Effect of the irrigation method and genotype on the bioaccumulation of toxic and trace elements in rice

The total concentration of three toxic elements (As, Cd and Pb) and five oligoelements (Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni and Se) has been determined using an original and completely validated ICP-MS method. This was applied to rice grains from 26 different genotypes cultivated in the same soil and irrigated with the same water in three different ways: by the traditional continuous flooding (CF) and by two intermittent methods, the sprinkler irrigation (SP) and the periodical saturation of the soil (SA). The adoption of SP hugely minimizes the average amounts of almost all elements in kernels (−98% for As, −90% for Se and Mn, −60% for Mo, −50% for Cd and Pb), with the only exception of Ni, whose concentration increases the average amount found in the CF rice by 7.5 times. Also SA irrigation is able to reduce the amounts of As, Mo and Pb in kernels but it significantly increases the amounts of Mn, Ni and – mainly - Cd. Also the nature of the genotype determined a wide variability of data within each irrigation method. Genotypes belonging to Indica subspecies are the best bioaccumulators of elements in both CF and SP methods and, never, the worst bioaccumulators for any element/irrigation method combination. In the principal component analysis, PC1 can differentiate samples irrigated by SP by those irrigated by CF and SA, whereas PC2 provides differentiation of CF samples by SA samples. When looking at the loading plot Ni is negatively correlated to the majority of the other elements, except Cu and Cd having negative loadings on PC2. These results allow to envisage that a proper combination of the irrigation method and the nature of rice genotype might be a very valuable tool in order to successfully achieve specific objectives of food safety or the attainment of functional properties

Honey, a Gift from Nature to Health and Beauty: A Review

Benefits of honey are contributed by the composition of its elements such as glucose, fructose, glucose oxidase, vitamins and phenolic compounds. For health, honey can be used to treat wounds due to the antibacterial activity conferred by the hydrogen peroxide produced by glucose oxidase in honey. Anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, deodorizing and tissue regeneration activities in honey also help in the wound healing process. It can also be an alternative sweetener for diabetic patients to ensure compliance to a healthy diet. Moreover, honey exerts several effects such as lowering low density lipids and increasing high density lipids, thus reducing risk of atherosclerosis. In terms of beauty, honey can be used on skin and hair. It moisturizes skin through its natural humectant properties contributed by high contents of fructose and glucose. Honey treats acne on the skin due to its antibacterial activity, anti-inflammatory action and tissue repair. The hair can benefit from honey in such a way that the hair has abundance, and becomes easier to comb. However, there have not been as many studies regarding the use of honey in skin in comparison to its use for health. Therefore, future studies on honey could research its use, action and benefits in both cosmetics and dermatology

Przesłanki społecznej odpowiedzialności przedsiębiorstw: perspektywa integracji

Currently, long-term performance of a company is closely related to the overall impact of its actions, therefore an increasing importance is assigned to the concept of social responsibility within organizational strategy. This orientation that also characterizes the Romanian business environment, due sometimes to the European imperative, other times based on different reasons, is the subject of a large Romanian - Belgian research project. It generally aims to obtain answers on, among others, the level of knowledge and way of perceiving social responsibility, practices and actions, differences between activity sectors, procedures’ application and quantification of CSR effects. In this article a part of the outcomes of the documentation process, related to assigned meanings, types of activities and CSR practices are grouped, sorted and systemized. Both the interest for this concept in the literature and its place and support in reality outlined the importance of this area, as an argument to the initiated approach.Długotrwałe funkcjonowanie firmy jest obecnie ściśle związane z oddziaływaniem jej działalności. W związku z tym coraz większego znaczenia nabiera koncepcja społecznej odpowiedzialności w ramach strategii organizacyjnej. Orientacja ta, która charakteryzuje także otoczenie biznesu Rumunii, również ze względu na wymogi europejskie, oparta jest na różnych przesłankach, które są przedmiotem dużego rumuńsko-belgijskiego projektu badawczego. Jego głównym celem jest uzyskanie informacji m.in. na temat poziomu wiedzy na temat odpowiedzialności społecznej i sposobu jej postrzegania, praktyk i działań, różnic między sektorami działalności, zastosowania procedur i kwantyfikacji wpływu CSR. W artykule pogrupowano i usystematyzowano część wyników badań nad znaczeniem i praktykami procesu dokumentowania CSR. Dokonano przeglądu literatury na temat CSR oraz przedstawiono zastosowania tej koncepcji

