-
This study aimed to investigate the ways in which the thermal behavior, composition, and volatile compound contents of roasted coffee beans depend on variety and roasting intensity. The thermal analysis revealed various transformations in coffee composition, namely, drying, water loss, and decomposition of polysaccharides, lipids, amino acids, and proteins. The results showed that volatile compounds are released differently in coffee depending on coffee type and degree of roasting. The most abundant volatile compounds present in the samples were 2-butanone, furan, 2-methylfuran, methyl formate, 2.3-pentanedione, methylpyrazine, acetic acid, furfural, 5-methyl furfural, and 2-furanmethanol. The total polyphenol contents ranged between 13.3 and 18.9 g gallic acid/kg, being slightly higher in Robusta than in Arabica varieties and in more intensely roasted beans compared to medium-roasted beans. The Robusta variety has higher mineral contents than Arabica, and the contents of most minerals (K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, P, N, and S) increased with roasting intensity. Discrimination between coffee varieties and roasting intensities is possible based on mineral and polyphenol contents.
Increased concentrations of heavy metals in the environment are of public health concern, their removal from waters receiving considerable interest. The aim of this paper was to study the simultaneous adsorption of heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, Zn and Pb) from aqueous solutions using the zeolitic volcanic tuffs as adsorbents. The effect of thermal treatment temperature, particle size and initial metal concentrations on the metal ions sorption was investigated. The selectivity of used zeolite for the adsorption of studied heavy metals followed the order: Pb > Cr > Cu > Zn > Cd > Ni. The removal efficiency of the heavy metals was strongly influenced by the particle sizes, the samples with smaller particle size (0−0.05 mm) being more efficient in heavy metals removal than those with larger particle size (1−3 mm). Generally, no relevant changes were observed in heavy metals removal efficiency for the treatment temperatures of 200 °C and 350 °C. Moreover, at a higher temperature (550 °C), a decrease in the removal efficiencies was observed. The Cd, Zn, Cu, Cr, Zn and Ni sorption was best described by Langmuir model according to the high values of correlation coefficient. The pseudo-first-order kinetic model presented the best correlation of the experimental data.
The aim of this study was to investigate the use of natural zeolite as support for microbial community formation during wastewater treatment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal decomposition and differential thermogravimetric curves (TGA/DGT) techniques were used for the physicochemical and structural characterization of zeolites. The chemical characterization of wastewater was performed before and after treatment, after 30 days of using stationary zeolite as support. The chemical composition of wastewater was evaluated in terms of the products of nitrification/denitrification processes. The greatest ammonium (NH4+) adsorption was obtained for wastewater contaminated with different concentrations of ammonium, nitrate and nitrite. The wastewater quality index (WWQI) was determined to assess the effluent quality and the efficiency of the treatment plant used, showing a maximum of 71% quality improvement, thus suggesting that the treated wastewater could be discharged into aquatic environments. After 30 days, NH4+ demonstrated a high removal efficiency (higher than 98%), while NO3+ and NO2+ had a removal efficiency of 70% and 54%, respectively. The removal efficiency for metals was observed as follows (%): Mn > Cd > Cr > Zn > Fe > Ni > Co > Cu > Ba > Pb > Sr. Analysis of the microbial diversity in the zeolite samples indicated that the bacteria are formed due to the existence of nutrients in wastewater which favor their formation. In addition, the zeolite was characterized by SEM and the results indicated that the zeolite acts as an adsorbent for the pollutants and, moreover, as a support material for microbial community formation under optimal conditions. Comparing the two studied zeolites, NZ1 (particle size 1−3 mm) was found to be more suitable for wastewater treatment. Overall, the natural zeolite demonstrated high potential for pollutant removal and biomass support for bacteria community growth in wastewater treatment.
The present study aimed to assess the uptake of the common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories ibuprofen, ketoprofen and diclofenac by lettuce, radishes, and tomatoes. The influence of multiple routes of exposures (soil, water, vapor) of the pharmaceuticals were invstigated. The impact of accumulated pharmaceuticals active ingredients on the vegetable quality as the carbohydrate, amino acid, volatile organic aroma, and fatty acid methyl ester content were also investigated. The determination of the pharmaceutical active ingredients and vegetable quality compounds was performed by gas chromatography. For all of the vegetables, the diclofenac bioconcentration factor was the highest, as the concentration was between 31 and 118 ng·g−1. Ibuprofen was easily accumulated in radishes and lettuce, with levels between 6 and 58 and 11 and 73 ng·g−1, respectively. Higher concentrations of the pharmaceutical active ingredients were determined when the soil was artificially contaminated. The average values of bioconcentration factors considering studied pharmaceuticals active ingredients were in the following order: diclofenac > ibuprofen > ketoprofen. Considering the impact upon the vegetable carbohydrate content, a decreasing tendency in percentage values was observed for the carbohydrate concentration in radishes and tomatoes treated by pharmaceuticals through contaminated soil and water. Similarly, the volatile organic aroma compounds decreased from 7% to 36% compared with the controls when the vegetables were cultivated in contaminated conditions.
