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\"Illustrated with photographs taken on location in the plants' natural environment, this field guide describes more than three hundred species of tropical and subtropical species of fruits, tubers, and spices\"-- Provided by publisher.

Tropical fruits such as banana, mango, papaya, and pineapple are familiar and treasured staples of our diets, and consequently of great commercial importance, but there are many other interesting species that are little known to inhabitants of temperate regions. What delicacies are best known only by locals? The tropical regions are home to a vast variety of edible fruits, tubers, and spices. Of the more than two thousand species that are commonly used as food in the tropics, only about forty to fifty species are well known internationally. Illustrated with high-quality photographs taken on location in the plants' natural environment, this field guide describes more than three hundred species of tropical and subtropical species of fruits, tubers, and spices. In Tropical Fruits and Other Edible Plants of the World, Rolf Blancke includes all the common species and features many lesser known species, including mangosteen and maca, as well as many rare species such as engkala, sundrop, and the mango plum. Some of these rare species will always remain of little importance because they need an acquired taste to enjoy them, they have too little pulp and too many seeds, or they are difficult to package and ship. Blancke highlights some fruits-the araza (Eugenia stipitata) and the nutritious peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) from the Amazon lowlands, the Brunei olive (Canarium odontophyllum) from Indonesia, and the remarkably tasty soursop (Annona muricata) from Central America-that deserve much more attention and have the potential to become commercially important in the near future. Tropical Fruits and Other Edible Plants of the World also features tropical plants used to produce spices, and many tropical tubers, including cassava, yam, and oca. These tubers play a vital role in human nutrition and are often foundational to the foodways of their local cultures, but they sometimes require complex preparation and are often overlooked or poorly understood distant from their home context. Tropical fruits such as banana, mango, papaya, and pineapple are familiar and treasured staples of our diets, and consequently of great commercial importance, but there are many other interesting species that are little known to inhabitants of temperate regions. What delicacies are best known only by locals? The tropical regions are home to a vast variety of edible fruits, tubers, and spices. Of the more than two thousand species that are commonly used as food in the tropics, only about forty to fifty species are well known internationally. Illustrated with high-quality photographs taken on location in the plants' natural environment, this field guide describes more than three hundred species of tropical and subtropical species of fruits, tubers, and spices.InTropical Fruits and Other Edible Plants of the World, Rolf Blancke includes all the common species and features many lesser known species, including mangosteen and maca, as well as many rare species such as engkala, sundrop, and the mango plum. Some of these rare species will always remain of little importance because they need an acquired taste to enjoy them, they have too little pulp and too many seeds, or they are difficult to package and ship. Blancke highlights some fruits-the araza (Eugenia stipitata) and the nutritious peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) from the Amazon lowlands, the Brunei olive (Canarium odontophyllum) from Indonesia, and the remarkably tasty soursop (Annona muricata) from Central America-that deserve much more attention and have the potential to become commercially important in the near future.Tropical Fruits and Other Edible Plants of the World also features tropical plants used to produce spices, and many tropical tubers, including cassava, yam, and oca. These tubers play a vital role in human nutrition and are often foundational to the foodways of their local cultures, but they sometimes require complex preparation and are often overlooked or poorly understood distant from their home context.

The traits of animals and plants influence their interaction networks, but the significance of species’ traits for the resulting ecosystem functions is poorly understood. A crucial ecosystem function in the tropics is seed dispersal by animals. While the importance of species’ traits for structuring plant–frugivore networks is supported by a number of studies, no study has so far identified the functional traits determining the subsequent processes of fruit removal and seedling recruitment. Here, we conducted a comprehensive field study on fruit removal by frugivorous birds and seedling recruitment along an elevational gradient in the Colombian Andes. We measured morphological traits of birds (body mass, bill width, Kipp’s index) and plants (plant height, crop mass, fruit width and seed mass) which we expected to be related to fruit removal and seedling recruitment. We tested 1) which bird and plant traits influence fruit removal, and 2) whether network metrics at plant species level, functional identities of frugivores (community-based mean trait values) and/or plant traits were the main determinants of seedling recruitment. We found that large-bodied bird species contributed more to fruit removal than small-bodied bird species and that small-sized fruits were more frequently removed than large-sized fruits. Small plant species and plants with heavy seeds recruited more seedlings than did large plants and plants with light seeds. Network metrics and functional identities of seed dispersers were unrelated to seedling recruitment. Our findings have two important implications. First, large birds are functionally more important than small birds in tropical seed-removal networks. Second, the detected tradeoff between fruit size and seed mass in subsequent recruitment processes suggests that the adaptability of forest plant communities to a loss of large frugivores is limited by life-history constraints. Hence, the protection of large-bodied frugivores is of primary importance for the maintenance of diverse tropical plant communities.

