The aim of this study was to investigate levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (marker and dioxin-like congeners), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (EPA 15 + 1), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (14 predominant congeners) and pesticides (74 compounds) in various cold-pressed vegetable oils. Poppy seed oil, rapeseed oil, sesame seed oil, pumpkinseed oil, hempseed oil, linaire oil, borage oil and eve...

The different solvent extracts of the leaves of Plectranthus amboinicus were evaluated for their antioxidant and antibacterial properties. The ethyl acetate extract of the leaves which had the highest polyphenolic content showed an appreciable DPPH radical scavenging activity as well as total antioxidant capacity as compared with extracts obtained using hexane, acetone, methanol, hydroalcohol a...

Recent decades have seen development of research and an increased interest in the psychopharmacology of natural remedies. More than 20 herbal remedies have been identified that may potentially be applied in medicine as antidepressive, anxiety relieving or sleep-inducing agents. Patients often prefer to take herbal remedies and often take them on their own, without consulting a physician. The ai...

Interest in oilseeds and oilseed crop production has recently been heightened by the growing potential for biofuels. Traditional oil seed crops, such as sunflower (Helianthus annuus L., Asteraceae), flax (Linum usitatissimum L., Linaceae), and more recently canola (Brassica napus L., Brassicaceae) have become crops of major importance in the region. The key to their production success is multi-...

Seeds of Mimosa bimucronata are heavily infested (pre-dispersal predation) by the bruchid beetle Acanthoscelides schrankiae in Brazil. In this study, firstly we set up experiments to assess seed germination under seven and six different light and temperature regimes, respectively, and then we evaluated the ability of seeds to germinate after predation. We tested the hypothesis that the non-pred...

We carried out a seed germination experiment using two thrush species in captivity. We compared the number of germinated seeds and germination time of control seeds (manually removed from fruits) and ingested seeds of Miconia prasina by two bird species, Turdus albicollis and T. amaurochalinus, and also compared retention times of seeds by both thrush species. Control seeds germinated more freq...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Differences in dormancy and germination requirements have been documented in heteromorphic seeds of many species, but it is unknown how this difference contributes to maintenance and regeneration of populations. The primary aim of this study was to compare the seed bank dynamics, including dormancy cycling, of the two seed morphs (black and brown) of the cold desert halophyt...

Seed heteromorphism observed in many halophytes is an adaptive phenomenon toward high salinity. However, the relationship between heteromorphic seed germination and germination-related hormones under salt stress remains elusive. To gain an insight into this relationship, the roles of gibberellins (GAs) and abscisic acid (ABA) in regulating germination of Suaeda salsa dimorphic brown and black s...