<i>Acheta domesticus</i> (L.1758) has been recently accepted by the European Union as a novel food, being the third insect that has been approved for human consumption. Nowadays, researchers' attention is focused on exploiting new protein sustainable sources, and, therefore, insect flour has gained more and more interest. Organic acids, fatty acids, amino acids, aroma volatile compounds, and minerals were analyzed through HPLC-RID (High-performance liquid chromatography), GC-MS (Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), LC-MS (Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry), ITEX/GC-MS and AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry), respectively. Fermentation of the insect flour with <i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i> ATCC 8014 strain (Lp) leads to an increase in organic acids such as lactic, acetic, and oxalic, whilst citric acid decreases its value. SFA (saturated fatty acids) and MUFA (monosaturated fatty acids) groups were positively influenced by Lp fermentation; meanwhile, PUFA (polysaturated fatty acids) decreased during fermentation. A positive trend was observed for amino acids, aroma volatile content, and minerals enhancement during insect sourdough fermentation, mainly at 24 h of fermentation. <i>Acheta domesticus (A. domesticus)</i> sourdough fermentation represents a new tool that needs to be further exploited aiming to improve the nutritional qualities of the final products.
Traditional biscuits are considered products with poor nutritional value because of their large share of rapidly digested starch, which results in an elevated glycaemic index. This paper explores the improvement of the nutritional value of biscuits by adding yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) powder. Four biscuit recipes containing 0%(R1), 10%(R2), 15%(R3), and 20%(R4) of yellow mealworm powder were prepared and subjected to sensorial analysis. The R3 biscuits were selected for further investigation, as they had the highest acceptability. Compared to the reference R1, the R3 biscuits showed an improved nutritional profile in terms of protein, fat, ash, minerals, fibres, essential amino acids, and unsaturated fatty acids, and lower amounts of carbohydrates and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. The in vitro protein digestibility in R3 improved 1.12-fold compared to R1. No significant difference was found between the digestibility of the lipids released from R1 and R3. A higher fraction of slowly digestible starch was present in R3 compared to R1. The starch digestibility and estimated glycaemic index were 72.96% and 79.56% in R3, which can be compared to 78.79% and 90.14%, respectively, in R1. Due to their enhanced nutritional profile, higher bioaccessible protein fraction, and lower glycaemic index, yellow mealworm powder biscuits can be considered a more nutritious alternative to traditional biscuits.
In the present work, the capability of the volcanic tuff from Macicasu (Romania) to remove ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) from air with different contamination levels during 24 h of adsorption experiments was investigated. The natural zeolitic volcanic tuff was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The adsorption capacities varied between 0.022 mg NH<sub>3</sub> g<sup>-1</sup> zeolite and 0.282 mg NH<sub>3</sub> g<sup>-1</sup> zeolite, depending on the NH<sub>3</sub> concentrations in the air and at the contact time. The nonlinear forms of the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to fit the experimental data. Additionally, the adsorption of NH<sub>3</sub> was studied using nonlinear pseudo-first-order (PFO), pseudo-second-order (PSO), and Elovich kinetic model. Based on the total volume of pores of used volcanic tuff, the NH<sub>3</sub> was removed from the air both due to the physical adsorption of NH<sub>3</sub> gas and the ion exchange of NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> (resulted from a reaction between NH<sub>3</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O adsorbed by the zeolite). Depending on the initial NH<sub>3</sub> concentration and the amount of volcanic tuff, the NH<sub>3</sub> concentrations can be reduced below the threshold of this contaminant in the air. The adsorption capacity of NH<sub>3</sub> per unit of zeolite (1 g) varied in the range of 0.022-0.282 mg NH<sub>3</sub> g<sup>-1</sup> depending on the NH<sub>3</sub> concentration in the air.
