Exploring church members' perceptions towards physical activity, fruits and vegetables consumption, and church's role in health promotion: implications for the development of church-based health interventions

Background

The study explored the perceptions of church members towards physical activity (PA), the consumption of fruits and vegetables (FV), and the church's role in health promotion prior to the development of a church-based intervention for physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption in Lagos, Nigeria.

Method

Sixteen focus group discussions (FGD) and eleven key Informant Interviews (KII) were conducted. Eight FGDs among adults and four among the youth and the elderly church members. Key informant interviews were held among church leaders and members of the church medical advisory. Study findings were categorized under thematic headings. Based on the data analysis, several key themes were identified: the knowledge of the concept of health and common health problems, opinions of physical activity, opinions of healthy eating and fruit and vegetable consumption, types and attitudes towards existing church-based health programs and the role of the church in health promotion and church-based health programs. Within each theme, several childthemes were noted such as the challenges with fruit and vegetable consumption, biblical support for physical activity and fruit & vegetable consumption, the role of the church leaders, program sustainability and barriers to participation.

Results

The participants perceived health not only as the absence of disease but as general well-being of the body and soul. Health was also related to the ability to perform religious activities. Common health problems included a mix of communicable and non-communicable diseases. They are aware that physical activity, fruits and vegetables are essential for healthy living. The youth saw it as a means of improving their physical appearance however the elderly expressed concerns about the possibility of associated trips and falls. Overall, they viewed fruits and vegetables as healthy foods while processed western foods were perceived as unhealthy. Fruits and vegetables were seen as beneficial primarily to aid food digestion, boost immunity, improve youthfulness, aid weight control and to prevent chronic disease. The study participants agreed that the church, as an institution, has a significant role to play in promoting the health of her members. Instituted health committees embedded within existing church structures often lead church-based health-promoting activities and are imperative for sustainability. Types of health programs included health talks, screening programs for common NCDs, sport competitions, distributions of FV during church ceremonies such as harvests, Lenten seasons, Love feasts and church bazaars. Health outreaches were seen as a means of evangelism, and it was unanimously agreed that the Bible supports PA and healthy eating. Generally, the respondents had positive attitudes towards church-based health programs and they advised that future programs include the use of technology and should be integrated into existing church activities to improve participation. The participants also noted that the opinion of the church leaders influences the behaviours of church members and their support is critical in the development and implementation of church-based health programs.

Conclusion

Church members are aware that physical activity and the consumption of fruits and vegetables are important for healthy living and expressed support for church-based health programs. They believe that the Bible supports the promotion of PA and FV consumption as healthy behaviours. Program integration, the use of technology and support of church leaders and existing church medical advisory groups are imperative for developing and sustaining church-based health programs.

Transport and transformation of perfluoroalkyl acids, isomer profiles, novel alternatives and unknown precursors from factories to dinner plates in China: New insights into crop bioaccumulation prediction and risk assessment

Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are contaminants of global concern, and the inadvertent consumption of PFAA-contaminated crops may pose a threat to public health. Therefore, systematically studying their source tracing, bioaccumulation prediction and risk assessments in crops is an urgent priority. This study investigated the source apportionment and transport of PFAAs and novel fluorinated alternatives (collectively as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFASs) from factories to agricultural fields in a fluorochemical industrial region of China. Furthermore, bioaccumulation specificities and prediction of these chemicals in different vegetables were explored, followed by a comprehensive risk assessment from agricultural fields to dinner plates which considered precursor degradation. A positive matrix factorization model revealed that approximately 70 % of PFASs in agricultural soils were derived from fluorochemical manufacturing and metal processing. Alarming levels of ∑PFASs ranged 8.28-84.3 ng/g in soils and 163-7176 ng/g in vegetables. PFAS with short carbon chain or carboxylic acid group as well as branched isomers exhibited higher environmental transport potentials and bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) across a range of vegetables. The BAFs of different isomers of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) decreased as the perfluoromethyl group moved further from the acid functional group. Hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (GenX) showed relatively low BAFs, probably related to its ether bond with a high affinity to soil. Vegetables with fewer Casparian strips (e.g., carrot and radish), or more protein, possessed larger BAFs of PFASs. A bioaccumulation equation integrating critical parameters of PFASs, vegetables and soils, was built and corroborated with a good contamination prediction. After a total oxidizable precursors (TOP) assay, incremental perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) were massively found (325-5940 ng/g) in edible vegetable parts. Besides, precursor degradation and volatilization loss of PFASs was firstly confirmed during vegetable cooking. A risk assessment based on the TOP assay was developed to assist the protection of vegetable consumers.

Parental intentions to implement vegetable feeding strategies at home: A cross sectional study

In order to increase vegetable intake by children, parents are encouraged to implement strategies that promote trying and eating vegetables at mealtimes. Qualitative studies have previously highlighted barriers parents face in implementing healthy eating practices, such as time, monetary costs and child factors (e.g. fussy eaters). This study aimed to specify the relationships between child and parent factors and their effects on parental intentions to implement vegetable feeding strategies at mealtimes. Parental intentions to implement meal service (serving larger portions, offering variety, serving vegetables first) and experiential learning (repeated exposure, games, sensory play) strategies were examined. Parents (N = 302, 73 male, Mage = 33.5) also explained reasons why certain strategies may or may not work for their child (4-7y). For both types of strategy, higher food fussiness of the child predicted higher parental intentions to implement strategies at home. However, this was competitively mediated by low beliefs that the strategy would work for their child, resulting in weaker overall positive effects on intentions. In the meal service model, parental beliefs that healthy eating is important for their child had a positive, indirect effect on higher intentions, through involved parental feeding practices. However, this was not significant in the experiential learning strategies model. Written parental responses suggest that this may be due to meal service approaches being viewed as easier to implement, with little additional effort required. Increasing parental confidence to implement strategies successfully and managing expectations around successful outcomes of strategies (e.g. tasting, eating) may be important focuses of future interventions to support parents implementing vegetable feeding strategies at mealtimes.

Rhizosphere activity induced mobilization of heavy metals immobilized by combined amendments in a typical lead/zinc smelter-contaminated soil

The persistence of the stabilization effect of amendments on heavy metals (HMs) is of great concern when they are used for remediating HM-contaminated soil. Here, pot experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of two consecutive seasons of vegetable cultivation on the mobilization of HMs (Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd) immobilized by different application ratios (0, 20, 40, and 80 g kg^-1, labelled C0, C2, C4, and C8) of a combined amendments (lime: sepiolite: biochar: humic acid = 2:2:1:1). The results showed that HM bioavailability decreased with increasing application ratios of the combined amendments in control (CK) treatments. The DOC contents, HM bioavailability, and HM contents in the leaves of vegetables increased, but the pH decreased during two consecutive seasons of vegetable cultivation; however, the HM bioavailability in the C2, C4, and C8 treatments was lower than that in the C0 treatments with vegetables. Catalase, urease, alkaline phosphatase, and dehydrogenase activities in the combined amendment treatments with and without vegetables were decreased compared to those in the C0 treatments. The relative abundances of the dominant bacterial phyla in the different treatments were Actinobacteria > Proteobacteria > Chloroflexi > Acidobacteria > Gemmatimonadetes > Bacteroidetes for the first season and Proteobacteria > Actinobacteria > Chloroflexi > Acidobacteria > Bacteroidetes > Gemmatimonadetes for the second season. Correlations showed that the pH and DOM properties during two consecutive seasons of vegetable cultivation were important factors influencing HM bioavailability, enzyme activity, and bacterial community composition. The bacterial community composition shift indirectly influenced the mobilization of HMs immobilized by the combined amendments. Thus, rhizosphere activity induced the mobilization of HMs immobilized by combined amendments during two consecutive seasons of vegetable cultivation.

Heavy Metals in Widely Consumed Vegetables Grown in Industrial Areas of Bangladesh: a Potential Human Health Hazard

The prevalence of heavy metals in frequently consumed vegetables constitutes a considerable public health hazard. This study aims to determine the quantity of heavy metals in widely consumed watercress (WC), alligator weed (AW), red amaranth (RA), spinach (SP), cauliflower (CF), and eggplant (EP) cultivated in industrial areas (e.g., Narsingdi district) of Bangladesh to assess the potential health hazards. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) served to determine the concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni) in vegetable samples (n = 72). The contents of Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni were found in most of the analyzed vegetables, whereas 79.17%, 44.44%, and 1.39% samples exceeded the FAO/WHO maximum allowable concentration (MAC) for Pb, Cd, and Ni, respectively. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of single heavy metal was below the corresponding maximum tolerable daily intake (MTDI). The incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) values of Cd in all samples exceeded the threshold limit (ILCR > 10^-4) for both adults and children, indicating lifetime cancer risk due to the consumption of contaminated vegetables. The target hazard quotient (THQ) of each heavy metal was THQ < 1.0 (except Ni in few samples), indicating that consumers have no non-cancer risk when exposed to a single heavy metal. However, hazard index (HI) values of heavy metals were greater than unity in contaminated WC and AW for adults and children. Meanwhile, WC, AW, and SP samples for children emerged as potential health risks of inhabitants in the studied areas. The outcomes of the present investigation might assist the regulatory bodies concerned in setting new strategies through monitoring the quality of marketed vegetables to minimize the risks to humans.

Integrated exposure assessment and potential risks of neonicotinoids in vegetables from three different sources in Zhejiang, China (2018-2020)

Dietary exposure is the primary route of human exposure to neonicotinoids (neonics), and vegetables are essential foods in people's daily diet. However, the residues and potential health risks of neonics in vegetables from different sources have not been well examined. In this study, we collected 1588 samples of vegetables from organic vegetable bases, farmer's markets, and supermarkets in Zhejiang, China. Three frequently used neonics, acetamiprid, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam, were selected and analyzed. We investigated the residue, temporal and spatial distribution, and potential health risks. Cowpea was detected with the highest mean imidacloprid-equivalent total neonics (IMI_RPF) by value of 655 μg/kg. Vegetable samples from farmer's markets were detected with the highest mean IMI_RPF by value of 168 μg/kg, followed by supermarkets (134 μg/kg) and the lowest in organic vegetable bases (76.9 μg/kg). The outcomes of integrated risk assessment for dietary intake of those three neonics in vegetables were all within the safety.

Does colour variety accurately quantify nutritional value in children's lunchboxes? A pilot study

Objectives

In advocating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, public health authorities emphasise dietary colour variety to ensure adequate nutrient consumption. The relationship between food colour variety and nutritional value in children's lunches attending one school was evaluated.

Study design

Observational cross-sectional study.

Methods

Eighty-two children had their lunchboxes photographed over one day. Foods were scored using the Nutri-score labelling system, assigning foods a letter based on nutritional content. Composite Nutri-scores were calculated as average total Nutri-score per food per lunchbox. Eleven observers used a colour chart to assign colours to foods from a sample of lunchboxes; intra-class correlation was calculated. Associations between nutrient scores and colour variety were estimated.

Results

Lunchboxes contained an average of 4 ± 1 colours. Number of colours did not vary by age or sex. Two thirds of lunches had composite Nutri-scores of C or better, with better scores in older children. There was no association between colour variety and composite Nutri-score. Fruit, vegetables, whole grains and fats were associated with greater colour variety. Vegetables and meat, fish and eggs were associated with better scores; refined grains, dairy, snacks, fats and condiments were associated with worse.

Conclusions

Although this study did not demonstrate a relationship between colour variety and nutritional score, findings suggest that lunches containing fruit and vegetables tended towards greater colour variety than those without. This indicates that adjusting guidelines to incorporate food colour variety may be of use in future iterations of dietary guidelines for children.

Evaluation of pesticide residues in vegetables and risk assessment from Incheon, Korea

This study investigated pesticide residues to evaluate food safety caused by vegetables in Incheon. A total of 385 samples of 33 different types of vegetables mainly consumed by Koreans were collected from the Incheon market in 2021. The pesticide residues were analyzed by the multi-residue methods of the Korean Food Code for 339 different pesticides. Of the 385 vegetables, no residual pesticides were detected in 329 samples (85.5%), while 56 samples (14.5%) contained residual pesticides and 13 samples (3.4%) had residues above the maximum residue limit. A total of 34 different pesticide residues were detected and 8 pesticides exceeded maximum residue limits (MRLs). The most frequently detected pesticide residues were fluxametamide (7 samples), azoxystrobin (4 samples), chlorantraniliprole (3 samples), flubendiamide (3 samples), and procymidone (3 samples). The highest values in the risk assessment were obtained when Chinese chives were consumed with terbufos. But the values of HQ and cHI were lower than 100%. Therefore, the results showed that the detected pesticides were no potential risk from consumption of vegetables.

Food consumption patterns in employees of Ethiopian institute of agricultural research

In developing countries, including Ethiopia, diet-related non-communicable diseases are prevalent among the working population. Understanding this active group's dietary diversity and food consumption patterns is essential to devise alternative solutions and recommend possible improvements. This study investigates the food consumption patterns of employees of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from January 1 to March 31, 2022, involving 13 different research centers of the institute situated in different agro-ecological regions of the country. A validated food frequency questionnaire and a 24-h food recall were administered to a total sample size of 355 employees. A systematic random sampling was used for data collection. Stata survey commands version 16.0 and multiple logistic regression were used to analyze the data. The research confirmed that socio-demographic determinants, income, and educational level affect the food consumption patterns of employees. The majority of employees have low consumption of foods like fish, fruits, vegetables, and animal products. Consumption of all kinds of animal products was very low on Wednesday and Friday. This result will help employees to give more attention to low-cost healthier food items, as well as institutional management bodies in designing awareness-creation campaigns and government programs to encourage the production and access of nutritious food.

