically increased expression levels of the softening-related genes, i.e., polygalacturonase1 (PG1), polygalacturonase2 (PG2), β-Galactosidase4 (GAL4), α-arabinofuranosidase1 (ARF1) and α-arabinofuranosidase2 (ARF2), and these genes’ expression levels were significantly decreased by 1-MCP treatment. In contrast, ‘Yali’ pear fruit showed lower expression levels of the above-mentioned genes, as well as a relatively smaller inhibition effect by 1-MCP treatment before day 27. These results suggest that ‘Jingbaili’ pear fruit are more sensitive to 1-MCP/ethylene than ‘Yali’ pear fruit during ripening.

The presence of large amounts of bioactive compounds such as saponins and flavonoids in ginseng (Panax ginseng) berry suggests its potential as a functional resource for the food and medical industries, despite the fact that been considered a useless by-products of P. ginseng. In this study, we examined the variations in the antioxidant and anti-melanogenic potential of ginseng berry during the ripening process. We found that fully ripe berry extracts (Go-S3) contained the highest level of antioxidant and anti-melanogenic activities. Phytochemical screening suggested that alterations in polyphenol contents correlated with the variation in bioactive principles of ginseng berry during the ripening process. Furthermore, results obtained by quantitative real-time PCR, western blot, tyrosinase inhibition assay and molecular docking analysis suggested that Go-S3 probably inhibits tyrosinase activity by interacting with copper-coordinating histidines and second shell residues of tyrosinase, resulting in the reduction of melanin production in α-MSH-stimulated B16F10 cells. Taken together, these finding suggest the potential of ginseng berry as a resource for functional applications in the cosmetic industries and demonstrate that fruit ripening stages have profound effects on the pharmaceutical value of ginseng berry.

The study compared changes in essential oil content and its thujone ratio in two popular herbs (Artemisia absinthium L. and Salvia officinalis L.), pertaining to plant development and plant organs. Both species were harvested in 2018 at the vegetative, floral budding, flowering and after flowering phases; flowers and leaves were sampled separately. The essential content is always higher in the flowers than in the leaves at the same phenophase in both species we examined. Decreased essential oil content in both organs during the developmental phases was also common to both species. In S. officinalis, both leaf and flower oils showed quantitatively different compositional profiles. During plant development, the main component α-thujone decreased significantly in leaf oils, while both thujone isomers demonstrated statistically stable values in flower oils. In A. absinthium, leaf and flower oils exhibited similar thujone ratios. During plant development, neither of the thujone isomers changed significantly in leaf oils but the ratio of α-thujone increased in the flowers. It was established, that only the distribution and dynamics of total volatiles showed common features in the two species, while the variability of thujone ratios represents differences specific to each target species. For the praxis, in S. officinalis timing of harvest seems to be more important while in A. absinthium the ratio of organs may play a more significant role in reaching lower thujone levels of the drug.

Water scarcity in arid regions is a serious problem, which calls for innovative irrigation water management. Partial root zone drying (PRD) technique can considerably reduce irrigation amount for crops. To investigate this further, tomato plants were imposed to either surface drip (SUR) with full irrigation (FI) at 100% of evaporative demands and regulate deficit irrigation (RDI) at 50% water of FI or subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) with fixed PRD at 75 (PRD75) and 50% (PRD50) of the FI. Surface evaporation under SUR with FI constitutes a large fraction of water losses from cropped fields while SDI with PRD75 preserved more water for plant uptake. Plants grown under water saving treatments showed lower stomatal conductance and transpiration rates compared to FI plants. Tomato yield under SDI with PRD75 was comparable to yield under SUR with FI for both tested seasons along with 25% water saving and 30% increase in water use efficiency (WUE). Otherwise, PRD50 reduced yield by 18-20%, but a substantial amount of irrigation water was saved along a 60 and 65% higher WUE compared to FI treatment. Fruit dry weight and harvest index (HI) were significantly higher with PRD75 compared to the other treatments. Seasonal N uptake and in turn N recovery was higher in PRD75 than any other treatment associated with improving N use efficiency.

