Improving Cuticle Thickness and Quality Traits in Table Grape cv. 'Italia' Using Pre-Harvest Treatments.

Table grape viticulture, due to the impact of climate change, will have to face many challenges in the coming decades, including resistance to pathogens and physiological disorders. Our attention was focused on fruit cracking due to its ubiquitous presence in several species. This study explores the effects of three different treatments on the epidermis and cuticle of table grape berries by evaluating the impact of the girdling technique on various fruit quality parameters, including cuticle thickness, sugar content, acidity, color, bunch weight, and rheological properties.

Revisiting plant cuticle biophysics.

The plant cuticle is located at the interface of the plant with the environment, thus acting as a protective barrier against biotic and abiotic external stress factors, and regulating water loss. Additionally, it modulates mechanical stresses derived from internal tissues and also from the environment. Recent advances in the understanding of the hydric, mechanical, thermal, and, to a lower extent, optical and electric properties of the cuticle, as well as their phenomenological connections and relationships are reviewed.

Revalorization of Yerba Mate Residues: Biopolymers-Based Films of Dual Wettability as Potential Mulching Materials.

Biodegradable mulching films are a very attractive solution to agronomical practices intended to achieve more successful crop results. And, in this context, the employment of agricultural and industrial food residues as starting material for their production is an alternative with economic and environmental advantages. This work reports the preparation of bilayer films having two different wettability characteristics from three bio-derived biopolymers: TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers isolated from infused Yerba Mate residues, Chitosan and Polylactic acid.

Factors influencing fruit cracking: an environmental and agronomic perspective.

Fruit cracking, a widespread physiological disorder affecting various fruit crops and vegetables, has profound implications for fruit quality and marketability. This mini review delves into the multifaceted factors contributing to fruit cracking and emphasizes the pivotal roles of environmental and agronomic factors in its occurrence. Environmental variables such as temperature, relative humidity, and light exposure are explored as determinants factors influencing fruit cracking susceptibility.

Synergic photoprotection of phenolic compounds present in tomato fruit cuticle: a spectroscopic investigation in solution.

Coumaric acids and flavonoids play pivotal roles in protecting plants against ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure. In this work, we focus our photoprotection studies on -coumaric acid and the flavonoid naringenin chalcone. Photoprotection is well-understood in -coumaric acid; in contrast, information surrounding photoprotection in naringenin chalcone is lacking.

The role of cuticle in fruit shelf-life.

Ensuring the availability of high-quality fresh fruits requires the development of strategies to maintain prolonged shelf-life. The plant cuticle is a modification of the outer epidermal cell wall and, as such, acts as a barrier with the environment. Understanding how the cuticle naturally changes during postharvest is crucial to address the potential effect of different storage conditions on the cuticle biophysical properties.

3D (x-y-t) Raman imaging of tomato fruit cuticle: Microchemistry during development.

The cuticle is a protective extracellular matrix that covers the above-ground epidermis of land plants. Here, we studied the cuticle of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruits in situ using confocal Raman microscopy.

Structural analysis of mixed α- and β-amyrin samples.

Little is known about the structure and molecular arrangement of α- and β-amyrin, a class of triterpenoids found within the cuticle of higher plants. Blends of both amyrin isomers with different ratios have been studied taking into consideration a combined methodology of density functional theory (DFT) calculations with experimental data from scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and Raman vibrational spectroscopy. Results indicate that trigonal trimeric aggregations of isomer mixtures are more stable, especially in the 1 : 2 ( : ) ratio.

Radiationless mechanism of UV deactivation by cuticle phenolics in plants.

Hydroxycinnamic acids present in plant cuticles, the interphase and the main protective barrier between the plant and the environment, exhibit singular photochemical properties that could allow them to act as a UV shield. Here, we employ transient absorption spectroscopy on isolated cuticles and leaf epidermises to study in situ the photodynamics of these molecules in the excited state. Based on quantum chemical calculations on p-coumaric acid, the main phenolic acid present in the cuticle, we propose a model in which cuticle phenolics display a photoprotective mechanism based in an ultrafast and non-radiative excited state deactivation combined with fluorescence emission.

The Response of Tomato Fruit Cuticle Membranes Against Heat and Light.

Two important biophysical properties, the thermal and UV-Vis screening capacity, of isolated tomato fruit cuticle membranes (CM) have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and UV-Vis spectrometry, respectively. A first order melting, corresponding to waxes, and a second order glass transition ( ) thermal events have been observed. The glass transition was less defined and displaced toward higher temperatures along the fruit ripening.

Mechanical Performances of Isolated Cuticles Along Tomato Fruit Growth and Ripening.

The cuticle is the most external layer that protects fruits from the environment and constitutes the first shield against physical impacts. The preservation of its mechanical integrity is essential to avoid the access to epidermal cell walls and to prevent mass loss and damage that affect the commercial quality of fruits. The rheology of the cuticle is also very important to respond to the size modification along fruit growth and to regulate the diffusion of molecules from and toward the atmosphere.

Structure, isomerization and dimerization processes of naringenin flavonoids.

In this study, the theoretical and experimental results on the molecular structure and reactivity of the plant flavonoids naringenin chalcone and naringenin are reported. UV-vis and Raman spectra were recorded and their main bands have been assigned theoretically. Moreover, the analysis of the naringenin chalcone-naringenin cyclization-isomerization reaction and the formation of homodimers and heterodimers have been performed within a DFT framework.

