Firmness

Decades of research has shown that adolescent alcohol consumption is linked
to effective parenting. Data were obtained from adolescents (N=11 503, mean
age 14.9±0.79) in Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Spain within the European Union’s 7th Framework
Programme funded project, ‘Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe
(SEYLE)’. Our data show that on average in European families’ parents most of the
time or always know about their childrens’ whereabouts, never or rarely check
their homework, most of the time or always understand their problems and
often help them make important decisions. Parents also often take time to talk,
listen to adolescents’ opinions and come to see their special activities. Investigated
parenting actions conceptualised as firmness, closeness and involvement
can in some combinations predict adolescent alcohol consumption frequency.
The current paper suggests that there are two types of family contexts where
adolescents drink less alcohol. In the first family context parents most of the time
or always know about their whereabouts, check their homework and often help
to make important decisions or understand problems. In the second type, their
parents often take time to talk to them, listen to their opinion and come to see
their special activities. Ineffective parenting eclipses different family structure
types and reveals to be a higher predictor of adolescents’ multidimensional
decline.

Aims: The experiment was conducted to assess the effect of vermicompost and tuber size on processing quality of potato during ambient storage condition.

Study Design: Experiment was conducted in a split-plot design, where vermicompost levels were assigned to main plots and tuber size to subplots.

Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was conducted at the agronomy research field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, during the period from November 1, 2014 to April 30, 2015 and November 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016 in Rabi season.

Methodology: The experiment was consisted of two factors, i.e., factor A:- Vermicompost level (Vm-4): Vm1: 0 t ha-1 (Control), Vm2: 3 t ha-1, Vm3: 6 t ha-1 and Vm4: 9 t ha-1; factor B:- Tuber size (T-5): T1: 5-10 g, T2: 10-20 g, T3: 20-30 g, T4: 30-40 g and T5: >40 g. After harvesting, the potato was collected and stored at ambient condition for laboratory analysis.

Results: The research showed that vermicompost had a significant effect on most of the storage parameters. Results also showed that storage quality parameters increased with increasing vermicompost level irrespective of tuber size. Among the twenty (20) treatment combinations, vermicompost at the rate of 9 t ha-1 with tuber size >40 g showed the highest firmness (44.349 N), specific gravity (1.084 g cm-3), dry matter (22.77%), flesh color (L*- 75.60; a*- 11.76; b*- 24.96). In respect of ambient storage condition; weight loss increased with increasing storage time, while firmness, specific gravity, dry matter, flesh color decreased with increasing storage time. Quality parameters slowly decreased with increasing storage time up to 40 days after storage (DAS) and thereafter sharply decreased and finally became non-suitable both for table and processing purpose.

Conclusion: Therefore, the experiment showed that potato growers may use a higher dose of vermicompost for improving processing quality of potato and can store potato up to 40 DAS at ambient condition.

El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el efecto de la cera de abeja como recubrimiento, y la aplicación de extractos de ajo y sauce en la conservación de banano Cavendish clon Gran Enano. Se emplearon 200 frutos sanos y en madurez fisiológica (40 por tratamiento) para ser sometidos a 5 tratamientos: T1 = testigo, T2 = cera de abeja, T3 = extracto de sauce 1:10 p/v, T4 = extracto de ajo 1:10 p/v, T5 = extracto de ajo combinado con cera de abeja. Los frutos tratados se almacenaron a temperatura ambiente. Cada 48 h se registró pérdida de peso (%), fructosa (°Brix), sólidos solubles totales (SST, °Brix), sacarosa (°Brix), color de la cáscara (G), firmeza (N), pH y acidez titulable (AT, %). Además, se realizó evaluación sensorial cuando los frutos alcanzaron la madurez de consumo. Todos los frutos tratados (T2-T5) mantuvieron el color verde durante el período de estudio. El uso de extracto de ajo y cera de abeja de manera individual y combinada ayudó a mantener por más tiempo la vida de anaquel de los frutos. El uso de extractos de sauce y de ajo dio como resultado frutos más dulces, con mayor olor a banano y miel, y con mayor masticabilidad. El uso de cera de abeja para recubrir frutos, así como de extractos de ajo y sauce, de manera individual y combinada, permite mantener por más tiempo las características físicas químicas y sensoriales de banano clon Gran Enano.