Effects of temperature and treated urban wastewater on seed germination and seedling growth in different populations of Moringa oleifera (Lam.)

Drought is an environmental concern in North Africa. Hence, countries in this region promote treated wastewater reuse in agricultural irrigation as sustainable practice in reducing the increasing stress on water resources. Here, we evaluated the treated urban wastewater (TUW) impact on seed germination and seedling growth of four Moringa oleifera (MO) populations in different temperature conditions. Seeds were brought from Morneg and Kairouan in Tunisia and from India and Egypt. Germination tests were performed using different TUW concentrations at 25 and 35°C for 9 days under darkness and distilled water for control. Parameters such as germination percentage (GP), mean germination time (MGT), shoot length (SL) and TUW half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) were measured. GP, MGT, and SL varied significantly with incubation temperature and seed source. Only SL did not show any significant variations in all TUW concentrations. Increased temperature had a positive influence on GP and SL; on the contrary, a negative impact on MGT was observed in Kairouan, Egyptian and Indian seeds. EC50 evaluation showed that TUW was less harmful on Indian Moringa seeds. Seeds incubated at 25°C were structured into two groups: the first containing Morneg, Indian and Egyptian seeds; and the second one with Kairouan seeds. At 35°C, Egyptian seeds left the first group and joined the second indicating that their germination didn’t occur rapidly for temperature increase. Considering Tunisian climate conditions, results showed that Moringa oleifera is able to acclimatize to temperatures of this country

Phytochemical Screening, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activists of Reamuria vermiculata leaves

The aim of this study is to determine the phytochemical analyses, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Reamuria vermiculata leaves extracts. Organic extracts (methanol, hexane, ethyl acetate, petroleum ether) were screened for their biochemical composition as well as antioxidant and antibacterial activities. In fact, Phytochemical screening of Reamuria vermiculata leaves showed the presence of flavonoids, coumarins, saponins, tannins, terpenes, and quinones. Biochemical screening showed that the methanol was the richest extract in phenolic and tanins with 179.68 mg GAE/ g and 56.25 mg CE/g, respectively. The analysis of DPPH radical scavenging activity and ABTS showed an important scavenging with ethyl acetate extract with IC50 of 0.0012mg/mL, and 0.0006mg/mL respectively. As well as, the methanol extract exhibited an antimicrobial property against bacterial strains. Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella typhimurium were the most sensitive strains with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 0.3125 mg/mL. These results allow us to propose that Reamuria vermiculata is an excellent source for bioactive molecules exhibiting interesting biological capacities

Phytochemical Screening, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activists of Reamuria vermiculata leaves

The aim of this study is to determine the phytochemical analyses, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Reamuria vermiculata leaves extracts. Organic extracts (methanol, hexane, ethyl acetate, petroleum ether) were screened for their biochemical composition as well as antioxidant and antibacterial activities. In fact, Phytochemical screening of Reamuria vermiculata leaves showed the presence of flavonoids, coumarins, saponins, tannins, terpenes, and quinones. Biochemical screening showed that the methanol was the richest extract in phenolic and tanins with 179.68 mg GAE/ g and 56.25 mg CE/g, respectively. The analysis of DPPH radical scavenging activity and ABTS showed an important scavenging with ethyl acetate extract with IC50 of 0.0012mg/mL, and 0.0006mg/mL respectively. As well as, the methanol extract exhibited an antimicrobial property against bacterial strains. Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella typhimurium were the most sensitive strains with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 0.3125 mg/mL. These results allow us to propose that Reamuria vermiculata is an excellent source for bioactive molecules exhibiting interesting biological capacities

Efficiency of different moringa oleifera (Lam.) varieties as natural coagulants for urban wastewater treatment

There is a great need to find cheaper but still efficient treatment methods for wastewater. This study aimed to test the purifying performance of three different Moringa oleifera varieties that were cultivated in Tunisia on raw (RUW) and secondary treated urban wastewater (TUW). The seeds of the Mornag, Egyptian, and Indian varieties were powdered, added to the water (at concentrations of 0, 50, 100, and 150 mg·L−1), and stirred for 45 min at 120 rpm, and then left to settle for two hours. A physicochemical characterization of the wastewater was carried out before and after treatment. The investigated treatments decontaminated both types of urban wastewater. The best treatments were obtained with the Egyptian variety (at 150 mg·L−1), which excelled at the reduction of EC, TSS, BOD5, Cl, SO4, Ca, Na, Cd, and Fe in RUW and BOD5, EC, Na, Mg, Cl, and Cd in TUW. High amounts of TKN was found in both types of Moringa-treated wastewater, meaning that it could be used in agricultural irrigation, leading to less use of chemical nitrogen fertilizers and thus improving sustainability for crops, soils, animals, and humans. The Egyptian Moringa variety constitutes a cost-effective and environmentally friendly adsorbent that can be used as a replacement for more expensive treatment technologies

Mitigating Salinity Stress in Barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare</i> L.) through Biochar and NPK Fertilizers: Impacts on Physio-Biochemical Behavior and Grain Yield

