Current Situation and Perspectives of Fruit Annonaceae in Mexico: Biological and Agronomic Importance and Bioactive Properties

The Annonaceae family is one of the oldest angiosperms. The genus Annona is the one with the most species and, together with Asimina, the only ones that contain edible fruits. In the last 10 years, interest in these fruit species has increased, mainly due to their nutritional properties and their application in the treatment of human diseases. Mexico is the center of origin for most of them. However, at present much of the basic agronomic information, postharvest handling of the fruits, and their potential as new crops for areas with poor soils in organic matter or semi-dry climates is unknown. It is considered that these custard apple species may be an option to change towards instead of crops that have lost profitability and sustainability. A review of the current state of knowledge in different areas of the species A. muricata, A. macroprophyllata, A. reticulata, A. squamosa, and A. cherimola was carried out and to focus research efforts on the topics of greatest interest and on those where is required to achieve a sustainable production and use of these resources in Mexico. However, knowledge about the cultivation and potential uses of these species is needed to increase their commercialization; the integration of interdisciplinary and interinstitutional groups is required.

Antioxidant and Anti-Obesity Potentials of Korean-Native Wild Vegetables (Allium species)

Four Korea-native wild vegetables belonging to the Allium genus (Allium tuberosum Rottl., Allium senescens L., Allium thunbergii G. Don., and Allium sacculiferum Maxim.) were investigated for their antioxidant and anti-obesity potential, in order to promote the utilization of wild edible plants for the development of potential new crops. In this study, we compared the antioxidant activity of the plant extracts by ABTS+ and DPPH scavenging method. We then compared the anti-adipogenic effects of the extracts in adipocytes. We quantified the phenolics in the extracts using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to identify the bioactive compounds. A. tuberosum and A. sacculiferum had a higher total phenolic content (19.0 ± 0.3 and 19.6 ± 0.7 mg GA/g extract, respectively) than A. senescens and A. thunbergii (16.0 ± 0.2 and 14.5 ± 0.7 mg GA/g extract). Caffeic acid, an antioxidant and anti-adipogenic compound, was detected in A. tuberosum and A. sacculiferum, but not in A. senescens and A. thunbergii. A. tuberosum, and A. sacculiferum showed superior antioxidative and anti-adipogenic activities compared to A. senescens and A. thunbergii. Therefore, A. tuberosum and A. sacculiferum, both of which contain antioxidant and anti-adipogenic phenolics, such as caffeic acid, present a therapeutic potential against obesity. Various phenolic compounds, which have been found to differ among Allium spp., may partially account for differences among the Allium spp. with respect to their antioxidant and anti-obesity effects.

New Vegetable Brassica Foods: A Promising Source of Bioactive Compounds

Brassica rapa is grown in northwestern Spain to obtain turnip greens. The tops of the same plants (flower stems with buds) are cut and sell as turnip tops, increasing the value of the crop. This practice could be extended to other brassicas. The objectives of this work are to study the phytochemical potential of tops of coles (Brassica oleracea) and leaf rape (Brassica napus) compared to turnip tops and to compare tops of different coles (cabbage, kale, tronchuda cabbage), which differ in their morphology and use. We evaluated the content of glucosinolates and phenolic compounds and the antioxidant capacity in leaves and tops of the three species. We found that tops had higher amount of glucosinolates than leaves. Phenolic content and antioxidant capacity followed the opposite trend. Therefore, consumption of leaves and tops are complementary, since both type of organs are enriched with different types of compound. Local varieties of kale, curly kale, cabbage and curly leave cabbage are interesting because of their GSLs and phenolic content and antioxidant capacity in both leaves and tops. From the human health perspective, tops of coles and leaf rape are interesting as new crops to include in the diet.

Area-based citrus commodity development to grow the regional economy of Nunukan District, North Kalimantan Province

