Search Results (104)

Straw returning (ST) significantly improves soil quality and profoundly impacts soil microorganisms. However, the effects of different ST application amounts on the soil bacterial community remain unclear, and more studies on optimal ST application amounts are warranted. This study aimed to investigate the bacterial diversity and composition, as well as physicochemical properties, of soil in a corn field with 5-year ST amounts of 0, 3, 4.5, 5, and 6 t/hm², respectively. The results indicated that ST significantly reduced soil bulk density and increased soil pH and nutrients. Meanwhile, ST had a significant effect on the bacterial composition, and the bacterial diversity increased significantly after ST. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria increased dramatically, whereas that of Actinobacteria significantly decreased after ST. The amount of ST had threshold effects on soil physicochemical properties and the dominant bacterial phyla. Moreover, the co-occurrence networks indicated that bacterial stability first increased and then decreased with the increase in ST amounts. Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen concentrations were the main drivers of bacterial diversity, whereas soil pH and total nitrogen concentrations were the main drivers of bacterial composition. This study strengthens the fact that ST amounts have threshold effects on the soil physicochemical properties and soil microorganisms, and ST amounts of 3–5 t/hm² were appropriate. Full article

The extensive environmental pollution caused by petroleum-based plastics highlights the urgent need for sustainable, economically viable alternatives. The practical challenge of enhancing polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production with cost-effective agro-industrial residues—rice-bran and corn-flour hydrolysates—has been demonstrated. Bacillus bingmayongensis GS2 was isolated from soil samples collected at the Pirana municipal landfill in Ahmedabad, India, and identified through VITEK-2 biochemical profiling and 16S rDNA sequencing (GenBank accession OQ749793). Initial screening for PHB accumulation was performed using Sudan Black B staining. Optimization via a sequential one-variable-at-a-time (OVAT) approach identified optimal cultivation conditions (36 h inoculum age, 37 °C, pH 7.0, 100 rpm agitation), resulting in a PHB yield of 2.77 g L⁻¹ (66% DCW). Further refinement using a central composite response surface methodology (RSM)—varying rice-bran hydrolysate, corn-flour hydrolysate, peptone concentration, and initial pH—significantly improved the PHB yield to 3.18 g L⁻¹(74% DCW), representing more than a threefold enhancement over unoptimized conditions. Structural validation using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (¹H-NMR) confirmed the molecular integrity of the produced PHB. That Bacillus bingmayongensis GS2 effectively converts low-cost agro-industrial residues into high-value bioplastics has been demonstrated, indicating substantial industrial potential. Future work will focus on bioreactor scale-up, targeted metabolic-engineering strategies, and comprehensive sustainability evaluations, including life-cycle assessment. Full article

This work presents a new approach for lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment. The process is a sequential combination of extrusion (Ex) and semi-solid fermentation (SSF). To assess the Ex-SSF pretreatment efficiency, black spruce chips (wood residues) and corn stover (crop residues) were subjected to the process. The negative controls were the pretreatment of both residues with SSF alone without extrusion. Lignin peroxidase was the main ligninolytic enzyme contributing to the delignification in the negative controls. High lignin peroxide (LiP) activities were recorded for raw black spruce (53.7 ± 2.7 U/L) and corn stover (16.4 ± 0.8 U/L) compared to the Ex-SSF pretreated biomasses where the highest LiP activity recorded was 6.0 ± 0.3 U/L (corn residues). However, with the negative controls, only a maximum of 17% delignification was achieved for both biomasses. As for the Ex-SSF process, the pretreatments were preceded by the optimization of the extrusion (Ex) step and the semi-solid fermentation (SSF) step via experimental designs. The Ex-SSF pretreatments led to interesting results and offered cost-effective advantages compared to existing pretreatments. Biomass delignification reached 59.1% and 65.4% for black spruce and corn stover, respectively. For the analyses performed, it was found that manganese peroxidase (MnP) was the main contributor to delignification during the SSF step. MnP activity was up to 13.8 U/L for Ex-SSF pretreated black spruce, and 32.0 U/L for Ex-SSF pretreated corn stover, while the maximum MnP recorded in the negative controls was 1.4 ± 0.1 U/L. Ex-SSF pretreatment increased the cellulose crystallinity index (CrI) by 13% for black spruce and 4% for corn stover. But enzymatic digestibility of the Ex-SSF pretreated biomasses with 0.25 mL/g of enzyme led to 7.6 mg/L sugar recovery for black spruce, which is 2.3 times the raw biomass yield. The Ex-SSF pretreated corn stover led to 17.0 mg/L sugar recovery, which is a 44% improvement in sugar concentration compared to raw corn stover. However, increasing the enzyme content from 0.25 mL/g to 0.50 mg/L and 0.75 mg/L generated lower hydrolysis efficiency (the sugar recovery decreased). Full article