Increased soil salinity significantly inhibits crop production around the world. Over the last decade, biochar has been used in agriculture to improve plant productivity, soil quality, and as an alternative to plant amendment. This study was aimed to study the effect of biochar, NPK, and their combination on the growth, physio-biochemical traits, mineral contents, and grain yield of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Thus, a pot factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications was performed. Experimental treatments included four levels of biochar (0, 2, 5 and 10% of total pot mass), four different NaCl levels (0, 75, 125, and 200 mmol L−1), and with or without NPK fertilizer. The results showed that a negative effect on gas exchange parameters, photosynthetic pigments, SPAD value, minerals contents, and grain yield of barley under salinity treatments. In addition, our funding showed the negative effect on biochemical traits such as proline, soluble sugars, individual sugar, and phenolic compounds. The use of biochar, combined with NPK fertilizers, considerably increases these parameters and especially improves barley grains yield under severe salinity conditions (200 mM) with a dose of 2% and 5% (394.1 and 280.61 g m−2, respectively) of total pot mass. It is concluded that biochar amendment could be a promising practice to enhance barley growth under severe saline irrigation and NPK fertilization regimes

Spike developmental stages and ABA role in spikelet primordia abortion contribute to the final yield in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Background: Salinity is a significant environmental stress factor limiting crops productivity. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) has a natural tolerance to salinity stress, making it an interesting study object in stress biology research. In the present study, for the first time the effect of salinity stress on barley inflorescence developmental stages was investigated. Five spring barley genotypes irrigated with saline water (12.5 ds/m NaCl) were compared to controls treated with normal tap water. We measured abscisic acid (ABA) concentrations in the apical, central and basal sections of the immature inflorescence at green anther (GA) stage. The role of ABA in spikelet primordia development, atrophy and abortion and final yield was evaluated. Results: A time course experiment starting from double ridge until green anther (GA) stages revealed that salinity reduced the length of spike developmental stages in all genotypes causing shortened of the plant life cycle. The shortened plant life cycle negatively affected plant height and number of tillers/plant. Salinity also affected spikelet primordia development. In both control and salinity treated plants apical spikelet abortion started in late awn primordium (AP) stage. However, under salinity treatment, significantly more spikelets were aborted, thus directly affecting plant yield potential. ABA, which plays a role in the spikelet/floret abortion process, was markedly elevated in the base and apex of salt treated spikes correlating with an increased spikelet abortion in these regions. Conclusions: Overall, salinity treatment reduced all plant and yield-related parameters investigated and turned some of the correlations among them from positive to negative or vice versa. Investigations of ABA role in floral development and phase duration of barley spike showed that, ABA regulates the spikelet/floret abortion process affecting the yield potential under salinity and control conditions

Discrimination of Tunisian and Italian extra-virgin olive oils according to their phenolic and sterolic fingerprints

In the last years, olive oil authentication issues have become topics of prominent importance, not only for consumers, but also for suppliers, retailers, and administrative authorities, and particularly for assurance of public health. In this work, the sterolic and phenolic profile of Tunisian and Italian extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) samples was depicted using an untargeted UHPLC-ESI/QTOF mass spectrometry approach. Polyphenols and sterols were quantified according to their chemical sub-classes, with high sterols (around 1000 up to 2000 mg/ kg) and tyrosols (on average 420.2 mg/kg) contents detected. The metabolomics data were elaborated by means of multivariate statistics, i.e. unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis and orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). This approach allowed identifying the best markers (i.e. hydroxybenzoic acids, cholesterol and stigmasterol derivatives) of the geographical origin able to discriminate Tunisian and Italian EVOO samples, showing the potential of sterolic and phenolic fingerprints for olive oil authenticity evaluations

The LC-MS/MS characterization of phenolic compounds in leaves allows classifying olive cultivars grown in South Tunisia

Olive (Olea europaea L.) is one of the most important fruit species in the Mediterranean basin, where 95% of the world's olive orchards are planted, and has become an economically valuable crop worldwide due to an increasing demand in olive oil for human consumption. The aim of the present research was to classify Tunisian olive cultivars based on their phenolic profile and to test the potentiality of chemometrics as a tool for cultivars discrimination. The phenolic compounds present in 21 samples of olive leaves, collected during the normal picking period for olive oil production in South Tunisia, were analysed by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Models based on principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used for discrimination purposes as a function of the tree varieties and cultivation zone. Qualitative and quantitative compositional analysis revealed 12 major phenolic compounds among which oleuropein (110.38\u20134741.62 mg/kg), hydroxytyrosol (5.40\u2013290.19 mg/kg), apigenin 7-O-glucoside (9.44\u20132475.53 mg/kg), tyrosol (2.10\u2013174.62 mg/kg), catechin (0\u201337.60 mg/kg) and vanillic acid (3.23\u2013256.57 mg/kg) were identified. Oleuropein showed the highest amount in Fougi cultivar (4741.62 mg/kg), whereas the lowest level was registered in Zarrazi injassi cultivar (110.38 mg/kg). However, Zalmati Zarzis exhibited high concentrations of tyrosol, vanillic and caffeic acid, and vanillin. In general, rutin and luteolin 7-Oglucoside were the two main flavonoids detected. Dendrogram analysis revealed three main clusters, further confirmed through PCA