Current status of the whitefly Aleurodicus dispersus as an invasive pest in the CapeVerte Islands

In the last three decades, the spiralling whitefly (Aleurodicus dispersus) has become an important international pest. The movement of plants and parts of plants (such as fruits) in international trade and tourism, and by natural dispersal, has favoured its introduction to new areas. In common with others whiteflies of economic importance, the immature and adult stages cause direct feeding damage by piercing and sucking of sap from foliage, and indirect damage following the accumulation all over host plants of honeydew and waxy flocculent material produced by the insects. Spiralling whitefly is a pest of tropical and subtropical crops, and highly polyphagous. Up to the 1970s, it had been recorded on 44 genera of plants, belonging to 26 botanical families (Mound & Halsey, 1978). This situation changed with the dispersal of the pest to new areas. Nowadays, the spiralling whitefly is one of the major pest of vegetable, ornamental and fruit crops around the globe (Lambkin, 1999). Important host crops include: banana (Musa sapientum), Citrus spp., coconut (Cocos nocifera), eggplant (Solanum melanogena), guava (Psidium guajava), Hibiscus rosa sinensis, Indian almond (Terminalia catappa), papya (Carica papaya), Rosa sp. and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) (Saminathan & Jayaraj, 2001). Spiralling whitefly has its origin in the tropical Americas, including Brazil. Although the pest has been recorded only once in Brasil, in the 1920s in the state of Bahia (Bondar, 1923), it now has official quarantine status because of its economic importance. In the Cape Verte Islands, on the West African coast, the pest was initially introduced in the first half of 2000; it has since become established, reaching urban, natural and agricultural areas of the islands that constitute the archipelago. Since then, the pest has been causing damage to many native plants, ornamentals and cultivated food crops (Anon., 2001; Monteiro, 2004). The present study was done in order to produce an inventory of the most common host plants of spiralling whitefly in this new habitat.

Egg parasitoids of Edessa meditabunda (Fabricius) (Pentatomidae) in lettuce crop

Egg parasitoids of Edessa meditabunda (Fabricius) (Pentatomidae) in lettuce crop. This study evaluated the occurrence of parasitoids in eggs of the stink bug, Edessa meditabunda (Fabricius, 1794) (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae) found on lettuce crop in Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Samples were collected in the vegetable garden "Cheiro Verde", in the municipality of Tangará da Serra, in curly lettuce. A bed of lettuce was selected randomly, where the eggs of E. meditabunda were collected. Five-hundred and seventy eight eggs of E. meditabunda were collected, 86.3% of them parasitized by Telenomus podisi Ashmead, 1893 (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae), Trissolcus urichi Crawford, 1913 (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae) and Neorileya albipes Girault, 1913 (Hymenoptera, Eurytomidae), representing respectively 57.0%, 38.2% and 4.8% of the emerged individuals. This is the first record of these three species parasitizing eggs of E. meditabunda in lettuce.

Trends in food availability in Switzerland, 1961-2007.

Trends in food availability in Switzerland were assessed using the Food and Agricultural Organization food balance sheets for the period 1961-2007. A relatively stable trend in the daily caloric supply was found: 3545 kcal/day in 1961 and 3465 kcal/day in 2007. Calories associated with carbohydrates decreased (slope±s.e.: -1.1±0.2 kcal/day/year), namely regarding cereals (-2.9±0.6 kcal/day/year) and fruit (-1.5±0.1 kcal/day/year), while the availability of sugars increased (1.2±0.5 kcal/day/year). In 1961, protein, fat, carbohydrates and alcohol represented 10.6, 33.5, 50.0 and 5.9% of total caloric supply, respectively; in 2007, the values were 10.8, 40.3, 43.7 and 5.2%. In 1961, palm, groundnut and sunflowerseed oil represented 3.4, 30.7 and 5.3% of total vegetable oils, respectively; in 2007, the values were 10.4, 3.7 and 31.6%. We conclude that between 1961 and 2007 total caloric availability remained relatively stable in Switzerland; the health effects of the increased and differing fat availability should be evaluated.

