X-Message-Number: 21850
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2003 05:42:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: 90'th update on fly longevity experiments

    This is the 90'th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average
temperature was 20.2 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using
the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 137 days.
    In run #85 annatto 1/4 tsp appears to be offering some benefit. Since
annatto toxicity is known to be mediated by riboflavin depletion, I
decided to try adding riboflavin to annatto, to see if longevity was
improved. When this run was started I did not yet know from run #85 that
1/16 tsp was an ineffective dosage for annatto. However riboflavin did
appear to improve matters, afterall in this run.
    Pomegranate paste 1/2 tsp set a record maximum longevity of 124 days
in run #87. Here the results are comparitively quite disappointing,
although a higher dosage of 1 tsp did push maximum longevity in this run
up to 91 days. The effect of aging of the pomegranate paste itself will
need to be looked into, as the bottle of paste used in this experiment was
an old one.
    I gave rice protein yet another try, but unfortunately again added
extra water, which again made the fly food rather "wet". However the
removal of citric acid once again improved the results.
    Strawberry extract did well in run #87, but proved to be a dud in the
present experiment.

Run #90                               Percent Survival on Day
supplement                    34  41 48 53 58 63 69 75 81 86 91 97
__________________________________________________________________
control                       88  88 63 63 38 38 13 13  0  -  -  -
annatto 1/16 tsp              69  54 38 38 23  8  8  8  0  -  -  -
   ""  +riboflavin 100 mg    100 100 88 88 63 63 50 13  0  -  -  -
pomegranate paste 1/2 tsp     77  77 69 54 46 38  8  8  8  0  -  -
pomegranate paste 1 tsp       58  50 25 17 17 17 17  8  8  8  8  0
rice protein 1 tsp             7   7  7  7  7  7  7  0  -  -  -  -
no citric +rice protein 1 tsp 33  33 17 17 17  0  -  -  -  -  -  -
strawberry extract 1/2 tsp    82  73 55 55 36 36 36  0  -  -  -  -
strawberry extract 1 tsp      59  53 29 18 18 18 18  6  0  -  -  -

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