Betalain Extracts from Beetroot as Food Colorants: Effect of Temperature and UV-Light on Storability

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - Beetroot is a good source of natural food colorants given that it contains significant amount of betalain pigments. This study investigates the three-months...     

Genotype characterisation of Giardia duodenalis isolates from domestic and farm animals by SSU-rRNA gene sequencing

In order to investigate the genotypes of Giardia duodenalis from domestic and farm animals in Italy, 21 Giardia isolates, 17 from dogs, 1 from cat and 3 from dairy calves, were genetically characterised by SSU-rRNA gene sequencing. Among dogs, 76.5% of isolates showed the dog-specific genotypes (Assemblages C, D and C/D mixed Assemblage) and 23.5% exhibit potential zoonotic genotypes (Assemblage A and A/C mixed Assemblages). The cat isolate belonged to assemblage A, whereas the sequences among the isolates from calves were found to correspond to hoofed-livestock genotype, namely Assemblage E. These findings suggest that infection of humans by zoonotic genotypes from domestic animals could be of low epidemiological significance, although possible. The present study represents the first contribute to the knowledge of G. duodenalis genotypes in domestic and farm animals from Italy.     

Phenolic compounds in seven South American Ilex species.

Ilex paraguariensis (common name: 'mate' or 'yerba mate') is used for the preparation of the most popular tea-like beverage of South America. Choleretic, hypocholesteremic, antioxidant, hepatoprotective and bitter taste properties of mate are attributed to the phenolic constituents of the leaves. I. paraguariensis has seven local congeneric substitutes or adulterants: I. brevicuspis; I. theezans; I. microdonta; I. dumosa var. dumosa; I. taubertiana; I. pseudobuxus; I. integerrima; and I. argentina. An HPLC method using UV with Photodiode Array Detector was developed for the identification and quantification of caffeoyl derivatives (caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid) and flavonoids (quercetin, rutin and kaempferol) in these species. I. paraguariensis showed a higher content of flavonoids and caffeoyl derivatives than the other assayed species.     

Second outbreak of Trichinella pseudospiralis in Europe: clinical patterns,epidemiological investigation and identification of the etiological agent based on the western blot patterns of the patients' serum

Trichinellosis is a zoonotic disease due to the ingestion of raw or undercooked meat from animals infected with the larvae of nematodes belonging to the genus Trichinella. In January–February 2015, an outbreak of trichinellosis occurred in Genoa, Northern Italy. The epidemiological link was traced back to a dinner served at an agritourism farm on 31 December 2014, where a majority of the 52 guests had consumed the ‘beef’ steak tartare. The source of infection was not traced; however, it was noted that the amount of beef purchased officially for providing at the dinner did not correspond with that served, suggesting that meat of a different origin had been added to the beef to prepare the steak tartare. Clinical and laboratory data of 30 individuals out of the 52 (57.7%), of which four were hospitalized, were consistent with that of the case definition of trichinellosis. Western blot patterns of the sera from patients with confirmed trichinellosis were similar to the diagnostic pattern identified for the reference sera of Trichinella pseudospiralis but different from those of the control sera tested for patients infected with Trichinella spiralis and Trichinella britovi. Identification of T. pseudospiralis as the aetiological agent responsible for the outbreak of trichinellosis using an indirect tool represents an advancement in the epidemiological investigation of this zoonotic disease.     

Evaluating canopy temperature-based indices for irrigation scheduling

Summary Since the development of commercial versions of infrared sensors, they have been increasingly used to determine canopy temperature and schedule irrigations. However, some shortcomings of the technique have been identified, among them the sensitivity of canopy temperature measurements to weather fluctuations. Based on field and computer simulated data, an analysis of the suitability of crop water stress indices (CWSI's) developed from canopy temperature under variable weather conditions was done. Important day to day fluctuations of CWSI values determined using an empirical baseline (empirical CWSI) appeared common for nonstressed crops, particularly under low vapor pressure deficit conditions. These fluctuations generate uncertainty in the use of this empirical index to determine needs for irrigation. The use of an improved index (theoretical CWSI) requiring measurements of net radiation, soil heat flux and wind speed, and estimates of aerodynamic and canopy resistances reduced but did not eliminate these fluctuations. Results using a simulation model showed that the empirical CWSI provided late indication of irrigation needs, after some water stress has developed, which may limit its application for crops sensitive to water stress. These simulations also indicated that the theoretical CWSI was able to track the development of water stress and provide reasonable indication of irrigation needs. However, this result may not be fully realized in field applications where the determination of CWSI may be affected by various sources of variability which are not accounted for by the model.     

