Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), commonly known as Holy Basil is a revered herb with a rich history in traditional medicine systems, particularly in Southeast Asia. For its medicinal properties, Tulsi has been regarded as an “Elixir of Life” and has been used to treat various ailments. However, the comprehensive investigation of Tulsi extracts and their potential pharmacological benefits, specifically in relation to antioxidant activity remains limited. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of Tulsi leaf and stem extract using various screening methods. We investigate the antioxidant activity exhibited by the extract using three different methods involved the utilization of the total polyphenol content assay, the ferric reducing power assay and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-14 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. The results revealed that the Tulsi leaf extract (TLE) exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity when compared to the Tulsi stem extract (TSE) in all the performed assays. The higher content of phenolics in TLE may have contributed to its superior antioxidant activity. The HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) analysis of TLE revealed the presence of eugenol, active compound for several therapeutic properties. These findings provide an understanding of the bioactive compounds present in Tulsi extracts and their potential antioxidant benefits.

This study was aimed to isolate bacterial inoculants producing chitinase and evaluate their application effects on corn silage. Four corn silages were collected from four beef cattle farms to serve as the sources of bacterial inoculants. All isolates were tested against Fusarium graminearum head blight fungus MHGNU F132 to confirm their antifungal effects. The enzyme activities (carboxylesterase and chitinase) were also measured to isolate the bacterial inoculant. Based on the activities of anti-head blight fungus, carboxylesterase, and chitinase, L. buchneri L11-1 and L. paracasei L9-3 were subjected to silage production. Corn forage (cv. Gwangpyeongok) was ensiled into a 10 L mini silo (5 kg) in quadruplication for 90 days. A 2 × 2 factorial design consists of F. graminearum contamination at 1.0104 cfu/g (UCT (no contamination) vs. CT (contamination)) and inoculant application at 2.1 × 105 cfu/g (CON (no inoculant) vs. INO (inoculant)) used in this study. After 90 days of ensiling, the contents of CP, NDF, and ADF increased (p<0.05) by F. graminearum contamination, while IVDMD, acetate, and aerobic stability decreased (p<0.05). Meanwhile, aerobic stability decreased (p<0.05) by inoculant application. There were interaction effects (p<0.05) on IVNDFD, NH3-N, LAB, and yeast, which were highest in UCT-INO, UCT-CON, CT-INO, and CT-CON & INO, respectively. In conclusion, this study found that mold contamination could negatively impact silage quality, but isolated inoculants had limited effects on IVNDFD and yeast.

The effects of light intensity and external sucrose on the vase life of cut roses were estimated by monitoring the net photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence. Cut flowers were held under different light intensities 10 (L10) or 50 (L50) μmol‧m-2‧s-1 with or without treatment with external sucrose. We found substantial differences in stomatal conductance, photosynthesis rate, photosystem II (PSII) quantum efficiencies, specific fluxes, and vase life of the cut flowers when exposed to different light intensities. Light intensity at 50 μmol‧m-2‧s-1 increased photosynthesis capacity, thus delaying petal senescence and extending the vase life of cut flowers. L50 flowers maintained a high photosynthetic rate by reducing heat dissipation (DI0/RC) and increasing electron transport (ET0/TR0 and ET0/ABS) in the electron transport chain of the photosynthesis apparatus. The application of external sucrose extended the vase life of cut flowers by improving water balance and sustaining turgor pressure in the petals of the cut flowers. The net rate of photosynthesis of the cut flowers was increased by higher light intensity; however, it was not affected by the application of external sucrose. Our results indicate that the application of external sucrose is necessary to improve the longevity of cut flowers when endogenous sucrose production by photosynthesis is insufficient under low light conditions during the postharvest period. In addition, our results revealed that most of the photosynthetic parameters were significantly correlated with the vase life of cut rose flowers. Moreover, the relation between the rate of photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters indicates that the rise from the basic dark-adapted fluorescence yield to the maximum (OJIP transient) method can be used as a tool for the evaluation and prediction of the photosynthesis rate in cut flowers.

최근 다양한 유기재배 작물의 뿌리를 가해하는 굼벵이류의 피해가 증가하고 있으나, 굼벵이류는 토양 내 발생하는 특징으로 인해 발생시기 및 그 종류에 대한 확인이 어려운 해충이다. 피해를 끼치는 굼벵이의 발생을 파악하기 위해 고구마 유기재배지에 페로몬 트랩을 이용하여 굼벵이의 성충의 종류 및 발생 동향을 조사하였다. 조사지는 무안 유기재배농가와 국립농업과학원 완주군 포장에서 이루어졌다. 3종의 풍뎅이 페로몬 루어를 유인제로 사용하였으 며 6월 초부터 8월 말까지 조사지에 트랩을 설치하여 포획된 풍뎅이를 수집하여 동정을 하였다. 유기재배포장에서 포획된 종은 큰검정풍뎅이, 콩풍뎅이, 청동풍뎅이, 녹색콩풍뎅이, 별줄풍뎅이 등의 풍뎅이와 흰점박이꽃무지 등이 주로 채집되었다. 유기재배 고구마포장에서 풍뎅이 발생소장을 조사한 결과 최대로 발생한 시기는 7월초였다.

