The cultivation of pitaya has been recently established in several regions of the world, there is a lack of information on its management, especially regarding the control of diseases and pests. In ...places where pitaya is grown around the world, symptoms such as mosaic and mottling caused by simple or mixed viral infections have been reported. In Brazil, similar symptoms have also been observed, but the etiology of the disease has often not been investigated. This study aimed to detect and identify the virus species that infect pitaya in Brazil using RT‒PCR and molecular analysis of the coat protein (CP) gene of the viruses. A total of 212 samples of cladodes with suspected symptoms of viral disease were collected from different regions of Brazil and analysed. Four species of potexviruses were detected, cactus virus X (CVX), pitaya virus X (PiVX), zygocactus virus X (ZyVX) and schlumbergera virus X (SchVX), which appeared in single infections (35%) and mixed infections (65%). In the cases of mixed infection, two and/or three species of potexviruses were identified in the same plant. The CVX isolates were divided into two groups due to the deletion of 9 nucleotides at position 41 (5' → 3′) of the CP gene in one of them. This is the first study conducted on the viruses that infect pitaya in Brazil, showing the need to develop control measures that ensure productivity and profitability of pitaya crops in the country.
•The occurrence of four potexviruses species: CVX, PiVX, ZyVX and SchVX were detected in Brazilian orchard.•The symptoms were stronger in mixed infections, including rings in the cladodes.•The occurrence of potexviruses indicated that there must be an intensive movement of pitaya seedlings between producers.•The data obtained suggests that the production of healthy seedlings would be fundamental to in pitaya cultivation.
Ravine lands are the worst type of land degradation affecting soil quality and biodiversity. Crop production in such lands is impossible without adopting proper conservation measures. In-situ ...moisture conservation techniques could play an instrumental role in restoring ravine lands by improving soil moisture. We hypothesized that restoring ravine land through a combination of tree planting, fruit crop cultivation, and in-situ moisture conservation practice would result in significant improvements in productivity, profitability, and soil fertility. An experiment was conducted involving the combination of Malabar Neem (Melia dubia) and Dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) in conjunction with in-situ soil moisture conservation measures specifically involving half-moon structures (HM). The experiment was conducted under randomized block design (RBD) comprising eight treatments. These treatments include sole Melia cultivation (MD 3m × 3m), sole cultivation of dragon fruit (DF 3m × 3m), silviculture system (MDF-3m × 3m), horti-silviculture system with larger spacing (MDF-4m × 4m), sole Melia cultivation with in-situ moisture conservation (MDH-3m × 3m), sole Dragon fruit cultivation with in-situ moisture conservation (DFH-3m × 3m), horti-silviculture system of Melia and Dragon fruit with in-situ moisture conservation (MDFH-3m × 3m), and horti-silviculture system with larger spacing and in-situ moisture conservation (MDFH-4m × 4m). Each treatment was replicated thrice to evaluate their impact on productivity, profitability, soil fertility, and carbon sequestration for 8 years (2016–2023). The results revealed that the horti-silviculture system (MDFH-3 × 3 m) exhibited the highest total tree biomass and total carbon sequestration with an increase of 183.2% and 82.8% respectively, compared to sole Melia cultivation without HM and sole Melia with HM. Furthermore, sole Melia with HM augmented soil nutrients (N, P, K, and SOC) by 74.4%, 66.4%, 35.2%, and 78.3%, respectively, compared to control (no planting), with performance at par with MDFH-3 × 3 m. Similarly, sole Melia with HM enhanced SOC stock and SOC sequestration rate by 79.2% and 248% over control. However, it was found at par with MDFH-3 × 3 m. The horti-silviculture system (MDFH-3 × 3 m) consistently produced the highest fruit yield throughout the years surpassing other treatments. This treatment increased the average dragon fruit yield by 115.3% compared to sole dragon fruit without HM. Hence, the adoption of the horti-silviculture system (MDFH-3 × 3 m) could be a promising strategy for achieving enhanced environmental and economic benefits in ravine lands. Therefore, dragon fruit based horti-silviculture system (MDFH-3 × 3 m) could be recommended for restoration of ravine lands, improving land productivity, and mitigating impact of soil erosion particularly in Western India or similar agro-climatic regions of the world.
