Explosion pulping of eucalyptus: a comparison with CTMP and CMP

Summary Explosion pulping results in strong pulp with breaking length at 100 ml CSF (Canadian standard freeness) higher than 6.5 kg and burst index approaching 4 KPa m²/g. The real advantage of eucalyptus explosion pulp over conventional CMP (chemical-mechanical pulp) and CTMP (chemical-thermo-mechanical pulp) is observed when the impregnation solution contains less than 2% NaOH along with 8% Na₂SO₃, and when the liquor/chips ratio equals 3. The strength of eucalyptus explosion pulp obtained by using a pretreatment solution consisting of 8% Na₂SO₃ and 1% NaOH is comparable with that of eucalyptus kraft pulp. The concentration of NaOH present in the pretreatment solution has a very important effect on the specific refining energy of eucalyptus explosion pulp as well as of CMP and CTMP. The explosion pulp obtained from eucalyptus pretreated with a solution containing an appropriate quantity of caustic along with Na₂SO₃ not only requires a minimum specific refining energy but also provides the highest strength values in comparison to that of CMP and CTMP.     

Agroforestry: a viable land use of alkali soils

A system of land use of alkaline wastelands of the Indo-Gangetic plain has been proposed consisting of planting Prosopis juliflora, a multi-purpose tree species, with the objectives of economic return as well as soil amelioration. Tree farming onalkaline wastelands provides not only fuel, fodder, timber and income to the rural population but also shows good effects in improving the soil characteristics. The detailed costs of such an agroforestry system on alkali soils have been worked out and the mean annual production of Prosopis juliflora on soils of different pH have been analysed. In spite of the high cost of establishing a plantation, an economic analysis of the system yields a 9.5% internal rate of return which is reasonably high for degraded lands of strongly alkali soils and also viable within the economic structure of the region.     

Genetic analysis of selected almond genotypes and cultivars grown in Turkey using peroxidase-gene-based markers

Peroxidase plays important roles in many stress-related interactions and catalyzes important reactions in various physiological processes. Since peroxidase played critical roles in the evolution of almond(Prunus dulcis Miller(D.A Webb) syn P. amygdalus Batsch), peroxidase-gene-based analyses may increase the understanding of evolution of this species. Peroxidase gene polymorphism(POGP) markers were used to determine genetic diversity and relationships among 69 Turkish genotypes/cultivars and 27 foreign almond cultivars by using unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean(UPGMA) analysis. This study is the first evaluation of the use of POGP markers for diversity analysis in almond.Totally, 83 fragments were obtained from eight peroxidase primer pairs, and polymorphism was identified as 94 %.Similarity level among the genotypes ranged between 0.63 and 0.93, and all materials were distinguished. In general,Turkish and foreign genotypes were mixed in clusters since they share a common genetic background and gene migration among the sites. Clusters were not based on geographic regions except for some minor groupings. This study indicated that peroxidase gene markers can be reliably used to determine genetic relationships in almonds.     

Bioactive constituents of Leptadenia arborea

The aerial part of Leptadenia arborea has been shown to contain pinoresinol (1), syringaresinol (2), leucanthemitol (3) and E-ferulaldehyde (4). These known compounds are being reported for the first time from this plant. Among them, syringaresinol has shown an inhibitory effect against acetylcholinesterase. The IC(50) (the concentration of 50% enzyme inhibition) value of this compound was 200 microg/ml.     

A new eudesmanolide from Crataegus flava fruits.

A new eudesmanolide, 1beta,9alpha-dihydroxyeudesm-3-en-5beta,6alpha,7alpha,11alphaH-12,6-olide (1), was isolated from Crataegus flava fruits. Its structure was determined by spectroscopic methods.     

A comparative study on stability and decay resistance of some environmentally friendly fire-retardant boron compounds

Environmental concern accelerated development of new wood preservatives having low mammalian toxicity in addition to high protective effectiveness. PHN 130 and PHN 130 G have been developed recently by KOHMIX Ltd. in Japan as environmentally safe, fire-proof boron containing compounds. Beyond their proved fire-proof properties, stability of loaded chemical in wood at humid service conditions and decay resistance are required to be known for effective and broad use of these compounds in wood preservation. Results indicated that PHN imparted complete decay resistance to wood against brown- and white-rot fungi Tyromyces palustris and Coriolus versicolor, respectively. Protection efficacy of PHN also continued despite severe weathering conditions provided that impregnation is done by an undiluted solution. PHN 130 G appeared more effective than PHN 130 in this respect. However, both compounds were leachable from treated wood regardless of retention level or physical restriction of water access into wood by compression.This revised version was published online in April 2005 with a corrected date of receipt of the article.

