A field study on using soybean waste-derived superabsorbent hydrogel to enhance growth of vegetables.

Food security is critical and has become a global concern with many of our basic food crops growing in areas with high drought risk. To improve soil water holding capacity, hydrogels are a promising solution. However, the current ones are mostly derived from petroleum products and are environmental unsustainable.

Nutritional metabolites in Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis var. parachinensis (choy sum) at three different growth stages: Microgreen, seedling and adult plant.

Choy sum is a commonly consumed Asian green leafy brassica vegetable. A comprehensive spectrum of nutritional important metabolites, including amino acids, plant sugars, essential minerals, vitamins (A, B, E, and K) and glucosinolates were systematically quantified using LC-QQQ-MS, GC-QQQ-MS and ICP-MS. Significant metabolic profile shifts were observed during the three major developmental stages (microgreen, seedling and adult) studied.

Chemical Modification of Biomass Okara Using Poly(acrylic acid) through Free Radical Graft Polymerization.

Okara (Ok) or soybean residue is produced as a byproduct from the soybean milk and soybean curd industries world wide, most of which is disposed or burned as waste. It is important to explore the possibilities to convert okara to useful materials, because okara is a naturally renewable bioresource. Here, we report the chemical modification of okara by grafting poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) onto the backbones of okara in water medium and the characterization of the Ok-PAA graft copolymers.

Proteomic Characterisation of the Salt Gland-Enriched Tissues of the Mangrove Tree Species Avicennia officinalis.

Plant salt glands are nature's desalination devices that harbour potentially useful information pertaining to salt and water transport during secretion. As part of the program toward deciphering secretion mechanisms in salt glands, we used shotgun proteomics to compare the protein profiles of salt gland-enriched (isolated epidermal peels) and salt gland-deprived (mesophyll) tissues of the mangrove species Avicennia officinalis. The purpose of the work is to identify proteins that are present in the salt gland-enriched tissues.

Proteome profile of salt gland-rich epidermis extracted from a salt-tolerant tree species.

Preparation of proteins from salt-gland-rich tissues of mangrove plant is necessary for a systematic study of proteins involved in the plant's unique desalination mechanism. Extraction of high-quality proteins from the leaves of mangrove tree species, however, is difficult due to the presence of high levels of endogenous phenolic compounds. In our study, preparation of proteins from only a part of the leaf tissues (i.

Dynamic secretion changes in the salt glands of the mangrove tree species Avicennia officinalis in response to a changing saline environment.

The specialized salt glands on the epidermis of halophytic plants secrete excess salts from tissues by a mechanism that is poorly understood. We examined the salt glands as putative salt and water bi-regulatory units that can respond swiftly to altering environmental cues. The tropical mangrove tree species (Avicennia officinalis) is able to grow under fluctuating salinities (0.

A simple, rapid method to isolate salt glands for three-dimensional visualization, fluorescence imaging and cytological studies.

Background: Some plants inhabiting saline environment remove salts via the salt glands embedded in the epidermal tissues. Cytological studies of salt glands will provide valuable information to our understanding of the secretory process. Previous studies on salt gland histology relied mainly on two-dimensional microscopic observations of microtome sections.