Microelements are an important issue in agriculture, due to their need as micronutrients for plants and also to the possibility of the build-up of toxic levels for plants and animals. Five micronutrients (B, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) are routinely determined in soil analysis for advisory purposes. Other four elements (Cd, Cr, Pb, and Ni) are considered environmentally important heavy metals in farmland soils. Thus high contents of these metals in cropland might go eventually unnoticed. In this paper we present an approach that can be used to monitor the contents of the nine elements in farmland soils using advisory soil testing. A total of 13,416 soil samples from 21 Brazilian states, 58% of them from the state of São Paulo, sent by farmers were analyzed. Boron was determined by hot water extraction and the other metals were determined by DTPA (pH 7.3) extraction. The ranges of content, given in mg dm-3 soil, were the following: B, 0.01-10.6; Cu, 0.1-56.2; Fe, 0.5-476; Mn, 1-325; Zn, 1-453; Cd, 0.00-3.43, Cr, 0.00-42.9; Ni, 0.00-65.1; Pb, 0.00-63.9. The respective average values for São Paulo were: B-0.32; Cu-2.5; Fe-36; Mn-16; Zn-4.8; Cd-0.02; Cr-0.03; Ni-0.18; Pb-0.85. For other states the results are in the same ranges. The higher values are indicative of anthropogenic inputs, either due to excess application of fertilizers or to industrial or mining activities. The conclusion is that massive chemical analysis of farmland soil samples could serve as a database for indicating potential micronutrient deficiency and excesses or heavy metal buil-up in croplands, allowing preventive actions to be taken.

As curvas de acúmulo de nutrientes pela macieira têm se mostrado como um bom parâmetro indicador da demanda da cultura em cada etapa de desenvolvimento, sendo importante para avaliar o estado nutricional do pomar e estimar a remoção de nutrientes do solo. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar a sazonalidade de nutrientes na macieira, em pomares comerciais, durante as safras agrícolas de 1999, 2000 e 2001. Para tanto, amostras de folhas e frutos de três cultivares 'Gala', 'Golden Delicious' and 'Fuji' foram coletadas semanalmente e avaliadas quanto à massa fresca e seca, diâmetro dos frutos e concentrações de macronutrientes (N, P, K, Ca e Mg) e micronutrientes (B, Cu, Fe, Mn e Zn). A amostragem de folhas e frutos teve início uma ou duas semanas após a plena floração, dependendo do cultivar, e prolongou-se até a colheita ou até quatro semanas depois, no caso da amostragem de folhas. Nas folhas, de modo geral, as concentrações de N, P, K, Cu e B diminuíram, a concentração de Ca aumentou e as concentrações de Mg, Fe, Mn e Zn pouco variaram ao longo do ciclo vegetativo da cultura. Nos frutos, inicialmente, as concentrações dos nutrientes diminuíram rapidamente e depois decresceram lenta e continuamente, chegando quase constantes à fase final da maturação, indicando diluição dos nutrientes, uma vez que a quantidade total de nutrientes acumulada aumentou gradativamente com o crescimento dos frutos. O potássio foi o nutriente presente em maior quantidade nos frutos de macieiras, tendo sido, portanto, o mais removido do solo.

The knowledge of the chemical forms of copper in soils and the relationships of these forms with soil copper availability are important for predicting the copper behavior in the soil-plant system. The present work studies the influence of liming on the available contents of copper as well as on the forms of copper fractions in six types of Oxisols. Soil samples, with and without liming, received copper at rates of 0.0, 20.0 and 40.0 mg dm-3 and remained incubated for 30 days. Then, available copper was extracted with Mehlich-1, Mehlich-3, DTPA and EDTA solutions, and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Additionally, soil samples were extracted in a sequential procedure to determine Cu in fractions of soil, as follows: exchangeable-Cu fraction, organic matter-Cu fraction, Mn oxide-Cu fraction, amorphous Fe oxide-Cu fraction, crystalline Fe oxide-Cu fraction, residual-Cu fraction, and the total Cu content in the soil. Soil samples to which Cu was added presented higher Cu retention in the organic matter fraction with a small percentage retained in the exchangeable-Cu fraction. Liming resulted in a decrease of Cu in the exchangeable and organic matter fractions and an increase in the Fe and Mn oxide fractions and in the residual fraction. Without liming, the organic matter fraction presented the highest contribution to Cu content found in the soil extracts obtained with all extractors, except EDTA. For treatments with liming, Cu contents in the organic matter fraction were better correlated to Cu contents in extracts obtained with DTPA and Mehlich-3.

