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Pomology/Fruit and its importance

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< Wikiversity Part of the Department of Pomology, Tropical and Subtropical Pomology I.

This lesson is in preparation --Juan 18:19, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

What is a fruit?

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What is the fruit and what is the vegetable?

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Fruits and their importance

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Berberis vulgaris (European barberry)/(Jaundice berry)/(Ambarbaris)/(Barberry) is a shrub in the family Berberidaceae, native to central and southern Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. Fruit are shown. Credit: Arnstein Rønning.{{free media}}
Coffea racemosa berries are shown. Credit: Ton Rulkens.{{free media}}
Since the seed in the fruit is attached to the pericarp, the whole fruit is often mistakenly called "seed". Credit: Howcheng{{free media}}
Ripe sour cherries are shown on a branch. Credit: Rklz2{{free media}}

The dried fruit of Berberis vulgaris (barberry) is used in herbal medicine.[1] The chemical constituents include isoquinolone alkaloids, especially berberine, with a full list of phytochemicals compiled.[2]

"Carotenoids, which are generally present in leaf, flower, fruit, and shoot of plants, play an important role in the stabilization of lipid membranes, the photosynthesis, and the protecion against strong radiation and photooxidative processes. Experiments with coffee species also showed that the transcript levels of enzymes involved in the synthesis of carotenoids increased under stress conditions [34]."[3]

"Coffee seeds are rich in biologically active substances and polyphenols such as kaempherol, quercetin, ferulic, sinapic, nicotinic, quinolic, tannic, and pyrogallic acids which possess antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and hypolipidaemic effects [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47], [48], [49]. Besides the cis-isomers of chlorogenic acid in Arabic coffee [50], caffeic, chlorogenic, p-coumaric, ferulic, and sinapic acids, as well as rutin, quercetin, kaempferol, and isoquercitrine were detected in its fruit and that of Bengal coffee [51]."[3]

Fennel is widely cultivated, both in its native range and elsewhere, for its edible, strongly flavored leaves and fruits. Its aniseed or liquorice flavor[4] comes from anethole, an aromatic compound also found in anise and star anise, and its taste and aroma are similar to theirs, though usually not as strong.[5]

The aromatic character of fennel fruits derives from essential oil (volatile oils) imparting mixed aromas, including trans-anethole and estragole (resembling liquorice), fenchone (mint and camphor), limonene,[6] 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom).[7] Other phytochemicals found in fennel fruits include polyphenols, such as rosmarinic acid and luteolin, among others in minor content.[8]

Prunus cerasus (sour cherry,[9] tart cherry, or dwarf cherry[10]) a species of Prunus in the subgenus Prunus subg. Cerasus (cherries), native to much of Europe and southwest Asia is closely related to the sweet cherry (Prunus avium), but has a fruit that is more acidic. Its sour pulp is edible.[11]

Chemical composition

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Economy of the fruit production

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What is pomology?

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Discussion Record

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Questions and missunerstandings

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Theme Discussion

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See also

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References

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  1. See e.g. "Barberry" @ Alternative Medicine @ University of Maryland Medical Center
  2. Mokhber-Dezfuli N, Saeidnia S, Gohari AR, Kurepaz-Mahmoodabadi M. Phytochemistry and pharmacology of berberis species. Pharmacogn Rev. 2014;8(15):8–15. doi:10.4103/0973-7847.125517
  3. 3.0 3.1 Éva Brigitta Patay, Tímea Bencsik, and Nóra Papp (December 2016). "Phytochemical overview and medicinal importance of Coffea species from the past until now". Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 9 (12): 1127-1135. doi:10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.11.008. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1995764516304680. Retrieved 6 September 2021. 
  4. Nyerges, Christopher (2016). Foraging Wild Edible Plants of North America: More than 150 Delicious Recipes Using Nature's Edibles. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-4930-1499-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=RwDHCgAAQBAJ. 
  5. Katzer's Spice Pages: Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.)
  6. Badgujar, Shamkant B.; Patel, Vainav V.; Bandivdekar, Atmaram H. (2014). "Foeniculum vulgareMill: A Review of Its Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Contemporary Application, and Toxicology". BioMed Research International 2014: 842674. doi:10.1155/2014/842674. ISSN 2314-6133. PMID 25162032. PMC 4137549. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4137549/. 
  7. Díaz-Maroto, M. C; Díaz-Maroto Hidalgo, I. J; Sánchez-Palomo, E; Pérez-Coello, M. S (2005). "Volatile components and key odorants of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) oil extracts obtained by simultaneous distillation-extraction and supercritical fluid extraction". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 53 (13): 5385–9. doi:10.1021/jf050340+. PMID 15969523. 
  8. Uusitalo, L; Salmenhaara, M; Isoniemi, M; Garcia-Alvarez, A; Serra-Majem, L; Ribas-Barba, L; Finglas, P; Plumb, J et al. (2016). "Intake of selected bioactive compounds from plant food supplements containing fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) among Finnish consumers". Food Chemistry 194: 619–25. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.08.057. PMID 26471600. 
  9. "Prunus cerasus". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  10. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  11. Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 498. ISBN 0-394-50760-6. 
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