S. Chakrabarty, A. Islam, Z. Yaakob, Abul Kasem Mohammad Mydul Islam
{"title":"Castor (Ricinus communis): An Underutilized Oil Crop in the South East Asia","authors":"S. Chakrabarty, A. Islam, Z. Yaakob, Abul Kasem Mohammad Mydul Islam","doi":"10.5772/INTECHOPEN.92746","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/INTECHOPEN.92746","url":null,"abstract":"Castor belongs to a monotypic genus Ricinus and subtribe Ricininae. It is one of the oldest plants, getting importance as an agricultural crop for subtropical and tropical countries in the world. Castor is a hardy plant, requires low input, tolerates marginal soils, is easy to establish in the field, is resistant to drought, and gives yield 350–900 kg oil per hectare. Castor oil shows great functional value in energy sector, industry, and pharmaceutical. In recent years, it received increasing demand in the international market for its more than 700 uses, ranging from medicine and cosmetics to biodiesel, plastic, and lubricants. The oil is significant for many industrial uses compared with other oils from plant sources because of its high and low temperature-tolerant properties. This chapter has been written to provide botanical descriptions, ecology, agro-technology, and versatile industrial uses.","PeriodicalId":369291,"journal":{"name":"Agroecosystems – Very Complex Environmental Systems","volume":"196 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116107633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Formulations of BGA for Paddy Crop","authors":"Bagampriyal Selvaraj, S. Balasubramanian","doi":"10.5772/INTECHOPEN.92821","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/INTECHOPEN.92821","url":null,"abstract":"Blue green algae (BGA) are prokaryotic phototrophic organisms that can fix the atmospheric nitrogen biologically, and were directly applied as a biofertilizers in agricultural fields specifically Paddy field. Since they are having the ability to fix nitrogen, they are formulated with various adsorbents for the purpose of enhancing the crop growth along with maintaining the soil fertility and other soil factors responsible for productivity. The present study revealed that the formulations of blue green algae isolated from paddy fields of southern districts with different adsorbents like alluvial soil, sand, charcoal, and powdered paddy straw. All the adsorbents mixed with blue green algae showed significant growth when compared to the control plant. This determined that the adsorbent formulated mixed blue green algae enhanced the paddy plant growth under greenhouse condition.","PeriodicalId":369291,"journal":{"name":"Agroecosystems – Very Complex Environmental Systems","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115996264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Use of Deep Eutectic Solvents in the Treatment of Agro-Industrial Lignocellulosic Wastes for Bioactive Compounds","authors":"A. Ünlü, S. Takaç","doi":"10.5772/intechopen.92747","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92747","url":null,"abstract":"Lignocellulose is the most abundant component in nature since it refers to plant material. Beyond the enormous utilization of lignocellulose by human being, unignorable amount of waste is also formed simultaneously. Agro-industrial lignocellulosic wastes can cause environmental pollutions if not processed before discharged. An innovative approach for lowering the detrimental influences of lignocellulosic wastes is to consider them as a source of useful products rather than a waste to be decontaminated. Beyond the conventional techniques for evaluation of the wastes, new emerging techniques and the use of new solvents have drawn attention recently. Among new generation solvents, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have been increasingly used in the treatment of lignocellulosics to produce value-added products such as biofuels, chemicals, and solvents and also used for the recovery of bioactive phenolic compounds. DESs are used extensively for fractionation of lignocellulosic wastes, often in combination with enzymatic hydrolysis of the biomass. On the other hand, extraction and recovery of bioactive compounds are also under research using DESs. This mini review summarizes the very recent literature reports on the use of DESs in treating agro-industrial wastes within the concept of valorization of biomass.","PeriodicalId":369291,"journal":{"name":"Agroecosystems – Very Complex Environmental Systems","volume":"32 10","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"120904814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dangerous Risk Factors to be Considered for Proper Management of Agroecosystems","authors":"Carmine Massarelli, C. Campanale, V. Uricchio","doi":"10.5772/intechopen.91824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91824","url":null,"abstract":"Our work aims to identify the main risks existing in the agroecosystems of southern Italy, providing, at the same time, information about innovative and fast methodologies. The goal is to understand the magnitude of the phenomena that could compromise them if no action is taken for water and soil matrices. Regarding the former we will consider plant protection product residues in water bodies and the importance of agroecosystems as source of microplastic pollution and their role as a vector of pollutants; regarding the latter, we will present a rapid and low-cost methodology to detect asbestos-containing materials and significantly transformed areas. Furthermore, indications are provided on how to implement effective monitoring plans in order to certainly identify the problem affecting one or more matrices and provide practical instructions to the administrators to implement the appropriate remediation strategies.","PeriodicalId":369291,"journal":{"name":"Agroecosystems – Very Complex Environmental Systems","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127339678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fungal Endophytes: Australian Terrestrial Orchids","authors":"S. Mehra","doi":"10.5772/intechopen.91976","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91976","url":null,"abstract":"Orchids are unique as they lack a functional rooting system and share an obligate relationship with their fungal symbionts. This relationship supports their host’s nutritional demands from seed germination to its later development. The orchid fungal endophytes explore large areas in the soil as, to which orchid roots have no access, and thus acquire both organic and inorganic nutrients beyond the depletion zone at low carbon cost. Both ‘autotrophic’ (green) and ‘mycoheterotrophic’ species occur in the Orchidaceae, but the term ‘mixotrophic’ is possibly a truer description of the carbon economy of many green orchids. Some of the major ecological threats of an Australian landscape are habitat destruction and fragmentation. There is little known about the nutritional sources and saprophytic ability of orchid mycorrhizal fungi (OMF) and their role in providing nutrition to orchids. However, several integrated approaches have been developed for the conservation, management and restoration of these plants in wild but there is an urgent need to set appropriate conservation priorities to prevent the loss of habitats for these endangered species in terms of their fungal endophytes. This chapter focuses on the protection of these endangered Australian orchid species by understanding the nutritional behavior of their endophytes.","PeriodicalId":369291,"journal":{"name":"Agroecosystems – Very Complex Environmental Systems","volume":"234 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116327627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}