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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…
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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,…
![](https://plantae.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Modesta-fruit-flavor-1024x638.jpg)
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…