Zingiber officinalis an herbal appetizer in the tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon (Fabricius) larviculture

Penaeus monodon postlarvae were fed with different percentages (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) of the herbal appetizer Zingiber officinalis enriched Artemia. After 30 days of culture (i.e. PL-1-30), a very positive result was found in Z. officinalis-enriched Artemia-fed postlarvae. The unenriched Artemia-fed postlarvae consumed 91.0 mg/animal/30 days of feed, whereas the Z. officinalis-enriched Artemia increased their consumption to 127.9 mg/animal/30 days. A similar pattern was noticed in feed absorbed (110.2 mg), dry weight growth (26.7 mg) and feed catabolized (83.2 mg) in Z. officinalis-enriched Artemia because of enzymatic activities. The conversion efficiency of unenriched postlarva was 17.19%, whereas in 100% Z. officinalis-enriched Artemia, the maximum conversion efficiency was 20.85%. The net production efficiency increased significantly (P < 0.05) to 22% from that of the unenriched Artemia-fed postlarvae. The administration of Z. officinalis in all levels produced significantly (P < 0.05) higher weight gain and specific growth rate. The utilization efficiency of feed increased proportionately to the percentages of Z. officinalis. Digestive enzyme activity (amylase, protease and lipase) increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the 50%, 75% and 100% enrichment. Among the different percentages of enrichment, the 100% Z. officinalis-enriched Artemia-fed postlarvae performed better in the overall status.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting : a systematic literature review

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is a common side-effect of cytotoxic treatment. It continues to affect a significant proportion of patients despite the widespread use of anti-emetic medication. In folk-medicine, ginger (Zingiber officinale) has been used to prevent and treat nausea in many cultures for thousands of years. However, its use has not been validated in the chemotherapy context. To determine the potential use of ginger as a prophylactic or treatment of CINV, a systematic literature review was conducted. Reviewed studies comprised randomised controlled trials or cross-over trials that investigated the anti-CINV effect of ginger as the sole intervention independent variable in chemotherapy patients. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies were assessed on methodological quality and their limitations were identified. Studies were mixed in their support of ginger as an anti-CINV treatment in patients receiving chemotherapy, with three demonstrating a positive effect, two in favour but with caveats and two showing no effect on measures of CINV. Future studies are required to address the limitations identified before clinical use can be recommended.

The effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale) on platelet aggregation: A systematic literature review

Background The potential effect of ginger on platelet aggregation is a widely-cited concern both within the published literature and to clinicians; however, there has been no systematic appraisal of the evidence to date. Methods Using the PRISMA guidelines, we systematically reviewed the results of clinical and observational trials regarding the effect of ginger on platelet aggregation in adults compared to either placebo or baseline data. Studies included in this review stipulated the independent variable was a ginger preparation or isolated ginger compound, and used measures of platelet aggregation as the primary outcome. Results Ten studies were included, comprising eight clinical trials and two observational studies. Of the eight clinical trials, four reported that ginger reduced platelet aggregation, while the remaining four reported no effect. The two observational studies also reported mixed findings. Discussion Many of the studies appraised for this review had moderate risks of bias. Methodology varied considerably between studies, notably the timeframe studied, dose of ginger used, and the characteristics of subjects recruited (e.g. healthy vs. patients with chronic diseases). Conclusion The evidence that ginger affects platelet aggregation and coagulation is equivocal and further study is needed to definitively address this question.

Dracocephalum moldavica L. and Melissa officinalis L. : Chemistry and Bioactivities Relevant in Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy

Oksidatiivisen stressin eli liiallisen reaktiivisten happiyhdisteiden määrän soluissa on jo pitkään arveltu olevan tärkeä Alzheimerin taudin kehittymiseen ja etenemiseen vaikuttava tekijä. Tämän vuoksi kiinnostus erilaisten antioksidanttien (yhdisteitä, jotka neutraloivat näitä happiradikaaleja soluissa) mahdollisia terapeuttisia ominaisuuksia Alzheimerin taudin hoidossa on tutkittu laajalti. Tähän mennessä ei kuitenkaan ole vielä onnistuttu löytämään antioksidanttia, joka olisi hyödyksi Alzheimerin taudin hoidossa. Tämän vuoksi on tärkeää pyrkiä löytämään uusia antioksidanttien lähteitä sekä tutkia niistä löytyviä aktiivisia yhdisteitä. Kiinnostus luonnon antioksidantteja kohtaan on kasvanut voimakkaasti viime aikoina. Huomio on kiinnittynyt erityisesti aromaattisista sekä lääkekasveista löytyviin antioksidantteihin. Lamiaceae- perheeseen kuuluvia tuoksuampiaisyrttiä (Dracocephalum moldavica L.) ja sitruunamelissaa (Melissa officinalis L.) on käytetty Iranissa pitkään sekä ruoanlaitossa että lääkinnässä, minkä vuoksi näiden kasvien uutteiden antioksidanttisisältöä päätettiin analysoida käyttäen useaa erilaista in vitro- menetelmää. Näissä kokeissa ilmeni, että uutteilla oli useita antioksidanttisia vaikutuksia. Näistä antioksidanttisista vaikutuksista vastaavia yhdisteitä pyrittiin tunnistamaan käyttäen HPLC-PDA- tekniikkaa, minkä seurauksena niiden havaittiin sisältävän erilaisia polyfenoleita, kuten hydroksyloituneita bentsoeeni- ja cinnamamidihapon johdannaisia sekä flavonoideja. Kummankin kasvin uutteissa runsaimmin esiintynyt yhdiste oli rosmariinihappo. Sitruunamelissaa (M. officinalis) on käytetty antiikin ajoista alkaen kognitiivisten toimintojen häiriöiden hoidossa. Perustuen tietoon kasvin käytöstä perinteisessä lääkinnässä, sen tehoa Alzheimerin taudin hoidossa on tutkittu viime aikoina kliinisin kokein. Sitruunamelissan todettiinkin olevan hyödyksi lievää ja keskivaikeaa Alzheimeimerin tautia sairastavien potilaiden hoidossa. Väitöskirjan osanan olevasta kooste-artikkelista käy ilmi, että tutkimalla lääkekasvien ominaisuuksia voidaan saada arvokkaita suuntaa-antavia vihjeitä Alzheimerin taudin lääkehoidon kehittämiseen. Tämän perusteella päätettiinkin testatata myös sitruunamelissauutteen kykyä estää asetyylikoliiniesteraasin (AChE) toimintaa, koska tämän entsyymin toiminna estämisen tiedetään olevan hyödyksi Alzheimerin taudin hoidossa. Uute kykeni estämään AChE:n toimintaa, minkä vuoksi uutteen sisältämiä komponentteja päätettiin tutkia terkemmin. Uute jaettiin erilaisiin fraktioihin käyttäen HPLC-menetelmää, minkä jälkeen testattiin jokaisen fraktion kykyä inhiboida AchE. Suurin osa fraktioista kykeni inhiboimaan AChE:n toimintaa selkeästi tehokkaammin, kuin raakauute. Kaikista tehokkainta fraktiota analysoitiin tarkemmin sen aktiivisten yhdisteiden tunnistamiseksi, minkä seurauksena sen sisältämät yhdisteet tunnistettiin cis ja trans-rosmariinihapoiksi. Tässä tutkimuksessa tunnistettujen yhdisteiden hyödyllisyyttä Alzheimerin taudin hoidossa tulisi seuraavaksi tutkia erilaisissa in vivo-malleissa. Lisäksi jäljellä olevien fraktioiden kemiallinen koostumus tulisi selvittää sekä antioksidanttiaktiivisuuden ja AChE:n toiminnan inhiboinnin välistä mahdollista yhteyttä tulisi tutkia tarkemmin. Tämä tutkimus osoittaa tuoksuampiasyrtin (D. moldavica) sekä sitruunamelissan (M. officinalis) sisältävän monenlaisia aktiivisia antioksidantteja. Lisäksi sitruunamelissan sisältämät yhdisteet kykenivät estämään asetyylikoliiniesteraasin (AchE) toimintaa. Nämä tulokset tukevat osaltaan väitöskirjan osana olevan kooste-artikkelin johtopäätöksiä, joiden mukaan etnofarmakologinen kasvitutkimus voi osoittautua erittäin hyödylliseksi kehitettäessä uutta lääkehoitoa Alzheimerin tautiin. Lisäksi tässä väitöskirjassa kuvattu tutkimus osoittaakin, että perinteisesti lääkekasvina käytettyä sitruunamelissaa voidaan mahdollisesti hyödyntää uusien Alzheimerin taudin hoitoon käytettävien lääkkeiden kehityksessä.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) autotetraploids with improved processing quality produced by an in vitro colchicine treatment

