• Journal of Korea Society of Waste Management
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.205-213
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• 2017

The current study was performed to investigate the effect of recycling coir substrates on the growth, fruit yield, and quality of strawberry plants. Analysis of physical properties revealed that the pH of a fresh coir substrate was 5.04 while those of substrates reused for one and two years were 5.20 and 5.33, respectively. The electrical conductivity (EC) of a new substrate was as high as $4.58dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$. This can cause salt stress after transplanting. The EC tended to decrease as the substrate was recycled, and the EC of a two-year recycled substrate was $1.48dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$. The fresh substrate had lower nitrogen and calcium concentrations, but higher phosphate, potassium, and sodium concentrations than the recycled coir substrate. The coir substrates recycled for one or two years maintained better chemical properties for plant growth than the fresh substrate. Strawberry growth varied depending on the number of years that the coir substrate was recycled. In general, strawberries grown in substrates that had been reused for two years did better than those grown in substrates that had been reused once or were fresh. Ninety days after transplanting, a plant grown in a substrate that had been reused for two years contained 25 leaves, which was 3.6 more than with a fresh substrate. In addition, the plants grown in a substrate that had been reused for two years exhibited larger leaf areas than those grown in other substrates. Coir substrates that had been reused for one year increased the number and area of leaves, but not as much as the substrate that had been reused for two years. One- and two-year reused coir substrates increased the weight of strawberries produced relative to the unused substrate, but the difference was not statistically significant. The plants grown in two-year reused substrates were longer and wider, as well. Also, the number of fruits per plant was higher when substrates were reused. Specifically, the number of fruits per plant was 28.7 with a two-year reused substrate, but only 22.2 with a fresh substrate. The fruit color indices (as represented by their Hunter L, a, b values) were not considerably affected by recycling of the coir substrate. The Hunter L value, which indicates the brightness of the fruit, did not change significantly when the substrate was recycled. Neither Hunter a (red) nor b (yellow) values were changed by recycling. In addition, there were no significant changes in the hardnesses, acidities, or soluble solid-acid ratios of fruits grown in recycled substrates. Thus, it is thought that recycling the coir substrate does not affect measures of fruit quality such as color, hardness, and sugar content. Overall, reuse of coir substrates from hydroponic culture as high-bed strawberry growth substrates would solve the problems of new substrate costs and the disposal of substrates that had been used once.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.293-302
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• 2023

This study evaluated the acute toxicity induced by oxolinic acid (OA), neomycin-oxytetracycline combination (NEO-OTC) and florfenicol (FF) administered to guppy (Poecilia reticulata) by comparing standard formulations with commercial preparations (COOaqua curinpotion, COOaqua terafinpotion and COOaqua profenpotion, respectively) for ornamental fish at concentrations of 2-4%. NEO-OTC exhibited the highest acute toxicity in guppy, with no difference observed between the pstandard formulation and commercial preparation (LC₅₀ = 126.08 mg/L and 112.44 mg/L, respectively). OA acute toxicity was assessed in the form of sodium salt, with an LC₅₀ of 504.61 mg/L for the standard formulation and a slightly increased toxicity of 316.11 mg/L for the commercial preparation. In contrast, no mortality was observed during the 96-hour exposure period with the standard formulation in the form of oxolinic acid. The acute toxicity of FF was measured to be above 1,000 mg/L for the standard formulation; however, the commercial preparation significantly increased to 158.53 mg/L. These results indicate that toxicity can significantly increase in commercial formulations, especially those with low levels of active ingredients. This is presumed to be attributed to the organic solvents or solubilizing agents present in the commercial preparations, which may enhance toxicity. Additionally, guppy infected with Aeromonas salmonicida were effectively protected against mortality by administering OA, NEO-OTC and FF at concentrations of 50 mg/L, 100 mg/L and 15 mg/L, respectively, for 2 hours and at half the dose for 24 hours. This result indicates that liquid formulations containing low concentrations of antibiotics may partially increase toxicity, but there is no problem in effectively treating diseases in ornamental fish.