The influence of chilling, freezing, and dry-ing preservation methods on morphological properties and viability of four yeast cultures, isolated Saccharomyces boulardii (SB1 and SB2), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC), and Kluyveromyces lactis (KL), was studied. chilling preservation had no effect on yeast colony morphology parameters till the end of the preservation period in contrast with freez-ing and drying preservation methods. Drying preservation resulted in the highest viability decrement % of yeast cultures ranged between 59.38 to 40.21% as compared with other preservation methods. There is a noticeable re-duction in D values of preserved yeast cultures by drying, which varied from (33 to 26 day) in comparison to chilling and freezing preserva-tion that recorded (119 to 83 and 180 to 57 day), respectively. The obtained results re-vealed that chilling preservation under proper conditions, as well as freezing, is more prefer-able for the preservation of studied yeast cul-tures than that preserved yeast by the drying method.

Accelerating global warming and water scarcity and improving water use efficiency are considered essential factors for achieving adequate crop development and productivity. Therefore, the authors targeted the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (Ps1) for improving growth, productivity, and water use efficiency of broccoli plants (Brassica olercea L. var. italica, cv. Belstar F1) under various irrigation regimes i.e., 50, 75, and 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc). Two greenhouse experiments were carried out in clayey soil. The combined inoculation of endomycorrhizae and Ps. fluorescens (Ps1) improved water use efficiency and consequently vegetative growth and yield. Under the applied irrigation regime 75% ETc of broccoli inoculated with both endomycorrhizae and Ps. fluorescens (Ps1) showed higher head weight (616 and 647 gram) than those grown under the irrigation regime 75% ETc combined with endomycorrhizae (568 and 559 gram) during the two seasons, respectively. However, a minimum yield value of 149 and 142 grams per plant was recorded for un-inoculated plants grown under 50% irrigation regime during both seasons. In conclusion, the combined inoculation with endomycorrhizae and Ps. fluorescens (Ps1) under irrigation regime 75% ETc was the optimum combination for increasing water stress resistance and broccoli productivity under water scar-city circumstances.

A study was conducted to assess two enzyme detoxifying activities and insecticide-resistance gene expression quantitation using real-time (PCR). Four populations of pink bollworms were compared with the baseline laboratory strain. Field populations showed higher levels of enzymatic activity, glutathione-S-transferase and β–esterases, than those of the laboratory strain. The amplification curves scored a cycle threshold (Ct) value of 25 for the ribosomal protein subunit7 (rps7). For the BtR gene, the Ct values of analyzed biological groups ranged from 20 for the laboratory strain to 24 for the Fayoum group. For Cad1, the Ct values ranged from 19 for laboratory strain to 23 for Fayoum and Qalubia populations. Therefore, the present work introduces a method for the challenge of monitoring resistance to Bt toxins in crops which requires, according to the IPM (Integrated Pest Management) program, a wise insecticide application.

Aphid is a major insect pest attacking ornamental plants. It causes great damage by reducing the economic values of plants. The investigated research aims to determine the relation between leaf biochemical components, morphological structures of plant leaf surface and the susceptibility of seven ornamental plants to Aphid Infestation. Highest recorded aphid infestation was observed on Tecoma stans during 2017 and 2018 seasons followed by Rosa damascena and Jasminum grandiflorum. There was no rec-orded infestation on four inspected ornamental plants, Ruta graveolens, Schefflera actinophylla, Nerium oleander and Bougainvillea spectabilis. Activity of antioxidant enzymes plays as defense line when increasing the insect population density. Biochemical components are varied among different plants that prevents or reduces insect infestation, as tannins, total phenol, and Phenol oxidase. Trichomes are considered as main morphological character in plant defense system. These results enhanced utilization resistant ornamental plants due to preventing aphid infestation. It is considered one of the integrated pest management programs, that achieves health environment without more insecticidal application.

