Dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.), an important tropical fruit belonging to the family Cactaceae, is rich in essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, dietary fibres and antioxidants. This study aims to distinguish three dragon fruit species well adapted to Andaman and Nicobar Island through morphological (34 quantitative and 26 qualitative traits), biochemical (5 traits) and molecular (14 ISSR primers) characterization. Morphological characterization revealed that presence of considerable amount of genetic variations among them especially for fruit characters viz., colour of peel and pulp. Cladode characters such as number of spines (3–5), length of areoles (mm) as 1–4, margin ribs of cladode (convex or concave) and its waxiness (weak or strong white waxy or light waxy) could be used for identification of three Hylocereus spp. under present study. Highest co-efficient of variation (%) obtained for pulp weight (88.7), whereas, lowest in distance of anthers belowstigma (3.3). Fruit and pulp weight (g) ranged from 26.5–419.3 and 10.3–258.8 with mean value of 204.8 and 125.3, respectively. Comparatively, high phenol (71.3–161.3) and flavonoid (26.6–508.2) content observed in peels than pulp (32.5–130.0 and 45.0–258.2) of fruit indicating higher antioxidant potential. Highest total carotenoids (µg 100 g−1), β-carotene (µg 100 g−1) and xanthophyll (µg g−1) content obtained in pulp on DGF3 (33.8), DGF4 (55.9) and DGF3 (32.7), whereas, in peel on DGF2 (24.3), DGF4 (18.5) and DGF2 (24.1), respectively. DPPH-based scavenging activity (%) revealed higher scavenging activity of peels (55.6–81.2) than pulp (36.0–75.3) extracts. Comparatively, ABTS-based scavenging activity (%) was found more than DPPH-based one. Sixteen ISSR primers screened, 14 were produced 178 reproducible amplified bands. Number of amplified bands varied from 5 in UBC887 to 19 in UBC811 with an average of 12.71 bands per primer. Range of polymorphic bands and % polymorphism observed were 1–13 and 20.0–92.8, respectively. The polymorphic information content value of ISSR marker ranged from 0.42 (UBC895) to 0.91 (UBC 856). Cluster analysis distinguished three different Hylocereus species on the basis of geographic origin and pulp colour by forming separate groups and two genotypes each showed 52% (DGF1 and DGF3) and 76% (DGF2 and DGF4) genetic similarity. Key traits identified for distinguishing three different Hylocereus species were: Pulp/ peel colour of fruits, number of spines and length of areoles in cladode. Genotypes with high carotenoid and xanthophylls content (DGF4 and DGF2) identified under present study may be of industrial importance for development of nutraceutical products to meet out the vitamin-A deficiency among humans in tropical regions needed future focus.
Experiments were conducted to study the kinetics of colour change of yellow sweet pepper during microwave-assisted convective drying at power levels of 280, 210, 140, and 70 W; temperatures of 60, 45, and 30 • C; and a constant air velocity of 1.5 m/s. Colour change kinetics were determined using Hunter's primary L, a, b values, chroma, hue, total colour change (E), and browning index (BI) values. The results indicated that the degradation of a, E, and hue followed zero order kinetics and L, b, chroma, and browning index followed first order kinetics. The rate constant was assumed to have Arrhenius-type dependence on temperature. Again, based on activation energy, b and hue parameters proved to be the most sensitive measures of color change, which could be taken into account during thermal processing of capsicum for getting a quality product.
Total phenol, flavonoid, carotenoid and antioxidant activity of four green macroalgae (Halimeda tuna, Halimeda macroloba, Enteromorpha sp. and Acetabularia acetabulum) collected from South Andaman coast were analysed in this study. The results revealed that methanol extract of Enteromorpha sp. showed maximum phenolic, flavonoid and carotenoid content of 5.72±0.13 mg GAE/g, 21.15±1.05 mg RE/g and 47.78±0.46 µg/g respectively. All the analysed macroalgae species exhibited antioxidant activities in dose dependent manner among which Enteromorpha sp. demonstrated greater antioxidant potential. A. acetabulum exhibited greater ABTS (2, 2-azinobiz-3-ethylbenthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging ability (92%) as evident by its low IC 50 (6.30 mg/ml) in comparison to other species. Based on factor analysis, up to two principal components were chosen to explain variability in 10 independent phytochemicals. The antioxidant potential reveals their potential for future applications in medicine, dietary supplements as well as the natural source of immunostimulants.
Modified atmosphere storage (MAS) structure of 100 kg capacity has been developed for prolonging the shelf life of fresh guava. The influence of MAS on guava was investigated at 10 and 25 °C of storage temperature with unpacked guava as control. During storage study, the quality parameters of MAS stored guava, namely physiological weight loss (PWL), firmness, color (L*, a*, b*) and total soluble solids (TSS) were found to be 5.49%, 143.78 N, 76.20, 5.58, 50.81 and 12.3 ˚brix respectively, after 9 days of storage at 25 °C and were very close to that of fresh guava. The quality analysis revealed that at 10 and 25 °C, guava can be stored up to 20 and 9 days respectively under MAS as compared to control sample having 7 and 4 days at 10 and 25 °C, respectively. Therefore, the developed MAS system can be widely used for handling, transportation and retailing of guava. Practical application The developed modified atmosphere storage (MAS) system has increased the shelf life of Guava up to 20 and 9 days at 10 °C and 25 °C, respectively. This extended period will be very much effective for providing the buffer period to the fresh Guava and facilitate extra time to the farmers for its marketing. The uniquely developed MAS system is helpful for the farmers for on-farm storage of fresh Guava at a large scale and will provide smooth handling and transportation for retailing and marketing.
The extent of morphological variation among farmers’ varieties of urdbean was assessed using 21 DUS and 9 agronomic parameters. A set of 56 farmers’ varieties collected from different parts of the Andaman Islands were assessed for genetic diversity. Cluster analysis assigned farmers’ varieties into groups on the basis of agronomic performance rather than their origin and was identified 9 homogeneous clusters, it was able to separate 56 farmers’ varieties based on morphological and agronomic traits. Using cluster analysis by unweighted pair group with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) method and grouping of all farmers’ varieties exhibited the presence of wide genetic diversity by the formation of 9 clusters. Cluste- I had maximum number of farmers’ varieties i.e. 26 while, cluster VIII had only one (ANFVU-11-29). The pattern of distribution of farmers’ varieties into clusters assigned on the basis of agro-morphological performance and demonstrating that geographical isolation may not be the only factor causing genetic diversity. Intra cluster distance analysis revealed that minimum intra cluster distance was observed in cluster I. The maximum inter cluster distance has to be found in cluster VIII and IX. Therefore, it was concluded that more emphasis should be given on cluster I, II, VIII and IX for selecting farmers’ varieties as parents for crossing with the farmers’ varieties of cluster I which may produce new recombinants with desired traits.
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