No abstract

This study uses land expectation value (LEV) as a criterion to conduct economic analyses of natural rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) and tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) monoculture, and rubber-tea intercropping. We calculated LEV by using the Faustmann model that combines annual revenue flow from latex production with final timber harvest of rubber trees. Production and cost data were collected from Xinwei Farm in Hainan, China. We found that rubber-tea intercropping generated higher LEV than rubber and tea monoculture under current socio-economic circumstances. Sensitivity analysis has been conducted to examine the impacts on land expectation value by interest rate, prices of natural rubber and tea, and labor costs.

No abstract

This study investigated a freshness assessment method utilizing electronic nose (e-nose) for fresh-cut green bell pepper (Capsicum annuum var. grossum) stored at 7±1 °C. Physicochemical results showed that the fresh-cut green bell peppers were fresh until 5 days and became spoiled at 7 days, particularly as evidenced by a surge in aerobic plate count and MDA content on subsequent days. The e-nose data combined hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) can preliminarily distinguish between fresh (days 0, 1, 3 and 5) and spoiled (days 7 and 9) samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) result showed that days 0 and 1 samples were mixed together in PCA plot, and the other different groups can be obtained according to the different sampling days. Partial least squares (PLS) statistical model (R 2 =0.9783, RMSE=0.3317) was used to correlate the e-nose data with the aerobic plate counts. The results suggested the promising possibility of e-nose system for monitoring freshness of fresh-cut green bell pepper.

No abstract