The present study focused on the development of gel-based capsules from sodium alginate and the fresh juice from different berries: chokeberry, sea buckthorn, and blueberry. Obtained through the ...extrusion method, the macrocapsules were added into yogurt, a well-known and consumed dairy product. In order to establish the changes that can occur for the food product, the samples were tested over 7 and 15 days of storage in refrigeration conditions. According to the results, the antioxidant activity increased during storage and gels can represent a good option for bioactive substances' encapsulation. Sensorial analysis performed indicated that consumers are open to consuming yogurt berry capsules and, according to the results observed in the scientific literature, they no longer rejected the product due to the bitterness and sourness of sea buckthorn or aronia. Sea buckthorn capsules were brighter (
*) than chokeberry and blueberry capsules due to carotene content and dark colors. Minimal diameter variations and small standard deviations (SD = 0.25/0.33) suggest that extrusion methods and the Caviar box are good for gel capsule development. Yogurt luminosity varied with capsules; control had the highest, followed by sea buckthorn yogurt. Samples with chokeberry and blueberry (dark) capsules had lower luminosity. Over 8 and 15 days, luminosity slightly decreased, while
* and
* (hue and saturation) increased. Post-storage, the sample with chokeberry capsules showed a light purple color, indicating color transfer from capsules, with increased antioxidant activity. Differences between the samples and control were less pronounced in the sample with sea buckthorn capsules. Values for color differences between yogurt samples during the storage period revealed the most significant difference during the first storage period (day 1-8), with blueberries showing the lowest difference, indicating the stability of the blueberry capsules' wall during storage.
The impact of air pollution on forests, especially in urban areas, has been increasingly discussed recently. Many pollutants, including heavy metals, are released into the atmosphere from various ...sources, such as mining, non-ferrous metal processing plants, and fossil fuel combustion. These pollutants can adversely affect not only tree growth but also other species, including humans.
This study compared the concentrations of several elements in tree-ring wood from two conifer species (Silver fir, Abies alba; Norway spruce, Picea abies) growing in polluted and unpolluted areas. Two regions in northern Romania (Bicaz and Tarnița) that were subjected to historical pollution changes were selected. Two chemical analyses were used: inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF).
The silver fir trees from the intensively polluted area in the Tarnița region were negatively impacted by industrial pollution: the Mn concentrations were, on average, three times higher in polluted areas than in unpolluted areas (ca. 30 vs. 10 mg kg−1). This finding was consistent for both ICP-MS and XRF analyses. However, in Norway spruce, this difference was found only in the XRF data, which detected Mn concentrations seven times higher in trees from polluted areas than those from unpolluted areas (ca. 700 vs. 100 mg kg−1). In the Tarnița region, Norway spruce accumulated more heavy metals than silver fir, but the most pronounced differences between polluted and unpolluted areas were found in silver fir.
The two analytical methods are commonly used to determine metal concentrations in wood, and they complement each other, with ICP-MS having a low detection limit for some elements and XRF having higher detection limits and better accuracy. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and the optimal method depends on many factors, such as the type of heavy metal analyzed, its concentration in wood, sample type, cost, analysis time, and sample preparation.
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•Trees have the ability to accumulate heavy metals from the pollution caused by local industries.•Heavy metal concentrations in tree rings decrease over time as pollution decreases.•Higher concentrations of heavy metals are found in trees close to factories.
One of the main indicators of quality of grain flours is the enzyme content. The most important enzymes on the wheat flour are the a - amylase and the b - amylase. Unique for wheat flour dough are ...its rheological properties, namely elasticity and extensibility, which are largely due to the properties of gluten formed during kneading and how it interacts with other components of flour and product ingredients. In the present paper are presented the experimental results regarding the falling index Hagberg and determination the main rheological properties - tenacity, extensibility, elasticity, and baking strengthfor differently wheat flour types produced, from 2021 production. The research is important for specialists in the field, in terms of the need to apply the corrections that must be made to flour in the technological process of baking, in order to obtain quality products. The main objective of this work was to improve the knowledge regarding the qualitative analysis of wheat and to improve the quality of flour by adding improvers in the field of the variability of the quality parameters of wheat, which is an annoying feature of the Romanian crops.