In this study, the effect of common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on <i>Lycopersicon esculentum</i> rhizosphere microbiota was monitored. The experiments were performed with artificially contaminated soil with ibuprofen (0.5 mg·kg<sup>-1</sup>), ketoprofen (0.2 mg·kg<sup>-1</sup>) and diclofenac (0.7 mg·kg<sup>-1</sup>). The results evidenced that the rhizosphere microbiota abundance decreased especially under exposure to diclofenac (187-201 nmol·g<sup>-1</sup> dry weight soil) and ibuprofen (166-183 nmol·g<sup>-1</sup> dry weight soil) if compared with control (185-240 nmol·g<sup>-1</sup> dry weight soil), while the fungal/bacteria ratio changed significantly with exposure to diclofenac (<27%) and ketoprofen (<18%). Compared with control samples, the average amount of the ratio of Gram-negative/Gram-positive bacteria was higher in rhizosphere soil contaminated with ibuprofen (>25%) and lower in the case of diclofenac (<46%) contamination. Carbon source consumption increased with the time of assay in case of the control samples (23%) and those contaminated with diclofenac (8%). This suggests that rhizosphere microbiota under contamination with diclofenac consume a higher amount of carbon, but they do not consume a larger variety of its sources. In the case of contamination with ibuprofen and ketoprofen, the consumption of carbon source presents a decreasing tendency after day 30 of the assay. Rhizosphere microbiota emitting volatile organic compounds were also monitored. Volatile compounds belonging to alcohol, aromatic compounds, ketone, terpene, organic acids, aldehyde, sulphur compounds, esters, alkane, nitrogen compounds, alkene and furans were detected in rhizosphere soil samples. Among these, terpene, ketone, alcohol, aromatic compounds, organic acids and alkane were the most abundant compound classes (>75%), but their percentage changed with exposure to diclofenac, ketoprofen and ibuprofen. Such changes in abundance, structure and the metabolic activity of <i>Lycopersicon esculentum</i> rhizosphere microbiota under exposure to common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs suggest that there is a probability to also change the ecosystem services provided by rhizosphere microbiota.
Commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can enter the soil via several routes. However, there have been relatively few studies on the impact of NSAIDs on the soil microbiome. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, and their Mixture on the soil microbiomes of three different soil types (Cambic chernozem, Luvisols and Calcaric rendzinas). Changes in the soil microbiome profile were assessed using the phospholipid-derived fatty acid (PLFA) approach, as this method allows for the assessment of quantitative variations in the living soil microorganisms. The results showed that microbiome abundance fluctuates over time in the presence of both individual NSAIDs and mixtures. Cambic chernozem had a higher attenuation efficiency than Luvisols and Calcaric rendzinas. Principal component analysis showed that both fungal and bacterial phyla are affected by NSAIDs. The fungal community was more sensitive to NSAIDs than bacterial phyla in all soil types. Since Diclofenac and Ibuprofen were attenuated entirely at the experiment's end, we concluded that some species could use these NSAIDs as carbon or energy resources. The results of this study provide new insights into the response of the soil microbiome to non-target NSAID exposure.
Global change refers to anthropogenic and climate pattern modification. The consequences of these changes are outstanding on aboveground biodiversity. Soil microbiota are key actors in soil processes, contributing significantly to numerous ecosystem services provided by soil. They are involved in the processes of nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition, or pollutants degradation. Microorganisms are also able to synthesize volatile organic compounds that are secondary metabolites with multiple ecological roles and mechanisms of action—generally contributing to plant development. Changes in soil microbiota community could modify either negatively or positively their contribution in soil-provided ecosystem services through their involvement in soil functions that they mediate.
Introduction Longan is a perennial crop and profitable export fruit well-suited to the Mekong Delta's climate and soils. Although soil deterioration in longan orchards has been studied, little research has addressed soil bacterial communities and their role in soil health. This study investigated the structure of soil bacterial communities and their associations with soil physicochemical properties in longan orchards. Methods Soil samples were collected from longan orchards cultivated for 15 (N15), 20 (N20) and 30 years (N30) in Vinh Long Province, Vietnam. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons was employed to assess bacterial diversity and community composition, followed by correlation analyses with soil properties. Results and Discussion The dominant bacterial phyla identified across sites included Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, and Bacteriodota. Bacterial abundance in these soils was positively correlated with sand, pH, NO 3 - and phosphate solubilizing microorganisms, and negatively correlated with moisture, silt, clay, NH 4 + , exchangeable potassium and available manganese. Longan orchard soils from all three time periods (N15, N20, N30) had more microbial species in common, than in unique ways. However, time under cultivation was an important factor, with species diversity decreasing with age. The youngest orchards (N15) exhibited the highest number of soil bacterial diversity, followed by decreasing diversity as the orchards aged (N20) and lowest at 30 years (N30). Soil properties exhibited complex and interlinked relationships with soil bacterial phyla. Overall, long-term cultivation of longan orchard soil negatively impacted microbial diversity, potentially altering key properties of soil, hence underscoring the necessity for sustainable soil management to preserve soil health and production.
