Chemical Constituents and Health Benefits of Four Chinese Plum Species

YOLOv7-Plum: Advancing Plum Fruit Detection in Natural Environments with Deep Learning

The plum is a kind of delicious and common fruit with high edible value and nutritional value. The accurate and effective detection of plum fruit is the key to fruit number counting and pest and disease early warning. However, the actual plum orchard environment is complex, and the detection of plum fruits has many problems, such as leaf shading and fruit overlapping. The traditional method of manually estimating the number of fruits and the presence of pests and diseases used in the plum growing industry has disadvantages, such as low efficiency, a high cost, and low accuracy. To detect plum fruits quickly and accurately in a complex orchard environment, this paper proposes an efficient plum fruit detection model based on an improved You Only Look Once version 7(YOLOv7). First, different devices were used to capture high-resolution images of plum fruits growing under natural conditions in a plum orchard in Gulin County, Sichuan Province, and a dataset for plum fruit detection was formed after the manual screening, data enhancement, and annotation. Based on the dataset, this paper chose YOLOv7 as the base model, introduced the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) attention mechanism in YOLOv7, used Cross Stage Partial Spatial Pyramid Pooling-Fast (CSPSPPF) instead of Cross Stage Partial Spatial Pyramid Pooling(CSPSPP) in the network, and used bilinear interpolation to replace the nearest neighbor interpolation in the original network upsampling module to form the improved target detection algorithm YOLOv7-plum. The tested YOLOv7-plum model achieved an average precision (AP) value of 94.91%, which was a 2.03% improvement compared to the YOLOv7 model. In order to verify the effectiveness of the YOLOv7-plum algorithm, this paper evaluated the performance of the algorithm through ablation experiments, statistical analysis, etc. The experimental results showed that the method proposed in this study could better achieve plum fruit detection in complex backgrounds, which helped to promote the development of intelligent cultivation in the plum industry.

Assessing the cytotoxicity of phenolic and terpene fractions extracted from Iraqi Prunus arabica on AMJ13 and SK-GT-4 human cancer cell lines

Background: Breast and esophageal cancer are the most aggressive and prominent causes of death worldwide. In addition, these cancers showed resistance to current chemotherapy regimens with limited success rates and fatal outcomes. Recently many studies reported the significant cytotoxic effects of phenolic and terpene fractions extracted from various Prunus species against different cancer cell lines. As a result, it has a good chance to be tested as a complement or replacement for standard chemotherapies. Methods: The study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxicity of phenolic and terpene fractions extracted from Iraqi Prunus arabica on breast (AMJ13) and esophageal (SK-GT-4) cancer cell lines by using the MTT assay (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide). Analysis using the Chou-Talalay method was performed to assess the synergistic effect between the extracted fractions and chemotherapeutic agent (docetaxel). Moreover, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was conducted for the quantitative determination of different bioactive molecules of both phenolic and terpene fractions in the extract. Results: According to the findings, the treatment modalities significantly decreased cancer cell viability of AMJ13 and SK-GT-4 and had insignificant cytotoxicity on the normal cells (normal human fibroblast cell line) (all less than 50% cytotoxicity). Analysis with Chou-Talalay showed a strong synergism with docetaxel on both cancer cell lines (higher cytotoxicity even in low concentrations) and failed to induce cytotoxicity on the normal cells. Important flavonoid glycosides and terpenoids were detected by HPLC, in particularly, ferulic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, β-sitosterol, and campesterol. Conclusions: In conclusion, the extracted fractions selectively inhibited the proliferation of both cancer cell lines and showed minimal cytotoxicity on normal cells. These fractions could be naturally derived drugs for treating breast and esophageal cancers.

