Studies on honey from the Algarve in view of its valorization

Tese de dout., Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Univ. do Algarve, 2012

Reguladores vegetais e o desbaste químico de frutos de tangor murcote

O tangor 'Murcote' apresenta necessidade de desbaste de frutos devido a alternância de produção, caracterizado por anos de excessiva produção intercalado com anos de baixa produção, evitando assim, a diminuição da qualidade dos frutos. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a eficiência de reguladores vegetais, a auxina ANA (ácido naftalenacético) e ethephon (etileno) no desbaste químico de frutos de tangor 'Murcote' aplicado 40 dias após o pleno florescimento. O experimento foi conduzido em Pratânia, SP, onde plantas de 5 anos de idade, enxertadas sobre o limoeiro 'Cravo', foram pulverizadas com ANA a 0, 100, 200, 300 e 400 mg L-1 e com ethephon a 200, 300 e 400 mg L-1, ambos em solução aquosa juntamente com adjuvante não iônico a 0,05%. A contagem dos frutos foi realizada previamente aos tratamentos em 2 ramos marcados por planta. O ANA não interferiu significativamente no desbaste de frutos, com porcentagens de queda variando entre 7 a 14%, enquanto que as pulverizações com ethephon mostraram maior eficiência no desbaste de frutos, principalmente na dose de 400 mg L-1, promovendo 66,6% de queda de frutos, sem contudo induzir a abscisão foliar. As doses inferiores de ethephon também promoveram desbaste de frutos da ordem de 40%. As porcentagens de queda de frutos foram pequenas, para plantas pulverizadas com ANA, enquanto que a aplicação de ethephon promoveu maior eficiência no desbaste de frutos.

Redução de sementes do tangor 'Murcote' com a aplicação de biorreguladores durante o florescimento

The present experiment was conducted in a commercial tangor 'Murcote' citrus grove in Pratania, São Paulo State, Brazil and had the objective to evaluate the effects of, 2,4-D (auxin), NAA (auxin), GA(3) (gibberellin) and BA (cytokinin), on the reduction of seed number, without modifications on citrus fruit quality. The treatments sprayed were as follow: control (water); 10 and 20 mg.L-1 of 2,4-D; 100, 150 and 200 mg.L-1 of NAA; 100 and 200 mg.L-1 of GA(3) ; 20 and 40 mg.L-1 of BA. The results showed that none of plant growth regulators influenced fruit quality, without weight reduction, diameter or (0)Brix. In relation to seed number, none of the plant growth regulators were effective on reduction of seed number, however the reduced of viable seed number and total seed number of fruits, specially with the treatment of 100 and 200 mg.L-1 of NAA and 100 mg.L-1 of GA(3), that showed a reduction of 30% of total seed of tangor murcott fruits.

Mechanism of interaction of hydrocalumites (Ca/Al-LDH) with methyl orange and acidic scarlet GR

The development of new materials for water purification is of universal importance. Among these types of materials are layered double hydroxides (LDHs). Non-ionic materials pose a significant problem as pollutants. The interaction of methyl orange (MO) and acidic scarlet GR (GR) adsorption on hydrocalumite (Ca/Al-LDH-Cl) were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (MIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR). The XRD results revealed that the basal spacing of Ca/Al-LDH-MO was expanded to 2.45 nm, and the MO molecules were intercalated with a inter-penetrating bilayer model in the gallery of LDH, with 49o tilting angle. Yet Ca/Al-LDH-GR was kept the same d-value as Ca/Al-LDH-Cl. The NIR spectrum for Ca/Al-LDH-MO showed a prominent band around 5994 cm-1, assigned to the combination result of the N-H stretching vibrations, which was considered as a mark to assess MO- ion intercalation into Ca/Al-LDH-Cl interlayers. From SEM images, the particle morphology of Ca/Al-LDH-MO mainly changed to irregular platelets, with a “honey-comb” like structure. Yet the Ca/Al-LDH-GR maintained regular hexagons platelets, which was similar to that of Ca/Al-LDH-Cl. All results indicated that MO- ion was intercalated into Ca/Al-LDH-Cl interlayers, and acidic scarlet GR was only adsorped upon Ca/Al-LDH-Cl surfaces.

Removal of methyl orange from aqueous solutions through adsorption by calcium aluminate hydrates

Methyl orange (MO) is a kind of anionic dye and widely used in industry. In this study, tricalcium aluminate hydrates (Ca-Al-LDHs) are used as an adsorbent to remove methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solutions. The resulting products were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (MIR), thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The XRD results indicated that the MO molecules were successfully intercalated into the tricalcium aluminate hydrates, with the basal spacing of Ca-Al-LDH expanding to 2.48 nm. The MIR spectrum for CaAl-MO-LDH shows obvious bands assigned to the N@N, N@H stretching vibrations and S@O, SO_ 3 group respectively, which are considered as marks to assess MO_ ion intercalation into the interlayers of LDH. The overall morphology of CaAl-MOLDH displayed a ‘‘honey-comb’’ like structure, with the adjacent layers expanded.

Seasonal changes in Florida Murcott Honey oranges /

Caption title.

Phylogenetic placement of the sugarcane orange rust pathogen Puccinia kuehnii in a historical and regional context

Sugarcane orange rust, caused by Puccinia kuehnii, was once considered a minor disease in the Australian sugar industry. However, in 2000 a new race of the pathogen devastated the high-performing sugarcane cultivar Q124, and caused the industry Aus$150–210 million in yield losses. At the time of the epidemic, very little was known about the genetic and pathogenic diversity of the fungus in Australia and neighbouring sugar industries. DNA sequence data from three rDNA regions were used to determine the genetic relationships between isolates within two P. kuehnii collections. The first collection comprised only recent Australian field isolates and limited sequence variation was detected within this population. In the second study, Australian isolates were compared with isolates from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, China and historical herbarium collections. Greater sequence variation was detected in this collection and phylogenetic analyses grouped the isolates into three clades. All isolates from commercial cane fields clustered together including the recent Australianfield isolates and the Australian historical isolate from 1898.The other two clades included rust isolates from wild and garden canes in Indonesia and PNG. These rusts appeared morphologically similar to P. kuehnii and could potentially pose a quarantine threat to the Australian sugar industry. The results have revealed greater diversity in sugarcane rusts than previously thought.

Positive correlation of male and female Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) catches in orange-ammonia traps

Populations of the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni, are routinely monitored using cue-lure, a male-only attractant. Such monitoring provides no information about females and there is little information available to show if male and female B. tryoni numbers are correlated in the field. Using a data set of 1 148 weekly clearances of orange-ammonia baited traps, which catch both males and females, the correlation between male and female numbers was tested for 48 weeks of the year (four weeks each month) and for the combined data set. Weekly male and female trap catches were almost entirely highly correlated, regardless of mean population size or time of year. For the whole year, the correlation between male and female numbers was r = 0.722, significant at p<0.001. Results suggest that changes in the number if male B. tryoni, as detected through cue-lure sampling, will reflect changes in numbers of female B. tryoni.

Deep End Teacher Guide : Orange

Dr Mills is the invited author of the Deep End Series Teacher Guides by ERA publications. This 3-volume series for teachers is used in more than 200 schools in Australia, the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, and South America.