Xylooligosaccharides are functional food supplements that refer to indigestible oligosaccharides consisting of D-xylose molecules linked by β-1,4-glycosidic bonds. Xylooligosaccharides in the human body perform the functions of prebiotics; they have antioxidant, immunomodulatory and antitumor effects. In industry, xylooligosaccharides are obtained from lignocellulosic biomass by hydrolysis of the xylan contained therein. Chemical hydrolysis is carried out with acid or alkali solutions and is associated with negative environmental consequences. Autohydrolysis refers to methods of physical impact on lignocellulosic raw materials, in which, under the action of high pressure and temperature, steam cracking of raw materials and separation of carbohydrates into fractions occur. Enzymatic hydrolysis of xylan provides the purest products and allows you to control the functional orientation of the resulting xylooligosaccharides. Hydrolysis of xylan to obtain xylooligosaccharides is carried out by microbial xylanases and β-xylosidases produced by bacteria, molds, and actinomycetes. Xylanase producers are ubiquitous in lignocellulosic raw materials and isolated from soil, corn cobs, wheat husks, rice and wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, oil palm waste, wood chips, sugar bagasse, forest litter, and eucalyptus leaves.

An adipose tissue is the principal storage site for fat and secretes adipokines, including leptin, adiponectin, resistin, chemerin, visfatin, and apelin. Adipokines and their receptors have been demonstrated to be present and to play a role in the reproductive systems of various livestock species. Livestock reproductive function is thought to be influenced by adipokines, or hormones derived from adipokines. These adipokines have been implicated at all levels of the reproductive axis, including the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and gonads. Adipokines can amplify reproductive activity by increasing energy levels and triggering the production of essential reproductive hormones. The development of reproductive hormones, semen, estrus behavior, ovulation, and subsequent development of the corpus luteum and seminal concentrations are all regulated by adipokines. In this way, adipokines could impact key elements like ovarian follicles, corpus luteum, Leydig cells, and spermatogenesis. Moreover, polymorphisms of adipokines genes have been identified in domestic animals with economic traits. Domestic animal production and reproduction traits are also affected by genetic variability in the adipokine genes. Therefore, this review aims to summarize adipokines and how they are known to regulate reproductive physiology, such as the production of steroid hormones, cell proliferation, oocyte maturation, and sperm development in domestic animals.

The institutional history of agricultural co-operatives in Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and China has similarities in terms of pre-establishment, establishment, and development stages, but relatively different in the side of recognition and introspection, as well as the choice stage. Among the four countries, the initiators of agricultural co-operatives establishment are not only the community/grassroots movement, respectable individuals, and non-governmental organizations, but also the government. Once the government oversees agricultural co-operative development, it uses its political power to position the organization as a state agency. By that, facilities are given to accelerate the policy makers’ goals and positively impact the agricultural co-operatives’ organizational growth. However, the farmer-members in Japan recognized that the co-operatives do not accommodate their needs. Later, with the aid from the new-regime government, the agricultural co-operative in the country was gradually reinvented. In South Korea, the farmer-members disagree with the decision from the government to use agricultural co-operatives as parastatal. Therefore, they later pooled their resources, urged changes, and successfully ran the agricultural co-operatives per se. On the other hand, in Indonesia, when the government loosened its ties, agricultural co-operatives with sufficient human resources reinvented or spawned the organization. In contrast, the ones with poor management quality chose the status quo or exit. In China, the loophole in the government policy encouraged more private companies or prominent capital entrepreneurs to run the co-operatives instead of farmers. Consequently, agricultural co-operatives with no actual member farmers focused on commercial activities unrelated to the members’ needs or placed the farmers merely as the users, not the decision-makers, could be found within the country. The review of institutional history emphasizes the importance of further study about the longevity of government-led and non-governmental-led agricultural co-operatives.