Occurrence of the Reniform Nematode Rotylenchulus reniformis on Sponge Gourd (Luffa cylindrica) in Yunnan Province, China

Sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica) is an important annual climbing herbaceous crop used as edible vegetable, industrial material and medicine crop. It is widely cultivated in China. In October 2019, six root and rhizosphere soil samples were collected from a field growing sponge gourd (cv. Zaoxiu 6) in Caoba Town, Mengzi City, Yunnan Province, China. Sponge gourd roots exhibited distinct brown lesions, while above-ground symptoms of plants were not observed in this field at sampling. Nematodes were extracted from soil using the modified tray method, and nematodes in root tissues were observed using the acid fuchsin method (Whitehead and Hemming 1965; Bybd et al. 1983). Reniform nematodes (Rotylenchulus) were found in all samples with population densities of 447 ± 120 nematodes/100 g of soil and 52 ± 21 nematodes/1.0 g of root. The immature females were vermiform and ventrally curved to spiral-shaped upon fixation, with a conoid and continuous lip region, slender and well-developed stylet with rounded basal knobs and oesophageal glands overlapping the intestine laterally and mostly ventrally. The tails was slightly tapering to a rounded tip with distinct hyaline tail terminus. Morphological measurements of immature females (n = 20) included body length (L) = 392.3 ± 20.4 μm (352.8 to 436.7 μm), stylet = 18.6 ± 0.5 μm (17.6 to 19.4 μm), tail length= 25.9 ± 2.2 μm (20.1 to 29.9 μm), a = 25.2 ± 1.1 (23.5 to 27.3), b = 3.2 ± 0.4 (2.6 to 4.0), c = 15.2 ± 1.2 (13.6 to 18.6), c' = 2.9 ± 0.3 (2.2 to 3.3), V = 70.3 ± 1.0 (68.5 to 72.6). The males were vermiform with poorly developed stylet and esophageal median bulb, ventrally arcuate spicule, and indistinct bursa. Measurements of males (n = 20) were L = 426.7 ± 31.0 μm (368.1 to 463.9 μm), stylet = 12.8 ± 0.8 μm (11.2 to 14.1 μm), tail length= 26.3 ± 1.8 μm (24.3 to 29.4 μm), spicule = 20.6 ± 0.9 μm (19.6 to 22.7 μm), a = 27.7 ± 2.2 (25.2 to 30.7), b = 4.5 ± 0.4 (3.9 to 4.8), c = 15.5 ±0.9 (14.7 to 16.8), c' = 2.8 ± 0.3 (2.5 to 3.2). These morphological characters were similar to those described for R. reniformis (Palomares-Rius et al. 2018). Genomic DNA was extracted from single immature females as described by Song et al. (2021). The rDNA-ITS region and D2-D3 region of the 28S rRNA gene were amplified using primers 18s/26s (TTGATTACGTCCCTGCCCTTT/TTTCACTCGCCGTTACTAAGG) and D2A/D3B (ACAAGTACCGTGAGGGAAAGTTG/TCGGAAGGAACCAGCTACTA), respectively (Vrain et al. 1992; Subbotin et al. 2006). The obtained rDNA-ITS sequence (1003 bp, GenBank accession No. MT332839) and D2-D3 region of the 28S rRNA gene sequence (787 bp, MT328542) showed more than 99% identity with several R. reniformis sequences deposited in the GenBank database (e.g., MT209977, KP018557, GU003947; KJ755184, MT225542, HM131858). In greenhouse pathogenicity tests, 12 two-leaf stage sponge gourd seedlings (cv. Zaoxiu 6) maintained in 14-cm-diameter and 12-cm-height pots with sterilized commercial soil (pH 5.5-7.0; organic matter 35%), were inoculated with 500 mixed vermiform stage nematodes of R. reniformis extracted from the infested field soil samples per plant. Eight non-inoculated seedlings were used as controls. After 60 days, all inoculated plants exhibited slight symptoms of root browning compared with the control. The nematode reproduction factor (final population/initial population) was 12.4. No nematodes and root browning were observed on control plants. R. reniformis has been reported on sponge gourd in Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan provinces of China (Ding et al., 2015). To our knowledge, this is the first report of R. reniformis infecting sponge gourd in Yunnan Province, China. Yunnan Province is one of the biggest sponge gourd producing areas in China. Since R. reniformis is a highly pathogenic nematode and damages sponge gourd, control measures should be taken to avoid its spread to other regions or host crops in China.

First Report of Nigrospora oryzae causing Leaf Spot on Yam in China

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is an important source of food and energy in the world, and is also widely cultivated in China (Frossard et al. 2017). Yam is rich in fiber and antioxidants, and can significantly reduce blood sugar. Therefore, it is also known as a medicinal crop with high medicinal value in China (Cao et al. 2021). In October 2021, leaf spots were observed on the seven month old yam leaves of a commercial yam field in Nanjing city, Jiangsu Province, China. The field had a disease severity of approximately 25% and an incidence of 30%, and the infected plants displayed poor development. Symptoms in the leaves included irregular yellow to brown spots of different sizes, and lesion spots later turned dark brown, resulting in necrotic leaves (Fig. S1A). Four symptomatic leaves collected from 3 yam plants were rinsed with water, cut into 2-mm small square leaf pieces and were surface-sterilized in 70% ethanol and 2% sodium hypochlorite for 2 min, then rinsed three times with sterile distilled water. The sterilized leaf tissues were plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) containing ampicillin and rifampicin, and then were incubated at 25°C in the dark for 3-5 days. Three isolates (NAU-1, NAU-2, and NAU-3) were obtained from a total of four leaf samples by purifying of single-spore culture. Nine agar plugs (6×6 mm2) were transferred into 8 mL of PDA in a 70 mm plate at 25°C to observe colony morphology. The three isolates had identical morphological features. For the representative isolate NAU-1, colonies were white and fluffy in appearance during initial 4 days, and became gray-brown with the onset of sporulation after 5 days (Fig. S1B). Microscopic observation showed that mycelia were smooth, branched, and septate (Fig. S1C) and conidia were single-celled, black, spherical to subspherical, measuring 10.7 ± 0.9 µm × 12.5 ± 2.6 µm in diameter (n=50) (Fig. S1D). Morphological features suggested that these isolates possessed the same characteristics. For accurate identification, the genomic DNA was extracted from each isolate using Fungi Genomic DNA Extraction Kit (D2300; Solarbio, Beijing, China). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence, β-tubulin (TUB2) gene, and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (Tef-1α) gene, were amplified using the primer pairs ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), Bt2a/Bt2b (Glass and Donaldson 1995), and EF1/EF2 (O'Donnell et al. 1998), respectively. These sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS: ON394529, OP735574, and OP735562; TUB2: ON427830, OP756526, and OP756528; Tef-1α: ON427831, OP756525, and OP756527 for NAU-1, NAU-2, and NAU-3, respectively). The ITS, TUB2, and Tef-1α sequences of three isolates showed high similarity (>98.5%) to the corresponding sequences (MT732051.1, KY019554.1, and KY019413.1) of Nigrospora oryzae in GenBank. Further phylogenetic analysis showed that the three isolates clustered with N. oryzae (Fig. S2). Therefore, based on morphological and molecular evidence, the three isolates were identified as N. oryzae. N. oryzae has been reported to cause leaf spot on cotton and ginger in China (Zhang et al. 2012; Liu et al. 2022). Furthermore, the pathogenicity of isolated N. oryzae was tested on healthy, potted 1-year-old yam plants. The 6-mm agar plugs-containing mycelia from 4-day-old PDA cultures and agar blocks (control) were used to inoculate sixteen wounded yam leaves, followed by maintaining in a growth chamber under 16 h day at 25°C and 8 h night at 20°C. After six days post inoculation, all the inoculated yam leaves exhibited similar symptoms observed in the field, whereas the uninoculated leaves remained symptomless (Fig. S1E). The experiments were repeated three times with similar results. N. oryzae was reisolated from the infected plants and confirmed to be the same pathogen by using morphological and molecular methods. To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. oryzae causing leaf spot disease of yams in China. Identification of this pathogen would assist in developing strategies to efficiently control the spread of the disease on Chinese yams.

Consumption of fruits and vegetables among adolescents in Arab Countries: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Adolescents' consumption of fruits and vegetables is inadequate in most Arab countries, leading to a higher risk of poor health outcomes. This systematic review evaluates fruits and vegetables intake among adolescents in Arab countries, the proportion of adolescents meeting the dietary guidelines in these countries, and the dietary assessment tools used to assess fruits and vegetables intake.

METHODS

Four databases were searched, MEDLINE, PUBMED, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Studies were eligible if they reported fruit or vegetable consumption among adolescents aged 10 to 19 in 22 Arab countries. The risk of bias in the included studies was assessed by two reviewers independently using the risk of bias tool developed by Hoy et al. Data were extracted and synthesized into three categories; frequency of fruits and vegetables consumption, mean fruits and vegetables consumption, and percentage of adolescents meeting fruits and vegetables consumption recommendations.

RESULTS

The review included 44 articles utilizing 41 cross-sectional studies. Most studies were school-based, and data was collected from both males and females using self-administered questionnaires. Of those, validated questionnaires were used in 28 studies. According to the World Health Organization recommendation, most studies defined five fruits and vegetables servings as the adequacy cutoff point; other definitions were used in some studies. The reported mean consumption ranged between 6.1 times per week and 4.5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. The proportion of those who met the recommendations of eating five servings per day ranged between 10 and 29%. Fruits were shown to have a lower daily intake than vegetables (4.2 to 53.7% for fruits and 7.8 to 66.3% for vegetables).

DISCUSSION

This review indicated inadequate fruits and vegetables consumption among adolescents in Arab countries and highlighted an increased risk of non-communicable diseases and malnutrition prevalence. A limitation was the incomparability of available data between countries. Further in-depth research on the core reasons behind adolescents' inadequacy in fruits and vegetables consumption is recommended.

Long-term cover cropping suppresses foliar and fruit disease in processing tomatoes

While links between soil and plant health are implied, there are few opportunities to empirically evaluate this due to inherent differences among sites. An exception is a long-term experiment established in 2007 (repeated in 2008) in Ridgetown, ON, where improved soil health scores and changes in soil microbial communities were observed in the medium-term with annual cover crops (CC). This led us to hypothesize that CC-induced changes in soil health might affect bacterial spot (Xanthomonas hordorum pv. gardneri) and anthracnose (Colletotrichum coccodes) development in processing tomato. Five CC treatments (no CC control, winter cereal rye, oat, radish, and mix of radish+rye) planted after winter wheat harvest were evaluated in 2019 and 2020 (CC grown 9 times over 12 years). Fruit yields and net revenue were similar or greater with CC than without. In 2019, there was greater defoliation (area under the disease progress stairs = 4370±204), percent red fruit (71.0%±5.38) and rots (1.91%±0.5) in no CC than with radish (3410, 39.1%, 0.62%, respectively, P≤0.0366), indicating earlier fruit maturity in no CC plots. Similarly, no CC had a greater incidence of red fruits with anthracnose (25.8%±2.89) compared with all CCs but rye (7.4 to 12.1%±2.89) (P=0.0029). Environmental conditions in 2020 were less favourable for disease development. Defoliation was not affected by CC treatment (P=0.1254) and anthracnose incidence was low (≥90.3±1.22% healthy fruit), which may have limited the ability to detect treatment effects (P=0.2922). Long-term cover crops have the potential to produce greater or equivalent tomato yield with decreased defoliation and anthracnose fruit rot.

Development and validation of the ASKFV-SE tool to measure children's self-efficacy for requesting fruits and vegetables

The aim of the present study was to develop the ASKFV-SE tool to measure self-efficacy (SE) towards requesting fruits and vegetables (FV) in the home and school environment with school-age children (grades 4-5) from urban, ethnically diverse, low-income households. Cognitive interviews reduced the tool from eleven items to seven. The 7-item questionnaire was tested with 444 children. The items loaded on two factors: home SE (four items) and school SE (two items) with one item was excluded (<0⋅40). The reduced 6-item, 2-factor structure was the best fit for the data (χ ² = 45⋅09; df = 9; CFI = 0⋅835; RMSEA = 0⋅147). Confirmatory factory analysis revealed that the 4-item home SE had high reliability (α = 0⋅73) and marginally acceptable reliability for the 2-item school SE (α = 0⋅53). The pre-COVID intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0⋅584 (P < 0⋅001; fair; n = 57) compared to 0⋅736 during-COVID (P < 0⋅001; good; n 50). The ASKFV-SE tool measures children's SE for asking for FVs with strong psychometric properties and low participant burden.

