Effects of organic farming on minerals contents and aroma composition of Clemenules mandarin juice

Exploring membrane vesicles in citrus fruits: a comparative analysis of conventional and organic farming approaches

BACKGROUND

Recently, vesicles derived from plant cell membranes have received attention for their potential use as active biomolecules and nanocarriers, and obtaining them from organic crops may be an interesting option because different farming systems can affect production, plant secondary metabolism and biochemistry of cell membranes. The present study aimed to determine how organic and conventional farming affects the mineral nutrition, gas exchange, CO2 fixation and biochemical composition of lemon fruits, which could have an impact on the different fractions of cell membranes in pulp and juice.

RESULTS

Organic trees had higher intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi) but conventional trees had higher stomatal conductance (gs) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUtE). Also, organic lemons had significantly higher levels of some micronutrients (Ca, Cu, Fe and Zn). Second, the main differences in the membrane vesicles showed that organic pulp vesicles had a higher antioxidant activity and more oleic acid, whereas both types of vesicles from conventional lemons had more linoleic acid.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, organic farming did not alter carbon fixation parameters but impacted nitrogen fixation and water uptake, and resulted in higher micronutrient levels in lemons. These mineral nutritional changes could be related to the higher production of membranes that showed suitable morphological traits and a high antioxidant activity, positively correlated with a high amount of oleic acid, which could have stronger cell protection characteristics. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Geographical origin identification of mandarin fruits by analyzing fingerprint signatures based on multielemental composition

Given rising traders and consumers concerns, the global food industry is increasingly demanding authentic and traceable products. Consequently, there is a heightened focus on verifying geographical authenticity as food quality assurance. In this work, we assessed pattern recognition approaches based on elemental predictors to discern the provenance of mandarin juices from three distinct citrus-producing zones located in the Northeast region of Argentina. A total of 202 samples originating from two cultivars were prepared through microwave-assisted acid digestion and analyzed by microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (MP-AES). Later, we applied linear discriminant analysis (LDA), k-nearest neighbor (k-NN), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest (RF) to the element data obtained. SVM accomplished the best classification performance with a 95.1% success rate, for which it was selected for citrus samples authentication. The proposed method highlights the capability of mineral profiles in accurately identifying the genuine origin of mandarin juices. By implementing this model in the food supply chain, it can prevent mislabeling fraud, thereby contributing to consumer protection.

Cassava yield gap—A model-based assessment in Nigeria

Introduction

Cassava production is essential for food security in sub-Saharan Africa and serves as a major calorie-intake source in Nigeria. Estimating the yield gap in Nigeria is essential to indicate the most important limiting factors for production, and identify the yield gap hotspot areas. Secondly, these assessments may help set agendas in policy development and research prioritization where current information is scarce.

Materials and methods

Here, Wwe used a crop model, LINTUL5, calibrated for five different cassava varieties based on field experiments embedded into a modeling framework SIMPLACE to estimate potential, water- and nutrient (current) limited cassava yield gaps (YG) as affected by climate factors and contributing a better understanding of yield gaps and its potentials in 30 states of Nigeria.

Results

Our study shows that cumulative radiation and precipitation were the most significant factors associated with cassava yield variability (p < 0.01). The YG averaged across states was estimated as 18.2 Ton7ha-1, with a maximum of 31.2 Ton7ha-1 35 in Kano state. Across the states, nutrient limitation accounts for 55.3% of the total cassava yield gap, while the remaining 44.7% is attributed to water limitation. The highest untapped water-limited yields were estimated in the northern states, such as Bauchi, Gombe, and Sokoto, characterized by the short rainy season.

Conclusion

Our results showed that most northern states are better equipped to become leading cassava producers in Nigeria under adequate crop management practices involving irrigation and soil fertility enhancement. We reached this conclusion because the northern states usually receive the highest radiation from their characteristic reduced cloud cover, even Therefore, policy and management interventions can be prioritized in these areas. Conclusively, the current cassava yield levels can be increased by a factor of five by emphasizing nutrient and soil health management and irrigation, particularly in areas characterized by a shorter rainy season (Sudan Savanna) in Nigeria.

