Nutritional evaluation of three underexploited andean tubers:Oxalis tuberosa (Oxalidaceae),Ullucus tuberosus (Basellaceae), andTropaeolum tuberosum (Tropaeolaceae)

Three species of edible tubers endemic to and domesticated in the Andes were studied for their nutritional value. Collected samples ofOxalis tuberosa, Ullucus tuberosus, andTropaeolum tuberosum show a high amount of variation in both percent protein and quality of essential amino acids. A protein difference of120% is present amongT. tuberosum cultivars and a protein difference of 300% is present among the three species. The data indicate that previous published Andean tuber crop food values may need revision. The introduction of "improved" crop varieties and less nutritious foodstuffs threatens the base ofcultivar diversity that has been selected by Andean agriculturists over centuries. This rapid erosion of Andean tuber diversity indicates the importance of identifying and conserving Andean tuber cul-tivars throughout the Andes.     

An updated review of Adansonia digitata: A commercially important African tree

Adansonia digitata L. (Malvaceae) is a majestic tree revered in Africa for its medicinal and nutritional value. The plant parts are used to treat various ailments such as diarrhoea, malaria and microbial infections. It is reported that it is an excellent anti-oxidant due to the vitamin C content which is seven to ten times higher than the vitamin C content of oranges. Baobab has numerous biological properties including antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities amongst others. Phytochemical investigation revealed the presence of flavonoids, phytosterols, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. The seeds are a source of significant quantities of lysine, thiamine, calcium and iron. Baobab is an important commodity which is integral to the livelihood of rural communities. In addition, the global demand for baobab raw material (e.g. seed oil, fruit pulp) by the food and beverage, nutraceutical and cosmetic industries has increased dramatically in recent years thereby increasing the commercial value and importance of this coveted African tree. In the past few years, there has been an increased demand for non-timber forest products (NTFPs), specifically baobab seed oil for inclusion in cosmetic formulations due to its high fatty acid composition. This review summarises the botanical aspects, ethnobotany, phytochemistry, biological properties and most importantly the nutritional value and commercial importance of baobab products.     

Medicinal Plant Use and Health Sovereignty: Findings from the Tajik and Afghan Pamirs

Medicinal plants are indicators of indigenous knowledge in the context of political volatility and sociocultural and ecological change in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Medicinal plants are the primary health care option in this region of Central Asia. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate that medicinal plants contribute to health security and sovereignty in a time of instability. We illustrate the nutritional as well as medicinal significance of plants in the daily lives of villagers. Based on over a decade and half of research related to resilience and livelihood security, we present plant uses in the context of mountain communities. Villagers identified over 58 cultivated and noncultivated plants and described 310 distinct uses within 63 categories of treatment and prevention. Presence of knowledge about medicinal plants is directly connected to their use.     

Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequence of Omani Lime (Citrus aurantiifolia) and Comparative Analysis within the Rosids

The genus Citrus contains many economically important fruits that are grown worldwide for their high nutritional and medicinal value. Due to frequent hybridizations among species and cultivars, the exact number of natural species and the taxonomic relationships within this genus are unclear. To compare the differences between the Citrus chloroplast genomes and to develop useful genetic markers, we used a reference-assisted approach to assemble the complete chloroplast genome of Omani lime (C. aurantiifolia). The complete C. aurantiifolia chloroplast genome is 159,893 bp in length; the organization and gene content are similar to most of the rosids lineages characterized to date. Through comparison with the sweet orange (C. sinensis) chloroplast genome, we identified three intergenic regions and 94 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) that are potentially informative markers with resolution for interspecific relationships. These markers can be utilized to better understand the origin of cultivated Citrus. A comparison among 72 species belonging to 10 families of representative rosids lineages also provides new insights into their chloroplast genome evolution.     

Genetic diversity in lac resin-secreting insects belonging to Kerria spp., as revealed through ISSR markers

The Indian lac insect Kerria lacca is harnessed in India for commercial production of lac, which has diversified industrial applications. Many of the geographical races of this species are under threat of extinction due to increasingly drastic local deviations in climate patterns. Thus, there is need for documentation and conservation of the lac insect biodiversity adapted especially for local climatic conditions and host species. The genetic diversity among twenty lines of commercially important Kerria spp. was analyzed using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) technique. Seventeen ISSR primers produced 96.1% genetic polymorphism in the lac insect lines under study. The clustering dendrogram segregated the twenty lines into four major clusters with similarity coefficients between 0.25 and 0.81. The first three principal coordinates revealed 43.1% of the total genetic variation. The above results reveal significant genetic variability in the lines, which could be used for genetic improvement of lac insects.     