본 연구지점은 전라북도 완주군 운주면 고당리에 위치한 왕사봉(300m)의 신갈나무-굴참나무군락으로 주변에 계류가 흐르고 있으며, 소규모 산지와 저수지가 다수 위치해 있다. 또한 인근에 운주계곡 캠핑장이 위치해 있어 인위적 간섭이 잦은 지역이다. 그러므로 산림생태계에서 중요한 역할을 담당하고 있는 곤충 중 하나인 딱정벌레목에 대하여 군집분석을 실시하였다. 조사 방법으로는 직접찾기, 버킷트랩, 함정트랩 을 이용하였으며, 2015년 6월에서 10월까지 매달 1회 채집을 실시하였다. 그 결과 총 24과 70속 88종 417개체의 딱정벌레목을 확인할 수 있었으며, 이 중 붉은칠납작먼지벌레의 우점도가 높은 것으로 나타났다. 군집분석 결과 비교 대상들 간의 우점 정도를 나타내는 지표인 우점도 지수(DI)는 0.434, 군집의 복잡성을 나타내는 다양도 지수(H’)는 3.105으로 확인되었다. 또한 군집 내 종조성의 균일한 정도를 나타내는 종균등도 지수(EI)가 0.693이며 단위 지역에 존재하는 종의 수를 뜻하는 종풍부도 지수(RI)가 14.42로 확인되었다.

In this study, magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were electrochemically synthesized in an aqueous electrolyte at a given potential of -1.3 V for 180 s. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that dendrite-like Fe3O4 nanoparticles with a mean size of < 80 nm were electrodeposited on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The Fe3O4/GCE was utilized for sensing chloramphenicol (CAP) by cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry. A reduction peak of CAP at the Fe3O4/GCE was observed at 0.62 V, whereas the uncoated GCE exhibited a very small response compared to that of the Fe3O4/GCE. The electrocatalytic ability of Fe3O4 was mainly attributed to the formation of Fe(VI) during the anodic scan, and its reduction to Fe(III) on the cathodic scan facilitated the sensing of CAP. The effects of pH and scan rate were measured to determine the optimum conditions at which the Fe3O4/GCE exhibited the highest sensitivity with a lower detection limit. The reduction current for CAP was proportional to its concentration under optimized conditions in a range of 0.09-47 μM with a correlation coefficient of 0.9919 and a limit of detection of 0.09 μM (S/N=3). Moreover, the fabricated sensor exhibited anti-interference ability towards 4-nitrophenol, thiamphenicol, and 4-nitrobenzamide. The developed electrochemical sensor is a cost effective, reliable, and straightforward approach for the electrochemical determination of CAP in real time applications.

Sweet potato whitefly (SPW), Bemisia tabaci, is the most serious pest of greenhouse tomato as a vector of tomato yellow leaf curl virus since 2008 in Jeju. This study was conducted for within-plant distribution of SPW nymphs on leaves and the characteristic of spatial distribution of SPW adults using by yellow-color sticky trap in greenhouse-grown tomato plants. The nymphs of SPW were mainly distributed on leaves of mid-lower stratum in three stratum of tomato plant. They were also more distributed on three to four leaflets from basal part in a leaf. Ten plots and three plants per plot were appropriated to estimate of mean density of SPW nymph using by visual inspection in a tomato greenhouse. The more SPW adults were caught on horizontally placed sticky trap above 50～80 cm than vertically placed sticky trap above tomato canopy. The horizontal direction trap should be placed in opened site. SPW adults were shown the aggregated distribution pattern using by Taylor’s power law (TPL) and Iwao’s patchiness regression (IPR) model which are commonly used for spatial distribution pattern analysis. TPL was showed better description than IPR for spatial distribution pattern of SPW adults. The required number of trap tended to decrease according to increase the mean density of SPW adult

Entomopathogenic fungus Aschersonia aleyrodis naturally occurred on citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri nymph was often observed in organic citrus orchards, Jeju. The genus Aschersonia is also known to be toxic against scale insects and other pests. However, little is known about artificial media for mass production of spores of Aschersonia species. Grains are excellent sources of media for mass conidia production of various entomopathogenic fungi. The yeast extract, which converts carbohydrates to carbon dioxides and alcohols, contains a large amount of vitamin B complexes which facilitate the carbohydrate metabolism. The more yeast extract content the more conidia production on artificial medium made from commercial corn flour and corn gluten feed. The number of conidium produced on oat, millet, sorghum, and unhulled barley medium containing 1% yeast extract were 1.8, 1.8, 1.6, and 2.1×1010/plate (90mm × 15mm), respectively. However, the greatest yeast effect among four media showed appeared on sorghum medium, which produced 25 times higher spore production than sorghum alone. Furthermore, the conidia from solid sorghum medium could be easily harvested with cell scraper.