In Northeast China, due to long-term, high-intensity continuous cultivation of black soil, the practice of “overuse with insufficient nurturing” has led to severe degradation of the black soil. Straw return is a crucial strategy for enhancing soil organic matter (SOM). However, the mechanism of combing straw return with different tillage methods on black soil microbial community structure and soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions remains unclear. A field experiment was conducted in black soil using four tillage treatments: conventional tillage without straw return (CK), no tillage with straw incorporation (NTS), rotary tillage with straw incorporation (RTS), and deep tillage with straw incorporation (PTS). Corn yield and the contents and fractions of SOC were measured, whereas the microbial structure at different soil depths was assessed by high-throughput sequencing technology. Meanwhile, the correlations between microbial diversity, changes in SOC fractions, and corn yield were analyzed. As a result, the straw return treatments significantly increased the contents of SOC in the 0–20 cm soil layer (up to 19.82 g kg⁻¹ under RTS) and its labile fractions, enhanced soil microbial diversity (with a 7.03–25.14% increase in the Bacterial Chao1 index), and optimized the microbial community structure. Fungal diversity under PTS was the most prominent in the 20–40 cm depth. Correlation analysis indicated that the active SOC fractions and microbial diversity jointly explain the yield variation. The conclusions of this study will provide a theoretical foundation for developing scientifically sound straw return strategies in agricultural production. Full article

Dietary modification plays a crucial role in managing and preventing hyperlipidemia. This study examined the combination of highland barley, tartary buckwheat, mung beans, Ormosia hosiei, black rice, and corn germ oil in multi-grain biscuit form. This formulation leverages the synergistic interactions among bioactive compounds, which exert preventive and therapeutic effects against lipid disorders. C57BL/6N mice were fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks to establish a hyperlipidemia model, followed by feeding with highland barley tartary buckwheat coarse-grain biscuits for 4 weeks. The experimental outcomes revealed that the highland barley tartary buckwheat coarse-grain biscuits effectively controlled body weight and reduced fasting blood sugar levels: body weight was restored to approximately 29 g, and the fasting blood sugar level returned to the normal range of 6 mmol/L. We also observed improved organ indices and regulated blood lipids in hyperlipidemic mice. The total cholesterol of high-fat mice was reduced to 5 mmol/L and the triglyceride level to 1 mmol/L. A significant reduction in inflammatory markers and histopathological improvement in hepatic and adipose tissues were also observed. The intervention enhanced leptin and adiponectin secretion while elevating concentrations of acetic, propionic, butyric, valeric, and caproic acids. Microbiome analysis demonstrated favorable shifts in bacterial populations, characterized by increased Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobia abundance and a decreased Firmicutes-to-Proteobacteria ratio, promoting beneficial genera while suppressing potentially pathogenic taxa. These findings suggest that the developed highland barley tartary buckwheat coarse-grain biscuits are a promising dietary intervention for hyperlipidemia management. The effects were potentially mediated through gut microbiota modulation and enhanced short-chain fatty acid production. This research provides novel insights into functional food development for hyperlipidemia. Full article

This study aimed to evaluate the apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) for nutrients and energy of seven conventional and alternative feed ingredients (poultry feather meal, fermented feather meal, mealworm meal, defatted black soldier fly, Chlorella, poultry by-product meal, and corn meal) when fed to Sobaity seabream (Sparidentex hasta), with the goal of identifying sustainable, digestible, and nutritionally viable ingredients for aquaculture feed formulations. A reference diet (RF) was formulated to meet the nutrient requirements of Sobaity seabream while test diets were prepared to contain 70% RF and 30% of the test ingredients. Sobaity seabream (200 ± 8.0 g) were fed the diets for seven days before fecal matter was collected by stripping. The whole length of the digestibility trial was 21 days. The ingredient apparent digestibility of dry matter (34.8–70.4%), crude protein (52.8–107.8%), crude lipid (67.7–112.9%), and energy (52.2–86.1%) were affected by test ingredients (p < 0.01). The dry matter digestibility of mealworm meal was the highest (70.4%) compared to other ingredients. Feather meal, Chlorella, and black soldier fly meal had significantly lower values of dry matter digestibility. Dry matter and crude protein were significantly more digestible in fermented feather meal than the feather meal without fermentation. The crude protein digestibility was significantly higher (107.8%) for mealworm meal. However, feather meal has shown a significantly lower value (52.8%) for crude protein digestibility compared to other ingredients. Energy digestibility showed a significant positive correlation with dry matter digestibility (r = 0.870). The energy digestibility of mealworm meal was significantly higher (86.1%, p < 0.05) than other ingredients. Feather meal had the lowest energy digestibility (52.2%) with no statistically significant difference from Chlorella, corn meal, and black soldier fly meal. This study indicates that mealworm meal is the most easily digestible protein source for Sobaity seabream and should be prioritized in their diets. Fermentation enhances the digestibility of feather meal and is recommended when using it. Ingredients with a lower digestibility, like feather meal, chlorella, and black soldier fly meal, should be used in moderation or undergo further processing to improve nutrient availability. Full article

