Explore the vast range of titles available.

Royal jelly (RJ) has been known for centuries, but in the last 5-6 decades its systematic production and consumption has increased. RJ is secreted by the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of worker honeybees ( ). This thick and milky substance contains water, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, minerals, vitamins and such bio-active compounds as acetylcholine, peptides, the hormones testosterone, progesterone, prolactin, estradiol, (hydroxydecanoic acid) (HAD), adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-N1Oxide, polyphenols, flavonoids and adenosine. Because of its bioactive compounds, RJ can be considered as a functional and nutraceutical food. The main goal of this review is to summarize and update its physicochemical properties, bio-active ingredients, storage stability and shelf life. The functional properties are antioxidative activity, insulin-like action, improvement against diabetes, liver protection, antitumoral action, neurotrophic action, antibiotic effect, anti-inflammatory action and wound healing, hypotensive effect and blood regulatory actions, anti-aging effect and skin protection, effects on the reproductive system and fertility and also fortifying, tonic action and immunomodulating and anti-alergic activity. RJ may cause allergic reactions, asthma and even fatal anaphylaxis in some humans. Therefore, RJ should be orally ingested as nutreaceutical agent or food-ingredient only after an allergy test.

This study was conducted to investigate and compare the effects of substituting soybean meal (SBM) with untreated cottonseed meal (CSM), fermented CSM (FCSM), or electron beam-irradiated CSM (ICSM) on the growth performance, cecal microbiota, digestive enzyme activity, apparent ileal digestibility (AID), and excreta gas emission of broiler chickens. A total of 384 one-day-old male broiler chickens were randomly assigned to four experimental diets, with eight replicates per diet and 12 birds per replicate, for six weeks. The experimental diets consisted of a control diet based on corn–SBM and three other diets in which 50% of the SBM (control) was substituted with CSM in its raw, irradiated, and fermented forms. The results showed that throughout the entire rearing period, feeding broiler chickens with ICSM significantly increased average daily gain (ADG) and body weight (BW) compared to the CSM diet (p < 0.05). Replacing 50% of SBM with FCSM led to a significant improvement in BW, ADG, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the CSM and ICSM diets (p < 0.05). Interestingly, no significant differences in BW, ADG, or FCR were observed between birds fed FCSM and those on the control diet (p > 0.05). Birds fed FCSM diets exhibited the lowest pH value in the crop, ileum, and ceca. Substituting SBM with FCSM significantly reduced Escherichia coli and Clostridium spp. counts in the ceca, while enhancing the presence of Lactobacillus spp. (p < 0.05). The AID of protein and ether extract was higher in the FCSM group than in the CSM and ICSM groups (p < 0.05). Compared to the CSM diet, ICSM feeding improved protein digestibility (p < 0.05). Broiler chickens on the FCSM diet exhibited higher intestinal amylase and protease activity than those on the other diets (p < 0.05). Furthermore, feeding diets containing FCSM significantly reduced ammonia emissions compared to the other diets (p < 0.05). Overall, our results indicated that microbial fermentation of CSM is a more effective approach than irradiation for enhancing the nutritional value of CSM. Therefore, FCSM is recommended as a viable alternative protein source that can safely replace up to 50% of SBM in broiler chicken diets, particularly during times of fluctuating SBM prices and availability issues.

Three trials were conducted using completely randomized designs to evaluate the influence of concentration of thiamine supplementation on honey bee colony growth (brood and adult population) in different seasons. Twenty Iranian honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera meda), divided into 5 experimental groups, were used in the study. Control groups were fed sugar syrup. The experimental colonies were fed in the same manner but with syrup supplemented with different levels of thiamine (100, 200, 300 and 400 ppm). Each diet was tested on a set of four colonies selected for each treatment. Changes in brood areas had significantly difference between colonies fed thiamine (200 ppm) and sugar syrup (control) in summer season (P<0.05). In summer season the lowest brood production occurred in colonies fed sugar syrup. In winter season, adult population sizes and brood areas in colonies fed syrup supplemented with thiamine (200 ppm) were significantly larger than colonies fed sugar syrup (P<0.05). No significant differences were found between treatments on brood area and adult population size in spring season when some pollen was being collected by colonies. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Investigation of native accessions of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) would be aid in the development of new genetically improved varieties, so in this research 121 spinach landraces, collected from the various spinach growing areas of Iran, were evaluated to determine their diversity using several agro-morphological traits. High coefficients of variation (CV) were recorded in fresh yield, leaf area and dry yield. Using principal component (PC) analysis, the first three PCs with eigenvalues more than 0.9 contributed 80.56% of the variability among accessions. The first PC was related to leaf yield performance (fresh and dry yields, leaf numbers at flowering and lateral branches) while the PC2 was related to leaf characteristic (leaf width, petiole length, petiole diameter and leaf area). The third PC was related to seed characteristic (seed yield and 1000-seed weight) and was named as seed property component. The 121 spinach landraces were grouped into six clusters using cluster analysis. Each cluster had some specific characteristics of its own and the clusters I and II were clearly separated from clusters III and V and also from clusters IV and VI. The studied accessions are an important resource for the generation of a core collection of spinach in the world. The results of present research will support tasks of conservation and utilization of landraces in spinach breeding programs.