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During postharvest life, intracellular sugar insufficiency accompanied by insufficient intracellular ATP and NADPH supply, intracellular ROS overaccumulation along with intracellular ABA accumulation arising from water shortage could be responsible for accelerating fruits and vegetables deterioration through promoting SnRK1 and SnRK2 signaling pathways while preventing TOR signaling pathway. By TOR and SnRK1 signaling pathways manipulation, sufficient intracellular ATP and NADPH providing, supporting phenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins accumulation accompanied by improving DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS scavenging capacity by enhancing phenylpropanoid pathway activity, stimulating endogenous salicylic acid accumulation and NPR1-TGA-PRs signaling pathway, enhancing fatty acids biosynthesis, elongation and unsaturation, suppressing intracellular ROS overaccumulation, and promoting endogenous sucrose accumulation could be responsible for chilling injury palliating, fungal decay alleviating, senescence delaying and sensory and nutritional quality preservation in fruits and vegetables. Therefore, TOR and SnRK1 signaling pathways manipulation during postharvest shelf life by employing eco-friendly approaches such as exogenous trehalose and ATP application or engaging biotechnological approaches such as genome editing CRISPR-Cas9 or sprayable double-stranded RNA-based RNA interference would be applicable for improving fruits and vegetables marketability., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest representing a conflict of interest in connection with this manuscript., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The ammonia oxidation process driven by microorganisms is a dominant source for nitrous oxide （N 2 O） emissions. Here, we examined the influence of greenhouse vegetable planting ages on soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea （AOA） and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria （AOB）, which is of great significance for assessing the soil quality status and greenhouse gas transformations. A field study was conducted at different times （1, 5, 10, and 20 a） in greenhouse vegetable soils of Gaoyi, Hebei Province. Chemical analysis and Illumina NovaSeq high-throughput sequencing were used to analyze the soil physicochemical properties and community structures and diversity of AOA and AOB. The variation in AOA and AOB communities and the driving factors in greenhouse soils at different ages were also investigated. The results showed that the contents of total nitrogen, organic matter, alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium first increased and then decreased with the prolongation of growth. The contents of nitrate nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and electrical conductivity first decreased and then increased with the prolongation of growth. The pH value of soils decreased with the prolongation of growth. The abundance and diversity index of AOA and AOB first decreased and then increased with the prolongation of growth. Nitrososphaeria, unclassified Thaumarchaeota, and Candidatus Nitrosocaldus were the dominant species of AOA, while Betaproteobacteria and Nitrosospira were the dominant species of AOB. The composition of the soil AOA community varied greatly compared to that of AOB with the prolongation of growth. Correlation analysis showed that the changes in soil nutrient factors had a significant correlation with AOA and AOB communities. Redundancy analysis indicated that ammonium nitrogen, alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen were key factors of AOA communities, while electrical conductivity, available potassium, and nitrate nitrogen were key factors for AOB. In summary, long-term planting of greenhouse vegetables significantly affected the abundance and composition of soil AOA and AOB communities. Our results provide a theoretical basis for further studies on the greenhouse gas transformation and microbial mechanisms of the nitrogen cycle in greenhouse soils.

Vitamin K is a multi-function vitamin that has emerging roles in bone, brain and vascular health. Vitamin K composition data remain limited globally and Australia has lacked nationally representative data for vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) in horticultural commodities. Primary samples (n = 927) of 90 Australian-grown fruit, vegetable and nut commodities were purchased in three Australian cities. We measured vitamin K1/phylloquinone in duplicate in 95 composite samples using liquid chromatography with electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry. The greatest mean concentrations of vitamin K1/phylloquinone were found in kale (565 μg/100 g), baby spinach (255 μg/100 g) and Brussels sprouts (195 μg/100 g). The data contribute to the global collection of vitamin K food composition data. They add to the evidence that vitamin K1/phylloquinone concentrations vary markedly between geographic regions, supporting development of region-specific datasets for national food composition databases that do not yet contain data for vitamin K. Such data are needed globally., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Lucinda Black reports financial support was provided by Western Australian Department of Health Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund. Lucinda Black, Eleanor Dunlop, Judy Cunningham, Stuart Johnson and Paul Adorno report financial support was provided by Horticulture Innovation Australia Ltd. Lucinda Black reports financial support was provided by Multiple Sclerosis Australia. Eleanor Dunlop reports financial support was provided by Multiple Sclerosis Australia. Lucinda Black reports financial support was provided by Multiple Sclerosis Western Australia. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Challenge tests are commonly employed to evaluate the growth behavior of L. monocytogenes in food matrices; they are known for being expensive and time-consuming. An alternative could be the use of predictive models to forecast microbial behavior under different conditions. In this study, the growth behavior of L. monocytogenes in different fresh produce was evaluated using a predictive model based on the Gamma concept considering pH, water activity (a w ), and temperature as input factors. An extensive literature search resulted in a total of 105 research articles selected to collect growth/no growth behavior data of L. monocytogenes. Up to 808 L. monocytogenes behavior values and physicochemical characteristics were extracted for different fruits and vegetables. The predictive performance of the model as a tool for identifying the produce commodities supporting the growth of L. monocytogenes was proved by comparing with the experimental data collected from the literature. The model provided satisfactory predictions on the behavior of L. monocytogenes in vegetables (>80% agreement with experimental observations). For leafy greens, a 90% agreement was achieved. In contrast, the performance of the Gamma model was less satisfactory for fruits, as it tends to overestimate the potential of acid commodities to inhibit the growth of L. monocytogenes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Substituting mineral fertilizer with manure or a combination of organic amendments plus beneficial soil microorganisms (bio-manure) in agriculture is a standard practice to mitigate N 2 O and NO emissions while enhancing crop performance and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Here, we conducted a greenhouse trial for three consecutive vegetable growth seasons for Spinach, Coriander herb, and Baby bok choy to reveal the response of N 2 O and NO emissions, NUE, and vegetable quality index (VQI) to fertilization strategies. Strategies included solely chemical nitrogen fertilizer (CN), 20 (M1N4) and 50% (M1N1) substitution with manure, 20 (BM1N4) and 50% (BM1N1) substitution with bio-manure, and no fertilization as a control and were organized in a completely randomized design (n = 3). Manure decreased N 2 O emissions by 24-45% and bio-manure by 44-53% compared to CN. Manure reduced NO emissions by 28-41% and bio-manure by 55-63%. Bio-manure increased NUE by 0.04-31% and yields by 0.05-61% while improving VQI, attributed to yield growth and reduced vegetable NO 3 - contents. Improvement of root growth was the main factor that explained the rise of NUE; NUE declined with the increase of N 2 O emissions, showing the loss of vegetable performance under conditions when denitrification processes prevailed. Under the BM1N1, the highest VQI and the lowest yield-scaled N-oxide emissions were observed, suggesting that substitution with bio-manure can improve vegetable quality and mitigate N-oxide emissions. These findings indicate that substituting 50% of mineral fertilizer with bio-manure can effectively improve NUE and VQI and mitigate N-oxides in intensive vegetable production., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