The continuous application and often the overuse of pesticides in agricultural soils influence in time soil microbiota abundance and metabolic activities, with final potential negative effects on soil functioning.Recently, bioaugmentation has emerged as an advantageous method for revitalizing agricultural soils affected by chemicals use.In this study, the hypothesis that transplantation of soil cores with optimal microbiota community structure could serve in affected soil microbiota restoration and pesticides degradation enhancement was evaluated.To assess soil core transplantation efficiency, in this study were investigated implication of soil microbiota structure and abundance in pyrethroids degradation in soil, as well pyrethroids impact on soil microbiota metabolic activity.The presence of pyrethroid pesticides as cypermethrin, deltamethrin and fenvalerate in agricultural soils from Turda was evidenced within range of 119 -845 µgkg -1 .They negatively impacted both soil bacterial and fungal community abundance, decreasing them with approximately 50%.The impact of transplanted soil cores on both soil microbiota abundance as well on cypermethrin, deltamethrin and fenvalerate concentration was also evidenced.A revitalization of microbiota abundance in contaminated soil was observed after transplant (increase with 1.5-fold generally).These data positively sustain that affected soil microbiota due to use of pyrethroid pesticide could be revitalized through transplant of soil cores with no contamination.
Despite the increasing recognition of the role of urban orchard ecosystems in sustainable urban development, the mechanistic understanding of how tree species soil biochemical heterogeneity drives microbial community assembly, the spatial patterns governing microbe-environment interactions, and their collective contributions to ecosystem multifunctionality remain poorly characterized. This study investigated how Prunus species and soil depth affect microbial biodiversity and metabolomic signatures in an urban orchard in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Soil samples were collected from five fruit tree species (apricot, peach, plum, cherry, and sour cherry) across three depths (0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm), resulting in 225 samples. The microbial community structure was analyzed through phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiling, whereas the soil metabolome was analyzed by mass spectrometry techniques, including gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) and MALDI time-of-flight (TOF/TOF) MS, which identified 489 compounds across 18 chemical classes. The results revealed significant tree species-specific effects on soil microbial biodiversity, with bacterial biomarkers dominating and total microbial biomass varying among species. The soils related to apricot trees presented the highest microbial activity, particularly in the surface layers. Metabolomic analysis revealed 247 distinct KEGG-annotated metabolites, with sour cherry exhibiting unique organic acid profiles and cherry showing distinctive quinone accumulation. Depth stratification influenced both microbial communities and metabolite composition, reflecting oxygen gradients and substrate availability. These findings provide mechanistic insights into urban orchard soil biogeochemistry, suggesting that strategic species selection can harness tree species-soil microbe interactions to optimize urban soil ecosystem services and enhance urban biodiversity conservation.
<b>Background:</b> Land use change fundamentally alters soil microbial communities and biochemical processes, yet the integrated effects on rhizosphere microbiome-metabolome networks remained poorly understood. <b>Objective:</b> This study investigated land uses as forest, grassland and intermediary edge shape the rhizosphere biochemical networks of naturally grown <i>Barbarea vulgaris</i>. <b>Methods:</b> Rhizosphere soils of <i>Barbarea vulgaris</i> were analysed for microbial community structure abundance, and metabolomic profile applying phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiling and mass spectrometric untargeted metabolomics (GC-MS/MS and MALDI-TOF/TOF MS). These were coupled with co-inertia analysis to assess microbiome-metabolome interactions. <b>Results:</b> Microbial community analysis revealed significant effects of land use on bacterial community structure (G+/G-, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Untargeted metabolomics identified 248 metabolites, of which 161 were mapped to KEGG pathways. Amino acids and derivatives (21.1%) followed by organic acids (16.8%) were the most representative among identified metabolites. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed coordinated reprogramming of central carbon and nitrogen metabolism across land use gradients, particularly in the amino acid metabolism, TCA cycle, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis pathways. Microbiome-metabolome coupling analysis revealed distinct correlation patterns between microbial phenotypes and metabolite classes, with forest environments showing the strongest biochemical network integration (RV = 0.91). Edge habitats presented intermediate signatures, supporting their role as transitional zones with unique biochemical properties. <b>Conclusions:</b> The environmental context fundamentally shapes rhizosphere biochemical network organization through coordinated shifts in bacterial community structure and metabolic pathway activity. These habitat-specific metabolic signatures suggest that land use change triggers adaptive biochemical responses that may influence plant performance and ecosystem functioning across environmental gradients.
Organometallic compounds can be found in our surrounding environmental compartments either because of human extensive activities or their existence as natural products in the environment. Since organometallic species of trace metals were found often more worrying than their parent compounds, intensive research on their properties, pathways of transformation in different environmental compartment as well as their fate and interactions between different environmental compartments (under different external and internal conditions), and not finally their end-up and disposal, has become a requirement from many public health and environmental protection agencies.
