My Molecular Health
The Why Behind 'Eat Fruit & Vegetables
Benefits of Resveratrol and Pterostilbene to Crops and Their Potential Nutraceutical Value to Mammals
Resveratrol and its dimethoxylated derivative, pterostilbene, are produced by several plant species, including a few edible crops such as peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), grapes (Vitis spp.), and blueberries (Vaccinium spp.), as well some plants used in traditional medicine. Both compounds are inducible, antimicrobial compounds with activity against both plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi, an activity apparently not directly related to their strong antioxidant activity. An amazing number of nutraceutical properties have been claimed for both compounds, including antioxidant, antiaging, anti-cholesterol, anticancer, antidiabetic and other beneficial activities. Most evidence supports the view that pterostilbene is more active for most of these effects, due in part to its greater biological availability. However, the amount of these compounds in most diets is insufficient to provide these health benefits. Dietary supplements of formulated pure compounds can now provide sufficient dietary levels for these effects, as transgenic crops in the future might also do.
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Do Not Disturb
Soil Condition Affects How Rangelands Respond to Climate Change
From the USDA Agricultural Research Service :
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Grasslands play a pivotal role in the American landscape, providing forage for livestock, and also serving as one of the most effective means to sequester carbon in the soil. However, ARS researchers have discovered that the condition of that soil dramatically affects how well grasslands can perform these functions. Over five years, the researchers simulated future atmospheric conditions by raising CO2 and temperature levels in dedicated plots of grassland. Some plots were intact, populated by native plants, while others were characterized by soil disturbance – the kind of disruption caused by practices like tillage.
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One of the most dramatic discoveries of the researchers’ study was the extent to which invasive plants took hold in areas where the soil was disturbed. The unpalatable invasive plants – those that animals can’t or won’t eat – spread profusely in the disturbed patches of land, crowding out other plants and reducing overall biodiversity. Intact plots of land, by contrast, saw much greater biodiversity, and responded with more resilience to the changed environmental conditions, retaining the ability to sequester carbon in the soil more effectively.
The results provide guidance both for researchers who want to more accurately predict how different regions will respond to changing climate conditions, and for farmers, ranchers and other managers to better understand how their choices affect the land they steward.
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