Presence of Listeria at primary production and processing of food of non-animal origin (FNAO) in Bavaria, Germany

Several foodborne outbreaks associated with food of non-animal origin (FNAO) were reported within the last years. In recent years, Listeriamonocytogenes has been associated with such outbreaks. For this reason, different producers of FNAO at the primary production and processing level in Bavaria, Germany, were inspected from July 2020 to June 2021. Environmental and food sampling as well as the sampling of irrigation and processing water was performed to investigate the prevalence of Listeriaspp., including L.monocytogenes at facilities that produce ready-to-eat FNAO. Altogether, 39 producers of soft fruit, vegetables, ready-to-eat raw fruits, and vegetables/fresh cut were inspected. In addition to the on-spot inspections, 407 samples were taken in total, among them, 229 were swab samples from food contact material and the environment, 59 food samples (including soft fruit, vegetables and ready-to-eat vegetables), and 119 samples of irrigation and processing water. Samples were analyzed using methods according to ISO11290-1:2017. Furthermore, the samples of irrigation and processing water were also quantitatively tested for the number of Escherichiacoli (ISO9308-2:2014-06), enterococci (ISO7899-2:2000-11), and Pseudomonasaeruginosa (ISO16266:2008-05). No contamination with E.coli, enterococci, and P.aeruginosa could be detected in most of the samples. Overall, in 12.53% of the samples, Listeriaspp. were detected. L.monocytogenes was identified in 1.72% of the environmental and processing water samples, whereas L.monocytogenes was not detected in food samples. In addition to water sources and quality, this study demonstrates that irrigation regime, cultivation, hygienic handling, and maintenance protocols are highly important to reduce the potential contamination of ready-to-eat soft fruits and vegetables with Listeriaspp.

Effects of irrigation water quality on the presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products in topsoil and vegetables in greenhouses

The presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment has harmful effects on humans and the ecosystem. Reclaimed water irrigation may introduce PPCPs into the agricultural system. Here, a greenhouse experiment investigated the impact of reclaimed water irrigation on PPCP levels in the edible parts of vegetables and topsoil in the North China Plain in 2015 and 2016. Three treatment protocols were applied to each vegetable: irrigation with reclaimed water, irrigation with groundwater, and mixed irrigation with groundwater and reclaimed water (1:1, v/v). The total concentrations of 10 PPCPs in the topsoil (0-20 cm deep) and vegetables were 4.06-19.0 and 2.33-189 μg/kg, respectively. Among the target PPCPs, acetyl-sulfamethoxazole (AC-SMX) had the highest concentration in both soil and vegetables (0.23-10.8 and 1.56-116 μg/kg, respectively). The total concentration of the 10 PPCPs among cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, and cucumber were 13.1-28.1, 10.3-28.3, 2.33-4.04, and 110-189 μg/kg, respectively. The total hazard quotients for the mixture of target PPCPs across all vegetables were 0.0007 and 0.0003 for toddlers and adults, respectively. Compared with groundwater irrigation, reclaimed water irrigation did not evidently affect the vegetable yields, soil-vegetable PPCP concentrations, and BCFs. In this study, we found no potential hazard to human health when people consumed vegetables grown using reclaimed water irrigation.

Assessment of Potentially Toxic Element Concentrations in Soil And Vegetables and Impact on Human Health Through TF, EDI, and HRI Indicators: Case Study Anadrinia Region (Kosovo)

Vegetable cultivation areas in the Anadrinia region may have higher than background concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from contaminated sources including anthropogenic activity and lithologic composition. The purpose of the present study was to assess PTEs concentrations in soil and vegetables and their impact on human health. In this study, 50 soils and 5 vegetables were sampled from the studied area. PTEs (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) after digestion in microwave system. PTEs in soil and vegetables were assessed and compared to international data (Dutch List and WHO/FAO 2011), and their toxicological risk was estimated using transfer factor (TF), estimated daily intake (EDI), and hazard quotients (HQ). The average values of As, Cd, Co, Fe, and Mn in soil were 44.96, 0.324, 16.34, 13,172, and 765.1 mg/kg, and Cr, Ni, and Pb in vegetables were 21.02, 17.11, and 4.982 mg/kg. TF values were less than 1, suggesting low bioaccumulation. EDI values of Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were 6.29, 6.23, 2.09, and 16.6 mg/kg, higher than international guidelines. HQ values of Pb, Ni, and Cu were 6.22, 3.66, and 1.72, higher than maximum tolerable value 1 indicating significant health risk. Some of the analyzed elements in soil and vegetable exceeded permissible limits to Dutch List and WHO/FAO 2011, respectively. From a health point of view, this study revealed vegetable contamination, recommends periodic monitoring.

Evaluation of potential toxic heavy metal contamination in soil, fly ash, vegetables and grain crops along with associated ecological and health risk assessment of nearby inhabitants of a thermal power station in Jharkhand (India)

The present study aimed to evaluate the potential toxic heavy metal (PTHM) concentrations and associated ecological and health risk of nearby inhabitants (child and adult populations) of the Bokaro thermal power station (BTPS), Jharkhand, India. The fly ash containing PTHMs is released from the thermal power plant and contaminates the soil of the nearby agricultural area, roadside area and residential area. Furthermore, PTHMs cause ecological risk as well as carcinogenic health effects in adults. Inhabitants are exposed to PTHMs through exposure pathways (for instance, direct ingestion, dermal contact and air inhalation), and PTHMs were examined in this study by calculating the estimated daily intake (EDI). The contamination factor (C_f) of Cd exceeded the threshold value throughout the study area, whereas the C_f of Hg was observed higher only in roadside soil (RSS). The geoaccumulation index (I_geo) of Cd was higher in the top soil of agricultural soil (AS) (7.39) and RSS (9.38). The level of PTHMs was monitored slightly higher in the topsoil of RSS. The ecological risk index (Eri) was detected to be the highest in RSS (1628.9). The permissible limit of Cd (0.05 mg kg^-1) and Pb (0.1 mg kg^-1) for all sampled vegetables and grain crops was surpassed. The transfer factor (TF) of the studied vegetables and grain crops was in the order of Cd > Cr > Pb > Hg > As. The results of the present study concluded that the hazard quotient (HQ) values for all PTHMs analysed in soil throughout the study area were < 1, which indicates that the child population was within the safe limit. However, the adult population was at a high risk of non-carcinogenic health effects due to increased permissible limits of Cd, Pb and Cr in vegetables and grain crops whereas the target carcinogenic risk (TCR) of Pb and Cr was higher and indicated that there may be a health risk of cancer in adults.

Breaking the myth of healthy food production in rural areas: cases studied in Vojvodina Province (Serbia)

The aim of the present study was to analyze the chemical composition of parsley, parsnip, carrot, and celeriac cultivated at different localities (urban, or suburban/village). The concentrations of heavy metals (cadmium, nickel, chromium) and essential elements (potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus) in edible plant parts were determined. Human health risks associated with chronic consumption of potentially contaminated vegetables were assessed through the use of hazard quotients. The concentrations of heavy metals and essential elements in the edible parts of the tested plants varied among plant species, cultivation locality and plant organ (leaf/root). Carrots showed the lowest levels of cadmium, nickel, and chromium accumulation, while the highest concentrations were measured for parsley leaves, with respect to average values. Metal pollution index values obtained for cities were lower than those obtained for some villages and a suburban settlement. The hazard quotient revealed the highest values for cadmium. Positive Pearson's correlation between chromium and nickel was found in many cases. Principal component analysis indicated differences in plants ability to accumulate certain nutrients and pollutants, while sample diversification was closely related to growth site properties. We sincerely hope that the present study will inspire similar investigations in other developing countries, as well as in the Western Balkans region, to obtain broader insight into vegetable food safety and local human health risk. Considering that food quality and safety are major concerns, our results should inform the relevant government authorities and provide a foundation for implementation of a system of controls over cultivation processes and vegetable quality in Serbia.

A real time PCR assay to detect and quantify root-knot nematodes from soil extracts

Root-knot nematodes cause forking and stubbing of the growing carrot root tip, decreasing market value and reducing yield by up to 45%. Since crop damage by these nematodes depends on their initial population densities at planting, pre-plant detection of potentially low nematode numbers is critical for predicting future yield loss. The aim of this study was to overcome some of the drawbacks of the labor and time-intensive process of root-knot nematode identification and quantification by developing and field testing a real time PCR (qPCR) assay. Primers were designed targeting the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita species complex, which includes M. incognita as well as the closely related Meloidogyne javanica and Meloidogyne arenaria. The qPCR assay successfully detected each species and showed little amplification for non-target nematode groups except for the sister group Meloidogyne enterolobii, which is not known to occur in California. Predicted nematode densities related well with microscopic counts of nematodes from prepared solutions, as well as from solutions extracted from field soil. In a greenhouse experiment, the qPCR assay distinguished between low, medium and high levels of M. incognita infection and qPCR predicted densities at planting were negatively related in linear models with final carrot fresh weight, length and diameter. These results suggest that qPCR assays could be a valuable diagnostic tool to predict nematode infections and prevent crop losses.

Frequent vegetable consumption is inversely associated with hypertension among indigenous Africans

AIMS

The relationship between vegetable consumption and hypertension occurrence remains poorly characterized in sub-Saharan Africa. This study assessed the association of vegetable consumption with odds of hypertension among indigenous Africans.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We harmonized data on prior vegetable consumption and hypertension occurrence (defined as one of the following conditions; systolic blood pressure ≥140 or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg or previous diagnosis or use of antihypertensive medications) from 16 445 participants across five African countries (Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Burkina Faso) in the Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network and Africa Wits-INDEPTH partnership for Genomic studies. Vegetable consumption (in servings/week) was classified as 'low' (<6). 'moderate' (6-11), 'sufficient' (12-29), and 'high' (≥30). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of hypertension were estimated by categories of vegetable consumption (using 'low' consumption as reference), adjusting for sex, age in years, family history of cardiovascular diseases, education, smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, body mass index, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidaemia using logistic regressions at P < 0.05. The mean age of participants was 53.0 ( ± 10.7) years, and 7552 (45.9%) were males, whereas 7070 (42.9%) had hypertension. In addition, 6672(40.6%) participants had 'low' vegetable consumption, and 1758(10.7%) had 'high' vegetable consumption. Multivariable-adjusted OR for hypertension by distribution of vegetable consumption (using 'low' consumption as reference) were 1.03 (95% CI: 0.95, 1.12) for 'moderate' consumption; 0.80 (0.73, 0.88) for 'sufficient', and 0.81 (0.72, 0.92) for 'high' consumption, P-for-trend <0.0001.

CONCLUSION

Indigenous Africans who consumed at least 12 servings of vegetables per week were less likely to be found hypertensive, particularly among males and young adults.

Host Suitability of Cover Crops to the Root-lesion Nematode, Pratylenchus penetrans Associated with Potato

Non-host or poor host cover crops can provide an alternative method for nematode management. A total of 25 cover crop species/cultivars, along with three controls were evaluated in greenhouse experiments for their host suitability to the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans. Trials were conducted in a completely randomized design using nematode-infested soil and terminated three months after planting. Nematodes were extracted from the roots and soil of each crop to determine their final population densities, reproductive factor (Rf = final population density/initial population density), and distributions in the soil and root habitats. Reproductive factor was used to categorize the host suitability of crops. Faba bean cv. Petite produced the greatest nematode population density in all trials, whereas only alfalfa cv. Bullseye constantly demonstrated the poor host ability to P. penetrans. Annual ryegrass, winter rye cv. ND Dylan, and white proso millet also showed poor hosts in most trials. Five cover crops consistently maintained the population throughout the experiments with Rf values less than 2, and the remaining tested cover crops were suitable hosts for P. penetrans. The majority of the tested cover crops had less than or equal to 30% of the final population residing in the roots after three months of growth in all the trials. This research helps us gain the knowledge on cover crops and P. penetrans interaction and will be useful for potato growers to select better cover crops and avoid susceptible hosts to manage P. penetrans in infested fields to minimize potato yield losses.

Disparities in fruit and vegetable intake at the intersection of gender and education in northern Sweden: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Even though the existence of inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption has been well established, it is not clear how it is patterned across intersections of multiple social positions and identities. This study aims to investigate disparities in fruit and vegetable intake between groups at the intersection of education and gender in northern Sweden, and to estimate the discriminatory accuracy of the intersectional groups.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data from the 2018 Health on Equal Terms survey conducted in four regions in northern Sweden was used (N = 21,853). Four intersectional groups were created: high and low educated men, and high and low educated women. Prevalence differences corresponding to joint, referent, and excess intersectional inequalities, were estimated for three outcomes: inadequate fruit and vegetable intake combined, inadequate fruit intake, and inadequate vegetable intake. The discriminatory accuracy of the intersectional groups was estimated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.

RESULTS

Low educated men had the highest prevalence of inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables combined (81.4%), fruits (83.4%), and vegetables (84.9%), while high educated women had the lowest (47.7, 60.2, and 51.8%, respectively). The joint disparities between high educated women and low educated men were both significant and substantial for all outcomes (34.6 percentage points (pp.), 25.2 pp., and 31.2 pp., adjusted), although differences in magnitude were noted between fruit and vegetable intake. The joint disparities were mostly explained by the two referent disparities for gender and education. The excess intersectional disparity - the part of the joint disparity not explained by either referent disparity - was negative for all three outcomes (-5.5 pp., - 4.2 pp., and - 4.6 pp. respectively, adjusted). The discriminatory accuracy of the intersectional groups was moderate (0.67, 0.65, and 0.68 respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

An intersectional approach can provide a more detailed view of inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption between groups combining several social positions. The moderate discriminatory accuracy observed here suggests that interventions and policies aiming to reduce diet inequalities should not solely be targeted at certain groups, but also be universal.

