Aluminium toxicity in winter wheat

Abstract. Aluminium is the most frequent metal of the earth crust; it occurs mainly as biologically inactive, insoluble deposit. Environmental problems, industrial contaminations and acid rains increase the soil acidity, leading to the mobilization of Al. Half of the world's potential arable lands are acidic; therefore, Al-toxicity decreases crop productivity. Wheat is a staple food for 35% of the world population. The effects of Al-stress (0.1 mM) were studied on winter wheat; seedlings were grown hydroponically, at acidic pH. After two weeks, the root weight was decreased; a significant difference was found in the P-and Ca-content. The shoot weight and element content changed slightly; Al-content in the root was one magnitude higher than in the shoot, while Al-translocation was limited. The root plasma membrane H + -ATPase has central role in the uptake processes; Al-stress increased the Mg 2+ -ATPase activity of the microsomal fraction

Colour evolution of conventionally and organically cultivated hungarina red spice paprika varieties

Colour evolution of conventionally and organically cultivated Szegedi-20, Meteorit, Mihálytelki and Kármin spice paprika varieties was studied in green, break, pale red, deep red and over-ripened maturity stages. As the ripening stages forwarded the organic samples gradually lost their initial extractable colour (ASTA value) gain toward their conventional counterparts. The over-ripened colour levels were satisfactorily high in the conventional (169.9-264.8 ASTA) and in the organic (160.8-210.5 ASTA) paprika varieties as well, although the colour accumulation was 9.0- 62.8 ASTA lower in the organic samples. Significant and perceptible visual colour differences (ΔE*ab) were found between the organic and conventional crops. The lightness difference (ΔL*) indicated that the organic paprika generally were lighter than the conventional ones. The positive hue difference (ΔH*ab) showed that the colour of deep red and over-ripened organic Szegedi-20, Mihálytelki and Kármin paprika crops were more yellow compared with the conventional group. The lightness (L*) and hue angle (h°ab) were found the most suitable instrumental colour parameters to distinguish the ripening stages and the colour characteristics of the samples. The better colour evolution of conventional crops was attributed to the soil characteristics, nutrient supply and chemical plant protection that were specifically designed for the needs of paprika in the conventional farming

Assessment of subacute genotoxic and histopathological effects of a food flavour ingredient, 4-ethylbenzaldehyde (EBA) on zebrafish (Danio rerio) model

Modern food industry widely uses a variety of flavour and fragrance materials. One of the most used compound groups is the aldehydes. The benzaldehyde, also known as artificial almond oil, is one of the most commonly used flavouring in food industry nowadays. The effects of this compound on different species are well known, a lot of toxicological information can be found in the literature. 4-ethylbenzaldehyde is also a member of aldehyde group, the physical properties are similar to benzaldehyde and also has almond scent. Unlike benzaldehyde, it has no chemical safety assessment according to its chemical safety sheet, and only one experiment can be found on its effects on vertebrates. This compound can also be found at the group of flavours and fragrances. The aim of this study was to examine the subacute DNA and tissue damaging effects of EBA. The genotoxic effects of EBA in zebrafish were evaluated by using micronucleus assay. Significant increase in the micronucleus frequency had been described for all tested concentrations. Alterations were found in the liver of the fish group treated with 11 mg l–1 EBA for 21 days

SNP-based genetic diversity assessment among hungarian bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes

World’s food supply will be a great challenge due to the rapid growth of human population. Therefore, wheat breeders are facing a great task to improve further the crop quality and quantity. Genetic improvement could be the key in this progression, which is based on the exploitation of genetic resources. So it is important to hold exact information about the wheat population structure, especially the genetic diversity of elite crop germplasm. Here, we provide the characterisation of 85 Hungarian wheat varieties from 3 different Hungarian breeding programmes (Szeged, Martonvásár and Karcag) trough Competitive Allele-Specific PCR (KASP) technique. Population structure of these accessions were examined by STRUCTURE software and the ΔK values were calculating by the STRUCTURE HARVESTER. These investigations revealed 3 subgroups in our wheat population with 21, 19 and 45 genotypes in GrI, GrII and GrIII, respectively. We could conclude that the GrI and GrIII subgroups contained genotypes from all three origins while GrII contained genotypes only from Szeged. We also examined the allele distribution of the Xgwm261 locus since the 192 bp allele is reported to be linked to semi-dwarfing gene Rht8, which has important role in the breeding process. Altogether we could observe 5 size variant products, but the 174 bp (22.35%), 192 bp (55.29%), and 198 bp (12.94%) long fragments could be found the most frequently. The present study confirms that population structure and genotype relatedness, based on molecular data, are consistent with the geography origin and available pedigree data. Moreover, this study could be the starting point of a following association mapping work

