AGRIBUSINESS: New technology to keep fruits, vegetables fresh for 1,000 days.

AGRIBUSINESS: New technology to keep fruits, vegetables fresh for 1,000 days.While efforts are being made to reduce wastage of perishables via cold chain management, an Indian company has introduced 'Black Box' technology, which ensures the preservation of any agricultural commodity for 1,000 days. 

Sahil Peerzada and Sachin Adhikari of Viztar Agritech have tied up with Spain-based Nice Fruits to offer new technology in cold storage plants in the Indian subcontinent. Black Box is a unique technology developed by scientists in Spain. It can be easily set up in any factory or plant. Regular cold storage utilises nitrogen. 

However, in the Black Box system, there will be neither nitrogen nor any preservative. The stored commodities will have their natural content and nutrition value intact for 1,000 days.Fruits, vegetables, or meat, anything can be kept fresh for 1,000 days using Black Box.

Vegetables irrigated with treated waste water expose consumers to drugs.

A new study by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical Center shows that eating vegetables and fruits grown in soils irrigated with reclaimed waste water exposes consumers to minute quantities of carbamazepine, an anti-epileptic drug commonly detected in waste water effluents. Fresh water scarcity worldwide has led to increased use of reclaimed waste water, as an alternative source for crop irrigation. But the abundance of pharmaceuticals in treated effluents has raised concerns over the potential exposure for consumers to drug contaminants via treated waste water. The study is the first to directly address exposure to such pharmaceutical contaminants in healthy humans. It was recently published in Environmental Science and Technology. "In a randomized controlled trial we have demonstrated that healthy individuals consuming reclaimed wastewater-irrigated produce excreted carbamazepine and its metabolites in their urine, while subjects consuming fresh water-irrigated produce excreted undetectable or significantly lower levels of carbamazepine," said Prof. Ora Paltiel, Director of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, who led the research. The study followed 34 men and women divided into two groups. The first group was given reclaimed wastewater-irrigated produce for the first week, and freshwater-irrigated vegetables in the following week. The second group consumed the produce in reverse order. The volunteers consumed the produce, which included tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuce, according to their normal diet and drank bottled water throughout the study to neutralize water contamination. The researchers measured carbamazepine levels in the fresh produce and in the participants' urine. To begin with, the urinary levels of carbamazepine differed in their quantifiable concentration, with some participants having undetectable levels. Following seven days of consuming reclaimed water-irrigated produce, all members of the first group exhibited quantifiable levels of carbamazepine, while in the second group the distribution remained unchanged from baseline. Levels of carbamazepine excretion were markedly higher in the first group versus the second. It is evident that those who consume produce grown in soil irrigated with treated waste water increase their exposure to the drug. Though the levels detected were much lower than in patients who consume the drug, it is important to assess the exposure in commercially available produce. Materials from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

FRUIT PEELS AS TREATMENT PROTOCOL FOR WOUND REPAIR IN DIABETIC PATIENTS.

Oral dose of Citrus Peel Extracts Promotes Wound Repair in Diabetic Rats.This research was carried out by M. Ahmad, M.N. Ansari, A. Alam and T.H. Khan and reported in science alert. Diabetic patients wound healing is slower than the healthy individuals. Three citrus peel extracts; Lemon (Citrus limon), Grapes fruits (Citrus paradise) and Orange (Citrus sinensis) promote wound healing in experimental animals. This study investigated the effect of oral treatment with citrus peel extracts on wound repair of the skin of diabetic rats. The extracts were estimated for vitamin C and total carotenoid contents prior to animal study. Diabetes mellitus was induced in rats by intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ, 75 mg kg-1 b.wt.). One week after diabetes induction, full thickness excision wounds were made in hyperglycemic rats and were divided groups, each containing 6 rats. The different test group animals were treated with different citrus peel extract orally at the dose of 400 mg kg-1 body weight daily for 12 days. The blood glucose, body weight and rate of wound closure of each rat were measured every 3rd day during the experimental period. At the end of experiment, granular tissues of wounds were removed and estimated for hydroxylproline and total protein content. The results showed significant reduction in blood glucose and time to wound closure. Tissue growth and collagen synthesis were significantly higher as determined by total protein and hydroxyl proline content. From our experimental data, we propose that oral administration of citrus peel extracts has a therapeutic potential in the treatment of chronic wounds in diabetes.

FEEDING SNAILS !!!

Feeding snails is easy ,but could be very complex if care is not taken and ants invade the snailery because of wrong feed or wrong feed presentation. Snails eat by rasping the feed by their radulla.The radulla are teeth -like,performing the function of teeth.Snails must be presented with finely grounded or succulent feed. The common snail feeds are fruits and leaves.They can also thrive on agricultural waste such as blood meal.Poultry feed finely grounded can also be provided,and water must be made available. The common feeds include;1) compounded broiler/layer/grower feed. 2) calcium sources for shell development are....oyster shells,chalk(grounded),limestone. 3)protein sources..blood meal,fish meal. 4)grounded maize,groundnut cake. 5) pawpaw,cocoyam,banana peels. 6)cooked potato or yam. 7)leaves of banana,cassava,potato. Water is provided in shallow dishes and must be cool and fresh. The feed must be fresh,finely grounded and have low fibre content.The temperature in the snailery must not be high to ensure snails are comfortable and feed properly.