Handling Steps for Durian Exported From Thailand : A Pictorial Guide

Elhadi M. Yahia, 2011, Postharvest Biology and Technology of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits, Volume 3, Woodhead Publishing, UK.

Seremban : Mangifera foetida - bacang

bacang, macang, horse mango

Mangifera foetida

Family : Anacardiaceae

Fruit 7-12cm x 9-16cm.  Exocarp dark green, yellowish when ripen, exude irritant latex when injured.    Mesocarp yellowish, fibrous, sourish, and pungent.   Bacang is almost identical to kuini ( Mangifera odorata ) in terms of shape and odour, except It’s extremely fibrous and sourish.

Fruit are consumed fresh or made into juice.  Immature bacang sometimes used in rojak mix, or made into prickle.  In some places, bacang is used as sour agent ( asam ) in cooking and chutney or sambal making.

Leptospermum brachyandrum vs Baeckea frutescens

Leptospermum brachyandrum

Common names : teatree, Australian willow

Family : Myrtaceae

Origin : costal New South Wales, Australia

Description : small tree, up to 5m in heights ; 

grows on wet soil, full sun or part shade. 

 Baeckea frutescens

Common names : cucur atap, curan atap, hujung atap, cina maki

Family : Myrtaceae

Origin : costal and mountainous Malaya & Sumatra

Description : small tree, up to 3m in heights ; 

grows on wide range of soil. 

Thigmo-

Thigmomorphogenesis is the response by plants to mechanical sensation ( wind, raindrops, rubbing by passing animals, etc ) by altering their growth patterns, which may include their canopy structure, growth rate, anatomy, morphology and mechanical strength of their wood. 

Thigmotropism is a movement in which a plant moves or grows in response to touch or contact stimuli, such as wall, pot, or trellis, etc.

Thigmonasty or seismonasty is the nastic response of a plant to touch or vibration.

Thigmotaxis is the movement of an organism toward or away from objects that provide a mechanical stimulus.

Thigmomorphogenesis

Thigmomorphogenesis is from the Greek words “thigma” which means ‘to touch’;  “morphê” shape and “genesis” creation.  Thus, thigmomorphogenesis is the response by plants to mechanical sensation by altering their growth patterns, which may include their canopy structure, growth rate, anatomy, morphology and mechanical strength of their wood.  The mechanical sensation can be evinced by wind, raindrops, and rubbing by passing animals.

The term ‘thigmomorphogenesis’ was first coined by Mordecai J. Jaffe. ¹

Plant responses to mechanical sensation through reduction in the rate of stem elongation, increase of stem diameter resulting in shorter and stockier plants.  Other responses include alterations in chlorophyll content, hormone levels, biotic and abiotic stress resistance, pithiness, flowering time, senescence, and stomata aperture. ²

1. Lansing Funeral Home, 2007, The Lansing Star Online Obituaries, 14^th October, L-Star Publishing, Inc,  NY.   http://www.lansingstar.com/obituaries/3020-mordecai-j-qmarkq-jaffe

2. Biddington NL.1986,  The Effects of Mechanically-Induced Stress in Plants : A Review. Plant Growth Regulation 1986;4:103-123.

Observations & Studies

Theophrastus, a Greek who succeeded Aristotle in the Peripatetic school, observed that trees growing in windy environments were shorted in heights, shorter internodes, more knots, less straights, closer grain, and harder wood.¹

Charles Darwin reported a mechono-stimulus-induced plant behaviour, where roots reorient their growth direction upon making contact with barriers. ²

Free-swaying Pinus radiata trees grew more in diameter over the lower part of the trunk than stayed trees.³

Salisbury reported that repeated touching of leaves of young cocklebur plants caused a 30% inhibition in growth in addition to an increase in rate of leaf senescence. ⁴

Moderate shaking of Liquidambar trunks for 30 seconds daily reduced height growth to only 20 to 30 percent of that of trees not shaken.⁵

Young plants of Hordeum vulgare, Bryonia dioica, Cucumis sativus, Phaseolus vulgaris, Mimosa pudica and Ricinus communis show retardation of growth when given mechanical stimulus. ⁶

  

1. Theophrastus, 300 BCE, De Causis Plantarum (On the Causes of Plants)

2. Darwin & Darwin, 1881, The Power of Movement in Plants 

3. Jacobs, MR., 1954, The effect of wind sway on the form and development of Pinus radiata D. Don, Australian Journal of Botany 2(1) 35 - 51

4. Salisbury FB, 1963, The Flowering Process, New York, Macmillan.

5. Neel PL, Harris RW., 1971, Motion-induced inhibition of elongation and induction of dormancy in Liquidambar. Science. 1971 Jul 2;173(3991):58-9.

