Assessment of Lead, Copper and Cadmium Tolerance by Four Vegetable Species

Heavy metal pollution in agriculture soils has serious negative effects on human health and has become an important issue both in developed and developing countries. This study was conducted in ElOurdanine region (Monastir, Tunisia) and performed at four different sites using treated wastewater for irrigation. The aim is to detect the ability of accumulation of some heavy metals by four vegetable crops: peas (leguminosae), carrot (Apiaceae), lettuce (Asteraceae) and spinach (Chenopodiaceae) grown in contaminated soil. Total of 4 soils samples from the four experimental sites were collected and analyzed before and after vegetables cultivation. The quantitative content of Cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) in the four species revealed differential abilities of accumulation. Significant differences were recorded. The comparison of the four species together showed that lettuce and spinach are the most accumulators of heavy metals, an average concentrations above than 7.50 mg.kg-1 DM were recorded, while the pea pods were characterized by the lower concentrations (<0.5 mg.kg-1 DM for Cd), carrot expressed a moderate accumulation with an average of four sites not exceeding 3 mg.kg-1 DM for Cd. The lower accumulators (pea and carrot) would be most suitable for cultivation on contaminated soils while both spinach and lettuce appear to be high accumulators of Cd and Pb that are considered a higher risk to human health than Cu

Morphological and Molecular Identification of Seedborne Fungi in Squash (Cucurbita maxima, Cucurbita moschata).

Squash is one of the most important crops of tropical and temperate regions, and it can be affected by several fungal pathogens. Most of these pathogens infect the seeds, which become an efficient vehicle to disperse seedborne pathogens over long distances, with consequent severe crop losses. The main objective of this study was the identification of the principal seedborne fungi in seeds extracted from 66 samples of asymptomatic and symptomatic squash fruit (Cucurbita maxima, Cucurbita moschata) collected in two countries, Tunisia and Italy. The symptoms of fruit decay were identified and classified according to lesion size. Following the blotter test, 14 fungal species were detected from the seeds. Seedborne fungi were identified in all fruit samples tested, including asymptomatic fruit. The most frequent fungi from Tunisian seeds were Alternaria alternata (25.1%), followed by Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum (24.6%), Fusarium solani (16.6%), Rhizopus stolonifer (13.3%), F. fujikuroi (7.8%), Albifimbria verrucaria (3.3%), and Stemphylium vesicarium (2.3%). For the fruits from Italy, the most frequently identified fungal species in seed samples were Alternaria alternata (40.0%), followed by F. fujikuroi (20.8%), Stemphylium vesicarium (3.0%), and Curvularia spicifera (2.1%). Morphological identification was confirmed by molecular diagnosis using the available species-specific primers. Furthermore, specific primers were designed to identify Albifimbria verrucaria, Paramyrothecium roridum, and Stemphylium vesicarium. Application of seed-health testing methods, including such conventional and molecular diagnostic tools, will help to improve seed quality and crop yields

The expected number of olympic medals: a case study of team Portugal at Tokyo 2020

The 2020 Summer Olympic Games reached to an end in Tokyo, Japan. Even though all the hiccups, constraints, and challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Games were successfully held in August 2021. For the first time in history, Team Portugal won four medals (one gold, one silver, and two bronzes). In 2018 the Portuguese Olympic Committee signed a contract with the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (i.e., Portuguese government) listing the deliverables of the mission Tokyo 2020 against a funding scheme of 18.5 million euros (Contrato n.º 33-A/2018; Contrato -Programa de Desenvolvimento Desportivo n.º CP/1/DDF/2018). The document sets, among other goals and deliverables, that no less than two medals would be won at Tokyo 2020 (section IV.1. of the contract). On the road to Tokyo, Portugal got more than two medallists at World Championships in several Olympic sports. Indeed, there were six to eight potential medallists at the 2020 Olympic Games (O Jogo, 2021). There is evidence that just one-third to one-fourth of the Olympic athletes are able to excel and outperform at the Olympic Games. In the sport of competitive swimming, just 29.82% of all male Olympians and 53.84% of the finalists at Rio 2016 improved their entry times (Barbosa, 2016a). On average, only 30% of the swimmers were able to improve their entry time at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games (Barbosa, 2016b). At Rio 2016, Team Portugal was expected to win two medals out of nine potential medallists, i.e., almost 25% of effectiveness (Garcia, 2016). Thus, one can wonder if the Portuguese Olympic Committee was sensible, assuming that two athletes would reach the podium spot out of six to eight potential medallists. Also, it begs the question if the four medals won were an outstanding achievement, deemed as a substantial improvement of the Portuguese sports system or, if alternatively, the Portuguese Olympic Committee underestimated the number of medals that the country could win.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Improved recovery of antioxidant compounds from refined pumpkin peel extract: a mixture design method approach

