Comparative Study of Camel Milk from Different Areas of Xinjiang Province in China

Xinjiang province is the main camel feeding area in China with a large square, and camel milk from different areas have different qualities. By now, there are few reports about the quality of camel milk from different areas of Xinjiang province in China. In this study, seven batches of camel milk and one batch of cow milk were collected, and the contents of fat, protein, lactose, total solid, and nonfat milk solid of these milk samples were determined, as well as the contents of lysozyme and vitamin C. All samples were scored and compared by principal component analysis score and comprehensive weighted multi-index score. As the results, camel milk from different areas showed different contents of fat (4.62%-7.02%), protein (3.34%-3.95%), lactose (3.85%-4.79%), total solid (13.59%-17.00%), nonfat milk solid (8.55%-9.73%), vitamin C (12.10-41.25 μg/mL), and lysozyme (8.70-22.80 μg/mL), as well as different qualities. This variation would help people to know more about quanlity of camel milk in Xinjiang province. Camel milk from Jeminay showed the best quality, and then followed by camel milk from Fukang, Changji, and Fuhai, while cow milk showed the lowest score. Therefore, Jeminay is the most suitable place for grazing camels. Our findings show the different qualities of camel milk in different distribution areas of Xinjiang province, and provide an insight for the evaluation of camel milk. In the present study, only seven components in camel milk were determined, many other factors, such as cfu, mineral, and other vitamins, have not been considered.

Determining optimal nitrogen management to improve rice yield, quality and nitrogen use efficiency based on multi-index decision analysis method

BACKGROUND

Reasonable nitrogen (N) supply is critical for increasing rice yield while improving grain quality and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). However, the trade-off relationship between yield, quality and NUE of rice under N management has not been well understood enough. In the present study, a 2-year field experiment was conducted to identify optimal N fertilizer management practices that resulted in high-yield, high-quality and high-NUE by using the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) with entropy weight (EW) method.

RESULTS

All the parameters of rice yield, quality and efficiency were remarkably affected by fertilization treatments. Compared with farmer's fertilization practice (FFP), optimizing N fertilizer treatment (OPT) and substituting 20% of N fertilizer with pig manure based on OPT treatment (OPTM) increased grain yield (2.87-6.62%) by maintaining higher 1000-grain weight and filled grains rate. The agronomic NUE (AE) and N partial factor productivity (PFP) under OPT and OPTM treatment were also remarkably increased by 32.81-43.01% and 28.59-33.28% with respect to the value under FFP treatment, respectively. Meanwhile, OPT and OPTM significantly improved the milling quality of rice by increasing brown rice rate (0.71-1.17%) and head rice rate (1.34-2.31%). OPT and OPTM significantly improved appearance quality by decreasing chalkiness and eating quality by reducing amylose content in 2020. The TOPSIS with EW showed that rice comprehensive evaluation could be maintained at a high level under OPT and OPTM.

CONCLUSION

OPT and OPTM were nutrient management modes of high-yield, high-quality and high-efficiency, and promising practice to improve rice comprehensive productivity. This strategy is also highly-consistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Rice Qualities under Different Nitrogen Levels in South China

There is a need to comprehensively evaluate the rice quality of different rice varieties under different nitrogen treatments. Therefore, in this study, we used twenty-one hybrid indica rice varieties and twenty-three inbred japonica rice varieties with three nitrogen fertilizer levels to investigate differences in rice qualities. As compared with hybrid indica rice, inbred japonica rice had lower coefficient of variation values for grain shape, mild rice percentage, and head rice percentage, but relatively higher coefficient of variation values for chalkiness traits, appearance, and taste value of cooked rice. A principal component analysis and membership function method were used to comprehensively evaluate the qualities of rice. The overall eating quality value by sensory evaluation and head rice percentage explained 61.3% and 67.9% of the variations in comprehensive quality of hybrid indica rice and inbred japonica rice across different nitrogen levels, respectively. We also found that rice comprehensive quality was better under low nitrogen levels for hybrid indica rice, while for inbred japonica rice, properly increasing nitrogen application could improve the comprehensive quality.