Concerns about damage to agricultural products due to global warming are increasing year by year. In apple cultivation, high temperatures cause defects in color and other characteristics, and warm weather in winter causes a decrease in cold resistance, which is associated with damage due to low temperatures and frost. In addition, damage due to storms and floods occurs frequently. In Nagano Prefecture, various fruit varieties are cultivated using a relay system. Therefore, harvesting is intermittent from July to December. Since the rate of maturation varies among cultivars, the degree of maturity and degree of damage also differ depending on the timing of the occurrence of natural disasters. Most harvested fruits are immature, and there are many problems with food safety and taste. On the other hand, immature fruits contain a lot of polyphenols, which are used as functional materials. Regarding climate change countermeasures, advances have been made in terms of forecasting, prevention, items, varieties, and cultivation techniques. However, no progress has been made in examining ways to use damaged agricultural products. In the future, it will be necessary for national and local governments, production areas, and processors to work together to examine the safety and utilization of damaged agricultural products.

Landslides and flooding caused by the western Japan torrential rains in July 2018 inflicted heavy damage on citrus cultivation in Ehime prefecture. The damage included not only the loss of citrus trees and soil, but also damage to the agricultural infrastructure such as the roads between fields, rail carriers, and irrigation systems. Three years have passed since the disaster. Restoration work for small- to middle-sized landslides has been progressing, and new tree plantings have been started. However, after planting, it takes 5 years before harvesting can start, and 10 years before production can return to pre-disaster levels. Restoration work has not yet begun for large-sized landslides, but will be completed about 10 years later. Although it is difficult to secure an agricultural income during this period, a young farmers group has stared nursing trees for the future completion of the restoration work.

The superiority of domestic fruits, seaberry, Hippophae rhamnoides L., which was launched in 2005 in domestic commercial cultivation, was verified by analyzing component data and oil component data etc. and comparing with foreign seaberries.

Hokkaido has the highest harvest of fruitlets such as seaberry, haskap and aronia in Japan. Haskap and raspberry are native to Hokkaido, but blueberry, aronia and seaberry were introduced from abroad in the middle of the 20th century. The functional components of these fruits, such as polyphenols, are now attracting attention and their production is increasing. The Education and Research Center for Antioxidant Function has been analyzing and studying the antioxidant function of food materials produced in Hokkaido, and has revealed that many fruitlets have high antioxidant value. I will introduce the attractiveness of the antioxidant function of various fruitlets in Hokkaido such as seaberry, haskap, aronia.

Watermelon is thought to have originated in the Kalahari Desert and neighboring savanna zones in South Africa. The cultivation of watermelon was depicted in an Egyptian fresco 4000 years ago. Watermelon were introduced to Japan in the early Edo period. Watermelon called “Yamatosuika”, a natural cross between existing varieties and a new variety derived from America, received good publicity in the early Showa period. The Nara Prefecture Agricultural Experimental Station and Mr. Zentaro Hagihara, a private breeder, bred excellent varieties from the Taisho to the Showa period. Recently, using DNA markers based on genomic analysis technology, the breeding of watermelon and genetic purity inspection of F₁ seeds has been performed more efficiently. Watermelon contains citrulline showing vasodilating action and lycopene having antioxidant ability. It is important to develop a method using the ingredients effectively.

凍結濃縮法の従来法である平衡懸濁結晶法は，操作方式が大規模連続性生産に限られているのに対して，界面前進凍結濃縮法（PFC）は，操作方式においてはるかにフレキシビリティーが高い．これまでに，耐熱性が低く高粘度であることなどのために濃縮が困難であったスイカ果汁やメロン果汁を，PFC法を用いることによって有効に濃縮することができた．得られた濃縮液は高品質で，原液の香気成分プロフィールを維持しており，今後，これまでにない食品新素材としての応用が期待される．

The Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) is one of the most commercialized fruit trees in Japan and it has been consumed for a long time. The concept of pear cultivars was first developed in the middle of Edo Era (1603-1887). Commercial pear orchards were established in the late Edo Era and over 1000 cultivar name have since been recorded. ‘Taihei’ was the leading cultivar in 1890-1900, followed by ‘Kozo’ in 1900-1910. ‘Chojuro’ became the leading cultivar from the 1910s to the late 1940s due to its high productivity and disease resistance, but ‘Nijisseiki’ replaced it until the late 1980s, as this cultivar had superior flesh texture despite its extreme susceptibility to black spot disease. The systematic breeding program of the Horticultural Research Station [currently National Institute of Fruit Tree and Tea Science (NIFTS), National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO)] began in 1935 and it mainly aimed to improve fruit quality by focusing on flesh texture and black spot disease. As a result, cultivars ‘Kosui’ and ‘Hosui’ were released in 1959 and 1972, respectively. ‘Kosui’ became a leading cultivar in the late 1980s and ‘Hosui’ became second in the beginning of the 1990s. Current breeding at NIFTS uses DNA marker-assisted selection for combining superior fruit quality with traits related to labor and cost reduction, multiple disease resistance, and self-compatibility.

The way of use of grape is divided into two types, i.e. table grape (eat in raw) and wine grape. In Japan, table grape left unsold are used to process to wine in history. But the quality required for table grape and wine grape is completely different. To make good quality of wine, many attentions are paid in recent grape growing. Sugar content is very important because it is converted to ethanol by fermentation. Malic and tartaric acid content is also important for sourness of resultant wine. But these compounds can easily adjust in its concentration by adding to grape juice/must. Besides these compounds, aroma compounds affect greatly to the wine quality. Aroma compounds have volatility and easily escape from liquid phase during wine-making. This effect partially causes the difference between smell of grape and wine. From this point of view, aroma-precursors considered to be more important. Aroma precursor is converted to aroma compounds during fermentation. For example, glucosidic aroma compounds have weak in smell and difficult to evaporate because of its solubility to aqueous phase by the effect of glucose attached. Once the glucose moiety is hydrolyzed with glucosidase during fermentation, it is changed to aroma compounds and is smell. Amino acids in grape berry are assimilated by yeast, and produce higher alcohol. Amino acids have no smell in grape, but their amount and composition will affect wine quality. Other aroma compounds precursors are also taken account of their concentration in grape at harvest for good quality winemaking.

Grapes (Vitis spp) are a major fruit crop worldwide and are consumed as table grapes, wine, and raisins. Currently, the leading grape cultivars in the world are European (Vitis vinifera L.), and account for the majority of the worldwide production. European grapes, however, are highly susceptible to fungal diseases and to berry cracking when grown in wet climates. In eastern United States, breeders have attempted to improve the native American species through hybridization between European grapes and native species such as V. labrusca L. The interspecific hybrid cultivars derived from V. labrusca are classified asAmerican grapes (V. labruscana Bailey). In general, the fruit quality of European grapes is superior to American grapes for table and wine use. During the Meiji era, many European and American grape cultivars were introduced to Japan from foreign countries. However, the cultivation of European grapes failed due to severe diseases and berry cracking caused by Japan’s wet climate. As a result, American grapes such as ‘Campbell Early’, ‘Niagara’, and ‘Delaware’ were selected. Japanese grape breeders have developed many cultivars such as ‘Muscat Bailey A’, ‘Neomuscat’, ‘Kyoho’, ‘Pione’, ‘Kaiji’ and so on, using European and American cultivars as the parent stock. Recently, cultivation of ‘Shine Muscat’ has rapidly increased.