Ali Baghdadi | Università di Bologna (original) (raw)

Papers by Ali Baghdadi

Corn silage is an important feed for intensive ruminant production but the growing of corn has re... more Corn silage is an important feed for intensive ruminant production but the growing of corn has relied heavily on the use of chemical fertilizer. Sustainable crop production requires a careful management of all nutrient sources available in a farm, particularly in corn-based cropping systems. Experiments were conducted to determine the appropriate technology of corn-legume intercropping with supplemental use of chemical, organic manure, and biofertilizer. Combining chemical fertilizers with chicken manure in a 50:50 ratio and application of 50% NPK+ 50%, chicken manure (CM)+ biofertilizer (BF) resulted in similar dry matter (DM) yield with the 100% NPK treatment. Inorganic fertilizer (100% NPK) gave the highest DM yield (13.86 t/ha) of forage among single fertilizer treatments and it outyielded the chicken manure (100% CM) (9.74 t/ha) treatment. However, when CM was combined with NPK, the DM yield of forage (13.86 t/ha) and was the same as the 100% NPK (13.68 t/ha). Combinations of NPK and chicken manure resulted in increased plant height; crop growth rate (CGR) and leaf area index (LAI) compared to CM alone but was similar to 100% NPK application. The ratio of 50% CM + 50% NPK and 50%CM+50%NPK+BF recorded protein yield similar to those of conventional fertilizer. Similarly, CP content was not significantly different among 100% NPK and 50% CM+50% NPK. Use of biofertilizers had no significant impact on improving either yield or quality of forage fertilized with inorganic or organic fertilizers. Lactic acid responded differently to different fertilizer application and was significantly higher than the no fertilizer plots. Treatments with an application of biofertilizer and combination of biofertilizer with NPK or CM treatments gave higher values of acetylene reduction assay (ARA) (compared to sole chemical and sole organic manure fertilizers. Overall, evidence recorded from this study prove that corn-soybean intercrops could increase forage quantity and quality, produce higher total protein yield, decrease requirements for protein supplements and chemical fertilizer compared to the corn monoculture with a combination of chicken manure and chemical fertilizer.

PeerJ, Oct 26, 2018

Background. Corn silage is an important feed for intense ruminant production, but the growth of c... more Background. Corn silage is an important feed for intense ruminant production, but the growth of corn relies heavily on the use of chemical fertilizers. Sustainable crop production requires careful management of all nutrient sources available on a farm, particularly in corn-based cropping systems. Methods. Experiments were conducted to determine the appropriate technique of cornlegume intercropping in conjunction with the supplemental use of chemical fertilizers, organic manure, and biofertilizers (BFs). Acetylene reduction assays (ARAs) were also performed on corn and soybean roots. Results. Combining chemical fertilizers with chicken manure (CM) in a 50:50 ratio and applying 50% NPK+50% CM+BF produced fresh forage and dry matter (DM) yields that were similar to those produced in the 100% nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) treatment. Among the lone fertilizer treatments, the inorganic fertilizer (100% NPK) treatment produced the highest DM yield (13.86 t/ha) of forage and outyielded the 100% CM (9.74 t/ha) treatment. However, when CM was combined with NPK, the resulting DM yield of forage (13.86 t/ha) was the same as that resulting from 100% NPK (13.68 t/ha). Compared with CM applications alone, combinations of NPK and CM applications resulted in increased plant height, crop growth rates (CGRs) and leaf area index (LAI), but the values of these parameters were similar to those resulting from 100% NPK application. Fertilizers in which the ratio was 50% CM+50% NPK or 50% CM+50% NPK+BF resulted in protein yields that were similar to those resulting from conventional fertilizers. Similarly, the CP content did not significantly differ between applications of the 100% NPK and 50% CM+50% NPK fertilizers. The use of BFs had no significant impact on improving either the yield or quality of forage fertilized with inorganic or organic fertilizer. Lactic acid responded differently to different fertilizer applications and was significantly higher in the fertilized plots than in the unfertilized plots. Compared with treatments of lone chemical and lone organic manure fertilizers, treatments involving applications of BF and a combination of BF and NPK or CM resulted in higher ARA values. Discussion. There is no simple and easy approach to increase biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) in grain legumes grown as part of a cropping system under realistic farm field conditions. Overall, evidence recorded from this study proves that, compared with corn monocrops combined with CM and chemical fertilizers, corn-soybean intercrops could increase forage yields and quality, produce higher total protein yields, and reduce the need for protein supplements and chemical fertilizers. How to cite this article Baghdadi et al. (2018), Impact of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the yield and quality of silage corn intercropped with soybean. PeerJ 6:e5280;

