Mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizers support high crop yields and contribute to feeding the teeming global population. However, complex edaphic processes cause P to be immobilized in soil, hampering its timely and sufficient availability for uptake by plants. The resultant low use efficiency of current water-soluble P fertilizers creates significant environmental and human health problems. Current practices to increase P use efficiency have been inadequate to curtail these problems. We advocate for the understanding of plant physiological processes, such as physiological P requirement, storage of excess P as phytate, and plant uptake mechanisms, to identify novel ways of designing and delivering P fertilizers to plants for improved uptake. We note the importance and implications of the contrasting role of micronutrients such as zinc and iron in stimulating P availability under low soil P content, while inhibiting P uptake under high P fertilization; this could provide an avenue for managing P for plant use under different P fertilization regimes. We argue that the improvement of the nutritional value of crops, especially cereals, through reduced phytic acid and increased zinc and iron contents should be among the most important drivers toward the development of innovative fertilizer products and fertilization technologies. In this paper, we present various pathways in support of this argument. Retuning P fertilizer products and application strategies will contribute to fighting hunger and micronutrient deficiencies in humans. Moreover, direct soil P losses will be reduced as a result of improved P absorption by plants.

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Exploring phosphorus fertilizers and fertilization strategies for improved human and environmental health

Rice Variation Map (RiceVarMap, http:/ricevarmap.ncpgr.cn) is a database of rice genomic variations. The database provides comprehensive information of 6 551 358 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 1 214 627 insertions/deletions (INDELs) identified from sequencing data of 1479 rice accessions. The SNP genotypes of all accessions were imputed and evaluated, resulting in an overall missing data rate of 0.42% and an estimated accuracy greater than 99%. The SNP/INDEL genotypes of all accessions are available for online query and download. Users can search SNPs/INDELs by identifiers of the SNPs/INDELs, genomic regions, gene identifiers and keywords of gene annotation. Allele frequencies within various subpopulations and the effects of the variation that may alter the protein sequence of a gene are also listed for each SNP/INDEL. The database also provides geographical details and phenotype images for various rice accessions. In particular, the database provides tools to construct haplotype networks and design PCR-primers by taking into account surrounding known genomic variations. These data and tools are highly useful for exploring genetic variations and evolution studies of rice and other species.

RiceVarMap: A Comprehensive Database of Rice Genomic Variations

"Eating out" in restaurants and other catering establishments is on the increase in most of the countries. This has led to the study of new problems in large scale food preparation, kitchen sanitation and training of personnel in quantity cookery.

Principles of Sensory Evaluation of Food

Dietary fiber (DF) includes the remnants of the edible part of plants and analogous carbohydrates that are resistant to digestion and absorption in the human small intestine with complete or partial fermentation in the human large intestine. DF can be classified into two main groups according to its solubility, namely insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) that mainly consists on cell wall components, including cellulose, some hemicelluloses, lignin and resistant starch, and soluble dietary fiber (SDF) that consists of non-cellulosic polysaccharides as non-digestible oligosaccharides, arabinoxylans (AX), β-glucans, some hemicelluloses, pectins, gums, mucilages and inulin. The intake of DF is associated with health benefits. IDF can contribute to the normal function of the intestinal tract and it has an important role in the prevention of colonic diverticulosis and constipation. SDF is extensively fermented by gut microbiota and it is associated with carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, with important health benefits due to its hypocholesterolemic properties. Due to these nutritional and health properties, DF is widely used as functional ingredients in food industry, being whole grain cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables the main sources of DF. Also some synthetic sources are employed, namely polydextrose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose or cyclodextrins. The DF content of cereals varies depending on cultivars, their botanical components (pericarp, emdosperm and germ) and the processing conditions they have undergone (baking, extrusion, etc.). In cereal grains, AX are the predominant non-cellulose DF polysaccharides followed by cellulose and β-glucans, while in pseudocereals, pectins are quantitatively predominant.

Dietary fiber sources and human benefits: The case study of cereal and pseudocereals

Phytic acid: Blessing in disguise, a prime compound required for both plant and human nutrition.

