Exploring water-absorbing capacity: a digital image analysis of seeds from 120 wheat varieties

Wheat is a staple food crop that provides a significant portion of the world's daily caloric intake, serving as a vital source of carbohydrates and dietary fiber for billions of people. Seed shape studies of wheat typically involve the use of digital image analysis software to quantify various seed shape parameters such as length, width, area, aspect ratio, roundness, and symmetry. This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the water-absorbing capacity of seeds from 120 distinct wheat lines, leveraging digital image analysis techniques facilitated by SmartGrain software. Water absorption is a pivotal process in the early stages of seed germination, directly influencing plant growth and crop yield. SmartGrain, a powerful image analysis tool, was employed to extract precise quantitative data from digital images of wheat seeds, enabling the assessment of various seed traits in relation to their water-absorbing capacity. The analysis revealed significant transformations in seed characteristics as they absorbed water, including changes in size, weight, shape, and more. Through statistical analysis and correlation assessments, we identified robust relationships between these seed traits, both before and after water treatment. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) were employed to categorize genotypes with similar trait patterns, providing insights valuable for crop breeding and genetic research. Multiple linear regression analysis further elucidated the influence of specific seed traits, such as weight, width, and distance, on water-absorbing capacity. Our study contributes to a deeper understanding of seed development, imbibition, and the crucial role of water absorption in wheat. These insights have practical implications in agriculture, offering opportunities to optimize breeding programs for improved water absorption in wheat genotypes. The integration of SmartGrain software with advanced statistical methods enhances the reliability and significance of our findings, paving the way for more efficient and resilient wheat crop production. Significant changes in wheat seed shape parameters were observed after imbibition, with notable increases in area, perimeter, length, width, and weight. The length-to-width ratio (LWR) and circularity displayed opposite trends, with higher values before imbibition and lower values after imbibition.

Energy and exergo-environmental (3E) analysis of wheat seeds drying using indirect solar dryer

Food insecurity is becoming a big problem due to the continuous increase in the population, for which there is a requirement of effective drying method for the storage of agricultural items which can solve this problem at global level. Hence, the present study deals with the evaluation of energy, exergy, and environmental parameters of low-cost indirect solar dryer with paraffin wax as energy storage material in rural areas for drying of wheat seeds to check its thermodynamic as well as environmental feasibility. The wheat seeds were dried in solar dryer from initial moisture of 20.2% in 6 h to achieve recommended moisture content which took lesser drying time as compared to open sun drying. The maximum value of collector exergy efficiency, exergy efficiency of drying chamber and pick-up efficiency are 1.5%, 72.62%, and 30.4% respectively. Environmental impacts assessment has revealed that the energy payback, CO2 mitigation, CO2 emission per year and carbon credit earned (at $80 per carbon credit) with present system are 1.35 years, 6.67 tons, 7.32 kg and $533.7, respectively considering the lifetime of solar dryer as 25 years. The performed study shows that the indirect solar dryer with paraffin wax is suitable for the households of rural areas with enhanced performance, lesser waste, sustainable, and lesser adverse effect on environment. This system can also be preferred for drying of other agricultural crops for a particular household.

Toxicological effects of the fungal volatile compound 1-octen-3-ol against the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst)

Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) is an important pest of stored grain, and benzoquinones secreted by this pest are harmful to humans. T. castaneum has developed strong resistance to fumigants, and an ecofriendly alternative for managing T. castaneum is urgently needed. 1-Octen-3-ol is a major volatile compound present in many mushrooms and fungi. In the current study, the direct toxicity and sublethal and transgenerational effects of 1-octen-3-ol on T. castaneum were investigated. Our results showed that 1-octen-3-ol had strong insecticidal activity against all developmental stages of T. castaneum and repelled T. castaneum adults. 1-Octen-3-ol showed negative effects on the development and reproduction of parental T. castaneum and the subsequent generation: LC₃₀ and LC₅₀ treatments significantly decreased the pupa and adult weights, pupation and emergence rates and fecundity of the parental generation. In addition, LC₅₀ treatment shortened the larval and pupal periods. In the unexposed progeny (F₁) of 1-octen-3-ol-exposed parents, decreased survival and pupation rates as well as reduced pupa and adult weights were observed under LC₃₀ and LC₅₀ treatments. In addition, a model food-system experiment showed that 1-octen-3-ol at 98 μL/L exhibited an efficacy of 100% after 7 days of fumigation and completely eliminated T. castaneum offspring. Although a higher concentration of 1-octen-3-ol was needed to achieve an efficacy equal to that of the positive control, dichlorvos (DDVP), 1-octen-3-ol promoted the seedling growth of wheat seeds, suggesting that the concentration used was not only acceptable but also beneficial for wheat seeds. Overall, 1-octen-3-ol seems to be a promising candidate for use as a fumigant and repellent against T. castaneum as well as a seed protectant.

Proteomic analysis of wheat seeds produced under different nitrogen levels before and after germination

The objective of this study was to investigate differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) of wheat seeds produced under two nitrogen levels (0 and 240 kg/ha) before and after germination. We selected samples at 8 and 72 h after imbibition (HAI) to identify DAPs by iTRAQ. The results showed 190 and 124 DAPs at 8 and 72 HAI, respectively. Alpha-gliadin and chlorophyll a-b binding protein showed the biggest difference in abundance before and after germination. In GO enrichment analysis, the most significantly enriched GO term was nutrient reservoir activity at 8 HAI and endopeptidase inhibitor activity at 72 HAI. Moreover, many DAPs involved in mobilization of stored nutrients and photosynthesis were mapped to KEGG pathways. Dough development time, dough stability time and seedling chlorophyll content under N240 were significantly higher than those under N0, which validated the results of proteomic analysis. These results are crucial for food nutrition and food processing.

The potential application of an autochthonous fungus from the northwest of Argentina for treatment of sugarcane vinasse

Vinasse is a waste material from distillery industries, which causes major environmental problems around the world. Argentina alone produces about 4 billion liters of vinasse annually; consequently, diverse biological eco-friendly treatments are evaluated for their ability to reduce the detrimental effects. The present study reports on the degradation of a 50% (v/v) local vinasse sample by an autochthonous fungus identified as Aspergillus sp. V1. The Bioprocess was conducted for 15 d at 30 °C after inoculation of spores at an end concentration of 1 × 10⁶ CFU/mL. Effluent neutralization was detected after 6 d of treatment, with maximum COD and BOD removal after 12 d (49% and 59%, respectively). Effects of vinasse before and after treatment were predicted using Caco-2 cells and Triticum aestivum L. (wheat) seeds as toxicological indicators. Only 13% viability was observed for Caco-2 cells exposed to untreated vinasse, but this percentage increased more than 3-fold for cells exposed to the treated effluent. While vinasse without treatment completely inhibited germination of seeds, exposure to treated effluent demonstrated a germination percentage of 60%. The present study highlights the use of a dual-purpose biotechnological process that aimed at reducing the detrimental effects of vinasse, enhancing its quality for agricultural practices.