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During storage, many apple (Malus ×domestica Borkh.) genotypes lose their desirable textural qualities, but some like `Honeycrisp', maintain their sensory Crispness and Firmness. To understand this differential response of genotypes to postharvest changes in texture, reliable and quantifiable methods of texture measurement are needed. This study integrated data from a snapping test, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and sensory panels to study postharvest textural changes and to predict sensory textural attributes of Firmness, Crispness, Mealiness, and Juiciness. Three separate analyses on fresh, stored, and combined fresh and stored fruit data yielded different predictors for the same sensory attributes. Change in Crispness during storage was successfully predicted by change in Work during storage. Cell number and size were related to fresh fruit texture and its maintenance during storage. Unique textural properties of `Honeycrisp' were found to be inherited by its progeny.
Veratrum californicum, a native of the western United States, has long been used in herbal medicine and now also has potential pharmaceutical uses. As a result of a projected increasing demand for V. californicum biomass for pharmaceutical purposes, the development of a chilling protocol for enhanced cultivation efficiency is needed. To study the effects of chilling on the growth of V. californicum, field-collected rhizomes with attached bulbs and roots were potted, stored at 10 °C for 2 weeks, and subsequently chilled at 5 °C for 30 to 180 days before transfer to a greenhouse or growth room. Twenty plants were transferred to the greenhouse every 30 days to observe growth. Ten plants were harvested at shoot emergence and the remaining 10 when leaves were fully expanded. In addition, 10 plants were transferred from 5 °C to a growth room every 30 days where net photosynthetic rates were measured. Longer chilling duration correlated with a reduction in days to shoot emergence and leaf expansion. The net photosynthetic rates of V. californicum plants chilled for 120, 150, or 180 days were higher than those of plants chilled for only 30, 60, or 90 days. Plants exposed to longer chilling durations were taller and had larger, more numerous leaves. Interestingly, V. californicum shoot emergence was also observed in the dark at 5 °C after the bulbs had been stored for 210 days. Growth of the root systems of plants was also observed during chilling. In conclusion, chilling was necessary at 5 °C for a minimum of 120 days to force early emergence and vigorous growth of V. californicum.