Non-Chemical Approaches to Control Postharvest Gray Mold Disease in Bell Peppers

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) is a widely grown vegetable crop that is nutritious and flavorful and economically important for growers worldwide. A significant limiting factor in the postharvest storage and long-distance transport of peppers is gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea. The pathogen is widespread in nature, highly aggressive, and able to cause disease at cool refrigerated temperatures during transport and storage. Fungicides have been relied on in the past to reduce bell pepper rots in storage; however, concern over residues on the fruit and environmental degradation have heightened the importance of natural and generally recognized as safe (GRAS) solutions that effectively limit disease. Essential oils, plant extracts, inorganic chemicals, biocontrols, defense activators, hot water treatments, and modified storage conditions have been tested to reduce losses from gray mold. Despite significant amounts of research on natural methods of control of B. cinerea postharvest, research specific to gray mold in peppers is limited. The objective of this review is to summarize the research conducted with environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical fungicides to control this important pathogen of peppers postharvest. To ensure a steady supply of healthy and nutritious produce, more research is needed on the development, use, and application of non-hazardous Botrytis control methods. Until an effective solution is found, using a combined approach including environmental controls, sanitation, and GRAS products remain paramount to limit Botrytis fruit rot of peppers postharvest.

Evaluation Data of Dried Vegetables and Fruits

Drying is the process of removing of the water that has destroying effect in food products by evaporation and. Research project on the basis of direct sun drying and solar greenhouse. Basic operations research in food engineering, food chemistry, food quality control and toxicology has been established over such a broad spectrum. Subjects of investigation were in accordance with all of the values of dry matter basis. The study of dry matter and water activity values of each product (aw), direct sun drying, drying in the greenhouse. It was determined comparing nutrients of samples those were applied directly to the greenhouse and drying in the sun. Sampling patterns of research were explained as follow; tomatoes drying in the sun (external environment), and greenhouse, bell peppers in the greenhouse and drying in the sun, soaked raisins (sultanas) and not-soaked (raisin), sun-dried, sun-dried fig products directly. Nutrients of the samples such as; lycopene, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), retinol (A), Pyridoxine (B6), ascorbic acid (C), folic acid, magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), sodium (Na), phosphorus (P), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu) were quantitatively determined. The red pepper products, dried figs and dried grapes mycotoxin amounts were in safe levels, which had not created any hazard and risk for health. Red pepper and dried figs, total aflatoxins, (B1, B2, G1, G2), ochratoxin A (OTA) levels in raisin in the European Union is set well below the limits in terms of human health hazard and the risk factor has been identified.

The Agricultural Settlement of the Arabah and the Political Ecology of Zionism

Agricultural settlement geared to capitalist commodity production and accompanied by massive ecological interventions has historically been central to the Zionist colonial project of creating a permanent Jewish presence in the “Land of Israel.” The hyperarid southern region known as the Central Arabah is an instructive edge-case: in the 1960s, after the expulsion of the bedouin population, cooperative settlements were established here and vegetables produced through “Hebrew self-labor,” with generous assistance from the state. In the 1990s the region was again transformed as the importation of migrant workers from Thailand enabled farmers to expand cultivation of bell peppers for global markets. But today ecological destruction, depletion of water resources, and global warming cast doubt over the viability of settlement in this climatically extreme region. I locate the settlements of the Arabah within the historical political ecology of the Zionist movement, arguing that their current fragility exposes the essential precarity of capitalist colonization.

Vacuum infrared dryer for drying fruit

The article is devoted to the study of infrared drying of products in a reduced pressure chamber using the convection effect. With the use of drying, canning of fruits, vegetables, herbs and meat is achieved, which reduces not only the volume, but also the weight of the processed raw materials. The paper presents the main parameters of drying products online, such as relative humidity, pressure, radiation intensity of infrared lamps, drying temperature. The uniqueness of this unit in comparison with similar dryers is a one-time treatment of the product with infrared rays under reduced pressure, convection of air flows inside the drying chamber and full automation of the drying process of any product of plant and animal origin. Determination of parameters and modes of drying was carried out on products of plant origin. During the experimental part, bananas and apples were used. In experimental studies, products such as bell peppers, apples and bananas with various slicing thicknesses were used. The greatest drying effect was obtained with a drying product thickness of 5 mm, and the worst with a product thickness of 10 mm. For example, pepper has decreased in weight from 79.84 grams. up to 23.43 gr., which is his weight loss by 70.65%.

THE EFFECTS OF STORAGE CONDITIONS ON THE COLOR CHANGES OF LOCALLY PRODUCED CAPSICUM IN OMAN.

Capsicum annuum is a species of the plant genus Capsicum. It is also known as Bell Peppers and is the most commonly grown member of the genus o in Oman. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of factors like storage temperature C, Relative humidity (%), and time (days) on the color of locally produced Capsicum products in Oman, and thereby assessing the impact of storage conditions on freshness and nutritional value of food samples. Eight capsicum samples grown in Oman were selected for this study. The samples were stored in different conditions and over a period of 5 days, their color measurements were taken. A spectrophotometer was used for color measurements. The study showed the variation in o color measurements due to storage temperature C and humidity(%). The color measurements are an indicator of the nutritional quality and overall o freshness of the sample. The study showed that the optimum temperature for storing capsicum is -18 C. The study provided information about optimum storage conditions for the preservation of capsicum. The study could be directed to assess the impact of storage temperature on the amount of phytochemicals and health. Furthermore, it could also be directed to assess the impact of vacuum drying powders on the functional compounds in colored capsicum

Pepper variome reveals the history and key loci associated with fruit domestication and diversification

Pepper (Capsicum spp.) is one of the earliest domesticated crops, providing a unique pungent sensation when eaten. Through the construction of the first pepper variome, we describe the main groups that emerged during domestication and breeding of C. annuum, their relations and temporal succession, and the molecular events underlying the main transitions. The initial differentiation in fruit shape and pungency, increase in fruit weight, and transition from erect to pendent fruits, and the recent appearance of blocky, large, sweet fruits (bell peppers), were accompanied by strong selection/fixation of key alleles and introgressions in two large genomic regions. Furthermore, we describe the identification of Up, a key domestication gene controlling erect vs pendent fruit orientation, encoding a BIG GRAIN protein involved in auxin transport, and Flip1 associated with capsaicinoid content, encoding a protein involved in phospholipid flipping. The function of Up was confirmed by virus-induced gene silencing. These findings constitute a cornerstone for understanding the domestication and differentiation of a key horticultural crop.

Geographical Discrimination of Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum) Spices by (HS)-SPME/GC-MS Aroma Profiling and Chemometrics

Dried and ground red pepper is a spice used as seasoning in various traditional dishes all over the world; nevertheless, the pedoclimatic conditions of the diverse cultivation areas provide different chemical characteristics, and, consequently, diverse organoleptic properties to this product. In the present study, the volatile profiles of 96 samples of two different ground bell peppers harvested in diverse Italian geographical areas, Altino (Abruzzo) and Senise (Lucania), and a commercial sweet paprika, have been studied by means of headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The investigation of their volatile profile has led to the identification of 59 analytes. Eventually, a discriminant classifier, Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), was exploited to discriminate samples according to their geographical origin. The model provided very accurate results in external validation; in fact, it correctly classified all the 30 test samples, achieving 100% correct classification (on the validation set). Furthermore, in order to understand which volatiles contribute the most at differentiating the bell peppers from the different origins, a variable selection approach, Variable Importance in Projection (VIP), was used. This strategy led to the selection of sixteen diverse compounds which characterize the different bell pepper spices.