Gelatinizing,Pasting, and Gelling Properties of Potato and Amaranth Starch Mixtures

Physicochemical properties of mixtures of native potato and native amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus), heat‐moisture treated (HMT) potato and heat‐moisture treated amaranth, cross‐linked potato and cross‐linked amaranth, native potato and heat‐moisture treated amaranth, and heat‐moisture treated potato, and native amaranth were tested at different ratios. Two peaks were noticed in the pasting curves when large differences of swelling factor and amylose leaching existed between individual components in the mixture. It seems that amylose leaching from one starch in a mixture may affect the swelling and much of the granular break down of the other. The mixtures showed stabilities in hot pastes that were higher than the less stable components in a mixture. Some mixtures such as HMT potato and native amaranth showed very specific nonadditive pasting behavior. Mixing 10% of native amaranth to HMT potato starch caused a large reduction of peak viscosity and cold paste viscosity, resulting in a very soft gel. In the differential scanning calorimeter, each component of a mixture gelatinized independently, showing two peaks corresponding to the individual components. When transition temperatures of both components were similar in DSC, the result was a single endotherm. Dramatic changes of pasting and subsequent gel properties resulted when thermal transition of the two components occurred in the same temperature range. Retrogradation enthalpies as measured by DSC were between the two individual components in all tested mixtures.     

Establishment of Prosopis cineraria (L.) druce in the hot deserts of India

Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce, commonly known as Jandi, is a deep rooted, nitrogen fixing, multipurpose tree endemic to the hot deserts of India. These trees are the essential component of the agroforestry land use system in these parts of India. The shade-intolerant tree reproduces poorly in nature and is difficult to propagate vegetatively. Germination up to 86.6% was observed after 15 days in seeds soaked in water at room temperature for 72 h. In another treatment, pouring of boiling water twice (at 0 and 6 h) over seeds and germinating after 12 h produced germination rates of 92.6%. Field establishment of containerized transplants in polythene bags (22×10 cm; 150 gauge) gave 90.3% survival after 6 months and 75.4% survival after 24 months. Seedlings were irrigated once during transplanting with 15 1 water. Bare root transplants and manual direct seeding after 6 months had a survival of 30.8 and 45.0%, respectively. Increased levels of nutrients (N, P and K), moisture content and organic carbon were observed under plantations as compared to open areas.     

Bacteriological and Molecular Detection of Streptococcus equi subsp. equi and Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus in Equines of Northern India

Present study was undertaken to study the prevalence of β-haemolytic streptococci in equine of northern temperate region of Jammu and Kashmir, India. One hundred and forty one samples were collected in duplicate from nasopharyngeal tract of diseased (53) and apparently healthy equine (88) for isolation and direct PCR. A total of 77 isolates of streptococci were recovered from 141 samples with an overall prevalence rate of 54.60%. Out of these 77 isolates, 52 were from diseased and 25 from apparently healthy animals. Of the 77 isolates, 4 were identified as Streptococcus equi subsp. equi, 56 as S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus and 17 as S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis. Thus the overall prevalence of S. equi subsp. equi, S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus and S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis was 2.83, 39.71 and 12.05% respectively. The sensitivity of the PCR for the detection of S. equi species was found higher when attempted from direct swab samples.     

Landscape-scale modelling of agroforestry ecosystems services in Swiss orchards: a methodological approach

Context

Agroforestry systems in temperate Europe are known to provide both, provisioning and regulating ecosystem services (ES). Yet, it is poorly understood how these systems affect ES provision at a landscape scale in contrast to agricultural practises.

Objectives

This study aimed at developing a novel, spatially explicit model to assess and quantify bundles of provisioning and regulating ES provided by landscapes with and without agroforestry systems and to test the hypothesis that agroforestry landscapes provide higher amounts of regulating ES than landscapes dominated by monocropping.

Methods

Focussing on ES that are relevant for agroforestry and agricultural practices, we selected six provisioning and regulating ES—“biomass production”, “groundwater recharge”, “nutrient retention”, “soil preservation”, “carbon storage”, “habitat and gene pool protection”. Algorithms for quantifying these services were identified, tested, adapted, and applied in a traditional cherry orchard landscape in Switzerland, as a case study. Eight landscape test sites of 1 km?×?1 km, four dominated by agroforestry and four dominated by agriculture, were mapped and used as baseline for the model.

Results

We found that the provisioning ES, namely the annual biomass yield, was higher in landscape test sites with agriculture, while the regulating ES were better represented in landscape test sites with agroforestry. The differences were found to be statistically significant for the indicators annual biomass yield, groundwater recharge rate, nitrate leaching, annual carbon sequestration, flowering resources, and share of semi-natural habitats.