Inhibition of α-Amylase, α-Glucosidase, Pancreatic Lipase, 15-Lipooxygenase and Acetylcholinesterase Modulated by Polyphenolic Compounds, Organic Acids, and Carbohydrates of Prunus domestica Fruit

This work aimed to establish the content of phenolic compounds, carbohydrates, and organic acids and to determine their potential to inactivate α-amylase, α-glucosidase, pancreatic lipase, 15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), and antioxidant activity (ABTS^o+ and FRAP) in 43 Prunus domestica cultivars. We identified 20 phenolic compounds, including, in the order of abundance, polymeric procyanidins, flavan-3-ols, phenolic acids, flavonols, and anthocyanins. The total content of phenolic compounds varied depending on the cultivar and ranged from 343.75 to 1419 mg/100 g d.w. The cultivars of Ś2, Ś11, and Ś16 accumulated the greatest amounts of polyphenols, while in cvs. Ś42, Ś35, and Ś20 polyphenols were the least abundant. The highest antioxidant potential of 7.71 (ABTS^o+) and 13.28 (FRAP) mmoL Trolox/100 g d.w. was confirmed for cv. Ś11. P. domestica fruits showed inhibitory activity toward α-amylase (2.63-61.53), α-glucosidase (0.19-24.07), pancreatic lipase (0.50-8.20), and lipoxygenase (15-LOX; 4.19-32.67), expressed as IC₅₀ (mg/mL). The anti-AChE effect was stronger than the anti-BuChE one. Cv. Ś3 did not inhibit AChE activity, while cv. Ś35 did not inhibit BuChE. Thanks to the abundance of biologically active compounds, P. domestica offers several health-promoting benefits and may prevent many diseases. For these reasons, they are worth introducing into a daily diet.

Efficiency of post-preparation treatment by gamma radiation to guarantee quality properties of plum molasses

PURPOSE

This study aimed to assess specific gamma irradiation doses to be applied as a post-preparation process to assure the chemical, physical and sensory properties of plum molasses (PM).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Samples of PM were treated with 0, 3, 6 and 9 kGy in a 60Co gamma irradiation plant. Proximate composition, chemical, the physical and sensory determination was accomplished immediately after treatment.

RESULTS

Our results showed that, the moisture content of PM were significantly (p < .05) rise by treating with 3 kGy. Whereas, ash and reducing sugar quantity of PM was significantly (p < .05) decreased by treatment at the same dose (3 kGy). Irradiation treatment induced small and not significant alterations (p > .05) in crude protein, crud fat, and total sugar of PM. The chemical and physical parameters including; total acidity (TA), pH, volatile basic nitrogen (VBN), total soluble solids (TSS) (%, Brix), viscosity and color, which were elected as the indicators of quality, were all well within the recommended values for PM treated with 0, 3, 6 and 9 kGy. Sensory determination indicated no significant (p > .05) alterations between irradiated samples and non-irradiated samples of PM.

CONCLUSION

Irradiation treatment at 3 kGy was considered as acceptable to be used for the preservation purpose of PM without modifying their quality properties.

Biostimulants promote the accumulation of carbohydrates and biosynthesis of anthocyanins in 'Yinhongli' plum

Biostimulants play an important role in promoting crop growth and development and improving fruit yield, but their influence on fruit quality in horticulture plants is still unclear. In this study, four types of biostimulants, Ainuo (AN), Aigefu (AG), Weiguo (WG), and Guanwu Shuang (GS) were applied to the fruit surface of 'Yinhongli' plum at 60 and 75 days after anthesis to investigate their effect on carbohydrates and biosynthesis of anthocyanins, and also analyze the relationship between sugar and anthocyanin accumulation during fruit color change to ripening. Results showed that all biostimulant treatments significantly improved fruit appearance quality, and increased single fruit weight and TSS/TA. Cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside, are the most important anthocyanins in the red skin of the 'Yinhongli' plum, and no anthocyanin was detected in the green skin. In addition, WG and GS treatments significantly increased the expression of structural genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis compared with the control, especially chalcone synthase (CHS) and flavonoid 3-O-glucosyltransferase (UFGT) at 95-105 d after anthesis, leading to anthocyanin accumulation 10 days earlier than the control. Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between total sugar and anthocyanin content during fruit coloring and ripening.

