Search Results (370)

This study presents a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of an industrial sweet cherry sorting and packing facility in Greece, directly addressing environmental sustainability in agri-food supply chains through data-driven impact quantification and improvement pathways in post-harvest operations. The assessment focuses on a gate-to-gate system boundary encompassing all processes inside the cherry sorting and packing facility, while upstream cherry production and downstream waste management are modeled and reported separately to provide system-level context. Core-stage hotspots are then analyzed in detail in the Results section, highlighting the dominant role of electricity use compared with packaging materials. The functional unit is defined as 1 kg of packed, market-ready cherries at the factory gate. Primary data are obtained from high-resolution, batch-level measurements of mass flows, energy use, water consumption, packaging materials and waste streams over a full processing season, structured as virtual sensor outputs. These sensor-informed operational data are combined with secondary life cycle inventory information from established databases to quantify climate change impacts and identify environmental hotspots across materials, energy, water, and waste, thereby delivering a quantified picture of environmental performance in the post-harvest stage. The results show that corrugated cardboard and associated packaging components are among the main contributors within the facility-level, gate-to-gate system, while the Core stage accounts for 28.43% of total GWP100. Upstream cherry production dominates the overall Upstream–Core–Downstream climate footprint with 70.61% of total impacts. Moreover, practical mitigation scenarios are modeled, including packaging optimization, partial substitution of grid electricity with photovoltaic generation, and increased water recirculation. Ιn the combined mitigation scenario, where packaging optimization, low-carbon electricity and improved water management are implemented simultaneously, total GWP100 decreases from 114,207.32 to 92,500.27 kg CO₂-eq (−19.0%) relative to the baseline, providing actionable sustainability improvements for industry stakeholders and supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to climate action and resource efficiency. In addition, the proposed virtual sensor architecture and data workflow support continuous monitoring, eco-efficiency management and near-real-time LCA implementation in post-harvest agri-food systems, enabling operational sustainability. Full article

Soluble solids content (SSC) is one of the most important indicators of sweetness, ripeness, and market quality in sweet cherries. However, conventional SSC determination is destructive, labor-intensive, and unsuitable for rapid or large-scale quality assessment. Therefore, there is a need for fast, non-destructive, and data-driven sensing approaches that can estimate internal fruit quality without damaging the sample. This study aimed to develop a non-destructive approach for SSC prediction in sweet cherries by combining open-ended coaxial probe dielectric spectroscopy with deep learning models. An open-ended coaxial probe measurement system was designed and developed to determine the dielectric properties of sweet cherries and was coupled with an Agilent E4991A impedance analyzer operating over a frequency range of 5–3005 MHz. A total of 10,080 dielectric measurements and 2100 reference SSC measurements were collected over 26 experimental days. The dielectric constant (ε′), loss factor (ε″), and loss tangent (tan δ) were extracted and used to construct separate ε′, ε″, tan δ, and integrated combined datasets. Six deep learning architectures, namely convolutional neural network (CNN), long short-term memory (LSTM), bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM), gated recurrent unit (GRU), CNN-LSTM, and convolutional long short-term memory (ConvLSTM), were trained and optimized using Bayesian optimization and early stopping. CNN achieved the best performance on the tan δ dataset (test R² = 0.9099, RMSE = 0.8354 °Brix, MAE = 0.6599 °Brix), whereas GRU yielded the highest accuracy on the integrated combined dataset (test R² = 0.8622, RMSE = 1.0331 °Brix, MAE = 0.7958 °Brix). ConvLSTM provided the most consistent performance across all four datasets (test R² = 0.8081–0.8651), demonstrating strong predictive capability and practical computational efficiency. These findings confirm the potential of reduced-range dielectric spectroscopy combined with deep learning for rapid, non-destructive SSC assessment in sweet cherries. Full article

