Mexico is the largest cactus exporter of the world and 40% of the production cost is provided from the harvest operation. Many workers are required to operate daily and suffer wrist pain after two weeks of collecting pears with mechanical pruners. A motor driven tool supplied from a photovoltaic system was employed for harvesting; different blades were tested at different cutting speeds. It was...

A total of 90 Pyrus pyrifolia cultivars from southeastern China and Japan were used to assess genetic diversity and overall similarity using eight Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations. Eighty-eight percent of the 429 bands produced were polymorphic. Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) cluster analysis of these data support two major groups, mos...

Commercialization of cactus pears based on their antioxidant properties can generate competitive advantages, and these can turn into business opportunities and the development of new products and a high-value ingredient for the food industry. This work evaluated the antioxidant activities (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging, protection against oxidation of a β-carotene-linoleic ac...

To increase the commercial value of damaged fragrant pears and improve marketing competitiveness, this study explored degree damage effects storage time on internal quality during predicted using an adaptive neural fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The prediction models with eight membership functions were constructed, optimal model was chosen, allowing for accurate pears. research results demons...

To identify why tree growth differs by afforestation type is a matter of prime concern in forestry. A study was conducted to determine why oriental arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis) grows better in the presence of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) than in monoculture. Different types of stands (i.e., monocultures and mixture of black locust and oriental arborvitae, and native grassland as a...

The carbohydrate content in different foods may have different effects on postprandial blood glucose. Study was conducted to compare the glycemic effect of 50g carbohydrate in fruits (watermelon, Persian melon, grapes and pears) in normal, IGT and diabetic subjects. Thirty two subjects, 12 NIDDM, 12 IGT and 8 normals, with a mean age of 53±7 years were randomly selected. The subjects came to Va...