Background/Objectives: The use of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae meal in poultry nutrition is gaining attention as a sustainable protein source with a high nutritional value, an efficient bioconversion of organic waste, and potential functional benefits for intestinal health. This study evaluated the dietary effects of including 5% BSF larvae meal on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and energy utilization as well as on the intestinal integrity, gene expression, lipid profile, and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production of broilers under an intestinal challenge. Methods: Eight hundred one-day-old male broilers were assigned to four dietary treatments with eight replicates (25 birds/pen) and reared until day 40. Birds were fed either a Basal corn–soy diet or a BSF diet (5% BSF larvae meal replacing energy- and protein-yielding ingredients). Diets were provided to a non-challenged group and a challenged group, which was orally gavaged with Eimeria spp. on day 1 and Clostridium perfringens on days 11 and 14. The growth performance was evaluated up to day 40, while the nutrient digestibility, meat lipid profile, intestinal histomorphology, and gene expression were assessed at 21 days. The SCFAs were determined at both 21 and 40 days. Results: It was observed that the intestinal challenge induced dysbiosis and negatively affected growth performance, whereas the BSF meal inclusion partially mitigated these adverse effects. Broilers fed the BSF larvae meal showed increased cecal SCFA concentrations and a lower interleukin-6 gene expression, along with higher lauric and myristic acid levels in breast muscle (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: The inclusion of 5% BSF larvae meal improved performance without impairing nutrient digestibility or intestinal histomorphology, while increasing cecal concentrations of butyric and acetic acids and promoting a beneficial lipid deposition. Full article

The abundant availability of crop waste and forestry residues in Texas provides great potential for producing renewable diesel in the local towns of Texas. This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of renewable diesel use in Texas transportation and the potential of renewable diesel production in Texas. The GREET model was used to customize the life cycle pathway of renewable diesel and evaluate its environmental impacts. The models of renewable diesel produced from forestry residue and corn stover were built to calculate life cycle gas emissions of combination short-haul heavy-duty trucks fueled with renewable diesel. Life cycle GHG emissions of renewable diesel are much lower than those of low-sulfur diesel. However, with respect to renewable diesel derived from corn stover, life cycle PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 emissions were almost double those of low-sulfur diesel in 2024, and both emissions will be reduced by 37–38% in 2035. The life cycle emission trends of SO_x, black carbon, and primary organic carbon are very similar to those of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5. The total cost of ownership (TCO) of heavy-duty trucks using renewable diesel produced from forestry residues or corn stover would be 10.3–14.8% higher than those consuming regular low-sulfur diesel in Texas. Full article

Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass remains the primary obstacle to the profitable use of this type of biomass in biorefineries. The challenge lies in the recalcitrance of the lignin-carbohydrate complex to pretreatment, especially the difficulty in removing the lignin to access the carbohydrates (cellulose and hemicellulose). This study had two objectives: (i) to investigate the effect of reactive extrusion on lignocellulosic biomass in terms of delignification percentage and the structural characteristics of the resulting extrudates, and (ii) to propose a novel pretreatment approach involving extrusion technology based on the results of the first objective. Two types of biomasses were used: agricultural residue (corn stover) and forest residue (black spruce chips). By optimizing the extrusion conditions via response surface analysis (RSA), the delignification percentages were significantly improved. For corn stover, the delignification yield increased from 2.3% to 27.4%, while increasing from 1% to 25.3% for black spruce chips. The highest percentages were achieved without the use of sodium hydroxide and for temperatures below 65 °C. Furthermore, the optimized extrudates exhibited important structural changes without any formation of p-cresol, furfural, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) (enzymes and microbial growth-inhibiting compounds). Acetic acid however was detected in corn stover extrudate. The structural changes included the disorganization of the most recalcitrant functional groups, reduction of particle sizes, increase of specific surface areas, and the appearance of microscopic roughness on the particles. Analyzing all the data led to propose a new promising approach to the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomasses. This approach involves combining extrusion and biodelignification with white rot fungi to improve the enzymatic hydrolysis of carbohydrates. Full article

