• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.305-317
• /
• 2022

To investigate the blossom infection risk of fire blight on pears, the program Maryblyt has been executed from 2018 to 2022 based on meteorological data from central-Korean cities where fire blight has occurred as well as from southern Korean cities where the disease has not yet occurred. In the past five years, years with the highest risk of pear blossom blight were 2022 and 2019. To identify the optimal time for spraying, we studied the spray mode according to the Maryblyt model and recommend spraying streptomycin on the day after a "High" warning and then one day before forecasted precipitation during the blossom period. Maryblyt also recommends to initiate surgical controls from mid-May for canker blight symptoms on pear trees owing to over-wintering canker in Korea. Web-cam pictures from pear orchards at Cheonan, Icheon, Sangju, and Naju during the flowering period of pear trees were used for comparing real data and constructing a phenological model. The actual starting dates of flowering at southern cities such as Sangju and Naju were consistently earlier than those calculated by the model. It is thus necessary to improve the forecasting model to include field risks by recording the actual flowering period and the first day of the fire blight symptoms, according to the farmers, as well as mist or dew-fall, which are not easily identifiable from meteorological records.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.317-320
• /
• 2009

'Niitaka' (Pyrus pyriforia) has been the major cultivar of the Asian pear since the 1970s, and yielded about 70% of pear production in South Korea in 2002. When Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day) is earlier than the fruit maturation period, farmers seek to advance the harvesting date to keep pace with the increase in consumer demand caused by the holiday. However, unripened fruit is of suboptimal marketable value because the flesh has a low soluble solid content, the fruit color is not attractive, and stone volume is high. Compost treatment can enhance soil microbial activity and affect soil chemistry, which may accelerate fruit maturation and allow an earlier harvesting date. Therefore, we examined the effect of 2 years of compost application on the fruit quality of Asian pear trees grown under conventional management conditions. The Hunter "L" and "a" values were higher in compost-treated fruit, which also showed greater sweetness and lower acidity than did conventional fruit. The stone volume was reduced and fruit calcium concentration was increased by compost treatment. Therefore, compost treatment may advance fruit harvesting owing to the increased marketability afforded by attractive skin color, sweetness, and reduced stone volume.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.76-79
• /
• 2013

We evaluated antioxidant activities of heated pear juice (HPJ) exposed to 120, 130, and $140^{\circ}C$ for 2 hr. HPJ was partitioned using n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water. The ethyl acetate fraction treated at $130^{\circ}C$ for 2 hr showed strong antioxidant activity; thus, this extract was isolated and purified using silica gel column chromatography and preparative high performance liquid chromatography. The structure of the purified compound was determined using ultraviolet and mass spectrometry, $^1H$-nucelar magnetic resonance (NMR), and $^{13}C$-NMR. Antioxidant activities of the isolated compound were evaluated and compared with ${\alpha}$-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) using DPPH and ABTS assays. The isolated compound was identified as 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one (DDMP). The DPPH radical-scavenging activity ($IC_{50}$) of DDMP occurred in the following order: ascorbic acid ($45.3{\mu}g/mL$) > ${\alpha}$-tocopherol ($69.2{\mu}g/mL$) > DDMP ($241.6{\mu}g/mL$) > BHT ($268.0{\mu}g/mL$). Furthermore, DDMP showed strong ABTS radical-scavenging activity (569.0 mg AA eq/g).

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.191-198
• /
• 2018

Fast and accurate diagnosis is needed to eradicate and manage economically important and invasive diseases like fire blight. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is known as the best on-site diagnostic, because it is fast, highly specific to a target, and less sensitive to inhibitors in samples. In this study, LAMP assay that gives more consistent results for on-site diagnosis of fire blight than the previous developed LAMP assays was developed. Primers for new LAMP assay (named as DS-LAMP) were designed from a histidine-tRNA ligase gene (EAMY_RS32025) of E. amylovora CFBP1430 genome. The DS-LAMP amplified DNA (positive detection) only from genomic DNA of E. amylovora strains, not from either E. pyrifoliae (causing black shoot blight) or from Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (causing shoot blight on apple trees). The detection limit of DS-LAMP was 10 cells per LAMP reaction, equivalent to $10^4$ cells per ml of the sample extract. DS-LAMP successfully diagnosed the pathogens on four fire-blight infected apple and pear orchards. In addition, it could distinguish black shoot blight from fire blight. The $B{\ddot{u}}hlmann$-LAMP, developed previously for on-site diagnosis of fire blight, did not give consistent results for specificity to E. amylovora and on-site diagnosis; it gave positive reactions to three strains of E. pyrifoliae and two strains of P. syringae pv. syringae. It also, gave positive reactions to some healthy sample extracts. DS-LAMP, developed in this study, would give more accurate on-site diagnosis of fire blight, especially in the Republic of Korea, where fire blight and black shoot blight coexist.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.357-363
• /
• 2013

