Collation of health literature for tropical and exotic fruits and extracts

This report collates data on the nutrient and phytochemical content of tropical exotic fruits, the evidence for health effects from consumption of these fruit and the use of extracts from edible and non-edible parts of these plants. The knowledge of Australian fruit compared with that grown overseas is presented together with opportunities for future work by Australian researchers. Opportunities for developing commercial extracts for use as food or nutraceutical uses are also presented.

BA09025 Commercial feasibility of banana waste utilization in food industry

As a response to the HAL banana call, this project will look to further utilization of bananas not suitable for the retail market.

Increasing production from inland aquaculture in Papua New Guinea

There are more than 10,000 small-scale fish farms in PNG producing tilapia, carp or trout for home consumption and sale. Interest in aquaculture is growing rapidly, and the government has given high priority to aquaculture development, in recognition of its potential contribution to achieving food security particularly in the inland areas. Significant constraints include lack of capability within management agencies to identify appropriate sites for pond development, inadequate supply and poor quality of fingerlings, limited availability and high cost of pond fertilisers and suitable feeds, and a general lack of knowledge and training on aquaculture husbandry skills.

In vitro culture of buffalo fly and infections with Wolbachia

"Develop and optimise reliable in vitro culture methods for buffalo fly "Use the in vitro system to determine whether experimental Wolbachia infection can be established in buffalo fly. "Prepare further applications for related work towards better control of buffalo fly, exploiting the in vitro culture system.

Strategic banana tissue culture industry development and biosecurity act

Application and development of activities based on in vitro technologies delivering research, industry development and biosecurity activities to sustain and improve the Australian banana industry.

Integrated crop management for brassica production

Early season beneficials in brassica crops.

ACIAR Scoping study for Improved food security and livelihoods in rural Zimbabwe

A short project to provide input to planning a project aimed at improving food security and rural livelihoods in Zimbabwe.

National Mungbean Improvement Program

Develop new, high yielding, disease resistant mungbean varieties that will increase crop reliability and grower confidence in the northern region.

Hard Laborers Get Mini Extra Ration of Food Artworks

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Effect of physiological and experiential state of Bactrocera tryoni flies on intra-tree foraging behavior for food (bacteria) and host fruit

Using caged guava trees in Queensland, Australia, provided with food and oviposition sites, the foraging behaviour of females of the tephritid Bactrocera tryoni was investigated in relation to hunger for protein, the presence or absence of bacteria as a source of protein, the degree of prior experience with host fruit and quality of host fruit for oviposition. One aim was to evaluate whether it is immature or mature B. tryoni females that are responsible for initially inoculating host fruit surfaces with "fruit-fly-type" bacteria, the odour of which is known to attract B. tryoni females. Three-week-old immature females provided with sucrose but deprived of protein from eclosion had a much greater propensity than 3-week-old protein-fed mature females to visit vials containing fruit-fly-type bacteria, irrespective of whether vials were associated with adjacent host fruit or not. In the absence of associated bacteria in vials, immature females had a much lower propensity than mature females to visit host fruit. In the presence of bacteria in vials, however, propensity of immature and mature females to visit fruit was about equal. Mature (but not immature) females were more inclined to visit fruit that ranked higher for oviposition (nectarines) than fruit that ranked lower (sweet oranges). Mature females that attempted oviposition during a single 3-min exposure period to a nectarine prior to release were much more likely to find a nectarine than were mature females naive to fruit or immature females with or without prior contact with fruit. Exposure to a nectarine before release did not affect the propensity of either mature or immature females to alight on an odourless visual model of a nectarine, however. As judged by numbers of leaves visited, protein-deprived immature females were more active than protein-fed mature females, irrespective of the sorts of resources on a tree. It was concluded that: the 1st B. tryoni females to arrive on the fruit of a host tree and therefore inoculate the fruit with fruit-fly-type bacteria were unlikely to be sexually immature, but to be mature as a result of having earlier acquired protein elsewhere; the odour of colonies of fruit-fly-type bacteria when associated with host fruit attracted protein-hungry but not protein-fed females; and the odour of the fruit itself attracted mature females (especially experienced ones) but not immature females.

