BETAINE hydrochloride (BHC), as an ionic salt was found to be an efficient and recyclable catalyst for the one-pot synthesis of4-thiazolidinediones. The methodology of study was achieved by one-pot condensation of aromatic aldehydes, aromatic amineand mercaptoacetic acid in the presence of BETAINE hydrochloride (BHC) at reflux temperature in ethanol as solvent. Theefficiency of BETAINE hydrochloride has been compared with all aspects of reaction conditions such as temperature, solvent andamount of the catalyst. This method excludes the use of heavy metal catalyst, tedious work-up and affords excellent yields ofproduct. These advantages makes the technique greener and superior as compare to other reported methods.

BETAINE is donor of methyl groups and can partially replace methionine in diets for this purpose. The objec-tive of this study was to evaluate three sources of BETAINE in partial substitution of methionine supplement in broiler diets. The Cobb-500 broiler chickens were allocated in a completely randomized experimental de-sign with 5 treatments and 7 replicates of 49 birds each. The positive control treatment consisted of standard level of digestible methionine, the negative control was the digestible methionine reduced by 17% and the other three treatments consisted of the negative control diet supplemented with natural BETAINE (95%) or hydrochloride BETAINE (72%), HCl 1 and HCl 2 that had the same composition, and were obtained from two different manufacturers. The performance was evaluated from 7 to 21 days, 7 to 35 days and 7 to 43 days. At 43 days, the carcass and carcass parts (breast, thigh+drumstick, liver and abdominal fat) were deter-mined and an economic analysis of each diet was performed. The performance results of the negative con-trol were similar to the other treatments; however, there was a reduction in breast meat yield of birds fed the negative control compared to positive control and BETAINE HCl 2. The birds from the negative control had the lowest breast meat yield and the highest thigh + drumstick yield. The chickens fed BETAINE HCl 2 had greater amount of breast in the carcass (42. 85 vs. 41. 17%) and the cost of production of breast was reduced (US$1. 941 vs. US$ 2. 042) compared to the negative control. There was not difference between treatments in carcass yield, percentage of liver and abdominal fat. There was a tendency to higher abdominal fat depo-sition in carcass in animals fed with the negative control. As a conclusion, the inclusion of BETAINE in the diets of chickens containing restricted levels of methionine is economically feasible, reducing the cost of breast meat production.

One of the most important problems of strawberry cultivation in temperate regions is winter cold injuries. Current study investigated impacts of foliar application of glycine BETAINE (GB) at 0, 0. 5, 1, 2 and 4 mM concentrations on the cold hardiness of strawberry. The plants were divided into two groups: one group for evaluation of cold hardiness at temperatures of-6,-9,-12,-15 and-18 ° C; and the other for study of some biochemical characteristics. Results showed that GB treatment increased soluble carbohydrate and proline concentrations in both leaf and crown tissues, total protein concentration in leaf, and relative water content in leaf as compared to those in control. Based on LT50 calculated from electrolyte leakage and tetrazolium staining test, the GB application increased cold hardiness in strawberry plant based on its concentration. The highest cold hardiness was found in the 2 mM GB concentration based on electrolyte leakage and tetrazolium staining tests at-13. 3 and-15. 3 ° C. Meanwhile, the lowest values of cold hardiness were observed in the control treatments based on electrolyte leakage and tetrazolium staining tests at-10. 2 and-11. 0 ° C. Significant correlations were found between soluble carbohydrate and proline concentrations in leaf and crown, and total protein concentration with LT50 calculated from electrolyte leakage and tetrazolium staining test. We conclude that application of 2 mM GB has the capacity to increase the freezing tolerance of strawberry and could be used as a prophylactic tool to reduce winter cold injury.

Objective(s): The aim of the present study was to evaluate antioxidant and methyl donor effects of BETAINE in cerebellum following levodopa and benserazide administration in rats.Materials and Methods: Sprague-Dawley male rats were treated with levodopa (LD), BETAINE (Bet), levodopa plus BETAINE (LD/Bet), levodopa plus benserazide (LD/Ben), levodopa plus BETAINEbenserazide (LD/Bet-Ben), and the controls with vehicle for 10 consecutive days, orally.Results: Treatment of rats with LD and benserazide significantly increased total homocysteine in plasma of the LD/Ben group when compared to the other groups. Lipid peroxidation of cerebellum increased significantly in LD‐treated rats when compared to the other groups. In contrast, glutathione peroxidase activity and glutathione content in cerebellum were significantly higher in the BETAINEtreated rats when compared to the LD and LD/Ben groups. Serum dopamine concentration increased significantly in LD‐treated rats in comparison with the LD/Ben group. LD/Bet-treated rats also demonstrated significantly higher dopamine levels when compared to the LD/Ben group.Conclusion: We observed valuable effects of Bet in combination with LD and benserazide, which routinely were used for Parkinson’s disease (PD) treatment, in experimentally-induced oxidative stress and hyperhomocysteinemia in rats. Therefore, it seems that Bet is a vital and promising agent regarding PD for future clinical trials in humans.