Mango fruits contain substantial vitamins and dietary fibre. Vitamins vary among and within fruits depending on cultivar type and ripening stage. Conventional techniques of vitamins analysis are based on High Pressure Liquid Chromatography, which are costly and laborious. This study evaluated the potential of Fourier transform infrared-diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-DRIFTS) technique in predicting β-carotene, α-tocopherol and l-ascorbic acid in pulps of four mango cultivar types (‘Apple’, ‘Kent’, ‘Ngowe’, and ‘Tommy Atkins’). Combination of ran dom forest (RF) and first derivative spectra developed the predictive models. Factorial ANOVA examined the interaction effect of cultivar type, site (‘Thika’, ‘Embu’ and ‘Machakos), and fruit canopy position (sun exposed/within crown) on β-carotene, α-tocopherol and l-ascorbic acid contents. RF Models gave R2 = 0.97, RMSE = 2.27, RPD = 0.72 for β-carotene; R2 = 0.98, RMSE = 0.26, RPD = 0.30 for α-tocopherol and R2 = 0.96, RMSE = 0.51, RPD = 1.96 for l-ascorbic acid. Generally cultivar type affected vitamin C, F (3, 282) = 7.812, p < 0.05. Apple and Tommy Atkins had higher mean vitamins than Ngowe and Kent. In Machakos, within canopy fruits had higher β-carotene than sun-exposed fruits, F (5, 257) = 2.328, p = 0.043. However, interactions between fruit position, site and cultivar did not affect α-tocopherol and vitamin C. In Thika, Tommy Atkins at fully ripe stage had higher vitamin C than at intermediate maturity stage, F (2, 143) = 7.328, p = 0.01. These results show that FTIR-DRIFTS spectroscopy is a high-throughput method that can be used to predict mango fruit vitamins of in a large data set.
Tag: genetics
Prunus africana: how agroforestry can help save an endangered medicinal tree
I studied the uses of the African cherry (Prunus africana) by four ethnic groups who live near the Kilum-Ijim Forest Preserve on Mount Oku, Cameroon. Prunus africana is valued for its timber, which is used for tool handles and for fuel, and it is an important wildlife food. However, its greatest value is for traditional medicines. Healers use the bark and leaves to treat more than 30 human ailments and several animal diseases and it is the most important plant used in their practices. This study is the first to document this importance, particularly for animal medicines. I also examined the growing worldwide herbal use to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia. Market demand has caused resource depletion and an erosion of traditional resource protection practices. Preservation of the species will depend on sustainable harvesting methods and on cultivation.