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Topics - Millet

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679
Citrus General Discussion / Citrus & Cholesterol
« on: February 17, 2015, 11:54:17 AM »
Lowering cholesterol is incredibly important considering our current food and nutritional environment. Studies by U.S. and Canadian researchers published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that compounds in orange peel may lower cholesterol as effectively as statin drugs. The results indicated that when animals were given diets containing citrus flavonoids tangeretin, hesperidin, and naringin, VLDL and LDL – two types of bad cholesterol – levels were reduced by 19-27 percent and 32-40 percent, respectively. That being said, the white pulp that comes off while you peel the skin of oranges, which you normally throw away, is about as valuable as the billion-dollar industry of anti-cholesterol drugs.
Millet

680
Citrus General Discussion / South Koreans All Of A Sudden Love Grapefruit
« on: February 17, 2015, 11:35:01 AM »
South Korea's imports of grapefruits soared to a fresh high last year as consumer demand for this new found love tripled.
Data by the customs office showed that grapefruit imports totaled 20,000 tons, worth US$14.39 million in 2014. The figures mark a 68.3 percent rise in volume from the previous year. Separate data by retail conglomerate Lotte, which operates the discount chain Lotte Mart, showed that grapefruit sales were nearly half of those for oranges, growing from a 5 percent portion in 2009. The retailer's data also showed that sales growth of grapefruits also surpassed that of other popular imported fruits, such as melons and cherries.
Millet

681
 A 3D printed “SmartTrap” may turn the tide in a decade-old war to save Florida's $10.7 billion citrus industry from a bacterial disease known as citrus greening. Scientists at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services developed the traps using 3D printing technology to more efficiently catch and study the Asian citrus psyllid. This technology is a gigantic leap forward.This 3D printing innovation gives our scientists the best chance to find a game-changing breakthrough in the fight against citrus greening.
Using computer software and a fast-working 3D printer, researchers can easily adjust the trap's shape, color, lights and chemicals to better attract the psyllid. This allows researchers to more efficiently and accurately study the insect that transmits greening.
Previously, yellow sticky traps were hung in the trees and collected many different kinds of insects, requiring a trained trap-reader for further testing. With the “SmartTrap,” about 99 percent of the insects collected are psyllids. The traps also preserve the psyllids, unlike the yellow sticky traps, which leave psyllids exposed to the elements where they quickly decompose and are virtually impossible to remove from the entangling glue for further analysis. Commissioner Putnam is dedicated to protecting Florida's citrus industry and has asked the Florida Legislature to contribute $18 million this year to continue in-depth research, grow clean citrus stock, and replant where diseased trees have been removed.
Millet

682
Citrus General Discussion / Now Australia Steps Up HLB Survaillance
« on: February 15, 2015, 02:58:51 PM »
The Australian citrus industry has joined forces with the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning to check citrus trees in the Sunraysia region for the presence of key biosecurity threats (Asian Psyllids). It is the first time that the citrus industry and government have worked together in this way to boost protection against serious exotic diseases that could devastate the industry. Combining industry and government resources provides the best chance of protecting the country’s citrus orchards from exotic diseases. The citrus industry is supplying the traps for the surveillance program along with some technical and logistical support, and and the governmental agency is providing the personnel for the work.

It might seem strange to be checking for diseases we don’t have in Australia, but if a serious pest such as the Asian citrus psyllid and the devastating disease it carries, Huanglongbing (HLB) was to make it through border security, early detection would be vital.
The area would immediately be quarantined so that we could contain the pest and if we were fast enough to find it, we would try to eradicate it from Australia.
Millet

683
The Valencian Growers Association has demanded the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, and the country's regional governments, to urgently introduce exceptional control measures after the insect called African psyllid, which acts as vector for citrus greening disease, was detected in numerous municipalities of Galicia, and for the first time in the Iberian peninsula, as the disease could have devastating effects for the crop.

"This is extremely serious news," laments the President of
AVA-ASAJA, Cristóbal Aguado, "and it is absolutely essential for the Ministry of Agriculture, in coordination with the autonomous regions, to launch a plan for monitoring, control and prevention; firstly, to try eradicating the insect from Galicia, and secondly, to prevent it from spreading to other areas, as if this was to happen, the future of Spain's citrus industry could be in serious jeopardy. We consequently expect an immediate and forceful response from the authorities. - Millet