Brassinosteroids, as unique plant steroid hormones that bear structural similarity to animal steroids, play a crucial role in modulating plant growth and development. These hormones have a positive impact on plant resistance and, under stressful conditions, stimulate photosynthesis and antioxidative systems (enzymatic and non-enzymatic), leading to a reduced impact of environmental cues on plant metabolism and growth. Although these plant hormones have been studied for several decades, most studies analyze the primary site of action of the brassinosteroid phytohormone, with a special emphasis on the activation of various genes (mainly nuclear) through different signaling processes that influence plant metabolism, growth, and development. This review explores another issue, the secondary influence (the so-called mode of action) of brassinosteroids on changes in growth, development, and chemical composition, as well as thermodynamic and energetic changes, mainly during the early growth of corn seedlings. The interactions of brassinosteroids with other phytohormones and physiologically active substances and the influence of these interactions on the mode of action of brassinosteroid phytohormones were also discussed. Seen from a cybernetic point of view, the approach can be labeled as “black box” or “gray box”. “Black box” and “gray box” are terms for cybernetic systems, for which we know the inputs and outputs (in an energetic, biochemical, kinetic, informational, or some other sense), but whose internal structure and/or organization are completely or partially unknown to us. The findings of many researchers have indicated an important role of reactive species, such as oxygen and nitrogen reactive species, in these processes. This ultimately results in the redistribution of matter and energy from source organs to sink organs, with a decrease in Gibbs free energy from the source to sink organs. This quantitative evidence speaks of the exothermic nature and spontaneity of early (corn) seedling development and growth under the influence of 24-epibrassinolide. Based on these findings and a review of the literature on the mode of action of brassinosteroids, a hypothesis was put forward about the secondary effects of BRs on germination and the early growth of plant seedlings. Full article

Crop failure is defined as crop production that is significantly lower than anticipated, resulting from plants that are harmed, diseased, destroyed, or influenced by climatic circumstances. With the rise in global food security concern, the earliest detection of crop diseases has proven to be pivotal in agriculture industries to address the needs of the global food crisis and on-farm data protection, which can be met with a privacy-preserving deep learning model. However, deep learning seems to be a largely complex black box to interpret, necessitating a prerequisite for the groundwork of the model’s interpretability. Considering this, the aim of this study was to follow up on the establishment of a robust deep learning custom model named CropsDisNet, evaluated on a large-scale dataset named “New Bangladeshi Crop Disease Dataset (corn, potato and wheat)”, which contains a total of 8946 images. The integration of a differential privacy algorithm into our CropsDisNet model could establish the benefits of automated crop disease classification without compromising on-farm data privacy by reducing training data leakage. To classify corn, potato, and wheat leaf diseases, we used three representative CNN models for image classification (VGG16, Inception Resnet V2, Inception V3) along with our custom model, and the classification accuracy for these three different crops varied from 92.09% to 98.29%. In addition, demonstration of the model’s interpretability gave us insight into our model’s decision making and classification results, which can allow farmers to understand and take appropriate precautions in the event of early widespread harvest failure and food crises. Full article

Peanut skin is a potential medicinal material. The adulteration of peanut skin samples with starchy substances severely affects their medicinal value. This study aimed to quantitatively analyze the adulterants present in peanut skin using Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy. Two adulterants, sweet potato starch and corn starch, were included in this study. First, spectral information of the adulterated samples was collected for characterization. Then, the applicability of different preprocessing methods and techniques to the obtained spectral data was compared. Subsequently, the Competitive Adaptive Reweighted Sampling (CARS) algorithm was used to extract effective variables from the preprocessed spectral data, and Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR), a Support Vector Machine (SVM), and a Black Kite Algorithm-Support Vector Machine (BKA-SVM) were employed to predict the adulterant content in the samples, as well as the overall adulteration level. The results showed that the BKA-SVM model performed excellently in predicting the content of sweet potato starch, corn starch, and overall adulterants, with determination coefficients ($R_P^2$) of 0.9833, 0.9893, and 0.9987, respectively. The experimental results indicate that FT-NIR spectroscopy combined with advanced machine learning techniques can effectively and accurately detect adulterants in peanut skin, providing a reliable technological support for food safety detection. Full article

