Synthesis of Fluoromethylated Chromones and Their Heteroatom Analogues via Sodium Fluoromethanesulfinate-Enabled Direct Fluoromethylation.

An array of biologically interesting tri/difluoromethylated chromones and their heteroatom analogues were conveniently synthesized from the reaction of chromones and their heteroatom analogues with CF3SO2Na or HCF2SO2Na in the presence of tert-butyl hydroperoxide under mild conditions. A mechanistic pathway involving the generation of the electrophilic tri/difluoromethyl radical, followed with the radical substitution of chromones and their heteroatom analogues, was postulated.

Nutritional Composition Profiles and Quality Evaluation of Different Cultivars of Asparagus Officinalis with Potential as Functional Foods and Health-Care Products.

Asparagus officinalis is a health-care vegetable with homology value of medicine and food. The quality of A. officinalis is greatly different from various cultivars. It is essential to reveal the relationship between the variety and quality. This study investigated six nutritional compositions in ten A. officinalis cultivars, including amino acid, mineral substance, carbohydrate, vitamin C, protein and total sugar. Five chemometrics methods were further employed to evaluate their quality. The results consistently showed that ten varieties were divided into three grades as nutritional composition differences. HuaMiaoF1, JinGuan and FeiCuiMingZhu were grouped into cluster3 with the best quality, and Atlas and Jersey Giant were grouped into cluster1 with the lowest quality. Therefore, HuaMiaoF1, JinGuan and FeiCuiMingZhu can be suggested as good raw materials for medicine, food and health-care products industries. Meanwhile, the comprehensive application of five chemometrics methods was confirmed as a reliable methodology for quality evaluation of A. officinalis.

Genome-Wide Identification, Evolution and Expression Analysis of the Glutathione S-Transferase Supergene Family in Euphorbiaceae.

Euphorbiaceae, a family of plants mainly grown in the tropics and subtropics, is also widely distributed all over the world and is well known for being rich in rubber, oil, medicinal materials, starch, wood and other economically important plant products. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) constitute a family of proteins encoded by a large supergene family and are widely expressed in animals, bacteria, fungi and plants, but with few reports of them in Euphorbiaceae plants. These proteins participate in and regulate the detoxification and oxidative stress response of heterogeneous organisms, resistance to stress, growth and development, signal transduction and other related processes. In this study, we identified and analyzed the whole genomes of four species of Euphorbiaceae, namely Ricinus communis, Jatropha curcas, Hevea brasiliensis, and Manihot esculenta, which have high economic and practical value. A total of 244 GST genes were identified. Based on their sequence characteristics and conserved domain types, the GST supergene family in Euphorbiaceae was classified into 10 subfamilies. The GST supergene families of Euphorbiaceae and Arabidopsis have been found to be highly conserved in evolution, and tandem repeats and translocations in these genes have made the greatest contributions to gene amplification here and have experienced strong purification selection. An evolutionary analysis showed that Euphorbiaceae GST genes have also evolved into new subtribes (GSTO, EF1BG, MAPEG), which may play a specific role in Euphorbiaceae. An analysis of expression patterns of the GST supergene family in Euphorbiaceae revealed the functions of these GSTs in different tissues, including resistance to stress and participation in herbicide detoxification. In addition, an interaction analysis was performed to determine the GST gene regulatory mechanism. The results of this study have laid a foundation for further analysis of the functions of the GST supergene family in Euphorbiaceae, especially in stress and herbicide detoxification. The results have also provided new ideas for the study of the regulatory mechanism of the GST supergene family, and have provided a reference for follow-up genetics and breeding work.

Major Fatty Acid Compositions and Antioxidant Activity of Cultivated Paeonia ostii under Different Nitrogen Fertilizer Application.

