Important Food Research Articles

How Do Household Coping Strategies Evolve With Increased Food Insecurity? An Examination of Nigeria's Food Price Shock of 2015–2018

ABSTRACTFaced with a significant devaluation of its currency and a surge in food prices, the Nigerian government prohibited the use of foreign currency for food imports. This essentially blocked the importation of numerous food items under the guise of stimulating the domestic output of these staples. Consequently, food prices in Nigeria increased despite a global decline in food prices, and the incidence and severity of food insecurity escalated. This study examines the changes in the types and severity of coping mechanisms for food insecurity resulting from the food price shock caused by the oil price crash, currency devaluation, and restrictions on foreign exchange. Nigeria's General Household Survey Panel data from 2012 and 2015, during periods of high oil prices, is compared with data from 2018 when oil prices had remained low, the currency had been devalued, and the treasury had been depleted. Alongside detailed descriptive statistics, logistic and hurdle regressions are employed for statistical analysis. Findings indicate a rise in the percentage of Nigerian households grappling with food insecurity from 2015 to 2018. During this period, 68.7% of households resorted to at least one coping mechanism, 31.8% adopted six or more coping strategies, and 43.2% resorted to severe coping strategies. The issue stems not primarily from natural disasters or conflicts but from a failure in macroeconomic and agricultural economic policies. Our findings confirm that these policies come at great cost, particularly to female‐headed households, single‐parent households, households headed by elderly people, and other vulnerable populations, pushing them deeper into food insecurity.

Transmission Channel of Agriculture Food Import Tariff to Stunting Prevalence

Increases in food prices affect poverty in a way that poor consumer is harmed due to the high proportion of their budget they spent on food. Stunting prevalence might be instigated by several factors such as access to food and nutrition intake, genetic and environment. This research aims to analyse the effect of food import tariffs towards the stunting prevalence of children aged under 5 (five) across districts in Indonesia, and we explore the indirect relationship between stunting prevalence and trade policy. This research uses quantitative descriptive research methods, utilizing both primary and secondary data. Primary data were obtained through the distribution of questionnaires, followed by Focus Group. Secondary data were obtained from relevant institutions such as the Central Statistics Agency, research journals, and related books. The method of data analysis in the study uses quantitative analysis with a mathematical model. The results showed that tariffs can reduce the consumption of foods that serve in the intake of dietary nutrients such as calories, protein and fat. As a result, food intake affects the prevalence of stunting. Trade liberalisation can have a beneficial impact on child health. The effects of trade liberalisation on stunting through the food channel include: a) trade has a significant effect on calorie, protein, and fat intake, b) intake of these nutrients has a significant effect on child stunting.

Drying Kinetics of “Jacarezinho” Pumpkin Seeds

ABSTRACT Pumpkin seeds are sources of various nutrients and bioactive compounds and can be used after appropriate treatment. The seeds, when dehydrated, can be used as ingredients in several important foods. Through kinetic analysis it is possible to determine the behavior of the dry material, and describe the process through mathematical models, becoming useful tools for decision-making and contributing to the improvement of the process efficiency. The objective of this study was to construct drying kinetics for “Jacarezinho” pumpkin seeds and adjust the experimental data obtained to mathematical models. The seeds were dried in a convective dryer, varying the drying temperature (30, 40 and 50°C), with an air speed of 1.5 m.s-1. The drying kinetics were well described by the Midilli model (R2 99.90–99.99; MSE > 0.1). The use of the transfer kinetic data presented provides support for the use of pumpkin seeds to produce new foods.

Evaluating the dry matter content of raw yams using hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy and machine learning

Yams (Dioscorea spp.) are important food and commercial crops in West African countries. They contribute significantly to global food production and provide dietary energy. The quality of yam food products depends on specific internal and external parameters, such as the DMC and other biochemical traits. However, measuring these traits can be challenging, particularly when analyzing many genotypes. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging (932–1721 nm) along with machine learning to rapidly measure the dry matter content (DMC) of fresh, intact yam tubers. Hyperspectral images were acquired across the yam tuber’s cross-sections, and the resulting spectra from the images were averaged and preprocessed. Partial least square regression (PLSR) combined with successive progressions algorithms (SPA), Competitive Adaptive Reweighted Sampling (CARS), Artificial Neural network (ANN) and Boruta algorithms (BA) were used to select the important wavelengths for developing a prediction model for DMC (g/100 g). The PLSR-SPA-CARS model showed the most accurate prediction performances with a coefficient of determinations in calibration (R2cal) and prediction (R2pred) of 0.974 and 0.958, respectively, and low root mean square error (RMSEP) of 0.898 g/100 g. The distribution of DMC was visually represented by projecting the developed model to generate color chemical maps. This study resolves that NIR hyperspectral imaging can rapidly assess the DMC of fresh, intact yam tubers.