Socioeconomic determinants of dietary patterns in low- and middle-income countries : a systematic review

BACKGROUND: In high-income countries, high socioeconomic status (SES) is generally associated with a healthier diet, but whether social differences in dietary intake are also present in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains to be established. OBJECTIVE: We performed a systematic review of studies that assessed the relation between SES and dietary intake in LMICs. DESIGN: We carried out a systematic review of cohort and cross-sectional studies in adults in LMICs and published between 1996 and 2013. We assessed associations between markers of SES or urban and rural settings and dietary intake. RESULTS: A total of 33 studies from 17 LMICs were included (5 low-income countries and 12 middle-income countries; 31 cross-sectional and 2 longitudinal studies). A majority of studies were conducted in Brazil (8), China (6), and Iran (4). High SES or living in urban areas was associated with higher intakes of calories; protein; total fat; cholesterol; polyunsaturated, saturated, and monounsaturated fatty acids; iron; and vitamins A and C and with lower intakes of carbohydrates and fiber. High SES was also associated with higher fruit and/or vegetable consumption, diet quality, and diversity. Although very few studies were performed in low-income countries, similar patterns were generally observed in both LMICs except for fruit intake, which was lower in urban than in rural areas in low-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: In LMICs, high SES or living in urban areas is associated with overall healthier dietary patterns. However, it is also related to higher energy, cholesterol, and saturated fat intakes. Social inequalities in dietary intake should be considered in the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in LMICs.

Diet and the risk of head and neck cancer: a pooled analysis in the INHANCE consortium.

We investigated the association between diet and head and neck cancer (HNC) risk using data from the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium. The INHANCE pooled data included 22 case-control studies with 14,520 cases and 22,737 controls. Center-specific quartiles among the controls were used for food groups, and frequencies per week were used for single food items. A dietary pattern score combining high fruit and vegetable intake and low red meat intake was created. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the dietary items on the risk of HNC were estimated with a two-stage random-effects logistic regression model. An inverse association was observed for higher-frequency intake of fruit (4th vs. 1st quartile OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.43-0.62, p (trend) < 0.01) and vegetables (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49-0.90, p (trend) = 0.01). Intake of red meat (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.13-1.74, p p (trend) < 0.01) was positively associated with HNC risk. Higher dietary pattern scores, reflecting high fruit/vegetable and low red meat intake, were associated with reduced HNC risk (per score increment OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.84-0.97).

Effect of management systems and cover crops on organic matter dynamics of soil under vegetables

Vegetable production in conservation tillage has increased in Brazil, with positive effects on the soil quality. Since management systems alter the quantity and quality of organic matter, this study evaluated the influence of different management systems and cover crops on the organic matter dynamics of a dystrophic Red Latosol under vegetables. The treatments consisted of the combination of three soil tillage systems: no-tillage (NT), reduced tillage (RT) and conventional tillage (CT) and of two cover crops: maize monoculture and maize-mucuna intercrop. Vegetables were grown in the winter and the cover crops in the summer for straw production. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with four replications. Soil samples were collected between the crop rows in three layers (0.0-0.05, 0.05-0.10, and 0.10-0.30 m) twice: in October, before planting cover crops for straw, and in July, during vegetable cultivation. The total organic carbon (TOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), oxidizable fractions, and the carbon fractions fulvic acid (C FA), humic acid (C HA) and humin (C HUM) were determined. The main changes in these properties occurred in the upper layers (0.0-0.05 and 0.05-0.10 m) where, in general, TOC levels were highest in NT with maize straw. The MBC levels were lowest in CT systems, indicating sensitivity to soil disturbance. Under mucuna, the levels of C HA were lower in RT than NT systems, while the C FA levels were lower in RT than CT. For vegetable production, the C HUM values were lowest in the 0.05-0.10 m layer under CT. With regard to the oxidizable fractions, the tillage systems differed only in the most labile C fractions, with higher levels in NT than CT in the 0.0-0.05 m layer in both summer and winter, with no differences between these systems in the other layers. The cabbage yield was not influenced by the soil management system, but benefited from the mulch production of the preceding maize-mucuna intercrop as cover plant.