Paeonia ostii is now being extensively planted for oil extraction in China, which is recognized as a single oil-use tree peony cultivar and commonly called 'Fengdan'. This study investigated the effects of nitrogen fertilizer on oil yield, fatty acid compositions and antioxidant activity of P. ostii. Oil yield (33.46 %), oleic acid (25.12 %), linoleic acid (29.21 %) and α-linolenic acid (43.12 %) reached the maximum at N450 treatment, with significant differences compared with other treatments (P<0.05). Furthermore, strong antioxidant activity with low DPPHIC50 value (19.43±1.91 µg mL-1 ) and large ABTS value (1216.53±30.21 µmol Trolox g-1 ) and FRAP value (473.57±9.11 µmol Trolox g-1 ) was also observed at N450. Palmitic acid (5.57 %) and stearic acid (2.02 %) reached a maximum at N375, but not significant with N450 (P<0.05). Nitrogen fertilizer could promote oil yield, fatty acid accumulation and antioxidant activity, and N450 (450 kg ha-1 ) is recommended as the optimum application for P. ostii.

Major Fatty Acid Profiles and Bioactivity of Seed Oils from Ten†Tree Peony Cultivars as a Potential Raw Material Source for the Cosmetics and Healthy Products.

As a new woody oleaginous crop, tree peony is now being widely developed and utilized, which attributed to the outstanding oil-use features regarding the fatty acid profiles and bioactivity. The major fatty acid profiles and bioactivity of seed oils in ten tree peony varieties collected from a common garden were investigated in the present study. The results showed that the oil yields, fatty acid profiles, bioactivity of seed oils existed significant variations among ten tree peony varieties (P<0.05). Considered the application value, 'Fengdan' (FD) and 'Ziban' (ZB) was the optimal resources as the high oil yields, rich unsaturated fatty acids especially high α-linolenic acid of 40.46 %, great antioxidant activity with low IC50 values, high ABTS and FRAP values, and strong antimicrobial activity with high DIZ and low MIC/MBC values. The study also confirmed seed oil of tree peony as the potential raw materials sources in functional food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics for human health.

Phytochemical Profiles and Antioxidant Activity of Rehmannia glutinosa from Different Production Locations.

The chemical components and antioxidant activity of 16 Rehmannia glutinosa samples were investigated to reveal the high-quality raw resource for pharmaceutical products. 22 main chemical components were detected with significant content differences (P<0.05). The contents of 14 substances reached the maximum in S1 sample such as catalpol (6.74 mg g-1 ), rehmaionoside A (1.93 mg g-1 ) and rehmannioside D (5.13 mg g-1 ). However, the content distribution of the other eight substances had no obvious change regulation. Three antioxidant evaluation methods commonly showed that S1 sample had strong antioxidant activity with a low IC50 value of 0.022 mg mL-1 , a high ABTS value of 524.196 µmol equiv. Trolox g-1 , and a high FRAP value of 200.517 µmol equiv. Trolox g-1 . Considered the medicinal value, S1 had high quality based on the present phytochemical profiles and antioxidant activity. These results also indicated that the root extracts of R. glutinosa could become useful supplement for pharmaceutical products as new antioxidant agents.

Thermosensitive Hydrogel for Encapsulation and Controlled Release of Biocontrol Agents to Prevent Peanut Aflatoxin Contamination.

Starch, alginate, and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) were combined to prepare a semi-interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogel with temperature sensitivity. Calcium chloride was used as cross-linking agent, the non-toxigenic Aspergillus flavus spores were successfully encapsulated as biocontrol agents by the method of ionic gelation. Characterization of the hydrogel was performed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron micrograph (SEM), and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA). Formulation characteristics, such as entrapment efficiency, beads size, swelling behavior, and rheological properties were evaluated. The optical and rheological measurements indicated that the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the samples was about 29-30 °C. TGA results demonstrated that the addition of kaolin could improve the thermal stability of the semi-IPN hydrogel. Morphological analysis showed a porous honeycomb structure on the surface of the beads. According to the release properties of the beads, the semi-IPN hydrogel beads containing kaolin not only have the effect of slow release before peanut flowering, but they also can rapidly release biocontrol agents after flowering begins. The early flowering stage of the peanut is the critical moment to apply biocontrol agents. Temperature-sensitive hydrogel beads containing kaolin could be considered as carriers of biocontrol agents for the control of aflatoxin in peanuts.

