Tomato, increased yield

In animal studies, a mixture of high molecular weight primary alcohols isolated from beeswax with triacontanol as the main constituent, antioxidant, antiperoxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiulcerogenic, gastroprotective, and anticolitis activities were shown. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical studies of the mixture have also demonstrated antioxidant and antiperoxidative activity. Triacontanol, also known as myricyl alcohol, has also shown antiperoxidative activity and is a plant growth regulator that increases yields of tomato, cucumber, and lettuce (see alfalfa). 

Concerning the application of Ga. diazotrophicus in non-gramineous plants, it was reported by Luna et al. (2012) that inoculation of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) with this bacterium could confer beneficial effects to this crop after efficient plant colonization. These authors observed that both numbers and weight of fruit production significantly increased in inoculated plants as compared to non-inoculated controls. Although the growth promotion mechanisms involved were not evaluated, Ga. diazotrophicus enhanced tomato fruit yield under greenhouse conditions. Also, effective colonization of Ga. diazotrophicus in iruier tissues of tomato plantlets was observed by Botta et al. (2013). 

The following substances have been added to culture media to increase the yields of dextran raw beet sugar or molasses,80 commercial maple sirup,1 yeast extract,81 magnesium and ammonium sulfates,82 tomato juice,8,81 calcium carbonate,3 and a water extract of waste sugarrefining charcoal (probably containing materials related to the vitamin B complex).88... 

Moisture. Moisture had different effects on the extraction yield of phytochemicals. For example, the a- and (3-carotene extraction yields using SC-CO2 increased from 184 to 599 pg/g dry carrot and from 354 to 892 pg/g, respectively, with decreasing the moisture in the feed material from 84.6 to 0.8%. The lutein yield decreased from 55.3 to 13 pg/g dry carrot with a decrease in moisture from 84.6 to 0.8% (Sun and Temelli 2006). For the extraction of lycopene from tomato with 50-60% moisture content, only trace amounts of lycopene were reported (Vasapollo and others 2004). 

Use of cosolvent. Various cosolvents, such as acetone, ethanol, methanol, hexane, dichloromethane, and water, have been used for the removal of carotenoids using SC-CO2 extraction (Ollanketo and others 2001). All these cosolvents except water (only 2% of recovery) increased the carotenoid recovery. The use of vegetable oils such as hazelnut and canola oil as a cosolvent for the recovery of carotenoids from carrots and tomatoes have been reported (Sun and Temelli, 2006 Shi, 2001 Vasapollo and others 2004). For the extraction without cosolvent addition, the lycopene yield was below 10% for 2- to 5-hr extraction time, whereas in the presence of hazelnut oil, the lycopene yield increased to about 20% and 30% in 5 and 8 hr, respectively. The advantages of using vegetable oils as cosolvents are the higher extraction yield the elimination of organic solvent addition, which needs to be removed later and the enrichment of the oil with carotenoids that can be potentially used in a variety of product applications. 

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