Lignin has the potential to be used as an additive, coating agent, fertilizer, plant growth stimulator, and packaging material in the agroindustry due to its functional aromatic structure. The quantitative measurement of functional groups is a significant element of the research for lignin structure since they directly impact their optical, dispersion, and chemical properties. These physical and chemical properties of lignin strongly depend on its type and source and its isolation procedure. Thus, lignin provides numerous opportunities for the circular economy in the agroindustry; however, studying and resolving the challenges associated with its separation, purification, and modification is required. This review discusses the most recent findings on lignin use in agroindustry and historical facts about lignin. The properties of lignin and its roles as coating agents, pesticide carriers, plant growth stimulators, and soil-improving agents have been summarized. The emerging challenges in the field of lignin-based agroindustry are considered, and potential future steps to overcome these challenges are discussed.

Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is a biodegradable polymer synthesized from petrochemical resources. PBAT has an exceptionally high elongation at break values which makes it one of the most promising substitutes for LDPE packaging films. However, the applicability of PBAT films is still limited by low strength and high production costs. In this work, we used polyethylene glycol 600 (PEG-600) as a coating agent to modify the surface of calcium carbonate and improve compatibility with the polymer matrix. A series of PBAT/CaCO3 composite films having different CaCO3 particle size and content of coating agent was prepared using extrusion blow molding. The effect of particle size of CaCO3 filler and the content of a coating agent on the mechanical and rheological properties of composite films have been studied. The biodegradation properties have been tested by burying the samples in soil or keeping them in artificial seawater for 90 days. It was shown that the addition of PEG-600 improves compatibility between the matrix and CaCO3 filler as polar -OH groups of PEG have a high affinity toward the polar surface of CaCO3. Moreover, the hydrophilicity of PEG-600 increased the diffusivity of water molecules and facilitated PBAT degradation. This work provides experimental data and theoretical guidance that support the development of high-performance PBAT/calcium carbonate films for the single use packaging industry.

A concept of mixing energy, ME, has been developed and applied to blending of adhesive mixtures for inhalation in a high shear blender. Six different systems were investigated, four of which included a coating agent. For blends containing a coating agent, it is shown that the applied ME is key to the control of two important functional mechanisms: i) coating of the carrier by the coating agent, and ii) the dispersibility of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). The mass of the carrier was identified to be the mass which is relevant to the forces acting during mixing. The dispersibility in terms of the fine particle fraction (FPF) can be expressed as the product of two exponentials which both are functions of ME. The first factor accounts for the initial increase in FPF, while the second accounts for the decrease observed at extensive mixing. For adhesive mixtures without a coating agent, a similar decrease in FPF is observed when high forces are applied during mixing. Mechanistic interpretation of the behavior is provided.

The utilization of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in consumer products has significantly increased in recent years, primarily due to their antimicrobial properties. Increased use of AgNPs has raised ecological concerns. Once released into an aquatic environment, AgNPs may undergo oxidative dissolution leading to the generation of toxic Ag+. Therefore, it is critical to investigate the ecotoxicological potential of AgNPs and determine the physicochemical parameters that control their dissolution in aquatic environments. We have investigated the dissolution trends of aqueous colloidal AgNPs in five products, marketed as dietary supplements and surface sanitizers. The dissolution trends of AgNPs in studied products were compared to the dissolution trends of AgNPs in well-characterized laboratory-synthesized nanomaterials: citrate-coated AgNPs, polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated AgNPs, and branched polyethyleneimine-coated AgNPs. The characterization of the studied AgNPs included: particle size, anion content, metal content, silver speciation, and capping agent identification. There were small differences in the dissolved masses of Ag+ between products, but we did not observe any significant differences in the dissolution trends obtained for deionized water and tap water. The decrease of the dissolved mass of Ag+ in tap water could be due to the reaction between Ag+ and Cl-, forming AgCl and affecting their dissolution. We observed a rapid initial Ag+ release and particle size decrease for all AgNP suspensions due to the desorption of Ag+ from the nanoparticles surfaces. The observed differences in dissolution trends between AgNPs in products and laboratory-synthesized AgNPs could be caused by variances in capping agent, particle size, and total AgNP surface area in suspensions.

