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Different types of slag (air-cooled, granulated and carbonated granulated slag) were employed as basal media of eelgrass, Zostera marina L. We investigated how factors such as slag type, particle size and sedimentation of fine particles affected anchorage of eelgrass to the substrates. It was found that eelgrass planted in slag substrates could endure current velocity of 10 to 50 cm s -1 . Thus, slag substrates can adequately support and anchor the eelgrass plants even during severe current flow (50 cm s -1 ). Root establishment and anchorage were also examined by looking at the resistance of the plants to uprooting forces. Results showed that shoots in slag substrates with the finest particle size (<1.18 mm) gave the highest resistance to uprooting among the particle sizes tested (<1.18, 1.18-2.36 and 2.36-4.75mm). Among the slag substrates, shoots in granulated slag pots gave the highest resistance to uprooting. Addition of dredged sediment (DS) or settling of fine particles improved the root establishment, anchorage of eelgrass and root-rhizome extension. However, it was suggested that addition of DS or settling of fine particles to slag may be beneficial to root establishment up to a certain extent only and too much of it might be harmful to eelgrass plants.

Banana is one of the most important crops, providing multiple benefits. Although it has been widely studied for its health benefits, little information can be found about its proteins. This study determined the antihypertensive and antioxidant activities of the crude, purified, and hydrolyzed protein extracts from ‘Señorita’ banana pulp. Crude proteins were extracted using Tris-HCl buffer and purified through ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis, and gel filtration chromatography. The protein content of the crude, partially purified, and purified extracts were found to be 167.32, 120.45, and 28.51 μg·mL−1, respectively, with major protein having an approximate molecular weight of 15 kDa. These extracts were then subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis for release of bioactive peptides prior to ACE inhibitory and antioxidant activities determination. Among these samples, the undigested crude extract had the highest ACE inhibitory activity (85.20%). There was also an observable increase in ACE inhibition of the digested samples with increased digestion time. Meanwhile, the 3-h and 4-h crude digests had the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity with 30.82% and 34.74%, respectively. These were not significantly different from the activity of the standard, ascorbic acid. A general decrease in DPPH radical scavenging activity of the samples was observed with increased digestion time. These observations were coherent with the in silico analysis of the putative major protein, lectin, which showed that its enzymatic hydrolysis releases ACE inhibitor and antioxidant peptides.

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In this study, charred cacao shells were tested for their capability as bioadsorbent for aqueous potassium permanganate. Optimization of adsorption parameters showed that the best amount of adsorbent is 0.5% w of cacao biochar/v of 0.005 N aqueous KMnO4 with a removal efficiency of 98.79%, and the optimum particle size is 212 mm, with a corresponding removal efficiency of 99.76%. Kinetics studies showed that the adsorption fits a pseudo-first order reaction with R2 = 0.9833. Lastly, the adsorption data fits the Elovich isotherm with R2 = 0.9712, which strongly suggests a multi-layer chemisorption on a heterogenous surface. Conclusively, the charred cacao shells were found to be effective as an adsorbent of aqueous potassium permanganate. Furthermore, the resulting product of adsorption can be used to study adsorption of other substances due to its multi-layer nature.

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