Browsing by Author "Simmonds, Monique S.J."

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    Tissue biochemical diversity of 20 gooseberry cultivars and the effect of ethylene supplementation on postharvest life
    (Elsevier, 2016-03-05) Anastasiadi, Maria; Mwangi, Paul M.; Ordaz-Ortiz, José J.; Redfern, Sally P.; Berry, Mark; Simmonds, Monique S.J.; Terry, Leon A
    The European gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa) is still an understudied crop with limited data available on its biochemical profile and postharvest life. A variety of polyphenols were detected in the skin and flesh of 20 gooseberry cvs, representing mainly flavonol glycosides, anthocyanins and flavan-3-ols. In contrast, gooseberry seeds were for the first time characterised by the presence of considerable amounts of hydroxycinnamic acid glycosides tentatively identified by UPLC-QToF/MS. All cvs examined represented a good source of vitamin C while being low in sugar. Furthermore, the postharvest stability of bioactives was explored by supplementation of exogenous ethylene in air at 5 °C. Results suggest a low sensitivity of gooseberries to ethylene. The overall quality of gooseberries remained stable over two weeks, showing potential for extended bioactive life.
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    Variation of theanine, phenolic, and methylxanthine compounds in 21 cultivars of Camellia sinensis harvested in different seasons
    (Elsevier, 2016-09-09) Fang, Rui; Redfern, Sally P.; Kirkup, Don; Porter, Elaine A.; Kite, Geoffrey C.; Terry, Leon A; Berry, Mark J.; Simmonds, Monique S.J.
    This is the first study to use chemometric methods to differentiate among 21 cultivars of Camellia sinensis from China and between leaves harvested at different times of the year using 30 compounds implicated in the taste and quality of tea. Unique patterns of catechin derivatives were observed among cultivars and across harvest seasons. C. sinensis var. pubilimba (You 510) differed from the cultivars of C. sinensis var. sinensis, with higher levels of theobromine, (+)-catechin, gallocatechin, gallocatechin gallate and theasinensin B, and lower levels of (−)-epicatechin, (−)-epigallocatechin (EGC) and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), respectively. Three cultivars of C. sinensis var. sinensis, Fuyun 7, Qiancha 7 and Zijuan contained significantly more caffeoylquinic acids than others cultivars. A Linear Discriminant Analysis model based on the abundance of 12 compounds was able to discriminate amongst all 21 tea cultivars. Harvest time impacted the abundance of EGC, theanine and afzelechin gallate.