Pistachio and Health Journal
Volume:3 Issue: 3, Summer 2020

Biocontrol of toxigenic populations with nontoxigenic strains has long been introduced as an effective method of reducing aflatoxins in crops such as corn, cottonseed, oilseeds, and pistachios. But if these nontoxigenic strains produce cyclopiazonic acid, being a less important fungal secondary metabolite, they may have unwanted negative consequences.

In this study, it has been attempted to investigate the production of cyclopiazonic acid in 58 non-aflatoxigenic strains and one aflatoxigenic strain of Aspergillus flavus obtained from pistachio soil and nuts of orchards in Kerman, Yazd, Khorasan Razavi, Esfahan, Qom, Semnan and Markazi provinces. For evaluating the production of cyclopiazonic acid, the isolates were first cultured in CYA medium, and for each isolate, three inoculations were kept in a dark incubator at 25°C for 14 days. Then, the ability to produce cyclopiazonic acid was assayed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

The production of cyclopiazone in different isolates was 6.951-357.6 mg/l. The results showed that out of 59 A. flavus isolates, as many as 44 isolates were not able to produce cyclopiazonic acid. Also, the percentage of non-aflatoxinogenic isolates that were not able to produce cyclopiazonic acid has been estimated to be 76%.

The results of this study can be useful in selecting suitable and efficient isolates for biological control of aflatoxin in orchards.

Cancer is one of the most significant global challenges threatening health. Accordingly, cancer management is one of the most important issues in the world. Evading apoptosis is a route through which a cancerous cell becomes malignant. Thus, designing novel apoptotic drugs against cancer is of high importance because deficiencies in the regulation of apoptotic pathways lead to cancer chemotherapy resistance. Apoptosis can be induced by inhibiting anti-apoptotic factors or stimulating pro-apoptotic molecules. On the other hand, chemotherapy complications have caused medical plants to be considered as potential alternatives for the treatment of tumors. Pistachios have been proved to have a wide range of pharmacological benefits, including anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, and anticancer properties. Evidence shows that anticancer effects of pistachios result from their influence on numerous apoptosis-related pathways in tumor cells. In this paper, we aim to introduce anticancer properties of pistachios, particularly those connected with targeting apoptosis-related pathways.

The common pistachio psylla, Agonoscena pistaciae Burckhardt & Lauterer (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae) is the key pest of pistachio trees in Iran. Controlling this pest is conducted by using chemical pesticides; this results in the destruction of the natural enemies of this pest and its outbreak. Adalia bipunctata Linnaeus (Col.: Coccinellidae) is one of the predators of pistachio psylla. Given the usage of three common pesticides i.e. thiamethoxam, hexaflumuron, and acetamiprid in pistachio gardens, the present study aims to investigate the sublethal effects of these three pesticides on the biological indictors of A. bipunctata (two-spot ladybirds) in controlled conditions.

In the present study, the effects of thiamethoxam, hexaflumuron, and acetamiprid pesticides have been investigated on some of the biological indicators and life table of this ladybird in controlled laboratory conditions (temperature of 27.5± 1 degrees centigrade, relative humidity of 65± 5 percent, and a photoperiod of 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness). This experiment has been conducted by immersing the ladybird’s eggs in a toxic solution with sub-lethal concentrations. In order to investigate the sublethal effects of the insecticides, the growth period of immature and adult stages and the daily spawning rate of adult insects were investigated.

The length of the pre-adult period in thiamethoxam, hexaflumuron, acetamiprid and control treatments were 16.69, 16.07, 16.34 and 15.58 (days) respectively. The insecticide treatments were significantly different from the control. The net fertility rate was higher in control and hexaflumuron treatments; they were significantly different from those of thiamethoxam and acetamiprid. The net reproduction rate (R0) in thiamethoxam, hexaflumuron, acetamiprid and control treatments were respectively 41.87, 110.94, 62.2 and 153.7 (female/female/generation); a significant difference was observed between insecticides and control treatments. The highest intrinsic rate of population increase (rm) was 0.151 (per day) in the control treatment; this was significantly different from that of the other treatments. The mean generation times (T) in thiamethoxam, hexaflumuron, acetamiprid and control treatments were respectively 42.98, 44.67, 38.12 and 33.01 (days); the treatments were significantly different.