This study investigates soil volatilomics as an innovative approach to assessing the impact of land use on soil quality. This research addresses the critical need for sensitive diagnostic tools to distinguish subtle biochemical variations in soils influenced by different land use management practices. Soil samples were collected along a land use transect in Cluj County. Their volatile organic compounds were extracted by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS–SPME) followed by a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis. A multivariate statistical method was used to differentiate the volatilome profile. Among the 106 detected compounds, oxygenated species dominated across all land uses, with the highest concentrations in forest soils (77%), followed by grasslands (71%) and agricultural soils (65%). Principal component analysis revealed distinct clustering patterns, with the first two components explaining 72.8% of the total variance (PC1: 41.7%, PC2: 31.1%). Supervised PLS-DA modeling demonstrated robust land use discrimination, achieving AUC values of 0.868 for agricultural versus forest comparisons and 0.810 for both forest versus grassland and grassland versus agricultural comparisons. The volatilome diversity analysis indicated that grasslands contained the highest number of distinct compounds (64), closely followed by forest soils (63), while agricultural soils showed reduced diversity (51). These key findings revealed distinct volatile signatures, with forest soils exhibiting the highest complexity and agricultural soils demonstrating a more homogeneous profile, whereas grassland soils presented high internal variability. These results underscore the potential of soil volatilome profiling as a sensitive indicator of the effects of land use on soil biochemical processes and support the utility of soil volatilomics in sustainable land management and ecosystem monitoring.
This study investigates bioethanol production from Abies alba wood. The wood was first autohydrolysed, then delignified and the remaining cellulose was used as substrate for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation processes. The influence of temperature (180, 190 and 200 C) and pretreatment time (5, 10 and 15 min) on the fermentation medium products was studied. The maximal bioethanol content (52.0 g L -1 ) was obtained at a pretreatment temperature of 190 C and pretreatment time of 10 min. The enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation temperature was 38 C for 72 h. The untreated, autohydrolysed and delignified wood was characterized by reflected light microscopy for morphological structure identification. The adaptive network-based fuzzy interference model (ANFIS) and the Gaussian membership function were used to reproduce the experimental results obtained for complete characterization of the wood fermentation broth. The proposed model uses two input variables (temperature and reaction time) and one output parameter based on two intelligent methods: back-propagation and a hybrid method. The hybrid intelligent method has good accuracy (99.2-100.0%) and correlation coefficient (0.998-1). The fermentation broth contains a mixture of bioethanol and secondary by-products, including acids, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones and esters. A maximum of 5.2 g bioethanol can be obtained from 100 g of woody biomass after autohydrolysisdelignification-SSF process.
There is a growing interest by both consumers and industry in the development of food products with functional properties or health benefits. These food supplements are especially important for infants; thus their safety must be guaranteed. However, the use of different raw materials, process technologies, and storage technologies may impact food quality and safety in undesirable ways. The purpose of this work was to investigate commercially available infant food supplements targeting: (1) content of macro/micro nutrients and toxic metals; (2) volatile organic compounds that contribute to flavor and aroma composition of food; (3) content of fatty acids; and (4) δ13C to determine the origin of the raw material for these products. These were performed in order to evaluate their quality with respect to nutraceutical value and safety. Different chemometric methods were used for the statistical interpretation of the data including analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation, principal component analysis (PCA), and linear discriminant analysis (LDA).
The Sixth Sense Sprinkler project aims to create a simple and smart greenhouse system that can transmit real-time data on the status of the greenhouse using different sensors. It also provides remote control of irrigation and ventilation systems through a mobile application. All components are based on the Matter standard, which gives the system its modular character; any third-party sensors, lights, and locks also following the Matter standard are compatible out of the box. The core of the network is a server called the Sprinkler Hub, through which the microcontrollers in the foil housing can be controlled. These controllers are equipped with various sensors such as temperature, soil moisture and air humidity sensors, which monitor the state of the environment. Access to the Sprinkler Hub is provided through an Android mobile application, which allows users to commission the devices, remotely control them and view historical measurements via charts. The paper describes how the system works, provides insights into the technologies used, and gives guidance on how to use the functionalities.
Urban expansion fragments once-contiguous forest patches, generating pronounced edge gradients that modulate soil physicochemical properties and biodiversity. We quantified how fragmentation reshaped the soil microbiome continuum and its implications for soil carbon storage in a temperate urban mixed deciduous forest. A total of 18 plots were considered in this study, with six plots for each fragment type. Intact interior forest (F), internal forest path fragment (IF), and external forest path fragment (EF) soils were sampled at 0–15, 15–30, and 30–45 cm depths and profiled through phospholipid-derived fatty acid (PLFA) chemotyping and amino sugar proxies for living microbiome and microbial-derived necromass assessment, respectively. Carbon fractionation was performed through the chemical oxidation method. Diversity indices (Shannon–Wiener, Pielou evenness, Margalef richness, and Simpson dominance) were calculated based on the determined fatty acids derived from the phospholipid fraction. The microbial biomass ranged from 85.1 to 214.6 nmol g−1 dry soil, with the surface layers of F exhibiting the highest values (p < 0.01). Shannon diversity declined systematically from F > IF > EF. The microbial necromass varied from 11.3 to 23.2 g⋅kg−1. Fragmentation intensified the stratification of carbon pools, with organic carbon decreasing by approximately 14% from F to EF. Our results show that EFs possess a declining microbiome continuum that weakens their carbon sequestration capacity in urban forests.
