Evaluation on the Effect of Silica (DE) for Growth and Quality of Mango Kesar

An experiment was conducted during 2012-2014 at Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi, Gokak (Karnataka), India to study the effect of silicon on yield and quality of mango cv. Kesar. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with nine treatments replicated five times. The results revealed that, the highest yield per tree (140.93 kg/tree) was recorded in the treatment supplemented in (T5) Half of RDF + DE 600 kg/ha which significantly more than the compared to control during 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and pooled data. It was noticed that the (T7) RDF + DE 300 kg per hectareas RDF + DE 300 kg/ha was best on the basis of physical characteristics like increased in length, diameter and volume of the fruit, and the treatment was significantly higher than the untreated control mango fruits. The treatment also helped in better chemical characteristics like increased TSS, total sugars, and reducing sugars and optimum physiological loss in weight, resulting in improved keeping quality at ambient conditions (25-350C, 50-60% RH). The T7 treatment was judged as the most effective soil application for the mango cv. Kesar that helped in increasing the quality of the mango fruits during storage even after 18 days of storage. The same treatment was also found to be more effective and significantly more than the compared to control during 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and pooled data with respect to organoleptic parameters for the mango cv. Kesar.

In Planta Genetic Transformation to Produce CRISPRed High-Oleic Peanut

In contrast to its normal-oleic counterpart, high-oleic peanut has better keeping quality and multiple health benefits. Breeding high-oleic peanut through conventional means is a tedious process generally requiring several years. Genome editing may shorten the duration. In this study, node injection method was used to transform normal-oleic Huayu 23, a popular peanut cultivar having loss-of-function FAD2A, with CRISPR/Cas9 construct targeting FAD2B, and two peanut mutants with over 80% oleic acid and 442A insertion in FAD2B were obtained. As a genotype-independent, simple and easy method for peanut genetic transformation, node injection has great potential in factional analysis of genes and in peanut varietal improvement.

Fatty Acid Contents and Stability of Oyster Nut Oil (Telfairia pedata) Compared to Flaxseed and Sunflower Oil

The selection of healthy fats for consumption is important. Linoleic acid (LA) (omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) (omega-3) are essential polyunsaturated fatty acids required for the maintenance of good health; however, LA derivatives such as arachidonic acid (AA) are associated with the onset of inflammatory diseases, and both are prone to oxidation and deterioration. This study compared the fatty acid contents, peroxide value (PV), p-anisidine value (p-AV), and free fatty acids (FFA) of the oyster nut oil with refined sunflower, nonrefined sunflower, and flaxseed oil stored at 27°C for 40 days. Flaxseed oil had significantly high ALA content (59.8%) compared to 0.1-0.5% for oyster nut and sunflower oil brands. The LA content was high in sunflower brands (50.3-52.8%) compared to the oyster nut (48%) and flaxseed oil 14.7%. Oleic acid was lower in oyster nut oil (8.6%) and flaxseed oil 15.8% compared to sunflower brands (35.7-38.2%). As a consequence, oyster nut and flaxseed recorded higher PV of 4.35-2.88 mEq O2/kg and FFA 0.26-0.47% compared to sunflower brands. The p-AV recorded small values which were not significantly different in all samples. Although oyster nut is widely consumed by pregnant and lactating women across Africa, its keeping quality in nonrefined form is low compared to flaxseed and sunflower oil as shown in this study. Hence, the fatty acid contents in oyster nuts should be consumed in other alternative forms such as flour and roasted kernels rather than its oil when in nonrefined form. This study will enable the consumption balance of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids and the keeping quality of oils which is key to health.

Assessment of Miller’s Preferences on Procurement of Rice Varieties in Tamil Nadu

Rice is the primary stable food crop and serves for more than three billion people in the globe. Thirty rice millers were selected purposively in the study area, to obtain their view on procurement parameters, opinion and preferences on procurement of CO 51. The fineness of rice and keeping quality were the major deciding parameters for procurement by rice millers with a Garrett’s score of 31.38. Fineness of rice fetches a premium price in the consumer market besides the keeping quality facilitates the miller to stock the produce for a long time till getting highest price in the market. The preference of the variety CO 51 is due to high milling (68.00 per cent), fineness, resistance to blast and BPH when compared to other varieties. The share of CO 51 was relatively higher in both the districts when compared to other varieties. This would enable the stake holders, University, extension agencies, seed companies and millers to design suitable strategies to motivate and influence the farmers towards desired direction. This message may be taken to farmers to decide the variety for getting premium price. This helps the policy makers in planning the policies related to procurement for the traders.