Aflatoxins (AFs) are secondary metabolites toxic to humans as well as animals. The environmental conditions, conventional agricultural practices, and illiteracy are the main factors which favor the production of AFs in food and feed. In the current study 744 samples of vegetable seeds and oils (soybean, sunflower, canola, olive, corn, and mustard) were collected and tested for the presence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and total AFs. Liquid-liquid extraction was employed for the extraction of AFs from seeds and oil samples. Reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography equipped with fluorescence detection was used for the analysis. The results have shown that 92 (56.7%) samples of imported and 108 (57.0%) samples of local edible seeds were observed to be contaminated with AFs. All samples of edible seeds have AFB1 levels greater than the proposed limit set by the European Union (EU, 2 µg/kg) and 12 (7.40%) samples of imported seeds and 14 (7.40%) samples of local seeds were found in the range ≥ 50 µg/kg. About 78 (43.3%) samples of imported edible oil and 103 (48.3%) sample of local edible oil were observed to be positive for AFs. Furthermore, 16 (8.88%) and six (3.33%) samples of imported vegetable oil have levels of total AFs in a range (21-50 µg/kg) and greater than 50 µg/kg, respectively. The findings indicate significant differences in AFs levels between imported and local vegetable oil samples (t = 22.27 and p = 0.009) at α = 0.05 and a significant difference in AFs levels were found between vegetable seeds and oil samples (t = -17.75, p = 0.009) at α = 0.05. The highest dietary intake was found for a local sunflower oil sample (0.90 µg/kg/day) in female individuals (16-22 age group). The results have shown considerably high levels of AFB1 and total AFs in seeds and oil samples and emphasise the need to monitor carefully the levels of these toxic substances in food and feed on regular basis.
Molecular characterization of oil palm germplasm is crucial in utilizing and conserving germplasm with promising traits. This study was conducted to evaluate the genetic diversity structures and relationships among 26 families of MPOB-Senegal oil palm germplasm using thirty-five microsatellite markers. High level of polymorphism (P = 96.26%), number of effective allele (N e = 2.653), observed heterozygosity (H o = 0.584), expected heterozygosity (H e = 0.550), total heterozygosity (H T = 0.666), and rare alleles (54) were observed which indicates that MPOB-Senegal germplasm has a broad genetic variation. Among the SSR markers, sMo00053 and sMg00133 were the most informative markers for discrimination among the MPOB-Senegal oil palm germplasm for having the highest private alleles and the rare alleles. For selection and conservation, oil palm populations with high rare alleles and Nei's gene diversity index should be considered as these populations may possess unique genes for further exploitation.
Conyza sumatrensis (Retz.) E. H. Walker is an obnoxious weed, emerging as an invasive species globally. Seed germination biology of four populations of the species stemming from arid, semi-arid, temperate, and humid regions was determined in this study. Seed germination was recorded under six different environmental cues (i.e., light/dark periods, constant and alternating day and night temperatures, pH, salinity, and osmotic potential levels) in separate experiment for each cue. Populations were main factor, whereas levels of each environmental cue were considered as sub-factor. The impact of seed burial depths on seedling emergence was inferred in a greenhouse pot experiment. Seed germination was recorded daily and four germination indices, i.e., seed germination percentage, mean germination time, time to reach 50% germination, and mean daily germination were computed. Tested populations and levels of different environmental cues had significant impact on various seed germination indices. Overall, seeds stemming from arid and semi-arid regions had higher seed germination potential under stressful and benign environmental conditions compared to temperate and humid populations. Seed of all populations required a definite light period for germination and 12 hours alternating light and dark period resulted in the highest seed germination. Seed germination of all populations occurred under 5-30°C constant and all tested alternate day and night temperatures. However, the highest seed germination was recorded under 20°C. Seeds of arid and semi-arid populations exhibited higher germination under increased temperature, salinity and osmotic potential levels indicating that maternal environment strongly affected germination traits of the tested populations. The highest seed germination of the tested populations was noted under neutral pH, while higher and lower pH than neutral had negative impact on seed germination. Arid and semi-arid populations exhibited higher seed germination under increased pH compared to temperate and humid populations. Seed burial depth had a significant effect on the seedling emergence of all tested populations. An initial increase was noted in seedling emergence percentage with increasing soil depth. However, a steep decline was recorded after 2 cm seed burial depth. These results indicate that maternal environment strongly mediates germination traits of different populations. Lower emergence from >4 cm seed burial depth warrants that deep burial of seeds and subsequent zero or minimum soil disturbance could aid the management of the species in agricultural habitats. However, management strategies should be developed for other habitats to halt the spread of the species.
