The effect of lavender, lemongrass and thyme volatile oils as a supplementary cold storage treatments on quality preservation of fresh cut herb of Menthe piperita L. , during storage for 15 days at 5°C and 7°C followed by 5 days at 20°C, as a marketing condition simulation, was evaluated during 2018 and 2019 seasons. Physical properties, chemical constituents, respiration rate and volatile oil contents were recorded. The results illustrated that discarded herb %, weight loss %, and external appearance (scale) were greatly affected by both factors of the study. The great effect in this respect was obtained with storage at 5°C than 7°C and the effect was also continuous during marketing period at 20°C. An evident decrease in discarded herb % and weight loss % were obtained due to the applied treatments, whereas external appearance values were higher with applied treatments than control during cold storage durations and marketing period. Aromatic oils treatments with 0.50% of lavender, lemongrass and thyme oils were effective than 0.25% of the three aromatic oils. However, chemical constituents i.e total chlorophyll, L-ascorbic acid and total phenols of fresh cut herb were scored highly increases by storage at 5°C than at 7°C storage conditions. Furthermore, The richest chemical constituents mentioned above were obtained with 0.50% of the three aromatic oils treatments and with superior for marketing durations for 5 days at 20°C. On contrary, total acidity of fresh cut herb recorded the minimum values with applied treatments than control (except the treatment of 0.25% thyme oil) during all cold storage durations and marketing period. On the reverse , electrolyte leakage and respiration rate values were controlled and minimized with the applied aromatic oils treatments under 5°C or 7°C cold storage conditions and followed by 5 days at 20°C as a marketing period. The decreases of both electrolyte leakage and respiration rate of fresh cut herb either with cold storage or due to the applied treatments are considered a good indicators to increase storage longevity and high quality. Meanwhile, volatile oil was greatly affected by both cold storage conditions and supplementary refrigeration treatments with lavender, lemongrass and thyme aromatic oils. Conclusively , it could be concluded that the peppermint fresh cut herb can be treated with lavender, lemongrass and thyme aromatic oils before storage at 5°C for 15 days , handling and marketing under 20°C to conserve the quality of the herb.

The experiments were executed on the autumn and the winter of (2016 /2017, 2017/2018) seasons at Qalyub area, EL-Qalyubia governorate, Egypt. The main objective for this study to find out the efficacy of several biological and the chemical controls on growth and productivity of lettuce crop and management on white rot disease caused on Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Thus, four treatments were applied as follow 1- the control (water application),2- Trichoderma asperellum, 3-Salicylic acid and 4- Calcium Chloride, which were evaluated and compared for the three fungicide as follow : 1- Iprodione , 2- Tebuconazole with Fluopyram and 3-Tebuconazole at the doses (85 & 100 ; 200 &100 and 50 &100 g or ml / 100L-1 respect.) . Which they tested for their ability for increasing the lettuce crop productivity and suppress mycelial growth of S. sclerotiorum pathogen by treatments were sprayed on two times on plants at (15-19 BBCH) stages by using backpack sprayer by 250 L./Fed.). Results indicated that, Iprodione applications significantly gave the highest indications of total and the Marketable yield in compared with the other experimental treatments for both seasons. Moreover, the two times of sprayes by Iprodione and Salicylic acid treatments had significantly lowered the disease incidence and disease severity and increasing the control efficiency in the both seasons. Whereas, the other treatments, Tebuconazole with Fluopyram or Tebuconazole and Trichoderma asperellum had a moderate effecacy on the lettuce crop productivety or the disease severity and incidence of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in compared to the control treatment. In the contrast, application by Calcium Chloride had a low effect on the average yield or final yield as a mass and marketable plant in the both seasons and had insignificant effect on the disease severity or incidence of S. sclerotiorum despite low to medium recovery following applications. Finally, the control treatment was the lowest.