Controlled Release of Biological Control Agents for Preventing Aflatoxin Contamination from Starch⁻Alginate Beads.

For the wise use of fungal biocontrol and metalaxyl fungicide, starch-alginate-based formulations have been developed by encapsulating metalaxyl and non-toxigenic Aspergillus flavus spores simultaneously in the form of microspheres using calcium chloride as a cross-linking agent. The formulations were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), a scanning electron micrograph (SEM), and thermogravimetry (TGA). Formulation characteristics, including the bead size, entrapment efficiency, swelling ratio of the beads, and rheological properties, were analyzed. The release behavior of beads with different formulations was evaluated. The addition of kaolin and rice husk powder in starch-alginate beads retarded the release profile of spores and metalaxyl. The release of the active ingredient from starch-alginate-kaolin beads and starch-alginate-rice husk powder beads occurred in both a controlled and sustained manner. Additionally, the release rate decreased with the increase of kaolin or rice husk powder content. The beads added with kaolin were slower than the release of rice husk powder. In comparison, spores released slower and lasted longer than metalaxyl. The starch-alginate-kaolin formulations could be used as controlled release material in the field of biocontrol and reduce the harm of fungicides to the environment.

Effects of Growing Location on the Contents of Main Active Components and Antioxidant Activity of Dasiphora fruticosa (L.) Rydb. by Chemometric Methods.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a very important raw material source for natural medicines in China. The content and activity of active component are main indexes that evaluate the quality of TCM, however, they may vary with environmental factors. In this study, the effects of environmental factors on the active component contents and antioxidant activity of Dasiphora fruticosa collected from the five main growing areas of China were investigated. The contents of tannin, total flavonoids and rutin were determined to be 7.65 - 10.69%, 2.30 - 5.39% and 0.18 - 0.81%, respectively. Antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH assay, with the DPPH IC50 values ranged from 8.791 to 32.534 µg mL-1 . In order to further explore the cause of these significant geographical variations, the chemometric methods including correlation analysis, principal component analysis, gray correlation analysis and path analysis were applied. The results showed that environmental factors had significant effect on the contents of active components and antioxidant activity. Rapidly available phosphorus (RAP) and rapidly available nitrogen (RAN) were common dominant factors, and a significant positive action existed between RAP and active components and antioxidant activity (P < 0.05). Contributed by their high active components and strong antioxidant activity, Bange in Tibet and Geermu in Qinghai Province were selected as a favorable growing location, respectively.

Influence of Environmental Factors on the Active Substance Production and Antioxidant Activity in Potentilla fruticosa L. and Its Quality Assessment.

Environmental factors may influence types and contents of active substances. This study investigated the influence of environmental factors on the active substance contents and antioxidant activity of Potentilla fruticosa L. from different regions of China. Also, HPLC fingerprint similarity analysis (SA) coupled with hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and discriminant analysis (DA) were further introduced for the accurate classification and quality assessment of P. fruticosa. The results showed that altitude was significantly and negatively correlated to the content of tannin (P < 0.05). Annual sunshine duration and altitude were significantly and positively correlated to the flavonoids content, rutin content and antioxidant activity (P < 0.05). Annual mean temperature was significantly and negatively correlated to the content of total phenolics, while altitude was significantly and positively correlated to the content of total phenolics (P < 0.05). Eight samples were unambiguously separated into three groups. Two types of discriminant functions with a 100% discrimination ratio were constructed. All data consistently supported the conclusion that P. fruticosa produced from Kangding, Sichuan Province had high quality among all samples, therefore, Kangding in Sichuan Province with favorable environmental conditions is recommended as a preferable production location.

Quality Evaluation of Potentilla fruticosa L. by High Performance Liquid Chromatography Fingerprinting Associated with Chemometric Methods.

