Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Fruit assessment'

Parkid higlohosa, an important indigenous fruit tree of West Affican Sudanian woodland, was studied with respect to natural population distribution and structure, regeneration, reproductive biology and phytosociology in Nigeria. As relevant background, a comprehensive range-wide monographic account of the species was assembled. An ecological survey covering the range of Parkia in Nigeria was undertaken between 1994-1995. The survey involved four ecological zones ranging from derived to Sudan/Sahel zone transition. In each ecological zone there were two sample sites within each of which there were two land use types. The survey showed that nearest mature con-specific neighbour distance and corresponding stocking for all individuals ý: 10 cm dbh ranged from 25.5 m and 15 tree ha-I in the north down to 91.5 m and I tree ha-I in the south. A gradual increase in stocking from the lowland forest zone boundary to the Sudan savanna was observed. Parkia populations are significantly more concentrated in cultivated fields than in less intensively used areas of the bush fallow. Natural regeneration in Parkia in Nigeria was sparse overall - 9.80 individuals ha-I and coppice shoot regeneration was the main form. Bush fallow conditions favour more regeneration than intense cultivation, and to the south there is more regeneration than in the north. Tree morphological appraisal showed that there tended to be taller trees in the south of the Nigerian range (with a moister climate) but with smaller diameter than in the north. A broader crown diameter typified populations in the northern part of Nigeria range compared with the south. Branching height ranged from 1.7 m in the north to 3.9 m in the south. The tree rarely branched below Im anywhere. Two was the most frequent number of primary branches. Individuals with more than two primary branches per tree occur more frequently in the north of the range. For all morphological parameters except the number of primary branches a significant land use effect was detected. In the survey 136 associated woody species were recorded. More woody tree species were associated with Parkia biglobosa in the south than in the north of its range in Nigeria. A reproductive cycle of 135 days was observed at Saki, Nigeria. Capitulum abortion rate was more than 30% and not related to the tree diameter or crown position. Capitulum, podding efficiency was about 67%. Open pollinated capitula had the highest number of pods per treatment. Parkid displays some degree of self-compatibility. Capitula located >5 m above the ground are more likely to be pollinated than those below.

