Individual contribution of grain outer layers and their cell wall structure to the mechanical properties of wheat bran

The mechanical properties of wheat bran and the contribution of each constitutive tissue on overall bran properties were determined on a hard wheat (cv. Baroudeur) and a soft wheat (cv. Scipion). Manual dissection allowed three different layers to be separated from wheat bran, according to radial and longitudinal grain orientations, which were identified by confocal laser scanning microscopy as outer pericarp, an intermediate strip (comprising inner pericarp, testa, and nucellar tissue), and aleurone layer, respectively. Tissue microstructure and cell wall composition were determined. Submitted to traction tests, whole bran, intermediate, and aleurone layers demonstrated elastoplastic behavior, whereas pericarp exhibited elastic behavior. By longitudinal orientation, pericarp governed 50% bran elasticity (elastic strength and rigidity), whereas, in the opposite orientation, bran elastic properties were mostly influenced by the other tissues. Regardless of test orientation, the linear force required to bran rupture corresponded to the sum of intermediate and aleurone layer strengths. According to radial orientation, the intermediate strip governed bran extensibility, but according to longitudinal orientation, all tissues contributed until bran disruption. Tissues from both wheat cultivars behaved similarly. A structural model of wheat bran layers illustrated the detachment of pericarp from intermediate layer within radial bran strips.     

国外农产品及食品介电特性测量技术及应用

了解农产品和食品的介电特性对于微波设备和基于介电特性的物质组成成份检测仪的研发具有重要的意义。为了给国内农产品和食品介电特性的研究提供借鉴,该文介绍了目前国外常用的介电特性测量技术——平行极板技术、同轴探头技术、传输线技术、自由空间法和谐振腔技术;说明了各测量技术的特点、测试系统的组成和适用范围;综述了各技术在农产品和食品介电特性研究中的应用情况;并指出中国目前在该领域研究中存在的问题和今后的研究重点。     

活化氧化竹基多孔活性炭理化结构与电容性能

针对当前生物质基多孔活性炭电极材料制备能耗高、性能调控难的瓶颈,提出活化氧化梯级热处理技术,以实现降本提质和探析多孔活性炭理化结构及其性能调控机制。该研究以废弃竹屑为原料,采用KHCO₃活化和低温空气氧化制备多孔活性炭,探讨不同活化氧化温度协同作用下多孔活性炭的理化结构和电化学性能。结果表明,相较于600 ℃活化的多孔活性炭（PAC-600）,增加了350 ℃低温空气氧化工艺后制备的多孔活性炭（PAC-600-350）的比表面积由154.361提升至264.235 m²/g。随着氧化温度由200升高到350 ℃,多孔活性炭氧元素含量增加、表面含氧基团（-C=O-O、-C-OH等）增多,其缺陷程度和润湿性增强。三电极测试中,相较于PAC-600多孔活性炭,经空气氧化的PAC-600-350在电流密度为1 A/g时的比电容为215.29 F/g,比电容提高至1.47倍。二电极测试中,在功率密度为215 W/kg时,PAC-600-350对称电容器的能量密度达到9.06 Wh/kg,且在5 A/g电流密度和5000次循环充放电后,PAC-600-350的电容保持率为86.59%,在超级电容器储能方面具备较大的应用潜力,该研究可为农林废弃物高值化利用提供参考。     