The monitoring of the counterfeit situation of a pesticide widely used in Egypt (abamectin) was done through the present study as seven samples of Abamectin formulations were collected from the Egyptian market. Packaging and labels were checked and analyzed by HPLC to determine the active ingredient content present in these samples. GC-MS and FTIR were used for additional analysis and detection of other active ingredients in the formulation.Counterfeit pesticides were studied in Egypt by doing questionnaires for all workers in the pesticide system (farmer - trader - researchers in the pesticide field) and the results of these forms were analyzed to show the most dominant pesticides in Egypt, in addition to random purchase of pesticides from the Egyptian market and the most number of samples Is from (abamectin pesticide) (7 samples).To obtain this number of abamectin formulations, 58 different pesticide formulations (16 different active ingredients) were collected from the Egyptian markets, and the share of abamectin was 7 samples (one active substance), representing 12.1% of the total tested samples. The obtained results showed that Examination of Packaging and indicated that three samples were not registered through Egyptian Agricultural Pesticides Committee thus representing 42.86% of the total tested samples. The non-registered products are Komaktin Gold Plus, Super Vertimic and Abamectine Strela. Three samples have registration number as other formulations already registered in Ministry of Agriculture which are Abamectin Super, Farmactine and Abamectin power. The last product (Tinam) has the correct registration number (no.1391) and it is the same number used to register it in Ministry of agriculture. The percentage of the active ingredient in 5 samples was less than the acceptable limits, The samples were (Abamectin super, Komaktin Gold Plus, Abamectin Power, Super vertimic and Abamectine strela) active ingredient content was 1.416, 0.64, 1.01, 0.2 and 0.12% respectively. One sample (Farmactine) didn’t contain Abamectin, and the sample (Tinam) was within the acceptable limits (1.53%). GC-MS used to determine the presence of any other materials or active ingredients within the samples. The result showed that Abamectin Super sample contains (Lambda cyhalothrin at R.t. 29.512 min), Farmactine sample contains (Fenpropathrin at R.t. 28.634 min), Abamectin Power sample contains (Diazinon at R.t. 16.088 min and Cypermethrin at R.t. 26.554 min) and Super Vertimic sample contains (Fenpropathrin at R.t. 23.916 min and Lambda cyhalothrin at R.t. 34.85 min). Three products Komaktin Gold Plus, Tinam and Abamectine Strela didn’t contain other active ingredients.The physical properties of the studied samples before and after storage were determined through emulsion characteristic test and four samples (Abamectin super, Farmactine, Abamectin Power and Tinam) showed good emulsion characteristics before and after storage. Super vertimic and Abamectine strela samples showed poor emulsification characteristics before and after storage. Komaktin Gold Plus showed good emulsification before storage but poor emulsion characteristics after storage.

A tissue culture experiment was conducted to attain the adventitious buds initiation and growth from Fragraia x ananassa cv. Festival in vitro leaves. The leaves were excited from shoot propagated in vitro and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 4.50, 6.75, and 9.00 mmol l-1 thidiazuron (TDZ) for six weeks. Then explants were transferred to MS medium (salts and vitamins) free plant growth regulators for 8 weeks. This study included the histological and morphological responses of strawberry leaves with TDZ treatments in relation to some biochemical components. All TDZ treatments resulted in adventitious shoots development on leaf explants without callus formation. Growth in 6.75 mmol l-1 TDZ led to an increment in the most morphological parameters compared to the rest treatments. The results showed that 6.75 mmol l-1 of TDZ treatment significantly increases the number of shootlets per explant (5.0), total shoot (51.3), the number of leaves/explant (12) as compared with other treatments while the rest of parameters (the survival percentage, shoot length (cm), number of leaves/explant, root length (cm), and number of roots/explant) did not show any significant differences. Accumulation of chlorophylls, total sugars, and total soluble phenols was enhanced by 6.75 mmol l-1 of TDZ. The histological observations showed that adventitious shoots initiated from some parenchyma of ground tissue in the midvein zone of the explant, whereas the parenchyma mesophyll and the epidermal cells did not involve in this process. The ontogenesis of adventitious shoots was described by successive stages with the following distinguishable anatomical structures: meristemoids, bud primordium, shoot apex with leaf primordial, branching of adventitious shoots. After four weeks of culture, cell dedifferentiation was recorded in the midvein parenchyma and forming small groups of divided cells called meistemoid centres. These centres forming new meristematic masses embedded in the ground tissue of the main vein. After six weeks, further development of these masses resulted in the formation of bud primordial with normal organized shoot apical meristems and leaf primordial and arising from the explant as small protrusions. After two weeks from subculture on MS free TDZ, the adventitious shoots continue to elongate with forming new lateral branches and clearly observed on the adaxial side of the explant. This procedure provides a simple and rapid approach to regenerate strawberry plants via direct organogenesis.

