Annals of Agricultural Science最新文献

Strawberry anthocyanins often undergo chemical degradation during storage, which leads to color fading and bioactivity loss. These changes are increased by ascorbic acid, which accelerates anthocyanin degradation. The present study investigated the effect of citric acid as an alternative to ascorbic acid to adjust strawberry nectar pH. Several additions were also used as co-pigment sources to enhance color stability during a five-month dark storage period at ambient temperatures. The results showed that citric acid increased the stability of total and monomeric anthocyanin and reduced the formation of polymeric color. The fortification of the strawberry nectar with 0.2% green tea extract, 3% hot rosella extract, and 0.5% low-methoxyl pectin in the presence of citric acid led to enhance strawberry nectar color, high stability, and reduce anthocyanin degradation.

Lutein is a yellow plant pigment belonging to the xanthophyll family of carotenoids and widely present in marigold flowers. Lutein is an effective antioxidant that may be utilized in foods as a natural coloring pigment and functional food ingredient. The present study evaluated the effect of lutein in two types of marigold flowers belonging to the Tagetes erecta and Tagetes patula species on selected functional properties of baked pan bread. Marigold flowers dried by three different methods (oven, vacuum, freeze-drying) were incorporated into white wheat flour (WWF) and wholegrain wheat flour (WGF) bread recipes. Lutein content in marigold flower petals and baked breads were quantified using Ultra-Fast Liquid Chromatography (UFLC). Texture and color properties of baked bread crust and crumb were determined. Tagetes erecta marigold flower showed significantly higher amount of lutein, and freeze-drying process was found to be the best technique for preserving lutein in the baked products. The freeze-dried African marigold and French marigold petals had lutein content of 150.98 ± 26.87 ppm and 78.26 ± 0.66, respectively. The L* value and whiteness of baked breads decreased which led to decreasing lightness of WWF bread crumb after addition of MFP. The total color difference, ∆E, and the redness index, RI, between control WWF bread crumb and WGF bread crumb increased as the level of MFP increased in the bread formulations. The data suggest that lutein-rich ground marigold may be used as a functional food ingredient to enhance color as well as antioxidant properties of bread.

Black oncom is a fermented product from the by-product of peanuts that can be processed into flour and used as a food ingredient in the development of biscuit products. These biscuit products offer the same potential benefits as peanuts. Therefore, an evaluation of the potential aspects of nutritional contents (amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins (B6, B9 and E), minerals (Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Se), and food safety (aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxin)) of black oncom biscuits compared to peanut biscuits was needed. Based on the independent t-test analysis, black oncom biscuits had significantly higher nutritional contents (p < 0.05) than peanut biscuits, especially the amino acid components of leucine, isoleucine, valine, threonine, arginine, proline, serine, glycine, alanine, vitamin B6, magnesium and zinc. The fatty acid profile, in general, was not significantly different than peanut biscuits, except for heptadecenoic, docosahexaenoic, arachidonic, arachidic, oleic, linolenic and omega 9 fatty acids. In addition, black oncom biscuits had a low aflatoxin content in accordance with food safety standards. Overall, black oncom biscuits have higher nutritional contents than peanut biscuits in several amino acids, vitamin B6, and several minerals and contain aflatoxins that meet the safety standards.

Melinjo (Gnetum gnemon L.) is a beneficial agroforestry plant that contains antioxidant compounds broadly studied as a natural source in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical uses. The antioxidant compounds benefit human health and plant to develop defense mechanisms under environmental stresses, such as drought stress. This study aims to evaluate the defense mechanism of melinjo under drought stress. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used to simulate drought stress to melinjo seedlings for 5, 10, 20, and 40 days compared to zero-day control without PEG. The inhibition and detoxification activities of 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl, superoxide radical, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were determined to evaluate antioxidant capabilities during drought stress. Lipid peroxidation and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) contents were also analyzed to evaluate the level of cellular damage during drought stress. The seedling's growth was significantly reduced as a response to the longer duration of drought stress treatment. On the contrary, the level of lipid peroxidation and H₂O₂ were increased, followed by the escalation of antioxidant activities. This result indicates that many antioxidant compounds act together to develop a defense mechanism in melinjo seedlings, and the different duration of drought stresses influences their capabilities.

