Selection Strategy For The Beverage Sensory Characterization In A Large Arabica Coffee Germplasm Bank

This study proposes a selection strategy to be applied to a large number of coffee accessions, which can be useful when exploring many genotypes in breeding programs for beverage quality. Over three consecutive years, 270 Arabica coffee accessions from the Germplasm Bank of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were sensorially characterized. At the end of this period, the 20 genotypes with the greatest potential for specialty coffee production were selected, which were subjected to a second sensory characterization. Additionally, we determined the genetic correlations between the attributes that make up the final beverage score. We did not identify an attribute that was more important than the others in the organoleptic performance of the studied accessions. Through the proposed method, we identified genetic variation in our original population and selected five accessions with beverage quality considered excellent according to the SCA classification. These accessions were planted in field conditions of highly specialized farms to study their interaction with the cultivation environment and to promote the increase in production of such coffees. Additionally, the five selected accessions are being used in crosses with elite cultivars create new segregating populations. We conclude that estimation of the heritable variation of each accession, the use over the years of common check cultivars with known performance, and extremely care of experimental precision in the entire processes warrant fair comparisons.

Nutritional Profile of the Ethiopian Oilseed Crop Noug (Guizotia abyssinica Cass.): Opportunities for Its Improvement as a Source for Human Nutrition

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of noug as a source for human nutrition. Diverse noug genotypes were evaluated for their content and/or composition of total lipids, fatty acids, proteins, and minerals using standard methods. The total lipid content (32.5–45.7%) and the proportion of an essential fatty acid, linoleic acid (72.2–77.8%), were high in noug, compared to other oilseed crops. The proportion of oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid, was low in noug (5.2–9.2%). The breeding objective of increasing the oleic acid level in the highland, where noug is mainly cultivated, was limited, as the content of this acid was low in this environment. The seed protein concentration (25.4–27.5%) and mineral content were mainly affected by the cultivation environment, as the high temperature increased the amount of protein, whereas the soil condition was a major factor in the variation of the mineral content. Thus, noug is a unique crop with a high seed oil content, of which a high proportion is linoleic acid. With the exception of the seed oleic acid content, when grown in low-altitude areas, the genotypic variation contributes less than the cultivation environment to the nutritional attributes of noug. Hence, high-oleic-acid noug for lowland production can be targeted as a breeding goal.

BIQUINHO PEPPER CULTIVATED ON THE REFLECTIVE BENCH IN PROTECTED ENVIRONMENTS

The choice of the cultivation environment interferes with the whole vegetable development because of the micro-meteorological conditions in which the plants are cultivated, and the use of technologies with reflective material aims to complement the production in both quantity and quality. In this sense, the objective was to analyze the growth and productivity of Biquinho pepper (Capsicum chinese) plants cultivated in two types of protected environments and benches with reflective material. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, with five repetitions. A plastic greenhouse with 42% shading and agricultural screen with 30% shading, inside these environments, there were benches with and without reflective material of the type Aluminet® with 50% shading. The plastic greenhouse presented lower temperature and relative air moisture, besides lower global solar radiation and photosynthetically active radiation. The benches with reflective material, independently of the environment, have promoted higher photosynthetic reflected radiation. Plants produced in the greenhouse had larger sizes, diameters, and leaves in their initial growth stage. As of 56 DAT, the plants in the agricultural screen presented greater heights and promoted greater pepper production. The reflective benches have favored the growth in diameter and at 14 and 28 DAT, and greater fruit production. It is concluded that the agricultural screen with 30% shading and reflective benches favor the Biquinho pepper fruit production.

Homeopathic repertorization in vegetables: a case study for the bell pepper culture (Capsicum annuum L, Solanaceae)

Background Anamnesis and homeopathic repertorization are important steps for the collection of symptoms and for the selection of the suitable medicine to cure vegetables presenting pathologies or changes in homeostasis. Aims The objective of this study was to carry out observation, anamnesis and homeopathic repertorization of bell pepper plants and its cultivation environment and select the simillimum medicine for the culture. Methods The study was performed at the Research and Extension Center in Agroecology of Ressacada Experimental Farm - Center of Agrarian Sciences, Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Florianópolis, Brazil. The selection of symptoms were based on the characteristics of the diseases observed in the plants and modalized by evidenced characteristics in the environment. Symptoms were chosen by the mechanical method without hierarchization, and without a master symptom, and after their analogy with the symptoms described in the Homeopathic Materia Medica. Results The choice for Calcarea carbonica and Sulphur drugs was based on the number of covered symptoms and the score obtained during the digital repertorization performed by the software HomeoPro®. The chosen potency, 30 CH, was based on the miasmatic magnitude presented by the symptoms. Conclusion The analogy of symptoms found in the agricultural organism with the symptoms described in the Homeopathic Materia Medica presents a promising path for choosing medicine for the cure of diseases in vegetables. The choice of the appropriate homeopathic medicine for agricultural crops must represent the symptomatic totality presented by the plant and by the environment in the homeopathic repertorization.