First Report of Athelia rolfsii Causing Damping-Off and Leaf Blight on Basella alba in Malaysia

Basella alba is an evergreen perennial vine that grows as an edible leafy vegetable in Malaysia (Nordin et al. 2007). During January 2021, a cottony white hypha associated with aggregates of white to brown sclerotia and symptoms of damping-off were visualized on the stem base of B. alba at the soil surface in an isolated field (~0.03 ha) located in the district of Penampang, Sabah province, Malaysia (5°56'51.0"N 116°04'31.8"E). Yellowing and wilting of leaves, and defoliation were observed after four days of the development of damping-off. Survey was conducted on 100 plants which 30 were found infected. The disease severity (90%) on stems was estimated using IMAGEJ. Symptomatic stem tissues were surface sterilized with 75% of ethanol for 1 min, washed with 2% of sodium hypochlorite solution for 1 min, rinsed thrice with sterile distilled water, air dried and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). Plates were incubated for 7 days at 25°C in the dark. After 7 days, fungi were isolated; colony color was white and had a cottony appearance. On day 14, white to brown sclerotia 1.0 to 2.2 mm in diameter were produced. Hyaline septate hyphae with clamp connections and multiple nuclei were seen. Conidia and conidiophores were absent from the colony on PDA. Genomic DNA of fungi was extracted based on Khoo et al. (2022a and 2022b). PCR amplification (Khoo et al. 2022b) was performed using primer set ITS1/ITS4, EF983/EF2218 and LR0R/LR05 to amplify the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA, partial translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF-1α) gene and partial large subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU rRNA) gene, respectively (Vilgalys and Hester 1990; White et al. 1990; Carbone and Kohn, 1999; Rehner 2001). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the isolates formed a supported clade to the related Athelia rolfsii sequences. The sequencing result (GenBank Accession Nos. OK465460, OP809607, OP857217) had a 99% identity over 625 bp, 941 bp, and 1,101 bp with the corresponding gene sequence of A. rolfsii (GenBank Accession Nos. MN622806, AY635773, MW322687) after analysis in BLASTn program. Pathogenicity test was performed based on Le (2011). Three 8-week-old B. alba plants cultivated on sterilized soil were inoculated with 5-mm mycelia plugs from 7-day-old culture. A plug was put on the upper soil surface layer 2 cm away from the base of the stem of B. alba plant before fully covered with a layer of sterilized soil. Plants that were inoculated with sterile PDA plugs served as the control treatment. Plastic bags were used to cover the plants after inoculation for 24 h before keeping them in a glasshouse under ambient conditions. Water-soaked and brown lesions were visualized on the stem base of all inoculated plants after four days of inoculation. Symptom of damping-off and leaf blight was observed after another 3 days. No symptoms developed on the mock controls. The pathogenicity test was repeated twice. Re-isolation was performed from the symptomatic tissues of inoculated plants and mock controls. The isolates reisolated from the symptomatic tissues were verified as A. rolfsii based on morphology and molecular characterization, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. No pathogens were isolated from the mock controls. To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. rolfsii causing damping-off and leaf blight on B. alba in Malaysia, as well as worldwide. Our findings documented the wider geographical and host range of A. rolfsii and indicate its potential threat to B. alba production in Malaysia.

First report of Pseudomonas mediterranea causing tomato pith necrosis in Croatia

In May 2021, a tomato producer reported an occurrence of a disease unknown so far in a greenhouse near Split, Croatia. About 30% of plants (cultivar Signora) have been affected. Symptoms resembled tomato pith necrosis, bacterial disease caused by Pseudomonas corrugata, known to occur sporadically in tomato greenhouse production in Croatia. Leaves on plants developed interveinal chlorosis, followed by necrosis and leaf collapse. When main stems were longitudinally cut, brown, disintegrated and water-soaked partly hollow pith was evident. Severely affected plants wilted. With suspicion on presence of P. corrugata, bacteria were isolated from surface-sterilized pith tissue of two tomato plants by plating onto sucrose peptone agar (SPA) and King's B medium (KB). Colonies recovered were cream-colored on SPA and non-florescent on KB. Two isolates, assigned as 1-KB and 3A, were first identified by amplification of internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) between16S rRNA and 23S rRNA using primers D21 and D22 (Manceau and Horvais 1997). The 550-bp PCR products obtained were purified and sequenced. Subsequent BLAST search showed the sequences to have 100% identity with the strain DSM 16733 isolated from tomato in Italy (Accession No. LT629790.1) and 99.77% identity with the strain SM664-12 isolated from tomato in USA (Acc. No. KC405207.1) of Pseudomonas mediterranea from NCBI. ITS sequence for one isolate 3A was deposited in GenBank under the Accession No. OP765279.1. Further identification was performed by using species-specific primers PC1/1-PC1/2 for P. mediterranea (Catara et al. 2000, 2002). Amplification of 600 bp DNA fragment confirmed the identity of isolates 1-KB and 3A as P. mediterranea. For this region sequence of isolate 3A was deposited in GenBank under the Acc. No. OP068273.1. Pathogenicity was assessed on tomato plants (cultivar Moneymaker) grown in pots in bio-chamber. Plants were grown at 25/20 °C 12h/12h dark/light regime until 8-leaves stage (BBCH 18). P. mediterranea isolate 3A was used for the inoculation. Inoculum was prepared from the isolate grown on KB medium for 48 h and suspended in sterile distilled water (concentration of 109 CFU mL-1) by dilution plate counts. Ten plants were inoculated with 10 µl of bacterial suspension injected into the stem with a syringe. Five control plants were inoculated with sterile distilled water. After 40 days of plant growth, symptoms were visible on all plants inoculated with P. mediterranea isolate 3A. Although no wilting was observed and all plants were alive, chlorosis was observed on upper leaves, chlorosis and necrosis on middle leaves, while basal leaves wilted. Longitudinal cross-sections of stems revealed brownish pith tissue with longitudinal watery pits spreading from inoculation points (Fig.S1). Symptoms were not observed on control plants. Bacterium was reisolated from three plants showing the most severe symptoms and proved to be identical to the original using species-specific primer pair PC1/1-PC1/2. To our knowledge, this is the first confirmation of P. mediterranea causing tomato pith necrosis in Croatia. Tomato pith necrosis caused by P. mediterranea may become significant bacterial disease of greenhouse tomato in Croatia.

Meeting report: plant-rich dietary patterns and health

Dietary patterns (DP) rich in plant foods are associated with improved health and reduced non-communicable disease risk. In October 2021, the Nutrition Society hosted a member-led conference, held online over 2 half days, exploring the latest research findings examining plant-rich DP and health. The aim of the present paper is to summarise the content of the conference and synopses of the individual speaker presentations are included. Topics included epidemiological analysis of plant-rich DP and health outcomes, the effects of dietary interventions which have increased fruit and vegetable (FV) intake on a range of health outcomes, how adherence to plant-rich DP is assessed, the use of biomarkers to assess FV intake and a consideration of how modifying behaviour towards increased FV intake could impact environmental outcomes, planetary health and food systems. In conclusion, although there are still considerable uncertainties which require further research, which were considered as part of the conference and are summarised in this review, adopting a plant-rich DP at a population level could have a considerable impact on diet and health outcomes, as well as planetary health.

Method validation for simultaneous determination of four neonicotinoids in vegetables by liquid chromatography

Pesticides are widely employed to boost the production of vegetable crops, but their indiscriminate application leaves residue in the crops for long, even after harvesting. Among pesticides, neonicotinoids are the most commonly applied group of insecticides which are used on vegetables to defend against a variety of sucking pests. The purpose of this study was to validate an analytical approach focused on QuEChERS extraction for the validation and simultaneous determination of residues of four neonicotinoids (imidacloprid, clothianidin, acetamiprid and thiamethoxam) in six diverse crops such as cucumber, brinjal, tomato, beans, cabbage, and cauliflower. Insecticides were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fitted with a UV-Vis detector. Specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection, and the limit of quantification were all considered for validation. The fortification of the vegetables was done at three different levels (0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 µg mL^-1), for confirming the validity of the method adopted. The results demonstrated adequate recoveries ranging from 77.5 to 96.4% and good accuracy (RSDs between 0.3 and 8.9%). For all the insecticides, the approach had good linearity with R² ≥ 0.99. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit quantification (LOQ) levels of all the four analytes were 0.05 µg mL^-1 and 0.2 µg mL^-1, respectively. The validation characteristics of the devised method are satisfactory in terms of specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection and limit of quantification and thus can be successfully employed for simultaneous determination of the neonicotinoids.

Quantitative microbial risk assessment of enteroviruses in raw-eatable vegetables irrigated by wastewater: examining different scenarios of washing

Due to the increasing water crisis, the reuse of wastewater deserves attention as a method to reduce the pressure of the water crisis, especially in developing countries. The application of health risk assessment models is a way to estimate disease burdens associated with crop irrigation by wastewater effluents. In this study, a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) with probabilistic Monte-Carlo simulation was used to estimate the annual risk of enteroviruses (EVs) infection and disease burden for consumers of effluent-irrigated raw vegetables in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Wastewater effluent samples were collected over two seasons: summer and winter. EVs were analyzed in three stages, concentration and separation, cell culture, and real-time PCR (RT-PCR). A questionnaire was used to determine the dominant patterns of vegetable washing by consumers. There were 4 vegetable washing steps: wiping away mud (A), rinsing (B), using detergents (C), using disinfectants (D). 5 patterns of washing were examined in the laboratory and the concentration of enteroviruses was measured in every pattern. pattern 1: just wiping away mud (A), pattern 2: wiping away mud and rinsing (AB), pattern 3: wiping away mud by using detergents and rinsing (ABCB), pattern 4: wiping away mud by using disinfectants and rinsing (ABDB), and pattern 5: wiping away mud by using detergents and disinfectants and rinsing (ABCBDB). For washing pattern 1, pattern 2, and pattern 3, the estimated annual infection risk of EVs was estimated to be 5.6 × 10^-1, 3.6 × 10^-1, 1.7 × 10^-1 (risk/per.day), and burden of disease was calculated as 3 × 10^-2, 2 × 10^-2, and 9 × 10^-3 (burden/year), respectively. The results showed that if vegetables are washed according to method 5, the microbial risk will be minimized and the excess prevalence of viral infections will be eliminated.

Effect of cold food storage techniques on the contents of Microcystins and Cylindrospermopsin in leaves of spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa)

The presence of Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) and Microcystins (MCs) in vegetables is considered as a significant worldwide toxicological risk. Thus, this work aims to assess for the first time the impact of refrigeration (4 °C) and freezing (-20 °C) on the levels of CYN, MCs and their mixtures (CYN + MCs) in lettuce and spinach. Samples were spiked with 750 μg cyanotoxins/g dry weight (d.w.). Several storage conditions were studied: refrigeration after 24, 48 h and 7 days, and freezing for 7 days, 1 and 3 months. Cyanotoxin concentrations were determined by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). For CYN, refrigeration at 48 h and 7 days was effective to decrease its concentrations up to 26% and 32%, respectively, in spinach. For MCs, refrigeration was only effective in lettuce compared to spinach, showing an important decrease of 80.3% MC-LR and 85.1% MC-YR. In spinach, CYN was stable after 3 months freezing, whereas MC contents were still reduced up to 44%. Overall, cyanotoxins were less stable in the mixture compared to individual toxins for both processes, and the effect of these storage techniques were toxin and food-specific. Further studies of cyanotoxins in foods are required for evaluating the risk for humans.

First report of Pectobacterium carotovorum and Pectobacterium brasiliense causing bacterial soft rot of bok choy in Taiwan

Bok choy (Brassica rapa var. chinensis) is one of the most popular leafy green vegetables in Asia (Wang et al. 2019; Zhang et al. 2014). In May 2022, disease resembling bacterial soft rot was observed in a commercial greenhouse located in Xiluo, Yunlin County, Taiwan. Affected plants exhibited maceration, primarily close to the base of the plants (Fig. S1). Almost all bok choy plants (about 1,800 plants in total) on site were symptomatic. Macerated tissues were collected from six plants. The samples were homogenized in 10 mM MgCl2 and bacteria were isolated on nutrient agar (NA) by streak plating. After 1 day of culturing at 28°C, creamy-white, round colonies were consistently grown on all the plates, and six strains (Br1 to Br6) were obtained; each isolated from a different plant. The strains were able to ferment glucose and induced maceration on potato tuber slices (Schaad et al. 2001) but could not produce indigoidine on NGM medium (NA added with glycerol and MnCl2; Lee and Yu 2006). The DNA samples of these strains were tested with Pectobacterium-specific primers Y1 and Y2 (Darrasse et al. 1994) and all samples produced the expected amplicon. To identify the isolated pathogens, 1,592-bp sequences concatenated from fragments of the leuS (452 bp), dnaX (492 bp), and recA (648 bp) genes (GenBank accession nos. OP360013-OP360021) were obtained for each strain as previously described (Portier et al. 2019). Three genotypes were detected, the sequences of strains Br1, Br2, Br4, and Br5 were identical, while strains Br3 and Br6 each belong to a different genotype. The sequence identity between Br3 and Br6 was 98.2%. The concatenated sequences (dnaX-leuS-recA), along with those of type strains from known Pectobacterium species, were subjected to maximum likelihood analysis. The reconstructed trees showed that strains Br1, Br2, Br4, and Br5 grouped with P. carotovorum CFBP2046T (Fig. S2); the sequence identity between the isolated strains and the type strain was 98.7%. Strains Br3 and Br6 clustered with P. brasiliense CFBP6617T (Fig S2); the sequence identity between CFBP6617T and Br3 and Br6 were 97.5% and 98.4%, respectively. The six strains were inoculated onto 55-day-old bok choy plants using previously described prick inoculation methods (Wei et al. 2019). Autoclaved toothpicks, each carrying 9.3 x 106- 5.6 x 107 cfu of bacteria, were used to inoculate the base of plant leaves. All six strains were tested, and each strain had three replicates. Plants in the control group were stabbed with bacteria-free toothpicks. The plants were enclosed in clear plastic bags during the assay to maintain humidity and kept in a growth chamber (27/25°C day/night; 14-h photoperiod). After 1 d, all inoculated plants produced soft rot symptoms resembling those observed in the sampling site. No noticeable differences were observed among symptoms produced by different strains. The controls were symptomless. One strain was re-isolated from each treatment group and their identity were confirmed by sequencing the dnaX gene. All re-isolated strains shared the same sequences with those of the original strains tested. This is the first report of P. brasiliense and P. carotovorum causing bacterial soft rot of bok choy in Taiwan. Importantly, the findings showed that different Pectobacterium species and genotypes could induce symptoms on a crop in the same facility at the same time, highlighting the potential complexity of interactions among different soft rot bacteria in the environment.

