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SUMMARY The splitting of water in the presence of ordinary and nano TiO2 was carried out using hydrocarbon as a dual agent and solar energy as a light source for these experiments. The hydrogen gas evolved was tested and measured using downward displacement of water. The observed results show that more hydrogen was evolved when nano TiO2 was used as catalyst due to the larger surface area of the nano material. The splitting of sea water yields more hydrogen compared with ordinary water due to the presence of electron donating sodium ions in water. The added hydrocarbon plays a dual role as electron donor and as a trapping agent, which enhances the production of hydrogen to a greater extent compared with the regular donors such as olefin. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Preharvest seed infection by Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin contamination in selected groundnut genotypes (four A. flavus-resistant and four A. flavus-susceptible) were examined in different soil types at several locations in India in 1985-1990. Undamaged mature pods were sampled at harvest and seed examined for A. flavus infection and aflatoxin content in two or more trials at ICRISAT Center on light sandy soils and red sandy loam soils (Alfisols), and on Vertisols, at Anantapur on light sandy soils, and at Dharwad and Parbhani on Vertisols. Rainy season trials (1985-1989) were all rainfed. Post-rainy season trials were irrigated; late-season drought stress (90 days after sowing (DAS) until harvest at 125 DAS) was imposed in the 1987/88 and 1989/90 seasons. A. flavus infection and aftatoxin contamination levels were much lower in seed of all genotypes from Vertisols than in seed from Alfisols across locations and seasons. Vertisols also had significantly lower populations of A. flavus than Alfisols. There were no marked differences between light sandy soils and red sandy loam soils (Alfisols) in respect of seed infection by A. flavus and aflatoxin contamination. Significant interactions between genotypes and soil types were evident, especially in the A. flavus-susceptible genotypes. Irrespective of soil types, A. flavus-resistant genotypes showed lower levels of seed infection by A. flavus and other fungi than did A. flavus-susceptible genotypes. The significance of the low preharvest aflatoxin risk in groundnuts grown on Vertisols is highlighted.

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