The study of different processing techniques, such as sprouting, cooking and fermentation, can help to develop new products for human health. In this work, raw, cooked and fermented seeds and germinated seeds of Willd. var.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFQuinoa ( Willd.) is a plant of South American origin recently valorized for its nutritional and nutraceutical properties in human diet. Quinoa is cultivated in many parts of the world, with a selection of varieties with good adaptability to extreme climatic conditions and salt stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAgroecosystems represent more and more a huge long-term sink for plastic compounds which inevitably undergo fragmentation, generating micro- and nano-plastics, with potential adverse effects on soil chemistry and living organisms. The present work was focused on the short-term effects of two different concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs) (0.1 or 1 g L suspensions) on rice seedlings starting from seed germination, hypothesizing that possible acute effects on seedlings could depend on oxidative damage trigged by PSNPs internalization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanomaterials (Basel)
April 2021
Biosolids (Bs) for use in agriculture are an important way for introducing and transferring TiO nanoparticles (NPs) to plants and food chain. Roots of L. plants grown in Bs-amended soils spiked with TiO 800 mg/kg as rutile NPs, anatase NPs, mixture of both NPs and submicron particles (SMPs) were investigated by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), synchrotron radiation based micro X-ray Fluorescence and micro X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (µXRF/µXANES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe process of soil salinization and the preponderance of saline water sources all over the world represent one of the most harmful abiotic stress to plant growth. This pointed to the importance of obtaining plants which are tolerant or resistant to salt, considering that projection of climate change for the coming years indicate an increase in temperature and rain scarcity. In the current study, the effect of NaCl was investigated on germinating seeds of Lathyrus sativus L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn an attempt to alleviate salt-induced damage, the application of ZnO nanoparticles has been suggested. As the use of these particles has also been associated with phytotoxicity, to better clarify the effect of zinc and its possible mitigation of salt stress, we treated wheat seedlings with ZnO (nanoparticles or their bulk-scale counterparts, amended either in the growth medium, NPs and B, or sprayed on the leaves, SPNPs and SPB) with or without subsequent treatment with salt. Growth, photosynthetic parameters, zinc and ion concentration, and in situ and biochemical determination of oxidative stress in wheat leaves and/or in roots were considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the analysis by electrospray (+) of an extract of hemp sprouts put in a polypropylene vial, we found a large contamination of a plastic additive. It was characterized by multiple-stage MS experiments (MS ÷ MS ) and identified as tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl)phosphate, also known with the synonyms F32IRS6B46, oxidized Naugard 524, and others. The MS ÷ MS spectra are characterized by consecutive eliminations of six isobutene molecules from the tert-butyl moieties, some of them also occurring in the ion source.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutat Res Genet Toxicol Environ Mutagen
January 2020
E171 (titanium dioxide, TiO), an authorized foods and beverage additive, is also used in food packaging and in pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations. E171 is considered to be an inert and non-digestible material, not storable in animal tissues, but the possible presence of TiO nanoparticles (NP) may present a risk to human health and the environment. We determined the presence of 15% TiO NP in a commercial E171 food additive product, by electron microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Physiol Biochem
April 2020
With the aim to investigate the mechanisms of action of nano plastics (nano PS) on plants, seeds of Allium cepa were germinated for 72 h in the presence of polystyrene nano PS (50 nm size, at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 g L) and, subsequently, roots were analysed by a multifaceted approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe wide use of nanoparticles (NPs), gives concern about their possible negative implications in the environment and living organisms. In particular, titanium dioxide (TiO) NPs are accumulated in biosolids (Bs) coming from wastewater treatment plants, which in turn are used as farm soil amendments and are becoming an important way of NPs entrance in the terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, to simulate a low and cumulative load of TiO NPs, 80 and 800 mg TiOper Kg of soil were spiked in the Bs prior to its addition to soil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA particular interest is nowadays given to natural antioxidants occurring in foods which can reduce the risk of several diseases through their protective effect. The genus Limonium is widely distributed in different salt regions of Tunisia and known in traditional medicine for the presence of highly effective viral and bacterial replication inhibitors. Limonium leaves have possible beneficial effects on human health for their antioxidant activities and free radical scavenging abilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study focused on crop plant response to a simultaneous exposure to biosolid and TiO at micro- and nano-scale, being biosolid one of the major sink of TiO nanoparticles released into the soil environment. We settled an experimental design as much as possible realistic, at microcosm scale, using the crop Pisum sativum. This experimental design supported the hypotheses that the presence of biosolid in the farming soil might influence plant growth and metabolism and that, after TiO spiking, the different dimension and crystal forms of TiO might be otherwise bioavailable and differently interacting with the plant system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study the antioxidant effect of Cannabis sativa L. seeds and sprouts (3 and 5 days of germination) was evaluated. Total polyphenols, flavonoids and flavonols content, when expressed on dry weight basis, were highest in sprouts; ORAC and DPPH (in vitro assays), CAA-RBC (cellular antioxidant activity in red blood cells) and hemolysis test (ex vivo assays) evidenced a good antioxidant activity higher in sprouts than in seeds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Prod Res
July 2018
We report the spectrophotometric determination of total polyphenols, flavonoids, glucosinolates and antioxidant activity in seeds, seedlings and leaves of Tuscan black kale. The highest content of phytochemicals was observed in 10 days sprouts and antioxidant activity was maximum in 2, 4 days seedlings. Identification and characterisation of phytochemicals were performed by mass spectrometry (MS), high resolution and tandem MS with electrospray ionisation mode.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe yeast Pichia fermentans DISAABA 726 strain (P. fermentans) is a dimorphic yeast that under different environmental conditions may switch from a yeast-like to pseudohyphal morphology. We hypothesize that exosomes-like vesicles (EV) could mediate this rapid modification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this work we studied the effect of salinity (ranging from 50 to 500mM NaCl) on the physiological and the antioxidant responses of the local halophyte Limonium delicatulum Kuntze. We based our analysis on 12 biochemical assays that are commonly used to measure the antioxidant responses under stress such as oxidative stress markers, enzymes activities and polyphenolic compounds. Our aim was to study parameters that are strongly correlated with the growth response to salinity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHalloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are natural nanomaterials that are biocompatible and available in large amounts at low prices. They are emerging nanomaterials with appealing properties for applications like support for metal nanoparticles (NPs). The potential environmental impacts of NPs can be understood in terms of phytotoxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
July 2015
The present research reports a biochemical and micro-submicroscopic analysis of copper effect on reserve mobilization during germination of Phaseolus vulgaris L. var. soisson nain hatif seeds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCopper bromide (CuBr2) effects on seed germination and plantlet development of Vicia sativa L. are evaluated through mitotic index, chromosome aberrations, nucleolar activity and mineral profile. CuBr2 induces a significant presence of micronuclei, sticky and c-metaphases, anaphase bridges and chromosome breaks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe effects of different copper concentrations on percentage germination, increase in fresh weight and radicle growth of Vicia sativa L. seeds were studied. Physiological studies showed that the germination rate was not affected up to a concentration of 5 × 10⁻³ M, but already at 10⁻³ M the copper stopped root elongation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeeds of Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. (Fabaceae) were analyzed for protein composition of protein bodies isolated from cotyledons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mobilization of storage reserves, with particular emphasis on storage proteins of Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC., cotyledons, and embryo was investigated from the ultrastructural and biochemical points of view.
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