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Soil water characteristic (SWC) is an important hydraulic property. Changes in plant diversity in arid and semi-arid grassland ecosystems are closely related to soil moisture. The main objective of this study was to measure the SWC of Calcomelanosols (Leptosol and Phaeozems) under grassland vegetation in Eastern Serbia (Mts. Rtanj, Devica and Ozren). A total of ten representative soil profiles were excavated, described and sampled. Soil saturated water content (SSWC), field water capacity (FWC) and wilting point (WP) were measured at pressures of 0.0 kPa, -33 kPa and -1500 kPa, respectively. The plant available water capacity (AWC) and the water storage capacity (WSC) were calculated. The saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) was measured using the falling water head test. The basic physical and chemical soil properties were determined by common methods. The average SSWC value was high (71.8±2.97%). The FWC showed high values (exceeding 35%) and the WP was estimated as relatively high (exceeding 23.1%). AWC values ranged from 8.09 to 11.9% (average 9.98±1.43%). Shallower soil depth mainly caused low to moderate soil WSC. The Ksat ranged from 21.1 cm h−1 to 66.5 cm h−1 (average 46.0±16.03 cm h−1). The Ksat measurements showed that the soils in the study area belonged to the high and very high classes. SWC showed a significant (p<0.05) correlation with the following soil parameters: depth, texture, structure, humus and CEC. The investigated soils are primarily characterized by a lower WSC, which is mainly influenced by the shallower soil depth. Nevertheless, the species richness was not affected by the moderate SWC, and the grassland vegetation, corresponding to the Festucion valesiacae and Saturejion montanae alliances, is characterized by exceptional species diversity at the study sites.

Alchemilla vulgaris L. (lady’s mantle) was used for centuries in Europe and Balkan countries for treatments of numerous conditions and diseases of the reproductive system, yet some of the biological activities of lady’s mantle have been poorly studied and neglected. The present study aimed to estimate the potential of A. vulgaris ethanolic extract from Southeast Serbia to prevent and suppress tumor development in vitro, validated by antioxidant, genoprotective, and cytotoxic properties. A total of 45 compounds were detected by UHPLC–HRMS analysis in A. vulgaris ethanolic extract. Measurement of antioxidant activity revealed the significant potential of the tested extract to scavenge free radicals. In addition, the analysis of micronuclei showed an in vitro protective effect on chromosome aberrations in peripheral human lymphocytes. A. vulgaris extract strongly suppressed the growth of human cell lines derived from different types of tumors (MCF-7, A375, A549, and HCT116). The observed antitumor effect is realized through the blockade of cell division, caspase-dependent apoptosis, and autophagic cell death. Our study has shown that Alchemilla vulgaris L. is a valuable source of bioactive compounds able to protect the subcellular structure from damage, thus preventing tumorigenesis as well as suppressing tumor cell growth. © 2022 by the authors.

Essential oils (EOs) are complex mixtures of volatile and semivolatile compounds (aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and esters) obtained usually by hydro-distillation from the dry or fresh plant material (seeds, leaves, stems, bark or wood) [1]. Most of the EOs are used in aroma therapy, plant protection (as pesticide), food industry (as food preservatives), perfume industry etc. Because of high demand, EOs are often counterfeited and the quality of EOs is usually controlled by gas chromatography. The aim of this paper is to analyze Origanum oil and its counterfeits by Raman spectroscopy. As an adulterant sunflower oil was used. Adulterated essential oils contained 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 % of sunflower oil. Raman spectra of pure Origano oil and its counterfeits were measured by Witec R300 system equipped with 532 nm laser. Visual inspection of raw spectra led to conclusion that band at 2851 cm-1 is a marker for sunflower oil presence in Origanum oil. However, this band was obvious only when concentration of sunflower oil is higher than, or equal to 10% and could not be seen in lower concentration. In order to reveal presence of this this band in lower concentration, region between 2800 and 3000 cm-1 was subjected to derivatization and then smoothing. Results displayed that Raman spectroscopy in combination with mathematical transformation of spectra can reveal small concentration of unwanted adulterant in Origanum oil.

This study investigates the effects of ultrasound, in combination with chemical pretreatments, on the quality attributes (total phenolic and carotenoid content, antioxidant activity (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay (DPPH)), ferric-reducing ability (FRAP), CIE L* a* b* color, non-enzymatic browning, rehydration ratio, textural and morphological properties) of red pepper subjected to drying (hot air drying or freeze drying). The fractional factorial design was used to assess the impact of factors. The global Derringer desirability function was used to determine the optimal conditions for the best quality attributes of dried pepper. The drying method influenced total phenolic content, a* (redness), and initial rehydration ratio; pretreatment time significantly affected FRAP antiradical activity, a*, chroma and non-browning index, while pH-value had a significant effect on the texture of dried pepper. Non-enzymatic browning was reduced to 72.6%, while the DPPH antioxidant capacity of freeze-dried peppers was enhanced from 4.2% to 71.9%. Ultrasonic pretreatment led to changes in the pepper morphology, while potassium metabisulfite (KMS) was a more effective additive than citric acid.