Em solos de cerrado tem sido cada vez mais freqüente o surgimento de casos de deficiência de micronutrientes em diversas culturas, incluindo o feijoeiro, com destaque para manganês (Mn) e zinco (Zn), o que é ocasionado pelas elevadas dosagens de corretivo utilizadas em aplicações de superfície e sem incorporação adequada. Este trabalho avaliou o efeito de doses de Mn e Zn via foliar em feijoeiros cultivados em solo de cerrado. Foram conduzidos três experimentos, sendo dois em casa de vegetação e um em campo. Os experimentos de casa de vegetação foram instalados seguindo o delineamento de blocos ao acaso, num esquema fatorial 5 x 5, com três repetições, envolvendo cinco doses de Mn (0, 75, 150, 300 e 600 g ha-1) e cinco doses de Zn (0, 50, 100, 200 e 400 g ha-1) aplicadas via foliar, aos 25 ou, alternativamente, ambas parceladas aos 25 e 35 dias após emergência (DAE), respectivamente, no primeiro e segundo experimento. No experimento de campo empregou-se o delineamento em blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições com os mesmos tratamentos usados em casa de vegetação. Duas aplicações foliares, efetuadas aos 25 e 35 DAE foram eficientes na correção dos sintomas de deficiência de Mn e Zn. A aplicação conjunta de Mn e Zn aumentou a altura de planta, os componentes primários de rendimento, o número de grãos por vagem, o número de vagens por planta e a produtividade "per se". A máxima eficiência técnica foi obtida com 315 g ha-1 de Mn e 280 g ha-1 de Zn, para uma produtividade de 2.275 kg ha-1 de grãos, correspondente a 60% acima da testemunha.

This study evaluated leaf supply of zinc (Zn) and boron (B) using either soluble or sparingly soluble fertilizers in young sweet orange trees. Three experiments were set up in a greenhouse to compare two sources and four doses (control, low, adequate and high) of fertilizers as follows: (i) Experiment I (B): boric acid and calcium borate; (ii) Experiment II (Zn): Zn sulfate and Zn oxide; and (iii) Experiment III (B + Zn): boric acid + Zn Sulfate and Zn Borate. The sparingly soluble sources were effective in increasing the Zn and B leaf concentration. Dry matter of the aerial part increased 18 % with B applications in adequate concentration independent of the B fertilizer sources. In contrast, trees did not grow well with applications of adequate concentration of Zn as Zn Sulfate or high Zn concentration as Zn borate. Superoxide dismutase activity in leaves increased with applications of low concentration of Zn as Zn oxide and decreased with high concentration of Zn from either source. Polyphenol oxidase activity increased with application of adequate concentration of B as boric acid and high concentration of B as calcium borate. Furthermore, the upper concentrations of Zn were toxic in orange trees when the source was Zn sulfate. Increases in plant growth without damage to leaf tissue and positive responses of key enzymes of orange trees in a range of nutrient concentration applications demonstrated the practical use of sparingly soluble fertilizers to supplying B and Zn foliarily to plants.

With the increasing demographic aging of the population worldwide, there is an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases and the burden on individuals, families and national health systems. Among chronic diseases associated with age, the decline in cognitive function is one of the most pressing health challenges, compromising the individual's functionality and autonomy and ultimately leading to the need for institutionalized care.Nutrition, along with lifestyle, is now widely accepted as a key determinant of health status. Numerous epidemiological studies have suggested the important role of adequate nutritional status, particularly with regard to micronutrients (vitamins and trace elements), as a preventive of the loss of cognitive abilities with aging and the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. This is of great relevance, since diet is a modifiable risk factor. Nutritional interventions to ensure adequate intake of micronutrients can provide preventive strategies at very early stages of cognitive decline and dementia, especially since the therapies available so far have limited efficacy.Although older people generally have a longer and healthier life, aging is associated with a series of physiological and psychological changes that, together with other factors, such as the progression of chronic diseases, influence nutritional needs and status of this population group. In fact, the sub-optimal intake of micronutrients is common among the elderly, with those institutionalized and hospitalized being especially vulnerable.In current epidemiological and scientific evidence, two major groups of micronutrients are often addressed by their relation to cognitive function: vitamins that reduce homocysteine and antioxidants. Deficiencies in antioxidants, such as vitamins C, E, zinc and selenium, B vitamins (especially folic acid, B6, B12) and vitamin D appear to contribute to or even promote cognitive decline. The role of iron in brain function is also widely described, with an increase of free iron in the brain correlating with neuronal damage and cognitive impairment. Thus, multiple studies suggest that adequate improvement and reestablishment of micronutrient status, especially if long-lasting and through a balanced diet, may benefit cognition and delay the onset of cognitive decline and dementia.

