Towards a Standardized Approach for the Geographical Traceability of Plant Foods Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA).

This paper presents a systematic literature review focused on the use of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) combined with PCA, a multivariate technique, for determining the geographical origin of plant foods. Recent studies selected and applied the ICP-MS analytical method and PCA in plant food geographical traceability. The collected results from many previous studies indicate that ICP-MS with PCA is a useful tool and is widely used for authenticating and certifying the geographic origin of plant food. The review encourages scientists and managers to discuss the possibility of introducing an international standard for plant food traceability using ICP-MS combined with PCA. The use of a standard method will reduce the time and cost of analysis and improve the efficiency of trade and circulation of goods. Furthermore, the main steps needed to establish the standard for this traceability method are reported, including the development of guidelines and quality control measures, which play a pivotal role in providing authentic product information through each stage of production, processing, and distribution for consumers and authority agencies. This might be the basis for establishing the standards for examination and controlling the quality of foods in the markets, ensuring safety for consumers.

Effective mitigation of single-component and mixed textile dyes from aqueous media using recyclable graphene-based nanocomposite.

The present study reported the synthesis and utilization of a graphene-based hybrid nanocomposite (MnFe2O4/G) to mitigate several synthetic dyes, including methylene blue, malachite green, crystal violet, and Rhodamine B. This adsorbent was structurally analyzed by several physicochemical techniques such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm measurement, point of zero charge, and Boehm titrations. BET surface area of MnFe2O4/G was measured at 382.98 m2/g, which was substantially higher than that of MnFe2O4. MnFe2O4/G possessed diverse surface chemistry properties with the presence of many functional groups such as carboxylic acid, phenolic, lactone, and basic groups. MnFe2O4/G was used to remove synthetic dyes in the aqueous media. The effect of many factors, e.g., concentration (5-50 mg/L), pH (4-10), dose (5-20 mg), and temperature (25-45 °C) on adsorption performance of MnFe2O4/G was conducted. Kinetic, isotherm, intraparticle, and thermodynamic models were adopted for investigating adsorption phenomenon of dyes on MnFe2O4/G. The maximum adsorption capacity of dyes over MnFe2O4/G was found as Rhodamine B (67.8 mg/g) < crystal violet (81.3 mg/g) < methylene blue (137.7 mg/g) < malachite green (394.5 mg/g). Some tests were performed to remove mixed dyes, and mixed dyes in the presence of antibiotics with total efficiencies of 65.8-87.9% after 120 min. Moreover, the major role of π-π stacking interaction was clarified to gain insight into the adsorption mechanism. MnFe2O4/G could recycle up to 4 cycles, which may be beneficial for further practical water treatment.

Comparison of biogenic silver nanoparticles formed by Momordica charantia and Psidium guajava leaf extract and antifungal evaluation.

Exploiting plant extracts to form metallic nanoparticles has been becoming the promising alternative routes of chemical and physical methods owing to environmentally friendly and abundantly renewable resources. In this study, Momordica charantia and Psidium guajava leaf extract (MC.broth and PG.broth) are exploited to fabricate two kinds of biogenic silver nanoparticles (MC.AgNPs and PG.AgNPs). Phytoconstituent screening is performed to identify the categories of natural compounds in MC.broth and PG.broth. Both extracts contain wealthy polyphenols which play a role of reducing agent to turn silver (I) ions into silver nuclei. Trace alkaloids, rich saponins and other oxygen-containing compounds creating the organic corona surrounding nanoparticles act as stabilizing agents. MC.AgNPs and PG.AgNPs are characterized by UV-vis and FTIR spectrophotometry, EDS and TEM techniques. FTIR spectra indicate the presence of O-H, C = O, C-O-C and C = C groups on the surface of silver nanoparticles which is corresponded with three elements of C, O and Ag found in EDS analysis. TEM micrographs show the spherical morphology of MC.AgNPs and PG.AgNPs. MC.AgNPs were 17.0 nm distributed in narrow range of 5-29 nm, while the average size of PG.AgNPs were 25.7 nm in the range of 5-53 nm. Further, MC.AgNPs and PG.AgNPs exhibit their effectively inhibitory ability against A. niger, A. flavus and F. oxysporum as dose-dependence. Altogether, MC.AgNPs and PG.AgNPs will have much potential in scaled up production and become the promising fungicides for agricultural applications.