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is an economically important fruit species with considerable genetic variability, particularly among autochthonous cultivars. This study aimed to evaluate the genetic diversity and population structure of six indigenous sweet cherry cultivars from the Ohrid region in North Macedonia using whole-genome resequencing. A total of approximately 2.27 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 263 thousand insertions and deletions (InDels) were identified, indicating high genomic variability. Population structure and phylogenetic analyses revealed two distinct genetic clusters among the studied cultivars. The Ohridska bela cultivar showed the highest level of genetic differentiation, highlighting its importance as a valuable genetic resource. Functional annotation of genetic variants demonstrated significant variability in genes associated with flowering time, dormancy, and stress response, suggesting adaptation to local environmental conditions, while genes related to fruit ripening were highly conserved. Additionally, the rapid linkage disequilibrium decay confirmed the high genetic diversity within the population. These findings emphasize the importance of Macedonian autochthonous sweet cherry germplasm for breeding programs, conservation efforts, and future adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Full article

This study explored the link between orchard-derived cherry quality and circular food innovation through the valorization of dried cherry pomace. Sweet cherry fruits from the cultivars Van and Stella, grown under the pedoclimatic conditions of north-eastern Romania, were evaluated for physicochemical traits, phytochemical profile, antioxidant activity, and heavy metal content. In parallel, cherry pomace obtained during juice processing of cultivar Van was freeze-dried, characterized, and incorporated into dairy-based spreadable formulations at 5% and 10% addition levels in order to assess its bioactive potential. The results showed clear cultivar-dependent differences, with Van exhibiting a superior bioactive profile, including higher total polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and antioxidant activity than Stella. Heavy metal concentrations in fruits remained below the maximum allowable limits, while health-risk indices indicated no significant non-carcinogenic risk (HI = 3.18 × 10⁻²). The dried cherry pomace powder was characterized by high dietary fiber content (49.83 g/100 g dw), substantial total polyphenols (1046.80 mg GAE/100 g dw), anthocyanins (123.27 mg C3G/100 g dw), and antioxidant activity (21.43 μM TE/g dw). Its incorporation into dairy-based spreadable products significantly improved ash, carbohydrate, fiber, phytochemical content, and antioxidant activity, with the 10% level showing the highest functional enhancement. Sensory evaluation indicated that the 5% formulation achieved the most balanced and preferred overall sensory profile. Overall, the findings support dried cherry pomace as a valuable functional ingredient and highlight a practical circular strategy for reconnecting cherry by-products with value-added food applications. Full article

Translocation of elite cultivars across distinct climatic regions often induces transplantation shock. Although the rhizosphere microbiome can facilitate host acclimation, the underlying functional mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated microbiome-mediated adaptation in “Hongdeng” sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) moved from a humid coastal region (Dalian, DL) to a semi-arid inland habitat (Hohhot, HS). We integrated plant physiological assays, metagenomic sequencing, and structural equation modeling (SEM) to compare the source population (DL), the introduced population (HS), and a locally acclimated reference cultivar (“Summit”, HSY). The introduced trees adjusted physiologically to the semi-arid environment by elevating proline levels and antioxidant enzyme activities. Although environmental stress reduced microbial alpha diversity, the core taxonomic framework persisted. Community assembly analysis indicated that the semi-arid climate intensified environmental filtering. Network analysis identified Sphingomonas as a keystone taxon; notably, it maintained a highly connected topological role despite a stable relative abundance. Furthermore, structural equation modeling showed that the environmental stress index positively correlated with the upregulation of microbial DNA repair pathways (R = 0.81, p < 0.001). Ultimately, the SEM demonstrated that environmental stress primarily shapes microbial functional profiles rather than driving species turnover, thereby contributing to host adaptation. The successful establishment of introduced sweet cherry in semi-arid regions is tied more closely to rhizosphere functional plasticity than to taxonomic restructuring. These findings highlight the role of the keystone taxon Sphingomonas in maintaining rhizosphere homeostasis, offering a theoretical framework for targeted microbiome engineering to mitigate transplant shock and enhance crop resilience. Full article

