Taste, smell and the flavour are the most important attributes determining the quality of bread or baked cereal products in general. Bread flavour is composed of hundreds of volatile and non-volatile compounds, i.e. many alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, acids, esters and other compounds. Many researchers have been studying volatile compounds in different breads worldwide, but in Latvia only few studies are conducted on volatile compounds in bread and its production stages. The aim of this research was to analyse the composition of volatile compounds during wheat dough fermentation. Experiments were done in 2011 and carried out in the Laboratory of Bread Technology and Laboratory of Packing Material Investigations at the Department of Food Technology in the Latvia University of Agriculture. An investigation of volatile compounds was done using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS). Volatile compounds were analyzed on the 10th, 20th and 30th minutes of wheat dough fermentation. In a fermentation process of wheat dough totally 15 volatile compounds were detected. Eight of them were alcohols, two aldehydes, two ketones, one ester, one acid and one terpene. Three volatile compounds – 1-octanol, caryophyllene and acetophenone, were detected in the dough samples only after 30 minutes of fermentation – those were not detected at the earlier stages of fermentation. The peak areas of 11 volatile compounds increased, but peak area of one volatile compound decreased along the fermentation time. The study proved that solid-phase microextraction can be used for detection of volatile compounds in wheat dough fermentation process.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of probiotics, herbals and buckwheat bran (Fagopyrum esculentum L.) on growth, profile of blood, gut microbiota, profile of fatty acid in meat and shedding of resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) in piglets. A total of 44 piglets (Sus scrofa domesticus) from age of day 14 to 56 were divided into 4 groups. Control received basal diet (group C), basal diet + probiotics (group P), basal diet + 3% buckwheat bran (group PB) and basal diet + 1.5% herbals (group H). No effect was observed in growth in all groups. The count of Lactobacillus spp. increased (p is less than 0.05) in jejunum in group P. In the faeces, Enterobacteriaceae decreased in the group P (p is less than 0.05) of 35 days old piglets, but Enterobacteriaceae and E. coli decreased in the group H (p is less than 0.05) of 56 days old piglets. The prevalence of resistance to at least one antibiotic class was 66.7% before and 50% after the experiment in all groups. Multidrug resistance of E. coli was not observed in 14 days old piglets, but was observed in 50% and more in all of study groups of 56 days old piglets. The fatty acid composition of Longissimus thoracis muscle had higher levels of α-linolenic acid and palmitoleic acid (p is less than 0.05), but lower level of stearic acid (p is less than 0.05) in group P. In conclusion, probiotics and herbals improved gut microbiota, fatty acid profile and affected shedding of resistant E. coli, but not growth performance.

The aroma of coffee is the main quality factor. Compounds with floral, fruity, citrus and sometimes fermented aroma notes are defined as high quality characteristics for the specialty coffee brew. Commercial coffees mostly are at medium roast and the aroma profile is focused on balanced chocolate, caramel, toasted bread and almond bitterness aroma notes. These sensory characteristics set the focus for volatile compound profile analysis by Headspace solidphase microextraction (HS-SPME). The most popular fibres for commercial coffee aroma profile analysis are DVB/ CAR/PDMS, CAR/PDMS, PDMS/DVB and PA. There is limited research done about specialty coffee aroma profile and evaluation of more suitable fibres for solid-phase microextraction. The aim of the research is to evaluate the aroma composition of specialty coffee brews using different SPME fibres. Results demonstrated that CAR/PDMS fibre, compared to other fibres, can extract significantly more volatile compounds with higher peak areas in all chemical compound groups, except phenols. The CAR/PDMS was the only fibre which could detect all 17 important volatile compounds for specialty coffee. In conclusion, from the given research evidence, CAR/PDMS fibre is suggested as the most suitable SPME fibre coating for volatile compound extraction for specialty coffee brew import. The result provides evidence for improved specialty coffee aroma profile analysis by SPME.

