Water-soluble Sugars Research Articles

Ability to Remove Na+ and Retain K+ Correlates with Salt Tolerance in Two Maize Inbred Lines Seedlings.

Maize is moderately sensitive to salt stress; therefore, soil salinity is a serious threat to its production worldwide. Here, excellent salt-tolerant maize inbred line TL1317 and extremely salt-sensitive maize inbred line SL1303 were screened to understand the maize response to salt stress and its tolerance mechanisms. Relative water content, membrane stability index, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, maximum photochemical efficiency, photochemical efficiency, shoot and root fresh/dry weight, and proline and water soluble sugar content analyses were used to identify that the physiological effects of osmotic stress of salt stress were obvious and manifested at about 3 days after salt stress in maize. Moreover, the ion concentration of two maize inbred lines revealed that the salt-tolerant maize inbred line could maintain low Na+ concentration by accumulating Na+ in old leaves and gradually shedding them to exclude excessive Na+. Furthermore, the K+ uptake and retention abilities of roots were important in maintaining K+ homeostasis for salt tolerance in maize. RNA-seq and qPCR results revealed some Na+/H+ antiporter genes and Ca2+ transport genes were up-regulated faster and higher in TL1317 than those in SL1303. Some K+ transport genes were down-regulated in SL1303 but up-regulated in TL1317. RNA-seq results, along with the phenotype and physiological results, suggested that the salt-tolerant maize inbred line TL1317 possesses more rapidly and effectively responses to remove toxic Na+ ions and maintain K+ under salt stress than the salt-sensitive maize inbred line SL1303. This response should facilitate cell homoeostasis under salt stress and result in salt tolerance in TL1317.

Food selection in relation to nutritional chemistry of Cao Vit gibbons in Jingxi, China

The Cao Vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus) has only one population with about 110 individuals living in a degraded karst forest along the China-Vietnam border. Investigation of food choice in relation to chemical nutrition will offer important insights into its conservation. We studied the food choice of two groups of Cao Vit gibbons using instantaneous scan sampling in Bangliang National Nature Reserve, Guangxi, China, over 4years, and analyzed the chemical components (total nitrogen, TN; water-soluble sugar, WSS; crude fat, CF; neutral detergent fiber, NDF; acid detergent fiber, ADF; acid detergent lignin, ADL; condensed tannin, CT; and ash) of 48 food plant parts and 22 non-food plant parts. Fruits and figs that are rich in sugar are important food resources for gibbons. For other food types, flowers are a good source of total nitrogen and carbohydrates, and leaves and buds provide sources of protein and minerals. Cao Vit gibbons selected fruits that contain less total nitrogen, less acid detergent fiber and more water-soluble sugar than non-food fruits. Several food species that were heavily consumed by Cao Vit gibbons are suggested as potential tree species for ongoing habitat restoration.

Rice NAC transcription factor ONAC095 plays opposite roles in drought and cold stress tolerance.

BackgroundThe NAC (NAM, ATAF and CUC) transcriptional factors constitute a large family with more than 150 members in rice and some of them have been demonstrated to play crucial roles in plant abiotic stress response. Here, we report the characterization of a rice stress-responsive NAC gene, ONAC095, and the exploration of its function in drought and cold stress tolerance.ResultsExpression of ONAC095 was up-regulated by drought stress and abscisic acid (ABA) but down-regulated by cold stress. ONAC095 protein had transactivation activity and the C2 domain in C-terminal was found to be critical for transactivation activity. Transgenic rice lines with overexpression of ONAC095 (ONAC095-OE) and dominant chimeric repressor-mediated suppression of ONAC095 (ONAC095-SRDX) were generated. The ONAC095-OE plants showed comparable phenotype to wild type under drought and cold stress conditions. However, the ONAC095-SRDX plants displayed an improved drought tolerance but exhibited an attenuated cold tolerance. The ONAC095-SRDX plants had decreased water loss rate, increased proline and soluble sugar contents, and up-regulated expression of drought-responsive genes under drought condition, whereas the ONAC095-SRDX plants accumulated excess reactive oxygen species, increased malondialdehyde content and down-regulated expression of cold-responsive genes under cold condition. Furthermore, ONAC095-SRDX plants showed an increased ABA sensitivity, contained an elevated ABA level, and displayed altered expression of ABA biosynthetic and metabolic genes as well as some ABA signaling-related genes.ConclusionFunctional analyses through dominant chimeric repressor-mediated suppression of ONAC095 demonstrate that ONAC095 plays opposite roles in drought and cold stress tolerance, acting as a negative regulator of drought response but as a positive regulator of cold response in rice.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-016-0897-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Metabolism of poplar salicinoids by the generalist herbivore Lymantria dispar (Lepidoptera)

