Growing Asparagus in Minnesota

This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu

Production and Development of Nutraceuticals as Alternative Crops: Implications for Certification and Branding: Part 1

Report of the development of guidelines for identifying and producing selected medicinal plants with high marker compounds; criteria to evaluate the suitability of the plants for commercial organic production; weed control protocols that do not involve use of herbicides; and quality control protocols for harvesting and storing medicinal plants. Implications for certification, branding and marketing of organic medicinal crops for growers and distributors were also discussed

Growing Broccoli and Cauliflower in Minnesota

This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu

Herbal supplements in the print media: communicating benefits and risks

Background The rise in use of food supplements based on botanical ingredients (herbal supplements) is depicted as part of a trend empowering consumers to manage their day-to-day health needs, which presupposes access to clear and accurate information to make effective choices. Evidence regarding herbal supplement efficacy is extremely variable so recent regulations eliminating unsubstantiated claims about potential effects leave producers able to provide very little information about their products. Medical practitioners are rarely educated about herbal supplements and most users learn about them via word-of-mouth, allowing dangerous misconceptions to thrive, chief among them the assumption that natural products are inherently safe. Print media is prolific among the information channels still able to freely discuss herbal supplements. Method This study thematically analyses how 76 newspaper/magazine articles from the UK, Romania and Italy portray the potential risks and benefits of herbal supplements. Results Most articles referenced both risks and benefits and were factually accurate but often lacked context and impartiality. More telling was how the risks and benefits were framed in service of a chosen narrative, the paucity of authoritative information allowing journalists leeway to recontextualise herbal supplements in ways that serviced the goals and values of their specific publications and readerships. Conclusion Providing sufficient information to empower consumers should not be the responsibility of print media, instead an accessible source of objective information is required.</p

Acclimatization of the crustose coralline alga Porolithon onkodes to variable pCO2

Ocean acidification (OA) has important implications for the persistence of coral reef ecosystems, due to potentially negative effects on biomineralization. Many coral reefs are dynamic with respect to carbonate chemistry, and experience fluctuations in pCO2 that exceed OA projections for the near future. To understand the influence of dynamic pCO2 on an important reef calcifier, we tested the response of the crustose coralline alga Porolithon onkodes to oscillating pCO2. Individuals were exposed to ambient (400 ??atm), high (660 ??atm), or variable pCO2 (oscillating between 400/660 ??atm) treatments for 14 days. To explore the potential for coralline acclimatization, we collected individuals from low and high pCO2 variability sites (upstream and downstream respectively) on a back reef characterized by unidirectional water flow in Moorea, French Polynesia. We quantified the effects of treatment on algal calcification by measuring the change in buoyant weight, and on algal metabolism by conducting sealed incubations to measure rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Net photosynthesis was higher in the ambient treatment than the variable treatment, regardless of habitat origin, and there was no effect on respiration or gross photosynthesis. Exposure to high pCO2 decreased P. onkodes calcification by >70%, regardless of the original habitat. In the variable treatment, corallines from the high variability habitat calcified 42% more than corallines from the low variability habitat. The significance of the original habitat for the coralline calcification response to variable, high pCO2 indicates that individuals existing in dynamic pCO2 habitats may be acclimatized to OA within the scope of in situ variability. These results highlight the importance of accounting for natural pCO2 variability in OA manipulations, and provide insight into the potential for plasticity in habitat and species-specific responses to changing ocean chemistry.Funding was provided by grants from the National Science Foundation (OCE-0417412, OCE-10-26852, OCE-1041270) and gifts from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Growing broccoli and cauliflower in Minnesota -- a production guide

1 online resource (PDF, 8 pages)This archival publication may not reflect current scientific knowledge or recommendations. Current information available from the University of Minnesota Extension: https://www.extension.umn.edu

Adaptability and Reliability of Yield for Four Bell Pepper Cultivars Across Three Southeastern States

(Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars were evaluated for yield (total weight of marketable fruit) performance over 41 environments as combinations of 3 years, three planting dates, and seven locations across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Cultural practices, including trickle irrigation and double rows planted on blackplastic- covered beds, were uniform across all environments, except for fertilization, which was adjusted at each location based on soil tests. Comparing production over 3 years between the mountain location and the Coastal Plain location in North Carolina, yields were lower on the Coastal Plain. Spring plantings provided higher yields than summer plantings at both locations. Yield increases were obtained from hybrid cultivars over that of the open-pollinated (OP) standard [‘Keystone Resistant Giant #3’ (KRG#3)] in the summer planting in the mountains compared to the Tidewater Coastal Plain. Across the three-state region, hybrid cultivar yields were higher than those of the OP cultivar for the second spring planting date in 1986 and 1987. Although the hybrid yields were higher than that of the OP standard, the hybrid ‘Skipper’ yielded less than the other hybrids (‘Gator Belle’ and ‘Hybelle’). ‘Gator Belle’ generally out-yielded ‘Hybelle’ at all locations, except in Fletcher, N.C. This difference may be related to the relative sensitivity of these two cultivars to temperature extremes, rather than soil or geographic factors, because there was a tendency for ‘Hybelle’ yields to exceed ‘Gator Belle’ in the earliest planting date. Based on the reliability index, the chance of outperforming KRG#3 (the standard) was 85% for ‘Hybelle’, 80% for ‘Gator Belle’, but only 67% for ‘Skipper’