Adsorption capacity of an agricultural waste, palm-tree fruit stones (date stones), for phenolic compounds such as phenol (Ph) and p-nitro phenol (PNPh) at different temperatures was investigated. The characteristics of such waste biomass were determined and found to have a surface area and iodine number of 495.71 m2/g and 475.88 mg/g, respectively. The effects of pH (2-12), adsorbent dose (0.6-0.8 g/L) and contact time (0-150 min) on the adsorptive removal process were studied. Maximum removal percentages of 89.95% and 92.11% were achieved for Ph and PNPh, respectively. Experimental equilibrium data for adsorption of both components were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich and Tempkin isotherm models. The results show that the best fit was achieved with the Langmuir isotherm equation with maximum adsorption capacities of 132.37 and 161.44 mg/g for Ph and PNPh, respectively. The kinetic data were fitted to pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and intraparticle diffusion models, and was found to follow closely the pseudo-second order model for both components. The calculated thermodynamic parameters, namely ΔG, ΔH, and ΔS showed that adsorption of Ph and PNPh was spontaneous and endothermic under examined conditions.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of different purification and drying methods on the viscoelastic behaviour and rheological properties of durian seed gum. The results indicated that the purified gum A (using isopropanol and ethanol) and D (using hydrochloric acid and ethanol) showed the highest and lowest viscosity, respectively. Four drying techniques included oven drying (105 °C), freeze drying, spray drying and vacuum oven drying. In the present work, all purified gums exhibited more elastic (gel-like) behaviour than the viscous (liquid-like) behaviour (G″
Durian seed is an agricultural biomass waste of durian fruit. It can be a natural plant source of non-starch polysaccharide gum with potential functional properties. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the effect of chemical extraction variables (i.e., the decolouring time, soaking temperature and soaking time) on the physicochemical properties of durian seed gum. The physicochemical and functional properties of chemically-extracted durian seed gum were assessed by determining the particle size and distribution, solubility and the water- and oil-holding capacity (WHC and OHC). The present work revealed that the soaking time should be considered as the most critical extraction variable affecting the physicochemical properties of crude durian seed gum.
The risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is increased tremendously among menopausal women, and there is an increasing demand for alternative therapies for managing factors like dyslipidemia that contribute to CVD development.
A limited backcross procedure was utilized to introgress genes associated with grain quality traits from Oryza rufipogon (Accession No. IRGC 105491), a wild rice from Malaysia, to the cultivated rice O. sativa cv. MR219, a popular high yielding Malaysian rice cultivar. A set of 10 BC(2)F(7) progenies were selected based on the field performance and phenotypic appearance in BC(2)F(5) and BC(2)F(6) generations, which initially started with 266 progenies in the BC(2)F(2) generation. These 10 advanced breeding lines are similar to each other but differ in several important grain quality traits, which can be traced to O. rufipogon introgressions. Phenotyping and genotyping of BC(2)F(7) variants were considered for QTL analysis. The introgressed lines did not show any significant changes compared to the recurrent parent MR219 for the traits grain density and milled rice percentage. All 10 progenies showed significantly higher head rice percentages (70-88%) than the recurrent parent MR219. Variants G13 and G15 had higher amylose contents than MR219. All variants were analyzed using polymorphic SSR markers. Of the 34 SSR markers, only 18 showed introgression from O. rufipogon for chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, and 11. Graphical genotypes were prepared for each variant, and association between the introgression regions and the traits that increased grain quality was visualized. Based on marker trait association, some of the QTLs are stable across environments and genetic backgrounds and could be used universally.
With increasing public health awareness worldwide, demand for functional food with multiple health benefits has also increased. The use of medicinal food from folk medicine to prevent diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular problems is now gaining momentum among the public. Seed from Salvia hispanica L. or more commonly known as chia is a traditional food in central and southern America. Currently, it is widely consumed for various health benefits especially in maintaining healthy serum lipid level. This effect is contributed by the presence of phenolic acid and omega 3/6 oil in the chia seed. Although the presence of active ingredients in chia seed warrants its health benefits, however, the safety and efficacy of this medicinal food or natural product need to be validated by scientific research. In vivo and clinical studies on the safety and efficacy of chia seed are still limited. This paper covers the up-to-date research on the identified active ingredients, methods for oil extraction, and in vivo and human trials on the health benefit of chia seed, and its current market potential.
The feasibility of using papaya seeds (PS), abundantly available waste in Malaysia, for the cationic dye (methylene blue) adsorption has been investigated. Batch adsorption studies were conducted to study the effects of contact time, initial concentration (50-360 mg/L), pH (3-10) and adsorbent dose (0.05-1.00 g) on the removal of methylene blue (MB) at temperature of 30 degrees C. The equilibrium data were analyzed by the Langmuir, the Freundlich and the Temkin isotherms. The data fitted well with the Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 555.557 mg/g. The pseudo-second-order kinetics was the best for the adsorption of MB by PS with good correlation. The results demonstrated that the PS is very effective to remove methylene blue from aqueous solutions.