The consumption of recommended amount of dietary fiber is a challenge not only for most consumers but also for the food scientists to design fiber-enriched foods with acceptable eating quality, texture, color and flavor. The addition of psyllium husk (PS) significantly made the bread texture softer with increasing levels, producing the lowest compression force value (2.48 ± 0.37 N) at a 5% level. Addition of coarse wheat bran (at 10 and 20% levels) to white wheat flour (WWF) produced a significantly softer bread texture (4.65 ± 0.61 to 5.27 ± 0.32 N) compared with the harder texture with the fine wheat bran addition (5.04 ± 0.33 to 6.82 ± 0.57 N) for the control samples, respectively. When psyllium at 5% level was added to either the WWF or wholegrain wheat flour (WGF), it produced a significantly softer bread texture. Interestingly, the incorporation of diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglyceride (DATEM) emulsifier (0.5%) in the WWF or WGF bread samples containing 5% psyllium did not significantly improve the textural properties of bread samples. When WWF + 5%PS (4.03 ± 0.12 N) buns were compared with WGF + 5%PS, the WGF +5%PS buns (7.37 ± 0.16 N) had a significantly harder texture. The results of compression force (N) and higher consumer acceptability values of these products clearly brought out the superior textural properties of wheat pan bread and buns made by this newer approach, than the common approach of using only the wholegrain wheat flour. Future studies on the effect of various wheat bran treatments, such as steaming or extrusion on the textural properties of pan bread and buns are recommended.

Spherical homogeneous 32 nm, protein coated Pseudomonas silesiensis strain A3 CuNPs was investigated for their cytotoxicity effect as well as antimicrobial and antitumor activity. CuNPs cytotoxicity was estimated using human normal lung cell lines (Wi38) against CuNPs with concentrations ranging from 25 to 150 μg/mL using neutral red uptake assay. The cytotoxicity study revealed that the bacterial CuNPs had an impact on Wi38 cell viability at concentrations of 25, 50, 100 and 150 μg/mL CuNPs were 95.8, 91.1, 89.2 and 82.3%, respectively, with a strong correlation coefficient (r = 0.94) and a CuNPs IC₅₀ value of 1057.0 μg/mL. CuNPs exhibit a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against various microorganism species, including fungi and Gram positive and negative bacteria using the agar-well diffusion method. The findings revealed that the most sensitive pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus ATCC5638 and Aspergillus flavus ATCC 9643 which tended to have a high inhibition zone diameter (50 and 47 mm, respectively). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CuNPs was 50 μg/mL. The minimum lethal concentration (MLC) values were 50 and 75 μg/mL for S. aureus ATCC 5638 and A. flavus ATCC 9643, respectively. MLC/MIC ratio was ≤2, suggesting the CuNPs had a bactericidal or fungicidal effect on both pathogenic strains. Results also indicated that bacterial CuNPs at varying concentrations of 25, 50, 100 and 150 μg/mL were such a good antitumor agent against A549 lung carcinoma cell lines with an IC₅₀ value of 137.5 μg/mL and a cell viability of 89.3, 79.6, 64.9 and 44.1%, respectively. The results also suggested that the biosynthesized-CuNPs were an antimicrobial and anticancer agent that could be used in future in food preservation, biomedicine and pharmaceutical fields.

