BACKGROUND Oilseed rape and maize crops represent a large part of agriculture fields in European countries. OBJECTIVE To establish the actual prevalence of sensitization to oilseed rape and maize pollen, and to determine if this is correlated to the amount of exposure as well as to the patient's history of atopy or asymptomatic atopy. METHODS The study was conducted by 69 allergists belongi...

Potential involvement of seed storage proteins in susceptibility to aflatoxin contamination was assessed with in vitro tests. Initially, two oilseed storage proteins [cottonseed storage protein (CSP) and zein] were compared with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and collagen. Supplementation of a complete defined medium with either oilseed storage protein resulted in significantly more aflatoxin produ...

Field trials were carried out in order to examine the role of some geochemical indices (S : Al; Mg : Al) and partition coefficient (Kd) for evaluating response of crops to aluminum toxicity under acid soil conditions. They were established in 2007/2008 at Gluszyna Lesna (52014, N and 16056, E), a 300-hectare agricultural farm near Poznan. Two different crop plants were tested: (i) winter oilsee...

Valine (C5H11NO2) is one of the most important amino acids in oilseed rape and has a close relationship with the influence of herbicide stress during growing stage. The traditional methods for amino acid detection were to use high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or amino acid analyzer. These methods were time consuming for preparation and detection, costly, laborious and not convenient...

Leaf area index (LAI) is a key input in models describing biosphere processes and has widely been used in monitoring crop growth and in yield estimation. In this study, a hybrid inversion method is developed to estimate LAI values of winter oilseed rape during growth using high spatial resolution optical satellite data covering a test site located in southeast China. Based on PROSAIL (coupling ...

To meet the increasing need for bioenergy several raw materials have to be considered for the production of e.g. bioethanol and biogas. In this study, three lignocellulosic raw materials were studied, i.e. (1) winter rye straw (Secale cereale L), (2) oilseed rape straw (Brassica napus L.) and (3) faba bean straw (Viciafaba L.). Their composition with regard to cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, ...

This paper is the third in a series designed to demonstrate the application of rigorous, systematic hazard identification techniques to ecological systems. Here we use Hierarchical Holographic Modelling to identify the potential ecological hazards associated with the commercial release of herbicide tolerant oilseed rape. Hierarchical Holographic Models decompose complex systems into a series of...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Mounting concerns about balancing food security with the environmental impacts of agro-chemical use underpin the need to better understand the mechanisms by which crop plants, particularly during the vulnerable seedling stage, attract or repel herbivores. METHODS The feeding preferences of the mollusc Helix aspersa were determined for several oilseed rape (Brassica napus) ...