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Anthracnose disease can be successfully controlled by chemical pesticides in conventional fruit growing. However, in organic farming, in order to maintain environmental safety and fulfill consumer demand for pesticide-free food, the control of this disease is a major problem. The use of biocontrol agents with the antagonistic mechanism of control of many phytopathogens is an innovative alternative for cost-effective and eco-friendly production. The antagonistic activities of Trichoderma viride and Bacillus subtilis were tested in vitro against Colletotrichum acutatum, one of major plant pathogens responsible for anthracnose. The microbial antagonists inhibited mycelial growth in the dual culture. T. viride exhibited strong antagonism against C. acutatum isolates (80%). The B. subtilis isolate also had a strong effect on inhibiting the development of C. acutatum (37.5%). The results of this study identified T. viride and B. subtilis as promising biological control agents for further testing against anthracnose disease in fruits.

Blackberry (Rubus subgen. Rubus Watson) cultivar 'Čačanska Bestrna' has long been the most commonly grown blackberry cultivar in the Republic of Serbia, owing to its high adaptability to respective agro-environmental conditions. In recent years, in order to increase the production of biologically valuable food, the fruit growing technology has been directed towards the concepts of integral and organic production. Blackberry grey mould (Botrytis cinerea Pers.) is an economically significant agent of the disease, which during the ripening phase reduces fruit yield by about 30% each year. In this regard, the efficacy of the preventive and curative influence of foliar applied FitoBotryfun was examined for two consecutive years. Incidence of grey mould (degree of infection), morphometric traits (fruit weight and dimensions), chemical traits (soluble solids content, total and inverted sugars, and sucrose content) and fruit mineral nutrient content [macro-(Ca, Mg) and microelements (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn)] were recorded. A high variability was found in the degree of infection between the different disease management practices (organic and conventional) and significant differences were found in the contents of sugars, Ca, Mg and Fe in the fruit. The variations over the years were observed for the same quality traits, except for fruit height. The results obtained suggest that the foliar application of FitoBotryfun during the growing season can be effective in reducing losses in the quality of blackberry fruit during ripening as well as negative effects of conventional control methods on human health and the environment.

Traditionally, sensory analysis techniques are separated on those performed with trained sensory panellists (analytical procedures) and those with consumers (hedonic tests). Nowadays, dividing line between these two approaches tends to blur. Following industrial needs for faster and more cost-effective methods of descriptive sensory profiling, several methods have been developed as alternatives to classical descriptive analysis. This study aimed to evaluate the samples, three of commercial and three of traditionally produced dry fermented sausages using the Flash Profile (FP) as a rapid descriptive analysis method, in which a panel of 10 sensory experts chose and used his/her own words to evaluate the sausage samples while comparing several attributes. Total of 24 sensory attributes were chosen by the panel, and each assessor used from 9 to 16 sensory descriptors. The obtained results for the samples ranks were collected within matrices, and were analysed by using a multivariate statistical technique General Procrustes Analysis (GPA). The first two dimensions explained about 76.49% of data variability (Dimension 1: 57.23% and Dimension 2: 19.26%). A good discrimination between traditional (B, C and D) and commercial (A, E and F) dry fermented sausages was observed. The obtained results of Flash profile proved to be a quick substitute method and also a good help as an initial comprehension of the most important attributes of a product's set.

Triticale, a hybrid cereal developed by crossing of wheat and rye, has certain advantages over wheat, such as higher environmental tolerance and higher content of dietary fiber. The application of triticale flour in food industry is limited by poor rheological properties of dough and low gluten strength. Potential application of hexaploid triticale cultivar 'Odisej' for the production of cookies was assessed in this study. Additionally, the values of basic grain quality parameters for Odisej were determined, such as hectoliter weight, thousand kernel weight, grain size, protein and wet gluten content, gluten index and falling number. Cookies were prepared from refined and wholegrain triticale flour and their physical properties (dimensions, color, hardness) and sensory properties were compared to the cookies prepared from refined and wholegrain wheat and rye flour. Cookies manufactured from refined triticale flour had high spread ratio (diameter/high) value, similar to that of cookies prepared from refined wheat flour. Total sensory score of cookies manufactured from refined triticale flour was the highest among all samples, indicating that it can be successfully used in cookies production.The quality of wholegrain triticale cookies could be improved by the use of milling technique adequate for the production of wholegrain flour.