Citrus juice off-flavor during different processing and storage: Review of odorants, formation pathways, and analytical techniques

As the most widespread juice produced and consumed globally, citrus juice (mandarin juice, orange juice, and grapefruit juice) is appreciated for its attractive and distinct aroma. While the decrease of characteristic aroma-active compounds and the formation of off-flavor compounds are easy to occur in processing and storage conditions. This review provides a comprehensive literature of recent research and discovery on citrus juice off-flavor, primarily focusing on off-flavor compounds induced during processing and storage (i.e., thermal, storage, light, oxygen, package, fruit maturity, diseases, centrifugal pretreatment, and debittering process), formation pathways (i.e., terpene acid-catalyzed hydration, caramelization reaction, Maillard reaction, Strecker degradation, and other oxidative degradation) of the off-flavor compounds, effective inhibitor pathway to off-flavor (i.e., electrical treatments, high pressure processing, microwave processing, ultrasound processing, and chemical treatment), as well as odor assessment techniques based on molecular sensory science. The possible precursors (terpenes, sulfur-containing amino acids, carbohydrates, carotenoids, vitamins, and phenolic acids) of citrus juice off-flavor are listed and are also proposed. This review intends to unravel the regularities of aroma variations and even off-flavor formation of citrus juice during processing and storage. Future aroma analysis techniques will evolve toward a colorimetric sensor array for odor visualization to obtain a "marker" of off-flavor in citrus juice.

Benefits of soil biochar amendments to tomato growth under saline water irrigation

Biochar amendments have been used in agriculture to improve soil fertility and enhance crop productivity. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that biochar amendment could also enhance the productivity of salt-affected soils. The trial was conducted over two consecutive growing seasons to investigate the effect of biochar amendment (four application rates as: B1 = 0%, B2 = 2%, B3 = 4%, and B4 = 8% by mass of soil) on yield and quality of tomatoes grown in a silt loam soil using non-saline water (I0 = 0.7 dS m-1) and saline water (I1 = 1 dS m-1; I2 = 3 dS m-1) irrigation. Furthermore, the study investigated the mechanism by which biochar addresses the salt stress on plant. The results showed that soil productivity as indicated by the vegetative growth and tomato yield components was adversely and significantly affected by saline water irrigation (P < 0.05). Tomato yield decreased from 689 ± 35.6 to 533 ± 79.0 g per plant as salinity of irrigation water increased from I0 to I2. Then, biochar amendment increased vegetative growth, yield, and quality parameters under saline irrigation water regimes, and ameliorated the salt stresses on crop growth. The highest (8.73 ± 0.15 and 4.10 ± 0.82 g kg-1) and the lowest (8.33 ± 0.08 and 2.42 ± 0.76 g kg-1) values of soil pH and soil organic matter were measured at B4I0 and B1I2 treatments, respectively. Also, the highest rate of biochar amendment combining with non-saline water irrigation (B4I0) produced tomato with the highest plant photosynthetic (17.08 ± 0.19 μmol m-2 s-1) and transpiration rate (8.16 ± 0.18 mmol H2O m-2 s-1). Mechanically, biochar amendment reduced transient sodium ions by adsorption and released mineral nutrients such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium into the soil solution. Therefore, biochar amendments have the potential in ameliorating salt stress and enhancing tomato production.

An Integrated Approach to Mandarin Processing: Food Safety and Nutritional Quality, Consumer Preference, and Nutrient Bioaccessibility

Mandarins are a member of the Citrus genus and are the focus of growing commercial interest, with satsuma mandarins (Citrus unshiu) and the common mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) being the most important mandarin varieties. The possible health benefits and functional properties of those fruits are often associated with the antioxidative function of vitamin C, carotenoids, and phenolic compounds. While most mandarins are consumed fresh, many are processed into juices (mostly cloudy), usually via thermal processing which can lead to the creation of off-flavors and may diminish nutritional quality. The aim of this review is to summarize the most significant and recent information on the safety, sensorial properties, and nutritional benefits of mandarins and their processing into juice. The article also discusses recent information regarding the bioaccessibility of valuable, mandarin specific, compounds.

Screening level health risk assessment of selected metals in apple juice sold in the United States

Concerns have recently been raised about the presence of metals in apple juices. As such, the concentration of aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), and zinc (Zn) were measured in six commercially available brands of apple juice and three organic brands. The concentrations of total As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, and Zn in all nine apple juice brands sampled were below each metal's respective U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maximum contaminant level for bottled water. However, in some apple juices the levels of Al, Pb, and Mn exceeded FDA maximum contaminant levels for bottled water. Therefore, a screening level risk assessment was carried out to assess the potential non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks that may result from metal exposure via apple juice consumption. Changes in blood Pb concentrations were also estimated to characterize potential risk from Pb exposure. Our results suggest that the exposure concentrations of the studied metals do not pose an increased non-carcinogenic risk (Hazard Index<1). Incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) resulting from apple juice consumption was also estimated using both the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the U.S. EPA cancer slope factor for inorganic As.