Corn silage is an important feed for intensive ruminant production. Combining corn with legumes f... more Corn silage is an important feed for intensive ruminant production. Combining corn with legumes for silage is a feasible strategy to improve crude protein (CP) concentration in corn silage. This study was conducted to determine silage nutritive quality and fermentation profiles of corn grown in mixture with soybean at different crop combination ratio. In this experiment, corn-soybean combinations of 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75 in addition to monocrops of corn and soybean were evaluated. The crop combination ratio had significant effects on nutritive quality and fermentation characteristics of silage. Silage quality in terms of CP (75:25 ratio 12.23%, 50:50 ratio 12.88% and 25:75 ratio 13.65%) was improved by intercropping compared with corn sole crop (9.91% CP). Increase ratio of soybean resulted in an increase in lactic acid and pH of the mixed silage. Sole soybean gave significantly higher lactic acid (3.57%) and pH of silage (4.33) compared to all other treatments but dry matter concentration was significantly higher in corn monocrop silage (34.34%) than other treatments. The propionic acid and butyric acid content of soybean monocrop and intercrops silage were in all cases higher than sole corn silage.

Cherry tomato is very popular among consumers because of its high nutritional values. Growth, yie... more Cherry tomato is very popular among consumers because of its high nutritional values. Growth, yield and quality of cherry tomatoes can be easily affected by the amount of water received by the plant as well as by the growing environment. Fruits show a symptom of sunburn if it is grown under too hot temperature in open field planting or under the greenhouse. The plants also required a lot of water for them to grow well and will be adversely affected by water stress (WS). The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of water stress on growth, yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of cherry tomato grown under different greenhouse systems. Cherry tomato plants were subjected to three levels of water stress treatments and were placed under smart greenhouse system (SGS) and conventional greenhouse system (CGS). Plant height and leaf area (LA) data were recorded at 30, 60 and 90 days after transplanting (DAT). While the total yield of cherry tomato was only recorded at day 90 DAT. T...

In the current study, changes in secondary metabolite synthesis and the pharmaceutical quality of... more In the current study, changes in secondary metabolite synthesis and the pharmaceutical quality of sabah snake grass leaves and buds were considered in relation to plant age (1 month, 6 months, and 1 year old). The activity of the enzyme chalcone synthase (CHS, EC 2.3.1.74) was measured, as it is a key enzyme for flavonoid production. Significant differences in total flavonoid (TF) production were observed between the three plant growth periods and the different plant parts. The highest contents of TF (6.32 mg/g dry weight [DW]) and total phenolic (TP) (18.21 mg/g DW) were recorded in 6-month-old buds. Among the flavonoids isolated in this study the most important ones based on concentration were from high to low as follows: catechin > quercetin > kaempferol > luteolin. Production of phenolic acids increased from 1 to 6 months, but after 6 months up to 1 year of age, they decreased significantly. The highest contents of caffeic acid (0.307 mg/g DW) and gallic acid (5.96 mg/g DW) were recorded in 1-year and 6-month-old buds, respectively. The lowest and highest activity of CHS was recorded in 1-month and 6-month-old buds with values of 3.6 and 9.5 nkat/mg protein, respectively. These results indicate that the increment in flavonoids and phenolic acids in 6-month-old buds can be attributed to an increase in CHS activity. The highest 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) activity was observed in the extract of 1-year-old buds followed by 6-month-old buds, with 50% of free radical scavenging (IC50) values of 64.6 and 73.5 µg/mL, respectively. Interestingly, a ferric reducing