Intensive agricultural development based on the long-term and excessive use of chemical nitrogen fertilizers significantly contributes to a series of undesirable effects and results in environmental pollution. In line with the above, there is a pressing need for major changes in agricultural production management. Bearing in mind that fertilization strategy, among other practices, plays an important role in improving the growing technology of different fruit crops, we considered that the above mentioned problems could be overcome by introducing an environmentally safe and innovative practice inplum growing technology as well. Accordingly, a comparative study was conducted to evaluate the effects of biofertilizer (a combination of nitrogen-fixing and phosphorus-mineralizing bacteria including Azotobacter chroococcum, Bacillus megatherium and Bacillus subtilis) and chemical fertilizer (a water-soluble chemical fertilizer supplemented with the microelements B, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn)on ʻČačanska Lepotica' and 'Stanley' plum cultivars. Morphometric characteristics (fruit weight, length and width), internal quality traits (soluble solids content and firmness) and chemical properties (total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity) of the fruit of the tested plum cultivars were assessed. The obtained results indicate that the substitution of chemical fertilization with biofertilization in 'Čačanska Lepotica' and 'Stanley' is a justified practice. Furthermore, this approach seems to havepotential as an appropriate technique in commercial plum production, which may improve yield-attributing characteristics and the phytochemical content of plum fruits.

Medicinal and aromatic plants, such as wild garlic (Allium ursinum), are valuable sources of bioactive compounds in traditional and modern medicine. However, the challenges in cultivating wild garlic and its seasonality limit its availability primarily to early spring. To maintain the quality of wild garlic, effective postharvest practices are essential, considering the delicate nature of its leaves and their susceptibility to rapid decay. This study focuses on implementing eco-friendly postharvest practices to address the seasonality and perishability of wild garlic. Optimizing storage conditions and drying processes is essential for extending its shelf life and preserving bioactive components. Two postharvest approaches were evaluated, with vacuum packaging at 4 °C demonstrating the most effective preservation of sensory attributes and bioactive composition over a 9-day period. Additionally, different drying methods, including convective and vacuum drying at various temperatures, were investigated. When the best drying temperature was selected, the results revealed that convective drying is more efficient at preserving phenolic compounds in wild garlic leaves at 60 °C. Conversely, vacuum drying shows superior preservation of alliinase activity and total thiosulfinate content at 70 °C. Furthermore, this study explores the utilization of unused wild garlic, which is typically discarded as waste during storage. By employing suitable drying methods, this material can be preserved and provide a valuable source of phenolic compounds (7.17–10.12 g GAE/100 g) and thiosulfinate (9.35–12.72 mg AC/110 g) compounds for various extraction processes. Accordingly, this research presents significant implications for the integration of wild garlic into diverse industries, particularly in the fields of food and pharmaceutical sectors. The findings offer opportunities for sustainable utilization, economic benefits, and a more environmentally friendly and economically viable approach to wild garlic production and processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The purpose of this paper is to characterize the amino acid profiles of wholegrain buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth proteins. The content and protein quality of these pseudocereals were compared mutually and with those of wholegrain wheat as a widespread cereal in human nutrition. Amaranth seeds showed the highest total amino acid (TAA) content, followed by wholegrain buckwheat and quinoa, which showed the lowest TAA content compared to the other two pseudocereals (180.85, 162.46 and 125.37 g per 100 g protein, respectively). The protein digestibility, protein efficiency ratio, protein chemical score and essential amino acid index of the pseudocereals under consideration ranged from 79.25 - 84.58 %, 2.9 - 6.17 %, 16.24 - 47.59, and 45.68 - 68.36, respectively. The results obtained indicate that buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth are promising raw materials that can meet the daily requirements of most essential amino acids, and can be used for the development of a range of value-added bakery products.

