scholarly journals Upcycling Phosphorus Recovered from Anaerobically Digested Dairy Manure to Support Production of Vegetables and Flowers

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine K. Porterfield ◽  
Robert Joblin ◽  
Deborah A. Neher ◽  
Michael Curtis ◽  
Steve Dvorak ◽  
...  

Dissolved air flotation (DAF) separates phosphorus (P)-rich fine solids from anaerobically digested dairy manure, creating opportunities to export surplus P to the marketplace as a bagged plant food product. Seedlings of tomato and marigold were amended at various volume per volume (v/v) ratios with plant foods consisting of fine solids upcycled (i.e., transformed into a higher quality product) by drying and blending with other organic residuals. A plate competition assay was conducted to assess the fine solids’ potential to suppress the plant pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. Plant foods were comprised of 2.0–2.1% N, 0.8–0.9% P and 0.6–0.8% K. Extractions indicated that plant foods contained a mixture of plant-available and slow-release P. At 6% v/v plant food, dry biomass of marigold and tomato were six-times greater than the unamended control and not significantly different from a market alternative treatment. Fine solids exhibited negligible potential to suppress R. solani. This study indicates that DAF-separated fine solids could be used to support horticulture, providing information for design of a circular economy approach to dairy manure nutrient management. Life cycle assessment and business model development for this nutrient recovery strategy are necessary next steps to further guide sustainability efforts.

2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 25-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangwen Tang

Humans need vitamin A and obtain essential vitamin A by conversion of plant foods rich in provitamin A and/or absorption of preformed vitamin A from foods of animal origin. The determination of the vitamin A value of plant foods rich in provitamin A is important but has challenges. The aim of this paper is to review the progress over last 80 years following the discovery on the conversion of β-carotene to vitamin A and the various techniques including stable isotope technologies that have been developed to determine vitamin A values of plant provitamin A (mainly β-carotene). These include applications from using radioactive β-carotene and vitamin A, depletion-repletion with vitamin A and β-carotene, and measuring postprandial chylomicron fractions after feeding a β-carotene rich diet, to using stable isotopes as tracers to follow the absorption and conversion of plant food provitamin A carotenoids (mainly β-carotene) in humans. These approaches have greatly promoted our understanding of the absorption and conversion of β-carotene to vitamin A. Stable isotope labeled plant foods are useful for determining the overall bioavailability of provitamin A carotenoids from specific foods. Locally obtained plant foods can provide vitamin A and prevent deficiency of vitamin A, a remaining worldwide concern.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (S2) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Morand ◽  
Francisco A. Tomás-Barberán

Abstract Purpose Research has identified plant-based diets as the most protective for our health; it is now essential to focus on good food associations and the beneficial constituents in plant foods. From a growing body of evidence, some categories of food phytochemicals are increasingly considered to play a crucial role in the cardiometabolic health effects associated with plant food consumption. However, the heterogeneity in responsiveness to plant food bioactive intake that is frequently observed in clinical trials can hinder the identification of the effects of these compounds in specific subpopulations and likely lead to underestimating their actual contribution to the health effects of their food sources. Results The magnitude and the main factors responsible for this between-subject variation in response to the consumption of the major families of food phytochemicals have been poorly documented so far. Thus, research efforts in this area must be developed. More importantly, capturing the interindividual variability in response to plant food bioactive intake, together with identifying the main determinants involved, is a crucial step that will enable the development and production of plant food products, thereby satisfying the nutritional needs and conferring benefits to different categories of populations. Conclusion The development of a science-based personalised nutrition approach focusing on plant foods rich in specific bioactive compounds could contribute to alleviating the dramatic burden of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.


