The Nicotianamine Synthase Gene Is a Useful Candidate for Improving the Nutritional Qualities and Fe-Deficiency Tolerance of Various Crops

1. A high incidence of vitamin B12 or folate deficiency, or both, may be found in the elderly, particularly those in hospital. This report concerns fifty cases detected in an inner-city-area geriatric unit during the course of routine clinical investigation. The majority had none of the classical haematological signs of vitamin B12 or folate deficiency, and all the patients reported had a mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of less than 100 fl.2. There was a significant negative correlation between the MCV and the erythrocyte folate (P< 0.01), supporting earlier published work using a low serum folate as an index of folate deficiency.3. There was no correlation between the MCV and the serum vitamin B12. Published work differs on this point.4. Serum iron, total Fe-binding capacity and percentage Fe saturation results were available in forty patients in this series. There was a significant positive correlation between the serum Fe and the MCV (P<0.01) and 34% of patients had haematological evidence of Fe deficiency. In the majority, however, there was no evidence that associated Fe deficiency had masked the haematological signs of vitamin B12 or folate deficiency.5. More attention should be paid to the problem of ‘masked’ vitamin B12 and folate deficiency in the elderly. There is a case for routine screening of the elderly for vitamin B12 and folate deficiency irrespective of the MCV.

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Extruded breakfast meal from malted finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) seed flour: in-vivo nutritional qualities study

Bulletin of the National Research Centre ◽

10.1186/s42269-021-00533-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Joseph Oghenewogaga Owheruo ◽

Timilehin David Oluwajuyitan ◽

Beatrice Olawunmi Ifesan ◽

Matthew Kolawole Bolade

Keyword(s):

Finger Millet ◽

Citrullus Lanatus ◽

Breakfast Meal ◽

Formulated Diets ◽

Cell Counts ◽

Formulated Diet ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Nutritional Qualities ◽

Flour Blends

Abstract Background The study aimed at evaluating the in-vivo nutritional qualities of extruded breakfast meal produced from flour blends of malted finger millet and watermelon seed. Results The proximate compositions of the flour blends revealed that there was progressive increase in protein (12.83–15.14) %, with increase in the watermelon substitution. The protein quality evaluation of the extrudate showed that the protein efficiency ratio ranged from 0.64 to 89.75, while the biological values were between (87.82–89.75)%. The relative organs weight of rats fed with extruded breakfast meal showed that, the weights of the kidney and liver of rats fed with extruded breakfast meal were significantly lower compared with rats fed with goldenmorn. The hematological indices showed that the packed cell volume and the red blood cell counts of rats fed with the formulated diets were significantly lower compared with those fed with goldenmorn but significantly higher than rats fed with basal. Meanwhile, the values of the white blood cells count for the formulated diet shows no significant difference compared with rats fed with goldenmorn. Conclusions Evidently, the growth performance of the rats fed with the extruded breakfast meal revealed that the formulated diets promote growth status of the animals with relatively low effect on organs of experimental rat used in this study. Hence, formulated diet may serve as alternative to expensive commercial breakfast meal.

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Assessment of technological and nutritional qualities of the powder of prickly pear cladodes at four ages of growth

Materials Today Proceedings ◽

10.1016/j.matpr.2021.02.351 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hasnaâ Harrak

Keyword(s):

Prickly Pear ◽

Nutritional Qualities

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Physiological and interactomic analysis reveals versatile functions of Arabidopsis 14-3-3 quadruple mutants in response to Fe deficiency

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-94908-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jing Gao ◽

Paula J. M. van Kleeff ◽

Ka Wan Li ◽

Albertus H. de Boer

Keyword(s):

Iron Acquisition ◽

Tca Cycle ◽

Utilization Efficiency ◽

Fe Deficiency ◽

Transcriptional Level ◽

Functional Aspects ◽

Clear Explanation ◽

Physiological Analysis ◽

Proper Operation

AbstractTo date, few phenotypes have been described for Arabidopsis 14-3-3 mutants or the phenotypes showing the role of 14-3-3 in plant responding to abiotic stress. Although one member of the 14-3-3 protein family (14-3-3 omicron) was shown to be involved in the proper operation of Fe acquisition mechanisms at physiological and gene expression levels in Arabidopsis thaliana, it remains to be explored whether other members play a role in regulating iron acquisition. To more directly and effectively observe whether members of 14-3-3 non-epsilon group have a function in Fe-deficiency adaptation, three higher order quadruple KOs, kappa/lambda/phi/chi (klpc), kappa/lambda/upsilon/nu(klun), and upsilon/nu/phi/chi (unpc) were generated and studied for physiological analysis in this study. The analysis of iron-utilization efficiency, root phenotyping, and transcriptional level of Fe-responsive genes suggested that the mutant with kl background showed different phenotypes from Wt when plants suffered Fe starved, while these phenotypes were absent in the unpc mutant. Moreover, the absence of the four 14-3-3 isoforms in the klun mutant has a clear impact on the 14-3-3 interactome upon Fe deficiency. Dynamics of 14-3-3-client interactions analysis showed that 27 and 17 proteins differentially interacted with 14-3-3 in Wt and klun roots caused by Fe deficiency, respectively. Many of these Fe responsive proteins have a role in glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation and TCA cycle, the FoF1-synthase and in the cysteine/methionine synthesis. A clear explanation for the observed phenotypes awaits a more detailed analysis of the functional aspects of 14-3-3 binding to the target proteins identified in this study.

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The Influence of Physical Treatments on Phytochemical Changes in Fresh Produce after Storage and Marketing

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11040788 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 788

Author(s):

Elazar Fallik ◽

Zoran Ilić

Keyword(s):

Fruits And Vegetables ◽

Growth Conditions ◽

Nutritional Content ◽

Nutrition And Health ◽

Phytochemical Content ◽

Post Harvest ◽

Crop Genetics ◽

Anti Cancer ◽

Nutritional Qualities ◽

Physical Treatments

More food with high nutritional content will be needed to feed the growing global human population, which is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. Fruits and vegetables contain most of the minerals, micronutrients, and phytonutrients essential for human nutrition and health. The quantity of these phytochemicals depends on crop genetics, weather and environmental factors, growth conditions, and pre-harvest and post-harvest treatments. These phytochemicals are known to have anti-cancer properties and to regulate immunity, in addition to hypolipidemic, antioxidant, anti-aging, hypotensive, hypoglycemic, and other pharmacological properties. Physical treatments have been reported to be effective for managing several post-harvest diseases and physiological disorders. These treatments may affect the external, internal, and nutritional qualities of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize the information recently reported regarding the use of physical treatments applied either directly or in combination with other means to maximize and maintain the phytochemical content of fresh and fresh-cut or processed fruits and vegetables.

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