Ginkgo biloba Seeds—An Environmental Pollutant or a Functional Food
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This manuscript could be suitable for the publication in MDPI Horticulturae Journal, however, authors are requested to address the following comments while revising the manuscript.
The paper needs the inclusion of a clear hypothesis/hypotheses, as well as some relevant research questions at the end of the introduction section.
The conclusions need to be presented in line with the initial research questions; to what extent where these answered?
Line 185 - please please correct the spelling of the word microelements Microelements
Author Response
Point 1: This manuscript could be suitable for the publication in MDPI Horticulturae Journal; however, authors are requested to address the following comments while revising the manuscript.
The paper needs the inclusion of clear hypothesis/hypotheses, as well as some relevant research questions at the end of the introduction section. The conclusions need to be presented in line with the initial research questions; to what extent where these answered?
Response 1: We tried to formulate more clearly the objectives of our study (lines 56-61 in red), so that the conclusions answer these objectives.
Point 2: Line 185 - please correct the spelling of the word microelements Microelements
Response 2: Now the spelling is corrected.
Reviewer 2 Report
The title is provocative and encourages reading. The importance as functional food is dealt with extensively. The aspect of environmental pollution is presented in a few sentences. But this is sufficient.
When talking of ginkgo, the term should not be written in italics. (e.g. lines 30, 38, 40, 60 etc.).
It is different when the scientific name (Ginkgo biloba) is used in the text. Then it must always be written in italics (both words). (lines 186, 191, 196, 256318/319)
In line 164, reference is made to an incorrect table (it should be table 5).
In line 213, reference is made to an incorrect figure (it should be Figure 2).
Author Response
Point 1: The title is provocative and encourages reading. The importance as functional food is dealt with extensively. The aspect of environmental pollution is presented in a few sentences. But this is sufficient.
When talking of ginkgo, the term should not be written in italics. (e.g. lines 30, 38, 40, 60 etc.). It is different when the scientific name (Ginkgo biloba) is used in the text. Then it must always be written in italics (both words). (lines 186, 191, 196, 256318/319)
Response 1: Thanks for the notes. These errors have been corrected in the new version of the manuscript.
Point 2: In line 164, reference is made to an incorrect table (it should be table 5).
In line 213, reference is made to an incorrect figure (it should be Figure 2).
Response 2: These oversights have been corrected.
Reviewer 3 Report
In their manuscript, Tomova et al are reporting the results of biochemical analyses of Ginkgo biloba seeds from trees grown in Bulgaria, using various chemical techniques. While there are some valuable aspects in finding biologically active substances that might have a potential use in pharmacology and food science, the manuscript is not efficiently written and must be vastly improved, according to my opinion.
More specifically, materials and methods section is not divided in separate sub-sections. Methods are described en masse and there is no separation which creates a significant confusion.
Results are divided into two subsections; first is reporting the results of micro-elements while the second it is supposed to report the results of proteins and lipids but it actually reports also the kinetic study on Ginkgo biloba starch digestion and the antimicrobial activity tests of Ginkgo seed extracts. Again, the authors are presenting there results en masse without distinction.
In Introduction and Discussion sections contain insufficient references; instead, authors are including references to discuss their results in the results section (e.g. lines 230-232).
Authors mention that location can have a significant impact on the primary and secondary metabolites the seeds/nuts/kernels are producing. Yet in their results only microelements content is measured in samples from all geographical regions – north region, central region and south region (with no further statistical analysis however). Why there is no reporting on the fatty acid composition, starch content, and other phytochemicals from different regions? And from which region are the contents presented in Table 2, Figure 1, Figure 2 etc, coming from?
There is no statistical analysis for micro-element content in Ginkgo biloba seeds of different origin. Isn’t there any impact of the geographical origin to this content (Table 1)?
Author Response
Point 1: In their manuscript, Tomova et al are reporting the results of biochemical analyses of Ginkgo biloba seeds from trees grown in Bulgaria, using various chemical techniques. While there are some valuable aspects in finding biologically active substances that might have a potential use in pharmacology and food science, the manuscript is not efficiently written and must be vastly improved, according to my opinion.
More specifically, materials and methods section is not divided in separate sub-sections. Methods are described en masse and there is no separation which creates a significant confusion.
Response 1: We agree with the reviewer that the lack of subheadings makes the manuscript rather cumbersome. In the revised version, we have introduced subheadings in the Materials and Methods and Results sections to make the manuscript more readable.
Point 2: Results are divided into two subsections; first is reporting the results of micro-elements while the second it is supposed to report the results of proteins and lipids but it actually reports also the kinetic study on Ginkgo biloba starch digestion and the antimicrobial activity tests of Ginkgo seed extracts. Again, the authors are presenting there results en masse without distinction.
Response 2: This was avoided by introducing a subtitle
Point 3: In Introduction and Discussion sections contain insufficient references; instead, authors are including references to discuss their results in the results section (e.g. lines 230-232).
Response 3: We moved some of these references from Results to Discussion section
Point 4. Authors mention that location can have a significant impact on the primary and secondary metabolites the seeds/nuts/kernels are producing. Yet in their results only microelements content is measured in samples from all geographical regions – north region, central region and south region (with no further statistical analysis however). There is no statistical analysis for micro-element content in Ginkgo biloba seeds of different origin. Isn’t there any impact of the geographical origin to this content (Table 1)?
Response 4: First, we would like to note that the locations of trees whose seeds have been subjected to microelemental analysis are located at a distance of 3-7 km from each other, i.e. the climatic conditions are practically the same. The expected variations were in the content of microelements, as the soil and local environmental pollution are of importance. The obtained data only outline the intervals in which the quantities of microelements vary. We would like to avoid statistical speculations, as these are single samples of blended, homogenized plant material.
Point 5. Why there is no reporting on the fatty acid composition, starch content, and other phytochemicals from different regions? And from which region are the contents presented in Table 2, Figure 1, Figure 2 etc, coming from?
Response 5: The research on variations in the composition of macronutrients as functions of different factors is beyond the scope of this paper. We accept the reviewer's note and include crop data in the legends of Table 2 & 3, and Figure 1.
Reviewer 4 Report
There are a number of awkard sentances (Ln 40,54,303,390,374)
A few spelling errors- Ln 70 tap (not tape), Lns 365and 364- use resistant.
Another item to check- I have read that Ginko trees can alter their sex ratio (i.e. more females) after 20-30 years. So, you may want to ckeck this out relative to your conclusion in ln 55.
Author Response
Point 1: There are a number of awkard sentances (Ln 40,54,303,390,374). A few spelling errors- Ln 70 tap (not tape), Lns 365and 364- use resistant.
Response 1: All this is corrected in the revised version
Point 2: Another item to check- I have read that Ginko trees can alter their sex ratio (i.e. more females) after 20-30 years. So, you may want to ckeck this out relative to your conclusion in ln 55.
Response 2: We are not familiar with this hypothesis, but we think that whether female or male species will predominate is more of a human decision, more over it is now possible to determine the sex of the plant early. In China, Japan and Korea, where nuts are cherished for their delicate taste, females are likely to be preferred, while in Europe and North America the tree is loved for its beautiful crown and amazing fall of the leaves, males that do not create problems with maintaining the park environment are likely to be preferred.
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
Authors have made a significant progress ameloriating their manuscript by mainly introducing the subsections. According to my opinion, the manuscript is more readable this way. One minor point that has to be noted is the very short introduction section that should contain some more background on the study.
