Bread Supplemented with Amaranth (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Amaranthus cruentus</Emphasis>): Effect of Phytates on <Emphasis Type="Italic">In Vitro</Emphasis> Iron Absorption

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the bread supplemented with whole amaranth flour (0, 20 and 40%) on iron bioavailability using Caco-2 cells model. The phytate and lower myo-inositol phosphates content in in vitro bread digests were measured by high pressure liquid chromatography. The breads made with amaranth showed significant increase of soluble phytates levels (up to 1.20 μmol/g in dry matter for the 40% of substitution) in comparison with controls, which have not detectable values. A negative correlation among phytate and Fe availability was found when increased levels of amaranth. Ferritin concentration was found 2.7- and 2.0-fold higher (P < 0.05) in cultures exposed to 20% and 40% of amaranth formulated bread samples, respectively, compared to control bread. The soluble phytate/Fe molar ratio explained the whole amaranth flour-mediated inhibitory effect associated to the limitation of available Fe; however, the use up to 20% of amaranth in bread formulation appears as a promising strategy to improve the nutritional value of bread, as indicated by the ferritin concentrations quantified in cell cultures. Higher proportion of amaranth flour increased Fe concentration although there was not detected any increase in Fe uptake.     

Potato- An Important Source of Nutritional Kynurenic Acid

Kynurenic acid (KYNA) is a metabolite of tryptophan which is formed along the kynurenine pathway. KYNA may possess neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiproliferative properties. This study measured the concentration of KYNA in various varieties of potatoes and products made from potatoes. KYNA content was determined by means of the high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. KYNA was found in all 16 studied varieties of potato tubers in amounts varying from 0.239 to 3.240 μg/g dry weight. The content of KYNA in potato tubers declined during long-term storage. The content of KYNA in French fries varied from 0.100 to 0.646 μg/g dry weight. KYNA content in potato crisps was 0.478 and 0.576 μg/g dry weight. Hence, all in all, we concluded that the amount of KYNA potentially delivered to the human body in potatoes and various foods produced from potatoes is high and might be compared to the amount of KYNA present in a maximum daily dose of popular herbs and herbal medicines.     

Finding the meeting zone: Where have the northern and southern ranges of Norway spruce overlapped?

The goal of the work was to define where migration routes of Norway spruce running from its Weichselian refuges could have intersected and formed a hybrid zone. Based on available pollen data, we have hypothesized that the central European disjunction, also called the “spruceless zone”, could be an overlapping area of boreal and southern ranges.     

The record of postglacial environmental changes of the southern Baltic coastal zone in the sequence of fossil soils

Journal of Soils and Sediments - The studies aimed to reconstruct major phases of litho-morpho-pedogenic processes and past environmental changes in the Baltic coastal zone near Podd?bie...     

Water supply and growing season influence glucosinolate concentration and composition in turnip root (Brassica rapa ssp. rapifera L.)

The overall objective of this study was to determine whether growing season, water supply, and their interaction influence glucosinolate (GSL) concentration and composition in turnip roots (Brassica rapa ssp. rapifera L.). Field experiments on a loamy soil in Großbeeren, Germany, were conducted in the spring‐summer (SS), summer‐autumn (SA), and autumn‐winter (AW) growing seasons. Each experiment included three water‐supply treatments with 25%, 50%, and 75% of available soil water (ASW) as lower thresholds. We found that the total GSL concentration in turnip roots was 1774–3221 μmol (kg fresh matter [FM])^–1 and the dominant GSL was aromatic gluconasturtiin (GST) with concentrations of 1004–1628 μmol (kg FM)^–1 in turnip roots. Total, aliphatic, and some specific individual GSLs in turnip roots were significantly influenced by water supply, growing season, and their interaction, due to the variations of the root sulfur (S) concentration, climatic conditions, or both. The influence of water supply on GSL concentration was modified by growing season, which in turn influenced S concentration in turnips. In the SS season, the 25%‐ASW water treatment enhanced concentrations of total GSLs by 52% and 47%, aliphatic GSLs by 60% and 131%, and aromatic GSLs by 47% and 21% when compared to the 50%‐ and 75%‐ASW water treatments, respectively. No reduction of root yield was observed, although the shoot yield was reduced by limited water supply. In SA and AW, total GSL concentration did not change under different water‐supply levels, but concentration of individual aliphatic and indole GSLs did. Based on these results, growers can adjust their irrigation and S‐fertilization practices to growing season in order to optimize turnip quality in terms of GSL concentration and composition, while still obtaining higher root yield and enabling better resource utilization.     

