Visiting Taro from a Botanical and Phytochemical Perspective

Taro is an important root vegetable and has several medicinal and therapeutic properties. The two major therapeutic ingredients are flavonoids and triterpenoids, which are of prime importance. Additionally, the plant has antibacterial, antiparasitic, antiallergic, and anti-inflammatory properties. People often use it to treat a number of diseases by prescribing them as medications. Researchers from the pharmaceutical industry can thrive on C. esculenta by using whole-plant extracts. The identification of valuable terpenoids and therapeutics and their preparations are profusely dealt with in this article. Also, the new structural details of connective tissue are also studied as it helps researchers to investigate further uses of taro for humans, it is well known that xanthan can be obtained commercially as stabilizers, thickeners, binders, and more. It is essential to explore this plant for both medicinal and pharmaceutical properties.

Safety of livestock products of bulls on various diets during fattening in the conditions of radioactive contamination

Production of high-quality and safe food products in the conditions of technogenic environmental pollution is a problem worldwide, especially in Ukraine. As a result of the disaster at the Chornobyl Atomic Power Plant, radioactive substances, including caesium-137, contaminated the soil not only in Ukraine, but in many other countries. Zhytomyr Oblast is the fifth largest oblast in Ukraine and one of the regions that were the most damaged by the accident. Furthermore, this territory is contaminated by the most toxic heavy metals – lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) that actively migrate in the biological system: soil→ plant → animal → production → human, intensely accumulating in the products of plant and animal origin. The complex ecological situation and broad spectrum of biological and toxic actions of 137Cs, Pb, Cd require a number of measures that would prevent transformation of radioactive elements and heavy metals in the organism of animals, increase animals` productivity and safety of the food products made in the conditions of the Ukrainian Polisia. Therefore, we aimed at substantiating the practicability of using silage-concentrate, silage-concentrate-root vegetable and silage-concentrate-hay types of diet for young cattle during fattening and determining the impact of accumulation of 137Сs, Pb and Cd in livestock products. To perform the studies, we formed three groups of young bulls of Ukrainian Black Pied cattle using the method of analogues with creating comfortable maintenance condition and organization of in-detail planned feeding. The diet was composed of fodders prepared in the conditions of radioactive contamination. The laboratory surveys indicated that the main sources of 137Cs ingress in the organism of the animals were roughages and various types of silages, and the sources of heavy metals Pb and Cd were hay of red clover and concentrated fodders. In the experimental studies, we determined absolute and average daily weight gains, expenditures of metabolic energy per 1 kg of weight increment, specific activity of 137Сs and concentrations of the heavy metals (Pb and Cd) in the biological system “fodder-animal-production” during feeding of bulls with various-type diets in the conditions of the III zone of radioactive pollution. It was confirmed that substituting maize silage and carbohydrate fodders increased the average daily gains in the live weight by 2.3–4.6%, decreased specific activity of 137Cs by 8.7–20.1%, the content of Pb by 36.2%, Cd by 34.1–66.7% in the longissimus at silage-concentrate-root vegetable and silage-concentrate-hay types of diet for bulls. Thus, use of silage-concentrate-root vegetable and silage-concentrate-hay types of diets compared with silage-concentrate feeding had a positive effect on their productivity and safety of the food production.

A Rapid UV/Vis Spectrophotometric Method for the Water Quality Monitoring at On-Farm Root Vegetable Pack Houses