Durant l'última dècada, el sector agrícola ha passat de les pràctiques tradicionals a mètodes més intensius per tal d'augmentar la seva productivitat, com a resposta a la creixent demanda d'una població creixent. En conseqüència la producció d'aliments ha desencadenat una important contribució a l'esgotament dels recursos naturals i l'impacte ambiental. Per desenvolupar una gestió ambiental adequada, és essencial per a les indústries de conèixer els principals indicadors ambientals dels seus productes i processos : emissions, consum d’energia i consum d'aigua, generació de residus, eficiència, etc. Tot això pot ajudar als productors a millorar la gestió dels seus sistemes productius, donar un valor ambiental afegit al seu producte, i proporcionar més informació ambiental als consumidors. Tenint en compte que la poma i préssec són dues fruites significatives en els països mediterranis, i que la majoria de les publicacions sobre els impactes ambientals de la producció de fruita es basen en un únic any productiu, aquest estudi intenta realitzar un anàlisi ambiental de la producció de poma i préssec utilitzant amb un enfocament d'Anàlisi del Cicle de Vida (ACV), amb la finalitat de proporcionar nova informació ambiental sobre la fruita, i també introduir una anàlisi des de la perspectiva plurianual per tal d’identificar la variabilitat dels impactes ambientals relacionats amb el rendiment anual d’una plantació, les condicions geogràfiques i climàtiques. Els resultats s'expressen en termes de petjada de carboni i petjada hídrica, per tal de comparar aquests conceptes des d'un punt de vista metodològic, i també informar al sector de les fruita i dels consumidors. La petjada de carboni, quantifica les emissions CO2 equivalents relacionades amb el cicle de vida d'un producte o servei en termes d'escalfament global. La petjada hídrica mesura l'aigua que es consumeix per desenvolupar un producte d'un bé o un servei. Aquest estudi segueix un marc interdisciplinari, tenint en compte les següents etapes en el procés de producció de la fruita: fase agrícola, comercialització, distribució, el consum i disposició final, així com l’obtenció dels materials i substàncies relacionats amb la producció de fruita. Els sistemes estudiats són horts de poma i préssec situats a Catalunya. Les dades utilitzades han estat recollides directament dels horts de la Unitat d'Horticultura Ambiental de l'Institut de Recerca per a l'Agricultura i l'Alimentació i Tecnologia (IRTA), ubicat a la província de Lleida, i abarca entre 9-15 anys de producció real. Aquesta tesi contribueix a detectar els punts crítics de l'impacte ambiental relacionat amb la producció de fruita des d’una perspectiva d'anàlisi del cicle de vida, així com avaluar les metodologies existents per calcular la petjada de carboni i d’aigua, a més de desenvolupar nous aspectes metodològics, i generar noves dades sobre el tema, que seran útils pels productors de fruita i també pels altres actors involucrats en la producció de fruita. Encara que l'estudi demostra que l'ACV és una eina útil per estimar l'impacte associat a un producte o un procés, i també pel càlcul de la petjada de carboni i la petjada hídrica, encara hi ha algunes qüestions per resoldre pel que fa la qualitat de les dades i base de dades disponibles per quantificar l’impacte ambiental, ja que a vegades és necessari treballar amb dades genèriques, que poden generar variabilitat en els resultats.
Durante la última década, el sector agrícola ha pasado de las prácticas tradicionales a métodos más intensivos con el fin de aumentar su productividad, como respuesta a la creciente demanda de una población creciente. En consecuencia la producción de alimentos ha generado una importante contribución al agotamiento de los recursos naturales y el cambio climático. Para desarrollar una gestión ambiental adecuada es esencial para las industrias conocer los principales indicadores ambientales de sus productos y procesos: emisiones, consumo de energía y agua, generación de residuos, eficiencia, etc. Conocer esta información puede ayudar a los productores a mejorar la gestión de sus sistemas productivos, dar un valor ambiental añadido a sus productos, y también proporcionar más información a los consumidores. Teniendo en cuenta que la manzana y melocotón son dos frutas significativas en los países mediterráneos, y la mayoría de las publicaciones sobre los impactos ambientales de la produccion de fruta se basan en un año productivo único, este estudio pretende realizar un análisis ambiental de la producción de manzana y melocotón utilizando la metodología del Análisis de Ciclo de Vida (ACV), con el fin de proporcionar nueva información ambiental sobre la fruta, y también introducir un análisis de la perspectiva plurianual para identificar la variabilidad de los impactos ambientales relacionados con el rendimiento anual de las plantaciones, las condiciones geográficas y climáticas. Los resultados se expresarán en términos de huella de carbono y de agua, con el fin de comparar estos conceptos desde un punto de vista metodológico, y que para que la información pueda servir para informar sector de la fruta y de los consumidores. La huella de carbono cuantifica las emisiones de CO2 equivalentes relacionadas con el ciclo de vida de un producto o servicio en términos de calentamiento global. La huella hídrica cuantifica el agua que se consume para desarrollar un producto de un bien o un servicio. Este estudio sigue un marco interdisciplinario, teniendo en cuenta las siguientes etapas en el proceso de producción de la fruta: fase agrícola, distribución, consumo, residuos, así como el sistema relacionado con los materiales y sustancias relacionados con la producción de fruta. Los sistemas estudiados son huertos de manzano y melocotón situados en Cataluña. Los datos utilizados han sido recogidos directamente de un huerto de la Unidad de Horticultura Ambiental en el Instituto de Investigación para la Agricultura y la Alimentación y Tecnología (IRTA), ubicado en la provincia de Lleida en el noreste de España, el estudio abarca entre 9-15 años de producción real. Esta tesis contribuye a detectar los puntos críticos del impacto ambiental relacionados con la producción de fruta con una perspectiva de ACV, así como evaluar las ventajas y debilidades de las metodologías existentes para calcular la huella de carbono y huella de agua, además de desarrollar nuevos aspectos metodológicos y la generación de nuevos datos sobre el tema para los productores de frutas y otros actores involucrados en ciclo de producción de fruta. Aunque el estudio demuestra que el ACV es una herramienta útil para estimar el impacto asociado a un producto o proceso y para el cálculo de los indicadores huella de carbono i huella hídrica, existen todavía algunas cuestiones por resolver en cuanto a la calidad de las bases de datos de impacto ambiental y los datos disponibles, porque a veces, es necesario trabajar con datos genéricos.
During the last decade, the agricultural sector has changed from traditional practices to more intensive methods in order to increase their productivity, as a response to the growing demand of an increasing population. Consequently food production has become an important contribution to the depletion of natural resources and climate change. To develop a proper environmental management it is essential for industries to know the main environmental indicators of their products and production processes: emissions, energy and water consumption, waste generation, efficiency, etc. It also can help producers to improve their production system management, give an added environmental value to their product, and provide more information to consumers. Considering that apple and peach are two significant fruits in the Mediterranean countries, and most publications on environmental impacts of fruit productions are based on one single productive year, this study attempts to perform an environmental analysis of apple and peach production using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, in order to provide new environmental information of fruit, and also introduce a multiyear perspective analysis to identify the variability of the environmental impacts related to annual orchard yield, geographic and climatic conditions. The results will be expressed in terms of Carbon footprint (CF) and Water Footprint (WF) terms, In order to compare these concepts from a methodological point of view, and how those can be introduced to inform fruit sector and the consumers. The CF measures the emissions of CO2eq related with the life cycle of a product or services in terms of Global warming. WF measures the water consumed to develop a product a good or a service in terms of litres. This study follows an interdisciplinary framework, considering the following stages in the process of fruit production: agricultural stages, retail, consumption ad disposal, as well as the back-ground system related with materials and substances production. The systems studied are apple and peach orchards located in Catalonia. Data used have been collected directly from an orchard of the Environmental Horticulture Unit at the Institute of Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (IRTA) located in the North East of Spain, and covers between 9-15 years of real production. This dissertation contributes to detect the hot spots of the environmental impact related to fruit production with a perspective of LCA, as well as evaluate the advantages and weakness the existing methodologies to calculate the Carbon and water Footprints, besides developing methodological aspects and generating new data on the topic and fruit producers and all the actors involved in fruit production. Although the study demonstrates that LCA is a useful tool for estimating the impact associated with a product or process and calculate the CF and WF indicators, there are still some issues to be resolved regarding to the quality of environmental impact databases and data available because sometimes, it is needed to work with generic data, and it can generate variability in the results.