There is currently increasing pressure on agriculture to simultaneously remediate soil and ensure safe agricultural production. In this study, we investigate the potential of a novel combination of biochar and plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) as a promising approach. Two types of biochar, corn stover and rice husk-derived, were used in combination with a PGPB strain, Bacillus sp. PGP5, to remediate Cd and Pb co-contaminated soil and enhance lettuce performance. The contaminated soil was pre-incubated with biochar prior to PGP5 inoculation. The combined application of biochar and PGPB reduced the diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) -extractable Cd and Pb concentrations in the soil by 46.45%-55.96% and 42.08%-44.83%, respectively. Additionally, this combined application increased lettuce yield by 23.37%-65.39% and decreased Cd and Pb concentrations in the edible parts of the lettuce by 57.39%-68.04% and 13.57%-32.50%. The combined application showed a better promotion on lettuce growth by facilitating chlorophyll synthesis and reducing oxidative stress. These demonstrated a synergistic effect between biochar and PGPB. Furthermore, our study elucidated the specific role of the biochar-PGPB combination in soil microbial communities. Biochar application promoted the survival of PGP5 in the soil. The impact of biochar or PGPB on microbial communities was found to be most significant in the early stage, while the development of plants had a greater influence on rhizosphere microbial communities in later stage. Plants showed a tendency to recruit plant-associated microbes, such as Cyanobacteria, to facilitate growth processes. Notably, the combined application of biochar and PGPB expedited the assembly of microbial communities, enabling them more closely with the rhizosphere microbial communities in late stage of plant development and thus enhancing their effects on promoting plant growth. This study highlights the "accelerating" advantage of the biochar-PGPB combination in the assembly of rhizosphere microbiomes and offers a new strategy for simultaneous soil remediation and safe agricultural production., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the era of genomic-assisted breeding for crop improvement, developing new molecular markers and validating them for use in breeding programs are the prelude. Dolichos bean is one of the most important vegetable legume crops owing to its nutrient-rich green pods used as vegetables. Limitations in genomic resources, including molecular markers, restrict the accelerated improvement of the crop. In the present investigation, a set of 430 new simple sequence repeat markers was developed from sequence information of a reference variety. These markers included di- and tri-nucleotide repeats. The markers were assayed on an association panel, which was evaluated for green pod yield over 5 years. A multi-locus model, FarmCPU, was used to assess the marker-trait association analysis. A total of 106 marker-trait associations were identified using an efficient mixed-model approach. Tri-nucleotide repeats were more informative and predominantly associated with trait. Among these markers, 17 were associated with a high level of significance. Markers LP-D-68 and LP-D-14 were identified with a high level of significance in 5-year pooled data and explained 12.70% and 12% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. These markers associated with a high level of confidence have significant scope for use in marker-assisted selection programmes. Other associated markers may be utilized for improving parents through marker-assisted recurrent selection or genomic selection programs., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Institute of Plant Genetics Polish Academy of Sciences.)

Background: Dietary selenium (Se) deficiency, stemming from low Se concentrations in agricultural products, threatens human health. While Se-containing fertilizers can enhance the Se content in crops, the key factors governing Se biofortification with Se fertilization remain unclear., Results: This study constructed a global meta-analysis dataset based on field experiments comprising 364 entries on Se content in agricultural products and 271 entries on their yield. Random forest models and mixed effects meta-analyses revealed that plant types (i.e., cereals, vegetables, legumes, and forages) primarily influenced Se biofortification, with Se fertilization rates being the next significant factor. The random forest model, which included variables like plant types, Se fertilization rates, methods and types of Se application, initial soil conditions (including Se content, organic carbon content, and pH), soil types, mean annual precipitation, and temperature, explained 82.14% of the variation in Se content and 48.42% of the yield variation in agricultural products. For the same agricultural products, the increase in Se content decreased with higher rates of Se fertilization. The increase in Se content in their edible parts will be negligible for cereals, forages, legumes, and vegetable crops, when Se fertilization rates were 164, 103, 144, and 147 g Se ha -1 , respectively. Conversely, while low Se fertilization rates enhanced yields, high rates led to a yield reduction, particularly in cereals., Conclusion: Our findings highlight the need for balanced and precise Se fertilization strategies to optimize Se biofortification benefits and minimize the risk of yield reduction. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.)

In North Bihar (NB), the conventional rice-wheat cropping system has led to soil, water, and environmental degradation, alongside low profitability, threatening sustainability. To address these concerns, a thorough field research was conducted over the course of three years to assess different methods of tillage and crop establishment in a rice, wheat, and greengram cycle. The experiment involved five scenarios with different combinations of crop rotation, tillage techniques, seeding procedures, fertilizer use, and irrigation strategies. Uncertainty analysis showed no significant change in mean and variance estimation among seven scenario replications at 5% significance level. Compared to traditional farming (SN-1), managing DSR-rice (SN-5) increased profitability by 17.56%, improved energy use efficiency (EUE) by 32.16%, and reduced irrigation by 24.76% and global warming potential (GWP) by 23.46%. Similarly, substituting zero tillage wheat (ZTW) SN-5 resulted in comparable profitability gains (18.25%) and significant improvements in irrigation (10 %), EUE (+48.65%), and GWP (-20 %) compared to SN-1. Green gram ZT also showed increased profitability (17.35%), with notable improvements in EUE (+38.31%) and GWP (-12.92%) compared to SN-1. Principal component and correlation analyses revealed relationships between total energy inputs, yields, economic returns, and sustainability indices, highlighting the benefits of crop rotation and tillage practices in optimizing resource use. The study suggests that compared to conventional systems, significant improvements in productivity, profitability, energy-use efficiency, and environmental mitigation can be achieved with Crop Rotation and Tillage Operations techniques., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Tarun Kumar, declare that they have no conflicts of interest linked to this research work named " Impact of Crop Rotation and Tillage Operations on Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions and evaluation of sustainability index in Rice- Wheat-Green Gram Cropping System of North Bihar" There are no financial that may be interpreted as impacting the impartiality, integrity, or validity of the study. This research was conducted with the sole objective of enhancing scientific knowledge in the field of the Journal of Environmental Management. The conclusions presented in the publication are based on an impartial analysis and interpretation of the data., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Lettuce is an established food commodity in the UK increasingly facing supply challenges in winter due to adverse weather events and rising energy costs. We investigate whether an agroecologically grown salad mix of lettuce and underutilised leafy greens produced in the Azores, Portugal, could be part of a sustainable solution. We performed a Life Cycle Assessment to compare the environmental impacts of this salad mix with four other value chains for winter salad supply to the UK: conventional open-field lettuce production chains in Spain using (1) current irrigation practices; (2) 100 % desalinated irrigation water; or hydroponic controlled environment agriculture within the UK powered by (3) the national electricity mix; (4) 100 % wind-generated electricity. Results indicated that the leafy-greens agroecological value chain incurred the smallest environmental burdens across 7 to 11 of 16 impact categories studied. Substituting Spanish winter salad supply with agroecological leafy green production in the Azores, if well managed, could reduce many environmental burdens whilst diversifying leafy greens intake. Nevertheless, all winter value chains were associated with larger environmental burdens than conventional open-field production of lettuce in the UK summer, pointing to the importance of seasonal consumption and wider adoption of agroecological techniques to effectively reduce environmental impact., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The vegetable sector is a vital pillar of society and an indispensable part of the national economic structure. As a significant segment of the agricultural market, accurately forecasting vegetable prices holds significant importance. Vegetable market pricing is subject to a myriad of complex influences, resulting in nonlinear patterns that conventional time series methodologies often struggle to decode. In this paper, we exploit the average daily price data of six distinct types of vegetables sourced from seven key wholesale markets in Beijing, spanning from 2009 to 2023. Upon training an LSTM model, we discovered that it exhibited exceptional performance on the test dataset. Demonstrating robust predictive performance across various vegetable categories, the LSTM model shows commendable generalization abilities. Moreover, LSTM model has a higher accuracy compared to several machine learning methods, including CNN-based time series forecasting approaches. With R2 score of 0.958 and MAE of 0.143, our LSTM model registers an enhancement of over 5% in forecast accuracy relative to conventional machine learning counterparts. Therefore, by predicting vegetable prices for the upcoming week, we envision this LSTM model application in real-world settings to aid growers, consumers, and policymakers in facilitating informed decision-making. The insights derived from this forecasting research could augment market transparency and optimize supply chain management. Furthermore, it contributes to the market stability and the balance of supply and demand, offering a valuable reference for the sustainable development of the vegetable industry., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Previous research has established that using high-quality planting material during the early phase of vegetable production significantly impacts success and efficiency, leading to improved crop performance, faster time to harvest and better profitability. In the present study, we conducted a global analysis of vegetable seedlings and transplants, providing a comprehensive overview of research trends in seedling and transplant production to enhance the nutritional quality of vegetables., Results: The analysis involved reviewing and quantitatively analysing 762 articles and 5248 keywords from the Scopus database from 1971 to 2022. We used statistical, mathematical and clustering tools to analyse bibliometrics and visualise the most relevant research topics. A visualisation map was generated to identify the evolution of keywords used in the articles, resulting in five clusters for further analysis. Our study highlights the importance of the size of seed trays for the type of crop, the mechanical seeder used and the greenhouse facilities to produce desirable transplants. We identified grafting and light-emitting diode (LED) lighting technology as rapidly expanding technologies in vegetable seedlings and transplant production used to promote plant qualitative profile., Conclusion: There is a need for sustainable growing media to optimise resources and reduce input use. Thus, applying grafting, LED artificial lighting, biostimulants, biofortification and plant growth-promoting microorganisms in seedling production can enhance efficiency and promote sustainable vegetable nutritional quality by accumulating biocompounds. Further research is needed to explore the working mechanisms and devise novel strategies to enhance the product quality of vegetables, commencing from the early stages of food production. © 2024 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.)