Display omitted
•Horti-silviculture system in ravine lands under in-situ moisture conservation.•Half-moon terrace in horti-silviculture increased carbon stock over sole Melia.•Horti-silviculture with half-moon terrace improved fruit yield over sole dragon fruit.•Sole Melia with half-moon terrace enhanced SOC by 78.3% compared to control.•Fine root biomass was improved 1.66 times by half-moon terrace.
Display omitted
In this study, an alternative precursor for production of activated carbon was introduced using dragon fruit (Hylocereus costaricensis) peel (DFP). Moreover, KOH was used as a ...chemical activator in the thermal carbonization process to convert DFP into activated carbon (DFPAC). In order to accomplish this research, several approaches were employed to examine the elemental composition, surface properties, amorphous and crystalline nature, essential active group, and surface morphology of the DFPAC. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller test demonstrated a mesoporous structure of the DFPAC has a high surface area of 756.3 m2·g−1. The cationic dye Methylene Blue (MB) was used as a probe to assess the efficiency of DFPAC towards the removal of MB dye from aqueous solution. The effects of adsorption input factors (e.g. DFPAC dose (A: 0.04–0.12 g·L−1), pH (B: 3–10), and temperature (C: 30–50 °C)) were investigated and optimized using statistical analysis (i.e. Box–Behnken design (BBD)). The adsorption kinetic model can be best categorized as the pseudo-first order (PFO). Whereas, the adsorption isotherm model can be best described by Langmuir model, with maximum adsorption capacity of DFPAC for MB dye was 195.2 mg·g−1 at 50 °C. The adsorption mechanism of MB by DFPAC surface was attributed to the electrostatic interaction, π-π interaction, and H-bonding. Finally, the results support the ability of DFP to be a promising precursor for production of highly porous activated carbon suitable for removal of cationic dyes (e.g. MB).
The identification of the maturity level of dragon fruit in this study was divided into two groups of ripeness: the unripe and the ripe. This study aims to classify the maturity level based on dragon ...fruit images using the feature extraction method, the gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM). This research method consists of converting RGB data to grayscale, image normalization, detection of dragon fruit maturity, feature extraction, and identification. Data collection from real data totaled 60 images used in this study consisting of 40 training data and 20 testing data which are RGB image data in JPG format. Each data consists of 2 maturity categories. Training data consists of 20 images of 99% ripe dragon fruit and 20 images of 85%. Meanwhile, the testing data consisted of 10 of 99% ripe dragon fruit images and 10 of 85% ripe dragon fruit images. The image data is processed into a grayscale image which then detects the ripeness of the dragon fruit. After the maturity of the dragon fruit is obtained, segmentation is carried out on the location of the dragon fruit found. Then the feature calculation is performed using the Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM). The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithm is used for the identification process. The final test results show that the proposed method has been able to detect dragon fruit maturity level with an accuracy of = 9/10* 100% = 90%, calculated using the confusion matrix. Thus, implementing the Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrix and Artificial Neural Network methods to the maturity level problem dragon fruit needs to be developed.
Dragon fruit or pitahaya (
spp.) is a tropical fruit belonging to the Cactaceae. It is native to Central and South America and commercially grown in the United States in southern California, south ...Florida and Puerto Rico. During a disease survey from April to June 2020, stem canker was observed in greenhouses and commercial orchards located in Mayaguez and San Sebastian, Puerto Rico with an incidence of 80%. Diseased cladodes (stems) of 1 mm
tissue sections of 23 pitahaya varieties (NOI-13, NOI-14, NOI-16, N97-15, N97-17, N97-18, N97-20, N97-22, American Beauty, Cosmic Charlie, Halley's comet, Purple Haze, Alice, Bloody Mary, Dark Star, David Bowie, Delight, Makisupa, Red Jaina, Soul Kitchen, Vietnamese Jaina, Neitzel and Lisa) were disinfested with 70% ethanol, rinsed with double distilled water and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) amended with 60 mg/L streptomycin. Three isolates (17B-173-T3, 12C-118-T1 and 13B-131-T2) of
(syn.
