Yield geographical location

The capsules contained a mean of 82 mg feverfew and thus the level of activity calculated as parthenolide can be estimated as 0.67%. Other studies quote 0.87% sesquiterpene lactones calculated as parthenolide [27] and 0.25-0.30% of active (antimicrobial) material [33]. Bohlmann s extraction of individual components from the dried plant yielded 116 mg sesquiterpene lactones/kg dried feverfew which amounts to less than 0.01 % [17]. Another extraction yielded 330 mg endoperoxides/kg and 56 mg canin/kg alone [19] which would amount to a level of sesquiterpene lactones of at least 0.04%. Thus, the level of sesquiterpene lactones appears to vary with different sources of the plant and this could have been due to a number of factors including the conditions in which feverfew was grown, the season in which it was picked and the way in which it was stored. Another important determinant of the parthenolide content of feverfew appears to be the geographical location. A recent survey of commercial preparations found that all the North American commercial products tested contained less that 0.1% parthenolide, wheras much higher values were obtained for British products. A minimum level of 0.2% parthenolide in commercial products has been proposed by the Health Protection Branch of Health and Welfare Canada [71]. 

Soil populations and aflatoxin contamination are influenced by weather patterns, with hot dry soils favoring the Aspergillus section Flavi. In terms of geographic location, A. flavus incidence is correlated with high minimum temperatures and inversely correlated to latitude. For example, corn ears that develop at temperatures of 28 to 32°C are far more likely to be contaminated by aflatoxin than ears grown later in the season at lower temperatures. However, late planting is not economically feasible due to lower crop yields. Besides hot dry weather, the level of insect and rodent activity in an area may also substantially favor colonization and aflatoxin production. Plant fertility, density, and disease also play roles in the level of aflatoxin contamination. 

Selected Yield Data for Jerusalem Artichokes and Products Derived Therefrom for a Cross Section of Geographical Locations... 

Many organic farmers all over the world face similar technical, economic and social problems. These are identified in the following section. However, answers to these questions depend considerably on where the organic farmer is located. The geographical location of a farmer is important because soil and climate differences influence input requirements, yields and total farm production capacity. Different policy approaches are then discussed, looking at the impact of policies on those producers for whom they are beneficial and those organic farmers in other countries that feel the consequences of those policies. 

On the farm level, as mentioned in section 10.3.1, new processing technologies have already been envisioned and tested, which when employed could increase yield, lower waste water and generally improve the sustainability factors. Yet, due to the market suiicture and geographical location of the castor oil to intermediates, it is unlikely that any groundbreaking improvements will occur in the near future. Gradual improvements and more consolidated cultivation is, however, more foreseeable. In any case, improvements and investments will be driven by castor oil s primary buyers, who are not bio-polyamide producers. 

Because essential oils are a product of nature, environmental and genetic factors will impact the chemical composition of the plant. Factors such as species and subspecies, geographical location, harvest time, plant part used, and method of isolation all affect the chemical composition of the crude material separated from the plant. The variability of the composition of the CTude essential oil as isolated from nature has been the subject of much research and development since plant and oil yields are major economic factors in crop production. 

To compete with established oilseed crops, a new oil crop will have to be produced efficiently however, it is not the absolute efficiency of production but the efficiency relative to alternative crops that decides if a crop is grown. Farmers attempt to choose the crops they will plant in order to maximize the return on the use of their land. TTius, they will grow an oil crop if its yield and price in a particular location compares favorably with alternative crops. This relegates crops to the geographic locations in which they flourish best, and pays the farmer in proportion to the true value of his land and equipment. 

The oil-fiimace process, based on the partial combustion of Hquid aromatic residual hydrocarbons, was first introduced in the United States at the end of World War II. It rapidly displaced the then dominant channel (impingement) and gas-furnace processes because it gave improved yields and better product quahties. It was also independent of the geographical source of raw materials, a limitation on the channel process and other processes dependent on natural gas, making possible the worldwide location of manufacturing closer to the tire customers. Environmentally it favored elimination of particulate air pollution and was more versatile than all other competing processes. 

Manufacturers need to have confidence that a continual uninterrupted supply of raw material can be sustained throughout the life cycle of a product. It is of equal importance that the feedstock should not be restricted by geographical and climatic conditions or that yield does not dramatically vary when harvested in different locations and at a particular time of the year. The key to an increased usage of natural products by industry is in the control of the above variables so that the end performance of the product remains consistent. 

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