The present study was performed to assess the quality of Potentilla fruticosa L. sampled from distinct regions of China using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprinting coupled with a suite of chemometric methods. For this quantitative analysis, the main active phytochemical compositions and the antioxidant activity in P. fruticosa were also investigated. Considering the high percentages and antioxidant activities of phytochemicals, P. fruticosa samples from Kangding, Sichuan were selected as the most valuable raw materials. Similarity analysis (SA) of HPLC fingerprints, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principle component analysis (PCA), and discriminant analysis (DA) were further employed to provide accurate classification and quality estimates of P. fruticosa. Two principal components (PCs) were collected by PCA. PC1 separated samples from Kangding, Sichuan, capturing 57.64% of the variance, whereas PC2 contributed to further separation, capturing 18.97% of the variance. Two kinds of discriminant functions with a 100% discrimination ratio were constructed. The results strongly supported the conclusion that the eight samples from different regions were clustered into three major groups, corresponding with their morphological classification, for which HPLC analysis confirmed the considerable variation in phytochemical compositions and that P. fruticosa samples from Kangding, Sichuan were of high quality. The results of SA, HCA, PCA, and DA were in agreement and performed well for the quality assessment of P. fruticosa. Consequently, HPLC fingerprinting coupled with chemometric techniques provides a highly flexible and reliable method for the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines.

Production of Bio-Energy from Pig Manure: A Focus on the Dynamics Change of Four Parameters under Sunlight-Dark Conditions.

This study investigated the effect of sunlight-dark conditions on volatile fatty acids (VFAs), total ammonium nitrogen (TAN), total alkalinity (TA) and pH during pig manure (PM) digestion and then the subsequent influence on biogas yield of PM. PM1 and PM2 were performed in a transparent reactor and a non-transparent reactor, respectively. Two sets of experiments were conducted with a temperature of 35.0±2.0 °C and a total solid concentration of 8.0% to the digestion material. The dynamic change of the four parameters in response to sunlight-dark conditions resulted in variations of the physiological properties in the digester and affected the cumulative biogas production (CBP). PM1 obtained higher CBP (15020.0 mL) with a more stable pH and a lower TAN concentration (1414.5 mg/L) compared to PM2 (2675.0 mL and 1670.0 mg/L, respectively). The direct path coefficients and indirect path coefficients between the four parameters and CBP were also analyzed.

Current status and future potential of energy derived from Chinese agricultural land: a review.

Energy crisis is receiving attention with regard to the global economy and environmental sustainable development. Developing new energy resources to optimize the energy supply structure has become an important measure to prevent energy shortage as well as achieving energy conservation and emission reduction in China. This study proposed the concept of energy agriculture and constructed an energy agricultural technical support system based on the analysis of energy supply and demand and China's foreign dependence on energy resources, combined with the function of agriculture in the energy field. Manufacturing technology equipment and agricultural and forestry energy, including crop or forestry plants and animal feces, were used in the system. The current status and future potential of China's marginal land resources, energy crop germplasm resources, and agricultural and forestry waste energy-oriented resources were analyzed. Developing the function of traditional agriculture in food production may promote China's social, economic, and environmental sustainable development and achieve energy saving and emission reduction.

Influence of ecological factors on the production of active substances in the anti-cancer plant Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) T.S. Ying.

The quality of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, which plays a very important role in the health system of China, is determined by the active substances produced by the plants. The type, content, and proportion of these substances may vary depending on ecological factors in areas where the plants are grown. Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) T.S. Ying, an endangered plant species with great medical value, was investigated in eight production locations representative of its natural geographical distribution range in China. The correlation between the contents of the active ingredients extracted from the roots and rhizomes of S. hexandrum and the ecological factors were evaluated step-by-step using a series of computational biology methodologies. The results showed that ecological factors had significant effects on the contents but not on the types of the active ingredients in eight production locations. The primary ecological factors influencing the active substances included the annual average precipitation, July mean temperature, frost-free period, sunshine duration, soil pH, soil organic matter, and rapidly available potassium in the soil. The annual average precipitation was the most important determinant factor and was significantly and negatively correlated with the active ingredient contents (P < 0.001). In contrast, organic matter was the most important limiting factor and was significantly and positively correlated with the active substances. These ecological factors caused 98.13% of the total geographical variation of the active ingredient contents. The climate factors contributed more to the active ingredient contents than did the soil factors. It was concluded that from the view of the contents of the secondary metabolites and ecological factors of each growing location, in Jingyuan, Ningxia Province, and Yongdeng, Gansu Province, conditions were favorable to the production of podophyllotoxin and lignans, whereas in Shangri-La, Yunnan Province, and Nyingchi, Tibet, conditions were favorable to the production of quercetin and kaempferol.

