查看更多>>摘要：Pongamia (Millettia pinnata) has recently gained attention as a novel biofuel feedstock. However, yield levels and dynamics of this largely undomesticated species remain poorly understood. This study addresses the critical lack of scientific evidence by collecting primary seed and oil yield data from 81 pongamia trees across a range of cultivation types in South India, and is the first to explore yield-determining factors using predictive regression models. Our results indicate that annual seed and oil yield for pongamia trees vary widely, generally staying below 2500 kg/ha and 1000 liter/ha, respectively. This current field performance is substantially lower than commonly reported figures in the literature. Furthermore, the study suggests that a complex interplay between genotype, environment and agronomy leads to large spatiotemporal variation in yields, and that this interplay remains poorly understood. Long-term yield monitoring is required to get better insights into realistic yield levels and mechanisms, before labeling pongamia as a significant, stable and profitable source of biofuel feedstock. The paper concludes with a set of hands-on guidelines for pongamia research and harvesting.
查看更多>>摘要：The use of lignocellulose materials to prepare reinforced composites for 3D printing is promising. In this study, lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNFs) with different lignin contents (0.2-8.5%) were prepared and compounded with polylactic acid (PLA) for fabricating a 3D printable filament. The internal lignin of LCNFs served as an adhesive for improving the interfacial compatibility of LCNF/PLA composites. Alkali lignin (AL), as an external lignin, was used as a control sample. LCNFs, with a high yield of 85%, a diameter of less than 100 nm, and a length of several microns, were prepared by the swelling of glycerol and 0.64% (w/w) sulfuric acid and colloid mill grinding. Complexation of cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and LCNF with PLA can enhance the mechanical strength of PLA composites. Specifically, the flexural strength of the CNF/PLA composite was increased from 92.7 MPa to 151.2 MPa by combining 10% CNF (without lignin) with PLA. The flexural strength of LCNF/PLA composite with internal lignin content of 3.7% (0.37% of the total mass) was increased from 151.2 MPa to 234.5 MPa, which is 153.0% higher than that of pure PLA. However, external AL had an adverse influence on the mechanical strength of the AL/CNF/PLA composites. In addition, the 3D printable filament prepared using the LCNF/PLA composite exhibited good thermal stability, which was suitable for common fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers. Various 3D printing materials, such as cake, egg, ball, bowl, dumbbell and strip shaped products, were designed and prepared by LCNF/PLA composites.
Brkic, Milana Z.Mitic, Zorica S.Marin, Petar D.Tesevic, Vele V....
8页
查看更多>>摘要：We examined essential oils (EOs) of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana and Thuja plicata (Cupressaceae), their antifeedant activity on Lymanthria dispar larvae and their antimicrobial activity. Studies of EOs showed that these two conifer species differed both in content of terpene classes and the major compounds. Total monoterpenes strongly dominated in T. plicata (96.4%), while C. lawsoniana was rich in both mono- and sesquiterpenes (40.8% and 30.3%, respectively) as well as in diterpenes (19.1%). The most dominant compounds of C. lawsoniana EO were: limonene (16.7%), oplopanonyl acetate (14.5%), beyerene (10.1%), and 13-epi-dolabradiene (6.7%). The dominant compound of T. plicata EOs was alpha-thujone (76.9%), followed by relatively small amounts of beta- thujone (5.3%), sabinene (4.5%) and terpinene-4-ol (3.2%). The difference in EO compositions of the conifers was reflected on Lymantria dispar larvae performance. Larvae fed on the leaf discs treated by C. lawsoniana EO had a slight phagostimulatory effect at lower concentration shown by higher relative rate of food consumption and relative growth rate than the larvae in the control group. Contrastingly, leaf discs treated with EO of T. plicata EO had an antifeedant effect and lower relative consumption rate (RCR) and relative growth rate RGR than the larvae in the control group. Both tested EOs influenced substantially the colony growth of the subjected Phytophthora plurivora and P. quercina. Namely, 100% inhibitory effect was recorded at concentration of 0.1% in the case of C. lawsoniana EO, whereas of T. plicata colonies did not grow at 0.5% concentration. The implications of these findings and possibility of using the tested EOs in further experiments in vitro and in vivo are discussed.
