Agronomical techniques to improve technological and sanitary quality

In spite of variable grain protein contents, baking quality of organic wheat was found to be acceptable to good. Mycotoxin (DON) infestation was generally low on tested grain samples. Choice of wheat cultivar was the most efficient way to obtain higher grain quality. Fertilization with readily available nitrogen and, to a lower extent, association with legumes and green manures with mixtures containing fodder legumes also improved grain quality. Reduced tillage affected soil quality and wheat yield but had little effects on grain quality

Techniques to improve technological and sanitary quality

Agronomical ways for better quality and safety Choice of cultivar is an efficient way to obtain higher grain quality. Intercropping legumes (grain or forage) improves weed competition and N availability for wheat crop or succeeding crop. Green manure can be an effective alternative to farmyard manure. Fertilization with readily available nitrogen improves yield and quality when water is available. Reduced tillage affects soil fertility and wheat yield but has little effects on grain quality. Technological ways for better quality and safety Milling process strongly influences flour characteristics. Stone milling improves nutritive value; characteristics remain very stable independent of the milling yield. Flour characteristics from roller milling appear very susceptible to the milling yield. Increasing the milling yield in the aim of enriching nutritional quality has a detrimental effect either on safety (DON) or on bread-making quality (bread volume)

Technological quality of organic wheat in Europe

The demand for high quality organic bread wheat is increasing. The quality level of organic wheat harvested in EU is mainly dependant on variety, environmental conditions and agronomic practices. In some countries, protein content and composition, influencing technological value, are equivalent to those produced under conventional practices. Beside agronomical techniques, technological processes can help to maintain a good quality. Pre-treatments before milling such as debranning were found to be efficient in reducing DON contamination. The project highlighted the necessity to redefine the methods to assess the quality of organic wheat

Consequences of the introduction of cereal - grain legume intercrops in the supply chain. Analysis from the perspective of farmers and cooperatives

Intercropping (the simultaneous growth of 2 or more species in the same field) is one way to solve some difficulties that organic supply chain has to face. The aim of this article is to assess the consequences and the compatibility with intercrops at 2 levels: i) cropping systems of 18 farmers from north of France and ii) the logistics ofagricultural cooperatives which collect durum wheat in Midi-Pyrenees altogether with two cooperatives that already had experimented intercrops (Terrena and AgriBioUnion).The conclusions of our work is that intercrops seem a priori compatible with farmers’ cropping systems and with the presentlogistic organization of cooperatives but the main difficulty remains the feasibility and the cost in sorting out grains. Constraints and benefits of intercrops must then be analyzed more precisely at each level of the supply chain in order to collectively develop solutions

Grain legume–cereal intercropping systems

Chapitre 11Grain legume–cereal intercropping system

Améliorer la qualité technologique, nutritionnelle et sanitaire du bléiologique. Principaux leviers agronomiques et technologiques

Communication lors du colloque "DinABio 2013", 13 et 14 novembre 2013 à Tours (Fance)The organic bread wheat market has been diversified over time through the emergence of different sale channels. Processors require organic bread wheat of higher quality and safety in order to meet the consumers’ demand. The overall objective of the AGTEC-Org project was to identify agronomical and technological ways to improve the performance of organic wheat and flour. The findings would contribute to enhanced baking quality and nutritional value of organic flour, as well as prevention of mycotoxin contamination. The project involved 9 research centers or universities from 5 European countries for a total budget of about 1.5 million €. More than 400 experimental treatments were analyzed from 23 agronomic trials and 4 lab-experiments on food technology. Choice of cultivar is an efficient way to obtain higher grain quality. Intercropping legumes (grain or forage) improves weed control and N availability for wheat crop or succeeding crop. Green manure can be an effective alternative to farmyard manure. Fertilization with organic fertilizers improves yield and quality when water is available. Reduced tillage affects soil fertility and wheat yield but has little effects on grain quality. Milling process strongly influences flour characteristics. Stone milling improves the nutritive value and flour characteristics remain very stable independently of the milling yield. However, stone milling slightly raises DON levels. Characteristics of flour produced by means of roller milling appear very dependent on milling yield, instead. Increasing milling yield with the aim of enriching nutritional quality has a detrimental effect on either safety (DON) or bread-making quality (bread volume). Debranning before milling has a very positive impact on flour safety by reducing its DON content by 50 %.Les acteurs de la filière blé biologique panifiable font face à divers enjeux complémentaires voire parfois contradictoires. Les agriculteurs et transformateurs souhaitent augmenter les niveaux de production tout en satisfaisant prioritairement les attentes des consommateurs pour une alimentation de meilleure qualité nutritionnelle et sanitaire, plus durable et plus respectueuse de l’environnement. Le projet européen AGTEC-Org a eu pour objectif d’identifier les leviers agronomiques et technologiques permettant d’améliorer conjointement la productivité et la qualité des blés et des farines biologiques. Il a réuni agronomes, technologues et économistes issus de 9 centres de recherche et universités européennes pour un budget total de 1,5 M€. Plus de 400 traitements expérimentaux ont été analysés à partir de 23 expérimentations agronomiques et 4 expérimentations technologiques. Le choix de la variété est un moyen efficace pour obtenir une qualité de grain supérieure. L’insertion de légumineuses (grain ou fourrage) dans le blé améliore la compétition avec les adventices et la nutrition azotée du blé et/ou de la culture de printemps suivante. L’utilisation régulière d’engrais vert peut être une alternative pour compenser l’absence de fumiers sur l’exploitation. La fertilisation organique améliore le rendement et la qualité des blés lorsque la nutrition hydrique est assurée. La suppression du labour peut affecter la fertilité du sol et le rendement du blé alors qu’elle n’intervient pas sur la qualité du grain. Le mode de broyage (meule de pierre vs cylindres) influence fortement les caractéristiques technologiques, la sécurité sanitaire et la valeur nutritionnelle de la farine. Le broyage sur meule améliore la composition nutritionnelle mais augmente aussi la présence de certains contaminants. Les caractéristiques de la farine broyée sur meule de pierre sont moins influencées par le rendement en mouture. Au contraire, les caractéristiques de la farine obtenue par cylindre apparaissent très dépendantes du rendement en mouture. Augmenter le rendement en farine dans l’objectif d’enrichir la qualité nutritionnelle réduit aussi bien la sécurité sanitaire (DON) que la qualité boulangère (volume du pain). Le décorticage des grains avant broyage diminue les risques sanitaires en réduisant le taux de mycotoxines (DON) de 50%

