ABSTRACT Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) is a kind of subtropical fruit cultivated in many countries. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in the content of total phenol, total flavonoid, and 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), scavenging activity during the seven developmental stages and to determine the optimum harvesting time of loquat fruits by using chlorophyll fluorescence and Red Green Blue (RGB) intensity detection. Our results revealed a high correlation between chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and the internal chemical parameters (total phenol, total flavonoid, and DPPH scavenging activity) in loquat. The best prediction model from ST1 to ST5 for total flavonoid with variable fluorescence (Fv) and Fv / maximum fluorescence (Fm), R 2 = 0.79, and for DPPH scavenging activity with Fm, Fv, and Fv/Fm, R 2 = 0.92 was achieved, respectively. Total phenol correlated with minimum fluorescence (Fo) and Fv from ST4 to ST7, with R 2 = 0.99. Red Green Blue (RGB) intensity is also highly correlated with the internal chemical parameters. Both total phenol and DPPH radical scavenging activities had the best correlations with the B intensity value (R 2 = 0.998, R 2 = 0.970) in the ST1-ST4 period, respectively. Total phenols and total flavonoids had the best correlation with the G intensity value (R 2 = 0.909, R 2 = 0.986) in the ST5-ST7 period, respectively. In conclusion, developmental stage ST5 is the optimum harvesting time for loquat fruit, and chlorophyll fluorescence and RGB intensity are both noninvasive measurements for quality assessment during the loquat development period and for the prediction of the optimal time for harvesting loquat fruit.

Abstract In this study, the effects of degradation on ascorbic acid (AA) in asparagus-lemon juice with different blending ratios were investigated during storage. The R2 values of the first-order kinetic model for predicting AA loss were 0.8216-0.9990, indicating that the model described well the degradation of AA in asparagus-lemon juice with different blending ratios. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the blending ratio of asparagus-lemon juice during storage. The optimum blending ratios that selected by the RSM were: 23%, 26%, 27%, 28% and 29% of diluted asparagus juice blended with 85% of diluted lemon juice, and the desirability were 0.820. The RSM correlation coefficients (R2) between experimental and model predicted values ranged from 0.6394 to 0.9975. Therefore, RSM and the first-order model may be effective tools to optimize the blending ratio of blended juice and AA degradation in juices.

A new Rhodamine B derivative RBMAB, namely 3-amino-N-(2-(3',6'-bis (diethylamino)-3-oxospiro[isoindoline-1,9'-xanthen]-2-yl)ethyl)benzamide, was designed, synthesized and structurally characterized to develop a chemosensor. The studies show that RBMAB exhibits high selectivity toward Fe3+ among many other metal cations in an ethanol-H2O (3:2, v/v, PBS buffer, 1.2 mmol L-1, pH 7.2) solution. It has a low detection limit of 0.021µm. Fluorescence microscopy experiments further demonstrate that RBMAB can be used as a fluorescent probe to detect Fe3+ in living cells.