When anthropometric methods were introduced into clinical practice to quantify changes in the craniofacial framework, features distinguishing various races/ethnic groups were discovered. To treat congenital or post-traumatic facial disfigurements in members of these groups successfully, surgeons require access to craniofacial databases based on accurate anthropometric measurements. Normative data of facial measurements are indispensable to precise determination of the degree of deviations from the normal. The set of anthropometric measurements of the face in the population studied was gathered by an international team of scientists. Investigators in the country of the given ethnic group, experienced and/or specially trained in anthropometric methods, carried out the measurements. The normal range in each resultant database was then established, providing valuable information about major facial characteristics. Comparison of the ethnic groups' databases with the established norms of the North America whites (NAW) offered the most suitable way to select a method for successful treatment. The study group consisted of 1470 healthy subjects (18 to 30 years), 750 males and 720 females. The largest group (780 subjects, 53.1%) came from Europe, all of them Caucasians. Three were drawn from the Middle-East (180 subjects, 12.2%), five from Asia (300 subjects, 20.4%) and four from peoples of African origin (210 subjects, 14.3%). Their morphological characteristics were determined by 14 anthropometric measurements, 10 of them used already by classic facial artists, Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer, complemented by four measurements from the nasal, labio-oral and ear regions. In the regions with single measurements, identical values to NAW in forehead height, mouth width, and ear height were found in 99.7% in both sexes, while in those with multiple measurements, vertical measurements revealed a higher frequency of identical values than horizontal ones. The orbital regions exhibited the greatest variations in identical and contrasting measurements in comparison to NAW. Nose heights and widths contrasted sharply: in relation to NAW the nose was very or extremely significantly wide in both sexes of Asian and Black ethnic groups. Among Caucasians, nose height significantly differed from NAW in three ethnic groups, with one shorter and two greater. In the Middle Eastern groups nose width was identical to those of NAW but the height was significantly greater. The present study, conducted by investigators working separately across the world and with small samples of the population, is clearly preliminary in nature and extent. Yet it may fulfill its mission if medical and anthropological investigators continue the work of establishing normative data of the face. These data are urgently needed by medical professionals but have been lacking up till now in western and northern Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Fruits and vegetables are the most utilized commodities among all horticultural crops. They are consumed raw, minimally processed, as well as processed, due to their nutrients and health-promoting compounds. With the growing population and changing diet habits, the production and processing of horticultural crops, especially fruits and vegetables, have increased very significantly to fulfill the increasing demands. Significant losses and waste in the fresh and processing industries are becoming a serious nutritional, economical, and environmental problem. For example, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that losses and waste in fruits and vegetables are the highest among all types of foods, and may reach up to 60%. The processing operations of fruits and vegetables produce significant wastes of by-products, which constitute about 25% to 30% of a whole commodity group. The waste is composed mainly of seed, skin, rind, and pomace, containing good sources of potentially valuable bioactive compounds, such as carotenoids, polyphenols, dietary fibers, vitamins, enzymes, and oils, among others. These phytochemicals can be utilized in different industries including the food industry, for the development of functional or enriched foods, the health industry for medicines and pharmaceuticals, and the textile industry, among others. The use of waste for the production of various crucial bioactive components is an important step toward sustainable development. This review describes the types and nature of the waste that originates from fruits and vegetables, the bioactive components in the waste, their extraction techniques, and the potential utilization of the obtained bioactive compounds.

Mango fruit has a high nutritional value and health benefits due to important components. The present manuscript is a comprehensive update on the composition of mango fruit, including nutritional and phytochemical compounds, and the changes of these during development and postharvest. Mango components can be grouped into macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, lipids, fatty, and organic acids), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), and phytochemicals (phenolic, polyphenol, pigments, and volatile constituents). Mango fruit also contains structural carbohydrates such as pectins and cellulose. The major amino acids include lysine, leucine, cysteine, valine, arginine, phenylalanine, and methionine. The lipid composition increases during ripening, particularly the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The most important pigments of mango fruit include chlorophylls (a and b) and carotenoids. The most important organic acids include malic and citric acids, and they confer the fruit acidity. The volatile constituents are a heterogeneous group with different chemical functions that contribute to the aromatic profile of the fruit. During development and maturity stages occur important biochemical, physiological, and structural changes affecting mainly the nutritional and phytochemical composition, producing softening, and modifying aroma, flavor, and antioxidant capacity. In addition, postharvest handling practices influence total content of carotenoids, phenolic compounds, vitamin C, antioxidant capacity, and organoleptic properties.

Changes in fermentation volatiles and enzymes were studied in preclimacteric and postclimacteric `Bartlett' pears (Pyrus communis L.) kept in air, 0.25% O2, 20% O2 + 80% CO2, or 0.25% O2 + 80% CO2 at 20C for 1, 2, or 3 days. All three atmospheres resulted in accumulation of acetaldehyde, ethanol, and ethyl acetate. The postclimacteric pears had higher activity of pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) and higher concentrations of fermentation volatiles than those of the preclimacteric fruit. For the preclimacteric pears, the 0.25% O2 treatment dramatically increased alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity, which was largely due to the enhancement of one ADH isozyme. Exposure to 20% O2 + 80% CO2 slightly increased ADH activity, but the combination of 0.25% O2 + 80% CO2 resulted in lower ADH activity than 0.25% O2 alone. For the postclimacteric pears, the three atmospheres resulted in higher PDC and ADH activities than those of air control fruit. Ethanolic fermentation in `Bartlett' pears could be induced by low O2 and/or high CO2 via 1) increased amounts of PDC and ADH; 2) PDC and ADH activation caused by decreased cytoplasmic pH; or 3) PDC and ADH activation or more rapid fermentation due to increased concentrations of their substrates (pyruvate, acetaldehyde, or NADH).

