Abstract: Fruit drying is a well known process mostly used for
preservation of fruits. Osmotic dehydration of apricot slices were
carried out in three different salt-sucrose concentrations and four
different temperatures. Also three different weight ratios of solution
to sample were conducted to one set of experiments. The dehydration
curves were constructed using Peleg-s model. Increasing the solution
volume increased the mass transfer rate and hence the solid gain
increased rapidly. Increasing the volume of osmotic media caused an
increase in overall mass transfer but a 'solution to sample' ratio of 5:1
gave the best product quality. The best temperature and concentration
that had a high water loss to solid gain ratio and an acceptable taste
were 40°C and 5%, respectively.
Abstract: The use of synthetic retardants in polymeric insulated
cables is not uncommon in the high voltage engineering to study
electrical treeing phenomenon. However few studies on organic
materials for the same investigation have been carried. .This paper
describes the study on the effects of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch
(OPEFB) microfiller on the tree initiation and propagation in silicone
rubber with different weight percentages (wt %) of filler to insulation
bulk material. The weight percentages used were 0 wt % and 1 wt %
respectively. It was found that the OPEFB retards the propagation of
the electrical treeing development. For tree inception study, the
addition of 1(wt %) OPEFB has increase the tree inception voltage of
silicone rubber. So, OPEFB is a potential retardant to the initiation
and growth of electrical treeing occurring in polymeric materials for
high voltage application. However more studies on the effects of
physical and electrical properties of OPEFB as a tree retardant
material are required.
Abstract: In the end of the day, meteorological data and environmental data becomes widely used such as plant varieties selection system. Variety plant selection for planted area is of almost importance for all crops, including varieties of sugarcane. Since sugarcane have many varieties. Variety plant non selection for planting may not be adapted to the climate or soil conditions for planted area. Poor growth, bloom drop, poor fruit, and low price are to be from varieties which were not recommended for those planted area. This paper presents plant varieties selection system for planted areas in Thailand from meteorological data and environmental data by the use of decision tree techniques. With this software developed as an environmental data analysis tool, it can analyze resulting easier and faster. Our software is a front end of WEKA that provides fundamental data mining functions such as classify, clustering, and analysis functions. It also supports pre-processing, analysis, and decision tree output with exporting result. After that, our software can export and display data result to Google maps API in order to display result and plot plant icons effectively.
Abstract: Polyphenolics and sugar are the components of many
fruit juices. In this work, the performance of ultra-filtration (UF) for
separating phenolic compounds from apple juice was studied by
performing batch experiments in a membrane module with an area of
0.1 m2 and fitted with a regenerated cellulose membrane of 1 kDa
MWCO. The effects of various operating conditions: transmembrane
pressure (3, 4, 5 bar), temperature (30, 35, 40 ºC), pH (2, 3, 4, 5),
feed concentration (3, 5, 7, 10, 15 ºBrix for apple juice) and feed flow
rate (1, 1.5, 1.8 L/min) on the performance were determined.
The optimum operating conditions were: transmembrane pressure
4 bar, temperature 30 ºC, feed flow rate 1 – 1.8 L/min, pH 3 and 10
Brix (apple juice). After performing ultrafiltration under these
conditions, the concentration of polyphenolics in retentate was
increased by a factor of up to 2.7 with up to 70% recovered in the
permeate and with approx. 20% of the sugar in that stream..
Application of diafiltration (addition of water to the concentrate) can
regain the flux by a factor of 1.5, which has been decreased due to
fouling. The material balance performed on the process has shown
the amount of deposits on the membrane and the extent of fouling in
the system. In conclusion, ultrafiltration has been demonstrated as a
potential technology to separate the polyphenolics and sugars from
their mixtures and can be applied to remove sugars from fruit juice.