Plants

Biostimulants such as silicate (SiO32−) compounds and antagonistic bacteria can alter soil microb... more Biostimulants such as silicate (SiO32−) compounds and antagonistic bacteria can alter soil microbial communities and enhance plant resistance to the pathogens and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC), the causal agent of Fusarium wilt disease in bananas. A study was conducted to investigate the biostimulating effects of SiO32− compounds and antagonistic bacteria on plant growth and resistance of the banana to Fusarium wilt disease. Two separate experiments with a similar experimental setup were conducted at the University of Putra Malaysia (UPM), Selangor. Both experiments were arranged in a split-plot randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replicates. SiO32− compounds were prepared at a constant concentration of 1%. Potassium silicate (K2SiO3) was applied on soil uninoculated with FOC, and sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) was applied to FOC-contaminated soil before integrating with antagonistic bacteria; without Bacillus spp. ((0B)—control), Bacillus subtilis (BS), and Bacil...

Recently, the quality-by-design concept has been widely implemented in the optimization of pharma... more Recently, the quality-by-design concept has been widely implemented in the optimization of pharmaceutical processes to improve batch-to-batch consistency. As flavonoid compounds in pigmented rice bran may provide natural antioxidants, extraction of flavonoid components from red and brown rice bran was optimized using central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM). The examined parameters were temperature, solvent percentage, extraction time, and solvent-to-solid ratio. The highest total flavonoid content (TFC) in red rice bran was predicted as 958.14 mg quercetin equivalents (QE)/100 g dry matter (DM) at 58.5 °C, 71.5% (v/v), 36.2 min, and 7.94 mL/g, respectively, whereas the highest TFC in brown rice bran was predicted as 782.52 mg QE/100 g DM at 56.7 °C, 74.4% (v/v), 36.9 min, and 7.18 mL/g, respectively. Verification experiment results under these optimized conditions showed that the TFC values for red and brown rice bran were 962.38 and 788.21 mg QE/100 g ...

To produce a good quality of tomato, it must be grown in proper media to avoid pests and diseases... more To produce a good quality of tomato, it must be grown in proper media to avoid pests and diseases and to optimize the consumption of agriculture waste material for beneficial crops production. The proper media will be acted as good anchorage to plants and supply nutrients and gaseous exchange to root. Meanwhile, the climate changes also one the serious issue that can reduce the tomato production. The optimum environment inside the greenhouse for the tomato plant to grow well warrants should be investigated. Thus, this study is to investigate the effectiveness of three types of media (coconut coir dust, mixed soil and topsoil) on growth performance and yield of tomato cherry grown under two systems of the greenhouse which are smart greenhouse system (SGS) and conventional greenhouse system (CGS). The experiment was conducted in 2 factorials in a nested design with four replications. Growth performance and the total weight of yield were monitored. Results indicated that the plant heig...

Frontiers in Plant Science

A comprehensive approach using phenomics and global transcriptomics for dissecting plant response... more A comprehensive approach using phenomics and global transcriptomics for dissecting plant response to biostimulants is illustrated with tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Micro-Tom and Rio Grande) plants cultivated in the laboratory, greenhouse, and open field conditions. Biostimulant treatment based on an Ascophyllum nodosum extract (ANE) was applied as a foliar spray with two doses (1 or 2 l ha-1) at three different phenological stages (BBCH51, BBCH61, and BBCH65) during the flowering phase. Both ANE doses resulted in greater net photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, and fruit yield across all culture conditions. A global transcriptomic analysis of leaves from plants grown in the climate chamber, revealed a greater number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with the low ANE dose compared to the greater one. The second and third applications induced broader transcriptome changes compared to the first one, indicating a cumulative treatment effect. The functional enrichment an...