Colour characteristics of winter wheat grits of different grain size

Nowadays, wheat has spread all over the world due to its extensive usability. The colour of wheat grits is very important for the milling and baking industry because it determines the colour of the products made from it. The instrumental colour measuring is used, first of all, for durum wheat. We investigated the relationship between colour characteristics and grain size in the case of different hard aestivum wheats. We determined the colour using the CIE (Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage) 1976 L*, a*, b* colour system measured by MINOLTA CR-300 tristimulus colorimeter. After screening the colour of the wheat fractions of different grain size, grits was measured wet and dry. We determined the L*, a*, b* colour co-ordinates and the whiteness index, too. To evaluate the values we had obtained, we used analysis of variance and regression analysis. We pointed out that the colour of wheat grits of different grain size is dependent on the hardness index of wheat. The lightness co-ordinate (L*) of grits of the harder wheat is smaller, while a* and b* co-ordinates are higher. We also found that while grain size rises, the L* co-ordinate decreases and a*, b* values increase in the case of every type of wheat. The colour of grits is determined by the colour of fractions of 250-400 μm in size, independently from the average grain size. The whiteness index and the L* colour co-ordinate have a linear relation (R2 = 0.9151); so, the determination of whiteness index is not necessary. The L* value right characterizes the whiteness of grits

Aluminium toxicity in winter wheat

Aluminium is the most frequent metal of the earth crust; it occurs mainly as biologically inactive, insoluble deposit. Environmental problems, industrial contaminations and acid rains increase the soil acidity, leading to the mobilization of Al. Half of the world’s potential arable lands are acidic; therefore, Al-toxicity decreases crop productivity. Wheat is a staple food for 35% of the world population. The effects of Al-stress (0.1 mM) were studied on winter wheat; seedlings were grown hydroponically, at acidic pH. After two weeks, the root weight was decreased; a significant difference was found in the P- and Ca-content. The shoot weight and element content changed slightly; Al-content in the root was one magnitude higher than in the shoot, while Al-translocation was limited. The root plasma membrane H+-ATPase has central role in the uptake processes; Al-stress increased the Mg2+-ATPase activity of the microsomal fraction

Investigation of wheat grits during storage

The change of the quality of wheat milling products was investigated in our work. We analysed different types of wheat grists that are used in household (BL-55, BL-196, BFF-55 and AD). The grists were stored in three type of packages (paper bag, transparent PE bag, and woven PP bag) and in two different places (bright/warm and dark/cool place) for 6 months. The titre and colour characteristics of samples were measured monthly. Colour measurements were performed with a Hunter MiniScan colour-measuring instrument. The CIELab colour system was used for colour characterization. The values of titre were analysed using ANOVA. The type of package did not have significant influence on the titre. In the case of the BL-55, BL-196, and BFF-55 type of ours, the storage conditions had a significant effect on titre: it was smaller for samples that were stored in the dark/cool place. The value of titre rose significantly during storage for all samples

Milling technological experiments to reduce Fusarium toxin contamination in wheat

We examine 4 different DON-toxin-containing (0.74 - 1.15 - 1.19 - 2.14 mg/kg) winter wheat samples: they were debranned and undebranned, and we investigated the flour’s and the by-products’ (coarse, fine bran) toxin content changes. SATAKE lab-debranner was used for debranning and BRABENDER lab-mill for the milling process. Without debranning, two sample flours were above the DON toxin limit (0.75 mg/kg), which are waste. By minimum debranning (and minimum debranning mass loss; 6-8%), our experience with whole flour is that the multi-stage debranning measurement significantly reduces the content of the flour’s DON toxin, while the milling by-products, only after careful consideration and DON toxin measurements, may be produced for public consumption and for feeding

Flour quality and kernel hardness connection in winter wheat

Kernel hardness is controlled by friabilin protein and it depends on the relation between protein matrix and starch granules. Friabilin is present in high concentration in soft grain varieties and in low concentration in hard grain varieties. The high gluten, hard wheat our generally contains about 12.0–13.0% crude protein under Mid-European conditions. The relationship between wheat protein content and kernel texture is usually positive and kernel texture influences the power consumption during milling. Hard-textured wheat grains require more grinding energy than soft-textured grains