Nutritional Quality of Fruits and Vegetables

Horticultural crops are some of the main components of a healthy diet. The constituents obtained by the human body from fruits and vegetables include water, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fi ber, minerals, organic acids, pigments, vitamins and antioxidants, among others. Fruits and vegetables, especially, are a good source of fi ber, selected minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Most fruits and vegetables are available almost year-round in a wide variety and they not only taste good, but they also have favorable attributes of texture, color, fl avor and ease of use. They can be fresh, cooked, hot or cold, canned, pickled, frozen or dried. Fruits and vegetables are consumed at all times, and due to their convenient size; they are an excellent between-meal snack. They are relatively low in calories and fat (avocado and olives being the exceptions), they have no cholesterol, they are rich in carbohydrates and fi ber, they contain vitamin C and carotene, and some are a good source of vitamin B 6 . Fruits and vegetables are relatively low in sodium and high in potassium. Ascorbic acid in fruits and vegetables enhances the bioavailability of iron in the diet. Because of all these characteristics, fruits and vegetables have a unique role in a healthy diet. A growing body of research has shown that fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with reduced risk of major diseases, and possibly delayed onset of age-related disorders, promoting good health. However, in many cases fruit and vegetable consumption is still below the dietary guideline goal of consuming 5–10 servings each day. The nutritional value of fruits and vegetables depends on their composition, which shows a wide range of variation depending on the species, cultivar and maturity stage. The composition of fruits and vegetables includes a great number of metabolites however, it could be predicted that no single commodity might be rich in all these constituents. This chapter describes the general characteristics of the components of fruits and vegetables, related to their benefi ts as food sources.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Rootstocks can enhance tomato growth and quality characteristics at low potassium supply

WOS: 000314431500012Grafting is nowadays regarded as a rapid tool aimed at increasing environmental stress tolerance of fruit vegetables. In cultivation systems oversupply of cations, saline or drought conditions and the type of the growing system can easily cause potassium (le) deficiency and thus, lead to a damage of physiological processes. The hypothesis was raised that rootstocks alleviate stress symptoms of tomato at moderate deficient K supply (4 mM) compared with regular (8 mM) in the nutrient solution. Moreover, the long-term response of grafted plants ('Classy', 'Piccolino') was studied to quantify the effectiveness of rootstocks ('Maxifort' and 'Brigeor') in mitigating K+ stress particularly on tomato yield and fruit quality attributes, such as appearance, firmness, taste and health promoting compounds. K+ deficiency resulted in a reduction of root growth, yield, fruit appearance, and carotenoids. On the other hand, firmness and concentration on single and total fruit sugars increased. In most of the characteristics negatively affected by low K+ supply, grafting was able to alleviate these effects. Thus, rootstocks improved root growth and morphology, yield, concentration of carotenoids and also titratable acids in fruits especially at low ICE supply. The portion of blossom end rot was reduced. However, the alleviation depended on the rootstock scion combination. Possible reasons of the rootstock effects were discussed, such as change in dry matter partitioning in favour of the fruits, improved Ca2+ availability and transport, increased photosynthesis and associated relationship between sugar and synthesis of ascorbic acid and carotenoids. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Ministries of Agriculture, Food, and Consumer Protection of the Federal Republic of GermanyThe Ministries of Agriculture, Food, and Consumer Protection of the Federal Republic of Germany supported the study. The excellent technical assistance of Gundula Aust, Andrea Maikath, and Andrea Jankowsky is appreciated as well

Unusual variability of PRRT2 linked phenotypes within a family

Background: Mutations in the proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2) gene on chromosome 16p11.2 have recently been identified as a cause of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesias (PKD), infantile convulsions and choreoathetosis (ICCA) syndrome or infantile convulsions (IC)

Synthesis and Characterization of Quantum Dot Nanoparticles Bound to the Plant Volatile Precursor of Hydroxy-apo-10′-carotenal

This study is focused on the synthesis and characterization of hydroxy-apo-10′-carotenal/quantum dot (QD) conjugates aiming at the <i>in vivo</i> visualization of β-ionone, a carotenoid-derived volatile compound known for its important contribution to the flavor and aroma of many fruits, vegetables, and plants. The synthesis of nanoparticles bound to plant volatile precursors was achieved via coupling reaction of the QD to C₂₇-aldehyde which was prepared from α-ionone via 12 steps in 2.4% overall yield. The formation of the QD-conjugate was confirmed by measuring its fluorescence spectrum to observe the occurrence of fluorescence resonance energy transfer