Remote sensing has been increasingly used in precision agriculture. Buoyed by the developments in the miniaturization of sensors and platforms, contemporary remote sensing offers data at resolutions finer enough to respond to within-farm variations. LiDAR point cloud, offers features amenable to modelling structural parameters of crops. Early prediction of crop growth parameters helps farmers and other stakeholders dynamically manage farming activities. The objective of this work is the development and application of a deep learning framework to predict plant-level crop height and crown area at different growth stages for vegetable crops. LiDAR point clouds were acquired using a terrestrial laser scanner on five dates during the growth cycles of tomato, eggplant and cabbage on the experimental research farms of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, India. We implemented a hybrid deep learning framework combining distinct features of long-term short memory (LSTM) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) for the predictions of plant height and crown area. The predictions are validated with reference ground truth measurements. These predictions were validated against ground truth measurements. The findings demonstrate that plant-level structural parameters can be predicted well ahead of crop growth stages with around 80% accuracy. Notably, the LSTM and the GRU models exhibited limitations in capturing variations in structural parameters. Conversely, the hybrid model offered significantly improved predictions, particularly for crown area, with error rates for height prediction ranging from 5 to 12%, with deviations exhibiting a more balanced distribution between overestimation and underestimation This approach effectively captured the inherent temporal growth pattern of the crops, highlighting the potential of deep learning for precision agriculture applications. However, the prediction quality is relatively low at the advanced growth stage, closer to the harvest. In contrast, the prediction quality is stable across the three different crops. The results indicate the presence of a robust relationship between the features of the LiDAR point cloud and the auto-feature map of the deep learning methods adapted for plant-level crop structural characterization. This approach effectively captured the inherent temporal growth pattern of the crops, highlighting the potential of deep learning for precision agriculture applications., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

To address the growing demand for sustainable agriculture practices, new technologies to boost crop productivity and soil health must be developed. In this research, we propose designing and building an agricultural rover capable of autonomous vegetable harvesting and soil analysis utilizing cutting-edge deep learning algorithms (YOLOv5). The precision and recall score of the model was 0.8518% and 0.7624% respectively. The rover uses robotics, computer vision, and soil sensing technology to perform accurate and efficient agricultural tasks. We go over the rover's hardware and software, as well as the soil analysis system and the tomato ripeness detection system using deep learning models. Field experiments indicate that this agricultural rover is effective and promising for improving crop management and soil monitoring in modern agriculture, hence achieving the UN's SDG 2 Zero Hunger goals., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Das et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Agriculture plays a vital role in the food security and economies of Asian countries. Annually, numerous metric tons of vegetable and fruit wastes are disposed of. This research aimed to convert the food wastes encompassing the vegetable and fruit wastes into solid and liquid organic fertilizer and to evaluate their influence on the growth (germination, phytochemicals, and biomolecules) of Solanum lycopersicum and Capsicum annum. Solanum lycopersicum, known as tomato, and Capsicum annum, known as bell pepper or chili pepper, are globally significant crops valued for their medicinal properties and economic importance. The pot experiment was performed with organic fertilizers (solid and liquid organic fertilizer) and compared with the influence of chemical fertilizer and control soil without fertilizers. Interestingly, the liquid organic fertilizer effectively enhanced the biometric profile and chlorophyll content of S. lycopersicum and C. annum Viz., 1.23 mg g -1 and 0.89 mg g -1 , respectively. The results of a 30-days pot experiment with various fertilizer treatments showed significant influence of liquid organic fertilizer on the fresh and dry weight biomass of both S. lycopersicum and C. annum. Subsequently, the solid organic fertilizer showed considerable influence on test crops, and the influence of these organic fertilizers was more significant than the chemical fertilizer on crop growth in 30-days experiment. These results suggest that the sustainable approach can effectively convert vegetables and fruit waste into valuable organic fertilizer enriched with plant growth supporting essential nutritional elements., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Soilless agriculture is acknowledged worldwide because it uses organic leftovers as a means of supporting intensive and efficient plant production. However, the quality of potting media deteriorates because of lower nutrient content and excessive shrinkage of most organic materials. A current study was undertaken to identify the optimal blend of locally available organic materials with desirable qualities for use as potting media. Therefore, different ingredients, viz., Pinus roxburghii needles, sugarcane bagasse, and farmyard manure were used alone or in combination as potting media to test their suitability by growing spinach as a test crop. Results showed that an increase in Pinus roxburghii needles and sugarcane bagasse decreased medium pH and electrical conductivity. Higher pH and electrical conductivity were recorded for the treatments having a higher farmyard manure ratio (≥50%) in combination. Except for pine needles 100%, pH and electrical conductivity were in the recommended range. The growth attributes include, leaves plant-1, shoot length, fresh- and dry shoot weight along with plant macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium) and micronutrients (iron, copper, manganese, and zinc) content were higher in treatment pine needles 50%+farmyard manure 50% followed by pine needles 25%+farmyard manure 50%+sugarcane bagasse 25%. Moreover, the particular treatment of pine needles 50%+farmyard manure 50% exhibited the highest concentrations of macro- (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) as well as micronutrients (iron, copper, manganese, and zinc) in the potting media following the harvest. This study highlights the potential of utilizing agro-industrial litter/waste as a soilless growing medium for spinach production under greenhouse conditions. When employed in appropriate proportions, this approach not only addresses disposal concerns but also proves effective for sustainable cultivation. Further research is needed to investigate the use of these wastes as potting media by mixing various particle-size ingredients., Competing Interests: The authors declare they have no known conflict or competing interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Alam et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Heavy metal pollution in farmland soil can affect the growth, development, and yield of vegetable crops, as well as the quality and taste of vegetables, and can be continuously transmitted and enriched through the food chain, which ultimately poses a certain hazard to human health in the long term. Therefore, in order to investigate the distribution characteristics of soil heavy metals after years of multi-crop planting of vegetables supplied to Hong Kong, predict their ecological risks, and analyze the causes of pollution formation, 477 surface soil samples of vegetable fields supplied to Hong Kong in Ningxia were collected for three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021, and the contents and distribution characteristics of eight heavy metals, namely, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ni were analyzed. The soil heavy metal pollution status of vegetable fields supplied to Hong Kong in Ningxia was evaluated using the single-factor pollution index method, Nemero's comprehensive pollution index method, land accumulation index method, and potential ecological risk index method, and the sources of heavy metals in vegetable fields supplied to Hong Kong in Ningxia were analyzed using the Pearson's correlation analysis and the principal component analysis method. The results showed that the mean values of As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Cu, and Zn in the soils of Ningxia's vegetable fields were higher than the background values of Ningxia soils, but the contents of all eight heavy metals were lower than the risk screening values of domestic agricultural soils; in terms of spatial distribution, As, Cr, and Ni showed contiguous high values in the northwestern, central, and southern parts of the study area, whereas Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg, and Cu showed high values in the northwestern and southern parts of the study area. The single-factor index method and the Nemero's comprehensive pollution index method showed that the soil of Ningxia's vegetable farmland for Hong Kong was at the clean level as a whole. The results of the ground accumulation index method showed that the pollution in the study area was mainly Hg and Cd pollution, and the pollution areas were mainly concentrated in the northwest and south of the study area. The potential ecological risk index showed that Hg and Cd were the main risk elements, among which Hg was dominated by moderate, strong, and very strong ecological risks, accounting for 44.65 %, 44.65 %, and 1.26 %, respectively, and Cd was dominated by moderate and strong risks, accounting for 65.83 % and 3.56 %. The comprehensive Pearson correlation analysis and principal component analysis showed that the pollution sources of eight heavy metals could be divided into three categories, namely, natural sources:Cu, Zn, Pb, As, Ni, and Cr; agricultural sources:Cd; and industrial and agricultural sources:Hg. From a comprehensive point of view, the heavy metals of the soil in the fields of vegetables supplied to Hong Kong had not exceeded the standard, and the environmental conditions of the soil were good, such that the production of vegetables supplied to Hong Kong by Ningxia was at a safe level overall. The results of the study can provide a theoretical basis for the safe utilization of soil in vegetable fields and the green production of vegetables supplied to Hong Kong in Ningxia, which were aimed to provide help for the safe production of vegetable fields supplied to Hong Kong, the rational application of fertilizers, agronomic planning, and the adjustment of planting structure.

