Abstract
Multiple cropping systems are characterized by high plant species diversity, closed cycling of nutrients, reduced pest incidence, erosion control, low but stable yields, and an intensive exploitation of limited land resources. Used on small farms in Latin America for centuries, bean-maize systems provide a source of income and a balanced diet for the farm family. Limited technology has reached this sector of the agricultural population, and new research reveals an impressive potential for improving yields in the bean-maize cropping system.
Abstract
Dietitians and nutritionists have included vegetables among 4 of the 7 basic food groups used in planning meals. Because of the variety and quantity of vegetables we are able to furnish in this country, either fresh or processed, it is an easy task to prepare a well-balanced diet without too much concern for the differences in composition among vegetable types. It is no wonder, then that until very recently little attention has been directed to the differences which exist within vegetable types.
Abstract
It is tempting to overemphasize the role of horticultural crops in man's diet. Horticultural crops rank a poor second after the cereal grains as an energy source (Table 1) (5). It is clear that roots and tubers, fruits, nuts and vegetables contribute less than a third of the dietary calories supplied by the cereal grains. There are several factors which deserve consideration in interpreting these data.
Abstract
Man has depended upon fresh commodities for proper nutrition. However, history reveals that early voyages stopped abruptly upon the exhaustion of the fresh food supply, armies starved as their rations spoiled and became depleted, and settlers died during the winter months due to an insufficient supply of nutritious foods. In order to provide an adequate diet the year around, deterioration of the perishable foodstuffs had to be eliminated. Thus, the beginning and justification of modern food processing.
. 41 3 212 217 10.1016/j.jneb.2008.06.002 Perez-Lizaur, A.B. Kaufer-Horwitz, M. Plazas, M. 2008 Environmental and personal correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption in low income, urban Mexican children J. Hum. Nutr. Diet. 21 1 63 71 O’Brien, S
The current national trends in nutrition have resulted in a very high interest in the benefits of proper diet. It is very apparent that adding foods high in antioxidants to the human diet can have drastic affects on human health by reducing the risk of cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, as well as age-related degenerative diseases. It is well-known and well-documented that spinach is one of the very best vegetables in antioxidant potential. It is high in beta-carotene (provitamin A) and is also very high in lutein (a carotenoid that is a strong antioxidant but with no vitamin A activity). Lutein has also been documented to have the potential to significantly reduce macular degeneration in humans when added to the diet on a regular basis. With these health benefits in mind the Univ. of Arkansas is releasing the spinach breeding line that has been tested as 88-310. It is a slow-growing semi-savoy that exhibits excellent color and has a moderate level of white rust resistance. It has excellent plant type, producing a very attractive compact rosette plant that is very desirable for root cut whole plants or for various types of clipped spinach. It is best-suited to both fall and overwinter production in Arkansas and for winter production in the Texas wintergarden. Seed for tests can be obtained by contacting T.E. Morelock, Dept. of Horticulture, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701.
Abstract
Semi-purifled extracts of phenolics from foliage of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) inhibit larval growth of the fruitworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), when added to artificial diets for this insect pest. The degree of inhibition of growth (dose-response) is directly related to the quantity of total phenolics in extracts added to diets, whether the extracts are of equivalent amounts of foliage from different cultivars or of foliage pooled from several cultivars added in serial dilution. Dose-responses for extracts were equal to those obtained with pure chlorogenic acid or rutin, major phenolic constituents of tomato foliage. Also, equivalent quantities of phenolics from 5 different cultivars inhibited larval growth equally when added to diets. These 3 sets of observations show that isolated tomato foliar phenolics affect H. zea larvae quantitatively, with no measurable qualitative differences between cultivars. When 2nd instar larvae were reared on excised leaflets from several cultivars of field-grown tomatoes, significant differences in larval growth between cultivars were obtained, which were consistent through two years. However, significant relationships between foliar phenolic content and larval growth were not obtained, partially because of the highly variable nature of phenolic content within and between plants. Our results suggest that phenolics in tomato foliage at the minimum contribute a substantial background level of antibiosis to H. zea.
Journal Paper no. J-15736 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Expt. Station, Ames. Project no. 3229. Technical assistance of J. Dieter and K. Lappegard is gratefully acknowledged. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in part
We thank Monika Möhler, Kurt Ehm, Wolfgang Meyer, and Erhardt Sonnenkalb for providing fruit samples, Ruth Richter and Matthias Hinz for technical assistance, Stefanie Peschel for useful discussion, Dieter Reese for building experimental equipment
Abstract
Urban Horticulture is a new area of scientific horticulture concerned with functional uses of plants to maintain and improve urban environments. “Functional uses” means that plants are used not only for beauty and ornamentation, but also as screens against wind, headlights, and unpleasant views, to influence climate, perhaps to reduce noise and combat forms of air pollution, for essential food and variation in human diet, and to improve the human psyche in densely populated areas. The constituent audiences for urban horticulture are people who utilize plants, primarily in landscape situations, including landscape maintenance and parks personnel, landscape architects, arborists, highway planters, nursery contractors, members of plant societies, and amateur horticulturists.