Scientific program

Mar 19-20, 2020    London, UK

Emerging Trends In Plant Science And Natural Products Research

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Keynote Forum

Ravi Sharma
09:00 AM-09:45 AM

Ravi Sharma

India

Title: Ecological Impacts of Climate Change on Children and Women

Abstract:

Children and women are the very important entities of our society so their health, growth and nourishment needs to be looked after and handled with proper care to protect them from the ripple effects of climate change influencing everything from air quality to water contamination and food safety. Children and women are highly vulnerable both to physical trauma, stress, drowning, displacement and infectious diseases due to extreme weather and climate events posing serious threats to their health and welfare as climate change has the potential to influence the earth's biological systems with rampant vector-borne, water-borne and food-borne diseases. Children are more vulnerable than adults in disaster situations because they rely on others to care for them and also need specialized medical care during and after disasters because of their size and their differences in bodily systems, immunity and psychology. Children are affected more by climate change than adults do as children breathe, eat, and drink more for their size compared to adults as children’s body systems are still developing, spend more time outdoors, play low to the ground and put objects in their mouths increasing their exposure to harmful chemicals and pollutants. Besides children, women are more vulnerable than men to climate change as women make up the majority of the worlds’ poor and are more dependent than men on natural resources for their livelihoods and survival because of their responsibility to secure water, food and energy for cooking and heating. In times of food shortage their health is more likely to suffer than their male counterparts because women are often the first to reduce how much they eat sacrificing their diets for other family members. Early childbearing, high fertility and the malnourishment are associated with poor health increases women's vulnerability to spread of diseases and infections to adapt to climate change.

Biography:

Ravi Sharma, studied at St. Vincent's School Agra (1954-1958 passed V Std.), M.D. Jain Inter College, Agra (1958-1963 did High School); St. John's College, Agra (1963-1967 passed Inter (1965), B.Sc. (1967)); Agra College, Agra (1967-1969 (Passed MSc Botany), 1982 completed PhD Botany) later taught Botany to College Students at Agra College, Agra (1969-1970); K.R. College Mathura (1970-2011); Worked as Principal/Director Ess Ess College of Education, Dayalbagh, Agra (1-7-2011 t0 15.4.2014) and produced 15 Ph.D. students on various aspects of Eco-physiology dealing with saltstress, air, water and soil pollution. At present busy in my D.Sc. work besides engaged in writing books on Cell and Molecular Biology of Plants; Plant Physiology and Metabolism and Nutritional Disorders in Plants. Associated with various National and International professional societies

Peter J Leggo
09:45 AM-10:30 AM

Peter J Leggo

Belgium

Title: The Organo-Zeolitic Bio-fertilizer: A New Approach to Plant Nutrition

Abstract:

The adoption of a biological method of plant nutrition has proved to be extremely efficient.  The method does not involve the use of chemical salts as used in traditional plant fertilizers.  These fertilizers used over some 80 years has had a deleterious effect on soil health due to the diffusion of the salts used which often lead to over application.  The new approach to improve soil health and plant growth uses natural crushed zeolite rock and organic waste as a soil amendment. This material supplies nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium together with minor and trace elements which are essential and beneficial to plant growth. Zeolite minerals are well known to adsorb ammonium ions which are provided by the decomposition of the organic component.  When the organo-zeolitic mixture is added to a soil the ammonium ions are replaced by soil Potassium. The slow release of the ammonium ions are oxidised by Crenarcheota, a soil micro-organism that is now known to be the most prevalent ammonium oxidizing microbe in the soil environment.  This behaviour provides a gradual accumulation of nitrate in an ionic condition that can be accepted by the growing plant.  In this way there is very little access nitrate to diffuse into the soil and with phosphorus supplied from the organic waste and potassium, available from the soil. the three major nutritional elements (NPK) are present. As the process of nitrification, involves enzymes which produce hydrogen in the form of hydronium ions that are very reactive, releasing a range of elements from the soil which provide minor element ions, in trace quantities, required for strong plant growth. The organic component maintains an adequate supply of carbon which is lost in the long-term use of traditional chemical fertilizers. The presence of soil carbon is essential for soil health as its reduction results in loss of soil structure and water holding capacity, resulting in a fragile soil which is prone to transportation by wind and rain. The dust bowls of the Midwest of the USA are a spectacular example of this effect.  Thus the adoption of the organo-zeolitic-soil system, in countries that benefit from the presence of economic deposits of zeolitic tuff, is a step forward in arable farming and the phytoremediation of contaminated land as well as the production of fuel crops on such land and the improvement of marginal farmland.