Effect of initial pH on anaerobic co-digestion of kitchen waste and cow manure.

This study investigated the effects of different initial pH (6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 and 8.0) and uncontrolled initial pH (CK) on the lab-scale anaerobic co-digestion of kitchen waste (KW) with cow manure (CM). The variations of pH, alkalinity, volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and total ammonia nitrogen (NH4(+)-N) were analyzed. The modified Gompertz equation was used for selecting the optimal initial pH through comprehensive evaluation of methane production potential, degradation of volatile solids (VS), and lag-phase time. The results showed that CK and the fermentation with initial pH of 6.0 failed. The pH values of the rest treatments reached 7.7-7.9 with significantly increased methane production. The predicted lag-phase times of treatments with initial pH of 6.5 and 7.5 were 21 and 22 days, which were 10 days shorter than the treatments with initial pH of 7.0 and 8.0, respectively. The maximum methane production potential (8579 mL) and VS degradation rate (179.8 mL/g VS) were obtained when the initial pH was 7.5, which is recommended for co-digestion of KW and CM.

Genetic diversity and structure of Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) Ying in the Qinling Mountains, China.

Sinopodophyllum hexandrum is an important medicinal plant whose genetic diversity must be conserved because it is endangered. The Qinling Mts. are a S. hexandrum distribution area that has unique environmental features that highly affect the evolution of the species. To provide the reference data for evolutionary and conservation studies, the genetic diversity and population structure of S. hexandrum in its overall natural distribution areas in the Qinling Mts. were investigated through inter-simple sequence repeats analysis of 32 natural populations. The 11 selected primers generated a total of 135 polymorphic bands. S. hexandrum genetic diversity was low within populations (average He = 0.0621), but higher at the species level (He = 0.1434). Clear structure and high genetic differentiation among populations were detected by using the unweighted pair group method for arithmetic averages, principle coordinate analysis and Bayesian clustering. The clustering approaches supported a division of the 32 populations into three major groups, for which analysis of molecular variance confirmed significant variation (63.27%) among populations. The genetic differentiation may have been attributed to the limited gene flow (Nm = 0.3587) in the species. Isolation by distance among populations was determined by comparing genetic distance versus geographic distance by using the Mantel test. Result was insignificant (r = 0.212, P = 0.287) at 0.05, showing that their spatial pattern and geographic locations are not correlated. Given the low within-population genetic diversity, high differentiation among populations and the increasing anthropogenic pressure on the species, in situ conservation measures were recommended to preserve S. hexandrum in Qinling Mts., and other populations must be sampled to retain as much genetic diversity of the species to achieve ex situ preservation as a supplement to in situ conservation.

Anaerobic digestion of pig and dairy manure under photo-dark fermentation condition.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) with livestock manure is a promising way for biogas production. This work presents the influence of photo-dark fermentation on biogas production of pig manure (PM) and dairy manure (DM). All sets were conducted with temperature 35 ± 2 °C and total solid concentrations 8%: PM1 and DM1 in transparent reactor under sunlight for photo-dark fermentation, and PM2 and DM2 in non-transparent reactor for dark fermentation. DM2 had the best cumulative biogas production (CBP) of 15,447.5 mL, followed by PM1 (15,020 mL) with stable pH and low total ammonium nitrogen (TAN) concentration (1384.99 mg/L), and DM1 and PM2. The CBP of DM2 was 5.77 times as much as PM2. The relationship between CBP and four factors including volatile fatty acid (VFA), TAN, total alkalinity and pH was analyzed. pH gained the maximum determination coefficient with the CBP among all sets and total alkalinity showed negative correlation with CBP of PM1 and DM1.