Background: The use of pesticides in greenhouse vegetable cultivation is necessary and significant. However, traditional pesticide application methods such as the use of backpack sprayers with water-diluted pesticides have certain drawbacks, e.g., uneven distribution, high labor intensity, and safety risks., Results: In this work, fluazinam ultra-low-volume liquids (Flu-ULVs) were prepared using oily solvents as carriers. The effects of different oils on the physical properties of the preparations were investigated. The Flu-ULV can be sprayed directly using a hand-held ultra-low-volume (ULV) sprayer without dilution with water. Compared with commercial water-based suspension concentrates of fluazinam, the Flu-ULV samples showed better wetting of tomato leaves, better atomization, and more uniform droplet distribution. At a dosage of 300 mL/ha, the coverage rate of tomato leaves ranged from 32.47% to 79.3%, with a droplet deposition density of 556 to 2017 droplets/cm 2 . Application of Flu-ULVs provided 70.86% control efficacy against gray mold in tomatoes, which was higher than those achieved with reference products. Dermal exposure to Flu-ULVs was also evaluated in greenhouse experiments. The coverage rates for all parts of the operator's body ranged from 0.02% to 0.07%, with deposition volumes of 2.23 to 12.26 μg/cm 2 ., Conclusion: Ground ULV spraying of fluazinam was proved to be an effective and safe management option for the control of tomato gray mold in greenhouses. This study laid a foundation for the use of ultra-low volume spray to control vegetable diseases in greenhouse, especially those induced by high humidity environment. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Inoculation with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains has promoted plant growth and decreased nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agricultural soils simultaneously. However, limited PGPR strains can mitigate N₂O emissions from agricultural soils, and the microbial ecological mechanisms underlying N₂O mitigation after inoculation are poorly understood. In greenhouse pot experiments, the effects of inoculation with Stutzerimonas stutzeri NRCB010 and NRCB025 on tomato growth and N₂O emissions were investigated in two vegetable agricultural soils with contrasting textures. Inoculation with NRCB010 and NRCB025 significantly promoted tomato growth in both soils. Moreover, inoculation with NRCB010 decreased the N₂O emissions from the fine- and coarse-textured soils by 38.7% and 52.2%, respectively, and inoculation with NRCB025 decreased the N₂O emissions from the coarse-textured soil by 76.6%. Inoculation with NRCB010 and NRCB025 decreased N₂O emissions mainly by altering soil microbial community composition and the abundance of nitrogen-cycle functional genes. The N₂O-mitigating effect might be partially explained by a decrease in the ( amoA + amoB )/( nosZ I + nosZ II) and ( nirS + nirK )/( nosZ I + nosZ II) ratios, respectively. Soil pH and organic matter were key variables that explain the variation in abundance of N-cycle functional genes and subsequent N₂O emission. Moreover, the N₂O-mitigating effect varied depending on soil textures and individual strain after inoculation. This study provides insights into developing biofertilizers with plant growth-promoting and N₂O-mitigating effects., Importance: Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been applied to mitigate nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agricultural soils, but the microbial ecological mechanisms underlying N₂O mitigation are poorly understood. That is why only limited PGPR strains can mitigate N₂O emissions from agricultural soils. Therefore, it is of substantial significance to reveal soil ecological mechanisms of PGPR strains to achieve efficient and reliable N₂O-mitigating effect after inoculation. Inoculation with Stutzerimonas stutzeri strains decreased N₂O emissions from two soils with contrasting textures probably by altering soil microbial community composition and gene abundance involved in nitrification and denitrification. Our findings provide detailed insight into soil ecological mechanisms of PGPR strains to mitigate N₂O emissions from vegetable agricultural soils., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Reductive soil disinfestation (RSD) is an effective method for remediating degraded facility vegetable soils. However, the effectiveness of RSD using green manure as a carbon source in the field has not yet been clarified. We investigated the effects of RSD and organic fertilizer application on soil microbial community composition, diversity, and stability in a degraded facility vegetable soil. There were six treatments, including no fertilization (CK), no fertilization and soil flooded and mulched with plastic film (FF), soil amended with chicken manure (OM), soil amended with chicken manure and flooded and mulched with plastic film (OMR), soil amended with Sesbania cannabina (TF), and soil amended with S. cannabina and flooded and mulched with plastic film (TR). The results showed that the OMR and TR treatments significantly decreased bacterial Chao1 index, altered bacterial and fungal community structure, and increased the relative abundances of Bacillus , Rhodococcus , Clostridium , and Penicillium . The TR treatment significantly reduced the relative abundance of Fusarium . Results of redundancy analysis and Mantel test analysis suggested that soil ammonium nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon contents were the key factors influencing bacterial community composition, and soil pH was the key factor affecting fungal community composition. Results of cohesion analysis showed that the OMR and TR treatments significantly improved bacterial community stability, and that there was no difference between OMR and TR treatments. The TR treatment enhanced fungal community stability, which was significantly higher than the OMR treatment. Therefore, the RSD with green manure as carbon source could be effective remediation practice to improve soil health.

This study was carried out in 3 types of biotopes where vegetable crops are not grown to highlight their contribution to the dynamics of vegetable-infesting flies. To this end, a trapping system based on a sexual attractant, the Cuelure associated with an insecticide was set up in 18 biotopes (6 natural areas, 6 mango orchards, and 6 agroforestry parks) in the regions of Hauts Bassins and Cascades in the South-West of Burkina Faso. During the trapping monitoring, which was done every 2 wk to collect insects captured, fruits present in 3 types of biotopes were sampled and incubated for insect emergence. Ten Dacus (Fabricius) [Diptera: Tephritidae] species and Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett) [Diptera: Tephritidae] were trapped in the study area. The predominant species captured was Z. cucurbitae (52.93%) followed by Dacus punctatifrons (Karsch) [Diptera: Tephritidae] (29.89%) and Dacus humeralis (Bezzi) (12.71%). Six tephritid species were emerged from 6 wild fruit species belonging to Cucurbitaceae, Apocynaceae, and Passifloraceae families. Fruit flies were more abundant from Jul to Nov with peaks observed in Aug or Oct depending on the species. Citrullus colocynthis L. (Cucurbitaceae), Lagenaria sp. (Cucurbitaceae), Passiflora foetida L. (Passifloraceae), and Passiflora sp. acted as reservoir host plants of Dacus ciliatus (Loew), Dacus bivittatus (Bigot), Dacus vertebratus (Bezzi) [Diptera: Tephritidae], D. punctatifrons, and Z. cucurbitae, the major vegetable insect pests in West Africa. The 3 types of biotopes acted as suitable refuge areas of vegetable crop-infesting fruit flies either for the favorable microclimate or for the alternative host plants., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.)

