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Soil and foliar application are the most widely used methods for adding micronutrients to maize. High quality micronutrient fertilizers, however, are difficult to obtain in developing countries; micronutrient seed coatings are an attractive and practical alternative. We applied this approach to maize (Zea mays L.) to demonstrate the effects of boron (B), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo) and zinc (Zn) sulfates on maize germination, vigor, seedling growth, seed yield and seed quality as well as on seed microelement concentration. Seed coating was tested on three representative Chinese soil types (sandy, purple and lime soils). Compared to untreated controls, coating maize seeds with micronutrients significantly increased the seed emergence rate, seedling height, leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, main root length, root number, above ground fresh biomass, above ground dry biomass, underground fresh biomass, underground dry biomass, ear thickness and yield in sandy, purple and lime soils. Coating maize seeds with micronutrients also significantly increased the yield and quality of maize seed compared to untreated controls including ear barren tip, ear length, ear thickness, grains/row, hundred seed weigh, and rows/ear. Also, B, Zn, Fe, Mn and Mo microelements accumulated in maize seed after coating the seed with micronutrients. Our findings indicate that micronutrient seed coating may improve nutrient uptake and production of maize hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fig fruits (Ficus caricaL.) are an excellent source of phenolic compounds. However, the presence of free sugars affects the quality of phenolic compounds. In this study, aqueous two-phase system was selected for purification of the phenolic compounds. The optimization of system parameters rendered conditions (ethanol 18% (w/w), K2HPO425% (w/w), temperature 10-30ºC, and sample loading 3% (w/w)), under which more than 75% of phenolic compounds and 95% sugars were respectively recovered in the top and bottom phase. Moreover, some specific phenolic compounds content was enhanced and relatively high antioxidant activity was found after the purification process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Clove oil and citronella oil from China were selected to evaluate their potential as skin-care ingredients. The gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) results showed that the main component of clove oil was eugenol, while citronellal was the main compound of citronella oil. Clove oil exhibited prominent free radical scavenging activities (ic50: 58 μg/mL for O2−· and 8.5 μg/mL for ABTS+·) and strong inhibitory effect on lipid peroxidation, whilst citronella oil showed weaker antioxidative activities (ic50: 150 μg/mL for O2−· and 500 μg/mL for ABTS+·) and lipid peroxidation inhibitory efficiency. In addition, both oils revealed dose-dependence in protecting bovine serum albumin against UV–TiO2–NO2− induced protein oxidation and tyrosine nitration injury. This study suggests that both clove oil and citronella oil could be used as new source of skin-care ingredient in the cosmetic industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Litsea cubebaessential oil (LCEO) is widely used as a flavor enhancer in cosmetics and as a folk skin-care agent in southern China. The objective of this paper is to investigate whether LCEO has biological activities that might be useful in modern skin-protection formulations. The present study results revealed that citral (57.4%) was a major component, while LCEO exhibited a potent inhibitory effect on tyrosinase (IC50values 100 μg/mL), good antioxidative activities (IC50: 17.75 mg/mL for ABTS+., 10.2 mg/mL for O2−), and apparent protective effect against UV–TiO2–NO2−-induced protein oxidation at 0.01 mg/mL and tyrosine nitration at 0.1 mg/mL. Additionally, the biological activities of LCEO were compared with that of its main constituents. The results demonstrated that any individual major component was not the unique contributor to the high activity of LCEO. Based on these results, we suggested that LCEO could serve as a new natural skin-whitening agent. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]