Search Results (1,479)

Rising feed costs and the shift towards circular bioeconomy systems have generated interest in agro-industrial by-products as livestock feeds, but the evidence on fruit pomaces is fragmented across single pomaces, single species and single processing methods. This review compares apple, citrus and grape pomaces against a common set of nutritional, processing, functional and environmental criteria, and grades the strength of the evidence supporting each comparison. Under particular species-, processing- and dose-specific conditions, properly prepared pomaces have been reported to improve ruminal fermentation, nutrient digestibility, milk composition and oxidative status in ruminants, and gut health, antioxidant status and product quality in non-ruminants. Responses are heterogeneous, and null or adverse effects on intake, digestibility and performance also occur, particularly at high inclusion levels and with lignin- and tannin-rich material. Reductions in enteric methane have been measured in vivo for grape by-products in dairy cattle, whereas the evidence for citrus flavonoids remains in vitro; whole-system environmental and economic benefits are unquantified. Research priorities include standardised processing and compositional reporting, routine control of mycotoxins, pesticide residues and heavy metals, species-specific dose–response trials, and whole-chain techno-economic and life-cycle assessment. Full article

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) are widely used and have recently been linked to metabolic syndrome (MS). This study aimed to investigate the probable association between chronic OPP exposure and MS among farm workers in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, and to assess the potential role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). This comparative cross-sectional study included 140 participants, equally divided into OPP-exposed farm workers and non-exposed subjects. OPP exposure was confirmed by detecting plasma residues and cholinesterase activity. MS was diagnosed by assessing body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, plasma glucose, serum insulin, and lipid parameters. Oxidative and inflammatory markers, including malondialdehyde (MDA), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), ferritin, superoxide dismutase (SOD), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), were measured. The mRNA expression of the PPARγ and paraoxonase 1 (PON1) genes was also investigated. In total, 60% of farm workers demonstrated MS, compared with 10% of non-exposed participants. Workers exhibited elevated oxidative and inflammatory indices and reduced PPARγ and PON1 expression. PPARγ positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL), SOD, and PON1, while negatively correlating with glucose, insulin resistance (IR), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides (TGs), MDA, GGT, ferritin, TNF-α, and hs-CRP. The study concluded that chronic OPP exposure was associated with increased oxidative stress and inflammation, reduced PPARγ and PON1 expression, disturbed glucose and lipid metabolism, and increased IR. The observed associations between PPARγ downregulation, metabolic disturbances, and oxidative and inflammatory markers suggest that PPARγ dysregulation may represent a potential mechanistic link between chronic OPP exposure and MS. However, this proposed mechanism requires further validation. Full article

Ensuring food safety requires the detection of trace-level contaminants such as pesticides, mycotoxins, and heavy metals. Analytical approaches for these analytes should feature high sensitivity, good selectivity, and compatibility with aqueous matrices; surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) satisfies these requirements. Addressing the absence of a unified comparative analytical framework, this critical review surveys recent SERS-enabled sensing strategies for food contaminants. Detection strategies differ substantially across the three contaminant classes: pesticides can be directly detected at ppb levels through substrate engineering and deep learning; mycotoxins rely on affinity-recognition elements to reach pg-mL-level sensitivity; and Raman-inactive heavy metals demand indirect readout via functional probes. Crucially, despite these divergent analytical routes, the field confronts three shared bottlenecks—spectral irreproducibility, severe matrix interference, and the lack of standardized protocols, all of which hinder regulatory adoption. Compared with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and hyperspectral imaging (HSI), SERS delivers outstanding sensitivity for confirmatory trace-level analysis, while its limited throughput may be compensated by multispectral data fusion. Future advances should prioritize portable sensing hardware, explainable Artificial Intelligence (AI), and multiplexed detection to transfer laboratory-scale sensitivity toward practical field-deployable testing tools. Full article

