Influence of dietary supplementation with sunflower oil and quebracho tannins on growth performance and meat fatty acid profile of Awassi lambs

The inclusion of QT in the diet increased the content of the conjugated linoleic acid in the lamb meat above that achieved with SF supplementation only. Addition of the combination of QT and SF to the diet enhanced the content of conjugated linoleic acid (C18:2 c9t11) of the lamb meat. This could be due to the reduction in the bio-hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids in the diet. The results suggest that inclusion the combination of QT and SF in lamb diets improved the healthy fatty acids content in the meat without an adverse effect on animal performance.The influence of dietary supplementation with quebracho tannins (QT) or/and sunflower oil (SF) on growth performance and fatty acid profile in meat of Awassi lambs was studied. Seventy-two lambs were assigned randomly to nine diets (8 per group) in the experiment following a 32 factorial design with all possible combinations of two factors, SF and QT each at three levels i.e. 0 (control), 20 or 40 g/kg diet DM. A significant SF ×QT interaction was observed on the conjugated linoleic acid content of intramuscular fat (P =0.007), but not on average daily weight gain (P=0.11). Addition of QT at 40 g/ kg DM significantly increased average daily gain comparing to control diet

A manual for large-scale sample collection, preservation, tracking, DNA extraction, and variety identification analysis

Several alternative options have been used for varietal identification. However most of the traditional methods have inherent uncertainty levels and estimates often have wide confidence intervals. In an attempt to circumvent traditional survey-based measurement errors in varietal identification, DNA-based varietal identification has been implemented in the Cassava Monitoring Survey (CMS) of Nigeria — a large adoption study involving 2500 cassava farming households. The DNA fingerprinting technique offers a reliable method to accurately identify varieties grown by farmers and increases accuracy and credibility in the interpretation of adoption rates and associated economic and policy analyses. Unlike phenotype-based methods, DNA is not affected by environmental conditions or plant growth stage and is more abundant than morphological descriptors. However, undertaking a credible DNA-based varietal identification is not a trivial matter because of the logistical challenges involving sample collection and tracking by a large team of field enumerators. This manual presents the detailed steps required for undertaking reliable DNA-fingerprinting-based identification of cassava varieties. In particular, the manual gives detailed information on the establishment of a sample tracking system, preparation of a readily available and cheap sample collection kit, field sample collection methodology, preparation of samples for DNA isolation, and development of a pipeline for variety identification analysis. This manual is part of the outputs of the CMS project funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

Influence of dietary supplementation with sunflower oil and quebracho tannins on growth performance and meat fatty acid profile of Awassi lambs

8 páginas, 4 tablas.The influence of dietary supplementation with quebracho tannins (QT) or/and sunflower oil (SF) on growth performance and fatty acid profile in meat of Awassi lambs was studied. Seventy-two lambs were assigned randomly to nine diets (8 per group) in the experiment following a 3 factorial design with all possible combinations of two factors, SF and QT each at three levels i.e. 0 (control), 20 or 40 g/kg diet DM. A significant SF × QT interaction was observed on the conjugated linoleic acid content of intramuscular fat (P = 0.007), but not on average daily weight gain (P = 0.11). Addition of QT at 40 g/ kg DM significantly increased average daily gain comparing to control diet. The inclusion of QT in the diet increased the content of the conjugated linoleic acid in the lamb meat above that achieved with SF supplementation only. Addition of the combination of QT and SF to the diet enhanced the content of conjugated linoleic acid (C18:2 c9t11) of the lamb meat. This could be due to the reduction in the bio-hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids in the diet. The results suggest that inclusion the combination of QT and SF in lamb diets improved the healthy fatty acids content in the meat without an adverse effect on animal performance.King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Saudi Arabia ARP-28-61Peer Reviewe

Synthesis and application of hierarchical mesoporous HZSM-for biodiesel production from shea butter