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Purpose of the review:This review provides updated information on the research and application of modified and controlled atmospheres (MA and CA) for tropical crops. Recent findings:The increase in the demand and, thus, in the export of tropical crops, have increased the need to investigate and develop technologies that can maintain the quality and postharvest life of these crops for prolonged periods. MA and CA are adequate technologies that can help to extend the postharvest life of crops. MA and CA are not used for storage of tropical crops, but are used for their marine transport. Very little research has been done on MA/CA of tropical crops as compared with temperate fruits such as apples and pears. Most of the research was done on avocado, banana, mango, papaya and pineapple, while very little has been done on cassava, custard apple, feijoa, guava, lanzone, loquat, rambutan, sapodilla and sugar apple, and no research has been reported on atemoya, birba, breadfruit, cacao, carambola, cashew, coconut, jackfruit, langsat, longan, macadamia, mammee-apple, mamey, mountain apple, tomatillo, pulsan, white sapote, soursop, tamarind and yam. Directions for future research: 1) Potential benefits and ideal MA/CA conditions is still needed for intact and lightly-processed tropical crops, especially those for which little or no information is available. 2) Insecticidal atmospheres, especially in combination with other treatments such as heat, seem to be very promising and should be further investigated for all tropical crops. Information needed include the tolerance of different crops to these atmospheres, mortality of different species of insects, ideal gas composition, temperature, and duration of treatment. 3) The mode of action of MA/CA in alleviating some physiological disorders, especially chilling injury, is still not clearly understood. The mechanism by which some physiological disorders are initiated or augmented by MA/CA is also not yet understood. Research aimed at investigating the cause of and developing methods to control these physiological disorders will improve the application of MA/CA for tropical fruits. 4) The variable results reported for modified atmosphere packaging are due to use of variable conditions (differences in cultivars used, stages of maturity, types of films, sealing methods, sizes of packages, temperatures and relative humidity, etc). Therefore, experiments should be controlled to distinguish effects that are due to atmosphere modification from those due to other factors. 5) The behaviour of fruit after MA/CA is still not fully understood and, therefore, the methods of handling MA/CA-treated crops are not well established. Further research is needed to investigate the metabolic changes caused by MA/CA and, thus, to implement adequate methods of handling. 6) The potential use of low pressure atmosphere (LP) for transport of exotic tropical crops, especially those that are very sensitive to ethylene and do not require the addition of other gases (such as CO 2 and CO), should be further i...

Fruit and Vegetable Phytochemicals showed that in areas where garlic or onion production is very high, mortality rates from stomach cancer are very low. Colon Consumption of fruits and vegetables, and the associated vitamin C, carotene, and fiber, has been reported to reduce risk of colon cancer (Ziegler and others 1981). Since plant sterols are plentiful in vegetarian diets, the effect of ␤-sitosterol on colon tumor formation in rats treated with the carcinogen N-methyl-N-nitrosourea was studied by Raicht and others (1980). They have demonstrated that ␤-sitosterol nullified in part the effect of this direct-acting carcinogen on the colon. They suggest that plant sterols may have a protective dietary action to retard colon tumor formation, and therefore the beneficial effects of vegetarian diets may be enhanced because of the presence of these compounds. An increased risk of colon cancer has been associated with decreases in the frequency with which vegetables were eaten in a study of 214 females with cancer of the colon, and 182 females with cancer of the rectum yielded similar results (Graham and others 1978). The decrease in risk was found to be associated with frequent ingestion of vegetables, especially cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli, and it is consistent with the decreased numbers of tumors observed in animals challenged with carcinogens and fed compounds found in these same vegetables. Associations between fruit, vegetable, and dietary fiber consumption and colorectal cancer risk were investigated in a population that consumes relatively low amounts of fruit and vegetables and high amounts of cereals (Terry and others 2001). Data were examined from a food-frequency questionnaire used in a population-based prospective mammography screening study of women in central Sweden. Women with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer were identified by linkage to regional cancer registries, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate relative risks; all statistical tests were two-sided. During an average 9.6 years of follow-up of 61,463 women, 460 incident cases of colorectal cancer were observed. In the entire studied population, total fruit and vegetable consumption was inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk, but subanalyses showed that this association was largely due to fruit consumption. The association was stronger and the dose-response effect was more evident among individuals who consumed the lowest amounts of fruit and vegetables; individuals who consumed less than 1.5 servings of fruit and vegetables/day had a higher relative risk of developing colorectal cancer compared with individuals who consumed greater than 2.5 servings. Diets containing citrus fiber have been reported to reduce the risk of intestinal cancer. The effect of dietary dehydrated citrus fiber on carcinogenesis of the colon and small intestine was studied in male F344 rats by Reddy and others (1981). Weanling rats were fed semipurified diets containing 5% fat and 15% citrus fiber; at 7 weeks of age, all animals, exc...