• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.290-296
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• 2011

In our study, oriental melon (Cucumis melo L. var makuwa Makino) was harvested in Seongju at major harvest time from June to August with the intervals of one month in 2009. In order to elucidate the effect of meteorological condition of harvest time on fruit quality and water-soluble vitamin contents of oriental melon, quality attributes including weight, hardness, and sugar were examined and water-soluble vitamin contents such as folic acid and vitamin C were analyzed. Fruit quality factors and water-soluble vitamin contents were the highest in June when rainfall was low and solar radiation was high. Meanwhile, both of them were the lowest in July when it was the worst weather condition for cultivation of oriental melon. After then, the contents of folic acid and vitamin C increased when the rainfall had decreased in Aug. The contents of both vitamins were much high in placenta than peel and flesh. In conclusion, the meteorological condition of the summer season by torrential rains and lack of solar radiation influence water-soluble vitamin contents, especially folic acid contents of oriental melon as well as quality attributes such as hardness and sugar.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.423-430
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• 2011

This study was carried out to examine the nutritive values and quality of agricultural bag (AG-BAG) silage manufactured with corn grown in reclaimed paddy field of Sukmoon at Dangjin Province in Korea. The cultivars of silage corn used in this experiment 1 were both Kwangpyungok and P32B33. The fertilizer were applied with the amounts of customary applications (200 kg N/ha, 150 kg $P_2O_5$/ha and 150 kg $K_2O$/ha). The content of moisture in corn AG-BAG silage ranged from 68 to 79%. The pH in corn AG-BAG silage stages ranged from 3.49 to 3.65 and was not influenced by the harvest time. The contents of crude protein (CP) in corn AG-BAG silage decreased with delayed harvest time. However, the contents of ADF (acid detergent fiber) and NDF (neutral detergent fiber) increased. The content of lactic acid increased with delayed harvest time, but the content of acetic acid decreased. Therefore, we suggest that the system of AG-BAG silage can improve the quality of corn silage and be one of the economical and effective methods to manufacture corn silage.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.304-310
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• 1997

In greenhouse, a mixed solution of Mn-54, Co-60, Sr-85 and Cs-137 was applied to the soil of culture boxes 2 days before sowing cucumber and at 4 different times during its growth for measuring their transfer factors (TFs) for fruit and migration in soil. TFs varied with radionuclide, application time and harvest time by factor of up to about 60. Variations in TFs with application time showed different patterns among radionuclides. TFs decreased on the whole in the order of Sr-85 > Mn-54 > Co-60 > Cs-137. TFs of Mn-54, Co-60 and Cs-137 mixed with topsoil before sowing were a little higher than those for the soil-surface application made at an early growth stage while no difference in Sr-85 TF was found. After harvest, soil concentrations of the radionuclides applied at an early growth stage were examined. They decreased with increasing soil depth and 80${\sim}$99% of the radioactivity remained in the top 3cm. Soil pemeation of the radionuclides migration decreased in the order of Sr-85 > Mn-54 > Co-60 > Cs-137. The present data can be utilized in estimating radionuclide concentration in cucumber fruit, taking proper measures for its harvest and consumption and designing the best way of soil decontamination following an radioactive deposition during the cucummber growing season.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.115-119
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• 1993

This study was carried out to determine optimum harvest time of in vitro multiplied tuber Pinellia ternata(Thunb.)Breit from 1990 to 1992. Tuber yield and its related traits were observed with four harvest times. Plant height was 7.2cm at 6 months and 19.3cm at 24 months after planting. The number of tubers per unit area was significantly increased with the passage of growing time after planting$(78\;tubers/m^2)$, those were increased by 2.3 times in 6 months, 5.6 times in 12 months, 13.3 times in 18 months and 20.0 times in 24 months. The tuber sizes(length, width and weight) were highly enlarged during 12 to 18 months after planting compared with before or after this time. There were smaller tubers and lower tuber yields with shorter growing period, while large tubers above 7.1mm and higher yields with longer growing. It was suggested that the optimum harvest time was 18 months after planting, before over wintering rather than next year of spring, 24months after planting.

• Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.38-42
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• 2000

Though the freshness for agricultural products is an important factor related to their quality management, this terminology is being used restrictedly because it is very subjective. In this study, a dimensionless index which had the span of the maximum of 1 through the minimum of 0 was proposed to describe freshness of the product with time-variant quality and was applied to Tsugaru and Fuji apples. First, the compressive properties having the linearity in their change regarding time elapsed after harvest were selected. For Tsugaru apple, bio-yield and rupture forces had high correlation with time while for Fuji, bio-yield and rupture deformations had high correlations. When the slope, or ratio of force to deformation, was considered, the effect of cultivar could be neglected. When the linearly time-variant compressive properties for Tsugaru and Fuji apples were involved in the freshness indices, they described well freshness of apples. Also, the freshness decay constant depicted a characteristic which related to freshness decay rate. Therefore, the freshness index can be utilized to manage the quality during storage and distribution of apples.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.217-226
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• 2009

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of collection time on the physical characteristics, Nutritive value, digestibility and palatability in rice straw. Collection time of rice straw after the rice harvest was allocated into nine treatments: T1 (10 days), T2 (25 days), T3 (40 days), T4 (55 days), T5 (70 days), T6 (85 days), T7 (100 days), T8 (115 days) and T9 (130 days). The results are summarized as follow: Plant length, leaf length and green degree were decreased with prolonging collection time. Mold distribution and dry matter loss were increased with prolonging collection time. Crude protein and crude fat were decreased with prolonging collection time, crude fiber were increased with prolonging collection time. But crude ash showed multifarious. In situ dry matter digestibility was decreased with prolonging collection time. Palatability of Hanwoo, Holstein and deer was decreased with prolonging collection time. The results of this study indicate that good rice straw collection time would be recommendable during the from 10 days to 40 days after rice straw harvest.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.393-401
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• 2017

The nitrate ($NO_3{^-}$) accumulation of hydroponically grown leafy vegetables may increase in the condition of a closed-type plant production system with low light intensity due to low activity of enzymes involved in nitrogen assimilation and the use of $NO_3-N$ as major nitrogen source. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of light intensities, nutrient solution compositions and the time of nutrient solution removal before harvest on nitrate contents of hydroponically-grown lettuces in a closed plant production system. The reduction of nitrate contents in leafy lettuces 'Cheongchima' was higher in the treatments of 'TW' (nutrient solution removal) and '$(NH_4)_2CO_3$' (use of ammonium carbonate as nitrogen source) than those in other treatments, which significantly lowered fresh weight and leaf area of the plants. In the light intensity of $100{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, the nitrate content was effectively reduced without causing any growth retardation, by substitution of the nutrient solution composition that $NO_3-N$ was removed ('$NO_3-N$ removal' treatment) or the half strength of standard nutrient solution was applied ('1/2 S' treatment), for 7days before harvest. The effects of light intensity and the time of nutrient solution removal before harvest on growth and nitrate contents in leafy lettuces were investigated. The nitrate contents in leaves under the light condition of $300{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ before nutrient solution removal were lower than those of 100 or $200{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$. The removal of nutrient solution for 7 days before harvest quickly reduced the amount of nitrates in leaves in all the light intensities with a greater degree under the $300{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ of light condition, while the 7 days-removal with both 200 and $300{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ of light conditions caused decrease in 16~31% of leaf area and 20~35% of fresh weight, compared to the 3 days-removal treatment. The nitrate contents were greatly reduced from 3,018 to 1,035 in $200{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, and 2,021 to 480 ppm in the light condition of $300{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, with the nutrient solution removal for 3 days before harvest, without causing any deterioration in growth and product quality. The vitamin C contents in leaves were higher in the treatment of nutrient solution removal for both 3 and 5 days before harvest with the light condition of $300{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ than those in the light condition of 100 or $200{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.51 no.spc1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2006