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is a rich source of phenolic compounds, including anthocyanins and polyphenols, which contribute to fruit quality and nutritional value. However, their distribution across tissues (flesh and skin) and stability under different postharvest freezing treatments remain poorly understood. This study characterized the phenolic profiles of 14 sweet cherry genotypes in different tissues (whole fruit, flesh, and skin) and assessed the effects of freezing storage conditions on compound stability using high-performance liquid chromatography. Results revealed pronounced tissue-specific patterns: most phenolic compounds, particularly total anthocyanins, neochlorogenic acid, rutin, and chlorogenic acid, were more than twofold higher in the skin than in the flesh. Substantial genotype-dependent variability was observed, with certain cultivars exhibiting markedly higher phenolic concentrations. Immediate freezing in liquid nitrogen preserved significantly higher levels of phenolics compared to delayed freezing at −70 °C, where several compounds showed considerable degradation, especially in separated flesh samples. Anthocyanin content increased strongly with pigmentation intensity, with darker-coloured genotypes showing up to a 50-fold higher concentration than lighter-coloured types. Molecular analysis identified MYB-associated polymorphisms corresponding to differences in phenolic accumulation and fruit pigmentation. These findings demonstrate that genotype and tissue type are key determinants of phenolic composition, while immediate postharvest freezing is essential for preserving bioactive compounds. The combined biochemical and molecular approach provides novel insight into the regulation and stability of phenolic compounds in sweet cherry and supports the selection of cultivars with enhanced nutritional quality and improved postharvest performance. Full article

Sweet cherry cracking severely impairs its commercial value and causes huge economic losses, and the accurate real-time detection of fine cracking defects remains a challenging small-target detection task. Traditional manual sorting and conventional machine vision methods suffer from low efficiency and poor robustness, while existing YOLO-based models have limitations in multi-scale feature fusion, local feature discrimination and spatial information retention for cherry cracking detection, and their effectiveness in natural production environments has not been statistically validated. To address these issues, this study proposes YOLO-CY for cherry cracking defect detection. Three key modules were optimized: the C3k2_AdditiveBlock was designed to enhance multi-scale feature extraction, the C2PSA_CGLU module improved the discriminability of local crack features via refined channel attention, and the Efficient Up-Convolution Block replaced traditional upsampling to reduce spatial information loss. Experiments were conducted on a self-constructed dataset of 3662 cherry images acquired on a real sorting line under natural ambient light. The results showed that YOLO-CY achieved an mAP50 of 94.88% and an mAP50-95 of 64.92%, with precision and recall reaching 93.90% and 90.81%, respectively, significantly outperforming mainstream lightweight YOLO models and two-stage detectors. Ablation experiments verified the synergistic effect of the three improved modules, and the model only had a marginal increase in parameters (2.62 M) and GFLOPs (6.60), maintaining lightweight characteristics. YOLO-CY can accurately detect fine, low-contrast and pedicel-overlapping cracks and is suitable for real-time detection on automated cherry-sorting lines, providing a technical solution for intelligent cherry quality inspection. Full article

Long-term balanced mineral fertilization is essential for sustainable sweet cherry production under variable climatic conditions. This seven-year field study (2016–2022) evaluated the effects of NP, NPK, and NPKMg fertilization including the control on six parameters: trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA), fruit yield (FY), crop load (CL), fruit diameter (FD), water-soluble dry matter content (BRIX), and cherry leaf spot incidence (CLS) in two sweet cherry cultivars (‘Vera’ and ‘Carmen’). TCSA increased continuously in both cultivars, while fertilization effects on growth, FY, CL, and FD varied among years and were significantly higher under NPK and NPKMg treatments compared with the control, particularly in specific years. Leaf spot incidence was reduced in the NPKMg treatment in epidemic years, although strong interannual and cultivar-dependent variability was observed, with ‘Carmen’ being more susceptible than ‘Vera’. Correlation and regression analyses revealed significant relationships among key traits, particularly for CL vs. FY, FD vs. CLS, TCSA vs. CLS, and BRIX vs. CL, indicating strong vegetative–generative interactions. Principal component analyses further showed that tree and fruit traits as well as disease incidence were structured along a limited number of integrated multivariate components explaining most of the variance. In conclusion, balanced fertilization improved productivity and partly reduced disease incidence, but treatment effects were strongly influenced by complex multivariate interactions and interannual climatic variability. These findings highlight the importance of integrative analytical approaches to optimize nutrient management under Central European conditions. Full article