) were identified using taxonomic keys (Crous et al., 2006) and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) with primers ITS5 and ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF1-α) with primers EF1-728F and EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn, 1999). Sequences were compared using the BLASTn tool with
deposited in NCBI GenBank. In PDA, colonies of
were initially powdery white and turned grayish-black with age. Arthroconidia (n=50) were dark brown, disarticulating, truncate or cylindrical at the base, thick-walled with 0 to 1 septum, averaging 9.1 X 5.5um in length. GenBank accession numbers of
DNA sequences were MT921260, MT921261 and MT921262 for ITS and MT920898, MT920899 and MT920900 for TEF1-α. Sequences were 99-100% identical with Ex-isotype CBS145.78 accession numbers KF531816 for ITS and KF531795 for TEF1-α. Pathogenicity tests were conducted on 12 healthy dragon fruit plants of 1.5 years old using three non-detached cladodes per plant. Cladodes were inoculated with 5mm mycelial plugs from 8-day-old pure cultures grown on PDA. Three healthy dragon fruit plants were used as controls and were inoculated with PDA plugs only. The experiment was repeated once. Twenty days after inoculations (DAI), isolates of
caused stem canker on dragon fruit plants. For all isolates, sunken orange spots averaged 3 X 2 mm in length at 8 DAI. Necrotic blotches with chlorotic halos averaged 10 X 15 mm at 14 DAI; stem cankers with water-soaked tissue were observed at 20 DAI, and arthroconidia and black pycnidia on dry stem cankers at 30 DAI. Untreated controls had no symptoms of stem canker, and no fungi were isolated from tissue.
has been reported to cause stem canker on
spp. in China, Florida, Israel, Malaysia and Taiwan (Chuang et al. 2012; Lan et al., 2012; Ezra et al., 2013; Sanahuja et al., 2016). To our knowledge, this is the first report of
causing stem canker on dragon fruit in Puerto Rico. References: 1. Carbone, I., and Kohn, L. 1999. Mycologia, 91:553. doi:10.2307/3761358 2. Chuang, M. F. et al. 2012. Plant Disease 96: 906. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-08-11-0689-PDN. 3. Crous, P. W., et al. 2006. Stud. Mycol. 55:235. https://doi.org/10.3114/sim.55.1.235 4. Ezra et al. 2013. Plant Disease 97: 1513. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-05-13-0535-PDN 5. Lan, G.B. et al. 2012. Plant Disease 96: 1702. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-12-0632-PDN 6. Sanahuja et al. 2016. Plant Disease 100: 1499. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-11-15-1319-PDN 7. White, T., Bruns, T., Lee, S., and Taylor, J. 1990. Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. Pages 315-322 in: PCR Protocols: A Guide to Methods and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
This study assessed the effects of the incorporation of Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-05 or Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12 in the content and bioaccessibility of phenolics in red pitaya ...pulp. The oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) of the dialyzed (bioaccessible) fraction of red pitaya pulp fermented by these probiotics was also assessed. After 48 h of cultivation in red pitaya pulp, the pH and sugar contents decreased, while organic acids and viable counts of the tested probiotics increased (p < 0.05). After exposure to simulated gastrointestinal conditions the viable counts of L. acidophilus LA-05 and B. lactis BB-12 in fermented red pitaya pulp were close to 8 and 7 log CFU/mL, respectively. Fermentation with probiotics decreased (p < 0.05) the contents of phenolic acids and flavonoids in red pitaya pulp. Both, L. acidophilus LA-05 and B. lactis BB-12 increased the presence of phenolics in the non dialyzed fraction of the red pitaya pulp. The bioaccessibility of catechin, epigallocatechin gallate, and procyanidin B2 increased (p < 0.05) in red pitaya pulp fermented by L. acidophilus LA-05 or B. lactis BB-12. The bioaccessible fraction of red pitaya pulp fermented by L. acidophilus LA-05 or B. lactis BB-12 showed higher antioxidant activity than that of the non-fermented red pitaya pulp. These findings indicate the fermentation of red pitaya by probiotics as an alternative to increase the bioaccessibility of specific phenolics, as well as the antioxidant activity in this fruit.