684
Citrus General Discussion / UCR Gets $1.7M Grant
« on: February 12, 2015, 10:23:26 AM »
A researcher at UC Riverside is getting $1.7 million from the US Department of Agriculture to battle citrus greening, the grant, announced earlier this week. Ramadugu has been working on the citrus greening problem at UCR for 10 years. Prior to that, she was doing similar research for a company in Florida. She still does most of her field work in that state, since that's where the disease is most prevalent. Ramadugu and her team of scientists have developed the prototype of a trap that attracts only the citrus psyllid. She plans to use the trap, along with a newly developed testing device, to keep track of infected psyllids that may potentially infect trees in actively producing groves. The growers themselves will be trained to do the testing. Ramadugu said she plans to find five growers each in California and Texas, as well as some in Florida, and provide them with three traps each. A single psyllid is all that is needed for an effective test, but she's hoping many more will be captured. That way, researchers can get a better picture of what's happening in the psyllid population.The field test involves taking the captured psyllids and placing them in a holding medium for a few hours. After that they will be placed in the testing unit -- developed by a Hawaiian company -- which heats the insects to 80 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. They then will be placed in a test tube with some chemical reagents and allowed to sit for 15 to 20 minutes. If the bugs test positive for the disease, it will show up on a graph on the testing unit. If it’s positive, they go to a specialist lab to make sure that it’s correct. - Millet

685
Citrus Buy, Sell, & Trade / Seville Sour Seed
« on: February 11, 2015, 01:23:32 PM »
Fresh Seville Sour orange seed (still inside the fruit).. Sour Orange is among the best rootstock (outside Tristeza area) for grafting. Sour Orange is the variety that makes the best marmalade .  Free to a good home. -  Millet

688
Citrus General Discussion / Longshoremen Slowdown Hurting California Citrus
« on: February 09, 2015, 09:56:52 AM »
A labor dispute involving longshoremen that resulted in no ships being loaded and unloaded at 29 West Coast ports this past weekend is having serious consequences for the California citrus industry. Fruit is rotting on the docks, sales are being canceled by the customer, so the California Citrus industry has slowed its harvesting so as not to place matured fruit into such a marketplace. These problems stem from a work slowdown over the past three months by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. - Millet

690
Citrus General Discussion / Gold Nugget Mandarin
« on: February 04, 2015, 10:47:57 AM »
Two characteristics that a new citrus variety must have these days to be accepted onto the national market is seedless and easy pealing. I picked my first Gold Nugget mandarins a couple days ago.  They were indeed free of seeds, but failed on the peeling issue.  The University of California Variety Collection states that its Gold Nugget Mandarin is moderately easy to peel, I would rate it as "Moderately" difficult to peel. - Millet

691
Citrus General Discussion / Florida & Greening
« on: February 04, 2015, 10:01:43 AM »
Scientists are making progress to slow the Greening disease, but it may not be fast enough. Without some interventions to slow the decline of these trees to allow for the replanting of citrus, Florida is not going to retain its citrus industry. The states’ half million acres of citrus groves, and the current annual production of 100 million boxes of oranges is about half of what it was a decade ago. - Millet

692
Citrus General Discussion / Hi Tech Orange Crop Care
« on: February 02, 2015, 10:27:51 AM »
Sensor helps farmers take early action to contain deadly citrus tree greening disease. Scientist have yet to find a cure for the deadly citrus greening disease threatening the world’s orange crop, but an inexpensive new device could help growers stop its spread, its inventor said on Friday.  The device is a sensor which quickly detects signs of the greening bacteria in leaves so a grower can destroy an infected tree before the disease is passed to others around it. The inventor, Wonsuk "Daniel" Lee, a University of Florida professor of agriculture, stated the device, which consists of a camera and 10 high-powered LED lights, costs less than $1,000 to assemble and was between 95 and 98 per cent accurate in laboratory and field testing. The device takes advantage of the fact that the disease causes leaves to store high levels of starch, which changes the way they reflect light.  Veins and splotches on the leaves appear pale gray, and are readily distinguishable from the dark gray of a healthy tree leaf. Diagnosing greening currently requires a costly and time-consuming DNA analysis. Some Florida growers have said the device is to late for Florida, as most of the trees in the state are already infected with Greening. Time is very important, but Lee said the device could help growers in places like California, where greening was first spotted in 2012, and in Brazil, where studies have shown an aggressive detection and removal program has slowed its spread.
Millet

693
Citrus General Discussion / Brazil Orange Baron Buying Chiquita
« on: January 31, 2015, 03:27:40 PM »
The Brazilian billionaire  Jose Cutrale completed a $1.3 billion buyout of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Chiquita Brands International Inc. In the Chiquita banana bid, Cutrale revealed that his family’s empire now controls more than 33 percent of the world's $5 billion global orange juice industry, and is also Coke-Cola's  main orange juice supplier for its Minute Maid Orange Juice Division. - Millet