This research presents the antiradical activity and fatty acids changes of vegetable oils. Natural antiradical activity and its changes during storage for one and two years of rapeseed, linseed and hemp oils were determined with 1.1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Fresh hemp oil shows the higher antiradical activity. The content of fatty acids of fresh rapeseed, linseed and hemp oils and of the mixture of rapeseed (800 g kgE-1) and linseed (200 g kgE-1) oils was determined by the method of gas chromatography. After heating the mixture of rapeseed and linseed oils at the temperature of 160-180 deg C, changes proportions in saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.

Kvass is a non-alcoholic beverage produced by fermenting kvass mash with yeast; alcohol content in kvass must be less than 1.2% by volume. Kvass extracts have longer shelf-life and they are essentially free of ethanol. The aim of this research was to evaluate and compare aroma compounds in naturally fermented kvass and kvass extracts. Experiments were carried out at the Latvia University of Agriculture, Department of Food Technology from November 2014 to February 2015. Three commercially available kvass samples (Bruveris, Bauskas and Liepkalni) were used to produce kvass extracts applying vacuum evaporation. The investigation of volatile compounds in kvass and kvass extracts was performed using solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Dry matter content in kvass extracts was 32.4 ± 0.3% (ISO 2173:2003). In all kvass and extract samples in total 25 volatile compounds were detected. Ten of them were esters, five alcohols, five acids, four aldehydes and three ketones. Such aroma compounds as ethyl acetate (fruity flavour), hexyl acetate (fruit, herb) and ethyl decanoate (grape) were found only in Bruveris kvass, 2,3-butanedione (buttery) and phenethyl butyrate (floral) were found only in Bauskas alus kvass and three volatile compounds were identified only in Liepkalni kvass – acetic acid (sour), furfuryl alcohol (burnt) and carvone (caraway). Less than a half of the main aroma volatiles in kvass were also identified in kvass extracts and total values of peak areas were significantly lower in kvass extracts compared to kvass (p = 0.01).

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) is an aromatic herb with a multitude of uses. It is both a seasoning in various dishes, and a natural remedy for several diseases mainly due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. Plus, it is also used in cosmetic industry and for improving agriculture practices and helping the environment, since it may be a natural antimicrobial. It is worth noting that this plant is also grown and commercialized in Uzbekistan, thus, if added value is given to rosemary’s products, it has potential for improving living conditions and helping in the economy of local farmers and entrepreneurs. In this work, we discuss a technique for obtaining rosemary essential oil, rich in terpenes, by vacuum assisted hydrodistillation. This is a solventless environmentally friendly and safe technique that allows the obtention of an added value rosemary product where terpenes, compounds responsible for most of rosemary’s properties, are the most abundant. Two samples of locally acquired rosemary were sourced, essential oil was extracted, and characterization was then performed by Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME) and Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). As a comparison, a direct injection of a dilution of one of the essential oil samples was also performed. It was concluded that samples of essential oil obtained from both sources were entirely composed of terpenes or terpene derivatives. Besides, SPME was a superior method when compared to direct injection, since a larger number of volatiles was able to be identified.

The aim of the present study was to determine the level of cholesterol in the milk of the Latvia's cow herds, analyse differences between two different methods of cholesterol determination in milk. Milk samples were obtained from the cows of Latvian Brown and Black and White breeds. The milk fat and protein were analysed by Milkoscan 133, cholesterol content was determined colorimetricaly by Blur procedure with prior lipid extraction by Roese-Gottlieb method and by gas-chromatography method. The obtained results showed that the milk fat content was 4.48+-0.28%, protein was 3.03+-0.09%, cholesterol content in milk was 21.05+-2.01 mg 100 ml*[-1), when assayed by spectrophotometer SF 26 LOMO and 18.29+-1.73 mg 100 ml*[-1), when assayed by gas chromatography. There were no significant differences in cholesterol content between both determination methods.