First Report of Fusarium citri Causing Postharvest Fruit Rot of Chayote in Mexico

In November 2018, symptoms of brown rot were observed on chayote (Sechium edule) var. nigrum spinosum with a 20% disease incidence of 120 harvested fruits in the National Germplasm Bank of Sechium edule, located in the Centro Regional Universitario Oriente (CRUO) from the Chapingo Autonomous University (Huatusco, Veracruz, Mexico). For fungal isolation, pieces from symptomatic fruits were surface disinfected by immersion in a 1.5% NaClO solution for 2 min, rinsed in sterile distilled water, placed in Petri plates containing potato dextrose agar (PDA) amended with kanamycin sulfate, and incubated at 25ºC. Fusarium-like colonies were consistently isolated on PDA and five monoconidial isolates were obtained. A representative isolate was selected for morphological characterization, phylogenetic analysis, and pathogenicity tests. On PDA, colonies exhibited white and fluffy aerial mycelia, with diffused pale brown pigment in the center at 7 days of incubation at 25℃ in darkness. Macroconidia (n= 100) were hyaline, falcate, with 4 to 5 septa, measuring 23.9 to 31.9 × 2.9 to 4.2 μm, and foot-shaped basal cells. Microconidia and chlamydospores were absent. Morphological features were consistent with the description of the Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (Xia et al. 2019). The isolate was deposited as FUS2 in the Culture Collection of Phytopathogenic Fungi of the Laboratory of Plant Pathology at the Colegio de Postgraduados. For molecular identification, genomic DNA was extracted, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, partial sequences of translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α), and the second-largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (rpb2) genes were amplified, and sequenced with the primer sets ITS5/ITS4 (White et al. 1990), EF1-728F/EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn 1999), and RBP2-5F/RPB2-7R (Liu et al. 1999), respectively. DNA sequences were edited in BioEdit 7.2 and compared with those in the NCBI nucleotide database. Alignments were implemented in MEGA X using reference sequences from Fusarium spp. A phylogenetic tree, including published ITS, EF1-α, and rpb2 sequence data, was constructed for the Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC) based on Maximum Likelihood. The sequences were deposited in GenBank (accession nos. ON878083, ON890421, and ON890420). The phylogenetic analysis grouped the isolate FUS2 within the F. citri clade. Pathogenicity of the fungus was verified on 10 healthy chayote fruits var. nigrum spinosum previously disinfested by immersion in a 1% NaClO solution for 3 min and washed in sterile water. A total of 5 mL of a conidial suspension (1 × 106 spores/ml) was sprayed on each whole fruit. Ten control fruit were sprayed with sterile distilled water. The fruits were kept in a moist plastic chamber at 25°C and 12 h light/dark for 30 days. All inoculated fruits developed water-soaked brown lesions (3 to 5 cm in diameter) covered with white mycelium at 15 days after inoculation, whereas no symptoms were observed on the control fruits. The fungus was consistently re-isolated only from the diseased fruits and found to be morphologically identical to the isolate used for inoculation, fulfilling Koch´s postulates. Fusarium citri has been associated with Capsicum sp. and mandarin orange in China, Triticum sp. in Iran, alfalfa in Denmark, and lettuce in the Czech Republic and Italy (Farr and Rossman 2022). To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. citri causing postharvest fruit rot of chayote in Mexico and worldwide.

Longitudinal correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption with depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults in South Africa

BACKGROUND

Fruit and vegetable intake may influence mental well-being. The aim of this study was to assess longitudinal associations between fruit and vegetable intake and depressive symptoms among rural South Africans.

METHODS

This longitudinal community study enrolled 3,891 adults (≥ 40 years) from the "Health and Ageing in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI)". Fruit and vegetable intake was assessed by self-report at wave 1, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale at wave 1 and 2. Outcomes were incident and persistent depressive symptoms at wave 2. Logistic regression was used to assess the associations between fruit and vegetable intake at wave 1 and incident, and persistent depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

Results indicate that in the fully adjusted model for individuals with no depressive symptoms at baseline, we found no significant association between frequency of fruit or vegetables intake and incident depressive symptoms. We also found no significant association between frequency of fruit or vegetable intake and persistent depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Fruit and vegetable intake was not significantly associated with incident and persistent depressive symptoms.

First Report of Leaf Sheath Disease, Caused by Microdochium seminicola, on Zizania latifolia in China

Zizania latifolia, which belongs to the tribe Oryzea, has been widely grown over thousands of years as an aquatic vegetable in China. In the autumn of 2019, the disease harmful to the leaf sheaths of Z. latifolia was found in Jinhua City and Lishui City, Zhejiang Province. The disease caused brown oval-shaped spots (3~5 cm long, 0.5~1 cm wide) on leaf sheaths (Figure 1A). The infected plants produced non-commercial Jiaobai. The surface of the Jiaobai was pale yellow instead of white, and the length of the Jiaobai was 25% shorter than the uninfected plants. To 2022, the disease has been found in most planting areas of Z. latifolia in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces in China. About 20%~50% incidence of the disease in these main production areas has seriously threatened the yield and quality of Jiaobai. To identify the causal agent, diseased leaf sheaths were collected. Symptomatic leaf sheath tissue was sterilized with 75% alcohol for 30 sec, and then washed three times with sterile distilled water for 1 min. A total of 37 strains were isolated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). We selected 10 strains for further morphological identification. An abundant mass of aerial mycelia was formed in 8 days (Figure 1B). The mycelium is transparent, septate and smooth. Conidia is fusiform, straight or curved, 0~3 septa, hyaline, tapering and rounding at the apex (Figure 1C and 1D). Strain XYQ3 was obtained through multi-generation culture. To further identify the pathogen of this fungus, genomic DNA was extracted and internal transcribed spacer (ITS), large subunit rDNA (LSU), β-tubulin (BTUB) and DNA-directed RNA polymerase II subunit (RPB2) of strain XYQ3 were amplified. These sequences were obtained and submitted to GenBank (accession numbers MT605000, OP585914, MZ619085, MZ619084, respectively). After alignment analysis of sequencing data, we found that the ITS sequence indicated 100% identity with M. seminicola (GenBank acc no. KP859007). The LSU sequence showed 100% identity with M. seminicola (GenBank acc no. KP858943). The BTUB sequence showed 99.47% identity with M. seminicola (GenBank acc no. KP859070). The RPB2 sequence has higher identity with M. seminicola, reaching 99.76% with 4 sequences (GenBank acc nos. KP859140, KP859116, KP859134 and KP859130). Strain XYQ3 and a total of 16 other Microdochium isolates were selected for phylogenetic analysis using the ITS, LSU, BTUB and RPB2 sequences (Figure 2). Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that strain XYQ3 was clustered with the M. seminicola clade, including M. seminicola strains MFG 60131, MFG 60132, CBS 122706 and KAS 1527. Therefore, this fungus was identified as M. seminicola based on morphological observation, multiple sequences alignment analysis and phylogenetic analysis. Strain XYQ3 was used in pathogenicity tests. According to Koch's postulates, 10 fresh leaf sheaths and leaves of host plants were inoculated by spraying conidial suspension at the concentration of 1×106 conidia/mL. Sterile water was sprayed as negative control. Inoculated plants were cultured under 25℃ light for 10 h, darkness for 14 h, covered with plastic film to maintain high humidity above 65%, and observed daily for disease development. After 6 d, symptoms similar to those observed in the field (Figure 1E and 1F). The pathogen of this fungus was re-isolated from the symptomatic inoculated leaf sheath and re-identified as strain XYQ3. Many Microdochium species are important pathogens of Poaceae (Liang et al., 2019). M. seminicola is classified as a new species in the Xylariales family by the report of Hernández-Restrepo (Hernandez-Restrepo et al., 2016) and was only found in wheat, oats and barley so far (Gagkaeva et al., 2020; Gavrilova et al., 2020). To the best of our knowledge, this fungus is the first report in the disease of Z. latifolia. As this disease is prevalent in main planting areas of Z. latifolia and has seriously threatened the production of Jiaobai, it is very important to isolate and identify the pathogen for the subsequent drug screening and control.

Assessment of microcystins in surface water and irrigated vegetables in Kwaru stream, Hayin Danmani, Kaduna-Nigeria

Microcystins (MCs) are hepatotoxic secondary metabolites produced by several genera of cyanobacteria. Human exposure routes include drinking contaminated water and consuming contaminated fish, vegetables, crops, and even food supplements that contain cyanotoxin. This study investigated the presence of MCs in a stream with a long history of use as a source of water for irrigation farming. To establish the risk of a lack of monitoring programs, we studied MCs contamination of irrigated vegetables. Toxin levels in the water were generally <0.05 μg L^-1 in all the investigated stations. Total microcystin concentrations in spinach (0.306 μg Kg^-1 upstream and 0.217 μg Kg^-1 downstream), lettuce (0.085 μg Kg^-1 upstream and 0.462 μg Kg^-1 downstream), carrot (0.050 μg Kg^-1 downstream and 0.116 μg Kg^-1 downstream), cabbage (0.014 μg Kg^-1 upstream and 0.031 μg Kg^-1 downstream), tomatoes (0.233 μg Kg^-1 upstream), and bitter leaf (0.460 μg Kg^-1 upstream and 0.050 μg Kg^-1 downstream) collected in March were higher than the levels detected in samples of the same vegetables collected in April. These results highlight Nigeria's severe public health problem, especially in regions with long dry season spells. The level of MCs contamination of irrigated vegetables implies a potential for chronic exposure and associated health challenges.

First report of Geotrichum candidum causing rubbery rot of potato (Solanum tuberosum) in Michigan

In April 2018, rotted 'Lamoka' tubers were received from a commercial storage facility (<1% incidence) in St. Joseph County, Michigan by the MSU Potato & Sugar Beet Pathology and Plant & Pest Diagnostics programs. Dense circular colonies of white fungal-like growth were observed on the surface of the tubers, and internal tissues were watery and spongy with gray to brown discoloration (Supplemental Figure 1). Tubers had a strong, sweet alcoholic odor. External and internal tuber tissues were surface disinfested in 0.825% sodium hypochlorite for 1 min, rinsed twice in sterile distilled water, blotted on sterile filter paper, and placed onto 1.5% (w/v) water agar (WA). After 3 days at 21-24°C and ambient light conditions, septate, branched mycelia and hyaline, cylindrical, single-celled conidia 5.2-8.9 µm x 3.6-5.2 µm (n=20 arthrospores) were observed singly or in chains (Supplemental Figure 2A&B). On potato dextrose agar (PDA), colonies were white, circular, and dense (Supplemental Figure 2C). These observations matched morphological descriptions of Geotrichum candidum (Carmichael 1957). No Pythium or Phytophthora spp. were detected. A mono-conidial isolate of the fungus was obtained and maintained on PDA. DNA was extracted from mycelia using a DNeasy plant mini kit (QIAGEN). Fragments of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 18S ribosomal RNA gene regions were amplified using primers ITS1F/4 primers and NS3/8, respectively (White et al. 1990). Purified PCR products (QIAquick PCR purification kit, QIAGEN) were submitted for Sanger sequencing at the Genomics Research Technology Support Facility (East Lansing, MI). The ITS1F/4 and NS3/8 consensus sequences (OP142324 and OP153873) aligned with GenBank accessions of G. candidum KY103456.1 (100% identity) and JF262193.1 (99.75% identity), respectively. Healthy 'Lamoka' tubers were rinsed with tap water, surface disinfested in 0.825% sodium hypochlorite for 15 min, rinsed twice in sterile distilled water, and blotted dry on sterile paper towel. Ten tubers were inoculated by placing 10-mm diameter fully colonized agar plugs, excised from the margin of a 9-day-old PDA culture, onto the surface of each tuber (Duellman et al. 2021). Ten tubers were mock-inoculated using sterile PDA. Tubers were placed in a moist chamber and incubated in the dark at room temperature. After nine days, inoculated tubers exhibited white colony growth on tuber surfaces and an alcoholic scent was present. After 27 days, internal tissues were rubbery, but no discoloration was observed. No rubbery rot symptoms were observed on the control tubers. Samples were excised 1 cm laterally from and vertically beneath the inoculation site. Tissues were surface disinfested as described above and plated on 1.5% WA. After 9 days, a Geotrichum sp. identical to the original isolate was confirmed in 50% of samples from inoculated tubers. No Geotrichum sp. were detected from mock-inoculated tubers. Since 2018, G. candidum has been confirmed in commercial storages in three counties in the Lower Peninsula (incidences up to 1-2%). Geotrichum candidum was recently reported causing rubbery rot of potato in Idaho (Duellman et al. 2021); however, to our knowledge this is the first report of rubbery rot in Michigan. Despite increasing detection frequencies, incidences remain low and spread in storage appears limited. Seed decay leading to stand loss (incidence 1-3%) was observed after planting infected lots, which should be avoided or minimized.

