Addition of Tithonia Compost and Lime as Ultisol Soil Fertility Improvement for Oil Palm Sedling Media

Research to improve soil fertility, especially the chemical characteristics of Ultisol, has been carried out by adding compost and lime. The incubation method of soil plus compost at a dose of 0.5 kg/pot – 2 kg/pot and 1x exchanged Al lime was carried out for 2 weeks. The results of soil nutrient analysis after incubation were an increase in pH of 0.58 points, a decrease in exchanged Al to unmeasured, an increase in the C-organic content of the soil by 3.44%, an increase in the total N-value of the soil by 0.19%, an increase in the amount of soil organic matter. P-available was 5.81 ppm and exchanged K soil increased by 0.02 me/100 g soil. Likewise, the micro elements analyzed also increase. Thus there is a change in the chemical properties of the soil towards the better. The increase in nutrients N, P, K, Ca, and Mg clearly comes from tithonia, which is the result of decomposition of tithonia compost which is added containing high nutrients. In addition, tithonia compost produces organic acids that can dissolve previously insoluble nutrients into soluble ones. The improvement of the chemical properties of the soil towards a better direction is expected to be able to increase the growth of oil palm seedlings planted on the seedling medium growing.

Characteristic Observation of Cordyceps Militaris (L) Wild Type Strain from Five Oil Palm Plantation in Muara Wahau East Borneo

Cordycep militaris (L) is known in oil palm plantations as a natural enemy of nettle caterpillars. This fungus infects the caterpillars that descend down to become pupae around the palm circle, so that the pupae do not develop into imago and the pest's life cycle will be interrupted. This fungus is one of the 3 main entomopathogenic fungi used as bioinsecticides to control pests in oil palm plantations. In this study, the characteristics of C. militaris were observed from 5 oil palm plantations cultured in vitro using two types of media and two incubation methods. The results showed that there were mycelium pigmentation in nutrient-rich media Sabouraud Dextrose Agar plus Yeast extract (SDAY) when incubated with lighting. Only one of five mycelium cultures using SDAY media showed pigmentation on the no-light incubation method. Pigmentation did not occur in nutrient-poor media such as agar (WA), either incubated with lighting or with no-light. The growth of isolates was generally higher on SDAY media than on WA media. This study showed that C. militaris is a facultative phagotrophic fungus. The highest growth of isolates cultured on SDAY media incubated with lighting was found in isolates A and C, with colony diameter 90 mm, high mycelium density (+++) and hairy texture like cotton at the end of the 3rd week after inoculation. In the no-light incubation method, the highest growth was found in isolates B and C with colony diameter 90 mm, high mycelium density (+++) and hairy texture like cotton at the end of the 3rd week after inoculation. Isolates A and C showed high virulence potential to be used as bioinsecticides.

Comparison of laboratory methodologies to determine soil nitrogen mineralization from organic residues

Recycling organic waste for use as fertilizer requires prior knowledge of mineral nitrogen (N) availability for crops. Estimation of soil N release or potentially mineralizable N is an important tool for the design of fertilization strategies that aim to minimize the use of N fertilizer. The aerobic incubation method is considered a standard technique to measure soil potential to mineralize N. In this study, alternative methods of aerobic incubation were evaluated to help overcome its limitations (long time and equipment). In this regard, biological methods (anaerobic incubation at 7 and 14 days) and chemical extraction (hot KCl) procedures were examined. To determine potentially mineralizable N, a silty clay loam soil was fertilized with spent mushroom substrates and anaerobic digestates from different origins (C/N ratio of 4 to 38). Based on the results, chemical extraction emerges as a reliable alternative to the aerobic incubation method, particularly when the C/N ratio of the organic residues ranges from 12 to 15. Moreover, its implementation in routine soil laboratories is straightforward and faster, and it does not require any special equipment.

Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Sites: Is There Something More Than Exophiala xenobiotica? New Insights into Black Fungal Diversity Using the Long Cold Incubation Method

Human-made hydrocarbon-rich environments are important reservoirs of microorganisms with specific degrading abilities and pathogenic potential. In particular, black fungi are of great interest, but their presence in the environment is frequently underestimated because they are difficult to isolate. In the frame of a biodiversity study from fuel-contaminated sites involving 30 diesel car tanks and 112 fuel pump dispensers (52 diesel and 60 gasoline, respectively), a total of 181 black fungal strains were isolated. The long cold incubation (LCI) of water-suspended samples, followed by plating on Dichloran Rose Bengal Chloramphenicol Agar (DRBC), gave isolation yields up to six times (6.6) higher than those of direct plating on DRBC, and those of enrichment with a phenolic mix. The sequencing of ITS and LSU-rDNA confirmed the dominance of potentially pathogenic fungi from the family Herpotrichiellaceae and Exophiala xenobiotica. Moreover, other opportunistic species were found, including E. opportunistica, E. oligosperma, E. phaeomuriformis, and Rhinocladiella similis. The recurrent presence of E. crusticola, Knufia epidermidis, Aureobasidium melanogenum, Cladosporium spp., and Scolecobasidium spp. was also recorded. Interestingly, 12% of total isolates, corresponding to 50% of taxa found (16/32), represent new species. All the novel taxa in this study were isolated by LCI. These findings suggest that black fungal diversity in hydrocarbon-rich niches remains largely unexplored and that LCI can be an efficient tool for further investigations.

Vinasse-Based Slow-Release Organo-Mineral Fertilizer with Chitosan-Bentonite Matrix

Controlling the release rate of the nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) for the soil fertilized can enhance the fertilizer efficiency and reduce the drawback for the environmental. In this work, a novel slow-release organo-mineral fertilizer was produced from the vinasse, which was blended with the NPK and the chitosan-bentonite matrix. The NPK used as additional nutrients source and the chitosan-bentonite matrix was performed as a barrier to prevent the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from a rapid dissolving. The NPK release rate was measured and analyzed after 3, 6, 9, and 12 days using the incubation method and leaching test. The most efficient release rate was obtained when a dry vinasse mixed with 9% NPK and 5% chitosan-bentonite matrix with the ratio of 8:2. The vinasse-based slow-release of organo-mineral fertilizer (SR-OMF) was compared to the vinasse organo-mineral fertilizer (OMF). The result indicated that the NPK release rate in the vinasse-based SR-OMF was lower compared to that in the vinasse OMF.

Construction and evaluation of liraglutide delivery system based on milk exosomes: a new idea for oral peptide delivery

Background: Increasing the bioavailability of peptide or protein drugs has always been an essential topic in pharmacy. Milk exosomes as a carrier for oral drug delivery systems have begun to attract attention in recent years. The application of oral milk exosomes carriers to peptide drugs such as liraglutide is worth trying. Objective: Milk-derived exosomes are used in this study to encapsulate the GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide. It also explored the feasibility of using this drug delivery system for oral biomolecules delivery in the future. Methods: The size and morphology of milk exosomes were characterized. The gastrointestinal stability of milk exosomes was evaluated in a dialysis bag. The cellular uptake of milk exosomes in an intestinal cell was observed. Six drug loading methods have been evaluated and compared preliminarily, and they are the incubation method, sonication method, extrusion method, freeze-thaw cycles method, saponin-assisted method, and electroporation method. Results: As demonstrated in this study, milk exosomes showed significant stability in the gastrointestinal environment and excellent affinity with intestinal cells, indicating their unique benefits used for oral drug delivery. Effective drug loading method for exosomes is challenging. Among the six drug loading methods used in this study, the liraglutide-Exo prepared by the extrusion method obtained the most significant drug load, which was 2.45 times the direct incubation method. The liraglutide-Exo obtained by the freeze-thaw cycles method has the slightest morphological change. Conclusion: The study showed milk exosome-based oral drug delivery systems are promising.