The mating system and seed variation of Acacia hybrid (A. mangium x A. auriculiformis) were studied using allozymes and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers, respectively. Multi-locus outcrossing rate estimations indicated that the hybrid was predominantly outcrossed (mean+/- s.e. t(m) = 0.86+/-0.01). Seed variation was investigated using 35 polymorphic RAPD fragments. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed the highest genetic variation among seeds within a pod (66%-70%), followed by among pods within inflorescence (29%-37%), and the least variation among inflorescences within tree (1%). In addition, two to four RAPD profiles could be detected among seeds within pod. Therefore, the results suggest that a maximum of four seeds per pod could be sampled for the establishment of a mapping population for further studies.
This study was to characterize the seed fat from Madhuca longifolia known as Mee fat and its solid and liquid fractions with the objective of distinguishing them. A sample of Mee fat was partitioned into solid and liquid fractions using acetone as the solvent medium. The isolated fractions were compared to the native Mee fat sample with respect to various physico-chemical parameters using standard chemical methods as well as instrumental techniques such as, gas liquid chromatography (GLC), reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Basic analyses indicated that there were wide variations between the native sample and its fractions with respect to iodine value (IV), and slip melting point (SMP). The cloud point (CP) of the liquid fraction was found to be 10.5 degrees C. Fatty acid compositional analyses showed that the proportion of saturated fatty acids (SFA) such as palmitic and stearic went up in the high-melting fraction (HMF) while in low-melting fraction (LMF) the proportion of unsaturated fatty acid (USFA) such as oleic and lenoleic increased. According to the HPLC analyses, Mee fat had a tiacyl glycerol (TAG) sequence similar to that of palm oil. After fractionation, the solid and liquid fractions obtained were found to have TAG profiles very much different from the native sample. Thermal analyses by DSC showed that Mee fat had two-widely separated high and low melting thermal transitions, a feature which was beneficial for the effective separation of solid and liquid fractions. The thermal profiles displayed by the fractions were clearly distinguishable from that of the native sample.
In this work, pumpkin seed hull (PSH), an agricultural solid waste, is proposed as a novel material for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The effects of the initial concentration, agitation time and solution pH were studied in batch experiments at 30 degrees C. The equilibrium process was described well by the multilayer adsorption isotherm. The adsorption kinetics can be predicted by the pseudo-first-order and the modified pseudo-first-order models. The mechanism of adsorption was also studied. It was found that for a short time period the rate of adsorption is controlled by film diffusion. However, at longer adsorption times, pore-diffusion controls the rate of adsorption. Pore diffusion takes place in two distinct regimes, corresponding to diffusion in macro- and mesopores. The results demonstrate that the PSH is very effective in the removal of MB from aqueous solutions.
Fusarium is one of the most important pathogenic and toxigenic fungi widely distributed all over the world, including Iran. Fusarium species are found frequently in stored agriculture products especially wheat. The objective of this study was to identify Fusarium species associated with stored wheat seeds and their pathogenicity on root and head of wheat in Kermanshah, the leading province in wheat production in Iran. In this survey 75 seed samples of stored wheat were collected from 10 different regions during 2006-2008 and tested for the presence of Fusarium. Fusarium spp. were found in 51 (68%) of 75 samples. A total of 580 Fusarium strains were isolated, identified and preserved. All these strains belong to 20 Fusarium spp. according to morphological characters. Each conidial suspension of selected strains representing all species was evaluated for their pathogenicity on roots and spikes of healthy wheat var. Fallat in the greenhouse. F. graminearum, F. crookwellense, F. trichothecioides, F. culmorum and F. verticillioides were the most pathogenic to wheat's head. Foot rot assessment revealed that F. pseudograminearum and F. culmorum were the most damaging species. Of the Fusarium isolates, F. graminearum was the most prevalent followed by F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum. This is the first comprehensive report on identity and distribution of Fusarium spp. from stored wheat seeds in Iran while F. nelsonii was reported for the first time from wheat seeds in Iran.
Phosphoric acid (H(3)PO(4)) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treated rice husks, followed by carbonization in a flowing nitrogen were used to study the adsorption of malachite green (MG) in aqueous solution. The effect of adsorption on contact time, concentration of MG and adsorbent dosage of the samples treated or carbonized at different temperatures were investigated. The results reveal that the optimum carbonization temperature is 500 degrees C in order to obtain adsorption capacity that is comparable to the commercial activated carbon for the husks treated by H(3)PO(4). It is interesting to note that MG adsorbed preferably on carbon-rich than on silica rich-sites. It is found that the behaviour of H(3)PO(4) treated absorbent followed both the Langmuir and Freundlich models while NaOH treated best fitted to only the Langmuir model.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the basis of the optimal hydration status for cryopreservation of intermediate oily seeds using Citrus as a model.
