scholarly journals NATURAL TOXIN SUBSTANCES IN EVERYDAY FOOD

2020 ◽  
pp. 347-354
Author(s):  
Nakul Pandoh ◽  
Gitanjali Dass ◽  
Rajan Malhotra
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Boiling Water ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Bamboo Shoot ◽  
Physical Damage ◽  
Natural Toxins ◽  
Dry Heat ◽  
Cyanogenic Plants

Natural toxins are present in a wide variety of plants. Some of these plants are commonly consumed as food. These toxic substances when ingested in significant amount or when they are not processed appropriately can be potentially harmful to human health causing food poisoning. This study conducted by the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department aimed to review natural toxins in food plants commonly consumed in Hong Kong and the measures that can be employed to prevent poisoning from consumption of these food plants. Laboratory study of two natural toxins, glycoalkaloids and cyanogenic glycosides, was carried out to determine the levels of these toxins in food plants commonly consumed in Hong Kong. The effects of preparation and cooking on the reduction of the toxin levels were also studied. Results showed that glycoalkaloid contents varied among the different types of the fresh potatoes tested which ranged from 26-88 mg/kg (average 56 mg/kg). This was within the normal range of glycoalkaloid contents in potatoes of 20 - 100 mg/kg, which JECFA considered that consumptions on a daily basis were not of concern. The highest concentrations of glycoalkaloids were found in potato sprouts. Cyanide was detected in bitter apricot seed, bamboo shoot, cassava, and flaxseed samples in their raw state at levels of 9.3 mg/kg to 330 mg/kg. Cyanide contents were found to be higher in bitter cassava than sweet cassava. Cyanide concentration was found to be highest at the tip portion of bamboo shoot, followed by the middle portion, then the base portion. Cutting cyanogenic food plants into small pieces and cooking them in boiling water reduced cyanide contents of the food commodities by over 90%. Dry heat could not reduce cyanide contents effectively and only reduced around 10% of the cyanide contents in flaxseeds following oven-heating for 15 minutes. Consumers should avoid buying or eating potatoes that show signs of sprouting, greening, physical damage or rotting since glycoalkaloids are not decomposed by cooking. Cutting the cyanogenic plants into smaller pieces and cooking thoroughly in boiling water help release toxic hydrogen cyanide before consumption. When the cooking method chosen is heating under dry-heat or at low moisture contents, limit the intake of the cyanogenic plants to only small amounts. KEY WORDS: glycoalkaloids, cyanogenic

scholarly journals The Search for Environmental Justice: The Story of North Birmingham

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shauntice Allen ◽  
Michelle V. Fanucchi ◽  
Lisa C. McCormick ◽  
Kristina M. Zierold
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Jefferson County ◽  
Environmental Injustice ◽  
Department Of Health

Environmental justice is a rising social movement throughout the world. Research is beginning to define the movement and address the disparities that exist among communities exposed to pollution. North Birmingham, a community made up of six neighborhoods in Jefferson County, Alabama, in the United States, is a story of environmental injustice. Heavy industry, including the 35th Avenue Superfund Site, has caused significant environmental pollution over time, leaving residents concerned that their health and well-being are at risk from continued exposure. For years, pollution has impacted the community, and residents have fought and challenged industry and government. The United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) in Alabama have historically played a role in working with the community regarding their health concerns. In this manuscript, we describe a city entrenched in environmental injustice. We provide the history of the community, the responsible parties named for the contamination, the government’s involvement, and the community’s response to this injustice. Through this manuscript, we offer insight into a global concern that challenges local communities on a daily basis.

Ecological Effects of Environmental Stressors

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Freedman
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Environmental Stress ◽  
Ecological Integrity ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Environmental Stressors ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Physical Damage ◽  
Ecosystem Recovery ◽  
Anthropogenic Stressors ◽  
And Function

