Search results for "Hunger"

Crop nitrogen monitoring: Recent progress and principal developments in the context of imaging spectroscopy missions

2020

Abstract Nitrogen (N) is considered as one of the most important plant macronutrients and proper management of N therefore is a pre-requisite for modern agriculture. Continuous satellite-based monitoring of this key plant trait would help to understand individual crop N use efficiency and thus would enable site-specific N management. Since hyperspectral imaging sensors could provide detailed measurements of spectral signatures corresponding to the optical activity of chemical constituents, they have a theoretical advantage over multi-spectral sensing for the detection of crop N. The current study aims to provide a state-of-the-art overview of crop N retrieval methods from hyperspectral data…

Preface: Environmental benefits of biochar

2014

J. Paz-Ferreiro1, A. Mendez6, A. M. Tarquis3,4, A. Cerda5, and G. Gasco2 1School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne 3001, VIC, Melbourne, Australia 2Departamento de Produccion Agraria, E.T.S.I. Agronomos, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28004 Madrid, Spain 3CEIGRAM, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain 4Departamento de Matematica Aplicada, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain 5Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Valencia, C/Blasco Ibanez 10, 46010 Valencia, Spain 6Departamento de Ingen…

Evaluation of taste compounds in water-soluble extract of goat cheeses

2000

Abstract The water-soluble fractions of two goat cheeses — one denomination of origin commercial trade mark (crottin de Chavignol®) and one bought in a local cheese making establishment (Bouton de culotte®) — containing many taste and flavour molecules were studied. Ultrafiltration with a 1000 Da threshold membrane, followed by gel filtration on Toyopearl HW-40S gel using water as eluent, led to the production of edible fractions. Physicochemical and sensory analysis of these fractions showed that the most tasty fractions contained, essentially, the free amino acids and mineral salts. Some of these tasty fractions also imparted some flavours. The quantity of small peptides (MW

Multimodal interactions

2016

Revue; International audience; Introduction A central sensory characteristic of food is its flavor, which, most of the time, confers to a given food product its identity and typicality, and thus contribute to its liking (Prescott, 2015). Flavor has been defined as a sensory percept induced by food or beverage tasting. This holistic perception is constructed through the functional integration of information transmitted by the chemical senses: olfaction, gustation, and oral and nasal somatosensory inputs (Thomas-Danguin, 2009). Flavor may be influenced by other nonchemical sensory inputs such as texture, sound, or color (Spence, 2013). The functional integration of information transmitted by …

Emerging extraction

2015

Traditional extraction methods include usually high temperature treatment (more than 100°C) with the subsequent risk of thermal denaturation or transformation of the target molecules. Moreover, these techniques are very time-consuming and require relatively large quantities of solvents. On the other hand, the use of environmentally friendly technologies has led researchers and the food industry to develop new alternative processes that can extract valuable compounds from different sources and food wastes of different origin. This chapter describes the potential use of emerging technologies such as ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), laser ablation, pulsed electric fields (PEF), high volta…

Organic carbon dynamics in soil particle-size separates of sandy Spodosols when forest is cleared for maize cropping

2003

Summary In southwest France, much of the forest lands on sandy Spodosols has been converted to continuous maize cropping in the last few decades. To evaluate the impacts of such change on the content and properties of the soil organic matter, we compared the amount of organic carbon and 13C natural abundance in soil and particle-size separates at three locations, selected on the basis of different contents of 0–50 μm particles (clay + silt). After three decades of cultivation, the amount of carbon from the forest pools (Cf) decreased by about 60%, attributable mainly to easily degradable material in sand-sized fractions (−70%). However, a recalcitrant residue remained in soil at a constant …

Presence of trichothecenes and co-occurrence in cereal-based food from Catalonia (Spain)

2011

The most important trichothecenes are HT-2 toxin (HT2) and T-2 toxin (T2) from type A and deoxynivalenol (DON) from type B. Thus, the aim of the current study was to assess the occurrence of these trichothecenes in the Catalonian market. 479 food samples were taken from the most susceptible to trichothecenes contamination and most commonly consumed in Catalonia commodities. DON, T2 and HT2 toxin were determined in breakfast cereals, snacks and pasta samples following extraction, clean-up, derivatization and finally analysis by GC–ECD. Moreover, these mycotoxins were determined in sliced bread, sweet corn and beer by LC–DAD. Our results showed that DON was the main trichothecene present in t…

Climatic gradients along the windward slopes of Mount Kenya and their implication for crop risks. Part 1: climate variability

2012

In tropical mountains, the way topographical gradients translate in terms of intra-seasonal and interannual climate variability (especially rainfall and evapotranspiration) is relatively unknown, yet it is an important issue for agriculture and food security. The eastern slopes of Mount Kenya, in East Africa, with their wide range of agro-ecological conditions, are appropriate for the study of these aspects. Daily (monthly) rainfall data from 11 (24) stations at different elevations and exposures are collected for the period 1961-2006. For the elevation belts suitable for farming and agro-pastoral activities, mostly below 2000 m, it is found that not all rainfall characteristics co-vary wit…

2017

AbstractFuture changes in the structure of daily rainfall, especially the number of rainy days and the intensity of extreme events, are likely to induce major impacts on rain-fed agriculture in the tropics. In Africa this issue is of primary importance, but the agreement between climate models to simulate such descriptors of rainfall is generally poor. Here, we show that the climate models used for the fifth assessment report of IPCC simulate a marked decrease in the number of rainy days, together with a strong increase in the rainfall amounts during the 1% wettest days, by the end of the 21st century over Southern Africa. These combined changes lead to an apparent stability of seasonal tot…

Capillary Electrophoresis in Wine Science

2016

International audience; Capillary electrophoresis appeared to be a powerful and reliable technique to analyze the diversity of wine compounds. Wine presents a great variety of natural chemicals coming from the grape berry extraction and the fermentation processes. The first and more abundant after water, ethanol has been quantified in wines via capillary electrophoresis. Other families like organic acids, neutral and acid sugars, polyphenols, amines, thiols, vitamins, and soluble proteins are electrophoretically separated from the complex matrix.Here, we will focus on the different methodologies that have been employed to conduct properly capillary electrophoresis in wine analysis.Two examp…