Soybean root rot, a soil-borne fungal disease, is caused by multiple pathogens that seriously affect soybean production. During spring 2021, 92 pathogenic fungal strains were isolated from soybean plants with root rot in Hailun City, Heilongjiang Province, China. Through morphological and molecular identification, these strains were identified as Fusarium oxysporum (39.1%), F. asiaticum (30.4%), F. graminearum (13.0%), Pythium macrosporum (8.7%), and Rhizoctonia solani (8.7%). Among them, F. oxysporum was the dominant species, and F. asiaticum, not previously reported as a soybean root rot pathogen in Northeast China. Approximately 50% of the F. asiaticum isolates were moderately pathogenic. In addition, F. asiaticum had a wide host range, infecting black soybean, French bean, white hyacinth bean, mung bean, and adzuki bean but not corn, peanut, rice, and oat roots. Regarding field management, fludioxonil and pyraclostrobin had the best control effects of 73.8% and 69.4%, with EC₅₀ values of 0.0029–0.0071 μg·mL⁻¹ and 0.0045–0.0076 μg·mL⁻¹, respectively. The study reported that F. asiaticum is a pathogen causing soybean root rot in northeast China. The application of chemical fungicides and non-host crop rotation can effectively control the disease caused by F. asiaticum. Full article

Nowadays, agricultural biomass is one the most valuable sources of natural polysaccharides. In addition to primary agricultural goods, agricultural waste is abundant, diverse, and renewable and can also be utilized as raw material for the production of polysaccharides and their derivatives. The extraction and purification of agri-waste-derived polysaccharides involves multiple processes that can vary depending on the type of raw material and the specific polysaccharides targeted. This study proposes a particular pathway from corn waste to hemicellulosic polysaccharides, which involves alkaline treatment and several physicochemical separation/purification phases using precipitation and ion exchange resins (Purolite A400, Purolite A100+, Purolite C100H). The ion exchange separation stage was optimized to retain most of the acid-soluble lignin derivatives from the extraction liquors. The process parameters considered for optimization included the solid (resin) liquid (black liquor pH 4.5) ratio, contact time, and temperature. These ranged from 0.05 to 0.15 g·mL⁻¹, 30 to 180 min, and 20 to 50 °C, respectively. The chemical composition of the separated hemicelluloses varied from 44.43 to 75.28% for xylan, 2.43 to 3.93% for glucan, 1.86 to 2.44% for galactan and 8.93 to 12.68% for arabinan. The total carbohydrate content increased from 57.65 to 96.3%. Full article

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevention is a critical challenge for aging societies, necessitating the exploration of food ingredients and whole foods as potential therapeutic agents. This study aimed to identify natural compounds (NCs) with therapeutic potential in AD using an innovative bioinformatics-integrated deep neural analysis approach, combining computational predictions with molecular docking and in vitro experiments for comprehensive evaluation. We employed the bioinformatics-integrated deep neural analysis of NCs for Disease Discovery (BioDeepNat) application in the data collected from chemical databases. Random forest regression models were utilized to predict the IC₅₀ (pIC₅₀) values of ligands interacting with AD-related target proteins, including acetylcholinesterase (AChE), amyloid precursor protein (APP), beta-secretase 1 (BACE1), microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT), presenilin-1 (PSEN1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and valosin-containing protein (VCP). Their activities were then validated through a molecular docking analysis using Autodock Vina. Predictions by the deep neural analysis identified 166 NCs with potential effects on AD across seven proteins, demonstrating outstanding recall performance. The top five food sources of these predicted compounds were black walnut, safflower, ginger, fig, corn, and pepper. Statistical clustering methodologies segregated the NCs into six well-defined groups, each characterized by convergent structural and chemical signatures. The systematic examination of structure–activity relationships uncovered differential molecular patterns among clusters, illuminating the sophisticated correlation between molecular properties and biological activity. Notably, NCs with high activity, such as astragalin, dihydromyricetin, and coumarin, and medium activity, such as luteolin, showed promising effects in improving cell survival and reducing lipid peroxidation and TNF-α expression levels in PC12 cells treated with lipopolysaccharide. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate the efficacy of combining bioinformatics with deep neural networks to expedite the discovery of previously unidentified food-derived active ingredients (NCs) for AD intervention. Full article