Commercial production of sweet cherries is possible up to approximately 60° N latitude in Norway and is among the most economically important fruit crops in the country. The harvest is late, but yields are very high, and the fruit is intended solely for the fresh market. The objective of this study was to assess whether sweet cherry can be grown in pots and to determine fruit quality (sugar, acid, polyphenol, and mineral content) of three sweet cherry cultivars (‘Van’, ‘Lapins’, and ‘Regina’) grown in high tunnels with varying levels of fertigation (F) and the application of slow-release (SR) fertilisers. Trees were planted in 35 L plastic bags, trained as spindle trees, with a spacing of 1 × 2.5 m (4000 trees/ha). The tunnel was covered with polythene from flowering until harvest. Fruit produced in pots had low levels of sugars and acids and high levels of phenolic acids and flavonoids, while the mineral content depended on treatment and cultivar. The main sugar components (glucose and fructose), the sweetness index, phenolic acids (chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid), flavanols (catechin, rutin, quercetin, and hyperoside), and minerals (P, K, Mg, Ca, and Na) were much higher in the F treatment. SR treatments were more effective in increasing the content of acids (shikimic, malic, and quinic) and total phenolic content (TPC). Radical scavenging activity (RSA) and total sugars showed no statistically significant differences between the treatments studied. ‘Lapins’ fruit obtained from the fertigation regimes (when Kristalon brown + Calcinit + Magnesium-sulphate were added from mid-April to 1 September and plain water for the rest of the season, up to an electric conductivity (EC) of 0.5 and 1.0) contained the highest levels of minerals (P, K, Mg, Ca). The ‘Van’ cultivar from F treatments, especially VF2 (when Kristalon brown + Calcinit + Magnesium-sulphate were added from mid-April to 1 September and plain water for the rest of the season, with EC 1.0) and VF3 (when Kristalon brown is added in July, Kristalon brown + Calcinit + Magnesium-sulphate in August, and plain water for the rest of the season) had the highest sweetness index, glucose, fructose, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, and hyperoside in sweet cherry fruit. ‘Regina’ under the RSR1 (50 g Multicote and 30 g chalk lime per tree) and RSR2 regimes (100 g Multicote and 30 g chalk lime per tree) produced fruit with the highest acid components, RSA and TPC. This suggests that sweet cherry trees can be grown in pots under high tunnels, but nutrition should be adjusted for each cultivar according to its physiological responses to specific microclimate conditions. Full article

Four sweet cherry cultivars (FuChen, Redlight, Huangmi, and Samituo) grown in northern China were used to produce sweet cherry wines with two alcohol levels. Physicochemical properties, antioxidant capacity, and volatile aroma compounds of the wines were systematically investigated. The results showed that wine from the Redlight cultivar with an alcohol content of 11.22 ± 0.17% contained the highest phenolic content and also exhibited the strongest antioxidant capacity as measured by DPPH and ABTS•⁺ assays. Meanwhile, wine from the FuChen cultivar with an alcohol content of 11.45 ± 0.03% had the highest anthocyanin content and showed the strongest FRAP antioxidant activity. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) based on electronic nose data clearly distinguished the eight sweet cherry wine samples from different cultivars. A total of 58 volatile compounds were identified by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). Both principal component analysis (PCA) and OPLS-DA revealed clear differences among the sweet cherry wines based on their volatile composition. Using variable importance in projection (VIP) scores > 1 and relative odor activity values (ROAVs), the key aroma compounds contributing to the characteristic aroma profiles of the eight sweet cherry wines were identified as ethyl butanoate, isoamyl acetate, isoamyl hexanoate, methyl decanoate, ethyl decanoate, ethyl benzoate, methyl salicylate, citronellol, and eugenol. These findings provide important guidance for the selection of raw materials to improve the production of sweet cherry wines with targeted alcohol levels. Full article

