Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science
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Assessing fat and aquaculture feed recyclable from chicken wastes of poultry slaughterhouse in Bojnoord, North Khorasan Province, Iran
Get PDFThe rapid growth of poultry industry has caused large amounts of chicken wastes that must be recycled regarding environmental and economic concerns. This study aimed to assess the fat and aquaculture feed producible from chicken wastes in the Bojnoord poultry slaughterhouse, Iran. The chicken wastes including fatty tissue, viscera, and coccygeal were sampled at three different periods in 2016. Fat samples were analyzed by gas chromatography for determining the fatty acid (FA) profile. The degreased wastes then were used for producing aquaculture feed pellets once in combination with flour and once in mix with poultry by-product meal (PBM). The pellets were tested for physicochemical properties. Averagely, 58.9% of the fatty tissue, 14.5% of the viscera, and 30.4% of the coccygeal were recycled as fat content. Totally, 109368 kg-fat/year was extractable from chicken wastes. The oleic, palmitic, stearic, and palmitoleic represented more than 80% of the total FA content. 67.41% and 67.16% of FA composition was unsaturated and composed of cis-isomers, respectively. The iodine value (IV) and saponification value (SV) were 58.7 g iodine/100 g oil and 156.12 mg KOH/g oil, respectively. The content of moisture, protein, fat, fiber, and ash in the feed composed of degreased chicken wastes and PBM was 7.8, 41.2, 34, 0.9, and 4.4%, respectively. The fat obtained from chicken wastes was suitable for non-edible consumption. Combining degreased wastes with PBM resulted in protein-rich aquaculture feed. This study showed the economic and health benefits of separating components of the poultry slaughterhouse wastes and the possibility of producing aquaculture feed containing suitable micronutrients from these wastes
Biosynthesis and characterization of zinc oxide nanoparticles using Thunbergia erecta (Benth.) T. Anders plant extracts
Get PDFThe present study focuses on the green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using leaf, stem, root and flower extracts of Thunbergia erecta. Zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn (NO3)2.6H2O) solution was used as precursor to synthesize the nanoparticles. Five grams of plant materials (leaf, stem, root and flowers) were weighed and cut in to small pieces and boiled with deionised water in water bath at 50°C for about 30 min. The extracts were filtered and mixed with Zinc nitrate hexahydrate solution for the preparation of nanoparticles. Synthesis of nanoparticles were monitored by visual color change from colorless to yellow and characterized by UV-Visible double beam spectrophotometric analysis. The absorption peaks of leaf reaction medium was at 308 nm, stem and root reaction media were at 296 nm and flower reaction medium was at 302 nm as shown by the UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The results conclude that T. erecta could be exploited for green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles which can be used in the development of pharmaceutical products beneficial to the mankind
Genetic variation and morphological diversity in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp)
Get PDFCowpea is multipurpose pulse crop grown by poor and marginal farmers in arid zones of India. The extent of genetic diversity present in the cowpea accessions was studied for utilizing the most divergent parents for cowpea improvement programme. Genetic variability and genetic divergence was assessed in the 169 genotypes of cowpea using Mahalanobis D2. High phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance were observed for days to 50 per cent flowering, number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant and seed yield per plant. The genotypes were grouped in to eight clusters, of which maximum intra cluster distance was exhibited by cluster VI and minimum by cluster II. The inter cluster distance was maximum between cluster II and IV. The genotypes from cluster II and IV, which have high and low cluster means for majority of the characters. The genetic advance estimates were medium to high (17.34% to 87.94%) for all the characters. seed yield contributed maximum towards the total diversity (48.05%), followed by days to 50 per cent flowering (21.08%), test weight (17.68 %), days to physiological maturity (3.58 %), plant height (3.49 %), pod length (1.69 %), number of clusters per plant (1.35 %), number of pods per plant (1.07 %), number of seeds per pod (0.75 %) lowest contribution was noted from number of branches (0.05 %) per plant. Therefore, genotypes from same regions are not recommended for hybridization because of close genetic background which was evident from the result showing genotypes belonging to same cluster
Recent advances in pesticide formulations for eco-friendly and sustainable vegetable pest management: A review
Get PDFIn order to reduce the loss and maintain the quality of vegetables harvest, pesticides are used together with other pest management techniques during cropping to destroy pests and prevent diseases. However, the use of pesticides during production often leads to the presence of pesticide residues in vegetables after harvest. Higher doses and repeated applications of conventional formulations lead to accumulate pesticide residues in vegetable commodities along with environmental pollution. With the increasing awareness of toxic effects of conventional formulations, there is a significant trend towards switching over from such pesticide formulations using petroleum and organic solvent based constituents to user and environment friendly water based pesticide formulations. The developed world has progressed substantially in this regard to develop eco-friendly formulations which are safer to vegetable and the environment. These formulations would not only replace toxic, non-degradable ingredients/adjuvants of the conventional formulations but also increase the bio-efficacy of the products through incorporating latest technologies including size reduction (Wettable Powder to Suspension Concentrate, Soluble Concentrate to Microemulsion), increased coverage of applied surface area (EC to ME/Nano-formulations), reduced wastage (Dust/WP to Controlled Release Formulations) and dose rates of applied same pesticides to improve food quality with minimum pesticide residues
Transcriptional activator gene based phylogenetic analysis of dolichos yellow mosaic virus infecting lablab bean (Dolichos lablabL.)
