The activity of Pleurotus ostreatus extracts against pathogenic fusaria

A P. ostreatus strain, appreciated as food and for the production of nutraceuticals, was grown on a commercial substrate, dried at low temperature (<40\ub0C) and grinded in order to produce a mushroom powder. The bioactivity of the water extract conserved at 4\ub0C in the dark was then assessed on F. graminearum, F. culmorum and F. musae at different time points from production (4 hrs, 40 days, 4 months). Moreover, the effect of the extracts on trichothecene type B production was measured exploiting a F. graminearum isolate expressing GFP-tagged trichodiene synthase. This allowed to monitor the first step of toxin production using a microplate fluorimeter. While mycelial growth of F. graminearum and F. culmorum was completely blocked at 3 mg/ml, mycelial growth of F. musae was inhibited at 90%. MIC50 was measured for F. graminearum and F. culmorum at 300 micrograms/mL. A loss of the bioactivity of P. ostreaus water extract on fungal growth was observed at 40 days (-30%) and of a further -30% at 4 months. A preliminary study on the biological activities of the extract identified a strong protease activity associated to low molecular weight proteins. Their bioactivity decreased over storage time in accordance with a decreased proteolytic activity. The P. ostreatus extract modulates trichothecene production independently from the protease activity, even at concentration where no mycelium inhibition was observed (down to 0.75 micrograms/mL). Studies on the genetic determinants of the protease activity as well as the compounds able to modulate trichothecene production are ongoing

Dietary fat intake as a risk factor for the development of diabetes. Multinational, multicenter study of the Mediterranean Group for the Study of Diabetes (MGDS)

In the context of the Multinational MGSD Nutrition Study, three groups of subjects were studied: 204 subjects with recently diagnosed diabetes(RDM),42subjectswithundiagnoseddiabetes(UDM)(AmericanDiabetesAssociation criteria—fasting plasma glucose [FPG] 126 mg/dl), and 55 subjects with impaired fasting glucose(IFG)(FPG 110and126mg/dl).Eachgroupwascomparedwithacontrolgroupof nondiabetic subjects, matched one by one for center, sex, age, and BMI. Nutritional habits were evaluated by a dietary history method, validated against the 3-day diet diary. In RDM, the questionnaire referred to the nutritional habits before the diagnosis of diabetes. Demographic data were collected, and anthropometrical and biochemical measurements were taken. RESULTS— Compared with control subjects, RDM more frequently had a family history of diabetes(49.0vs.14.2%;P0.001),exercisedless(exerciseindex53.5vs.64.4;P0.01),and more frequently had sedentary professions (47.5 vs. 27.4%; P 0.001). Carbohydrates contributed less to their energy intake (53.5 vs. 55.1%; P 0.05), whereas total fat (30.2 0.5 vs. 27.8 0.5%; P 0.001) and animal fat (12.2 0.3 vs. 10.8 0.3%; P 0.01) contributed moreandtheplant-to-animalfatratiowaslower(1.50.1vs.1.80.1;P0.01).UDMmore frequentlyhadafamilyhistoryofdiabetes(38.1vs.19.0%;P0.05)andsedentaryprofessions (58.5vs.34.1%;P0.05),carbohydratescontributedlesstotheirenergyintake(47.61.7vs. 52.81.4%;P0.05),totalfat(34.71.5vs.30.41.2%;P0.05)andanimalfat(14.2 0.9 vs. 10.6 0.7%; P 0.05) contributed more, and the plant-to-animal fat ratio was lower (1.6 0.2 vs. 2.3 0.4; P 0.05). IFG differed only in the prevalence of family history of diabetes (32.7 vs. 16.4%; P 0.05). CONCLUSIONS— Our data support the view that increased animal fat intake is associated with the presence of diabetes

Produtividade de milho inoculado com Azospirillum brasilense em diferentes doses de nitrogênio, em latossolo vermelho - safra 2011/12.

O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar a produtividade do milho cultivado em Latossolo Vermelho na safra 2011/12, na presença ou ausência de inoculação de sementes com Azospirillum brasilense, em diferentes doses de N em cobertura. A inoculação de sementes de milho com Azospirillum brasilense e a aplicação de doses de nitrogênio em cobertura não proporcionaram incrementos significativos na produtividade de grãos de milho cultivados na safra 2011/12, em Latossolo Vermelho de Campos Novos e Canoinhas

Produtividade de milho inoculado com Azospirillum brasilense em diferentes doses de nitrogênio, em latossolo vermelho - safra 2012/13.

