Heavy metal pollution in drinking water - a global risk for human health: A review

Water resources in the world have been profoundly influenced over the last years by human activities, whereby the world is currently facing critical water supply and drinking water quality problems. In many parts of the world heavy metal (HM) concentrations in drinking water are higher than some international guideline values. Discussing about the HM pollution in drinking water, the incorporation of them into the food chain, and their implications as a global risk for the human health, are the objectives of this review. It is known that there are million people with chronic HM poisoning which has become a worldwide public health issue, while 1.6 million children die each year from diseases for which contaminated drinking water is a leading cause. There is also evidence of HM in drinking water that are responsible for causing adverse effect on human health through food chain contamination. A global effort to offering affordable and healthy drinking water most to be launched throughout the world, while various laws and regulations to protect and improve the utilization of drinking water resources should be updated or created throughout the world, including the low income countries; otherwise, the problem of HM-polluted drinking water will be growing because demand for drinking water is still growing such as this problem will become even more pressing in the future. Finally, notwithstanding, additional researches are necessaries about the correlation between HM concentration in drinking water and human diseases, while the development of robust, cheap and sustainable technologies to improve the drinking water quality is necessary.Key words: Groundwater, aquifer, water quality, water pollution, microorganism, water supply, microbial communities, food chain, disease

Yeasts associated with the production of distilled alcoholic beverages

Distilled alcoholic beverages are produced firstly by fermenting sugars emanating from cereal starches (in the case of whiskies), sucrose-rich plants (in the case of rums), fructooligosaccharide-rich plants (in the case of tequila) or from fruits (in the case of brandies). Traditionally, such fermentations were conducted in a spontaneous fashion, relying on indigenous microbiota, including wild yeasts. In modern practices, selected strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are employed to produce high levels of ethanol together with numerous secondary metabolites (eg. higher alcohols, esters, carbonyls etc.) which greatly influence the final flavour and aroma characteristics of spirits following distillation of the fermented wash. Therefore, distillers, like winemakers, must carefully choose their yeast strain which will be very important in providing the alcohol content and the sensory profiles of spirit beverages. This Chapter discusses yeast and fermentation aspects associated with the production of selected distilled spirits and highlights similarities and differences with the production of wine

Evaluation of three varieties of Buffel grass, in the North of Tamaulipas

Objective: To evaluate the vegetative, reproductive, production, and forage quality characteristics of three Buffel grass varieties from northern Tamaulipas. Design/Methodology/Approach: A pot trial was established under open field conditions, at CERIB-CIRNE-INIFAP in Río Bravo, Tamaulipas, on 04/15/2016 and 03/10/2017; the experiment was carried out with a completely randomized design, with 30 replications per material. The morphological, reproductive, production, and chemical composition characteristics of the Milenio, Regio, and Titán Buffel grass varieties forage were evaluated. Results: The year accounted for 62.3% of the variation in the stem and leaf characteristics. The genotype contributed 35.4% and G*Y interaction, less than 2%. Regarding the reproductive variables, the genotype accounted for 62% of the results, the G*Y interaction, 25%, and the year, 13%. The genotype and the year accounted for 44% and 47% of the variance in forage production and quality, respectively. The G*Y interaction had no statistical effect. Limitations/Implications: The evaluation was carried out under pot conditions, which implies that the roots of the plants have limited growth and that the expression of some of the characteristics of the material may be restricted. Findings/Conclusions: The major differences between the three varieties were found in their morphological characteristics: duration of the flowering stage, reproductive stems proportion, panicle length, exertion of the panicle from the main stem, number of florets per panicle, and seed weight