694
Citrus General Discussion / Are Florida Oranges Going, Going Gon.....
« on: January 28, 2015, 10:01:35 AM »
Some growers have just given up and abandoned their groves without pulling up the trees, which can worsen citrus greening, since the psyllid will feast on trees that don’t have pesticide, and then fly to nearby groves and infect those trees. There were 126,000 acres of abandoned groves in Florida in 2014, and 7,300 acres of forested areas that have abandoned citrus in their canopies, according to the USDA. There are some measures that arrest or slow the spread of the disease, but they’re costly. Growers are now treating their trees eight times a year or more to reduce the number of psyllids on them, they’re also adding fertilizer and other nutrients to the trees' roots to help them fight the disease. A citrus grower now spends $2,250 an acre to grow trees—prior to greening, he would spend $850 an acre, according to Florida Citrus Mutual, an industry association.

Many smaller Florida growers seem to be really thinking about the economics, a lot of them are deciding to throw in the towel and are selling their groves. As many growers give up, the infrastructure that is left to support citrus is shrinking, too. United Indian River Packers, Inc., one of Florida’s oldest packinghouses, announced last year they were auctioning off their properties in order to focus on other businesses. A Naples store where customers could buy fresh produce before it was shipped elsewhere closed in May, the land sold to a home builder.

More than a century ago, Martha Sue Hawkins’ ancestors homesteaded on this flat land in central Florida. Her grandfather planted the first orange groves in the 1900s, and then her father added more trees as Americans started getting used to the idea of orange juice on their breakfast tables. By the time Martha Sue and her husband Richard Skinner took over the property, they had 2,600 trees stretching out across 15 acres in neat rows, and made a handy profit selling the oranges to processing plants each year, which would make the fruit into juice. But in 2012, the Skinners pulled up every single tree. Their groves had been infected by the Asian citrus psyllid. Florida may produce as few as 89 million boxes of oranges this year, forecasters say, down 63 percent from the 242 million boxes the state produced a decade ago.

Millet


695
Citrus General Discussion / A So What Story
« on: January 26, 2015, 10:45:21 AM »
A “so what” story. That’s how I would label the enticingly titled “Juicy Secrets” investigation of “premium” orange juice by CBC’s Marketplace. The program claims to reveal secrets that orange juice producers don’t want you to know. What secrets? Simply that some of the flavours lost during processing are added back into the juice. “A miracle of nature has become a miracle of manipulation,” goes the accusation. Actually, I would categorize it more as a significant achievement for modern science.

Anyone who has ever squeezed oranges and stored the juice will attest to dramatic changes in flavour within a few days. And not for the better. The flavour of orange juice is due to hundreds of compounds, with linalool, limonene, beta-phellandrene, terpinene-4-ol, ethyl-3-hydroxyhexanoate, geraniol, decanal, octanal, myrcene, citral, nerol, octanol and decanol being among the major components. Of course the exact composition varies according to the type of orange, climatic conditions and ripeness when picked. And chemical changes begin to occur as soon as juice is squeezed. Some compounds react with oxygen in the air, others are subjected to the activity of enzymes released during squeezing, natural yeasts present in the orange trigger fermentation and any bacteria present begin to multiply. If freshly squeezed orange juice were just sealed in a container and distributed, it would quickly spoil. What consumers look for is good taste and safety. And the so-called “premium” products deliver that, thanks to a great deal of scientific research. If there is to be an acceptable shelf life, the juice has to be pasteurized to destroy microorganisms and stop enzymatic activity. To prevent off-flavours caused by oxidation, oxygen has to be removed from the airspace above the stored juice. Yes, the juice does have to be stored, often for months. We want our juice year round, but oranges do not grow year round. And in Canada, they don’t grow at all.

The problem is that the processing also removes some of the important flavour components. But these can be isolated from the vapours drawn off during oxygen removal or from essential oils extracted form the peels of the oranges. These compounds can then be formulated into “flavour packs” which are added back into the juice just before distribution. Nothing that was not naturally present in the orange is introduced; all the added compounds were present in the juice in the first place. Since the composition of the flavour packs can be adjusted, producers can ensure that the processed orange juice always tastes the same, even though the original juice may vary in flavor depending on the source of oranges and the time of the year. The taste of orange juice is a function of the interaction of its chemical components with receptors on our taste buds and in our nasal passage. Research has revealed that some of these components contribute more to taste than others, and flavour packs can take advantage of this. For example, increasing the amount of ethyl butyrate, one of the orange’s natural components, improves the taste. There is no health issue here at all. Not only is this compound perfectly safe to consume, butyrates are thought to play a role in protection against colon cancer. One of the reasons that “probiotics” are believed to be beneficial is their ability to produce short chain fatty acids like butyrate that cells in the lining of the colon need to maintain their health. Butyrates are even sold as dietary supplements and are commonly present in beer.