Use of improved seeds (hybrids, transgenic, etc.) in agriculture is a common practice in our days. Resulted plants could improve crop yield or to develop in less adequate geoclimatic conditions, responding those to challenges raised by global change. However, at now there are limited information on potential impact of such plants on soil properties and microbiota. Considering that microbiota are key mediators of soil functions and ecosystem processes it is important to fulfil such gaps. The objective of this study was to identify if different genetic varieties of Cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), grown in same conditions, could influence root exudates (mainly carbohydrates) and rhizosphere microbiota profile. Randomized complete block rhizo-box experiment was performed with identic soil under similar growing conditions of genetic varieties Cherry tomatoes. PLFA and carbohydrates were analysed on GC-FID. In soil where tomatoes were grown the total PLFA amount was approximately two times higher compared with that detected from control (669.1 nmolg-1), which means that tomato root rhizosphere and exudates could influence soil microbiota. The average value of total PLFA for heirloom varieties was 1575.5 nmolg-1 while for hybrid varieties was 1269.4 nmolg-1. ANOVA test revealed significant differences between genetic type varieties of Cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) rhizosphere microbiota community structure. Gram-positive, gram-negative bacteria and fungi abundance decreased in hybrid Cherry tomato varieties rhizosphere soils. Decreases in microbial and fungi community abundance may be related with decrease in carbohydrates content following with grown of different genetic hybrid varieties of Cherry tomato where some species exudates are reduced in essential carbohydrates content.
Rhizobiota are involved in plant protection through plant development facilitation and plant defense against stress factors. Pressures of global change either as abiotic or biotic stress factor could modify rhizobiota abundance, community structure, or functioning. Such change could result in anomalies of plant development. Human and veterinary medicines are widely used pharmaceuticals. Their active ingredients are not fully adsorbed and metabolized by living organisms and are therefore excreted unmodified. As current technologies of wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove these contaminants, pharmaceuticals may be discharged into the environment and reach the soil in multiple ways. At present, there are no standard procedures or methodologies that could be easily applied and cover pharmaceuticals impact on soil microbiota. Besides that, available molecular and genetic approach through which soil microdiversity abundance, structure, and functions are evaluated involves high and expensive technology, which is not easily available to laboratories widespread. In this chapter, we propose an effortless way to address this issue by using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) approaches to assess soil microbiota responses to commonly used pharmaceuticals. The chapter will refer to gas chromatographic techniques applied in assessment of soil microbiota diversity structure, abundance, and health status.
Mint (Mentha spp.), one of the most used plants in traditional medicine, is cultivated since antiquity, being mentioned by ancient writings. Besides its use for improving the human health, mint extracts are found in food, cosmetics, detergents, perfumes, biopesticides, etc. Due to its multiple benefits mint consumption has increased continuously in the last years. Besides the interest in mint yield, another interesting trait of this species is the antioxidant activity and the quality of essential oils. According to some research in the field, using water given by irrigation and fertilization leads to an increase of green mass production, but the level of essential oils remains the same. The aims of the present research were to determine the effects of irrigation, fertilization and species over the quality of mint and to identify the best matches of the experimental factors for increasing the antioxidants and essential oils content. Plant material was represented by M. spicata, M. piperita and M. suaveolens. Management followed the growing season of mint plants both in non-irrigated and irrigated conditions, with base fertilization and usage of Lignohumate. The analysis of samples was performed using Photochem where photochemical excitation of free radicals is combined with luminometric detection. The composition of the essential oil was determined by Gas chromatography with flame ionisation detector GC-FID. The research concludes that mint quality increased in conditions of no irrigation. For high phytonutrient content it is recommended to cultivate M. piperita, because it has the highest antioxidants content. M. spicata presented the essential oil with the best content of alcohols, esters and aromatic compounds. M. suaveolens reached the best level of esters, aldehydes and aromatic compounds only in the case of fertilization with Lignohumate.
Since world population is growing and expansion of arable land is limited, cropping intensity and yield must be increased. Pesticides are widely used as a solution, being used to control unwanted pests potentially damaging crop yield levels and wheat quality. However, it is widely known that pesticides are hazardous substances that could reach also non-target areas or living systems, such as wheat grown for consumption. Through this study we proposed to build a model that allow to simulate how used pesticides are uptake by wheat and which compartments bioaccumulate them in higher yields.
