ASSESSMENT OF SOME VEGETATIVE POMOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF SOUR CHERRY CULTIVARS UNDER NORD – EAST ROMANIAN CONDITIONS

The paper introduces aspects about the influence of environmental factors in 2019 – 2021 period on vegetative parameters of some sour cherry cvs. Analysing the time window between April and July (for each of the three years of study), 2019 and 2020 recorded a precipitations deficit of -71.6 mm (2019) and -86.0 mm (in 2020) in comparison with 270.0 mm representing the multiannual sum for this period, while 2021 recorded normal quantities of precipitations of 272.0 mm. The values of the trunk’s section area based on the average of three years of study were between 4.6 cm2 (ʹErdi Ipariʹ cv.) and 16.3 cm2 (ʹErdi Biborʹ cv.). The highest values for the volume of the crown were recorded in ʹDukatʹ (3.23 m3/tree) and ʹErdi Kordiʹ (2.88 m3/tree) cvs. while the lowest values were recorded in ʹErdi Biborʹ (2.19 m3/tree), ʹErdi Ipariʹ (1.56 m3/tree) and ʹErdi Kedvesʹ (1.55 m3/tree) cvs. The density of the trees’ crown had values between 4.74 cm2/m3 (ʹErdi Ipariʹ cv.) and 12.13 cm2/m3 (ʹErdi Kedvesʹ cv.). The estimates of the young shoots per tree and their average length over the three years of study have shown values superior than control for ʹErdi Biborʹ (41 young shoots with 70.5 cm), ʹErdi Kordiʹ (32 young shoots with 63 cm) and ʹDukatʹ (18 young shoots with 85.4 cm) cvs.

POPULATION DYNAMICS OF DROSOPHYLA SUZUKII (MATSAMURA) IN SWEET AND SOUR CHERRY ORCHARDS IN THE CENTRAL BALKANS MOUNTAIN

The spotted wing drosophila (SWD) Drosophila suzukii, Matsumura is a polyphagous for many stone and soft fruits species. The pest was recorded in 2014 at sweet cherry orchards in our country and has become a real pest, because SWD attack the fruit when they start to ripe. During 2017-2019 the study was carried out in the Institute of Mountain Stockbreeding and Agriculture in Troyan – Central part of the Balkans Mountain. For monitoring were used traps with red wine and apple vinegar. The first flies at the sweet cherry were found during the second decade of May and in the sour cherry - a little later, at the beginning of June, when the fruit start to ripe. The peak of the population dynamics was established in the second half of June, after which the density began to decreasing. It was found that D. suzukii was preferred more the sweet cherry fruits than sour cherry fruits.

Quality Characteristics and Inhibitory Xanthine Oxidase Potential of 21 Sour Cherry (Prunus Cerasus L.) Varieties Cultivated in China

This study aims to analyze the physicochemical characteristics and activities of 21 sour cherry cultivars in China. The evaluated accessions differ in several quality traits including weight, moisture, color, total soluble solids, and total acids. Glucose and malic acid were the predominant individual sugar and organic acid in all accessions. The potassium (K) and iron (Fe) were of the highest contents in Érid jubileum (453.887 mg/100 g FW) and Meili (2.988 mg/100 g FW), respectively. The contents of total phenolics (TP) were from 9.309 to 24.118 mg GAE/g DW, and total flavonoids (TF) were 8.935–27.198 mg RE/g DW, which were highly positively correlated (r = 0.892, p < 0.001). M-15, Érdi fubileum, and Érid jubileum showed the highest inhibitory effects on xanthine oxidase, and the IC50 inhibitory were 2.619, 3.117, and 3.940 mg/ml, respectively. This work evaluated the quality and nutritional characteristics of 21 sour cherry cultivars grown in China and explored their potential as an innovative food ingredient for hyperuricemia by evaluating the inhibitory effects of xanthine oxidase. And these results provide valuable data and new ideas for the future sour cherry breeding program as well as a processing guide.

Discriminative Power of Geometric Parameters of Different Cultivars of Sour Cherry Pits Determined Using Machine Learning

The aim of this study was to develop models based on linear dimensions or shape factors, and the sets of combined linear dimensions and shape factors for discrimination of sour cherry pits of different cultivars (‘Debreceni botermo’, ‘Łutówka’, ‘Nefris’, ‘Kelleris’). The geometric parameters were calculated using image processing. The pits of different sour cherry cultivars statistically significantly differed in terms of selected dimensions and shape factors. The discriminative models built based on linear dimensions produced average accuracies of up to 95% for distinguishing the pit cultivars in the case of ‘Nefris’ vs. ‘Kelleris’ and 72% for all four cultivars. The average accuracies for the discriminative models built based on shape factors were up to 95% for the ‘Nefris’ and ‘Kelleris’ pits and 73% for four cultivars. The models combining the linear dimensions and shape factors produced accuracies reaching 96% for the ‘Nefris’ vs. ‘Kelleris’ pits and 75% for all cultivars. The geometric parameters with high discriminative power may be used for distinguishing different cultivars of sour cherry pits. It can be of great importance for practical applications. It may allow avoiding the adulteration and mixing of different cultivars.

