Bread is a staple food for many nations globally. It is prepared by mixing wheat or barley flour with water and other additives. Potassium bromate (KBrO3) is the most used additive in bread industry, because of its efficiency to make the bread cost-effective and favourable to consume. However, KBrO3 is toxic to human and animals due to its ability to affect several body organs, e.g., liver, bones, blood, renal and hepatic, therefore KBrO3 is classified as a carcinogenic chemical and banned for using in the bread industries in most countries. Even though, this material is still in use as bread improver in several countries, nevertheless several oxidising agents was suggested to use as replacements instead of KBrO3 that doesn’t have harmful effects to the consumers. Many technologies have been developed and applied to evaluate the residues of KBrO3 in bakery products. This review paper explored the use of potassium bromate as a flour additive, and its effect on human, animal and environment, and the chemical methods to assess its remains in bread industries.

The demand for drinking water is increasing daily due to the rising world population, alongside the leakage of water, overuse of groundwater, and occurrence of several pollution issues that led to reducing the quality of groundwater. Consequently, in most countries purifying water technologies have been used to obtain drinkable water. Nationally, Libyans use the purified water extensively in their daily needs. Accordingly, to ensure that our citizen utilize harmless water, the quality of the used water and the efficiency of purification units was assessed by analyzing several physical and chemical characteristics of purified water and raw water supplied to the purification units from some local wells and man-made river (MMR) using recommended standard methods. The study results showed that the quality of purified water is excellent, and the purification process reduced the pH, electro conductivity and the concentration of studied chemical properties significantly to values less than the optimum levels (OL) suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Libyan standards (LS) for drinking water. As a conclusion, the studied purified water may use in the daily needs of human with continuously analytical monitoring.

The pollution of the Earth-system by microplastics (MPs) has attracted the scientific community's attention during the last decade due to the ability of MPs to alter the soil and agronomic lands properties and affect the soil flora and fauna, and thus via food chain may harm human health. The current review attempted to survey several previous studies to demonstrate the possible sources of MPs in soil characterised as primary and secondary sources depending on the way MPs are generated. Most of MPs released from these sources ended into the soil and can emigrate within soil profile, which negatively affects several physiochemical soil properties, soil biota, and plants that may alter biodiversity and agronomic land productivity. The bioremediation of MPs-polluted terrestrial environment using some microorganisms is an optimum economic and eco-friendly technology. This review is a first step to help researchers identify the main sources and effects of MPs pollution in Libyan farmlands to stand up on the current levels of these substances in soil and suggest future strategies to avoid possible harm impacts of MPs pollution over our country. ا

Abstract

The growth of two wetland forage grasses Leptochloa fusca (L.) Kunth. and Echinochloa stagnina (L.) P. Beauv. was investigated under NaCl salinity regarding the morphological traits, plant chemical composition, photosynthesis and the antioxidant enzymes POD and CAT. Plants of both species were irrigated with 0, 50, 100, 200, 300 and 400 mM NaCl in a sand/perlite mixture of 1:1 (v/v). Salinity negatively affected morphological traits and plant biomass of both species, particularly E. stagnina. Soluble sugars and proline within limits, protein contents of the foliage were increased to different extents by increasing salinity, but insoluble sugar decreased. K⁺/Na⁺ ratio of shoot and root of both species was decreased as a consequence of Na⁺ accumulation and restricted K⁺ uptake. NaCl salinity adversely affected photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and water use efficiency of both species particularly E. stagnina. Tolerance of L. fusca and E. stagnina to salinity stress can be based on stomatal closure and reduction in leaf area, in order to minimize water loss via transpiration and increase the activity of some antioxidant enzymes to detoxifying ROS generated during stress.

Abstract and figures

We performed a comprehensive study of trichomes considering the medicinal importance of the essential oils produced in glandular trichomes of Salvia aegyptiaca L. and lack of data about leaf trichome characteristics. Micromorphological and histochemical analyses of the trichomes of S. aegyptiaca were carried out using light and scanning electron microscopy. We report that the leaves contained abundant non-glandular unbranched trichomes and two types of glandular trichomes, peltate and capitate, on both leaf surfaces. The abaxial leaf side was covered with numerous peltate and capitate trichomes, while capitate trichomes were more abundant on the adaxial leaf side, where peltate trichomes were rarely observed. The non-glandular trichomes were unicellular papillae and multicellular, uniseriate, two-to-six-celled, erect or slightly leaning toward the epidermis. Peltate trichomes were composed of a basal cell, a short cylindrical stalk cell and a broad head of eight secretory cells arranged in a single circle. Capitate trichomes consisted of a one-celled glandular head, subtended by a stalk of variable length, and classified into two types: Capitate trichomes type I (or short-stalked glandular trichomes) and capitate trichomes type II (or long-stalked glandular trichomes). Histochemical tests showed that the secreted material in all types of S. aegyptiaca glandular trichomes was of a complex nature. Positive reactions to lipids for both types of glandular trichomes were obtained, with especially abundant secretion observed in peltate and capitate trichomes type II.