This study employed the mixture design method to determine optimal solvent combinations, aiming to obtain refined extracts from squash peels with enhanced antioxidant properties. We optimized extraction solvents, focusing on recovering the total phenolic compounds (TPC) and increased antioxidant properties using a second-order polynomial equation through the response surface methodology (RSM). Six solvents (MeOH, Hexane, DCM, EtOAc, BuOH, and water) were assessed for their effects on TPC and antioxidant activity in preliminary experiments. The refined extracts underwent a HPLC analysis for a phenolic composition determination and were further evaluated for their antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity. The results revealed a rich phenolic content in the refined extract from peels of Bejaoui landrace, primarily catechin (8.06 mg/g dry extract (DE)), followed by epicatechin and kaempferol (5 mg/g DE). Antibacterial tests against Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus showed significant antimicrobial activities, especially for Karkoubi and batati landraces, where the growth inhibitions were 99%, 96%, 97%, and 80% and 94%, 89%, 98%, and 96% for the respective bacteria. The peel extracts exhibited a negligible cytotoxicity on the RAW264.7 cell line, even at high concentrations. Our findings emphasize the potential antioxidant and antibacterial properties of peel extracts due to diverse phenolic compounds, suggesting the potential use of squash peels in the food and nutraceuticals industries as sources of natural antimicrobial agents.This study was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and was funded under the scope of the Project PulpIng-H2020-PRIMA 2019—Section 2—Multi-topic 2019. To the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020); to FCT for the contract of L. Barros (CEEC Institutional); to the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development and Investments under the PRIMA Program. PRIMA is an Art.185 initiative supported and co-funded under Horizon 2020, the European Union’s Program for Research and Plants 2022, 11, 800 16 of 18 Innovation (Prima2019-08).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of reduced tillage under various mulch types on soil fertility and yield of an organic pepper crop

The effects of mulching on soil characteristics and plant development for pepper crops conducted in organic farming were studied in the Sahel coast of Tunisia. The types of mulching used for tests are straw mulching, compost mulching, and plastic mulching which were compared with bare soil without mulching (control). The soil characteristics under these different mulching systems were evaluated by soil physical and biological parameters such as penetration resistance at 0-60 cm layer, microbial biomass, organic matter, and water content at 0-20 cm layer. Measurements were performed every week for 50 days. The obtained results showed that compost mulching led to a better growth rate and improved the structural and water state of cultivated soil by decreasing its resistance to penetration and increasing its organic matter content. It can be concluded that the "Beldi" organic pepper crop under conservation tillage and compost mulching has presented the best combination thus leading to motivating results such as the positive effects of soil physical properties and microbial biomass on the final crop yield

Variations in the sugars and antioxidant compounds related to root colour in tunisian carrot (daucus carota subsp. sativus) landraces

Carrot (Daucus carota L.) is the most widely consumed root vegetable since it is an important source of nutritional compounds, mainly antioxidants and sugars. In Tunisia, despite the genetic diversity observed in carrot germplasm, including landraces and wild relatives, no research has been conducted on the biochemical composition of carrot. Thus, this study aims to analyse carotenoids, soluble sugars, total phenols, total flavonoids and colour properties of 14 carrot landraces, in order to determine the diversity among them and evaluate the relationships among their biochemical contents. The main carotenoids identified were a-carotene, B-carotene and lutein. Orange carrots were richer in B-carotene and a-carotene than yellow carrots. The major sugars were sucrose, glucose, fructose and galactose. Significant differences were observed among the Tunisian carrot landraces with respect to their biochemical composition and colour characteristics. Total carotenoids and total sugars ranged from 155.74 to 511.44 ug/g of dw and from 368.77 to 546.79 mg/g of dw, respectively. Total phenols and total flavonoids varied from 24.13 to 41.39 mg GAE/100 g of dw and from 16.51 to 24.85 ug CE/100 g of dw, respectively. Significant, positive and negative correlations were found among the measured parameters. A principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) were performed to classify the Tunisian carrot landraces on the basis of colour properties and biochemical compounds. The PCA divided the landraces into four main groups and AHC classified them into two major clusters. The Tunisian carrot landraces were found to be rich in bioactive compounds; they could be good candidates for future breeding programs

Assessing Phytosanitary Application Efficiency of a Boom Sprayer Machine Using RGB Sensor in Grassy Fields

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