Geographical origin identification of winter jujube(Ziziphus jujuba Dongzao')by using multi-element fingerprinting with chemometrics

Winter jujube(Ziziphus jujuba'Dongzao')is greatly appreciated by consumers for its excellent quality,but brand infringement frequently occurs in the market.Here,we first determined a total of 38 elements in 167 winter jujube samples from the main winter jujube producing areas of China by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer(ICP-MS).As a result,16 elements(Mg,K,Mn,Cu,Zn,Mo,Ba,Be,As,Se,Cd,Sb,Ce,Er,Tl,and Pb)exhibited significant differences in samples from different producing areas.Supervised linear discriminant analysis(LDA)and orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA)showed better performance in identifying the origin of samples than unsupervised principal component analysis(PCA).LDA and OPLS-DA had a mean identification accuracy of 87.84 and 94.64%in the testing set,respectively.By using the multilayer perceptron(MLP)and C5.0,the prediction accuracy of the models could reach 96.36 and 91.06%,respectively.Based on the above four chemometric methods,Cd,Tl,Mo and Se were selected as the main variables and principal markers for the origin identification of winter jujube.Overall,this study demonstrates that it is practical and precise to identify the origin of winter jujube through multi-element fingerprint analysis with chemometrics,and may also provide reference for establishing the origin traceability system of other fruits.

Effect of Nitric Oxide on Alcoholic Fermentation and Qualities of Chinese Winter Jujube During Storage

This article investigates the effects of nitric oxide （NO） on alcoholic fermentation and the qualities of Chinese Winter Jujube during storage, and explores the action mechanisms of browning and softening of fruits to provide theoretical proofs for using NO in the storage of Chinese Winter Jujube. Chinese Winter Jujube fruits were fumigated with different concentrations of NO gas （0, 10, 20, 30 μL L^-1） under anaerobic conditions and stored at 22±1℃ and 4± 1℃. The changes in appearance qualities, the contents of pyruvate, ethanol, acetaldehyde, and the activities of alcohol dehydrogenase （ADH） and lactate dehydrogenase （LDH） were investigated. The contents of pyruvate, ethanol, and acetaldehyde were significantly reduced, and the peak of pyruvate content was delayed by 20 μL L^-1 NO. The activities of ADH and LDH in 20 μL L^-1 NO treated fruits were also significantly inhibited. However, the alcoholic fermentation and softening of Chinese Winter Jujube fruits were promoted by 30 μL L^-1 NO during storage. The results indicated that 20 μL L^-1 NO could mitigate the injury of ethanol on Chinese Winter Jujube and effectively delay the browning and softening of fruits during storage.

Study on Detection of Pesticide Residues on Winter Jujube Surface by Near-infrared Spectroscopy Combined with PLS and SPA

With fresh winter jujube from the southern region of Xinjiang as the object of study, the method for detecting pesticide residues on winter jujube surface by near-infrared spectroscopy （NIR） combined with successive projections algorithm （SPA） and partial least squares （PLS） was investigated. The absorbance information of winter jujube sample surface was obtained through NIR technology, for the building of a full-wave band PLS model of fresh winter jujube sample sprayed with different concentrations of pesticide （taking chlorpyrifos as an example） as well as an SPA-PLS model which was built with the characteristic wavelengths extracted with SPA as the input variables for PLS, and the prediction precision of the two kinds of models was compared. The model built with the five characteristic waveslengths extected by SPA method only used the variables 0.32% of all the variables in the full wave band, but its accuracy and precision were better than the model built with the full wave band. It is feasible to build a model for different concentrations of chlorpyrifos on fresh winter jujube surfarce by NIR technology combined with SPA and PLS, and SPA method could simplify the complexity of the model and improve the precision and stablity of the model.

Development of a texture evaluation system for winter jujube(Ziziphus jujuba‘Dongzao’)

Winter jujube(Ziziphus jujuba‘Dongzao’)is an excellent late maturing variety of fresh-eating jujube in China.Fruit texture is an important indicator of sensory quality.To investigate the correlations among texture indices and establish an evaluation system for winter jujube texture,we used the TMS-Touch instrument to perform a texture profile analysis(TPA)on 1150 winter jujubes from three major producing areas in China.Eight indices and their best-fit distribution were obtained,including fracture(Pearson),hardness(InvGauss),adhesive force(Weibull),adhesiveness(LogLogistic),cohesiveness(LogLogistic),springiness(BetaGeneral),gumminess(InvGauss),and chewiness(InvGauss).Based on the best-fit distribution curves,each index was divided into five grades(lower,low,medium,high and higher)by the 10th,30th,70th and 90th percentiles.Among the texture indices,82%of the correlation coefficients were highly significant(P<0.01);meanwhile,chewiness was significantly(P<0.01)and positively correlated with springiness and gumminess,of which the correlation coefficients were up to 0.8692 and 0.8096,respectively.However,adhesiveness was significantly(P<0.01)and negatively related to adhesive force with a correlation coefficient of–0.7569.Among hardness,cohesiveness,springiness,gumminess,and chewiness,each index could be well fitted by a multiple linear regression with the remaining four indices,with the coefficients above 0.94 and the mean fitting error and mean prediction error lower than 10%.A comprehensive evaluation model was consequently established based on factor analysis to evaluate the texture quality of winter jujube.The results demonstrated that winter jujube with higher comprehensive scores generally exhibited higher springiness and chewiness,but had lower adhesive force and adhesiveness.We used factor analysis and clustering analysis to divide the eight studied texture into four groups(cohesive factor,adhesive-soft factor,tough-hard factor,and crispness factor),whose representative indices were springiness,adhesiveness,hardness,and fracture,respectively.Overall,this study investigated the variation in each index of winter jujube texture,explored the association among these indices,screened the representative indices,and established a texture evaluation system.The results provide a methodological basis and technical support for evaluating winter jujube texture.