Variable-rate pesticide spraying and fertilizer application require coordinated operation of heterogeneous agricultural machines, particularly in irregular fields where task demands, vehicle mobility, payload capacity, energy consumption, and resupply requirements vary spatially. However, most existing studies optimize aerial spraying or ground fertilization separately and do not jointly consider prescription-map demands, air–ground synchronization, pesticide-drift risk, and agricultural vehicle constraints. This study formulates collaborative UAV spraying and UGV fertilization as a multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear programming problem with three objectives: minimizing system makespan, weighted energy consumption, and pesticide-drift penalty. A prescription-map-guided bi-level planning framework is proposed. At the upper level, the problem-specific TNSAOO solver determines UAV and UGV task sequences and collaborative resupply-point activation. At the lower level, adaptive Theta* and row-constrained Hybrid A* generate UAV spraying and UGV fertilization trajectories, respectively, while prescription-dependent application commands are assigned along active operation segments and a time-window mechanism detects and corrects residual air–ground conflicts. The framework was evaluated using 30 real farmland boundaries and 90 randomized prescription scenarios. Mean geometric coverage rates reached 98.82% for UAV spraying and 98.95% for UGV fertilization, while the mean prescription-compliance errors were 6.21% and 2.13%, respectively. In addition, 96.7% of the batch runs contained no more than one detected air–ground conflict, with a mean corrective waiting time of 1.07 s. Compared with traditional independent operation, collaborative planning reduced mean system makespan by 9.32%, weighted energy consumption by 7.21%, modeled drift penalty by 3.62%, and total path length by 5.79%. In the multi-objective comparison, TNSAOO obtained a mean hypervolume of 0.597 and a mean inverted generational distance of 0.375, showing competitive Pareto-search performance relative to established comparison algorithms, particularly NSGA-II. Additional terrain and drift sensitivity analyses produced systematic changes in energy, completion time, and modeled drift risk under controlled parameter perturbations. These findings demonstrate the simulation-based feasibility of jointly planning heterogeneous variable-rate spraying and fertilization under a shared prescription map. Physical field experiments remain necessary to validate spray deposition, fertilizer-distribution uniformity, terrain effects, and model calibration under environmental uncertainty. Full article

Crop-protection programs in flooded rice may influence root-zone microbial communities and their seasonal dynamics. This study evaluated microbial responses to untreated, conventional, and GroMore^® crop-protection programs in a farmer-managed paddy field in Korea using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and soil pesticide residue analysis. Methanogen- and aerobic methanotroph-associated taxa were evaluated as taxonomic proxies and examined in relation to grain yield, seasonal CH₄ emission, and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI). GroMore did not consistently increase alpha diversity; however, treatment effects were significant for Shannon diversity (p = 0.025) and Chao1 richness (p = 0.024) in July, and treatment-associated differences in overall microbial community composition were evident from July through September (p = 0.001 for each month). During August, methane-related taxonomic proxies differed among treatments, but the methanogen-to-methanotroph taxonomic abundance ratio was not significantly associated with seasonal CH₄ emission (r = 0.44, p = 0.377). Selected GroMore treatments showed 26.5–32.4% lower GHGI than the conventional treatment, primarily because of higher grain yield rather than reduced seasonal CH₄ emission. Overall, GroMore programs were associated with seasonally structured root-zone microbial community differences, while methane-related taxa were interpreted as ecological proxies rather than direct indicators of methane-cycling function. Full article

This study developed a detection method for hymexazol residues in sugar beet, targeting its low molecular weight, high polarity, and lack of chromophores. The method optimized mass spectrometry conditions, liquid chromatography parameters, and extraction/purification protocols to address the matrix characteristics of sugar beet. Specifically, the sample pretreatment involved extraction with acetonitrile, followed by purification using GCB, silica, and C18 sorbents to minimize matrix interference. Sensitivity was enhanced by reducing flow rate and spray voltage. The method demonstrated high performance and was applied to analyze real samples. The LOD and LOQ were theoretically determined to be 1.22 and 3.80 μg/kg, respectively, using the blank standard deviation method. At the spiked levels of 5.0, 10, and 50 μg/kg, the intraday and interday recoveries were 80.2–97.9% and 78.1–101.7%, with corresponding RSDs of 4.8–6.4% and 4.6–8.8%, respectively. These results could meet the requirements for pesticide residue analysis and regulatory monitoring. Full article

The simultaneous and accurate detection of multiple pesticide residues remains a critical challenge in electrochemical sensing. Herein, a strategy is proposed for the in situ growth of interconnected Zn₃(OH)₂V₂O₇·2H₂O (ZVO) nanosheets on carbon cloth (CC), forming ZVO/CC electrodes for the simultaneous detection of thiophanate-methyl and diuron. A negative-potential pre-reduction treatment is employed to regulate the interfacial electronic structure and activate sensing sites of ZVO/CC electrodes. During pre-reduction, partial V⁵⁺ is reduced to V⁴⁺, accompanied by the formation of oxygen vacancies, which reconstruct local electronic states and decrease charge-transfer resistance. Meanwhile, the chemically integrated Zn–O–V framework exhibits a performance synergy, resulting in significantly enhanced and well-distinguished electrochemical responses toward the target pesticides. The ZVO/CC electrode achieves linear detection ranges of 0.1–25 μM for thiophanate-methyl and 0.1–40 μM for diuron, with low detection limits of 12.4 nM and 28.5 nM, respectively. Furthermore, machine learning algorithms are introduced to resolve partial overlapping signals, enabling simultaneous pesticide classification and concentration prediction. The integration of interfacial engineering with machine learning provides an effective strategy for achieving simultaneous multi-pesticide detection at the nanomolar level. Full article

