Cadmium is a common impurity in phosphatic fertilizers and may contribute to soil Cd accumulation. Changes in total and bioavailable Cd burdens to agricultural soils and the potential for plant Cd accumulation resulting from fertilizer input was investigated. Three year field studies were conducted using three dose levels of cadmium-rich, commercial, phosphate fertilizers applied at four agricu...

BACKGROUND Most agricultural weeds are usually regarded as undesirable and targeted for eradication. However, weeds are useful to human beings as food and traditional medicines. Few studies have been done to document the uses of weeds as traditional vegetables. This study was therefore, done to document indigenous knowledge related to the diversity and use of agricultural weeds as traditional v...

The aim of the present study evaluates the fat-soluble vitamins all-trans retinol (vitamin A), cholecalciferol (vitamin D₃) and α-tocopherol (vitamin E) content in the fresh edible tissue of Bulgarian fish species: marine-grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) and bonito (Sarda sarda), and freshwater-rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio). The sample preparation procedure i...

The amount of trace elements present in edible bovine tissues is of importance for both animal health and human nutrition. This study presents data on trace element concentrations in semitendinosus and cardiac muscles, livers and kidneys of 60 zebu (Bos indicus) bulls, sampled at Jimma, Ethiopia. From 28 of these bulls, blood samples were also obtained. Deficient levels of copper were found in ...

BACKGROUND Selenium (Se) is an essential mineral element for animals and humans, which they acquire largely from plants. The Se concentration in edible plants is determined by the Se phytoavailability in soils. Selenium is not an essential element for plants, but excessive Se can be toxic. Thus, soil Se phytoavailability determines the ecology of plants. Most plants cannot grow on seleniferous ...

Lignans constitute a group of phytochemicals, which are produced by oxidative dimerization of two phenylpropanoid units. Furfuran type lignans such as secoisolariciresinol, matairesinol, lariciresinol or pinoresinol are widely distributed in edible plants, and most of those dietary lignans are metabolized by the gut microflora to enterolactone and enterodiol, also known as enterolignans, tradit...

BACKGROUND The rural populations in Ethiopia have a rich knowledge of wild edible plants and consumption of wild edible plants is still an integral part of the different cultures in the country. In the southern part of the country, wild edible plants are used as dietary supplements and a means of survival during times of food shortage. Therefore, the aim of this study is to document the wild ed...

The mound known as Cayönü Tepesi (38 degrees 16' N; 39 degrees 43' E) in southeastern Turkey is one of the increasing number of early village sites which, since World War II, have been excavated archeologically in greater southwestern Asia. The evidence recovered in the autumn 1972 campaign of the Joint Istanbul-Chicago Prehistoric Project is briefly described, with particular attention to Cayö...

The use of local Mediterranean food plants is at the brink of disappearance. Even though there is relatively abundant information on inventories of wild edible taxa, there is also a crucial need to understand how these plants are consumed and when and how these consumption phenomena change over time and place around the Mediterranean. Additionally, it is important to study such knowledge system...

Insects, such as stinkbugs, are able to produce noxious defence chemicals to ward off predators, nevertheless, some ethnic groups have recipes to render them delicious. We provide an example of edible stinkbugs (Encosternum delegorguei) used by two locally separate ethnic groups in South Africa, the Vhavenda and Mapulana, with a third group, the Bolobedu using them for commercial purposes. Stru...