This study was conducted to establish the post-harvest management system in rice. Harvested hulled rice was gathered into large-scale bag and combine bag, in which the rice quality and the influence on quality change were investigated on various storage periods and moisture contents. Moisture content of hulled rice ranged from 23.7% to 28.8% on different harvest times, which grew lower as harvesting time was delayed. When desiccation was retarded hulled rice in large scale bag was changed in color and emitted an of offensive odor in 3 days and that in combine bag showed similar symptom in 4 days. Inner temperature in large scale bag was changed a lot when the storage period was prolonged and also the moisture content was higher while that in combine bag increased regularly corresponding to the moisture content at the time of harvest. Moisture content of hulled rice stored in large-scale bag increased 2 days after harvest and the more moisture content showed the more increased tendency, while in the case of combine bag the moisture content was not changed much whether the hulled rice contained low or high moisture content in harvesting. As desiccation was delayed fatty acid increased much more in large-scale bag than in combine bag even though protein and amylose contentwere not changed. As desiccation was delayed more and hulled rice contained moisture more in harvesting head rice ratio of brown rice decreased and green-kerneled rice and damaged grain ratio increased and quality of milled rice also became deteriorated. As a result, desiccation day to minimize the deterioration of rice quality was estimated 1-2 days in large scale bag and 2-3 days in combine bag after harvesting.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.442-458
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• 2011

Among Cucubitaceae, melon (Cucumis melo) is one of the most diversified fruits, with various forms, sizes, pulps, and peel colors, In addition, it is a commercially important crop because of its high sweetness, deep flavor, and abundant juice. In the species, there are both climacteric and non-climacteric melons depending on the respiration and ethylene production patterns after harvest. Ethylene is also considered a crucial hormone for determining sex expression, Phytohormones other than ethylene interact and regulate ripening, There are some indices that can be used to evaluate the optimum harvest maturity. The harvest time can be estimated after the pollination time, which is the most commonly used method of determining the harvest maturity of the fruit. Besides the physiological aspects, the biochemical alterations, including those of sweetness, firmness, flavor, color, and rind, contribute to the overall fruit quality. These changes can be categorized based on the ethylene-dependent and ethylene-independent phenomena due to the ethylene-suppressed transgenic melon. After harvest, the fruits are precooled to $10^{\circ}C$ to reduce the field heat, after which they are sized and packed. The fruits can be treated with hot water ($60^{\circ}C$ for 60 min) to prevent the softening of the enzyme activity and microorganisms, and with calcium to maintain their firmness. 1-methylenecyclopropene (1-MCP) treatment also maintains their storability by inhibiting respiration and ethylene production. The shelf life of melon is very short even under cold storage, like other cucurbits, and it is prone to obtaining chilling injury under $10^{\circ}C$. In South Korea, low-temperature ($10^{\circ}C$) storage is known to be the best storage condition for the fruit. For long-time transport, CA storage is a good method of maintaining the quality of the fruit by reducing the respiration and ethylene. For fresh-cut processing, washing with a sanitizing agent and packing with plastic-film processing are needed, and low-temperature storage is necessary. The consumer need and demand for fresh-cut melon are growing, but preserving the quality of fresh-cut melon is more challenging than preserving the quality of the whole fruit.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 2012

Purpose: An autonomous robot was developed for harvesting strawberries cultivated in bench-type systems. Methods: The harvest robot consisted of four main components: an autonomous vehicle, a manipulator with four degrees of freedom (DOF), an end effector with two DOFs, and a color computer vision system. Strawberry detection was performed based on 3D image and distance information obtained from a stereo CCD color camera and a laser device, respectively. Results: In this work, a Cartesian type manipulator system was designed, including an intermediate revolute axis and a double driven arm-based joint axis, so that it could generate collision-free motions during harvesting. A DC servomotor-driven end-effector, consisting of a gripper and a cutter, was designed for gripping and cutting the strawberry stem without damaging the strawberry itself. Real-time position tracking algorithms were developed to detect, recognize, trace, and approach strawberries under natural light conditions. Conclusion: The developed robot system could harvest a strawberry within 7 seconds without damage.