The usage of these three pesticides in pistachio gardens reduces population growth indices and reproductive parameters of A. bipunctata ladybird. However, the side effects of hexaflumuron pesticide are less than the other two pesticides. This information can be used in the integrated control management of this pest.

Every year, a great amount of manure is used in Pistachio orchards, which will be used as a valuable resource for promoting soil fertility if it is processed appropriately. This study aims to examine the use of sulfur from the Zarkooh mine to optimize the process of compost production of cow and poultry manure.

Zarkooh Mine Sulfur in the amounts of 0, 200 and 300 kg per ton of cattle manure (T0, T1, and T2) and the amounts of 0 and 250 kg per ton of poultry manure (H0 and H1) were used in 3 replications as factorial in a completely randomized design. A sampling of the treatments was done for 7 weeks and factors including the temperature, EC, PH, humidity, organic matter percentage, the concentration of micro-macro nutrients, as well as the microbial population were evaluated after applying treatments.

In the cow and poultry manure treatments, the changing trend of the temperature, EC, C/N ratio, and all measured elements significantly differed from the control (P< 0.01). The results of processing cow and poultry manure showed that the most significant changes in the temperature were observed in treatments T2 (42 c°), T1 (36 c°), and H1 (33.3 c°) compared to the control (27 c°). During the processing of the manure, the C/N ratio and humidity significantly decreased in all treatments compared to the control (P< 0.01). Besides, salinity in the cow manure treatments using Zarkooh mine sulfur decreased from the first to the seventh weeks (P< 0.01) than that in the control; however, it increased in the poultry manure. The results showed that the microbial population in the cow and poultry manure treatments decreased significantly using Zarkooh mine sulfur compared to control (P< 0.01).

Based on the results of the C/N ratio and the microbial population at different sampling times, it can be concluded that the best time for cow manure processing with 200 kg Zarkooh mine sulfur was in the sixth week. Besides, the best time for cow manure processing with 300 kg of Zarkooh mine sulfur was the fourth week, and the best time for processing poultry manure from the Zarkooh mine was the sixth week. Therefore, the processing time decreased for cow manure with a higher application of Zarkooh mine sulfur.

Pistachio has various biological properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial, due to its flavonoids and phenolic compounds. On the other hand, ovarian hormones such as estrogen have a neuroprotective effect, in the absence of which consequences, including inflammation, anxiety, learning, and memory disorders, are more severe. This study aims to evaluate the beneficial therapeutic effects of pistachio extract in ovariectomized rats.

In the present study, 5 groups of female rats weighing 300-250 g were used. The groups included control, ovariectomy (OVX), ovariectomy+ DMSO, ovariectomy +10 mg/kg pistachio extract, and ovariectomy+100 mg/kg pistachio extract. In order to prepare the required extract, pistachio nuts were powdered (100 g) and macerated in 1 L of ethanol (80%) for 72 h. Pistachio extract was used orally once a day in ovariectomized rats for sixty days. Anxiety and working memory were evaluated by the Elevated plus-maze (EPM) and Y-maze tests.

The results showed that pistachio extract (more potentially at the dose of 100 mg/kg) decreased anxiety-like behaviors and increased working memory in the ovariectomized rats.

The findings of the current investigation suggest that pistachio extract could be used as a potential strategy for the attenuation of ovariectomy-related manifestation.

Cisplatin is an anticancer drug used for tumor treatment, causing free radicals and damaging the DNA. The higher doses of cisplatin induce toxicity in organs, such as the kidney and liver. Regarding antioxidant properties of Pistacia Atlantica gum containing flavonoid compounds, this study aims to investigate the protective effects of the gum on Wistar rat's liver and kidney cells against cisplatin toxicity.

Emulsion was made from Pistacia Atlantica gum using the self-emulsification method to facilitate rats' gavage. Then, 24 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, including the control group (CG), extract group (EG), gum & cisplatin group (GCG), and cisplatin group (CiG). Subsequently, the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), total protein (TP), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), the activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were measured in rat's blood samples for 15 days. One-way ANOVA was used to demonstrate differences between groups by SPSS Ver.2018 software.

Pistachio Atlantica gum significantly halted the reduction effects of cisplatin on GPX, CAT, and SOD in group 3. It displayed a significant increase in TAC and a remarkable reduction in MDA.

Pistachio Atlantica gum appeared to have protective and moderate effects against cisplatin-induced toxicity on the liver and kidney. Moreover, its antioxidant attributes caused a reduction in free radicals.