Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is one of the most dangerous diseases that has caused heavy losses in yield and starch content on cassava. In vitro propagation using disease-free cassava stakes was an optimal method to produce healthy seedlings. In this study, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), growth media (MS, ½ MS and Knudson C) and growth regulators (BA: Benzyl adenine, NAA: Naphthalene acetic acid, GA: Gibberellin) were used to determine an appropriate time for sample sterilization and the suitable concentration for shoot multiplication and root induction of KM140 cassava cultivar. The results showed that sample sterilization at 8% NaOCl concentration in 5 min gave the highest survival rate (71.7%) at 14 d of culture. Cassava explants cultured on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L BA gained the highest number of shoots (2.3 shoots), shoot height (10.3 mm) and the number of leaves (4.2 leaves/shoot) at 50 d of culture. The MS medium supplemented with 0.07 mg/L NAA and 0.03 mg/L GA was applicable for the rooting stage of KM140 cassava cultivar (19.8 roots/plantlet at 60 d of culture). The results of the study were fundamental to in vitro propagation process of disease-free KM140 cassava multiplication.

Parasitic fungi are considered effective biological agents to control plant -parasitic nematodes. Based on morphology and ITS sequence, seven Purpureocillium lilacinum strains were isolated from 144 soil samples collected from Chau Duc district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, and Dinh Quan district, Dong Nai province. After 96 h of culture in medium supplemented with casein, chitin, and tween 20, seven strains showed protease, chitinase, and lipase activity. In laboratory conditions, both 11BB and 11SN strains parasitzed 31 – 34% eggs and 58 – 62% eggmass, respectively. In greenhouse conditions, the 11BB strain decreased 79.0 - 80.3% of juveniles (J2s) and 77.4 - 79.7% of egg numbers on tomato plants as compared with the control. Results showed that the 11BB fungal strain could be used in control of root - knot nematodes.

This study aimed to evaluate the genetic potential of Hevea genetic resources originating from the state of Rondonia in Brazil which have been conserved in Vietnam for effective and sustainable use. Based on 15 SSR markers, the level of high genetic diversity in all 14 groups of varieties from the state of Rondonia (Brazil) included in the assessment of agronomic characteristics in field trials with the average number of alleles (Na) ranged from 12 to 12.9, and the average expected heterozygosity (He) was 0.77; the genetic variance mainly occurred within accessions with 74% of the total genetic variability. Besides, the wild genetic resources from the state of Rondonia (Brazil) exhibited vigorous growth, but the variation was low (17%), while the latex productivity was low but the variation was high (90%). Rondonia population with the best growth and latex yield of accessions was independent of the number of the groups; the best vigorous growth and latex yield accessions derived from three groups including RO/A/7, RO/C/9, and RO/JP/3; the best vigorous growth accessions belonged to RO/C/8 group.

About six million tons of spent coffee grounds are discharged into the environment every year. Spent coffee grounds contain many useful components such as polysaccharides, protein, and bioactive compounds. This research aimed to exploit the important products such as coffee oil, sugar and phenolic compounds from spent coffee grounds, contributing to improve the economic efficiency of the coffee industry and reducing the environmental pollution. Coffee oil was extracted using four different methods including maceration, Soxhlet, ultrasonic-assisted and microwave-assisted extraction. The solid residue from the oil extraction process was hydrolyzed by Cellulast and Viscozyme enzyme. Monosaccharides, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity in the hydrolysate were measured and evaluated. The results showed that ultrasonic-assisted extraction gave the highest yield of coffee oil of 9.64%; the coffee oil had a density of 0.94 kg/L; the acid value of 7.80 mg KOH/g; saponification value of 16.33 mg KOH/g and ester value of 8.57 mg KOH/g. The highest enzymatic hydrolysis yield was obtained by using 2% Viscozyme within 24 h. The spent coffee ground hydrolysate contained 2016.4 mg/L reducing sugars including 464.2 mg/L mannose; 947.1 mg/L glucose and 256.3 mg/L galactose; 401.70 mg/L total phenolic content and showed the antioxidant activity of 564.3 mg/L ascorbic acid equivalent. This study demonstrated a feasible process to obtain 96 kg of coffee oil, 48 kg of sugar and 10 kg of phenolic compounds from 1 ton of dry spent coffee grounds.

This study is aimed to determine conditions effecting wine fermentation process of Phyllanthus acidus (L.) SKEELS using Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. Design Expert 7.0 was used determine optimal factors including pH, °Brix and yeast cell density. The results indicated that, with pH 4.77, 24.79°Brix and 8.08x106 cells/mL, the highest alcohol content reached 8.88 % v/v. Results showed that acid ascorbic (0.3%) proved to be better than acid citric. This concentration of acid ascorbic not only maintains a durable and beautiful yellow but also increases the flavor characteristics of wine. The process can achieve high efficiency with the use of pectinase enzyme concentration 0.1-0.2%.

This study aimed to (i) evaluate  phytotoxicity, (ii) and quality of two composts, based on plant yield and nitrogen use efficiency of Japanese watercress (Nasturtium officinale}). The germination index (GI) of seeds of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) was used to assess the phytotoxicity of compost extracts (1:10, w/v) at 0, 10, 20 and 30 days after composting. A separate field experiment growing Japanese watercress was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments and three replications. The treatments were: NT1 (soil only), NT2  (100% NPK chemical fertilizer), NT3  (100% compost A), NT  (100% compost B) and NT5  (100% commercial micro-organic fertilizer). Treatments from NT2 –NT5  received the same amount of total applied nitrogen. The results showed that composts in the preliminary study reduced the phytotoxicity of the raw materials by improving the GI from 49% to 58% - 90%. Total dissolved solids in compost A and the heavy metals concentration in compost B were both lower than permissible limits but could be responsible for limiting root growth. Two composts A and B in the experiment gave a comparative vegetable yield (1663.2 - 1762.2 kg/1000 m2) to chemical fertilizer, but significantly lower (P < 0.01) than commercial micro-organic fertilizer (2476.3 kg/1000 m2). After 25 days of fertilizer application, the plants used half of the total N from chemical fertilizer or commercial micro-organic fertilizer, which was twice as many as those from two composts.

Research and production of hybrid seed for bitter gourd are still limited in Vietnam. It is difficult for creating inbred lines and determining combining ability and heterosis crosses because hybrid seed production is highly timeconsuming. The objective of this study was to determine bitter gourd inbred lines with high combining ability and heterosis. The single factor experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). There were 22 treatments including six bitter gourd inbred lines at S5 generation, 15 single crosses and Vino Galatico - S2 variety (control) with three replications each. The results indicated that seven crosses named D9 x D8, A2 x D8, A3 x D8, A2 x D9, A4 x A2, A1 x A2 and A1 x A4 were similar to or higher than the control in the analysed parameters such as fruit size, fruit weight and harvested yield. The D9 and D8 lines were identified in hybrid superiority used for male or female parent with high heterosis. The A1 and A2 lines were found appropriate in male and female parents, respectively. The A1 x A2 cross showed good value of specific combining ability for total fruits per plant and harvested yield. Moreover, the values of heterosis for fruit length, total fruits and harvested yield were higher than 10 percent.

Species diversity and forest biomass represent the stability of the forest ecosystem in general and the evergreen broadleaf forest ecosystem in particular. This study was carried out on three different geographical regions of the Central-Central Highlands region, namely Quang Binh, Thua Thien Hue and Gia Lai. The study used survey data of all small-diameter trees from 03 large size plots to study the relationship between species diversity, phylogenetic diversity and above ground biomass. The indices of species diversity, phylogenetic diversity and terrestrial biomass were calculated and compared statistically. The results showed that: (i) There was a significant difference in species diversity between the study plots; (ii) Phylogenetic clustering and overdispersion were found in the study plots; (iii) There was no significant correlation between species diversity and aboveground biomass in all three study plots. These results show that: (i) Habitat factors have affected the diversity and phylogenetic diversity of the studied forest plant communities; (ii) Additional studies are needed in the direction of combining habitat factors such as climate, topography and soil with forest succession stages to find out the correlations between biotic factors and infertile.