Sunday, 14 April 2013

[www.keralites.net] Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails

Florida battles slimy invasion by giant snails

(Reuters) - South Florida is fighting a growing infestation of one of the world's most destructive invasive species: the giant African land snail, which can grow as big as a rat and gnaw through stucco and plaster.

More than 1,000 of the mollusks are being caught each week in Miami-Dade and 117,000 in total since the first snail was spotted by a homeowner in September 2011, said Denise Feiber, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Residents will soon likely begin encountering them more often, crunching them underfoot as the snails emerge from underground hibernation at the start of the state's rainy season in just seven weeks, Feiber said.

The snails attack "over 500 known species of plants ... pretty much anything that's in their path and green," Feiber said.

In some Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, which are overrun with the creatures, the snails' shells blow out tires on the highway and turn into hurling projectiles from lawnmower blades, while their slime and excrement coat walls and pavement.

"It becomes a slick mess," Feiber said.

A typical snail can produce about 1,200 eggs a year and the creatures are a particular pest in homes because of their fondness for stucco, devoured for the calcium content they need for their shells.

The snails also carry a parasitic rat lungworm that can cause illness in humans, including a form of meningitis, Feiber said, although no such cases have yet been identified in the United States.

EXOTIC INVASION

The snails' saga is something of a sequel to the Florida horror show of exotic species invasions, including the well-known infestation of giant Burmese pythons, which became established in the Everglades in 2000. There is a long list of destructive non-native species that thrive in the state's moist, subtropical climate.

Experts gathered last week in Gainesville, Florida, for a Giant African Land Snail Science Symposium, to seek the best ways to eradicate the mollusks, including use of a stronger bait approved recently by the federal government.

Feiber said investigators were trying to trace the snail infestation source. One possibility being examined is a Miami Santeria group, a religion with West African and Caribbean roots, which was found in 2010 to be using the large snails in its rituals, she said. But many exotic species come into the United States unintentionally in freight or tourists' baggage.

"If you got a ham sandwich in Jamaica or the Dominican Republic, or an orange, and you didn't eat it all and you bring it back into the States and then you discard it, at some point, things can emerge from those products," Feiber said.

Authorities are expanding a series of announcements on buses, billboards and in movie theaters urging the public to be on the lookout.

The last known Florida invasion of the giant mollusks occurred in 1966, when a boy returning to Miami from a vacation in Hawaii brought back three of them, possibly in his jacket pockets. His grandmother eventually released the snails into her garden where the population grew in seven years to 17,000 snails. The state spent $1 million and 10 years eradicating them.

Feiber said many people unfamiliar with the danger viewed the snails as cute pets.

"They're huge, they move around, they look like they're looking at you ... communicating with you, and people enjoy them for that," Feiber said. "But they don't realize the devastation they can create if they are released into the environment where they don't have any natural enemies and they thrive."

Reuter

-- Nandakumar

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[www.keralites.net] : BANANAS - DID YOU KNOW? I DID NOT

Bananas - Healthy Eating Secrets You May Not Know About

by: Junji Takano

Bananas are native to tropical South and Southeast Asia. In Japan, banana is by far the number one fruit in terms of consumption. It is also the most preferred fruit among the world's top athletes as it can provide instant energy.

Research shows that eating two bananas can provide enough energy for a heavy 90-minute workout. The carbohydrates in bananas are easy to digest so you get an instant boost of energy after just 30 minutes of eating it!

Increase the Banana's Sweetness by Peeling it Properly

Bananas are naturally sweet, but did you know that you can boost its sweetness just by peeling it properly?

Most people peel bananas by pulling its stem and I bet this is how you do it, too. If you look at it, this seems logical enough and you'll get a high degree of success of peeling it aside from maybe having a mushy top.

The problem with this approach is that it doesn't work all the time. But more importantly, this is actually the wrong way of peeling a banana.

The correct way to open a banana is to peel its skin like a monkey, which is to open it from the bottom and not from its stem!

Here's how.

Step 1. Hold the banana with its stem pointing downwards then pinch the tip gently.

Step 2. Peel the banana downwards towards its stem using your fingers.

There are two major advantages of peeling banana from the bottom:

1. You peel the banana faster and more efficiently 100% of the time.

If you look at the bottom of the banana, you'll notice that it's patterned so it will crack easily when it's pinched. This supports the theory that this is really the correct way of peeling banana.

2. You get to eat a sweeter banana.

The front end side of the banana (not the stem) is sweeter as nutrients gathers around it during the ripening process. Therefore, eating this part first will make the banana taste sweeter overall.