O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar a produtividade do milho cultivado em Latossolo Vermelho na safra 2012/13, na presença ou ausência de inoculação de sementes com A. brasilense, em diferentes doses de N em cobertura. A inoculação de sementes de milho com Azospirillum brasilense não proporcionou incrementos significativos na produtividade de grãos de milho cultivados na safra 2012/13, em Latossolo Vermelho de Campos Novos e de Papanduva. Em Papanduva, as doses de N aplicadas em cobertura aumentaram a produtividade de grãos de milho

Desempenho de milho inoculado com Azospirillum brasiliense associado a doses de nitrogênio em cobertura.

RESUMO: Uma das alternativas de redução no consumo de fertilizantes nitrogenados na cultura do milho é a inoculação de sementes com bactérias diazotróficas que possuem a capacidade de fixar N atmosférico no solo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar algumas características agronômicas e o rendimento de grãos de milho cultivado em Latossolo Vermelho com diferentes doses de N em cobertura, na presença e ausência de inoculação de sementes com Azospirillum brasilense. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em Papanduva e em Campos Novos, SC, nos anos agrícolas 2011/12 e 2012/13, utilizando-se delineamento fatorial 2 x 6, com os tratamentos alocados em blocos casualizados, com três repetições, avaliando-se a variedade de milho de polinização aberta SCS155 Catarina. Os fatores testados foram a inoculação com A. brasilense (presença e ausência) e doses de N em cobertura (0, 25, 50, 75, 100 e 125kg ha-1). A inoculação de sementes de milho com A. brasilense não aumenta o rendimento de grãos e não altera a massa de mil grãos, estatura de plantas, altura da inserção da espiga principal e diâmetro do colmo. A aplicação de N em cobertura no milho influencia de modo positivo o rendimento de grãos. ABSTRACT: One of the alternatives to reduce the consumption of nitrogen fertilizers in corn production is seed inoculation with diazotrophic bacteria that have the ability of fixing atmospheric N in the root zone. The aim of this study was to evaluate some agronomic characteristics and grain yield of maize grown in an Oxisol with the presence and absence of seed´s inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense associated with different nitrogen doses (0, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 125kg/ha). The experiments were carried out in the municipalities of Papanduva and Campos Novos, in Santa Catarina State (Southern Brazil), during the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. The experiments were ploted in a 2x6 factorial with the treatments assigned in a randomized blocks with three replications, using the corn cultivar ?SCS155 Catarina? as indicator. The inoculation of seeds with Azospirillum brasilense does not increase the corn yield and does not alter the weight of the grains, plant height, ear height and main stem diameter. Nitrogen application in corn influences positively the grain yield

Produtividade de genótipos de milho na presença ou ausência de inoculação com Azospirillum brasilense e adubação nitrogenada de cobertura - safra 2011/12.

O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar a produtividade de genótipos de milho com bases genéticas distintas, na presença ou ausência de inoculação de sementes com A. brasilense e de adubação nitrogenadas de cobertura. A inoculação de sementes de milho com Azospirillum brasilense não proporcionou incrementos significativos na produtividade de grãos, em diferentes genótipos, com e sem adubação nitrogenada de cobertura. Nos dois locais avaliados, houve variação entre genótipos para produtividade de grãos, todavia sem interação com adubação nitrogenada de cobertura. Em Campos Novos, houve interação entre genótipos e inoculação para a variável produtividade de grãos, indicando que a interação entre A. brasilense e o milho depende das características genéticas da cultura

Produtividade de genótipos de milho na presença ou ausência de inoculação com Azospirillum brasilense e adubação nitrogenada de cobertura - Safra 2012/13.