1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine I. Wright

Ground-stone tools and hunter-gatherer subsistence in late Pleistocene southwest Asia are examined in light of ethnographic and experimental data on processing methods essential for consumption of various plant foods. In general, grinding and pounding appear to be labor-intensive processing methods. In particular, the labor required to make wild cereals edible has been widely underestimated, and wild cereals were unlikely to have been “attractive” to foragers except under stress conditions. Levantine ground-stone tools were probably used for processing diverse plants. The earliest occurrence of deep mortars coincides with the glacial maximum, camp reoccupations, the onset of increasingly territorial foraging, and the earliest presently known significant samples of wild cereals. Two major episodes of intensification in plant-food processing can be identified in the Levant, coinciding respectively with the earliest evidence for sedentism (12,800-11,500 B.P.) and the transition to farming (11,500-9600 B.P.). The latter episode was characterized by rising frequencies of grinding tools relative to pounding tools, and suggests attempts to maximize nutritional returns of plants harvested from the limited territories characteristic of sedentary foraging and early farming. This episode was probably encouraged by the Younger Dryas, when density and storability of foods may have outweighed considerations of processing costs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-255
Author(s):  
Bernd Wirtz ◽  
Paul Langer ◽  
Florian Schmidt

Rapid advances and the spread of digital technologies have changed the expectations of citizens, firms and organizations towards government services, which increasingly receive the call to transform services and structures according to changed needs and preferences. The concept of business model development provides a suitable approach for public institutions aiming at adjusting their services and operations. Since government institutions increasingly develop new services and products, this study provides a theoretic foundation to operational readiness as well as a guideline how to set up digital business models in a public sector context. Therefore, a framework is derived from conceptual studies in the field as well as related theoretical concepts such as business model theory in the public sector context, dynamic capacities and public value creation. Building on this foundation this study conceptualizes a process of business model development to create user oriented digital services in the public sector.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dominik Mann

<p>Designing and strategically developing viable business models is vital for value creation and capture and in turn for the survival and performance of entrepreneurial ventures. However, the widely held firm-centric and static business model perspective appears inadequate to reflect the realities of increasingly blurred industry boundaries, interconnected economies, and the resulting collapse of incumbent value chains. This PhD thesis adds understanding of the dynamic business model development process from an ecosystem perspective. The evolution of ten entrepreneurial ventures’ business models was documented and investigated through longitudinal in-depth case studies over twelve months. Analysing and comparing the cases revealed strategies that resulted in the development of effective interactive structures and robust value co-creation and capture mechanisms. The development of interactive structures, i.e. firm-ecosystem fits, was either supported by a focused or diversified ecosystem integration approach underpinned by heterogeneous interdependencies of value proposition and business model components across ecosystems. The obtained insights allowed the derivation of sets of capabilities that supported the business model development process and enhanced entrepreneurial ventures’ chances of survival. The findings have several implications for advancements of the business model theory. In particular they indicate what integration strategies can inform entrepreneurs’ and managers’ business model design and execution strategies for operating in increasingly complex ecosystems.</p>


Author(s):  
Alla Osokina ◽  
◽  
Tetiana Mysyshyn ◽  

The purpose of this article is to describe the key aspects of the transformation of outdated business models of private healthcare institutions in Ukraine. The article supports the point that existing business models of private medical institutions could be improved based on assessing the quality of services provided and creating a unique value proposition using modern marketing tools for the development of business models. On the basis of the economically substantiated business model development strategy of «MEDICOM Anti-Aging Clinic», theoretical conclusions have been empirically confirmed and their applied significance has been proved.


2020 ◽  
pp. 906-930
Author(s):  
Beata Maria Staszewska

Innovative business model development, understood as a static phenomenon neglects the dynamic influences on both for-profit and not for profit sectors. Business model development is a complex process which has been well researched in corporations, but predominantly remained under-researched in not for-profit organisations. An exploratory study during 2011-2015 is undertaken to examine business development process in the areas of stability, sustainability and resistance in a local not for profit public enterprise. Findings suggest that a balanced approach to economic, ecological and social characteristics, organisational coping capabilities during volatile phases of business model development and organisational capability to manage during times of instability contributes to the type of business model development process.


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