Sodium alginate is one of the most interesting and the most investigated and applied biopolymers due to its advantageous properties. Among them, easy, simple, mild, rapid, non-toxic gelation by divalent cations is the most important. In addition, it is abundant, low-cost, eco-friendly, bio-compatible, bio-adhesive, biodegradable, stable, etc. All those properties were systematically considered within this review. Carotenoids are functional components in the human diet with plenty of health benefits. However, their sensitivity to environmental and process stresses, chemical instability, easy oxidation, low water solubility, and bioavailability limit their food and pharmaceutical applications. Encapsulation may help in overcoming these limitations and within this review, the role of alginate-based encapsulation systems in improving the stability and bioavailability of carotenoids is explored. It may be concluded that all alginate-based systems increase carotenoid stability, but only those of micro- and nano-size, as well as emulsion-based, may improve their low bioaccessibility. In addition, the incorporation of other biopolymers may further improve encapsulation system properties. Furthermore, the main techniques for evaluating the encapsulation are briefly considered. This review critically and profoundly explains the role of alginates in improving the encapsulation process of carotenoids, suggesting the best alternatives for those systems. Moreover, it provides a comprehensive cover of recent advances in this field.

This study represents a comparative analysis of secondary metabolites content, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity of 24 halophytes from coastal saline habitats of the Balkan Peninsula (Montenegro, Albania, and Greece). Total content of phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, anthocyanins, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity was determined for dry methanolic (DME) and crude water extracts (CWE) and compared with well-known medicinal plants. The total phenolic content ranged from 13.23 to 376.08 mg of GA/g of DME, and from 33.68 to 511.10 mg/mL of CWE. The content of flavonoids ranged from 12.63 to 77.36 mg of RU/g of DME, and from 12.13 to 26.35 mg/mL of CWE. Total tannins and anthocyanins varied from 0.05 to 2.44 mg/mL, and from 1.31 to 39.81 µg/L, respectively. The antioxidant activity ranged from 1147.68 to 15.02 µg/mL for DME and from 1613.05 to 21.96 µg/mL for CWE. The best antioxidant properties, and the highest content of phenolic compounds, were determined for Polygonum maritimum and Limonium vulgare with values similar to or higher compared to the medicinal plants. Halophytes with significant antimicrobial potential were Limonium vulgare, L. angustifolium, and Artemisia maritima. Some of the analyzed coastal halophytes can be considered rich natural sources of phenolic compounds, with favorable antioxidative and antimicrobial properties. © 2023 by the authors.

Essential oils (EOs) and their main constituents, the terpenes, are widely studied, mostly relating to their antioxidant ability and bioactivity, such as antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and range of other actions in the living systems. However, there is limited information on their bioavailability, especially upon clinical studies. Having in mind both strong biological effects and health benefits of EOs and their specific physicochemical properties (volatility, lipophilic character, low water solubility or insolubility, viscosity, expressed odor, concentration-dependent toxicity, etc.), there is a need for their encapsulation for target delivery. Encapsulation of EOs and their constituents is the prerequisite for enhancing their oxidative stability, thermostability, photostability, shelf life, and biological activity. We considered various carrier types such a (1) monophase and polyphase polysaccharide hydrogel carriers, (2) polysaccharide-protein carriers, and (3) lipid carriers in the context of physicochemical and engineering factors. Physicochemical factors are encapsulation efficiency, chemical stability under gastric conditions, mechanical stability, and thermal stability of carrier matrices. Choice of carrier material also determines the encapsulation technique. Consequently, the engineering factors are related to the advantage and disadvantage of various encapsulation techniques frequently used in the literature. In addition, it was intended to address the interactions between (1) main carrier components, such as polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids themselves (in order to form chemically and mechanically stable structure); (2) main carrier components with pepsin under gastric conditions (in order to form resistant material under gastric conditions); and (3) main carrier components with EOs (in order to enhance encapsulation efficiency), as a necessary precondition for whole process optimization. Finally, different sources for obtaining natura

