Extraction of light filth from whole peppermint leaves: collaborative study

Results are reported for a collaborative study of a method for the extraction of light filth from whole peppermint leaves. A 5 g sample is defatted with isopropanol in a simple reflux appartus. Rat hairs, insect fragments, and whole insects are isolated by wet sieving on a No. 230 sieve, a deaerating boil in 40% isopropanol solution, flotation with Tween 80-Na4EDTA (1 + 1) and mineral oil-heptane (85 + 15), and trappings in a Wildman trap flask. Average recoveries obtained by 6 collaborators for 3 spike levels of rat hairs (5, 10, 15) were 83.3, 87.5, and 82.2%, respectively. For whole insects (5, 10, 15) recoveries averaged 85.0, 80.0 and 77.2% respectively; for insect fragments (20, 30, 50) recoveries averaged 79.6, 88.3, and 84.8%, respectively. The average recoveries for the 3 levels of each analyte were not significantly different. The method has been adopted official first action.     

Improved spray reagent for thin layer chromatographic method for detecting uric acid: collaborative study

A collaborative study was conducted to validate the substitution of an improved single spray in the official AOAC thin layer chromatographic method for identifying uric acid (UA) from bird and insect excreta. The proposed reagent, which is a dilute aqueous solution of ferric chloride and potassium ferricyanide, requires neither a heating step nor a pH indicator. Its preparation time, specificity, and sensitivity to low levels (5-50 ng) of UA were compared with those of the official sprays. The improved spray took 1/5 as long to prepare as the official sprays. Neither the proposed spray nor the official sprays gave false positive reactions with compounds similar to UA. For bird and insect excreta samples, at the 95% confidence limits, the false negative rate was between 0 and 9.7% for the proposed spray and between 0.7 and 18.7% for the official sprays. Sensitivity results showed that the proportion positive for the proposed spray was significantly higher (P less than 0.05) than for the official sprays at the 15 ng UA level. The proposed changes have been adopted official first action.     

Testung und Vergleich verschiedener Methoden zur Beurteilung des N-Ernährungszustandes von Winterweizenbeständen

Test and comparison of different nitrogen status indicators of winter wheat crops Six methods of N diagnosis were tested and compared regarding practicability and accuracy of predicted fertilizer requirements in three years of winter wheat experiments at Bernburg Chernozem site. Plant analysis for total N in shoot dry matter as well as the quick tests for nitrate in the stem (with diphenylamino sulphuric acid and with indicator strips, respectively) partly indicated considerable N demand and gave recommendations for fertilizer doses, which were not transformed into grain yield during the dry weather conditions of the experimental years. Besides, the comparison of both quick tests showed unsatisfactory agreement. Values from the test with indicator strips were less accurate. The reflectance (at 550 nm wave length) of detached youngest leaves was correlated with N content in the shoot dry matter. Visual evaluation of leaves, using colour charts, did not give the expected results. In field measurements of crop reflectance the near infrared waveband and the calculated “Ratio Vegetation Index” showed to be particularly sensitive.     

Extraction of light filth from canned green leafy vegetables: collaborative study.

The official first action method, 44.108, for the extraction of light filth from whole or chopped canned greens specifies a water-heptane flotation that results in the flotation of an excessive amount of interfering plant material and in low recoveries. A new method has been developed using a 40% isopropanol-water-mineral oil flotation. The new method yielded a decreased amount of plant material and 84.9% recovery of the aphid spike compared with 42.5% recovery of the spike by the official method. The new method has been adopted as official first action to replace the existing method, except for broccoli.     

Improved reagent for detection of allantoin in thin-layer chromatographic method for urine stains on foods and packaging

Ten detection reagents known to react with either primary amine groups or indole derivatives were tested to improve sensitivity for allantoin (ALN) and indican (IND) in the official AOAC thin-layer chromatographic method for urine metabolites (44.175-44.177). The lowest levels found using the official method were 500 ng ALN and 6 ng IND. The best reagent was p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (pDMAC), which yielded intensely colored spots with both compounds. The lowest amounts consistently found were 125 ng ALN and 13 ng IND. pDMAC was also used as an overspray for ALN after the spray specified in the official method, p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (pDMAB), was applied. This resulted in a detection limit of 250 ng. The overspray procedure was incompatible with IND detection, but provided an easy way to gain slightly greater sensitivity for ALN when use of pDMAB gave negative or borderline results. The combined use of pDMAC for ALN, and the official sprays (pDMAB and sodium acetate) for IND, maximized sensitivity for both compounds.     

First results from the large probe infrared radiometer experiment

During the descent to the surface of Venus, the large probe infrared radiometer measured the net thermal radiative flux in several spectral bandpasses. Preliminary analysis has permitted us to estimate (i) the infrared extinction coefficient profile attributable to aerosols, with respect to their visible profile, in the upper atmosphere of Venus and (ii) the water vapor mixing ratio below the clouds. An indication of the composition of a multicomponent cloud is seen in the data from the spectral bandpass from 6 to 7 micrometers.     

Nature of the ultraviolet absorber in the venus clouds: inferences based on pioneer venus data

Several photometric measurements of Venus made from the Pioneer Venus orbiter and probes indicate that solar near-ultraviolet radiation is being absorbed throughout much of the main cloud region, but little above the clouds or within the first one or two optical depths. Radiative transfer calculations were carried out to simulate both Pioneer Venus and ground-based data for a number of proposed cloud compositions. This comparison rules out models invoking nitrogen dioxide, meteoritic material, and volatile metals as the source of the ultraviolet absorption. Models involving either small ( approximately 1 micrometer) or large ( approximately 10 micrometers) sulfur particles have some serious difficulties, while ones invoking sulfur dioxide gas appear to be promising.