The objective of the present study was to assess the intake of naturally occurring plant sterols and β-carotene via the overall diet of Belgian pre-school children and adults. Two different Belgian food consumption databases were used: (1) one with consumption data of pre-school children (2·5-6·5 years old) and (2) one with consumption data of adults ( ≥ 15 years old). These consumption data we...

Top-down control of prey by predators are magnified in productive ecosystems due to higher sustenance of prey communities. In soil micro-arthropod food webs, plant communities regulate the availability of basal resources like soil microbial biomass. Mixed plant communities are often associated with higher microbial biomass than monocultures. Therefore, top-down control is expected to be higher ...

Plant disease risk is strongly influenced by environmental conditions [1]. While some animal hosts may provide their pathogens with a consistent range of body temperatures, plant pathogens are generally much more exposed to the elements. Plant disease will tend to respond to climate change, though a number of interactions take place among host, pathogen, potential vectors. In some cases, the ac...

This document has been prepared at the request of the Secretariat of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and in close collaboration with the FAO Plant Production and Protection Division, to facilitate the Commission’s deliberations when it will review key issues on targets and indicators for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture at its Fifteenth Regular ...

Plant-based antigen production represents an innovative strategy for low cost vaccine production and delivery. Successfully advancing plant-made antigen production in open field systems requires understanding of confinement integrity and consequences of inadvertent occurrence in the food supply. The food safety implications of confinement loss and inadvertent antigen occurrence in the food supp...

Zn is an essential element for human growth. The nutritional adequacy of dietary Zn depends not only on the total Zn intake, but also on the type of food source (i.e. of plant or animal origin). We investigated the association between maternal dietary Zn intake from animal and plant food sources and fetal growth. A total of 918 pregnant women at 12-28 weeks of gestation were selected from the M...

 Abstract—The present study was conducted to identify the type of food taken by mullet fish. To study the food and feeding habits, a total of 80 fish samples were collected from upper zone of Merbok estuary. Two methods were followed, namely occurrence and numerical for the analysis of gut contents. The observation identified algae, diatoms, desmids, plant materials, annelids, crustaceans, fis...

Cadmium (Cd) is a highly toxic heavy metal for both plants and animals. The presence of Cd in agricultural soils is of great concern regarding its entry into the food chain. Cadmium enters into the soil-plant environment mainly through anthropogenic activities. Compounds of Cd are more soluble than other heavy metals, so it is more available and readily taken up by plants and accumulates in dif...

Plant and animal population sizes inevitably change following habitat loss, but the mechanisms underlying these changes are poorly understood. We experimentally altered habitat volume and eliminated top trophic levels of the food web of invertebrates that inhabit rain-filled leaves of the carnivorous pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea. Path models that incorporated food-web structure better pred...