Kiwifruit is very popular for its unique flavor and nutritional value, and for its potential health benefits, which are closely related to its richness in a variety of natural antioxidant substances, in which polyphenolics play a non-negligible role. This study investigated changes in the fruit quality, phenolic compounds, and antioxidant potential of Chinese red-fleshed kiwifruit “Hongshi No. 2” during postharvest ripening at room temperature (20 ± 1 °C). Results showed that the weight loss rate slowly increased, the firmness rapidly decreased, and the soluble solid concentration gradually increased during the postharvest ripening of red-flesh kiwifruit. In addition, the total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid (TFC), and total proanthocyanidin (TPAC) contents gradually increased during postharvest ripening. The most abundant phenolic compounds in kiwifruit throughout postharvest ripening were catechin (CC), proanthocyanidin B1 (PB1), and proanthocyanidin B2 (PB2). Furthermore, the methanolic extracts of red-flesh kiwifruit exhibited remarkable antioxidant activities throughout postharvest ripening stages. Indeed, some phenolic compounds showed good correlations with antioxidant activities; for instance, chlorogenic acid (CHL) showed a significantly positive correlation with ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and isoquercitrin (IS) showed a significantly negative correlation with DPPH free radical scavenging ability. The findings from this study are beneficial to better understanding the quality profile of red-flesh kiwifruit “Hongshi No. 2” during postharvest ripening.

• Calcium lactate and shortwave ultraviolet combined treatment (abbr. CA-L + UV-C) has a synergistic effect on fresh-cut kiwifruits preservation. • CA-L + UV-C reduced microbial growth. • CA-L + UV-C increased phenolics accumulation by activating related enzyme activities. • CA-L + UV-C improved antioxidant capacity by increasing antioxidant enzyme activity and promoting phenolics accumulation. • CA-L + UV-C maintained quality by improving antioxidant capacity.

Allele frequency data and forensic statistical parameters were determined for 20 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci of the PowerPlex 21 System in 214 unrelated healthy individuals of a Uyghur ethnic minority group living in Xinjiang province, northwest China. A total of 232 alleles were observed with the corresponding allele frequencies ranging from 0.0023 to 0.5304. All loci were consistent with Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) after the Bonferroni correction (p > 0.0025). The combined probability of exclusion, power of discrimination, probability of matching value were 0.999999999, 0.9999999999999999999999995, and 4.78246 × 10⁻²⁵, respectively. Our results revealed that the 20 STRs were highly polymorphic and informative, and could be suitable for forensic application, especially parentage test and personal identification. The further population comparison between the Uyghur and other 26 reference populations revealed that the loci of D13S317, TH01 and D6S1043 showed high ethnical specificity. Phylogenetic analysis based on 19 shared loci demonstrated that the Uyghur had a close genetic relationship with the Kazakh, but a distinct genetic distance with other Chinese populations from different ethnicity and regions.

Polysaccharides from Ficus carica L. (FCP) exert multiple biological activities. As a biological macromolecule, the available knowledge about the specific structures and mechanisms of the biological activity of purified ‘Brunswick’ fig polysaccharides is currently limited. In the present study, chemical purification and characteristics were identified via chemical and instrumental analysis, and then the impact of FCP on immunomodulation activity in vitro and in vivo was examined. Structural characteristics showed that the molecular weight of the FCP sample was determined to be 127.5 kDa; the primary monosaccharides present in the FCP sample were galacturonic acid (GalA), arabinose (Ara), galactose (Gal), rhamnose (Rha), glucose (Glc), and xylose (Xyl) at a ratio of 0.321:0.287:0.269:0.091:0.013:0.011. Based on the investigation of in vitro immunomodulatory activity, FCP was found to stimulate the production of NO, TNF-α, and IL-6, and increased the pinocytic activity of macrophages. Further analysis revealed that FCP activated macrophages by interacting with Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Moreover, the in vivo test results indicate that FCP showed a significant increase in serum pro-inflammatory factors in immunosuppressed mice. Overall, this study suggests that FCP has the potential to be utilized as a novel immunomodulator in the pharmaceutical and functional food industries.