J.Amir and J.Cherry

 The project was carried out in a cooperative program with Purdue university researchers and was financed by the General Food Corporation USA.

Among the original findings of this period:

a) Pyrophosphate was found to be the most effective agent in maintaining the amount of sucrose after harvest. The effect of pyrophosphate treatment is interpreted as an product inhibition of nucleotide diphosphate-glucose synthesis.

b) An alternative method found was in treatment of corn cobs with a chelating agent (e.g., disodium salts of ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid).

The chelating agents enhance the translocation of sugar from the parenchima tissue to the endosperm tissue of the corn kernel. The results were patented by the Purdue Research Foundation and used by General Food Corporation.

Amir, J., Wright, H. and Cherry, J. (1970). Regulation of sugar conversion

to polysaccharides in sweet corn. Plant Physiol. 46: 5-27.

Amir, J. and Cherry, J. (1971). Properties of purified ADP – glucose

pyrophosphorylase from sweet corn: Pyrophosphate inhibition. Plant

Physiol. 47: 5-5.

Amir, J., Wright, R. and Cherry, J. (1971). Chemical control of sucrose

conversion to polysaccharides in sweet corn after harvest. J. Agric. and

Food Chem. 19: 954-957.

Amir, J. and Cherry, J. (1972). Purification and properties of/ADP-glucose

pyrophosphorylase from sweet corn. Plant Physiol. 49: 893-897.

Amir, J. and Cherry, J. (1972). Sucrose accumulation in sweet corn kernels: Effect of chelators. J. Agric. and Food CIlC11l.20: 785-787.

Amir, J., Cherry, J. Methods of increasing accumulation in plant storage organs. United State Patent 3.937.837, 1974,Washington, DC.