Our research aim was to apply UV/Vis spectrophotometric techniques for the rapid monitoring of the quality of water sourced from on-farm root vegetable washing processes. To achieve this goal, the quality assessment of the washing water and wastewater at different stages of the technological processes was performed using physicochemical, biological, and UV/Vis absorbance measurements as well as statistical methods, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression. Limit values of UV/Vis absorbance at specific wavelengths were predicted in order to adapt them for routine testing and water quality monitoring at the farm packhouses. Results of the lab analyses showed, that the main problems of the water quality were caused by suspended solids (470–3400 mg L−1), organic substances (BOD5 215–2718 mg L−1; COD 540–3229 mg L−1), nitrogen (3–52 mg L−1), phosphorus (1–6 mg L−1), and pathogenic microorganisms (TVC > 300 cfu mL−1, E. coli 5.5 × 103–1.0 × 104 cfu mL−1, intestinal enterococci 2.8 × 102–1.5 × 104 cfu mL−1, coliform bacteria 1.6 × 103–2.0 × 104 cfu mL−1). Suspended solids exceeded the limit values by 10–50 times, organic matter by 10–25 times, dissolved organic carbon by 3–5 times, nitrogen by 3–7 times, total phosphorus by 3–12 times, and microorganisms by 3–10 times. UV/Vis limit values calculated were as follows: A210 nm—3.997–4.009 cm−1, A 240 nm—5.193–5.235 cm−1, A254 nm—4.042–4.047 cm−1, A320 nm—7.387–7.406 cm−1, and A 660 nm—3.937–3.946 cm−1. UV/Vis measurements at A320 nm are proposed for the routine water quality monitoring.

Proximate and starch composition of marama (Tylosema esculentum) storage roots during an annual growth period

The aim of this study was to determine the most suitable time for harvesting marama (Tylosema esculentum) root as an alternative source of novel starch by evaluating the quality of marama root and its starch during growth periods of 12 months. The effects of time on the proximate analysis of marama roots as well as the thermal properties, size and physicochemical properties of the starch were also investigated. Marama was planted in September and total starch of marama roots on both as is and dry bases increased significantly (p<0.05) from 24 g/kg to 115 g/kg and 259 g/kg to 601 g/kg, respectively, from 2 to 12 months after planting. Amylose content significantly (p<0.05) decreased from about 50.7% to 21.4% of the starch for the same time period. The size of marama root starch granules significantly (p<0.05) increased from 8.6 μm to 15.1 μm. The marama root harvested after 2 months had the highest crude protein content (33.6%). In terms of thermal properties, the peak temperature decreased significantly with time (ranging from 93.0 °C to 73.4 °C), while the ΔH increased significantly with time. The findings indicate that marama should be planted early in summer and harvested between 4 and 8 months for optimal starch before winter. Significance: Proximate and starch characteristics of marama storage roots differ significantly with time of harvest. This suggests that desired functional properties can be achieved by controlling growth time. The marama root harvested at 4 months is highly nutritious, it has high protein content, starch that is high in amylose and is suitable for consumption as a fresh root vegetable in arid to semi-arid regions where few conventional crops are able to survive. Marama root is a climate smart crop and it could potentially contribute to food security in arid regions. The results obtained in this study suggest that the optimum time for harvesting marama as a root vegetable is at 4 months while the optimum time for harvesting marama for its starch is at 8 months. Younger roots have higher amylose, and hence higher gelatinisation temperatures, and therefore may be more suitable to be used as a coating during frying.

Plant protection products in root vegetable

The production, value and quality of root vegetables are endangered by numerous phytopathogenic fungi and pests. Numerous causal agents cause economically significant diseases of root vegetables like carrot leaf blight and black rot of carrots (Alternaria dauci and Alternaria radicina), powdery mildew of carrot and sugar beet (Erysiphe heraclei and Erysiphe betae), Cercospora leaf spot of carrot (Cercospora carotae), black blight (Septoria apiicola), leaf bright parsley (Septo-ria petroselini), downy mildew (Peronospora farinosa f.sp. betae and P. farinosa f.sp. spinaciae), rust (Puccinia spp.) etc. Nine fungicides based on nine different active substances have been registered in the Republic of Serbia for the control of phytopathogenic fungi in root vegetable crops. The most important pests of root vegetables are wireworms (Elateridae), carrot flies (Psila rosae), celery flies (Acidia heraclei), onion flies (Delia antiqua), aphids (Aphididae), common spider mite (Tetranychus urticass), cabbage moth (Mamestra brassicae), cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) and others. The overall number of insecticides, registered in our country, for the control of root vegetable pests is eight, based on seven different active substances. The aim of this paper is to present registered plant protection products for the control of the most economically import-ant pathogens and pests of root vegetables, in the Republic of Serbia, classified according to the mode of action.