温室土壤食物网静态和动态结构特征

Soil food web structure is fundamental to ecosystem process and function; most studies on soil food web structure have focused on agro-ecosystems under different management practices and natural terrestrial ecosystems, but seldom on greenhouses. This study explored the static and temporal variability of soil food structure in two greenhouses of Shandong Province, North China over a two-year period. The static properties were measured directly by surveying functional group composition and a series of parameters portraying the species properties, link properties, chain properties and omnivory properties of the web, as well as indirectly through calculation of nematode indices, enrichment index （EI）, structure index （SI）, and channel index （CI）. The dynamic variability of greenhouse soil food structure was described by the dynamics of functional groups, Bray-Curtis （BC） similarity and cluster analysis. The results showed that the greenhouse soil food web contained 14 functional groups, with microbes having the highest mean biomass, followed by protozoa. Of the three functional groups of protozoa, flagellates were the dominant group on most sampling dates, amoebae only became the dominant group during the summer, while ciliates were the least prevalent group. All nematodes were assigned into one of the four functional groups, bacterivorous, fungivorous, herbivorous and omnivorous, and the fungivorous nematodes had the lowest mean biomass. Mites were assigned into three functional groups and the omnivorous noncryptostigmatic mites were the dominant group. All the functional groups showed significant seasonal changes. The soil food web connectance was 0.15, the maximum food chain length was 5, and the average food chain length was 3.6. The profiles of the EI and SI showed that the food web was resource- depleted with minimal structure. The results of CI indicated that the bacterial decomposition pathway was the dominant pathway in the food web of the greenhouse soils studied and the results of BC similarity showed that the soil food web had higher variability and instability over time. The cluster analysis showed that the functional groups located at high trophic levels with low biomass were in a cluster, whereas those at low trophic levels with high biomass were closer. Compared with the food web structure of agroecosystem and natural terrestrial ecosystem soils, the structure of greenhouse soil food web was simple and unstable, which was likely driven by high agricultural intensification, particularly over application of fertilizers.     

Physico-chemical properties of commercial composts varying in their source materials and country of origin

Composting is a partially controlled bio-oxidative process through which highly heterogeneous organic matter (OM) in its solid-state transforms into a humified material. The variability of the OM undergoing composting makes compost research a great challenge. Our purpose was to define chemical and plant response characteristics of a variety of composts, grouped based on their major source materials. Thirty-seven commercial composts were collected from France, Greece and the Netherlands. When grouped by country of origin, significant differences were found in %OM, %C, %N, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, electrical conductivity (EC) and NO₃ concentration. These differences may be attributable to source materials or local regulations and quality control measures. When the composts were classified into 7 groups by their source materials: wood, green, manure, grape marc (GM), oilcake, spent mushroom substrate and municipal solid waste-based composts, significant differences between groups were found in %OM, %C, %N, DOC, pH, EC, NO₃ and soluble sugars. Extracts of composts from all groups, except GM and oilcake had absorbance in the UV and visible range that was linearly correlated with DOC. GM and oilcake compost extracts had lower absorbances and distinctly lower specific UV absorbance (SUVA). Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier Transform (DRIFT) spectra of the composts from different source groups also exhibited distinct group features (e.g. the ratio of polysaccharide to aliphatic peak intensity), whereas NMR spectra did not. Cucumber plants grown on manure-based composts had greater fresh weight than those grown on other composts. Plants grown on oilcake and GM composts exhibited low fresh weight. The difference in characteristics of the oilcake and GM composts may be a result of their unique chemical composition which slows their degradation. It may also be related to their relatively low degree of maturity, which is a consequence of their slow degradation.     

冷冻方式对醛交联大豆蛋白多孔材料结构及吸附特性的影响

为制备纳米级孔径的大豆蛋白多孔材料,研究了冰箱和液氮冷冻处理的醛交联大豆蛋白多孔材料的结构及吸附性能。结果表明:戊二醛对大豆蛋白的交联效果优于甲醛和乙二醛。液氮冷冻处理的多孔材料比表面积和孔容均较大,而平均孔径较小;纳米级孔的孔径都分布在80 nm以内,介孔总孔容占比超过50%,大孔次之,微孔占比最小;冰箱冷冻样品纳米级孔的孔径主要分布在70 nm以内,且微孔和介孔孔容都小于采用液氮冷冻处理的样品。场发射扫描电镜分析表明,大豆蛋白多孔材料的孔形态为微米级圆孔和纳米级狭缝孔。冷冻处理比醛类交联剂对孔结构的影响大,合适的冷冻方式能替代或超过交联剂种类变化取得的效果。热重分析表明液氮冷冻处理的戊二醛交联大豆蛋白多孔材料热稳定性好;该多孔材料对对硝基苯酚和六价铬离子具有一定的吸附效果,是制备大豆蛋白多孔材料较合适的方法。研究结果为植物蛋白多孔材料的制备提供参考。     

Comparison of ultrasonic velocities in dispersive and nondispersive food materials