Biography:

Graduated from the University of St.Andrews, Scotland after a four year Honours Geology degree course in 1959.  Gained Ph.D degree from University of Bristol graduating in geology and mineralogy in 1963.  Joined Australia National University to work on isotope geochronology, 1963-65.  Continued this work during a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Leeds,1965-68.  Accepted Professorship at the Department of Geology, University of Florida, USA and later at the Department of Environmental Studies, University of Virginia, USA.  On return to the UK  in 1995 became interested in natural zeolites which led to current work on biological plant fertilizers at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

Speakers

Alice Aav
11:00 AM-11:30 AM

Alice Aav

Estonia

Title: Impact of pre-treatments and ultrasound technology on polyphenolic compounds extracted from potato peels

Abstract:

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L: Solanaceae family) is an important food crop throughout the world and is widely used as a raw material to produce starch, potato chips, fries, flour, etc. Agricultural land under potato production has decreased throughout years in Estonia, being over 5.3 thousand ha in 2019. Majority of the food products utilize peeled potatoes, which leaves behind a great amount of potato peels as a waste. Effective management and disposal of potato peels is necessary to avoid environmental pollution. To overcome this, it is necessary that potato peel waste is used for value addition. Potato peels, a good source for bioactive compounds, mainly contain polyphenolic compounds such as phenolic acids, chlorogenic acid, flavonoids, flavanols and anthocyanins. These compounds possess many health benefits to humans. Green extraction techniques, such as ultrasound-assisted extraction, are expected to preserve the extracted compounds and retain their pharmacological characteristics. In this paper, results will be presented on the effects of different pre-treatment technologies, applied to potato peels prior to standardizing and commending ultrasound assisted extraction process of polyphenolic compounds.

Biography:

Alice Aav is a lecturer and a researcher in Estonian University of Life Sciences. She holds PhD in plant pathology. Her main teaching topics are plant-based raw materials and plant-based food technologies. Her research work is based on sustainable food production technologies and valorisation of agricultural- and food by-products using novel and “green technologies”. The main crop for her research has been potato. She has also worked with entrepreneurs, developing new plant-based food products for marketing purposes.

Sajjad Akhtar
11:30 AM-12:00 PM

Sajjad Akhtar

Pakistan

Title: Heritability and expression of Fe and Zn and their bioavailability in South African maize under low N stress conditions

Abstract:

Iron (Fe) deficiency affects 4-5 billion people in the world while zinc (Zn) deficiency affects 49% of the world population, especially in low-income countries. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to assess heritability and expression of Fe and Zn and their bioavailability in maize under abiotic stress and optimal conditions. Maize germplasm provided by the GCI-ARC Potchefstroom was screened for Fe and Zn content and nine parents (three males and six females) were selected for low, medium and high Fe and Zn concentration. These parents were grown at Makhathini Research Station and crossed in a line × tester (6 × 3) design, and 18 hybrids were generated. These hybrids along with parents were planted in Potchefstroom, Vaalharts and Cedara under optimum and low N conditions using an alpha lattice design with three replications. Combined analysis of variance revealed that genotype and location significantly affected the expression of Zn under low N conditions and expression of Fe under optimal conditions. Genotype by location interaction was significant for phytic acid contents under both abiotic stress and optimum conditions. The range of Fe, Zn and phytic acid contents under low N conditions was 11.25-19.25 mg/kg; 12.88 -24.39 mg/kg; 4.49 -6.74 µmol/ml, and under optimum conditions 11.87-16.77 mg/kg; 17.02-21.63 mg/kg; and 4.29 -5.78 µmol/ml, respectively. SMH1 maize hybrid had high Fe (18.38 mg/kg) and Zn (15.73 mg/kg) and low phytic acid (4.82 µmol/ml), indicating high bioavailability in humans, under low N conditions. SMH18 maize hybrid had high Fe (15.63 mg/kg), Zn (20.38 mg/kg) and low phytic acid (4.29 µmol/ml) under optimum conditions. The heritability of Fe and Zn under low N conditions was 47% and 21% and under optimal conditions it was 52% and 44%, respectively, indicating that low N conditions significantly reduced heritability of zinc.

