Abstract
Chestnut shell (CS) is a by-product of some food sector companies. The aim of this study was to test the suitability of this material to be liquefied with polyalcohols, optimizing the main liquefaction parameters in order to use the liquefied material for the production of high added value products. As the chemical composition of the fruit shell depends on the variation in the soil, climate, and species, the chemical composition of CS was determined. Liquefaction was performed with 50:50 ethyleneglycol:glycerol catalyzed by sulfuric acid. Different tests were carried out and several parameters were tested: particle size, temperature 130–190°C, and time 15–120 min. Chemical composition of CSs was determined. The main component found was lignin with 47.0%, which is higher than α-cellulose with around 20.5%, hemicelluloses 15.2%, and extractives in ethanol 8.8%. For the tested parameters, the best liquefaction yield was obtained at 190°C, 30 min, and a 40–60 particle size.
1 Introduction
Chestnut tree (Castanea sativa Mill.) is an angiosperm from the Fagaceae family, the seeds of which have been one of the most important food sources for centuries. Chestnuts are consumed worldwide, and thousands of tons of agricultural wastes are generated annually. In accordance to FAOSTAT (FAOSTAT 2020) during 2018, a worldwide production of about 6,12,000 ha of chestnut, Asia represents the continent with more chestnut production (about 70.9% of world production), followed by Europe with about 19.5%. Portugal has about 38,000 ha of chestnut (representing 6.3% of world production). The production of chestnut in Portugal has increased from 17,290 to 34,165 tonnes since 1982–2018. Considering that the percentage of shell may vary between 10 and 15% of the weight of the whole chestnut, CS represented up to 5,125 ton in 2018 (FAOSTAT 2020). In Portugal, the production of chestnut is mostly centered in the north of the country 86.6%, specifically in Trás-os-Montes, with 81% of all national chestnut exports that generated around 53 million euros in 2016 and is still growing (INE 2017).
The wastes generated by the chestnut industry include leaves, pruning wastes, burrs, and chestnut shells (CSs). These residues are usually left in the soil and can cause damage to crops as they can promote the growth of insect’s larvae (Vázquez et al. 2012). They are frequently burned in the fields polluting the atmosphere – some emissions are toxic, such as CO, NOx, long-chain/aromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorodibenzodioxins (Morana et al. 2017). In addition, pesticides and heavy metals from these wastes may remain in the soil from the ash when they are burned (Picchi et al. 2018). The chestnut industry waste frequently ends up in composting (Ventorino et al. 2016).
As biomass is the most abundant renewable resource, several studies have been made to replace products commonly made from fossil fuel. The CSs biomass is rich in cellulose (homopolymer), hemicelluloses (heteropolymer), and lignin, which can be used to produce a wide variety of products and high value chemicals (Morales et al. 2018). Through hydrolytic processes, it is possible to degrade the cell walls of lignocellulosic materials to obtain mixtures of oligomeric and monomeric sugars, such as glucose, xylose, mannose, galactose, and arabinose. Other high value-added products can be obtained, for example, bio-oil, biogas, or other bio-based chemicals with a wide range of industrial applications (Cherubini 2010; de Jong et al. 2012; Morales et al. 2018).
Gasification, pyrolysis, and liquefaction are thermochemical conversions of lignocellulosic materials that can lead to a series of different products (Zhang et al. 2010; Awalludin et al. 2015; Patel et al. 2016). From those, low to moderate temperature liquefactions are processes that can efficiently liquefy a solid lignocellulosic material consuming less energy. The liquefaction procedures are performed with a solvent or a mixture of solvents with acid or base catalysts. The resulting compounds are larger molecules than high temperature liquefaction processes but can be re-condensed through conventional polymerization techniques to produce adhesives, plastics, or polymers. These processes can be one of the best ways to produce chemicals in the future.