Indonesia has very rich biological resources and is diverse in both land and sea areas, so it is known as a mega biodiversity country. Sea cucumbers are one of the potential export commodities in the fisheries sub-sector. The use of sea cucumbers in Indonesia as a food ingredient compared to other fishery products is relatively low and less popular because they have low aesthetic value judging from their disgusting physical appearance. This review aims to provide an overview of sea cucumbers’ bioactive compounds and functional properties so that this information will provide a comprehensive perspective in developing sea cucumber-based nutraceuticals. The nutritional content of dried sea cucumbers was 82% protein, 1.7% fat, 8.9% water, 8.6% ash, 4.8% carbohydrates, phosphorus, iron, iodine, sodium, and vitamins A and B (thiamin, riboflavin, and niacin). Bioactive components in sea cucumbers contain collagen, glycosides, polysaccharides, glycosaminoglycans, N-acetylglucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, steroids, lectins, omega-3 fatty acids and phenolic compounds. Sea cucumbers have functional properties such as antioxidative, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, antimicrobial, anti-atherosclerosis, antiosteoporosis, anti-diabetic, antiaging, and anti-obesity. The functional properties provide an excellent opportunity to develop high-value nutraceuticals from sea cucumbers. The main factors for producing and developing nutraceuticals based on sea cucumbers are organoleptic, bioaccessibility, and bioavailability.

Bee pollen, also known as ‘life-giving dust’, is a treasure trove of nutrients and bioactive compounds. It is regarded as a valuable functional food ingredient owing to its various health-promoting effects. Thus, it can be incorporated into different food products for the development of functional foods. The nutritional and bioactive constituents of bee pollen contribute to its extensive health benefits, including its role against cancer, diabetes, liver disease, cardiovascular disorders, etc. Despite having numerous positive health implications, its utilization as a functional ingredient in food products needs to be critically evaluated in terms of clinical effects and safety profile. The exine layer of bee pollen limits its utilization and contributes to the low bioavailability of key nutrients. Processing techniques (chemical, physical, enzymatic) break down the robust outer coat, improves digestibility, and allow the diffusion of nutrients in the GI tract. In addition, 50 g of bee pollen is sufficient to fulfill 50% reference daily intake (RDI) of most vitamins and minerals. Overall, the use of bee pollen is safe and its use seems promising for coping with various nutritional inadequacies. This review focuses on the important aspects and specific considerations which are required to be taken into account before the development of bee pollen-based food products. Particular attention must be paid to nutritional adequacy, sensory attributes, health effects, allergenicity, digestibility, and compliance with regulatory bodies.

The non-coding regions of genes contain DNA sequences which are binding sites for factors that regulate the genes. Transcription of some genes involves simultaneous binding of regulatory proteins at different regions which interact based on prevailing signals. Identifying regions bound by various factors and testing their function has been a longstanding area of research. In most cases, signal multiplicity in the cell cannot be fully mediated through a single element; rather, shared responses by composite elements direct transcription. This review summarises experimentally proven cis-regulatory element combinations and how they regulate light, cold, hormones, pathogens, and wounding signals. We highlight the untapped potential of motif combinations in driving stimulus-specific trait enhancement in plants. Arranging regulatory elements adjacent to each other unveils their complex interplay, providing avenues for enhancing the transcriptional regulation of genes implicated in developmental processes and responses to environmental cues.

Originally introduced as a regulation to persuade different gene expressions during an organism’s developmental process to display new characteristics through environmental stimuli, epigenetics has become an exciting field of study. Epigenetics, particularly its contribution to plant plasticity in response to the changing environmental pressure, is gaining more attention nowadays. Benefiting from the low cost of the latest next generation sequencing technologies, recent techniques such as whole genome bisulfite sequencing provide epigenome data at a single-base resolution. However, the application of such technology is skewed to model organisms with known genome reference data. Here, we aim to revisit the methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP), an indirect technique to analyze the change in DNA methylation level that is cost-effective and applicable for species with no reference genome available or having a large and complex genome. We found that MSAP is a pragmatic approach for application in a wide range of plant species and fields of study. Key steps in MSAP, such as the sequence of primers, primer pair combinations, and data interpretation, are summarized, providing a one-stop beginner’s guidance for evaluating DNA methylation changes.