Here, we report the upgrading of shea butter to biodiesel with hierarchical mesoporous ZSM-zeolites (HMZeol). Shea butter is a triglyceride (mainly oleic and steric acid) extracted from African shea tree nut. The catalysts synthesis was by desilication of conventional ZSM-with an aqueous solution of NaOH (0.3 and 0.4 M). XRF, XRD, NH3-TPD and N2 adsorption unveiled the effect of desilication of the parent zeolite. The study investigated the effect of NaOH concentration on matrix area, pore size, mesopore volume and Si/Al ratio. HMZeol showed superior activity on biodiesel yield when compared with the parent ZSM-zeolite. The catalytic material treated with 0.4 M NaOH (0.4HMZeol) gave 74% biodiesel yield at 5:1 methanol/oil molar ratio, 1 wt% catalyst, and 200°C for 3 h reaction time while ZSM-gave 46.05% yield under the same reaction conditions. Further increase in the reaction time to 12 h for 0.4HMZeol, 0.3HMZeol and ZSM-gave 82.12, 79.21, and 72.13% biodiesel yield respectively. These results showed that hierarchical mesoporous HZSM-is a promising solid acid catalyst for biodiesel production via methanolysis

Kinetic parameters for glycerol electrooxidation over nitrogen- and fluorine-doped composite carbon:Dynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis based

This study explores the mechanistic, kinetic process and parameters of nitrogen and fluorine-doped activated carbon black composite catalyst during glycerol electrooxidation in alkaline so under some precise experimental parameters. The influence of catalyst and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) perturbation amplitude were systematically studied. The kinetic parameters from steady-state measurement and microkinetic modelling study reveal that glycerol electrooxidation undergoes complicated mechanism. From the chronoamperometry study, the nitrogen-doped sample (ACB-N2) shows a remarkable activity and stability, but the performance was improved upon the simultaneous doping of fluorine to form ACB-N2F2. The best rate constant was obtained by ACB-N2F2 (7.335 × 10−3), which is by far greater than those of ACB-N2 (2.533 × 10−3) and ACB-F2 (2.012 × 10−3) for steady-state. The slope obtained from the Tafel plot of both the voltammetry and the non-linear electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement also confirms the superior performance of ACB-N2F2 compared to ACB-N2 and ACB-F2. The rate constant of ACB-N2F2 is almost 6 times of that of ACB-N2, and 4 times of the of ACB-F2 for the forward sweep. The exchange current density of ACB-N2F2 is almost 7 times of that of ACB-N2, and 3 times of the of ACB-F2 for the forward sweep. The methods in this study for evaluation of glycerol electrooxidation kinetic process and kinetic parameters could be used to investigate other electrocatalysts

A review of recent progress on electrocatalysts toward efficient glycerol electrooxidation

Glycerol electrooxidation has attracted immense attention due to the economic advantage it could add to biodiesel production. One of the significant challenges for the industrial development of glycerol electrooxidation process is the search for a suitable electrocatalyst that is sustainable, cost effective, and tolerant to carbonaceous species, results in high performance, and is capable of replacing the conventional Pt/C catalyst. We review suitable, sustainable, and inexpensive alternative electrocatalysts with enhanced activity, selectivity, and durability, ensuring the economic viability of the glycerol electrooxidation process. The alternatives discussed here include Pd-based, Au-based, Ni-based, and Ag-based catalysts, as well as the combination of two or three of these metals. Also discussed here are the prospective materials that are yet to be explored for glycerol oxidation but are reported to be bifunctional (being capable of both anodic and cathodic reaction). These include heteroatom-doped metal-free electrocatalysts, which are carbon materials doped with one or two heteroatoms (N, B, S, P, F, I, Br, Cl), and heteroatom-doped nonprecious transition metals. Rational design of these materials can produce electrocatalysts with activity comparable to that of Pt/C catalysts. The takeaway from this review is that it provides an insight into further study and engineering applications on the efficient and cost-effective conversion of glycerol to value-added chemicals