Edible insects are increasingly promoted as alternative foods, but their chemical safety is difficult to assess because hazards may arise throughout the production chain and the regulatory framework remains incomplete. This structured narrative review synthesises current evidence on chemical hazards in edible insects and examines their interpretation within the European Union regulatory framework. The available literature indicates that rearing substrates and production environments are major sources of contamination, particularly for heavy metals, mycotoxins, pesticide residues, veterinary medicinal product residues, and persistent or emerging contaminants. However, transfer into insect biomass is highly species-, life-stage-, and compound-dependent, and metabolism, excretion, or transformation may reduce parent-compound concentrations without eliminating uncertainty regarding metabolites and other transformation products. Processing and storage may further modify the chemical profile through the formation of acrylamide, furan derivatives, lipid-oxidation products, and biogenic amines. Although the EU novel food framework provides product-specific premarket assessment, representative market-occurrence and consumption data remain limited, and generally applicable insect-specific maximum levels for contaminants have not been established, whereas pesticide residues are governed by the horizontal EU MRL framework. Chemical safety assessment should therefore adopt a full-chain, species- and product-specific approach integrating substrate control, contaminant fate, processing, storage, and consumer exposure. Full article

Human fertility is declining across industrialised populations, while the incidence of hormone-dependent reproductive cancers rises. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and structurally related emerging pollutants are implicated in both. These two outcomes are generally reviewed as separate studies. This review argues that they are two latencies of a single molecular toxicology. The compounds concerned are structurally diverse: phthalates, bisphenols, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins, brominated and organophosphate flame retardants, pharmaceuticals and personal-care products (PPCPs), and micro- and nanoplastics. They nonetheless converge on a limited repertoire of molecular lesions. These include the disruption of hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) signalling through kisspeptin/GnRH and gonadotropin gene expression and interference at nuclear and membrane hormone receptors (ERα/β, AR, GPER, thyroid receptors, AhR, PPARγ). They also include the inhibition of steroidogenesis at StAR and the CYP11A1–CYP17A1–CYP19A1/3β-HSD/17β-HSD cascade and reactive-oxygen-species generation with mitochondrial dysfunction and Keap1–Nrf2 disruption. Epigenetic reprogramming through DNA methylation, histone modification and non-coding RNAs, together with crosstalk with metabolic and immune signalling, completes the set. These lesions produce measurable cytotoxic and genotoxic damage to gametes and the early embryo: sperm DNA fragmentation and 8-oxo-dG accumulation, blood–testis-barrier breakdown, oocyte meiotic-spindle defects, and granulosa-cell apoptosis and pyroptosis. The same receptor, oxidative and genotoxic hubs drive hormone-dependent reproductive carcinogenesis over longer latencies. The review makes three contributions. First, it traces these shared hubs continuously from fertility impairment to malignancy rather than treating them as separate fields. Second, it grades the certainty of the human evidence class by class, so that robust associations can be distinguished from provisional ones. Third, it integrates pseudo-persistent pollutants alongside the classical persistent compounds. These are micro- and nanoplastics, which act as both toxicants and vectors for adsorbed co-contaminants, and pharmaceutical and personal-care residues sustained by continuous wastewater input. Their inclusion demonstrates that chronic low-dose exposure does not require chemical persistence. We conclude with mitigation strategies and an explicit account of what the current evidence base cannot yet support. Full article