Mainly two different types of solvents are used: phenol (Zhang et al. 2005) and polyalcohols (Jin et al. 2011; Yu and Lee 2014; D’Souza et al. 2015; Esteves et al. 2015). The obtained liquefied material is different according to the liquefaction agent used. The advantage of polyalcohol liquefaction is that these compounds are not toxic and therefore easy and safe to use. In the past few years, there have been several lignocellulosic materials liquefied by these methods which include cornmeal (Wang et al. 2008), sugar bagasse (Hakim et al. 2011), or wood (Ertaş et al. 2014), for example.
The liquefied materials have been used to produce different products. Polyurethane foams have been produced from liquefied cork (Gama et al. 2015; Esteves et al. 2017), cork-rich barks like Pseudotsuga menziesii and Quercus cerris (Cruz-Lopes et al. 2016; Esteves et al. 2018), coffee grains (Soares et al. 2014), corn stover (Wang et al. 2008), or wheat straw (Chen and Lu 2009). In addition, liquefied materials have been used as adhesives (Lee and Lin 2008; Esteves et al. 2019).
The objective of this study is to find a process to transform chestnut-derived waste into value-added products through liquefaction with a mixture of ethylene glycol and glycerol and to contribute to the scientific knowledge of the chemical composition of CS. The polyalcohols needed are available from renewable sources – glycerol is a by-product of biodiesel production and ethylene glycols can be produced from bioethanol – which emphasize the environmental advantages of this process.
2 Materials and methods
2.1 Material
CSs used in this study are wastes produced by the company Agromontenegro based in Portugal (Carrazedo de Montenegro), which is a forest management company. The samples were milled in a Retsch SMI mill and sieved in a Retsch AS200 for 20 min at a speed of 50 rpm. Four fractions >40 mesh (>0.420 mm), 40–60 mesh (0.420–0.250 mm), 60–80 mesh (0.250–0.177 mm), and <80 mesh (<0.177 mm) were obtained and dried at 105°C for at least 24 h afterwards.
2.2 Chemical composition
The chemical composition of CS was determined, including ashes, dichloromethane (DCM), ethanol and water extractives, α-cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin.
The fraction of 40–60 mesh was used for chemical analyses following Tappi T 264 om-97. The average chemical composition of each sample was determined in triplicate.
The extractives in all the solvents were determined by Soxhlet extraction according to Tappi T 204 om-88 (Prozil et al. 2012). The extractive content was determined by Soxhlet extraction using about 3 g of each sample:150 mL of DCM, ethanol, and water as solvents; extraction time was 6 h for DCM and 16 h for ethanol and water. The extractive content is determined in relation to the dry mass.
Lignin was determined by Klason method in CS free from extractives with 72% H2SO4 (in accordance to Tappi T 204 om-88).
The holocellulose was determined by the acid chloride method. The α-cellulose was determined following holocellulose hydrolysis. The hemicelluloses content was determined by difference.
2.3 Polyalcohol liquefaction
Liquefaction was performed in a closed reactor. The samples (fractions >40, 40–60, 60–80, and <80 mesh) were liquefied in a CS/solvent ratio of 1:10 using a mixture of glycerol and ethyleneglycol 1:1, catalyzed by sulfuric acid (3% based on solvent mass). Temperature and time ranged from 130 to 190°C and 15 to 120 min, respectively. Liquefied samples were dissolved in methanol and filtered. The insoluble residue was determined gravimetrically.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Chemical composition
The chemical composition was determined to better understand the potential of CSs for chemical conversion. Table 1 presents the CS chemical composition.
Chemical composition of CS (% dry material)
| Parameters | Content (%) |
|---|---|
| Ashes | 1.42 |
| Extractives | |
| Dichloromethane | 0.82 |
| Ethanol | 8.78 |
| Hot water | 6.31 |
| Klason lignin | 47.01 |
| α-Cellulose | 20.5 |
| Hemicelluloses | 15.16 |
The chemical composition showed that CSs have a high amount of Klason lignin (47%) that represents almost half of the chemical compounds in CS. Holocellulose was 35.6%, 20.5% from cellulose and 15.2% for hemicelluloses. In relation to extractives, the highest amount belongs to ethanol extractives with 8.8%, followed by water extractives with 6.3% and DCM 0.8%. Ashes represent 1.4% of the sample.