The impacts of climate change combined with water shortage and the need to increase food production to meet increasing population stimulate the implementation of Aquaponic systems not only on food scale but also on some medicinal plants in agriculture production. The current experiment was conducted at the Institute of Graduate Arid Land Agriculture and Research Institute (ALARI) at Ain Shams University, Egypt, to test sweet basil and mint development during the summer seasons of 2017 and 2018 under urban conditions through the aquaponic system. The objective of the study was to investigate the use of aquaponic compared to the chemical nutrient solution (control) as a nutritional source combined with two plant densities (6 and 8 plants / m²) in the design of complete randomized blocks for evaluating basil and mint growth. The density of the Nile Tilapia was 100 fish / m3 in the aquaponic facility. The yield characteristics, the nutrient (N, P and K) and the oil content (percent) of basil and mint, have been measured in. Reveled results indicated that basil plant had a higher capacity for removing NH4, NO3, P and K from fish rearing water than mint while plant density 8 plants/m2 had a higher capacity compared plant density 6 plants / m2 resulted enhancing the quality of fish rearing water led to increase the fish yield (the final and gain tilapia yield). The chemical nutrient solution provided higher plant height, fresh and dry yields of basil and mint than the aquaponic solution, as well as N, P, K, and oil content (percent) of basil and mint plants in both plant density (6 and 8 plants / m²) and in both seasons. The composition of aquaponic water as a source of nutrition was not sufficient to meet the requirements for basil and mint nutrients. The highest plant height, N, P, K, and oil content results were reported for the treatment of chemical nutrient solution + plant density 6 plants / m² while chemical nutrient solution + plant density 8 plants / m² had the highest fresh and dry yield of basil and mint. The need for increasing the food production under climate change impacts, the use of aquaponic systems for sweet basil and mint production provided food production (fish and vegetables) as well as the medicinal plants at the same time protecting the environment by avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers.

Calendulais one of the basic plants of ornamentals. It is used in various purposes as cut flowers and in gardens. They are rich with active compounds such as chlorophyll a and b, phenols, flavonoid, and carotenoids. The present study focused on mutation induction in order to improve the morphology of the plant which can increase the turnout of its market. In order to examine which mutagen will make the most noticeable and permanent improvement of the plant. For the mutagens, seeds were treated with three doses of gamma ray (2500, 5000, 7000Gy) and two chemical mutagens; colchicine and EMS; which were applied at concentrations of 1000, 3000, and 10000 ppm. With the aim to measure the plant improvement, we measured the plant morphology, its active compounds and protein profiling before and after treatments with both γ-radiation and chemical mutagen to see which one has the most effective imprint on the plant. The morphological parameters data showed the highest plant high by the two doses; gamma dose of 7000 Gy and EMS concentration 10000 ppm, while the lowest dose of colchicine (1000 ppm) made the most impact on the plant height. As for the highest number of leaves/plant, it was obtained at 5000 Gy and 10000 ppm of EMS, while 1000 ppm of colchicine had the same effect. But the number of flowers/plant was not affected by the gamma radiation and colchicine but increased significantly by 10000 ppm of EMS. Surprise, the flower diameter was not affected by EMS while decreased at 2500 Gy and 3000 ppm of colchicine. Considering the importance of flower shape, all treatments either gamma radiation or chemical mutagens showed noticeable changes. Whereas, the biochemical parameters measuring the active compounds, both Chl-a, Chl-b and carotenoids contents increased at 5000 Gy, while flavonoid increased at 2500 Gy. Although, all doses of gamma ray eliminated the phenols content. While the lowest used concentration of colchicine (1000 ppm) increased both of Chl-a, Chl-b, flavonoid and carotenoids, even though the 10000 ppm of colchicine increased the phenol. On the other hand, the highest concentration of EMS (10000 ppm) increased Chl-a and Chl-b while carotenoids, flavonoid and phenol increased at 3000 ppm of EMS. The protein-profile analysis showed fluctuation in the gene expression. The highest performance appeared at 7000 Gy of gamma treatment,1000 -3000 ppm of colchicine, while the same result was obtained by EMS at 3000 ppm.