The Development of Horticultural Agribusiness Areas (PKAH) is one of the implementations of the Ministry of Agriculture’s policy, where the development of superior commodities is directed at developing areas which are integrated vertically and/or horizontally with the consolidation of productive businesses based on community economic institutions that are highly competitive in local and international markets. This development study was carried out in one major citrus agribusiness area in Indonesia, namely Nunukan District, North Kalimantan Province since January 2017 to December 2018. The aim of the study was to develop citrus agribusiness in Nunukan, North Kalimantan. The method used participatory development conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, local government and farmer groups to formulate policy recommendations based on the results of applied research on farmers’ land in the border areas of Indonesia and Malaysia. The approach included the establishment of demonstration plots for technology implementation of Integrated Management of Healthy Citrus Orchard (IMHCO), field assistance, and program evaluation. This involved four farmer groups and 17 farmers. Primary data were collected by survey and analyzed descriptively. The results showed that (1) the establishment and maintenance of the demonstration plots which were managed properly and consistently had been carried out on new crops and productive crops of 10 hectares each; (2) farmers assisted intensively had applied 95% of the IMHCO technology, while farmer groups nearby the location of IMHCO treatment had applied 80-90% of the IMHCO technology, and less active farmers only applied 55% of the IMHCO technology; (3) farmers had comprehended all the technology components in IMHCO, indicated by the understanding and application scores ranged from 2.38‒3.00.

Comparative Research of Thermochemical Conversion Properties of Coarse-Energy Crops

In the world, as in Lithuania, there is a costant search for new crops suitable for energy conversion. The coarse-energy crops and their biomass studied for this paper were assessed in a comprehensive manner, i.e., not only their calorific value and ash content but also their ash melting properties and pollutants emitted during the thermochemical conversion. The calorific value of energy crops varies from 17.92 ± 0.32 to 18.50 ± 0.66 MJ kg−1 and decreases in the following order: A. dubia > M. giganteus > C. sativa. Ash content varies from 1.51 ± 0.03 to 3.36 ± 0.23% and decreases in the following order: C. sativa > A. dubia > M. giganteus. The lowest primary ash deformation (648 ± 8 °C) was recorded for C. sativa. Taking into account the specificity of our research and the changes in biomass ash content due to mineral nitrogen fertilization, it has been found that that higher levels of nitrogen fertilizers in the combustion products reduce CO and increase the total CO2 content of the combustion product. Significant changes in fertilization were usually 170 kg ha−1 for A. dubia and 90 kg ha−1 for M. giganteus. In summary, A. dubia, M. giganteus and C. sativa biomass should be used for thermochemical conversion.

Use of Remote Sensing to Assess the Water-Saving Effect of Winter Wheat Fallow

Winter wheat fallow policy has a greater effect on water resource management, and the water-saving effect in the fallow process of winter wheat can provide data support for precise water resource utilization planning. In order to evaluate the water resource consumption of winter wheat and the related effect from winter wheat fallow, this study searched the changing trends of cultivated land evapotranspiration under five different scenarios through the object-oriented extraction method and a SEBS model based on multi-source data. The results indicated that the evapotranspiration during winter wheat growing period was higher than that of winter wheat fallow land, and there was no big difference in evapotranspiration between the fallow land during harvesting and the emergence of new crops. The evapotranspiration of winter wheat was higher than that of various fallow land, and the evapotranspiration of abandoned land was higher than other fallow land in the winter wheat growing season. From this point, this study concludes that the fallow land policy can effectively reduce evapotranspiration during the growing of winter wheat, which is conducive to the sustainable exploiting of water resources.

Cultivation of Desert Truffles—A Crop Suitable for Arid and Semi-Arid Zones

Desert truffles are edible hypogeous (forming fruit bodies below ground) fungi that grow in semi-arid and arid areas. They are highly valued for both their culinary and medicinal properties in the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East and the Gulf areas. Desert truffles form mycorrhizae mostly with plants belonging to the Cistaceae family, mainly with Helianthemum species. These truffles are still, usually, collected from the wild, but loss of habitats due to urbanization, desertification, intensive agriculture and global warming, along with an urgent need to develop new crops adapted to arid conditions, are currently hastening efforts towards their domestication. Here, we sum up the successful research leading to cultivation of this crop, based on plots that were established in sandy to silt soils with high pH values and low mineral contents. We report suitable methods for production of mycorrhized seedlings and preferred planting methods. We found that under natural conditions yields are affected by water availability, so irrigation regimes to ensure good yields were sought. Although good yields were indeed obtained in some years, fluctuations in yields over the years were significant; the reasons for this are not entirely clear and are currently under study. This crop is particularly well suited to relatively marginal conditions but prospects for establishment of desert truffles as a niche crop for arid and semi-arid areas depend on further improvements in yields.