The survival of insect herbivores on chemically defended plants may often depend on their ability to metabolize these defense compounds. However, only little knowledge is available on how insects actually process most plant defense compounds. We investigated the metabolism of salicinoids, a major group of phenolic glycosides in poplar and willow species, by a generalist herbivore, the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar). Seven salicinoid metabolites identified in gypsy moth caterpillar feces were mostly conjugates with glucose, cysteine or glycine. Two of the glucosides were phosphorylated, a feature not previously reported for insect metabolites of plant defense compounds. The origins of these metabolites were traced to specific moieties of three major poplar salicinoids ingested, salicin, salicortin and tremulacin. Based on the observed metabolite patterns we were able to deduce the initial steps of salicinoid breakdown in L. dispar guts, which involves cleavage of ester bonds. The conjugated molecules were effectively eliminated within 24 h after ingestion. Some of the initial breakdown products (salicin and catechol) demonstrated negative effects on insect growth and survival in bioassays on artificial diets. Gypsy moth caterpillars with prior feeding experience on salicinoid-containing poplar foliage converted salicinoids to the identified metabolites more efficiently than caterpillars pre-fed an artificial diet. The majority of the metabolites we identified were also produced by other common poplar-feeding insects. The conversion of plant defenses like salicinoids to a variety of water-soluble sugar, phosphate and amino acid conjugates and their subsequent excretion fits the general detoxification strategy found in insect herbivores and other animals.

Preparation of polymer-blended quinine nanocomposite particles by spray drying and assessment of their instrumental bitterness-masking effect using a taste sensor

Context: The development of taste-masking technologies for foods and drugs is essential because it would enable people to consume and receive healthy and therapeutic effect without distress.Objective: In the current study, in order to develop a novel method to prepare nanocomposite particles (microparticles containing bitter nanoparticles) in only one step, by using spray drying, a two-solution mixing nozzle-equipped spray dryer that we previously reported was used. The nanocomposite particles with or without poorly water-soluble polymers prepared using our spray-drying technique were characterized.Methods: (1) The organic solution containing quinine, a model of bitter compound and poorly water-soluble polymers and (2) sugar alcohol (mannitol) aqueous solution were separately flown in tubes and two solutions were spray dried through two-solution type spray nozzle to prepare polymer-blended quinine nanocomposite particles. Mean diameters of nanoparticles, taste-masking effect and dissolution rate of quinine were evaluated.Results: The results of taste masking by taste sensor suggested that the polymer (Eudragit EPO, Eudragit S100 or Ethyl cellulose)-blended quinine nanocomposite particles exhibited marked masking of instrumental quinine bitterness compared with the quinine nanocomposite particles alone. Quinine nanocomposite formulations altered the quinine dissolution rate, indicating that they can control intestinal absorption of quinine.Conclusion: These results suggest that polymer-blended quinine composite particles prepared using our spray-drying technique are useful for masking bitter tastes in the field of food and pharmaceutical industry.

The sucrose non-fermenting 1-related kinase 2 gene SAPK9 improves drought tolerance and grain yield in rice by modulating cellular osmotic potential, stomatal closure and stress-responsive gene expression.

