(1) Background: Since early yield prediction is relevant for resource requirements of harvesting and marketing in the whole fruit industry, this paper presents a new approach of using image analysis and tree canopy features to predict early yield with artificial neural networks (ANN); (2) Methods: Two back propagation neural network (BPNN) models were developed for the early period after natura...

Among deciduous fruit crops, maximum sustained yields under ideal conditions reportedly range from 22 MT/ha in sweet cherry to 112 MT/ha in apple: about a 5-fold difference. Root length densities under fruit trees, however, range from about 0.2 km/m in apple to about 12 km/m in kiwifruit: a 60-fold difference. What causes these differences among the root systems of different fruit crops? Patter...

Organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) are a group of membrane transport proteins that facilitate the influx of endogenous and exogenous substances across biological membranes. OATPs are found in enterocytes and hepatocytes and in brain, kidney, and other tissues. In enterocytes, OATPs facilitate the gastrointestinal absorption of certain orally administered drugs. Fruit juices such as...

It’s the single most famous story of scientific discovery: in 1666, Isaac Newton was walking in his garden outside Cambridge, England he was avoiding the city because of the plague when he saw an apple fall from a tree. The fruit fell straight to the earth, as if tugged by an invisible force. (Subsequent versions of the story had the apple hitting Newton on the head.) This mundane observation l...

An infestation of Cicadatra persica KirKaldy (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) on apple trees, Malus domestica Borkhausen (Rosales: Rosaceae), was reported for the first time in the apple fruit orchards of Erneh, Syria. Nymphs, adults, exuvia, and exit holes in the soil were observed. The species was identified as C. persica based on morphological characters. Some biological observations and an acoustic a...

6 7 8 9 Abstract 10 Cyanogenic glycosides are natural plant toxicants. Action by endogenous plant enzymes 11 can release hydrogen cyanide causing potential toxicity issues for animals including 12 humans. We have quantified amygdalin in seeds from different apple varieties, determined 13 the effects of processing on the amygdalin content of apple juice and quantified amygdalin 14 in commerciall...

Sugars are essential contributors to fruit flavour. Controlled atmosphere (CA) storage has been proved to be beneficial for maintaining harvested fruit quality. To explore regulatory mechanism of sugar metabolism in fruit stored in CA condition, we cloned several genes, encoding key enzymes, involved in sugar metabolism in apple fruit, and analyzed sugar contents, along with gene expression and...

The economic viability of employing dark fermentative hydrogen from whole fruit wastes as a green alternative to fossil fuels is limited by low hydrogen yield due to the inhibitory effect of some metabolites in the fermentation medium. In exploring means of increasing hydrogen production from fruit wastes, including orange, apple, banana, grape and melon, the present study assessed the hydrogen...

Sunburn of apple fruit is a surface injury caused by solar radiation that in the initial phase results in a light corky layer, golden or bronze discolouration, and other injuries to the epidermal tissue on the surface exposed to the sun. According to the definition of Retig and Kedar (1967), sunburn is a physiological injury that significantly affects fruit quality. Meteorological elements, the...