The high amount of Klason lignin obtained for CS is similar to that reported by Costa-Trigo et al. (2019) and López et al. (2012) with 44.3 and 45.9%, respectively. Differently, Yao et al. (2010) and He et al. (2016) obtained 28.5 and 23%, which is lower than that obtained here. Nevertheless, these authors did not mention how the results were obtained. In addition, the big differences in lignin content might be because of the extraction procedures performed before lignin determination, because if tannins are not removed they can resist the acid treatment and can be accounted as lignin. The cellulose content was 20.50%, which is lower than the value obtained by He et al. (2016) (28%) or Maurelli et al. (2013) (28.4%), but not much smaller than the result obtained by López et al. (2012) (24.3%). It should be noted that the method used here was α-cellulose that gives smaller values than other methods because it mostly accounts for crystalline cellulose. The amount of hemicelluloses (15.2%) is similar to that reported by Costa-Trigo et al. (2019) (16.0%) and He et al. (2016) (16.7%).
The high amount of ethanol and water extractives means that, possibly, most of the extractives are polyphenolic and sugar compounds. The extractives are non-structural organic compounds and can be removed from the sample without changing their structure. Some are soluble in polar solvents, some in nonpolar or semi-polar, and others may be soluble in more than one type of solvent. Therefore, the extraction should be conducted along the same sequential order, which is agreed to be in ascending order of polarity, because if this order was amended the content of extractives obtained in each of the solvents would be different. As other authors did not use the same extraction sequence, some results are difficult to compare. However, the amount of ethanol extractives, 8.8%, is higher than that reported by Costa-Trigo et al. (2019) (5.34 ± 0.40%), lower than that reported by López et al. (2012) and He et al. (2016) (12 and 32%), but not much different from that obtained by Yao et al. (2010) (8%). The ashes content is in accordance to that reported by Blasi et al. (2019) (1.14%) and a little higher than the values obtained by Costa-Trigo et al. (2019) (0.58 ± 0.10%).
These results show that there are very different chemical compositions of CSs, which might be because of different growing parameters like plantation locations, spacing, terrain, chestnut maturation, and so on. The determination of the chemical composition can indicate the best applications for CS from this region.
3.2 Liquefaction
A basis was established for the main parameters in liquefaction, 190°C and 30 min, 40–60 mesh the CS/solvent (mixture of glycerol and ethyleneglycol 1:1) ratio of 1:10.
Figure 1 shows the liquefaction yield (%) variation with the different fraction (mesh). In these tests, a temperature of 190°C, a time of 30 min, and the CS/solvent (mixture of glycerol and ethyleneglycol 1:1) ratio of 1:10 was used.

Liquefaction yield (%) with fraction (mesh) for CS.
Results show that the CS particle size affects the efficiency of liquefaction. Overall liquefaction yield increases with the decrease in particle size at least until 40–60 mesh fraction from about 34% for the bigger particles to around 91% for the 40–60 mesh fraction. Despite the fraction sizes <80, 60–80, and 40–60 showing similar liquefaction yields, between 80 and 91%, the fraction 40–60 has the highest yield. Similar results were presented before for cork liquefaction although only three different sizes were used (Esteves et al. 2017). The lower amount of liquefaction for lower particle sizes might be because of the different chemical composition of these particle sizes as shown before for other heterogeneous materials such as Q. cerris bark (Sen et al. 2020).
Figure 2 shows the liquefaction yield variation with reaction temperature that was performed between 130 and 190°C. In these tests, the particle size of shells used was 40–60 mesh, a time of 30 min, and the CS/solvent ratio of 1:10.

Liquefaction yield (%) with temperature (°C) for CS.