Background: The present study investigates the effect of conventional and organic farming systems on the nutritional profile of crops. Different crops, namely -millet, sorghum, sesame, mustard, fenugreek, berseem, pea, potato, and onion were cultivated through conventional agriculture in which chemical fertilizers like urea, DAP (Diammonium Phosphate) and pesticides were used and organic farming in which organic fertilizers like seaweed and vermicompost were used., Objective: The experimental study was done on a field in north India from 2019 to 2021 in six different seasons, and the nutrient profile of the crops with respect to macroelements (S, K, Na, P, Ca, Mg) and microelements (B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Al) was compared., Methods: Macro and microelements were analyzed by Element analyzer and ICP-OES in both types of farming systems. The content of macro, as well as microelements, was found to be significantly higher in all the organically produced crops as compared to the conventionally grown crops., Results: Significant differences were observed in the macroelement content of organic onion (P- 900 mg/kg, K-2000mg/kg) and organic pea (K 2250 mg/kg) as compared to the content of conventionally grown onion (P-756 mg/kg, K- 1550 mg/kg) and pea (K-2000 mg/kg). Similarly, microelement content in the organic sesame (Fe - 3.12 mg/kg), organic millet (Fe- 2.19 mg/kg), and organic potato (Zn-200 mg/kg) was higher as compared to conventionally grown sesame (Fe 2.05 mg/kg), millet (Fe- 1.56 mg/kg) and potato (Zn 167 mg/kg)., Conclusion: This investigation concludes that crops with optimum nutritional content can be produced through organic farming with minimum input and maximum production., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

The presence of toxic metals in residential areas near abandoned gold mine tailings is a major environmental issue. This study mainly aimed to investigate the elemental distribution of both toxic and essential elements in soils and leafy vegetables ( Brassica oleracea ) collected from eight different sites around the Davidsonville residential area, located closer to the abandoned Princess gold mine dump, Johannesburg, South Africa. The nutritional value of vegetables in the human diet was determined to assess their value to their health. The vegetables contained metals in the following descending order: Ca > Mg > Ca > Sb > Pb > Fe > Mo > Cr > Se > As > V > Ni > Co > Cd. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) revealed that vegetables tend to accumulate most metals even (toxic) during the transfer and translocation process. Based on the recommended daily allowance (%RDA) the vegetables showed to contribute 152%, 84% and 75% toward RDA for Se, V and Ca, respectively for most adults and these play a role in human metabolic activities. The vegetables were found to be a good source of essential elements (Ca, Mg, Ni, Na, Fe) but with some traces of toxic metals such as Pb, As and Sb. Based on the health risk assessment, the vegetable posed an adverse health hazard for human consumption due to metals with high HRI >1.

This study aimed to determine the impact of different agroecological practices on the composition and diversity of edaphic bacterial and fungal communities. We designed two experimental agroecological vegetable cropping systems and analyzed their effects on soil microbial communities by pyrosequencing the 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA genes. Our results highlighted modifications to the Operational Taxonomic Units in both experimental systems compared with bare soil, particularly for the phyla Actinobacteria, Ascomycota, Bacteroidetes, and Mucoromycota. Multidimensional scaling plots based on beta diversity showed a clear distinction between the two experimental systems for fungi, whereas differences were observed between bare soil and the two experimental systems for bacteria. Overall, the agroecological systems enhanced soil microbial diversity. We showed a distinction between the two experimental systems and bare soil, correlated with the high total N and total P contents in the agroecological systems. Both experimental systems promoted soil enrichment with certain essential minerals. The agroecological systems had a positive impact on soil microbial communities, particularly by promoting the development of beneficial soil bacteria like Actinobacteria. In the two experimental systems, changes in the quality and quantity of organic matter (i.e. mulch, vermicompost, plant diversity) could have modified the abundance and diversity of microbial communities., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS.)

Background: Beyond nutrition, fruits and vegetables can be considered as natural sources of bioactive molecules, for which beneficial effects on human health are widely recognised. To improve food quality, soilless growing systems could represent a good strategy for promoting a sustainable food production chain, although the nutritional and nutraceutical properties of their products should be investigated in depth. The main quality traits and the volatile and non-volatile secondary metabolites of Solanum lycopersicum L., Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Fuss and Ocimun basilicum L. grown in an aquaponics system and in organic farming were quantified and compared., Results: On a fresh basis, soil-grown P. crispum and O. basilicum showed significantly higher total phenolics and antioxidant activity compared to aquaponic crops, whereas, on a dry basis, both plants showed opposite results. Soil-grown S. lycopersicum was significantly richer in total phenolics, whereas the aquaponic type showed a higher antioxidant activity. Aquaponics induced the accumulation of resveratrol in P. crispum, rosmarinic acid and myricetin in O. basilicum, and lycopene in S. lycopersicum. Among the volatile compounds, in O. basilicum, linalool was the main constituent in both treatments, whereas τ-cadinol represented the second constituent in aquaponic crops. The volatile profiles of P. crispum did not differ significantly between the two cultivation methods., Conclusion: The overall quality of organic and aquaponics cultures appeared to be comparable. The results showed that aquaponic farming method can be an innovative, rapid and sustainable way of producing quality food. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Specialized metabolites from plants are important for human health due to their antioxidant properties. Light is one of the main factors modulating the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites, determining the cascade response activated by photoreceptors and the consequent modulation of expressed genes and biosynthetic pathways. Recent developments in light emitting diode (LED) technology have enabled improvements in artificial light applications for horticulture. In particular, the possibility to select specific spectral light compositions, intensities and photoperiods has been associated with altered metabolite content in a variety of crops. This review aims to analyze the effects of indoor LED lighting recipes and management on the specialized metabolite content in different groups of crop plants (namely medicinal and aromatic plants, microgreens and edible flowers), focusing on the literature from the last 5 years. The literature collection produced a total of 40 papers, which were analyzed according to the effects of artificial LED lighting on the content of anthocyanins, carotenoids, phenols, tocopherols, glycosides, and terpenes, and ranked on a scale of 1 to 3. Most studies applied a combination of red and blue light (22%) or monochromatic blue (23%), with a 16 h day -1 photoperiod (78%) and an intensity greater than 200 μmol m -2  s -1 (77%). These treatment features were often the most efficient in enhancing specialized metabolite content, although large variations in performance were observed, according to the species considered and the compound analyzed. The review aims to provide valuable indications for the definition of the most promising spectral components toward the achievement of nutrient-rich indoor-grown products. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.)

Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are among the heavy metals with phytotoxic and toxic effects on vegetables resulting in a significant decrease in crop yields. On the contrary, silicon (Si) has beneficial effects in enhancing plants' tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses such as that imposed by heavy metals. This study evaluated the effects of Pb and Cd on the growth, biomass, and ameliorative mechanism of Si on concentration and uptake by leafy vegetables: spinach, kale, and amaranth. The greenhouse experiment treatments were Pb, Pb + Si, Cd, Cd + Si, Si, and control. These were arranged as a split-plot in a complete randomized design (CRD): main plots constituted vegetable species and treatments as subplots. The field experiment was carried in the Kenyatta University Research Farm, and treatments included Si application and control, arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Cadmium application reduced root biomass by 53-70% while Pb reduced it by 54-61% when compared with control. Silicon fertilization enhanced biomass tolerance by three-folds' and significantly ( p  < 0.001) reduced concentration and uptake of Pb and Cd. Results indicated a strong negative correlation between Cd concentrations and growth parameters ( r  = 0.8). The study recommends Si application to enhance leafy vegetables' tolerance to Pb and Cd.

Vegetable cultivation is a promising economic activity, and vegetable consumption is important for human health due to the high nutritional content of vegetables. Vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and several phytochemical compounds. However, the production of vegetables is insufficient to meet the demand of the ever-increasing population. Plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) facilitate the growth and production of vegetable crops by acquiring nutrients, producing phytohormones, and protecting them from various detrimental effects. In this review, we highlight well-developed and cutting-edge findings focusing on the role of a PGPR-based bioinoculant formulation in enhancing vegetable crop production. We also discuss the role of PGPR in promoting vegetable crop growth and resisting the adverse effects arising from various abiotic (drought, salinity, heat, heavy metals) and biotic (fungi, bacteria, nematodes, and insect pests) stresses.

