Synsepalum dulcificum, or a miracle fruit, has the ability to alter your taste buds. After chewing the fruit it releases a sweetening potency that transforms anything sour to sweet.

Fresh strawberries. Just the mention of this iconic spring and early summer fruit can elicit mouthwatering memories of shortcake, fruity drinks and sweet desserts.

Hand thinning is a necessary but costly management practice in peach and organic apple production. Mechanical devices designed to help with thinning have been developed, but none has proven highly effective and capable of completely replacing hand thinning.

Interest in organic crop production is increasing around the world. Organics are healthy for consumers while adding environmental benefits and decreasing the amount of synthetic herbicides in foods, soil, and water.

Blue mold, caused by the fungus Penicillium expansum, is the scourge of apple breeders and producers throughout the world, causing extensive losses to stored apples. As the familiar saying goes, one bad apple really can spoil the whole bunch—good fruit stored in containers with decaying fruit often absorbs a moldy odor and flavor.

Despite efforts to stress the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, daily consumption of these foods among men remains low, particularly among black men, according to researchers at Columbia and Temple universities, the University of Pennsylvania and the National Cancer Institute.

Pears and apples contain air pathways to “breathe”. The pathways are microscopically small structures for oxygen supply and are key elements in determining the fruit’s health. Researchers from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) have visualized them for the first time, therefore proving their hypothesized existence.

To meet increasing consumer demands for healthy, high-quality fruit, commercial growers in the United States are ramping up production of blueberries. Domestic production of this tiny antioxidant-packed "super food" has increased in seven Southeastern states, accounting for almost one-third of the U.S. acreage of two of the most popular types of blueberries.

Southern highbush blueberries are emerging as an important fruit crop in Georgia, but experienced farmers say the fruit can be a challenge to grow. To determine if the blueberry shows true promise as a profitable crop, researchers at the University of Georgia recently studied the economics of these tiny berries.

The inland areas of the Pacific Northwest, where rainfall averages only 4 to 12 inches per year, present growing challenges for vineyard owners and wine grape producers. The arid conditions in this part of the country have not been conducive for vineyard owners who produce and market high-quality wine grapes.

A broad collaboration of research institutions in the U.S. and China has produced a first draft of the papaya genome. This draft, which spells out more than 90 percent of the plant’s gene coding sequence, sheds new light on the evolution of flowering plants.

Crop scientists have cloned a gene that controls the shape of tomatoes, a discovery that could help unravel the mystery behind the huge morphological differences among edible fruits and vegetables, as well as provide new insight into mechanisms of plant development.