The present study aimed to evaluate the activation characteristics of the leaping mullet spermatozoa and diluted with four different media (D1, D2, D3, D4) for 250 h at 4±2°C. The semen was collected from nine wild fish in Homa Lagoon, İzmir, Turkey in July, during reproductive season. In each trial (n = 9), semen samples were collected and mixed to reduce sperm quality variation to obtain the required gametes for the experiment. The semen was activated with natural seawater (salinity of 34, pH 7.9 and 4±2°C) to determine: motility time, motility rate and viability of sperm. Dilution with inactivation media 1:3 increased motility time of diluted semen than control group. At the end of the experiment, no significant difference was found for the duration of survival in the D2 and D4 groups. The highest survival rate was found in D2 group.

Non-dairy probiotic functional foods are receiving considerable interest recently owing to the inability to cause allergy in certain segments of the population. Studies on probiotication were carried out to determine the suitability of kunun-zaki as food matrix for production of probiotic beverage using single and mixed culture of Pediococcus acidilactici KU7, Pediococcus pentosaceus CREC5 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG. Probioticated and un-probioticated kunun-zaki samples were designated PKZ and UPKZ, respectively. There was a significant difference in the viable count during storage. Viable counts of the LAB strains decreased with increasing storage time with P. acidilactici KU7 having the highest viability at the beginning and end of storage (3.43 ± 0.06 and 0.93± 0.12 x108 cfu/ml). There was a decrease in pH of the PKZ samples within the 1st and 3rd week with corresponding increase in lactic acid production (71.16 ± 0.01 – 441.39 ± 0.01). Marked increase in pH and a decline in lactic acid were observed at the 4th week of storage in all samples. Total soluble solids content of the beverage was observed to decrease with increasing storage time ranging from 8.25 ± 0.01-4.97± 0.01. There was no significant difference in pH and total soluble solids of UPKZ and colour of the PKZ and UPKZ samples during storage. All the PKZ samples were able to inhibit the growth of selected pathogens with marked variability amongst the samples. The UPKZ sample also showed slight inhibitory activity. The samples showed a decline in proximate and mineral composition at the end of storage. Sensory evaluation showed the PKZ samples were preferred over the UPKZ samples. This study shows that probioticated kunun-zaki can serve as a suitable non-dairy alternative to dairy probiotic formulations and would be of health benefits to potential consumers.