Abstract: Soursop (Anona muricata) is one of the underutilized tropical fruits containing nutrients, particularly dietary fibre and antioxidant properties that are beneficial to human health. This objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of matured soursop pulp flour (SPF) to be substituted with high-protein wheat flour in bread. Bread formulation was substituted with different levels of SPF (0%, 5%, 10% and 15%). The effect on physicochemical properties and sensory attributes were evaluated. Higher substitution level of SPF resulted in significantly higher (p
Abstract: Iran is one of the greatest producers of date in the
world. However due to lack of information about its viscoelastic
properties, much of the production downgraded during harvesting
and postharvesting processes. In this study the effect of temperature
and moisture content of product were investigated on stress
relaxation characteristics. Therefore, the freshly harvested date
(kabkab) at tamar stage were put in controlled environment chamber
to obtain different temperature levels (25, 35, 45, and 55 0C) and
moisture contents (8.5, 8.7, 9.2, 15.3, 20, 32.2 %d.b.). A texture
analyzer TAXT2 (Stable Microsystems, UK) was used to apply
uniaxial compression tests. A chamber capable to control temperature
was designed and fabricated around the plunger of texture analyzer to
control the temperature during the experiment. As a new approach a
CCD camera (A4tech, 30 fps) was mounted on a cylindrical glass
probe to scan and record contact area between date and disk.
Afterwards, pictures were analyzed using image processing toolbox
of Matlab software. Individual date fruit was uniaxially compressed
at speed of 1 mm/s. The constant strain of 30% of thickness of date
was applied to the horizontally oriented fruit. To select a suitable
model for describing stress relaxation of date, experimental data were
fitted with three famous stress relaxation models including the
generalized Maxwell, Nussinovitch, and Pelege. The constant in
mentioned model were determined and correlated with temperature
and moisture content of product using non-linear regression analysis.
It was found that Generalized Maxwell and Nussinovitch models
appropriately describe viscoelastic characteristics of date fruits as
compared to Peleg mode.
Abstract: Massive use of places with strong tourist attraction
with the consequent possibility of losing place-identity produces
harmful effects on cities and their users. In order to mitigate this risk,
areas close to such places can be identified so as to widen the
visitor-s range of action and offer alternative activities integrated
with the main site. The cultural places and appropriate activities can
be identified using a method of analysis and design able to trace the
identity of the places, their characteristics and potential, and to
provide a sustainable improvement. The aim of this work is to
propose PlaceMaker as a method of urban analysis and design which
both detects elements that do not feature in traditional mapping and
which constitute the contemporary identity of the places, and
identifies appropriate project interventions. Two final complex maps
– the first of analysis and the second of design – respectively
represent the identity of places and project interventions. In order to
illustrate the method-s potential; the results of the experimentation
carried out in the Trevi-Pantheon route in Rome and the appropriate
interventions to decongest the area are illustrated.
Abstract: Bringing change to the housing industry requires
multiple efforts from various angles especially to overcome any
resistances in the form of technology, human aspects, financial and
resources. The transition from conventional to sustainable approach
consumes time as it requires changes from different facets in the
industry ranging from individual, organisational to industry level. In
Malaysia, there are various efforts to bring green into the industry but
the progress is low-moderate. Will the current efforts bear larger
fruits in the near future? This study examines the perceptions of the
developers in Malaysia on the future of the green housing sector for
the next 5 years. The introduction of GBI rating system, improvement
of awareness and knowledge among the stakeholders, support from
the government and local industry and the effect of competitive
advantage would support brighter future. Meanwhile, the status quo
in rules and regulation, lack of public interest and demand,
organization disinterest, local authority enforcement and project cost
escalation would hinder a faster progress.
Abstract: In this paper, an ultrasonic technique is proposed to
predict oil content in a fresh palm fruit. This is accomplished by
measuring the attenuation based on ultrasonic transmission mode.
Several palm fruit samples with known oil content by Soxhlet
extraction (ISO9001:2008) were tested with our ultrasonic
measurement. Amplitude attenuation data results for all palm samples
were collected. The Feedforward Neural Networks (FNNs) are
applied to predict the oil content for the samples. The Root Mean
Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of the FNN
model for predicting oil content percentage are 7.6186 and 5.2287
with the correlation coefficient (R) of 0.9193.
