The Mechanism of Carotenoid Degradation in Flue-Cured Tobacco and Changes in the Related Enzyme Activities at the Leaf-Drying Stage During the Bulk Curing Process

The mechanism of carotenoid degradation and the changes in the activities of related enzymes in flue-cured tobacco at the leaf-drying stage during the bulk-curing process were studied in order to provide theoretical basis for optimization of curing technology. The effect of different rising speeds of temperature on the carotenoid degradation and the related enzymes activities at the color-fixing stage during the bulk curing process was studied by using the electric-heated fluecuring barn designed by Henan Agricultural University, China, based on curing technology with yellowing at low temperature and moderate humidity and leaf drying at moderate humidity. The results showed that the carotenoid degradation components （β-carotene, lutein, neoxanthin, and violaxthin） decreased gradually at the color-fixing stage during the bulk curing process. The carotenoid degradation components viz.,β-carotene, lutein, neoxanthin, and violaxthin at the slow heating curing （T1） were relatively higher than the rapid heating curing （T2） accounting for 10, 2, 32 and 32% respectively, but there were no differences among treatments （P〉 0.05）. The effect of different conditions of curing on the activities of enzymes related to carotenoids degradation were significant. The lipoxygenase, phenylalanine ammonialyase, peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase enzymes had a bidirectional effect on the quality of tobacco leaves and it was beneficial to form more premise matter of aroma based on the higher enzyme activities at the early leaf-drying stage. The slow heating could regulate the change in various enzymes＇ activities reasonably, making cell redox reaction to reach the dynamic balance and make the degradation of carotenoids adequately. Meanwhile, it could avoid the occurrence of browning reaction and provide foundation for improving the quality of tobacco and optimization of technology for bulk curing and further enhancing aroma.

Reliability analysis of GaN-based light emitting diodes for solid state illumination

In this paper, we have discussed the effect of electrical stress on GaN light emitting diode （LED）. With the lapse of time, the LED with an applied large current stress can reduce its current more than without such a stress under a large forward-voltage drop. Its scanning electron microscopy （SEM） image shows that there exist several pits on the surface of the p-metal. With an electrical stress applied, the number of pits greatly increases. We also find that the degradation of GaN LED is related to the oxidized Ni/Au ohmic contact to p-GaN. The electrical activation of H-passivated Mg acceptors is described in detail. Annealing is performed in ambient air for 10 min and the differential resistances at a forward-voltage drop of 5 V are taken to evaluate the activation of the Mg acceptors. These results suggest some mechanisms of degradation responsible for these phenomena, which are described in the paper.