Effectiveness of Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureum) Green Fertilizer on the Growth of Soybean Plants (Glycine max L. Merrill)

Soybeans (Glycine max L. Merrill) After rice and corn, it is the third most important food commodity and occupies a strategic position in the country's food policy, It plays a very important role in the nutrition of the Indonesian population. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of soybean plant (Glycine Max). The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of green manure Pennisetum purpureum on plant growth (Merrill). The study was conducted in Batu Melengangan Village, Langkat Regency, using an experimental method involving 2 treatments, namely P0 (without green fertilizers) and P1 (200 grams of green elephant grass fertilizer), and a completely randomized, non-evidence-based design (CRD). In analyzing the data from this study, the SPSS program used parametric tests, i.e. Anova and Duncan tests, and nonparametric tests, i.e. KRUSKAL-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. The results of the study show that there was effectiveness of elephant grass green fertilizer (Pennisetum purpureum) on the growth of soybean stem height with an average of 36.25 cm, number of soybean leaves with an average of 46,775 pieces, the age at which soybean flowers emerged with an average of 36.6 days, and the age at which soybeans emerge is an average of 43.2 days. The most effective green manure treatment for the growth of soybean plants (Glycine max L. Merrill) was in treatment P1 (200 gr grass green manure).

Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Rice Tolerance to Salt and Drought Stress: Advances and Future Directions.

Rice, a globally important food crop, faces significant challenges due to salt and drought stress. These abiotic stresses severely impact rice growth and yield, manifesting as reduced plant height, decreased tillering, reduced biomass, and poor leaf development. Recent advances in molecular biology and genomics have uncovered key physiological and molecular mechanisms that rice employs to cope with these stresses, including osmotic regulation, ion balance, antioxidant responses, signal transduction, and gene expression regulation. Transcription factors such as DREB, NAC, and bZIP, as well as plant hormones like ABA and GA, have been identified as crucial regulators. Utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 technology for gene editing holds promise for significantly enhancing rice stress tolerance. Future research should integrate multi-omics approaches and smart agriculture technologies to develop rice varieties with enhanced stress resistance, ensuring food security and sustainable agriculture in the face of global environmental changes.

Potensi polisakarida xanthan dari fermentasi xanthomonas xampestris sebagai pengembangan edible film dalam perlindungan struktur daging mentah

Background: Meat is one of the important food sources to meet nutritional needs, especially protein. Improper storage of meat can cause microbes that cause meat to rot quickly. Findings: In the Indonesian food industry, meat storage generally still uses synthetic polymer plastic that is difficult to decompose by soil microbes and can pollute the environment. The purpose of writing this scientific paper is to overcome problems in the food industry, especially in the quality of raw meat that is easily rotten due to improper packaging. Methods: The method of writing this paper is by conducting a literature search from data and information contained in books, scientific journals, and several libraries that can be used as relevant sources. Data and information are taken by collecting data as reference materials and analysis, then the information is processed using a descriptive analysis method based on secondary data to be developed into a unified material so that a solution and conclusion can be obtained. In this era of industry 5.0, edible film based on xanthan polysaccharide (Xanthomonas campestris) will be very effective, solution-oriented, and help Indonesia in overcoming problems in the food industry. Conclusion: The development of edible film based on xanthan polysaccharide (Xanthomonas campestris) will create an innovation in food packaging that can maintain the quality of raw meat and is environmentally friendly. The next step is to disseminate information to the public regarding environmentally friendly plastic substitute products as raw meat packaging.