The extensive use of pesticides in modern agriculture has resulted in their persistent accumulation in environmental systems, posing significant risks to ecosystems and human health. Consequently, the development of integrated strategies for the sensitive detection and efficient removal of pesticide residues has become critically important. In this context, fluorescent inorganic–organic hybrid nanoparticles have emerged as versatile platforms owing to their tunable physicochemical properties and distinctive optical behavior. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in these hybrid nanomaterials for pesticide sensing and remediation. Particular emphasis is placed on the underlying photophysical mechanisms governing detection, including fluorescence quenching, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), inner filter effect (IFE), and photoinduced electron transfer (PET). In parallel, the role of interfacial interactions such as hydrogen bonding, electrostatic attraction, and π–π stacking in adsorption processes is critically discussed. Furthermore, these hybrid systems exhibit high adsorption capacities and rapid removal kinetics, enabling efficient pesticide elimination using both adsorption and catalytic degradation pathways. Overall, this review underscores the potential of fluorescent inorganic–organic hybrid nanoparticles as next-generation materials for sustainable environmental monitoring and remediation of pesticide contaminants. Full article

Biological aging, quantified through molecular and physiological biomarkers, provides a dynamic assessment of the aging processes. Although organophosphate (OP) pesticide exposure is known to disrupt cellular and metabolic functions, causing inflammation, its relationship with phenotypic (biological) aging acceleration (PAA) remains understudied. We examined data from 1999–2008 and 2015–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to determine the relationship between OP and PAA. Urinary levels of 6 Dialkyl-phosphate metabolites were used to assess OP exposure; participants were considered exposed if they had at least one urinary OP metabolite above the highest lower limit of detection (LLOD). Phenotypic age was estimated using BioAge R package combining nine laboratory biomarkers. PAA was derived as the residual from regressing phenotypic age onto chronological age. The association was assessed using survey-weighted linear regression. A total of 8988 participants with complete urinary, sociodemographic, and laboratory data were included; mean chronological age was 44.95 years (SE = 0.29), while mean phenotypic age was 43.19 years (SE = 0.31). In the fully adjusted model, individuals with detected OP metabolites had higher PhenoAgeAccel (β = 0.65; 95% CI: 0.14–1.17). OP metabolite detection was associated with greater PAA, extending limited literature and supporting further investigation of its implications for healthy aging. Full article

Fluorinated pesticides are an emerging class of environmental contaminants owing to their widespread agricultural use, high persistence, and ability to generate highly stable per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during environmental degradation. Active ingredients containing fluorinated moieties undergo photolytic, hydrolytic, and microbial transformation, producing persistent metabolites such as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), TFNA, TFNG, AMTT, and FM-6-1, which are highly mobile substances and may enter the food chain. To address this challenge, complementary LC–MS/MS and GC–MS/MS methods combined with QuEChERS and methanol extraction, and a modified QuPPe-based procedure for TFA and DFA were developed and validated for the determination of 76 fluorinated analytes, including fluorinated pesticides and selected transformation products with diverse physicochemical properties. Validation of the analytical workflow included the assessment of limits of quantification (LOQs), recovery, precision, expanded measurement uncertainty, and matrix effects at three spiking levels. LOQs ranged from 0.002 to 0.050 mg kg⁻¹. Recoveries were 63.9–114.7% for GC–MS/MS and 40.3–109% for LC–MS/MS. The validated analytical workflow is suitable for monitoring fluorinated pesticides and selected transformation products in potatoes, onions, pears, watermelons, carrots, and cauliflower and may support routine food-safety control. Full article

Fluopyram is a broad-spectrum fungicide and nematicide used in foliar sprays and seed treatments. Despite its low volatility and moderate solubility, it is frequently detected beyond application sites in air, soil, and water. As a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS)-class “forever chemical”, its off-site presence raises ecotoxicological concerns. We conducted a 61-day greenhouse experiment to assess the effects of fluopyram residues in soil (0, 0.02, 0.04, and 0.78 mg kg⁻¹ soil) on two cover crop species (Italian clover, Trifolium incarnatum; cornflower, Centaurea cyanus), earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris), springtails (Folsomia candida), and litter decomposition. Measured endpoints included plant establishment, growth, biomass, photosynthetic efficiency, root architecture, soil fauna activity, and litter breakdown. Responses were species-specific and did not exhibit clear dose–response relationships. Height growth in Italian clover and cornflower showed significant treatment × date interactions, whereas establishment and biomass production remained unaffected. In Italian clover, root diameter increased with fluopyram concentration, while root length and volume showed non-significant trends. Cornflower roots exhibited fewer crossings at higher concentrations but were otherwise unaffected. Photosynthetic efficiency remained unchanged in both species, although it tended to decrease modestly in cornflower at the highest concentration. Springtail surface activity density was generally influenced by fluopyram, with significant treatment × date interactions at 0.04 and 0.78 mg kg⁻¹. Earthworm effects were inconclusive due to low survival rates. Neither litter decomposition rate nor stabilization factor was affected. Our results show that fluopyram residues in soil can induce subtle, species-specific effects in non-target organisms. However, long-term studies are needed to clarify how this highly persistent active ingredient and its degradation products accumulate in soils and interact with co-occurring pesticides, thereby improving ecological risk assessments. Full article