First Report of the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii Parasitizing Eggplant in Mexico

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important vegetable cultivated in Mexico and the state of Sinaloa is the largest producer of eggplants with 90% of the country's total production. In April 2022, eggplants cv. Barcelona exhibiting root-knot, stunted growth, and yellowing were detected in a greenhouse in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Disease incidence was approximately 10% (1000 plants evaluated). Ten soil samples were collected from the greenhouse. An average of 400 root-knot nematode second-stage juveniles (J2s) were extracted from 100 g of soil for each sample. Roots were washed with tap water and dissected. Females and egg masses were obtained by dissecting galls. Microscopic examination of the perineal pattern of mature females (n= 10) was round to ovoid, with rounded and high dorsal arch. Females (n= 20) were globular to pear-shaped, body length of 645 to 739 µm, body width of 470 to 559 μm; the stylet was dorsally curved, 15.1 to 16.2 μm long, and with rounded stylet knobs; neck length of 195 to 202 µm and the distance from the base of the stylet to the dorsal gland orifice (DGO) was 4.2 to 5.8 µm. Second-stage juveniles were vermiform, annulated, and tapering at both ends. Morphological characteristics of the females and J2s were consistent with those reported for Meloidogyne enterolobii (Yang and Eisenback 1983). For molecular identification, total DNA was extracted from individual females according to the extraction protocol described by Hu et al. (2011), and the ribosomal intergenic spacer 2 (IGS2) was amplified by PCR using the specific primers Me-F/Me-R for M. enterolobii (Long et al. 2006). PCR amplification generated a 236-bp fragment for the analyzed sample and the amplicon was sequenced. The sequence was deposited in GenBank under the accession number OP004802. BLASTn searches showed 100% identity with available sequences of M. enterolobii from the USA (MH800967) and China (KP411228, MT742011). A phylogenetic tree including published IGS2 sequences for Meloidogyne spp. was constructed based on Maximum Likelihood method. The phylogenetic analysis placed the sequence MeCUB in the same clade with Meloidogyne enterolobii. Pathogenicity tests were performed under greenhouse conditions by inoculating 5000 eggs of a pure population of M. enterolobii on 10 healthy eggplants cv. Barcelona (30-day-old) grown in pots with sterilized soil. Five uninoculated eggplants were used as control. Plants were maintained at 26 to 34°C in a greenhouse for 35 days. Stunted growth and root-galling symptoms appeared on inoculated plants after 21 days, whereas control plants remained symptomless. Nematode reproduction factor (final population density/initial population density) was 0.93 and 2.28 at 28 and 35 days after inoculation, respectively. The nematode on the inoculated roots was morphologically identical to that observed on naturally infected roots in the field. The pathogenicity test was carried out twice with similar results. Meloidogyne enterolobii has been previously reported on eggplants in Puerto Rico (Rammah and Hirschmann 1988). To our knowledge, this is the first report of M. enterolobii causing root-knot of eggplant in Mexico. This nematode is widely distributed in Sinaloa affecting other vegetable crops such as tomato (Martínez-Gallardo et al. 2015), chili (Carrillo-Fasio et al. 2020), and cucumber (Gómez-González et al. 2020), so future studies are required to evaluate integrated management strategies.

First report of Fusarium equiseti causing leaf spots of Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) in Pakistan

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is an important vegetable crop of the Cucurbitaceae family widely cultivated in Pakistan and around the world. In October 2020, a nutrition management trial of Bitter gourd cv. Seminis-200) was conducted on an area of 10,860 sq. ft. (99×110 feet) at the Agricultural Research farm of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan (30.2601° N, 71.5158° E), Pakistan. Symptoms of large, brown necrotic leaf spots were observed on the leaves of bitter gourd vines. The disease started from the yellowing of leaves within the reticulate venation and turned brown. Irregular brown leaf spots coalesced to form large necrotic areas followed by foliar chlorosis then wilting that occurred very late. There were no crown rot symptoms although there was slight discoloration of roots and when cut longitudinally, browning of tissues was observed. The disease was assessed visually with 37% incidence which resulted in poor quality and yield in terms of reduced size and yellowing of fruit. Infected vines along with the roots were collected for the isolation of pathogen. A total of 34 leaves and 22 root samples were collected from the field for isolation. The leaf, collar and root portions were cut into 0.5 to 1 cm in length and surface disinfected with 1% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) for 2-3 minutes followed by washing twice with autoclaved distilled water and after drying, placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium, and incubated at 25±2 °C for one week. The fungal colonies of fluffy white growth with light orange pigment were isolated. For morphological characterization, a total of 4 pure cultures were isolated from leaves, collar region and root by single spore technique on carnation leaf agar (CLA) medium after 15 days of incubation at 25±2℃. Curved and thick-walled macroconidia with elongated or pointed apical characteristic foot-shaped basal cells were produced in sporodochia. Macroconidia with 5-7 septa measured 22.50-41.80 μm × 2.90-4.20 μm (n = 60). Thick, brown with roughened walls and subglobose ellipsoidal chlamydospores were observed in clumps or chains with the dimension of 5.8 to 10.8 μm (n = 20). On morphological characteristics, the fungus was identified as Fusarium equiseti (Corda) Sacc. according to Leslie and Summerell (2006). Two single spore isolates were used for molecular identification by amplifying ribosomal DNA of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region with ITS1/ITS4 primers (White et al. 1990) and for β-tubulin gene region, primers T1/Bt-2b (O'Donnell and Cigelnik, 1997) were used. The obtained sequences were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers MW880179 and MW880198 from the ITS region and BLAST search in GenBank showed 100 and 98.11% alignment with previously published sequences of F. equiseti with accessions OM992323.1and MT558569.1 respectively. Accession number OM867571from the β-tubulin region showed 100% sequence similarity with F. equiseti with accession MN653163.1. For pathogenicity, macroconidia from 2-week-old cultures on CLA medium were harvested to prepare spore suspension (1 × 106 conidia/ml). Koch's postulates were confirmed on nine bitter gourd plants (cv. Seminis-200) by applying spore suspension of fungal inoculum at 3-4 leaf stage separately on leaves by automizer, on collar region after making incision spore suspension was applied and in the root zone, 20ml spore suspension was added whereas distilled water was used as a control with three replications. Plants were kept under controlled conditions in the greenhouse with 65% to 75% humidity and the temperature was maintained at 32±2 °C for one week. After 7-8 days, inoculated plants began to exhibit symptoms of brown, necrotic leaf spots on the leaves of bitter gourd vines followed by yellowing of leaves that eventually turned brown. Roots showed slight discoloration and browning of vascular bundles and finally, the plants wilted after four weeks. while control plants remained symptomless. The symptoms resembled those noticed in the field. The fungus was re-isolated from leaves, collar region and roots, followed by morphological identification, and finally confirmed as F. equiseti. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a leaf spot caused by F. equiseti in a bitter gourd from Pakistan. If the disease is not managed properly, it may cause a drastic effect on yield under favorable environmental conditions. The pathogen may also damage other cucurbitaceous crops cultivated in the area.

Occurrence of Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) in China

Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV), a member of the genus Begomovirus in the family Geminiviridae is naturally transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (order Hemiptera, family Aleyrodidae) in a circulative and persistent manner (Moriones et al. 2017). ToLCNDV has occurred in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Spain, Thailand and Tunisia (Moriones et al. 2017). To date, The primary cultivated host of ToLCNDV has been identified as tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), but the virus is also known to infect 43 other plant species from a range of families including Cucurbitaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Solanaceae, Malvaceae and Fabaceae (Zaidi et al. 2017). In August 2021, virus-like symptoms including leaf deformation and curing were observed on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) in a greenhouse of about 0.5 hectares in Zhejiang Province, China. To identify viral agents potentially associated with this disease, an Oxford Nanopore cDNA library from a symptomatic sample was generated and sequenced. Total RNA was extracted using RNAiso Plus (TaKaRa, Tokyo, Japan). Libraries were constructed using Oxford Nanopore PCR-cDNA Sequencing Kit (SQK-PCS109; Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Oxford, UK), as recommended. Approximately 8.7 million reads were obtained from the Oxford MinION platform. After removing the adapters and low-quality reads, the clean reads were subjected to BLASTn analysis against the nt database. Approximately 797 and 168 reads produced high nt identities to the genome of ToLCNDV DNA-A (GeneBank Accession No. U15015.2) and ToLCNDV DNA-B (GeneBank Accession No. U15017.2) respectively. We designed 6 primer pairs (Table S1) to obtain the sequence of ToLCNDV Zhejiang (ToLCNDV-ZJ) isolate DNA-A and DNA-B. Briefly, total DNA from ToLCNDV-infected tomato was extracted using standard cetyl trimethylammonium bromide method. Segments of ToLCNDV DNA-A and DNA-B were amplified using high-fidelity DNA polymerase KOD-Plus-Neo (Toyobo, Osaka, Japan). PCR products were cloned into the pLB vector (Tiangen, Beijing, China) and Sanger sequenced. The obtained sequences were assembled into complete sequences of ToLCNDV-ZJ DNA-A (2,739 nt, GeneBank Accession No. OP356207) and DNA-B (2,693 nt, GeneBank Accession No. OP356208). Pairwise sequence comparison revealed that the ToLCNDV -ZJ shared the highest nt sequence identities of 98.7% and 98.4% with the genome segments of New Delhi isolate (genome A: HM159454) and India:Delhi:Cucumis:2012 isolate (genome B: KC545813) respectively. Furthermore, we performed PCR detection on 10 collected samples using the primer pair P1F and P1R. All eight symptomatic plants showing upward leaf curling and leaf distortion tested positive for ToLCNDV infection, whereas two asymptomatic plants were ToLCNDV free. To our knowledge, this is the first report of ToLCNDV infecting tomato in China, and with the widespread presence of B. tabaci in green houses, ToLCNDV may be a potential threat to the cultivation of tomato in China. In addition, ToLCNDV is an exceptional Old World bipartite begomovirus. In China, monopartite DNA satellite-associated begomoviruses with mostly narrow geographical ranges predominate, and are widespread (Li et al., 2022). The occurrence of ToLCNDV in China, which indicates that the success of this virus would become an emerging threat to vegetable and fiber crops.

First report of Tomato yellow mottle-associated virus infecting pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in China

Tomato yellow mottle-associated virus (TYMaV), is a member of the genus Cytorhabdovirus in the family Rhabdoviridae, which has been reported to infect tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) (Xu et al. 2017), Solanum nigrum (Li et al., 2022) and Nicotiana benthamiana (Zhou et al. 2019). In July 2021, virus-like symptoms of chlorosis, mosaic, and ring spots were observed in pepper, tomato, and eggplant during a survey of viral symptoms in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. To identify viral agents potentially associated with these diseases, an Oxford Nanopore cDNA library from the mixed samples was generated and sequenced. Briefly, total RNA from 10 leaf tissue samples (3 pepper plants, 4 tomato plants, and 3 eggplant plants) was extracted using RNAiso Plus (TaKaRa, Tokyo, Japan) and pooled in equal amounts (100 ng/l each). The library was constructed using a PCR-cDNA sequencing kit (SQK-PCS109; Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Oxford, UK) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Approximately 8.6 million reads were obtained from the Oxford MinION platform. After removing adapters and low-quality reads using iVar v1.3.1 (Grubaugh et al., 2019), the clean reads were subjected to BLASTn search in the GenBank database. We identified sequences derived from potato virus X (PVX), potato virus Y (PVY), cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), pepper mottle virus (PepMoV), and TYMaV. Of these reads, 339 with lengths ranging from 375 to 8651 nt were mapped to the genome of TYMaV (GeneBank Accession No. KY075646.1) at a 98.2% query coverage. To identify TYMaV-infected plants in the pooled samples, all 10 samples were analyzed by two-step RT-PCR using AMV reverse transcriptase (Takara, Tokyo, Japan) combined with random primers N6 (Takara, Dalian, China) and high-fidelity DNA polymerase KOD-Plus-Neo (Toyobo, Osaka, Japan) with primer pairs: N-F 5'- CAGGGAGAGAATGTACAAGTTGATC'/N-R 5'- GACCTTGCTCATCTGATGCAAC -3', amplifying 420 bp of the 3'end of nucleoprotein (N) gene. A pepper sample showing chlorosis symptom was positive for the TYMaV infection, but negative for PVX, PVY, CMV or PepMoV infection when tested using the primers listed in table S1. To confirm the genome sequence of TYMaV Zhejiang isolate (TYMaV-ZJ), we carried out two-step RT-PCR with seven primer pairs (Table S1) designed based on the reference TYMaV genome (GeneBank accession number KY075646.1). PCR products were cloned into pLB vector (Tiangen, Beijing, China) and Sanger sequenced in both directions. At least five independent clones of each fragment were sequenced to avoid possible mutations introduced by PCT. The sequences were assembled into a nearlyfull-length genome of TYMaV -ZJ which was composed of 13344nt (GeneBank accession number OP296980). Pairwise sequence comparison revealed that TYMaV -ZJ genome shared 91.50% and 85.59% nt sequence identity with that of the TYMaV tomato isolate (KY075646.1) and the Solanum nigrum isolate (MW527091.1), which is higher than the species demarcation threshold of 75% for the genus Cytorhabdovirus (Walker et al., 2022). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of TYMaV infecting pepper.

Ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence aptasensor based on ABEI reduced silver nanoparticles for the detection of profenofos

An ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) aptasensor for detection of profenofos was constructed by the reducibility and chemiluminescence property of N-(aminobutyl)-N-(ethylisoluminol) (ABEI). ABEI was used to reduce silver nitrate (AgNO₃) to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which could be adsorbed on the lattice of graphene oxide (GO) to form ABEI-AgNPs-GO complex. This compound could achieve excellent luminescence. The aptamer (Apt) modified (5') by sulfhydryl groups could be immobilized on AgNPs to capture profenofos. When profenofos was present, the ECL signal of the aptasensor would be weakened. To further demonstrate the successful construction of the aptasensor, cyclic voltammetry tests were performed on an electrochemical workstation and an ECL analyzer, respectively. The standard curve and specificity experiment both showed that the sensor had the advantages of low limit of detection (LOD) and good specificity. Under the optimal conditions, the aptasensor had a good linear response for profenofos in the range of 1 × 10^-1-1 × 10⁴ ng/mL. It also had a LOD of 6.7 × 10^-2 ng/mL and a correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.9991. The aptasensor had been successfully applied to the detection of profenofos in vegetables. The recovery range of the proposed ECL aptasensor was 98 % ~ 107.4 %.

First Report of Fusarium oxysporum and F. proliferatum Causing Postharvest Corm Rot on Taro in China

Taro (Colocasia esculenta), a perennial tuberous herb of the family Araceae, is cultivated widely in southern China. In December 2020, postharvest corm rot occurred on taro of 5 tons with approximately 70% incidence in a 18 square meter cellar in the Qingshanhu District (115°83'E, 28°76'N) of Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China. Infected corms had round, soft and slightly sunken lesions covered with white mycelia. The lesions gradually expanded, causing part or whole corm to become soft and shrink, and the inner corm tissue turned brown and rotten. To isolate the pathogen, a total of 30 diseased corm samples were collected. The corms were surface-disinfected by wiping them with 70% ethanol and then passing them over flame back and forth for 5 s. After epidermal tissue of the corms was removed using a sterilized scalpel, small portions of the inner tissue were transferred onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25°C in the dark. A total of 27 isolates forming Fusarium-like colonies were obtained using monosporic isolation, of which 11 isolates were identified as F. oxysporum and 16 isolates were identified as F. proliferatum based on the colony characteristics and conidial morphology (Leslie and Summerell, 2006). Colonies of F. oxysporum isolates produced dense whitish to light purple mycelia with dark red pigments. Macroconidia were sickle-shaped, straight to slightly curved, 3-5 septa, measuring 25.6 to 45.8 × 3.3 to 6.1 µm. Microconidia were hyaline, oval or ellipsoid, aseptate, and measured 5.2 to 11.8 × 2.2 to 3.5 µm. Chlamydospores were round, 3.5 to 7.6 µm in diameter. Colonies of F. proliferatum isolates were whitish with abundant aerial mycelia and orange pigments. Numerous oval unicellular microconidia were 4.5 to 11.8 × 1.9 to 4.2 µm, and sparse falcate macroconidia with 3-4 septa were 19.4 to 39.2 × 1.9 to 5.2 µm in size. No chlamydospores were observed. Genomic DNA of two representative isolates (F. oxysporum isolate YTU1 and F. proliferatum isolate YTH1) was extracted, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1-α) gene were amplified and sequenced using primers ITS1/ITS4 and EF-1H/EF-2T (White et al., 1990; Zhang et al., 2014) respectively. Using BLAST analysis, the ITS sequences of isolates YTU1 (506 bp) and YTH1 (508 bp) exhibited 100% homology with F. oxysporum (MN633363) and F. proliferatum (MT534188), respectively, and the TEF1-α sequences of YTU1 (712 bp) and YTH1 (703 bp) shared 100% homology with F. oxysporum (MN507110) and F. proliferatum (MK952799), respectively. Sequences were deposited in GenBank with the Accession Nos. MZ157124 and MZ310443 for ITS, and MZ383814 and MZ383815 for TEF1-α. The pathogenicity of each isolate was determined on six healthy taro corms. All the taro corms were surface-disinfected with 70% alcohol and two locations from each corm were inoculated. One location was inoculated with 20 μl of conidial suspension (1×105 conidia/ml) and the other was inoculated with sterilized water as a control. All corms were incubated in a growth chamber at 25℃ and 95% relative humidity in the dark. After 15 days, all inoculated corms developed brown rot symptoms, while the non-inoculated control corms remained symptomless. The original isolates were successfully reisolated from all symptomatic corms and identified by sequencing, fulfilling Koch's postulates. F. oxysporum has been reported causing postharvest corm rot of taro in Bogor, Japan, and British Solomon Islands (Widodo et al., 2011). However, to our knowledge, this is the first report of F. oxysporum causing postharvest corm rot of taro in China and F. proliferatum causing postharvest corm rot of taro in the world. The disease poses a potential threat to taro production and should be timely assessed and properly managed.

Assessment of Pb and Ni and potential health risks associated with the consumption of vegetables grown on the roadside soils in District Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Vegetables cultivated near roads absorb toxic metals from polluted soil, which enter the human body through the food chain and cause serious health problems to humans. The present study investigated the concentration of lead (Pb) and nickel (Ni) in soils and vegetables grown along the roadside of District Swat, Pakistan, and the health risks associated with the consumption of the tested vegetables. In results, Pb concentration was higher in plants located at the distance between 0-10 m away from the roadside than the WHO permissible limit. In such plants, Pb concentration was higher than Ni. Rumex dentatus contained the highest concentration of Pb (75.63 mg kg^-1 DW) among the tested vegetables while Ni concentration (27.57 mg kg^-1 DW) was highest in Trachyspermum ammi as compared to other plants. Concentration and accumulation of both the metals decreased in soil and plants with increasing distance from the road. Similarly, target hazard quotient values noted for Pb (up to 3.37) were greater than unity, which shows that there is a potential risk associated with the consumption of tested vegetables near the road. Moreover, the values of target cancer risk (up to 0.8413) were greater than 0.0001, which shows that there is a risk of cancer with the consumption of tested vegetables. In conclusion, the consumption of tested vegetables was very dangerous as it may lead to higher risks of cancer. Strict regulatory control is recommended on the cultivation of these vegetables along the roadside to avoid any contamination due to roadside exhaust.

First Report of Erysiphe betae Causing Powdery Mildew on Chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) in Mexico

Chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla; Chenopodiaceae) is a vegetable native to the Mediterranean, widely cultivated for its nutritional properties. In June 2020, an outbreak of powdery mildew was detected in a commercial crop of chard in San Martín Texmelucan, Puebla (19°14'37.1"N; 98°27'12.5"W), Mexico. The disease was present in 86% of the plants (n=400) and the pathogen was found to cover up to 95% of the surface of the leaves. Initially, small whitish patches were observed on both sides of the leaves. Subsequently, the patches grew rapidly to cover most of the leaf surface and premature senescence of infected leaves was observed. The signs of the pathogen were observed as abundant whitish masses of conidia. Microscopic analysis of the fungus showed amphigenous mycelia with lobed hyphal appressoria. Conidiophores (n=30) were simple and erect, 93133 × 7.58.5 μm. Foot cells (n=30) were cylindrical, predominately straight, and rarely somewhat curved at the base, 30.036.5 μm, followed by a longer cell and two shorter cells, and the conidium. Conidia (n=100) were hyaline, ellipsoid-ovoid, 3745 × 1416 μm. Germ tubes (n =30) were terminal, short (0.52.0 times the conidial width) and stout. Conidial appressoria (n=30) were mostly lobed, showing from 2-6 lobes. Chasmothecia were not found. The morphological characteristics observed correspond to previous descriptions of Erysiphe betae by Braun and Cook et al. (2012). A voucher specimen (accession no. UACH450) was deposited in the Department of Agricultural Parasitology Herbarium at the Chapingo Autonomous University. To confirm identification, DNA was extracted from the fungus, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the 28S gene region of rDNA from one sample were amplified by PCR, using the primers ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and PM3 (Takamatsu and Kano 2001)/TW14 (Mori et al. 2000). The sequences obtained from our specimen were registered to the GenBank under the accession numbers ON157053 and ON157047 for ITS and LSU, respectively. Our sequences shared 100% identity for ITS (KX574674) and 99.8% for LSU (OM033348 and OM368494) with sequences of E. betae in BLAST'n search. Based on phylogenetic analysis using the Maximum Likelihood method including a published ITS + 28S dataset for Erysiphe species, the isolate UACH450 was grouped into a clade with E. betae. Takamatsu et al. (2015) found that E. betae, E. malvae and E. heraclei are phylogenetically indistinguishable (they form the E. heraclei species complex), nevertheless, E. malavae infects Lavatera and Malva (Malvaceae), E. heraclei predominately forms on hosts of Apiaceae and E. betae is commonly found on Beta and Chenopodium (Chenopodiaceae) (Braun and Cook 2012). Pathogenicity was verified by spraying a suspension of conidia (1107 conidia/ml) onto the leaves of six healthy chard plants and six plants were sprayed with sterile distilled water to serve as controls. All plants were maintained at temperatures from 28 2 °C and relative humidity of 802 %. All inoculated leaves developed powdery mildew symptoms after 14 days, whereas the control plants remained symptomless. The pathogenicity test was performed twice, observing the same results. The recovered pathogen showed the same morphological characteristics as the inoculated pathogen, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Erysiphe betae causing powdery mildew on Beta vulgaris var. cicla in Mexico. This pathogen has been previously reported in Iraq (Amano, 1986) and Greece (Vakalounakis and Kavroulakis, 2017) on Beta vulgaris var. cicla. Also, Erysiphe betae has been reported in Mexico on Chenopodium and throughout the world on sugar beet (Farr and Rossman, 2022). This pathogen is a major issue as it can completely cover the leaves of the diseased plants, making them difficult to market.

Heavy metal assessment in agricultural soils and vegetables in the vicinity of industrial pollutants in the Pljevlja municipality (Montenegro): ecological and health risk approach

This paper aims to assess ecological and health risks associated with heavy metal (As, Hg, Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr) content in agricultural soils and vegetables (potato tuber, beetroot, onion bulb, carrot root) collected near the lead and zinc mine (MLZ), coal-fired power station (CFPS) and coal mine (CM) located in Pljevlja municipality (Montenegro). The ecological risk of soil was estimated using the ecological risk index (RI) and pollution load index (PLI). The health risk was evaluated through different soil exposure pathways (ingestion, inhalation, dermal contact) and vegetable consumption. The pollution indices RI and PLI indicated the highest contamination in MLZ study area followed by CM and CFPS areas. RI values revealed considerable contamination in MLZ and CM study areas, while CFPS area is moderately contaminated by heavy metals. According to PLI, soil in MLZ and CM areas is classified as polluted, while the soil in the vicinity of CFPS is classified as unpolluted. Non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks through soil exposure were identified for both children and adults, in all investigated areas. Dermal contact was identified as the main contributor to carcinogenic risk. Dermal contact was also identified as the main exposure pathway for non-carcinogenic risk in MLZ area, while for CFPS and CM areas, ingestion was the main exposure route. As for vegetables, only Cu and Zn were detected in all examined vegetables. Non-cancerogenic health risk of edible vegetable consumption was found for children in all study areas, while there was no health risk for adults.