BackgroundFamily members of sucrose non-fermenting 1-related kinase 2 (SnRK2), being plant-specific serine/threonine protein kinases, constitute the central core of abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent and ABA-independent signaling pathways, and are key regulators of abiotic stress adaptation in plants. We report here the functional characterization of SAPK9 gene, one of the 10 SnRK2s of rice, through developing gain-of-function and loss-of-function phenotypes by transgenesis.ResultsThe gene expression profiling revealed that the abundance of single gene-derived SAPK9 transcript was significantly higher in drought-tolerant rice genotypes than the drought-sensitive ones, and its expression was comparatively greater in reproductive stage than the vegetative stage. The highest expression of SAPK9 gene in drought-tolerant Oryza rufipogon prompted us to clone and characterise the CDS of this allele in details. The SAPK9 transcript expression was found to be highest in leaf and upregulated during drought stress and ABA treatment. In silico homology modelling of SAPK9 with Arabidopsis OST1 protein showed the bilobal kinase fold structure of SAPK9, which upon bacterial expression was able to phosphorylate itself, histone III and OsbZIP23 as substrates in vitro. Transgenic overexpression (OE) of SAPK9 CDS from O. rufipogon in a drought-sensitive indica rice genotype exhibited significantly improved drought tolerance in comparison to transgenic silencing (RNAi) lines and non-transgenic (NT) plants. In contrast to RNAi and NT plants, the enhanced drought tolerance of OE lines was concurrently supported by the upgraded physiological indices with respect to water retention capacity, soluble sugar and proline content, stomatal closure, membrane stability, and cellular detoxification. Upregulated transcript expressions of six ABA-dependent stress-responsive genes and increased sensitivity to exogenous ABA of OE lines indicate that the SAPK9 is a positive regulator of ABA-mediated stress signaling pathways in rice. The yield-related traits of OE lines were augmented significantly, which resulted from the highest percentage of fertile pollens in OE lines when compared with RNAi and NT plants.ConclusionThe present study establishes the functional role of SAPK9 as transactivating kinase and potential transcriptional activator in drought stress adaptation of rice plant. The SAPK9 gene has potential usefulness in transgenic breeding for improving drought tolerance and grain yield in crop plants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-016-0845-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Biochemical Composition and Phosphorus Use Efficiency in Some Mixtures

In pot trial the biochemical composition and phosphorus use efficiency of birdsfoot trefoil, sainfoin and subterranean clover grown pure and in mixtures with perennial ryegrass in the next ratios were studied in the Institute of Forage Crops, Pleven, Bulgaria: birdsfoot trefoil + perennial ryegrass (50:50%); sainfoin + perennial ryegrass (50:50%); subterranean clover + perennial ryegrass (50:50%); birdsfoot trefoil + subterranean clover + perennial ryegrass (33:33:33%); sainfoin + subterranean clover + perennial ryegrass (33:33:33%). The highest crude protein content was found in the aboveground mass of birdsfoot trefoil (19.17%) and sainfoin (19.30%). The water soluble sugars contents in mixtures was found higher compared to the pure grown legumes. Birdsfoot trefoil showed the highest phosphorus use efficiency for plant biomass accumulation and nodules formation. In mixtures the phosphorus use efficiency was found be higher as compared to the same in pure grown legumes.

The Effect of Ultrasonic Extraction of Soluble Sugars from the Wood Filler on the Strength Properties of the Composite Based on Mineral Binder

One of the main problems of wood as filler in the production of composite materials based on mineral binder is "cement poisons". Article presents the results of research of the processes of "cement poisons" removal from wood raw material for the production of cement-bonded particleboards. In the research process the treatment of wood raw material was carried out in two ways: by boiling of the crushed wood and by ultrasonic treatment in water. It has been found that ultrasonic treatment significantly intensifies and increases the extraction of water-soluble sugars and, thus, causes an increase of the strength characteristics of cement-bonded particleboards. The conducted research shows the possibility of improvement of the technology of production of cement-bonded particleboards with the aim of improving their performance without significant capital investment.

Green anchors: Chelating properties of ATRP-click curcumin-polymer conjugates

The development of environmentally friendly and biologically benign effective systems to chelate and remove toxic heavy metal ions is of utmost importance. Curcumin, the active ingredient in the spice Turmeric is a known chelator of transition metals. The metal chelation ability of curcumin is severely limited by its hydrophobicity. The efficient synthesis of water soluble curcumin and sugar brush polymer conjugate via atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and click chemistry is reported here. The polymer conjugate selectively binds and precipitates a range of highly toxic metals that include cadmium, lead, and copper, under physiologically relevant conditions.

Tomato Jasmonic Acid-Deficient Mutant spr2 Seedling Response to Cadmium Stress

The involvement of jasmonic acid (JA) in the plant response to cadmium (Cd) stress has been addressed in some publications by application experiments or analysis of endogenous contents of JA. In this study, we comparatively investigated the response of tomato wild type (WT) and its JA-deficient mutant spr2 to Cd stress aimed at clarifying the role of JA. One-month-old potted plants were exposed to CdCl2 at final concentrations of 5, 25, and 50 mg kg−1 in soil, respectively, for 15 days. The root and leaf Cd contents were dramatically increased, especially in the spr2 plants, in a CdCl2 dose-effect manner. In the Cd dose-dependent inhibitory effect on plant growth, spr2 plants were more obvious than WT plants. This was also reflected by certain physiological and biochemical metabolisms. We analyzed photosynthesis-related parameters including total chlorophyll, actual efficiency of PS2, ratio of variable to maximum chlorophyll fluorescence, and net photosynthetic rate; relative water content, soluble sugar and proline contents, and starch accumulation; oxidative stress and antioxidative defense including malondialdehyde production, electrolyte leakage, H2O2 levels, activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase, and their isoform expression profiles. The Cd-induced changes in all these parameters supported the conclusion that endogenous JA deficiency enhanced tomato seedling sensitivity to Cd. This implies that JA positively regulates the tomato plant response to Cd stress.

