Leaching of imidazolinones in soils under a clearfield system

Herbicides with high mobility can leach to deeper layers of the soil and to contaminate underground aquifers. The potential of herbicide leaching in soil can be monitored by chromatography or bioassay methods. This study evaluated the leaching of imazethapyr, imazapic and its commercial mixture (imazethapyr + imazapic) in three tropical soils via a bioassay method. The herbicides were applied in a polyvinyl chloride column and an 80 mm rainfall was simulated. The bioindicator species sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) BRS 655 was sown. Imazethapyr, imazapic and the commercial herbicide mixture showed high leaching in the soils. The presence of imazethapyr and the commercial mixture was detected up to 25 cm deep in Haplic Plinthosol and Oxisol. Imazapic showed less leaching to tree soil, being found at depth 10–15 cm. The pH, texture and iron oxide amount levels affected herbicide leaching. The mobility of the herbicides imazethapyr and imazapic in the Haplic Plinthosol and the Oxisol at depth 25 cm indicates a high risk of groundwater contamination.     

Prediction of meat quality traits in the abattoir using portable near-infrared spectrometers:heritability of predicted traits and genetic correlations with laboratory-measured traits

Background:The possibility of assessing meat quality traits over the meat chain is strongly limited, especially in the context of selective breeding which requi...     

Effects of Yeast Freezing in Frozen Dough

The effects of freezing and frozen storage of bread dough and compressed yeast on bread quality were studied. Besides, the effects of compressed yeast freezing on cell viability, gas production and release of substances by the yeast cells were examined. Freezing and frozen storage of dough made with fresh yeast had more negative effects on baking quality than the addition of frozen yeast to dough. When the compressed yeast is frozen and stored at ‐18°C, the CO₂ production decreased, while the amount of dead cells, the total protein, and the total reducing substances leached from the yeast increased as the length of yeast frozen storage increased. SDS‐PAGE showed that the substances leached from frozen yeast caused an increase in the solubility of some gluten proteins. On the other hand, size‐exclusion chromatography (SEC) pointed out that the relative amount of two protein fractions of low molecular weight leached from frozen yeast increased for longer yeast frozen storage periods. The yeast leachates had an adverse effect on loaf volume.