Fruits and vegetables may contain besides nutrients also contaminants as a consequence of polluted environmental media (water, soil, air). Through this work organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) presence was monitored in soil and potato samples collected from Cluj - Bistrita-Nasaud region. In higher amount were detected p,p’-DDE and ï§-HCH. Good correlation was observed between OCPs amount in soil samples and those in potato samples.
A REC model (Rate Estimation from Concentrations) numerical procedure was adapted in order to estimate the production rate of selected fatty acids in some mushroom species. The production as well the distribution of these target compounds was evaluated at whole mushroom bodies as well at its different anatomical compartments. These new numerical procedure was tested with some artificial tests as well with multiple real measurements of fatty acids from all anatomical compartments of studied mushroom species. Fatty acids analyses from mushroom samples were done on gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) system after a derivatization step. The amount of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) from mushroom body samples ranged between 0.5 – 29.4 ng⋅kg<sup>-1</sup> dry weights. Obtained results showed that this adapted numerical approach is optimal to estimate robust and reasonable rate and distribution profiles for relative concentration measurements of fatty acids, uncertainty being no larger than 10 %.
Amanita is one of the most well known basidiomycetes genus throughout the world because some of its species that are acknowledged due to their toxic and/or hallucinogenic properties. Considering these properties in the last decades become more important for scientist to dignify exactly the chemical content of these mushroom species. Latter researches shown that A. phalloides contain two main groups of toxins: the amatoxins and the phallotoxins. As regards A. rubescens there are not so much studies referring to its biochemical "fingerprint". Two species (A. rubescens and A. phalloides) of Amanita genus were studied in order to determine the biochemical hall-mark at nanoscale for these basidiomycete's species. Parts as caps, gills, flesh and stem of these mushrooms were analyzed on quadrupole mass spectrometer engaged with a gas chromatograph (GC-qMS) using selective ion monitoring mode (SIM). The biochemical profiles of these species had shown the presence of compounds like fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), alkaloids, and volatile compounds (including alcohol compounds, carbonyl compounds, terpenes). The levels of biochemical compounds from these species were compared between the two types of species and also between young, mature and old samples for the same species as well as between the parts of mushroom. After this comparison were between the two species it was observed that in case of A. phalloides the alkaloid content were higher usually with almost 50 %. As regards presence of volatile compounds they have almost similar level in both mushroom species. Considering the levels of fatty acid methyl esters, their levels were higher with 30 - 40 % in case of A. rubescens.
The uranium content in specimens of water was determined by the fluorometer method, through extraction with dibutylphosphate. According to the data, 150 specimens established that the quantity of uranium (gamma/lambda) in the individual specimens reached 15 to 20, seldom 40 to 60; in the majority of regions, the uranfum content fluctuated from 1.0 to 10.
Emerging chemical compounds are ubiquitous in all environmental compartments and may pose a risk to biota ecosystems. The quantification and prediction of environmental partitioning of these chemicals in various environmental compartment systems (water, sediments, soil, air, biota) is an important step in the comprehensive assessment of their sources, fates, and not finally of their uptake potential by various living organisms of ecosystems.
Background: NSAIDs are commonly used pharmaceuticals at worldwide level. Their wide consumption and limited removal through current practices of wastewater treatment plants has made them to easily reach environment. Concerns regarding their occurrence in water and soil environment is given by their potential ecotoxicological effects on living organisms at different trophic levels.Aims:The objective of this study was to assess the impact of common NSAIDs as ibuprofen, ketoprofen and diclofenac on soil microbiota (structure, abundance, metabolic activity) and related functions (enzymatic activity) in soil ecosystem services provision. Methods:Ibuprofen, ketoprofen and diclofenac were analyzed on GC-MS after derivatization with BSTFA and 1 % TMCS. Artificial exposure experiments with single and mixtures of Ibuprofen, ketoprofen and diclofenac, at different exposure concentrations (0.5 – 5 mg/kg), were performed with agricultural soils collected from Cluj county, Romania. Microbiota structure and abundance analysis was performed applying PLFA techniques. Microbiota metabolic activity was assessed with 31 sole carbon sources on 96-well Ecoplates. Results:Exposure of soil microbiota at 0.5 and 1 mg/kg at single NSAIDs for a period of 30 days has shown no changes in both structure and abundance. When soil samples were contaminated with mixture (1:1) of studied NSAIDs at the same concentration gram negative bacteria has inhibited development with 42 %, thus reducing it from 61.6 nmol/kg to approximately 25 nmol/kg. In experiments with exposure at higher doses (> 2.5 mg/kg) the average total bacteria abundance increased from 184.3 mg/kg at 236.4 mg/kg suggesting that microbiologically decomposed NSAIDs could serve as C source for some microorganism. Extracellular enzymatic activities as dehydrogenase activity decreased in all exposure experiments with about 6.2 % regardless of exposure dose, while acid-phosphatase increased with more than 28 %. Conclusions: Cumulative exposure of soil microbiota at mixture of NSAIDs changes their abundance and structure, influencing therefore soil functions.