Evaluation of the micronutrient composition of plant foods produced by organic and conventional agricultural methods

The aim of the present analysis was to evaluate the micronutrient content of plant foods produced by organic and conventional agricultural methods. Studies were identified from a search of electronic databases (1980-2007, inclusive) as well as manual searches. A total of 66 studies (describing 1440 micronutrient comparisons) were identified. Thirty-three studies (908 comparisons) satisfied the screening criteria which considered cultivar, harvesting, and soil conditions. In studies that satisfied the screening criteria, the absolute levels of micronutrients were higher in organic foods more often than in conventional foods (462 vs 364 comparisons, P=0.002), and the total micronutrient content, expressed as a percent difference, was higher in organic (+5.7%, P<0.001) as compared to conventionally grown produce. The micronutrient content of food groups was more frequently reported to be higher for organic vegetables and legumes compared to their conventional counterparts (vegetables, 267 vs 197, P<0.001; legumes, 79 vs 46, P=0.004). This trend was supported by a mean percent difference in micronutrient content favoring organic vegetables (+5.9%, P<0.001) and legumes (+5.7%, P<0.001). Further research is required to determine the effect of organic agricultural methods on a broader range of nutrients and their potential impact on health.

Antioxidant Activity, Color, Carotenoids Composition, Minerals, Vitamin C and Sensory Quality of Organic and Conventional Mandarin Juice, cv. Orogrande

The effects of organic farming on antioxidant activity, CIE L*a*b* color, carotenoids composition, minerals contents, vitamin C and sensory quality of Orogrande mandarin juices were studied. Independent of the farming type, mandarin juices can be considered as good source of some important nutrients, such as potassium and antioxidant chemicals, for example, β-cryptoxanthin. Organic farming of mandarins resulted in juices with higher antioxidant activity, total carotenoids concentrations, minerals (Ca, K and Fe) contents, vitamin C content, more appealing and intense orange color and better sensory quality. For instance, organic Orogrande juice contained significantly (p < 0.001) higher total carotenoids content (22.7 ± 0.3 mg/L) than conventional juice (15.7 ± 0.4 mg/L); a similar pattern was observed for the antioxidant activity, with values being 0.076±0.004 and 0.053 ± 0.003 mM Trolox m/L in organic and convectional juices, respectively. A trained panel stated that organic Orogrande juices had higher intensities of orange color, fresh mandarin and floral aromas than conventional juices.

Sensory Profile and Acceptability of Juices from Mandarin Varieties and Hybrids

Fresh juices from mandarin varieties, from hybrids, and from blends of these raw materials were evaluated by 100 consumers to determine acceptability, and by 10 trained panelists to quantify sensory attributes. Trained panelists found the juice from Clemenules richer in both mandarin and fresh flavor (odor and taste) whereas Nova juice presented minimum scores for these attributes. These aspects obviously affected the evaluation of acceptability by consumers, who preferred the juice from Clemenules (a Clementine variety) either alone or blended in major proportions with less preferred varieties such as Marisol, Hernandina (Clementines), Ortanique or Nova (hybrids). Nova juice was rejected by most consumers, but accepted by a small group of them. These results are of great importance for the European citrus industry since Clemenules is the most abundant variety and will constitute the main source of raw material for processing plants.

Effects of agricultural practices on color, carotenoids composition, and minerals contents of sweet peppers, cv. Almuden

Consumers demand organic products because they believe they are more flavorful and respectful to the environment and human health. The effects of conventional, integrated, and organic farming, grown in a controlled greenhouse, on color, minerals, and carotenoids of sweet pepper fruits ( Capsicum annuum), cv. Almuden, were studied. Experimental results proved that organic farming provided peppers with the highest (a) intensities of red and yellow colors, (b) contents of minerals, and (c) total carotenoids. Integrated fruits presented intermediate values of the quality parameters under study, and conventional fruits were those with the lowest values of minerals, carotenoids, and color intensity. As an example, the concentrations of total carotenoids were 3231, 2493, and 1829 mg kg (-1) for organic, integrated, and conventional sweet peppers, respectively. Finally, organic red peppers could be considered as those having the highest antioxidant activity of all studied peppers (agricultural farming and development stage).