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This study had two major objectives: 1) to investigate the influence of a seven-month storage period on maize contamination with aflatoxins (AFs) and 2) to examine the distribution of total count of fungi (TCF), A. flavus and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in the stored maize kernels. In the first part of this survey, 700 maize samples were collected in the period from October 2012 to April 2013. Presence of AFs was detected in 72% of maize, before entering the silos. The survey results indicated that the percentage of contaminated maize samples as well as the distribution of determined AFs concentrations changed during the storage period of seven months. By the prolongation of storage period, the percentage of non-contaminated maize samples decreased from 28% to 16%, while the percentage of contaminated samples in the concentration range 20-50 µg/kg increased from 18% to 25%. In the second part of this study, 32 maize samples from four different silos were analysed. The results showed that TCF, A. flavus and AFB1 were unevenly distributed. According to Duncan's multiple range test, in each silo, statistically significant differences (p

Aromatic plants are one of the most important sources of biologically active secondary metabolites, which possess various antimicrobial characteristics. The aim of this work was to examine the effect of antifungal activities of mint and caraway essential oils against the selected fungi. Eight species of molds were selected for antifungal testing: Alternaria alternata, Aspegillus flavus, A. niger, A. versicolor, Eurotium herbariorum, Penicillium aurantiogriseum, P. chrysogenum and P. expansum. Testing of essential oils antifungal activity against the selected species was conducted using the disc diffusion method by adding mint and caraway essential oils (0.5, 1, 5, and 10 μl per disc). Antifungal activity of essential oils was expressed by the diameter of inhibition zone (mm). The most powerful effect of mint essential oil was recorded against E. herbariorum, as its growth was completely inhibited by the quantity of 5 μl. The weakest inhibitory effect was observed against P. chrysogenum (inhibition zone 13.67 mm) by the quantity of 10 μl. The most powerful antifungal activity of caraway was observed against E. herbariorum as growth was completely inhibited by the quantity of 10 μl. The weakest inhibitory effect was observed against A. niger (inhibition zone 28 mm) by the quantity of 10 μl. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 31029]

The aim of this work was to improve the quality of gluten-free bread made with high content of soy flour and enriched with sugar beet molasses by incorporating ingredients with a potential to simultaneously enhance the nutritional quality of the breads. The following ingredients were used: pea protein isolate, pea fibre and chia seeds. The chosen ingredients exerted positive effects on bread quality. They promoted volume increase and crumb softening. In this respect, the most effective ingredients were pea protein isolate (at 1% supplementation level), pea fibre (at up to 2% supplementation level) and chia seeds (at 1% supplementation level). The sensory analysis revealed that pea fibre and chia addition at 1 and 2% supplementation level provided bread with higher scores regarding overall acceptance, crumb texture and taste. At 1% supplementation level, there was not found statistically significant difference in sensory attributes of bread supplemented with pea protein isolate in comparison to the control. However, pea protein isolate was found to strongly diminish bread taste at 4% supplementation level due to presence of beany taste.

According to the nutritive characteristics, whole grain flour is a high quality product, due to its high vitamin, mineral, and dietary fiber content. However, the cereal grains are susceptible to the series of contamination during the ripening, harvesting, processing and storage. The aim of this work was to determine mold presence in grains and flour of wheat, corn and buckwheat. The determination of total number and identification of isolated genera and species of molds were the subject of this research. All samples were contaminated with the molds. The total number of molds per 100 cereal grains was between 60 cfu (wheat) and 120 cfu (buckwheat). The total number of molds in the samples of flour ranged from 6.0x101 cfu/g in white wheat flour to 5.0 x102 cfu/g in buckwheat whole grain flour (DG18 medium). Eight fungal genera (Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Chrysonilia, Fusarium, Penicillium, Rhizopus and Scopulariopsis) and fifteen species were isolated. The largest number of species of molds was isolated from the genus Aspergillus. About 66.7% of isolated fungi belonged to potentially toxigenic species. The results pointed out the necessity of grain surface treatment, preceding the milling of grains in wheat, corn and whole grain buckwheat flour production.

Molasses is an important by-product of sugar beet or sugar cane refining industry and it was one of the first sweeteners used in human nutrition. Sugar cane molasses has unique characteristics that can make it suitable for application in food industry, especially in confectionery and bakery products. On the other hand, sugar beet molasses has not had greater application in the human diet, primarily because of its strong smell and taste of the beet, which makes it unattractive for consumption. Since recent investigations showed that sugar beet molasses can be used as a hypertonic solution in osmotic dehydration of different materials of plant and animal origin, the objective of this work was to review recently studied sugar beet molasses in terms of its applications in osmotic dehydrations of fruits and vegetables. Previous studies showed that sugar beet molasses is an excellent medium for osmotic dehydration of fruits and vegetables (apple, carrot, plum, etc.) primarily due to a high content of dry matter (80%, w/w) and specific nutrient content. An important advantage of using sugar beet molasses as a hypertonic solution is an enrichment of the dehydrated material in minerals and vitamins, which penetrate from molasses into the plant tissue. Concentration of sugar beet molasses solution and immersion time had the biggest influence on the process of osmotic dehydration of fruit and vegetables, while the temperature of the solution was the least influential parameter. The effect of immersion time on the kinetics of osmotic dehydration in sugar beet molasses increases with an increase in concentration of hypertonic solution. Fruit and vegetables dehydrated in sugar beet molasses had a higher dry matter content compared to samples treated in sucrose solutions. Besides, application of sugar beet molasses in osmotic dehydration of fruits and vegetables had some other advantages such as lower cost of molasses compared to sugar and its liquid aggregate state. Molasses caused darkening of osmotically treated materials due to transfer of colouring compounds (melanoidins) from molasses solution to plant tissue. The intensity of this darkening depended on immersion time and concentration of molasses solution. An increasing trend in tissue firmness observed in dehydrated samples after 1 h of immersion was proportional to the concentration of molasses solution.

The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of raw milk from Domestic Balkan donkey breed toward Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. Examination of antibacterial activity was performed in artificially contaminated milk samples by monitoring the changes of count of viable cells of tested bacteria during 8 hours of incubation at 38°C. Lysozyme and fatty acids contents were also determined in donkey milk. The obtained results indicated inhibitory effect of donkey milk toward both tested bacteria. The lysozyme content in the analyzed milk samples was ranged from 0.67 to 3.54 g/L. The most abundant fatty acids with known antibacterial activity toward Gram positive bacteria were linoleic, lauric and oleic acid.

Different working temperatures were tested in order to confirm their effects on the quality of fish after osmotic dehydration. Microbiological profile and chemical content in fish were investigated, before and after osmotic treatment in sugar beet molasses solutions. Based on results it was concluded that molasses as hypertonic solution had great influence on the quality of the final product. The fat content decreased by 1.5% in sugar beet molasses solution at different temperatures (20°C and 50°C). The average percentages of fish sugar showed a significant increase during osmotic dehydration at the two temperatures. Osmotic dehydration treatment had great impact on nutritional improvement of fish meat, especially on the mineral composition. Results indicated that the process of osmotic dehydration with sugar beet molasses is hygienically safe. Using sugar beet molasses as an alternative medium in osmotic dehydration opens new opportunities for innovation in dehydrated products.

Blueberry pomace, by-product of juice production, was processed into a new food ingredient by drying and grinding and used for a new gluten-free cookies' formulation, with the aim of improving nutritional profile and antioxidant capacity. Since duration and temperature at which dough is thermally treated during baking highly influence the quality of a baked product, the objective of this work was to optimise the baking conditions in order to obtain the best technological quality of the cookies. Referring to the results obtained at 160 and 170 °C and different baking times, the following was found: the difference in baking conditions caused variation between cookies' diameters of less than 1%, more regular shape of the cookies was obtained when baking time was shorter, hardness of cookies is highly correlated with moisture content, water activity, baking loss and short/long diameter ratio values. The colour characteristics (L*, a* and b*) of cookies' top and bottom surfaces indicated that the cookies were not overbaked under the chosen baking conditions. Baking time of 14 min at 170°C was found to be the optimal baking conditions for the blueberry pomace enriched gluten-free cookies.

An inhibitory effect of various concentrations (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2,0%) of mint (Mentha piperita L.) and caraway (Carvum carvi L.) on the growth of A. fumigatus, A. flavus and A. ochraceus was examined during 10 days of cultivation in YES medium at temperature of 25°C. Mint showed stronger inhibitory effect than caraway. Total dry weight (g/l) after 10 days of the growth of A. fumigatus in YES medium with 0.5% of mint decreased by about 95%, A. flavus by 97% and A. ochraceus by about 82%. Addition of higher concentrations of mint (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%) reduced the growth of all tested species. It was poor and hardly visible. pH values of the media increased with the increase of mint concentrations. A. fumigatus showed the highest sensitivity towards caraway and A. flavus the lowest. Total dry weight (g/l) after 10 days of growth of A. fumigatus in medium with 0.5% of caraway decreased by about 72% in comparison to the control. In media with higher concentrations of caraway, its growth was found to be very poor. Concentration of 1.0% of caraway reduced A. flavus growth by 15% and of 1.5% by 92%, in regard to the control. In medium with 2.0% of caraway the growth of A. flavus was observed as poor and hardly visible. The growth of A. ochraceus in medium with 0.5% of caraway decreased by about 85% comparing with control and further decrease was noticed by the increase of concentrations. In medium with 1.5% of caraway a reduction of about 95% of growth was found and under 2.0% of caraway it was poor. pH of the media also increased with the increase of caraway concentrations. Applied concentrations of mint and caraway inhibited completely the production of AB1 by A. flavus.

Results of this paper show share of aflatoxigenic moulds from genera Aspergillus and Penicillium in mycopopulations isolated from spices that are often used in meat processing (ground pepper, dried peppercorn, paprika powder, caraway and laurel). Using standard mycological methods, it has been found that all the examined samples were contaminated by Aspergillus species, and further 50% by Penicillium species. Additionally, aflatoxigenic moulds A. flavus and A. niger were found to be present. A. flavus was present with 60% in the samples of dried peppercorn 2; paprika powder 2, while its frequencies in ground pepper 1 and laurel were 50% and 28,5%. respectively. A. niger made up 50% of all the isolates of Aspergillus and Penicillium species, isolated from paprika powder 1, although its share in the samples of laurel, paprika powder 2 and ground pepper 1 was 43%, 20% and 10% respectively.