Effect of biostimulators and herbicides on savouriness and darkening of the flesh of potato tubers

Badania polowe przeprowadzono w latach 2012−2014, na glebie bardzo lekkiej i lekkiej. Doświadczenie założono w trzech powtórzeniach, metodą losowanych podbloków w układzie split-plot, gdzie czynnikiem pierwszym były trzy średnio wczesne odmiany ziemniaka jadalnego: Bartek, Gawin i Honorata, a drugim – stosowanie herbicydów i biostymulatorów: obiekt kontrolny z pielęgnacją wyłącznie mechaniczną i cztery obiekty, na których stosowano herbicydy: Harrier 295 ZC, Harrier 295 ZC i bioregulator Kelpak SL, Sencor 70 WG, Sencor 70 WG i biostymulator Asahi SL. Celem przeprowadzonych badań była ocena wpływu biostymulatorów i herbicydów na wybrane cechy jakości konsumpcyjnej (smakowitość, ciemnienie miąższu bulw surowych po 10 minutach, ciemnienie miąższu bulw ugotowanych po 10 minutach i 24 godzinach) bulw ziemniaka jadalnego. Na podstawie otrzymanych wyników wykazano, że spośród analizowanych cech jakości sensorycznej tylko ciemnienie miąższu bulw ugotowanych zależało istotnie od herbicydów i biostymulatorów, natomiast smakowitość i ciemnienie miąższu bulw surowych nie uległy zmianom w porównaniu do bulw z obiektu kontrolnego. Odmiany i warunki pogodowe w latach badań decydowały o wszystkich analizowanych cechach jakościowych.The potato is the world’s fourth most imported food crop, following after wheat rice and maize. It is an important food staple in Poland and many other countries. The potato quality depends on chemical composition, which modifies its nutritional value. It is very important to protect potato crops against competitive impact of weeds that decrease yield. Plant growth regulator treatment is an alternative way to achieve higher yielding and better quality of potato tubers. The growth substances stimulate life processes of plant by activating the synthesis of hormones and its stimulation, moreover they improve plant resistance to stress factors. The field experiment was carried out in years 2012−2014 on very light and light soil which belonged to a good rye complex. The experiment was designed as a two factors randomized block with three replicates. Factors examined in the experiment included three cultivars of edible potatoes – Bartek, Gawin, Honorata, and five methods application of herbicides and biostimulators. In this experiment application of the following herbicides: Harrier 295 ZC at a dose of 2,0 dm³·ha⁻¹, herbicides Harrier 295 ZC at a dose of 2,0 dm³·ha⁻¹ and growth regulators Kelpak SL at a dose of 2,0 dm³·ha⁻¹, Sencor 70 WG at a dose of 1,0 kg·ha⁻¹, Sencor 70 WG at a dose of 1,0 kg·ha⁻¹ and growth regulators Asahi SL at a dose of 1,0 dm³·ha⁻¹, while the control consisted of mechanical weeding without chemical protection. The aim of the research conducted in 2012–2014 was to determine the effect of the plant growth regulators and herbicides on the selected quality consumption features of potato tubers: savouriness, darkening of raw tubers after 10 minutes, darkening of cooked tubers after 10 minutes and after 24 hours. The obtained results showed that herbicides and biostimulators not affected the savouriness and darkening of raw tubers but resulted in increased darkening of cooked tubers after 10 minutes and after 24 hours. All determined consumption features significantly differentiated by features of the cultivars and weather conditions during the growing season. The smallest darkening flesh raw and cooked characterized by cultivars Gawin and Honorata, while the more cultivars darkened Bartek

Are the small human-like fossils found on Flores human endemic cretins?

Fossils from Liang Bua (LB) on Flores, Indonesia, including a nearly complete skeleton (LB1) dated to 18 kyr BP, were assigned to a new species, Homo floresiensis. We hypothesize that these individuals are myxoedematous endemic (ME) cretins, part of an inland population of (mostly unaffected) Homo sapiens. ME cretins are born without a functioning thyroid; their congenital hypothyroidism leads to severe dwarfism and reduced brain size, but less severe mental retardation and motor disability than neurological endemic cretins. We show that the fossils display many signs of congenital hypothyroidism, including enlarged pituitary fossa, and that distinctive primitive features of LB1 such as the double rooted lower premolar and the primitive wrist morphology are consistent with the hypothesis. We find that the null hypothesis (that LB1 is not a cretin) is rejected by the pituitary fossa size of LB1, and by multivariate analyses of cranial measures. We show that critical environmental factors were potentially present on Flores, how remains of cretins but not of unaffected individuals could be preserved in caves, and that extant oral traditions may provide a record of cretinism