Almond (Prunus dulcis) production generates large quantities of hull by-products, the safe utilisation of which can be affected by pesticide residues resulting from conventional disease management practices. Identifying practical approaches that reduce pesticide use while maintaining crop health is therefore an important step towards more sustainable almond production. This study evaluated vitamin-based biostimulants as a potential alternative disease management strategy under commercial orchard conditions. Field experiments were conducted over two consecutive growing seasons in commercial almond orchards in Australia. Eight vitamin formulations containing vitamin B complex, vitamin B₁, vitamin C and vitamin E were evaluated for their ability to reduce disease incidence in leaves and whole nuts, together with their effects on chlorophyll content, flower-to-nut conversion, kernel nutrient composition and other production-related parameters. A formulation containing 50 µg mL⁻¹ vitamin B complex together with vitamin B₁ consistently reduced disease incidence to levels comparable with the grower standard chemical programme. Selected vitamin treatments also maintained chlorophyll content, kernel nutrient composition and flower-to-nut conversion without adversely affecting crop performance. Overall, the results indicate that vitamin-based biostimulants have the potential to become a practical component of integrated disease management in commercial almond production. Their use may contribute to reducing reliance on conventional pesticides while supporting the sustainable utilisation of almond hull by-products and improving the environmental sustainability of almond production systems. Full article

Confronted with severe global challenges, including water scarcity, excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and heavy metal contamination in soils, conventional agricultural technologies exhibit marked limitations in integrated water–fertilizer management and non-point source pollution control. Leveraging their excellent water retention capacity, intelligent sustained-release properties, and environmental responsiveness, hydrogels offer innovative solutions to advance sustainable agricultural development. This review comprehensively outlines the fundamental types, crosslinking mechanisms, and key functional properties of hydrogels, with a focused discussion on their agricultural deployment as high-efficiency soil conditioners, fertilizer vectors, and pesticide carriers; it deciphers the microscopic water-holding mechanisms under the tristate water model, delineates the divergent water-uptake and retention behaviors between ionic and non-ionic hydrogels, and clarifies the cyclic water-holding and release mechanisms of hydrogels during soil amelioration. Thise paper further synthesizes hydrogel-enabled environmental remediation applications, in which heavy metals and pesticide residues in soils and aquatic systems are removed via functional-group coordination adsorption or photocatalytic degradation; concurrently, hydrogels have been shown to activate plant systemic immunity through calcium-signaling pathways, thereby inducing broad-spectrum antiviral defense responses. Moreover, hydrogels can be integrated into precision agriculture frameworks to enable real-time monitoring of crop physiological status and to support targeted irrigation and fertilization management. This work also evaluates the role of hydrogels in promoting seed germination, root system development, crop metabolic regulation, and stress resilience, while introducing tailored application strategies across distinct plant growth stages. Their documented economic advantages include water conservation, enhanced crop yields, reduced dependence on synthetic fertilizers, and lower labor costs. Nevertheless, the large-scale implementation of hydrogels continues to face multifaceted challenges—particularly poor degradability and latent ecological risks, as conventional polyacrylamide (PAM)-based gels resist soil mineralization and retain potentially neurotoxic monomers, leaving a critical gap in multi-annual field data concerning their non-target interference with native soil aggregate evolution, pore distribution, and rhizospheric carbon–nitrogen footprints. Mechanistically, many hydrogels with tensile strengths below 1 MPa are highly susceptible to three-dimensional network collapse under high-salinity osmotic shock and tillage mechanical stress, exhibiting a precipitous drop in water retention after more than three wet–dry cycles due to deficient long-term structural stability. Compounding these technical gaps are elevated production costs and low farmer adoption, driven by the absence of texture-specific performance thresholds—such as an available water increment ≥ 40% for sandy soils—and the lack of established life-cycle cost models and farmer incentive mechanisms for bio-based hydrogels. Moving forward, hydrogel technology should pivot toward materials innovation and cost-reduction engineering to broaden its applicability, employ ≥3-year, multi-habitat regional trials to delineate ecological benefit–risk boundaries, and ultimately position hydrogels as pivotal enablers of sustainable, green agricultural paradigms. Full article