Cultivation of maize in different environments and their effects on agronomic traits

The objective of this work was to show which traits are influenced by the interaction genotype x irrigated environment, to reveal trends of linear associations in each environment and to identify genotypic variation through canonical variable analysis in maize. The experiment was conducted in Campos Borges – RS. The experimental design used was randomized blocks organized in a factorial scheme, being two cultivation environment (dry environment characterized only by the availability of rainwater; irrigated environment where a 15 mm layer of water was applied ten days apart the crop cycle, from seedling emergence to physiological maturity stage) x 13 hybrids of maize, arranged in three replicates. The traits plant height, insertion of ear height, mass of one thousand grains and grains yield are influenced by the genotypes x environments interaction. The irrigated environment presents superiority in relation to dry environment for all the traits studied. In general, the genotype G9 performs better than others. The irrigated environment presents superiority than dry environment, in relation to the traits plant height, insertion of ear height, mass of one thousand grains, grain yield per hectare, ear length, ear diameter, ear mass, grains mass per ear and number of grains per ear row.

Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean Peninsula

The origins and development of rice cultivation are one of the most important aspects in studying agricultural and socio-economic innovations, as well as environmental change, in East Asian prehistory. In particular, whether wet or dry rice cultivation was conducted is an important consideration of its impact on societies and the environment across different periods and places. In this study, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of charred crop remains from archaeological sites dating from the Early Bronze Age (ca. 1.1k BC) to the Proto-Three Kingdoms (ca. 0.4 k AD) was conducted to clarify: (1) if there were any shifts from dry to wet cultivation around 1500 years after rice adoption as previously hypothesized and (2) the difference in stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values between rice and dry fields crops excavated from the same archaeological context to understand the cultivation environment. The result show that stable isotope values of charred rice grains have not changed significantly for around 1500 years. Moreover, rice possessed higher nitrogen stable isotope values than dry crops across all periods. While other potential factors could have influenced the 15N-enrichment of soils and crops, the most reasonable explanation is bacteriologic denitrification in anaerobic paddy soil where the rice was grown.

Evaluation of azoximer bromide (polyoxidonium) influence on the adhesive properties of the Yersinia pestis EV NIIEG vaccine strain by atomic force microscopy

Aim. To characterize the influence of azoximer bromide (polyoxidonium, PO) in cultivation conditions on the morpho- and nanomechanical cell surface properties of Y. pestis EV NIIEG vaccine strain and its derivatives Y. pestis КМ218 (pYT– , pYV– , pYP– ), Y. pestis КМ216 (pYT– , pYV– , pYP+), Y. pseudotuberculosis, Y. enterocolitica by atomic force microsopy (AFM), as well as on the adhesion of cells Y. pestis EV NIIEG to human collagen type IV.Materials and methods. The measurements were carried out using the Solver P47-PRO probe microscope (NT-MDT, Russia), standard methods of semi-contact AFM and AFM imaging analysis program. The adhesion of Y. pestis EV NIIEG to type IV collagen was determined by the number of cells binding to glass slides covered with human collagen type IV.Results. The introduction of PO in the cultivation environment caused changes in the morphometric parameters of the cells of Y. pestis EV NIIEG vaccine strain and its isogenic derivatives (increase in volume, flatten ingested (S/H), index I (W/H). These changes were accompanied by the transformation of nanomechanical properties of the cell surface (reducing the root mean square, adhesion force), which countenance was associated with the plasmid profile. The lesser decrease of adhesion force in the absence of changes of the index I was observed in cells Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica with plasmid pYV. In the strain Y. enterocolitica KM383 (pYV– ) PO did not induce significant changes in the indicators studied. The introduction of the PO into the cultivation environment decreased the ability of Y. pestis EV cells to bind to human collagen type IV. Modification by PO the adhesive properties of the vaccine strain Y. pestis EV NIIEG was accompanied by an increase in its immunogenicity