Get PDFLablab bean (Dolichos lablab L.) is one the important crop, cultivated as vegetable, pulses as it is rich in protein. It is affected from viral disease i.e. dolichos yellow mosaic virus. The causative agent is begomovirus belongs to geminivirus family. Begomovirus contain bipartite genome having two type of DNA-A and DNA-B. DNA- A helps in replication and DNA-B helps in movement. These DNA have six different type of gene coat protein gene, transcriptional activator gene, replica-tion associated gene, replication enhancer gene, pre coat protein involved in different function associated with it. The present investigation was carried out to investigate the transcriptional activa-tor gene based phylogenetic analysis of Dolichos yellow mosaic virus infecting D. lablab. This study is based on the transcriptional activator gene which is used in transactivation of genes, contains three conserved domains: a basic domain at N-Terminus, a central DNA binding domain and activator domain. The genome databases of dolichos yellow mosaic virus were taken from NCBI site total six genome was available and were used with Clustal W and CLC BIO were the bioinformatic tools for determining sequence homology among genome present in different geographical location. The absence of functional specificity suggests that all begomovirus contains a common element interacts with cellular proteins of other viruses reveals the phylogenetic analysis with the other species Dolichos in the different geographical location
Occurrence of heavy metals in Ganga canal water at Haridwar (Uttarakhand), India: A case study
Get PDFThe present investigation was framed to assess the contamination of heavy metals in Ganga canal water at Haridwar (Uttarakhand). The samples of Ganga canal water were collected from five sampling sites namely Bhimgoda Barrage, Haridwar (origin point); Premnagar Ashram Ghat, Haridwar; Pathari Power Plant, Bahadrabad; Rail Bridge, Roorkee and Uttam Sugar Mills Limited, Narsan (exit point). The samples were analyzed for seven metals viz., copper, manganese, cadmium, lead, zinc, chromium and iron in Ganga canal water monthly during March, 2014 to August, 2014. The concentration of manganese was found greater than its desirable limit (0.1 mg/L), while iron was observed more than its permissible limit (0.3 mg/L) according to Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications. The water quality data was further analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for monthly and spatial variations. The ANOVA analysis revealed that the contents of different metals such as copper, manganese, lead, zinc, chromium and iron were found statistically significant (P≤0.05) as per temporal study. These monthly variations in Ganga Canal water quality parameters might be ascribed due to the anthropogenic and hydro-geological activities. However, none of the metals showed significant site variation at any of the sampling site of Ganga Canal. Therefore, the present study emphasized the need of regular monitoring of Ganga canal water to avoid the contamination of heavy metals in the water
Intestinal enzyme activities, Carcass biochemical composition and growth performance evaluation of Cirrhinus mrigala fed on heat processed soybean (Glycine max) supplemented diets
Get PDFThe increasing cost and unpredictable availability of fishmeal and anti-nutritional factors of plant proteins necessitates the search on cheap and abundantly available protein source with capabilities of growth promotion. The feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of hydrothermically processed soybean on growth performance, intestinal enzymatic activity and carcass composition for which three diets were formulated T1, T2, T3 containing fish meal, raw soybean, and processed soybean, respectively. Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings were stocked in glass aquaria (60×30×30cm)/ plastic tubs (50L) for each diet in triplicates. Fingerlings were fed twice daily @ 4% of wet body weight for 90 days. Length-weight measurements were done fortnightly to adjust the feed quantity. Significantly (P<0.05) high growth performance and low FCR were observed in the fingerlings fed with diet containing processed soybean. Crude protein (%), crude fat (%) and gross energy (kJ g-1) were found to be significantly (P<0.05) high in the carcass of fish fed with T3. Intestinal enzymatic activities were also significantly higher in the group T3 than to those fed on fish meal and raw soybean. The excretion of ammonia and reactive phosphate was also low with the inclusion of processed soybean, indicating the good quality of water. Therefore, the use of hydrothermically processed soybean in the diets can help in substituting fish meal protein without compromising growth and digestibility parameters and the use of processed soybean in the diets can also eliminate or reduce the pollution problems associated with intensive aquaculture system
Effects of crossbreeding on fruits characteristics of two species of tomatoes (Solanum esculentum L. and Solanum pimpinellifolium L.)
