Background Currently, using unconventional water sources in agriculture has become necessary to face overpopulation worldwide. Therefore, a pot experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of irrigation with saline water in the presence of co-applied wood chips biochar (WCB) with chemical fertilizers on physicochemical properties and nutrient availability as well as growth parameters, and yield of red radish (Raphanus sativus L.) grown in the saline sandy soil.

Methods The WCB was added to the saline sandy soil at levels of 0 (control), 2.5, and 5% w/w. Then, this soil was cultivated by red radish plants and irrigated with saline water (5 dS m- 1). This experiment was performed in a randomized complete block design with three replicates.

Results Compared with the control treatment, WCB treatments increased significantly soil water holding capacity by 34.8% and 73.2% for levels of 2.5 and 5%, respectively. Soil pH decreased significantly in all WCB treatments. The relative increase in the total available nitrogen over the control was 30.1 and 103.5% for 2.5 and 5% wood chips biochar, respectively. Compared to the control, applying WCB at 2.5% led to an increase in the fresh root weight of red radish plants by 142.7%, while 5% caused a decrease in the fresh root weight of red radish plants by 29.4%. Conclusion Recently, WCB represents an interesting approach to the rehabilitation of saline soils and the management of using saline water sources. It is recommended that combined application of WCB at a level of 2.5% with chemical fertilizers in order to improve red radish growth and nutrient retention in the saline sandy soil which preserves the ecosystem as well as increases productivity leading to the reduction of costs.

The aroma profile of the four most popular types of red-cooked chickens in China was analyzed using a combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS), gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS), and electronic nose (E-nose). Principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrated that the E-nose could successfully distinguish between the four types of red-cooked chickens. Additionally, a fingerprint was created using GC-IMS to examine the variations in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) distribution in the four chicken types. A total number of 84 and 62 VOCs were identified in the four types of red-cooked chickens using GC–MS and GC-IMS, respectively. Odor activity value (OAV) showed that 1-octen-3-ol, heptanal, hexanal, nonanal, octanal, eugenol, dimethyl trisulfide, anethole, anisaldehyde, estragole, and eucalyptol were the key volatile components in all samples. Furthermore, partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) demonstrated that (E, E)-2,4-decadienal, dimethyl trisulfide, octanal, eugenol, hexanal, (E)-2-nonenal, 1-octen-3-ol, butanal, ethyl acetate, ethyl acetate (D), nonanal, and heptanal could be used as markers to distinguish aroma of the four types of red-cooked chickens. Also, it is worth noting that levels of VOCs varied between chicken breast muscle and skin. The obtained results offer theoretical and technological support for flavor identification and control in red-cooked chickens to enhance their quality and encourage consumer consumption, which will be advantageous for the red-cooked chicken production chain. 

Flavor is one of the most important factors that affect consumers' preference for processed meat products. This study aimed to investigate effects of heating on interaction between myofibrillar proteins (MPs) and pyrazine compounds and understand the underlying mechanisms. A combination of multispectral, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics technologies was used to achieve study's aim. Results demonstrated that MPs underwent structural reconstruction and expansion during heating, which significantly altered surface hydrophobicity and SH content. MPs' zeta potential reduced from −7.29 to −10.47 when a short heating time. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between β-sheet content and ability of MPs to adsorb pyrazine compounds. Molecular docking analysis revealed 13 binding sites for pyrazines and MPs. Furthermore, amino acid residues and pyrazine compounds were found to interact by four different forms of forces, primarily van der Waals forces, carbon‑hydrogen bonds, alkyl groups, and π-alkyl groups. Obtained results demonstrated that adequate or optimized heat treatment could expose more binding sites, hence enhancing the binding of MPs to pyrazine compounds. This study may be used to better understand how structural changes in MPs during processing affect MPs' capacity to bind flavor substances, which can help improve flavor of processed meats to encourage their consumption.