Apple pomace, a by-product that remains after extraction of juice from fruit, is a good source of dietary fibre, minerals and different phytochemicals such as phenolic acids. Although the valorization of apple pomace as a bakery ingredient was performed by several authors, there is a lack of information on attempts of incorporation of apple by-products in the form of coextrudates with corn grits (CAPCG). In this study, sponge cakes were created with apple pomace coextruded with corn grits in the ratio of 45:55 by partial replacing wheat flour with coextrudate in the formulation at 10%, 20% and 30% level. With the increase in the proportion of coextruded particles, the farinographic characteristics of dough samples showed an increase in water absorption and dough development time due to larger particles of coextrudates, and loss of dough elasticity. Consequently, the cake specific volume decreased over the range between 3.6 - 14.2%, but only the substitution level of 30% yielded an increase in cake firmness after 1 h of cooling and after 24 h of storage. The estimation of sponge cake sensory properties using the hedonic scale from 1 to 9 showed that the most acceptable texture was found in the control sample, whereas all sponge cakes with CAPCG had significantly higher acceptance of odour and taste in comparison to the control cake. From the nutritional point of view, sponge cakes substituted with CAPCG showed higher total dietary fibre content than the control wheat sponge cake.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of pumpkin oil cake protein isolate in production of millet bread. For that purpose, breads were created by substitution of millet flour with proteins at 5, 10 and 15% level. Dough rheological properties and both physical and sensory characteristics of obtained bread were determined. The increase in pumpkin oilseed cake protein (POCP) concentration influenced increase in dough viscosity, as determined using farinograph and fundamental rheological measurements. This is additionally confirmed by lower elasticity of supplemented breads as determined by texture analysis and sensory panel. Substitution of millet flour with POCP at all tested levels did not exhibit any influence on bread specific volume. However, 24 h after baking, breads supplemented with higher amount of POCP showed less pronounced hardening of the crumb, indicating that these proteins might retard starch retrogradation. The supplementation of millet bread with POCP had several beneficial effects on the sensory quality of bread, such as loss of bitter taste and aftertaste originating from millet flour. Additionally, bread granularity decreased and bread dissolving speed in mouth increased along with the increase in POCP concentration.

The aim of this work was to investigate nutritional profile in relation to proteins, amino acids, fatty acids and mineral composition, as well as phenolic profile of small edible fungal species Coprinellus disseminatus originated from Serbia. Total protein content in the analyzed fungal species was 9.72%. Fifteen protein fractions obtained by electrophoresis were identified in a range from 1.6 to 63.6 kDa. Chip-based separations showed the presence of protein fraction with molecular weight of 27.5 kDa that could possess antifungal activity. The total essential and non-essential amino acid contents were 29.57 and 96.69 mg/g DW, respectively. Among the essential amino acids, leucine was the most abundant. Fatty acid composition of C. disseminatus showed that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA, 59.1% of total FA) predominated over saturated fatty acids (SFA, 23.1% of total FA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA, 17.9% of total FA). The dominant fatty acids were linoleic acid (56.6%), palmitic acid (13.9%), and oleic acid (12.0%). The most abundant macroelement in C. disseminatus was potassium, followed by calcium and magnesium, while iron dominated in microelements. Eight phenolic compounds were quantified in methanolic extract of C. disseminatus by LC-MS/MS with the highest amount of p-hydroxybenzoic acid and p-coumaric acid reaching 9.46 ± 0.2 µg/g DW and 7.8 ± 0.1 µg/g DW, respectively.

The aim of the study was to examine does it possible to improve bread properties of the bread based on wheat flour of poor technological quality by substitution of barley and millet flour. For that purpose were examined chemical properties of raw materials (Wheat flour of extremely poor technological quality (WFPQ), dehulled wholegrain barley flour (DWBF) and decorticated millet flour (DMF)), as well as rheological properties of doughs (WFPQ flour and mixtures of DWBF and DMF with WFPQ in ratios 10:90 and 30:70) and end-use quality of control and composite breads. The substitution of the small amount of WFPQ with DMF (10%) improved most of the bread properties, whereas the sensory properties stay almost the same. Also, substitution of the high amount of DMF (30 %) neither showed effects of improvement and worsening for to the most of technological properties. On the other hand, substitution with DWBF has negative impact on the most technological properties of composite bread.

