Effects of induction treatments on flowering in Populus deltoides

Stimulation of early flowering is required to shorten breeding cycles of eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh. var. deltoides), a commercially important and fast-growing hardwood species. A series of experiments was conducted to evaluate the influence of various treatments on flowering in rooted cuttings from mature and juvenile trees. A combined treatment of water stress, root pruning and paclobutrazol was applied to 3-month-old rooted cuttings from mature trees. These cuttings had been subjected to root restriction and long days. All treated plants flowered, whereas no untreated plants formed flower buds. One-year-old rooted cuttings from juvenile trees did not flower when treated with either paclobutrazol, paclobutrazol plus water stress, paclobutrazol plus root pruning, or paclobutrazol plus girdling. This was true both under continuous or periodic growth. Assessment of the lack of flowering in juvenile trees may require an integrated approach that investigates environmental or physiological stimuli, assimilate shift, gibberellic acid type and concentration, and flowering-time gene activity in the new shoots of mature and juvenile cottonwood trees.     

Age- and size-related trends in woody plant shoot development: regulatory pathways and evidence for genetic control

Woody plants exhibit significant and predictable patterns of change in morphology and physiology as they become older and larger. Four models of potential pathways controlling these changes are presented: a stimulus-response model in which fully developed organs respond to changes in environment (defined here as everything external to the organ); an extrinsic model in which the attributes of developing organs are determined by environmental factors; an intrinsic model in which changes are a result of programmed changes in gene expression; and an extrinsic-intrinsic model in which changes in gene expression are induced by environmental factors. We review evidence that a genetic component is involved in controlling age- and size-related changes in foliar morphology and physiology and discuss the possibility of complex interactions among model pathways.     

Crop load and water stress effects on daily stem growth in peach (Prunus persica)

We investigated crop load and water stress effects on diurnal stem extension growth of field-grown peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) trees. Neither the presence of fruit nor reduced irrigation significantly altered the timing of diurnal fluctuations in stem growth rate. Stems with subtending fruit had significantly reduced growth compared to stems with no subtending fruit. Crop load had no significant effect on relative stem extension rates and the majority of the reduction in absolute growth was the result of a smaller zone of elongation in fruit-bearing stems than in stems with no subtending fruit. Fruit removal did not increase growth rates within 24 h. When irrigation was reduced, the length of the stem elongation zone and total daily stem growth were significantly decreased relative to well-irrigated controls and the decreases were highly correlated with stem water potential. Compared with well-irrigated controls, relative stem extension rates of water-stressed trees were reduced at several times during the 24-h period, but the degree of reduction was not proportional to the difference in stem water potentials between the treatments.     

Lipoxygenase inactivation in green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) due to high pressure treatment at subzero and elevated temperatures

The kinetics of lipoxygenase (LOX) inactivation in green beans due to high-pressure treatment were studied in the pressure-temperature area of 0.1 up to 650 MPa and -10 up to 70 degrees C for systems with different levels of food complexity, i.e., in green bean juice and intact green beans (in situ study). For both systems, LOX was irreversibly inactivated by high-pressure treatment combined with subzero and elevated temperatures and the inactivation could be described as a first-order reaction. At ambient pressure, in situ LOX was less thermostable than in the juice at temperatures below 68 degrees C whereas the stability ranking was reverse at temperatures above 68 degrees C. At temperatures below 63 degrees C, sensitivity of the inactivation rate constants to temperature changes was on the same order of magnitude in the juice and in situ, while at higher temperature it was lower in situ. The pressure needed to obtain the same rate of LOX inactivation at a given temperature was lower in situ than in the juice. Application of high-pressure treatment at low/subzero temperature resulted in an antagonistic effect on LOX inactivation for both systems, whereas no such effect was found above room temperature. The pressure-temperature dependence of the LOX inactivation rate constants in green beans was successfully modeled.     

Ascorbic acid, carotenoids, and visual quality of baby spinach as affected by shade netting and postharvest storage

Baby spinach ( Spinacia oleracea L.) was grown under three types of shade netting (high transmittance, spectrum-altering, and low transmittance) to study the effect on the concentrations of vitamin C (ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid), carotenoids, and chlorophyll and on the visual quality of the leaves. The spinach was sown in April and August and harvested at two growth stages. After harvest, leaves were stored in polypropylene bags at 2 and 10 degrees C. Shading significantly decreased the ascorbic acid concentration of April-sown spinach by 12-33%, but in the August-sown spinach, the response was inconsistent. Concentrations of total carotenoids and total chlorophylls were significantly higher under the nettings in many cases, especially under the spectrum-altering and low-transmittance nettings. Postharvest visual quality and postharvest persistence of the compounds analyzed were not greatly affected by shading. We conclude that these shade nettings are acceptable to use in baby spinach production when it comes to the studied aspects of internal and external quality of the produce.     