Biotechnology of non-Saccharomyces yeasts—the ascomycetes

Saccharomyces cerevisiae and several other yeast species are among the most important groups of biotechnological organisms. S. cerevisiae and closely related ascomycetous yeasts are the major producer of biotechnology products worldwide, exceeding other groups of industrial microorganisms in productivity and economic revenues. Traditional industrial attributes of the S. cerevisiae group include their primary roles in food fermentations such as beers, cider, wines, sake, distilled spirits, bakery products, cheese, sausages, and other fermented foods. Other long-standing industrial processes involving S. cerevisae yeasts are production of fuel ethanol, single-cell protein (SCP), feeds and fodder, industrial enzymes, and small molecular weight metabolites. More recently, non-Saccharomyces yeasts (non-conventional yeasts) have been utilized as industrial organisms for a variety of biotechnological roles. Non-Saccharomyces yeasts are increasingly being used as hosts for expression of proteins, biocatalysts and multi-enzyme pathways for the synthesis of fine chemicals and small molecular weight compounds of medicinal and nutritional importance. Non-Saccharomyces yeasts also have important roles in agriculture as agents of biocontrol, bioremediation, and as indicators of environmental quality. Several of these products and processes have reached commercial utility, while others are in advanced development. The objective of this mini-review is to describe processes currently used by industry and those in developmental stages and close to commercialization primarily from non-Saccharomyces yeasts with an emphasis on new opportunities. The utility of S. cerevisiae in heterologous production of selected products is also described.     

Effect of commercial processing of canola and rapeseed on growth of larvae of the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor L

Larvae of Tenebrio molitor L., Gembloux strain, race F, were used to determine the nutritional quality of commercial canola and rapeseed products. Application of heat in commercial processing increased considerably the nutritive values of Midas, Tower and Torch cultivars, and to a lesser extent that of Candle. This improvement was most noticeable for thigh-glucosinolate cultivars, presumably through the destruction of a mechanism for production of isothiocyanates that may be phagodeterrent or toxic to the larvae. For low-glucosinolate varieties, the improvement may be related to inhibition of nitrile production in heated material. The processing also reduced the concentration of available lysine in the products of all four cultivars; however, growth was unimpaired by this reduction. The latter results suggest that the feed products resulting from processing may exceed the optimal dietary requirement of lysine by larvae of Tenebrio molitor.     

Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) in tropical Latin America: implications for biodiversity conservation, natural resource management and human nutrition

Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) is a multi-purpose palm tree native to tropical Latin America, which is predominantly cultivated by smallholders in agroforestry systems. The fruits are rich in starch and contribute importantly to food security and the cash income of farmers who cultivate them. Complex value chains have emerged that link producers to consumers, but irregular product quality and market chain inequalities undermine the economic well-being of producers and retailers. Peach palm is genetically diverse, but screening for traits of commercial and nutritional interest is required to enhance the use of its genetic resources. Alliances between public organizations and private enterprises are needed to realize the potential for processing novel products from peach palm, especially in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors. The diverse challenges that emerge at different stages of production, processing and marketing require participatory research that directly involves stakeholders from the beginning.     

Trends in utilization of agro-industrial byproducts for production of bacteriocins and their biopreservative applications

Bacteriocins are proteinaceous, ribosomally synthesized bio-molecules having major roles in food preservation due to their antimicrobial action against food spoilage microorganisms. These have gained importance in the last decades because of increasing interest in natural products and their applications in the field of biopreservation, pharmaceutical, aquaculture, livestock, etc. Their production is quite expensive which includes the cost of synthetic media and downstream processing of which 30% of the total production cost relies on synthetic media and nutritional supplements used for growth of microorganisms. The low cost agro-industrial by-products, rich in nutritional supplements, can act as a good substitute for high valued synthetic media. This review provides comprehensive information on the use of cost effective, renewable agro-industrial by-products as substrates for the production of bacteriocins and their application in food as biopreservatives.     

Seasonal production of primmorphs from the marine sponge Petrosia ficiformis (Poiret, 1789) and new culturing approaches

The need to produce bioactive compounds from marine sponges leads several groups of research to the culture of primmorphs from different species, which are generally maintained in aquaria for long time before processing. Here we present a study where the importance of several parameters on primmorphs production from the symbiotic sponge Petrosia ficiformis has been evaluated: (i) the sterility of sea water, (ii) the maintenance in aquarium before processing, (iii) the seasonal cycle. Sterility of sea water does not improve primmorphs production in this species. The maintenance of sponges in aquaria before processing negatively affects cell cultures. Regarding seasonality, it is evident that both the number and the size of primmorphs can deeply change depending on the period of the year the sponge is collected. April and July are the months that lead to the highest number of primmorphs, May and June are the months that lead to their biggest sizes. Possible relationships of these results with the life cycle of P. ficiformis are discussed.     