Childhood obesity in America is reaching epidemic proportions. This study explored whether daily online lunch menu information was sufficient to enable parents to advise their children about healthy and unhealthy menu choices in 350 Texas middle schools and whether online menu information strongly correlated with the descriptions of the offerings given by 52 school cafeteria managers in telephone interviews. Although schools are making efforts to describe their offerings, they are not vigorously taking advantage of the opportunity to aggressively inform or educate. They are not coding their descriptions in such a way as to explicitly brand food as healthy or unhealthy. They are also not labeling food as generally required by law for consumer services that provide food (except for the fresh produce that lines supermarket shelves). Instead, they only briefly describe what they are serving in the way of fruit in one or two word snippets. Finally, cafeteria managers’ online descriptions were inconsistent with what they described in interviews. Online and verbal descriptions were sometimes contradictory, raising questions about the accuracy of either type of description.

Declines in pollinators around the globe, notably the loss of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to Colony Collapse Disorder, coupled with a dearth of quantitative data on non-Apis bee pollinators, led to this dissertation research, which documents the role of non-Apis bees in crop pollination in southwest Virginia. Major findings of this first study of its kind in the region were that non-Apis bees provided the majority of pollination—measured by visitation—for several economically important entomophilous crops (apple, blueberry, caneberry, and cucurbits); diverse bee populations may be helping to stabilize pollination service (105 species on crop flowers); landscape factors were better predictors of non-Apis crop pollination service than farm management factors or overall bee diversity; and non-Apis bees in the genera Andrena, Bombus, and Osmia were as constant as honey bees when foraging on apple. Non-Apis, primarily native, bees made up between 68% (in caneberries) and 83% (in cucurbits) of bees observed visiting crop flowers. While 37–59 species visited crop flowers, there was low correspondence between bee communities across or within crop systems ("within crop" Jaccard similarity indices for richness ranged from 0.12–0.28). Bee community diversity on crop flowers may help stabilize pollination service if one or more species declines temporally or spatially. A few species were especially important in each crop: Andrena barbara in apple; Andrena carlini and A. vicina in blueberry; Lasioglossum leucozonium in caneberry; and Peponapis pruinosa and Bombus impatiens in cucurbits. Eight species collected were Virginia state records. In models testing effects of farm management and landscape on non-Apis crop pollination service, percent deciduous forest was positively correlated in apple, blueberry, and squash, but at different scales. For apple and blueberry, pollination service declined with an increase in utilized alternative forage but was positively related to habitat heterogeneity. For squash, percent native plants also related positively, possibly due to increased presence of bumble bees in late summer. Species collected from both bowl traps and flowers was as low as 22% and overall site bee diversity had no effect on crop pollination service, highlighting the value in pollination research of monitoring bees on flowers.
Ph. D.