Recent Advances in the Analysis of Phenolic Compounds in Unifloral Honeys

Honey is one of the most renowned natural foods. Its composition is extremely variable, depending on its botanical and geographical origins, and the abundant presence of functional compounds has contributed to the increased worldwide interest is this foodstuff. In particular, great attention has been paid by the scientific community towards classes of compounds like phenolic compounds, due to their capability to act as markers of unifloral honey origin. In this contribution the most recent progress in the assessment of new analytical procedures aimed at the definition of the qualitative and quantitative profile of phenolic compounds of honey have been highlighted. A special emphasis has been placed on the innovative aspects concerning the extraction procedures, along with the most recent strategies proposed for the analysis of phenolic compounds. Moreover, the centrality of validation procedures has been claimed and extensively discussed in order to ensure the fitness-for-purpose of the proposed analytical methods. In addition, the exploitation of the phenolic profile as a tool for the classification of the botanical and geographical origin has been described, pointing out the usefulness of chemometrics in the interpretation of data sets originating from the analysis of polyphenols. Finally, recent results in concerning the evaluation of the antioxidant properties of unifloral honeys and the development of new analytical approaches aimed at measuring this parameter have been reviewed

HPLC determination of pantothenic acid in royal jelly

Although royal jelly constitutes one of the richest natural sources of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), a reliable and validated chromatographic method to determine this analyte in this matrix has yet to be described in literature. In this work we present an original RP-HPLC procedure to measure the concentration of pantothenic acid in royal jelly. A sample pre-treatment is needed to prevent the interference of high protein concentration in the matrix. The method has been validated in terms of LoD, LoQ, linearity, precision (repeatability and reproducibility) and bias. Finally, the whole procedure was tested on a number of samples of royal jelly from different origin, providing concentration values spanning from 120±30 to 565±40 mg Kg-1 of pantothenic acid

Chemical characterization of a traditional honey-based Sardinian product: Abbamele

The first chemical characterization of abbamele, a traditional honey decoction from Sardinia (Italy) is hereby reported. Water content (from 17.7% to 27.7%), electrical conductivity (from 0.19 to 0.81 mS cm(-1)), pH (from 3.21 to 3.92), free acidity (from 26.1 to 87.6 meq kg(-1)), invertase activity (from 0 to 1.02 U kg(-1)), 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furaldehyde, HMF (from 881 to 4776 mg kg(-1)), total polyphenols (from 188 to 984 mg kg(-1)) and free amino acid contents of thirteen abbamele samples, from industrial and traditional producers, were obtained in an attempt to compare this traditional product with honey and to study the relationship between its main features and the production procedures. The long thermal treatment involved in the production of abbamele has been identified as the main cause of very low (or absent) invertase activity and free amino acid content as well as the very high content of HMF. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

RP-HPLC determination of water-soluble vitamins in honey

The assessment and validation of reliable analytical methods for the determination of vitamins in sugar-based matrices (e.g. honey) are still scarcely explored fields of research. This study proposes and fully validates a simple and fast RP-HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of five water-soluble vitamins (vitamin B-2, riboflavin; vitamin B-3, nicotinic acid; vitamin B-5, pantothenic acid; vitamin B-9, folic acid; and vitamin C, ascorbic acid) in honey. The method provides low detection and quantification limits, very good linearity in a large concentration interval, very good precision, and the absence of any bias. It has been successfully applied to 28 honey samples (mainly from Sardinia, Italy) of 12 different botanical origins. While the overall amount of the analytes in the samples is quite low (always below 40 mg kg(-1)), we have observed a marked dependence of some of their concentrations (i.e. vitamin B-3 and vitamin B-5) and the botanical origin of the honey. This insight might lead to important characterization features for this food item. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A direct RP-HPLC method for the determination of furanic aldehydes and acids in honey

In this study 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF), 2-furaldehyde, 3-furaldehyde, 2-furoic acid and 3-furoic acid are contemporarily determined in honey using a swift and direct RP-HPLC approach. The validation protocol was performed in terms of detection and quantification limits, precision (by repeatability and reproducibility), linearity and accuracy (by recovery tests); the acceptability of the precision and accuracy results was positively verified using Horwitz's model and AOAC guidelines. respectively. The method was tested on 18 honey samples of different ages, and botanical and geographical origin. HMF and 2-furaldehyde correlated highly with the age of the samples, whereas no correlation was observed with regards to 2-furaldehyde and 2-furoic acid. Hypotheses relating to the formation of minority furanic compounds are also proposed. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Reversed-phase liquid chromatographic profile of free amino acids in strawberry-tree (arbutus unedo L.) honey

The typical profile of the free amino acids contained in strawberry-tree {Arbutus unedo L.) honey is reported for the first time. An optimized reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (RP-LC) method with phenyl isothiocyanate precolumn derivatization was used. Fourteen free amino acids were identified and quantified in 16 analytical samples. Proline (65.63%) was found to be the most abundant free amino acid, followed by glutamic acid (6.49%), arginine (5.21%), alanine (5.17%), and phenylalanine (4.97%). The total free amino acid content of strawberry-tree honey (average value, 436 mg/kg) was found to be low in comparison to amounts cited in the literature concerning unifloral honeys. The analytical method was optimized and fully validated in terms of detection and quantitation limits, precision (by testing repeatability and reproducibility), linearity, and bias (by means of recovery tests). The acceptability of the validation protocol results was verified using Horwitz's mathematical model and AOAC guidelines