Development of climate-resilient crops is adopted to cope with environmental stress. Activation of plant protective genes through radiation of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) has attracted more concerns in contributing to abiotic and biotic stress prevention. Plants exposed to a certain dose of UV-B irradiation give specific responses in growth and metabolite biosynthesis patterns. It has been interpreted that these responses in accumulation of primary and secondary metabolites improve plant tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. The potential use of UV-B light as a tool to enhance plant defense systems in agricultural practice has gained increasing interest. In terms of shallot as a plant model in this study, each cultivar exhibits complex responses to UV-B exposure at the transcription level of gene expression. The metabolic pathways in plants after UV-B exposure followed by abiotic and biotic stress are still unclear and necessary to be explored. This review provides a preliminary study of current understanding on UV-B-induced response and protective mechanism in shallot, particularly focusing on modulation of primary and secondary metabolic processes involved in pathogen and drought stress responses. In the primary metabolism, low intensity of UV-B exposure increases the sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) expression in shallot Tuktuk cultivar. While in the secondary metabolic process, the expression level of lypoxigenase-2 (LOX-2) and cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) are upregulated differently in two Indonesia shallot cultivars, Lokananta and Tuktuk. Upon the UV-B exposure to various types of stressors, such as Fusarium acutatum pathogen inoculation, the expression of LOX-2 is found to be upregulated in most of the exposures to resist the stress situation encountered. On the other hand, the expression of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and chalcone synthase-A (CHS-A) are also upregulated through UV-B exposure followed by in vitro drought stress simulation. The gene encoding the secondary metabolites production, including the phenylpropanoid pathway products, is important to induce the protective mechanism in plant system. This mechanism assumes that UV-B plays a specific role as a prior exposure whereby a stimulus potentiates the defense mechanism. UV-B priming triggers biotic and abiotic tolerance by acting as warning signals at the transcription to phenotype levels.

Pesticides are essential for agriculture, but because of their residues in crops, produce and soil, they have become a major concern. Traditional pesticide detection methods, particularly gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, are expensive and impractical for small-scale farmers. Recognizing the need for robust yet accessible sensing methods, researchers have attempted to develop pesticide sensors that use various mechanisms. Biosensors have made significant progress by utilizing biochemical mechanisms to detect trace amounts of pesticides. However, their limitations to a single pesticide or specific chemical class have driven the exploration of innovative approaches. This review covers a range of biosensor receptor and transducer mechanisms and highlights the recent advancements in biosensor technologies. The focus is on integrating modern data-processing methods, specifically for the biochemical detection of pesticides. Sensor arrays such as electronic noses (e-noses) and electronic tongues (e-tongues) are explored, along with an in-depth analysis of sensor data-processing methods, incorporating machine learning and other techniques. This review explores the potential of advanced data processing methods to effectively analyze raw sensor data from biosensor arrays, ultimately enriching the robust detection of pesticides.

Feed is a crucial input for terrestrial animal and aquaculture production, but these sectors face the same feed availability and sustainability challenges. Despite their reputation as rice pests, causing economic loss in agriculture, golden apple snails could be used as an alternative animal feed. This study reviews the nutritional value, including bioactive compounds, constraints, and future utilization of golden apple snails as animal and aquaculture feed. An integrative literature review was conducted on data retrieved from publications available on Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and official websites. The golden apple snail is rich in protein in their meat and calcium in the shell, representing 39.11 to 68.67% and 41.38% (dry matter basis), respectively. The inclusion of golden apple snails in the diet resulted in good growth performance in monogastric animals and fish due to their nutritive value. Golden apple snails may be available as feed resources, supplied from the wilds and heliciculture. The astaxanthin of the eggs of golden apple snails and chitosan derived from their shell are interesting due to their bioactivities, thereby opening new avenues for future research in functional feed additives.