Compositional studies and biological activities of some mash bean (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper) cultivars commonly consumed in Pakistan

Background

In recent years, the desire to adopt a healthy diet has drawn attention to legume seeds and food products derived from them. Mash bean is an important legume crop used in Pakistan however a systematic mapping of the chemical composition of mash bean seeds is lacking. Therefore seeds of four mash bean (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper, family Leguminoseae) cultivars (NARC-Mash-1, NARC-Mash-2, NARC-Mash-3, NARC-Mash-97) commonly consumed in Pakistan have been analyzed for their chemical composition, antioxidant potential and biological activities like inhibition of formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) activity and tyrosinase inhibition activity.

Results

The investigated cultivars varied in terms of biochemical composition to various extents. Mineral composition indicated potassium and zinc in highest and lowest amounts respectively, in all cultivars. The amino acid profile in protein of these cultivars suggested cysteine is present in lowest quantity in all cultivars while fatty acid distribution pattern indicated unsaturated fatty acids as major fatty acids in all cultivars. All cultivars were found to be rich source of tocopherols and sterols. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) fingerprints of seed flour and extracts indicated major functional groups such as polysaccharides, lipids, amides, amines and amino acids. Results indicated that all investigated cultivars possessed appreciable antioxidant potential.

Conclusions

All cultivars are rich source of protein and possess sufficient content of dietary fiber, a balanced amino acid profile, low saturated fatty acids and antioxidant capacity that rationalizes many traditional uses of seeds of this crop besides its nutritional importance. The collected data will be useful for academic and corporate researchers, nutritionists and clinical dieticians as well as consumers. If proper attention is paid, it may become an important export commodity and may fetch considerable foreign exchange for Pakistan.     

Medicinal plants used in Jeddah,Saudi Arabia: Phytochemical screening

Ethnobotanical and phytochemical studies are useful to discover new drugs. Phytochemical screening is an important step in the detection of the bioactive components existing in medicinal plants that are used in traditional medicine. Very few phytochemical studies investigating medicinal plants used in traditional medicine exist in Saudi Arabia. Eighty-five medicinal plants used in traditional medicine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia are investigated here for the first time. This research aims to screen of 85 medicinal plants used in traditional medicine in Jeddah for the presence of secondary metabolites, and to answer the following question: Is the ethnomedicinal importance of medicinal plants used in Jeddah conform to their secondary metabolite content. Ethnobotanical fieldwork took place in Jeddah from August 2018 to September 2019. Eighty-five different plant species belonging to 37 families were identified. Screening of 85 medicinal plants was performed for the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, saponins and resins using standard methods. The most commonly distributed phytochemical compounds among medicinal plants used were glycosides (82%; 70 species), tannins (68%; 58 species), alkaloids (56%; 48 species), saponins (52%, 44 species) and flavonoids (35%; 30 species). On the other hand, the least commonly distributed compounds were resins (31%; 26 species). All the six groups of secondary metabolites were found in seeds of Cuminum cyminum L., Pimpinella anisum L. and Trigonella foenum-graecum L. It can be said that the ethnomedicinal importance of these 85 medicinal plants used in Jeddah conform to their secondary metabolite content. More research should be carried out on the quantitative analysis of phytochemicals in these 85 medicinal plants used in traditional medicine in Jeddah. Furthermore, there is a need to focus phytochemical screening on ethnobotanical studies to complete research into traditional medicine which leads to the discovery of new drugs.     

Do Cultivated Varieties of Native Plants Have the Ability to Outperform Their Wild Relatives?