查看更多>>摘要：Zizylphus vulgaris has nearly four thousand years of planting and eating history. Zizylphus vulgaris polysaccharide is a kind of complex heteropolysaccharide. Modern pharmacological studies show that polysaccharide is one of the main functional active components in Zizylphus vulgaris fruit and has a variety of biological functions. Herein, the extraction methods of Zizylphus vulgaris polysaccharides were summarized, the structural characteristics, activities and structure-activity relationship of Zizylphus vulgaris polysaccharides were systematically reviewed, and the existing problems were analyzed in order to provide reference and theoretical basis for improving the utilization of Zizylphus vulgaris polysaccharides.
Souza, Joao Paulo B.Albernaz, Lorena C.Magalhaes, Natalia M. G.Morais, Lais S....
10页
查看更多>>摘要：Insecticides have been used not only to control pests in agricultural production, but also in integrated vector management strategies to reduce populations of mosquitoes, and, consequently, decrease transmission of pathogens they carry. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is a vector of dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever viruses, whereas the common mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus is a vector of human filariasis and the West Nile virus. Natural insecticides constitute effective ecofriendly alternatives to synthetic control agents. Thus, we investigated the larvicidal, adulticidal and repellent activity of six Brazilian Cerrado plant essential oils extracted by hydrodistillation, together with their major components identified by GC/MS: p-cymene, (R)-(+)-limonene, (S)-(-)-limonene and (-)-beta-pinene. The species were selected taking into account the fact they are plants commonly found in this biome, easy to be collected and being still poorly studied in terms of their activity in the Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus. These essential oils demonstrated activity against (i) Ae. aegypti larvae (24 h): Xylopia aromatica (LC50 12.1 mu g/mL), Myrcia dictyophylla (LC50 17.6 mu g/mL) and Campomanesia adamantium (LC50 18.0 mu g/mL); and (ii) Ae. aegypti adults (after 4 h exposure) with the highest knockdown values observed for C. adamantium (93.8%), Blepharocalyx salicifolius (93.4%), M. dictyophylla (92.5%) and X. aromatica (87.2%). These natural product mixtures also demonstrated repellency to (i) Ae. aegypti: Eugenia dysenterica leaves: spatial activity index (SAI) 0.737; weighted spatial activity index (wSAI) 20.229, B. salicifolius (SAI 0.611; wSAI 14.804) and M. dictyophylla (SAI 0.586; wSAI 8.798); and (ii) Cx. quinquefasciatus: E. dysenterica - Protection (P) 71%, C. adamantium (P 61%) and B. salicifolius (P 60%). B. salicifolius leaves essential oil showed both insecticidal and repellent activity. Our results support the use of Cerrado plant essential oils at low concentrations as a promising alternative vector control strategy.
查看更多>>摘要：Rheum tanguticum Maxim. ex Balf. (RT), mainly is mainly produced in Gansu, Qinghai, Tibet and Sichuan of China, has long been used as a medicine for purging fire and quenching thirst. The RTR-2 (Rheum tanguticum root extract without polysaccharides and protein) had strong inhibitory activities against a-amylase, maltase and sucrase with the IC50 0.042 mg/mL, 0.124 mg/mL and 0.097 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, RTR-2 could significantly reduce PBG level of diabetic mice in starch/maltose/sucrose tolerance test. Total 48 constituents including 12 anthraquinones, 4 bianthmnes, 8 flavans, 3 stilbenes, 5 phenylbutanones, 4 naphthosides, 8 glucose gallates and 4 phenolic acids were determined in RTR-2 by UPLC-Triple-TOF/MS analysis of molecular ion, main fragments, retention time, and references. Furthermore, the components such as flavan ((-)-epicatechin 3-O-gallate) and phenylbutanone (lindleyin) were demonstrated to have sucrase and maltase inhibitory activites, and might be the main hypoglycemic active ingredients of RTR-2 extract. All these results offered an exhaustive knowledge for the hypoglycemic compounds of Rheum tanguticum, which was conducive to its further development and utilization as a valuable source of hypoglycemic plant in pharmaceutical industry.