Improved Shoot Regeneration, Salinity Tolerance and Reduced Fungal Susceptibility in Transgenic Tobacco Constitutively Expressing PR-10a Gene.

Plants in ecosystems are simultaneously exposed to abiotic and biotic stresses, which restrict plant growth and development. The complex responses to these stresses are largely regulated by plant hormones, which in turn, orchestrate the different biochemical and molecular pathways to maneuver stress tolerance. The PR-10 protein family is reported to be involved in defense regulation, stress response and plant growth and development. The JcPR-10a overexpression resulted in increased number of shoot buds in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), which could be due to high cytokinin to auxin ratio in the transgenics. The docking analysis shows the binding of three BAP molecules at the active sites of JcPR-10a protein. JcPR-10a transgenics showed enhanced salt tolerance, as was evident by increased germination rate, shoot and root length, relative water content, proline, soluble sugar and amino acid content under salinity. Interestingly, the transgenics also showed enhanced endogenous cytokinin level as compared to WT, which, further increased with salinity. Exposure of gradual salinity resulted in increased stomatal conductance, water use efficiency, photosynthesis rate and reduced transpiration rate. Furthermore, the transgenics also showed enhanced resistance against Macrophomina fungus. Thus, JcPR-10a might be working in co-ordination with cytokinin signaling in mitigating the stress induced damage by regulating different stress signaling pathways, leading to enhanced stress tolerance.

Tuz Stresine Maruz Bırakılan İki Buğday Çeşidinin Bazı Fizyolojik ve Biyokimyasal Özellikleri

Wheat is one of the main crops occupying a large area in the world and also in Iran. Salinity is one of the factors that decrease wheat growth and productivity. Therefore, to study the effects of different salinity levels, changes in lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzyme activities [catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and guaiacol peroxidase (GPX)], hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), membrane stability index (MSI), relative water content (RWC), soluble sugars, sodium (Na +) and potassium (K + ) ions in two wheat varieties (Hirmand and Karkheh) were investigated. Seedlings were subjected to 100 and 200 mM NaCl and hoagland’s solution as control for 20 days. Salinity stress increased GPX and CAT in both cultivars compared with control. At the same time, the APX enzyme increased in ‘Hirmand’, but had no significant change in ‘Karkheh’ compared with control. The amount of H 2 O 2 in ‘Hirmand’ did not significantly change in the saline condition compared with control, but showed a significant increase in ‘Karkheh’. The amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) in both cultivars under saline conditions increased in comparison with control. However, the highest increase was related to ‘Karkheh’. The results also showed a decrease in MSI in both of the cultivars. RWC decreased significantly in ‘Karkheh’ while in ‘Hirmand’ there was no significant change. Soluble sugars in both cultivars increased. The results indicated an increase in Na + in both cultivars. But K+ reduced in ‘Karkheh’ and did not change significantly in ‘Hirmand’. The K + /Na + ratio also decreased in both cultivars. These findings possibly suggest that by inducing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, no decrease in RWC, and K + , low increase of Na + and increasing the soluble sugars, ‘Hirmand’ has a better protection mechanism against salt-induced oxidative damage than ‘Karkheh’.

Effect of biomass heating time on bio-oil yields in a free fall fast pyrolysis reactor

The goal of this study is to evaluate the role of biomass heating time on bio-oil yield during fast pyrolysis in a free fall reactor. Biomass heating times were controlled using several configurations for conveying solids from the bottom of the free fall reactor. In all tests reactor wall temperature was 550°C, sweep gas flowrate was 18L/min, and heated reactor length was 2.77m, which set the minimum biomass heating time of approximately 1.4s (particles falling downward in sweep gas). Analysis of products included solid, liquid and gas mass yields; proximate analysis of the solids; and water-soluble sugar and carboxylic acid content of the liquid. These experiments showed that biomass continued to pyrolyze well beyond the few seconds frequently assumed to be adequate to achieve fast pyrolysis. Bio-oil yield increased with biomass heating times, even for times exceeding 40s. Analysis of liquid products suggests that hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin all contributed toward the longer than expected pyrolysis times.