Protection of frying oil from deterioration by adding plant phenolic extracts to guarantee the quality of fried foods becomes the primary approach to promote the sustainable development of deep frying. Therefore, sources, antioxidant effects, and mechanisms of plant phenolic extracts recently applied in the quality protection of frying oil as well as challenges for the actual use of these extracts are comprehensively reviewed in this study. Spices, herbs, berries, tea leaves, and fruit and vegetable wastes are common sources for preparing phenolic extracts showing comparative antioxidant capacity referring to the synthetic antioxidants. The general effect of using these natural antioxidants is the improvement of thermal stability to extend the shelf life of frying oil and thus the modification of edible quality of fried foods. Specifically, the increases in common quality attributes and amount of hazardous products and the oxidative reduction of unsaturated triacylglycerols without negatively influencing the sensory quality are inhibited when suitable plant extracts are applied. The incorporation of plant phenolic extracts other than synthetic counterparts in frying oil has been demonstrated as a potential method to improve the frying performance of oils. However, challenges for the scale application of plant phenolic extracts, such as the purity, thermal stability, and antioxidant timing, are still needed to be further investigated.

Effects of ultrasound (UT) treatments on the structural, physicochemical, and functional properties of myofibrillar proteins (MPs), as well as their ability to bind to flavor compounds from spices, were investigated. The results demonstrated that UT treatment enhanced surface hydrophobicity, SH content, and absolute ζ-potential value of the MPs. Atomic force microscopy analysis displayed formation of MPs aggregates with small particle size in the UT-treated MPs samples. Meanwhile, UT treatment could improve the emulsifying properties and physical stability of MPs’ emulsion. Additionally, the MPs gel network structure and stability significantly improved following UT treatment. Changes in the structural, physicochemical, and functional properties enhanced the ability of MPs to bind to flavor substances from spices depending on the duration of UT treatment. Furthermore, correlation analysis showed that the ability of myristicin, anethole, and estragole to bind to MPs was highly correlated with surface hydrophobicity, ζ-potential value, and α-helix content of MPs. The results of this study may help in understanding the relationship between the changes in MPs properties during the processing of meat products and their ability to bind to flavors from spices, thereby improving flavors retention and taste of processed meat products. 

Nitrite is one of the harmful pollutants for both people and animals. The formation of nitrite during the manufacturing of beet sugar was investigated. The results indicated that the cossettes contained lower nitrite content (1.23±0.1 mg/kg DM). However, the nitrite mainly formed during the extraction and purification processes. Most of the nitrite was transferred to molasses, with the remaining portion returning to the crystallization process through the circulation of juices. The nitrite content of raw juice was lower than 10 mg/kg DM in the aerobic extraction system, and it was reduced by 50% during the liming and carbonation. In the tower extraction system for both factories F1 and F2, the nitrite content increased from 5.5 and 25 mg/kg DM in the raw juice to 298 and 247%, 284 and 238%, 716 and 1032%, and 307 and 881% in the thin juice, thick juice, raw sugar green, and molasses, respectively. A significant reduction in the nitrite content of raw and de-foamed juice was achieved by the suggested point (L3) for dosing the disinfectant B (hop β-acids). The effect of the disinfectant lasted for more than 6 h at normal nitrite levels of juice and up to 90 min at high nitrite levels. Furthermore, the nitrite contents were reduced in thin juice, thick juice, and molasses by 58, 48 and 30%, respectively. By optimizing the dosing procedure and point of disinfectant hop β-acids dosage, the microbial load on the extraction system and formation rate of nitrite could be reduced significantly.