Enrichment of soil fertility with organic amendment offers a new strategy for enhancing soil phys... more Enrichment of soil fertility with organic amendment offers a new strategy for enhancing soil physical properties and improving soil fertility. Application of BioRichar can be a new alternative for adoption of organic banana cultivation in Malaysia. This study was conducted to determine optimum BioRichar rate for growth enhancement of banana cv. Berangan at vegetative stage. The BioRichar was mixed thoroughly with ultisol soil at 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 t/ha, which were equivalent to 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 kg/ polybag (size 16 x 16 inches), respectively. In the experiment, BioRichar at 3.0 t/ha and 4.5 t/ha improved plant growth characteristics significantly including plant height, pseudo-stem diameter, total leaf number and leaf area as compared to control. Application of 4.5 t/ha BioRichar changed total N, P, K, Ca and Mg significantly in leaves. Total N, P, K increased but Ca and Mg content decreased significantly, when BioRichar was applied at higher rate (4.5 t/ha). Meanwhile, proline and MDA contents in leaf tissue were higher in control as compared to BioRichar enriched plants. These findings suggested that optimum growth of banana cv. Berangan could be achieved with BioRichar at 4.5 t/ha applied at vegetative stages during acclimatization period prior to field transplanting.

Frontiers in Plant Science, 2022

This work aimed to study the effects in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) of foliar applications o... more This work aimed to study the effects in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) of foliar applications of a novel calcium-based biostimulant (SOB01) using an omics approach involving transcriptomics and physiological profiling. A calcium-chloride fertilizer (SOB02) was used as a product reference standard. Plants were grown under well-watered (WW) and water stress (WS) conditions in a growth chamber. We firstly compared the transcriptome profile of treated and untreated tomato plants using the software RStudio. Totally, 968 and 1,657 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (adj-p-value < 0.1 and |log2(fold change)| ≥ 1) were identified after SOB01 and SOB02 leaf treatments, respectively. Expression patterns of 9 DEGs involved in nutrient metabolism and osmotic stress tolerance were validated by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) on RT-qPCR results highlighted that the gene expression profiles after SOB01 treatment in dif...

Brassinolide (BR) represents one of the plant growth regulators essential in multiple development... more Brassinolide (BR) represents one of the plant growth regulators essential in multiple developmental processes in plants including cell division, cell elongation and reproductive development. This study was aimed to investigate the best concentration of BR for optimum growth of young banana (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan) tissue culture. The plantlets were foliar sprayed with different concentrations of BR (3, 6 and 12 g/L) at every two weeks intervals. The experiment was arranged as randomised complete block design. The results showed that BR concentration had significant effects on the growth and physiology of Musa sp. cv. Berangan. As the BR concentration increased, plant height, pseudo-stem diameter, total leaf numbers, total leaf area, fresh and dry weight of shoot were markedly increased from week 3 to week 8 after transplanting. The BR-induced plantlets had higher chlorophyll content which contributed to the increased rate of photosynthesis. The root size and distributions were,...

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), Jan 5, 2018

Gingerols and shogaols are compounds found in ginger ( Roscoe); shogaols are found in lower conce... more Gingerols and shogaols are compounds found in ginger ( Roscoe); shogaols are found in lower concentration than gingerols but exhibit higher biological activities. This work studied the effects of different drying methods including open sun drying (OSD) solar tunnel drying (STD) and hot air drying (HAD) with various temperature on the formation of six main active compounds in ginger rhizomes, namely 6-, 8-, and 10-gingerols and 6-, 8-, and 10-shogaols, as well as essential oil content. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of dried ginger was also evaluated. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed that after HAD with variable temperature (120, 150 and 180 °C), contents of 6-, 8-, and 10-gingerols decreased, while contents of 6-, 8-, and 10-shogaol increased. High formation of 6-, 8-, and 10-shogaol contents were observed in HAD (at 150 °C for 6 h) followed by STD and OSD, respectively. OSD exhibited high content of essential oil followed by STD and HAD ...