The D-optimal mixture experimental design was employed to optimize the melting point of natural lipstick based on pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) seed oil. The influence of the main lipstick components-pitaya seed oil (10%-25% w/w), virgin coconut oil (25%-45% w/w), beeswax (5%-25% w/w), candelilla wax (1%-5% w/w) and carnauba wax (1%-5% w/w)-were investigated with respect to the melting point properties of the lipstick formulation. The D-optimal mixture experimental design was applied to optimize the properties of lipstick by focusing on the melting point with respect to the above influencing components. The D-optimal mixture design analysis showed that the variation in the response (melting point) could be depicted as a quadratic function of the main components of the lipstick. The best combination of each significant factor determined by the D-optimal mixture design was established to be pitaya seed oil (25% w/w), virgin coconut oil (37% w/w), beeswax (17% w/w), candelilla wax (2% w/w) and carnauba wax (2% w/w). With respect to these factors, the 46.0 °C melting point property was observed experimentally, similar to the theoretical prediction of 46.5 °C. Carnauba wax is the most influential factor on this response (melting point) with its function being with respect to heat endurance. The quadratic polynomial model sufficiently fit the experimental data.
In the present study, we have reported a simple, fast and efficient regeneration protocol using mature embryos as explants, and discovered its effective applicability to a range of Indica rice genotypes. We have considered the response of six varieties in the steps of the regeneration procedure. The results showed that calli were variably developed from the scutellar region of seeds and visible within 6-20 days. The highest and lowest calli induction frequency (70% and 51.66%) and number of induced calli from seeds (14 and 10.33) were observed in MR269 and MRQ74, respectively. The maximum and minimum number (7.66 and 4) and frequency of embryogenic calli (38.33% and 20%) were recorded in MR219 and MRQ74, respectively. However, the highest browning rate was observed in MR84 (87%) and the lowest rate in MRQ50 (46%). The majority of plants regenerated from embryogenic calli were obtained from MRQ50 (54%) and the minimum number of plants from MR84. In this study, the maximum numbers of plantlets were regenerated from the varieties with highest rate of embryogenic calli. Also, various varieties, including MRQ50, MR269, MR276 and MR219, were satisfactorily responding, while MRQ74 and MR84 weakly responded to the procedure. Such a simple, successful and generalized method possesses the potential to become an important tool for crop improvement and functional studies of genes in rice as a model monocot plant.
Although the role of primates in seed dispersal is generally well recognized, this is not the case for colobines, which are widely distributed in Asian and African tropical forests. Colobines consume leaves, seeds and fruits, usually unripe. A group of proboscis monkeys (Colobinae, Nasalis larvatus) consisting of 1 alpha-male, 6 adult females and several immatures, was observed from May 2005 to May 2006. A total of 400 fecal samples from focal group members covering 13 months were examined, with over 3500 h of focal observation data on the group members in a forest along the Menanggul River, Sabah, Malaysia. Intact small seeds were only found in 23 of 71 samples in Nov 2005, 15 of 38 in Dec 2005 and 5 of 21 in Mar 2006. Seeds of Ficus (all <1.5 mm in length) were found in all 3 months and seeds from Antidesma thwaitesianum (all <3 mm) and Nauclea subdita (all <2 mm) only in Nov and Dec, which was consistent with members of the study group consuming fruits of these species mostly at these times. To our knowledge, these are the first records of seeds in the fecal samples of colobines. Even if colobines pass relatively few seeds intact, their high abundance and biomass could make them quantitatively significant in seed dispersal. The potential role of colobines as seed dispersers should be considered by colobine researchers.
This paper deals with the conjugation of durian seed gum (DSG) with whey protein isolate (WPI) through Maillard reactions. Subsequently, the functional properties of durian seed gum in the non-conjugated (control sample) and conjugated forms were compared with several commercial gums (i.e., Arabic gum, sodium alginate, kappa carrageenan, guar gum, and pectin). The current study revealed that the conjugation of durian seed gum with whey protein isolate significantly (p < 0.05) improved its foaming properties. In this study, the conjugated durian seed gum produced the most stable foam among all samples. On the other hand, the emulsion stabilized with the conjugated durian seed gum also showed more uniform particles with a larger specific surface area than the emulsion containing the non-conjugated durian seed gum. The conjugated durian seed gum showed significant different foaming properties, specific surface area, particle uniformity and water holding capacity (WHC) as compared to the target polysaccharide gums. The conjugated durian seed gum showed more similar functional properties to Arabic gum rather than other studied gums.