Honeybees exposed to pesticides direct or indirect ways through their food
research trips. Herein, this study examined the toxicity effects on laboratory of
seven tested pesticides insecticides from different pesticide groups. emamectin
benzoate, imidacloprid, chlorpyrifos, indoxacarb, lambada cyhalothrine,
glyphosate and thiophanate-methyl on honeybee workers, Apis mellifera L.
through different exposure periods of time at 24, 48, and 72 hours. The selected
pesticides were ranked based on their toxicity from the most to least one as
following: emamectin benzoate, imidacloprid, chlorpyrifos, indoxacarb, and
lambda cyhalothrine. Further, thiophanate-methyl and glyphosate were the lowest
toxicity among selected pesticides. The highest toxic pesticide during the exposure
period 24, 48 and 72 hrs was emamectin benzoate with LC50 values (0.247, 0.047
and 0.020 ppm) and with LC90 values (5.752, 0.302 and 0.072 ppm) respectively,
and the least one was glyphosate with LC50 values of (6861.151, 3366.968 and
2477.267 ppm) and LC90 values of (28243.795, 9033.695 and 6203.485 ppm) after
24, 48 and 72hr of exposure respectively. However, chlorpyrifos ranked the third
toxic pesticide at 24 and 48 hrs of treatment with LC50 values of 10.226 and 2.731
ppm and with LC90 values of (101.224 and 7.496 ppm for 24 and 48 hrs,
respectively). Whereas, after 72 hrs chlorpyrifos recorded the fourth toxic pesticide
with LC502.086 ppm and LC90 5.179ppm. Based on the toxicity index, results
showed that, the most to least toxic pesticides were arranged as followed:
emamectin benzoate>imidacloprid >chlorpyrifos >indoxacarb >lambada
cyhalothrine> thiophanate -methyl > glyphosate. These results demonstrated that
pesticides are very toxic to honeybee workers and must avoid applying them
during the times when bees are most active such as during flowering periods.
 

Incidence of mature and immature stages of pomegranate butterfly, Deudorix livia Klug (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) was studied regarding to some host plants phenology during growth stages. The hosts are sweet acacia, Acacia farnesiana L., and pomegranate, Punica granatum L.. Besides, study its eggs population fluctuation on Manfaloty pomegranate cultivar during 2020 and 2021 under climatic factors [Maximum (MaxT) and Minimum (MinT) Temp. in Celsius degree (°C), Relative humidity (RH %), and Wind Speed (km/hr.)]. The sweet acacia was the most favourable for D. livia and represented the main host plant during the absence of targeted stage of other host plants. Eggs and adults were first observed after 2 and 7 weeks from fruit setting on sweet acacia; respectively in 2020 and 2021. On pomegranate the previous stages appeared after 3 weeks of fruit formation in both seasons. October was the best month for egg deposition in both seasons, because egg averages highly increased and this was the damaging time for pomegranate fruits. The populations of eggs showed three peaks in 2020 and two in 2021. The correlation coefficient between average numbers of eggs and maximum wind speed was negative and highly significant (r= -0.36776, P= <.0001) in 2020, meanwhile in 2021 still negative with non-significant effect (r= -0.10447, P= 0.1410). In conclusion, determine pest peaks is important to establish control program before peaks occurrence or after infestation reaches to economic threshold levels. This will be important to directed control strategies to prevent pest from laying eggs on pomegranate fruits.

From late autumn until the end of winter conditions, bees are exposed to many stress factors including low air temperature and several pathogens. This study aimed to estimate the effects of three commercial materials (acetylsalicylic acid, Echinacea purpurea extract, and vitamin (C) mixed with sugar feeding on some parameters related to stress tolerance using laboratory and field tests. The laboratory tests supported the potential role of vitamin C and Echinacea purpurea extract to enhance the tolerance ability of bees to low temperatures. The most promising results for the recovery time of bees after exposure to low temperatures, survival rates after narcosis, and hemocyte count were recorded with these two materials. After winter the strength of bee colonies fed on sugar feeding mixed with vitamin C and Echinacea purpurea extract were approximately equal to the strength before winter. However, the contrary was obtained with acetylsalicylic acid and the control group. Thus, using vitamin C or Echinacea purpurea extract as safe additives can boost the survival of bee colonies during the winter period.