Ultrasonic techniques are increasingly being used to evaluate the properties of food materials. Interpretation of the structure and dynamics on the basis of measured ultrasonic parameters requires rigorous definition of ultrasonic parameters such as velocity, especially since many food materials can display considerable dispersive behavior (changes in velocity with frequency). Agar gel (2% w/v) and agar gel (2% w/v) with a regular array of bubbles (8% volume fraction) were chosen as nondispersive and dispersive materials, respectively. Frequency and time domain techniques were used to analyze velocities. Signal, phase, and group velocities were identical in the agar gel and were indistinguishable from those of water (1500 m s(-1)), indicating the predominant effect of the bulk modulus of the water they contain on the longitudinal modulus of the gel. In contrast, the inclusion of the bubbles in the agar gel led to strongly dispersive behavior, with group velocities varying by 1000 m s(-1) above and below the 1500 m s(-1) of the agar gel without bubbles, depending on frequency. The addition of bubbles also led to strong attenuation in the agar gel with a peak occurring at a frequency associated with a band gap arising from destructive interference of sound waves. The results show that care must be taken when comparing ultrasonic parameters derived from experiments on food materials performed at different frequencies or with different ultrasonic techniques.     

Water retention characteristics of coarse porous materials to construct purpose-designed plant growing media

ABSTRACT

Among potential components to construct Technosols for urban greening purposes, the commercially available geogenic coarse porous materials (CPMs) are mainly used in practice because of their high porosity. However, the knowledge of the hydraulic behavior of CPMs as well as of their mixtures with other substrates is limited, provoking their suboptimal usage. Therefore, we determined the water retention characteristics, including the available water capacity (AWC) of six geogenic CPMs: porlith, expanded shale, expanded clay, tuff, pumice, and lava. In order to obtain the water retention characteristics of the CPMs as well as of their mixture with sand (1:4 per volume), the following methods adapted from soil physics were applied over a wide range of pressure heads: Equi-pF apparatus, ceramic tension plates, pressure plate extractors, WP4C apparatus, and water vapor adsorption. The results were used to parametrize the modified Kosugi model (using SHYPFIT 2.0). Porlith and tuff have the highest AWC (0.37 m³ m^?3 and 0.17 m³ m^?3, respectively) and are the only ones which can be recommended as effective water-retaining materials. Further materials exhibit an AWC less than 0.10 m³ m^?3. The CPMs exhibit a bimodal pore size distribution, which can be well described by the applied model, except for pumice and expanded shale. The mixtures present overall low AWCs up to 0.07 m³ m^?3, with the pure sand having less than 0.03 m³ m^?3. For practical application a quite high ratio of CPM is needed, and the mixing material must be adapted to the hydraulic properties of the CPMs. The water inside the CPMs may be easily available for plant roots able to penetrate in the CPMs’ coarse pores.     

Changes in magnetic properties and their pedogenetic implications for paddy soil chronosequences from different parent materials in south China

It remains unknown whether there is a consistent relationship between magnetism dynamics and pedogenesis for paddy soils. In this study, three paddy soil chronosequences, derived from purple sandy shale (PS), Quaternary red clay (RC) and red sandstone (RS) in the hilly regions of south China, were studied to identify changes in magnetism during soil development and to understand their implications for pedogenesis. The results show that magnetic susceptibility (MS) and soft isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM_s) simultaneously decreased to extremely small values in the anthrostagnic epipedons during the initial stages of cultivation. In contrast, this decrease was limited in the hydragric horizons of the young paddy soils and even increased in some. These changes suggest that MS and IRM_s can be enhanced by the oxidation of Fe²⁺ in acid paddy soils (between pH 5 and 6) or be depressed by anaerobic transformations of ferrimagnetic minerals. The main influence on magnetic properties was time duration and especially reducing degree of artificial submergence, while parent materials played a supportive role. Magnetic enrichments generally occurred in the clay fraction. Ferrimagnetic clay minerals were more easily altered than minerals in the silt and sand fractions. The study also shows that there was no fixed pattern in the relationship between magnetism and paddy pedogenesis and magnetic properties should be used with care when applying them to environments in which redox processes occur.     

