Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Seed Hull Waste: Composition, Antioxidant Activity, and Filler Performance in Pectin-Based Film Composites

Helianthus annuus L. seed hull is an abundant waste of the edible oil industry. To envisage potential applications of this waste, here, we aimed to analyze the chemical composition of milled sunflower hulls (SP), constituted mainly by 210 μm (51.4%) and 420 μm (27.6%) average mesh particle sizes. SP contained almost 30% of cellulose, 26.4% of lignin, 38.5% of neutral sugars, mainly hemicelluloses, and only 1.3% of proteins. The important lignin content and low pectin content (4.0% of uronic acids) present in SP were both ascribed to its low hydrophilic behavior and hydration capacity. Phenolic compounds were mostly proanthocyanidins (168 mg/100 g SP), with lower amounts of extractable (31.4 mg/100 g SP) phenolics (O-caffeoylquinic acid), all of them associated with the DPPH radical scavenging capacity (95 mg ascorbic acid equiv./100 g) and ferric reducing power (FRAP: 152 mg ascorbic acid equiv./100 g) shown by SP. Esterified ferulic acid (52.9 mg/100 g SP) was also found, mostly as monomers and trimers. SP of 53 μm particle size was then assayed as a filler (0, 5, 8, and 12% concentrations) in calcium low methoxyl pectin-based films, which showed antioxidant capacity (DPPH and FRAP assays) in an SP-concentration-dependent manner. SP showed homogeneous dispersion in composite films equilibrated at 57.7% relative humidity. Water content decreased while film thickness increased with SP concentration. When loaded at a 12% level, the presence of 53-μm SP decreased the water vapor permeability and increased the normal stress at film fracture. Sunflower hulls can then be applied to the development of active materials like 12% SP film, which can be proposed as a food slice antioxidant separator to be investigated in a future work.

RIL-StEp: epistasis analysis of rice recombinant inbred lines (RILs) reveals candidate interacting genes that control seed hull color and leaf chlorophyll content

Characterizing epistatic gene interactions is fundamental for understanding the genetic architecture of complex traits. However, due to the large number of potential gene combinations, detecting epistatic gene interactions is computationally demanding. A simple, easy-to-perform method for sensitive detection of epistasis is required. Due to their homozygous nature, use of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) excludes the dominance effect of alleles and interactions involving heterozygous genotypes, thereby allowing detection of epistasis in a simple and interpretable model. Here, we present an approach called RIL-StEp (recombinant inbred lines stepwise epistasis detection) to detect epistasis using single nucleotide polymorphisms in the genome. We applied the method to reveal epistasis affecting rice (Oryza sativa) seed hull color and leaf chlorophyll content and successfully identified pairs of genomic regions that presumably control these phenotypes. This method has the potential to improve our understanding of the genetic architecture of various traits of crops and other organisms.

Assessment of Maturity over Seasons using Various Indices in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Background: Groundnut is a crop with puzzling nature of maturity. The ability to determine the correct data of harvest in groundnut is strongly affecting factor of the economic return from the crop. Among the different methodologies suggested for calculating the maturity index in groundnut, those which could be used at field level and with ease includes: shell out method, seed hull ratio maturity index, hull scrape method and maturity profile board (MPB) method. The present study was taken up to evaluate the efficiency of these methods in determining the maturity duration.Methods: The maturity indices were calculated in the varieties CO 7, ICGV 07222, VRI 6, VRI 8, GPBD 4, VRI 3, Chico, Gangapuri, ICGV 91114 and ICGV 93468 cultivated during 2018-19, at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. Result: In shell out and hull scrape method maturity indices ranging from 70-80% and in Seed hull ratio maturity index the range 2.9-3.6 revealed the highest number of matured pods with maximum weight. The correlation study results showed highest efficacy of hull scrape method in predicting the correct date of harvest in groundnut. The method establishes that the colour of mesocarp exactly reveals maturity status of groundnut pods. Thus, maturity index in groundnut is more reliable when calculated by hull scrape method. In case when the maturity index is below 70% the pods could be arranged on a maturity profile board (MPB) to determine the days until digging.

Adlay seed hull polysaccharide as a green corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in acid solution: Surface analyses and theoretical calculations

Adlay seed hull polysaccharide (ASP) was developed here as a green corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in 1 M HCl solution, and its inhibition effect was studied with electrochemical experiments,...

Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Methylene Blue Adsorption on Polyfurfuryl Alcohol-Derived Templated Carbon and Activated Carbon from H3PO4-Impregnated Moringa oleifera Seed Hull

This work probes the kinetics and thermodynamics of adsorption of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous phase on a templated carbon (TC) synthesized from polyfurfuryl alcohol using kaolinite template at 773 K; and activated carbon produced by the pyrolysis of H3PO4-impregnated Moringa oleifera seed hull (MOSH) at 723 K. Factors such as initial concentration of MB (1-3 mg/50 mL), reaction time (0-60 min.) and temperature (302-328 K) for the process were investigated using isotherms, sorption kinetics and thermodynamics. From the results obtained, adsorption of MB on TC fits both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms well. The Langmuir isotherm describes adsorption of MB on the activated carbon from MOSH (MOSHC) better than the Freundlich isotherm. The adsorption capacities of the active carbons observed for MB were 29.3 mg/g for TC and 29.8 mg/g for MOSHC. The thermodynamic values evaluated: (14.15 kJ/mol. and 11.48 kJ/mol.), (87.93 kJ/mol. K and 49.55 kJ/mol. K) and (7.10 kJ/mol. and 14.26 kJ/mol.) for TC and MOSHC respectively, indicate endothermic and physical nature of adsorption, and enhanced randomness at the adsorbate-adsorbent interface. The sticking probability ( ) values (3.25 x 10–3 and 1.36 x 10–4 for TC and MOSHC respectively) show that the probability of MB molecules sticking on the surfaces of these active carbons is very high, with that for MOSHC being higher. Negative values (– 12.28 to – 14.68 kJ/mol.K and – 3.56 to – 4.92 kJ/mol.K) for TC and MOSHC respectively, at 302–328 K confirms a spontaneous adsorption process dominated by physisorption. Adsorption of MB on TC supports multilayer formation and was dominated by pseudo-second order kinetics while its adsorption on MOSHC was dominated by pseudo-first order kinetics with a single MB molecule occupying more than one active site. MOSHC, the low-cost adsorbent prepared, is thus very assuring for the removal of organic pollutants like MB from aqueous systems.

RIL-StEp: epistasis analysis of recombinant inbred lines (RILs) reveals candidate interacting genes that control rice seed hull color

SummaryStudying epistatic gene interactions is important in understanding genetic architecture of complex traits in organisms. However, due to an enormous number of gene combinations to be analyzed, detection of epistatic gene-gene interactions has been computationally demanding. Here, we show a simple approach RIL-StEp, specialized to Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs), to study epistasis using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) information of the genome. We applied the method to reveal epistasis affecting rice seed hull color phenotype, and successfully identified gene pairs that presumably control seed hull color. This method has a potential to enhancing our understanding of genetic architecture of various traits.

Evaluation of Different Substrates for Yield and Yield Attributes of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) in Crop-livestock Farming System of Northern Ethiopia

Background: In Tigray region of Ethiopia there is high rate of malnutrition which is severely affecting productivity of households. Cultivation of edible mushrooms can help to diversify income and mitigate malnutrition in the region. Aim: A laboratory experiment was carried out at Aksum University, northern Ethiopia aimed at evaluating the yield and yield attributes response of oyster mushroom to five types of substrates namely cotton seed hull, teff straw, barley straw, sesame stalk and sawdust. Methods: The experiment was set up in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Results: Findings of the experiment revealed that the type of substrate significantly (P≤0.05) affected days to mycelium invasion, days to pinhead formation, days to fruiting bodies formation and yield of Pleurotus ostreatus. Cotton seed hull was fastest in days to mycelium invasion with 15.66 days although in statistically parity with teff straw, barley straw and sesame stalk. Besides, cotton seed hull gave shortest days to pinhead formation, and days to fruiting bodies formation with 20.33 and 22.33 days respectively. The highest yield of 2170.33 gm kg-1 of substrate was obtained at cotton seed hull followed by barley straw which gave 1486.90 gm kg-1 of substrate and Teff straw which gave 1264.74 gm kg-1 of substrate. Conclusion: The experiment highlighted that cotton seed hull and barley straw can be used for mushroom production in the study area.