Abstract: Hyperglycemia-mediated accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) play a pivotal role in the development of diabetic complications by inducing inflammation. In the present study, we evaluated the possible effects of water/ethanol (1/1, v/v) extracts (WEE) and its fractions from Canarium album Raeusch. (Chinese olive) which is a fruit used on AGEs-stimulated oxidative stress and inflammation in monocytes and vascular endothelial cells. Co-incubation of EA.hy926 endothelial cells with WEE and its fractions for 24h resulted in a significant decrease of monocyte–endothelial cell adhesion, the expression of ICAM-1, generation of intracellular ROS and depletion of GSH induced by AGEs. Chinese olive fruit extracts also reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory mediates, such as TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in THP-1 cells. These findings suggested that Chinese olive fruit was able to protect vascular endothelium from dysfunction induced by AGEs.
Abstract: Durian husk (DH), a fruit waste, was studied for its ability to remove Basic blue 3 (BB3) from aqueous solutions. Batch kinetic studies were carried out to study the sorption characteristics under various experimental conditions. The optimum pH for the dye removal occurred in the pH range of 3-10. Sorption was found to be concentration and agitation dependent. The kinetics of dye sorption fitted a pseudo-second order rate expression. Both Langmuir and Freundlich models appeared to provide reasonable fittings for the sorption data of BB3 on durian husk. Maximum sorption capacity calculated from the Langmuir model is 49.50 mg g-1.
Abstract: Prickly pear (Opuntia spp) fruit has received renewed
interest since it contains a betalain pigment that has an attractive
purple colour for the production of juice. Prickly pear juice was
prepared by homogenizing the fruit and treating the pulp with 48 g of
pectinase from Aspergillus niger. Titratable acidity was determined
by diluting 10 ml prickly pear juice with 90 ml deionized water and
titrating to pH 8.2 with 0.1 N NaOH. Brix was measured using a
refractometer and ascorbic acid content assayed
spectrophotometrically. Colour variation was determined
colorimetrically (Hunter L.a.b.). Hunter L.a.b. analysis showed that
the red purple colour of prickly pear juice had been affected by juice
treatments. This was indicated by low light values of colour
difference meter (CDML*), hue, CDMa* and CDMb* values. It was
observed that non-treated prickly pear juice had a high (colour
difference meter of light) CDML* of 3.9 compared to juice
treatments (range 3.29 to 2.14). The CDML* significantly (p
Abstract: The dynamic speckle or biospeckle is an interference
phenomenon generated at the reflection of a coherent light by an
active surface or even by a particulate or living body surface. The
above mentioned phenomenon gave scientific support to a method
named biospeckle which has been employed to study seed viability,
biological activity, tissue senescence, tissue water content, fruit
bruising, etc. Since the above mentioned method is not invasive and
yields numerical values, it can be considered for possible automation
associated to several processes, including selection and sorting.
Based on these preliminary considerations, this research work
proposed to study the interaction of a laser beam with vegetative
samples by measuring the incident light intensity and the transmitted
light beam intensity at several vegetative slabs of varying thickness.
Tests were carried on fifteen slices of apple tissue divided into three
thickness groups, i.e., 4 mm, 5 mm, 18 mm and 22 mm. A diode laser
beam of 10mW and 632 nm wavelength and a Samsung digital
camera were employed to carry the tests. Outgoing images were
analyzed by comparing the gray gradient of a fixed image column of
each image to obtain a laser penetration scale into the tissue,
according to the slice thickness.
Abstract: The determination of sugars in foods is very
significant. Their relation in fact, can affect the chemical and
sensorial quality of the matrix (e.g., sweetness, pH, total acidity,
microbial stability, global acceptability) and can provide information
on food to optimize several selected technological processes. Three
stages of ripeness (green, yellow and red) of tomatoes (Lycopersicon
Esculentum cv. Elegance) at different harvest dates were evaluated.