Ginger autotetraploids were produced by immersing shoot tips in a 0.5% w/v colchicine, 2% v/v dimethyl sulfoxide solution for 2 h. Stomatal measurements were used as an early indicator of ploidy differences in culture with mean stomata length of tetraploids (49.2 μm) being significantly larger than the diploid (38.8 µm). Of the 500 shoot tips treated, 2% were characterised as stable autotetraploid lines following field evaluation over several seasons. Results were confirmed with flow cytometry and, of the 7 lines evaluated for distinctness and uniformity, 6 were solid tetraploid mutants and 1 was a periclinal chimera. Significant differences were noted between individual tetraploid lines in terms of shoot length, leaf length, leaf width, size of rhizome sections (knob weight) and fibre content. The solid autotetraploid lines had significantly wider, greener leaves than the diploids, they had significantly fewer but thicker shoots and, although ‘Queensland’ (the diploid parent from which the tetraploids were derived) had a greater total rhizome mass at harvest, its knob size was significantly smaller. From the autotetraploid lines, one line was selected for commercial release as ‘Buderim Gold’. It compared the most favourably with ‘Queensland’ in terms of the aroma/flavour profile and fibre content at early harvest, and had consistently good rhizome yield. More importantly it produced large rhizome sections, resulting in a higher recovery of premium grade confectionery ginger and a more attractive fresh market product.

Essential Oil Composition of Diploid and Tetraploid Clones of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) Grown in Australia

Ginger oil, obtained by steam distillation of the rhizome of Zingiber officinale Roscoe, is used in the beverage and fragrance industries. Ginger oil displays considerable compositional diversity, but is typically characterized by a high content of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, including zingiberene, arcurcumene, â-bisabolene, and â-sesquiphellandrene. Australian ginger oil has a reputation for possessing a particular “lemony” aroma, due to its high content of the isomers neral and geranial, often collectively referred to as citral. Fresh rhizomes of 17 clones of Australian ginger, including commercial cultivars and experimental tetraploid clones, were steam distilled 7 weeks post-harvest, and the resulting oils were analyzed by GC-MS. The essential oils of 16 of the 17 clones, including the tetraploid clones and their parent cultivar, were found to be of substantially similar composition. These oils were characterized by very high citral levels (51-71%) and relatively low levels of the sesquiterpene hydrocarbons typical of ginger oil. The citral levels of most of these oils exceeded those previously reported for ginger oils. The neral-to-geranial ratio was shown to be remarkably constant (0.61 ( 0.01) across all 17 clones. One clone, the cultivar “Jamaican”, yielded oil with a substantially different composition, lower citral content and higher levels of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. Because this cultivar also contains significantly higher concentrations of pungent gingerols, it possesses unique aroma and flavor characteristics, which should be of commercial interest.

Pythiogeton ramosum, a new pathogen of soft rot disease of ginger (Zingiber officinale) at high temperatures in Australia

Pythium soft rot (PSR) of ginger caused by a number of Pythium species is of the most concern worldwide. In Australia, PSR outbreaks associated with Pythium myriotylum was recorded in 2007. Our recent pathogenicity tests in Petri dishes conducted on ginger rhizomes and pot trials on ginger plants showed that Pythiogeton (Py.) ramosum, an uncommon studied oomycete in Pythiaceae, was also pathogenic to ginger at high temperature (30–35 °C). Ginger sticks excised from the rhizomes were colonised by Py. ramosum which caused soft rot and browning lesions. Ginger plants inoculated with Py. ramosum showed initial symptoms of wilting and leave yellowing, which were indistinguishable from those of Pythium soft rot of ginger, at 10 days after inoculation. In addition, morphological and phylogenetic studies indicated that isolates of Py. ramosum were quite variable and our isolates obtained from soft rot ginger were divided into two groups based on these variations. This is also for the first time Py. ramosum is reported as a pathogen on ginger at high temperatures.