Abstract In this study the effect of common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on Lycopersicon esculentum rhizosphere microbiota was monitored. Results evidenced that rhizosphere microbiota abundance decreased especially under exposure to diclofenac and ibuprofen while fungal/bacteria ratio changed significantly with exposure to diclofenac and ketoprofen. Compared with control samples the average amount of ratio of gram negative/gram positive bacteria was higher in rhizosphere soil contaminated with ibuprofen and lower in case of diclofenac contamination. Carbon source consumption increased with time of assay in case of control samples and those contaminated with diclofenac. This suggests that rhizosphere microbiota under contamination with diclofenac consume higher amount of carbon although do not consume a larger variety of its sources. In case of contamination with ibuprofen and ketoprofen the consumption of carbon source presents a decreasing tendency after day 30 of the assay. Rhizosphere microbiota emitted volatile organic compounds were also monitored. Volatile compounds belonging to alcohol, aromatic compounds, ketone, terpene, organic acids, aldehyde, sulphur compounds, esters, alkane, nitrogen compounds, alkene and furans were detected in rhizosphere soil samples. Among these, terpene, ketone, alcohol, aromatic compounds, organic acids, and alkane were the most abundant compound classes, but their percentage changed with exposure at diclofenac, ketoprofen and ibuprofen. Such changes in abundance, structure, and metabolic activity of Lycopersicon esculentum rhizosphere microbiota under exposure to common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs make as to suppose that there is a probability to also change ecosystem services provided by rhizosphere microbiota.
Recycling is one of most important steps toward circular economy. Since the quantity of waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is increasing rapidly, it became crucial to know its composition to find adequate recycling solutions. Following this trend, the present study aims to find the major components of plastic components from 1997-2003 computer main boards. A new GC-MS method was developed and used to quantify the main volatile organic compounds of polystyrene PS (benzene, ethylbenzene), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene ABS (acetophenone, styrene, butyldiglycol) and polypropylene PP (n-Tetradecane, n-Hexadecane and n-Heptadecane). The extraction method was carried out using a saline water solution (10 % saline content; w:v) to extract the volatile compounds on SPME fibers under continuous agitation at 55 C. The analytical method used a complex temperature program and a HP-5ms fused-silica capillary column of 30 m length 0.25 mm I.D. 0.25 m film thickness (Restek, USA) to achieve separation of the compounds. The investigation of the major components of plastic components from 1997-2003 computer main boards using the developed method showed a decrease of ABS and PP major components from 1997 to 2003 and an increase of the major components from PS.
The aim of this work was to assess the potential impact of two commonly used pharmaceuticals (azithromycin and ibuprofen) on tomato quality. The experiments were carried out upon controlled exposure box experiments at different amount of azithromycin (0.5 – 5 mg×kg-1) and ibuprofen (50 – 500 µg×kg-1). The results showed that tomato fruits have a higher uptake rate for ibuprofen (6.3 – 11.2 %) compared to the azithromycin that was between 2.2 – 3.2 %. However, pharmaceutical active compounds uptake amount was lower in tomato fruits compared to those detected in grown medium. Both, ibuprofen and azithromycin impact the sensory quality of tomato due to changes in volatile aroma content, especially of those derived of fatty acids (C6 and C5).
Intensive and excessive use of pesticides is a real pollution issue in agricultural lands. There is little knowledge on how these could change soil microbiota health status which are strongly involved in important soil functions. The objective of the present study was to assess under laboratory conditions if use of a common pyrethroid pesticide, cypermethrin, will change soil microbiota structure and abundance. Cypermethrin exposure dose and removal in time were accounted also. Its amount was quantified on GC-ECD while information about microbiota, expressed as PLFA, were acquired on GC-FID. Incubation period after artificial contaminations between 7 – 288 gkg-1 was set at 45 days, time during samples were picked up from incubation containers for chemical analysis. Experiment revealed that during the first ten days of exposure experiment, cypermethrin amount in soil decreased almost with half. It was removed with 68.8 – 43.3 %, depending positively by the exposure dose, thus it increased once that exposure dose decreased. The calculated half-life values under our experimental conditions vary between 4.59 - 10.54 days, depending by exposure dose. Compared with control soil gram-negative bacteria community was enhanced under cypermethrin exposure up to day 45 around 5.4 – 20.3 %, although the control has shown a slightly decreases from day 10 and 45 day. Fungal population decreased also between exposure time, as well exposure dose. After 10 days of incubation they weren’t be present in samples. Similar was obtained after measurement of anaerobe bacteria. Considering our obtained experimental data, we could consider that cypermethrin have the potential to change the soil equilibrium once that it changes both the structure as well the abundance of soil microbiota.