Fruit from all harvests were exposed to different of ozone doses
(0.25, 0.50 and 1 mg O3/g tomatoes) and clean air for 5 day at 15
°C±2 and 90-95 % relative humidity. Then, fruits were submitted for
extraction and analysis after a day from the finish of exposure of each
stage. The concentrations of the glucose and fructose increased in the
tomatoes which were subjected to ozone treatments.
Abstract: A suitable e-learning system management needs to
carry out a web-information system in order to allow integrated
fruition of data and metadata concerning the activities typical of elearning
environment. The definition of a “web information system"
for e-learning takes advantage of the potentialities of Web
technologies both as for the access to metadata present on the several
platforms, and as for the implementation of courseware which make
up the relative didactic environment. What information systems have
in common is the technological environment on which they are
generally implemented and the use of metadata in order to structure
information at all cognitive and organization levels. In this work we
are going to define a methodology for the implementation of a
specific web information system for an e-learning environment.
Abstract: Vinegar or sour wine is a product of alcoholic and
subsequent acetous fermentation of sugary precursors derived from
several fruits or starchy substrates. This delicious food additive and
supplement contains not less than 4 grams of acetic acid in 100 cubic
centimeters at 20°C. Among the large number of bacteria that are
able to produce acetic acid, only few genera are used in vinegar
industry most significant of which are Acetobacter and
Gluconobacter. In this research we isolated and identified an
Acetobacter strain from Iranian apricot, a very delicious and sensitive
summer fruit to decay, we gathered from fruit's stores in Isfahan,
Iran. The main culture media we used were Carr, GYC, Frateur and
an industrial medium for vinegar production. We isolated this strain
using a novel miniature fermentor we made at Pars Yeema
Biotechnologists Co., Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT),
Isfahan, Iran. The microscopic examinations of isolated strain from
Iranian apricot showed gram negative rods to cocobacilli. Their
catalase reaction was positive and oxidase reaction was negative and
could ferment ethanol to acetic acid. Also it showed an acceptable
growth in 5%, 7% and 9% ethanol concentrations at 30°C using
modified Carr media after 24, 48 and 96 hours incubation
respectively. According to its tolerance against high concentrations of
ethanol after four days incubation and its high acetic acid production,
8.53%, after 144 hours, this strain could be considered as a suitable
industrial strain for a production of a new type of vinegar, apricot
vinegar, with a new and delicious taste. In conclusion this is the first
report of isolation and identification of an Acetobacter strain from
Iranian apricot with a very good tolerance against high ethanol
concentrations as well as high acetic acid productivity in an
acceptable incubation period of time industrially. This strain could be
used in vinegar industry to convert apricot spoilage to a beneficiary
product and mentioned characteristics have made it as an amenable
strain in food and agricultural biotechnology.
Abstract: This research work proposed a study of fruit bruise detection by means of a biospeckle method, selecting the papaya fruit (Carica papaya) as testing body. Papaya is recognized as a fruit of outstanding nutritional qualities, showing high vitamin A content, calcium, carbohydrates, exhibiting high popularity all over the world, considering consumption and acceptability. The commercialization of papaya faces special problems which are associated to bruise generation during harvesting, packing and transportation. Papaya is classified as climacteric fruit, permitting to be harvested before the maturation is completed. However, by one side bruise generation is partially controlled once the fruit flesh exhibits high mechanical firmness. By the other side, mechanical loads can set a future bruise at that maturation stage, when it can not be detected yet by conventional methods. Mechanical damages of fruit skin leave an entrance door to microorganisms and pathogens, which will cause severe losses of quality attributes. Traditional techniques of fruit quality inspection include total soluble solids determination, mechanical firmness tests, visual inspections, which would hardly meet required conditions for a fully automated process. However, the pertinent literature reveals a new method named biospeckle which is based on the laser reflectance and interference phenomenon. The laser biospeckle or dynamic speckle is quantified by means of the Moment of Inertia, named after its mechanical counterpart due to similarity between the defining formulae. Biospeckle techniques are able to quantify biological activities of living tissues, which has been applied to seed viability analysis, vegetable senescence and similar topics. Since the biospeckle techniques can monitor tissue physiology, it could also detect changes in the fruit caused by mechanical damages. The proposed technique holds non invasive character, being able to generate numerical results consistent with an adequate automation. The experimental tests associated to this research work included the selection of papaya fruit at different maturation stages which were submitted to artificial mechanical bruising tests. Damages were visually compared with the frequency maps yielded by the biospeckle technique. Results were considered in close agreement.
