Wheat breeding programmes often harbour large number of developed progenies. Testing of all progenies in many target environments is not considered cost‐effective, so the genomic predictions are ...employed. Genomic predictions might be enhanced with adaptational traits given the cost‐effectiveness of their phenotyping. The aim of this study was to assess effectiveness of adding a priori available phenotyping data of adaptational morpho‐physiological traits to genomic predictions in Bayesian framework. The panel of 120 winter wheat genotypes was sown over four growing seasons (2013/2014–2016/2017) in field conditions in two replicates and phenotyped for target traits grain yield and plant height along with nine distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) traits. Five genotype groups were defined by the K‐means clustering method based on nine DUS traits. DUS traits were used as fixed covariates in five different genomic prediction models with different assumptions about the distribution densities of marker effects: Bayes A, Bayes B, Bayes C, Bayesian ridge regression and Bayesian lasso. Adding DUS traits as covariates significantly improved accuracies and reduced the root mean square errors (RMSEP) of genomic predictions. Marginal differences between different models were observed. Adding covariates to genomic prediction models might be good strategy to improve accuracies of the predictions by accounting for environmental adaptations, provided their a priori availability or low costs of additional phenotyping.
Models fitting the genomewide markers have been proved as efficient tool for performance predictions. These genomic prediction models can be enhanced by adding the DUS traits, available in most breeding programs as covariates into the DUS‐enhanced genomic prediction models at the same cost.
Global climate changes have caused a significant weather oscillation. The objectives of this study were to determine the influence of weather conditions on the association of soybean seed yield and ...yield components, to find out the magnitude and effect of each component and their reaction to environmental stress. Seventy-four soybean varieties from nine geographical origins were studied during two seasons (2015 with less rainfall and increased temperatures and 2016 with increased humidity and moderate temperatures) at the Croatian Centre for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in Osijek, Croatia. Correlation and path analysis were used to examine the association of the studied traits. The variance analysis revealed significant (P<0.01) effect of genotype, year and their interactions on all examined traits. During both seasons the seed yield was in significant and positive correlation with seed number per plant, pods number per plant, seed number per pod and 1,000-seed weight. All the traits mentioned had a stronger correlation with the yield in the dry 2015 compared to the year 2016. The seed number per plant had the highest correlation coefficients and a high and positive direct effect on seed yield in both years. Therefore, the selection of high yielding genotypes based on this trait can be done directly regardless of the variable weather conditions. The hierarchical clustering of varieties resulted in eight clusters in both years, confirming high genetic variability of the examined varieties. In 2016 one cluster that mainly consisted of varieties typical for the breeding programs of this region was singled out.
The aim of this study was to develop a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of acrylamide and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in corn snack ...products enriched with food industry by-products: brewer's spent grain (BSG), sugar beet pulp (SBP) and apple pomace (AP). Development of the method included the study of different sources for ionization, different mobile phases, different extraction conditions as well as different methods of sample preparation. Finally, the single LC-MS/MS method was developed for the analysis of both analytes in one step with a duration of 20 min using a simple single-step extraction. The method with apparent recoveries of 91.4 and 90.4 for acrylamide and HMF, respectively, was applied for the analysis of non-extruded and extruded samples. The obtained results shown that the acrylamide content was <LOD (limit of detection) for all raw materials and non-extruded mixtures, while HMF increased proportionally to the content of added by-products in the mixtures. After the extrusion process, quantification of the acrylamide could be done in all samples. A higher amount of by-products entails higher contents of acrylamide and HMF, with the most significant effect in AP extrudates, where the highest content of HMF (6069 ± 789 ng/g) and acrylamide (5.37 ± 0.50 ng/g) in samples with 15% AP was observed.
Pšenična trava predstavlja biljke pšenice u ranim stadijima uzgoja prije ulaska u fazu vlatanja. Zbog visoke koncentracije minerala, vitamina, enzima, klorofila i bioflavonoida, pšenična trava se ...koristi kao prirodni dodatak prehrani. Iako se može konzumirati u obliku praha i tableta, često se konzumira u obliku svježega soka, te ju stoga ljudi uzgajaju u kućanstvima. Veliki je problem u takvome uzgoju pojava i razvoj plijesni na supstratu i biljkama. Cilj istraživanja bio je ispitati razlike između površinske dezinfekcije sjemena te vrste i dezinfekcije podloge (bez podloge, kvarcni pijesak dezinficiran i nedezinficiran i Brillov supstrat dezinficiran i nedezinficiran) na pojavu plijesni, broj i masu biljaka (g) i količinu dobivenoga soka (ml) u dvije sorte pšenice (Ilirija i Katarina). Metode površinske dezinfekcije sjemena i dezinfekcije supstrata, koje su ispitivane u provedenome istraživanju, moguće je primijeniti u kućanstvu. Najveći broj biljaka i masa biljaka utvrđene su na Brill supstratu, neovisno o sorti. Između mase biljaka i količine dobivenoga soka utvrđena je pozitivna korelacija (r=0,98; p<0,01). Prosječna količina soka za sortu Iliriju bila je 7,85±2,93 ml, a za sortu Katarinu 5,08±2,21 ml. Najveća pojava i razvoj plijesni utvrđeni su pri uzgoju pšenične trave bez podloge. Na ispitivane parametre najveći utjecaj imali su sorta i podloga.
