Investigation of antinutritive components in Hungarian potato cultivars depending on production technology

We have investigated the Total Glycoalcaloid (TGA), nitrite, and nitrate contents of some Hungarian and foreign potato cultivars in relation to the effect of different combination of fertilisers and green manure, late blight management strategies (none, programmed, or prediction based spraying), and irrigation regime for three years. The Hungarian cultivars have exotic potato species like S. acaule, S. demissum, S. stoloniferum, S. vernei, or S. tub. ssp. andigenum in their genetic background as sources of resistance genes. No effect of fertilisers or irrigation was found on the level of glycoalkaloids and nitrate contents, which were influenced mostly by the genotype and season. In conclusion, the absolute amount and the presence of different antinutritive components of potato tubers were influenced by the technology, genotype, and season in a complex manner. These results in general prove that ware potato production utilising intensive commercial agrotechnical practices and common cultivars is safe regarding the nitrate and TGA content of tubers

How will a drier climate change carbon sequestration in soils of the deciduous forests of Central Europe?

Global warming is accompanied by increasing water stress across much of our planet. We studied soil biological processes and changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in 30 Hungarian oak forest sites in the Carpathian Basin along a climatic gradient (mean annual temperature (MAT) 9.6\u201312.1 C, mean annual precipitation (MAP) 545\u2013725 mm) but on similar gently sloped hillsides where the parent materials are loess and weathered dust inputs dating from the end of the ice age. The purpose of this research was to understand how a drying climate, predicted for this region, might regulate long-term SOC sequestration. To examine the effects of decreasing water availability, we compared soil parameters and processes in three categories of forest that represented the moisture extremes along our gradient and that were defined using a broken-stick regression model. Soil biological activity was significantly lower in the driest (\u2018\u2018dry\u2019\u2019) forests, which had more than double the SOC concentration in the upper 30 cm layer (3.28 g C/100 g soil \ub1 0.11 SE) compared to soils of the wettest (\u2018\u2018humid\u2019\u2019) forests (1.32 g C/100 g soil \ub1 0.09 SE), despite the fact that annual surface litter production in humid forests was * 37% higher than in dry forests. A two-pool SOM model constrained to fit radiocarbon data indicates that turnover times for fast and slow pools are about half as long in the humid soil compared to the dry soil, and humid soils transfer C twice as efficiently from fast to slow pools. Enzyme activity and fungal biomass data also imply shorter turnover times associated with faster degradation processes in the soils of humid forests. Thermogravimetry studies suggest that more chemically recalcitrant compounds are accumulating in the soils of dry forests. Taken together, our results suggest that the predicted climate drying in this region might increase SOC storage in Central European mesic deciduous forests even as litter production decreases

Effect of additional water supply during grain filling on protein composition and epitope characteristics of winter oats

Pure oats in gluten-free diets (GFD) represent important nutritional benefits for people suffering from celiac disease (CD). However, oat cultivars do not contain the typical CD-related wheat gliadin analog polypeptides. Emerging evidence suggests that oat cultivars containing gluten-like epitopes in avenin sequences may pose potential health risks for celiac patients in rare cases, depending on the individual’s susceptibility. Consequently, it is necessary to screen oats in terms of protein and epitope composition, to be able to select safe varieties for gluten-free applications. The overall aim of our study is to investigate the variation of oat protein composition directly related to health-related and techno-functional properties and to examine how the protein compositional parameters change due to irrigation during the grain-filling period as compared to the natural rain-fed grown, in a large winter oat population of different geographic origin. Elements of an oat sample population representing 164 winter oat varieties from 8 countries and the protein composition of resulting samples have been characterized. Size distribution of the total protein extracts has been analyzed by SE-HPLC, while the 70% ethanol extracted proteins were analyzed by RP-HPLC. Protein extracts are separated into 3 main groups of fractions on the SE-HPLC column; polymeric, avenin, and non-avenin monomeric protein groups, representing 59.17–80.87%, 12.89–31.03%, and 3.40–9.41% of total protein content, respectively. The ratio of polymeric to monomeric proteins varied between 1.71 and 6.07. 91 RP-HPLC-separated peaks have been differentiated from the ethanol extractable proteins of the entire population. The various parameters identified a lot of variation, confirming the significance of genotypic variation. In addition, it was also established that the additional water supply during grain filling significantly affected the various quantitative parameters of protein content, but not its qualitative structure. This environmental effect, however, was strongly genotype-dependent. Winter oat genotypes with low levels of epitope content were identified and it was proven that these characteristics were independent of the environmental factor of water availability. These genotypes are appropriate for initiating a specific breeding program to yield oat cultivars suitable for CD patients

Preferences of Hungarian consumers for quality, access and price attributes of health care services — result of a discrete choice experiment

In 2010, a household survey was carried out in Hungary among 1037 respondents to study consumer preferences and willingness to pay for health care services. In this paper, we use the data from the discrete choice experiments included in the survey, to elicit the preferences of health care consumers about the choice of health care providers. Regression analysis is used to estimate the effect of the improvement of service attributes (quality, access, and price) on patients’ choice, as well as the differences among the socio-demographic groups. We also estimate the marginal willingness to pay for the improvement in attribute levels by calculating marginal rates of substitution. The results show that respondents from a village or the capital, with low education and bad health status are more driven by the changes in the price attribute when choosing between health care providers. Respondents value the good skills and reputation of the physician and the attitude of the personnel most, followed by modern equipment and maintenance of the office/hospital. Access attributes (travelling and waiting time) are less important. The method of discrete choice experiment is useful to reveal patients’ preferences, and might support the development of an evidence-based and sustainable health policy on patient payments

Ungulate browsing shapes climate change impacts on forest biodiversity in Hungary

Climate change can result in a slow disappearance of forests dominated by less drought-tolerant native European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and oak species (Quercus spp.) and further area expansion of more drought-tolerant non-native black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) against those species in Hungary. We assumed that the shift in plant species composition was modified by selective ungulate browsing. Thus, we investigated which woody species are selected by browsing game. We have collected data on the species composition of the understory and the browsing impact on it in five different Hungarian even-aged forests between 2003 and 2005. Based on these investigations the non-native Robinia pseudoacacialiving under more favourable climatic conditions was generally preferred (Jacobs’ selectivity index: D=0.04±0.77), while the nativeFagus sylvatica and Quercus spp. (Q. petraea, Q. robur), both more vulnerable to increasing aridity, were avoided (D=-0.37±0.11;-0.79±0.56;-0.9±0.16; respectively) among target tree species. However, economically less or not relevant species, e.g. elderberry (Sambucus spp.), blackberry (Rubus spp.) or common dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) were the most preferred species (D=0.01±0.71; -0.12±0.58; -0.2±0.78, respectively). Our results imply that biodiversity conservation, i.e. maintaining or establishing a multi-species understory layer, can be a good solution to reduce the additional negative game impact on native target tree species suffering from drought. Due to preference for Robinia pseudoacaciaselective browsing can decelerate the penetration of this species into native forest habitats. We have to consider the herbivorous pressure of ungulates and their feeding preferences in planning our future multifunctional forests in the light of climate change impacts