Economic Performance of U.S. Multinational Agribusinesses: Foreign Direct Investment and Firm Strategy

This paper empirically assesses the sequential relationships among firm strategic factors, FDI activity, and economic performance for a sample of U.S.-based Multinational agribusinesses. The most important findings of this research is a positive direct effect of FDI on performance, the complementary effect between FDI and firm strategic factors (positive and significant interaction terms) on performance, and the positive effect of FDI on performance given some thresholds of firm strategic factors. Specifically, it provides insights about the direct effect of FDI on performance, as well as about the joint effect of firm size and FDI, marketing intensity and FDI, and capital intensity and FDI on performance. These findings provide evidence that FDI activity is an important factor for U.S. agribusiness financial strength.Economic performance, Foreign direct investment, Firm strategic factors, Agribusiness, Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, F230, L250,

Consumer Confidence in the Food System, Media Coverage and Stock Prices of Food Companies: A Regression Analysis

A series of recent and serious food safety incidents have generated a national debate over the significant costs that they impose on various stakeholders - consumers, industry, or the government. This paper examines the impact of media coverage of food safety and defense issues on consumer confidence in food safety, and measures the response of stock prices of food companies to changes in consumer confidence. Results show that, increases in media coverage have a negative impact on consumer confidence, and that decreases in the levels of consumer confidence on food safety have a negative impact on stock prices of food companies, in particular for the larger firms. These findings confirm that the financial performance of food the industry is negatively affected by category-specific food safety events, and the effects of media coverage on consumer confidence in the safety of the food system.Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L.: optimised heat/ultrasound-assisted extraction of tannins by response surface methodology

Tannins are a class of phenolic compounds commonly found in plants and studied for their bioactive and inhibitory enzyme properties. Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L. is a wild edible parasitic plant whose biological properties have been correlated with its high tannin content. Thus, studying the extraction of tannins from C. hypocistis will give comprehensive clues to enhance the recovery of these high added-value bioactive compounds. The present work applied Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to optimise tannins extraction using Heat-Assisted (HAE) and Ultrasound-Assisted (UAE) methods. Two three-factor Rotatable Central Composite Designs were used to assess the linear, quadratic, and interaction effects of the independent variables on the target responses. The obtained results from both extraction systems revealed high ethanol percentages as the critical factor in increasing tannin content. The optimum global processing conditions predicted by the polynomial models were 95.1 min, 46.4 ◦C, and 74.3% ethanol for HAE; and 18.7 min, 327.4 W, and 69.3% ethanol for UAE. Following these conditions, 200 mg and 178 mg of total tannins per g of extract were recovered using HAE and UAE, correspondingly. Although HAE presented a higher final response, the UAE stood out as a time-saving technique.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). A. R. Silva is grateful to FCT and FSE for her Doctoral Grant (SFRH/BD/145834/2019), and J. Pinela and L. Barros for the contracts through the individual (CEECIND/01011/2018) and institutional scientific employment program-contract, respectively. The authors are also thankful to the FEDER-Interreg Espa˜na-Portugal programme for financial support through the project TRANSCoLAB 0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_P and to ERDF through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of the Project GreenHealth - Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000042.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L. SubSp. Macranthus Wettst.: Nutritional characterization

The habit of eating wild plants in Europe is often associated with times of famine; an example of such is the nectar of Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L., a parasitic plant. To the authors’ best knowledge, there are no studies on its nutritional and chemical composition; thus, the whole C. hypocistis (L.) L. subsp. macranthus Wettst. plant (CH) and its nectar (NCH) were nutritionally and chemically characterized. The proximate composition of CH and NCH were very similar in terms of energy, ash, and carbohydrate content. Protein and fat were approximately 2-fold higher in NCH, and crude fiber was 4.6-fold higher in CH compared to NCH. Fructose, glucose, sucrose, and trehalose were the free sugars present in both samples. Oxalic, malic, and citric acids were the identified organic acids in both samples, with citric acid as the most abundant molecule. For both samples, polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids (PUFA and SFA, respectively) predominate over monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) due to the significant contribution of linoleic and palmitic acids, respectively. However, unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) prevail over SFA in CH and NCH. Therefore, CH proved to be an excellent source of nutritional compounds, which supports its use during past periods of scarcity.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under the Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO [UID/AGR/00690/2019], L. Barros contract, and A. Fernandes contracts. The authors would also like to thank Abílio Pereira de Carvalho for his extensive contribution to the specimens’ harvest.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Screening of antioxidant effect of spontaneous and bioinoculated with gluconobacter oxydans fermented papaya: a comparative study

Fermented papaya is recognized as a nutraceutical with a diverse and rich composition. Fermentation of fruit with desirable microorganisms could be a strategy to improve the nutritional quality and profile of the fruit. Despite the popularity of fermented papaya, there is still a lack of knowledge on the effects of various fermentation parameters. The goal of this study was to screen the antioxidant and other properties of the products obtained through a variety of fermentation experiments, as well as the impact of adding Gluconobacter oxydans on their physicochemical properties. The strategies used to produce the fermented papaya extracts were spontaneous fermentation and bioinoculation with G. oxydans. Different fermentation tests were performed to measure pH, total soluble solids, reducing sugars, sodium pyruvate content, total phenolic content (TPC), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). There was a decrease in TPC during spontaneous fer mentations (five assays). However, it can be observed that in the fermentation assays with G. ox ydans, there was an increase in TPC and antioxidant properties. The highest content of TPC was observed on the eighth day of P7 (260.18 ± 0.02 µg gallic acid equivalents· mL−1) which was fer mented with the bacteria and supplemented with glucose. Therefore, phenolic compounds in fer mented papaya were found to increase antioxidant capacity as a result of bioinoculation with G. oxydans.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Post-fire ecological restoration in Latin American forest ecosystems: insights and lessons from the last two decades