Get PDFSolanum esculentum L. and Solanum pimpinellifolium L. (species of tomato) were crossbred to raise F1 so as to assess the effect of crossbreeding as a tool for tomato improvement as shown in yield. This was done by emasculating S. esculentum using it as female parent and transferring ripe pollen grains from S. pimpinellifolium the male parent using artificial means. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was employed in data analysis. Result showed that the parental plants and F1 hybrid differed significantly in fresh fruit weight, number of seeds per fruit, fruit colour, fruit width and fresh fruit length. F1 hybrid had the highest number of seeds per fruit when compared to the parental plants. S. esculentum recorded the highest fresh fruit weight, fruit width and fresh fruit length when compared to S. pimpinellifolium and F1 hybrid, though the F1 hybrid was statistically at par with S. esculentum in fresh fruit length. S. pimpinellifolium had the least fresh fruit weight, fruit width, number of seeds per fruit and fresh fruit length (1.80± 0.01, 8.03 ±1.0, 110.56 ± 0.01 and 4.00 ± 0.03, respectively). S. pimpinellifolium had a very dark red coloured fruits, followed by the F1 hybrid with dark red coloured fruits. S. esculentum had a light red coloured fruits based on the colour guide and the scale point used. The obtained data indicated that when two tomato plants of different but closely related varieties are crossbred, a new variety that combines the characters of the parental plants and enhanced genetic attributes is produced. F1 hybrid had the highest number of seeds per fruit and though had fruits smaller in size than S. esculentum but performed better than S. pimpinellifolium indicating that crossbreeding could be a tool for tomato improvement
Impact of tourism on water quality characteristics of Lidder Stream at Pahalgam, (J&K), India
Get PDFThe present study was conducted to assess the impact of touristic activities at Lidder stream in Pahalgam, (J&K), India. The main reasons for the deterioration of the water quality of Lidder stream are increase in tourist flow, which increases the concentration of nutrients due to sewage disposal, bathing and washing in the vicinity of the stream. The physico-chemical analysis shows variations in most of the water quality parameters such as pH changes gradually, whereas EC, F.CO2, BOD, Cl- , NO3 -N, NH4 +N, OPP, TA and TP increased, while DO decreased. The water of Lidder stream serves domestic, agriculture, irrigation and other commercial sectors (including hotels at Pahalgam), which have a directly impact on the water quality of Lidder stream. It is contingent from the present study that pollution load due to tourism increased
Quantitative evaluation of essential oils for the identification of chemical constituents by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry
Get PDFEssential oils are greatly strenuous aromatic materials having various constituents. They are used in the preparation of various precious substances like making perfumes, medicines, cleaning agent, and aromatic treatment etc. The purpose of the present investigation was to identify the major and minor chemical constituent in eighteen essential oils viz., amyris, basil, black pepper, camphor, catnip, chamomile, cinnamon, citronella, dill, frankincense, galbanum, jasmine, juniper, lavender, peppermint, rosemary, tagetes and thyme with the help of gas chromatography /mass spectrometry (GC/MS). In eighteen essential oils the identified compounds studied by GC-MS contain various types of high and low molecular weights of chemical ingredients. Therefore, GC/MS efficiently and speedily screened all the volatile elements present in the essential oils for the quantitative use of these identified chemical constituents for various reasons