Use of palm-oil by-products in chicken and rabbit feeds: effect on the fatty acid and tocol composition of meat, liver and plasma

This study was undertaken in the framework of a larger European project dealing with the characterization of fat co- and by-products from the food chain, available for feed uses. In this study, we compare the effects, on the fatty acid (FA) and tocol composition of chicken and rabbit tissues, of the addition to feeds of a palm fatty acid distillate, very low in trans fatty acids (TFA), and two levels of the corresponding hydrogenated by-product, containing intermediate and high levels of TFA. Thus, the experimental design included three treatments, formulated for each species, containing the three levels of TFA defined above. Obviously, due to the use of hydrogenated fats, the levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA) show clear differences between the three dietary treatments. The results show that diets high in TFA (76 g/kg fat) compared with those low in TFA (4.4 g/kg fat) led to a lower content of tocopherols and tocotrienols in tissues, although these differences were not always statistically significant, and show a different pattern for rabbit and chicken. The TFA content in meat, liver and plasma increased from low-to-high TFA feeds in both chicken and rabbit. However, the transfer ratios from feed were not proportional to the TFA levels in feeds, reflecting certain differences according to the animal species. Moreover, feeds containing fats higher in TFA induced significant changes in tissue SFA, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids composition, but different patterns can be described for chicken and rabbit and for each type of tissue.

Use of recovered frying oils in chicken and rabbit feeds: effect on the fatty acid and tocol composition and on the oxidation levels of meat, liver and plasma

The addition of some fat co- and by-products to feeds is usual nowadays; however, the regulations of their use are not always clear and vary between countries. For instance, the use of recycled cooking oils is not allowed in the European Union, but they are used in other countries. However, oils recovered from industrial frying processes could show satisfactory quality for this purpose. Here we studied the effects of including oils recovered from the frying industry in rabbit and chicken feeds (at 30 and 60 g/kg, respectively) on the fatty acid (FA) and tocol (tocopherol + tocotrienol) compositon of meat, liver and plasma, and on their oxidative stability. Three dietary treatments (replicated eight times) were compared: fresh non-used oil (LOX); oil discarded from the frying industry, having a high content of secondary oxidation compounds (HOX); and an intermediate level (MOX) obtained by mixing 50 : 50 of LOX and HOX. The FA composition of oil diets and tissues was assessed by GC, their tocol content by HPLC, the thiobarbituric acid value was used to assess tissue oxidation status, and the ferrous oxidation-xylenol orange method was used to assess the susceptibility of tissues to oxidation. Our results indicate that FA composition of rabbit and chicken meat, liver and plasma was scarcely altered by the addition of recovered frying oils to feed. Differences were encountered in the FA composition between species, which might be attributed mainly to differences in the FA digestion, absorption and metabolism between species, and to some physiological dietary factors (i.e. coprophagy in rabbits that involves fermentation with FA structure modification). The α-tocopherol (αT) content of tissues was reduced in response to the lower αT content in the recovered frying oil. Differences in the content of other tocols were encountered between chickens and rabbits, which might be attributable to the different tocol composition of their feeds, as well as to species differences in the digestion and metabolism of tocols. Tissue oxidation and susceptibility to oxidation were in general low and were not greatly affected by the degree of oxidation of the oil added to the feeds. The relative content of polyunsaturated fatty acids/αT in these types of samples would explain the differences observed between species in the susceptibility of each tissue to oxidation. According to our results, oils recovered from the frying industry could be useful for feed uses.

Who eats healthily? A population-based study among young Swiss residents.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether Swiss residents aged 15-24 years follow current nutritional guidelines and whether differences exist according to gender and weight status. DESIGN: Cross-sectional national survey. SETTING: Switzerland. SUBJECTS: The 1786 participants (48·4 % women) were divided into overweight, normal weight and underweight. We used traditional BMI cut-offs for people ≥18 years of age (underweight = BMI < 18·5 kg/m2, normal weight = BMI ≥ 18·5 kg/m2 and <25 kg/m2, overweight = BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and age- and gender-appropriate tables for people aged <18 years, with BMI calculated from self-reported weight and height. We performed bivariate analyses by gender, and then bivariate and multivariate analyses comparing overweight to normal weight people (excluding underweight, n 129, 71·6 % women) regarding adherence to recommendations for fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products; physical activity; attitude towards body weight; depression, smoking and alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Overall, adherence to nutritional guidelines was low, particularly for vegetables and dairy products. Women had a higher adherence than men except for fish and dairy products. In the multivariate analyses, overweight women had a lower vegetable intake, were less satisfied with body weight and had more often been on a diet, whereas overweight men were less satisfied with body weight and wanted to lose weight more often than their normal weight peers. There were no significant differences for physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight prevention programmes should target youth specifically by gender and promote an appropriate self-perception. Overweight women should be encouraged to eat more vegetables and men to be more sensitised on healthy food. Further research is needed to assess how to make nutritional guidelines more adaptable to young people's daily life.