Preporučena agrotehnička mera koje se izvodi neposredno pred setvu soje (Glicine max L.) je inokulacija semena azotofiksirajućim bakterijama. Izvođenje eksperimenta imalo je za cilj ispitivanje uticaja faktora inokulacije i faktora genotipa na morfološke osobine, prinos i sadržaj primarnih metabolita zrna. Ispitivane su tri domaće sorte soje (Apolo, Gorštak i Trijumf), na parceli na kojoj je u plodoredu gajena soja, na zemljištu tipa černozem, na oglednom polju Instituta “Tamiš” - Pančevo. Proučavane su sledeće morfloške osobine i parametri prinosa: visina biljke, broj bočnih grana, broj spratova, visina biljke do prve mahune, broj mahuna po biljci, masa mahuna sa zrnom po biljci, masa zrna po biljci i prinos zrna po hektaru. Sadržaj ulja, azota i proteina, određen je standardnim analitičkim metodama. Inokulacija semena statistički je značajno uticala na visinu biljke do prve mahune, dok na ostale morfološke osobine i parametre prinosa inokulacija nije imala statistički značajan uticaj. Na sadržaj ulja, azota i proteina inokulacija nije delovala statistički značajno. Za većinu ispitivanih parametara, bio je značajan efekat genotipa. Prosečan prinos biljaka inokulisanog semena (1250 kg ha-1) i neinokulisanog semena (1230 kg ha-1) bio je daleko manji u odnosu na višegodišnji prosek, zbog značajno nižih količina atmosferskih padavina u odnosu na višegodišnji prosek i visokih prosečnih temperatura vazduha tokom vegetacionog perioda., Recommended agrotechnical measure that is performed immediately before sowing of soybean is the inoculation of grain with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The purpose of the experiment was to examine the influence of inoculation and variety on morphological characteristics, yield and content of primary grain metabolites. Three domestic soybean cultivars (Apollo, Gorštak and Trijumf) were examined on the plot on which soybeans were previously grown, on chernozem-type land, at the experimental field of the Tamiš Pancevo Institute. The following morphological characteristics and yield parameters were studied: plant height, number of side branches, number of nodes, plant height to the first pod, number of pods per plant, the mass of pods per grain per plant, grain weight per plant and grain yield per hectare. The content of oil, nitrogen and protein was determined by standard analytical methods. Inoculation had a statistically significant effect on the morphological trait of plant height up to the first pod, while inoculation had no statistically significant impact on other morphological traits and yield parameters. Inoculation did not have a statistically significant effect on oil, nitrogen and protein content. For most of the examined parameters, the effect of genotype was observed. The average yield of plants of inoculated seed (1250 kg ha-1) and non-inoculated seed (1230 kg ha-1) was far lower than the multi-year average, due to significantly lower precipitation compared to the multi-year average and high average air temperatures during the growing season.

Continental halophytic grasslands are known for performing of range of ecosystem services especially remarkable in the regions where they are much distributed – in arid and semi-arid areas. Continental halophytic grasslands of the Central and South-East Europe are not considered as favourable for arable farming, however, traditional animal husbandry plays a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and preserving these natural habitats. The particular interest of this study is the assessment of the chemical composition of biomass and the quality of insufficiently studied halophytic grassland communities of the central Balkans. In addition, the differences in pastoral value were monitored along the geographical gradient, i.e., between grasslands situated in the Pannonian plain (grasslands of Alliance Puccinellion limosae) and those distributed on the south Serbia (Alliance Festucion pseudovinae). The study was carried out at 18 representative sites, focusing on the saline grasslands of the two distinct regions – on the north and on the south of Serbia. The obtained results show that the halophytic grasslands have satisfying quality characteristics (average values: dry matter - 93.67%, crude protein - 8.66%, cellulose - 30.36%, crude fat - 2.27%) compared with other studied grasslands of saline habitats. There were no significant differences in quality and chemical composition of grasslands of the two regions, despite differences in floristic composition, indicating that salinity is the key determinant for pastoral value of the halophytic vegetation. The certain variations were attributed to the specific floristic composition related to ecological conditions and halophytic community characteristics.

Five Balkan paprika varieties at physiological maturity were investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy in order to discriminate the differences which stemmed from their genetic variability since the plants were grown under the same experimental conditions. The spectra were obtained using the 532 nm wavelength. In an effort to find the best classification power, several pre-processing methods were applied: 1) baseline correction, unit vector normalization; 2) baseline correction, unit vector normalization and first Savitzky-Golay derivative; 3) baseline correction, unit vector normalization and second Savitzky-Golay derivative; 4) baseline correction, unit vector normalization and third Savitzky-Golay derivative. All of the pre-processing methods were followed by making PCA-LDA (Principal Component Analysis-Linear Discriminant Analysis), QDA (Quadratic Discriminant Analysis), and PLS-DA (Partial Least Square - Discriminant Analysis) classification models. QDA showed the best discrimination power (83.87–100% and 89.47–100% for the training and the test data, respectively), then PCA-LDA (0.00–100 and 0.00–100% for the training and the test data, respectively) and PLS-DA (19.35–100% and 0.00–100.00% for the training and the test data, respectively). The results pointed out the applicability of chemometric modeling associated with Raman spectroscopy in the assessment of nutritionally similar samples, such as the studied red paprika varieties.

