Research on the basic interaction of radiation with biological systems has contributed to human society through various applications in medicine, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and in other technological developments. In the agricultural sciences and food technology sectors, recent research has elucidated the new potential application of radiation for microbial decontamination due to the inhibitory effect of radiation on microbial infestation. The last few decades have witnessed a large number of pertinent works regarding the utilization of radiation with special interest in γ-rays for evolution of superior varieties of agricultural crops of economic importance. In this review, general information will be presented about radiation, such as plant specificity, dose response, beneficial effects, and lethality. A comparison of different studies has clarified how the effects observed after exposure were deeply influenced by several factors, some related to plant characteristics (e.g., species, cultivar, stage of development, tissue architecture, and genome organization) and some related to radiation features (e.g., quality, dose, duration of exposure). There are many beneficial uses of radiation that offer few risks when properly employed. In this review, we report the main results from studies on the effect of γ-irradiations on plants, focusing on metabolic alterations, modifications of growth and development, and changes in biochemical pathways especially physiological behaviour.

Catechins and rutin are among the main metabolites found in apple fruit. Sixty apple genotypes, harvested in 2016 and 2017, were analyzed for their phenolic content and antioxidant activity. The HPLC analysis showed that the catechin concentration ranged from 109.98 to 5290.47 µg/g, and the rutin concentration ranged from 12.136 to 483.89 µg/g of apple fruit. The level of DPPH activity ranged from 9.04% to 77.57%, and almost half of the 15 genotypes showed below 30–40% DPPH activity. The apple genotypes ‘Lal Ambri’, ‘Green Sleeves’, and ‘Mallus floribunda’ showed the highest DPPH activity of between 70% and 80%, while ‘Schlomit’, ‘Luxtons Fortune’, ‘Mayaan’, ‘Ananas Retrine’, and ‘Chaubatia ambrose’ showed the lowest ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) activity (0.02–0.09%). Statistical analysis showed a correlation between DPPH activity and catechin content (r = 0.7348) and rutin content (r = 0.1442). Regarding antioxidant activity, fractionated samples of apple genotypes revealed significant activity comparable to that of ascorbic acid. There was also a consistent trend for FRAP activity among all apple genotypes and a significant positive correlation between FRAP activity and rutin content (r = 0.244). Thus, this study reveals a significant variation in antioxidant potential among apple genotypes. This data could be useful for the development of new apple varieties with added phytochemicals by conventional and modern breeders.

Current study describes discrepancy in biological efficacy of methanolic and ethanolic extracts and essential oil procured from cultivated and wild accessions of Origanum vulgare. Simultaneously, quantification of carvacrol, thymol, caryophyllene, ocimene, and terpinen‐4‐ol contents was determined via GC‐MS and GC in both accessions. The results revealed significantly a higher antioxidant potential by methanolic extracts displaying IC₅₀ of 19.9 μg/ml compared to essential oil with IC₅₀ of 10 μg/ml, and ethanolic extracts were found to be less effective even at the concentration of 3 μg/ml. However, essential oil from wild and cultivated accessions of O. vulgare exhibited significantly high antimicrobial activity against all 39 bacteria, 16 fungi, and 2 yeast species tested due to higher concentrations of carvacrol and thymol as revealed by GC analysis. Inhibition of tyrosinase activity in a C6 cell line displayed 81.0%–87.0% depigmentation potential of the methanolic extracts, while ethanolic extracts revealed a maximum of 88.54–99.02% inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in H₂O₂‐treated cells. Hence, the study determines efficacy of essential oil against microbial pathogenesis, methanolic extracts as potent depigmentation agents, and ethanolic extracts as potent free radical scavenger.