Conclusions

This approach provides an example for spatially explicit quantification of provisioning and regulating ES and is suitable for comparing different land use scenarii at landscape scale.

     

Frequent human‐poultry interactions and low prevalence of Salmonella in backyard chicken flocks in Massachusetts

The backyard chicken (BYC) movement in the USA has increased human contact with poultry and subsequently, human contact with the pathogen Salmonella. However, to date, there have been few studies assessing prevalence of Salmonella in backyard flocks, despite the known public health risk this zoonotic bacterium poses. The objective of this study was to characterize human‐BYC interactions and assess the prevalence of Salmonella among BYC flocks. We interviewed 50 BYC owners using a structured questionnaire to determine flock and household characteristics that facilitate contact with BYC and that may be associated with Salmonella in the BYC environment. Composite faecal material, cloacal swabs and dust samples from 53 flocks housed on 50 residential properties in the Greater Boston, Massachusetts area were tested for Salmonella using standard culture techniques and confirmed using Matrix‐Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization‐Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer. Microbroth dilution and whole genome sequencing were used to determine phenotypic and genotypic resistance profiles, respectively, and sequence results were used to determine multilocus sequencing type. No owners self‐reported a diagnosis of salmonellosis in the household. Over 75% of a subset of owners reported that they and their children consider BYC pets. This perception is evident in how owners reported interacting with their birds. Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serotype Kentucky ST152 (serogroup C)—a strain not commonly associated with human infection—was confirmed in one flock, or 2% of tested flocks, and demonstrated resistance to tetracycline and streptomycin. We detected Salmonella at low prevalence in BYC. Further study of the health effects of exposure to zoonotic gastrointestinal pathogens such as Salmonella among families with BYC is warranted.     

Vaginal myxoma in a Kathiawari horse

This case report describes a rare case of vaginal myxoma in a Kathiawari mare. The tumour, located on the left lateral vaginal wall, measured approximately 20 cm in diameter and resulted in dysuria, inappetance and loss of condition of the animal. Surgical enucleation of the tumour via a vaginal approach resulted in uneventful recovery of the horse. Based on the gross and histopathological observations, the tumour was diagnosed as a myxoma.     

Rice Bran Oil: Emerging Trends in Extraction,Health Benefit,and Its Industrial Application

Rice bran oil(RBO) is unique among edible vegetable oils because of its unique fatty acid composition, phenolic compound(γ-oryzanol, ferulic acid) and vitamin E(tocopherol and tocotrienol). It has become a great choice of cooking oil because of its very high burning point, neutral taste and delicate flavour. Non-conventional methods of RBO extraction are more efficient and environmentally friendly than conventional extraction methods. Advances in RBO extraction using innovative extraction strategies like super/sub-critical CO_2, microwave-assisted, subcritical H_2 O, enzyme-assisted aqueous and ultrasoundassisted aqueous extraction methods have proven to significantly improve the yields along with improved nutritional profile of RBO. The compositions and strategies for stabilization of RBO are well discussed. The constituents are present in the RBO contribute to antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antidiabetic and anti-cancerous properties to RBO. This has helped RBO to become an important substrate for the application in food(cooking oil, milk product and meat product) and non-food industries(polymer, lubricant, biofuel, structural lipid and cosmetic). This review provided comprehensive information on RBO extraction methods, oil stabilization, existing applications and health benefits.     

Microsatellite marker based analysis of genetic diversity in short day tropical Indian onion and cross amplification in related <Emphasis Type="Italic">Allium</Emphasis> spp.

This paper deals with the diversity assessment of tropical Indian onion and cross amplification of genomic and EST-SSR markers in distantly related native wild species. Out of 60 SSRs, 10% genomic SSRs were able to amplify as compared to EST-SSR where 53.3% primers were able to reveal amplicons. Clustering revealed five groups and indigenous short day onion formed separate cluster from the exotic short day and long day onions. A. roylei accessions exhibited a dissimilarity index of 35.5% between themselves whereas ‘Pran’ and A. × proliferum grouped together at a genetic distance of 0.4. A. fistulosum accessions formed a tight cluster and distantly related wild species A. carolinianum, A. chinense and A. hookeri formed neutral nodes. Present results are important to aid in analyzing the diversity present in short day onion and its utilization in breeding programs. Further, this is the first time that three accessions of A. roylei Stearn were used and rare alleles amplified in wild species will aid in detecting population structure and molecular marker aided selection for interspecific hybrid development.