Journal of Natural Science Review

Impacts of Climate Change on Vector-Borne Diseases of Animals and Humans with Special Emphasis on Afghanistan

Assadullah Samadi — 2024-04-08

Vectors are organisms that transmit pathogenic microorganisms among animals and humans. Infections transmitted by the bites of blood-sucking arthropods are called vector-borne diseases (VBDs). This review highlights the impacts of climate change on the distribution, seasonal variation, and socioeconomic effects of VBDs in affected countries, especially Afghanistan. There is good enough evidence indicating that recent climate change has affected the interaction of the vector-pathogen-host cycle in many parts of the world. The emergence and re-emergence of bluetongue virus (BTV), Rift Valley Fever (RVF), lumpy skin disease (LSD), West Nile Virus (WNV), and malaria in new areas previously considered free of the diseases, and shift of seasonal occurrence of many VBDs in endemic areas, are the clear examples of climate change impacts on VDBs. Although significant progress has been made regarding VBD surveillance systems, diagnostic capacity, vaccine development, and vector control programs in resource-rich countries, failure in adaptation programs and ineffective mitigation strategies against VBDs in developing countries, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Afghanistan facilitate widespread distribution of VBDs in these regions. Furthermore, developing drug resistance among the pathogens and their vectors makes the conditions more suitable for VBDs wide dispersion. Such situations cause severe health and socio-economic burdens to affected countries. Developing early-warning systems for detecting VBDs, identifying and developing resistant livestock species and breeds, and applying interceptive measures based on integrated research programs are crucial to effectively reduce the harmful impacts of VBDs on human and animal populations.

Determination of Phenolic and Flavonoid Content in Ziziphus Jujuba Mill. Fruit Collected from Farah Province, Afghanistan

Rabia Ayoubi — 2024-04-08

The fruit of jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.), a member of the Rhamnaceous family, is a valuable exporting dry fruit of Afghanistan. The plant is found in some provinces of the country, but Farah province produces it more. The purposes of this study were to standardize the jujube fruit collected from Farah Province and to determine the amount of its phenolic and flavonoid contents. Jujube fruit (JFs22) was collected from medicinal plant sellers in Kabul. After identification and pharmacogenetic evaluation of JFs22, the amount of phenolic and flavonoid content in the fruit was determined using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The test sample was Ziziphus jujuba. The JFs22 had 10.27±0.532% foreign matter, 4.58±0.33% moisture, 1.97±0.09% total ash, 0.26±0.04% acid insoluble ash, 50.69±0.30% water soluble extractive content, and 24.93±0.59% methanolic extractive value. The JFs22 had flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, phenolic substances, saponin, and mucilage as its active ingredients. The total phenolic (TPC) and total flavonoid (TFC) contents of the methanolic extract of JFs22 were 9.84±1.65 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) and 0.55±0.04 mg rutin equivalent (RE) in 3 grams of dry fruit weight, respectively. Although in most of the cases, the values obtained from the pharmacogenetic evaluation of JFs22 were lower than the standard, nevertheless, they are within the standard range available in pharmacopeias, and this may be considered a good quality of tested jujube fruit and notice for paying much attention for its processing. The determination of TPC and TFC of JFs22 showed that the Farah province jujube fruit has many polyphenols.

Effect of Pure Corn Oil on Growth Performance of Japanese Quail (Coturnix Coturnix Japonica)

Mohammad Sangary — 2024-04-08

In recent years, consecutive research has been conducted on the nutrient requirements of the quails to find an optimum and affordable legitimate growth promoter. Different types of vegetable oil have been tested so far. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of pure corn oil (PCO) on growth performance and live body weight gain in Japanese quails. A total of 80 four-day-old quail chicks were divided into two groups: control (20 checks) and experimental (60 checks). The experimental group was subdivided into three subgroups (G₁, G_2, and G₃) of 20 chicks per group. All the control and experimental group chicks were fed a commercial grower quail diet in all three growth phases. Despite the commercial diet, the G1, G2, and G3 experimental groups were fed 1, 3, and 5% PCO, respectively. The values for live body weight did not significantly change after adding PCO to the quail’s diet. According to the study's findings, adding PCO to the commercial diet of Japanese quails in various amounts had no beneficial effects on feed consumption and growth rate. Additionally, it had an insignificant (p>0.05) detrimental impact on the growth performance of the quails compared to control groups. In conclusion, we can say that adding PCO to quail's commercial diet in the hot months of the year under Afghanistan's climate has no positive impact on growth and further slows down the rate of body weight gain.

Comparative Efficacy of Weed Management Practices on Grain and Straw Yields of Wheat

Noor Ahmad Popal — 2024-04-08

Wheat is central to Afghanistan's food security. It accounts for 76 percent of the annual grain cereal harvest and 57 percent of the country's total food crop production. Several factors, such as low-yielding varieties, low soil fertility, low-quality agrochemicals, widespread pest and disease infestations, and widespread distribution of weeds, are the leading causes of low wheat productivity in the country. The current study was conducted at the Student Research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture at Kabul University to determine the overall effects of weeds on wheat grain and straw yields and to evaluate and compare different weed management practices in the wheat field. After applying the weed management practices, among the treatments, T1, T3, and T4 showed only 8.3, 5, and 2.3 percent weed populations, respectively, compared to the untreated control. Regarding grain and straw yields, mechanical control (hand weeding) ranked first with a grain yield of 4,867 kg/ha, followed by T1 (4,580 kg/ha), T3 (4,513 kg/ha), T2 (4,133 kg/ha), and T5 (3,416 kg/ha), respectively. The difference in straw yield among the treatments was not significant; however, mechanical control ranked first (7,103 kg/ha), followed by T1 (6,783 kg/ha), T3 (6,700 kg/ha), T2 (6,207 kg/ha), and T5 (5,280 kg/ha), respectively. The study findings concluded that by eliminating weeds, wheat grain and straw yields could be increased by an average of 30 and 26 percent, respectively. As broad-leaved weeds are widely distributed in the wheat fields, applying relative herbicides such as 2,4-D is more effective and recommended for all cultivation methods.

Evaluation of the Physicochemical Properties of Different Imported Milk Brands Offered in Afghanistan Markets

Mohammad Asif Noori — 2024-04-08

Milk is an enriched food that humans widely consume. It is the source of many nutrients like protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. The content of high-quality milk should match that of natural milk and national and international standards. In the current study, the quality of selected imported milk brands (Pak1, Pak2, Pak3, Pak4, and Ir1) and local cow milk in the markets of Kabul City was evaluated. For this purpose, the levels of protein, fat, total solid, solid not fat, acidity, pH, and specific gravity were measured. Data analysis was conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis test in GraphPad Prism software. Our findings showed that the protein level in imported brands was significantly lower than the standard of cow milk (p<0.01). Among imported brands, the protein level in Ir1 and Pak4 was higher than other brands and the standard (p<0.05). The level of fat in Pak2 and Pak3 was higher than the standard and other brands (p<0.05), the level of total solid in Ir1 was lower than the standard (p<0.05), and the level of solid not fat in Pak2 and Pak3 was lower than the standard (p<0.05). Our results showed that local cow milk has a higher quality than imported milk brands, and among the brands, Pak4 has a higher quality than other brands, where its quality is almost the same as the composition of local cow milk.