Peach production in Utah is an important enterprise. In 1946 the crop of 700,000 bushels was valued at $1,085,000, which was approximately one percent of the value of all agricultural commodities grown in the state. The estimate average annual production over the ten-year period, 1936 to 1945, was 636,000 bushels. About 95 percent of the peach trees are located in Washington county and along the Wasatch Front in Utah, Salt lake, Davis, Weber, and Box Elder counties. Small-scale family type units characterize the production of peaches in Utah. The 5,071 farmers who reported growing peach trees in 1944 had an average of 146 trees per farm. In the state, peach production is concentrated on well-drained open soils which require frequent irrigation. The usual practice is to disk several times during the growing season. Some operators leave the ground between the trees bare during the winter months, while others prefer to leave an undergrowth of clover, grass, or weeds. The enterprise is most successful if located where air currents protect the orchards from early spring frosts. In Utah the freestone varieties predominate. The Early and Late Elbertas are most common, followed by J. H. Hale, Late Crawford, Heath Cling, Rochester, Greensboro and other less popular varieties. Golden Jubilee and Halbertas were also found. Canning factories provide a market for a small portion of the peach crop, but most of them must be marketed fresh by peddling and at roadside stands or shipped out of the state through marketing associations and brokers. The competitive nature of agriculture makes it necessary for successful farmers to attempt to keep costs at a minimum. Present high production costs and the likelihood of lower prices for farm products in the future make this problem vitally important to Utah peach growers and to farmers in general. The purposes of this study are (1) to determine the unit cost of producing peaches in Utah and the items comprising the costs, and (2) to discover what methods of production are associated with success in the peach industry.

Spring shock syndrome (SSS) is a condition where flowering and leaf development in peach and nectarine trees is delayed and those leaves that do develop are often small and discoloured. Trees experiencing spring shock syndrome yield poorly. To learn more about the development of this syndrome, this thesis has examined the influence of root zone temperature (RZT) and genotype on the growth of peach rootstocks and the scions grafted onto them. Other factors that influence the quality of peach seedling rootstocks were also examined. Initial trials examined the influence of Okinawa (a low chill cultivar) and Golden Queen (a high chill cultivar)rootstocks on the expression of SSS. Studies found that multiple stems could originate from either multiple seeds within a single stone or from axils originating from the base of cotyledons. The incidence of both conditions was heavily influenced by variety, thus suggesting that an active selection program based on the elimination of these traits would be beneficial to the stone fruit nursery industry. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T13:25:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Vagner_Brasil_Costa.pdf: 356060 bytes, checksum: 3d25708747896f20a7fe7f8d4105d1dd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-03-27 / In general, the fruit quality of in natura destined-peach needs to be improved specially regarding to sensorial, functional and shelf-life characteristics. Most of these problems are well known to begin since the production period and, tree quality and training system might alter these characteristics. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the peach quality cultivars Maciel, Jubileu and Eldorado under different training systems as well as different rootstocks for the scion Granada. The parameters assessed were flesh firmness, total soluble solids, color, acidity, total phenol compounds, antioxidant potential and vitamin C, flavor and yield. In the cv. Granada it was done a harvest per rootstock used, and in the different training systems three harvests were performed. In the training systems, it was observed that leader system provided fruits with positive characteristics to in natura consumption, such as color, vitamin C, etc. Nevertheless, the rootstocks Umezeiro and Granada induced better fruit quality whether grafted under the cultivar Granada. / A qualidade geral de pêssegos destinados ao consumo in natura, ainda deixa a desejar especialmente no que concerne às características sensoriais, funcionais e de vida de prateleira. É conhecido que a maior parte desses problemas tem origem na produção e que a qualidade da muda e o sistema de condução podem alterar essas características. Nesse contexto objetivou-se avaliar a qualidade de pêssegos em diferentes sistemas de condução em Maciel , Jubileu e Eldorado , assim como, diferentes porta-enxertos para a cultivar copa Granada, estudando parâmetros como firmeza de polpa, sólidos solúveis totais, coloração, acidez, compostos fenólicos totais, potencial antioxidante e vitamina C, sabor e produtividade. Na cultivar Granada, foi realizada uma colheita de cada porta-enxerto. Já para os sistemas de condução, foram realizadas três colheitas.. Para os sistemas de condução, observou-se que o sistema Líder, resultou em frutas com características qualitativas positivas para o consumo in natura, como coloração, vitamina, C entre outros. Já os porta-enxertos Umezeiro e Granada, induziram uma fruta de melhor qualidade, quando enxertados sob a cultivar copa Granada.

