Tag Archives: 8-2

Evangelia Gouva^1,2*, Cosmas Nathanailides¹, Ioannis Paschos¹, Fotini Athanassopoulou², Ioannis S. Pappas²

¹Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ioannina, Kostakioi Arta, 47100, Arta, Greece

²Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly, Trikalon str. 224, 43100 Karditsa, Greece

Abstract

The current study looks at acute and sub-lethal Copper toxicity on developing zebrafish embryos up to 96 hours post fertilisation (PSF). We allocated four-hour PSF zebrafish embryos in four groups with duplicates, and 500 mg, 50 mg, and 0.05 mg l⁻¹ and a control group for 96 hours PSF. All fish exposed to 500 mg l⁻¹ copper died within the first 6 hours PSF. Significant sub-lethal copper toxic effects on developing Zebrafish were manifested in the 0.05 and the 50 mg groups, by increased heartbeat rate within the first 25 hours PSF in the 0.05 and 50 mg group. The sub-lethal toxic effect was also manifested in the metabolism of developing embryos, with a reduced rate of utilisation of yolk and lower growth rate and anatomical malformations within the first 25 hours in the 50 mg group and after 50 hours PSF in both the 0.05 and 50 mg group. The results indicate that reduced metabolic rate and increased heartbeat rate are potential early signs of sub-lethal Cu toxicity in developing Zebrafish well before other developmental defects are visually evident.

 Keywords: Toxicity, Development, Fish, Metabolism

Waqas Aslam¹, Rana Shahzad Noor², Saif Ullah¹, Hong Chen^1*

¹College of Economics and Management, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China

²Department of Agriculture, Biological, Environment and Energy Engineering, College of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China.

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the main sources of economic sustainability across major developed countries in the world. It is in view of these, that this study seeks to investigate the perceived comparative advantage of organic and conventional farming systems in recent times. This study aimed at comparing the inputs and outputs of organic and conventional farming systems in Punjab province in Pakistan.  In terms of farm inputs, the study revealed that organic crop farmers experienced higher mean expenses on irrigation and labor force with 12% and 7% difference respectively while on fertilizers and pesticides, the conventional farmers’ mean expenses were significantly higher. In terms of farm outputs, the study also revealed that the conventional farmers yield was higher than that of the organic farmers by 11%. Irrespective of the findings, it was realized that people preferred to consume organic crops based on the quality of the crops prompted using natural manure unlike the conventional crops where the fertilizers are more of chemicals.

Keywords: Organic, Conventional, Sustainability, Farming system, Agriculture, Yield

Oladunni Bola Olafisoye¹, Oluwafemi Omoniyi Oguntibeju^2*, Otolorin Adelaja Osibote³

¹Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa

²Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Phytomedicine & Phytochemistry Group, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, South Africa

³Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Mathematics and Physics, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

This study evaluated the quantitation of synthetic phenolic antioxidants and trace elements in virgin palm oil. A Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with Ultra Violet Visible detection spectrophotometry was employed for the analysis of synthetic antioxidants. The synthetic antioxidants studied were Butylatedhydroxyanisole (BHA), Butylatedhydroxytoluene (BHT), 2-ethylhexyl 4 methoxycinnamate (EEMC) and Propyl gallate (PG). A proposed ICP-OES using oil-water micro emulsion as sample preparation method was used for metallic element analysis because it is not only reproducible, accurate and reliable but also convenient because it provided a sample extraction capable of breaking down the complex matrix in virgin palm oil. The limits of detection for BHA, BHT, EEMC and PG were found to be 0.041, 0.057, 0.06 and 0.03 mg/L respectively while the limits of quantification values were 0.56, 0.49, 0.05 and 0.04 mg/L respectively. None of the synthetic antioxidants was detected in the samples studied. This was an indication that local farmers probably preserved the oil samples prior to storage by traditional methods. The elemental analysis of virgin palm oil is necessary to decide if the oil is suitable for food, fuel or raw materials for the chemical industry. The concentrations of metallic elements found in the oil samples analysed in this study ranged between 0.006 mg/kg in Ubiaja plantation and 161.576 mg/kg in Benin City plantation respectively. Tin recorded high concentration in Benin City plantation and Pb a low concentration in Ubiaja plantation. The concentrations of metallic elements were rather high in most samples hence the oil is best suitable for use as raw material for the chemical industry. It can therefore be concluded that the level of environmental pollution on the plantation be eradicated or reduced to the barest minimum to improve the quality of the virgin palm oil for human consumption.

Keywords: Synthetic antioxidants, Virgin palm oil, Micro emulsion techniques, Metallic elements, RP-HPLC, ICP-OES