O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar a produtividade de genótipos de milho com bases genéticas distintas, na presença ou ausência de inoculação de sementes com A. brasilense e de adubação nitrogenadas de cobertura. A inoculação de sementes de milho com Azospirillum brasilense não proporcionou incrementos significativos na produtividade de grãos de milho, em diferentes genótipos, com e sem adubação nitrogenada de cobertura. A adubação com 100 kg ha-1 de N, aplicados em cobertura, proporcionou aumento de produtividade de grãos de milho em relação à ausência de adubação nitrogenada de cobertura. Nos dois locais avaliados, houve variação entre genótipos para produtividade de grãos, todavia sem interação com adubação nitrogenada de cobertura e inoculação com Azospirillum brasilense

Circular reuse of bio-resources : the role of Pleurotus spp. in the development of functional foods

The basidiomycetes fungi belonging to the genus Pleurotus could make an important contribution to sustainable functional food design because they possess an elevated protein content with a valuable essential amino acid scoring pattern, a unique dietary fibre profile, mainly comprised of branched \u3b2-glucan, high levels of some vitamins of the B group, vitamin D, Fe, Zn, Cu, Se and some bioactive mycochemicals, while the Na and fat contents are low. Moreover, Pleurotus spp. can grow efficiently on various clean byproducts of food processing, such as wheat straw, wheat stalk and spent beer grain, thus representing a sustainable food source. This review illustrates the compositional variability of Pleurotus spp. grown on various by-products, in order to clarify its potential ability to address the needs of populations with endemic nutritional deficiencies as well as those populations at risk or affected by some chronic diseases. The perspectives for Pleurotus applications in functional foods decisively depend on consumers\u2019 acceptability. Hence, the sensory properties of Pleurotus spp. are also clarified herein. Lastly, the three main strategies of functional food development using Pleurotus spp. are summarized, namely its use as a fortifying agent, high-cost protein replacer and prebiotic ingredient

Effect of Vitamin D2 Fortification Using Pleurotus ostreatus in a Whole-Grain Cereal Product on Child Acceptability

Vitamin D2 deficiency is one of the most common micronutrient insufficiencies among children. Few foods, mainly those derived from animal sources, naturally contain this vitamin. The basidiomycete mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus could be used as an innovative and sustainable ingredient for food fortification with vitamin D2. This study was aimed at exploring children\u2019s acceptance of a whole-cereal-based product (breadsticks) combined with increasing concentrations of P. ostreatus powder rich in vitamin D2. The food neophobia trait (fear of trying unfamiliar and new food) on sample acceptability was also investigated. One hundred and three children (47 girls and 56 boys, aged 9\u201311 years) were recruited, and breadstick-liking was studied in relation to gender and neophobic traits. Results showed that the samples enriched in vitamin D2 were well accepted by children even if liking decreased with increasing concentration of mushroom powder. Generally, neophilic subjects gave higher liking scores compared with the neophobic ones, especially for the modified samples. New, well-accepted fortified products could be developed using an adequate concentration of mushroom powder to deal with the increasing vitamin D2 deficiency among children

The tsunamigenic potential of landslide-generated tsunamis on the Vavilov seamount

The investigation of submarine volcanoes and the tsunamigenic potential of possible movements on their flanks is arduous. In most cases, the lack of specific information about the eruptions’ history and their consequences does not allow a comprehensive analysis in terms of hazard. Nevertheless, useful clues on the possible occurrence of mass movements on seamounts can be obtained from a series of research fields. These account for morphological studies, observations of hydrothermal activity, collection of geophysical data (for example, detailed DEM, seismic profiles, magnetic data), etc. In this context, this study presents new bathymetric data of the Vavilov submarine volcano (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) and a detailed morphological analysis of the structure. The latter allows the identification of zones potentially prone to mass movements and the development of numerical scenarios to investigate the tsunami potential associated to these movements on the Vavilov flanks. Results prove that the waves generated by the mass displacements in the proposed scenarios (involving sliding volumes between 0.32 km3 and 1.7 km3) reach maximum values in the order of centimetres, not considering dispersive effects. Eventually, a scenario involving the partial collapse of the west flank of the Vavilov Seamount is simulated, although the occurrence of such an event in the past is still debated due to the uncertainties related to the origin and development of the volcano dome. In this scenario, water elevation as high as 10 m are found in large portions of the Tyrrhenian coasts: waves are large enough to emplace sizeable tsunami deposits onshore, that could have been preserved until today in some specific stretches of the coast and could be detected by a finalised geological search. This study belongs to a series of works devoted to the submarine structures of the Tyrrhenian Sea aiming to disclose the tsunamigenic potential of submarine mass movements on their flanks