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- Author or Editor: D. A. Smittle x
Abstract
Seed of 11 cultivars of snap bean, Phaseolus vulgaris L., were separated by aerodynamic properties in a vertical air column. Seed physical characteristics associated with air column separation were weight, density, volume, diameter, and length. The separation technique did not affect seed germination, seedling emergence, or plant survival at full expansion of the first trifoliate leaf growth stage. However, seed remaining in the air column after aspiration produced fewer weak plants and fewer plants with root rot at the first trifoliate leaf. These seed produced a greater plant stand, a greater pod weight per plant, a more uniform pod size distribution, and a greater yield at harvest than the seed removed. Yield from seed remaining after air column aspiration was 21% greater than from non-graded seed.
Abstract
Ethylene is produced by cucumber fruits (Cucumis sativus L.), at a rate which is size dependent. Small fruits (<2.6 cm diam) produced substantially more ethylene/kg fruit than did large fruits (2.6-3.8 and 3.8-5.1 cm diameter). Respiration was similarly affected. Mechanically harvested fruits produced 2 to 3 times more ethylene than did hand-harvested fruits. Texture profile analysis (TPA) of cross-sections of fruits treated 48 hr with 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 µl/liter ethylene indicated little change in textural parameters at concentrations below 10.0 µl/liter. Ethylene treatment, especially high concentrations, decreased fruit chlorophyll content. Greatest chlorophyll loss was at the stem-end of the fruit. Ambient concentrations of ethylene in well-ventilated trucks of cucumbers were not great enough to present a quality problem for processing cucumbers.