Ecological and biological features of silver birch (Betula pendula) in the conditions of an industrial city

The article provides data on phenology, on the content of ascorbic acid in Betula pendula Roth., growing in the conditions of the industrial city of Naberezhnye Chelny in the Republic of Tatarstan, which is a region of the Russian Federation. It is noted that natural phytocenoses are characterized by lower air temperatures in comparison with plantations of sanitary protection zones of industrial enterprises and highway plantings. According to phenological data, in urban plantings, there was observed an increase in defects, a decrease in the vital state, which is associated with severe damage to leaf blades, the formation of leaf necrosis, a decrease in the living area of leaves, which is a consequence of an intense technogenic load on woody plants. It was revealed that the content of ascorbic acid in birch leaves depends on the vegetation stage.

Antioxidant Capacity of Free Volatile Compounds from Olea europaea L. cv. Oblica Leaves Depending on the Vegetation Stage

Previous research on specialized metabolites of olive leaves has focused on the phenolic components and their biological role. The research in this article focuses on the metabolites that form free volatile compounds (FVCs). The composition of FVCs is divided into compounds isolated in the oil phase (essential oils; EO) and in the aqueous phase (hydrosols; Hy) from leaves of Olea europaea L. cultivar Oblica. Plant material was collected from the same olive tree over a six-month period, from December to May, and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The compounds β-caryophyllene, α-humulene, allo-aromadendrene, docosane, hexadecanoic acid and oleic acid were identified in all EO study periods. In the Hy in all studied periods, the major compounds are α-pinene, β-ionone, myristicin, docosane, 1-hexanol, oleic acid and (E)-β-damascenone. The differences in the qualitative composition of FVC are directly related to the phenological development of the leaves. Antioxidant capacity of the EOs and hydrosols was measured with two methods, ORAC and DPPH. Hydrosol extracts showed higher capacity than the EOs in all methods.

Studying Quality Characteristics of Flax Fiber Depending on Deseeding Device Design

Introduction. The processe of harvesting fiber flax is characterized by tough interactions of the work tools of the flax puller and parts of plants. Different principles and design of work tools for taking out seed bolls from the stem, used in flax harvesting machines, have both advantages and disadvantages. Single-drum comb deseeders are the most effective, but the level of damage to the stems caused during the working of these mechanisms is high. The purpose of this work is the experimental substantiation of constructive changes in the comb deseeder, which allows reducing damage to the stems of the flax fiber in the process of combing and improving the quality of the flax material. Materials and Methods. Fields and laboratories studies of flax harvesting and technological tests of flax straw and fiber were carried out according to the existing methods and standard protocols (GOST). The influence of the harvesting combine speed and deseeder type (the drum for the taking flax balls off by the stems’ combing and for the transporting removed balls to hopper) on the yield and quality of the fiber were determined. The fiber flax variety Alexim (cultivated by All Russian Research Institute for Flax Production, Torzhok) was used as a plant object and the harvesting was carried out in the vegetation stage “yellow stem” – “full ripeness”. Results. The classical design of the combing drum with four ridges for deseeding was changed to three ones that means only one of ridges should be in the layer of flax stems during the combing process. That design could decrease damage to the stems when deseeding stems. Instrumental assessment of fiber shows that after the deseeding by the threeridges drum the quality of flax straw was 0.97–1.09 numbers that was by 0.19–0.28 numbers higher than after using four-ridges drums. Conclusions. The obtained data indicate that the reducing of the load on the flax stems has a positive effect on the quality of the fibrous products. The yield of long fiber increases by 1.27–1.54% (abs.), and the fiber quality – by 0.3 numbers.

