This study aims to select eggplant cultivars adaptive to the hot temperature period greenhouse climate by water consumption, and growth performance of plants and fruits of different European eggplant cultivars, including ‘Bartok (BA)’, ‘Bowie (BO)’, ‘Black Pearl (BP)’, ‘Ishbilia (I)’, ‘Mabel (M)’, ‘Vestale (VE)’ and ‘Velia (VL)’, in substrate hydroponic cultivation under hot and humid greenhouse conditions. On the 118 DAT, the leaf number and stem dry weight were highest in ‘VL’, followed by ‘M’, and there was no significant difference in leaf dry weight among cultivars. The marketable fruit number per plant was 16.4 for ‘M’, which was higher than other cultivars, and ‘VE’ and ‘VL’ were 8.5 and 8.8, respectively. The weight per fruit was low for ‘M’ at 136 g, and the highest in ‘VE’ and ‘VL’ at 332 and 281 g, respectively. There was no significant difference in fruit production per plant. In this study, ‘M’, which has high water use efficiency and a large number of fruits, and ‘VL’, which required less quantity to water consumption for producing 200 g of fruit and had a high product weight, will have excellent adaptability in the UAE greenhouse condition.

This study used a food-frequency questionnaire to estimate fruit consumption by sex, age, and type of fruit to analyze the association between fruit type and metabolic factors. Using food-frequency-questionnaire data from 3,091 adults aged 19~64 years (1,184 men and 1,907 women) in the 2016 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, this study analyzed weekly fruit consumption and the consumption frequency of strawberry, oriental melon, watermelon, peach, grape, apple, pear, persimmon/ dried persimmon, tangerine, banana, orange, and kiwi by sex and age groups. Apple was the most-consumed fruit (459.45 g/wk), followed by pear (165.80 g/wk), watermelon (124.80 g/wk), and banana (115.32 g/wk). After adjustment for confounding factors, ED: Please give examples. in the women who ate more than the median consumption of apple, the prevalence of hyperglycemia was 27.4% (OR: 0.726, 95% CI: 0.539~0.979) (p=0.0362), and of high triglycerides, 25.7% (OR: 0.743, 95% CI: 0.564~0.978) (p=0.0340). These rates were lower than those of women who ate less than the median consumption of apple. The results of this study suggest that apple consumption helps improve metabolic indicators in Korean adults.

There is only limited evidence for the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and mental health in Korea. This study examined the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and mental health according to physical activity among Korean adult women. Based on data of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2014-2016), a total of 5,332 participants were included in this analysis. With increasing fruits and vegetables consumption, the prevalence of depressive mood was significantly decreased (p for trend=0.0248). The prevalence of stress perception (p for trend=0.0422) and the prevalence of depressive mood (p for trend=0.0300) were decreased with increasing fruit consumption. The prevalence of depressive mood was significantly decreased when fruit and vegetable consumption (p for trend=0.0370) and fruit consumption (p for trend=0.0356) were increased for those Korean women with low intensity of physical activity. For the obesity group (Body mass index 25 kg/m2), the prevalence of depressive mood was decreased with increasing fruit and vegetable consumption (p for trend=0.0111) and increasing fruit consumption (p for trend=0.0165). In conclusion, fruit and vegetable consumption were associated with mental health according to physical activity among Korean adult women. Further prospective studies are warranted to explore the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and mental health among Korean adult women.

The principal objective of this study was to assess the effects of food involvement moderating the relationship between food choice motives, including health concerns, weight control and ethical concern, and fruit consumption. A total of 290 questionnaires were completed. Moderated regression analysis was utilized to assess the relationships among variables. The results of the study showed that the results of data analysis also indicated good model fit. The direct effects of health concerns on fruit consumption were statistically significant in Models 1 and 2. However, the direct effects of ethical concern on fruit consumption were statistically significant in Model 3. As had been expected, the interaction of ethical concerns and food involvement exerted a significant effect on fruit consumption in Model 3. However, the interaction of health concern and food involvement, as well as weight control and food involvement exerted no significant effects on fruit consumption. Moreover, ethical concerns about fruit consumption exerted a significant negative effect at the low level and a positive effect at the high level of food involvement, except in cases in which the level of food involvement was medium. The results of this study revealed that fruit marketers should attach importance to the interaction effect of food involvement in order to better understand the elements of market demand and customer loyalty.