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), Jan 25, 2018

Since α-mangostin in mangosteen fruits was reported to be the main compound able to provide natur... more Since α-mangostin in mangosteen fruits was reported to be the main compound able to provide natural antioxidants, the microwave-assisted extraction process to obtain high-quality α-mangostin from mangosteen pericarp ( L.) was optimized using a central composite design and response surface methodology. The parameters examined included extraction time, microwave power, and solvent percentage. The antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of optimized and non-optimized extracts was evaluated. Ethyl acetate as a green solvent exhibited the highest concentration of α-mangostin, followed by dichloromethane, ethanol, and water. The highest α-mangostin concentration in mangosteen pericarp of 121.01 mg/g dry matter (DM) was predicted at 3.16 min, 189.20 W, and 72.40% (/). The verification of experimental results under these optimized conditions showed that the α-mangostin value for the mangosteen pericarp was 120.68 mg/g DM. The predicted models were successfully developed to extract α-mangosti...

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), Jan 26, 2018

Recently, the quality-by-design concept has been widely implemented in the optimization of pharma... more Recently, the quality-by-design concept has been widely implemented in the optimization of pharmaceutical processes to improve batch-to-batch consistency. As flavonoid compounds in pigmented rice bran may provide natural antioxidants, extraction of flavonoid components from red and brown rice bran was optimized using central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM). Among the solvents tested, ethanol was most efficient for extracting flavonoids from rice bran. The examined parameters were temperature, solvent percentage, extraction time, and solvent-to-solid ratio. The highest total flavonoid content (TFC) in red rice bran was predicted as 958.14 mg quercetin equivalents (QE)/100 g dry matter (DM) at 58.5 °C, 71.5% (/), 36.2 min, and 7.94 mL/g, respectively, whereas the highest TFC in brown rice bran was predicted as 782.52 mg QE/100 g DM at 56.7 °C, 74.4% (/), 36.9 min, and 7.18 mL/g, respectively. Verification experiment results under these optimized condition...

LEGUME RESEARCH - AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, 2016

Cereal-based forage production could be considered to have potential to supply great deal of ener... more Cereal-based forage production could be considered to have potential to supply great deal of energy-rich feed in animal diets. Experiment was conducted to evaluate effect of corn-soybean combinations of 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75 in addition to monocrops of corn and soybean to detremine forage dry matter (DM) yield and quality in corn-soybean intercropping. The crop combination ratio had significant effects on dry matter yield and nutritive quality of forage. The ratio of 75:25 and 50:50 recorded DM yields similar to those of monocropped corn (14.77 t/ha). Forage quality in terms of crude protein (CP) (75:25 ratio 12.75%, 50:50 ratio 13.73% and 25:75 ratio 14.68%) was improved by intercropping due to higher nitrogen availability for corn in intercropping compared with its sole crop (10.83% CP). Increase ratio of corn in corn-soybean mixture, negatively affectd neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) of forage and declined with increasing ratio of soybean plants. Combin...