Impact of pH on the kinetics of acrylamide formation/elimination reactions in model systems

The effect of pH on acrylamide formation and elimination kinetics was studied in an equimolar (0.1 M) asparagine-glucose model system in phosphate or citrate buffer, heated at temperatures between 120 and 200 degrees C. To describe the experimental data, a simplified kinetic model was proposed and kinetic parameters were estimated by combined nonlinear regression and numerical integration on the data obtained under nonisothermal conditions. The model was subsequently validated in a more realistic potato-based matrix with varying pH. By increasing acidity, the reaction rate constants at T(ref) (160 degrees C) for both acrylamide formation and elimination can significantly be reduced, whereas the temperature dependence of both reaction rate constants increases. The introduction of a lyophilized potato matrix (20%) did not affect the acrylamide formation reaction rate constant at reference temperature (160 degrees C) as compared to the asparagine-glucose model system; the elimination rate constant at T(ref), on the contrary, was almost doubled.     

Dietary fiber in brewed coffee

Coffee beans are rich in nondigestible polysaccharides (dietary fiber), which may partially pass into brewed coffee; however, to the authors' knowledge, there is not enough literature on dietary fiber in brewed coffee. A specific method to determine dietary fiber in beverages (enzymatic treatment plus dialysis) was applied to the coffees brewed by the most common methods (espresso, filter, soluble); results showed that brewed coffee contained a significantly higher amount of soluble dietary fiber (0.47-0.75 g/100 mL of coffee) than other common beverages. Coffee dietary fiber contains a large amount of associated antioxidant phenolics (8.7-10.5 mg/100 mL of brewed coffee).     

Effects of harvesting date and storage on the amounts of polyacetylenes in carrots, Daucus carota

The amounts of three main polyacetylenes in carrots; falcarinol, falcarindiol, and falcarindiol-3-acetate, were determined by HPLC, during three seasons, in carrots harvested several times per season and at different locations in Sweden. The amounts of falcarindiol first decreased from a relatively high level and then increased later in the harvest season. The amounts of falcarindiol-3-acetate showed similar variations, whereas the amounts of falcarinol did not exhibit any significant variation during the harvest season. During storage the amount of polyacetylenes leveled off, increasing in samples initially low and decreasing in samples initially high in polyacetylenes. The amounts of all polyacetylenes varied significantly due to external factors and between stored and fresh samples. This variation opens up possibilities to achieve a chemical composition of polyacetylenes at harvest that minimizes the risk of bitter off-taste and maximizes the positive health effects reported in connection with polyacetylenes in carrots.     

Analytical method for the determination of cyromazine and melamine residues in soil using LC-UV and GC-MSD

A method is reported for the determination of cyromazine and melamine residues in soil. Soil samples are extracted twice via mechanical shaking, each time with 70% acetonitrile/30% 0.050 M ammomium carbonate for 30 min. An aliquot portion of the pooled extracts is subjected to strong cation exchange (SCX) purification on AG 50W-X4 resin. Final analysis is accomplished using liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (LC-UV) detection at a wavelength of 214 nm. Confirmatory analyses can be performed using gas chromatography-mass selective detection (GC-MSD) in the selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The limit of detection (LOD) is 2.5 ng injected and the limit of quantification (LOQ) is 10 ppb when using LC-UV for the analysis of N-cyclopropyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4, 6-triamine (cyromazine) and 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine (melamine). The LOD is 0.050 ng injected and the LOQ is 10 ppb when using GC-MSD for confirmatory analyses. The mean procedural recoveries were 97 and 95% and the standard deviations were 16 and 11% for cyromazine and melamine, respectively (n = 24), when using LC-UV. The mean procedural recoveries were 107 and 92% and the standard deviations were 9.9 and 16% for cyromazine and melamine, respectively (n = 29), when using GC-MSD. The method validation study was conducted under U.S. EPA FIFRA Good Laboratory Practice Guidelines 40 CFR 160. The method also passed an Independent Laboratory Validation (ILV) as per U.S. EPA FIFRA Subdivision N.     

Stability study of a sulfadimidine-containing medicated premix and its mixture with farm feed

The objective of this paper was to study the stability of a medicated premix and a medicated farm feed containing sulfadimidine as the active ingredient. The medicated premix is supplied as powdered form and administered orally after mixing with animal feed. The sulfadimidine analytical method described in United States Pharmacopoeia 23 cannot be used to carry out the stability study because of its lack of specificity for different degradation products. Therefore, a high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed to assay sulfadimidine. This method was optimized and validated for the stability study. According to International Committee Harmonization (ICH) guidelines, the samples were stored under long-term testing and accelerated conditions for the stability study of the premix and the medicated farm feed. Sulfadimidine degradation was not detected in either form under any of the conditions studied.