Nonanthocyanin secondary metabolites potentially contributing to the antiproliferative bioactivity of black raspberry ( Rubus occidentalis L.) fruits were extracted in ethyl acetate and isolated by semipreparative and analytical HPLC and analyzed by NMR, HPLC-ESI-MS, and ESI-MS/MS techniques. Here we present complete and partial structures of a variety of the chemical entities such as quercetin 3-glucoside, quercetin 3-rutinoside, myricetin glucoside, dihydrokaempferol glucoside, benzoic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, epicatechin, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, p-coumaryl glucoside, p-coumaryl sugar ester, ellagic acid, methyl ellagic acid acetylpentose, methyl ellagic acid valerylpentose, trans-piceid, phloretin glucoside (phloridzin), dihydrosinapic acid, salicylic acid β-d-glucopyranosyl ester, a salicylic acid derivative without attached sugar, p-alkylphenyl glucoside, and a citric acid derivative. To our knowledge, 15 of these compounds were not previously reported in black raspberry fruits.

Identical trials were conducted in a multibay high tunnel and an adjacent open field in southwestern Michigan to compare primocane-fruiting cultivars (Autumn Britten, Caroline, Chinook, Heritage) and floricane-fruiting cultivars (Canby, Encore, Heritage, Nova) of red raspberry (Rubus idaeus). Floricane-fruiting plots of ‘Heritage’ were pruned to produce fruit on floricanes and primocanes (double cropping). The most productive cultivars in both environments were ‘Nova’ and ‘Canby’ (floricane) and ‘Caroline’ and ‘Heritage’ (primocane). These cultivars produced annual yields of 5.5 kg·m−1 row in the tunnel and 2.5 kg·m−1 row in the field. The order of primocane harvest (earliest to latest) was the same in the tunnel and field: ‘Autumn Britten’, ‘Caroline’, ‘Chinook’, and ‘Heritage’. Cultivars with the greatest average berry weight in the tunnel and field were Encore and Nova (floricane) and Autumn Britten and Caroline (primocane). ‘Chinook’ and ‘Autumn Britten’ tended to have the highest incidence of gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) of primocane-fruiting cultivars, but incidence was similar in floricane cultivars. Overall mold incidence was 1% in the tunnel and 13% in the field. Leaf spot (Sphaerulina rubi), cane anthracnose (Elsinoe veneta), spur blight (Didymella applanata), and botrytis cane blight (B. cinerea) were common in the field but absent in tunnel. Phytonutritional analyses of primocane fruit indicated that genotype differences were not consistent across the two environments. Relative cultivar characteristics (harvest season, yield, berry quality) were similar in the field and tunnels, but the tunnel environment tended to increase plant vigor, yield, and fruit quality and suppress several diseases.

Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.) (BR) fruit extracts with differing compound profiles have shown variable antiproliferative activities against HT-29 colon cancer cell lines. This study used partial least-squares (PLS) regression analysis to develop a high-resolution (1)H NMR-based multivariate statistical model for discerning the biological activity of BR constituents. This model identified specific bioactive compounds and ascertained their relative contribution against cancer cell proliferation. Cyanidin 3-rutinoside and cyanidin 3-xylosylrutinoside were the predominant contributors to the extract bioactivity, but salicylic acid derivatives (e.g., salicylic acid glucosyl ester), quercetin 3-glucoside, quercetin 3-rutinoside, p-coumaric acid, epicatechin, methyl ellagic acid derivatives (e.g., methyl ellagic acetyl pentose), and citric acid derivatives also contributed significantly to the antiproliferative activity of the berry extracts. This approach enabled the identification of new bioactive components in BR fruits and demonstrates the utility of the method for assessing chemopreventive compounds in foods and food products.

Temporal diversity of Taraxacum kok-saghyz plants reveals high rubber yield phenotypes. Biodiversitas 17: 847-856. Taraxacum koksaghyz is a diploid, out-crossing, rubber-producing species under development as an alternative natural rubber crop. About 17,650 seed were obtained from progeny of 20 wild collected plants. New populations of plants were developed in Ohio from a random subsample of these seed, which were then open pollinated. In November 2011, these seed were direct seeded in outdoor shallow raised beds and in high tunnel deep raised beds. Plants were harvested from the outdoor beds from July 2012 to July 2013 to provide temporal phenotypic data as plants developed and overwintered. The high tunnel beds were harvested July 2013, and provided data on 11 individual accessions, and their progeny, and on the effect of winter bed heating. Plants were highly variable. Rubber concentration in root tissue was not directly correlated with root, shoot or plant size. Across all growing conditions and developmental stage, the highest rubber yields per plant were found in plants with large roots combined with a large rosette, and an above average rubber concentration. These parameters appeared to segregate independently, and rubber concentration was heritable. Interbreeding plants selected for large root, large rosette and then high rubber concentration, should rapidly move Taraxacum kok-saghyz towards domestication and commercialization.

To investigate phytonutrient accumulation in black raspberries, fruits of `Jewel' and `MacBlack' were harvested at stages from the onset of color development (S1) to ripe fruit (S7). S1–S7 samples were characterized for color reflectance and then frozen at –28 °C within an hour of harvest. Additional ripe fruit were maintained at 20 °C for 3 days to overripen (S8) before freezing. After storage, samples were analyzed for dry weight (DW), total soluble solids (TSS), fructose (FRU), glucose (GLU), and organic acid (ORG) contents; total phenolic (PHE) and anthocyanin (ACY) contents; individual cyanidin glycoside levels (ICG); and antioxidant capacity (FRAP and ABTS) by standard methodology. `Jewel' and `MacBlack' ripened similarly. Chroma values and DW percentage decreased while TSS levels, sugar contents (FRU+GLU), PHE, ACY, the ACY: PHE ratio, and ICG increased with progressive ripening stages (S1–S7). Values of PHE, ACY, and ICG were highly correlated (r < +0.95) with FRAP and ABTS values. ACY levels in S6 fruit were 18% to 23% less than those of S7; lower S6 ACY levels were associated with reduced antioxidant capacity in `MacBlack', but not `Jewel'. Overripened fruit (S8) exhibited increased DW (11% to 25%) and decreased sugar contents (16% to 17%), consistent with moisture and respiratory losses after harvest. After correction for these losses, S7 and S8 levels of PHE, ACY, FRAP, and ABTS were similar in `MacBlack'. However, as `Jewel' overripened, ACY levels and antioxidant activity increased 44% and 22% to 26%, respectively. Our data suggests that significant changes in the antioxidant behavior of black raspberries can occur during the periods surrounding peak ripeness.