One of the potential raw materials which could be used for production of food with added nutritional value is tomato pomace, a by-product from tomato processing. On the other hand, requirements of consumers for diverse food with potential for health benefits impose the need for creation of products made from different cereals. In this respect, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of addition of dried tomato pomace on the physical and sensory properties of whole grain rye flour cookies. The whole grain rye flour was substituted with tomato pomace powder in two levels (15% and 25%) in the standard formulation of short-dough cookie. The quality of final products was evaluated by instrumental and sensory methods. The results clearly demonstrated that redness (+a*) and yellowness (+b*) were highly influenced by level of tomato pomace in the cookie formulations due to its content of carotenoid pigments. The spread factor of the cookies made with addition of tomato pomace powder was higher than the control sample. Hardness of the cookie samples decreased for approximately 50% for the cookie sample with 25% tomato pomace level substitution when compared with control sample. According to the results of sensory analysis, substitution level of 15% caused decrease of surface roughness, fracturability, and granularity, as well as increase of caramel flavour intensity. Substitution level of 25% caused higher degree of cookie softening and more pronounced tomato flavour.

Domestic Balkan donkey (Equus asinus asinus) is a native donkey breed, primarily found in the northern and eastern regions of Serbia. The objective of the study was to analyze proteins of Domestic Balkan donkey milk during the lactation period (from the 45th to the 280th day) by applying Lab-on-a-Chip electrophoresis. The chip-based separations were performed on the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer in combination with the Protein 80 Plus Lab Chip kit. The protein content of Domestic Balkan donkey milk during the lactation period of 280 days ranged from 1.40 % to 1.92 % and the content of αs1-casein, αs2-casein, b-casein, α-, β- lactoglobulin, lysozyme, lactoferrin and serum albumin was relatively quantified. Lysozyme (1040-2970 mg/L), α-lactalbumin 12 kDa (1990-2730 mg/L) and α-lactalbumin 17.7 kDa (2240-3090 mg/L) were found to be the proteins with the highest relative concentrations. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III46012]

The wheat flour represents a complex system whose quality is influenced by several factors such as genotype, growing conditions and the complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors. In recent years, wheat quality fluctuation has become a major issue for millers and bakers. Requirements of bakery industry for providing wheat flour of uniform quality impose the need for further investigation in direction of monitoring/improving wheat flour quality. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate wheat varieties, grown in different locations, by breadmaking potential and proteolytic activity in dependence of climate conditions. Wheat flour of four wheat varieties (Pobeda, Zvezdana, Gordana and Apache), from seven locations in Serbia characterized by different climatic conditions in two production years, were used in this study. The analyses included a determination of proteolytic activity and the rheological properties of dough. Rheological properties of wheat flour dough were determined by Gluten index and Brabender equipment (Farinograph, Extensograph and Amylograph). The studies ended with a trial baking and estimation of textural properties of obtained bread. Large variability for all attributes evaluated was observed, with wider ranges in quality parameters across varieties than among growing locations. Wheat flour samples from 2012 production year were characterized by inferior quality parameters. Proteolytic activity and bread specific volume values for 2012 production year were significantly lower compared to 2011. These results indicate that level of proteolytic activity was under optimum for obtaining bread with higher specific volume.

The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the influence of different climatic conditions on the activity of alpha-amylase in wheat samples and bread quality parameters. Three wheat varieties grown in three different localities in three years were chosen for this study. Commonly used methods for estimation of alpha-amylase activity in wheat grain were employed. The obtained results indicated that harvest year 2013, which was characterized with the excessive amount of rainfall, exhibited the highest level of alpha-amylase activity and the lowest values of the peak viscosity. The lowest alpha-amylase level and the highest peak viscosity and FN value were observed for samples harvested in 2012 which was characterized with the greatest number of days with an average daily temperature above 30 and 35°C. In addition, a decrease in Mixolab parameter torque C3 and specific bread loaf volume, as well as increase in the breakdown torque (C3-C4) of samples harvested in 2013 were observed, which could be attributed to rainy weather influencing increase in alpha-amylase activity. It is found that specific bread loaf volume of wheat samples is highest in 2012. Moreover, a negative correlation between alpha-amylase activity and specific bread volume for all the samples grown in three years was determined.