Extending storage life of fresh-cut apples using natural products and their derivatives.

Prevention of browning of apples slices has been difficult to achieve because of the rapidity of the enzymatic oxidation of phenolic substrates even under reduced atmospheric pressure storage. Combinations of enzymatic inhibitors, reducing agents, and antimicrobial compounds containing calcium to extend storage life were tested to decrease the browning of Red Delicious apple slices stored at 5 and 10 degrees C under normal atmospheric conditions. Treatments were devised to prevent browning for up to 5 weeks at 5 degrees C with no apparent microbial growth using dipping solutions of compounds derived from natural products consisting of 4-hexylresorcinol, isoascorbic acid, a sulfur-containing amino acid (N-acetylcysteine), and calcium propionate. Analyses of organic acids and the major sugars revealed that the slices treated with the combinations of antibrowning compounds retained higher levels of malic acid and had no deterioration in sugar levels at 5 and 10 degrees C, indicating that higher quality was maintained during storage.

Allelochemicals in tall fescue-abscisic and phenolic acids.

Growth inhibitors that can be leached from excised leaves of tall fescue grass (Festuca arundinacea) were investigated as allelochemicals. Leachates of desiccated Rebel and Kentucky 31 grass cultivars contained three principal inhibitory compounds, abscisic acid (ABA), caffeic acid, andp-coumaric acid. After quantitative analysis, abscisic acid was determined to be the predominant inhibitor. A 10-fold increase in ABA levels in leachates occurred after one day of desiccation. The concentration of ABA was 40% greater in Kentucky 31 leachate than in Rebel. This difference was also found in subsequent analyses of leachates of grasses that had been allowed to dry up to 30 days; however, the ABA concentration was reduced by 60% from the 10-fold increased levels.

Synthesis of brassinosteroids and relationship of structure to plant growth-promoting effects.

A number of brassinosteroids with and without hydroxyl groups or an alkyl substituent in their side chain were synthesized. The alkyl substituent at C-24 highly influenced the oxidation of the C-22 double bond with osmium tetroxide and, hence the ratio of the 22 beta,23 beta- and 22 alpha,23 alpha-glycolic isomers obtained. Two different bean bioassays used to compare the plant growth-promoting capabilities of these compounds and of brassinolide and its three side chain 22,23-cis-glycolic isomers showed that brassinolide was the most active. The next most active brassinosteroids were generally those with 22 alpha-OH, 23 alpha-OH orientation and a beta-methyl or alpha-ethyl substituent at C-24. Similarly, of the synthetic precursor tetrahydroxy ketones of the brassinosteroids, those with 22 alpha-OH, 23 alpha-OH orientation (like brassinolide) and an alkyl group at C-24 were also the most active in both bioassays. The results indicate stringent structural features are required for a steroid to induce brassin activity. The structural requirements are: a trans A/B ring system (5alpha-hydrogen), a 6-ketone or a 7-oxa-6-ketone system in ring B, cis alpha-oriented hydroxyl groups at C-2 and C-3, cis hydroxy groups at C-22 and C-23 as well as a methyl or ethyl substituent at C-24.

Synthesis and biological activity of brassinolide and its 22 beta, 23 beta-isomer: novel plant growth-promoting steroids.

Brassinolide (2 alpha, 3 alpha, 22 alpha, 23 alpha-tetrahydroxy-24 alpha-methyl -B-homo-7-oxa-5 alpha-cholestan-6-one), a novel plant growth-promoting steroid isolated from rape pollen, and its hitherto unknown 22 beta, 23 beta-isomer were synthesized from a C-24 epimeric 60:40 mixture of 22-dehydroxampesterol (24 alpha-methyl) and brassicasterol (24 beta-methyl) from oysters. The method of synthesis favored the formation of the 22 beta, 23 beta-isomer by better than 4:1. Comparative plant growth-promoting capabilities of brassinolide, both natural and synthetic, and its three side chain cis-glycolic isomers in the bean second internode bioassay showed that the natural and synthetic brassinolides were equally active and caused splitting of the internode at the 0.1 microgram level. The least active was the 22 beta, 23 beta-isomer of brassinolide. The isomers with the 22 alpha, 23 alpha and 24 alpha, and the 22 beta, 23 beta and 24 beta configurations were highly active and were required at about 10 times the concentration of brassinolide to cause the same physiological response. In the bean first internode bioassay, an auxin-induced growth test system which employs isolated bean plant segments, the isomer with 22 beta, 23 beta and 24 beta configuration caused a greater response than brassinolide. Two of the four tetrahydroxy ketones obtained in the synthesis of the isomers were also active in both assays.