Range Of Agricultural Commodities Research Articles

Development and in-house validation of a rapid and simple to use ELISA for the detection and measurement of the mycotoxin sterigmatocystin

Sterigmatocystin (STG) is a highly toxic secondary fungal metabolite structurally closely related to the well-known carcinogenic aflatoxins. Its presence has been reported in grains and grain-based products as well as in other foodstuffs like nuts, green coffee beans, spices, beer and cheese. Due to the lack of suitable data on the occurrence of STG, in 2013, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) could not characterise its risk for human health and recommended that more data on STG in food and feed needed to be collected. In order to provide a new tool for the specific detection of STG, a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed, optimised and validated in this study based on a sensitive monoclonal antibody specific to STG with no cross-reactivity with aflatoxins. The sample preparation method for rice, wheat and maize was based on a modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) approach. The assay was validated for the detection of STG in rice, wheat and maize in accordance with the guidelines for validation of semi-quantitative screening methods included in Commission Regulation (EU) 519/2014. The screening target concentration (STC) was set at 1.5μg/kg. The cutoffs for rice, wheat and maize were 1.2, 1.2 and 1.3μg/kg and the false suspected rates were 0.34, 1.15 and 0.78%, respectively. Good correlation was found between the results obtained by the STG ELISA and LC-MS/MS method for naturally contaminated rice samples. This validated method can be applied as a sensitive and high-throughput screening for the presence of STG in a range of agricultural commodities. Graphical abstract A new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on an antibody specific to sterigmatocystin for the detection of this mycotoxin in corn, wheat and rice.

The Information Transmission between China and the US Agricultural Commodity Markets

This study examines both long-run and short-run linkages between futures and spot prices for a wide range of agricultural commodities in China and the US. We use the Johansen cointegration test to examine the long-run equilibrium relationship in both multivariate and bivariate contexts. The VECM model is used to examine the information transmission in the short-run. Finally, we use Granger causality test to investigate how the information transmission pattern changes under different economic conditions. We find long-run equilibrium relationships between spot and futures prices in the Chinese markets, as well as the futures prices in China and the US. The long-run relationship is consistent with the LOP theory, which indicates that prices of identical assets in different markets should have the same stream of future cash flows after all adjustments. The short-run analyses show the robust bidirectional relationship between futures and spot prices in China, and the futures prices in China and the US. The findings indicate that Chinese agricultural commodity futures played a significant role in the global commodity futures markets. The GFC subsample results are mixed. In general, the domestic information becomes more important compared to the information in the international markets during the crisis and post crisis periods. Whereas, the US futures markets play important price discovery role than Chinese ones during and after crisis in the bivariate context. The findings of this study contribute to the existing literature on information transmission in agriculture commodity markets in the emerging nations by including the futures markets in China and the futures markets of USA, which is a global dominant market. Study also includes the underlying asset market to provide the relationship among all three asset markets. The findings of this study may have important implication for policy makers in emerging markets who seek to develop policies for stability of the commodity prices.

Detecting Plant Diseases Using Visible/Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Introduction P alestine Technical University– Kadoorie (PTUK) is one of 13 higher educational institutes in Palestine. PTUK is the first and only technical and governmental university in the West Bank. It is located on the western side of the city of Tulkarm and serves the Palestinian community in the Palestinian governorates. PTUK was established in 1930 as an agricultural school (Figure 1) and was then developed to provide Diploma programmes in various disciplines. The university went through different phases of development until it was accredited as a university on August 2007 to provide technical programmes at various levels including Diploma and Bachelor degrees in different areas in engineering and applied technology. Currently there are about 5000 students enrolled in PTUK. PTUK is particularly interested in teaching and delivering knowledge of applied science in the fields of agricultural and evnironmental sciences. On the basis of its three units (biotechnology, water and environment, and agriculture), PTUK established the Technical and Applied Research Center (TARC) in 2009. Several research projects are being conducted at TARC including phytopathology, soil, air and water pollution as well as sensor technology for non-destructive quality assesment of agricultural commodities. PTUK is very interested in the olive sector in Palestine, since olive trees cover approximately 45% of Palestinian agricultural lands. The tree is very important in the economic and social lives of the population, as it accounts for one of their main sources of income; in a good year, it can contribute about 13% of the annual agricultural production. The olive (Olea europaea L.) is one of the oldest agricultural trees and is cultivated over large areas in Palestine, with more than 10 million olive trees (about 67.3% of all horticultural trees) being grown. Olive production contributes about 12–13% of national income. The olive tree is affected by many pests and diseases. Olive leaf spot (OLS) is a foliar disease which is widespread in all olive growing regions of the world and has been reported in Mediterranean areas (Figure 2). As a result of infection, yield losses occur and these can amount to up to 20% of total production. Olive leaf spot is chemicallycontrolled by application of copper (Cu) fungicides directly after harvest but chemical treatment rarely appears to be effective. Moreover, using chemical fungicides leads to the appearance of pathogen races which are resistant to Cu as well as more general imbalance of the plant metabolism following Cu accumulation in the soil. In Palestine, the disease is common throughout many areas of the southern and northern parts of the country. The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, NGOs and several private institutions work with the olive sector to provide guidance and information about improving olive crop production and protection. Visible/near infrared (vis/NIR) spectroscopy is a mature sensor technology that has been successfully applied to the noninvasive analysis and detection of many parameters (for example, quality, stress and presence of disease) of a wide range of agricultural commodities. Due to its success, vis/NIR spectroscopy was used in this feasibility study to detect the severity of OLS disease in olive trees.

Agricultural and Food Marketing in the United Kingdom

Given the diversity of agrifood marketing in the U.K., in terms of the range of agricultural commodities and value-added products produced, the many and varied marketing structures used, and the numerous legislative and policy instruments involved, it is not possible in this paper to provide a comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the system. The approach has been rather to provide the volume's international readership with a selective view of the U.K. agrifood marketing system, concentrating on some topical issues. This approach has the benefit of allowing more in-deplh consideration of important issues, and a focus on topics where the U.K. exhibits a degree of uniqueness amongst its E.C. partners. The paper therefore presents an international readership with an analysis of truly "U.K. issues."

Preparation of twelve candidate agricultural reference materials

A cost-effective approach to monitoring and maintaining reliability of analytical procedures is by the incorporation of appropriate, compositionally similar reference materials into the scheme of analysis. Agricultural and food commodities represent an extremely wide range of composition, in respect of the sought-for analyte and the supporting material (matrix), not fully reflected in currently available biological reference materials (BRM's). With the view to attempting to fill some of the gaps in the world repertoire of reference materials and to have suitable products for our laboratories' use, preparation has been completed of twelve candidate agricultural reference materials. These products, representing a number of food classes, include bovine muscle powder, hard red spring wheat flour, soft winter wheat flour, durum wheat flour, wheat gluten, corn bran, corn starch, potato starch, whole egg powder, whole milk powder, microcrystalline cellulose, and sugar. Preparative steps included, as required, freeze drying, grinding or ball milling, X-ray sterilization, sieving, blending and packaging to yield sizeable quantities of each material in finely powdered form. Cooperative analytical effort is expected to lead to characterization in respect of concentrations of a number of nutritionally, toxicologically and environmentally-pertinent, major, minor, and trace chemical elements. These materials will then be available for analytical chemical data quality control for inorganic constituents in a range of agricultural commodities.