Evaluation of Different Cooking Conditions on Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) to Improve the Nutritional Value and Consumer Acceptance

The objective of this study was to gain insights into the effect of the cooking method on the liking as well as the retention of glucosinolates in broccoli. With this knowledge it can be concluded whether the health aspects of broccoli be improved by the cooking method without deteriorating sensory perception. For this, broccoli was cooked by methods commonly applied by consumers: boiling with a cold (water) start; boiling with a hot (water) start; and steaming. Firmness, greenness and amount of total glucosinolates in cooked broccoli were instrumentally determined. Sensory evaluation by untrained consumers (n?=?99) for liking and sensory attributes intensity rating were performed on broccoli cooked by steaming and boiling-cold start at three time points, which resulted in ‘high’, ‘medium’, ‘low’ firm broccoli samples. At the end of cooking, steaming showed an increase in the amount of total glucosinolates (+17 %). Boiling-hot start (?41 %) and boiling-cold start (?50 %) showed a decrease in amount of total glucosinolates. Sensory evaluation did not show statistically significant differences between steaming and boiling-cold start in liking at ‘high’ and ‘medium’ firmness; and in the attribute intensity ratings (except for juiciness at ‘medium’ firmness, and flavour at ‘medium’ and ‘low’ firmness). This study demonstrates that medium firm broccoli showed optimum liking and that steaming compared to boiled-cold start showed higher amount of glucosinolates. It is concluded that the health aspects of broccoli can be improved without reducing the sensory aspects by optimising the cooking method.     

Squeezed soil-pore solutes — A comparison to lysimeter samples and percolation experiments

This paper presents data on the chemical composition of soil pore fluids that have been obtained by a high-pressure squeezing technique and lysimeter sampling. Cation-exchange capacity has been calculated from cations extracted by a simple percolation method. All pore water concentrations are greatly influenced by the pH in solution. Most pore water concentrations do not simply parallel the corresponding mineralogical and chemical composition of the solids. The depth of the acidification front, as determined by analysis of samples obtained by percolation, is much better reflected in the chemical composition of the squeezed soil pore fluids than in the lysimeter samples. Distinct gradients are seen in Al concentration. In the B-horizons, concentrations of Al are close to the solubility of gibbsite. The pore water concentration profiles of Si and K apparently indicate dissolution of K-silicates, in particular K-feldspar. Contrary to the squeezed pore solutions the sulphate maximum concentration in the soil profile is not recorded by lysimeter samples. Mineral saturation indices show that pore solutions by squeezing are close to the saturation concentrations for K-jarosite and K-alunite. Sulphur-rich phases from the soil are compatible with mixtures of alunite jarosite, zaherite, basaluminite, and hydrobasaluminite. In the upper soil horizons the liquid/solid ratios [calculated as: concentration in solution (µg/ml) * solution fraction in solids (ml/g)/concentration in solids (µg/g)] increase in the order Ph < OC ≈ Zn < Cd and range from 10^?6 to 10^?3, indicating that Ph is most strongly held and still accumulates in the organic top soil. In the underlying deeper mineral horizons the ratios for Pb, Zn, and Cd decrease by one order of magnitude.     

Distribution and decomposition pattern of cutin and suberin in forest soils

The composition and decomposition pattern of cutin and suberin in forest soils have been determined by chemical degradation (transesterification) and subsequent gaschromatographic analysis. Cutin and suberin are mainly confined to the forest floor horizons. With increasing soil depth an increasing contribution of suberin due to root litter is observed.     

Molecular encapsulation of flavours as helical inclusion complexes of amylose

The formation of helical inclusion compounds of amylose with different typical flavour compounds was optimised. Maximal guest molecule contents between 5.7 and 10.4 wt% in the complex were obtained. This corresponds to segments of 8–16 anhydroglucose units in the amylose helix per included guest molecule. Contents of this order of magnitude approach the maximum content of guest molecules possible in the core of the amylose helix. A method for determining the association constants for complexing using headspace gas chromatography was applied. Constants ranging from K=29–1080 l/mol were obtained. The association constant with the same guest molecule is strongly dependent on the origin and the chain length of the amylose.Flavours with low boiling points such as hexanal (b.p. 128 °C) form complexes which are completely stable under freeze-drying conditions and show long-term stability. Flavour release was only observed at high temperatures (80 °C). On addition of water, guest molecules are quickly released but with water activities of a_w=0.3—as found in normal dry food—the complexes are stable at room temperature.Complexes with two or more guest molecules show a remarkable influence on complexing ability induced by the co-inclusion compounds. The overall content of guest molecules is lower compared to that obtained with individual flavour compounds.     