Wheatgrass represents wheat plants in the early stage of development, prior to the jointing stage. Due to its high concentration of minerals, vitamins, enzymes, chlorophyll, and bioflavonoids, wheatgrass is commonly used as a natural dietary supplement. Although it can be consumed in the form of powder or tablets, it is often consumed in the form of fresh juice, which is why wheatgrass is grown in households. The main problem in such cultivation is the occurrence of mildew on plants and substrate. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the differences in surface disinfection of seeds and the type and disinfection of substrate (no substrate, disinfected/non-disinfected quartz sand and disinfected/non-disinfected Brill substrate) on the incidence of mildew, the number of plants, plant weight (g) and the amount of juice obtained (ml) in two wheat cultivars (Ilirija and Katarina). The methods of seed-surface disinfection and substrate disinfection tested in this research can be applied in households. The highest number of plants per pot and highest average plant weight were determined on Brill substrate, regardless of wheat cultivar. A positive correlation was found between plant weight and the amount of juice obtained (r=0.98; p<0.01). An average amount of juice for cultivar Ilirija was 7.85±2.93 ml, while cultivar Katarina had an average of 5.08±2.21 ml of juice. The highest incidence of mildew was detected in wheatgrass cultivation without substrate. The obtained results indicate that the examined traits are under the strongest influence of cultivar and the type of substrate.
Although most of the existing tomato cuitivars have been developed by conventional breeding, numerous problems that occur during the breeding process have led to the development and application of ...new technologies in plant breeding. Certainly one of the most important is molecular markers technology, which might have an important role in increasing the efficiency of breeding process. Because of its simple genetic structure, tomato is one of the most studied species of the family Solanaceae, and one of the first culture for which molecular markers and maps have been developed. Tomato has one of the most detailed genetic maps and it is almost impossible to determine the exact number of genes/QTLs that have been mapped on tomato chromosomes. Certainly the most widespread application of molecular markers in tomato breeding is the genetic control of pathogens.
The translocation between the short arm of chromosome 1R of rye and the long arm of chromosome 1A, 1B or 1D of wheat represents practically the most common introduced foreign genes into the genome of ...hexaploid wheat. 1RS chromosome arm represents a source of different useful genes, associated with increased disease resistance, improved adaptability, stress tolerance, and increased stability and level of yield. On the other hand, translocation is associated with poor technological quality of wheat as a result of the presence of secalin and reduced number of gluten loci. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of 1RS translocation among some Croatian winter wheat varieties using molecular markers. The study included 40 varieties of which 23 Croatian. Four pairs of primers: RIS, SCM9, RYE-NOR and PAW161 were used for determination of translocation. The presence of translocation was determined in 12 of 40 (30%) varieties, while among the Croatian wheat varieties translocation had 8 of 23 (34.78%) varieties (Zlatna Dolina, Barbara, Nova Žitarka, Marija, Prima, Kuna, Koleda and Dea).
The addition of brewer's spent grain (BSG), sugar beet pulp (SBP) and apple pomace (AP), on the nutritional properties of directly expanded snack products based on corn grits was investigated. Snack ...products were produced in a laboratory single screw extruder with the addition of 5, 10 and 15% d. m. of these by-products in corn grits. Chemical composition, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, dietary fiber, resistant starch, starch damage and pasting properties of the mixtures and extruded samples were determined. Extrusion process and by-product additions had a significant effect on the proximate chemical composition. All three by-products increased contents of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber, while the extrusion caused a reduction of insoluble fiber and increase of soluble fiber. After the extrusion process starch damage and antioxidant activity increased, while resistant starch content and total polyphenol content decreased. According to obtained results, it can be concluded that the investigated by-products can be used in the production of nutritionally more valuable corn snacks.
The aim of this research was to enrich extruded snack with cocoa husks. It was added to corn grits in 5%, 10%, and 15% d. m., the moisture was set to 15%, and the prepared samples were extruded in a ...laboratory single screw extruder at 135/170/170°C, with 4 a mm‐round die and a screw with the compression ratio of 4:1. Physical properties, resistant starch (AOAC 2002.02), starch damage (AACC 76‐31), polyphenol content (Folin‐Ciocalteau), and antioxidant activity (DPPH) were determined. Although the addition of cocoa husk resulted in harder, darker snacks with increased retrogradation tendency, these properties were still in the acceptable range. Resistant starch, polyphenol content and antioxidant activity of the flips increased proportionally with the addition of cocoa husks, while starch damage slightly decreased, indicating that cocoa husk may be successfully employed as an agent for the fortification of nutrients.
Practical applications
The practical application of the research is dual. On one hand, chocolate industry has opened new way to exploit its by‐product (cocoa husk), which is much better than as use as feed (theobromine has to be removed for this purpose) or mulch (lack of husk is that is light and has to be used in large quantities, which may affect soil properties). On the other hand, snack industry has gain insight into how to improve nutritional properties of the products that are calorie dense and nutritionally very poor.