Morin is a functional flavonoid commonly found in human diet. Compared to being used solely, it is evident that morin can be more effective as a drug adjuvant. However, research on the combined effect and its corresponding mechanism is limited. Here, we found that morin significantly potentiated the inhibitory effects of the natural compound celastrol on the proliferation of lung cancer cells. Morin and celastrol synergistically exhibit marked apoptosis induction in lung cancer cells, accompanied by changes in the abundance of apoptosis-related proteins. Transcriptome analyses revealed that the combination of morin and celastrol had a significant impact on the number of differentially expressed genes in lung cancer cells. Among these genes, BIRC3 was one of the most significantly different ones, which plays a crucial role in the process of tumor resistance to apoptosis. In addition, several genes identified are primarily associated with intracellular signal transduction pathways, specifically the NF-κB signaling pathway. Importantly, the treatment combining morin and celastrol in tumor-bearing mice results in a synergistic effect that significantly suppressed tumor growth. These findings indicate that morin could be a promising functional adjuvant, and the combination of morin and celastrol has potential for the treating lung cancer.

Blueberry wine is popular with consumers and has great market potential due to its rich nutrients and unique flavor. Aroma is an important indicator to measure the sensory quality of blueberry wine. However, there are some problems restricting the quality improvement of blueberry wine, such as insufficient studies on aroma components, unclear aroma characteristics and limited ways of aroma quality management. This article summarizes the composition, proportion and sources of volatile aroma components of blueberry wine, analyzes its key aroma substances and characteristic aroma based on odor activity value (OAV), and discusses the influence of cultivars, yeast, and process conditions on blueberry wine aroma. The purpose of this article is to offer a theoretical foundation for research on the aroma quality of blueberry wine aroma and for improving its processing technology.

In order to explore the application value of different grape varieties in fruit beer brewing and their effects on beer quality, we studied the effects of addition of different levels (30% and 40%, V/V) of Syrah or Merlot grape mashes on the aroma, physical and chemical indexes and antioxidant activity of fruit beer. Besides, grape beer with better quality was determined by sensory evaluation. The results showed that both grape varieties increased the concentration and antioxidant properties of phenols including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging capacity, ferric and cupric ion reducing power abilities, and significantly elevated the acidity and alcohol concentration of beer. The beer made with the addition of 30% Syrah or 40% (V/V) Merlot exhibited the highest content of aroma compounds, which increased by 190.55% and 152.65%, respectively, when compared with the control group. Sensory evaluation showed that the beer made with the addition of 30% Syrah tasted best. In general, the addition of different varieties of grape mashes had a positive effect on improving beer quality and aroma, which could become an important direction for the development of diversified beer products in the future.

Crop yield and quality are affected by abiotic stresses such as drought, low and high temperature, salinity, and heavy metals, which threaten the survival of human beings and the development of industry. As a new plant hormone derived from carotenoid, strigolactone (SL) is produced in the roots of plants. It was first reported that SL can induce seed germination of root-parasitic plants. In recent years, it has been shown that strigolactone plays a regulatory role in plant response to abiotic stresses. By eliminating oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species, it can potentially increase photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content, and thus enhance plant drought resistance. Transcriptome studies have explored signal transduction, antioxidant enzyme activity, transcription factors, and expression of stress-and metabolism-related genes induced by extrinsic strigolactone in plants, the effects of strigolactone on plant growth and development have been preliminarily determined, but the studies on inducing crop tolerance to abiotic stresses are still unknown. In this review, the physiological and molecular aspects of the induction of the response to stress in horticultural crops by strigolactone were reviewed. It is important to improve the tolerance and productivity of horticultural crops under abiotic stress.

Terpenoids are vital secondary metabolites in plants that function as agents for defense and stress resistance. These genes not only play crucial roles in plant growth and development but also function in diverse biological group interactions. Terpenoids released by fruit trees possess defensive properties and constitute a class of aromatic compounds. For some fruits, terpenoids are indispensable indicators for evaluating fruit quality and the economic value. Significant research progress has been made in terpenoids biosynthesis and regulation. In this review, we introduce the main terpenoids of fruit trees, emphasize synthetic enzymes and regulatory factors involved in the mevalonate pathway and the methylerythritol pathway, and analyze TPS gene family identification and diversity in several fruit tree species. Moreover, the regulation of terpenes biosynthesis, including the molecular interaction mechanisms of environmental factors and hormone signaling pathways, are comprehensively described. Our objective is to summarize the molecular regulatory network and research foundation of terpenoids biosynthesis, providing a reference for investigations of metabolic pathways and promoting the development of techniques for the regulation and breeding of terpenoids in fruit trees.

Spine grape (Vitis davidii Foex.) is an important wild grape species native to China. Fifteen red spine grape clones and three red Vitis vinifera grape varieties were used to evaluate the differences in the anthocyanin profiles and color properties of wines made from V. davidii and V. vinifera grapes. Among spine wines, 'Junzi #2' wine had the highest total phenolic and total anthocyanin, 'Xiangzhenzhu' wine had the highest total flavonoids, and 'Junzi #1' wine had the highest total tannin. The anthocyanin compositions of all of the spine wines were dominated by Mv-3, 5-diglucoside. The total individual anthocyanin contents in spine wines, except 'Gaoshan #5', 'Junzi #5055', 'Junzi #5061', and 'Junzi #5044', were significantly higher than in V. vinifera wines. Most of the spine wines had a stronger red intensity and a brighter chroma with a bluer hue than V. vinifera wines. Correlation analysis revealed that the color properties were closely related to the anthocyanin composition. These results suggest that wines made from spine grapes may be useful for the wine industry for their color properties and high individual anthocyanin contents.