As clear as mud: A critical review of evidence for the ecological roles of Australian dingoes

Top-predators have been reported to have an important role in structuring food webs and maintaining ecological processes for the benefit of biodiversity at lower trophic levels. This is thought to be achieved through their suppressive effects on sympatric mesopredators and prey. Great scientific and public interest surrounds the potential use of top-predators as biodiversity conservation tools, and it can often be difficult to separate what we think we know and what we really know about their ecological utility. Not all the claims made about the ecological roles of top-predators can be substantiated by current evidence. We review the methodology underpinning empirical data on the ecological roles of Australian dingoes (Canis lupus dingo and hybrids) to provide a comprehensive and objective benchmark for knowledge of the ecological roles of Australia's largest terrestrial predator. From a wide variety of methodological flaws, sampling bias, and experimental design constraints inherent to 38 of the 40 field studies we assessed, we demonstrate that there is presently unreliable and inconclusive evidence for dingoes role as a biodiversity regulator. We also discuss the widespread (both taxonomically and geographically) and direct negative effects of dingoes to native fauna, and the few robust studies investigating their positive roles. In light of the highly variable and context-specific impacts of dingoes on faunal biodiversity and the inconclusive state of the literature, we strongly caution against the positive management of dingoes in the absence of a supporting evidence-base for such action.

Clinical tips: Food poisoning

Food poisoning is used to describe a range of illnesses caused by drinking or eating contaminated drink or food. Infectious pathogens include bacteria, viruses, parasites, or their toxins, though food poisoning can also be a result of eating poisonous plants e.g. some mushrooms, or animals e.g. puffer fish. Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain and cramps, and fevers, though these will vary depending on the causative pathogen or toxin. Symptoms can start within hours of eating contaminated food, or may begin days or weeks later. Most food poisoning is mild in nature, lasts for several hours to a few days, and generally resolves without treatment. However, some cases of food poisoning can also be extremely severe, with people requiring medical attention or admission to hospital...

Allelic variation at a single gene increases food value in a drought-tolerant staple cereal

The production of adequate agricultural outputs to support the growing human population places great demands on agriculture, especially in light of ever-greater restrictions on input resources. Sorghum is a drought-adapted cereal capable of reliable production where other cereals fail, and thus represents a good candidate to address food security as agricultural inputs of water and arable land grow scarce. A long-standing issue with sorghum grain is that it has an inherently lower digestibility. Here we show that a low-frequency allele type in the starch metabolic gene, pullulanase, is associated with increased digestibility, regardless of genotypic background. We also provide evidence that the beneficial allele type is not associated with deleterious pleiotropic effects in the modern field environment. We argue that increasing the digestibility of an adapted crop is a viable way forward towards addressing food security while maximizing water and land-use efficiency.

"Gift Giving" by wild bottle-nose dolphins (tursiops sp.) to humans at a wild dolphin provisioning program, Tangalooma, Australia

Since 1992, wild dolphin provisioning has occurred on a nightly basis at Tangalooma, a resort located on Moreton Island, Australia. Each evening at dusk up to 12 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) are provided with fish in a regulated provisioning program. Since July 1998, biologists managing the program have documented 23 occurrences of "gift giving," when several of the provisioned dolphins have offered wild-caught cephalopod or fin fish species to staff members. The characteristics of each of these events are presented, and we explore the relationships between these events and their temporal patterns, and the age and sex of the dolphins involved. We also consider the behavioral explanations for the "gift giving," including prey sharing, play, and teaching behaviors, which have previously been described for cetaceans and other higher mammals. Gift giving may occur either as a discreet behavior (that may be a sequel to one or more other behaviors such as play or food preparation), or as a part of other behaviors, such as play and/or food sharing. It is most likely a manifestation of the particular relationship between the provisioned dolphins and the human participants in the provisioning. Gift giving has become an established but infrequent part of the culture of the provisioned dolphins at Tangalooma. © ISAZ 2012 Printed in the UK.