Preparation and application of a novel environmentally friendly organic seed coating for rice

BACKGROUND: Traditional rice seed coating techniques involve the use of chemical pesticides, which can damage the seed in the process and cause possible physical and environmental damage. Increasing knowledge and concern about the traditional applications have brought new attention to the industry and the search for a novel coating agent that is effective, safe and environmentally friendly. A new type of organic rice seed coating agent was developed using liquid‐based polymeric adhesives. By using chitosan as the main raw material, modified with sodium hydroxide and polymerised with plant growth regulators and other additives, the novel seed coating agent is a safer, cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative. RESULTS: The novel seed coating agent significantly enhanced sprout growth over traditional agents. We found it has obvious biological advantages: it stimulates the seedling growth of rice, advances the growth of root, improves root activity and increases the crop yield in the germination test and field trial. Compared with the traditional rice seed coating agent, the crop yield of seeds coated by the novel seed coating agent was increased by 5%, and at 25% less cost. The fungal inhibition test of the novel seed coating agent and acute toxicity test on fish showed that it has an obvious fungal inhibitory effect and a higher safety index during usage and disposal. CONCLUSION: This result suggests that treating seeds with the novel seed coating agent has significant agricultural implications through the enhanced seed vigour as reflected in growth. It is efficient and effective, resulting in better seed and crop protection. The novel seed coating agent demonstrates unique characteristics with great economic and environmental benefits. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Preparation of environment‐friendly pectin from sugar beet pulp and assessment of its emulsifying capacity

This study was designed to prepare environment‐friendly pectin from sugar beet pulp (SBP) using subcritical water combined with ultrasonic treatment. Plackett–Burman design based on nineteen different parameters was applied to study the influence of various factors on the characteristics of sugar beet pulp pectin (SBPP). About 29.1% pectin, 62% degree of methylation (DM) and 36% acetylation (DA), and 42.5‐kDa average molecular weight (AMW) were obtained from SBP when using distilled water with solid/liquid ratio of 1:81 for extraction at 110 °C. The yield of SBPP and galacturonic acid (GalA) was mainly affected by solid/liquid (S/L) ratio, water purity and extraction temperature. The ultrasonic temperature, ultrasonic power and extraction temperature were the main factors effecting on neutral sugar content, DM, DA and AMW. Compared with gum arabic (GA), the highest yield SBPP fraction had better emulsifying activity, but poorer emulsion‐stabilizing ability.     

茶叶籽油组成分析及其抗氧化机理研究进展

茶叶籽油是我国卫生部认定的新资源食品。茶叶籽油含有二十种脂肪酸,以不饱和脂肪酸为主,油酸含量最高,同时富含多种活性成分如茶多酚、生育酚等。另外,研究表明茶叶籽油具有较高的抗氧化活性,可作为天然抗氧化剂,耐储藏,其氧化稳定性可与橄榄油相近,高于其他食用油。本文综述了国内外关于茶叶籽油组成分析以及其抗氧化活性研究进展,并对茶叶籽油抗氧化作用机理进行探讨,旨在为深入研究茶叶籽油及其营养保健作用提供理论依据。     

Optimisation of red pepper seed oil extraction using supercritical CO2 and analysis of the composition by reversed‐phase HPLC‐FLD‐MS/MS

Oil extractions from red pepper seed were performed by supercritical CO₂. Three‐level Box–Behnken factorial design (BBD) from response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimise the main extraction conditions including pressure, temperature and concentration of modifier (ethanol). The optimum conditions were as follows: extraction pressure, 27.17 MPa; extraction temperature, 47.67 °C; and the added concentration of modifier, 8.11 vol.%. Under the optimum conditions, the oil yield of 18.4% was obtained, which was well matched with the predicted yield. A simple, stable and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of saturated and unsaturated free fatty acids in extracted oils using 2‐(11H‐benzo[a]carbazol‐11‐yl)‐ethyl‐4‐methylbenzenesulfonate (BCETS) as labelling reagent with fluorescence detection has been developed. All of free fatty acids (FFA) were found to give a linear response with correlation coefficients of >0.9991. The detection limits at a signal‐to‐noise ratio (S/N) of three are in the range of 19.06–41.19 fmol. This method should have powerful potential for the trace analysis of short‐ and long‐chain FFA from edible oils, foodstuff and other complex samples.