## Boost Banana's Sweetness with High Temperature

Like sweet potato, unripe green bananas contain 20% starch. When exposed to heat, the starch will be converted into sugar. That is why sweet potatoes don't taste sweet until they are baked. The same thing applies to bananas.

By immersing the banana in hot water of about 40 to 50 degrees Celsius, you can increase its sweetness even more. An enzyme called amylase will break down the starch in the banana fruit into sugar because of the rise in temperature.

So to make the banana fruit super sweet, follow these procedures:

1. Immerse the banana fruit in hot water (40-50 degrees Celsius) for 5 minutes.

2. Remove the banana from hot water and store at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

## How to Extend Shelf Life of Bananas by as much as Three Times

Bananas naturally turn from yellow to black in just a few days--the more so when you store it in the refrigerator.

However, by using certain methods, you'll be able to make bananas last longer.

-- Method #1 (Extend shelf life by 40%)

Separate bananas. Bananas ripen quicker when they're still attached. This is because riper bananas emit large amount of ethylene gas and causes other bananas near it to ripen quickly and turn black. The same thing happens if you store bananas next to apples.

Ethylene is a gas that is naturally produced by plants. It acts as a ripening hormone to accelerate the maturation of fruits.

Usually, bananas turn black in just about 5 days. By separating bananas from other riper bananas, you can extend its shelf life by another 2 days.

-- Method #2 (Extend shelf life by 2 to 3 weeks)

Submerge bananas in hot water temperature. Submerging bananas in hot water temperature of 50 degrees Celsius for a few minutes will increase the amount of "heat shock proteins (HSP)".

Research shows that heat shock protein plays an important role in slowing down aging. Therefore, high levels of heat shock proteins in bananas will make it more resistant to ethylene gas and delay spoiling. Moreover, bananas will not easily turn black when placed in the refrigerator.

Here's how you can do it:

1. Submerge the banana in hot water with temperature ranging from 40-50 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes.

2. Remove from hot water and cool at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

3. Wrap the banana with poly bag and store inside the refrigerator.

About the author:
Junji Takano is a Japanese health researcher involved in
investigating the cause of many dreadful diseases. In 1968,
he invented PYRO-ENERGEN, the first electrostatic therapy
device for electromedicine that effectively eradicates viral
diseases, cancer, and diseases of unknown cause.

www.keralites.net

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[www.keralites.net] : Morning

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[www.keralites.net] TODAY'S MESSAGE FROM TRICHY PRASANNAN

TODAY'S MESSAGE FROM TRICHY PRASANNAN

regards

Trichy Na Prasannan, Trichy, Tamil Nadu

www.keralites.net

യില്‍ അട്ട; തിരുവനന്തപുരത്ത് ഇന്ത്യന്‍ കോഫി ഹൌസ് ദോശയില്‍ അട്ട; തിരുവനന്തപുരത്ത് ഇന്ത്യന്‍ കോഫി ഹൌസ് ദോശയില്‍ അട്ട; തിരുവനന്തപുരത്ത് ഇന്ത്യന്‍ കോഫി ഹൌസ് പൂട്ടിപൂട്ടിപൂട്ടിദോശയില്‍ അട്ട; തിരുവനന്തപുരത്ത് ഇന്ത്യന്‍ കോഫി ദോശയില്‍ അട്ട; തിരുവനന്തപുരത്ത് ഇന്ത്യന്‍ കോഫി ഹൌസ് പൂട്ടിഹൌസ് പൂട്ടി

തിരുവനന്തപുരം: ദോശയില്‍ അട്ടയെ കണ്ടെത്തിയതിനെ തുടര്‍ന്ന് തിരുവനന്തപുരത്തെ ഇന്ത്യന്‍ കോഫി ഹൌസിന്റെ ലൈസന്‍സ് താല്‍ക്കാലികമായി റദ്ദ് ചെയ്തു. ജനറല്‍ ആശുപത്രിക്ക് സമീപത്തെ കോഫി ഹൌസില്‍ നിന്നാണ് ദോശയില്‍ അട്ടയെ കണ്ടെത്തിയത്. തുടര്‍ന്ന് ഭക്ഷ്യസുരക്ഷ ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥര്‍ കോഫി ഹൌസില്‍ പരിശോധന നടത്തി. പരിശോധനയില്‍ വൃത്തഹീനമായ അന്തരീക്ഷത്തില്‍ ഭക്ഷണം ഉണ്ടാക്കുന്നുണ്ടെന്ന് കണ്ടെത്തിയതിനെ തുടര്‍ന്നാണ് ലൈസന്‍സ് താല്‍ക്കാലികമായി റദ്ദ് ചെയ്തത്.

Deepika

www.keralites.net

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