膜材料及其构成对调节控释肥料养分释放特性的影响

试验采用水溶出率实测法研究了自行研制的控释肥料养分释放的特性。以养分释放速率和释放期为主要指标评价了膜材料及其构成对调节控释肥养分释放特性的影响。结果表明,膜材料M2的控释性能优于膜材料M1;用膜材料M1包膜肥料的养分累积释放曲线呈对数曲线,而用膜材料M2包膜肥料的养分累积释放曲线呈直线型。在膜的比面重(单位肥料面积上所含膜材料的重量)为20～80g/m2范围内,随着比面重的增加,包膜肥的初期溶出率降低,释放期延长;通过调节膜材料组成与比面重可以研制出释放期不同的控释肥料。     

Soil physical properties related to soil structure

The aim of this paper is to clarify the effect of soil aggregation on soil physical and chemical properties of structured soils both on a bulk soil scale, for single aggregates, as well as for homogenized material. Aggregate formation and aggregate strength depend on swelling and shrinkage processes and on biological activity and kinds of organic exudates as well as on the intensity, number and time of swelling and drying events. Such aggregates are, most of all, more dense than the aggregated bulk soil. The intra-aggregate pore distribution consists not only of finer pores but these are also more tortuous. Thus, water fluxes in aggregated soils are mostly multidimensional and the corresponding water fluxes in the intra-aggregate pore system are much smaller. Furthermore, ion transport by mass flow as well as by diffusion are delayed, whereby the length of the flow path in such tortuous finer pores further retards chemical exchange processes. The chemical composition of the percolating soil solution differs even more from that of the corresponding homogenized material the stronger and denser the aggregates are.

The rearrangement of particles by aggregate formation also induces an increased apparent thermal diffusivity as compared with the homogenized material. The aggregate formation also affects the aeration and the gaseous composition of the intra-aggregate pore space. Depending on the kind and intensity of aggregation, the intra-aggregate pores can be completely anoxic, while the inter-aggregate pores are already completely aerated. The higher the amount of dissolved organic carbon in the percolating soil solution, the more pronounced is the difference between the gaseous composition in the inter- and in the intra-aggregate pore system.

From the mechanical point of view, the strength single aggregates, determined as the angle of internal friction and cohesion, depends on the number of contact points or the forces, which can be transmitted at each single contact point. The more structured soils are, the higher the proportion of the effective stress on the total stress is, but even in single aggregates positive pore water pressure values can be revealed. Dynamic forces e.g. due to wheeling and/or slip processes can affect the pore system as well as the composition of the soil by: (1) a rearrangement of single aggregates in the existing inter-aggregate pore system resulting in an increased bulk density and a less aerated and less rootable soil volume, (2) a complete homogenization, i.e. aggregate deterioration due to shearing. Thus, the smaller texture dependent soil strength coincides with a more intensive soil compaction due to loading. (3) Aggregate deterioration due to shearing results in a complete homogenization, if excess soil water is available owing to kneading as soon as the octahedral shear stresses and the mean normal stresses exceed the stress state defined by the Mohr-Coulomb failure line. Consequently, normal shrinkage processes start again.

Thus, the rearrangement of particles and the formation of well defined single aggregates even at the same bulk density of the bulk soil both affect, to a great extent, various ecological parameters. Environmental aspects can also be correlated, or at least explained with the processes in soils, as a major compartment of terrestial ecosystems, if the physical and chemical properties of the structure elements and their composition in the bulk soil are understood.     

Habitat structure,soil properties,and food availability do not predict terrestrial flatworms occurrence in Araucaria Forest sites

Flatworm community structure responds strongly to large-scale habitat alteration, with low diversity in disturbed environments. However, the ecological factors influencing small-scale distribution of flatworms are poorly understood. The aim of this study is to test if the occurrence of land planarians is influenced by microhabitat traits. The study was developed in two Araucaria Forest sites located in the São Francisco de Paula National Forest, southern Brazil. In each site, a 0.5 ha grid subdivided in 10 m² plots, was established. In 100 randomly selected plots, the occurrence and abundance of each land planarian species were recorded. For each plot, we also recorded information on six habitat structural traits, 21 soils properties, and 15 prey availability parameters. Sixty-six specimens were recorded, belonging to 21 species of land planarians. Although the two areas differed in relation to 17 ecological factors analyzed, mean flatworm density did not significantly differ between the two studied areas. The pattern of their abundance followed a Poisson distribution, suggesting that flatworms were randomly distributed throughout the study area. Simple logistic regressions and a multiple logistic regression, controlled for spatial autocorrelation, showed no evidence that the occurrence of terrestrial flatworms is controlled by habitat structure, prey availability or soil properties. In addition, a Principal Component Analysis, controlled for spatial autocorrelation, generated three main axes that represented 40.7% of the variation of the 42 ecological traits. This analysis showed very similar distribution of plots with and without flatworms along these three axes. The results suggest that land flatworms exhibit no pronounced microhabitat preferences inside undisturbed Araucaria Forest sites.     

