<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Apple fruit rot can be caused by several fungi. In Northern Europe, the most common storage rot, Bull’s eye rot, is caused by <italic>Neofabraea</italic> spp., bitter rot by <italic>Colletotrichum</italic> spp., brown rot by <italic>Monilinia fructigena</italic>, grey mould is caused by <italic>Botrytis cinerea</italic> and <italic>Fusarium</italic> rot by several <italic>Fusarium</italic> species. Blue mold decay caused by <italic>Penicillium expansum</italic> is an important disease in several European countries. Incidence of different causal agents may vary depending on cultivar, climate during growing season and agricultural practices. The main objective of the study was to obtain baseline information about apple rot-causing fungi, their incidence during fruit storage and to evaluate the fungicide sensitivity of most of isolated fungal species. The study was performed during the storage period of apples after the growth season of 2013. Rotten apples were sorted in the storage and part of them was brought to the laboratory in order to obtain fungal isolates. Fungi were identified according to the morphological characteristics and sequencing of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region. During storage in February and March the total percentage of rotten apples in various cultivars varied from 3.6 to 58.9%. All post-harvest diseases described in Northern Europe were detected. In part of the storehouses apple rot caused by <italic>Cadophora luteo-olivacea</italic> was observed. <italic>Alternaria</italic> spp. and <italic>Cladosporium</italic> spp. were detected on few apples as secondary infection agents. Using the most often isolated fungal species, sensitivity tests were performed against five commonly used fungicides. In general, the sensitivity of tested fungi to the fungicides was high with exception of several <italic>Neofabraea</italic> and <italic>Alternaria</italic> isolates.</abstract>

Fungi Causing Storage Rot of Apple Fruit in Integrated Pest Management System and their Sensitivity to Fungicides

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Artificial weathering is a widely used method for predicting wood behaviour during its service life. A study was carried out to compare the colour change of thermally modified aspen (<italic>Populus tremula</italic> L.) and grey alder (<italic>Alnus incana</italic> (L.) Moench) wood during natural solar and artificial ultra violet (UV) irradiation. Thermally modified wood specimens were exposed for 30 h to artificial UV irradiation at two different intensities, i.e.1.36 W m−2 at 340 nm and 0.68 W m−2 at 340 nm, as well as to solar irradiation outdoors and indoors. After 2.5, 5 and 10 h exposure, colour parameters and reflectance spectra (360–740 nm) were determined. Colour was expressed in accordance with the CIELAB colour model as colour parameters L*, a*, b*. The total colour change ΔEab was calculated from colour parameter differences ΔL*, Δa*, Δb*. The colour changes caused by solar and artificial UV irradiation had a similar pattern for both thermally modified hardwood species under study. Changes in the individual colour parameters in the course of the experiment altered their direction, which implies that discolouration of thermally modified wood is a complicated and dynamic process with various and different chemical transformations in wood chromophores. Colour and reflectance changes had similar trends for different intensities of the same type of irradiation, but they differed for various irradiation types – natural solar or artificial UV irradiation. Greater discolouration was detected for the specimens exposed to both solar irradiations - outdoors and indoors. The results suggest that the fluorescent lamps of the UVA-340 type, which only imitate well the sunlight UV spectrum from 290 nm to 365 nm, do not fully simulate the changes in thermally modified wood induced by solar radiation.</abstract>

Disparity in Discolouration of Thermally Modified Wood Exposed to Solar and Artificial Ultraviolet Irradiation

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The aim of the study was to investigate the beef and dairy cow parasitosis epizootic situation in Vidzeme region. Research was done throughout Vidzeme territory during the period of the years 2013-2014. The total number of animals examined was: 273 dairy and 90 young beef cattle aged from 6 months to two years and 248 dairy and 29 beef cows older than two years. For the diagnosis of helminthes standardized ovoscopic and larvoscopic methods were used. For the diagnosis of protozoa flotation and modified Ziehl-Neelsen methods were used. The main species in the samples were <italic>Cryptosporidium</italic> spp., <italic>Eimeria</italic> spp. and <italic>Strongylus</italic> spp. In the young dairy and beef cattle aged from 6 months to two years and cattle older than two years <italic>Cryptosporidium</italic> spp. invasion accordingly was 32.6% and 19% (dairy cattle) and 62.2% and 65.5% (beef cattle); the invasion of <italic>Eimeria</italic> spp. 30% and 7.3% (dairy cattle) and 55.6% and 10.3% (beef cattle); and the invasion of <italic>Strongylus</italic> spp. was 17.6% and 13.7% (dairy cattle) and 43.3% and 27.6% (beef cattle). Both dairy and beef cattle were infected with <italic>Moniezia</italic> spp., <italic>Paramphistomum</italic> spp., <italic>Strongyloides</italic> spp. Dairy cows aged from 6 months to two years had <italic>Trichuris</italic> spp., <italic>Dictyocaulus</italic> spp. and <italic>Neoscaris</italic> spp. invasion.</abstract>

