Sugar Kelp (Saccharina latissima) Seaweed Added to a Growing-Finishing Lamb Diet Has a Positive Effect on Quality Traits and on Mineral Content of Meat.

Supplementing ruminants' diet with seaweed has shown positive effect on meat quality and micronutrients important for human health. The objective of the present study was to investigate the use of Saccharina latissima in a lamb diet to improve the eating quality and nutritional value of meat. Six-month-old female Norwegian White lambs (n = 24) were fed, 35 days pre-slaughter, three different diets: a control (CON) and two seaweed diets (SW); supplemented with either 2.5% (SW1) or 5% (SW2). The quality properties of longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) and semimembranosus with adductor (SM+ADD) muscles were examined. The dietary inclusion of seaweed reduced cooking loss and shear force of lamb meat, although the effect was not significant at both supplementation levels. SW1 fed lambs showed a significantly (p < 0.05) improved meat color stability and antioxidant potential. Seaweed also reduced lipid oxidation (TBARS) and the warm-over flavor in SM+ADD compared to the CON lamb. Seaweed fed lambs showed an increased content of selenium and iodine in LTL, thereby fulfilling the requirements for the label "source of nutrient" and "significant source of nutrient", respectively. An increased arsenic content in LTL was, however, also observed with seaweed inclusion (to 1.54 and 3.09 µg/100 g in SW1 and SW2 group, respectively). While relevant positive effects were found in meat using seaweed in lamb feed, some optimization of this feed approach will be desirable.

Enhancing bauxite residue properties for plant growth: Gypsum and organic amendment effects on chemical properties of soil and leachate.

Here, we assess the effects of gypsum and local organic waste as amendments to non-weathered, filter-pressed bauxite residue (BR) to improve its properties and support plant growth. In addition, we monitored the leachate quality of the amended BR under progressive leaching that simulated precipitation conditions in Northern Brazil. Free-draining column tests consisting of BR amended with gypsum and organic waste, at 5% and 10% w/w, respectively, were leached for 8 weeks to assess the effects on the chemical composition of BR and the leachates. Adding gypsum to BR reduced the exchangeable sodium (Na) percentage (ESP) from approximately 79%-48%, whereas adding only organic waste had smaller effects on ESP (from ∼79% to âˆ¼ 70%). The mean leachate pH ranged from 8.7 to 9.4 for the gypsum, and organic waste amended BR, while this was 10.3 in the leachate of the unamended BR. The treatments had similar trends of electrical conductivity throughout the experiments and were below 2 dS/cm after 8 weeks, when ∼1.700 mm simulated precipitation had leached. Aluminium (Al), Arsenic (As), and Vanadium (V) concentrations in leachates of BR with gypsum, either alone or in combination with organic waste, were significantly lowered than in leachate of non-amended BR. By contrast, metal concentrations increased if organic waste was added to BR. We conclude that amending BR with gypsum, in combination with organic waste, significantly improves the chemical properties of the solid phase and achieved rehabilitation goals for SAR and EC of the leachates after 8 weeks of leaching. However, despite high leaching rates, rehabilitation goals for pH and ESP were not achieved with gypsum either alone or combined with organic waste.

Industrial byproducts for the soil stabilization of trace elements and per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs).

The present work was the first exploration of the use of industrial byproducts from iron and titanium processing as sorbents for the stabilization of soil contamination. The main aim was to test slag waste and iron-rich charred fossil coal ("Fe-char"), as sorbents for per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs), as well as lead (Pb) and antimony (Sb), in four soils from a firefighting training area (PFASs) and a shooting range (Pb and Sb). Adding slag (10-20%) to shooting range soils decreased the leaching of Pb and Sb up to 50-90%. Fe-char amendment to these soils resulted in a moderate reduction in Sb leaching (20-70%) and a slightly stronger effect on Pb (40-50%). The sorption is most likely explained by the presence of Fe oxyhydroxides. These are present in the highest concentrations in the slag, probably resulting in more effective metal binding to the slag than to the Fe-char. Fe-char but not slag proved to be a strong sorbent for PFASs (reducing PFAS leaching from the soil by up to 99.7%) in soil containing low total organic carbon (TOC; 1.2%) but not in high-TOC soil (34%). The sorption coefficient KD for Fe-char was high, in the range of 104.3 to 106.5 L/kg at 1 ng/L in the low-TOC soil. The KD value increased with increasing perfluorocarbon chain length, exceeding PFAS sorption to biochar in the low ng/L concentration range. This result indicates that the mechanism behind the strong PFAS sorption to Fe-char was mainly van der Waals dispersive interactions between the hydrophobic PFAS-chain and the aromatic π-electron systems on nanopore walls within the Fe-char matrix. Overall, this study indicates that industrial byproducts can provide sustainable and cost-effective materials for soil remediation. However, the sorbent needs to be tailored to the type of soil and type of contamination.