Advances in nonfouling materials: perspectives for the food industry

Fouling of complex food components onto food-processing materials affects food quality, food safety, and operating efficiency. Developments in nonfouling and fouling-release materials for biomedical and marine applications enable the potential for adaptation to food applications; however, challenges remain. The purpose of this review is to present different strategies to prevent fouling and/or facilitate foulant removal with a critical point of view for an application of such materials on food-processing surfaces. Nonfouling, self-cleaning, and amphiphilic materials are reviewed, including an explanation of the mechanism of action, as well as inherent limitations of each technology. Perspectives on future research directions for the design of food processing surfaces with antifouling and/or fouling release properties are provided.     

Databases on food phytochemicals and their health-promoting effects

Considerable information on the chemistry and biological properties of dietary phytochemicals has accumulated over the past three decades. The scattering of the data in tens of thousands publications and the diversity of experimental approaches and reporting formats all make the exploitation of this information very difficult. Some of the data have been collected and stored in electronic databases so that they can be automatically updated and retrieved. These databases will be particularly important in the evaluation of the effects on health of phytochemicals and in facilitating the exploitation of nutrigenomic data. The content of over 50 databases on chemical structures, spectra, metabolic pathways in plants, occurrence and concentrations in foods, metabolism in humans and animals, biological properties, and effects on health or surrogate markers of health is reviewed. Limits of these databases are emphasized, and needs and recommendations for future developments are underscored. More investments in the construction of databases on phytochemicals and their effects on health are clearly needed. They should greatly contribute to the success of future research in this field.     

On the variability of amorphous materials in andosols and their relationships to irreversible drying and P-retention

The amorphous components of Andosol samples from Costa Rica, Japan, New Zealand and Rwanda were examined for chemical and mineralogical variability by determining 0.5 N NaOH extractable Si and Al, CEC delta value, content of co-precipitated Si-Al gels (allophane sensu stricto) and by DTA. This analytical information was compared with magnitude of P-retention and the physical property of irreversible drying. The former showed no significant relationship except for a tendency of highly siliceous members of the soils studied to have less P-retention. Irreversible drying appears to be strongly related to presence of discrete phases of Si and Al gels. The agricultural significance of the latter and the need for emphasizing in classification systems the Si/Al ratios of such amorphous materials for differentiating among Andosols have been stressed. A suitable differential solubility test for quantifying amorphous compounds of real significance is still not available.     

The soil food web: structure and perspectives

This review outlines directions for future research in soil food web ecology. Two lines of research are considered to be most important: the adoption of new methodologies to investigate food relationships and the strengthening of experimentation to investigate the interaction strength between food web components. For a better understanding of food relationships molecular methods, particularly fluorescence in situ hybridization, and stable isotope methodology, including the analysis of variations in the abundance of ¹³C and ¹⁵N, are thought to be most promising. Implications of results of the studies which employed these methodologies for the structure and function of soil food webs are highlighted.     

农业物料电特性研究进展

该文通过对国内外农业物料电特性研究资料的分析，阐述了农业物料电特性的概念、种类及意义，介绍了农业物料电特性的4种测试方式和阻抗特性、介电特性的几种测量方法，并对各种测量方法的优缺点进行了系统分析和总结，概述了国内外对植物、动物及微生物等农业物料电特性的研究状况和应用，指出了目前农业物料电特性研究的不足，为今后研究及发展趋势提出了建议和意见。对进一步深入研究农业物料电特性及其应用具有参考价值和指导意义。