Safety Assessment of Citrus Plant- and Seed-Derived Ingredients as Used in Cosmetics

The Expert Panel for Cosmetic Ingredient Safety (Panel) assessed the safety of 30 Citrus plant- and seed-derived ingredients, which are most frequently reported to function in cosmetics as fragrances and/or skin conditioning agents. Because final product formulations may contain multiple botanicals, each containing similar constituents of concern, formulators are advised to be aware of these constituents and to avoid reaching levels that may be hazardous to consumers. With Citrus plant- and seed-derived ingredients, the Panel was concerned about the presence of the hydroperoxides of limonene and linalool in cosmetics. Industry should use good manufacturing practices to limit impurities. The Panel reviewed the available data presented and concluded that 18 of these ingredients are safe in the present practices of use and concentration when formulated to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing. The data for the remaining 12 ingredients are insufficient to determine safety.

‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ Multimeric LotP Mediates Citrus sinensis Defense Response Activation

‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ is known as the most pathogenic organism associated with citrus greening disease. Since its publicized emergence in Florida in 2005, ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ remains unculturable. Currently, a limited number of potential disease effectors have been identified through in silico analysis. Therefore, these potential effectors remain poorly characterized and do not fully explain the complexity of symptoms observed in citrus trees infected with ‘Ca. L. asiaticus.’ LotP has been identified as a potential effector and have been partially characterized. This protein retains structural homology to the substrate binding domain of the Lon protease. LotP interacts with chaperones like GroEL, Hsp40, DnaJ, and ClpX and may exercise its biological role through interactions with different proteins involved in proteostasis networks. Here, we evaluate the interactome of LotP—revealing a new protein–protein interaction target (Lon-serine protease) and its effect on citrus plant tissue integrity. We found that via protein–protein interactions, LotP can enhance Lon protease activity, increasing the degradation rate of its specific targets. Infiltration of purified LotP strained citrus plant tissue causing photoinhibition and chlorosis after several days. Proteomics analysis of LotP tissues recovering after the infiltration revealed a large abundance of plant proteins associated with the stabilization and processing of mRNA transcripts, a subset of important transcription factors; and pathways associated with innate plant defense were highly expressed. Furthermore, interactions and substrate binding module of LotP suggest potential interactions with plant proteins, most likely proteases.

Innovation Characteristics and Adoption Opportunity of Bujangseta Technology for Tangerine Farming

<p>Indonesian Citrus and Subtropical Fruits Research Institute (ICSFRI) has generated a technology of Bujangseta (bearing fruits throughout the year) to increase citrus plant productivity and to support the sustainable availability of citrus fruits in the market. This study aims to identify the characteristics of Bujangseta technological innovation that might influence the adoption of the technology by farmers. The study was conducted in Banyuwangi Regency in November 2019 by using a census method to all 16 cooperator farmers of Bujangseta technology. This present study applied a descriptive analysis method based on the scoring and category of technological innovation characteristics. The results showed that the innovation characteristics of Bujangseta technology were: 1) it was very profitable since tangerine farming with the application of Bujangseta technology generated higher income than that without the application, 2) it was greatly appropriate with the local conditions as all production supplies were locally available, 3) it was easy to be applied because farmers did not suffer any complication to employ Bujangseta practice, 4) it was easily observed since the results of Bujangseta implementation were easy to be observed visually by farmers and 5) it was easily trial-tested as the method of Bujangseta was easy to try and apply. Therefore, this new technology had a very high adoption opportunity rate, showing that the technology had a great chance of being adopted by farmers.</p>