Brown garlic: A nutritionally improved garlic with therapeutic value in asthma treatment via modulation of S-nitrosothiols

Nitric Oxide (NO) regulates important physiological functions. Garlic (Allium sativum) is an important food component consumed fresh and processed for thousands of years. It has high L-arginine, which contributes to the NO system in the body. Both garlic and NO impact important physiological processes. Here we produced brown garlic, with significantly higher nutritional and therapeutic value compared to fresh and black garlic. Lower exhaled NO was recorded in asthmatic mice fed with brown garlic but with higher blood SNOs and no change in eNOS and iNOS expression. Lung biopsy showed reduced eosinophil accumulation in asthmatic mice fed with brown garlic. Real-time PCR and Western blot analyses indicated high expression of antioxidant genes but reduced interleukin genes, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-13, IL1β, and TNF-α brown garlic-fed asthmatic mice as compared to that in fresh and black garlic-fed asthmatic mice. This study provides the first comprehensive and conclusive insight into the nutritional benefits of brown garlic and its therapeutic value for the treatment of asthma in animals.

Conservation of wild food plants from wood uses: evidence supporting the protection hypothesis in Northeastern Brazil

BackgroundThe interplay between different uses of woody plants remains underexplored, obscuring our understanding of how a plant’s value for one purpose might shield it from other, more harmful uses. This study examines the protection hypothesis by determining if food uses can protect woody plants (trees and shrubs) from wood uses. We approached the hypothesis from two distinct possibilities: (1) the protective effect is proportional to the intensity of a species’ use for food purposes, and (2) the protective effect only targets key species for food purposes.MethodsThe research was conducted in a rural community within “Restinga” vegetation in Northeast Brazil. To identify important food species for both consumption and income (key species) and the collection areas where they naturally occur, we conducted participatory workshops. We then carried out a floristic survey in these areas to identify woody species that coexist with the key species. Voucher specimens were used to create a field herbarium, which, along with photographs served as visual stimuli during the checklist interviews. The interviewees used a five-point Likert scale to evaluate the species in terms of perceived wood quality, perceived availability, and use for food and wood purposes. To test our hypothesis, we used Cumulative Link Mixed Models (CLMMs), with the wood use as the response variable, food use, perceived availability and perceived quality as the explanatory variables and the interviewee as a random effect. We performed the same model replacing food use for key species food use (a binary variable that had value 1 when the information concerned a key species with actual food use, and value 0 when the information did not concern a key species or concerned a key species that was not used for food purposes).ResultsConsistent with our hypothesis, we identified a protective effect of food use on wood use. However, this effect is not directly proportional to the species’ food use, but is confined to plants with considerable domestic food importance. Perceived availability and quality emerged as notable predictors for wood uses.ConclusionWe advocate for biocultural conservation strategies that enhance the food value of plants for their safeguarding, coupled with measures for non-edible woody species under higher use-pressure.

Identification and Characterization of Multi-Mycotoxins Recovered from Dry Corn in Selected Markets in Enugu Metropolis, Enugu State, Nigeria

Corn is an important food crop that forms a major meal plan in Nigeria. Its high nutritious value also makes it perfect for fungi to thrive and produce its metabolites. Mycotoxin is a fungi metabolite that is toxic to both humans and animals. This study aimed at isolation of fungi from corn vended in selected markets in Enugu metropolis, identification and characterization of mycotoxin produced from the isolates. A total of 9 corn samples were collected from 3 different markets in Enugu metropolis comprising of Emene ,Ogbete and New markets respectively . The samples were cultured on potatoes dextrose agar for isolation, isolates were identified and characterized by cultural, biochemical and microscopic analysis of the organisms; selected isolates were further characterized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The isolates were subjected for mycotoxin production by culturing in potatoe dextrose broth for 14 days at 35°C after which the filtrates were assayed for the presence of mycotoxin using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) and individual aflatoxins were further characterized using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). From the study, Fusarium and Aspergillus flavus occurred at 66% respectively, Aspergillus niger at 55%, Mucor spp at 77%, Penicillium spp at 33%, and Aspergillus fumigates at 44%. PCR amplified products of the selected isolates showed positive amplification at 650bp for internal transcribed spacer gene. Mycotoxins identified from isolates were aflatotoxin, ochratoxin A (OTA), citrinin, patulin, citreoviridin, T-2 toxin, deoxynivalenol (DON), diacetoxyscirpenol, zearalenone (ZEN), nivalenol, Ht-2 toxin, cyclopiazonic acid with ochratoxin A, Diacetoxyscirpenol and Ht-2 toxin being above consumption limit at 2.64ug/kg,1.27ug/kg and 424.48ug/kg respectively. The isolates showed varied concentration of individual aflatoxins comprising of B1, B2, G1 and G2. These aflatoxins were produced by Aspergillus flavus strain ZMXL11, Aspergillus flavus strain AF-13, and Penicillium citrinin PEN-65 among, B1 was found to be above the maximum limit at 99% in all the isolates.Aflatoxin has been found as to be a group 1 carcinogen implicated in liver cancer. Constant consumption of mycotoxin contaminated corn could lead to varying health risk that includes liver cancer, kidney and gastrointestinal disturbances. This study showed that corn sold in selected markets in Enugu metropolis were contaminated with mycotoxigenic fungi that produced high levels of mycotoxin concentrations which is of public health concern.