Characterization of Cell Wall Polysaccharides of Cherry (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Prunus cerasus</Emphasis> var. Schattenmorelle) Fruit and Pomace

The polysaccharide composition of cell wall of sour cherry (Prunus cerasus var. Schattenmorelle) fruit and pomace was investigated. Furthermore, the alcohol insoluble solids composition of ‘Kelleriis’ and ‘Dobreczyn Botermo’ varieties were studied too. Yield of alcohol insoluble solids for fruits was lower than 10%, and for pomaces circa 50%. Uronic acid was the main pectin component of alcohol insoluble solids. Enzymes used as juice processing aids decreased the content of uronic acid. Araban and galactan side chains bonded tightly to cellulose presence was suggested by high content of arabinose and galactose in hemicellulose fraction. The process of drying at below 70 °C did not influence polysaccharide composition of sour cherry pomaces. Alcohol insoluble solids of fruits expressed higher hydration properties than of pomaces.     

Practical Applicability of Germination Index Assessed by Logistic Models

Sewage sludge management is a major challenge in environmental protection. Composting is an organic waste treatment method that is cost effective and leads to resource recovery. Composting is considered an environmentally and agriculturally friendly method of sewage sludge utilisation. The objective of this study was to evaluate maturity of three composts prepared on the basis of sewage sludge mixed with structure-forming waste materials, such as pine bark, sawdust and wheat straw. The germination index (GI) was used to assess the maturity and phytotoxicity of composts at particular composting stages (initial, mesophilic, thermophilic, cooling, maturation). Cress seeds were used to determine the GI. The logistic model, which belongs to a broad class of generalized linear models, was used to analyze experimental data. Using this model the interesting probabilities (from the point of view of the experimenter) for the occurrence of a specific root length were determined. In addition, a model was constructed providing a dependence of probability on temperature.

This work indicates a marked dependence between root length produced by cress seeds and the temperature of the composting process, which was closely related to the GI values. The longest plant roots, similarly as the highest GI values, were found at the lower temperature, which took place at the beginning and at the end of the composting process. Our findings suggest that the practical applicability of GI in the evaluation of compost maturity is limited. Additionally, the role of additional wastes being structure-forming agents in composted mixtures with sewage sludge was stressed as a sorption matrix for harmful substances released from sewage sludge.     

Identifying obstacles and ranking common biological control research priorities for Europe to manage most economically important pests in arable,vegetable and perennial crops

EU agriculture is currently in transition from conventional crop protection to integrated pest management (IPM). Because biocontrol is a key component of IPM, many European countries recently have intensified their national efforts on biocontrol research and innovation (R&I), although such initiatives are often fragmented. The operational outputs of national efforts would benefit from closer collaboration among stakeholders via transnationally coordinated approaches, as most economically important pests are similar across Europe. This paper proposes a common European framework on biocontrol R&I. It identifies generic R&I bottlenecks and needs as well as priorities for three crop types (arable, vegetable and perennial crops). The existing gap between the market offers of biocontrol solutions and the demand of growers, the lengthy and expensive registration process for biocontrol solutions and their varying effectiveness due to variable climatic conditions and site‐specific factors across Europe are key obstacles hindering the development and adoption of biocontrol solutions in Europe. Considering arable, vegetable and perennial crops, a dozen common target pests are identified for each type of crop and ranked by order of importance at European level. Such a ranked list indicates numerous topics on which future joint transnational efforts would be justified. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry     

Regionalizing soil properties in a catchment of the Bavarian Alps

Regionalizing information on soil hydraulic properties is a fundamental task for solving many soil related ecological problems at the landscape scale. The objective of this study was to derive this information from readily available topographical and geological data for the watershed of the Halbammer (42 km²) in the Bavarian Alps. The database consisted of 297 profiles taken during a 1 month field survey in summer 2001 and the topographical and geological maps (1:25,000) of the area. Soil profiles were grouped into six pedogenetic units taking into account the water regime of the profile and its texture. Another classification was done that relied only on texture and bedrock material as to describe the soil hydrological properties independently from their position in the landscape. In order to regionalize these classes, the tree based CART-Algorithm was used. This algorithm creates optimal classification trees based on a classified training sample and available parameters. The decision rules of these trees then served as basis for the derivation of soil maps that were created using the geographical information system ArcGIS 9.2. The accuracy of the regionalization was estimated using mathematical criteria as well as human expertise. Six to ten units proved to be a good number concerning the available data, but even then not all of them could be separated by CART. The performance of the CART algorithm is measured by the decrease of the misclassification error of an optimally pruned classification tree. In our study, the decrease of the misclassification reached 32 resp. 26% compared to a uniform classification of all data into the most frequent soil unit. The distributions of soil classes in the terminal nodes of the classification trees were useful for the interpretation of the soil units in the maps’ legends and also helped to identify typical soil patterns in the study area. According to these results, CART seems to be a suitable tool for regionalizing soil-related data, but human expertise is still needed to create plausible soil maps out of the information the CART algorithm provides.