The phytotoxicity potential of olive processing waste on selected weeds and crop plants

The effect of sun-dried OPW (olive processing waste) on weeds and crop plants, was investigated at the Adnan Menderes University Research and Application Farm between 2006 and 2007. Sun-dried OPW was placed in pots in doses of 9, 18, 27, 36, 45 and 54 grams per pot, which is equivalent to doses of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 kg m⁻²; pots with no OPW served as controls. In these experiments, ten seeds each of wild oat (Avena fatua), sterile oat (Avena sterilis), blackgrass (Alopecurus myosuroides), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), yellow sweetclover (Melilotus officinalis), redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus), jimsonweed (Datura stramonium), faba bean (Vicia faba), pea (Pisum sativum), and sesame (Sesamum indicum) were sown in pots; for common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album), seedlings were planted in pots. Seedlings of both weeds and crop plants were counted in order to assess the effects of sun-dried OPW on plant emergence. One plant was left per pot for observation of the effects of sun-dried OPW treatments on weed and crop plant growth. The results showed that OPW can be used to suppress the growth of all the weeds listed above, in pots containing V. faba, P. sativum and S.indicum plants and without any negative effects on crop growth.     

A survey of aphid parasitoids in Kahramanmaras,Turkey (Hymenoptera: Braconidae,Aphidiinae; and Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

A list of aphid parasitoids found in a survey conducted between 1999 and 2001 in Kahramanmaras Province of Turkey is presented. Nineteen taxa of aphid parasitoids were found on 30 hosts.Pauesia picta (Haliday) is reported for the first time from Turkey. Two check-lists are presented, by host aphids and by plant species. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting April 30, 2004.     

Effects of Baking and Boiling on the Nutritional and Antioxidant Properties of Sweet Potato [<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ipomoea batatas</Emphasis> (L.) Lam.] Cultivars

The effects of baking and boiling on the nutritional and antioxidant properties of three sweet potato cultivars (Beniazuma, Koganesengan, Kotobuki) cultivated in Turkey were investigated. The samples were analyzed for proximate composition, total phenolic content, ascorbic acid, β-carotene, antiradical activity, and free sugars. The dry matter, protein, and starch contents of the sweet potatoes were significantly changed by the treatments while the ash and crude fiber contents did not differ as significantly. The β-carotene contents of baked and boiled sweet potatoes were lower than those of fresh sweet potatoes; however, the total phenolic and ascorbic acid contents of the baked and boiled sweet potatoes were higher than those of the fresh samples. Generally, the antiradical activity of the sweet potatoes increased with the treatments. Sucrose, glucose, and fructose were quantified as free sugars in all fresh sweet potatoes; however, maltose was determined in the treated samples. In terms of the analyzed parameters, there were no explicit differences among the sweet potato cultivars.