Effect of fining and filtration on the haze formation in bayberry (Myrica rubra Sieb. et Zucc.) juice

Bayberry juice was fined with the methods of xanthan/chitosan (XC) or gelatin/bentonite (GB), and then filtered with diatomaceous earth filtration (DF) or ultrafiltration (UF, MWCO 100 kDa). Their effects on juice haze formation were investigated. The XC fining method was more effective than the GB method in removal of the total monomeric anthocyanin, total phenolics, and protein, with less haze formed in the XC fined juice. The DF reduced 2-5% of the total phenolics and 21-23% of protein, while UF reduced 19-24% of the total phenolics and 34-38% of protein, respectively. The results showed that fining and then UF can reduce but cannot eliminate haze formation in bayberry juice. The storage temperature was a critical factor affecting haze formation, and the juice was more stable when stored at lower temperature (4 degrees C).     

Study of wavelet denoising in apple's charge-coupled device near-infrared spectroscopy

Discrete wavelet transform was used to eliminate the noise in the charge-coupled device near-infrared (CCD-NIR) spectra of apple. The influence of three parameters (wavelet function, decomposition level, and threshold) on the predictive ability of the calibration model was investigated. The result showed that the db, sym, and bior wavelet families performed well, while the coif, dmey, and haar wavelets were not able to denoise effectively. The best decomposition level was 2. The threshold selection rules of the default, Birge-Massart, and Penalty had good denoising results, while SURE, Sqtwolog, Heuristic SURE, and Minimax set all detailed coefficients to zero due to their high threshold values. The best denoising result was obtained with the combination of the bior3.3 wavelet function, two levels of decomposition, default threshold selection rule, and the soft thresholding method. The optimal model of soluble solids content was constructed. The relative standard deviation of prediction decreased from 7.79 to 5.82% after wavelet denoising.     

Identification of two polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant activities in longan pericarp tissues

Longan fruits contain a significant amount of polyphenols. In the present study, polyphenols were extracted from longan pericarp tissues, and then two representative polyphenols were separated and purified by polyamide column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and silica gel column chromatography. On the basis of 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (ESI-MS) data, the two compounds were identified as 4-O-methylgallic acid and (-)-epicatechin, respectively. In terms of reaction with longan polyphenol oxidase (PPO), (-)-epicatechin was further identified as the PPO substrate that caused longan fruit to brown. The results of antioxidant activity showed that 4-O-methylgallic acid had higher reducing power and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl- (DPPH-), hydroxyl radical-, and superoxide radical-scavenging activities than (-)-epicatechin.     

A systematic and quantitative approach to improve water use efficiency in agriculture

As the competition for the finite water resources on earth increases due to growth in population and affluence, agriculture is faced with intensifying pressure to improve the efficiency of water used for food production. The causes for the relatively low water use efficiency in agriculture are numerous and complex, including environmental, biological, engineering, management, social, and economic facets. The complexity of the problem, with its myriads of local variations, requires a comprehensive conceptual framework of the underlying physical and biological processes as the basis to analyze the existing situation and quantify the efficiencies, and to plan and execute improvements. This paper proposes such a framework, based on the simple fact that the overall efficiency of any process consisting of a chain of sequential step is the product of the efficiency (i.e., output/input ratio) of its individual component steps. In most cases of water use, a number of process chains, both branching and merging, are involved. Means to integrate the diverging and converging chains are developed and presented as equations. Upscaling from fields to regions and beyond are discussed. This chain of efficiencies approach is general and can be applied to any process composed of chains of sequential steps. Here the framework is used to analyze the systems of irrigated and dryland crop production, and animal production on rangeland. Range of plausible efficiencies of each step is presented as tables, with values separately for the poor and for the good situation of circumstances, management and technology. Causes of the differences in efficiency of each step, going from water delivery to soil water extraction, transpiration, photosynthesis, and conversion to crop biomass and yield, and to animal product are briefly discussed. Sample calculations are made to demonstrate how modest differences in the efficiencies of the component steps are manifested as large to huge differences in the overall efficiency. Based on an equation quantifying the impact of changes in efficiency of component steps on the overall efficiency, it is concluded that generally, it is more effective to made modest improvements in several or more steps than to concentrate efforts to improve one or two steps. Hence, improvement efforts should be systematic and not overly concentrated on one or two components. The potential use of the same equation as the point of departure to optimize the allocation of economic resource among the component steps to maximize the improvement in the overall water use efficiency is elaborated on. The chain of efficiencies framework provides the means to examine the current levels of efficiency along the pathways of agricultural water use, to analyze where inefficiencies lie by comparing with the range of known efficiency values in the tables presented, to assess the potential improvements that may be achieved in various parts and their impact on the overall efficiency, and to aid in the optimal allocation of resources for improvements.