Peaches are the predominant tree fruit in Utah. Preliminary estimates for 1947 indicate a crop of 933,000 bushels valued at $1,679,000, which represents approximately 27 percent of the value of the major fruits grown in Utah and 1.2 percent of the value of all agricultural commodities grown in the state (5:23). It should be noted, however, that the 1947 peach crop was somewhat above normal. The estimated average annual production over the 10-year period 1938 to 1947 was 722,000 bushels.

The demand for organic produce is based on a general belief that organically grown produce is more nutritious than conventionally cultivated produce. To date, there have been several studies both supporting and contradicting these assumptions and at this point there is no clear consensus. However, there has been one accepted and appreciated aspect of the organic cultivation, which is, that it renders the soil more suitable for long-term cultivation and improves the ecological aspect of producing produce. For this reason, in the long term organic farming may be both economically and ecologically more desirable. The focus of this project as a whole is to study conventional and organic methods for peach cultivation to better understand them and to determine the most economically and ecologically desirable method of peach cultivation in Utah. This specific experiment involved evaluating physicochemical properties of peaches grown under 6 different organic treatments (peaches grown in a certified organic orchard using six different organic treatments) and cultivated using 5 different conventional treatments (peaches grown in a conventional orchard). Peaches were harvested on four different harvest dates to determine the effect of time of cultivation on peach fruit quality. Several different quality attributes of peaches were evaluated. Peaches cultivated under six different organic treatments were statistically compared to determine the difference in their quality attributes. Similarly, peaches cultivated under five different conventional treatments were compared statistically to determine the difference in their quality attributes. Effect of organic treatment on peach quality was not statistically compared with the effect of conventional treatment on peach quality as both treatments were used in separate orchards. No significant differences were observed in quality attributes of either variety of peaches subjected to 6 different organic treatments, nor were any differences observed amongst peaches subjected to 5 different conventional treatments. Moreover, it was observed that peaches harvested on early dates (typically 1 and 2) had more desirable quality attributes. It is interesting that the treatments affected peach growth and development, and future work will involve a correlation with sensory, and volatile analysis.

Non-enzymatic browning (NEB) due to ascorbic acid degradation is one of the most common reasons the shelf life of many processed foods is reduced. Different methods to minimize or retard the formation of browning pigments have been studied; however, to date, refrigeration is still the most preferable. Unfortunately, the use of low temperatures to preserve food is not always available in many parts of the world. Indeed, an area of concern due to NEB has been identified in meal-ready-to-eat (MRE) individual military rations, specifically diced peaches with syrup. This product was once part of soldiers' menus; however, it was removed due to browning and textural deterioration that occurred when stored under field conditions. We examined two general approaches to reduce NEB: the replacement of ascorbic acid by a more stable form and the use of flavonoids as antibrowning antioxidants in peach systems. These approaches were studied in three objectives. In our first objective, ascorbyl-2-phosphate showed better stability than ascorbic acid at 40°C in peach puree model systems, but not at 50 or 60°C. In the second objective, after the evaluation of the effect of two forms of vitamin C (ascorbic acid and ascorbyl-2-phosphate) and Pycnogenol (0%, 0.01% and 1%) on the quality of diced peaches in retortable pouches, we concluded that neither ascorbyl-2-phosphate nor pycnogenol resulted in improved color or ascorbic acid stability. Finally, in our third objective, after the evaluation of the effect of peach source (fresh, individually quick frozen and canned), addition of calcium chloride, and the addition of a water soluble flavonoid (°-glucosylrutin, °-GR) in diced peaches packaged in retortable pouches stored at 24, 40 and 51°C, there were no significant effects of °-GR on any of the peach sources at 51°C. However, at 40°C, °-GR improved the quality of diced peaches in pouches made of individually quick frozen and canned peaches, but not for fresh peaches. Quality was assessed by color (CIELAB system), which was measured using a handheld colorimeter, and ascorbic acid levels of peaches, which was determined using high performance liquid chromatography. / Master of Science