In total, 50 Rhizobium isolates were isolated from the mature root nodules of common beans plants (Phaseolus vulgaris) grown in different nine governorates of Egypt. PHB was optimized by the identified strain using response surface methodology. A total of 11 parameters (pH, incubation period, inoculum size, temperature, agitation speed, mannitol, sucrose, yeast extract, glycine, K2HPO4, and MgSO4) were analyzed for their significant effects on PHB production by the Plackett–Burman design (PBD). Sucrose, yeast extract, glycine, and MgSO4 were the main significant factors affecting PHB accumulation. Central composite design (CCD) of the response surface methodology was used to determine the optimum levels of the selected factors. Rhizobium phaseoli reached the maximum production (4.997 g/L) at run 36 in the presence of 25 g/L of sucrose, 0.0 g/L of yeast extract, 0.87 g/L of glycine, 0.3 g/L of MgSO4, and 5% of inoculation size. In vitro experiments were carried out to test the effect of different stress conditions (pH: 6–11, temperature: 5°C–50°C, salinity: 0.01%–7%, and drought: 0%–5% w/v) on the growth of Rhizobium phaseoli. The results showed that Rhizobium phaseoli can withstand 3% –5% NaCl, high temperature of 30°C– 45°C, alkalinity at pH value of 8 – 10, and drought stress at 3% – 5% w/v polyethylene glycol with growth loss of 50% when grown on modified medium and 75% when grown on the basal one. In vivo experiments were done to study the effect of drought stress levels on the growth parameters of common bean plants. In general, all the treatments with Rhizobium phaseoli grown on the modified medium were superior to Rhizobium phaseoli grown on the basal medium. Also, they showed high tolerance of drought conditions.

The research aimed to Identify the practices of rural women in preserving and storing food in a village in Beheira Governorate, Identify the level of application of the respondents to good practices in preserving and storing food, Identify the most important sources from which the respondents obtain their nutritional information on food preservation and storage, and Identify the most important factors affecting the application of Respondents practice related to food preservation and storage. The research was based on the social survey method in the sample by selecting a random sample of (164) respondents at a rate of 7% of the total (2333) Families in Al-Naqidi village in Kom Hamada district in Beheira Governorate, data were collected through a personal interview using a questionnaire form during May and June 2020, frequencies, percentages, Pearson's simple correlation coefficient and Step-Wise multiple regression analysis method were used to analyze the research data. The results indicated that about (48.8%) of the total respondents had a high level of negative practices, (43.9%) of the total respondents, their level of application is medium, while about (7.3%) of the total respondents their application of these negative practices is low the majority of respondents depend on traditional sources (television, mother and relatives and neighbors) to obtain their nutritional information for food preservation and storage. The results indicated that the most important variables responsible for the application of the research for preserving and storing food, which affected by (38.7%), are: the age of the respondent, membership of social organizations, exposure to cooking programs through various media, and contact with the agricultural guide.

The study showed that the population, imports of red meat, and retail prices of red meat are the most important factors affecting the amount of red meat consumed during the study period. But the production of white meat, the population and the retail price of white meat are the most important factors affecting the amount of white meat consumed. As for the most important factors affecting the amount of fish consumed, they were represented in fish imports, national income, retail prices of fish and retail prices of white meat. The study also found that the meat group ranks first among the food groups, with a spending rate of about 27.4% and 28.19% of the total spending on food and drink in both rural and urban areas, respectively. While fish ranked sixth with a spending rate of about 6.37% and 6.88% in both rural and urban areas, respectively for the year 2017/2018. It also showed that the annual per capita spending on both meat and fish varies according to the spending categories of the family, and the annual per capita spending on meat in urban areas has increased by 13.65%, 39.64% from its counterpart in rural in each of the second spending category (50 thousand - less than 100 thousand pounds) and the third category (100 thousand pounds or more), respectively, and an increase in the annual per capita spending on fish in urban areas by 6.1%, 23.29% and 84.17% over its counter-part in the rural in the three spending categories, respectively. The spending flexibility in urban areas compared to the countryside on the two groups of meat and fish also increased, as the spending elasticity of the meat group reached about 0.492 and 0.677 in both rural and urban areas, respectively, while the spending elasticity for fish reached about 0.369 and 0.645 in both rural and urban areas, respectively.