Background The Tephritidae family, commonly referred to as true fruit flies, comprises of a substantial group within order Diptera. Numerous species within this family are major agricultural pests, with a tendency to infest a wide array of fruits and vegetables in tropical and sub- tropical regions, leading to considerable damage and consequent reductions in the market value of the crops. Methods and results The current study was aimed to propose a promising solution to the menace posed by fruit flies by offering rapid, accurate and reliable species identification by using character-based DNA barcode methodology. The Tephritid specimens were collected from Cucurbitaceous plants of southern parts of West Bengal, India, and a total of eight species from Tephritidae family were obtained belonging to three genera, namely Bactrocera (Macquart, 1835), Dacus (Fabricius, 1805) and Zeugodacus (Hendel, 1927). Their morphological features were meticulously studied based on available literature, along with genetic analysis based on mitochondrial COI and ND1 gene sequences. A total of 30 uniquely variable sites at nucleotide position 42,48,51,60,66,72, 105,111,144,198,207,243, 273,297,307,318,345,357, 375,378,381,387,399,400, 402,436,444,450,453 and 460 in COI gene were discerned among Tephritid species in the present study. Conclusions The character-based DNA barcode holds the potential to differentiate closely related species of fruit flies and morphologically look-a-like ones. The novel method will be very significant in terms of rapid, precise and reliable species identification and might be extremely essential for early detection during pest outbreaks by facilitating timely intervention strategies to mitigate crop damage.

Global production and demand for tropical fruits continues to grow each year as consumers are enticed by the exotic flavors and potential health benefits that these fruits possess. Volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) are often responsible for the juicy, fresh aroma of tropical fruits. This poses a challenge for analytical chemists to identify these compounds as most often VSCs are found at low concentrations in most tropical fruits. The aim of this review is to discuss the extraction methods, enrichment techniques, and instrumentation utilized to identify and quantify VSCs in natural products. This will be followed by a discussion of the VSCs reported in tropical and subtropical fruits, with particular attention to the odor and taste attributes of each compound. Finally, the biogenesis and enzymatic formation of specific VSCs in tropical fruits will be highlighted along with the contribution each possesses to the aroma of their respective fruit. [Display omitted] •Biogenesis and enzymatic formation of volatile sulfur compounds in tropical fruits.•Extraction methods and instrumentation utilized to identify and quantify volatile sulfur compounds in natural products.•Odor and taste attributes of volatile sulfur compounds.

In a survey of tropical plant diseases in southern and southeastern Iran, samples of diseased Mangifera indica and Psidium guava leaves with necrotic symptoms were collected between 2021 and 2022. Six representative isolates of Neopestalotiopsis and Robillarda (three isolates for each) were studied using morphological characteristics as well as multi-locus phylogenetic analysis based on (i) the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear rDNA, (ii) part of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha ( tef1 ), and (iii) the β-tubulin ( tub2 ). After morphological investigation, our phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Neopestalotiopsis and Robillarda isolates under study differed from all previously described species within these genera. Based on our polyphasic approach, two new species, including Neopestalotiopsis guava sp. nov. from necrotic Mangifera indica and Robillarda khodaparastii sp. nov. from Psidium guava are described and illustrated from Iran.