Abstract: This study was aimed to determine seasonal variations
of leaf nutrient concentrations to define nutrient needs related to
growing period and to compare irrigation programs in terms of
nutrient uptake. In this study,'Starkrimson Delicious' variety grafted
onto seedling rootstock was used during 2009-2010 growing seasons.
The study was conducted at E─ƒirdir Fruit Growing Research Station.
Leaf samples were taken in five different sample seasons (May, June,
July, August and September). Four different pan coefficients (0.50,
0.75, 1.0, 1.25) were applied during drip irrigation treatments in 7
days irrigation interval. Leaf K, Mg, Ca, P, Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu
concentrations were determined.
The results showed that among the seasonal changes, the highest
concentrations of K, Mg, P and Mn in leaves were recorded in May,
followed by a decrease in the other months, while in contrast Ca and
Fe showed the lowest concentration in May.
Results of the study demonstrate that among irrigation programs K
and Cu concentration in plants was significantly influenced. Cu
concentrations decreased with seasonal variations and different
irrigation programs. Thus, nutrient needs of 'Starkrimson Delicious'apple trees at different growth stages should be taken into
consideration before making effective fertilization program.
Abstract: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of
gibberellic acid and 2,4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid on flower
number, fruit growth and fruit quality of wax apple. GA3 and 2,4-D
were applied at small bud and petal fall stage. Number of flower,
fruit set, fruit drop, fruit crack, fruit growth and fruit quality were
recorded. Results indicated that spraying with 10 ppm GA3 had the
best results in number of flower. GA3 spray at 30 ppm gave the
faster rate of fruit growth than the other treatments. Fruit set, fruit
size as well as fruit weight markedly improved by spraying 30 ppm
GA3, followed by 10 ppm GA3 compared to untreated control.
Moreover, spray GA3 at 30 ppm was the most effective and
increased total soluble solids, reduced titratable acidity and fruit
drop. On the other hand, it was noticed that with 10 ppm 2,4-D
application also enhanced the fruit growth rate, improved
physiological and biochemical characters of fruit compared to
untreated control. It was concluded that both GA3 and 2,4-D spray
have positive effects on fruit development, reduced fruit drop, fruit
crack and improved fruit quality of wax apple under field conditions.
Abstract: Gilaburu (Viburnum opulus L.) grown naturally in
Anatolia. In this study, some physico-chemical (sugar, acid, protein,
crude fat, crude fiber, ash etc.) characteristics and mineral
composition of Gilaburu fruit have been investigated. The length,
width, thickness, weight, total soluble solid, protein, crude ash, crude
fiber and crude oil of fruit were found to be 1.12 cm, 1.58 cm, 1.87
cm, 0.87 g, 14.73 %, 0.2 %, 0.11 %, 6.56 % and 0.4 %, respectively.
The seed of fruit mean weight, length, width and thickness were
determinated as 0.08 g, 7.76 cm, 7.67 cm and 1.66, respectively. In
addition 27 mineral elements (Al, Mg, Na, Ba, Ca, Ni, Cd, P, Cr, Pb,
S, Cu, Se, Fe, K, Sr, Li, Z, V, Ag, Bi, Co, Mn, B, Ga, In, Ti) were
analyzed. Gilaburu (Viburnum opulus L.) fruit was richest in
potassium (10764.764 ppm), Mg (1289.088 ppm) and P (1304.169
ppm).