OBJECTIVE: Most food industries try to solve the problem of dried food quality by using optimum pre-treatments before subjecting to hot air drying. The edible coating is considerably extended shelf-life of dried foods. The objectives of this research were to investigate the effect of edible coating agents (modified cassava starch and sodium caseinate) on properties of dried Jerusalem artichoke (JA) slices.
METHODS: Pieces of the sample were coated by dipping in the coating solution for 10 min both for atmospheric coating (AC) and vacuum coating (VC). The weight ratio of the sample to the solution was 1:2. The VC was conducted in a closed desiccator connected to a vacuum pump with a residual pressure of 150 m bar controlled during 10 min of dipping.
RESULTS: The coating agents resulted in improvements in product qualities. Browning and shrinkage were reduced significantly (p<0.05). The antioxidant properties were similar between a hot air-dried product and a freeze-dried product. There was no observed benefit of using vacuum pressure rather than atmospheric pressure. Sensory acceptance of coated products was similar to that of an uncoated product.
CONCLUSIONS: The edible coating with modified cassava starch or sodium caseinate was, therefore, an efficient pre-treatment and could be applied with conventional drying to produce healthy fruit and vegetable snacks by using a simple and inexpensive method.

BACKGROUND: Extensive and growing use of different chemical pesticides that affect both the environment and human health raises a need for new and more suitable methods to deal with plant pathogens. Nanotechnology has enabled the use of materials at the nanoscale with exceptional functionality in different economic domains including agricultural production. This study aimed to evaluate antifungal potential of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) stabilized with different surface coatings and characterized by different surface charge on plant pathogenic fungi Macrophomina phaseolina, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Diaporthe longicolla.
RESULTS: AgNPs were coated with three different stabilizing agents: mono citrate (MC-AgNPs), cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB-AgNPs) and polyvinylpyrrolidon (PVP-AgNPs). SeNPs were coated with poly-l-lysine (PLL-SeNPs), polyacrylic acid (PAA-SeNPs), and polyvinylpyrrolidon (PVP-SeNPs). Seven different concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 mg L-1 ) of nanoparticles were applied. All AgNPs and SeNPs significantly inhibited the growth of the tested fungi. Among the tested NPs, PVP-AgNPs showed the best inhibitory effect on the tested plant pathogenic fungi, especially against S. sclerotiorum. The similar inhibition of the sclerotia formation was observed for S. sclerotiorum treated with PLL-SeNPs.
CONCLUSIONS: Obtained results provides new insights on fungicide effect of AgNPs and SeNPs stabilized with different coating agents on different plant pathogens. Further work should focus on detailed risk/benefit ratio assessment of using SeNPs or AgNPs in agriculture taking into account whole agroecosystem. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Tissue paper is of high importance worldwide and, continuously, research is focused on improvements of the softening and durability properties of the paper which depend specifically on the production process. Polyamide-amine-epichlorohydrin (PAE) resins along with release agents are widely used to adhere the paper to the yankee dryer (creping cylinder) in paper manufacture. Nevertheless, these resins are highly cationic and they normally adhere in excess to the paper which negatively affects the creping process and the quality of the paper. For this reason, a low cationic polyamine-epichlorohydrin coating (Polycoat 38®) was synthesized from a diamine supplied by Disproquin S.A.S. and epichlorohydrin. The analysis of the synthesized polymer was carried out by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). The molecular weight of the polymer was obtained by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), physical-chemical properties such as kinematic viscosity, percentage of solids, density, charge density were measured and compared with a commercial PAE resin (Dispro620®) Thermal stability of the Polycoat 38® and glass transition temperature in presence of a release agent (Disprosol 17®) were also evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. Finally, a peel adhesion test and an absorption durability assessment were carried out together with the evaluation of the creeping efficiency of the paper by caliber and tensile measurements in a tissue (towel paper) production plant, demonstrating a superior performance in the paper creping process as compared to some commercially available products.

