Martha Lucía Arenas-Ocampo

Beta vulgaris L. suspension cultures permeabilized with triton X-100 retain cell viability and betacyanines production ability: a digital image analysis study.

The influence of Triton X‐100 on Beta vulgaris L. permeabilized cell culture viability, regrowth, and ability to produce betacyanines was evaluated in this study. A non‐destructive method based on the analysis of images in the RGB (red, green, blue) system was developed to estimate betacyanines content. A treatment for 15 min with 0.7 mM Triton X‐100 induced the release of 30% of betacyanines without loss of cell viability (≥70%). After this permeabilization treatment, B. vulgaris cultures regrew normally, reaching a maximum biomass concentration of 48% higher than non‐permeabilized cultures after 14 days of culture. Also, maximum betacyanines concentration was only 25% lower than that of non‐permeabilized cultures.

Digital image analysis of diverse Mexican rice cultivars

BACKGROUND Digital image analysis has an important role in geographical provenance of grains, as it can provide parameters of size, shape and color, which are important quality parameters for the design of engineering processes such as drying and milling of grains. In this study, digital image analysis was used to classify nine rice cultivars based on different morphometric parameters using the three sides of the grain (lateral, ventral and axial), Feret diameter, and 10 different form factors and color parameters (CIE L*, a* and b*). RESULTS Result of principal component analyisis was an equation with seven variables (area, perimeter, length, width, thickness, sphericity and color), which was useful for distinguishing between nine different cultivars. The morphometric and color parameters for the Mor A-98 and Mor A-92 varieties showed they had 88% similarity. The variability was expressed with a confidence of 95%. CONCLUSION Multivariate analysis indicated that the lateral side is the most sensitive for the classification of Mexican rice grains because of its color and morphometric characteristics. These results showed the application of image analysis for the future classifications of grains.

Morphostructural characterization of rice grain (Oryza sativa L.) variety Morelos A-98 during filling stages.

The morphostructure of grain rice Morelos A-98 was characterized in five stages of physiological maturation, in order to generate morphometric information during the filling process. Micrographic images from optical and scanning electron microscopy coupled to a digital capture system were used. Images were digitally processed to measure different descriptors such as shape, fractal dimension, and surface texture. Results showed that, two weeks after anthesis, an accelerated grain filling was observed, particularly on those grains positioned in the distal panicle zone, compared to those located in the base of this one. As deposition of assimilates in the grain increased, the area and perimeter of the transversal cut of the grains also increased (P ≤ 0.05); meanwhile, the rounded shape factor tended to increase as well (P ≤ 0.05), while the elliptic shape factor decreased. As the dehydrated endosperm passed from “milky” to “doughy” stages, values of fractal dimension area and endosperm perimeter as well as surface texture values showed that grain borders tended to become smoother and that there was a greater structured endosperm area (P ≤ 0.05).

Eucharis Grandiflora Planch. and Linden Development Fertirrigated with Different Osmotic Potentials

Eucharis grandiflora Planch. and Linden is a tropical climate Amaryllidacea, commonly known as lily, which develops a bulbous stem and is considered an indoor ornamental plant for its evergreen foliage and inflorescence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the vegetative development of the Lily, in response to the treatment with of the Steiner solution at different concentrations. The plants were acclimated under greenhouse conditions and the bulbs selected by a completely randomized design. Plants were treated with various concentrations of the Steiner solution, to develop the following potential osmotic: −0.018, −0.036, −0.054, −0.072, and 0 Mpal. The production of bulbils, development and leaf area, stomatal density, chlorophyll quantification, and osmotic potentials were evaluated. The results showed that treatment with solutions of −0.054 and −0.072 MPa induced a greater vegetative growth, 29.5% more stomata developed, and synthesized 29% more chlorophyll “b” than the control.