Background: Hand-made cheeses are usually prepared following dissimilar procedures which influence the quality and the organoleptic properties of the products. Objective of the present study was to evaluate how manufacturing season and ripening time affect hand-made Pecorino Abruzzese cheese. Methods: Microbiological and physicochemical characteristics were investigated on raw milk cheeses pro...

Background: An increasing success in induction of labor and subsequent termination of pregnancy in presence of unfavorable cervix requires cervical ripening in order to reduce complications and to diminish the rate of cesarean sections as well as the duration of labor.  However, there is no consensus on the efficiency of conventional methods for cervical ripening. Objective: To determine and co...

Our knowledge of the factors mediating ethylene-dependent ripening of climacteric fruit remains limited. The transcription of ethylene-regulated genes is mediated by ethylene response factors (ERFs), but mutants providing information on the specific role of the ERFs in fruit ripening are still lacking, likely due to functional redundancy among this large multigene family of transcription factor...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is an established model to study fleshy fruit development and ripening. Tomato ripening is regulated independently and cooperatively by ethylene and transcription factors, including nonripening (NOR) and ripening-inhibitor (RIN). Mutations of NOR, RIN, and the ethylene receptor Never-ripe (Nr), which block ethylene perception and inhibit ripening, have proven to be...

The involvement of ethylene in fruit ripening is well documented, though knowledge regarding the crosstalk between ethylene and other hormones in ripening is lacking. We discovered that AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR 2A (ARF2A), a recognized auxin signaling component, functions in the control of ripening. ARF2A expression is ripening regulated and reduced in the rin, nor and nr ripening mutants. It is a...

The ripening durations and ingredients for the Salchichon sausages were modified to increase pork rear leg consumption by Korean consumers. The salchichon, a ripened pork sausage, was produced to evaluate the efficacy of two different ripening durations with and without rosemary powder on salchichon sausage quality, and the treatments were: i) 45 days of ripening without rosemary, ii) 60 days o...

S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) functions as an enzyme catalyzing the reversible hydrolysis of S-adenosylhomocysteine to homocysteine and adenosine. In the present work we have investigated its role in the ripening process of tomato fruit. Among the three SlSAHH genes we demonstrated that SlSAHH2 was highly accumulated during fruit ripening and strongly responded to ethylene treatment. ...

Although a great deal of progress has been made toward understanding the role of abscisic acid (ABA) in fruit ripening, many components in the ABA signalling pathway remain to be elucidated. Here, a strawberry gene homologous to the Arabidopsis gene ABI1, named FaABI1, was isolated and characterized. The 1641bp cDNA includes an intact open reading frame that encodes a deduced protein of 546 ami...

Observations were made of the effects of several plant regulators, indole-3-acetic acid, kinetin, abscisic acid, and gibberellic acid, as well as of extracts prepared from leaves and fruit stalks on the respiration pattern, ethylene production, and the number of days to ripen of avocado fruits (Persea americana Mill.). These substances were vacuum infiltrated to insure good penetration and dist...