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Resistant Starch Content Is Related to Granule Size in Barley

Physical properties of resistant starch (RS) were examined in a range of barley genotypes to determine the contribution of starch and seed physical characteristics to the RS component. Thirty‐three barley genotypes were studied, which varied significantly in their RS, amylose, and starch contents and grain yield. From 33 genotypes, 13 exhibiting high RS were selected for detailed physicochemical analysis of starch. In high‐RS varieties, granule size and number were unimodal, compared with normal starches from a reference genotype, which showed a bimodal distribution. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that a higher content of granules <15 µm was positively correlated with RS and amylose content, whereas the proportion of granules 15–45 µm was negatively correlated with the RS and amylose contents. Physical fractionation of starches by centrifugation into different population sizes demonstrated that size alone is not an accurate indicator of the population of A‐type and B‐type granules within a given genotype. PCA also showed that large 15–45 µm granules were positively correlated with seed thickness and that thousand grain weight was positively correlated with seed width. High‐RS and high‐amylose genotypes showed variation in overall yield and starch content, with some genotypes showing yield comparable to the reference genotype. Analysis of amylopectin chain length distribution showed that high amylose or RS content was not associated with a higher proportion of amylopectin long chains when compared with either waxy or reference (normal) barley genotypes. This study highlights useful markers for screening barley genotypes with favorable starch characteristics.     

Labor- und Freilandversuche zur Bekämpfung von vier Blattlausarten mit zwei synthetischen Juvenilhormon-Analogen

Laboratory and field trials with two synthetic Juvenil Hormone Analogues on four Aphid species Two juvenile hormone analogues (JHA) were applied in laboratory in three different concentrations to four aphid species. Mortality-concentrations and mortality-time for the lowest concentration were plotted on logprobit paper and the slope calculated from the eye fitted lines. The results indicated the feasibility of probit analysis for concentration-mortality or time mortality responses. However in one of the aphid species i. e.Aphis gossypii, there was a lack of linearity in the relationship, this species proved to be tolerant to JHA in field trials. Both JHA supressed progeny production, the supression was found to be selective to different species. In field trials both JHA brought about appreciable reductions in the populations with the exception ofAphis gossypii. The colour ofH. arundinis was found to differ in adults insuing from treated nymphs, otherwise no remarkable morphonogenic changes were observed.     

Analgesic sesquiterpene dilactone from Mikania cordata.

The crude extract of Mikania cordata (1 and 3 g/kg, p.o.) and deoxymikanolide (1) (10 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly inhibited acetic acid-induced writhing in mice. Three other sesquiterpene dilactones isolated from the same plant, namely mikanolide, dihydromikanolide and scandenolide, did not show significant analgesic activity.     

Effects of supplementation with green tea by‐products on growth performance,meat quality,blood metabolites and immune cell proliferation in goats

Forty‐eight castrated male goats were used to determine the effects of feeding green tea by‐products (GTB) on growth performance, meat quality, blood metabolites and immune cell proliferation. Experimental treatments consisted of basal diets supplemented with four levels of GTB (0%, 0.5%, 1.0% or 2.0%). Four replicate pens were assigned to each treatment with three goats per replicate. Increasing dietary GTB tended to linearly increase the overall average weight gain and feed intake (p = 0.09). Water holding capacity, pH and sensory attributes of meat were not affected by GTB supplementation, while cooking loss was reduced both linearly and quadratically (p < 0.01). The redness (linear; p = 0.02, quadratic; p < 0.01) and yellowness (quadratic; p < 0.01) values of goat meat were improved by GTB supplementation. Increasing dietary GTB quadratically increased protein and decreased crude fat (p < 0.05), while linearly decreased cholesterol (p = 0.03) content of goat meat. The proportions of monounsaturated fatty acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and n‐6 PUFA increased linearly (p < 0.01) and n‐3 PUFA increased quadratically (p < 0.05) as GTB increased in diets. Increasing dietary GTB linearly increased the PUFA/SFA (saturated fatty acid) and tended to linearly and quadratically increase (p ≤ 0.10) the n‐6/n‐3 ratio. The thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances values of meat were lower in the 2.0% GTB‐supplemented group in all storage periods (p < 0.05). Dietary GTB linearly decreased plasma glucose and cholesterol (p < 0.01) and quadratically decreased urea nitrogen concentrations (p = 0.001). The growth of spleen cells incubated in concanavalin A and lipopolysaccharides medium increased significantly (p < 0.05) in response to GTB supplementation. Our results suggest that GTB may positively affect the growth performance, meat quality, blood metabolites and immune cell proliferation when supplemented as a feed additive in goat diet.