AN IN-VITRO SCREENING METHOD TO STUDY THE ACTIVITY POTENTIAL OF BIOFERTILIZERS BASED ON TRICHODERMA AND BACILLUS SP.

Little scientific information on efficiency of different commercial biofertilizers restricts setup of further reproducible pot or field experiments and hence, provides lack of evidence of biofertilizer application in plant growth promotion and disease suppression. In the present experiment, efficiency of four commercial Trichoderma and one Bacillus biofertilizer was screened by a bio-indicator plant, cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) under controlled laboratory conditions. Inoculation of cucumber seeds with different commercial biofertilizers significantly increased the germination rates (ca. 20–25%) and stimulated other growth parameters. In seedling establishment test, biofertilizers inoculated cucumber seedlings showed significant higher root dry weight (ca. 32 to 96%), leaf area (ca. 60 to 140%), root length (ca. 30%) and shoot dry weight (ca. 88%) in two weeks culture period compare to that of the control. Additionally, in-vitro antagonistic activity against take-all pathogen (Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici, Ggt) in wheat and phosphate solubilizing activity was demonstrated for Trichoderma biofertilizer. However, in-vitro solubilization of Mn was not detected. The results suggested that the potential activity of different commercial biofertilizers could be easily screened within several days with the described rapid bio-test by increasing seed germination, and improving growth and growth related parameters of cucumber grown in nutrient solution under controlled culture system.     

Das mineralinventar der versuchsfla¨che "statischer dauerdu¨ngungsversuch v120, bad lauchsta¨dt"

Der Statische Dauerdüngungsversuch Bad Lauchstädt ist einer der wenigen Schlüsselstandorte von internationalem Ruf innerhalb der Erforschung des Umsatzverhaltens organischer Bodensubstanz. Im Rahmen des Schwerpunktprogramms 1090 der DFG "Böden als Quelle und Senke für CO 2 --Mechanismen und Regulation der Stabilisierung organischer Substanz in Böden" wurde die Versuchsfläche als ein Referenzstandort ausgewählt. Die Interaktion von Bodenmineralen mit organischer Bodensubstanz könnte einer dieser Stabilisierungsprozesse sein, aber die bisher vorliegenden Informationen über den Mineralbestand der Versuchsfläche sind unvollständig und widersprüchlich. Um diese Mängel auszuräumen, haben wir den Mineralbestand einer 98 Jahre ungedüngten Variante ("18") und einer kontinuierlich gedüngten Variante ("1") bestimmt. Je Variante wurden 4 Unterproben aus Teilparzellen entnommen, um die flächige Heterogenität des Mineralkörpers zu prüfen. Neben Grunduntersuchungen (Texturanalyse, Bestimmung des pH-Wertes und der potentiellen Kationenaustauschkapazität [KAK pot ]) haben wir zur Kennzeichnung des Mineralbestandes die Röntgendiffraktometrieanalyse (XRD), die Röntgenfluoreszenzanalyse (XRF) und Gehaltsbestimmungen an pedogenen Oxiden durchgeführt. Für die Textur wurden signifikante (p<0.05) Differenzen festgestellt. Der Boden von Variante "18" enthielt 4% mehr Sand als jener von Variante "1", während der Schluffgehalt von Variante "18" um 3% kleiner war als in Variante "1". Weder der Mineralbestand, noch pH-Wert und KAK pot liefern für beide Varianten signifikant verschiedene Ergebnisse. Die Feinerde (<2 mm) beider Varianten enthält ca. 80% Quarz, 14% Feldspäte und 6% Glimmer/Illit. Der Mineralkörper der Tonfraktion (<2 µm) besteht zu ca. 77% aus Illit. Daneben sind Quarz (11%), Kaolinit (6%) und primärer Chlorit (6%) vorhanden. Aufweitbare Dreischichtsilikate wurden nicht nachgewiesen. Die Ergebnisse der Elementgehalte zeigen sehr geringe, aber zum Teil signifikante Unterschiede zwischen Variante "18" und Variante "1". Verschiedenen Publikationen zufolge führt langjährige K-Verarmung zur Transformation von Illiten zu aufweitbaren Dreischichtsilikaten. Keine von uns untersuchte Variante zeigte Anzeichen einer solchen Veränderung. Das Ausbleiben dieser Veränderungen wird von uns auf die K-Düngungspraxis der letzten 30 Jahre oder atmogene K-Einträge aus einem benachbarten Zementwerk zurückgeführt.     