Canonical correlations between wheat traits in multienvironment trials

ABSTRACT Wheat is a crop of great food importance for food production in Brazil. However, the improvement of this crop is still concentrated in isolated areas, which hinders advances in new cultivation regions due to the extensive demand for existing information. In this investigation, four wheat genotypes analysed to study associations and interrelationships between wheat traits across nine environments during the agricultural years of 2016, 2017 and 2018. The experiment was conducted using a randomised block design with four repetitions, and the analysis was divided into two groups: morphological and productive traits of wheat, comprising three and eleven characteristics, respectively. Canonical correlations between the morphological and productive groups were found to be dependent in most environments. Taller plants with longer main spikes and longer tiller spikes can be indirectly selected to increase grain yield under different sowing conditions. The information generated in this study indicate that some care must be taken when using the interrelations between trait groups to select or recommend genotypes for broader regions, as these relationships are influenced by the specific conditions of each region and sub-region.

Progress on the Effect of Drought on Sorghum Growth and Its Response Mechanisms

Drought is one of the key factors limiting the increase in crop yields in China and one of the main abiotic stresses affecting the growth and development of sorghum. With currence of global extreme climate become more frequent, the risk of sorghum suffering from drought stress is increasing. Although sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.)) is an important food crop, its growth and yield will be significantly affected under abiotic stresses (such as drought, salinity, high temperature and low temperature). Therefore, it is of great significance to study the response mechanism of sorghum drought stress. This study summarized the effects of drought stress on sorghum growth, including the effects of seed germination, leaves and roots. This study summarized the effects of drought stress on sorghum growth, including the effects of seed germination, leaves and roots. The response mechanisms of sorghum to drought stress was discussed from stomatal regulation, osmotic regulation and antioxidant system, and the ways to improve drought resistance of sorghum were prospected, so as to lay a foundation for further study on the morphology, physiological characteristics and molecular mechanism of drought resistance of sorghum and provide theoretical reference for workers engaged in sorghum production and related research.

Performance of Wheat Genotypes under Irrigated Conditions in Far Western Terai of Nepal

Wheat, the most important food crop in terms of food and nutrition security in Nepal, production could not meet the demand of growing population due to limited use of high yielding variety and use of inappropriate variety in the context of increasing heat stress during ripening. For assessing the performance of different wheat genotypes, this study was carried out during November 2022 to April 2023 at Agronomy Farm of Far Western University, Kailali, Nepal. The study was designed in Randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Eleven genotypes with nine Nepal lines and two Bhairhawa lines were evaluated and compared with a popular variety, Vijay for their performance at Tikapur condition. The result revealed the highest grain yield from NL 1506, recording 3.36 t/ha, which was statistically at par with NL 1452, NL 1488 and BL 5116 at 5% level of significance. The popular variety Vijay yielded only 3.02 t/ha which was statistically at par with NL 1638, but was inferior to NL 1450. Statistically poor performance was observed in the genotypes NL 1445 and BL 4984.

Optimum Seeding and Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates for Maximizing Yield and Sustaining Rain-Fed Lowland Rice (<i>Oryza Sativa </i>L.) in Fogera Plain North-western Ethiopia

Rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.) is increasingly becoming an important food crop in Ethiopia. However, the average rice productivity in Ethiopia is estimated at 2.8 t ha<sup>-1</sup> which is much lower than the world average, 4.6 t ha<sup>-1</sup>. Its productivity is challenged due to a lack of appropriate and location-specific agronomic practices like the application of optimum doses of nitrogen fertilizer and the use of optimum seeding rates. Thus, a field experiment was conducted in Fogera district in South Gondar Zone, Northwestern Ethiopia during the 2021 main cropping season to determine the optimum dose of N level and seeding rate. The treatments comprised factorial combinations of four levels of N (134, 184, 234 and 284 kg ha<sup>-1</sup>) and four different seeding rates (60, 80, 100, and 120 kg ha<sup>-1</sup>). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design and replicated thrice. All data on phenology, vegetative growth yield and yield-related parameters were collected and measured following scientific standards of each parameter. Those data were subjected to analysis of variance using the general linear model (GLM) procedures of SAS 9.0 version system. Economic analysis was also carried out by following CIMMYT partial budget analysis procedures. The analysis result showed the main effects of both, different levels of nitrogen and different rate of seeding, and their interactions showed highly significant effect on the number of both total and effective tillers, grain filling, panicle length, phonological parameters, totals spikelet’s, thousands seed weight, grain yield, biological yield and straw yield. Application of 184 kg N ha<sup>-1</sup> level with a seeding rate 100 kg ha<sup>-1</sup> gave the maximum grain yield (6,641 kg ha<sup>-1</sup>), the highest number of effective tillers per m<sup>2</sup> (792) and filled grains per panicle (95.34). Furthermore, the highest net return of ETB 118,850 with acceptable marginal rate of return (2,313%) was also obtained from the application of 184 kg N ha-<sup>1</sup> level and a seeding rate 100 kg ha<sup>-1</sup>. From the current research experiment, it is possible to conclude that increasing seeding rate beyond 100 kg ha<sup>-1 </sup>and N above 184 kg N ha<sup>-1</sup> is not economical yield of rice <i>“Selam’’ </i>variety in the study area. Rather, use of 184 kg N ha<sup>-1</sup> and seeding rate of 100 kg ha<sup>-1</sup> is promising for Lowland Rice (<i>Selam</i>) variety production under the rain fed condition in Fogera Plains and similar agro-ecologies of rain-fed growing area of Ethiopia for better economic and agronomic advantage.

Genetic markers identify duplicates in Nordic potato collections.

The first small scale cultivation of potatoes in the Nordic countries began roughly 300 years ago, and later became an important staple food in the region. Organized conservation efforts began in the 1980s, and today, potato landraces, improved varieties, and breeding lines are conserved in genebanks at the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen), Sweden, and the Norwegian Genetic Resource Centre (NGS), Norway, as well as at potato breeding companies across Nordic countries. All these collections house a diverse array of genotypes with local names and local growing histories from the whole region. However, the presence of duplicates, and inconsistent naming has led to confusion. In this study, 198 accessions of cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) have been genotyped with 62 microsatellite (SSR) markers. The analyzed accessions came from three collections: 43 accessions from the Danish Potato Breeding Foundation in Vandel (LKF-Vandel), 90 from NordGen and 65 from NGS. The genetic analysis revealed 140 unique potato genotypes and 31 groups/clusters of duplicates, most of which contained duplicate pairs and the others three to ten accessions. Several accessions with distinct names were genetically identical or very similar, suggesting historical sharing, and regional distribution of seed potatoes, leading to the emergence of diverse local names. Moreover, many improved varieties from early potato breeding were revealed to have duplicates that have been considered Nordic landraces. Furthermore, potato accessions with identical names but originating from different collections were confirmed to be duplicates. These findings have already influenced management decisions and will further improve management practices for Nordic potato collections. Additionally, this new knowledge will benefit Nordic potato breeding efforts and allow for the dissemination of more accurate information to other users of potato diversity.