Wildfires are responsible for a substantial loss of forest ecosystem services globally and represent a major driving force of forest degradation across Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC). The detrimental effect of forest fires is particularly relevant in regions where fire has been historically absent or has rarely occurred. Nowadays, there is an increasing interest to promote and develop ecological restoration (ER) following fire. LAC constitutes a hotspot where work and interest in ER has been steadily increasing over the last decades, mainly due to the drive of a new generation of young and experienced ecologists and foresters. Despite the increasing attention in post-fire restoration in the region, there is a dearth of initiatives compiling and organizing all the available information on this topic. This work aims to address such constraint, providing current information on post-fire ER in LAC forests. After a brief contextualization of environmental and social consequences of wildfires, we collect and discuss recent advances on restoring degraded forests. From the conifer Mexican ecosystems to the Southern Patagonian evergreen forests, we look back over the last two decades (2000–2020) mainly discussing experiences of success and failure, as well as limitations of implementing approaches based on passive/natural restoration or active/assisted restoration. Furthermore, we also explore other aspects of the restoration process, including those related to social participation and community engagement (e.g. education in restored areas), the use of fire regulation and management to reduce fire risks and increase ecosystem resilience, educational aspects and intermediate approaches as agroforestry and silviculture practices. In the last sections, we identify three major categories of specific constraints that condition ER, including environmental limitations (biotic and abiotic factors), technical/management factors and the socio-economic challenge of restoration. Finally, we briefly discuss future perspectives for ER in LACPS was funded by the Regional Council of Education, University and Professional Training (Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional) from the Government of Galicia (Xunta de Galicia) through the Postdoctoral Plan “Axudas de apoio á etapa de formación posdoutoral nas universidades do Sistema universitario de Galicia”, (Ref - ED481B-2019-088). GS was funded by the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Fondecyt Regular REF-1191905), and the “Fondo Interno para la Adquisición de Equipamiento Científico de la Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (FIAEC 2019). RG was funded by Fondecyt (REF - 11170516). RG, AP were funded by Grant ANID PIA/BASAL FB210006. AF was funded by CERNAS, Centro de Estudos de Recursos Naturais, Ambiente e Sociedade (FCT-UID00681-2020-2023)S

Comparative analysis on parasite and host bioactive properties - a Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L. case study

Cytinus hypocistis (L.) L. is a rootless, stemless, and leafless holoparasite with a vegetative body reduced to an endophytic system that only grows inside the host [1,2]. Although to date, most studies on plant parasitism were focused on nutrient transfer from host to the parasite and the influence of parasites on host plants, a growing number of studies have documented the transfer of non-nutrient molecules. The transference of phytohormones, secondary metabolites, RNAs, and proteins suggests that hosts may significantly impact parasite physiology and ecology [3].The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). A. R. Silva is grateful to FCT and FSE for her Doctoral Grant (SFRH/BD/145834/2019) and L. Barros for her contract through the institutional scientific employment program.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pseudofistulina radicata (Schwein) Burds: the first study focused on its antioxidante activity and bioactive compounds

Natural products with antioxidant activity are very useful in helping the organism to maintain health and be protected from several diseases originated by the excessive production of free radicais, being also used as nutraceuticals. Accordingly, the antioxidants intake from our daily diet, particularly in mushrooms, is of great importance, acting as protective agents against oxidative damage [1]. Pseudofistulina radicata (Schwein) Burds is a wild native mushroom from El Salvador, of which to the best of our knowledge no studies have been published identifying bioactive molecules or evaluating its antioxidant properties. The present work aims to study the antioxidant activity and to identify the bioactive compounds present in the dichloromethane extract obtained from this mushroom. P. radicata was purchase from street vendors in the municipality of Concepción de Ataco (Ahuachapán, El Salvador). An increasing polarity extraction from powdered dry mushroom, with tive solvents at room temperature from hexane to water, was performed. The antioxidant activity of the dichloromethane extract (the second one after using hexane) was evaluated through the reducing power and p-carotene bleaching inhibition assays; the results were 1.43 ± 0.01mg/mL responsible for 0.5 absorbance in the reducing power assay and 2.50 ± O.OSmg/mL responsible for 50% of pcarotene bleaching inhibition. The fraction was chemically characterized by gás chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer detector (GC-MS) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance ('H NMR). Palmitic acid, linoleic acid and friedelin were the main molecules identified. Linoleic acid is an essential fatty acid, presenting anti-inflammatory activity and that prevents coronary diseases [2]. Friedelin is a terpene which possesses analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities [3]. Overall, these results indicate and strong potential of P. radicata to be used as a source of bioactive molecules, which could be included in diets as nutraceuticals and/or as functional foods maintaining and promoting health, longevity and life quality.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology_(FCT Portugal Spanish MINECO (CTQ2015-68~175-Wand FEDER under Program PT-2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013) and A. Fernandes( SFRH/BPD/114753/2016) and L . Barros contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio