eChapters

Certain constituents associated with plants are toxic. When such items are consumed by men and animals, they become hazardous. Mold growth on food items may be the cause of toxicity. Some of them are called mycotoxins. Aflatoxins are the best examples of such a group of compounds. Sometimes processing also produces some toxins. Fumigants, smoke and some metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic etc.) used for such purposes are some such toxic constituents. Pesticides used in protecting the crops and grains during storage remain on the items and the residues are hazardous.

Introduction

Bael (Aegle marmelos Corr.) is an indigenous fruit of India belongs to family Rutaceae and it is commonly known as Bengal quince (John and Stevenson, 1979), Bilva, Indian quince, Golden apple, Holy fruit, Bel, Belwa, sriphal, bilipatra Stone apple and Maredo in India. The deciduous with trifoliate aromatic leaves is traditionally used as sacred offering to the ‘Lord Shiva’ and thus the tree is also known by the name Shivaduma (The tree of Shiva). It has tolerance to arid conditions as well as high rainfall. It is known from prehistoric time and mentioned its importance in different ancient and medicinal system viz., Rigveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, Charak Samhita and Sushrut Samhita, and Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani medicines and religious Jain and Buddhist literature (Balunas and Kinghorn, 2005, Om Prakash,1961 and Kirtikar and Basu, 1935). It can be grown successfully in water scarce and rainfed areas of the country. Besides, occurring as natural wild plant of forest, it is commonly grown in the homestead gardens, backyards, and religious places particularly in the premises of the Lord Shiva temples and in the farmers’ fields. In India, bael is being grown throughout the country except temperate region, but there is no systematic plantation of bael except Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat where few progressive farmers have initiated growing bael economically (Dhankhar et al., 2011). Its fruit is highly nutritive and rich in vitamins, bioactive compounds, minerals, carbohydrate, etc (Gopalan et al., 1964). Every part of the tree such as fruit root, bark, leaf and flower of any stage of maturity and ripening are important ingredients of several traditional formulations. Recently, advanced scientific techniques have reported that plant has various medicinal properties viz, anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, haemolytic, larvicidal and anti-inflammatory activities. The sherbet and marmalade prepared from fruit pulp is prescribed for diarrhea and dysentery. It is said that the ripe fruit is a tonic, an astringent and laxative, whereas unripe fruit is an astringent and digestive and good for heart and brain. The important medicinal properties of bael are antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic, cardioprotective, antispermogenic, anticancer and radio protective (Kumar et al., 2010 and Vadivelan et al., 2011) The fruit is efficient to avoid malnutrition and health insecurity in the underprivileged. The ripen and unripe fruits can be used for preparation of various value added products such as jam, slab, squash, powder, candy, nectar, toffee, pickle, wine, sherbet, ice cream etc.

The questions related to different series like perfect squares, perfect cubes, geometric, arithmetic, two stage types etc. are given to quantify the aptitude of the students. These series have a definite pattern and require to stressed upon the basic knowledge and aptitude of the candidates to find out the proper answer. The series may follow different pattern either additive, deductive or multiple based on earlier values given in the series. Some of the tips are given below for better understanding of the students and also these tips will help you to solve some of the ticklish questions.

Introduction

Fermented foods and beverages comprise an indispensable part of the human diet. They can be generally defined as those foods and beverages produced via controlled microbial growth and conversion of various substrates using either enzymes or as whole cell itself, as shown in Figure 1.

The global production of cocoa is around 36.49 lakh tonnes against the demand of 37.37 lakh tonnes. Ivory Coast leads in cocoa production in the world with a contribution of 38 per cent, followed by Ghana and Indonesia. Unlike in other crops, it appears that the production and demand of cocoa at the global level match each other to a large extent. However, the recent trends in the world production of cocoa beans indicated that there was a drop of nine per cent in 2006–07, declining from 3.8 million tonnes in 2005–06 to 3.4 million tonnes in 2006–07 (Table 9.1). It was attributed to unfavourable conditions in many cocoa producing areas. West Africa, the main cocoa producing region, was hit by a severe harmattan (dusty dry wind from November to March) and its inherent dry weather, which lasted from the end of 2006 to February 2007, had a strong negative impact on global cocoa production. In Asia and South America, El Nino- related weather conditions developed in September 2006 and continued until the beginning of 2007. It led to relatively low cocoa production in 2007–07. However, it was rebounced in 2007– 08 to some extent though it was low (36.49 lakh tonnes) when compared to that of 2005–06. The favourable weather which prevailed over most of the cocoa growing regions during 2002–03 and 2003–04 helped to achieve better production during the above years while dip in the global production in 2006–07 due to unfavourable weather. It reveals that the weather abnormalities like floods, droughts, cold and heat waves across the cocoa growing regions of the world adversely affect the Coca production and the cocoa industry is likely to suffer.

Introduction 

A toxin (Greek: ôïîéêüí, toxikon, lit. (poison) for use on arrows) is a poisonous substance produced by living cells or organisms that is active at very low concentrations. Toxins can be small molecules, peptides, or proteins and are capable of causing disease on contact or absorption with body tissues by interacting with biological macromolecules such as enzymes or cellular receptors. Toxins vary greatly in their severity, ranging from usually minor and acute (as in a bee sting) to almost immediately deadly (as in botulinum toxin)

A toxin is simply a poison that can affect the body by internal or external means. A toxin can be a chemical which occurs naturally or in synthetic form. More than 120,000 human-made chemicals have been introduced into the environment, in one form or another, and this number continues to grow each year at a phenomenal rate. At the same time, microbial toxins, being influenced by the vast numbers of chemicals, are mutating beyond belief.

The food productivity increased manifolds due to high-input modern agriculture with the adoption of new technologies like high yielding varieties, farm mechanisation, increased use of fertiliser and pesticide, specialised farming practices, water resource development and improved irrigation practices, etc. The Green Revolution started in the early 1960s has led to the attainment of self-sufficiency in food grain production.

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in.  
Pollution can take the form of chemical substances, or energy, such as noise, heat, or light energy.

Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. Sometimes the term pollution is extended to include any substance when it occurs at such unnaturally high concentration within a system that it endangers the stability of that system. For example, water is innocuous and essential for life, and yet at very high concentration, it could be considered a pollutant.

Questions related to analogy ae simple to answer with application of little aptitude. Analogy means ‘similar items’. There is three types of Analogy, 1. Number Analogy, 2. Letter Analogy and 3. Word Analogy. In questions based on analogy, a pair of numbers/letters/words is given that have certain relationship between them. This pair is followed by a third numbers/letters/ words. The candidate is required to identify the relationship between the pair of numbers/letters/words given and find out the fourth numbers/letters/words such that the relationship between the third and the fourth numbers/letters/ words is similar to the relationship that exists between the first and the second numbers/letters/words. Similarly some figures are also given in questions and the next pattern of the figures is to be guessed. It requires candidate’s concentration and common wisdom. Therefore the candidates should be very attentive to answer these type of questions.

The millets are a group of highly variable small seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for both human food and fodder. These are important crops in semi-arid and tropical regions of the world (in particular in Afro-Asian countries) due to their resistance to pests and diseases, short growing season and productivity under heat and drought conditions. Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) is a small seeded annual cereal which belongs to the grass family, Poaceae. 

1. National Sources of Finance

A. Medium and Long-term Sources

i. Venture Capital: Funding from affluent investors who prefer to invest their money in enterprises with long-term growth prospects is referred to as venture capital. The individuals who provide such investments are known as venture capitalists. Venture capitalists usually acquire equity in the emerging company in return for their backing, which is typically provided as preferred stock.