As expected, liquefaction yield increased with the increase in reaction temperature reaching a maximum value of 91% for 190°C. A fairly good liquefaction yield was obtained at 170°C (86%), whereas poor yields (under 70%) were obtained at lower temperatures. Similar reports were obtained before for the liquefaction of several lignocellulosic materials. For instance, for liquefied Douglas fir bark there was an increase in yield with the increase in temperature but smaller than the one found here (Esteves et al. 2018). Studies on liquefied cork showed that there was a big increase from 150 to 160°C staying approximately constant afterwards (Esteves et al. 2017). Different results were reported earlier by Soares et al. (2014) by testing cork powder via acid liquefaction using a mixture of PEG 400 and glycerol. These authors reported that liquefaction yield increased from 150 to 160°C but decreased when the temperature reached 170°C which was attributed to condensation reactions between liquefied intermediates. Nevertheless, they reported that it was possible because of the higher percentage of PEG 400 (90%) in relation to glycerol (10%) because Kurimoto and Tamura (1999) stated that a higher amount of low molecular weight glycols such as glycerol would prevent these re-condensation reactions. Therefore, once the liquefaction of CSs was conducted only with glycerol, these re-condensation reactions might have been inhibited.
The liquefaction time was studied between 15 and 120 min, keeping constant the granulometry (40–60 mesh), the temperature (190°C), and the CS/solvent ratio of 1:10. The achieved results are shown in Figure 3.

Liquefaction yield (%) with time (minutes) for CS.
As expected, the liquefaction yield increased with time staying approximately constant after 75 min (95%). The prolongation of the reaction time did not increase significantly the liquefaction percentage at 120 min (96%). This is important because of operation costs as more time represents more money spent in the process. Probably the liquefaction time could be reduced if a higher temperature was used, but then more money would be spent to increase the temperature. The increase in liquefaction yield with time has been reported before (Soares et al. 2014; Esteves et al. 2017, 2018). In the first 15 min, more than 70% of CS was liquefied. In accordance to Zhang et al. (2016), who studied polyalcohol liquefaction of nut shells of several Camelia species, in the first stage of liquefaction most of the hemicelluloses are solubilized. At the same time, there is also some solubilization of lignin and of amorphous parts of cellulose. The high amount of lignin in CS suggests that there is a significant solubilization of lignin in the first stage of liquefaction. In the second stage, Zhang et al. (2016) stated that for longer times there are re-condensation reactions between liquefied products that increase the residue amount. This phenomenon was not observed here possibly because of the high amount of glycerol used as stated before.
4 Conclusions
Chemical composition showed that CSs mainly contain Klason lignin (47%), followed by α-cellulose (20.5%), hemicelluloses (15.2%), and extractives in ethanol (8.8%). The high amount of lignin suggests that this material might be used to produce adhesives giving the chestnut exploitation sector an increased value product.
More than 55% of the material is liquefied in the first 15 min, which is probably because of the liquefaction of hemicelluloses, lignin, and ordered parts of cellulose. On the contrary, 30 min was enough to achieve a high liquefaction (91%) at 190°C. Nevertheless, an economic study must be made to determine the best conditions to achieve a good product with lower costs. Results show that it is possible to reach a good liquefaction percentage at lower temperatures.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the CERNAS Research Centre and the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu for their support and to the Project ValorCast “Valorização da castanha e otimização da sua comercialização,” PDR2020-101-032035 for the chestnut shells.
Funding source: This work was funded by National Funds through the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project Refa UIDB/00681/2020.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data availability statement: All the data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
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- Linear and structural changes in rural space – the positive and problematic aspects (case of Latvia)
- Farmers’ responses to organic rice farming in Indonesia: Findings from central Java and south Sulawesi
- Interactive effects of Potato virus Y and Potato leafroll virus infection on potato yields in Uganda
- Adoption of agricultural practices with climate smart agriculture potentials and food security among farm households in northern Nigeria
- Green approach in gold, silver and selenium nanoparticles using coffee bean extract
- Value chain for agritourism products
- Trichoderma asperellum affects Meloidogyne incognita infestation and development in Celosia argentea
- Growth, chlorophyll content and productivity responses of maize to magnesium sulphate application in calcareous soil
- Gene action in low nitrogen tolerance and implication on maize grain yield and associated traits of some tropical maize populations
- Zambian farm blocks: A vehicle for increased private sector investments
- Farm size and its impact on land use: The case of the South African private wildlife industry
- Characterizing macropore structure of agrosoddy-podzolic soil using computed tomography
- Influence of priming on germination, development, and yield of soybean varieties
- Review Articles
- Zinc biofortification as an innovative technology to alleviate the zinc deficiency in human health: a review
- Biological management of allelopathic plant Parthenium sp.
