Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

About: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is a facility organization based out in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Soil water. The organization has 10921 authors who have published 21332 publications receiving 748193 citations. The organization is also known as: Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Yield and composition of grape seed oils extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide and petroleum ether: varietal effects.

Abstract: Grape seed has a well-known potential for production of oil as a byproduct of winemaking and is currently produced as a specialty oil byproduct of wine manufacture. Seed oils from eight varieties of grapes crushed for wine production in British Columbia were extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide (SCE) and petroleum ether (PE). Oil yields by SCE ranged from 5.85 ± 0.33 to 13.6 ± 0.46% (w/w), whereas PE yields ranged from 6.64 ± 0.16 to 11.17 ± 0.05% (± is standard deviation). The oils contained α-, β-, and γ-tocopherols and α- and γ-tocotrienols, with γ-tocotrienol being most important quantitatively. In both SCE- and PE-extracted oils, phytosterols were a prominent feature of the unsaponifiable fraction, with β-sitosterol quantitatively most important with both extractants. Total phytosterol extraction was higher with SCE than with PE in seven of eight variety extractions. Fatty acid composition of oils from all varieties tested, and from both extraction methods, indicated linoleic acid as the major c...

Thermoplastic Starch Processing and Characteristics—A Review

Abstract: Canola Council of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada The rising costs of nonrenewable feedstocks and environmental concerns with their industrial usage have encouraged the study and development of renewable products, including thermoplastic starch (TPS). Starch is an abundant, plant-based biodegradable material with interesting physicochemical characteristics that can be exploited, and this has received attention for development of TPS products. Starch exhibits usable thermoplastic properties when plasticizers, elevated temperatures, and shear are present. The choice of plasticizer has an effect on TPS, even when these have similar plasticization principles. Most TPS have glass transition temperature, Tg, in the range of approximately -75 to 10°C. Glassy transition of TPS is detected by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermodynamic analyzer (DMA), although DMA has been found to be more sensitive and effective. TPS has low tensile properties, typically below 6 MPa in tensile strength (TS). The addition of synthetic polymers, nanoclay, and fiber can improve TS and water-resistance ability. The moisture sorption behavior of TPS is described in GAB and BET models, from which monolayer moisture content and specific area are derived. Current studies on surface tension, gas permeability, crystallinity, and so on of the TPS are also reviewed.

Comparative analysis of expressed sequences in Phytophthora sojae

Abstract: Phytophthora sojae (Kaufmann and Gerdemann) is an oomycete that causes stem and root rot on soybean (Glycine max L. Merr) plants. We have constructed three cDNA libraries using mRNA isolated from axenically grown mycelium and zoospores and from tissue isolated from plant hypocotyls 48 h after inoculation with zoospores. A total of 3,035 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from the three cDNA libraries, representing an estimated 2,189 cDNA transcripts. The ESTs were classified according to putative function based on similarity to known proteins, and were analyzed for redundancy within and among the three source libraries. Distinct expression patterns were observed for each library. By analysis of the percentage G+C content of the ESTs, we estimate that two-thirds of the ESTs from the infected plant library are derived from P. sojae cDNA transcripts. The ESTs originating from this study were also compared with a collection of Phytophthora infestans ESTs and with all other non-human ESTs to assess the similarity of the P. sojae sequences to existing EST data. This collection of cDNA libraries, ESTs, and accompanying annotation will provide a new resource for studies on oomycetes and on soybean responses to pathogen challenge.