Search Results (2)

Seed processing is an important means of improving seed quality. However, the traditional seed processing process and parameter adjustment are highly empirically dependent. In this study, machine vision technology was used to develop a seed processing method based on the rapid extraction of seeds’ material characteristics. Combined with the results of clarity analysis and the single seed germination test, the seed processing process and parameters were determined through data analysis. The results showed that several phenotypic features were significantly or highly significantly correlated with clarity, but fewer phenotypic features were correlated with viability. According to the probability density distribution of pure seeds and impurities in the features that were significantly correlated with seed clarity, the sorting parameters of length, width, R, G, and B were determined. When the combination of width (≥0.8 mm) + G (<75) was used for sorting, the recall of pure seeds was higher than 91%, and the precision was increased to 98.6%. Combined with the specific production reality, the preliminary determination of the Platycodon grandiflorum seed processing process was air separation—screen (round hole sieve)—color sorting. Then, four commercialized Platycodon grandiflorum seed lots were sorted by this process using corresponding parameters in the actual processing equipment. Subsequently, the seed clarity and germination percentage were significantly improved, and the seed quality qualification rate was increased from 25% to 75%. In summary, by using machine vision technology to quickly extract the material characteristics of the seeds, combined with correlation analysis, probability density distribution plots, single feature selection, and combination sorting comparisons, the appropriate processing process and corresponding sorting parameters for a specific seed lot can be determined, thus maximizing the seed quality. Full article

Platycodonis radix is extensively used for treating cough, excessive phlegm, sore throat, bronchitis and asthma in the clinic. Meanwhile, the stems, leaves and seeds of Platycodon grandiflorum (PG) have some pharmaceutical activities such as anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation effects, etc. These effects must be caused by the different metabolites in various parts of herb. In order to profile the different parts of PG, the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time-of- flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS^E) coupled with UNIFI platform and multivariate statistical analyses was used in this study. Consequently, for the constituent screening, 73, 42, 35, 44 compounds were characterized from the root, stem, leaf and seed, respectively. The stem, leaf and seed contain more flavonoids but few saponins that can be easily discriminated in the root. For the metabolomic analysis, 15, 5, 7, 11 robust biomarkers enabling the differentiation among root, stem, leaf and seed, were discovered. These biomarkers can be used for rapid identification of four different parts of PG grown in northeast China. Full article