Orange is highly nutritious and a source of phytochemical compounds. However, its by-products are usually discarded. In this study, we evaluated the effect of orange peel (OP) addition in orange jam on sensory, physicochemical, and nutritional characteristics. Four jam formulations were elaborated with different OP levels: OP0 (standard), OP4, OP8, and OP12 (Orange Peel 0, 4, 8 and 12%, respectively). All samples were evaluated for sensory acceptability, and physicochemical and nutritional composition. The addition of 12% orange peel in jam reduced (p < 0.05) the acceptability for all evaluated attributes, as well as overall acceptance and purchase intention. However, OP utilization increased (p < 0.05) the levels of water activity, soluble solids, titratable acidity, and sugars. Soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio, luminosity (L*), and yellow content (b*) decreased in all added OP jams, while red content (a*) increased. No change in the pH and moisture values of the product were observed after OP addition. Ash, protein, lipid, dietary fiber, ascorbic acid, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, and antioxidant capacity values increased after OP addition, while carbohydrate and energy content decreased. A texture test showed that adhesiveness decreased, while gumminess, chewiness, and elasticity increased after OP addition. We concluded that the addition of up to 8% orange peel in jam maintains sensory acceptability similar to that of the standard product. OP addition is a viable alternative to improve some of the product’s physicochemical and nutritional characteristics.

Acylsugars present in the accession 'LA716' of Lycopersicon pennellii play an important role in the resistance to Tuta absoluta. This paper investigates the possible association between the resistance to T. absoluta and the acylsugar contents in F2 and F2BC1 tomato plants derived from the interspecific crossing between L. esculentum 'TOM-584' and L. pennellii 'LA716'. From the F2 population, four high acylsugars and one low acylsugars plants were selected and tested for Tuta absoluta resistance along with parental lines TOM-584 and LA-716, and with the checks TOM-600 (high 2-tridecanone line with resistance to T. absoluta) and TOM-556 (low acylsugar line). The genotypes were tested under natural field infestation and were evaluated for overall plant damage, leaflet lesion type and percent of attacked leaflet. Four plants from F2BC1 [=(Lycopersicon esculentum 'TOM-584' ´ F2)] were selected for high acylsugars and two for low acylsugars, and tested in greenhouse cages infested with T. absoluta. These genotypes were evaluated with the parental lines and the checks for oviposition ten days after infestation, and for leaflet lesion type and overall plant damage at four different dates. The F2 genotypes BPX-370Bpl#25, BPX-370Bpl#30 and BPX-370Bpl#79, the F2BC1 genotypes BPX-370B pl#30-380 and BPX-370B pl#30-271 and the wild accession LA716 had good levels of resistance to Tuta absoluta. The resistance level increased with longer exposition time to the acylsugars, both in the field and in the cage tests. Acylsugar contents seemed to be highly and negatively correlated with the traits related to the pinworm resistance.

There is controversy about the benefits of silicon (Si) on tomato plants. This element has structural and metabolic functions in the physiology of plants, generating benefits that may result in increased productivity of various plant species. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the phytotechnical characteristics and the productivity of tomato plants according to the rates and sources of Si. The design was established in randomized blocks with factorial 3x5, corresponding to three sources of silicate (calcium silicate, potassium silicate and sodium silicate) and five doses of Si (equivalent to 0, 100, 200, 400 and 800 kg ha^-1 of SiO₂). The fertilization with Si increased the commercial productivity of tomato plants and reduced the occurrence of cracked fruits. Calcium and potassium silicates increased the Si levels on the leaves linearly with the increase of the doses, while sodium silicate reduced the levels in larger doses. Silicon fertilization increases the productivity of tomato plants with possible economic return on the use of this input.

Brazil depends almost entirely on imported strawberry cultivars, which burdens production costs and results in the use of genotypes with less adaptation to the Brazilian cropping conditions. To reverse this scenario, it is necessary to strengthen strawberry breeding in Brazil. Otherwise, the country will remain dependent on imported cultivars and producers will continue to be required to collect royalties. In this context, public institutions in Brazil, such as the State University of the Midwest Paraná (UNICENTRO), have been successfully conducting strawberry breeding programs, with the objective of launching cultivars in the short term. Crosses between the cultivars in use in the country, with the subsequent development and selection of seedlings, have shown to be the way to generate national genotypes better adapted to the tropical and subtropical climate conditions of Brazil. In this work, in addition to the main results obtained so far by the UNICENTRO strawberry breeding program, we report information on strawberry origin, taxonomy and phylogenetic description, genotype sensitivity to photoperiod, breeding history in Brazil, and objectives, methods, and techniques employed by the current strawberry breeding in Brazil.

To obtain a clear understanding of the mode of action of potassium bicarbonate (PB), sodium silicate (SSi) and calcium chelate (CCh) solutions (1%) in inducing resistance to gray mold disease in table grapes, enzymatic and nonenzymatic investigations were carried out. In particular, changes in the activity of the enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and peroxidase (POD), total phenolic content and total flavonoid content were studied. As indirect action, PB, SSi and CCh reduced the incidence of gray mold by 43%, 50% and 41%, respectively. The highest activity of SOD was detected at 48 h in SSi-treated tissue, PB-treated tissue and CCh-treated tissue, and it was 1.7-, 1.4- and 1.2-fold higher, respectively, compared to the control. The APX activity was significantly higher in SSi-treated tissue than in the control at 24, 48 and 72 h and showed an increase in activity 2-fold for all times. Additionally, PB, SSi and CCh increased the activity of POD by 1.4-, 1.2- and 2.7-fold at 48 h posttreatment, respectively. The results showed that CCh was the most pronounced salt to increase both total phenol and flavonoid contents by 1.3 and 2.1, respectively. Additionally, the three tested salts induced an increase in total phenols and total flavonoids at 48 h posttreatment. The obtained result is one more movement towards an overall understanding of the mechanism by which salt solutions act as antimicrobial agents against gray mold of table grapes.

The selection of superior strawberry genotypes is a complex process due to the high variability after hybridization that is caused by the octoploid nature and the heterozygosis, making the selection of multiple traits difficult. This study aimed to select strawberry hybrids with the potential for fresh consumption and/or processing by applying multivariate analysis to obtain traits of interest simultaneously. Hybrids were obtained from the crossing among seven commercial cultivars, defining a selection of 10% of them. The experimental design consisted of an augmented block design, with two commercial cultivars, Camarosa and Camino Real, as the controls. Different variables, including the number and average mass of commercial fruits, total fruit mass, pH, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), SS/TA ratio, reducing sugars, pectin, ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds, and anthocyanin’s, were assessed. The selection of hybrids was based on the Mulamba and Mock rank-summation index, principal component analysis, and Ward’s hierarchical cluster analysis. The selection index was based on different weights being adopted for fresh market and processing. The assessed traits had high variability between hybrids. The highest selection gains were obtained for production traits, but the different weight assignment resulted in different classifications of hybrids for both fresh consumption and processing. Most of the hybrids selected by the index remained in the same group in the principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses, which indicates that multivariate analysis is a valuable tool for assisting in the selection of superior hybrids in the strawberry crop.