The pyrimidine glycosides, vicine and convicine, are compounds of the genus Vicia, whereas their aglycone derivatives, divicine and isouramil, are responsible for favism occurrence, and L‐3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine (L‐DOPA) is a nonprotein amino acid precursor of dopamine in healthy neurons. The present work evaluated the effect of thermal treatment, which consisted of roasting and boiling, on the content of vicine, convicine and L‐DOPA in mature cotyledons of 10 varieties of Mexican Vicia faba L. and determined the concentration of glycosides and L‐DOPA by high‐performance liquid chromatography. The raw cotyledons showed 2.88–6.10, 0.63–1.68 and 0.28–0.44 vicine, convicine and L‐DOPA, respectively. The 12 and 40% and 30 and 61% decrease in vicine and convicine content, respectively, were observed to be the effect of roasting and boiling the samples. L‐DOPA was totally removed by both thermal processes. In all analyzed samples, vicine was the main compound; however, there were significant differences between varieties and thermal treatments.Practical Applications: Vicine and convicine glycosides are strongly implicated in favism, a hemolytic anemia in humans, and in poor performance of laying hens. There are reports of decreased egg weight, increase in the fragility of the yolk and a number of blood stains, and decreased fertility and hatchability of eggs. The characterization of new varieties of faba bean in their content of potentially toxic glycosides allows selection of those with the lowest possible content of such compounds. Also, the application of heat treatments that reduce glycosides will allow the use of seeds or flour to develop harmless food and feed ingredients.

Growth, photosynthetic activity, and potassium and sodium concentration in rice plants under salt stress - doi: 10.4025/actasciagron.v34i3.13687

Wild specimens of Vanilla planifolia represent a vital part of this resource primary gene pool, and some plants have only been reported in Oaxaca, Mexico. For this reason, we studied its geographical distribution within the state, to locate and describe the ecological characteristics of the areas where they have been found, in order to identify potential areas of establishment. The method comprised four stages: 1) the creation of a database with herbarium records, 2) the construction of the potential distribution based on historical herbarium records for the species, using the model of maximum entropy (MaxEnt) and 22 bioclimatic variables as predictors; 3) an in situ systematic search of individuals, based on herbarium records and areas of potential distribution in 24 municipalities, to determine the habitat current situation and distribution; 4) the description of the environmental factors of potential ecological niches generated by MaxEnt. A review of herbarium collections revealed a total of 18 records of V. planifolia between 1939 and 1998. The systematic search located 28 plants distributed in 12 sites in 95 364 Km2. The most important variables that determined the model of vanilla potential distribution were: precipitation in the rainy season (61.9 %), soil moisture regime (23.4 %) and precipitation during the four months of highest rainfall (8.1 %). The species potential habitat was found to be distributed in four zones: wet tropics of the Gulf of Mexico, humid temperate, humid tropical, and humid temperate in the Pacific. Precipitation oscillated within the annual ranges of 2 500 to 4 000 mm, with summer rains, and winter precipitation as 5 to 10 % of the total. The moisture regime and predominating climate were udic type I (330 to 365 days of moisture) and hot humid (Am/A(C) m). The plants were located at altitudes of 200 to 1 190 masl, on rough hillsides that generally make up the foothills of mountain systems, with altitudes of 1 300 to 2 500 masl. In natural conditions, distribution of the species is not limited to high evergreen forests, since it was also found in mountain mesophyll and tropical evergreen forests. The location of new specimens of V. planifolia in its wild condition reduces the potential distribution area by 66 %. This area is fragmented into three geographically separated areas. Habitat reduction was due to the increased number of located plants that define the environmental conditions into a more accurate level. Conservation actions can thus be designed and implemented, focusing on more specific areas within the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Vanilla planifolia is a species of commercial importance. However, vanilla presents gene erosion problems due to its clonal reproduction. In the Huasteca of Hidalgo, there is no information on vanilla populations. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to identify the current populations and the potential distribution of, and the morphological variation in, the labellum of V. planifolia in the Huasteca of Hidalgo. Twenty-two accessions were located and selected. Based on 21 environmental variables, the niche modeling of the potential distribution was carried out with the MaxEnt program; with the Jackknife test being used to identify the variables that contributed to the model. Flowers from 22 accessions were collected and the labellum of each flower was dissected. Subsequently, 64 morphological variables were obtained and various multivariate analyses were performed. The results showed three regions, defined by the highest to the lowest probability that V. planifolia was distributed. The precipitation of the driest month, altitude, and vegetation cover delimited the distribution. Five different morphotypes were distinguished, and the main differences were associated with the middle part of the labellum as well as the entrance of pollinators to the flower; therefore, the characterization of the labellum showed an infraspecific variation in V. planifolia in populations of the Huasteca of Hidalgo.

The use and conservation of Vanilla planifolia Jack. in Mexico requires comprehensive and detailed analysis of its genetic variation and ofthe issues that determine it. For this reason, we studied the variation in phytochemical contents that define vanilla aroma quality by HPLC(High Performance Liquid Chromatography) to identify genetic variation at the infraspecific level among 14 microsatellite loci and to studyassessment criteria which determine the attitude of stakeholders regarding use and conservation of vanilla germplasm in the Totonacapanregion, Mexico. To this end we used the multi-attribute analysis method, AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). The results showed the existenceof six phytochemical groups (chemotypes) within V. planifolia germplasm, each with specific aromatic characteristics. The 14 loci analyzedwere polymorphic for vanilla chemotypes with variable sizes, and genetic clustering of accessions coincided with phytochemical grouping(chemotypes). It was noted that the process of economic and cultural valuation of users has caused aromatic variation in vanilla germplasm,and this variation has been conserved at the regional level. Thus, the data indicate that in the probable center of origin of vanillathere is genetic and phytochemical variation, knowledge of which is fundamental to the design of breeding programs to optimize thebenefits of vanilla production for stakeholders and to contribute to the conservation of the primary gene pool of Vanilla planifolia.