- Microbial antagonists against plant pathogens in Iran: A review
- Communication
- Risk assessment of Ni, Cr, and Si release from alkaline minerals during enhanced weathering
- Phylogenetic relationships among accessions in Citrus and related genera based on the insertion polymorphism of the CIRE1 retrotransposon
- Gamma radiosensitivity study on wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum)
- Special Issue on the 10th Circumpolar Agriculture Conference 2019
- Preface to the Special Issue on the 10th Circumpolar Agriculture Conference 2019
- Rumen bacterial community of young and adult of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District of Russia
- Carcass weight of Greenlandic lambs in relation to grazing area biomass
- Transnational cooperation to develop local barley to beer value chains
- Addition of biochar to acidic boreal podzolic soils enhances micronutrient availability and crop productivity
- Digitalisation in a local food system: Emphasis on Finnish Lapland
- Abandoned agricultural soils from the central part of the Yamal region of Russia: morphology, diversity, and chemical properties
- Fishing as an important source of food in the Arctic and subarctic zones of Yakutia
- Special Issue on the APA 2019 - 11th Triennial Conference
- Yield potential of sandponically produced sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) pre-basic seed for selected genotypes
- Monitoring with social media: Experiences from “integrating” WhatsApp in the M&E system under sweet potato value chain
- Breeding farmer and consumer preferred sweetpotatoes using accelerated breeding scheme and mother–baby trials
- Decentralised sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) vine multiplication in Lake Zone, Tanzania: Five years later
- Mineral fertilizer use in land-scarce conditions: Case of Rwanda
- Assessment of the roles and farmer-preferred traits of sweetpotato in a crop-livestock farming system in Rwanda: implications for breeding dual-purpose varieties
- A public–private partnership to speed up potato breeding
- Dietary acrylamide intake by potato crisps consumers: A case of Nairobi County
- Special Issue on ICESAT 2019
- Biochemical activity and bioassay on maize seedling of selected indigenous phosphate-solubilizing bacteria isolated from the acid soil ecosystem
- Identifying best parameters of particleboard bonded with dextrin-based adhesives
- Performance of rice paddy varieties under various organic soil fertility strategies
- Improved strength properties of LVL glued using PVAc adhesives with physical treatment-based Rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis)
- Evaluation and possible mechanism of beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua Hubner) resistance to chlorpyrifos and their sensitivity to neem oil insecticides
- Fermented compost and N-fertilizer for enhancing the growth and productivity of purple eggplant on vertisols
- Bioactive peptide effect on brain activity identified by 2D brain mapping
- Shifting of microbial biodiversity and soil health in rhizomicrobiome of natural forest and agricultural soil
- Special Issue on CERNAS 2020
- Evaluation of consumer habits and knowledge about dietary fibre and fibre-rich products in Turkish population
- Evaluation of texture in jelly gums incorporating berries and aromatic plants
- Food choice motivations and perception of a healthy diet in a developing Mediterranean country
- The evolution of the milk sector in Portugal: Implications from the Common Agricultural Policy
- Energetic and exergetic analysis of a convective drier: A case study of potato drying process
- Cluster analysis to the factors related to information about food fibers: A multinational study
- Study of the drying kinetics and calculation of mass transfer properties in hot air drying of Cynara cardunculus
- Short food supply chains – a growing movement. The case study of the Viseu Dão Lafões Region
- Evaluation of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in some edible flowers
- Chemical composition and study on liquefaction optimization of chestnut shells
- Is organic agriculture a potential public health indicator? Evidence from literature
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Regular Articles
- Synergistic and antagonistic effects of soil applied P and Zn fertilizers on the performance, minerals and heavy metal composition of groundnut
- The Analysis of Nutritional Habits of the Third Age Students in Poznań
- Biochar, poultry manure and NPK fertilizer: sole and combine application effects on soil properties and ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) performance in a tropical Alfisol
- Nutritional and functional properties of maize-oyster mushroom (Zea mays-Pleurotus ostreatus) based composite flour and its storage stability
- Rural Folks Perception of Suicide Drivers in rural communities of Delta State, Nigeria: Implications for Societal and Agricultural Security
- Evaluation of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Varieties for Yield and Some Agronomic Traits
- Micropropagation, Callus Induction and Regeneration of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.)
- The impact of foliar feeding on the yield components of three winter rape morphotypes (Brassica napus L.)
- The effect of soil water content and biochar on rice cultivation in polybag
- Influence of Azospirillum brasilense associated with silicon and nitrogen fertilization on macronutrient contents in corn
- Effect of Christmas Island rock phosphate and rice straw compost application on soil phosphorus availability and maize (Zea mays L.) growth in a tropical acid soil of Kelantan, Malaysia
- The evolution of Romanian agritourism and the role of European Union subsidies in rural areas
- Assessment of crop farmers coping strategies to pastoralism/nomad activities in Nigeria
- Assessing yield stability in African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) performance using year effect
- Walnut leaf extract-based green synthesis of selenium nanoparticles via microwave irradiation and their characteristics assessment
- Evaluating the water productivity by Aquacrop model of wheat under irrigation systems and algae
- Micronutrients status of mango (Mangifera indica) orchards in Multan region, Punjab, Pakistan, and relationship with soil properties
- Molecular studies for drought tolerance in some Egyptian wheat genotypes under different irrigation systems
- Biosynthesized silver nanoparticles using Ulva lactuca as a safe synthetic pesticide (in vitro)
- Development of SPE clean-up procedure for acrylamide determination from potato-based products by GC-MS/MS
- Insulative effect of plastic mulch systems and comparison between the effects of different plant types
- Trends and constraints in the production and utilization of cowpea leaves in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya
- Microbiome of abandoned agricultural and mature tundra soils in southern Yamal region, Russian Arctic
- Method of biochar application affects growth, yield and nutrient uptake of cowpea
- Identity gaps and negotiations among layers of young farmers: Case study in Indonesia
- Genetically modified crops in India: Experiments with Bt Cotton to explore the road ahead
- Effect of phyto-extracts of neem (Azadirachta indica) and garlic (Allium sativum) on leaf spot disease of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)
- Influence of cellulose fibers on physicochemical properties of biodegradable films based on polysaccharide derivatives
- Do the determinants of food security differ in improved rice variety adoption? Evidence from Sierra Leone
- Assessment of yield components of some cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) genotypes using multivariate analysis such as path coefficients
- Microbiome of post-technogenic soils of quarries in the Republic of Bashkortostan (Russia)
- Occurrence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi spores in soils of some legumes and their response to varying concentrations of phosphorus application
- Baseline fertility status of a gravelly Alfisol in a derived savannah agro-ecological zone of Nigeria
- Effect of strain, sex and slaughter weight on growth performance, carcass yield and quality of broiler meat
- Palm oil plantation and cultivation: Prosperity and productivity of smallholders
- Seasonal normalized difference vegetation index responses to air temperature and precipitation in Baghdad
- Classification and geovisualization process of soil data using a web-based spatial information system
- Assessment of stakeholders’ contributions to livestock development in Delta State, Nigeria: Rural infrastructure intervention
- Linear and structural changes in rural space – the positive and problematic aspects (case of Latvia)
- Farmers’ responses to organic rice farming in Indonesia: Findings from central Java and south Sulawesi
- Interactive effects of Potato virus Y and Potato leafroll virus infection on potato yields in Uganda
- Adoption of agricultural practices with climate smart agriculture potentials and food security among farm households in northern Nigeria
- Green approach in gold, silver and selenium nanoparticles using coffee bean extract
- Value chain for agritourism products
- Trichoderma asperellum affects Meloidogyne incognita infestation and development in Celosia argentea
- Growth, chlorophyll content and productivity responses of maize to magnesium sulphate application in calcareous soil
- Gene action in low nitrogen tolerance and implication on maize grain yield and associated traits of some tropical maize populations
- Zambian farm blocks: A vehicle for increased private sector investments
- Farm size and its impact on land use: The case of the South African private wildlife industry
- Characterizing macropore structure of agrosoddy-podzolic soil using computed tomography
- Influence of priming on germination, development, and yield of soybean varieties
- Review Articles
- Zinc biofortification as an innovative technology to alleviate the zinc deficiency in human health: a review
- Biological management of allelopathic plant Parthenium sp.