Display omitted
•Fermented red pitaya (RP) by L. acidophilus (LA-05) and B. lactis (BB-12) was studied.•Fermentation of RP by LA-05 and BB-12 changed contents of distinct phenolics.•RP fermented by LA-05 and BB-12 showed increased phenolic contents in non dialyzed fraction.•Bioaccessible fraction of RP fermented by LA-05 and BB-12 showed increased antioxidant activity.•Catechin was the most bioaccessible compound in RP fermented by LA-05 or BB-12.
Summary
Red‐fleshed dragon fruit is a promising source of antioxidants and natural colour compounds. This study examined the effects of ohmic heating (OH) and ascorbic acid addition on total phenolic ...content (TPC), betacyanin (BC), antioxidant activity and colour changes in the juice during storage. The juice was treated from 20 to 85 °C and stabilised at 85 °C for 60 s by OH at 60 Hz and 30 V cm−1. The treated samples were stored at 4 °C in dark bottles for 8 weeks, and BC, TPC, antioxidant activity and colour were determined weekly. After 1 week of storage, there was no degradation of TPC or BC (P > 0.05). However, after 8 weeks of storage, BC decreased by 47%, TPC decreased by 60% and antioxidant activity decreased by 39% in the OH juice. The colour changes of the juice during the 8‐week storage period were strongly correlated with the BC (r (correlation coefficient) > 0.98). A comparison of the OH process with conventional heating (CH) showed that OH resulted in less degradation to BC, TPC and antioxidant activity than CH. OH is a suitable technology for processing red‐fleshed dragon fruit juice. Adding 0.25% AA to the juice helped reduce changes in colour, BC, TPC and antioxidant activity (P < 0.05).
The ohmic heating juice has fewer changes to betacyanin, total polyphenols, and antioxidant activity than conventional heating.Adding 0.25% ascorbic acid makes the juice reduce changes in colour, betacyanin, total polyphenols, and antioxidant activity. Ohmic heating is a promising technology for processing.
Dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) is a tropical fruit. Recently, it has gained interest from the public due to its potential beneficial effects on health. The acclimatization of micropropagated ...Hylocereus polyrhizus depends on the application of gibberellic acid (GA3) to increase plant growth. Eggshells are waste materials from industrial sectors, and they are composed of calcium source that is vital for the development of plant shoots and root. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of different concentrations of GA3 and eggshell either added individually or in combination on the growth of shoot length and shoot diameter of H. polyrhizus. The result showed the shoot length of the H. polyrhizus increased by approximately 54.69%, from 0.64 ± 0.13 cm to 0.99 ± 0.26 cm, as the concentration of GA3 increased from 0 ppm to 10 ppm. Furthermore, this finding also reported that with eggshells, GA3 showed an adverse effect on the development of shoot diameter. The growth of shoot length and shoot diameter with the addition of eggshell was different, perhaps due to the gibberellic acid affecting the shoot length but not the shoot diameter. Generally, the growth of shoot length and shoot diameter with eggshells was higher in comparison with those without eggshells. With that, we can prove that eggshell is a good additive to promote the growth of H. polyrhizus.