The main goal of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of broiler strain and source of drinking water on some performance traits (body weight and carcass traits). Sample of water were taken from two different location sources, Giza governorate (as Nile water) and Qalubia governorate (as well water or ground water). Three different broiler strains were used in this study (Arbor acres, Hubbard and Cobb). Lead concentration (as a heavy metal element) and bacteriological analysis (total bacteria and fecal coliforms) in both water and carcass were carried out. The main results obtained can be summarized as follow: Arbor acres strain recorded the heaviest body at most ages compared to the other strains, the difference was highly significant at 5 and 6 weeks of ages. Total bacteria were significantly high in ground water compared to Nile water. Conversely, Coliforms bacteria count was significantly high in Nile water compared to ground water source. Regardless strain type, high positive correlation between lead concentration in drinking water and lead concentration in liver, kidney and carcass weight was observed

Staphylococcus aureus isolates were isolated from fifty clinical samples collected from Ain Shams University Hospitals (March - July 2016) and identified using biochemical and microbiological tests. PCR was performed using specific primers to determine the isolates of Methicillin - Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) based on the presence of mecA gene. Thirty-four isolates from total fifty isolates (68%) were identified as MRSA isolates. To study the genotoxicity for this isolates, forty-five mice were injected with these MRSA isolates and comet and micronuclei assays were performed on mice liver tissues and bone marrow respectively. These assays revealed 24% - 22% DNA damage as an indicator for chromosomal breakage by comet and micronucleus assays respectively which indicate that infection with these isolates leads to mutations. Studying these isolate furthermore will give an insight on how critical maintaining high standard hygiene in Egyptian hospitals and attention to infection control system can prevent occur of outbreaks

The experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of mycorrhizae (Glomus sp. and Gigspora sp.) application on the vegetative growth and yield of tomato plants (Alisa cultivar), and its relevance to the mineral fertilizers requirements as NPK during the seasons of 2015/2016 and 2016/2017. The experiments were conducted at Baloza Research Station, Desert Research Center, North Sinai Governorate, Egypt. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with three replicates, every replicate included 4 treatments (75 and100% of the recommended mineral fertilizer only or combined with the mycorrhizae treatment). The results showed that mycorrhizae application significantly increased the vegetative growth characters of tomato plant such as plant height, number of shoots, number of leaves, stem diameter, fresh and dry weights and yield. There were no significant differences in the vegetative growth characteristics of tomato plants receiving 75% of mineral fertilizers in addition to mycorrhizae application as compared with plants receiving 100% of mineral fertilizers only, except for the fresh weight of plants. The plants were received 100% of the recommended mineral fertilizers combined with mycorrhizae treatment gave the highest values of vegetative growth characters and yield. Therefore, we recommended that, using of mycorrhizae could be affective to maximize the utilization of mineral fertilizers, in addition, the mycorrhizea is ecofriendly, economically and consid ered as one of the most important bio-fertilizer resources.

Addition of whole cereal grains’ meal as a source of dietary fibers for the development of tarhana as a value-added functional food was the aim of this study. The effect of substituting wheat flour 72% (WF) with different ratios of whole wheat meal (WWM), oat flakes meal (OFM), whole barley meal (WBM) and mixed-cereal meal (OFM& WBM) on functional, rheological, color and sensorial properties of tarhana samples was determined. Whole cereal grains’ meal showed higher contents of protein, lipids, ash, crude fibers and total phenolic compounds in comparison to wheat flour (72%). pH values of tarhana samples were reduced from 5.22-5.89 to 4.81-5.09 after 72 h. of fermentation. The flow behavior index of tarhana soup samples ranged between 0.11-0.19, indicating the pseudoplasticity of tarhana samples. The higher value of consistency coefficient was recorded for OFM 50% sample followed by WWM 100% sample. Fermentation loss values of tarhana samples ranged between 7.12% for OFM 25% sample and 12.61% for mixed-cereal 50% sample. Substitution of WF in tarhana formulations with whole cereal grains’ meal reduced the yellowness of tarhana samples. Addition of different whole cereal grains’ meal significantly (p<0.05) improved water and oil absorption capacity of tarhana samples. Also, partial substitution of WF with OFM and mixed-cereal meal at ratio of 50% in tarhana recipe has significantly (p<0.05) increased foaming capacity and stability of the final product. The highest values of sensory parameters were observed in Tarhana soups prepared with OFM at ratios of 25& 50%, mixed-cereal meal at 50% and  the control sample. According to the results of this study, it is possible to partially substitute wheat flour with whole cereal grains’ meal in tarhana production in attempt to have a product combining the nutritional value of whole cereal grains and the health benefits of lactic acid bacteria.