In 2016, the world's soybean meal production reached 217 million tones and nearly half of it was used as protein supplement in farm animal nutrition (1). Sunflower meal (SFM), the fourth largest oilseed meal produced in the world, also serves as a protein source, mostly in ruminant diets, while its use in poultry and pig diets is limited (2). Chemical composition of these plant meals determines their levels in complete feeds fed to farm animals. For instance, soybean and its by-products may contain appreciable levels of phytic acid (PA) up to 0.6%, trypsin inhibitors (TI) up to 21.0-30.3 mg/g, protease inhibitors up to 45-60 mg/g protein, oligosaccharides up to 15%, lectins up to 50-200 mg/g, glycinin up to 150-200 mg/g, and beta-conglycin up to 50-100 mg/g (27.74 mg/g); these are known as antinutritional factors (ANFs) in young monogastric animals and reduce the rates of nutrient assimilation and absorption at the sites of digestive tract (3,4). SFM has a proportionally less crude protein (CP) in comparison to soybean meal, and its dietary inclusion level is low in poultry diets since it contains high level of crude fiber (CF) up to 18%-29% and polyphenolic compounds, mainly chlorogenic acid, up to 2.70% (2). In this study, possible improvements in nutritional qualities of SFM and full-fat soybean (FFSB) for farm animal nutrition were targeted by a fermentation process. Improved nutritional qualities of fermented FFSB (F-FFSB) and fermented SFM (FSFM) by solid-state fermentation (SSF) using GRAS (generally regarded as safe) microorganisms were reported earlier (5-7) and recently well documented by Mukherjee et al. (8). In addition, fermented feeds may contain biologically active compounds (biosurfactants, phenolic compounds, organic acids, enzymes) and less ANFs (9-14). The species of Lactobacillus and Bacillus are mostly used to ferment the feed materials (8,15,16). Recently, fermentation using Bacillus subtilis was found to be superior to fungal fermentation in terms of the increased soluble protein

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The synthesis of seed storage reserves occurs during seed filling, and many seeds contain large and characteristic levels of polymeric reserves. Storage reserves are found in the endosperm of cereal seeds and in the endosperm and/or cotyledons of dicot seeds depending of the plant crop species. Recently progress has been made in understanding the complex network of genetic regulation associated with seed filling. These advances in storage reserve quantity and nutrient quality contribute to a comprehensive understanding of reserve composition, synthesis, and regulation. Phytohormones such as abscisic acid (ABA), cytokinin, gibberellic acid, Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), ethylene and their interactions play critical roles in seed filling and development. At different stages of seed development, the levels of different hormones such as ABA, IAA zeatin and zeatin riboside changes gradually from the beginning of the process to maturity. In addition, the quality and yield of seed storage reserves are significantly affected by the environmental conditions before and during the synthesis of the reserves. Given the fateful importance of seed storage reserves for food and feed and their use as sustainable industrial feedstock to replace dwindling fossil reserves, understanding the metabolic and developmental control of seed filling will be an important focus of plant research.

In this chapter, the aim is to trace the relation between the ecological conditions as the most crucial issue of the commons and the economic system. The literature survey points to the economic system as the sole responsible agent for ecological crisis, besides natural cyclical situations, making the researchers concentrate on the economic system with the purpose of finding its relation to the problem of the commons. It should be emphasized that the reason the commons problem attracts the attention of researchers is the fact that most of nonappropriable commons have been privatized and became appropriable throughout time. Another related problem is that the commons problem cannot be confined solely to such commodities like pastures, fishing areas, and lakes from which people get immediate benefit; it covers quite a large area of events from the destruction of the ozone layer to the produced knowledge, yet bounded under patent rights and even human mind redressed by capitalist ideology.

The effects of postharvest applications of hot water (HWT) (45, 50, and 55°C), 1-MCP (1, 5, and 10 μL L−1), and CaCl2 (1, 2, and 3%) on polygalacturonase (PG), pectin methylesterase (PME), α-galactosidase ( α-Gal), β-galactosidase ( β-Gal) and β-1,4-glucanase ( β-1,4-Glu) activities, and the fruit firmness and cell wall composition of eggplant fruit were investigated. The results showed that the decrease in the eggplants firmness was delayed by HWT, 1-MCP, and CaCl2 treatments during storage compared with the control. However, HWTs were less effective than the 1-MCP and CaCl2 treatments. The results show that 1-MCP and CaCl2 treatments inhibited the depolymerization of water (WSP), CDTA (CSP), and sodium carbonate (SSP) soluble polyuronides. The results suggest that 1-MCP (5 and 10 μL L−1) and CaCl2 (1, 2, and 3%) could prevent eggplant softening by inhibiting hydrolase enzymes and reducing the disintegration of the polysaccharides. In addition, 1-MCP and CaCl2 were more effective than hot water treatment in extending postharvest storage life. There is a significantly high correlation between firmness, polyuronide content and cell wall enzyme activity.