Mapping of urban roadside trees – A case study in the tree register update process in Helsinki City

This case study describes a method for utilizing leaf-off airborne laser scanning (ALS) data for mapping characteristics of urban trees. ALS data were utilized to detect and update all street trees in the tree inventory of the City of Helsinki, Finland. The inventory consists of roughly 20,000 street trees with mean diameter at breast height (DBH) of 24 cm and mean height of 10.6 m. The large number of trees makes the manual updating process very laborious. The automatic mapping procedure presented in this paper detected 88.8% of all trees in the inventory. Tree height was predicted with root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.27 meters and tree DBH with RMSE of 6.9 cm. The presented method provides a practical and cost–effective tool for the mapping of urban tree characteristics. The cost–efficiency was further enhanced because the used ALS data were originally collected for other urban planning purposes.     

The “sun-effect”: microclimatic alterations predispose forest edges to bark beetle infestations

Bark beetle dispersal and host selection behaviour are a complex and poorly understood process, resulting in specific spatio-temporal infestation patterns in forests. Aerial images from the Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany) provide a high-resolution, that is, tree-scale data set for the period 2001–2010, including information about Ips typographus (Col., Curculio., Scolytinae) infestation, the application of sanitary logging, natural forest edges and the area of living spruce susceptible to bark beetle infestation. We combined methods of GIS and image analysis to investigate the infestation probabilities at three types of forest edges under spatial and temporal aspects and compared them to the corresponding probabilities at the stand interior. Our results showed a pronounced infestation predisposition of such edge trees delimiting infestation patches cleared by sanitary logging measures, in particular at the south-facing edge sector. In contrast, edges adjacent to non-cleared infestation were revealed as less attractive for subsequent infestations, but nonetheless more attractive than permanent forest edges or the stand interior. Additionally, we measured near-bark surface air temperature to determine microclimatic differences at those edge- or non-edge sites and related them to predisposition results. Finally, our study emphasized favourable microclimatic conditions—summarized as the “sun-effect”—as a decisive factor enhancing the local infestation probability at recent forest edges in multiple ways. Both insect- and host tree-related reactions to suddenly altered microclimate are supposed to bias arbitrary colonization behaviour at patch and tree level, thereby mainly explaining observed infestation patterns. From the forester’s point of view, our results may contribute to precise bark beetle risk assessment and thus facilitate decision making in forest management.     

Human impact on population structure and fruit production of the socio-economically important tree Lannea microcarpa in Burkina Faso

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are of high socio-economic value for rural people in West Africa. Main factors determining the status of the populations of socio-economically important tree species providing those NTFPs are human activities. This study assesses the impact of human population density, land use, and NTFP-harvesting (pruning and debarking) on population structure and fruit production of the socio-economically important tree Lannea microcarpa that is normally conserved by farmers on fields. We compared L. microcarpa stands of protected sites with those of their surrounding communal sites in two differently populated areas in Burkina Faso. Our results reveal an opposed land use impact on the population structure of L. microcarpa in the two areas. In the highly populated area, the species population was more stable in the protected site than in the communal site, while the opposite was observed for the less populated area. Trees of the communal sites bore more fruits than trees of the protected sites. Debarking and pruning had a negative impact on fruit production of the species. We conclude that low intensity of human impact is beneficial for the species and that indirect human impact facilitates fruit production of L. microcarpa. In contrast, in the densely populated area, human impact has reached an intensity that negatively affects the populations of L. microcarpa. While the extent of protecting L. microcarpa on fields still seems to be enough to guarantee the persistence of this important species in the less populated area, it is no longer sufficient in the densely populated area.