Development of tissue culture and virus-induced gene silencing for Calendula officinalis

Calendula officinalis is grown widely as an ornamental plant across Europe. It belongs to the large. Asteraceae family. In this study, the aim was to explore the possibilities to use Calendula officinalis as a new model organism for flower development and secondary mechanism studies in Asteraceae. Tissue culture of Calendula officinalis was established using nine different cultivars. Murashige & Skoog (MS) medium with four different combinations of plant growth regulators were tested. Of all these combinations, the medium containing 1mg/l BAP, 0.1 mg/l IAA, and 1mg/l Zeatin achieved highest frequency of adventitious shoot regeneration from hypocotyl and cotyledon explants. Virus-induced gene silencing is a recent developed genetic tool for charactering the gene functions in plants, and extends the range of host plants that are not accessible for Agrobacterium transformation. Here, tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based VIGS technique was tested in calendula (cv. Single Orange). We used TRV carrying Gerbera hybrid phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene fragment to induce PDS silencing in calendula. Vacuum infiltration and syringe infiltration methods both resulted in photo-bleaching phenotypes in leaves, bracts and petals. Loss-of-function phenotypes occurred on calendula 13 days post-infiltration. In conclusion, the data indicates that calendula explants can be regenerated through tissue culture which is a prerequisite for development of stable transformation methods. However, further optimization is still needed to improve the frequency. In addition, VIGS was applied to silence PDS marker gene expression indicating that this method has potential for gene functional studies in future.

Establecimiento y micropropagación de jengibre (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) colectado en el departamento de Carazo

El presente estudio se realizó en el laboratorio de cultivo de tejidos vegetales del Programa Recursos Genéticos Nicaragüenses (REGEN), perteneciente a la Facultad de Agronomia de la Universidad Nacional Agraria (UNA), ubicada en el km 12 1/2 de la carretera norte, Managua, Nicaragua. La realización del ensayo abarcó el tiempo comprendido entre los meses mayo y septiembre de 1997. El objetivo del mismo fue lograr el establecimiento de plántulas de jengibre (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) y la definición del medio de cultivo adecuado para la micropropagación de este cultivo. La fase de establecimiento se inició con 16 explantes los cuales se implantaron en un medio de cultivo sólido conteniendo sales minerales Murashige y Skoog (MS) (1962) más 2.5 mg/l de 6-BAP. En la fase de micropropagación se utilizaron diferentes concentraciones de 6-BAP (0.0, 2.5 y 5.0 mg/l) y dos consistencias del medio de cultivo (sólido y liquido), durante 3 subcultivos. El experimento se estableció utilizando el esquema diseño de Bloques Completamente al Azar (BCA). A los datos de las variables cuantitativas se les realizó un análisis de varianza (ANDEVA). En la fase de establecimiento el 18.75% de las plantas presentaron contaminación bacteriana, no se observó contaminación con hongos y el 81.25 % se desarrollaron satisfactoriamente. La mayor proliferación de hijos se obtuvo siempre en los medios de cultivo de consistencia sólida durante los 3 subcultivos, se utilizaron 12 repeticiones por tratamiento, en las cuales se evaluaron las variables número de hijos, número de hojas, altura de planta, número de raíces y longitud de raíces. El medio de cultivo que indujo a la producción del mayor número de hijos fue al que se le adicionó 5.0 mg/l de 6-BAP con un promedio de 1.55 hijos por explante. El mayor número de ralees se registró en el medio de cultivo sólido con 2.5 mg/1 del regulador del crecimiento 6-BAP, presentando un promedio de 6.19 raíces por planta. Los medios de consistencia líquida favorecieron tanto la altura de las plantas como el número de hojas. No hubo tendencia a aumentar o disminuir el número en las variables altura de planta, número de hijos y número de raíces con respecto al número de subcultivos.