Molecules, 2016

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum Linnaeus) is aromatic herb that has been utilized in traditional me... more Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum Linnaeus) is aromatic herb that has been utilized in traditional medicine. To improve the phytochemical constituents and pharmaceutical quality of sweet basil leaves, ultraviolet (UV)-B irradiation at different intensities (2.30, 3.60, and 4.80 W/m 2) and durations (4, 6, 8, and 10-h) was applied at the post-harvest stage. Total flavonoid content (TFC) and total phenolic content (TPC) were measured using spectrophotometric method, and individual flavonoids and phenolic acids were identified using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography. As a key enzyme for the metabolism of flavonoids, chalcone synthase (CHS) activity, was measured using a CHS assay. Antioxidant activity and antiproliferative activity of extracts against a breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) were evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays, respectively. UV-B irradiation at an intensity of 3.60 W/m 2 increased TFC approximately 0.85-fold and also increased quercetin (0.41-fold), catechin (0.85-fold), kaempferol (0.65-fold) rutin (0.68-fold) and luteolin (1.00-fold) content. The highest TPC and individual phenolic acid (gallic acid, cinnamic acid and ferulic acid) was observed in the 3.60 W/m 2 of UV-B treatment. Cinnamic acid and luteolin were not detected in the control plants, production being induced by UV-B irradiation. Production of these secondary metabolites was also significantly influenced by the duration of UV-B irradiation. Irradiation for 8-h led to higher TFC, TPC and individual flavonoids and phenolic acids than for the other durations (4, 8, and 10-h) except for cinnamic acid, which was detected at higher concentration when irradiated for 6-h. Irradiation for 10-h significantly decreased the secondary metabolite production in sweet basil leaves. CHS activity was induced by UV-B irradiation and highest activity was observed at 3.60 W/m 2 of UV-B irradiation. UV-B treated leaves presented the highest DPPH activity and antiproliferative activity with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50) value of 56.0 and 40.8 µg/mL, respectively, over that of the control plants (78.0 and 58.2 µg/mL, respectively). These observations suggest that post-harvest irradiation with UV-B can be considered a promising technique to improve the healthy-nutritional and pharmaceutical properties of sweet basil leaves.

Legume Research - An International Journal, 2016

An experiment was carried out to evaluate influence of different crop combination ratios of corn ... more An experiment was carried out to evaluate influence of different crop combination ratios of corn and soybean in terms of forage yield in corn-soybean intercropping. The experiment compared both corn and soybean as monocultures and in different intercropping ratios from 25:75, 50:50 and 75:25 of corn to soybean. The crop combination ratio had significant effects on physiological traits and dry matter yield of forage. The ratio of 75:25 and 50:50 recorded DM yields similar to those of monocropped corn (14.77 t/ha). Relative yield total (RYT) values of intercropping were higher than that of monocrop corn and soybean. Mixtures with 50:50 combination ratio had higher mean total relative yield values (1.15) in comparison with the other ratios. Land equivalent ratio (LER) increased with corn-soybean intercropping and the highest total LER value was recorded with 50:50 ratio (1.13). The crop ratio of 50:50 gave the best combination based on DM yield, relative yield, LER of the combined forage.

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of forage corn yield to plant densities... more A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of forage corn yield to plant densities and tillage systems in northern Iran. In the experiment a split-plot design was used with tillage treatments as main plots and plant density as subplots. The plant density treatments were 90,000, 110,000 and 130,000 plants per hectare, and different tillage systems included conventional tillage (CT), reduced tillage (RT), minimum tillage (MT) and no-tillage (NT). Plant density affected forage dry matter yield, fresh forage yield, stem diameter, leaf area index, crop growth rate, leaf to stem ratio and cob/whole plant ratio. Leaf area index and crop growth rate increased with increasing plant density. The highest dry matter yield was achieved at the highest plant density (16.5 t ha-1) and the minimum was obtained at the lowest plant density (14.3 t ha-1). Increasing plant density resulted in reduced stem diameter, leaf to stem ratio and cob/whole plant ratio. Tillage systems had significant effects on dry matter yield, fresh forage yield, stem height and number of leaves of forage corn. Conventional tillage and reduced tillage gave similar dry matter yields (17.1 and 16.2 t ha-1) that were significantly greater than in the other two tillage systems (MT 14.6 t ha-1 and NT 13.8 t ha-1). Based on the results, the plant density of 130,000 plants ha-1 using RT system is recommended for forage corn in this area.