Occurrence and Pollution-free Control of Apolygus lucorum in Winter Jujube

In recent years, Apolygus htcorum has become the main pest of winter jujube. It sucks juice of young parts of winter jujube and causes falling of buds and flowers, leaf perforations, deformities and fall- off of fruits, leading to serious economic loss. Considering the occurrence characteristics and control problems, the distribution, occurrence regularity, damage characteristics and outbreak reasons of A. lucorum are overviewed and analyzed in this paper, and the pollution-free control measures are also put forward.

Effects of flue gas desulfurization gypsum and clover planting on qualities of soil and winter jujube in coastal saline-alkali orchard of north China

Flue gas desulfurization gypsum and clover planting alleviated the soil salinization stress.Soil pH and total phosphorus affected the bacterial communi-ties.Total phosphorus affected the fungal communities.Flue gas desulfurization gypsum and clover planting improved jujube quality.The coastal area of Shandong Province,characterized by coastal saline tidal soil,is one of the main production areas of winter jujube in China.However,the low soil fertility and poor soil structure in jujube orchard restricted the development of the jujube industry.The objectives of this study were to 1)evaluate the effect of application of flue gas desulfurization(FGD)gypsum and clover planting on soil quality improvement and soil microbial community structure of jujube orchard;2)investigate the effects of two measures on the nutrition and quality of winter jujube.The results showed that FGD gypsum reduced the soil total salt content by 65.6%,and clover planting increased the soil organic matter content by 30.7%,which effectively alleviated the soil salinization stress and improved the soil structure.Soil pH and total phosphorus(TP)were the main determinants influencing bacterial community composition,and TP was the dominant factor of the fungal community composition in the saline-alkali soils.Meanwhile,FGD gypsum addition and clover planting significantly increased the sugar degree and Vc content of winter jujube,thus improved jujube quality,and further contributed to the ecological sustainable development of winter jujube industry.

Storage and Remobilization of Nitrogen by Chinese Jujube(Z. jujuba Mill. var. inermis Rehd) Seedling as Affected by Timing of ^(15)N Supply

Winter jujube orchard nitrogen （N） management aims at increasing N reserves to meet the tree＇s growth requirements. Fertilization strategies should maximize the efficiency of fertilizers, including the choice of the optimal timing of N supply. ^15N-urea was applied to winter jujubes on Jinsixiaozao jujubes rootstock to evaluate the effect of application timing on Nstorage and remobilization in mature trees in pot culture. The treatments consisted of ground application before budding （BB）, during fruit core-hardening stage （FCH）, and fruit rapid-swelling stage （FRS）. Nitrogen-use efficiency of treatments were significantly different, which were 2.42% （BB）, 9.77% （FCH）, and 9.01% （FRS） in the dormant and 5.20% （BB）, 16.16% （FCH）, and 10.30% （FRS） in the following full-bloom. N supply in the pre-harvest helped to increase N-reserves of trees and then translocate to the new growth organs the following year. The largest amount of ^15N was detected in the roots and trunks. In all the treatments, the partition rates were highest in coarse roots, which were 30.43% （BB）, 38.61% （FCH）, and 40.62% （FRS）, respectively. ^15N stored in roots and trunks was used by jujube trees to sustain new growth in the following full-bloom. ^15N applied before budding resulted in lower Ndff% in perennial organs （trunks and coarse roots） sampled in the following full-bloom, but fine roots had highest Ndff% （1.28%）. Other organs recovered similar amount of Ndff%. In contrast, FCH and FRS treatments led to higher Ndff% （4.01-5.15%） in the new growth organs （new growth branches, deciduous spurs, leaves and flowers）, but lower Ndff% in perennial branches （1.49-2.89%）. With the delay of ^15N-urea application time, ^15N increased the partitioning to roots. FCH treatment increased N-storage in perennial organ during winter, which should be remobilized to sustain new growth the following spring.