Biography:

Sajjad Akhtar is a Plant Breeder by profession and works with one of the private College as lecturer in life sciences in Pakistan. He holds a MSc (Hons) in Plant Breeding and Genetics and currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Plant Breeding at Department of Plant Sciences (Plant Breeding), university of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Sajjad has 1-year experience of research at public research institute in Pakistan. He has presented an abstract on heritability of Fe and Zn in plant breeding symposium of South African Plant Breeders association in Durban, South Africa. Sajjad grew up in one of the remote villages of Pakistan and is passionate to conduct research on biofortification in future.

Workshop

Kitiyaporn Pongpratead
12:00 PM-01:00 PM

Title: Screening of plant extracts for green synthesis of Ag Nanoparticles

Abstract:

One of the most famous areas is nanotechnology because its application is available for several research. Especially, metal nanoparticles (MNPs) can be developed for biofuel cells, ion batteries, medical field, and sensing device. The MNPs are nanosized metals (1-100nm) that have optoelectronic and biochemical characteristics. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are one of the most attractive materials because of various applications including pharmaceutics, textile industries, and agriculture. Green synthesis is integrated in production of AgNPs to sustain and save for environments. Therefore, the plant extracts for AgNPs synthesis are promising methods and low cost. In this work, we have tried to synthesize AgNPs by Thai local plant extract to apply for detection of heavy metal. Roselle, butterfly pea, and turmeric have been chosen to test the characteristics of AgNPs. For preparation of plant extracts, 10 grams of all plants are dried and boiled with 100 mL deionized water and absolute ethanol for 30 min. All boiled plant extracts were cooled down and filtered with filter paper. For preparation of AgNPs, 2 mL of plant extracts were added to 10mL of 1mM AgNO3 solution. The reaction (reduction of Ag+ ions to Ag0) was tested at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 24 hours by UV-Vis absorption spectra. In addition, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to compare the images of the AgNPs obtained after 24 hours of reaction.

Biography:

Kitiyaporn Pongpratead is the lecturer in physical chemistry at department of applied sciences and engineering. The educational background in chemistry and physical chemistry for bachelor and doctoral degree, respectively. After graduation, she was a postdoctoral researcher at University of Strathclyde in UK for 3 years. She also got the research scholar for 2 years in Michigan State University. Then, she got the permanent job in Thailand as the lecturer in Khonkaen University, Nong Khai campus. Her research is about computational chemistry of biomolecular system for drug design. In addition, she works about the environmental chemistry that involve with the waste water treatment and waste water analysis.

Keynote Forum

Girma Demissie
09:00 AM-09:45 AM

Girma Demissie

Ethiopia

Title: Evaluation of quality protein maize inbred lines for resistance to maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera: curculionidae) and other important agronomic traits

Abstract:

Maize is the most important crop in Ethiopia since it is a staple food crop which is widely grown by most smallholder farmers. The necessity to increase maize production cannot be over emphasized; in Ethiopia it ranks first in terms of production, productivity, number of producers and next to teff in area coverage. Subsistence maize farming accounts for more than 95% of the total maize area and production, with 75% of all maize produced being consumed by the farming household. Despite its high productivity, maize grain is a poor source of balanced protein for human consumption. QPM is a variety of maize with elevated levels of the amino acids tryptophan and lysine, which translates to a nutritionally-beneficial protein quality of double typical maize. This fact allows QPM maize to have an impact on the nutrition of families subsisting on diets consisting mainly of maize. Maize weevil is the cause of major storage loss and significantly affects household food security of the small-holder sector in Ethiopia. It can cause great losses to the grains, quantitatively and qualitatively. In Ethiopia grain loss between 20 and 30 % is common. Under severe infestations and inadequate control measures, maize weevil can cause up to 100% loss of stored grain after 6–8 months of storage. Although synthetic pesticides can control it, majority of communal farmers are resource-poor and have no means and proper skills to acquire and handle them. Moreover, pesticides are expensive and pose health problems to consumers due to their toxicity. Host plant resistance is user friendly and ecologically sound alternative as the technology is embedded in the seed. This study was undertaken to evaluate resistance in 28 quality protein maize (QPM) inbred lines against Sitophilus zeamais infestation and their important agronomic attributes, and consequently their value for use in breeding programs to develop resistant QPM hybrids. Susceptibility index (SI) was used to categorize lines in to different susceptibility group. Out of the 28 inbred lines tested, one inbred line (CML-142) was resistant, three (CML-144/144-7-b (F2)-4-2-1-1-1-1-1, POOL 15QPFS-693-B-2-B-#-B-B-B-# and CML-149) were moderately resistant and the remaining 24 inbred lines were categorized as susceptible to highly susceptible. Importantly, those inbred lines that are resistant and moderately resistant had better yield potentials as compared to the susceptible ones. These resistant and moderately resistant inbred lines showed considerable reduction in grain damage and losses for S. zeamais, suggesting that they contained genes that confer resistance to the pest. Correlations between kernel size, breadth and texture with some important susceptibility parameters were found to be significant, indicating possible influence of these factors together with others in determining the susceptibility of the inbred lines to S. zeamais. Identification of QPM lines resistant to S. zeamais in the present study offers an opportunity for developing QPM hybrid with enhanced resistance to S. zeamais.