As a result of climate warming, wine-growing zones have moved to the north, where conditions exist may result in poor fruit quality. Fruits may develop significant amounts of tannin compounds, which are not acceptable to all consumers. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the influence of selected factors on the quality and content of polyphenols in grapevine fruits. The differentiating factors were as follows: two grapevine cultivars, varied number of buds per cane, and treatment with Effective Microorganisms (EM). To determine the total content of polyphenols and individual polyphenolic compounds in the tested fruits, the UPLC-PDA-MS method was used. The results indicated that the studied factors had no effect on total soluble solids and titratable acidity in grapes. The experiment revealed that polyphenol content was most dependent on the cultivar, followed by the number of buds per cane; EM treatment had the least effect. The fruit of the ‘Regent’ cultivar was characterised by higher polyphenol content. ‘Cabernet Cortis’ berries had higher levels of phenolic acids and flavan-3-ols, while ‘Regent’ berries were higher in anthocyanins and flavonols. EM treatment had a large impact on the reduction of tannic acid compounds. Fruits from untreated plants with four buds per cane had a significantly increased content of polyphenols, including flavan-3-ols.

Commercial onion breeders limit their selection criteria by focusing almost exclusively on conventional farming. This raises the demand for certain well known varieties, but lowers the general diversity available on the mainstream market. A way to maintain biodiversity is to preserve old open-pollinated varieties. Through their distinct aroma and flavor, these plants are again drawing the interest of farmers and consumers alike, making them a viable alternative to commercial varieties. To assess yield and quality aspects of West-European open-pollinated onions, we have evaluated nine varieties and compared them against two of their commercial, well-established counterparts. The study included onion production on the field in South-West Germany, evaluation of the quality and flavor parameters, as well as a trained sensory taste panel. Results showed high diversity in yield and chemical properties of the studied onion varieties, where two varieties in particular, stood out significantly. Compared to the control, the variety “Birnförmige” performed best and demonstrated high concentrations of fructan and pyruvic acid, both known to have curative and medicinal properties. On the other end of the spectrum, the variety “Jaune des Cévennes” demonstrated low dry matter content, low concentration of enzymatically-produced pyruvic acid and a high bolting percentage. The study also confirmed the link between individual quality components in onion bulbs, including the significantly negative correlation between minerals (such as calcium and magnesium) and fructan.

To observe variation in growth performance, antioxidant activities, and nutritional quality of Moringa oleifera, we exogenously applied benzyl amino purine (BAP), ascorbic acid, and moringa leaf extract (MLE) to moringa plants at three field capacity levels, 100, 75, and 40% in a completely randomized design with three replications. We observed a decrease in growth, chlorophyll a and b, total phenolic contents, antioxidant activities, crude protein, and mineral contents of moringa leaves at 100 and 40% field capacity in comparison with 75% field capacity. BAP best improved growth performance of moringa plants, improving shoot length, root length, number of leaves and photosynthetic pigments, followed by MLE at 75% field capacity, while moringa plants showed reduced growth at 40% field capacity which was increased by BAP and MLE foliar application. Maximum contents of gallic acid, p-coumaric acid and sinapic acid were found in moringa leaves when the plants were sprayed with ascorbic acid while p-hydroxybenzoic acid and caffeic acid were maximally increased under 75% field capacity when the plants were subjected to BAP followed by MLE. The lowest and highest crude protein, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorous contents were recorded under 40 and 75% field capacity, with MLE impro-ving these contents under both conditions. It can safely be concluded that moringa plants showed retarded growth under 100 and 40% field capacity, and that the effects of deficit in nutritional quality were mitigated by applying BAP and MLE. Among these two plant growth regulators, MLE can be preferred being a natural source.