Vast amounts of cultivars of native plants are annually introduced into the semi-natural range of their wild relatives for re-vegetation and restoration. As cultivars are often selected towards enhanced biomass production and might transfer these traits into wild relatives by hybridization, it is suggested that cultivars and the wild × cultivar hybrids are competitively superior to their wild relatives. The release of such varieties may therefore result in unintended changes in native vegetation. In this study we examined for two species frequently used in re-vegetation (Plantago lanceolata and Lotus corniculatus) whether cultivars and artificially generated intra-specific wild × cultivar hybrids may produce a higher vegetative and generative biomass than their wilds. For that purpose a competition experiment was conducted for two growing seasons in a common garden. Every plant type was growing (a.) alone, (b.) in pairwise combination with a similar plant type and (c.) in pairwise interaction with a different plant type. When competing with wilds cultivars of both species showed larger biomass production than their wilds in the first year only and hybrids showed larger biomass production than their wild relatives in both study years. As biomass production is an important factor determining fitness and competitive ability, we conclude that cultivars and hybrids are competitively superior their wild relatives. However, cultivars of both species experienced large fitness reductions (nearly complete mortality in L. corniculatus) due to local climatic conditions. We conclude that cultivars are good competitors only as long as they are not subjected to stressful environmental factors. As hybrids seemed to inherit both the ability to cope with the local climatic conditions from their wild parents as well as the enhanced competitive strength from their cultivars, we regard them as strong competitors and assume that they are able to outperform their wilds at least over the short-term.     

Edible insects in China: Utilization and prospects

The use of edible insects has a long history in China, where they have been consumed for more than 2000 years. In general, the level of acceptance is high for the consumption of insects in China. Many studies on edible insects have been conducted in the last 20 years, and the scope of the research includes the culture of entomophagy and the identification, nutritional value, farming and breeding of edible insects, in addition to food production and safety. Currently, 324 species of insects from 11 orders are documented that are either edible or associated with entomophagy in China, which include the common edible species, some less commonly consumed species and some medicinal insects. However, only approximately 10 to 20 types of insects are regularly consumed. The nutritional values for 174 species are available in China, including edible, feed and medicinal species. Although the nutritional values vary among species, all the insects examined contain protein, fat, vitamins and minerals at levels that meet human nutritional requirements. Edible insects were, and continue to be, consumed by different ethnic groups in many parts of China. People directly consume insects or food products made from insects. The processing of products from insect protein powder, oil and chitin, and the development of healthcare foods has been studied in China. People also consume insects indirectly by eating livestock that were fed insects, which may be a more acceptable pathway to use insects in human diets. Although limited, the data on the food safety of insects indicate that insects are safe for food or feed. Incidences of allergic reactions after consuming silkworm pupae, cicadas and crickets have been reported in China. Insect farming is a unique breeding industry in rural China and is a source of income for local people. Insects are reared and bred for human food, medicine and animal feed using two approaches in China: the insects are either fully domesticated and reared completely in captivity or are partially raised in captivity, and the insect habitat is manipulated to increase production. Depending on the type of relationship the insect has with humans, plants and the environment, different farming strategies are used. The social and scientific communities must work together to promote the use of insects as food and feed.     

Production of nutritionally desirable fatty acids in seed oil of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) by metabolic engineering

Development of a designer oilseed crop with improved yield attributes and enhanced nutritional quality for the benefits of mankind and animal husbandry is now achievable with the combination of genetic engineering and plant breeding. In spite of their immense importance, the fatty acid profiles of most oilseed crops are imbalanced that necessitate the use of metabolic engineering strategies to overcome the various shortfalls in order to improve the nutritional quality of these edible oils. Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.), being one of the important oilseed crops in Indian subcontinent naturally contains ~50 % nutritionally undesirable very long chain unsaturated fatty acids (VLCUFAs), e.g. erucic acid (C_22:1). For the purpose of nutritional improvement of B. juncea seed oil, several metabolic engineering strategies have been employed to divert the carbon flux from the production of VLCUFAs to other important fatty acids. Stearic acid, being a saturated but nutritionally neutral fatty acid, is naturally inadequate in most of the conventional oil seeds. Due to its neutral effect on consumer’s health and as an important industrial ingredient, increased in planta production of stearic acid in the seed oil not only helps in reduction of production cost but also lessens the trans fatty acid production during commercial hydrogenation process. In this review metabolic engineering strategies to minimize the VLCUFAs along with increased production of stearic acid in the seed oil of B. juncea are discussed, so that further breeding attempts can be made to improve the nutritionally desirable fatty acid profile in the suitable cultivars of this important oilseed crop.     