Perennial deciduous trees such as Prunus avium undergo seasonal transitions, culminating in bud dormancy establishment that involves coordinated physiological and metabolic adjustments. Dormancy monitoring in orchard systems still relies primarily on temperature-based models and forcing assays, which rarely incorporate physiological or biochemical indicators. Here, we tested whether seasonal metabolic dynamics associated with dormancy progression differ between sweet cherry genotypes and whether these physiological differences are reflected in canopy-scale vegetation indices derived from satellite observations. Field measurements were conducted in two genotypes with contrasting chilling behavior (‘Regina’ and ‘210’) during the transition from vegetative growth to dormancy. Leaf gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence were monitored across the season, polar metabolites in floral buds were profiled by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and satellite-derived vegetation indices were used to characterize canopy dynamics. Dormancy progression was associated with declines in CO₂ assimilation, transpiration, PSII photochemical efficiency, and electron transport rate, accompanied by increases in intercellular CO₂ concentration and non-regulated energy dissipation. Metabolomic analysis revealed that genotype explained a larger proportion of metabolite variation than dormancy stage (PERMANOVA R² = 0.483, p = 0.001), while principal component analysis accounted for 79.7% of total variance. Fructose showed the strongest genotype difference during paradormancy I, corresponding to an approximately 9.5-fold increase in ‘Regina’. Pathway enrichment analysis highlighted starch and sucrose metabolism and pyruvate metabolism as the most represented pathways during dormancy progression. Satellite-derived vegetation indices captured seasonal canopy decline and were significantly associated with several physiological variables. These results provide an integrated description of physiological and metabolic adjustments during dormancy establishment in sweet cherry and highlight the potential of combining metabolomics, plant physiology, and open-access satellite observations to monitor phenological transitions in orchard systems at scalable spatial and temporal resolutions. Full article

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is a highly appreciated fruit species for consumption but susceptible to climate change-induced weather, such as heavy rainfall, which catastrophically compromises yield and commercial fruit quality. Brassinosteroids (BRs) represent a novel biologically safe class of hormones that have been shown to increase plant resilience against these adversities and enhance crop yield and fruit quality in some fruit species. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the potential efficacy of the preharvest foliar spray treatments with 24-epibrassinolide (24-BL) at 0.01, 0.1 and 1 µM on crop yield, cracking incidence and fruit quality of ‘Sunburst’ and ‘Skeena’ sweet cherry cultivars, during two seasons with different weather conditions (2022 and 2023). Results revealed that 24-BL treatments improved fruit growth, fruit weight, and increased commercial crop yield, especially at 0.1 µM during the first season. Notably, in 2023, when extreme rainfall occurred, 24-BL at 0.01 and 0.1 µM significantly decreased cracking incidence by up to 50% for ‘Skeena’. Additionally, firmness, red colour and bioactive compounds, such as total phenolics and total anthocyanins, were also found at higher levels in fruits from 24-BL-treated trees compared to controls, in both cultivars and years. In conclusion, the foliar spray application of 24-BL at 0.01 µM and, especially at 0.1 µM, can be a useful and eco-friendly tool to reduce cracking incidence, improve crop yield and enhance sweet cherry quality traits regardless of environmental negative events, such as heavy rainfall. Importantly, the enhancement of bioactive compounds would promote additional antioxidant properties and enhance health benefits to consumers. Full article

