Recent Posts

Spotlight: Salt and Peppers

In my cruise around the internet looking for fascinating plant science, I found this tasty morsel. It’s a Spotlight feature of new paper on the effects of salt stress on plants of the genus Capsicum. I don’t want to detract from author Robert Calderon’s fine writing, so head over to Physiologia…

Demethylation of methyl salicylate to salicylic acid in tomato fruit

This is an interesting paper that grabbed my attention from the very first line: “Tomatoes are the second most valuable crop in the USA”. Of course, a key trait in these important fruits is their flavor, something the Harry Klee team at the University of Florida have been studying for years. Here,…

Metabolomic selection for enhanced fruit flavor (PNAS)

Breeding for flavor in fruits and vegetables is a dauting task. For several years, scientists have relied on consumer panels and instrumental analysis to make judgment calls on the flavor phenotype to select for during a breeding process. While these methods are often accurate and reliable, they are…