Interaction between elevated temperature and different types of Na-salicylate treatment in Brachypodium dystachion.

Salicylic acid (SA) plays a role in several physiological processes in plants. Exogenously applied SA is a promising tool to reduce stress sensitivity. However, the mode of action may depend on how the treatment was performed and environmental conditions may alter the effects of SA. In the present study the physiological and biochemical effects of different modes of application (soaking seeds prior sowing; spraying leaves with 0.5 mM NaSA) were compared at normal and moderately elevated temperatures (4 h; 35°C) in Brachypodium distachyon (L.) P. Beauv. plants. While soaking the seeds stimulated plant growth, spraying caused mild stress, as indicated by the chlorophyll-a fluorescence induction parameters and changes in certain protective compounds, such as glutathione, flavonoids or antioxidant enzymes. Elevated temperature also caused an increase in the glutathione-S-transferase activity, and this increase was more pronounced in plants pre-treated with NaSA. Both seed soaking or spraying with NaSA and exposure to heat treatment at 35°C reduced the abscisic acid levels in the leaves. In contrast to abscisic acid, the jasmonic acid level in the leaves were increased by both spraying and heat treatment. The present results suggest that different modes of application may induce different physiological processes, after which plants respond differently to heat treatment. Since these results were obtained with a model plants, further experiments are required to clarify how these changes occur in crop plants, especially in cereals.

The potential health risks and environmental pollution associated with the application of plant growth regulators in vegetable production in several suburban areas of Hanoi, Vietnam.

Plant growth regulators (PGRs) play a pivotal role in increasing vegetable productivity, but they have many drawbacks that can include health and safe concerns of consumers. In this study, the plant growth regulators (PGRs) contents of 111 Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. samples collected from six main suburban areas of Hanoi, Vietnam, were determined by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Results showed the presence of PGRs residues in 83 analyzed samples (74.77%). Eight PGRs, including Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), Indole-3-carboxylic acid (ICA), 3-Indolepropionic acid (IPA), Gibberellin A3 (GA3), Gibberellin A4 (GA4), Gibberellin A7 (GA7) and Trans-zeatin (tZ), were found in B. juncea with the average residues dropped in the range of 0.04 and 0.65 mg kg-1. GA4 was considered as the most popular PGR applying in vegetable production in the investigated areas. Notably, the concentrations of gibberellins were higher than the regulations in vegetables and fruits in Europe, USA and Japan. This might be the potential health risks to consumers and environmental pollution, which necessary to be controlled with consideration of residue regulations.

Origanum majorana L. Essential Oil-Associated Polymeric Nano Dendrimer for Antifungal Activity against Phytophthora infestans.

In this study, the introduction of Origanum majorana L. essential oil into a polyamidoamine (PAMAM) G4.0 dendrimer was performed for creation of a potential nanocide against Phytophthora infestans. The characteristics of marjoram oil and PAMAM G4.0 was analyzed using transmission electron spectroscopy (TEM), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The success of combining marjoram oil with PAMAM G4.0 was evaluated by FT-IR, TGA analysis, and the antifungal activity of this system was also investigated. The results showed that the antifungal activity of oil/PAMAM G4.0 was high and significantly higher than only PAMAM G4.0 or marjoram essential oil. These results indicated that the nanocide oil/PAMAM G4.0 helped strengthen and prolong the antifungal properties of the oil.

Participatory Design of a Social Networking App to Support Type II Diabetes Self-Management in Low-Income Minority Communities.

Participatory design (PD) is an emerging alternative to existing methods of user-centered design (UCD), and may be a more appropriate approach for designing patient-facing products in the health care sector than conventional UCD. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D) is a serious chronic illness that requires life-long treatment and life-long self-management of food intake, physical activity, and self-testing to avoid complications. T2D disproportionately affects low-income minority communities. Using PD, we have developed an app to help T2D patients. Called the Diabetes Networking Tool (DNT), the app is intended to help patients better self-manage by empowering their network of family and friends to better contribute and support the patient's self-management needs. PD was used to involve a low-income African American community into the process of identifying the specific problems and issues DNT needed to address. We then used multiple complementary analytical methods to condense and abstract the community inputs to yield a functional and user interface design for DNT.