Estudio del aceite de rosa mosqueta en cicatrices postquirúrgicas.

Este trabajo trata sobre el estudio original del aceite rosa mosqueta (en adelante ARM) en cicatrices posquirúrgicas. Nuestra intención es saber como actúa dicho aceite en el proceso de cicatrización desde el momento de la intervención quirúrgica hasta el alta de la misma. Se presentan 50 casos clínicos finalizados que se han considerado interesantes tanto por sus técnicas quirúrgicas como por su evolución postoperatoria. Se concluye que el aceite de rosa mosqueta mejora el proceso de cicatrización dejando una cicatriz mínima pero no acelerando dicho proceso. El aceite de rosa mosqueta puro no es estable en el tiempo, en cambio el refinado sí que lo es.

Foods, nutrients and the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer.

Background:Besides tobacco and alcohol, dietary habits may have a relevant role in oral cavity and pharyngeal (OCP) cancer.Methods:We analysed the role of selected food groups and nutrients on OCP cancer in a case-control study carried out between 1997 and 2009 in Italy and Switzerland. This included 768 incident, histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma cases and 2078 hospital controls. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using logistic regression models including terms for tobacco, alcohol and other relevant covariates.Results:Significant inverse trends in risk were observed for all vegetables (OR=0.19, for the highest vs the lowest consumption) and all fruits (OR=0.39), whereas significant direct associations were found for milk and dairy products (OR=1.50), eggs (OR=1.71), red meat (OR=1.55), potatoes (OR=1.85) and desserts (OR=1.68), although trends in risk were significant only for potatoes and desserts. With reference to nutrients, significant inverse relations were observed for vegetable protein (OR=0.45, for the highest vs the lowest quintile), vegetable fat (OR=0.54), polyunsaturated fatty acids (OR=0.53), α-carotene (OR=0.51), β-carotene (OR=0.28), β-cryptoxanthin (OR=0.37), lutein and zeazanthin (OR=0.34), vitamin E (OR=0.26), vitamin C (OR=0.40) and total folate (OR=0.34), whereas direct ones were observed for animal protein (OR=1.57), animal fat (OR=2.47), saturated fatty acids (OR=2.18), cholesterol (OR=2.29) and retinol (OR=1.88). Combinations of low consumption of fruits and vegetables, and high consumption of meat with high tobacco and alcohol, led to 10- to over 20-fold excess risk of OCP cancer.Conclusion:Our study confirms and further quantifies that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and poor in meat and products of animal origin has a favourable role against OCP cancer.

Characterization of rapeseed (Brassica napus) oils by bulk C, O, H, and fatty acid C stable isotope analyses

Rapeseed (Brassica napus) oils differing in cultivar, sites of growth, and harvest year were characterized by fatty acid concentrations and carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen stable isotope analyses of bulk oils (delta(13)C(bulk), delta(2)H(bulk), delta(18)O(bulk) values) and individual fatty acids (delta(13)C(FA)). The delta(13)C(bulk), delta(2)H(bulk), and delta(18)O(bulk) values were determined by continuous flow combustion and high-temperature conversion elemental analyzer isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA/IRMS, TC-EA/IRMS). The delta(13)C(FA) values were determined using gas chromatography-combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS). For comparison, other C(3) vegetable oils rich in linolenic acid (flax and false flax oils) and rich in linoleic acid (poppy, sunflower, and safflower oils) were submitted to the same chemical and isotopic analyses. The bulk and molecular delta(13)C values were typical for C(3) plants. The delta(13)C value of palmitic acid (delta(13)C(16:0)) and n-3 alpha-linolenic acid (delta(13)C(18:3n-3)) differed (p < 0.001) between rape, flax, and poppy oils. Also within species, significant differences of delta(13)C(FA) were observed (p < 0.01). The hydrogen and oxygen isotope compositions of rape oil differed between cultivars (p < 0.05). Major differences in the individual delta(13)C(FA) values were found. A plant-specific carbon isotope fractionation occurs during the biosynthesis of the fatty acids and particularly during desaturation of C(18) acids in rape and flax. Bulk oil and specific fatty acid stable isotope analysis might be useful in tracing dietary lipids differing in their origin.