Regimes of environmental stress are exceedingly complex. Particular stressors exist within continua of intensity of environmental factors. Those factors interact with each other, and their detrimental effects on organisms are manifest only at relatively high or low strengths of exposure—in fact, many of them are beneficial at intermediate levels of intensity. Although a diversity of environmental factors is manifest at any time and place, only one or a few of them tend to be dominant as stressors. It is useful to distinguish between stressors that occur as severe events (disturbances) and those that are chronic in their exposure, and to aggregate the kinds of stressors into categories (while noting some degree of overlap among them). Climatic stressors are associated with extremes of temperature, solar radiation, wind, moisture, and combinations of these factors. They act as stressors if their condition is either insufficient or excessive, in comparison with the needs and comfort zones of organisms or ecosystem processes. Chemical stressors involve environments in which the availability of certain substances is too low to satisfy biological needs, or high enough to cause toxicity or another physiological detriment to organisms or to higher-level attributes of ecosystems. Wildfire is a disturbance that involves the combustion of much of the biomass of an ecosystem, affecting organisms by heat, physical damage, and toxic substances. Physical stress is a disturbance in which an exposure to kinetic energy is intense enough to damage organisms and ecosystems (such as a volcanic blast, seismic sea wave, ice scouring, or anthropogenic explosion or trampling). Biological stressors are associated with interactions occurring among organisms. They may be directly caused by such trophic interactions as herbivory, predation, and parasitism. They may also indirectly affect the intensity of physical or chemical stressors, as when competition affects the availability of nutrients, moisture, or space. Extreme environments are characterized by severe regimes of stressors, which result in relatively impoverished ecosystem development. This may be a consequence of either natural or anthropogenic stressors. If a regime of environmental stress intensifies, the resulting responses include a degradation of the structure and function of affected ecosystems and of ecological integrity more generally. In contrast, a relaxation of environmental stress allows some degree of ecosystem recovery.

Preparation and properties of fluffy high-shrinkage polyester/polyamide 6 hollow segmented pie microfiber nonwovens

2021 ◽  
pp. 004051752110620
Author(s):  
Yongchao Duo ◽  
Xiaoming Qian ◽  
Baobao Zhao ◽  
Longfei Gao ◽  
He Bai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Treatment ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Nonwoven Material ◽  
Polyamide 6 ◽  
Boiling Water ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Composite Fibers ◽  
Dry Heat ◽  
Nonwoven Materials ◽  
Shrinkage Effect

Bicomponent spunbond hydroentanglement technology can break the interface between the two components by physical extrusion and shearing, thereby realizing the green and efficient production of high-strength microfiber nonwoven materials. Herein, we report a soft and fluffy bicomponent spunbond hydroentanglement nonwoven material using high-shrinkage polyester/polyamide 6 (HSPET/PA6) as the bicomponent. HSPET/PA6 hollow segmented pie composite fibers with different volume ratios were prepared by spunbond technology, the HSPET and PA6 segments were alternately arranged, and the interface was flat. The composite fibers were split by heat treatment. The dry heat shrinkage rates of the composite fibers were 8.45% (50/50) and 10.57% (70/30), and the boiling water shrinkage rates were 10.02% (50/50) and 12.27% (70/30). HSPET/PA6 hollow segmented pie microfiber nonwovens were prepared by hydroentanglement technology. After heat treatment, the fibers of nonwovens were further split and the HSPET fibers curled, giving the nonwovens a fluffy characteristic. By comparing the properties of HSPET/PA6 after heat treatment, the shrinkage effect of the water bath was obviously better than that of dry heat, and the split degree of fibers reached 81.97% (50/50) and 84.65% (70/30). Compared with polyester/PA6 nonwovens, the softness of HSPET/PA6 nonwovens increased by 45.1% (50/50) and 49.3% (70/30) after boiling water shrinkage. At the same time, the mechanical properties of HSPET/PA6 nonwovens were also improved. The successful fabrication of HSPET/PA6 microfiber nonwovens provides a new method for enhancing the softness of bicomponent spunbond hydroentanglement nonwovens.

Place-Making and Communication Practice: Everyday Precarity in a Night Market in Hong Kong

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngai Keung Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Place Making ◽  
Communication Practice ◽  
Informal Workers ◽  
Spatial Practice ◽  
Advanced Economies ◽  
Collective Resistance ◽  
Dialectical Relationship

Drawing insights from the literature around cultural discourse theory, urban informality, and precarity, this article explores how a group of unlicensed hawkers in Hong Kong engage in a place-making process of precarity. Existing research on precarity has examined the structural change in the labor market in advanced economies and labor unions’ collective resistance. Few empirical studies, however, have explicated how informal workers experience precarity in their everyday life. To contribute to this literature, therefore, this study examines how hawkers in Hong Kong constitute their class identities and the meanings of place while facing legal and spatial ambiguities on a daily basis. While interlocutors articulate different class identities, they constitute themselves as precarious beings through spatial practice. Rather than engaging in collective resistance against precarity, hawkers develop culturally distinctive practices to adapt to the power structure in which they operate. This article highlights the dialectical relationship between spatial practice and precarity as contextualizing precarity in developing Asia.

