The effect of two fruit maturity stages on the quality attributes of four fresh fig cultivars was examined, including consumer acceptance and antioxidant capacity. Fig quality attributes such as weight, soluble solids concentration (SSC)

The genus Ficus includes species ranging in number from 600 to more than 1900, with most found in the tropics or subtropics and only a handful with fruits considered edible (reviewed in Condit, 1969). The cultivated fig, Ficus carica L., (Moraceae), is clearly of greatest importance as a source of human food. The fig fruit has long been associated with horticulture in the Mediterranean region (Zohary and Spiegel-Roy, 1975) and is considered to have been ''first brought into cultivation in southern Arabia'' (Storey, 1975). Wild or ''nearly wild'' figs are reported throughout much of the Middle East and Mediterranean region (De Candolle, 1886). Cultivated figs are reported to have become established across the Mediterranean region 6000 years ago, reaching England by 500 CE (Ferguson et al., 1990). Interestingly, the fossil record shows a prehistoric distribution of Ficus carica across southern Europe (De Candolle, 1886).

In this trial, AVJAP for patients with mild to moderately symptomatic permanent AF did not worsen cardiac function during long-term follow-up, and quality of life was improved.

No abstract

Performance of `Kerman' pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) trees on three rootstocks (P. atlantica Desf., P. integerrima Stewart and `UCB-1', a P. atlantica × P. integerrima hybrid) was evaluated with 2-year-old trees grown in sand-tank lysimeters under combined SO42- and Cl- salinity and boron (B) stress for 6 months. Four salinity treatments were imposed by irrigating the plants with water at electrical conductivity (ECiw) of 3.5, 8.7,12, or 16 dS·m-1 each containing B at 10 mg·L-1. Growth of `Kerman' was evaluated based on increase in total leaf area, increase in trunk diameter, and total above-ground biomass production. All growth parameters decreased as salinity increased, but were not significant until ECiw exceeded 12 dS·m-1. However, growth of `Kerman' on P. atlantica and `UCB-1' was considerably better than on P. integerrima at 16 dS·m-1. The onset and severity of foliar injury differed among scions and treatments and was attributed primarily to B toxicity, rather than the effects of salinity. Concentrations of B in injured leaf tissue ranged from 1000 to 2500 mg·kg-1. Leaf injury decreased with increasing salinity, although leaf B was not significantly reduced suggesting an internal synergistic interaction between B and other mineral nutrients. However for P. vera on P. integerrima, the highest level of salinity produced the greatest injury, possibly as a combination of B plus Cl- and/or Na+ toxicity. Leaf transpiration, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll concentration of P. vera, determined by steady-state porometry, were also reduced to a greater degree by combined salinity and B when budded on P. integerrima than on the other two rootstocks.