Producción de primicia en invernadero de híbridos de espárrago verde (Asparagus officinalis var. Altilis) en su cuarto año productivo

Resumen: La producción de espárragos en Argentina está caracterizada por una elevada estacionalidad concentrada en el periodo octubre-diciembre, por lo que el empleo de invernaderos brinda la posibilidad de ampliar el calendario de oferta, anticipando la entrada en producción. Con el objetivo de evaluar el rendimiento de primicia de diferentes híbridos de espárrago verde, se realizó un ensayo en invernadero con ocho híbridos, en UCA Buenos Aires, iniciado el 15/11/2006, mediante plantines de 100 días a 1m*0,3m. Se evaluaron los siguientes genotipos: Italo, Zeno, Eros, Ercole, H-668, Marte, y Giove, de origen italiano, y UC-157 de origen americano, como testigo por ser el tradicionalmente cultivado en Argentina. Se evaluaron 22 cosechas, con una frecuencia de día por medio, del 17/08/2011-25/10/2011. Se estudiaron diferencias en kg totales y comerciales (PFT y PFC), Nº turiones totales y comerciales/ha (NTT y NTC) y distribución de calibres (DC): Jumbo (J), Extra-Large (XL), Large (L), Medium (M), Small (S) y Asparagina (A). Se efectuó un análisis multifactor ANOVA LSD test (P>0.05). En promedio se obtuvieron: PFT: 17053; PFC: 7904 kg.ha-1; NTT: 670566 y NTC: 520938 turiones.ha-1. Se destacaron: en PFT: Italo: 29458a, Zeno: 23056b, Giove: 23034b y H-668: 18568bc; en PFC: Italo: 14850a, Giove: 9856b, Zeno: 9130bc y H-668: 8228bcd; en NTT: Italo: 842512a, H-668: 754512a, Giove: 715000b y Eros: 707498b; en NTC: Italo: 844998a, H-668: 667502b y Eros: 542498bc y en DC: en J: Italoa, Gioveb, Zenobc y UC-157bcd; en XL: Italoa, Zenoab y Gioveb; en L: Giovea, Italoa, Zenoab, H-668abc y UC-157abc; en M: Italoa, H-668ab y Erosab; en S: H-668a, Erosa e Italoab y en A: H-668a y Marteab. Por lo expuesto resulta alentadora la productividad de Italo, Giove, Zeno y H-668 para producción de espárrago verde de primicia en invernadero.

Evaluación del crecimiento y producción de turiones de espárrago verde (Asparagus officinalis L.) producidos bajo dos sistemas de inicio, arañas y plantines, en Azul, Buenos Aires

En dos plantaciones de espárrago verde (Asparagus officinalis L.) en el centro de la Pcia. de Buenos Aires, del cultivar UC 157 F2, iniciadas con arañas y plantines, durante su primer año de cosecha, se determinó la tasa de elongación diaria y total hasta el momento de la ramificación de los turiones, el número de días hasta alcanzar el largo exportable (22.5 cm) y los días hasta el momento de la ramificación con el objetivo de estudiar su comportamiento en la zona centro de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Las mediciones se efectuaron durante seis semanas, desde el 26 de septiembre hasta el 4 de noviembre de 2005, desde la emergencia del turión hasta el día de su ramificación (rama de 5 mm sobre su bráctea). La elongación máxima hasta el día de ramificación en promedio y para ambos sistemas de inicio, varió 2 desde 35.3 cm al principio de la cosecha hasta 22.8 cm al final de la misma. Las tasas de elongación relativas variaron en promedio para ambos sistemas de inicio, entre 0.11 cm cm-1 d-1 y 0.38 cm cm-1 d-1 dependiendo de la temperatura del aire. Al mismo tiempo las parcelas constituyentes del ensayo fueron sometidas a una cosecha comercial durante las seis semanas de evaluación. Los espárragos cosechados constituyeron el rendimiento total (kg ha-1) para cada sistema de inicio entre los cuales no se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas. Este estudio permitiría explicar las diferencias de rendimiento comercial para un mismo cultivar en diferentes zonas de producción. Se concluye que para una zona dada, la elongación y sobre todo la ramificación, son variables prioritarias para la determinación del potencial productivo de un cultivar, debiendo tener en cuenta las condiciones de temperatura en las cual se pretende producir este cultivo y el mercado de destino de la producción debido a las mercadas preferencias entre sus consumidores.