Pea–wheat intercrops in low-input conditions combine high economic performances and low environmental impacts

Intensive agriculture ensures high yields but can cause serious environmental damages. The optimal use of soil and atmospheric sources of nitrogen in cereal–legume mixtures may allow farmers to maintain high production levels and good quality with low external N inputs, and could potentially decrease environmental impacts, particularly through a more efficient energy use. These potential advantages are presented in an overall assessment of cereal–legume systems, accounting for the agronomic, environmental, energetic, and economic performances. Based on a low-input experimental field network including 16 site-years, we found that yields of pea–wheat intercrops (about 4.5 Mg ha−1 whatever the amount of applied fertiliser) were higher than sole pea and close to conventionally managed wheat yields (5.4 Mg ha−1 on average), the intercrop requiring less than half of the nitrogen fertiliser per ton of grain compared to the sole wheat. The land equivalent ratio and a statistical analysis based on the Price\u27s equation showed that the crop mixture was more efficient than sole crops particularly under unfertilised situations. The estimated amount of energy consumed per ton of harvested grains was two to three times higher with conventionally managed wheat than with pea–wheat mixtures (fertilised or not). The intercrops allowed (i) maintaining wheat grain protein concentration and gross margin compared to wheat sole crop and (ii) increased the contribution of N2 fixation to total N accumulation of pea crop in the mixture compared to pea sole crop. They also led to a reduction of (i) pesticide use compared to sole crops and (ii) soil mineral nitrogen after harvest compared to pea sole crop. Our results demonstrate that pea–wheat intercropping is a promising way to produce cereal grains in an efficient, economically sustainable and environmentally friendly way

Evidence of contamination by oil and oil products in the Santos-Sao Vicente estuary, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Different components of the mixed function oxidase (MFO) system and the levels of fluorescent aromatic compounds in bile (FACs) were measured in Cathorops spixii in order to assess the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Fish were sampled in an estuary (Santos/Sao Vicente) with a history of contamination by PAHs, mainly due to the presence of the industrial complex of Cubatao city and of another of low anthropogenic influence (Cananeia) on the Brazilian coast. FACs were higher in fish from the polluted site, and the PAH 5 and 6-ring metabolites were the most frequent - with 14% and 15%, respectively. Levels of the different components of the MFO system showed the same variation profile as the FACs for both estuaries. Therefore, the values found for somatic indexes and biomarkers with data of bile PAH metabolites indicate the presence of organic contaminants, especially in the area subject to the influence of the industrial complex on the Santos/Sao Vicente estuary.CAPES (Brazilian Agency for Science and Technology); Oceanographic Institute of Sao Paulo University; Laboratory of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Chemistry of the University of Algarve; CAPES-PDEE [BEX 2176/07-6]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sex differences in cardiovascular complications and mortality in hospital patients with covid-19: registry based observational study

Objective To assess whether the risk of cardiovascular complications of covid-19 differ between the sexes and to determine whether any sex differences in risk are reduced in individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular disease. Design Registry based observational study. Setting 74 hospitals across 13 countries (eight European) participating in CAPACITY-COVID (Cardiac complicAtions in Patients With SARS Corona vIrus 2 regisTrY), from March 2020 to May 2021 Participants All adults (aged ≥18 years), predominantly European, admitted to hospital with highly suspected covid-19 disease or covid-19 disease confirmed by positive laboratory test results (n=11 167 patients). Main outcome measures Any cardiovascular complication during admission to hospital. Secondary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and individual cardiovascular complications with ≥20 events for each sex. Logistic regression was used to examine sex differences in the risk of cardiovascular outcomes, overall and grouped by pre-existing cardiovascular disease. Results Of 11 167 adults (median age 68 years, 40% female participants) included, 3423 (36% of whom were female participants) had pre-existing cardiovascular disease. In both sexes, the most common cardiovascular complications were supraventricular tachycardias (4% of female participants, 6% of male participants), pulmonary embolism (3% and 5%), and heart failure (decompensated or de novo) (2% in both sexes). After adjusting for age, ethnic group, pre-existing cardiovascular disease, and risk factors for cardiovascular disease, female individuals were less likely than male individuals to have a cardiovascular complication (odds ratio 0.72, 95% confidence interval 0.64 to 0.80) or die (0.65, 0.59 to 0.72). Differences between the sexes were not modified by pre-existing cardiovascular disease; for the primary outcome, the female-to-male ratio of the odds ratio in those without, compared with those with, pre-existing cardiovascular disease was 0.84 (0.67 to 1.07). Conclusions In patients admitted to hospital for covid-19, female participants were less likely than male participants to have a cardiovascular complication. The differences between the sexes could not be attributed to the lower prevalence of pre-existing cardiovascular disease in female individuals. The reasons for this advantage in female individuals requires further research