No abstract available

[en] Food irradiation is the process of treating foods to a controlled source of ionizing radiation, to reduce post-harvest losses and ensure its safety. With respect to horticulture produce, the role of food irradiation has been well established to fulfill the phytosanitary requirement of the importing countries and also to ensure food safety in certain commodities. Still for establishing its relevance in extending the shelf-life of horticulture produce, substantial scientific inputs are required. Our objective was therefore to summarize in brief the research findings where role of radiation processing in shelf-life extension of horticulture produce has been addressed. Low dose (0.1 kGy) of γ-radiation resulted in sprout inhibition in potatoes and onions, thus prolonging their storage life upto 4 months at 11-12℃. Radiation processing also delayed ripening process in the climacteric fruits by a week upto one month depending on the cultivars and stored condition. Shelf-life of button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) was extended up to 10-15 days by γ-radiation treatment of 2-3 kGy and storage at 10±2℃ . A 5 kGy radiation dose and 10℃ storage temperature increased the shelf life of peeled ginger samples upto 70 days. Irradiation of guava fruits with 0.1 kGy γ-radiation increased its post harvest life by 8 days. Shelf-life of Litchi was increased upto 28 days by radiation treatment at 0.5 kGy and subsequent low temperature storage. Shelf-life of leafy vegetables increased upto 20 days by a combination process including γ-radiation (Khade, et.al., unpublished data). Electron beam irradiation (2 kGy) extended shelf-life of fresh strawberry fruits upto 4 day. Apples irradiated at 0.2-0.4 kGy showed improved quality upto 3 months of storage. Shelled sweet corn kernels treated with combination process including γ-radiation (5 kGy) treatment showed prolonged shelf-life of 30 days at 4℃ (Kumar S. et.al., unpublished data). In recent study conducted by us on shelf life extension of fresh date palm fruit using γ-radiation treatment and other hurdles have shown promising results. Thus, it can be concluded that besides ensuring food safety and security, radiation processing has tremendous potential of extending the shelf-life of horticulture produce in its fresh or minimally processed form. (author)

No abstract available

[en] The statistics of 1997, collected by Turveruukki Oy, show that the horticultural peat production in Europe and Northern America is about 32.6 million m³/a. About 20.2 million m³ of horticultural peat was produced in 1997 in Western Europe and about 9.5 million m³ in Northern America. The share of Eastern Europe was 2.9 million m³. Production of fuel peat and horticultural peat in Europe are nearly equal, but most of the countries produce only horticultural peat. Finland, Russia, Ireland, Belorussia and Sweden are countries where the share of fuel peat is high. The largest producers of horticultural peat are Germany, Canada and Estonia. The share of these countries is about 60% of the production in Europe and Northern America. Germany and Canada do not produce fuel peat at all, and in Estonia the main portion of peat production area is aimed at horticultural production. About 1.6 million m³ of horticultural peat was produced in Finland in 1997, corresponding to about 8% of the horticultural peat production in Europe. The share of horticultural peat has been low also in Ireland and Sweden. The main portion of the horticultural peat production in Finland is produced side by side with the fuel peat production. Horticultural peat is exported mainly as processed and sacked peat. The horticultural peat production in Western Europe is about 20 million m³/s. The Netherlands is a were large consumer of horticultural peat, but it has no horticultural peat production of its own. Other possible countries for export are Spain and France in Europe, and Japan

No abstract available

No abstract available

[en] The correct name and the affiliation of the third author should be ‘‘Su Young Woo’’, and ‘‘Department of Environmental Horticulture, College of Natural Science, University of Seoul, Seoul 02504, Republic of Korea”.

[en] Complete text of publication follows. Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are moderately cross linked, 3-D, hydrophilic network polymers that can absorb and conserve considerable amounts of aqueous fluids even under certain heat or pressure. Because of the unique properties superior to conventional absorbents, SAPs have found potential application in many fields such as hygienic products, disposable diapers, horticulture, gel actuators, drug-delivery systems, as well as water-blocking tapes coal dewatering, water managing materials for the renewal of arid and desert environment, etc. In recent years, naturally available resources, such as polysaccharides have drawn considerable attention for the preparation of SAPs. Since the mechanical properties of polysaccharide based natural polymers are low, researchers have mostly focused on natural/synthetic polymer/monomer mixtures to obtain novel SAPs. The aim of this study is to synthesize and characterization of network structure of novel double-network (DN) hydrogels as a SAP. Hydrogels with high mechanical strength have been prepared by radiation induced polymerization and crosslink of acrylic acid sodium salt in the presence of natural polymer locust bean gum. Liquid retention capacities and absorbency under load (AUL) analysis of synthesized SAPs was performed at different temperatures in water and synthetic urine solution, in order to determine their SAP character. For the characterization of network structure of the semi-IPN hydrogels, the average molecular weight between cross links (M_c) were evaluated by using uniaxial compression and oscillatory dynamical mechanical analyses and the advantage and disadvantage of these two technique for the characterization of network structures were compared.

[en] Background: Although there is evidence from animal studies of impaired reproductive function by exposure to organophosphates (OP), the effects on birth weight have not been sufficiently evaluated in epidemiological studies. Paraoxonase (PON1) detoxifies organophosphates by cleavage of active oxons. Some PON1 gene polymorphisms could reduce the enzyme activity and increase susceptibility to OP toxicity. Objective: To assess the association between maternal exposure to floriculture during pregnancy and the risk of low birth weight (< 2500 g) in their offspring, as well as to evaluate the interaction between this exposure and maternal genotype for PON1 Q192R polymorphisms. Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in two Mexican states (States of Mexico and Morelos) with high frequencies of greenhouse activity. We interviewed and collected blood samples from 264 females (floriculturists or partners of floricultural workers) who became pregnant during the 10 years prior to the interview. The questionnaire measured socioeconomic characteristics, tobacco and alcohol consumption, diseases and occupational and reproductive history. We also applied a food frequency questionnaire. Information was obtained pertaining to 467 pregnancies. DNA was extracted from white cells, and PON1 genotype was determined by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism for Q192R polymorphisms. Results were analyzed with generalized estimating equations models. Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, we detected a statistically significant interaction between maternal exposure to flower growing work during pregnancy and PON1 Q192R polymorphisms on risk of low birth weight. The risk of having a baby with LBW is nearly six times higher if a mother is a floriculture worker during pregnancy and has PON1 192RR genotype (OR 5.93, 95% CI 1.28, 27.5). Conclusion: These results suggest that the interaction between maternal floriculture work during pregnancy and 192RR PON1 genotype increases the probability of having children with LBW.

No abstract available