DOMESTICATION OF JAPANESE QUINCE( Chaenomeles japonica)

QuinceSet: Dataset of Annotated Japanese Quince Images for Object Detection

With long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns, ecologically adaptable fruit varieties are becoming increasingly important in agriculture. For selection of candidate cultivars in fruit breeding or for yield predictions, fruit set characteristics at different growth stages need to be described and evaluated, which is largely done visually. This is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process that also requires sufficient expert knowledge. The annotated dataset for Japanese quince - QuinceSet - consists of images of Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica) fruits taken at two phenological developmental stages and annotated for detection and phenotyping. First, after flowering, when the second fruit fall is over and the fruits have reached 30-50% of their final size, and second, at the ripening stage of quince, just before the fruits are yielded. Both stages of quince images classified as unripe and ripe were annotated using ground truth ROI and presented in YOLO format. The dataset contains 1515 high-resolution RGB .jpg images with the same number of annotated .txt files. Images in the dataset were manually annotated using LabelImg software. A total of 17,171 annotations were provided by the experts. The images were acquired on site at the Institute of Horticulture in Dobele, Latvia. Homogenization of the images was performed under different weather conditions, at different times of the day, and from different capturing angles. The dataset contains both fully visible quinces and quinces partially obscured by leaves. Care was also taken to ensure that the foreground, which contains the leaves has adequate brightness with minimal shadows, while the background is darker. The presented dataset will allow to increase the efficiency of the breeding process and yield estimation, to identify and phenotype quinces more reliably, and may also be useful for breeding other crops.

Macro- and Microelement Content and Other Properties of Chaenomeles japonica L. Fruit and Protective Effects of Its Aqueous Extract on Hepatocyte Metabolism

This growing interest in the cultivation of Japanese quince Chaenomeles japonica L. results from the potentially beneficial properties of its fruit. Fresh fruits are very firm and too acidic to eat raw, but their bioactive components, distinctive aroma, and high amount of dietary fiber make the fruits well suited for industrial processing. However, not all the properties of the fruit have been investigated. For example, there are no comprehensive reports about the mineral content or potentially harmful effects on liver metabolism. Hence, the purpose of our study was to examine fresh Japanese quince fruit in terms of (1) ascorbic acid, oxalate, fiber, macro- and micronutrients, dry matter, extract, total acidity, antioxidant activity, and phenolic compound levels; and (2) the effect of its extract on in vitro hepatocyte metabolism, measured by the concentration of lipid peroxides (LPO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the severity of apoptosis and necrosis. The fruit of C. japonica had high levels of macro- and microelements, ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds, fiber, and low oxalate levels. Our analysis of macro- and microelements showed that the average content of Fe was 0.516 mg/g, Cu 0.146 mg/g, Zn 0.546 mg/g, Mg 16.729 mg/g, and Ca 22.920 mg/g of fresh fruit. A characteristic feature of the fresh fruit of C. japonica is a high level of polyphenols, which-combined with a high content of vitamin C-affect their high antioxidant potential. In the tested hepatocyte cultures incubated with extract of the Japanese quince, we observed a significant decrease in the concentration of lipid peroxides compared to the control. There were also no signs of increased formation of ROS in the mitochondria of hepatocytes incubated with the extract of quince. Malondialdehyde was strongly negatively correlated with the concentration of Japanese quince extract, which indicates the hepatoprotective properties of Japanese quince. In addition, our analysis of confocal microscopy images showed that the hepatocytes incubated with the extract of Japanese quince at any concentration did not show any signs of apoptosis or necrosis. The aqueous extract of quince fruit has antioxidative and antiapoptotic hepatocytes, thus exerting a hepatoprotective effect.