INTRODUCTION: Viscum album L. (Loranthaceae Juss.) is semi-parasitic evergreen shrub distributed in Europe, northwestern part of Africa and Anatolia. The species is hosted by different woody gymnosperm and angiosperm species and it is known that host preference usually reflects in differences in morphological traits and possibly in phytochemical composition. Therefore, there are different subspecies, out of three subspecies (V. album subsp. abietis (Wiesb.) Janchen, subsp. creticum N. Böhling & al. and subsp. austriacum (Wiesb.) Vollm.) occur most frequently on conifers while subsp. album is confined to deciduous host trees and shrubs. In addition to religious and mystical uses, the mistletoe is used in the folk medicine for circulatory and respiratory disorders and as an anticancer remedy. OBJECTIVES: The main object of this research was to examine and compare biological materials obtained from two different subspecies of V. album (V. album subsp. abietis labeled as S1 and V. album subsp. album labeled as S2 sample) as potential source of the total phenolics, total flavonoids and total dihydroxycinnamic acid derivatives. For that purpose the ethanolic extracts were prepared and were analyzed for their antioxidant properties. METHOD / DESIGN: Extraction of plant material (shoot) was performed using 70% ethanol. The content of selected phytochemicals was determined by application of the standard spectrophotometric methods: Folin-Ciocalteu (total phenolics, TPC), aluminum chloride (total flavonoids, TFC) and Arnow’s (total dihydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, HCA) and expressed as mg/g equivalents of gallic acid (GAE), quercetin (QE) and chlorogenic acid (CGAE) calculated on fresh weight (F.W.) of sample respectively. For determination of antioxidant properties the following in vitro assays were used: total antioxidant capacity (TAC) determined via phosphomollybdenum test, ferric reducing power (FRP) and cupric reducing antioxidant activity (CUPRAC) as well as DPPH rad

Carotenoids represent a large group of mainly red, orange, and yellow natural metabolites mainly involved in regulation of many metabolic processes. Carotenoids are beneficial for human health. Current study describes the importance, chemical composition and functioning of carotenoids. It is well known that carotenoids support pigments acting in light absorbance mechanisms during photosynthesis, and are known to protect the chlorophyll molecules from oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage. Carotenoids are involved in signaling processes in plants, responses to environmental stresses, pollination, germination and reproduction, and development regulation. As nutrients of strong antioxidant activity that is primarily linked to their polyene molecular structure, the carotenoids are reported as immune-enhancement and anticancer agents, which are also involved in prevention of eye-, gastric and neurocognitive disorders, and in regulation of obesity and anti-ageing. Concern-ing the wide prospective applications of carotenoids as pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, there are some critical aspects associated with carotenoids’ bioavailability and challenges in their bioengineering. This mostly refers to the needs for identification and cloning of genes responsible for carotenoid biosynthesis and transformation and related development of transgenic carotenoid-rich crops. In the recent years, technologies of micro-and nanoencapsulation have addressed the needs of carotenoid entrapping to enhance their bioavailability, solubility and chemical stability, and to ensure the target delivery and manifestation of their strong antioxidant and other biological activity. Among standard and some advanced analytic tools for carotenoid determination (e.g., High performance liquid chromatography-HPLC, Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry-LC-MS, Ultra high performance liquid chromatography-UHPLC, High-performance thin-layer chromatography-HPTLC and others), the vibration

INTRODUCTION: According to Codex Alimentarius (2001), “Honey is the natural sweet substance, produced by honeybees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants, or excretions of plant-sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and leave in honeycombs to ripen and mature”. Honey is mostly made up of sugars, as well as enzymes, amino acids, organic acids, vitamins, aromatic compounds, minerals and carotenoids. It contains a lot of flavonoids and phenolic acids, which have a lot of biological effects and functions such as natural antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Its composition is particularly variable, depending on its botanical and geographical origins Because of its exclusive flavor and high dietary value, natural honey is more expensive than other sweeteners. This is the reason why honey is a target of adulteration. The problem is that counterfeiting honey is relatively easy, but detection is difficult. Further, the authenticity of honey is a global important problem for commercial producers and consumers. Accordingly, a fast and non-destructive method of detecting counterfeits is needed. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this paper is to verify the possibility of Raman spectroscopy and Support Vector Machine (SVM) for classification of two different honeys and their fake duplicates. For this purpose, meadow and acacia honeys were selected. METHOD / DESIGN: Spectra of homemade and counterfeits honey were recorded using XploRA Raman spectrometer (Horiba Jobin Yvon). Raman scattering was excited by laser at a wavelength of 785 nm equipped with a 600 lines/mm grating; spectra were recorded by applying exposure time 10 s and accumulated from 10 times scans, using 100% filter. Spectral resolution was 3 cm−1 and autocalibration was done each time before recording of spectra by 520.47 cm−1 line of silicon. In order