The fungus Venturia nashicola is the causal agent of scab on Asian pears. For the rapid and reliable identification as well as sensitive detection of V. nashicola, a PCR-based technique was developed. DNA fingerprints of three closely related species, V. nashicola, V. pirina, and V. inaequalis, were obtained by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Two RAPD markers specific to V. nashicola were identified by PCR, after which two pairs of sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) primers were designed from the nucleotide sequences of the markers. The SCAR primer pairs, designated as D12F/D12R and E11F/E11R, amplified 535-bp and 525-bp DNA fragments, respectively, only from genomic DNA of V. nashicola. The specificity of the primer sets was tested on strains representing three species of Venturia and 20 fungal plant pathogens. The nested PCR primer pair specific to V. nashicola was developed based on the sequence of the species-specific 525-bp DNA fragment amplified by primer set E11F/E11R. The internal primer pair Na11F/Na11R amplified a 235-bp fragment from V. nashicola, but not from any other fungal species tested. The nested PCR assay was sensitive enough to detect the specific fragment in 50 fg of V. nashicola DNA.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.7-13
• /
• 2004

Lactic acid fermentation of prickly pear extract (PPE) was performed by Lactobacillus rhamnosus LS, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and Lactobacillus brevis. The PPE was pasteurized to eliminate indigenous microorganisms as well as to dissolve the partially insoluble pulp. The PPE fermented without yeast extract by L. rhamnosus LS exhibited 0.57％ acidity and 3.5${\times}$10$^{8}$ CFU/mL bacteria count. With the addition of 0.2% edible yeast extract the PPE fermented by L. rhamnosus LS exhibited 1.15％ acidity,2.7${\times}$10$^{9}$ CFU/mL bacteria count and 95.0% retention of red color. When 5％ fructose syrup was added, the PPE fermented by L. rhamnosus LS had 1.09% acidity, 6.5${\times}$10$^{8}$ CFU/mL, and 97.7% retention of red color. With 1∼3% (w/v) concentrations of starter, the PPE fermented by L. bulgaricus and L. brevis showed 0.97% and 0.65% acidities, respectively. The viable cell counts from L. rhamnosus LS fermentation were higher compared with those of other LAB. During cold storage at 4$^{\circ}C$, the viable cell count was well maintained for 3 weeks, but then rapidly decreased. The red pigment was highly stable during cold storage for 4 weeks. The pasteurized PPE fortified with 5% fructose syrup, 0.2% yeast extract, and 0.05% CaCO$_3$ was successfully fermented by inoculating with 3% LAB and incubating at 3$0^{\circ}C$ for 2 days. Both viable cell counts and the red color of the fermented PPE were well maintained during cold storage for 3 weeks.

• Research in Plant Disease
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.58-61
• /
• 2006

Ggray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea occurred on Balsam pear (Momordica charantia) at Daesan-myon, Changwon city, Gyeongnam province in Korea from 2004 to 2006. The disease symptoms usually started with water-soaking lesions on the fruits tip and stem, and then the infected plants became withered and eventually died. The conidia of the pathogen appeared on the surface of fruit and stem of infected plants. The conidia were one celled and mostly ellipsoid or ovoid in shape and were light gray in color, The conidia were $6{\sim}20X4{\sim}12{\mu}m$ in size and conidiophores were $14{\sim}30{\mu}m$ in length. The sclerotia formed abundantly on potato-dextrose agar 18 days after incubation. The optimum temperature for sclerotial formation was $20^{\circ}C$. Pathogenicity of the causal organism was proved according to Koch,s postulates. The causal organism was identified as Botrytis cinerea Persoon: Fries based on the mycological characteristics. This is the first report on gray mold of M. charantia caused by B. cinerea in Korea.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.84-90
• /
• 2006

