Attachment and growth of vegetative propagules of Chondria crassicaulis Harvey (Ceramiales,Rhodophyta) under various culture conditions

The red alga Chondria crassicaulis has a wide‐ranging bioactive chemical composition and is used as a local foodstuff, representing a potentially new cultivar in Korea. The cultivation techniques were developed by examining the monthly changes in frond weight in a field population of C. crassicaulis from November 2016 to October 2017. For seedling production, temperature and irradiance effects on the attachment and growth of vegetative propagules of C. crassicaulis were evaluated. In addition, effects of day length and salinity on the propagule growth were examined. C. crassicaulis is a year‐round species with a maximum frond wet weight of 817 mg observed in July 2017, as seawater temperature increases to 20°C. The attachment of vegetative propagules was significantly affected by temperature and irradiance, with maximal values detected at 20–25°C and 60 µmol photons m^?2 s^?1. The relative growth rates of vegetative propagules of C. crassicaulis were the highest at 20–25°C, 60 µmol photons m^?2 s^?1, and a salinity of 25 psu. In conclusion, due to its tremendous tolerance under variable environmental conditions, the vegetative propagules of C. crassicaulis can be used as seedlings for mass cultivation.     

Hypoglycemic activity of Gymnema sylvestre extracts on oxidative stress and antioxidant status in diabetic rats

Diabetes mellitus, which is associated with oxidative damage, has a significant impact on health, quality of life, and life expectancy. An ethanol extract of Gymnema sylvestre leaf was examined in vitro and in vivo to investigate the role of antioxidants in diabetic rats. The extract exhibited strong antioxidant activity in the assays, including TBA (56%), SOD-like (92%), and ABTS (54%). Blood glucose levels in the diabetic rats fed G. sylvestre extract decreased to normal levels. The presence of the antihyperglycemic compounds gymnemagenin and gymnemic acids in G. sylvestre extract was detected by LC/MS analysis. Lipid peroxidation levels were decreased by 31.7% in serum, 9.9% in liver, and 9.1% in kidney in the diabetic rats fed the extract. Feeding G. sylvestre extract to the diabetic rats decreased the activity of glutathione peroxidase in cytosolic liver and glutamate pyruvate transaminase in serum to normal levels.     

Metabolic characterization of Brassica rapa leaves by NMR spectroscopy

The Brassica has been intensively studied due to the nutritional and beneficial effects. However, many species, varieties, and cultivars of this genus and the resulting large metabolic variation have been obstacles for systematic research of the plant. In order to overcome the problems posed by the biological variation, the metabolomic analysis of various cultivars of Brassica rapa was performed by NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate data analysis. Discriminating metabolites in different cultivars and development stages were elucidated by diverse 2D-NMR techniques after sorting out different significant signals using (1)H NMR measurements and principal component analysis. Among the elucidated metabolites, several organic and amino acids, carbohydrates, adenine, indole acetic acid (IAA), phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, and glucosinolates were found to be the metabolites contributing to the differentiation between cultivars and age of Brassica rapa. On the basis of these results, the distribution of plant metabolites among different cultivars and development stages of B. rapa is discussed.     

Volatile Flavor Components and the Body Weights of Rats in the Green Tea Added Miner Ingredients

In order to change for the good flavor in green tea of middle or low grade,roast naked barley （miner ingredient） was added to it.To make tea having functional property,mixed roast naked barley-green tea with one medicinal herb （MH,miner ingredient）.This study was performed to investigate the effect of drinking extracts of naked barley-MH-green tea （A group） and adlay-Angelica gigas Nakai-green tea （B group） on the body weights of rats,and volatile flavor components of best effective extract on weight reduction.Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats divided into six groups were fed five different green tea extracts for 8 weeks.The result obtained in the experiment indicated that the change of body weights of rats was affected by A group,B group and others.A group showed highest reduction rate of body weights （36.40％）.Reduction rate of body weights on the B group （10.10％） was much lower than A group （36.40％）.Aroma compounds were extracted by the SDE method.The concentrated aroma extracts were analyzed and identified by GC and GC-MS.The main aroma components of the green tea blended with naked barley and MH were 12 pyrazines having roasty note,methyl butanals having sweet note,hexanal having briskness greenish note,and nerolidol and3-ionone having floral note.     