Achieving seed germination quality standards poses a real challenge to seed companies as they are compelled to abide by strict certification rules, while having only partial seed separation solutions at their disposal. This discrepancy results with wasteful disqualification of seed lots holding considerable amounts of good seeds and further translates to financial losses and supply chain insecurity. Here, we present the first-ever generic germination prediction technology that is based on deep learning and RGB image data and facilitates seed classification by seed germinability and usability, two facets of germination fate. We show technology competence to render dozens of disqualified seed lots of seven vegetable crops, representing different genetics and production pipelines, industrially appropriate, and to adequately classify lots by utilizing available crop-level image data, instead of lot-specific data. These achievements constitute a major milestone in the deployment of this technology for industrial seed sorting by germination fate for multiple crops., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The FDA Produce Safety Rule states that water used for irrigation purposes, likely to come into contact with the edible portion of fruit and vegetables, must not exceed a defined limit of Escherichia coli populations. Although aquaponics has not been included in this guideline, it is worth investigating to establish a baseline for facilities to reference in produce production. Two microbial assays were performed, one a decoupled media-based aquaponics system over one year and another on a decoupled nutrient film technique (NFT) aquaponics system over 16 days. Water was sampled from each system over time to analyze changes of E. coli and coliforms. The geometric mean (GM) and statistical threshold variable (STV) were calculated based on E. coli populations from the irrigation source in each system. From the first experiment, it was determined, based on the FDA Produce Safety Rule, that E. coli must be monitored more closely from June to January as they were above the advised limit. The second experiment determined that E. coli and coliforms in the water significantly decreased over 16 days. Water should be held for 8 d and up to 16 d to reduce the likelihood of foodborne pathogens to contaminate produce., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Toxoplasma gondii infection can result in toxoplasmosis and potential psychological effects. Research commonly focuses on infection through contact with cat fecal matter or consumption of contaminated meat. However, T. gondii oocysts can persist in the environment for years and may be present in soils and on soil-grown produce. Rates of oocyst DNA recovery from produce were high, with 18% of vegetable samples testing positive for T. gondii via PCR test and melt curve analysis. Radishes had significantly higher oocyst counts than arugula, collard greens, kale, lettuce, and spinach. There were no significant differences in oocyst detection rates between samples taken from organic farmer's markets and conventional grocery stores. This study demonstrates that these oocysts can transfer to produce grown both conventionally and using organic techniques., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Most countries set regulatory values for the total trace element (TE) concentrations in soil, although there is growing interest in using a risk-based approach to evaluate the bioavailable TE using dilute salt extractants or other soil parameters, including pH and organic carbon . The present study compares the current regulatory system (based on total TEs and pH) and a risk-based approach using 0.01 mol L -1 CaCl 2 to estimate the bioavailable fraction., Results: In total, 150 paired samples of Chinese flowering cabbages (Brassica parachinensis) and their growth soils were collected, and the total and extractable concentrations of chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As) and mercury (Hg), as well as soil pH and organic matter content, were measured. No more than 3.33% of the edible parts exceeded Chinese food safety standards, even when growing in soils exceeding the current regulatory thresholds by over 50%. The total soil Cd (1.5 mg kg -1 ), as well as the extractable concentrations of Cd (0.1 mg kg -1 ), Ni (0.03 mg kg -1 ) and Zn (0.1 mg kg -1 ), are the key factors affecting the TE concentrations in B. parachinensis., Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the current soil regulatory guidelines for safe production of B. parachinensis are overly strict and conservative. A risk-based approach based on the extractable TE concentrations would provide a better indication for plant uptake of soil TEs and avoid the waste of farmlands that can still produce safe vegetables. Future research should focus on providing crop-specific available TE concentration guidelines to promote effective utilization of farmlands. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.)

In this study, High throughput sequencing was used to analyze the effects of different vegetable rotations on the rhizosphere bacterial diversity and community structure in a substrate that was used for continuous tomato cropping (CK). The vegetable rotations tested were cabbage/tomato (B), kidney bean/tomato (D), and celery/tomato (Q). The results revealed that the substrate bacterial diversity and richness of each crop rotation were higher than those of CK. The highest bacterial diversity was found in the B substrate, followed by the Q and D substrates. Further comparison showed that the rhizosphere bacterial community structure of Q substrate was significantly different to that of CK. Compared with the CK, the Q substrate had a significantly higher relative abundance of several dominant microflora, such as Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes. Additionally, the Q rotation significantly increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as Actinobacteria&#95;unclassified and Anaerolineaceae&#95;unclassified. A redundancy analysis showed that Most dominant bacteria correlated positively with the substrate pH, total N, and alkali-hydrolyzable N but negatively with the available P, available K, total P, total K, and organic matter contents and substrate EC. The substrates after crop rotation improved the growth and physiological condition of the subsequent tomato plants, among which those from the Q rotation performed the best. Therefore, celery rotation not only increased the richness and diversity of bacterial communities in the substrate but also significantly increased the richness of the beneficial bacterial communities, allowing better maintenance of the substrate microenvironment for the healthy growth of crops., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Water footprint assessment is essential for the evaluation of water scarcity that considers both direct and indirect water consumption along the supply chain. This paper presents the estimation of water footprint for locally grown fruits and vegetables in Australia. Water footprint was calculated based on the framework developed in the Water Footprint Assessment Manual for the crops which are the most practicable to grow in Australia. Nine different crops (apples, grapes, tomatoes, oranges, peaches/nectarines, cherries, potatoes, carrots/turnips and almonds) in the agricultural industry were selected and identified as the most water-consumptive crop and least water-consumptive crop. For each type of crop, the three main water footprint components (blue, green, and grey water) were calculated., Results: It was found that almond had the highest water footprint (6671.96 m 3  ton -1 ) and tomato had the lowest water footprint (212.24 m 3  ton -1 ) in Australia. From the global comparison, it is revealed that total water footprint for Australian crops is much higher than the corresponding international average values, except for tomatoes, potatoes and almonds. Also, almonds had the highest water footprint among the nine crops investigated., Conclusion: The study provides an insight into future sustainable cropping patterns in Australia, which suggest that tomatoes, carrots/turnips, potatoes and apples should continue to be grown in Australia, whereas stone fruit (e.g., almonds) should no longer be grown because of its high water footprint. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Microbial contamination of sprouts commonly occurs because of the pathogens present on and in the seeds and the optimal conditions for bacteria growth provided during the germination and sprouting processes. This study examined the decontamination effect of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW), a 'generally recognized as safe' (GRAS) disinfectant, in the production process of alfalfa sprouts. SAEW with various available chlorine concentrations (ACC, 25, 35, 45 mg/L) and different pH levels (5.0, 5.7 and 6.4) was used to soak seeds for different length of time (0.5 and 6 h), after which the variations in natural Enterobacteriaceae, water absorption and seed germination (germination rate, weight and length of sprouts) were determined. The results showed that when the seeds were soaked with SAEW, albeit with different ACC (25, 35 and 45 mg/L) and pH levels (5.0, 5.7 and 6.4), a significant reduction of Enterobacteriaceae and no negative effect on sprout quality was observed. The water absorption and germination rates were also not significantly adversely affected by SAEW soaking. These findings suggest that SAEW could be used to decontaminate natural Enterobacteriaceae in the production of alfalfa sprouts, with no negative side effects on the alfalfa seeds., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: A floating system is a suitable low-cost hydroponic method for growing baby leaf vegetables. Among other, an important characteristic of the system is the use of large volume of nutrient solution which is characterized by high heat capacity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different root-zone temperatures on baby leaves of lettuce and rocket plants grown in a floating system under mild (spring) or extreme environmental conditions (summer and winter)., Results: Root-zone temperature was recorded in two tanks, one powered by a photovoltaic system and one where root-zone temperature was not controlled - this was used as a control tank. Photosynthetic parameters, yield, nutritional quality, and mineral composition were determined. In both baby leaf vegetables, during extreme weather conditions, yield was higher in the tanks with controlled root-zone temperature conditions than the control (+18.9% for rocket, and + 31.4% for baby lettuce), while quality parameters and chemical composition were not significantly affected. Stomatal conductance and net photosynthesis values were positively affected only during summer. On the other hand, control of root-zone temperature under mild weather conditions had no significant effect on baby lettuce and rocket., Conclusion: Control of the root-zone temperature could be a useful tool to improve productivity for baby lettuce and rocket crops cultivated in floating systems under extreme weather conditions. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)

As a subgroup of horticultural crops, vegetable food is a kind of indispensable energy source for human beings, providing necessary nutritional components including vitamins, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and active substances such as carotenoids and flavonoids. The developmental process of vegetable crops is not only regulated by environmental stimulations, but also manipulated by both genetic and epigenetic modifications. Epigenetic modifications are composed by several regulatory mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin remodeling, and non-coding RNAs. Among these modifications, DNA methylation functions in multiple biological pathways ranging from fundamental development to environmental stimulations by mediating transcriptomic alterations, resulting in the activation or silencing of target genes. In recent years, intensive studies have revealed that DNA methylation is essential to fruit development and ripening, indicating that the epigenome of fruit crops could be dynamically modified according to the specific requirements in the commercial production. Firstly, this review will present the mechanisms of DNA methylation, and update the understanding on active DNA demethylation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Secondly, this review will summarize the recent progress on the function of DNA methylation in regulating fruit ripening. Moreover, the possible functions of DNA methylation on controlling the expansion of edible organs, senescence of leafy vegetables, and anthocyanin pigmentation in several important vegetable crops will be discussed. Finally, this review will highlight the intractable issues that need to be resolved in the application of epigenome in vegetable crops, and provide perspectives for the potential challenges in the further studies., (© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.)