- Microbial antagonists against plant pathogens in Iran: A review
- Communication
- Risk assessment of Ni, Cr, and Si release from alkaline minerals during enhanced weathering
- Phylogenetic relationships among accessions in Citrus and related genera based on the insertion polymorphism of the CIRE1 retrotransposon
- Gamma radiosensitivity study on wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum)
- Special Issue on the 10th Circumpolar Agriculture Conference 2019
- Preface to the Special Issue on the 10th Circumpolar Agriculture Conference 2019
- Rumen bacterial community of young and adult of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District of Russia
- Carcass weight of Greenlandic lambs in relation to grazing area biomass
- Transnational cooperation to develop local barley to beer value chains
- Addition of biochar to acidic boreal podzolic soils enhances micronutrient availability and crop productivity
- Digitalisation in a local food system: Emphasis on Finnish Lapland
- Abandoned agricultural soils from the central part of the Yamal region of Russia: morphology, diversity, and chemical properties
- Fishing as an important source of food in the Arctic and subarctic zones of Yakutia
- Special Issue on the APA 2019 - 11th Triennial Conference
- Yield potential of sandponically produced sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) pre-basic seed for selected genotypes
- Monitoring with social media: Experiences from “integrating” WhatsApp in the M&E system under sweet potato value chain
- Breeding farmer and consumer preferred sweetpotatoes using accelerated breeding scheme and mother–baby trials
- Decentralised sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) vine multiplication in Lake Zone, Tanzania: Five years later
- Mineral fertilizer use in land-scarce conditions: Case of Rwanda
- Assessment of the roles and farmer-preferred traits of sweetpotato in a crop-livestock farming system in Rwanda: implications for breeding dual-purpose varieties
- A public–private partnership to speed up potato breeding
- Dietary acrylamide intake by potato crisps consumers: A case of Nairobi County
- Special Issue on ICESAT 2019
- Biochemical activity and bioassay on maize seedling of selected indigenous phosphate-solubilizing bacteria isolated from the acid soil ecosystem
- Identifying best parameters of particleboard bonded with dextrin-based adhesives
- Performance of rice paddy varieties under various organic soil fertility strategies
- Improved strength properties of LVL glued using PVAc adhesives with physical treatment-based Rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis)
- Evaluation and possible mechanism of beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua Hubner) resistance to chlorpyrifos and their sensitivity to neem oil insecticides
- Fermented compost and N-fertilizer for enhancing the growth and productivity of purple eggplant on vertisols
- Bioactive peptide effect on brain activity identified by 2D brain mapping
- Shifting of microbial biodiversity and soil health in rhizomicrobiome of natural forest and agricultural soil
- Special Issue on CERNAS 2020
- Evaluation of consumer habits and knowledge about dietary fibre and fibre-rich products in Turkish population
- Evaluation of texture in jelly gums incorporating berries and aromatic plants
- Food choice motivations and perception of a healthy diet in a developing Mediterranean country
- The evolution of the milk sector in Portugal: Implications from the Common Agricultural Policy
- Energetic and exergetic analysis of a convective drier: A case study of potato drying process
- Cluster analysis to the factors related to information about food fibers: A multinational study
- Study of the drying kinetics and calculation of mass transfer properties in hot air drying of Cynara cardunculus
- Short food supply chains – a growing movement. The case study of the Viseu Dão Lafões Region
- Evaluation of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in some edible flowers
- Chemical composition and study on liquefaction optimization of chestnut shells
- Is organic agriculture a potential public health indicator? Evidence from literature