TAMAN KOMUNITAS BSD: UPAYA KEMBALI PADA ALAM BACK TO NATURE: COMMUNITY GARDEN

The West BSD area is an area that will become CBD BSD where most of the land use is commercial and residential. In this area, if it becomes a CBD area, it will have few green spaces. With circumstances like this can trigger stress in the community. This project seeks to reduce stress as well as provide a new green space for this area where later in this project has a place for interaction between people as well as interactions with nature (plants). Using the self-sustaining method is a big concept of this project. This concept is applied to urban farming activities where people can grow crops, care for plants until harvesting, then the harvest can be sold or used as ingredients in restaurants. The remaining seeds can be planted again to make new crops. Using a program of activities like this can reduce human stress which at the same time enlivens nature (green). By using the application of the biophilic design method in the Back To Nature: Community Garden project, efforts are made to create a good communal space for people who can carry out activities such as planting plants, working, gathering, etc. And with this it is hoped that the project can provide a forum for the community to carry out activities in the fields of interest, especially planting plants, caring for plants, as well as activities around them. Keywords: Back To Nature: Community Garden; provision of green space; reducing stress; interaction; biophilic designAbstrakKawasan BSD Barat adalah kawasan yang akan menjadi CBD BSD dimana kebanyakan tata guna lahannya adalah komersial dan perumahan. Pada kawasan ini jika nantinya menjadi kawasan CBD akan memiliki sedikit ruang-ruang hijau. Dengan keaadaan seperti ini dapat memicu stres pada masyarakatnya. Proyek ini berusaha untuk mengurangi stres juga menyediakan ruang hijau baru bagi kawasan ini dimana nanti didalam proyek ini memiliki tempat interaksi antara sesama manusai juga interaksi dengan alam(tanaman). Dengan menggunakan metode Self sustaining adalah konsep besar dari proyek ini. Konsep tersebut diterapkan pada kegiatan urban farmingnya dimana masyarakatnya dapat menanam tanaman, merawat tanaman hingga panen, kemudian hasil panennya pun dapat dijual atau digunakan sebagai bahan-bahan didalam restoran. Sisa-sisa benihnya pun bisa kembali ditanam untuk menjadikan hasil tanaman yang baru. Dengan penggunaan program kegiatan seperti ini dapat mereduksi stress manusia yang sekaligus menghidupkan alam(hijau). Dengan menggunakan penerapan metode biophilic design pada proyek Back To Nature: Community Garden ini diusahakan menciptakan ruang komunal yang baik bagi masyarakat yang dapat menjalankan aktifitasnya seperti menanam tanaman, bekerja, berkumpul, dsb. Dan dengan ini diharapakan proyek dapat menyediakan wadah untuk masyarakat bisa melakukan aktifitasnya pada bidang yang diminatinya khususnya menanam tanaman, merawat tanaman, juga beraktifitas disekitarnya.

Microbial community structure in rice, crops, and pastures rotation systems with different intensification levels in the temperate region of Uruguay

Rice is an important crop in Uruguay associated mostly with livestock production in a rice and pasture rotation system since the 1920s. However, in recent years there has been interest in intensifying the production in some of these systems to satisfy market demands and increase income. Intensification occurs by augmenting the rice frequency in the rotation, including new crops like sorghum and soybean, or shortening the pasture phase. A long-term experiment was established in 2012 in the main rice producing area of Uruguay with the objective to study the impact of intensification in rice rotations. After the first cycle of rotation soils from seven rotation phases were sampled and microbial communities were studied by means of high-throughput sequencing of Illumina NovaSeq 6000. Archaeal/bacterial and fungal community composition were studied (16S rRNA and 18S gene regions) detecting 3662 and 807 bacterial and fungal Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), respectively. Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the most common bacterial phyla. Among them, only Proteobacteria differed significantly between rotations. Although most fungal OTUs were unidentified, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota were the most abundant fungal classes within identified taxa. Bacterial communities differed between rotations forming three groups according to the percentage of rice in the system. Fungal communities clustered in four groups, although not well differentiated, and mostly associated with the antecessor crop. Only P and C:N varied between rotations among soil physicochemical variables after six years, and individual bacterial OTUs appeared weakly influenced by P, pH, Mg and fungal OTUs by P. The results suggest that after six years, bacteria/archaeal communities were influenced by the time with rice in the rotation, and fungal communities were more influenced by the antecessor crop. More studies are needed to associate fungal communities with certain rotational or environmental variables. Some taxa were associated with a particular rotation, and some bacterial taxa were identified as biomarkers. Fungal indicator taxa were not identified at the species level for any rotation.