About Associate Professor Mihai LAZĂR, PhD

No abstract present.&nbsp

About Associate Professor Mihai LAZĂR, PhD

No abstract present.

STUDY ON QUALITY AND SAFETY OF WHITE TOPINAMBOUR (Helianthus tuberosus), DRY, AS SOURCE OF RAW MATERIAL FOR FUNCTIONAL FOOD AND PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS

Within this paper, a study on physical and chemical features of white topinambour tuber (Helianthus tuberosus) cultivated in Southern Romania, Fetesti, Ialomita, was performed. For this study, the tuber vegetal product, in dry state, was used, being studied samples taken from the vegetal crop established near the road traffic, starting from the half part of cultivated area and from the farthest side, in order to identify the possible pollutants acting on minerals, oligoelements, but especially heavy metals contained by it; therefore, complementary studies to quality ones have been made in order to determine also the safety aspects of this potential source of raw active matter of natural vegetal origin for food industry, functional food, food supplements and pharmaceutical industry

STUDY ON QUALITY AND SAFETY OF WHITE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE (Helianthus tuberosus), FRESHLY HARVESTED, AS SOURCE OF RAW MATERIAL FOR FUNCTIONAL FOOD AND PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS

Within this paper, a study on physical and chemical features of white Jerusalem artichoke tuber’s (Helianthus tuberosus) cultivated in Southern Romania, Fetesti, Ialomita, was achieved. The Romanian Plain, where Fetesti locality is situated is characterized by unlimited fields, considered as first- class lands, namely with deep well drained and aerated soil, easy to work, presenting a good permeability and water stocking, with relative high natural fertility for most of plants of culture adapted to climate conditions and which are not difficult to be exploited as arable field. For this study, the tuber vegetal product, in fresh state, was used, being studied samples taken from the vegetal crop established near the road traffic, starting from the half part of cultivated area and from the farthest side, in order to identify the possible pollutant substances acting on minerals, oligoelements, but especially heavy metals contained by it; therefore, not only quality studies, but also complementary studies have been made in order to determine also the safety aspects of this potential source of raw active matter of natural vegetal origin for food industry, functional food, food supplements and pharmaceutical industry

Impact of drought on the productivity of agricultural crops within the Oltenia Plain, Romania

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of moisture conditions on the productivity of agricultural crops within the Oltenia Plain, Romania at various time scales. The agro-databases contain the productions of winter wheat, maize and sunflower reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Agricultural Department for the period 1971-2013. The meteorological elements used were represented by the rainfall amount and air-temperature recorded at the six meteorological stations: Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Calafat, Băilești, Bechet, Craiova, Caracal and Turnu-Magurele. According to the SPI and De Martonne Index, the driest years, with low rainfall amounts, were 1983-1985, 1993, 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2012, with different degrees of water deficit. Moreover, the years with the lowest productions were recorded in the last half of the analysed period: 1993, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2012. The impact of the drought variability of yield on the agricultural crops was evaluated using Bravais-Pearson correlations test, which was statistically significant in the last half of the reference period, while the correlation in the first half of the period it was not statistically significant. This result can be explained by the political system and the gradual degradation of the irrigation system, which determined the addiction on climatic conditions after '89 years

Cadmium nitrate and DNA methylation in gastropods: comparison between ovotestis and hepatopancreas

Dietary ingestion is the main route of exposure to hazardous contaminants in land animals. Cadmium, a high-profile toxic metal, affects living systems at different organismal levels, including major storage organs (liver, kidneys), key organs for species survival (gonads), and epigenetic networks regulating gene expression. 5-methylcytosine (5mC) is the most common and best-characterized epigenetic mark among different modified nucleosides in DNA. This important player in methylation-driven gene expression is impacted by cadmium in sentinel terrestrial vertebrates. However, limited information exists regarding its impact on macroinvertebrates, especially land snails commonly used as (eco)toxicological models. We first investigate the methylomic effects of dietary cadmium given as cadmium nitrate on terrestrial mollusks. Mature specimens of the common brown garden snail, Cornu aspersum, were continuously exposed for four weeks to environmentally-relevant cadmium levels. We determined global genomic DNA methylation in hepatopancreas and ovotestis, as well as changes in the methylation status of CG pairs at the 5′ region close to the transcription site of gene encoding the Cd-selective metallothionein (Cd-MT). Weight gain/loss, hypometabolism tendency, and survival rates were also assessed. Although this exposure event did not adversely affect survival, gastropods exposed to the highest Cd dose revealed a significant reduction in body weight and a significant increase in hypometabolic behavior. The hepatopancreas, but not the ovotestis, displayed significant hypermethylation, but only for the aforementioned specimens. We also found that the 5′ end of the Cd-MT gene was unmethylated in both organs and its methylation status was insensitive to cadmium exposure. Our results are important since they provide scientists, for the first time, with quantitative data on DNA methylation in gastropod ovotestis and refine our understanding of Cd epigenetic effects on terrestrial mollusks