查看更多>>摘要：Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) is a non-wood and non-edible biorefinery resource and is extremely important for the development of dissolving pulp as a material of regenerated cellulose fiber. However, the bamboo contains a high amount of xylan compared to hardwoods. This study aimed at finding suitable conditions for producing dissolving pulp of good quality from the moso bamboo stem using a combination of pre-hydrolysis non-sulfur alkali cooking and elemental chlorine-free bleaching, and separating a lignin product from the black liquor in the cooking process. Prehydrolysis at 150 degrees C for 7 h using soda cooking at 160 degrees C for 3 h with 28% active alkali and 0.06% 2-methylanthraquinone was found to give a good outcome. The xylan content of the pulp was reduced to 4.0%, and further treatment of cold caustic extraction to remove xylan was not required for producing dissolving pulp of good quality, although the pulp yield was approximately 30%. The pulp was then bleached to obtain a dissolving pulp with alpha-cellulose content of 95.0%, brightness of 89.9%, and viscosity of 8.8 mPa.s. Lignin dissolved in the soda cooking black liquor was easily precipitated by CO2 when employed with 35% of solid concentration and provided a yield of 42%. The precipitation by CO2 followed by purification at pH 2.9 provided a lignin product with weight-average molecular weight, polydispersity, and ash content of 1566, 2.62, and 0.6%, respectively.
De Prato, LucaAnsari, OmidHardy, Giles E. St. J.Howieson, John...
13页
查看更多>>摘要：Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) has regained worldwide interest as a crop across temperate and subtropical regions. However, there is a paucity of information about the responses of hemp to environmental conditions and interactions between genotype and environment. This study compared the growth responses of a temperate hemp variety (Morphet Late) and three tropical/subtropical varieties (ECO-GH15, ECO-MC16 and ECO-YP16) to tropical daylengths (11.5 h and 12.5 h), temperatures and varying nitrogen (0, 50, 100, 150 kg ha(-1) of N) rates. Three experiments under controlled environmental conditions were conducted to test the growth, and cannabinoid production responses to N. Analysis of phenological data revealed significantly different responses between varieties in terms of days to emergence, time to flowering, growth patterns and final biomass showing predominant responses to daylength or temperature depending on the variety. Two tropical/subtropical varieties (ECO-GH15, ECO-MC16) responded similarly under all conditions; the other (ECO-YP16) showed a marked response to temperature rather than daylength, although all varieties had a strong biomass response to N increase. For all varieties, except the temperate variety, the concentration of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and some minor cannabinoids were significantly increased by a one-hour daylength increase. This study highlights the importance of temperature, daylength, and nitrogen for growth, time to flowering, and cannabinoid concentrations of different hemp varieties grown under tropical conditions and shows the importance of selecting low THC varieties for production in tropical/subtropical environments.
查看更多>>摘要：Alkaline pretreatment is a simple and effective method for removing lignin at low temperatures and normal pressure, but this process consumes large amounts of water and produces wastewater, both of which limit its industrial applications. To develop a process with zero discharge of black liquor and wastewater, in this study, KOH/urea-treated bagasse was directly subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis without detoxification or washing after adjusting the pH. Adaptive Laboratory Evolved (ALE) Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y2034, which can endure threefold diluted black liquor, was obtained. The results showed that SCB treated with 1.5% KOH/urea (1.5% KOH/ 1.5% urea) for 4 h could be directly enzymatically hydrolyzed and fermented. The enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency and ethanol yield reached 89.9% and 97%, respectively. The cellulosic ethanol production method developed in this research provides a possibility for industrial application.
查看更多>>摘要：Bamboo leaves are of great economic value and contain several functional components such as flavonoids, lactones and phenolic acids. In this study, the effects of four flavonoids found in bamboo leaves, orientin (OT), isoorientin (IsOT), vitexin (VX) and isovitexin (IsVX), on the oxidative stability and physical stability of walnut emulsions were investigated. These four bamboo leaf flavonoids (BLFs) lowered the peroxide value and MDA (malondialdehyde) value of the emulsions. Adding 0.03% OT decreased the MDA value by 41.54% after 18 d of accelerated oxidation. Adding BLFs maintained the droplet size and microstructure of the walnut emulsions. In an emulsion containing 0.03% IsOT, the unsaturated fatty acid level decreased by only 1.75%. The results on the residual amounts of BLFs in emulsions were consistent with the lipid hydroperoxide and MDA experiments, but their effectiveness levels were different. Adding BLFs significantly enhanced the oxidative stability of the walnut emulsions. Consequently, BLFs have a good potential as natural antioxidative stabilizers in emulsions for industrial products.
NSTL
Elsevier