Surface pitting is a physiological disorder characterized by depressions on the fruit surface, caused by subepidermal cell collapse and exacerbated during cold storage. This study evaluated antioxidant responses and cell wall disassembly in sweet cherry cultivars exhibiting contrasting susceptibility to surface pitting. Four cultivars were evaluated over two growing seasons under controlled cold storage and shelf-life conditions, with pitting experimentally induced. Surface pitting severity was strongly genotype-dependent. After 15 d at 1 °C in the first season, pitting severity was higher in ‘Sweetheart’ and ‘Lapins’ (2.4 and 1.9, respectively) than in ‘Regina’ (0.6), while in the second season, ‘Sweetheart’ reached the highest damage at shelf life (3.5) and ‘Santina’ remained low (0.8), confirming lower susceptibility in ‘Regina’ and ‘Santina’ than in ‘Sweetheart’ and ‘Lapins’. Cell wall-related traits and pectinolytic enzyme activities exhibited strong seasonal variability and were not consistently associated with pitting incidence. In contrast, resistant cultivars exhibited higher non-enzymatic antioxidant levels. Total phenolic content reached 4.1 ± 0.4 mg g⁻¹ in ‘Regina’ at the end of storage, while antioxidant capacity reached 51.5 ± 3.3% DPPH inhibition, up to 2-fold higher than susceptible cultivars. Enzymatic antioxidant activities were influenced by cultivar and season and showed limited association with pitting development. These results indicate that phenolic-based non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity plays a central role in conferring tolerance to surface pitting in sweet cherry during cold storage. Full article

Fruit size and weight are valuable characteristics for cherry breeders, mainly because of their higher market price. Several molecular markers have been developed in recent years and have been correlated with fruit weight. In cherries, FW_G2a was identified as a promising hotspot for fruit size and weight characteristics. Two markers flanking that region were taken into consideration in this study. The local sweet and sour cherry collection in Érd, Hungary, was analyzed using molecular markers to identify possible correlations between the markers and phenotypes. The duration of phenotypic observations varied from 3 years in sour cherry to 5 years in sweet cherry. In our study, we observed correlations between fruit size and weight and the molecular markers of our germplasm collection. We confirmed the previously published association of haplotypes 190–255 and 192–233 with large and small fruit size, respectively, in sweet cherry. Individual alleles of both markers were identified, showing moderate to strong correlations with large and small fruit size in sweet cherry. In tetraploid sour cherry, a higher number of unique allelic combinations were found due to the higher level of ploidy compared to sweet cherry. Individual alleles were detected with moderate positive correlations with fruit size, while one allele showed a strong negative correlation with fruit dimension-related traits. These markers were found to be useful for the characterization of fruit size characteristics, for population selection and for the differentiation of the Hungarian germplasm collection. Full article

The immune system maintains homeostasis through coordinated innate and adaptive responses, and its imbalance increases disease susceptibility. The immunomodulatory effects of 6-methoxykaempferol (6MK), a methoxylated flavonoid found in sweet cherries, were studied in a mouse model of cyclophosphamide (CPA)-induced immunosuppression. The expression of key signaling proteins in the NF-κB and MAPK pathways was studied to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms. The Toll-like receptor-4/myeloid differentiation factor-2 receptor complex (TLR4/MD2), which can stimulate the immune response by activating these pathways, was used to study possible interactions with 6MK using docking analysis. 6MK administration significantly restored immune organ integrity (spleen up to 15.1% and thymus up to 16.8%), enhanced NK cell function (up to 43.8%), promoted T (up to 24.5%) and B cell proliferation (up to 26.4%), increased pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-4, IL-10, and TGF-β) levels, and elevated NO (up to 25.6%) and immunoglobulin (IgG, IgA, and IgM) concentrations. Additionally, 6MK upregulated antioxidant enzymes (CAT, HO-1, and SOD) and reactivated suppressed NF-κB and MAPK pathways. The docking-supported hypothesis, based on putative interactions and the estimated free energy of binding, suggests that 6MK possesses agonistic potential for the TLR4/MD2. Changes in the gut microbiome due to 6MK treatment, such as an increase in alpha diversity, abundance of Dorea longicatena, and the upregulation of formaldehyde-consuming pathways, may also contribute to immune enhancement. These findings show that 6MK may alleviate immunosuppression, suggesting its potential for future studies targeting immune-related diseases and conditions. Full article