First Report of Watermelon Mosaic Virus Naturally Infecting Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) and causing a leaf mottling disease in California

Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV, genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) is a species of considerable economic importance to cucurbit crops worldwide (Keinath et al. 2017). This virus has a wide host range that includes more than 170 plant species from 27 families (Dong et al. 2017; Lecoq et al. 2011). In 2018, leaves of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) plants in a student garden (C-SG) at UC Davis, and in a home garden in Davis, CA (C-Pet) (~1.1 miles apart) showed symptoms of light green mottling and crumpling. Symptomatic leaves from each location were weakly positive with the general potyvirus immunostrip test (Agdia, Elkhart, IN). In RT-PCR tests with total RNA extracts (RNeasy Plant Mini Kit Qiagen, Germantown, MD) of these leaves and the potyvirus degenerate primer pair CIFor/CIRev (Ha et al. 2008), the expected-size ~0.7 kb fragment was amplified. These fragments were gel-purified and sequenced, and a BLASTn search revealed highest identities of 91.6% (C-SG) and 97.9% (C-Pet) with the sequence of an isolate of WMV from watermelon in the U.S. (TX29, KU246036). Thus, these isolates are designated WMV-C-SG-18 and WMV-C-Pet-18. Mechanical inoculation experiments were next performed with sap prepared with symptomatic coriander leaf tissue in ice-cold 0.01 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) in a 1:4 wt/vol ratio. First, to obtain pure isolates, sap was inoculated onto celite-dusted leaves of Chenopodium quinoa plants (3-4 leaf stage). As expected for WMV, leaves inoculated with sap of each isolate developed chlorotic local lesions ~9 d post-inoculation (dpi) (Moreno et al. 2004). One lesion for each isolate was excised, ground in phosphate buffer, and the sap was mechanically inoculated onto leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana plants. By ~14 dpi, newly emerged leaves showed mild mottling and crumpling, and were weakly positive with the potyvirus immunostrip test. To confirm that these plants were only infected with WMV, total RNA was extracted from symptomatic leaves and used for high throughput sequencing (HTS) (Soltani et al. 2021) at the Foundation Plant Services at UC Davis. The HTS analyses revealed infection with only WMV, i.e., no other viral contigs were identified, and allowed for determination of the complete sequences (~10,000 nt) of WMV [US-CA-C-SG-18] and WMV [US-CA-C-Pet-18] with GenBank accession numbers: OM746964 and OM746965, respectively. Whole genome sequence comparisons revealed that the sequences are 99.0% identical, and 97.3% identical to the sequence of WMV TX29. Sap from symptomatic N. benthamiana leaves infected with each isolate was mechanical inoculated onto leaves of coriander plants (30-35 d old). Newly emerged leaves developed epinasty, crumpling and light green mottling by 14 dpi, and WMV infection was confirmed by RT-PCR with the WMV-specific primer pair WMV-UNI-1F and WMV-UNI-1R (Kim et al. 2019). Thus, Koch's postulates were fulfilled for this leaf mottling disease of coriander. Furthermore, the isolates from coriander induced stunting and distortion and mosaic in leaves of melon, pumpkin and squash plants by 7 dpi, whereas watermelon plants developed stunting and small leaves with mild mottling by 20 dpi. Similar results were obtained with sap prepared from infected coriander leaves. Thus, infected coriander plants are a potential inoculum source for cucurbits via several aphid vectors (Keinath et al. 2017). This is the first report of a mottle disease of coriander caused by WMV, and adds to the wide host range of the virus.

First Report of leaf spot on Cucumber Caused by Pantoea ananatis in Hainan of China

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is one of the most important vegetables cultivated in the world. It is widely cultivated and mostly grown under greenhouse conditions (Sallam et al. 2021). Cucumber has a long growth cycle and is particularly susceptible to bacterial diseases. In May 2021, bacterial leaf spot was found on cucumbers of the variety Lyuyou NO.3 in Hainan Province, China. In the early stage of the disease, the leaves showed small yellow-brown spots in the shape of water stains. When exposed to light, a yellow halo around the disease spots could be seen. In later stages, the lesions gradually become larger and more yellow. The leaf veins around the disease site also gradually turned yellow (Figure 2a). In serious cases, the whole leaf turned yellow, resulting in leaf death. We collected plants with the same symptoms from 25 different farms in Hainan Province. Five plants were selected from each farm by the classic five-point sampling method and three leaves were selected from each plant, for a total of 15 leaves collected from each farm. Then three leaves were randomly selected from the 15 leaves on each farm for isolation of the pathogen, and a total of 75 leaves were isolated. We found that the incidence of the disease was from 20% to 30% based on a diagnostic test, which conducted on 75 cucumber leaves samples suspected of same symptom of cucumber, collected from Hainan Province. Using microscopy, bacterial streaming was observed to tentatively identify the causal agent as a bacteria. Tissue isolation was used to isolate the responsible pathogens. A 5 mm × 5 mm sample of tissue at the junction of diseased and healthy sections was collected. First, the surface of the tissue was disinfected in a 75% ethanol solution for 30 sec; then it was soaked in 2% NaOCl for 5-7 min, and finally, it was washed thrice in sterile distilled water. The tissues were inoculated onto lysogen broth culture media (LB) and cultured in a 28℃ incubator for 2 days. Bacterial colonies that emerged from the tissues were cultured in LB. Four isolated colonies were selected for verification. The colonies of isolated from the diseased leaves of cucumber are round, egg yellow and slightly sticky (Figure 2c). The isolate named PA-1 was identified by PCR amplification and sequencing of the partial 16S rRNA gene with the primer 27F/1492R (Lane 1991) and gyrB gene (Li et al. 2019). Sequences were stored in GenBank with the accession numbers OK576932.1 (16S rRNA, PA-1) and OL978577 (gyrB); BLASTn was used to compare these with other GenBank sequences. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene showed that PA-1 had a sequence length of 1403bp, with 99.78% genetic similarity to Pantoea ananatis strain MZ007857.1. Sequencing of the gyrB gene showed that the sequence length of PA-1 was 1136bp, with 99.29% genetic similarity to P. ananatis strain MW981331.1. Then, a pathogenicity text was conducted to verify Koch's postulates, which was done by first inoculating P. ananatis into LB liquid medium (shake culture at 28°C, 180 r/min). The log phase cell was collected by centrifugation (5,000 r/min for 2 min at 4°C), and inoculated strains were resuspended in sterile water at OD600 = 0.5. The bacterial suspension was inoculated on healthy cucumber leaves with a syringe. The control was sterile water, which was injected onto healthy cucumber leaves using the same methodology. The plants were placed in a greenhouse with a diurnal temperature difference of 21- 27°C and were observed daily. After two weeks, all bacterial inoculated plants developed symptoms of shriveling and necrosis (Figure 2b), while the control group showed no symptoms. From the symptomatic plants, the pathogen was isolated again and identified by morphological and molecular characterization. The sequences of the isolates recovered from the inoculated experiment matched 100% the sequences of the isolate PA-1. Koch's postulates were completed by following the previously described method. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. ananatis causing leaf spot of cucumber.

Would offering vegetables to children for breakfast increase their total daily vegetable intake?

The consumption of vegetables is vitally important for children's health and development. However, in many Westernised countries, most children do not eat sufficient quantities of vegetables and consume many energy-dense and high-sugar foods; a health behaviour associated with the onset of non-communicable diseases. To address this important public health concern, it is necessary to think 'outside the box' and consider innovative and pragmatic ways to increase children's daily vegetable intake. In many countries, caregivers implementing best-practice child feeding methods typically offer children vegetables at lunch, dinner and for snacks. It is unusual for children to be routinely offered vegetables for breakfast, yet there is no nutritional, physiological or medical reason why vegetables should not be eaten at breakfast. Indeed, in some countries, children frequently consume vegetables for breakfast. Increasing children's exposure to vegetables at breakfast from an early age would allow for the development of a positive association between eating vegetables and breakfast, thus providing another opportunity in the day where vegetables might be regularly consumed by children. In this paper, we propose a rationale for why vegetables should be routinely offered to young children at breakfast time in countries where this may not be the norm. Future research assessing the feasibility and acceptability of such a public health intervention would provide health policy agencies with evidence about a potentially effective and easily implementable approach for increasing children's vegetable intake, thus improving their overall nutritional status, as well as their heath and development.

First report of zucchini tigre mosaic virus infecting four cucurbit crops in China

Cucurbits including ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula), Chieh-qua (Benincasa hispida Cogn. var. Chieh-qua How), Trichosanthes anguina, and sponge gourd (L. cylindrica) are important vegetables in most Asian countries. The 90 viruses known to infect cucurbits include 15 species in genus Potyvirus. In October 2020, nine cucurbit samples with leaf distortion, blister and mottle were collected from the same field of Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China. All samples were tested by western blot with potyvirus-specific antibody (Agdia lnc., Elkhart, IN) and RT-PCR with potyvirus degenerate primers Sprimer/M4T (Chen et al. 2001). Seven out of nine samples were positive for potyvirus in both tests, including one ridge gourd, one Chieh-qua, one sponge gourd, two bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) and two T. anguina. All PCR products (~700-bp) were cloned and sequenced. Sequences of seven amplicons (OM522614 to OM522618, OP090158 to OP090159) containing partial nib and cp genes shared 80.3-100% nucleotide (nt) identity among themselves, and 81.2-97.7% nt identity with ZTMV isolates from China (MN267689, LC371337, MK988416). Except for one Chieh-qua sample, papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) was detected in the same samples where ZTMV was found through sequencing of the amplicons mentioned above. The obtained sequences (OM808942 to OM808945, OP090170 to OP090171) were 95.4-100% identical with PRSV isolates from China. Further RT-PCR was conducted with ZTMV-specific primers ZTMVdF/ZTMVdR targeting partial P3 and 6K1 genes, and PRSV-specific primers PRSV3778F/PRSV4630R targeting partial P3, full-length 6K1 and partial CI genes for all nine samples. Consistently, seven samples were positive for ZTMV, among which one Chieh-qua sample was infected with only ZTMV and six samples were co-infected with ZTMV and PRSV. Interspecific recombination event has been reported for ZTMV (Peng et al. 2021), to detect the recombinants, RT-PCR was conducted for all nine samples with primers ZTMV600F/ZTMV2400R covering the interspecies recombination site (Peng et al. 2021). A fragment (~1.8 kb) was amplified from one T. anguina sample and sequenced (OP090172), which had 97.0% nt identity with the reported recombinant ZTMV-KF17 (MK988415). To fulfill Koch's postulates, a Chieh-qua sample detected with ZTMV but not PRSV, was used for mechanical inoculation on Chieh-qua seedlings. Blister and leaf distortion similar to the field symptoms were observed 21 days post-inoculation. ZTMV infection was verified by RT-PCR with primer pairs Sprimer/M4T and ZTMVdF/ZTMVdR, respectively, followed by sequencing. No amplicon was detected with primer pairs PRSV3778F/PRSV4630R and ZTMV600F/ZTMV2400R. To study the incidence of ZTMV and PRSV, 33 samples including T. anguina, ridge gourd and Chieh-qua were collected from three different fields in Foshan City in May 2022, and were tested by RT-PCR with ZTMV and PRSV primers aforementioned. 30.3% (10/33) of the samples were positive for ZTMV, 39.4% (13/33) tested positive for PRSV, and 21.2% (7/33) were co-infected with the two viruses. Amplicons of ZTMV (600 bp) from all positive samples were sequenced (OP090160 to OP090169), and were 84.8-85.5% identical with ZTMV-TW (LC371337). Recombinant of ZTMV was detected in one T. anguina with primers mentioned above and was sequenced (OP090173), which had 96.2% nt identity with ZTMV-KF17. To our knowledge, this is the first report of ZTMV infecting ridge gourd, Chieh-qua, T. anguina and sponge gourd. The results implied that ZTMV had a potential risk to more cucurbit crops in the field.

Socio-economic inequalities in the consumption of fruits and vegetables in Peru between 2014 and 2019

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the prevalence and socio-economic inequalities in adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables in Peru between 2014 and 2019.

DESIGN

Analytical cross-sectional study. The outcome variable was adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables, defined as the consumption of five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per d (yes/no). We used concentration curves and Erreygers concentration index to describe socio-economic inequalities and a microeconometric approach to determine the contribution of each variable to inequality.

SETTING

Peru.

PARTICIPANTS

Data from Peruvians aged 18 years or older collected by the Demographic and Family Health Survey.

RESULTS

The prevalence of adequate fruit and vegetable consumption did not change between 2014 (10·7 %; 95 % CI (10·0, 11·4)) and 2019 (11 %; 95 % CI (10·4, 11·7)). We found socio-economic inequalities in the adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables, with wealthier individuals having a higher prevalence of adequate consumption compared to poorer individuals in 2014 (19·2 % v. 3·5 %) and 2019 (18·6 % v. 4·7 %). The decomposition analysis found that education, urban areas and being wealthy were the main factors associated with socio-economic inequality in adequate fruit and vegetable consumption, being structural problems of society.

CONCLUSION

Despite the current regulations on healthy eating in Peru, adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables remains low, and there are socio-economic inequalities between the poorest and wealthiest individuals. Our findings suggest that more efforts are needed to increase the intake and assess the disparities in adequate fruit and vegetable consumption.

Human exposure to organochlorine pesticides in vegetables from major cities in south-south Nigeria

Contamination of vegetables with organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) during cultivation could affect their nutritional value and also results in adverse health effects to consumers. Thus, this study evaluates human exposure to OCPs in vegetables from major cities in south-south Nigeria. A total of eighty vegetables consisting of Vernonia amygdalina, Telfairia occidentalis, Desmodium intortum cv and Talinum triangulare obtained from four major cities (Warri, Benin, Yenagoa and Port-Harcourt) in south-south Nigeria were analysed for OCPs using a gas chromatograph coupled with a mass selective detector. The results showed that the mean concentration of ∑20 OCPs in the vegetables ranged from 11.6 to 37.7 ng g^-1 fresh wt for Vernonia amygdalina, 2.48-37.0 ng g^-1 fresh wt for Telfairia occidentalis, 7.63-54.2 ng g^-1 fresh wt for Desmodium intortum cv and 27.3-57.3 ng g^-1 fresh wt for Talinum triangulare. The concentrations of OCPs were generally lower than their respective Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs). The EDI values of the ∑20 OCPs in the vegetables ranged from 141 to 464 ng kg^-1 bw day^-1 for children and 26.5-87.0 ng kg^-1 bw day^-1 for adults. The EDI of ∑Drins, ∑Chlordanes and ∑DDTs for the vegetables were below their respective acceptable EDI values set by FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residue. The hazard index values for children and adults were generally <1 suggesting that there is no potential non-carcinogenic risk for children and adults consuming the vegetables. The total cancer risk values were above 1 × 10^-6 and indicated that children and adults have moderate and low carcinogenic risks respectively from ingestion of these vegetables. The isomeric ratios and principal component analysis result showed that OCPs in these vegetables originated from both historical and recent usage in vegetable cultivation.