Energy Sorghum : An alternative energy crop A Handbook

Increasing world market prices for fossil fuels, driven by limited reserves, growing demand and instability in producing regions, now render renewable fuels economical. Such fuels are also a pathway to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigating climate change. The transport sector which is almost totally dependent on fossil fuels, particularly for powering personal vehicles and trucks, is the most concerned sector. Biofuels, defined as solid, liquid or gas fuels derived from biomass, are today the only direct substitute for fossil fuels on a significant scale particularly in transport sector. Biofuels are considered environmentally friendly because the CO2 emissions they produce during combustion is balanced by the CO2 absorbed by the plants growth. To be a viable substitute for fossil fuels, an alternative fuel should not only have superior environmental benefits over the fossil fuels it substitutes, be economically competitive with it, and be available in sufficient quantities to make meaningful impact on energy demand, but it should also provide a net energy gain over the energy invested to produce it and have minimal effect on food security... {This handbook was elaborated in the framework of the SWEETFUEL project (grant agreement number 227422), supported by the European Commission

Bioavailability of <i>c</i>-linked dihydrochalcone and flavanone glucosides in humans following ingestion of unfermented and fermented rooibos teas

High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS&lt;sp&gt;n&lt;/sp&gt;) detected aspalathin and nothofagin, &lt;i&gt;C&lt;/i&gt;-glycosides of apigenin and luteolin, and four eriodictyol-&lt;i&gt;C&lt;/i&gt;-glycoside isomers in unfermented and fermented rooibos teas. The fermented drink contained 10-fold higher levels of aspalathin and nothofagin and a 4-fold lower eriodictyol-&lt;i&gt;C&lt;/i&gt;-glycoside content than the fermented tea. The total flavonoid contents in 500 mL servings of the teas were 84 (fermented) and 159 &#181;mol (unfermented). Following the ingestion of 500 mL of the teas by 10 volunteers, 0-24 h urine and plasma samples were collected for analysis. HPLC-MS&lt;sp&gt;n&lt;/sp&gt; identified eight metabolites in urine. These were &lt;i&gt;O&lt;/i&gt;-linked methyl, sulfate, and glucuronide metabolites of aspalathin and an eriodictyol-&lt;i&gt;O&lt;/i&gt;-sulfate. The main compound excreted was an O-methyl-aspalathin-O-glucuronide (229 &#181;mol) following ingestion of the unfermented drink and eriodictyol-&lt;i&gt;O&lt;/i&gt;-sulfate (68 &#181;mol) after ingestion of the fermented beverage. The overall metabolite levels excreted were 82 and 352 &#181;mol, accounting for 0.09 and 0.22% of the flavonoids in the fermented and unfermented drinks, respectively. Most of the aspalathin metabolites were excreted within 5 h of tea consumption, suggesting absorption in the small intestine. Urinary excretion of the eriodictyol-&lt;i&gt;O&lt;/i&gt;-sulfate occurred mainly during the 5-12 h collection period, indicative of absorption in the large intestine. Despite exhaustive searches, no flavonoid metabolites were detected in plasm

Definition of new sorghum ideotypes to meet the increasing demand of biofuels

advance results of the SWEETFUEL project on bredding and physiology of sweet sorghum for ethanol production

Oxalis seeds from the Cape Flora have a spectrum of germination strategies

CITATION: Jooste, M., et al. 2019. Oxalis seeds from the Cape Flora have a spectrum of germination strategies. American Journal of Botany, 106(6):879-893, doi:10.1002/ajb2.1300.The original publication is available at https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.comPREMISE OF THE STUDY: Seed germination strategy has profound ecological and evolutionary consequences, with transitions between germination strategies receiving renewed recent attention. Oxalis from the Cape Flora, South Africa, has seeds with two contrasting germination strategies: orthodox and recalcitrant. The morphological gulf between these strategies (and potential intermediate morphologies) has been poorly quantified, with questions regarding their ecological function and evolution. We reconsidered this binary classification, emphasizing potential intermediate states. METHODS: Seed physiological traits were used to assign strategies to 64 Oxalis species. We tested for morphological/phenological signal corresponding to defined strategies with cluster, principal component, Kmeans clustering and discriminant analyses. KEY RESULTS: We show that an intermediate germination strategy does exist among Cape Oxalis, with two possible morphological groups within each strategy. These could reflect a continuum of germination states, where an ancestral orthodox strategy evolved towards a maximally recalcitrant peak, with a mosaic of intermediate states reflected in extant taxa. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental factors may affect germination strategy and distribution throughout the Cape because recalcitrant and intermediate species are confined to the winter rainfall region. They occupy specialized niches and may face adverse impacts under predicted climate change (hotter and drier winters), meriting focused future conservation.https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajb2.1300Post prin