Supply chain integration plays an important role in the development of the vegetable industry in terms of vegetable quality, vegetable safety, and vegetable security in rural China. This paper explores how agricultural cooperatives integrate the vegetable supply chain by taking a trinity cooperative as an example in China. It explains the translation concatenation of supply chain integration for this cooperative by constructing actor networks in four development stages, including the seed stage, start-up stage, development stage, and mature stage. The findings show that supply chain integration in production cooperation, supply & sales cooperation, and credit cooperation is a useful trinity cooperative model of supply chain integration for investigating vegetable supply chain integration through internal integration and external integration. This paper suggests that cooperatives in the vegetable supply chain should facilitate close coordination among different shareholders and further improve the efficiency of supply chain integration. The government should provide training opportunities and funding to encourage cooperatives to participate in supply chain integration within the vegetable industry., Competing Interests: No authors have competing interests.

Vegetables are essential protective diet ingredients that supply ample amounts of minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, dietary fiber, and various nutraceutical compounds for protection against various disease conditions. Color is the most important quality parameter for the farmers to access the harvest maturity while for the consumer's reliable indices to define acceptability or rejection. The colored vegetables contain functional compounds like chlorophylls, carotenoids, betalains, anthocyanins, etc. well recognized for their antioxidant, antimicrobial, hypolipidemic, neuroprotective, antiaging, diuretic, and antidiabetic properties. Recently, there has been a shift in food consumption patterns from processed to semi-processed or fresh fruits and vegetables to ensure a healthy disease-free life. This shifted the focus of agriculture scientists and food processors from food security to nutrition security. This has resulted in recent improvements to existing crops like blue tomato, orange cauliflower, colored and/or black carrots, with improved color, and thus enriched bioactive compounds. Exhaustive laboratory trials though are required to document and establish their minimum effective concentrations, bioavailability, and specific health benefits. Efforts should also be directed to breed color-rich cultivars or to improve the existing varieties through conventional and molecular breeding approaches. The present review has been devoted to a better understanding of vegetable colors with specific health benefits and to provide in-hand information about the effect of specific pigment on body organs, the effect of processing on their bioavailability, and recent improvements in colors to ensure a healthy lifestyle., Competing Interests: Declaration of interest No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Chitin and chitosan are natural compounds that are biodegradable and nontoxic and have gained noticeable attention due to their effective contribution to increased yield and agro-environmental sustainability. Several effects have been reported for chitosan application in plants. Particularly, it can be used in plant defense systems against biological and environmental stress conditions and as a plant growth promoter-it can increase stomatal conductance and reduce transpiration or be applied as a coating material in seeds. Moreover, it can be effective in promoting chitinolytic microorganisms and prolonging storage life through post-harvest treatments, or benefit nutrient delivery to plants since it may prevent leaching and improve slow release of nutrients in fertilizers. Finally, it can remediate polluted soils through the removal of cationic and anionic heavy metals and the improvement of soil properties. On the other hand, chitin also has many beneficial effects such as plant growth promotion, improved plant nutrition and ability to modulate and improve plants' resistance to abiotic and biotic stressors. The present review presents a literature overview regarding the effects of chitin, chitosan and derivatives on horticultural crops, highlighting their important role in modern sustainable crop production; the main limitations as well as the future prospects of applications of this particular biostimulant category are also presented.

An efficient dispersive solid-phase extraction method was developed to trace pesticide residues in commonly consumed vegetables. In this method, UiO-66 with uniform micropores was used as sorbent, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was applied to detect the pesticides. Thanks to the size sieving action of uniform micropores, UiO-66 directly extracted the target pesticides from vegetable matrices and excluded the relatively large matrix compounds. This well eliminated the matrix effect. The important experimental conditions were evaluated by orthogonal array experimental design. In optimized conditions, good linearity (R 2  ≥ 0.99), detection limits (0.4-2.0 ng/g), recoveries (60.9-117.5%) and precision (relativestandarddeviations < 14.6%) were achieved. Moreover, the sorbent UiO-66 can be reused more than 20 times. These demonstrate a simple, reliable and robust method to screen the pesticide residues in vegetables. Furthermore, the validated method was applied to detect the pesticides in various organic and conventional vegetables., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Biostimulants, are a diverse class of compounds including substances or microorganism which have positive impacts on plant growth, yield and chemical composition as well as boosting effects to biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. The major plant biostimulants are hydrolysates of plant or animal protein and other compounds that contain nitrogen, humic substances, extracts of seaweeds, biopolymers, compounds of microbial origin, phosphite, and silicon, among others. The mechanisms involved in the protective effects of biostimulants are varied depending on the compound and/or crop and mostly related with improved physiological processes and plant morphology aspects such as the enhanced root formation and elongation, increased nutrient uptake, improvement in seed germination rates and better crop establishment, increased cation exchange, decreased leaching, detoxification of heavy metals, mechanisms involved in stomatal conductance and plant transpiration or the stimulation of plant immune systems against stressors. The aim of this review was to provide an overview of the application of plant biostimulants on different crops within the framework of sustainable crop management, aiming to gather critical information regarding their positive effects on plant growth and yield, as well as on the quality of the final product. Moreover, the main limitations of such practice as well as the future prospects of biostimulants research will be presented.

Differences in technical efficiency across farms are one of the major factors explaining differences in farm survival and growth and changes in farm industry structure. This study employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to compute technical inefficiency scores for output, energy, materials, pesticides and fertiliser of a sample of Dutch indoor vegetable farms within the period 2006-2016. A bootstrap truncated regression model is used to determine statistical associations between producer-specific characteristics and technical inefficiency scores for the specified inputs. For the sample of indoor growers, the average technical inefficiency was about 14% for energy, 23% for materials, 24% for pesticides and 22% for fertilisers. The bootstrap truncated regression suggested that the degree of specialisation exerts adverse effects on the technical inefficiency of variable inputs. While age, short-term, long-term debt and subsidy were statistically significant, the coefficients were not economically significant. Building the capacity of farmers to reduce input inefficiency will enable farmers to be competitive and reduce the adverse effects of input overuse on the environment., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Low growth temperatures and the special light qualities of midnight sun in northern Scandinavia, have both been shown to improve eating quality of swede root bulbs. To study the combined effect of these factors on root development and sensory-related compounds, plants were grown in phytotron under different 24 h supplemental light-emitting diode (LED) light colours, at constant 15 °C, or reduced end-of-season temperature at 9 °C., Results: Far-red LED (740 nm) light induced longer leaves and produced more roundly shaped bulbs, than the other light quality treatments. At constant 15 °C, supplemental light of far-red LED also produced a stronger purple crown skin colour than the other LED treatments. This difference between light quality treatments disappeared at 9 °C, as all bulb crowns developed a purple colour. There were no significant effects of LED-supplements on sugar concentrations, while the reduced temperature on average did increase concentrations of d-fructose and d-glucose. Total glucosinolate concentrations were not different among treatments, although the most abundant glucosinolate, progoitrin, on average was present in highest concentration under LEDs containing far-red light, and in lower concentration at 9 °C compared to 15 °C., Conclusion: The light quality of 24 h photoperiods in combination with temperature appears primarily important for growth and morphological traits in swede root bulbs. Influence of light quality and low temperature on appearance and sensory-related compounds may be utilized in marketing of root vegetables with special quality related to growth conditions of high latitude origin. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) in sub-Saharan African countries are related to low dietary I intake and generally combatted through salt iodisation. Agronomic biofortification of food crops may be an alternative approach. This study assessed the effectiveness of I biofortification of green vegetables (Brassica napus L and Amaranthus retroflexus L.) grown in tropical soils with contrasting chemistry and fertility. Application rates of 0, 5 and 10 kg ha -1 I applied to foliage or soil were assessed. Leaves were harvested fortnightly for ~ 2 months after I application before a second crop was grown to assess the availability of residual soil I. A separate experiment was used to investigate storage of I within the plants. Iodine concentration and uptake in sequential harvests showed a sharp drop within 28 days of I application in all soil types for all I application levels and methods. This rapid decline likely reflects I fixation in the soil. Iodine biofortification increased I uptake and concentration in the vegetables to a level useful for increasing dietary I intake and could be a feasible way to reduce IDD in tropical regions. However, biofortification of green vegetables which are subject to multiple harvests requires repeated I applications.

