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Blueberries (Vaccinium sp.) have a long history of use in native and folk medicine in North America and Europe. Today the European blueberry (bilberry) is used in a variety of pharmaceutical and food supplement products that are recommended for treating blood vessel disorders and ophthalmological conditions. Anthocyanins, the pigments that impart the blue color to blueberries, are considered the active ingredient in bilberry health products, although other related flavonoids are biomedically useful. Vaccinium flavonoids are antioxidants and are also recognized for their anticarcinogenic properties and usefulness in treating urinary tract infections. The most immediate, and perhaps greatest, opportunity for a health market for North American blueberries may be in promoting blueberries as a healthy food. As researchers continue to explore the biomedical usefulness of blueberries, the blueberry food industry should strive to retain the healthful phytochemical in their products.
The aroma of fresh strawberries is composed of a mixture of volatile compounds with no single compound responsible for the characteristic strawberry aroma. Volatiles produced in strawberries are predominately esters, although alcohols, ketones, and aldehydes are also present in smaller quantities. The major volatiles contributing to aroma include ethyl butanoate, 2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone, ethyl hexanoate, methyl butanoate, linalool, and methyl hexanoate. There are qualitative and quantitative differences in volatile composition between cultivars. Headspace concentration of volatiles from 5 cultivars were 0.4, 1.7, 5.6, 5.8, and 14.3 mol·m–3 for `Honeoye', `Cavendish', `Micmac', `Kent', and `Annapolis', respectively. During fruit maturation on the plant, aroma volatile synthesis coincides with color formation, and continues to increase until the fruit is over-ripe. Volatile concentration increases about 4-fold in the 24-hr period required for fruit to ripen from 50% red to fully red on the plant. Volatile composition continues to change after harvest and is affected by storage temperature, atmosphere composition, and light. The concentration of ethyl esters increases while methyl esters remain constant in fruit held at 0°C, but, when fruit are warmed to 15°C, the reverse is true. Holding strawberries in 10 to 20 kPa of CO2 may increase concentrations of ethyl esters in the fruit. Light increases the production of volatiles in stored strawberries. Methods to control strawberry aroma will be discussed.
The chemical composition of the lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton) cultivars Blomidon, Cumberland, and Fundy were examined at three stages of fruit maturity, before and after refrigerated storage, in a 2-year study. There were differences (P< 0.001) related to maturity and cultivar in berry fresh weight, percentage dry matter, fruit firmness, percentage soluble solids, titratable acidity, and the concentration of sugar, acids, and anthocyanins. Among the nine organic and phenolic acids measured, seven acids varied among the maturity groups and eight varied among the cultivars. Between the 2 years of study there was a 60% difference in total fruit acid content as well as in the relative amounts of each acid. The 2-year mean profile of lowbush blueberry acids was distinctly different from that recently reported for highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) and rabbiteye blueberries (Vaccinium ashei Reade). The level of certain acids as well as the concentration of anthocyanins increased during cold storage. Estimation of sugar concentration by percentage soluble solids overestimated sugar concentration by 3070. Acid measurement by titration underestimated acid content as measured by HPLC by 61%. Results of this study illustrate the variation in the chemical composition of lowbush blueberry fruit among cultivars, maturities, and seasons, and can be used to compare lowbush blueberries with other Vaccinium species.
The effect of ethylene on tuber sprout growth and quality in potato (Solanum tuberosum L. `Russet Burbank') was tested in laboratory and commercial studies for 6 and 3 years, respectively, in comparison with untreated (laboratory study) and CIPC-treated tubers (laboratory and commercial studies). In both studies, ethylene was applied continuously at 166 μmol·m-3 for at least 25 weeks, beginning in early December (laboratory study) or early December to early January (commercial study). In the laboratory study, ethylene delayed the appearance of sprouts for 5 to 15 weeks, compared with untreated tubers. In the ethylene-treated tubers in both studies, sprouts appeared on many eyes but most of them remained very small (<5 mm long). Longer sprouts (>5 mm) appeared after 15 weeks but did not exceed 12 and 59 mm in the laboratory and commercial studies, respectively. Sprouts on ethylene-treated tubers were more easily detached up to 6 weeks after ethylene treatment ended, compared with untreated tubers. In both studies, ethylene treatment was not associated with decay, disorder or internal sprouting problems. In both studies, the Agtron fry color [or U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) color grade] of ethylene-treated tubers was darker than CIPC-treated tubers at almost all sampling times. Continuous exposure to ethylene was an effective sprout control agent but it produced a darker fry color, compared with CIPC-treated potatoes.