Prevalent Parasitosis in Beef and Dairy Cattle Farms in Vidzeme Region

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">During the last decades, thermally modified wood has become an object of interest among the wood scientists as an environmentally friendly material, because nowadays environmental aspects of materials have become more and more significant. Leaching is one of the processes that occurs in outdoor use. The aim of this study was to evaluate concentration of potentially hazardous substances in leachates of thermally modified pine wood. Scots pine (<italic>Pinus sylvestris</italic> L.) wood was thermally modified using Wood Treatment Technology (WTT) company device at 170 °C for 1 hour (TMP170/1) and at 160 °C for 3 hours (TMP160/3) and the mass loss was calculated. Material preparation and leaching procedure was made according to standard LVS EN 84:2000. In obtained leachates, the content of sugars, acetic acid, furfural and tannic acid were determined. Results showed that the total wood mass loss was 7.1 ± 1.4% (n=20) for TMP170/1 and 4.0 ± 1.6% (n=20) for TMP160/3. The initial leaching velocity differs between both modes and is higher for TMP160/3. The velocity decreases exponentially with immersion time and reaches plateau after 7th (5 days) immersion, but leaching still continues after the 9th immersion (14 days). The main components in leachates were tannic acid and pentoses. Among all studied compounds furfural is the hardest leachable one. Thermally modified wood treated at TMP170/1 is more environmentally friendly due to less water leachable substances. It is worth looking forward by investigating volatile organic compounds emissions in the air as it also could give high impact on human health.</abstract>

Leachates of Thermally Modified Pine (<italic>Pinus sylvestris</italic> L.) Wood

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Wood-based ash landfilling is increasing issue not only in Latvia but in the whole world as more biomass is used for energy production. Utilization of wood burning waste as fertilizer is already used worldwide, but there is lack of information about chemical composition of wood ash obtained from Latvia plants, so the aim of this study was to determine chemical composition and analyse possible utilization options of wood-based ash from Latvia plants. Therefore wood ash samples from 53 companies were collected, sieved and chemical composition of samples was determined. It was concluded that within higher capacity of furnace more coarse fraction of wood ash was observed which is less valuable as fertilizer. Wood ash is good liming material consisting alkali compounds and other biogenic elements but also heavy metals, which are pollutants and could cause environmental problems.</abstract>

Latvia University of Agriculture, 11 Akadēmijas str., Jelgava, LV-3001, Latvia

Latvia State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, Rīgas str. 111, Salaspils, LV-2169, Latvia

The Composition and Use Value of Tree Biomass Ash

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Rural Sustainability Research

 The scientific journal Rural Sustainable Research (ONLINE ISSN 2256-0939) of Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies is a peer-reviewed journal intended for the publication of wide-spectrum original research articles and reviews on topical problems of sustainable rural development. The subject matter of the journal reflects the wide range of research covering the following topics:    Sustainable Crop Production Systems;  Soil and Plant Sciences  Plant Breeding and Genetics  Plant Pathology and Protection  Forestry  Animal and Veterinary Sciences  Food Processing  Agricultural Machinery and Husbandry  Biomass and Renewable Energy  Energetic and Automation  Engineering Technologies  Material Sciences  Transport, Motor Vehicles and Fuels  Engineering Economics and Education  Sustainable Social Development  Economics, Management and Marketing  Information Technologies    All manuscripts are screened on their linguistic quality. The scientific journal Rural Sustainable Research is open access, double-blind peer-reviewed. It does not have article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges.  Scientific journal Rural Sustainable Research copyrights belong to Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 

Volume 34 (2015): Issue 329 (December 2015) - Rural Sustainability Research

Rural Sustainability Research

Volume 34 (2015): Issue 329 (December 2015)

Rural Sustainability Research

Fungi Causing Storage Rot of Apple Fruit in Integrated Pest Management System and their Sensitivity to Fungicides

Disparity in Discolouration of Thermally Modified Wood Exposed to Solar and Artificial Ultraviolet Irradiation

Prevalent Parasitosis in Beef and Dairy Cattle Farms in Vidzeme Region

Leachates of Thermally Modified Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Wood

The Composition and Use Value of Tree Biomass Ash

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