Anatomical observations of anthocyanin rich cells in `Fuji' apple skins were carried out by light microscopy and electron microscopy. Apple skins with fully developed red color had more layers of anthocyanin-containing epidermal cells than those of green skins. The density of anthocyanin was high in cells of the outer layer of the fruit skins and gradually decreased inward to the flesh. Anthocyanins were frequently found in clusters or in agglomerations that were round in the epidermal cells of the red skins. They accumulated in the inner side of developed vacuoles. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the shapes of anthocyanins were cluster style, indeterminable forms, or complete spheres. Anthocyanin seemed to be synthesized around the tonoplast and condensed on the inward side of the vacuole. There was no distinct envelope membrane on the anthocyanin granule in the vacuoles of apple skin cells.

Abstract. Changes in physicochemical characteristics were investigated during fruit development in 'Maehyang', 'Seolhyang', 'Keumhyang', 'Akihime', and 'Red Pearl' strawberries. Fresh weights and color parameters of strawberry fruits changed significantly during the fruit development in all cultivars. Fruit shapes of 'Maehyang' and 'Akihime' were conical, with an index of length to width being 1.5 and that of 'Seolhyang', 'Keumhyang', and 'Red Pearl' were cordate, the index being 1.3. Firmness decreased as the fruit developed in all cultivars. Contents of sugars, organic acids, ascorbic acid, and anthocyanin increased as the fruits developed while the ellagic acid content decreased. Sugars, ascorbic acid, and anthocyanin contents of 'Maehyang', 'Seolhyang', and 'Keumhyang' were higher than those of 'Akihime' and 'Red Pearl'. Results indicate that newly-bred Korean strawberry cultivars containing high levels of bioactive compounds were superior to major Japanese cultivars that have been broadly cultivated in East Asian countries.Additional key words: anthocyanin, ascorbic acid, ellagic acid, organic acid, ripening, sugar Hort.

A higher concentration of H2O2 was detected in the sense transgenic potato plant (SS4) with the lily chCu,ZnSOD sequence, whereas higher levels of O2(-) was detected in the antisense transgenic plant (SA1) than the WT plant. The elongation growth in SA1 was significantly inhibited by treatment with diphenyleneiodonium, an inhibitor of O2(-) generation, and promoted in the SS4 on treatment with herbicide methyl viologen, a generator of apoplastic O2(-) . Higher concentrations of GAs were detected during plant growth and the early stage of tuberization in SA1. Complete recovery of the above elongation growth and microtuberization pattern in transgenic plants following treatment of GA(3) or an inhibitor of gibberellin synthesis, paclobutrazol, indicate that these changes were mainly caused by active GA levels. In conclusion, a specific ROS (O2(-) ) acts as a signal transducer via GA biosynthetic pathways for the regulation of plant growth and tuber development of potato.

No abstract

The amount of cellular components including soluble sugars, amino acids, organic acids and glucosinolates (GLS) was investigated during radish root processing to develop a radish beverage. The radish root was divided into two parts, white and green tissue, and processed separately by extracting the juice from the fresh tissue and from the boiled tissue to compare differences in the components content among the preparations. The overall palatability of both the fresh and boiled extracts from the green part of the radish was higher than that of the same extracts from the white part. The sweetness of extract by boiling increased and its pungency decreased, thereby the palatability increased by being compared to the fresh radish extract. The sweetness was affected by sucrose not by glucose or fructose of monosaccharides by showing different sucrose contents according to treatment comparing palatability. Malic acid was identified as primary organic acid, and the content was higher in both the fresh and boiled extracts from the white part than in the extracts from the green part of the radish. The fresh extract from the green part of the radish contained more essential amino acids, such as threonine and valine, and more hydrophilic amino acids including glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and arginine than those of the fresh extract from the white part, suggesting the green fresh part is more palatable than the white fresh part. The main sulfur compound was ethylthiocyanate in radish, and others were butyl isothiocyanate, dimethyl-disulfide, and 4-methylthio-3-butylisothiocyanate. The four GLS were detected much more in the fresh green and fresh white parts of the radish because they evaporated during boiling. The contents of the four sulfur compounds were higher in the white fresh part than in the green fresh part, which is likely the reason the pungency was higher and the palatability was lower in the white fresh part than in the green fresh part of the radish. The ascorbic acid content was higher in the fresh extract compared to the boiled extracts from both the green and white parts. Taken together, these findings indicate that fresh radish extract is superior to obtain in terms of retaining desirable nutritional and functional components for health.