Effects of Polyphenols on P-Glycoprotein (ABCB1) Activity

P-glycoprotein (Pgp, ABCB1) is a member of one of the largest families of active transporter proteins called ABC transporters. Thanks to its expression in tissues with barrier functions and its broad substrate spectrum, it is an important determinant of the absorption, metabolism and excretion of many drugs. Pgp and/or some other drug transporting ABC proteins (e.g., ABCG2, MRP1) are overexpressed in nearly all cancers and cancer stem cells by which cancer cells become resistant against many drugs. Thus, Pgp inhibition might be a strategy for fighting against drug-resistant cancer cells. Previous studies have shown that certain polyphenols interact with human Pgp. We tested the effect of 15 polyphenols of sour cherry origin on the basal and verapamil-stimulated ATPase activity of Pgp, calcein-AM and daunorubicin transport as well as on the conformation of Pgp using the conformation sensitive UIC2 mAb. We found that quercetin, quercetin-3-glucoside, narcissoside and ellagic acid inhibited the ATPase activity of Pgp and increased the accumulation of calcein and daunorubicin by Pgp-positive cells. Cyanidin-3O-sophoroside, catechin, naringenin, kuromanin and caffeic acid increased the ATPase activity of Pgp, while they had only a weaker effect on the intracellular accumulation of fluorescent Pgp substrates. Several tested polyphenols including epicatechin, trans-ferulic acid, oenin, malvin and chlorogenic acid were ineffective in all assays applied. Interestingly, catechin and epicatechin behave differently, although they are stereoisomers. We also investigated the effect of quercetin, naringenin and ellagic acid added in combination with verapamil on the transport activity of Pgp. In these experiments, we found that the transport inhibitory effect of the tested polyphenols and verapamil was additive or synergistic. Generally, our data demonstrate diverse interactions of the tested polyphenols with Pgp. Our results also call attention to the potential risks of drug–drug interactions (DDIs) associated with the consumption of dietary polyphenols concurrently with chemotherapy treatment involving Pgp substrate/inhibitor drugs.

A sour cherry orchard. An excursion through Chekhovian green spaces

The cherry orchard marks the end of Anton Chekhov’s life, consecrating him as the author who defined the threshold of the new epoch. In this article, I construe the garden as the motif linking Chekhov’s sensitivity to the general spirit of his era, revealing his poetics to the global stage as the distinctive mark of a historical and socioeconomic shift. On this path, I will clarify how the subtle difference between sour cherries and sweet cherries becomes a symbol of Chekhov’s dramatic construction, and how his poetics are built on nuances and subtle shifts in meanings, representing the irrevocable fading of a culture. A philological reflection combined with an attentive reading of Chekhov’s letters, Stanislavsky’s memoirs and scenic sketches reveal the author’s interest in the relationship between man and nature as well as the need to read his work from a more spatial-oriented standpoint. Chekhov clearly anticipates the so-called ‘spatial turn’, approaching space not through the description of a specific landscape or dramaturgical setting, but from a phenomenological point of view, leading him to profound reflections on the relationship between physical planning and socio-political development, as later conceptualised by key social thinkers such as Henry Lefebvre and Edward Soja. Chekhov’s dramaturgical construction and symbology are the result of this awareness and endless passion for nature in all its forms.

Mobilization of fruit, small fruit and nut crop genetic resources in Belarus

Background. Natural populations of fruit and small fruit plants in Belarus and their specific and varietal composition for a long time attracted the attention of pomologists and breeders. Identification and mobilization of unique local forms and landraces as genetic sources of useful traits as well as monitoring duplicate collections will contribute to their more effective use in breeding practice to develop competitive domestic cultivars of various crops and reveal the adaptability of foreign cultivars to the conditions of Belarus.Methods. The itinerary of the collecting mission passed through 6 regions of the Republic of Belarus (Gomel, Minsk, Mogilev, Vitebsk, Brest, and Grodno) in 2012–2017.Results. As a result, 221 samples of fruit, small fruit and nut plants were collected, including 18 rootstocks of fruit crops. By 2021, 105 unique landraces were tested in the plant introduction and quarantine nursery and planted in the field gene bank, including 28 accessions of apple, 33 of pear, 11 of sour cherry, 5 of sweet cherry, 9 of plum, 8 of apricot, 1 of almond, 2 of hazel, 3 of garden strawberry, 1 of black chokeberry, 1 of viburnum, and 1 of bird cherry. There are plans to use the obtained accessions in breeding practice assources of valuable agronomic traits (high winter hardiness, high yield, resistance to a set of plant pathogens, etc.).