Technological usage of ripe banana pulp for the development of a salad dressing

Oxidized banana (OB) is one of the important food wastes which contains a high potential to use in different products such as salad dressing. OB is a good ingredient in salad dressing due to its presence of antioxidants, vitamins, dietary fibers, and starch. the current study aimed to replace OB with non-oxidized banana (T1: 0 % T2: 25 %, T3: 50 %, T4: 75 %, and T5: 100 % OB) in salad dressing formulation and focused on the effects of OB on color, sensory, physical, chemical, rheological properties, microbial growth, and consumer studies. E-nose and volatile compounds analysis by GC-MS was also performed. According to the results, L*, a*, and b* values decreased significantly (P < 0.5) leading to a darker color of the product and effected other color evaluations (Hue, chroma, and ∆E). Viscosity was decreased significantly by the addition of the OB in the dressing formulation while pH did not change between T5 and T1 treatments. All sensory attributes score (9-point hedonic scale) decreased and consumers were given of fact of OB salad dressing has environmental benefits. Steady shear flow measurements, frequency sweep analysis, and the thixotropic loop of the oxidized banana indicated that adding OB to salad dressing negatively affected textural properties. The most effective attributes are, texture, and color discriminating the underlying differences among all 5 treatments according to MANOVA Wilks’ P-values. McNemar’s test was applied to analyze before and after consumers had been given the information about OB environmental benefits indicating that emotional attributes were changed after knowing the fact state as well as the odds ratio predicted purchase intent which increased with an increase in overall liking, pleased, flavor, and satisfied attributes. The acceptability threshold for OB in salad dressing formulation is 50 % OB. Among the identified volatile organic compounds are acetic acid, hexanoic acid, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methylpropyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, and phenylethyl acetate. The volatile organic compounds identified are 3-methyl-butanoic acid, 2-methyl-butanoic acid, and (E)-2-Decenal. The electronic device could discriminate these aromas, and the results obtained agree with those of the tasting panel and the volatile compounds.

An efficient and generalisable approach for mapping paddy rice fields based on their unique spectra during the transplanting period leveraging the CIE colour space

As one of the most important staple foods globally, rice sustains nearly half of the world's population. Accurate and timely paddy rice mapping is, thus, essential for rice-related policy-making to ensure food security in the context of anthropogenic, environmental and climate changes. However, paddy rice mapping remains a challenging task since it usually has similar spectral characteristics to other land covers. In this research, for the first time, an entirely new approach, called RiceTColour, was proposed for mapping rice fields within the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) colour space based on their unique spectra during the rice transplanting period as observed in remotely sensed imagery. We demonstrate that transplanted rice fields, representing a mixture of soil, water and rice seedlings, consistently exhibit relatively low spectral values in both SWIR and NIR bands across various geographical locations, leading to their unique dark green colours in the false-colour image composed of SWIR, NIR and Red bands. Based upon this, we transformed these three spectral bands into the CIE colour space where paddy rice was found to be readily and completely separated from the other land covers. Straightforward, but specific classification criteria were established within the CIE colour space to differentiate paddy rice from the other land covers. The proposed RiceTColour, thus, represents a new approach for paddy rice identification, that is mapping paddy rice using the CIE colour space based upon the previous underexplored remotely sensed spectra of paddy fields during the transplanting season. The effectiveness of the proposed method was investigated over five rice-planting regions distributed across different geographical regions, characterised by different climates, rice cropping intensities, irrigation schemes and cultural practices. Specifically, the mapping criteria established in a training site (S1) were directly generalised to the other four sites (S2 to S5) for paddy rice mapping. Experimental results demonstrated that the RiceTColour method consistently achieved the most accurate and balanced classifications across all five sites compared with four benchmark comparators: a SAR-based method, an index-based method and two supervised classifier-based methods. In particular, the RiceTColour method performed relatively stable, producing an overall accuracy exceeding 95% in the training site (S1) as well as the four generalised sites (S2 to S5), which is an encouraging result. Such efficient yet stable rice mapping results across various rice-planting regions suggest a very strong generalisation capability of the proposed RiceTColour method. In consideration of the relatively large planting area of paddy rice fields globally, the proposed parameter-free, efficient, and generalisable RiceTColour method, thus, holds great potential for widespread application in various rice-planting areas worldwide.

Assessing Scotland’s self-sufficiency of major food commodities

BackgroundAnalysis of food self-sufficiency at the regional level helps to better understand its dependency on, and vulnerability to, the food system. Moreover, achieving food self-sufficiency has gained prominence in the present policy agenda to increase resilience to adverse events and lower food resource footprint. Using a novel method, we estimated the food balance sheets of Scotland, the second-largest region in the United Kingdom, and assessed the self-sufficiency of major food commodities for the first time.MethodsData from 2003 to 2019 were obtained from Economic Reports on Scottish Agriculture and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)’s family food statistics. Food import and export data are not readily available for Scotland. Therefore, we developed a consumption-based approach to estimate the net trade values of each commodity. We also assessed the contribution of domestic production toward nutrient security.ResultsAccording to our estimates, Scotland is a net exporter of beef, exporting an average of 51.3 thousand tons per year. It is also a net exporter of cereal (wheat, barley, oats) and potatoes, although this was not always the case between 2003 and 2019. Scotland has a strong level of self-sufficiency in cereals, potatoes, lamb, beef, dairy, and eggs. However, there is room for improvement in achieving self-sufficiency in poultry and pork, where the self-sufficiency ratio is relatively low. Our analysis of nutrient security indicates that wheat and dairy sourced from Scotland play crucial roles in the food supply chain, markedly influencing total energy, dietary protein, and primary dietary fat sources.ConclusionsOur assessment can serve as a foundation for evidence-based decision-making in Scotland's agricultural and food policy. It offers insights into where investments and support may be needed to enhance domestic production and promote a resilient and sustainable food system. Estimated self-sufficiency ratios provide a more accurate assessment of the extent of food localization in Scotland. The method we developed in this study has the potential to be a valuable tool for future research studies, allowing for the estimation of regional-level food self-sufficiency even when trade data and food balance sheets are unavailable.