Productive performance of weanling piglets was improved by administration of a mixture of bacteriophages,targeted to control Coliforms and Clostridium spp. shedding in a challenging environment

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of bacteriophages in different environments on growth performance, digestibility, ileal and caecal microbiota, gut morphology and immunity of weanling pigs. Two hundred piglets were randomly assigned to four treatment groups with five replicate pens with 10 pigs per pen. A 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments was used to investigate the response of weanling pigs to supplemental bacteriophages (0 and 1.0 g/kg of diet) in contaminated or hygienic environments. Bacteriophages supplementation did not affect average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and gain:feed in phases I and III; however, there was a significant improvement in ADG and gain:feed in phase II. The supplementation of bacteriophages increased the overall gain:feed of pigs. The overall result showed a greater ADG and ADFI in hygienic room. There were reductions in population of both ileal (p < 0.05) and caecal (p < 0.01) Clostridium spp. and ileal coliforms (p < 0.01) with the inclusion of bacteriophages in the diet. Bacteriophages increased ileal Lactobacillus and caecal Bifidobacterium and tended to increase ileal Bifidobacterium (p = 0.08). Contaminated environment decreased ileal Lactobacillus and caecal Bifidobacterium and tended to increase ileal Clostridium (p = 0.08) and coliforms (p = 0.08). Total anaerobic bacteria was tended to decrease (p = 0.06) in contaminated environment. Jejunal villus height increased in pigs received bacteriophages, but they did not affect other morphological items. The interaction between bacteriophages and environment tended to be significant (p = 0.06) for ileal villus height and ileal villus height to crypt depth ratio. The overall faecal score was significantly greater in hygienic environment and bacteriophages groups. The present findings indicate that there is an interactive effect on feed efficiency between bacteriophages and contaminated environment. In addition, bacteriophages improve jejunum morphology, and intestinal microbiota of pigs.     

Influences of dietary distillers dried grain level on growth performance,body composition and biochemical parameters of juvenile olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)

This study was conducted to investigate the influence of dietary distillers dried grain (DDG) level on growth and body composition of juvenile olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). Five diets (designated as DDG0, DDG7, DDG14, DDG21 and DDG28) were prepared to contain 0, 70, 140, 210 and 280 g kg^?1 DDG. Three replicate groups of fish averaging 11.6 ± 0.1 g were fed one of the diets for 8 weeks. Weight gain of fish fed diets containing 70–280 g kg^?1 DDG was not different to that of fish fed DDG0 diet (P > 0.05). Feed efficiency of fish fed DDG21 and DDG28 diets was lower than that of fish fed DDG0 diet (P < 0.05). The antioxidant enzyme and digestive enzyme activities were not affected by dietary DDG levels. The results of this experiment suggested that DDG is a valuable ingredient as a candidate to replace wheat flour in the diet and could be used up to 280 g kg^?1 for the growth of olive flounder. On the other hand, if lower feed efficiency of fish fed 210–280 g kg^?1 DDG is considered, up to 140 g kg^?1 DDG in diet is recommended for optimum feed utilization of fish.     

Energy utilisation in germ-free and conventional chicks fed diets containing sorbose

1. In experiment 1, growing conventional (CV) chicks were fed on diets containing graded amounts (0, 100, 200 and 300 g/kg diet) of sorbose from 4 to 14 d. Protein, fat and energy deposition were determined after carcase analysis. The values for growth, food efficiency, metabolisable energy (ME) and fat and energy depositions declined as the dietary sorbose content increased. 2. In experiment 2, the performances of germ-free (GF) and CV chicks fed on diets with (100 g sorbose/kg diet) or without sorbose were investigated. On both diets, body weight gain, food consumption and protein accumulation in GF chicks were significantly higher than those in CV birds. No significant differences were observed between the dietary treatment except for ME values, which were significantly lower for the sorbose diet. 3. It is suggested that dietary sorbose decreased energy utilisation, and that the microbial contribution to the utilisation of dietary sorbose was negligible in the chicken.