This study was conducted to anticipate nitrate reduction state in tree through measurement of nitrate reductase activity (NRA) and investigate the effect of nitrogen concentrations (100, 200, 400, and 600 $mg\;L^{-1}$) on growth, the nitrogen content of various tissue, and NRA of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia cv. Niitaka) seedlings in sand culture. Nutrient solutions used in this experiment were adjusted to pH 6.5 and fixed the ratio of ammonium and nitrate to 1:3 and trickle-irrigated 3 times a day. Tree height and dry weight of various organs in seedlings were higher in low nitrogen concentration (100 and 200 $mg\;L^{-1}$) than in high nitrogen concentration (400 and 600 $mg\;L^{-1}$). The shoot growth in 600 $mg\;L^{-1}$ was extremely poor by nitrogen over supply. Increasing the nitrogen concentration, the concentration of nitrate-N in leaves and roots were insignificantly changed but that of stems increased. The accumulation of total and reduced nitrogen in all organs with increasing concentrations of nitrogen supply were increased at 30 days after treatment but those of all organs at 60 and 90 days after treatment were highest in 600 $mg\;L^{-1}$, whereas there were no significant changes among other nitrogen concentration. The in vivo (${+NO_3}^-$) NRA of all organs did not relate to nitrogen concentration but the in vivo (${-NO_3}^-$) NRA of leaves except roots increased with increasing the nitrogen concentration. Therefore, the proper nitrogen concentration to promote growth and nitrate reduction of pear tree was 200 $mg\;L^{-1}$.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.79-86
• /
• 2013

We investigate the effect of preharvest spray of aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG), an inhibitor of ACC synthase activity, on fruit quality of 'Wonhwang' pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai). And the effects were compared with ethephon which releasing ethylene to elucidate treatment efficacy of ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor on Asian pears. Chemicals were sprayed on 30 days before harvest with AVG (75 and 150 mg/L) and ethephon (100 mg/L), respectively. Highest flesh firmness during 21 days of shelf-life at $25^{\circ}C$ after 30 days of cold storage was attained in the fruit treated with 150 mg/L AVG (26.5N) when compared with untreated control (16.7N), while the fruits treated with 100 mg/L ethephon completely lost their marketability within 14 days of shelf-life by mass drop of firmness down to 11.6N. Low incidence of physiological disorders including pithiness and core browning were attained at the fruits treated with 150 mg/L AVG when we compared with untreated control. No occurrence of mealiness found in the fruits treated with AVG but ethephon treated fruits showed 36.4% during 14 days of shelf-life. Consequently, AVG spray at the concentration of 150mg/L on Asian pear 'Wonhwang' fruit regarded as useful preharvest management approach for keeping quality during marketing period after simulated exportation.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.349-360
• /
• 2020

Fire-blight disease is a kind of contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae. Due to its extremely strong infectivity, once an orchard is confirmed to be infected, all of the orchards located within 100 m must be buried under the ground, and the sites are prohibited to cultivate any fruit trees for 5 years. In South Korea, fire-blight was confirmed for the first time in the Ansung area in 2015, and the infection is still being identified every year. Traditional approaches to detect fire-blight are expensive and require much time, additionally, also the inspectors have the potential to transmit the pathogen, Thus, it is necessary to develop a remote, unmanned monitoring system for fire-blight to prevent the spread of the disease. This study was conducted to detect fire-blight on pear trees using discriminant analysis with color information collected from a rotary-wing drone. The images of the infected trees were obtained at a pear orchard in Cheonan using an RGB camera attached to a rotary-wing drone at an altitude of 4 m, and also using a smart phone RGB camera on the ground. RGB and Lab color spaces and discriminant analysis were used to develop the image processing algorithm. As a result, the proposed method had an accuracy of approximately 75% although the system still requires many flaws to be improved.