Structure determination of oleanolic and ursolic acids: a combined density functional theory/vibrational spectroscopy methodology.

Raw samples of oleanolic and ursolic acids, a class of terpenoid acids mainly found in the leaf and fruit cuticles of some plant species, can be defined as a blend of clusters of different conformers aggregated in dimers and tetramers by means of hydrogen bonds and stabilized by non-electrostatic interactions.

Genome-wide QTL analysis of tomato fruit cuticle deposition and composition.

Genetics of traits related to fruit cuticle deposition and composition was studied in two red-fruited tomato species. Two mapping populations derived from the cross between the cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and its closest relative wild species Solanum pimpinellifolium L.

Sonochemical degradation of neonicotinoid pesticides in natural surface waters. Influence of operational and environmental conditions.

Neonicotinoids sonochemical oxidation at high-frequency ultrasound (MHz range) has been carried out in ultrapure and natural surface-water matrices (river, reservoir and wastewater treatment plant effluent). To evaluate the influence of the operating variables, that is initial pollutant concentration, ultrasound frequency, ultrasound power, and pulse-stop time a Box-Behnken experimental design was planned. Optimal results were obtained using a frequency of 578 kHz, a power of 40 W L, with a pollutant concentration of 1 μM (for each pesticide), and using a pulse-stop time of 100 ms.

Pectin-cellulose nanocrystal biocomposites: Tuning of physical properties and biodegradability.

The fabrication of pectin-cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) biocomposites has been systematically investigated by blending both polysaccharides at different relative concentrations. Circular free-standing films with a diameter of 9 cm were prepared by simple solution of these carbohydrates in water followed by drop-casting and solvent evaporation. The addition of pectin allows to finely tune the properties of the biocomposites.

Breast metastasis from medullary thyroid carcinoma mimicking ductal carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation.

Background: Medullary thyroid carcinoma very rarely metastasizes to the breast. Hematogenous spread to the liver, lungs, or mediastinum is more common.

Case: We describe the morphologic and immunohistochemical features of a 63-year-old woman who presented with a BIRADS-5 category nodule in the right breast and enlarged axillary lymph nodes.

The Role of Cutinsomes in Plant Cuticle Formation.

The cuticle commonly appears as a continuous lipophilic layer located at the outer epidermal cell walls of land plants. Cutin and waxes are its main components. Two methods for cutin synthesis are considered in plants.

Cutinsomes and CUTIN SYNTHASE1 Function Sequentially in Tomato Fruit Cutin Deposition.

The aerial parts of plants, including the leaves, fruits and non-lignified stems, are covered with a protective cuticle, largely composed of the polyester cutin. Two mechanisms of cutin deposition have been identified in tomato () fruit. The contribution of each mechanism to cutin synthesis and deposition has shown a temporal and coordinated sequence that correlates with the two periods of organ growth, cell division and cell expansion.

Structure determination of amyrin isomers in cuticular waxes: a combined DFT/vibrational spectroscopy methodology.

We present a new methodology for the structural characterization of amyrins, a class of triterpenoids found within the fruit and leaf cuticles of higher plants. Two amyrin isomers (α and β) have been studied taking into consideration a hydrophobic molecular scenario that mimics the cuticle matrix. DFT calculations have been employed in combination with experimental data from Raman vibrational spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction.

Shelf Life Potential and the Fruit Cuticle: The Unexpected Player.

The plant cuticle is an extracellular barrier that protects the aerial, non-lignified parts of plants from the surrounding environment, and furthermore plays important functions in organ growth and development. The role of the cuticle in post-harvest quality of fruits is a topic currently driving a lot of interest since an increasing bulk of research data show its modulating influence on a number of important traits determining shelf life and storage potential, including water transpiration and fruit dehydration, susceptibility to rots, pests and disorders, and even firmness. Moreover, the properties of fruit cuticles keep evolving after harvest, and have also been shown to be highly responsive to the external conditions surrounding the fruit.

Assembly of Conducting Polymer and Biohydrogel for the Release and Real-Time Monitoring of Vitamin K3.

In this work, we report the design and fabrication of a dual-function integrated system to monitor, in real time, the release of previously loaded 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (MeNQ), also named vitamin K3. The newly developed system consists of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanoparticles, which were embedded into a poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) biohydrogel during the gelling reaction between the biopolymer chains and the cross-linker, cystamine. After this, agglomerates of PEDOT nanoparticles homogeneously dispersed inside the biohydrogel were used as polymerization nuclei for the in situ anodic synthesis of poly(hydroxymethyl-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) in aqueous solution.

Valorization of Tomato Processing by-Products: Fatty Acid Extraction and Production of Bio-Based Materials.

A method consisting of the alkaline hydrolysis of tomato pomace by-products has been optimized to obtain a mixture of unsaturated and polyhydroxylated fatty acids as well as a non-hydrolysable secondary residue. Reaction rates and the activation energy of the hydrolysis were calculated to reduce costs associated with chemicals and energy consumption. Lipid and non-hydrolysable fractions were chemically (infrared (IR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS)) and thermally (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)) characterized.

[Effect of a Physical activity program on self-esteem in subjects with chronic diseases. 'Pas a Pas' community intervention trial].

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a 9 months of supervised Physical Activity (PA) Program with sociocultural activities, on self-esteem and its association on the control of chronic diseases in adult primary care users.

Design: Multicenter, randomized, controlled community intervention.

Location: 4 Primary care centers in Reus-Tarragona, Spain.