Foliar Application of 24-Epibrassinolide Improved Salt Stress Tolerance of Perennial Ryegrass

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is a widely used turfgrass. In this study, the effect of exogenously applied 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) on salt stress tolerance of perennial ryegrass was investigated. The results indicated that pretreatment with four concentrations of EBR (0, 0.1, 10, 1000 nM) improved salt tolerance of perennial ryegrass. Exogenous EBR treatment decreased electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA), and H2O2 contents and enhanced the leaf relative water content (RWC), proline, soluble sugar, and soluble protein content under salt stress condition. Meanwhile, EBR reduced the accumulation of Na+ and increased K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ contents in leaves after salt treatment. Moreover, EBR pretreatment also increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity, as well as ascorbic acid (AsA) and glutathione contents. These results suggested that EBR improved salt tolerance by enhancing osmotic adjustment and antioxidant defense systems in perennial ryegrass.

Profiling and relationship of water-soluble sugar and protein compositions in soybean seeds

Sugar and protein are important quality traits in soybean seeds for making soy-based food products. However, the investigations on both compositions and their relationship have rarely been reported. In this study, a total of 35 soybean germplasms collected from Zhejiang province of China, were evaluated for both water-soluble sugar and protein. The total water-soluble sugar (TWSS) content of the germplasms studied ranged from 84.70 to 140.91mg/g and the water-soluble protein (WSP) content varied from 26.5% to 36.0%. The WSP content showed positive correlations with the TWSS and sucrose contents but negative correlations with the fructose and glucose contents. The clustering showed the 35 germplasms could be divided into four groups with specific contents of sugar and protein. The combination of water-soluble sugar and protein profiles provides useful information for future breeding and genetic research. This investigation will facilitate future work for seed quality improvement.

Expression of TaWRKY44, a wheat WRKY gene, in transgenic tobacco confers multiple abiotic stress tolerances.

The WRKY transcription factors have been reported to be involved in various plant physiological and biochemical processes. In this study, we successfully assembled 10 unigenes from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of wheat and designated them as TaWRKY44–TaWRKY53, respectively. Among these genes, a subgroup I gene, TaWRKY44, was found to be upregulated by treatments with PEG6000, NaCl, 4°C, abscisic acid (ABA), H2O2 and gibberellin (GA). The TaWRKY44-GFP fusion protein was localized to the nucleus of onion epidermal cells, and TaWRKY44 was able to bind to the core DNA sequences of TTGACC and TTAACC in yeast. The N-terminal of TaWRKY44 showed transcriptional activation activity. Expression of TaWRKY44 in tobacco plants conferred drought and salt tolerance and transgenic tobacco exhibited a higher survival rate, relative water content (RWC), soluble sugar, proline and superoxide dismutase (SOD) content, as well as higher activities of catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD), but less ion leakage (IL), lower contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), and H2O2. In addition, expression of TaWRKY44 also increased the seed germination rate in the transgenic lines under osmotic stress conditions while exhibiting a lower H2O2 content and higher SOD, CAT, and POD activities. Expression of TaWRKY44 upregulated the expression of some reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related genes and stress-responsive genes in tobacco under osmotic stresses. These data demonstrate that TaWRKY44 may act as a positive regulator in drought/salt/osmotic stress responses by either efficient ROS elimination through direct or indirect activation of the cellular antioxidant systems or activation of stress-associated gene expression.

Osmoregulation-mediated differential responses of field-grown fennel genotypes to drought

This study was aimed at examination of physiological and agronomic responses of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) to water deficit. Twelve fennel genotypes namely ‘Kashan’, ‘Urmia’, ‘Hamadan’, ‘Kerman’, ‘Shiraz’, ‘Birjand’, ‘Mashhad’, ‘Ardabil’, ‘Bushehr’, ‘Avicenna’, ‘Isfahan’, and ‘Yazd’ were subjected to four levels of irrigation (irrigation after 35%, 55%, 75%, and 85% depletion of available soil water) in a field study in two years. Leaf water potential, relative water content (RWC), proline, total soluble sugars, chlorophyll a (Chl a), b (Chl b), total (Chl a+b), a/b (Chl a/b) along with dry mass (DM), seed yield and its attributes and seed essential oil content were measured. Water deprivation left significant effects on all characteristics, i.e. in contrast to seed essential oil content and harvest index, the rest of the attributes were decreased significantly with drought intensification. Varietal differences in response to drought were meaningful for most of the traits; i.e. genotypic variations for DM, grain yield and stress susceptibility index (SSI) were consistent with differences among the genotypes in physiological traits such as leaf water potential, RWC, proline, soluble sugars and chl content. Genotypes were discriminated according to their response to drought and SSI. Drought tolerant genotypes (‘Yazd’, ‘Kerman, ‘Mashhad’ and ‘Shiraz’) exhibited a greater capacity for accumulation of osmotic solutes associated with higher leaf water potential and RWC, compared to drought sensitive genotypes (‘Ardabil’, ‘Avicenna’, ‘Hamadan’ and ‘Birjand’). From our findings, fennel could be appreciated as a promising species in potentiating alternative industrial-medicinal crops in the face of the eminent challenge of water scarcity in arid and semi-arid climatic regions.