Óleos essenciais sobre a qualidade de sementes de leucena

<span class="fontstyle0">Leucena (Leucaena leucocephala) is an alternative used for animal feeding in the Northeastern of Brazil due to its resistance to drought and its high nutritional value. They are forest species whose seeds are affected by fungi that cause abnormalities and damage to seedlings, seed deterioration. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of essential oils in reducing the incidence of fungi associated with L. leucocephala seeds and their interference with physiological quality. The treatments were the following: essential oils of Cymbopogon nardus, Boswellia carteri, Eucalyptus globulus, Helianthus annuus, Vitis vinifera seeds, Eugenia caryophyllata, Melaleuca alternifolia and Rosmarinus officinalis in a concentration of 1 mL · L</span><span class="fontstyle0">-1 </span><span class="fontstyle0">and fungicide, using 100 seeds per treatment.In order to overcome dormancy scarification with sandpaper Nº 100 in the opposite region to the micropile. The sanitary quality of the seeds was made with the incubation method in Petri dishes containing double layer of filter paper moistened with ADE. Seed physiological quality was determined based on seed germination, emergence and vigor tests. The experimental design was completely randomized with ten treatments. Eucalyptus, clove and Melaleuca alternifolia essential oils reduced the incidence percentage of fungi associated with leucena seeds. Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil reduced the physiological quality of leucena seeds.</span> <br /><br />

Two Approaches to Measure Trace Metals Fluxes at Sediment-Water Interface: Sediment Porewater Profile and Benthic Incubation

The biogeochemical cycle of trace metals is very likely affected by the global change in the ocean, especially due to the increasing of sea surface temperature and acidity. Thus, assessing biogeochemical cycle of trace metals will beneficial in elucidating the potential impact of climate change as well as ocean acidification. The assessment of the biogeochemical cycle of trace metals can be performed by measuring trace metals fluxes crossing the sediment-water interface. The main challenge in this measurement is the difficulty of measuring metal concentrations at trace levels due to either physical factors or biological factors that can affect the total flux. Sediment porewater profile and in situ benthic incubation are the two most commonly used methods for measuring trace metals fluxes from sediment to the overlying water or vice versa. The coefficient of diffusion and gradient of concentration are the two most important values in the sediment porewater profile method, while the constant volume involved in the container during the experiment is an important part of the in situ benthic incubation method. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of both measurement methods deeply and predict the challenges faced in its implementation in Indonesia. Keywords: Benthic fluxes; Overlying water; Porewater; Sediment; Trace metals

Comparison of in situ techniques to evaluate the recovery of indigestible components and the accuracy of digestibility estimates

Indigestible components, including indigestible dry matter (iDM) and indigestible neutral detergent fiber (iNDF), play an integral role as internal markers for determining ruminal kinetics and digestibility estimations. However, the accuracy of internal markers is dependent upon the incubation technique utilized as bag type (BT) and incubation length (IL) can be significant sources of error. Previous studies have primarily focused on iDM and iNDF as digestibility markers, but few studies have compared digestibility estimates to those of acid detergent insoluble ash (ADIA). Therefore, our objective was to investigate the effect of BT (F57, F58, and Dacron) and IL (288 and 576 h) on iDM and iNDF residues, DM and NDF digestibilities, and fecal recoveries when using in situ incubations. Additionally, we evaluated the accuracy of digestibility estimates when using iDM, iNDF, and ADIA. For iDM and iNDF, feed residues demonstrated a BT × IL interaction (P &lt; 0.01). However, fecal residues were only influenced by the main effects of BT and IL (P &lt; 0.01), with the F58 BT and 288-h IL having the greatest residues for both iDM and iNDF. The variation in residues was greatly reduced when using iNDF compared with iDM. Fecal recovery estimates most closely approximated 100% recovery when utilizing ADIA and iDM using the F57 × 576 h incubation method (P &lt; 0.01), although recovery was overestimated for all incubation combinations. Fecal NDF recovery estimates better represented the excretion profiles when the F57 × 576 h combination was used with iDM as the internal marker (P &lt; 0.01). Estimates of DM and NDF digestibility were the most accurate when utilizing ADIA (P &lt; 0.01) relative to all other treatments. Our results indicate that the proper methodological application is specific to the purpose of the inferences. When evaluating fecal recoveries and digestibility, ADIA or iDM with F57 at 576-h in situ incubation provides the greatest accuracy.