Insect communities related to wheat and coriander cropping histories and essential oils in the Rolling Pampa, Argentina

Intensive land use in the Rolling Pampa of Argentina have resulted in a mosaic of fields with different cultural histories creating different soil environments, which interact with crops and cropping activities producing a wide range of habitats for insects. Species and functions in canopy structure, food quality and essential oils of the crop–weed associations may vary depending on the field's cropping history and management (i.e. crops, soil degradation, weeding and fertilization). Species composition and functional structure of insect communities may respond to these changes. We studied insect communities in wheat and coriander crops that differed in their canopy structures, essential oil production, and the cropping histories of the fields on which they grew. For this purpose we planted wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and two coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) landraces in plots with two levels of weeding and fertilization. The crops were grown in two consecutive years at two locations differing in cropping history and related to this in level of soil degradation. Insects were sampled in all plots at crop full flowering, and were classified and related to agronomic variables and to essential oils using multivariate techniques. Among all the environmental factors tested in this study, year and soil degradation were the main factors explaining insect community structure; and also weed community structure in unweeded plots. The proportion of essential oil components varied with cropping history, suggesting an association among soil properties indicative of soil degradation, plant chemical signals and insect distribution. Although insect community composition varied widely, functional structure was very similar among crop–weed communities. Soil degradation appeared to have affected directly crop–weed communities and insects’ assemblages, since no consistent relationship was found between plant composition and insect community structure. It can be hypothesized that soil degradation might have affected the amount of volatiles produced especially by coriander, generating a “soil degradation scent” that determined the structure in the insect community, and/or the soil itself emitted different signals, in relation to changes in its physical, chemical and biological characteristics.     

A statistical approach to evaluate compost genotoxicity

Parallel experiments were carried out to evaluate the induction of genotoxic effects in Vicia faba seedlings treated both with aqueous and organic extracts (dimethyl sulphoxide 5%) of 13 composts, or grown on soil samples to which different doses of the same composts were added. Pearsons linear correlation coefficient and multiple regression were used to study how these two different methodological approaches (treatment with the extracts versus direct contact with the composts in soil) agree. In addition, multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the role of heavy metals and humic substances in genotoxic effects and to construct a model to be used to accurately predict potential genotoxicity of the composts. Experimental data obtained at the highest application rate of compost on soil were found to fit the model and evidenced the role of the humic substances in modulating the potential genotoxicity of the different composts.     

Differentiation of natural and synthetic phenylalanine and tyrosine through natural abundance 2H nuclear magnetic resonance

The natural abundance deuterium NMR characterization of samples of the amino acids tyrosine (1) and phenylalanine (2), examined as the acetylated methyl esters 4 and 6, has been performed with the aim to identify by these means the contribution in animals of the hydroxylation of the diet l-phenylalanine (2) to the formation of l-tyrosine (1), a feature previously revealed on the same samples through the determination of the phenolic delta(18)O values. The study, which includes also the NMR examination of benzoic acid (5) from 2 and of tyrosol (7) from 1, substantially fails in providing the required information because the mode of deuterium labeling of tyrosine samples of different origins is quite similar but indicates a dramatic difference in the deuterium labeling pattern of the two amino acids 1 and 2. The most relevant variation is with regard to the deuterium enrichments at the CH(2) and CH positions, which are inverted in the two amino acids of natural derivation. Moreover, whereas the diastereotopic benzylic hydrogen atoms of l-tyrosine (1) appear to be equally deuterium enriched, in l-phenylalanine (2) the (D/H)(3)(R)() > (D/H)(3)(S)(). Similarly, benzoic acid (5) shows separate signals for the aromatic deuterium nuclei, which are quite indicative of the natural or synthetic derivation. The mode of deuterium labeling of the side chain of 1 and 2 is tentatively correlated to the different origins of the two amino acids, natural from animal sources for l-tyrosine and biotechnological probably from genetically modified microorganisms for l-phenylalanine.