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Agriculture, Volume 4, Issue 4 (December 2014) – 4 articles , Pages 260-316

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242 KiB  
Article
Volatiles from the Rare Australian Desert Plant Prostanthera centralis B.J.Conn (Lamiaceae): Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity
by Timothy L. Collins, Graham L. Jones and Nicholas J. Sadgrove
Agriculture 2014, 4(4), 308-316; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture4040308 - 12 Dec 2014
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6133
Abstract
Hydrodistilled essential oils and dichloromethane (DCM) extracted volatiles were taken from cultivated specimens of Prostanthera centralis, endemic to central Australia. All volatiles were chemically characterised by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) with the use of authentic standards, followed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) [...] Read more.
Hydrodistilled essential oils and dichloromethane (DCM) extracted volatiles were taken from cultivated specimens of Prostanthera centralis, endemic to central Australia. All volatiles were chemically characterised by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) with the use of authentic standards, followed by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was measured against a range of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial species using a micro-titre plate broth dilution assay. Twenty-two compounds were identified as components of the sweet smelling aromatic essential oil and DCM extracts, both showing a relatively high abundance of prostantherol. The volatiles extracted using DCM, differed only in the relative abundance of the major components and the lack of ledol and squamulosone. This study constitutes the first time ledol and squamulosone have been identified in a Prostanthera species. Antimicrobial assays showed moderate to high inhibitory activity against some Gram-positive bacteria and the yeast Candida albicans. Full article
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413 KiB  
Article
Small Ruminant Production System Efficiency under Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Arid Land Conditions
by Eihab Fathelrahman, Sherin Sherif and Dana L. K. Hoag
Agriculture 2014, 4(4), 288-307; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture4040288 - 09 Dec 2014
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 8467
Abstract
Sheep and goat production systems in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) operate under scarce natural resource constraints. A cross-sectional survey that covered 661 mixed farms, including major sheep and goat production, was conducted in the three regions of Abu Dhabi Emirate (Al-Ain, Western [...] Read more.
Sheep and goat production systems in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) operate under scarce natural resource constraints. A cross-sectional survey that covered 661 mixed farms, including major sheep and goat production, was conducted in the three regions of Abu Dhabi Emirate (Al-Ain, Western Region and Abu Dhabi city) during 2012. A Cobb-Douglas, double-logarithmic stochastic frontier production function and maximum likelihood estimation were applied to estimate important economic derivatives and the associated risk of small ruminant production in this arid area. The highest impact of an input on the output level was found to be labor for raising sheep and alfalfa grass for raising goats. Both labor and alfalfa variables were found to be overutilized for sheep and goat production, respectively. Overall, the results indicate that average technical efficiency is 0.62 for raising sheep and only 0.34 for raising goats in the study area. Technical efficiency analysis included measuring the frequency of farms at each level of estimated technical efficiency in the range between zero and one. Zero for the technical efficiency coefficient indicates a lack of technical efficiency in resource use. The results of this study indicated that only 1% of the sheep farms show a technical efficiency coefficient of 0.25 or less; the same can be said for 41% of goat producers. However, these technical efficiencies were found to be more than 0.75 for 12% and 5% of the sheep and goat farms, respectively. Overall, goat farming in the UAE was found to be less efficient than sheep production. The results also indicated that flock size and type of breed were the most influential factors relative to other factors, and both show a positive relationship with technical efficiency. Other than flock size, factors, such as owners’ years of experience and management practices, were found to be more influential on goat farming system efficiency relative to sheep farming. Full article
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1895 KiB  
Article
Vertical Distribution of Structural Components in Corn Stover
by Jane M. F. Johnson, Douglas L. Karlen, Garold L. Gresham, Keri B. Cantrell, David W. Archer, Brian J. Wienhold, Gary E. Varvel, David A. Laird, John Baker, Tyson E. Ochsner, Jeff M. Novak, Ardell D. Halvorson, Francisco Arriaga, David T. Lightle, Amber Hoover, Rachel Emerson and Nancy W. Barbour
Agriculture 2014, 4(4), 274-287; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture4040274 - 17 Nov 2014
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 7482
Abstract
In the United States, corn (Zea mays L.) stover has been targeted for second generation fuel production and other bio-products. Our objective was to characterize sugar and structural composition as a function of vertical distribution of corn stover (leaves and stalk) that [...] Read more.
In the United States, corn (Zea mays L.) stover has been targeted for second generation fuel production and other bio-products. Our objective was to characterize sugar and structural composition as a function of vertical distribution of corn stover (leaves and stalk) that was sampled at physiological maturity and about three weeks later from multiple USA locations. A small subset of samples was assessed for thermochemical composition. Concentrations of lignin, glucan, and xylan were about 10% greater at grain harvest than at physiological maturity, but harvestable biomass was about 25% less due to stalk breakage. Gross heating density above the ear averaged 16.3 ± 0.40 MJ kg−1, but with an alkalinity measure of 0.83 g MJ−1, slagging is likely to occur during gasification. Assuming a stover harvest height of 10 cm, the estimated ethanol yield would be >2500 L ha−1, but it would be only 1000 L ha−1 if stover harvest was restricted to the material from above the primary ear. Vertical composition of corn stover is relatively uniform; thus, decision on cutting height may be driven by agronomic, economic and environmental considerations. Full article
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2819 KiB  
Article
Identification of Three Distinct Eggplant Subgroups within the Solanum aethiopicum Gilo Group from Côte d’Ivoire by Morpho-Agronomic Characterization
by Auguste Kouassi, Eric Béli-Sika, Tah Yves-Nathan Tian-Bi, Oulo Alla-N'Nan, Abou B. Kouassi, Jean-Claude N'Zi, Assanvo S.-P. N'Guetta and Bakary Tio-Touré
Agriculture 2014, 4(4), 260-273; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture4040260 - 20 Oct 2014
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 8260
Abstract
The Solanum aethiopicum Gilo group, described as homogeneous, shows a high diversity, at least at the morphological level. In Côte d’Ivoire, farmers distinguish three subgroups, named “N’Drowa”, “Klogbo” and “Gnangnan”, within this group. Data were obtained from [...] Read more.
The Solanum aethiopicum Gilo group, described as homogeneous, shows a high diversity, at least at the morphological level. In Côte d’Ivoire, farmers distinguish three subgroups, named “N’Drowa”, “Klogbo” and “Gnangnan”, within this group. Data were obtained from 10 quantitative and 14 qualitative morpho-agronomic traits measured in 326 accessions of Gilo eggplants, at flowering and fruiting stages. Univariate and multivariate analyses allowed clearly clustering the studied accessions into the three subgroups. Fruit taste, leaf blade width, fruit diameter, leaf blade length, fruit weight, fruit color at commercial ripeness, petiole length, germination time, plant breadth, fruit position on the plant, fruit length and flowering time were, in decreasing order, the twelve most discriminating traits. Compared to the “Gnangnan” subgroup, the “N’Drowa” subgroup has smaller plant breadth and larger leaves. The fruits of this subgroup were mainly white at commercial ripeness, larger and sweeter. Most of the traits of the “Klogbo” subgroup were intermediate between those of the “N’Drowa” and “Gnangnan” subgroups. Our results could contribute to a better understanding of S. aethiopicum diversity and to the development of a core collection for African eggplant breeding. Full article
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