Fungal disease is one of the major challenges that affects yield quality and profit in dragon fruit production today, as it causes a considerable amount of production loss. In this study, fungal ...pathogens of dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) plants in Southern Philippines were identified. Sample collection was conducted in selected farms in Saranggani Province, Philippines. Diseased parts of the dragon fruit plants were collected and brought to the laboratory to culture its associated fungi. Grown fungi were pure cultured and subjected to pathogenicity testing using the detached stem method. A total of eight distinct fungal colonies were isolated from the collected dragon fruit samples. The pathogenicity test revealed that three of the isolates caused lesions in a healthy dragon fruit plant tissue, which turned yellow soft and watery as the infection progressed. The three pathogenic isolates were molecularly identified as Fusarium oxysporum (FRI3), Aspergillus minisclerotigenes (FRI2), and Fusarium incarnatum (FLI3). Interestingly, F. incarnatum and A. minisclerotigenes were new recorded pathogens of dragon fruit. Identification of fungal pathogens on economically important crops is an essential step in the development of strategies to address problems related to fungal diseases which, in turn, will help farmers to enhance their production.
The dragon fruit is native of Mexico, and Puebla is the third-largest producing state (SIAP 2023). In June 2023, field sampling was conducted in El Paraíso, Atlixco (18° 49' 5.275" N, 98° 26' 52.353" ...W), Puebla, Mexico. The mean temperature and relative humidity were 20 °C and 75% for seven consecutive days. Dragon fruits cv. 'Delight' close to harvest with gray mold symptoms were found in a commercial area of 2 ha, with an incidence of 35 to 40% and an estimated severity of 75% on infected fruit. The symptoms included necrosis at the apex, which later spread throughout the fruit, along with a soft, black rot covered in abundant mycelium and sporulation. The fungus was isolated from 40 symptomatic fruits by disinfesting pieces of necrotic tissue with 3% NaClO for one minute, rinsing with sterile distilled water (SDW), plating on Petri dishes with potato dextrose agar, and incubating at 25 °C in the dark. One isolate was obtained from each diseased fruit by the hyphal-tip method. The colonies were initially white with a growth rate of 1.15-1.32 cm per day and turned gray after 10 days; the mycelium was dense and aerial. Spherical and irregular sclerotia were formed, measuring 0.9-1.4 × 0.6-1.1 mm (n = 100). Each Petri dish produced 56-278 sclerotia (n = 40) after 11 days; these were initially white and gradually turned dark brown. Brown to olive conidiophores were straight, septate, and branched, measuring 1075-1520 × 10-21 μm, with elliptical hyaline to light brown conidia of 6.6-11.5 × 5-8.1 μm (n=100). The isolates were tentatively identified as
based on morphological characteristics (Ellis 1971). Two representative isolates were chosen for molecular identification and genomic DNA was extracted by the CTAB protocol. The ITS region and the heat shock protein (HSP60), RNA polymerase binding II (RPB2) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH) genes were sequenced (White et al. 1990; Staats et al. 2005). The sequences of a representative isolate (BcPh5) were deposited in GenBank (ITS-OR582337; HSP60-OR636622; RPB2-OR636623; and G3PDH-OR636621). BLAST analysis of the partial sequences of ITS (479 bp), HSP60 (1006 bp), RPB2 (1126 bp), and G3PDH (907 bp) showed 100% similarity to
.
isolates (GenBank: KM840848, MH796663, MK919495, MF480679). Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that BcPh5 clustered with
.
strains. Pathogenicity was confirmed by inoculating the non-wounded surface of 20 detached dragon fruits cv. 'Delight' using the BcPh5 isolate by depositing 20 μl of a 10
conidia/ml suspension with a sterile syringe. The fruits were placed on the rim of a plastic container and inserted in a moisture box with 2 cm of water at the bottom. The box was covered with a plastic sheet to maintain humidity. Control fruits were inoculated with SDW. The inoculated fruits became covered with abundant white to gray mycelium, and soft rot developed within eight days, while no symptoms were observed on the controls. The fungus was re-isolated from the inoculated fruits as described above, fulfilling Koch's postulates. The pathogenicity tests were repeated three times. Gray mold caused by
.
was also recently reported in Mexico on pomegranate (Hernández et al. 2023) and rose apple (Isodoro et al. 2023). As far as we know, this is the first report of
.
causing gray mold on dragon fruit in Mexico. This research is essential for designing integrated management strategies against gray mold on dragon fruits.
PDF