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Determination of the crop coefficient for grafted ‘Tahiti’ lime trees and soil evaporation coefficient of Rhodic Kandiudalf clay soil in Sao Paulo,Brazil

The expansion of permanent trickle irrigation systems in Sao Paulo (Brazil) citrus has changed the focus of irrigation scheduling from determining irrigation timing to quantifying irrigation amounts. The water requirements of citrus orchards are difficult to estimate, since they are influenced by heterogeneous factors such as age, planting density and irrigation system. In this study, we estimated the water requirements of young ‘Tahiti’ lime orchards, considering the independent contributions from soil evaporation and crop transpiration by splitting the crop coefficient (Kc = ETc/ETo) into two separate coefficients; Ke, a soil evaporation coefficient and Kcb, a crop transpiration coefficient. Hence, the water requirement in young ‘Tahiti’ lime (ET_y) is ET_y = (Ke + Kcb) · ETo, where ETo is the reference crop evapotranspiration. Mature tree water requirement (ET_m) is ET_m = Kcb · ETo, assuming no soil water evaporation. Two lysimeters were used; one was 1.6 m in diameter and 0.7 m deep, and the other was 2.7 m in diameter and 0.8-m deep. The first one was used to calculate evaporation and the second one was used for transpiration. ETo was estimated by the Penman–Monteith method (FAO-56). The measurements were conducted during a period between August 2002 and April 2005 in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. The lysimeters were installed at the center of a 1.0-ha plot planted with ‘Tahiti’ lime trees grafted on ‘Swingle’ citrumelo rootstock. The trees were 1-year old at planting, spaced 7 × 4 m, and were irrigated by a drip irrigation system. During the study period, Kc varied between 0.6 and 1.22, and Kcb varied between 0.4 and 1.0. The results suggested that for young lime trees, the volume of water per tree calculated by Ke + Kcb is about 80% higher than the volume calculated using Kc. For mature trees, the volume of water per tree calculated using just Kcb can be 10% less than using Kc. The independent influence of soil evaporation and transpiration is important to better understand the water consumption of young lime trees during growth compared to mature lime trees.     

砒砂岩区水土流失治理措施调研

通过对砒砂岩区治理水土流失的生物措施及工程措施进行调研,本文对最适合砒砂岩区生长的油松、沙棘、柠条的特点进行了详细的调查分析,给出砒砂岩区植被建设的几点建议.提出了砒砂岩区综合治理的总体思路,并总结了不同类型砒砂岩区的措施空间配置模式.生物措施方面以沙棘作为砒砂岩区生物措施治理的突破口,在立地条件较好的地方栽种油松、柠条,在造林方式上宜采用混交造林;在工程措施方面要结合沙棘植物"柔性坝"技术,以大、中型拦泥库为骨架,以淤地坝为主体,建设支流坝系.实现淤粗排细,改善进入下游河道的水沙条件及泥沙组成.     

Development of an immunochromatographic lateral-flow test strip for rapid detection of sulfonamides in eggs and chicken muscles

A rapid immunochromatographic lateral-flow test strip was developed in the competitive reaction format for the detection of sulfonamides in eggs and chicken muscle. A monoclonal antibody against the common structure of sulfonamides was conjugated to colloidal gold particles as the detection reagent and an N-sulfanilyl-4-aminobenzoic acid (SUL)-bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugate was immobilized to a nitrocellulose membrane as the capture reagent to prepare the test strip. With this method, it required only 15 min to accomplish the semiquantitative or quantitative detection of sulfonamides. The sensitivity to sulfonamides (sulfamonomethoxine, sulfamethoxydiazine, sulfadimethoxine, and sulfadiazine) was at least 10 ng/mL, as determined with an optical density scanner. By eye measurement, the sensitivity was 20 ng/mL for sulfamonomethoxine, sulfamethoxydiazine, and sulfadimethoxine and 40 ng/mL for sulfadiazine. On the basis of a sulfamonomethoxine standard curve, recoveries were from 89.5 to 95.6% for sulfamonomethoxine, from 89.5 to 95.1% for sulfamethoxydiazine, from 85.0 to 95.6% for sulfadimethoxine, and from 44.8 to 60.9% for sulfadiazine in egg and chicken muscle samples. A parallel analysis of 27 egg samples and 28 chicken muscle samples from the animal experiment showed that the differences between test strips and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were from 0.8 to 11.2% for egg samples and from 2.2 to 34% for chicken muscle samples for the quantitative detection, and the agreement rates between test strips and HPLC were 100%, based on the maximum allowed residue level of sulfadiazine (100 ng/g) established by the European Union and China. In conclusion, the method is rapid and accurate for the detection of sulfonamides in eggs and chicken muscles.     

