Implementing the deficit irrigation pattern has become a major strategy in crop production systems. However, using less water than is required to irrigate crops is associated with changes in plant physiology and lower productivity. Therefore, the current research aimed to assess the integrated effect of humic acid and cytokinin on faba bean under water deficit. Under two irrigation levels (full irrigation, FI and deficit irrigation, DI), two humic acid treatments (without addition, H₀ and with addition of 10 kg ha⁻¹, H₁₀) and two cytokinin concentrations (without spray, C₀ and spraying with 25 mg L⁻¹, C₂₅), faba bean growth, physiology, and productivity were evaluated. The experiment was implemented for two winter seasons of 2019/20 and 2020/21 and performed in a split–split plots design with three replicates. The findings revealed that under low water supply (DI), H₁₀ plus C₂₅ was the most efficient treatment for enhancing faba bean growth. All physiological faba bean traits estimated under DI showed remarkable increases with the application of H₁₀ plus C₂₅ in both seasons. The increases in proline, catalase, and total soluble sugars under DI due to H₁₀ plus C₂₅ were 31.4 and 31.8%, 51.9 and 55.1% as well as 43.8 and 46.6%, in the first and second seasons, respectively. There was no significant difference between FI × H₁₀ plus C₂₅ and DI × H₁₀ plus C₂₅ in phosphorus content in both seasons. FI × H₁₀ plus C₂₅ and DI × H₁₀ plus C₂₅ in the second season produced a similar number of pods plant⁻¹ and seed yield of faba bean. Conclusively, the combined application of humic plus cytokinin achieved physiological and nutrient homeostasis, adjusting the biochemical compounds in faba bean under water deficit.

Although the microbiota is considered to be the primary source of off-flavors in farmed fish, there is a lack of information about the possible contribution of feeds to fish malodor. For this reason, the current study was designed to perform comprehensive sensory and chemo-analytical characterization of fish feed constituents that can impact the quality of farmed fish, and to determine whether feeds cause malodor accumulation in fish. To this aim, odorants in four commercial fish feeds were extracted using solvent assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE) and characterized by comparative aroma extract dilution analysis (cAEDA) and multi-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry (MD-GC-MS/O). The odorants in the fish feed samples were correlated with their respective sensory and fatty acid profiles. The cAEDA studies revealed the presence of 81 odorants of which 55 compounds were common to all the samples. Most of these odorants are identified here for the first time in fish feeds, and include skatole, indole, (E,Z,Z)-2,4,7-tridecatrienal, 4-ethyloctanoic acid, and cresols. Additionally, geosmin and 3-isopropyl-2-methoxypyrazine, known for their contribution to fish taint, and other cyanobacterial by-products, dimethyldisulfide and dimethyltrisulfide, were identified in feed samples. The results suggest that fish feed may contribute to fish malodor. Most of these off-flavors were linked to lipid source (fish oil or plant/lard alternatives), unsaturated fatty acids contents, and protein type (plant-based or fishmeal-based sources) in the feed.