Biography:

Girma Demissie is an agricultural entomologist by profession and working for Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Holetta Agricultural Research Center. He received his BSc and MSc from Haramaya University, and received his PhD from Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, India. Since 2002, he has researched on maize entomology at Bako. He was in charge of the maize entomology research projects conducted at national level from 2002-2011. From 2008 to 2011 he was served as country coordinator of CIMMYT funded “Insect Resistant Maize for Africa” project. From 2016 to May 2018 he was served as coordinator of ICIPE funded Integrated Termite Management project. Since 2017 he has also been serving as coordinator of FAO and PRC funded Fall Armyworm research projects. In addition to his professional expertise he was served as Director of Bako National Maize Research Center from Feb. 2015 to Feb. 2018. He has wide ranging experience in administering, leading and coordinating several research projects. Besides he has good skills in establishing strong partnership with various national and international stakeholders in obtaining grants, collaborative research work and capacity building. Dr. Girma has been doing substantial research on maize protection and authored or co-authored several proceedings and over 18 publications in peer reviewed referred journals.

Halah Al-Haideri
09:45 AM-10:30 AM

Title: Occurrence and Persistence of antibiotic in drinking water treatment plants

Abstract:

Globally, antibiotics have been efficiently used for human treatment as well as veterinary therapy. The extensive use of antibiotics in agriculture, animal farming, aquacultures, and the release of un-absorbed antibiotics from human and animal leads to persistence of minute amount of antibiotics in different drinking water sources. The majority of pharmaceutical residues are come from healthcare facilities, industries, plants, soils and sludge, which in turn increase the selective pressure of microbial community and water contamination. Most notably that, some unused pharmaceuticals are usually thrown to the sewage system to be removed; nevertheless, if these antibiotics are not eliminated or degraded properly, they will directly move to the surface water, ground water, and drinking water. There are different ways to eliminate the antibiotics from waste water such as oxidation, biodegradation, sorption and photo-degradation, however, not all antibiotics were completely treated, it may release into the natural waters. This is mostly due to the versatile nature of these pharmaceuticals and to their weak degradability and high water solubility, which make it easily pass across the membrane through filtration steps and reach to the drinking water. Different types of antibiotics can be detected in different environments between and within countries, based on the patterns of antibiotic consumption, environmental behavior of antibiotics and environmental parameters. Amongst antibiotics, tetracycline, fluoroquinolone and ciprofloxacin, sulfanomide, were the most detectable antibiotics in different drinking water sources worldwide at ng L-1 to low level of µg L-1.  Because of they are ubiquitous in nature, antibiotics and their derivatives represent a broad spectrum of physico-chemical and biological properties based on environmental physical parameters such as pH, which can be a good indicator for antibiotics behavior in different pH values. In this review, we will stand with the main sources of antibiotic distribution in different drinking water sources in several countries, as well as, water pollution, and the potential effect of antibiotics on natural microbial communities.

Biography:

Halah Haitham Al-Haideri is a fellowship PhD lecturer in the University of Baghdad, College of Science for Women, Department of Biology. Graduated from University of Sheffield, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Department, UK. She holds a BSc and MSc from the University of Baghdad, College of Science for Women in Biology. Mainly works in the laboratory of Microbiology and Molecular biology, in terms of host-pathogen interaction, microbial physiology and metabolism, proteomes, Microbial treatment of water and water quality, antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides, the effect of antibiotics on natural environment. She has 18 yrs of practical works in total, by which 4 years as a postgraduate supervisor. She attended 4 conferences in UK as both poster presentation and oral presentation in Manchester, Nottingham and Liverpool, as well as in Iraq/ Baghdad. She published 6 papers and has more than 18 acknowledgment letters.  