The Study of Essentials Oils Obtained from Thymus pannonicus L. - Microbiological Aspects

Essentials oils have been used over time in the food and cosmetics industry, but also in the medical and pharmaceutical industry. Environmental factors such as temperature, radiation and photoperiod play an extremely important role in the quantity and quality of volatile oils. It is also known that the vegetation stage can play an important role in the chemical composition of volatile oils. The purpose of this paper is to establish the antibacterial and antifungal activity of volatile oils of Thymus pannonicus, taking into account the ontogenetic stage in which the plants were collected, highlighting the compounds of therapeutic importance. To test the antimicrobial activity of essential oils two methods of work were used: Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and microplate method. The essential oils studies were tested on Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Candida albicans. It was find that all essential oils tested have antimicrobial activity at all stages of development tested. The maximum antimicrobial activity has been recorded for the oils extracted from individuals collected at the anthesis stage.

METABOLOMIC PROFILE AT THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF PRUNELLA VULGARIS (LAMIACEAE) ONTOGENESIS AT GROWING IN THE CLIMATE CHAMBER

By gaz chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique based metabolite profiling of the methanol extract derived from leaves of Prunella vulgaris L. (Lamiaceae) was carried out. P. vulgaris was grown in climatic chamber. For every metabolomics profile, we estimated 102 target substances, and 41 of them were identified. Metabolite spectrum on vegetation stage is different than other stage by absent of groups: amino acids, terpenes and lipids. Comparison of the results of statistical analysis based on the data array, including all detected metabolites (metabolite profiling) show, that metabolomes of blossom and fructification stage of plants match often and only a small number of metabolites P. vulgaris at the this stage make it specific. It was studied the spatial heterogeneity in the structure of the metabolic network. The results of it are showed that metabolomes variety of the leaves from one plants much more than local variety in the range of parts of one leaf. Spatial distributions of metabolites of heterogeneity in a leaf have been illustrated on the example of threonic acid.

Research Regarding Chemical Composition and the Digestibility of the Mulberry Leaves from Eforie Variety

During the growth of silkworm larvae study, also was done a research which aimed to determine the chemical composition and the digestibility of mulberry leaves from a Romanian variety, Eforie. The results showed that advancing in the vegetation stage at the same time with different periods of the silkworm larvae�s growth, the mulberry leaves experience an aging process being noticed through its quality decreasing from chemical composition point of view. So, for example, the CP which was in average 20.98�0.670% (from DM), decreased during the study with 3.11%; while the CF had an average of 17.91�0.434%, (from DM) increased with 2.29%. Accordingly, with this, the majority of nutrients from mulberry leaves, excepting cellulose, had an increasing of digestibility with 33.94%. It was noticed a continuous digestibility decreasing during the growth period for the CP with 22.79% and with 33.53% for NFE. The nutrients digestibility from the leaves registered a value of 59.20%.

Chemical composition and biological protein value of milk of Tsigai sheep and their F2 cross-breeds of Chios

The composition of milk was studied from purebred Tsigai sheep and F2 cross-breeds with Chios breed from 4th to 6th month of lactation, raised on a mountain pasture. The chemical analysis samples were taken from each sheep in the period of April-June. The content of fat, protein and amino acids was determined in individual samples and total sample formed by the milk yield from all animals, proportional to the daily milk yield from each individual. There is a tendency for higher milk yield and content of total protein and casein in milk of F2 cross-breeds of Chios in comparison with Tsigai sheep. Milk sheep from F2 crossbreeds of Chios had higher content of Lysine, as well as glutamic acid, methionine and leucine, in comparison to that form Tsigai sheep, respectively: 0.458?0.011. 1.389?0.040. 0.084?0.005 and 0.572?0.013. The milk chemical index in both groups of sheep was comparatively low and it constituted respectively 38.3% in Tsigai sheep and 35.4% in F2 cross-breeds, as a result of low concentrations of methionine and cysteine in milk. Biological value of milk obtained from Tsigai breed sheep and F2 milk cross-breeds of Chios had close values - respectively 92.01 and 91.87%. Results showed that the sward composition and the vegetation stage had an influence over the essential amino acids content in purebred Tsigai sheep and their cross-breeds with Chios breed.