The addition of corn fiber gum improves the long-term stability and retrogradation properties of corn starch

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the stability and physical properties of starch gels could be improved by adding small amounts of corn fiber gum (CFG). In the differential scanning calorimeter measurement, the enthalpy of retrogradation was 7.30 J/g for starch without CFG and 4.30 J/g for starch composite gel with 1.0% CFG. The addition of 1.0% CFG to starch significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the degree of retrogradation during the long-term storage from 61.6% to 36.5%. The addition of CFG retarded the syneresis of the starch system from 17.97% and 34.93%–6.15% and 26.57% after storage for 7 and 14 days respectively. The crystallization peak of starch containing 0.5–1.0% CFG was quite diminished. When compared with the starch gel alone, the addition of CFG significantly lowered the hardness of the composite starch gel from 60.92 to 45.81 N after 14 days storage. The starch gel without CFG showed the lowest rapidly digestible starch content and the highest resistant starch content in comparison to starch/CFG composite gels after 7 and 14 days storage. Over all, the addition of CFG considerably inhibits the retrogradation of corn starch gels during long-term storage.     

响应面法优化瓜儿豆胶提取工艺

以瓜儿豆(Cyamopsis tetragonoloba(Linn.)Taub.)种子为原料,在单因素试验的基础上,选定料液比、浸提温度和p H进行中心组合试验,利用响应面法优化瓜儿豆胶的提取工艺.结果表明,瓜儿豆胶的优化提取工艺条件为:p H 4.0,52℃,料液比1∶30 g/m L,验证试验表明,瓜儿豆胶的提取率实际值为30.3%,与预测值(30.6%)接近.     

In vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics of gum arabic under concentrate and forage substrate conditions

Gum arabic (GA) has potential rumen modifier functions. This is the first study to investigate the in vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics of GA. Rumen fluid was collected from ruminal fistulated wethers; rolled barley and ryegrass straw were used as substrates for concentrate and forage conditions, respectively. Besides incubating with the substrates alone (control), GA or potato starch (PS) was added at 0.2%, 1.0%, and 2.0% along with substrates. Under the concentrate substrate condition, GA treatments showed higher total gas production in 24-h incubation, but lower methane production in 24- and 48-h incubation compared with PS treatments (p < 0.05). The 1.0% and 2.0% GA and 0.2% and 1.0% PS treatments showed higher dry matter and neutral detergent fiber digestibility and lower NH₃-N, and higher short chain fatty acid concentrations compared with the control at 24-h incubation (p < 0.05). The GA treatments also showed a lower acetate/propionate ratio than PS treatments at 48-h incubation (p < 0.01). Under the forage substrate condition, the treatment effects were not significant, except for a higher proportion of propionate with GA than with PS at 24 and 48 h of incubations. We thus concluded that GA supplement may exert potential rumen modifier effects particularly under concentrate feeding condition.     

魔芋胶与瓜胶未来产业竞争态势分析

比较魔芋和瓜尔豆生物学特性、现有资源区位优势及魔芋胶和瓜胶产品性状等,魔芋胶在理化指标方面明显优于瓜胶,尤其是粘度及凝胶特性显著好于瓜胶。弥勒魔芋规模种植必将伴随魔芋产量的大幅增加,可提升我国魔芋产业在全球的市场份额及产业集中度,显著增强魔芋胶的竞争力,逐渐动摇瓜胶在传统产业中的现有竞争优势。     

Flocculation and Stabilization of Allophane in the Presence of an Anionic Microbial Polysaccharide (Gum Xanthan) and Several of Its Hydrolytic Intermediates

The polymeric effect of gum xanthan (GX) on the stability of allophane at pH 4.5 and 6.5 was compared with the effect of several of its hydrolytic intermediates (hGX). The polymeric effect of GX was manifested by (i) the effective flocculation at low GX concentrations, (ii) the higher stabilizing ability above the flocculation concentration (FC), and (iii) the appreciable ability of deflocculation of (a) flocculated allophane and (b) allophane-halloysite floc, at extremely low concentrations of GX solution at pH 6.5. In contrast to GX, in the presence of sodium polyacrylate, there was a complete lack of deflocculation of the flocculated allophane at pH 6.5. This fact suggests that effective deflocculation is due to the double-stranded wormlike structure of the GX chain with a small but finite flexibility. The fact that flocculated allophane by GX at pH 4.5 still exhibited a positive electrophoretic mobility can be ascribed to the flocculation of allophane particles by bridging with this biopolymer. The relationship between FC of GX and the allophane content in soil clays was also examined.     

Infestation Density of Eucalyptus Gall Wasp,Leptocybe invasa Fisher and La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) on Five Commercially Grown Eucalyptus Species in Tanzania

This study explores infestation density of Leptocybe invasa on five commercially grown Eucalyptus species in Coastal, Plateaux, and Southern Highlands agroecological zones of Tanzania. Infestation density between agroecological zones, Eucalyptus species, age classes and tree crown parts, relationship between stand altitudes and the magnitude of infestation, damage index, species age, and abundance of L. invasa on different Eucalyptus species were examined. There were significant differences in infestation between zones and Eucalyptus species. Eucalyptus tereticornis was more affected, followed by E. camaldulensis, and E. saligna was the least while E. grandis and E. citriodora were not affected. No significant differences in damage between different crown parts were observed. Trees with age of 1–3 yr were damaged more than those of age 4–6 yr. Pest infestation increased with an increase of L. invasa abundance but decreased with an increase of altitudes. Control efforts needs to focus on controlling the spread of the pest, using silvicultural methods and planting resistant Eucalyptus species.     