EFFECTIVENESS OF POSTHARVEST SOLUTIONS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF CUT Oncidium varicosum (ORCHIDACEAE) INFLORESCENCES

The orchid Oncidium varicosum is a tropical plant with significant commercial value due to the beauty of its yellow inflorescences. Several authors have observed a reduction in the water content of cut flowers, consequently, wilting and senescence of petals are the main reasons for the termination of the decorative life of cut flowers. In this research, we studied the effects of several chemical compounds on the postharvest life of cut inflorescences of Oncidium varicosum 'Samurai'. These chemicals are as follows: sucrose (5%) plus 8-hidroxiquinoline citrate (8-HQC) (100 mg L-1) plus silver nitrate (AgNO3) (50 mg L-1); sucrose (5%) plus citric acid (75 mg L-1); quaternary ammonia at 30% (50 mg L-1); and sucrose (5%) plus quaternary ammonia at 30% (50 mg L-1). The highest values for average of relative water content, reducing carbohydrates and soluble sugars were recorded in the flowers treated with the sucrose (5%) plus 8-HQC (100 mg L-1) plus AgNO3 (50 mg L-1) solution. A reduction in color intensity occurred at 12 days postharvest in all treatments and the carotenoid content was reduced to the greatest extent in flowers maintained in distilled water. The lowest numbers of open flowers were observed at 12 and 15 days in the distilled water and quaternary ammonium treatments, being that the others treatments favored the anthesis. The Oncidium inflorescences treated with sucrose plus HQC plus AgNO3 demonstrated a higher number of open flowers and reached the longest longevity (22 days).

Preparation of biochar catalyst with saccharide and lignocellulose residues of corncob degradation for corncob hydrolysis into furfural

This paper presented a novel process for production of furfural by hydrothermal degradation of corncob over biochar catalyst, in which it was prepared with the recycling degradation solution and lignocellulosic solid residues. The biochar catalyst was papered by lignocellulose residues and concentrated saccharide solution, and then impregnated in 0.5 mol/L sulphuric acid at room temperature for 24 h assisted by the ultrasonic vibration. In the system of recycling, 8.8 % lignocellulose residues and 100 % concentrated saccharide solution from corncob hydrolysis have been recycled. Hydrolysis of corncob was carried out at 180 °C for duration of 170 min over the biochar catalyst. The experimental results have shown that the furfural yield of up to 37.75 % and overall corncob conversion rate of 62.00 % could be achieved under optimum operating conditions for the catalysts preparation and the corncob hydrolysis. It is believed that the acid density of 4.27 mmol/g of biochar catalyst makes the SO3H groups cleave β-1,4 glycosidic linkages effectively and hydrolyze the cellulose and hemicellulose to water-soluble sugars, as well as to facilitate dehydration of xylose to give the product of furfural.

Experimental and theoretical study of carbohydrate–ionic liquid interactions

With increasing interest in the use of lignocellulosic biomass for the production of renewable transportation fuels, new approaches for biomass pretreatment have been of considerable interest. The conversion of biomass cellulose to water-soluble sugars is currently one of the most intensive demands worldwide. The use of ionic liquids has been described as a new potentially viable development in this area. Indeed, previous work indicates that carbohydrates are soluble in some imidazolium based ionic liquids. For a better understanding of the behavior of such systems, theoretical quantum chemical calculation have become complementarities of experimental measurements. The goal of this work is to investigate the fundamental natures of the interaction between glucose or cellulose and imidazolium based ionic liquids using ab initio calculations and comparing these results with experimental data. Furthermore, a characterization study was made to investigate the changes in the cellulose structure during the process of solubility and regeneration with ionic liquids.