Rice varieties are generally bred for higher yield but may possess genomic regions conferring tolerance to abiotic stresses. Climate change driven heat stress during reproductive stage of the crop affects spikelet fertility and yield. Though genetic regions associated with heat stress tolerance have been identified in rice, but response of rice varieties and allelic phenotypic effect favoring spikelet fertility during heat stress has not been comprehensively studied. Hence, the present study aimed at assessing the response of 198 rice varieties during the dry season (2016) followed by validation of selected 67 varieties in the second dry season (2017) through staggered sowing for high temperature. The analysis showed mean spikelet sterility of 21.82% and 33.81% for the first and second sowing, respectively. Further, average difference in spikelet sterility for unit increase in maximum temperature during the flowering period was observed to be 7.93%. Employment of nine heat stress associated markers for genetic analysis identified four sub-populations in the 67 varieties inferred through neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree and sub-structure analysis. Marker-trait association analysis showed two markers namely RM205, RM242 were significantly associated with spikelet sterility with phenotypic variance (R2) of 7.7% and 6.0%, respectively. Allelic phenotypic effect of favorable alleles for both the markers reduced spikelet sterility by 14.49% compared to mean spikelet sterility (33.81%). Furthermore, four rice varieties showed spikelet sterility < 15%. Thus, predominantly moderate tolerance to susceptible response was observed for rice varieties in this study. Besides, favorable allele of RM205, RM242 could be effectively used for improving tolerance in rice varieties to heat stress.

Effects of high temperature on spikelet sterility in rice ( Oryza sativa L.): association between molecular markers and allelic phenotypic effect in field condition

Investigation on development of RTS from papaya and aloe vera blended pulp during the year 2015-2016. The prepared quality RTS from 10 % blend, 13 % TSS, 0.25 % acidity and 70 ppm SO2 were found to be best during organoleptic evaluation. The developed RTS was packed in sterilized glass bottles (200mL capacity) and stored at room temperature for storage study. The storage ability of prepared RTS the TSS, acidity, reducing sugars, total sugars and browning were increased, whereas ascorbic acid, non-reducing sugar and organoleptic quality was decreased with increased storage period.

https://www.chemijournal.com/archives/2020/vol8issue3/PartH/8-2-486-952.pdf

Development of RTS from papaya (Carica papaya L.) and aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller.) pulp

Ralstonia solanacearum is a soil-borne bacterium causing bacterial wilt disease on wider host plants, especially in tropical, subtropical, and some warmer temperate regions of the world. Bacterial wilt disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum on solanaceous crops is of serious concern in vegetable cultivation all over the world, as it could cause deadly effect on host plants with severe yield losses. Numerous research attempts were made to control this disease in the field level, but all have limited or no success, mainly due to the complex nature of pathogen. Hence, understanding of pathogen biology and its behavior is important before devising any effective disease management strategies. This review is focused upon taxonomy, symptomatology, host range, pathogen biology, diversity, economic impact, mechanisms of infection, pathogenicity determinants, disease cycle, detection and diagnosis techniques, and also on available integrated disease management strategies for successful control of bacterial wilt disease, especially in solanaceous vegetables.

Ralstonia solanacearum: Biology and its Management in Solanaceous Vegetable Crops

Contribution of phytochrome a in the regulation of Sink capacity, starch biosynthesis, grain quality, grain yield and related traits in rice.

Characterization and exploring genetic potential of landraces from Odisha with special emphasis on grain micronutrient content for benefaction of biofortification in rice

Awadhesh Kumar

Papers

Effects of high temperature on spikelet sterility in rice ( Oryza sativa L.): association between molecular markers and allelic phenotypic effect in field condition

Development of RTS from papaya (Carica papaya L.) and aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller.) pulp

Ralstonia solanacearum: Biology and its Management in Solanaceous Vegetable Crops

Contribution of phytochrome a in the regulation of Sink capacity, starch biosynthesis, grain quality, grain yield and related traits in rice.

Characterization and exploring genetic potential of landraces from Odisha with special emphasis on grain micronutrient content for benefaction of biofortification in rice