Prunus lusitanica L. Fruits as a Novel Source of Bioactive Compounds with Antioxidant Potential: Exploring the Unknown

Prunus lusitanica L., also known as Portuguese laurel or locally known as ‘azereiro’, is a rare species with ornamental and ecological value. Only two studies regarding the bioactivity and chemical composition of its leaves were reported to date. Thus, the present study aims to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the phenolic profile, through HPLC-PAD-ESI-MS/MS (high-performance liquid chromatography–photodiode array detection–electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry), as well as the radical scavenging capacity, through ABTS (2,2’-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1 picrylhydrazyl), and the reducing power (FRAP, ferric reducing antioxidant power) assays, of P. lusitanica fruits during a 4-year study. In total, 28 compounds were identified and quantified in the fruits, including 21 hydroxycinnamic acids (60.3%); 2 flavan-3-ols (27.9%), 2 anthocyanins (10.5%), 2 flavonols (1.0%), and 1 secoiridoid (0.3%). High antioxidant capacity was observed, with ABTS values ranging from 7.88 to 10.69 mmol TE (Trolox equivalents)/100 g fw (fresh weight), DPPH values from 5.18 to 8.17 mmol TE/100 g fw, and FRAP values from 8.76 to 11.76 mmol TE/100 g fw. According to these results, it can be concluded that these are rich sources of phenolic compounds with very promising antioxidant capacity and, therefore, with potential applications in the food and/or phytopharmaceutical sectors.

Phenotypic Variation and Peel Contribution to Fruit Antioxidant Contents in European and Japanese Plums

Herein, we studied the variation in leaf and fruit morphological traits and antioxidant contents in 43 local and foreign cultivars (cvs) grown under the same experimental conditions in the widely cultivated plum species Prunus domestica and Prunus salicina. The peel contribution of fruit bioactive compounds in a serving portion, correlations among the examined parameters, and group patterns in each plum species were also studied. The species and cvs were sufficiently separated. Compared to Japanese cvs, European cvs had less elongated leaves and smaller and sweeter fruit with less total phenol and antioxidant capacities. The Japanese cvs 'Red ace' and the widely grown 'Black Amber', together with the European 'Tuleu Dulce', 'BlueFre', and the landrace 'Asvestochoriou' make up groups with rich dietary sources of phytochemicals. The peel tissue contained higher total phenols and antioxidant capacities compared to the flesh, while the peel/flesh ratios varied widely among the cvs (6.6-fold). The variation in the antioxidant contents was lower among the cvs calculated per serving portion (3.7-fold); yet the peel tissue contribution was equal to that of the flesh (48.6%), signifying its high nutritive value. We observed increased sweetness in the fruit in the later-harvested cultivars, while cvs with more blue- and red-colored peel generally contained higher antioxidant contents mainly in the European plums. Moreover, larger fruit sizes were positively correlated with larger and more elliptic leaf shapes. In conclusion, the significant role of the genotype and the peel tissue as a source of bioactive compounds in plums were outlined with prospects of utilization in future breeding programs.

Nutritional and Bioactive Characterization of Sicana odorifera Naudim Vell. Seeds By-Products and Its Potential Hepatoprotective Properties in Swiss Albino Mice

The "Kurugua" (Sicana odorifera) is a native fruit that demonstrates attractive nutritional, coloring, flavoring, and antioxidant properties. The main by-products from the processing and consumption of kurugua fruit are epicarp and seeds. In this work, the properties of the seeds of S. odorifera were evaluated. The nutritional composition of the fruit seeds was determined through AOAC official methods and UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS profiling. The antioxidant activities were determined using in vitro methods, and the acute toxicity and hepatoprotective properties were investigated in Swiss albino mice. Quercetin derivatives and cucurbitacins were the main phytochemicals in the seeds' methanolic extract and demonstrated some biological activities. GC-MS analysis revealed the essential fatty acids linolenic and linoleic as the main compounds present in seeds oil. The methanolic extract significantly reduced the serum levels of glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) in mice with induced hepatotoxicity (GPT p < 0.05; GOT p < 0.001) at the minor concentration tested (100 mg/kg EMSo). The results suggest that the S. odorifera seeds as by-products show potential use as a source of phytochemicals and in the production of oils with application in food supplements and nutraceuticals. Their integral use could contribute to waste reduction from kurugua fruits processing within the food safety and environmental sustainability framework.