Millet

696
Four new types of grapefruit have recently been developed in Israel. The new types are tasty, seedless and PEEL EASILY. These new types of citrus fruit have also been unveiled in Europe, where they were highly praised.

The new citrus types are:
Flamingo
A red grapefruit, which is a hybrid between the "Chandler" grapefruit, the Jaffa orange and a Clementine - which is itself a hybrid between a mandarin and a sweet orange. This kind of grapefruit ripens between the months of October to December. In contrast to the other types it retains its red color even when the temperatures drop. This fruit is sweet and seedless and thanks to its red pigmentation, it also has unique qualities which includes prevention of cancer.

Hanna
A white grapefruit hybrid between "Tahiti" and "Chandler" types. This fruit also ripens between from October to December, is very sweet containing 12.6% sugar and is also seedless.

Einat
A new pink grapefruit. This grapefruit ripens between October and January. The fruit contains 11.5% sugar and is seedless.

Aliza
A grapefruit that peels easily and ripens between the months of November and February. It contains 16% sugar and is seedless. This fruit is very sweet and has the potential to dominate the global market.

Millet

697
Citrus General Discussion / Just A Reminder
« on: January 22, 2015, 06:00:22 PM »
Is your tree beginning to drop more leaves than normal?  This is, or soon will be, the time of year, especially for warm grown container trees, to start  blooming.  For citrus trees, the blooming season is also the heaviest time of year when citrus trees drop more leaves.  This is normal. - Millet

698
Citrus General Discussion / Citrus fruit extract may lower cholesterol
« on: January 21, 2015, 11:01:10 PM »
THE CLAIM: An extract from a bitter, fragrant citrus fruit called bergamot, commonly known as a flavoring in Earl Grey tea, can lower cholesterol with minimal side effects, Italian scientists say. It also boosts good cholesterol, reduces fatty deposits in the liver and lowers blood sugar, they add.

THE VERDICT: Bergamot has been shown to lower cholesterol in at least four seperate human studies published or presented at scientific meetings. But much of the work is authored by a group of Italian researchers who work closely with a company that sells the extract. Larger, independent studies in other countries are needed to confirm the results, other scientist say. Bergamot fruit grows on sunny slopes in Southern Italy and are rich in substances called flavonoids, which likely are the reason for its beneficial effects.Flavonoids are antioxidants, substances believed to reduce chemical reactions in the body that damage cells. Earl Grey tea likely contains too little bergamot to have a therapeutic effect, scientists say, though the tea is high in another class of antioxidant called catechins.

699
Citrus General Discussion / Are Asian Citrus Psyllids Afraid Of Heights?
« on: January 21, 2015, 11:47:33 AM »
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have discovered that the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) doesn't do well at high elevations for reasons that are not yet known.  After hearing anecdotal evidence that the ACP is less abundant at high elevations, they set up a two-year experiment to find out for themselves. The USDA chose 17 different sites, ranging from 10 to 880 meters above sea level, which were monitored with yellow sticky traps on citrus trees or other plants that are preferred by the ACP. As elevations increased, ACP populations decreased, dropping to zero when they reached 600 meters or more above sea level. There was a strong trend in both years for decreasing psyllid abundance with increased elevation based on the number of psyllids captured on traps and the proportion of trees shown to be infested. No psyllids were collected at an elevation greater than 600 m. In addition, none of the trees surveyed for citrus greening disease at high elevation sites tested positive. What does this mean for citrus growers? Changes in elevation result in changes in temperature, short-wave radiation, partial pressure of respiratory gasses, precipitation, oxygen content, and air pressure. If any of these can be shown to affect the development of the ACP or of citrus greening disease, then it may be possible to induce these conditions in citrus trees at lower elevations.  Another practical implication for this study would be to put citrus nurseries at elevations higher than 600m, where numbers of psyllids  are minimal to non-existent.
Millet

700
Citrus General Discussion / LoBue's Heritage Citrus
« on: January 20, 2015, 10:48:42 AM »
Heritage Reserve navel oranges are grown exclusively within a small sub-section of California’s renowned Central Valley citrus-growing region—a narrow, 25-mile long area adjacent to the western foothills of Sequoia National Park. The orchards were planted between 1896 and 1960 to the original Washington variety and continue to be prolific to this day. Very limited supply; taste-tested and scored for flavor; naturally colored (no accelerated de-greening processes used).  LoBue's Heritage Reserve oranges, are expected to return to retail in February for a limited time.  The navels come from California groves that date back to 1896 and the Washington-variety bud wood, and have never been replanted.

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