Active Ingredient

Pesticides are widely used in food production to increase food security despite the fact that they can have negative health effects on consumers. Pesticide residues have been found in various fruits and vegetables; both raw and processed. One of the most common routes of pesticide exposure in consumers is via food consumption. Most foods are consumed after passing through various culinary and processing treatments. A few literature reviews have indicated the general trend of reduction or concentration of pesticide residues by certain methods of food processing for a particular active ingredient. However, no review has focused on combining the obtained results from different studies on different active ingredients with differences in experimental designs, analysts and analysis equipment. In this paper, we present a metaanalysis of response ratios as a possible method of combining and quantifying effects of food processing on pesticide residue levels. Reduction of residue levels was indicated by blanching, boiling, canning, frying, juicing, peeling and washing of fruits and vegetables with an average response ratio ranging from 0.10 to 0.82. Baking, boiling, canning and juicing indicated both reduction and increases for the 95% and 99.5% confidence intervals.

ABSTRACT Objective To investigate the antimicrobial properties of Ficus pseudopalma (F. pseudopalma) leaf extracts. Methods The antibacterial properties of F. pseudopalma Blanco crude ethanolic leaf extract, and its solvent fractions chloroform (CF), ethylacetate (EF) and water fractions were evaluated through antibacterial agar disc diffusion method and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined. Five Gram-positive and five Gram-negative bacteria were used for the study. Results The zone of inhibitions obtained from the antibacterial agar diffusion disc method showed that CF, and EF exhibited active (14-19 mm) antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis UST CMS 1011, and partially active (10-13 mm) antibacterial properties against both Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228. Water exhibited no antibacterial properties against all microorgranisms tested. The MIC values observed for all Gram-positive bacteria tested were >5 mg/mL, except for Bacillus subtilis whose MIC value was 5 mg/mL for CF and EF fractions. All extracts exhibited no antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria. Conclusions From this study, it can be concluded that F. pseudopalma extracts may be a potential antibacterial agent against Gram-positive bacteria. The antibacterial property may be attributed to flavonoids and terpenoids present in the crude ethanolic extract, CF and EF.

Maize-based cropping systems (MBCSs), with different frequency of maize in the crop sequence, are common in European arable systems. Pesticide use differs according to the type of active ingredients and target organisms in different regions. Within the EU Network of Excellence ENDURE, two expert-based surveys were conducted focusing on four European study regions where experts were asked to identify MBCSs in their region, determine the current crop protection practices, propose advanced practices against major pests, weeds and diseases, and evaluate the potential agronomic, environmental, economic and social impact of innovative Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools on the sustainability of MBCSs. In the northern region (Denmark and The Netherlands), maize is mostly cultivated as non-irrigated continuous silage maize or rotated with grass, while in the central-eastern region the major systems are nonirrigated continuous grain maize (Tolna county, Hungary) or grain maize grown in rotation with winter wheat, oilseed rape and sunflower (Békés county, Hungary). In the south-western (Ebro Valley, Spain) and southern (Po Valley, Italy) regions, continuous and irrigated grain maize, as well as irrigated grain and silage maize/winter wheat rotations are prevalent. Differences in current and proposed advanced crop protection practices for MBCSs were identified between regions due to specific pest, weed and disease problems. The tolerant/resistant non-GM maize cultivars, early detection methods, pest and disease forecasting models, precision/patch spraying using GPS spray maps and the community-based decisions through information sharing were commonly recommended for innovative IPM implementation in all regions. Deviations in the recommendations between regions were mainly caused by differences in the evaluation of economic or social impact of some tools (i.e. innovative mechanical weeding). Applied multi-disciplinary research and farmer incentives to encourage the adoption of innovative IPM strategies are essential for sustainable MBCSs development in Europe. The introduction of innovative tools into IPM strategies can contribute significantly to addressing the EU's strategic commitment to the sustainable use of pesticides and, consequently, more environmentally sustainable MBCSs.

Alkannin and shikonin (A/S) are potent pharmaceutical substances with a wide spectrum of biological properties and comprise the active ingredients of several pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations, and are used as food colorants. From a structural point of view, A/S bear both the quinone (naphthoquinone) and the phenolic moiety. Several hydroquinone compounds have been studied for their antioxidant effects, but very little is known about alkannin and Alkanna tinctoria root extracts that contain several naphthoquinone derivatives (mainly alkannin esters). The antioxidant activity of A/S and their derivatives, bearing both the quinone and the hydroquinone moiety, was studied in this paper. Several oils and fats were used as oil substrates for the antioxidant assay, namely, lard, corn oil, olive oil and sunflower oil.

This article summarizes the proceedings of a symposium that was organized and chaired by Richard Longabaugh and presented at the 2004 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The aim of the presentation was to focus on evidence for the active ingredients of behavioral therapies for patients with alcohol use disorders. Dennis M. Donovan, PhD, reviewed evidence for the active ingredients of cognitive behavioral therapy. Barbara S. McCrady, PhD, presented a conceptual model for mechanisms of change in alcohol behavior couples therapy and reviewed evidence for this model. J. Scott Tonigan, PhD, presented data testing three hypothesized mechanisms of change in twelvestep facilitation treatment. Mitchell P. Karno, PhD, presented therapy process data that tested whether matching therapist behaviors to client attribute across three therapies affected drinking outcomes. Jon Morgenstern served as discussant.

Electrospun fiber mats are explored as drug delivery vehicles using tetracycline hydrochloride as a model drug. The mats were made either from poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (PEVA), or from a 50:50 blend of the two. The fibers were electrospun from chloroform solutions containing a small amount of methanol to solubilize the drug. The release of the tetracycline hydrochloride from these new drug delivery systems was followed by UV-VIS spectroscopy. ® Release profiles from the electrospun mats were compared to a commercially available drug delivery system, Actisite (Alza Corporation, Palo Alto, CA), as well as to cast films of the various formulations.