Lactobacillus salivarius and Berberine Alleviated Yak Calves' Diarrhea via Accommodating Oxidation Resistance, Inflammatory Factors, and Intestinal Microbiota.

Yaks are important food animals in China; however, bacterial diarrheal diseases frequently occur on the plateau, with limited effective therapies. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of Lactobacillus salivarius (LS) and berberine in alleviating diarrhea in yak calves. For this purpose, eighteen healthy yak calves were divided into control (JC), infected (JM), and treatment (JT) groups. Yaks in the JT group were treated with 2 × 1010 CFU/calf L. salivarius and 20 mg/kg berberine, and yaks in the JM and JT groups were induced with multi-drug-resistant Escherichia coli. The results showed that the weight growth rate in the JM group was significantly lower than that in the JC and JT groups. The diarrhea score in the JM group was significantly higher than that in both the JC and JT groups. Additionally, the contents of T-AOC, SOD, GSH-Px, and IL-10 were significantly lower in the JM group than those in the JC and JT groups, while MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were significantly higher in the JM group. Microbiota sequencing identified two phyla and twenty-seven genera as significant among the yak groups. Notably, probiotic genera such as Faecalibaculum and Parvibacter were observed, alongside harmful genera, including Marvinbryantia and Lachnospiraceae UCG-001. Our findings indicate that treatment with L. salivarius and berberine significantly reduced diarrhea incidence, improved growth performance, and positively modulated intestinal microbiota, which could provide novel insights for developing new therapies for ruminant diarrhea.

Awareness and knowledge of cardiovascular disease and their associations with the lifestyles of 8-16-year-old girls: a perspective from Saudi Arabia

BackgroundThere has been an increased focus on children as a target for primordial prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In particular, girls should receive attention to combat the burden of CVD in women, because women have higher CVD mortality and morbidity rates than men do. As health literacy is paramount, the evaluation of awareness, and knowledge of CVD and its risk factors and their associations with the lifestyles of girls forms the basis for planning cardiovascular health promotion programs aiming to improve girls’ immediate health and reduce the future burden of CVD among women.MethodsA prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on a random sample of girls attending elementary and intermediate schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The girls completed a newly validated 24-item questionnaire that assessed their demographic data, lifestyles, and awareness and knowledge of CVD and its risk factors. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurements were obtained. Knowledge scores were calculated on the basis of correct responses and compared between subgroups via analysis of variance to determine associated factors.ResultsIn total, 469 girls (mean age of 12.5 years) were included. Approximately 41.4% of them did not exercise or only exercised once a week. The dietary intake of important food groups was below or just at the minimal recommended servings for most. Overall, 44.1% were overweight/obese, and almost half were identified as hypertensive on the basis of a single resting measurement. Awareness of CVD as a dangerous disease in adults was 50.3%, whereas, cancer was identified by 61% of participants. Individual risk factors were identified by ≈ 25%, and 16.6% were not aware of any risk factors. The overall knowledge score of the participants was 2.6 (± 1.6) out of a total possible score of 8 representing 32.5% (± 20%). Knowledge levels were positively influenced by increasing school grade (P = 0.001) and family history of CVD (P < 0.001). There was no significant favorable association between improved knowledge level and lifestyle factors.ConclusionThe awareness and knowledge of CVD among girls aged 8–16 years are poor and are largely dissociated from their lifestyle. Improved knowledge scores with increasing school grade and family history of CVD confirm a role for schools and families in improving girls’ knowledge. Our findings mirror those obtained in older women, showing that misinformation among women starts in childhood and should be targeted early in life.