A fundamental requirement in agricultural trade is that imported products are safe, and do not pose a risk to human, animal and plant health. To address this issue, all countries maintain measures to ensure that imported food is safe for consumers, and to prevent the spread of disease among animals and plants. These measures, by their nature, can affect competitiveness by increasing the costs of imports or prohibiting them altogether. To ensure that these measures are used for their intended purpose and not as protectionist measures, WTO member countries signed the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures. A growing number of studies attempt to quantify the effects of SPS regulations on international trade flows. However, precious little research is dedicated to determining the effects of specific phytosanitary regulations on trade flows and, more importantly, questions regarding SPS regulations and their impact as "trade barriers" or "trade catalysts" remain to be settled. This thesis contributes to existing literature in two ways. First, a comprehensive and user friendly database on specific phytosanitary regulations faced by U.S. exports of onions, peas, walnuts, apples, cherries, grapes, peaches/nectarines, oranges and strawberries to 176 countries is developed for the period 1999-2009. Second, this database is used for an empirical investigation to determine how existing SPS regulations affect U.S. fruit and vegetable exports. The results indicate that initially, phytosanitary treatments act as "barriers" to trade. However, as exporters' experience grows, the negative impact of treatments is reduced and eventually eliminated.
Master of Science

To properly evaluate initiatives targeting children's fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, we need feasible and valid dietary assessment methods that are time, cost, and resource effective. The objectives of this study were to test the feasibility and validity of two methods, digital imaging (DI) and aggregate plate waste (APW), for assessing children's FV consumption. UVM dietary assessment team graduate students prepared and distributed FV snacks in two pre-school classrooms over 30 consecutive school days. Feasibility of APW was tested by recording the frequency and weight of waste sorting errors by pre-school children and performing paired t-tests comparing uncorrected and corrected FV waste. Feasibility was tested for DI by determining the total number of individual FV snacks from which FV consumption could be estimated using the digital images. Validity was tested for DI using paired t-tests to compare FV consumption as assessed by DI against actual consumption as assessed by weighed plate waste (WPW). A total of 159 cluster APW weights were recorded during the 20 days of APW collection, with an overall mean difference of 0.57 grams (p=0.440) between uncorrected and corrected FV waste. Researchers were able to capture 100-percent usable digital images, effectively displaying 214 individual FV snack servings over the 10-day DI study period. Percent agreement between the two digital image coders was 99.1-percent. DI estimations for individual FV item and cumulative consumption were strongly correlated with WPW (all above r=0.97). Overall FV consumption as estimated by DI differed from WPW by less than one gram, and DI estimations for individual FV items differed from WPW by no more than two grams. Paired t-tests revealed no significant difference between DI estimations of clementine (p=0.954) and peapod (p=0.806) consumption and WPW measurements. However, paired t-tests indicated statistically significant differences between DI and WPW measurements for overall (p=0.001), grape (p=0.031), carrot (p=0.008), and pepper (p=0.027) consumption. Both methods were feasible for assessing mean FV consumption. DI estimations for individual FV items and cumulative consumption were strongly correlated with WPW, suggesting that despite statistical significance between DI and WPW measurements in some cases, the DI method is still precise for mean FV consumption evaluation. APW may be especially advantageous for rapid and efficient evaluation of behavior change in response to interventions targeting children's FV consumption. Due to ease of administration and instantaneous results, the APW method reduces the need for trained research staff to be present, drastically increasing accessibility to group-level dietary assessment.

The literature reports that phytochemicals from fruits and vegetables, and fruit and vegetable- based products have been associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The current research has investigated the effects of fruits and vegetables and blackcurrant juice intake on endothelial function, vascular reactivity and biomarkers of consumption using two human interventions, one acute and one chronic. In addition, gene/nutrient interactions have been investigated with three genotypes linked to markers of CVD in the chronic study. / The acute study was a randomised, cross over, double blind, placebo controlled test meal study with 20 healthy volunteers (11 females 9 males). Subjects consumed a 20% blackcurrant juice drink or a control drink. Vascular reactivity was assessed at baseline and 120 mins after juice consumption by Laser Doppler Imaging (LDI). Acute consumption of 20% blackcurrant juice significantly increased plasma vitamin C (P=0.006), and urinary anthocyanins (P