The aim of this study was to determine the heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) from honeys (acacia, sunflower, tilia, and polyfloral) from different counties (Suceava, Botosani, ...and Vaslui) of the northeast region of Romania. The data were analyzed using principal component analysis and linear discriminate analysis in order to achieve useful models for classification of honeys according to their botanical and geographical origin using the heavy metals content. The heavy metals content can be used as a suitable tool for the classification of honeys according to their botanical origin (80.8% were correctly classified), but not for the geographical origin (only 21.2% were correctly classified). None of the 10 heavy metals analyzed exceeded the maximum allowable level.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Introduction. The research aim is to determine effect of duration of dehulling, the barley size and moisture, the rotation speed of abrasive discs, the abrasive grit and the load factor of the ...dehuller on the dehulling index. Materials and methods. The dehulling was carried out in laboratory dehuller (model ULZ-1) at the rotation speed of abrasive discs of 29.6±0.015 s-1 (1775±0.9 rpm) and 42.3±0.013 s-1 (2540±0.8 rpm) and removing of barley husks and meal was conducted in the laboratory aspiration duct of 60 mm width. Results and discussion. The research has shown that the increase in the dehulling duration the weight of the barley loaded to the dehuller, the rotating rate of abrasive discs and the load coefficient of the dehuller working chamber leads to the dehulling index rise. There exists the non-linear dependence between the load coefficient of the dehuller working chamber with the minimum point of the dehulling index for the large fraction of barley 0.27–0.28 and for the small fraction of barley 0.24–0.25. The influence of the barley weight and the load coefficient of the working chamber of the dehuller on the dehulling index occurs according to the curvilinear dependence with the minimum point of the dehulling index for the large barley fraction of 0.27–0.28 and for the small barley fraction of 0.24–0.25. The increase in the processing duration and the load coefficient of the working chamber of the dehuller leads to the increase of the dehulling index, but at the same time the minimum point of the dehulling index decreases from 0.29 to 0.25. As the size of the barley grows, the dehulling index decreases. The gain in moisture of the barley leads to the decrease of the dehulling index according to the linear dependence for both large and small barley fractions. Moreover, the small fraction has the bigger values of the dehulling index than the large one. The moisture influence on the dehulling index has linear dependence for both large and small barley fractions. As moisture increases the dehulling index decreases linearly, but at the same time the large barley fraction had lower values of the dehulling index than the small one. The increase in abrasive discs grit leads to the dehulling index decrease according to the curvilinear dependence. At the grit of 80 the dehulling index gets the constant value and its change depends on the duration of processing. Conclusion. The influence of technological parameters of barley grain on the dehulling index has linear dependence, and machine parameters affect the dehulling index according to curvilinear dependency. These results must be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of dehulling and the development of the process model.
Significant long-term monitoring requires extensive research into the basic characteristics of forest biodiversity (composition, structure and function). This topic has been addressed by many ...researchers, but no data have been obtained on the dynamics and evolution of mineral accumulation in annual silver fir growth rings in areas with high pollution levels compared to unpolluted areas. The goal of this research was to develop a database on the level of concentrations of the mineral elements of the tree in the Tarnita area, Romania, accumulated over 60 years, including the period when the mining activity was intense, respectively, the period when the activity was significantly reduced. The results showed that there is a major change in the concentrations of the mineral elements studied (Ca, Mg, K, Na) in the case of trees in the heavily polluted area compared to trees in the unpolluted area.
The aim of this study was to determine the physico-chemical parameters glucose, fructose and sucrose content, pH, moisture content, a
w
, refraction index, Brix concentration, free acidity, ash ...content, electrical conductivity, colour parameters (L*, a*, b*, chroma, hue angle, yellow index) of five different honey types from Romania. The honey types were: acacia, sunflower, tilia, honeydew and polyfloral. For this study 50 samples of honey were used. The pH ranged between 3.88 and 6.39, a
w
ranged between 0.476 and 0.603, free acidity 3.40–37.10, moisture content 14.44–19.80%, electrical conductivity ranged between 109.9 and 1276.8 µS/cm, ash content 0.05–0.63%, L* 19.60–48.08, a* −1.96 to 7.68, b* 4.16–18.24, chroma 6.53–18.32, hue angle −13.44 to 17.01, yellow index 21.89–70.20, fructose content 33.64–47.31%, glucose 22.06–38.25%, sucrose 0–2.71%, and fructose and glucose contents sum 66.62–79.94%. The authentication of honeys was made using the Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Principal component analysis (PCA). According to the LDA, 94.00% of the honey was correctly classified using these physico-chemical parameters.
Among the main concerns of the researchers is the comparability of the analysis methods, in order to highlight possible errors. Several statistical approaches and graphical tools are available to ...investigate sources of analytical error and for decision-making. In this article, we present an operative protocol for the comparison of the precision for two laboratories with the same quantitative analytical methods. This paper describes the importance of achieving sequential stages, including experimental design, familiarization with the method of optimal research analysis, quality evaluation, selection of sample, definition of acceptability criteria. Sample measurement, data analysis and evaluation, final decision and reporting are also discussed and exemplified. The reason for performing a comparison experiment is to estimate the type and magnitude of systematic error between two laboratories with the same method and to judge if the two laboratories are identical within the inherent imprecision methods or within preset analytical quality specifications. Finally, the purpose was to check if same ranges of concentrations and fluxes of pollutants are obtained using the same methods of analysis, but in two different labs.
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