Biological investigations on macro-morphological characteristics,polyphenolic acids,antioxidant activity of Perilla frutescens (L) Britt. grown under open field

Perilla frutescens, perilla is a functional food, spice and medicinal herb and ornamental plant in the family of Lamiaceae. Thus, macro-morphological characteristics, phenolic acids, antioxidants of twelve accessions of P. frutescens grown under open field were studied. High polymorphism was found among the perilla accessions and macroscopic features of perilla genotypes showed variable results. Perilla can be classified into two clearly phenotypes green and purple, within these two other colours were appeared. A good level of biomass production was recorded for JTD3, 203P, PS2, 203P respectively. Principal component analysis was performed to cluster phenolic acids. GB phenotype exhibited the major content of polyphenols, followed by JTD3 then J1. Regarding antioxidant capacity, JTD3 showed the highest value followed by 203P and GB respectively. The HPLC analysis showed that the most abundant phenolic acids were ellagic acid which is accumulated in a higher percentage in NP606, 588P and JTD3 cultivars respectively, followed by salicylic acid and gallic acid. This is the first report of cultivation of various Perilla varieties under open field environmental conditions, not only to increase productivity but also to improve the quality. Therefore, the present study results confirm the importance of the Perilla species for human consumption, therapeutic and ornamental purposes.     

The Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology of Wild Tomatillos, Physalis longifolia Nutt., and Related Physalis Species: A Review

The Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology of Wild Tomatillos, Physalis longifolia Nutt., and Related Physalis Species: A Review. The wild tomatillo, Physalis longifolia Nutt., and related species have been important wild-harvested foods and medicinal plants. This paper reviews their traditional use as food and medicine; it also discusses taxonomic difficulties and provides information on recent medicinal chemistry discoveries within this and related species. Subtle morphological differences recognized by taxonomists to distinguish this species from closely related taxa can be confusing to botanists and ethnobotanists, and many of these differences are not considered to be important by indigenous people. Therefore, the food and medicinal uses reported here include information for P. longifolia, as well as uses for several related taxa found north of Mexico. The importance of wild Physalis species as food is reported by many tribes, and its long history of use is evidenced by frequent discovery in archaeological sites. These plants may have been cultivated, or ??tended,?? by Pueblo farmers and other tribes. The importance of this plant as medicine is made evident through its historical ethnobotanical use, information in recent literature on Physalis species pharmacology, and our Native Medicinal Plant Research Program??s recent discovery of 14 new natural products, some of which have potent anti-cancer activity.     

Cultivation and utilisation of red seaweeds in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) Region

Seaweed farming in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) Region is carried out in a number of countries, most of them farming Eucheuma denticulatum, Kappaphycus alvarezii and Kappaphycus striatum. These species are farmed mostly in Tanzania with limited production in Madagascar, Mozambique and Kenya; current production (2012) stands at 15,966 t (dry weight) year^?1 of Eucheuma and Kappaphycus, valued at US$ 4.2 million with 95 % of this tonnage coming from Tanzania. Other countries in the region have limited or no seaweed production owing to problems of epiphytes, ice ice and markets. The problem of epiphytes coupled with ice ice that WIO countries are facing causes die-off of Kappaphycus which is the preferred species in foreign markets for its thicker gel, kappa carrageenan (vs. the weaker iota carrageenan from Eucheuma). New efforts are put to curb these problems including moving seaweed farms to deeper waters and cultivation trials of other carrageenophytes as well as agar-producing species, agarophytes. Research work has been initiated to evaluate Gracilaria and Hypnea farming and processing in Tanzania, the Republic of Mauritius and Mayotte. Gracilaria farming is at experimental stages as a biofilter of fishpond effluents and as potential species for the production of agar with growth rates of 1.5–1.9 % day^?1. Hypnea farming is only being initiated in Mauritius and Mayotte at present. Other innovations including value addition by making various seaweed products and encouraging the consumption of seaweed as food at least in Tanzania and Mauritius are increasing further the importance of the seaweed farming and processing industry in the WIO Region.     

Glutinous Rice and Its Importance for Hill Farmers in Laos

Glutinous Rice and Its Importance for Hill Farmers in Laos. Economic Botany, 50(4): 401-408. 1996. Glutinous or waxy rice is the most important crop for subsistence farming economies in the hills of Northern Laos. Hill farmers continue to use traditional varieties only. Geographical and political isolation have contributed towards their preservation. Traditional varieties are mainly of the japonica type, have a good yield potential, are well adapted to the local conditions, and represent a wide genetic diversity. Farmers interviewed prefer varieties with large panicles, planted 2.7 varieties on average, with 17, 30 and 53% of the area planted to early, medium and late varieties, respectively. Out of 544 traditional cultivars 95% flowered within 88–120 days after planting. Crops planted together with rice in order of importance are: maize, cucumber, chili, taro, and sesame. Farmers reported annual milled rice production of 125 kg per capita and rice self-sufficiency for 8 months for 1992 and 1993. Maize, cassava, and products from the forest are major rice substitutes and food security in remote areas could best be improved by increasing production of maize and cassava in combination with livestock production systems.