Background: Patients with Panic Disorder (PD) direct their attention towards potential threat, followed by panic attacks, and increased sweat production. Onés own anxiety sweat odor influences the attentional focus, and discrimination of threat or non-threat. Since olfactory projection areas overlap with neuronal areas of a panic-specific fear network, the present study investigated the neuronal processing of odors in general and of stress-related sweat odors in particular in patients with PD. Methods: A sample of 13 patients with PD with/ without agoraphobia and 13 age- and gender-matched healthy controls underwent an fMRI investigation during olfactory stimulation with their stress-related sweat odors (TSST, ergometry) as well as artificial odors (peach, artificial sweat) as non-fearful non-body odors. Principal Findings: The two groups did not differ with respect to their olfactory identification ability. Independent of the kind of odor, the patients with PD showed activations in fronto-cortical areas in contrast to the healthy controls who showed activations in olfaction-related areas such as the amygdalae and the hippocampus. For artificial odors, the patients with PD showed a decreased neuronal activation of the thalamus, the posterior cingulate cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex. Under the presentation of sweat odor caused by ergometric exercise, the patients with PD showed an increased activation in the superior temporal gyrus, the supramarginal gyrus, and the cingulate cortex which was positively correlated with the severity of the psychopathology. For the sweat odor from the anxiety condition, the patients with PD showed an increased activation in the gyrus frontalis inferior, which was positively correlated with the severity of the psychopathology. Conclusions: The results suggest altered neuronal processing of olfactory stimuli in PD. Both artificial odors and stress-related body odors activate specific parts of a fear-network which is associated with an increased severity of the psychopathology.

Background: Patients with Panic Disorder (PD) direct their attention towards potential threat, followed by panic attacks, and increased sweat production. Onés own anxiety sweat odor influences the attentional focus, and discrimination of threat or non-threat. Since olfactory projection areas overlap with neuronal areas of a panic-specific fear network, the present study investigated the neuronal processing of odors in general and of stress-related sweat odors in particular in patients with PD. Methods: A sample of 13 patients with PD with/ without agoraphobia and 13 age- and gender-matched healthy controls underwent an fMRI investigation during olfactory stimulation with their stress-related sweat odors (TSST, ergometry) as well as artificial odors (peach, artificial sweat) as non-fearful non-body odors. Principal Findings: The two groups did not differ with respect to their olfactory identification ability. Independent of the kind of odor, the patients with PD showed activations in fronto-cortical areas in contrast to the healthy controls who showed activations in olfaction-related areas such as the amygdalae and the hippocampus. For artificial odors, the patients with PD showed a decreased neuronal activation of the thalamus, the posterior cingulate cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex. Under the presentation of sweat odor caused by ergometric exercise, the patients with PD showed an increased activation in the superior temporal gyrus, the supramarginal gyrus, and the cingulate cortex which was positively correlated with the severity of the psychopathology. For the sweat odor from the anxiety condition, the patients with PD showed an increased activation in the gyrus frontalis inferior, which was positively correlated with the severity of the psychopathology. Conclusions: The results suggest altered neuronal processing of olfactory stimuli in PD. Both artificial odors and stress-related body odors activate specific parts of a fear-network which is associated with an increased severity of the psychopathology.