ABSTRACT
The soil fertility quality is one of the most critical indicators of soil productivity. It directly affects the yield, quality and agricultural efficiency of Chinese medicinal materials. In order to establish the American ginseng planting soil fertility quality evaluation method based on the effective components of American ginseng, Wendeng district, Weihai city, Shandong province, the main producing area of American ginseng, was cited as a case for the study. Twenty-two 4-years American ginseng sampling sites are located at 7 towns. The samples of soil and plant root were collected in the autumn of 2017-2019. The saponin contents of American ginseng and 11 soil chemical properties were measured. The minimum data set(MDS) for assessment of the quality of soil fertility quality was established by correlation analysis and principal component analysis. The evaluation indexes were normalized by membership function. Soil quality index(SQI) that indicates soil comprehensive fertility quality level was calculated according to the critical value of membership function and weight value of each soil index in MDS. The results showed that the total saponin(Rg_1+Re+Rb_1) content of American ginseng in samples ranged from 1.76% to 7.94%. The yield of 8 plots in 2019 ranged from 3 818.7 kg·hm~(-2) to 8 996.4 kg·hm~(-2). MDS includes organic matter, alkaline nitrogen, exchangeable calcium, exchangeable magnesium, effective iron, effective copper, and effective zinc. Based on the mean of 4.825% of total saponin, threshold value of SQI for the region was determined to be 0.15, and 86.36% of soil samples in the county were above the threshold value. The methods and parameters are applicable to selection of high quality American ginseng planting sites and guiding rational fertilization. It also provides a reference for the evaluation of soil fertility quality of other medicinal plants.
Subject(s)
Panax , Plants, Medicinal , Agriculture , Nitrogen/analysis , SoilABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate aflatoxins contamination B1, B2, G1, G2 (AFB1, ATB2, AFG1, AFG2), toxigenic fungi species and potential contamination sources of Polygalae Radix during post-harvest processing, and analyze the main ways of aflatoxins contamination. Methods: Twenty-one Polygalae Radix samples were collected from multiple steps during the post-harvest processing in this study. Aflatoxin levels in these samples were determined by immunoaffinity column and HPLC coupled with post-column photochemical derivatization. Dilution-plate method was applied for the fungi isolation followed by strain identification based on morphological characterization and molecular approaches. Results: Aflatoxins were detected in 15 samples, but none of them exceeded the limit set by Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The fungal counts increased significantly from newly harvested samples to post-sweating, and the counts further increased to the maximum (2 × 108 CFU/g) after xylem-removing, then decreased after drying. In contrast, fungal counts of samples dried directly after harvesting did not change much throughout the processing. There was a significant positive correlation between fungal counts and water activity (Aw). A total of 209 fungal belonged to five genera were identified from the samples, and Penicillium was the predominant genus. Cladosporium and Fusarium were increased after sweating, and then Aspergillus increased after xylem-removing and drying. One A. parasiticus strain was confirmed to be able to produce AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2. Conclusion: Aflatoxins contamination happened in both field production and post-harvest processing of Polygalae Radix. Especially, the contamination of Penicillium spp. should be paid more attention.
ABSTRACT
Ziziphi Spinosae Semen is one of the Chinese herbal medicine being susceptible to aflatoxins contamination. To investigate the sources of aflatoxins contamination and toxigenic fungi species on Ziziphi Spinosae Semen,32 samples were collected from multiple steps during the post-harvest processing in this study. Aflatoxins in these samples were determined by immunoaffinity column and HPLC coupled with post-column photochemical derivatization. The dilution-plate method was applied to the fungi isolation. The isolated fungi strains were identified by morphological characterization and molecular approaches. The results showed that aflatoxins were detected in 28 samples from every step during the processing of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen. Three samples were detected with aflatoxin B_1 and 2 samples with both aflatoxin B_1 and total aflatoxin exceeding the limit of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Especially the samples from the washing step,with the highest detected amounts of AFB_1 and AFs were reached 94. 79,121. 43 μg·kg~(-1),respectively. All 32 samples were contaminated by fungi. The fungal counts on the newly harvested samples were 2. 20 × 10~2 CFU·g~(-1). Moreover,it increased as tphreocessing progresses,and achieved 1. 16×10~6 CFU·g~(-1) after washing. A total of 321 isolates were identified to 17 genera. Aspergillus flavus was the main source of aflatoxins during the processing and storage of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen. One isolate of A. flavus was confirmed producing AFB_1 and AFB_2. The fungal count was significantly increased by composting,and Aspergillus was the predominant genus after shell breaking. The contamination level of aflatoxins was increased by composting and washing.
Subject(s)
Aflatoxins , Aspergillus , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Fungi , Seeds , Chemistry , Microbiology , Ziziphus , ChemistryABSTRACT
A case control study including 45 acute pancreatitis and 44 healthy volunteers was performed to investigate the association between intestinal microbial community and acute pancreatitis. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was used to profile the microbiological composition of the samples. In total, 27 microbial phyla were detected and the samples of pancreatitis patients contained fewer phyla. Samples from acute pancreatitis patients contained more Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria and fewer Firmicutes and Actinobacteria than those from healthy volunteers. PCoA analyses distinguished the fecal microbial communities of acute pancreatitis patients from those of healthy volunteers. The intestinal microbes of acute pancreatitis patients are different from those of healthy volunteers. Modulation of the intestinal microbiome may serve as an alternative strategy for treating acute pancreatitis.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Clinical trials have studied the use of soy protein for treating type 2 diabetes (T2D) and metabolic syndrome (MS). The purpose of this study was to outline evidence on the effects of soy protein supplementation on clinical indices in T2D and MS subjects by performing a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases up to March 2015 for RCTs. Pooled estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by the fixed-and-random-effects model. A total of eleven studies with eleven clinical variables met the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: The meta-analysis showed that fasting plasma glucose (FPG) [weighted mean difference (WMD), -0.207; 95% CI, -0.374 to -0.040; p=0.015], fasting serum insulin (FSI) (WMD, -0.292; 95% CI, -0.496 to -0.088; p=0.005), homeostasis model of assessment for insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) (WMD, -0.346; 95% CI, -0.570 to -0.123; p=0.002), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (WMD, -0.230; 95% CI, -0.441 to -0.019; p=0.033), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (WMD, -0.304; 95% CI, -0.461 to -0.148; p=0.000), total cholesterol (TC) (WMD, -0.386; 95% CI, -0.548 to -0.225; p=0.000), and C-reactive protein (CRP) (WMD, -0.510; 95% CI, -0.722 to -0.299; p=0.000) are significant reduced with soy protein supplementation, compared with a placebo control group, in T2D and MS patients. Furthermore, soy protein supplementation for longer duration (≥6 mo) significantly reduced FPG, LDL-C, and CRP, while that for a shorter duration (<6 mo) significantly reduced FSI and HOMA-IR. CONCLUSION: Soy protein supplementation could be beneficial for FPG, FSI, HOMA-IR, DBP, LDL-C, TC, and CRP control in plasma.