The zoonotic nematode Thelazia callipaeda infects the eyes of domestic and wild animals and uses canids as primary hosts. It was originally described in Asia, but in the last 20 years it has been reported in many European countries, where it is mainly transmitted by the drosophilid fruit fly Phortica variegata . We report the autochthonous occurrence of T.   callipaeda and its vector P.   variegata in Austria. Nematodes were collected from clinical cases and fruit flies were caught using traps, netting, and from the conjunctival sac of one dog. Fruit flies and nematodes were morphologically identified and a section of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene ( COI ) was analysed. A DNA haplotype network was calculated to visualize the relation of the obtained COI  sequences to published sequences. Additionally, Phortica spp. were screened for the presence of DNA of T. callipaeda by polymerase chain reaction. Thelazia callipaeda and P. variegata were identified in Burgenland, Lower Austria, and Styria. Thelazia callipaeda was also documented in Vienna and P. variegata in Upper Austria and South Tyrol, Italy. All T. callipaeda corresponded to haplotype 1. Twenty-two different haplotypes of P. variegata were identified in the fruit flies. One sequence was distinctly different from those of Phortica variegata and was more closely related to those of Phortica chi and Phortica okadai . Thelazia callipaeda could not be detected in any of the Phortica specimens. Graphical Abstract

Vegetation classification has always been the focus of remote sensing applications, especially for tropical regions with fragmented terrain, cloudy and rainy climates, and dense vegetation. How to effectively classify vegetation in tropical regions by using multi-spectral remote sensing with high resolution and red-edge spectrum needs to be further verified. Based on the experiment in Wenchang, Hainan, China, which is located in the tropical monsoon region, and combined with the ZY-1 02D 2.5 m fused images in January, March, July, and August, this paper discusses whether NDVI and four red-edge vegetation indices (VIs), CIre, NDVIre, MCARI, and TCARI, can promote vegetation classification and reduce the saturation. The results show that the schemes with the highest classification accuracies in all phases are those in which the red-edge VIs are involved, which suggests that the red-edge VIs can effectively contribute to the classification of vegetation. The maximum accuracy of the single phase is 86%, and the combined accuracy of the four phases can be improved to 92%. It has also been found that CIre and NDVIre do not reach saturation as easily as NDVI and MCARI in July and August, and their ability to enhance the separability between different vegetation types is superior to that of TCARI. In general, red-edge VIs can effectively promote vegetation classification in tropical monsoon regions, and red-edge VIs, such as CIre and NDVIre, have an anti-saturation performance, which can slow down the confusion between different vegetation types due to saturation.

In the Ecuadorian Amazon region, there are various types of edible fruits that have distinct qualities and benefits. Understanding the uses, properties, and functions of these fruits is important for researching products that are only available in local markets. This review aims to gather and summarize the existing scientific literature on the ethnobotany, physicochemical composition, and bioactive compounds of these native fruits to highlight the potential of the region’s underutilized biodiversity. A systematic review was carried out following the PRISMA methodology, utilizing databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, Pubmed, Redalyc, and SciELO up to August 2023. The research identified 55 edible fruits from the Ecuadorian Amazon and reported their ethnobotanical information. The most common uses were fresh fruit consumption, preparation of typical food, and medicine. Additionally, nine native edible fruits were described for their physicochemical characteristics and bioactive components: Aphandra natalia (Balslev and Henderson) Barfod; Eugenia stipitate McVaugh; Gustavia macarenensis Philipson; Mauritia flexuosa L.f; Myrciaria dubia (Kunth) McVaugh; Oenocarpus bataua Mart; Plukenetia volubilis L.; Pouteria caimito (Ruiz and Pav.) Radlk.; and Solanum quitoense Lam. The analyzed Amazonian fruits contained bioactive compounds such as total polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, and anthocyanins. This information highlights their potential as functional foods and the need for further research on underutilized crops.

Pineapple is one of the most economically important fruits in tropical countries, particularly in Thailand. Canned pineapple is currently Thailand’s main exported commodity to many countries, including the United States, Russia, Germany, Poland, and Japan. Fungal diseases are considered a permanent threat to fruits in the pre- and post-harvest stages, leading to considerable economic losses. Fungal disease is one of the primary causes of massive yield losses in pineapples around the world. Colletotrichum species are the most common fungal pathogens affecting different tropical fruits. Although there are many reports regarding Colletotrichum species associated with pineapple, they do not have molecular data to confirm species identification. However, the occurrence of Colletotrichum species on pineapple has not been reported in Thailand so far. In this study, we isolated and identified Colletotrichum fructicola on pineapple in northern Thailand and have proven its pathogenicity to the host. This is the first report of the occurrence of Colletotrichum in pineapple, based on morpho-molecular approaches.