Venture Capital is a funding source for new businesses. ‘Venture capital refers to investments made in ‘new and untested enterprises’ that do not have a solid growth history’. It comes as capital invested as shareholdings, aimed at establishing and creating firms focused on innovative concepts or new technologies that carry a high perceived risk, yet possess the potential for rapid expansion. Venture capital is generally arranged as equity or quasi-equity f inancial instruments. A venture capital firm acts as an intermediary between investors seeking high returns on their investments and entrepreneurs who require funding to launch their businesses.

Types of Venture Capital Funding

The various types of venture capital are classified according to their applications at various stages of a company’s lifecycle. Early stage financing, expansion f inancing, and acquisition / buy out financing are the three main types of venture capital.

Plant secondary metabolism produces products that aid in the growth and development of plants but are not required for the plant to survive. Secondary metabolism facilitates the primary metabolism in plants. This primary metabolism consists of chemical reactions that allow the plant to live. In order for the plants to stay healthy, secondary metabolism plays a pinnacle role in keeping all the of plants’systems working properly. A common role of secondary metabolites in plants is defense mechanisms. They are used to fight off herbivores, pests, and pathogens. Although researchers know that this trait is common in many plants it is still difficult to determine the precise role each secondary metabolite. Secondary metabolites are used in anti-feeding activity, toxicity or acting as precursors to physical defense systems.

Low external input agriculture developed as a concept in the 1980s, gaining ground with the establishment of the Information Centre for Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture in 1984 (Kessler and Moolhuijzen, 1994). Low external input agriculture developed as a response to the criticisms surrounding Green Revolution technology being neither sustainable nor feasible for many small-scale farmers around the world.

Abstract

Non-structural carbohydrates are the primary product of photosynthesis in plants. Glucose, fructose, sucrose, and so on are examples of Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC). These are free carbohydrates having a low molecular weight that are involved in the creation of structures. Plants’ principal photosynthetic product, the NSC, is involved in metabolic processes and plays a critical role in plant functional characteristics. In a recent laboratory inter-comparison, NSC concentration measurements had very minor uncertainty due to different extraction and quantification techniques. Different techniques such as High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS), Near Infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS), anion exchange chromatography, chemical approaches such as the Anthorn assay approach, and certain kits are used to detect NSC in plants. This review will cover the methods for measuring NSC in plant tissues and attempting to infer its dynamics, as well as how to apply these tools to go beyond simply monitoring plant carbon connections such as “how much NSC is there and where it is located” to “under what conditions and to what extent is NSC used” to support plant function.

Alstroemeria belongs to the family Alstromeriaceae. Alstroemeria flowers third in terms of popularity and foreign exchange earnings in Kenya after roses and statice. Alstroemeria is named after a Swedish botanist “Baron Klas von Alstroemer”. The popularity of this flower is still growing in the global perspective. It is one of the quickest growing flowers with varying colours like purple, lavender, salmon, red, pink, white, orange, yellow and bicolour. It is grown for cut flowers but is also popular as a potted plant. It is grown in the higher ranges of the Western Ghats, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Karnataka in India.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

The alstroemeria, sometimes called the Peruvian Lily, is native to Tropical America particularly Chile. There are some 30 species of alstroemeria that occurs in grasslands and Pampas of South America, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. In America, it flourishes in different climates from high in the Andes mountains to the deserts of Pacific coastline. Even deep into the tropics of Brazil, the plants flourish abundantly. It was introduced to Europe in 1753 when seeds were sent to Europe by Claus Alstroemeria of Sweden during his travels in South America. It was widely cultivated in England during the early 1800’s and it was John Hedgewood, the founder of the Horticultural Society who first introduced the white variety in 1832. Since then, the Alstroemeria has been hybridized extensively. It is named after a Swedish botanist, Baron Klas von Alstroemer, who brought the first seeds of A. oelegrina from South America to Europe. Columbia is the number one in the world as far as growing area of alstroemeria is concerned. The second and third positions are taken by the Netherlands and Japan respectively. Other producing countries are United Kingdom and Italy. Alstroemeria is a new introduction into the world floriculture scene.