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) belongs to the Brassicaceae family and is one of the most important cruciferous vegetables. It has gained popularity due to its high glucosinolate concentrations that have positive potential in cancer treatment. In this study, the effects of two elicitors; methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and salicylic acid (SA), on the production of sulforaphane from broccoli 7-days old seedlings, its antiapoptotic activity and its gene expression have been studied. Real-time PCR was used to quantify myrosinase (MY) gene expression associated with sulforaphane production. The antiapoptotic activity of sulforaphane treatments was evaluated and tested using MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. The highest amount of sulforaphane was produced at 80 μM SA and 40 μM MeJA after 24 h of elicitation. Increased production of sulforaphane was found to be associated with over-expression of myrosinase gene. The sulforaphane extract obtained from broccoli seedlings treated with MeJA exerted a higher inhibitory effect on the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line than sulforaphane extract obtained from broccoli seedlings treated with SA. The inhibitory effect increased by using purified sulforaphane. Studies on apoptosis gene transcription showed that all sulforaphane treatments down-regulated the B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) gene (antiapoptotic) transcription while up-regulating the pro-apoptotic Bcl2 Associated X, Apoptosis Regulator (Bax) gene, Caspase-3, Caspase-8 and Caspase-9. It may be concluded that increased sulforaphane production could increase its antiapoptotic activity as indicated by induction of more apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is an important crop cultivated in India and other warmer regions of the world. The crop is dependent on insect pollinators for its fruit set. However, information about pollination ecology in Indian states remains undetermined. We used a replicated field-scale experiment to identify the native pollinators and their foraging behaviour, including abundance, visitation rate, duration of visit, and pollination efficiency. We compared treatments with open-pollinated, hand-pollinated and the addition of two managed pollinator species to estimate the yield enhancement potential of managed stingless bees and western honey bees and their impact on native pollinator species. We found that ants, bees, butterflies, beetles, and wasps visited the flowers either for nectar, pollen, and/or floral tissue. Regarding the ‘pollinator importance’ value of the visitors, Halictus acrocephalus and Lasioglossum funebre were the most effective native pollinators. Despite their contribution, the plants showed a significant pollination deficit in the open-pollinated system which can be overcome by supplementary pollination services through the management of western honey bees (Apis mellifera) and/or stingless bees (Tetragonula iridipennis). However, the application of A. mellifera colonies greatly reduces the abundance, visitation rate and foraging time (amount of time spent per visit on a flower) of native pollinators. Hence, the utilization of managed stingless bee colonies for pollination services is more suitable and has a lesser impact on native pollinator species, which may lead to sustainable agricultural practices.

No-till (NT) farming is a major soil conservation strategy. In the Brazilian Cerrado, soybean is the main grain crop, and strategies that improve the cultivation of cover crops in the off-season in succession to soybean could facilitate NT for large cultivated areas. In the municipality of Nova Xavantina, MT, Brazil, three experiments were carried out in a randomized block design with four replications. This work aimed to evaluate the establishment of Urochloa ruziziensis (ruzigrass) in succession to soybean as a function of ruzigrass seed treatment, sowing density and phenological stage, and soybean cultivar allelopathic potential. In the first experiment, treatment of ruzigrass seeds with six doses (0, 150, 300, 450, 600 and 750 mL of commercial product 100 kg⁻¹ of seeds) of fipronil + thiophanate-methyl + pyraclostrobin was evaluated. In the second experiment, two ruzigrass interseeding periods (soybean phenological stages R5.5 and R7) and five ruzigrass seed densities (4.3, 6.4, 8.6, 10.7 and 12.9 kg ha⁻¹ VPS) were tested. In the third experiment, the interference of soybean cultivars in the establishment of ruzigrass and the potential allelopathic effect of the cultivars on forage germination were evaluated, six soybean cultivars RR (Roundup Ready®) were used: P98Y70; TMG 115; TMG 132; M 8527; P98Y11; TMG 123. Our results showed that seed treatment facilitated forage establishment in the interseeding system, and the use of high sowing rates at phenological stage R5.5 of soybean promoted greater ruzigrass plant development. The effects of the soybean cultivars on ruzigrass germination varied, suggesting allelopathic effects of the deposition of petioles and soybean leaves on ruzigrass seeds. Thus, an appropriate interseeding strategy can improve forage production in the off-season and favor NT through correct management of forage establishment in succession to soybean.