Soil degradation resulting from deforestation contributes to a dramatic decline in soil quality whose restoration must go through reforestation with pioneer species. We investigated the effects of ...cypress and black locust, pioneer but exotic species, on soil chemical properties and microbial and enzymatic activities of two marginal soils. The sampling sites were Lama Giulia and Locone lake in the Murge plateau of the Apulia Region, Italy. The soils at Lama Giulia presented a silty loam texture, while at Locone Lake site were sandy, and most likely due to the different texture, the former exhibited higher organic C, N, P and micronutrients contents than Locone Lake under black locust reforestation, despite the latter was reforested earlier. In addition, the higher microbial entropy and turnover of Locone Lake's soils suggested a less conservative soil state than Lama Giulia's soils. The effects of black locust reforestation at Lama Giulia on almost all soil parameters considered did not differ from those of the corresponding pasture, confirming the more conservative soil state in that site and suggesting that the time of reforestation was not enough to get differences between the reforested and not reforested soil. The soils reforested with cypress showed the significantly highest SOC, N, dissolved organic C and microbial biomass C content. In addition, it presented also the numerically largest dehydrogenase, phosphatase and β-glucosidase activities, soluble carbohydrates, and phenolic compounds content. These results may be ascribed to the longer litter deposition occurred in cypress soils.
The changes in soil organic matter composition induced by anthropogenic factors is a topic of great interest for the soil scientists. The objective of this work was to identify possible structural ...changes in humic molecules caused by a 2-year rotation of durum wheat with faba bean, lasted for a decade, and conducted with different agricultural practices in a Mediterranean soil. Humic acids (HA) were extracted at three depths (0-30, 30-60 and 60-90 cm) from a Mediterranean soil subjected to different tillage (no tillage, minimum tillage and conventional tillage), crops (faba bean and wheat), and fertilization. The changes in HA quality were assessed by several chemical (ash, yield and elemental analysis) and spectroscopic techniques (solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared and fluorescence). The results suggest that the different agronomic practices strongly affected the quality of HA. Smaller but more aromatic molecules were observed with depth, while the fertilization induced the formation of simpler and less aromatic molecules due to the enhanced decomposition processes. Under no tillage, more stable humic molecules were observed due to the less soil aeration, while under conventional tillage larger and more aromatic molecules were obtained. Compared to wheat, more aromatic and more oxidized but less complex molecules were observed after faba bean crop. The inorganic fertilization accelerates the decomposition of organic substances rather than their stabilization. At the end of each crop cycle, humic matter of different quality was isolated and this confirms the importance of the rotation practice to guarantee a diversification of the soil organic matter with time. Finally, no tillage induces the formation of more stable humic matter.
Diclofenac (DCF) is one of the most detected pharmaceuticals in environmental water matrices and is known to be recalcitrant to conventional wastewater treatment plants. In this study, degradation of ...DCF was performed in water by photolysis and photocatalysis using a new synthetized photocatalyst based on hydroxyapatite and TiO₂ (HApTi). A degradation of 95% of the target compound was achieved in 24 h by a photocatalytic treatment employing the HApTi catalyst in comparison to only 60% removal by the photolytic process. The investigation of photo-transformation products was performed by means of UPLC-QTOF/MS/MS, and for 14 detected compounds in samples collected during treatment with HApTi, the chemical structure was proposed. The determination of transformation product (TP) toxicity was performed by using different assays:
acute toxicity test, Toxi-ChromoTest, and
and
germination inhibition test. Overall, the toxicity of the samples obtained from the photocatalytic experiment with HApTi decreased at the end of the treatment, showing the potential applicability of the catalyst for the removal of diclofenac and the detoxification of water matrices.
Pharmaceuticals (PhACs) are chemical substances that, after their use, can reach wastewater treatment plants, but the resulting treated wastewater (TWW) can still contain these contaminants. If TWWs ...are used for irrigation, PhACs can contaminate crops and also hinder their growth. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of 12 PhACs and their mixture at different doses on basil germination and early growth and on its photosynthetic pigment content. The germination percentage was not affected by PhACs even when applied at the highest doses. The results showed that the germination speed cannot be considered as an index of vigor of future seedlings as not all seeds that germinated first developed the best. PhACs between 25 and 100 ppb did not show negative effects on early growth and photosynthetic pigments of basil; in fact, in some cases the seeds even benefitted from their application as if it were a chemical treatment developed for the seeds. The highest assessed dose of PhACs always caused a reduction in growth parameters and the photosynthetic pigment content of basil, especially with climbazole, naproxen, triclosan, and the mixture of PhACs. In general, basil can be considered a species tolerant to PhACs after taking into account their average content in wastewater; however, more studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of PhACs and their translocation to edible parts.
The interaction of organic matter with the finest soil fractions (<20 μm) represents a good way for its stabilization. This study investigates the effects of conventional (CT), minimum (MT), and no ...(NT) tillage, fertilization, and non-fertilization, and soil depth (0–30, 30–60, and 60–90 cm) on the amount of organic carbon (OC) in four soil fractions. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT) was performed to obtain information about the OC quality and the mineralogical composition of these fractions. The CT shows the highest amount of the finest fraction while the fertilization enhances the microbial community with the increase of soil micro-aggregates (250–53 μm). The coarse fraction (>250 μm) is highest in the upper soil layer, while the finest fraction is in the deepest one. The greatest OC content is observed in the topsoil layer and in the finest soil fraction. DRIFT analysis suggests that organic components are more present in the finest fraction, calcite is mainly localized in the coarse fraction, quartz is in micro-aggregates and 53–20 μm fraction, and clay minerals are in the finest fraction.
In an era characterized by land degradation, climate change, and a growing population, ensuring high-yield productions with limited resources is of utmost importance. In this context, the use of ...novel soil amendments and the exploitation of plant growth-promoting microorganisms potential are considered promising tools for developing a more sustainable primary production. This study aimed at investigating the potential of bread, which represents a large portion of the global food waste, to be used as an organic soil amendment. A bioprocessed wasted bread, obtained by an enzymatic treatment coupled with fermentation, together with unprocessed wasted bread were used as amendments in a pot trial. An integrated analytical plan aimed at assessing (i) the modification of the physicochemical properties of a typical Mediterranean alkaline agricultural soil, and (ii) the plant growth-promoting effect on escarole (
var.
), used as indicator crop, was carried out. Compared to the unamended soils, the use of biomasses raised the soil organic carbon content (up to 37%) and total nitrogen content (up to 40%). Moreover, the lower pH and the higher organic acid content, especially in bioprocessed wasted bread, determined a major availability of Mn, Fe, and Cu in amended soils. The escaroles from pots amended with raw and bioprocessed bread had a number of leaves, 1.7- and 1.4-fold higher than plants cultivated on unamended pots, respectively, showing no apparent phytotoxicity and thus confirming the possible re-utilization of such residual biomasses as agriculture amendments.
Background
The quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method can be employed for multi-residue analyses instead of traditional extraction methods due to its advantages in terms of ...extraction time and required equipment. A modified version of the QuEChERS method has been developed for quantifying eight pharmaceuticals belonging to different classes in three real soils with different chemical properties. Firstly, the soils have been polluted with all contaminants and the recoveries were determined by liquid chromatography tandem–mass spectrometry. Due to similar recoveries from the three soils, the validation of the method has been carried out only on a soil by determining linearity, recovery, precision, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values. A matrix-matched calibration for the soil has been adopted in order to avoid the matrix effect and three levels of fortification (50, 100 and 500 µg L
−1
) were used.
Results
The recovery of all pharmaceuticals, with the exception of tetracycline, from any soil was between 72 and 113%. In the validation procedure, recoveries of fortified samples ranged from 80 to 99%, the relative standard deviations ranged between 1.2 and 11.8%, and the LOQ between 20 and 36.9 μg kg
−1
.
Conclusion
The results of the present study confirmed the validity of the modified QuEChERS method for the extraction of pharmaceuticals from soils in the range 50–500 μg kg
−1
.
Graphical Abstract
Pleurotus ostreatus is one of the most cultivated mushrooms worldwide. It is a lignocellulolytic fungus cultivated on different substrates, whose more common raw material is straw. The present study ...investigated the biological efficiency of Pleurotus ostreatus as affected by the different age of straw and the growing media preparation process in four production cycles. The content of organic carbon significantly decreased during the growing media preparation, while the content of total nitrogen, moisture, and ash, as well asthe pH value, showed an opposite trend. The first production cycle was characterized by the highest total and soluble sugar content. A dramatic reduction in soluble sugars was recorded at the end of the preparation of the growing media, regardless of the production cycle, while the total sugars were slightly reduced during the production cycle. The microbial population was significantly influenced by the growing media preparation, while only bacteria were slightly influenced by the straw’s age. In contrast, cellulase activity significantly increased in the old straw, while an opposite trend was observed for pectinase activity. The β-glucosidase activity was influenced only by the growing media preparation. As expected, cluster analysis showed that the microbial community changed in each phase of growing media preparation. Finally, the biological efficiency of Pleurotus ostreatus decreased from 26.28% to 15.49% with increasing age of the straw, which may presumably be ascribed to the higher content of sugars in fresh straw compared to the older ones. Therefore, fresh straw should be used to prepare the growing media of Pleurotus ostreatus in order to increase its biological efficiency.
Introduction
The use of novel soil amendments and the exploitation of plant growth-promoting microorganisms are considered promising tools for developing a more sustainable agriculture in times when ...ensuring high-yield productions with limited resources is essential.
Methods
In this study, the potential of brewers' spent grain (BSG), the major by-product of the brewing industry, as organic soil amendment, was investigated. Bioprocessed BSG, obtained by an enzymatic treatment coupled with fermentation, together with native BSG, were used as amendments in a pot-trial. An integrated analytical approach aimed at assessing the modification of the physicochemical properties of a typical Mediterranean alkaline agricultural soil, and the plant growth-promoting effect on escarole (
Cichorium endivia
var.
Cuartana
), was carried out.
Results
The use of biomasses led to soil organic content and total nitrogen content up to 72 and 42% higher, compared to the unamended soils. Moreover, the lower pH and the higher organic acids content doubled phosphorus availability. Although the number of leaves per plant in escaroles from pots amended with native and bioprocessed BSG did not show any difference compared to plants cultivated on unamended pots, the average fresh weight per escarole head, was higher in pots amended with bioprocessed BSG.
Discussion
Hence, the results collected so far encourage BSG application for agricultural purpose, while solving the problem of disposing of such abundant side stream.
Background
A modified version of the QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) method has been tested for quantifying six active compounds of pharmaceuticals (PhACs), i.e., two ...different antibiotics, two anti-inflammatories, one antifungal, and one anti-depressant, extracted from roots, leaves and stems, pulp, pits, and oil obtained from olive trees. The different matrices have been polluted with all contaminants at 25, 50, and 250 µg L
−1
and the recoveries were determined by liquid chromatography tandem–mass spectrometry. The validation of the method has been carried out by determining linearity, recovery, precision, limits of detection (LODs), and limits of quantification (LOQs) values. A matrix-matched calibration for each matrix has been adopted in order to avoid the matrix effect at the aforementioned levels of fortification.
Results
The recoveries of PhACs from the different matrices were always above 70% and the relative standard deviation (RSD) always ≤ 20%, conditions required for the validation of the method. The LOD and LOQ values were always lower than 25 µg L
−1
, i.e., always lower than the minimum concentration used in the experiment; therefore, the method can be validated at 25, 50, and 250 µg L
−1
.
Conclusions
This method can represent a valid alternative to the traditional extraction methods to quantify pharmaceuticals extracted also from fatty matrices.
Graphical Abstract
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