Compositional analysis and preliminary toxicological evaluation of a tea polysaccharide conjugate

Tea polysaccharide conjugate is one of the main bioactive constituents of tea (Camellia sinensis L.). The chemical composition and preliminary toxicological evaluation of a tea polysaccharide conjugate was investigated to determine the possibility of using it for human consumption. Chemical analysis of tea polysaccharide conjugate showed that the tea polysaccharide conjugate was a nonstarch protein bounded acidic polysaccharide. The protein, neutral sugar, and uronic acid content of the tea polysaccharide conjugate was 3.5%, 44.2%, and 43.1%, respectively. The contents of iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium in the tea and its polysaccharide conjugate were measured by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Results showed that the contents of four elements in tea polysaccharide conjugate were much higher than that of tea power. Especially, the content of iron in tea polysaccharide conjugate was increased 5.9 times. The tea polysaccharide conjugate, when fed to mice, was found to have no toxicity to the liver, kidney, heart, thymus, or spleen of the mice and none of the mice died throughout the period of the experiment. There was no significant difference between the thymus index, spleen index, and liver index of the mice from the test and control groups (P>0.05). On the basis of the study, the tea polysaccharide conjugate may be classified either as a very low toxicity substance, that is, GHS Category 5 (globally harmonized system), or as unclassified when orally administrated to mice. It might be a candidate of dietary supplements besides the bioactivities as a polysaccharide.     

不同种类微生物及其碳酸酐酶对土壤-灰岩系统钙镁锌元素迁移作用的土柱模拟实验研究

通过土柱模拟实验研究了筛选自西南岩溶区的典型细菌、真菌、放线菌对石灰岩的溶蚀动态及作用效果,并研究了这3种类群微生物及其碳酸酐酶(CA)对土壤-灰岩系统Ca、Mg、Zn元素迁移的影响。结果表明:①实验所用的典型细菌、真菌、放线菌均对石灰岩有较强的溶蚀作用,但是不同类群的微生物对石灰岩的溶蚀效果不同,溶蚀后石灰岩的表面形貌变化不同,其中,真菌的溶蚀效果最显著,放线菌和细菌次之;②典型细菌、真菌、放线菌对不同元素迁移的影响不同,对于Zn2 、Ca2 的迁移影响而言,真菌>放线菌>细菌>无菌对照组;对于Mg2 的迁移影响而言,细菌>真菌>放线菌>无菌对照组;③一定范围内温度增加对Ca、Mg、Zn3种元素的迁移有不同程度的促进作用;④土柱淋出液中CA平均活性与Ca、Mg、Zn3种元素的总淋失量之间存在一定的正相关关系,说明CA对这3种元素的迁移具有一定的影响,且因不同元素而异。本研究结果对于评价不同类群微生物在生物岩溶及岩溶系统元素迁移中的作用和地位提供了一定的科学依据。     

牧草的不同利用方式对果-草人工生态系统土壤理化及生物学性状的影响

采用单因素随机区组试验研究了果-草人工生态系统中牧草的不同利用方式对土壤理化及生物学性状的影响.结果表明;刈割覆盖、刈割压埋、畜肥还园3种利用方式均能较清耕提高土壤水分含量,降低土壤密度,稳恒土壤温度,提高土壤养分含量,增加土壤微生物数量,提高土壤酶活性.相关性分析发现,除全P与纤维分解菌、纤维分解酶、多酚氧化酶为负相关外,其余养分与生物因子间均呈正相关,且多数养分与生物因子呈显著或极显著相关;经通径分析发现,脲酶、硅酸盐细菌、纤维分解酶是促进有机质积存的主要生物因素,蔗糖酶是影响N、P、K速效养分的最主要因子,过氧化氢酶、多酚氧化酶、纤维分解菌只是选择性地对有机质的积存和N、P、K速效养分的形成起作用.