scholarly journals Natural Toxins in Brazilian Unconventional Food Plants: Uses and Safety

2021 ◽  
pp. 89-114
Author(s):  
Fillipe de Oliveira Pereira ◽  
Francinalva Dantas de Medeiros ◽  
Patrícia Lima Araújo
Keyword(s):  
Food Plants ◽  
Natural Toxins

scholarly journals O resgate do uso de plantas alimentícias não convencionais: atividades na escola de Cerro Branco - RS

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Rosana Santos de Moraes ◽  
Viviane Dal-Souto Frescura ◽  
Janessa Aline Zappe
Keyword(s):  
School Community ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
Previous Knowledge ◽  
Cassia Fistula ◽  
State College ◽  
Morus Nigra ◽  
Lack Of Knowledge

Many plants called “bushes”, “innos” or “weeds” make an important economic, ecological, nutritional and medicinal role. These plants or part of them are called Unconventional Food Plants (PANC). Because of the lack of knowledge of these plants by the population, actions are needed to rescue the use of PANC. In this sense, as objectives of the work, it is considered achievement of lectures and tastings of food produced with PANC at the Cerro Branco State College, in Cerro Branco - RS. In addition, at the meeting participants answered questionnaires that sought to investigate previous knowledge about PANC. From the questionnaires it was found that, out of a hundred and thirty-six participants, only nine knew the PANC and that the most recognized and consumed PANC was the blackberry (Morus nigra L.). Regarding the golden rain (Cassia fistula L.), only 40 students know and none consume, showing that there is a need to disseminate information about PANC among the school community, encouraging the consumption of PANC on a daily basis.

Code choice in Hong Kong

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 18.1-18.17
Author(s):  
Judy Woon Yee Ho
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Motivation To Learn ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Code Choice ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
British Colony ◽  
Verbal Exchanges

China resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997. Since then drastic changes in this former British colony have occurred. One of these changes is a shift in language policy, from bilingualism (Cantonese and English) to trilingualism (Cantonese, English and Putonghua). The present study is aimed at investigating tertiary students’ use of Cantonese, English and Putonghua on a daily basis, analysing the roles and functions of each language and discussing how these may impact on language policy and language education.Research instruments included 52 students’ language diaries and written analyses, 51 hours of audio-recordings of verbal exchanges, and focus group semi-structured interviews. Results show that the students’ speech repertoire mainly consists of two languages: Cantonese and English and their various mixes. Cantonese is used to ensure understanding, consolidate solidarity and maintain social cohesion. The English-Cantonese mix has become a more powerful identity marker for educated people in Hong Kong than pure Cantonese. English and its supplement with Cantonese are often used in the domain of education. The majority of students seldom use Putonghua in everyday life, but there is a strong instrumental motivation to learn it. Measures are suggested to facilitate a more successful move from bilingualism to trilingualism.

Code choice in Hong Kong

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 18.1-18.17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Woon Yee Ho
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Motivation To Learn ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Code Choice ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
British Colony ◽  
Verbal Exchanges

China resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997. Since then drastic changes in this former British colony have occurred. One of these changes is a shift in language policy, from bilingualism (Cantonese and English) to trilingualism (Cantonese, English and Putonghua). The present study is aimed at investigating tertiary students’ use of Cantonese, English and Putonghua on a daily basis, analysing the roles and functions of each language and discussing how these may impact on language policy and language education. Research instruments included 52 students’ language diaries and written analyses, 51 hours of audio-recordings of verbal exchanges, and focus group semi-structured interviews. Results show that the students’ speech repertoire mainly consists of two languages: Cantonese and English and their various mixes. Cantonese is used to ensure understanding, consolidate solidarity and maintain social cohesion. The English-Cantonese mix has become a more powerful identity marker for educated people in Hong Kong than pure Cantonese. English and its supplement with Cantonese are often used in the domain of education. The majority of students seldom use Putonghua in everyday life, but there is a strong instrumental motivation to learn it. Measures are suggested to facilitate a more successful move from bilingualism to trilingualism.

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