Most commercial cultivars of alstroemeria are patented and protected through plant breeder’s rights. Because of the fact that quite a large number of new varieties and hybrids of alstroemeria are planted in various countries in each year, royalty is paid based upon their square footage under production or number of plants leased. The new Inca Collection bred by Konst Alstroemeria B.V. is a breakthrough in the presently dwarf alstroemeria assortment. The new extended range of alstroemeria cultivar offers the opportunity to grow these top quality perennials in the garden, pots and for cut flower. These dwarf type plants reaching a height from 20-50 cm, combine with the quality and colours of the long lasting flowers. New varieties have gained popularity in California (USA), New South Wales (Australia) and Spanish south east coastline, Sicily (Italy). However, for a very long time already alstroemeria has been cherished worldwide for its exotic flowers.

In India cultivation of alstroemeria has been started around Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad. It has been introduced in Palampur, Solan, Srinagar and hills of Uttrakhand and Ooty, to popularize this crop among growers for domestic and export markets (Singh, 2006).

Introduction

The Indian Thar Desert is a marginal zone for agricultural production. Scanty and un-even rain, extremes of high (March–October) and low (December–January) temperature condition for the prolong duration and in-together these factors creates an associated abiotic stressed environment that limiting choice of crops, quality of produce, productivity and production under hot arid agro-climate. Out of 9–12 mean rainy days/annum in the hot arid region of northwestern parts of Rajasthan, much of the rain often comes in only a few (1–3) heavy rainfall events during the monsoon season (June–September), which can be erratic and unpredictable. In kharif season, higher day temperature range (35–42°C) and prolonged drought periods in combination with sandy soil creates an environment where few crops can survive under rainfed situations. Here, the native crop-plants both annual and perennial can play an equally vital role for food and fodder especially when the livestock population is an important element of farming system. Further, horticultural exploitation with native crop-plant species in general is found to be potential and stable in the arid and semiarid areas which receive about 150–650 mm of rains.

Soil is a biologically active porous medium that has developed in the uppermost layer of the earth’s crust which serves as a natural medium for the growth of plants. It is one of the principal substrata of life on earth, serving as a reservoir of water and nutrients, and as a participant in the cycling of carbon and other elements through the global ecosystem.

The aim of mating systems are either to increase or decrease the homozygosity of the progeny compared with the parents or in some cases, to maintain the degree of homozygosity unchanged. This aim constitutes the basis of the following classification of mating systems:

Bael is one of the oldest and useful trees of India. The bael fruit, (Aegle marmelos Correa) is also called Bengal quince (John and Stevenson, 1979), Indian quince, golden apple, holy fruit, stone apple, bel, belwa, sriphal and maredoo in India. Among the indigenous fruits of India, Bael occupies an important place. All the parts of bael tree have their own importance. It is a medicinally and economically important fruit crop with immense potential for extending its cultivation in semi-arid degraded land. Mention of bael cultivation in Indian literature dates back to 800 B.C.  Bael fruit is available in almost all states of India but most abundantly available in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

The Bael fruit is one of the most nutritious fruits. It contains 61.5 g water, 1.8 g protein, 0.39 g fat, 1.7 g mineral, 31.8 g carbohydrate, 55 mg carotene, 0.13 mg thiamin, 1.19 mg riboflavin, 1.1 mg niacin and 8 mg vitamin C / 100 gm of edible portion (Gopalan et al., 1971). It contains the highest riboflavin content among fruits. Marmelosin is, most probably, the therapeutically active principle of bael fruit. It is isolated as a colorless crystaline compound (Dixit and Dutt., 1932).The astringent taste of bael fruit is due to phenolic compounds. The medicinal properties of bael have been dealt with in Charaka Samhita (Aiyar, 1956). Bael fruit has curative, pesticidal and nutritive properties. The leaves of bael are used for worship of Lord Shiva. Green bael fruits are used for preparing Murabba (preserve) generally taken for stomach ailments. Bael fruits have an immense potential for processing into products like squash, jam, toffee, candy and syrups for internal and foreign market.