Imidacloprid application, as a seed coating agent on oilseed rape, is recommended to control mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). In this study, responses of L. erysimi were investigated, including survival, feeding behavior, and detoxifying enzymes, on the oilseed rape seedlings grown from seeds coated with imidacloprid at rates of 6, 12, or 18 g active ingredient (a.i.)/kg seed. The results showed that the aphids\' survival rate, together with that of the progeny of the survivors, on the seed-treated seedlings significantly decreased. This indicates that the aphid population in fields can be suppressed effectively. The electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique was used to record aphid feeding behaviors on two-, four-, and six-leaf stages of oilseed rape seedlings that had been seed-coated with imidacloprid, and individual responses were revealed during the aphid feeding behavior. On the plants at the two-leaf stage, aphid feeding behaviors were influenced, showing decreased frequency of stylet penetration into the leaf (probe) or into the mesophyll cells (potential drops, pds for short), and shortened duration of stylet event in the leaf (probe) or in the phloem. On the plants at the four- and six-leaf stages, these impacts of imidacloprid were weakened; however, the saliva secretion duration in phloem was shortened to less than 5 min in all imidacloprid treatments. The activity of mixed-function oxidase in aphids maintained on the treated seedlings with imidacloprid was elevated. In conclusion, imidacloprid could be used as a seed coating agent for aphid control, but chemical resistance in aphids should not be ignored.

Flow field-flow fractionation (FlFFF) with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (ICP-MS) detection was applied for estimating the hydrodynamic diameter of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Hydrodynamic diameters of AuNPs of the same core diameter but with different surface coatings were different because the coating agents and their properties were different. The challenge of this work is due to the fact that AuNPs with various types of surface coatings exhibited different interactions in the FlFFF channel, leading to different retention behaviors. Therefore, we are interested in finding suitable FlFFF conditions for estimating the hydrodynamic diameter of AuNPs with various types of electrostatic stabilizing agents [tannic acid (TA) and citrate (CT)] and steric stabilizing agents [polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and branched polyethylene imine (BPEI)]. Different types of carrier liquids (DI water, 0.02% FL-70, 0.05% SDS, and 30 mM Tris buffer) and membrane materials [regenerated cellulose (RC) and polyethersulfone (PES) membranes] were investigated. Generally, FlFFF was applied for size characterization of nanoparticles based on FlFFF theory but the interactions between AuNPs and membrane affected the retention and the experimentally obtained hydrodynamic diameters of AuNPs from the FlFFF system. With DI water as a carrier liquid with RC or PES membranes, the hydrodynamic diameters of negatively charged particles (TA-, CT-, PVP-, and PEG-stabilized AuNPs) from FlFFF corresponded well with the hydrodynamic diameters from dynamic light scattering (DLS). Interestingly, it was possible to estimate hydrodynamic diameters of AuNPs in the mixture by using FlFFF whereas it was not possible with the use of DLS within the size range studied. This work summarized the possible interactions between AuNPs with various coating agents and membrane materials in different carrier liquids to give guidelines on the suitable conditions of FlFFF for further applications on AuNP hydrodynamic diameter estimation.

Aging rooms of dry-cured ham and cheese are subject to the development of mold and arthropods, above all mites, which cause the erosion of the external part of these food products, reducing their surface to dust and determining their progressive degradation. This work is meant to give the results of an experiment carried out to test the level of protection supplied by AlistagTM, a coating agent based on Gluconodeltalactone, on a typical Sicilian cheese cosacavaddu ibleo. AlistagTM was applied by nebulization and by immersion. The two parameters took in consideration to evaluate their efficacy were the presence/absence of cracks and the level of dustiness on the surface of the cheese. AlistagTM turned out to be very efficient in protecting cheese both from the development of dust and from cracks; between the two kinds of application tested, immersion resulted to be the best one, for the protecting action lasts longer.