Direct evidence for the existence of dairying farms in prehistoric Central Europe (4th millennium BC)

The molecular and isotopic chemistry of organic residues from archaeological potsherds was used to obtain further insight into the dietary trends and economies at the Constance lake-shore Neolithic settlements. The archaeological organic residues from the Early Late Neolithic (3922-3902 BC) site Hornstaad-Hornle IA/Germany are, at present, the oldest archaeological samples analysed at the Institute of Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the University of Lausanne. The approach includes 13C/12C and 15N/14N ratios of the bulk organic residues, fatty acids distribution and 13C/12C ratios of individual fatty acids. The results are compared with those obtained from the over 500 years younger Neolithic (3384-3370 BC) settlement of Arbon Bleiche 3/Switzerland and with samples of modern vegetable oils and fat of animals that have been fed exclusively on C3 forage grasses. The overall fatty acid composition (C9 to C24 range, maximizing at C14 and C16), the bulk 13C/12C and 15N/14N ratios (delta13C, delta15N) and the 13C/12C ratios of palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0) and oleic acids (C18:1) of the organic residues indicate that most of the studied samples (25 from 47 samples and 5 from 41 in the delta13C18:0 vs. delta13C16:0 and delta13C18:0 vs. delta13C18:1 diagrams, respectively) from Hornstaad-Hornle IA and Arbon Bleiche 3 sherds contain fat residues of pre-industrial ruminant milk, and young suckling calf/lamb adipose. These data provide direct proof of milk and meat (mainly from young suckling calves) consumption and farming practices for a sustainable dairying in Neolithic villages in central Europe around 4000 BC.dagger

Assessing the impact of high-pressure processing on selected physical and biochemical attributes of white cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata alba)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of combined pressure/temperature treatments (200, 400 and 600 MPa, at 20 and 40 °C) on key physical and chemical characteristics of white cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata alba). Thermal treatment (blanching) was also investigated and compared with high-pressure processing (HPP). HPP at 400 MPa and 20–40 °C caused significantly larger colour changes compared to any other pressure or thermal treatment. All pressure treatments induced a softening effect, whereas blanching did not significantly alter texture. Both blanching and pressure treatments resulted in a reduction in the levels of ascorbic acid, effect that was less pronounced for blanching and HPP at 600 MPa and 20–40 °C. HPP at 600 MPa resulted in significantly higher total phenol content, total antioxidant capacity and total isothiocyanate content compared to blanching. In summary, the colour and texture of white cabbage were better preserved by blanching. However, HPP at 600 MPa resulted in significantly higher levels of phytochemical compounds. The results of this study suggest that HPP may represent an attractive technology to process vegetable-based food products that better maintains important aspects related to the content of health-promoting compounds. This may be of particular relevance to the food industry sector involved in the development of convenient novel food products with excellent functional properties

MGS Esmeralda: new large seed mungbean cultivar

Mungbean cultivar MGS Esmeralda was developed by Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (Shanhua, Taiwan), as a result of crossing between the lines VC 1973A and VC 2768A. In ten trials conducted in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, it produced 13.5% more grains than 'Ouro Verde MG-2' (control cultivar), and its highest yield was 2,550 kg ha-1. The cultivar MGS Esmeralda is more susceptible to lodging, and its pods mature more uniformly than Ouro Verde MG-2 pods. One hundred-seed mass of 'MGS Esmeralda' ranged between 5.5 and 6.8 g. Both cultivars are susceptible to powdery mildew and cercospora leaf spot.