Speakers

Reelika Ratsep
11:00 AM-11:30 AM

Reelika Ratsep

Estonia

Title: Natural bioactive compounds from Nordic viticultural by-products and wastes

Abstract:

Bioactive compounds and their activity in plant produce can be directly affected by many factors starting from climatic conditions up to the processing technologies adopted. Available reports indicate Nordic fruits and berries to be rich in bioactive compounds, owed mainly to varied growing conditions like variations in light and temperatures during different stages of fruit ripening. Grapevine cultivation in Estonia has tremendously increased during the past decade and has gained popularity because of the availability of suitable cultivars for the Nordic climate. Moreover, in the spotlight of sustainable food production, grapevine cultivation could provide great possibilities for full valorization of plant biomass, because the pests and diseases of grapevines have not spread yet due to cooler temperatures. Therefore, the biomass in cooler climate is cleaner from plant protection chemicals and more suitable for using in purpose of natural products. Fortification of natural bioactive compounds into different food products, food supplements or natural cosmetics is an increasing trend. In fruits and berries, the most abundant bioactive compounds are polyphenols including natural pigments such as anthocyanins which are mainly present in red-colored plant parts. Polyphenolic compounds are well established antioxidants which imparts positive health effects in humans by binding free radicals released in cells during metabolic processes. Wine making by-products (grape marc, wine lees) and young shoots, woody canes and leaves obtained via vine canopy management still remains underutilized. In the present work, preliminary and interesting results obtained on the processing of by-products and wastes of viticultural origin obtained using green technologies will be presented.

Biography:

Reelika Rätsep is a young fellow researcher on sustainable food production in ERA-Chair VALORTECH and a researcher on bioactive compounds of horticultural crops in Competence Centre for Knowledge-Based Health Goods and Natural Products of Polli Horticultural Research Centre in Estonia. She has 4 years of practice in horticultural private sector while she pursued her Master degree in Horticulture. Dr. Rätsep defended her PhD in Agriculture in 2016 on the topic of grapevine and strawberry fruit quality affected by cultivation technologies. In her research, she has particular interest in biochemical composition in different fruit and berry cultures as well as the most recent goal is to investigate the possibilities for valorisation of local plant-based production by-products and food wastes using green technologies and “zero waste” concept.

Meriem Amrane
11:30 AM-12:00 PM

Meriem Amrane

Algeria

Title: Valorisation of Opuntia ficus indica oil and residue: Optimization of phenolic compounds extraction, antioxidant activities study

Abstract:

Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica, OFI), commonly known as prickly pear, belongs to the Cactaceae family. Originated in Mexico, it was introduced into the Mediterranean countries at the beginning of the sixteenth century. These plants grow wild in arid and semi-arid regions, where the production of more succulent food plants is severely limited. The margarine industry has several problems, the oxidation of the lipids is one of the major issues because oxidation is responsible for reducing the nutritional and sensory quality of food. This study was carried out to optimize Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (USAE) process and assess the possibility of use OFI seeds as natural antioxidant additives in food. Opuntia ficus indica oil and residue seeds were analyzed for phytochemical contents and antioxidant activities. Moreover, the optimal conditions for microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (USAE) of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity radical DPPH from prickly pear seeds residue were investigated using response surface methodology (RSM). The models were verified and validated and the interactions between the factors were studied. High-performance Liquid Chroma-tography (HPLC) analysis at MAE and USAE optimized conditions revealed the presence of 8 and 9 phenolic compounds respectively, which were then identified and quantified. The effect of MAE and USAE on the cell surface change of OFI seeds residue powder was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Both OFI oil and residue seeds give high oxidative stability, hence it was an alternative to the synthetic antioxidant in the margarine.

Biography:

Meriem AMRANE is a PhD student at Bejaia University (Algeria). Holds a degree in Food Science (Food Engineering, Food, and Medicine; Specialty: Food Analysis and Instrumental Analysis). and a master's degree in Biotechnology, Agro-resources Food and Nutrition. His research focuses on photochemical compounds (extraction, biological activities, and bioavailability of these molecules) with the collaboration of Analytical Chemistry Laboratory of Aragon Research Institute (I3A) of Zaragoza University (Spain) and University of Lisbon (Portugal). Furthermore, she works with the collaboration of Department of Environment and Biological Sciences, A. Mira University on in vivo and in vitro pest control. She participated in several national and international congress on the valorization of the prickly pear.