Purpose To characterize the lifestyle and nutritional risk profile associated with the Mediterranean diet in a Portuguese population with and without age‐related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods Nested case–control study (n = 883) within the Coimbra Eye Study, including 434 subjects with AMD and 449 age‐ and sex‐matched subjects without AMD. All enrolled subjects underwent a full risk assessment, including lifestyle‐related risk factors and a thorough food frequency questionnaire. This allowed us to build an adherence score to the Mediterranean diet (mediSCORE, range 0–9) constructed from individual food intakes. Food intake was also further analysed by conversion to micronutrient consumption. Results Our results suggest that physical activity has a protective role in AMD [p = 0.018 after multivariate adjustment, OR: 0.69 (0.51–0.93)]. High (mediSCORE ≥6) was also found to be protective [p = 0.041, OR: 0.62 (95% CI: 0.38–0.97)]. Food group analysis unveiled a specific protective role for increased fruits consumption (p = 0.029). Finally, micronutrient analysis revealed a protective role associated with increased consumption of caffeine, fibres, beta‐carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E (p < 0.05). Conclusion High mediSCORE appears to confer protection against the development of AMD in a Mediterranean population. This effect is driven by increased consumption of fruits and some antioxidant micronutrients, which emerged as statistically significant protective factors. Further studies are required to establish dietary recommendations with clinical application.

The application of manure-based fertilisers (MBFs) is considered an important practice for achieving agricultural sustainability. However, the potential losses of nutrients to the environment need to be thoroughly evaluated. This study aimed to assess nutrients’ potential leachability from a sandy soil, fertilised with MBFs produced by mixing manure from one single animal species with N- or P-mineral fertilisers, to achieve target N:P ratios (1:1, 2:1 and 0.5:1). MBFs were prepared by combining pig slurry, cattle slurry or poultry manure with N- and P-mineral fertilisers, or slurryderived materials, obtained by solid–liquid separation. A leaching experiment was set-up in soil columns treated with MBFs, for 59 days, with seven leaching events. Poultry manure application to soil led to higher potential N leaching, while pig slurry induced higher P leaching. All 2:1 MBFs decreased P leaching, relative to the original manure, with the higher reduction (52%) being observed for pig slurry with urea. The addition of urea to poultry manure also diminished its potential for N leaching. The behaviour of P-enriched materials, pig slurry solid fraction and both 0.5:1 MBFs obtained with phosphoric acid addition showed a higher risk of P leaching, while the use of superphosphate as a P-mineral source decreased the risk of P leaching. Concluding, it is possible to use specific MBFs, enriched with N and P from mineral sources, and have lower N and P leaching potential, reducing the risks associated with manure soil application, while increasing their interest as alternative fertilisers.

Foliar fertilization can be recommended to treat boron (B) deficiency in coffee and cotton. Considering that B foliar fertilizers with polyol-boron complexes can affect B uptake and mobility differently within the plant, and coffee and cotton have different cuticles and stomata density, a differential response would be expected. We aimed to study the foliar application of boric acid combined with sorbitol on B uptake and translocation in cotton and coffee. Green-house grown plants received B as boric acid and a sorbitol-monoethanolamine complex and were sampled up to 96 h after application. Boron absorption was fast, reaching 60 and 80 % in cotton and coffee 96 h after application, respectively. Uptake rates and total B absorption were similar for the fertilizers. The proportion of B taken up by coffee is greater than by cotton likely because of the greater stomata density in coffee and less likely due to the higher amount of wax in cotton cuticle. Boron remobilization is higher in coffee as compared with cotton. Sorbitol seems to increase B transport in the transpiratory stream of cotton, but impairs remobilization in the phloem since B translocation to roots is decreased in both cotton and coffee.