Cassava starch as a stabilizer of soy-based beverages

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Slow Anion Channel (MeSLAH4) Gene Overexpression Enhances Nitrogen Assimilation, Growth, and Yield in Rice

Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrient elements required for plant growth and development, which is also immensely related to the efficient use of nitrogen by crop plants. Therefore, plants evolved sophisticated mechanisms and anion channels to extract inorganic nitrogen (nitrate) from the soil or nutrient solutions, assimilate, and recycle the organic nitrogen. Hence, developing crop plants with a greater capability of using nitrogen efficiently is the fundamental research objective for attaining better agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. In this context, an in-depth investigation has been conducted into the cassava slow type anion channels (SLAHs) gene family, including genome-wide expression analysis, phylogenetic relationships with other related organisms, chromosome localization, and functional analysis. A potential and nitrogen-responsive gene of cassava (MeSLAH4) was identified and selected for overexpression (OE) analysis in rice, which increased the grain yield and root growth related performance. The morpho-physiological response of OE lines was better under low nitrogen (0.01 mm NH₄NO₃) conditions compared to the wild type (WT) and OE lines under normal nitrogen (0.5 mm NH₄NO₃) conditions. The relative expression of the MeSLAH4 gene was higher (about 80-fold) in the OE line than in the wild type. The accumulation and flux assay showed higher accumulation of NO 3 - and more expansion of root cells and grain dimension of OE lines compared to the wild type plants. The results of this experiment demonstrated that the MeSLAH4 gene may play a vital role in enhancing the efficient use of nitrogen in rice, which could be utilized for high-yielding crop production.

Activation energy for the viscoelastic flow: Analysis of the microstructure-at-rest of (water- and milk-based) fruit beverages

Fresh fruit beverages are a tasty way to follow the recommendations of World Health Organization. A study on the rheological behaviour of water-based and milk-based fruit beverages with emphasis on the temperature effect was made. The power law model adjusted data of apparent viscosity. The flow index of each beverage was practically constant with temperature variation. Then, one could discuss the variation with temperature of the consistency index. This parameter decreased around 40% in both cases in the temperature interval 5-30 °C. The stability of beverages against the sedimentation of the fruit pulp was clearly affected by the increase of temperature. Viscoelastic moduli were obtained in the linear region. Temperature dependency of both moduli was described in the interval 5-30 °C. The activation energy for linear viscoelastic flow was slightly higher than the activation energy for viscous flow. This result was interpreted as an indication of the strength of the microstructure-at-rest.