6. Jaffe MJ, 1973,  Thigmomorphogenesis  : The Response of Plant Growth and Development to Mechanical Stimulation : With Special Reference to Bryonia dioica ., Planta 1973 Jun ; 114(2):145-57. Doi:10.1007/BF000387472, 

Summary of structural changes in acclimation to windy environments :

 Anatomy

·         Increase in MFA

·         Increase in grain angle

·         Increase in cell division in direction of flexing

·         Increase in wood density

·         Increase in lignification ( higher S:G )

·         Decrease in stiffness, more flexible

Morphology

·         Shorter thicker stems ( Lower H:D )

·         Smaller leaves

·         Shorter internodes

·         Shorter branches

·         Thicker branch junctions

·         Streamlining

Sarikei : Local Produce

Engkabang besar

Shorea macrophylla

Engkabang kechil

Plukenetia corniculata

buah empit

Pentaspodon motleyi

berangan tikus

Castanopsis borneensis

sagan berauh

Scorodocarpus borneensis

Passiflora foetida

Royal Family of Palms

Royal Palm

Scientific name : Roystonea regia

Synonyms : Euterpe ventricosa, Euterpe jenmanii , Oreodoxa regia, Oenocarpus regius, Palma elata , R. floridana, R. jenmanii, R. elata, R. ventricosa, R. regia var. hondurensis

Common names : Cuban royal palm, Florida royal palm, Royal palm

Native : Southern Florida, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean





Caribbean Royal Palm

Scientific name : Roystonea olearcea

Synonyms : Areca oleracea, Euterpe caribaea, Gorgasia oleracea,  Kentia oleracea , Oreodoxa oleracea, Oreodoxa caribaea, R. caribaea, Oreodoxa regia var. jenmanii, R. oleracea var. excelsior, R. venezuelana, R. oleracea var. jenmanii

Common names : palmiste, imperial palm, cabbage palm

Native : Lesser Antilles, Columbia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago.

Dwarf Royal Palm

Scientific name : Adonidia merrillii

Synonyms : Normanbya merrillii, Veitchia merrillii

Common names : Manila palm, Christmas palm

Native : The Philippines, Sabah 

Pinang Rajah

Scientific name : Cyrtostachys renda

Synonyms : Areca erythrocarpa, A. erythropoda, Cyrtostachys lakka, C. rendah, C. lacca var singaporensis, C. lakka, Pinanga purpurea, Ptychosperma coccinea

Common names : Pinang rajah, red palm, red sealing wax palm, lipstick palm

Native : Thailand, Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo

King Palm

Scientific name : Archontophoenix alexandrae

Synonyms :  Cocos romanzofiana, C. australis, C. plumose, C. datil, C. geriba, C. arechavaletana, Calappa acrocomioides, Calappa australis, Calappa datil, Calappa plumose, Calappa romanzoffiana.

Common names : Alexander palm, King palm

Native : Queensland & NSW

Queen Palm

Scientific name : Syagrus romanzoffiana

Synonyms : Ptychosperma alexandrae

Common names : Queen palm, Cocos plam

Native : Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia

Princess Palm

Scientific name : Dicyosperma album

Synonyms : Areca alba, A. borbonica, A. lacteal, A. propria, A. purpurea, A. furfuracea, A. rubra, A. pisifera, A. aurea, Dictyosperma aureum, D. furfuraceum, D. rubrum, Linoma alba, Sublimia palmicaulis.

Common names : Princess palm, hurricane palm

Native : Mascarene Islands