PeerJ, Oct 26, 2018

Plants

Frontiers in Plant Science

Frontiers in Plant Science, 2022

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), Jan 5, 2018

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), Jan 25, 2018

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), Jan 26, 2018

Recently, the quality-by-design concept has been widely implemented in the optimization of pharma... more Recently, the quality-by-design concept has been widely implemented in the optimization of pharmaceutical processes to improve batch-to-batch consistency. As flavonoid compounds in pigmented rice bran may provide natural antioxidants, extraction of flavonoid components from red and brown rice bran was optimized using central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM). Among the solvents tested, ethanol was most efficient for extracting flavonoids from rice bran. The examined parameters were temperature, solvent percentage, extraction time, and solvent-to-solid ratio. The highest total flavonoid content (TFC) in red rice bran was predicted as 958.14 mg quercetin equivalents (QE)/100 g dry matter (DM) at 58.5 °C, 71.5% (/), 36.2 min, and 7.94 mL/g, respectively, whereas the highest TFC in brown rice bran was predicted as 782.52 mg QE/100 g DM at 56.7 °C, 74.4% (/), 36.9 min, and 7.18 mL/g, respectively. Verification experiment results under these optimized condition...

LEGUME RESEARCH - AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, 2016

Molecules, 2016

Legume Research - An International Journal, 2016

Corn productivity in tropical low external input systems is usually limited by low soil fertility... more Corn productivity in tropical low external input systems is usually limited by low soil fertility because crop uptake leads to a gradual depletion of soil nutrient stocks. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) plays an important role in the nitrogen budget of cereal/legume mixed culture. Experiment was carried out to investigate chemical, organic and biofertilizer effect on forage production and acetylene reduction activity (ARA) of corn and soybean roots. Seeds of corn and soybean inoculated with biofertilizer and subsequently applied with biofertilizer produced higher rates of ARA compared to those given NPK and chicken manure (CM) without biofertilizers. Acetylene reduction activity varied between fertilizer treatments. Treatments without fertilizer application, biofertilizer and combination of biofertilizer with NPK or CM treatments gave higher values of ARA compared to sole chemical and sole organic manure fertilizers. Inorganic fertilizer (100% NPK) gave the highest DM yield of forage among single fertilizer treatments and it out yielded the chicken manure (100% CM) treatment. However, when CM was combined with NPK (50% CM + 50% NPK) the DM yield of forage was the same as the 100% NPK. The results indicated that increased nitrogen application had an inhibitory effect on nitrogen fixation. It suggests that increased nitrogen supply with the application of fertilizers inhibited nodule formation in soybean roots, which thus reduced ARA.

Corn silage serves as high-energy forage for livestock. This is most important for high-producing... more Corn silage serves as high-energy forage for livestock. This is most important for high-producing livestock and on farms experiencing problems with making or buying high quality forage. A field experiment was conducted in the spring and summer of 2010 at the Research Site of Guilan Province Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center in Rasht, Iran to evaluate effect of different planting density of corn in terms of silage nutritive quality. The plant densities were 90,000, 110,000 and 130,000 plants/ha. Increasing plant density from 90,000 to 130,000 plants ha-1 resulted in decreasing nutritive quality of silage corn. The dry matter digestibility (DMD) and crude protein (CP) declined from the lowest to the highest plant density. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) increased from the lowest to the highest plant density. The reduction in nutritive quality may be attributed to the lower leaf to stem ratio at higher planting density. With the reduced grain yield, plant population above a critical density will have a negative effect on CP and quality of forage corn.

Corn silage has become more popular as high quality silage for ruminant animals around the world.... more Corn silage has become more popular as high quality silage for ruminant animals around the world. Seed proportion of intercropping components is a factor affecting silage quality. An experiment was carried out to evaluate effect of different planting proportions of corn and soybean in terms of silage volatile fatty acids (VFA) profiles. In this experiment, corn-soybean combinations of 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3 in addition to monocrops of corn and soybean were evaluated. The crop planting proportions had significant effects on silage volatile fatty acids of silage. Increase ratio of soybean resulted in an increase in lactic acid and pH of the mixed silage. Sole soybean gave significantly higher lactic acid (3.57%) and pH of silage (4.33) compared to all other treatments but dry matter concentration was significantly higher in corn monocrop silage (34.34%) than other treatments. The propionic acid and butyric acid content of soybean monocrop and intercrops silage were in all cases higher than sole corn silage. Legumes are good source of protein and legumes can be mixed with corn to improve silage quality and, thus, the costs of high quality silage production can be lowered.