Background: Phenolic compounds are phytochemicals present in vegetables which contribute to human health. Although nitrogen deficiency and sucrose (Suc) are linked to phenolic production in vegetables, the relationship between them in the regulation of phenolic biosynthesis remains unknown. This study investigated the potential role of Suc in regulating phenolic biosynthesis of lettuce under low-nitrogen (LN) conditions., Results: Our results showed that LN treatment significantly increased Suc content in lettuce by inducing rapid increases in activities of sucrose synthesis-related enzymes. Exogenous Suc further stimulated LN-induced phenolic accumulation in lettuce by upregulating the expression of genes (PAL, CHS, F3H, DFR, F35H and UFGT) involved in phenolic biosynthesis. The opposite effects were true for exogenous 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) application. No changes were observed in chlorophyll content in LN-treated lettuce, in either the presence or absence of Suc application. Notably, exogenous DCMU resulted in decreases of maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry, actual efficiency of PSII and electron transport rate in PSII and increase of quantum yield of non-regulated energy dissipation in PSII in lettuce under LN conditions, whereas these effects were reversed on Suc application. Exogenous Suc also increased glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthase activities in LN-treated lettuce., Conclusions: These results suggest that Suc is involved in LN-induced phenolic production in lettuce by enhancing photosynthetic and nitrogen assimilation efficiency to increase the supply of carbon resources and precursors for phenolic biosynthesis. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Aims: This study measured the survival of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Javiana over a 10-day period on four soil-free cultivation matrix (SFCM) types in the absence of microgreens and fertilizers., Methods and Results: Coco coir (CC), a Sphagnum peat/vermiculite mix, Biostrate ® and hemp mat samples were inoculated with 3 × 10 6  CFU per ml bacteria, incubated at room temperature, and analysed on day 0, 1, 3, 6, and 10. Statistically significant differences in pathogen survival were observed across multiple time points for hemp and Biostrate compared to CC, peat and bacteria in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (P < 0·05). S. Javiana showed greater overall survival compared to Listeria (P < 0·0002). By day 10, S. Javiana persisted at the initial inoculum concentration for hemp and Biostrate while declining by 1-2 log CFU per ml in CC, peat and PBS. Listeria also persisted at the initial concentration in hemp and Biostrate but decreased to 1 log CFU per ml in peat and below the detection limit in CC and PBS., Conclusions: Overall, there are survival differences between bacterial pathogens in SFCM used in microgreen production systems. To our knowledge, this is the first comparison of survival among SFCM involving a S. enterica serovar and L. monocytogenes, and the first study comparing CC, Biostrate and hemp., Significance and Impact of the Study: Microgreens production systems predominantly utilize soil alternatives, and it is not well-understood how pathogen transmission risk may be affected by the type of SFCM. The results of this study impact the microgreen industry as media selection may be used to reduce the risk of bacterial pathogen proliferation and transmission to the plant potentially resulting in potential foodborne illness., (© 2020 The Society for Applied Microbiology.)

Highly persistent, toxic and bioaccumulative per - and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) represents a serious problem for the environment and their concentrations and fate remain largely unknown. The present study consists of a PFAS screening in sludges originating from 43 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Czech Republic. To analyze an extended group of PFAS consisting of 32 PFAS, including GenX and other new replacements of older and restricted PFAS in sludge, a new method was optimized and validated using pressurized solvent extraction, followed by the SPE clean-up step to eliminate the observed matrix effects and LC-MS/MS. The results revealed high PFAS contamination of sewage sludge, reaching values from 5.6 to 963.2 ng g -1 . The results showed that in the majority of the samples (about 60%), PFOS was the most abundant among the targeted PFAS, reaching 932.9 ng g -1 . Approximately 20% of the analyzed samples contained more short-chain PFAS, suggesting the replacement of long-chain PFAS (especially restricted PFOA and PFOS). GenX was detected in 9 samples, confirming the trend in the use of new PFAS. The results revealed that significantly higher contamination was detected in the samples from large WWTPs (population equivalent > 50,000; p-value <0.05). Concerning the application of sludge in agriculture, our prediction using the respective PFAS bioconcentration factors, the observed concentrations, and the legislatively permitted management of biosolids in Czech Republic agriculture revealed that PFAS can cause serious contamination of cereals and vegetables (oat, celery shoots and lettuce leaves), as well as general secondary contamination of the environment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Four selected advance lines of drought-tolerant leafy vegetable amaranth were characterized for phenolic profiles, vitamins, and antioxidant activities. The selected advance lines exhibited differences in terms of genotypes with remarkable phenols, vitamins, flavonoids content, and potential radical quenching capacity. We identified twenty-five phenolic and flavonoid compounds including protocatechuic acid, salicylic acid, gentisic acid, gallic acid, β-resorcylic acid, vanillic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, ellagic acid, syringic acid, ferulic acid, kaempferol, m-coumaric acid, trans-cinnamic acid, quercetin, p-coumaric acid, apigenin, caffeic acid, rutin, sinapic acid, isoquercetin, naringenin, myricetin, catechin, and hyperoside. The selected advance lines VA14 and VA16 had abundant phenols, vitamins, flavonoids, and antioxidants potentiality. The selected drought-tolerant leafy vegetable amaranth showed high antioxidant potentiality as phenols, vitamins, flavonoids of these lines had a significant positive correlation with antioxidant capacities equivalent to Trolox using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and ABTS + . Therefore, drought-tolerant leafy vegetable amaranth VA14 and VA16 can be grown in semi-arid and drought-prone areas in the world to attaining vitamins and antioxidant sufficiency. The phenolic and flavonoids compounds identified in drought-tolerant leafy vegetable amaranth demand a comprehensive pharmacological study. The baseline data on phenolic and flavonoids compounds obtained in the present study will contribute to the scientist forum for the scientific evaluation of these compounds in vegetable amaranth.

Background: Amaranth leaves can provide important nutrients to small-scale farming families growing amaranth for seed. Amaranth is known to be tolerant to defoliation, but there is little guidance on when defoliation should be performed for optimal nutritional benefits. This series of experiments assessed tolerance to defoliation at different points throughout the vegetative stage of development, in addition to the nutritional benefits and flavor of amaranth leaves at each stage., Results: Overall, timing of defoliation had no impact on seed yield or quality. Fifty percent defoliation at any point did not significantly reduce seed yield, whereas 100% defoliation throughout development reduced seed yield. The nutritional value of amaranth leaves differed substantially throughout development, with the highest concentrations of iron mid-way through vegetative development, and the highest levels of vitamin A, magnesium, and copper at the end of the vegetative development stage. Palatability was highest in young leaves, and decreased as plants aged. We also found that neither timing nor intensity of defoliation had an influence on branching, which can negatively influence ease of harvest., Conclusions: These results indicate that amaranth leaves are a nutritious food source that provides vital nutrients at different concentrations throughout development. Farmers who wish to harvest both leaves and seeds can harvest up to 50% of the leaves at any point during vegetative development or bud formation while maintaining seed yield. Leaf harvest timing can thus be tailored to nutritional needs, although palatability decreases with plant age. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)