Clear increases in acetylene reduction by soil bacteria from an East Siberian Taiga forest bed under conditions mimicking the natural soil environment

Abstract

In boreal forest ecosystems, nitrogen imbalance has long been discussed as a mystery with regard to its high biomass production. Under conditions widely used for the soybean nodulation bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum, microbiota in forest bed soil often do not show any significant acetylene reduction. However, in a recent study, soil bacterial microbiota in an East Siberian Taiga forest bed and bacteria isolated from the soil show remarkable acetylene reduction in nitrogen-poor soft-gel medium solidified with gellan gum instead of agar. Thus, we precisely investigated optimal culture conditions including compositions of the medium; appropriate conditions for the soil microbiota were determined as follows: 0.5 g L^?1 D-mannitol as the carbon source, 10–15°C incubation temperature and medium pH 6.2. These culture conditions resembled the physicochemical conditions of the active layer in the East Siberian boreal forest bed on the permafrost. In fact, mannitol, which was the most appropriate carbon source, was obtained as a major sugar component of the cowberry root mats that cover the larch forest bed in this region. The most profitable concentration of D-mannitol (0.5 g L^?1) for acetylene reduction was only 1/20 or 1/30 of the amount of the carbon source used in worldwide acetylene reduction assays. In a similar manner, 10–15°C, which was the most profitable incubation temperature range, was close to the reported temperature of the active layer of the bulk soil in summer. us, even in a 3.0 g L^?1 gellan gum medium, an acetylene reduction assay under the imitated soil conditions led to clear increases in acetylene reduction of the bacterial communities tested. The N₂-fixing potential of boreal forest bed soil had thus ever been evaluated unfairly low, because the world wide assay conditions were too far from the soil environments.     

地毯草黄单胞菌分泌黄原胶的电镜观察

为了研究地毯草黄单胞菌(Xanthomonas axonopodis)FJAT-10151产黄原胶的分泌行为,采用比浊法测定地毯草黄单胞菌的生长曲线,干重法测定黄原胶产量,2,4-二硝基苯肼显色法测定黄原胶中丙酮酸含量变化,通过扫描电子显微镜镜(SEM)和透射电子显微镜镜(TEM)观察地毯草黄单胞菌产黄原胶的分泌行为。FJAT-10151在发酵时间0～26 h为对数期,26～72 h为稳定期。菌株FJAT-10151为短杆状(约2μm),端生鞭毛(约7.9μm),菌体外面形成了一层较厚的荚膜,且许多菌体通过黄原胶连在一起,分泌的黄原胶呈棒状和网状2种形态,聚集或缠绕在细胞表面,其含量随发酵时间的延长而增加。菌株FJAT-10151发酵72 h可获得高品质黄原胶,其产量及丙酮酸含量最高。     

The extent and pattern of Eucalyptus regeneration in an agricultural landscape

The process of natural regeneration is critical for sustaining remnant native vegetation and the ecosystem services it supports. We quantified the extent and pattern of Eucalyptus regeneration within remnant vegetation in a fragmented agricultural landscape in south-eastern Australia. Eucalyptus regeneration was absent at 42% of sites. Using an information-theoretic approach, we explored 13 possible models of Eucalyptus regeneration across multiple scales. The explanatory variables in the four models with empirical support (and their summed Akaike weights) were: grazing intensity (1.0), native ground cover (0.99), remnant area (0.83), tenure (0.67), canopy cover (0.21) and vegetation type (0.11). Averaging across these four models we predicted that the probability of Eucalyptus regeneration was highest (0.95) in relatively unmodified remnant native vegetation, that is, remnant vegetation on public land where grazing was light and the understorey was dominated by native plants. In contrast, the predicted probability of Eucalyptus regeneration was lowest (0.12) in small remnants on private land where grazing was heavy. Our results suggest that a large proportion of all remnant native vegetation in this landscape will disappear under existing land management and farming practices. Reducing grazing pressure within intensively grazed remnants appears to be the single most effective management intervention that will mitigate this threat. This will require a shift in conservation priorities away from large, intact remnants where regeneration does not appear to be affected, to poorer quality remnants—often small remnants or scattered trees—where regeneration is typically absent.     

两种沙枣树的流胶量及地理差异

沙枣和大果沙枣无论是成林还是幼林,沙枣的流胶率和流胶量都要低于大果沙枣。生长在暖温带南疆的沙枣,流胶虽然低于寒冷的中温带北疆,但流胶量却大于北疆。虽然沙枣成林的数量巨大,但因缺乏产品型的产业替代进口的阿拉伯胶,要做到从单林转换到资源林的位置上来还需努力。