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From orchard to dissection in research labs: Cydonia Oblonga

19 December 2022 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Supplied

In English, it is called quince, but you probably grew up calling it kwepere. Does this ring a bell? Kwepere – scientific name Cydonia oblonga – is a bright yellow shrub fruit that looks like a cross between an apple and a pear. When you look past its rather unappealing characteristics, such as being nearly inedible when raw, quince is delightfully surprising. Its flavour is delicately sweet when stewed, and its aroma is reminiscent of vanilla and oranges. When cooked, the fruit’s pale-yellow colour changes to a lovely rose. It preserves a distinctive aromatic smell and has a slightly sour taste when ripe; it is often used in jams, marmalades, and alcoholic beverages, to mention a few. Although found in many backyards in Qwaqwa and around the country, it is an ancient fruit native to various parts of Asia and the Mediterranean.

An aroma that can be sensed from a mile away

Growing up, Tshepiso Letaoana, an MSc student and facilitator in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences never imagined that one day she would be conducting research on a fruit she grew up playing with. Inspired by Prof Anofi Ashafa, Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, who observed that during each fruiting season quince would either end up rotting while hanging on the trees or dropping to the ground, rendering it unusable and inedible, Letaoana embarked on research to learn more about the fruit for her honours research.

“As a young girl, our neighbour had a garden full of quince trees, and I always looked forward to harvest season because the smell and taste were so exhilarating. I had no idea that it had so many benefits, I was just eating it for the delicacy experience. When I embarked on my research journey, I got to learn that it contains good antioxidant and antidiabetic properties. Conducting this research has opened me up to the history of the folklore and the use of the plant in the olden days.”

Giving quince a chance to reach fruit market shelves

Currently, on her master’s journey, she has uncovered that the main culprit causing the fruit to rot are pathogens that attack and lead to deterioration as well as spoilage of the fruit. Using the plants’ own parts, she aims to formulate antifungals that will mitigate or eradicate these pathogens attacking the fruit, so that it will have a chance to reach the shelves in fruit markets.

“I hope I will also get the opportunity to store my research findings in the university’s archives so that the information can be available to other communities and can be utilised by future generations. We also hope for a possible development of Cydonia oblonga extracts into antimicrobial spraying agents that can be used by supermarkets. This research will help educate the community of Maluti-a-Phofung about cost-effective methods they can use to overcome the challenges they face in dealing with the pathogens and taking care of their kwepere as well as other fruit-bearing trees. With further research, this could also lead to the creation of job opportunities should one pursue the cultivation of these trees in order to supply the fruits to local supermarkets.”

News Archive

UFS breakthrough on SRC

2005-06-10

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) today unanimously approved the establishment of a Central Student Representative Council (CSRC) to ensure the democratic participation of students at its three campuses in the governance of the university.

In a major breakthrough and transformation step for student governance, the Central SRC will include representatives of the main campus in Bloemfontein, the Vista campus and the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS.

The establishment of the Central SRC follows the incorporation of the Qwaqwa campus into the UFS in January 2003 and the incorporation of the Vista campus in Bloemfontein into the UFS in January 2004.

According to Dr Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: Student Affairs, today’s decision of Council is the result of a lengthy, negotiated agreement between the three campuses. Independent experts facilitated part of the process.

With the establishment of a Central SRC, the UFS has adopted a federal student governance model whereby the CSRC is the highest representative student body on matters of common concern for all students.

However, the three campuses of the UFS will retain autonomous SRC structures for each campus with powers and responsibilities for matters affecting the particular campus.

This arrangement will be reviewed after a year to make allowance for the phasing out of students at the Vista campus, as was agreed in the negotiations preceding the incorporation of that campus into the UFS.

The central SRC will have a maximum of 12 members made up of members of the campus SRCs, including the presidents of these three SRCs. In total, the main campus will have 5 representatives, the Qwaqwa campus will have 4 representatives and the Vista campus will have 3 representatives.

From these 12 members a central SRC president will be chosen on a quarterly basis to represent the general student body at Executive Management, Senate and Council.

In another key decision and significant step forward affecting student governance, the Council also approved amendments the constitution of the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the main campus. These amendments were the results of deliberations of student organizations, the SRC and the Student Parliament of the UFS main campus.

The amendments to the constitution of the main campus SRC determines that nine of the 18 SRC members must be elected by means of proportional representation and nine on the basis of an individual, first-past-the-post election.

This decision comes in the wake of calls by certain student organizations on main campus for proportional representation to be included as a means of electing student representatives.

The following portfolios of the main campus SRC will be contested by individual candidates on the basis of first past the post:

president
secretary
academic affairs
legal and constitutional affairs
student development
arts and culture
men’s internal liaison
ladies internal liaison
media, marketing and liaison

The following nine portfolios will be contested by affiliated organizations on a proportional representation basis.

two vice-presidents
treasurerdialogue and associations
transformation
campus affairs and recreation
sport
international affairs
community service

It also is a breakthrough to have all constitutional changes processed and approved at the June meeting of the Council, with all relevant student organizations having been part of the process and accepting the outcome of the process.

According to the chairperson of the UFS Council, Judge Faan Hancke, today’s unanimous decisions on student governance are an indication of how all UFS stakeholders represented in Council are committed to finding win-win solutions in the interest of the university.

“Once again the UFS has reached another milestone in its transformation and has shown the rest of the country that we are pioneers in the field of reaching intelligent solutions to complex situations,” Judge Hancke said.

According to Dr Moraka, the central SRC constitution will come into effect from the start of the second semester this year.

MEDIA RELEASE

Issued by: Lacea Loader
    Media Representative
    Tel: (051) 401-2584
    Cell: 083 645 2454
     E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za

10 June 2005

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