Various fungal genotypes (Aspergillus niger NRRL 3135 (AN1), Aspergillus niger NRRL 326 (AN26), Aspergillus terrus F2-Kh (AT) and Mucor racemosus NRRL 3639 (MI)) were studied for their ability to produce phytase and improve the produced enzyme by ethyl-methane sulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis. AN1 showed the highest phytase activity on phytase screening medium supplemented with glucose (PSMG) after 8 days of incubation (reached 1875.40 IU/mL). The phytase activity of AN1 increased with increasing incubation time and the highest value was achieved at 12 days of incubation (2859.33 IU/mL). The exposure of AN1 spore suspension to 200 mM of EMS for different times enhanced the phytase activity and that mutant 20 Mn exhibited the highest phytase activity (reached 4520.5 IU/mL) therefore it was chosen for the next experiment. An in-vitro gas production procedure was carried out to evaluate the impact of using various amounts of laboratory produced phytase (PE) compared with commercial phytase (Axtra® PHY) on nutrients availability of ruminant's ration. Six levels (0, 400, 800, 1200, 1600 and 2000 IU phytase-1Kg dry matter) of phytase enzyme were evaluated with tested ration consisted of 40% berseem hay (BH) and 60% concentrate feed mixture (CFM). In-vitro dry and organic matter degradability (IVDMD and IVOMD), total gas production (GP), short chain fatty acids (SCFA’s) and inorganic phosphorus (Pi) concentration were improved significantly (P<0.05) by phytase addition from the two sources of phytase and the highest significant (P<0.05) values achieved at the level of 1200 IU. Results suggest that phytase activity was influenced by exposure to EMS mutagen compared to the wild type. Also, the produced enzyme source has the ability to improve the utilization efficiency of phytate diets as evidenced by the significant (P<0.05) increase in all tested parameters compared to the commercial source.

Among 46 local bacterial isolates capable synthetized pigments, 26% produced extracellular of blue green and fluorescent whereas 74% produced intra-cellular pigments of red, brown, yellow, orange, and rose. Seven isolates were selected as a potential candidate for the synthesis of pigments. They were Pseudomonas fluoresces, P. aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Azotobacter chroococcum, Micrococcus kristinae, M. luteus, and M. roseus after their morphological and biochemical studies. They capable to produce fluorescent, blue green, red, brown, orange, yellow, and rose with maximum absorbance at 400, 520, 530, 320, 440, 460, and 470 nm, with an optical density of 0.62, 1.42,1.35, 1.11, 0.45, 0.98, and 0.40, respectively. Antibacterial activity of pigments was studied against 7 bacterial pathogenic strains namely P. aeruginosa ATCC27853, Escherichia coli 0157h7 ATCC25922, Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC00607, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC25566, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC19115, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC29737, and Bacillus cereus ATCC33018. The last tested strain behaved high significant (p≤ 0.05) sensitivity for blue green, fluorescent, brown, and rose pigments while, L. monocytogenes ATCC19115 was more susceptible for red, and yellow pigments and S. aureus ATCC29737 had more inhibited by orange pigment. These bacterial pigments seemed to have antioxidant activity which inhibited the formation of diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals with percentage ranged from 40 % to 80 %. It could therefore be stated that the bacterial pigments tested had a broad impact on foodborne pathogens and had an antioxidant effect

The main objective of this research is to promote the reuse of wastes resulting from different manufacturing processes such as fruit peels (e.g. banana and orange peels) as substitutes (at least partially) of mineral fertilizers. This might have positive effects in maintaining human health and reducing environmental pollution. Moreover, to compare the use of these wastes with commercial organic fertilizer i.e., compost made by Nile Company to meet the needs of tomato plants from nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) elements. To achieve the goal, two experiments were conducted. The first was an incubation experiment, which was designed to compare the organic fertilizer compost of Nile Company and the powdered banana and orange peels. The second was a field experiment achieved at the Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University. Obtained results of the incubation experiment showed increases in nitrogen content by 16 to 31% and potassium by 12 to 24% due to using grinded banana and orange peels as compared to the compost treatment. Moreover, in the field experiment the concentration of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) at different plant growth stages whether in soil or plant did not differ significantly between soil plots fertilized with mineral fertilization and those fertilized with banana and orange ones. On contrary, potassium concentration was found higher in the soil fertilized with organic fertilization than that fertilized with mineral fertilization. It has also been found to us that there are no clear significant differences between tomato fruits resulting from mineral fertilization of the ground and those that were fertilized by the mixture of banana and orange peels in terms of the ratio of nitrogen and potassium, weight, size and density of the fruit and other characteristics except for the total salts percentage, which was less Fruits fertilized with a mixture of banana and orange peels