RESUMEN
This experiment aimed to evaluate the effects of herbal vitamin C at different levels on tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) growth, potential DNA damage, and the metabolomic profile of water effluent. Forty-five tilapias were housed in separate plastic tanks (80 L), and these were randomly assigned to three treatments: (a) a commercial diet (CD) only; (Nutripec Purina®); (b) the commercial diet plus 250 mg of herbal vitamin C (HVC)/kg (CD250); and (c) the commercial diet plus 500 mg of HVC/kg (CD500). Biometric measurements were taken each week, blood samples were collected from the caudal vein on the final day, and water effluent was taken each week and immediately frozen (-80 °C) until further analysis (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) systems). Data were completely randomized with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Upon including herbal vitamin C, the final BW (p = 0.05) and BWG (p = 0.06) increased linearly. Herbal vitamin C decreases DNA damage (p ≥ 0.05). PLS-DA showed a 41.6% variation between treatments in the water samples. Fifteen metabolites had the best association between treatments, with a stronger correlation with CD500. Herbal vitamin C could improve fish performance, prevent DNA damage, and influence changes in the metabolomic profile of the water.
RESUMEN
The ability of hydroponic cultures of camellia and sugar cane adult plants to remove fluoride was investigated. Plants were grown in a 50% Steiner nutrient solution. After an adaptation period to hydroponic conditions, plants were exposed to different fluoride concentrations (0, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg L(-1)). Fluoride concentration in the culture medium and in tissues was measured. In sugar cane, fluoride was mainly located in roots, with 86% of it absorbed and 14% adsorbed. Sugar cane plants removed 1000-1200 mg fluoride kg(-1) dry weight. In camellia plants the highest fluoride concentration was found in leaf. Roots accumulated fluoride mainly through absorption, which was 2-5 times higher than adsorption. At the end of the experiment, fluoride accumulation in camellia plants was 1000-1400 mgk g(-1) dry weight. Estimated concentration factors revealed that fluoride bioaccumulation is 74-221-fold in camellia plants and 100-500-fold in sugar cane plants. Thus, the latter appear as a suitable candidate for removing fluoride from water due to their bioaccumulation capacity and vigorous growth rate; therefore, sugar cane might be used for phytoremediation.
