This study was carried out in greenhouse and laboratories of Department of Horticulture (Faculty of Agriculture, Ordu University, Ordu, Turkey) in 2013-2014 production seasons in Ordu ecological condition. Commercial garden cress standard seeds were used as plant materials. Plant densities were calculated upon the seed quantity spread on 1 m2, and seeds were sown for 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 g per m2. Peat: perlite mix prepared in proportion of 3:1 was used as the growing medium and filled in 50×16×14 cm sized plastic pots. The garden cress plants were harvested on the 45th day after seeding. The yield, leaf petiole length, leaf length, leaf width and chlorophyll content of the harvested plants were determined. It has been determined that quality parameters vary depending on plant density and varieties. The highest plant yield was obtained from “BT Bu-ter” garden cress variety with 2.489.2 g/m2. The plant yield in different plant densities was increased in the rates varying between 3.31% and 8.25%. The increasing plant densities caused an increase in yield but negatively affected the leaf quality in terms of both length and chlorophyll content. Leaf width, leaf length, leaf petiole length and chlorophyll content were decreased depending on the increase in plant densities. Based on the information obtained, it was considered useful to choose a plant densities based on the variety and growing season according to the growing purpose.

The Syrian Sumac (Rhus coriaria) is a widely used spice in the Arab world of attractive economic importance in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Meat tenderness is one of the very most important factors for customers’ acceptability. The global objective of this study was to add an additional value to Sumac by evaluating its meat tenderizing effect. Crude sumac fruits were used to create three different extracts (aqueous, ethanolic and purified enzymatic extract). Pectoralis superficialis cuts were treated with the extracts and studied for their shear stress, pH, protein and fat contents and collagen. The hypothesis that Sumac could have a meat tenderizing effect was supported by our results showing a significant decrease in shear stress and protein content with increase in collagen solubility. Moreover, an effect on decreasing meat fat was detected, where the aqueous sumac extract decreased significantly the fat percentage in meat. The active enzymes in Sumac were shown to be variate in nature, lipase and protease, with a significant effect on collagen, thus proving Sumac’s possibility to be potentially used as a meat tenderizer.

Valuation of postharvest loss and identification of its causes enables to develop proper measures required to reduce losses. The study was conducted at “Fogera” District, South Gondar, Ethiopia between 2017 and 2018 years to assess the extent of postharvest loss of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and to identify major causes with respective handling system. In this study, a total of 125 farmers and 40 traders (10 wholesalers and 30 retailers) were involved as main respondents. Data collection was done using semi structured interview schedule, key informant interview, focus group discussion and observation. Besides respondents estimation, a sample analysis was conducted to estimate the extent of postharvest loss as per the FAO minimum quality standards. Descriptive statistics such as average, percentage, frequency and standard deviation were used to analyse data and tables, graphs and charts were used to present result. Result revealed that almost half of tomato produced is damaged and puts out of normal use with highest loss at producer level due to different causes which are complex and interrelated across tomato market chain. Marketing situation, insect pest and disease, lack of awareness, low economic status of producers, late harvesting, mechanical damage during harvesting and transportation, poor quality of produce and price fall were some of the reasons identified as major cause of post-harvest loss of tomato. For solving the postharvest loss problems, actors in supply chain has to develop cooperation and effective communication among all the research, extension, and industry personnel involved.

The aim of this study was to compare estimation methods: least squares method (LS), ridge regression (RR), Principal component regression (PCR) to estimate the parameters of multiple regression model in situations when the underlying assumptions of least squares estimation are untenable because of multicollinearity. For this aim, the effect of some body measurements on body weights (height at withers and rumps, body length, chest width, chest girth and chest depth, front, middle and hind rump width) obtained from totally 85 Karayaka lambs at weaning period raised at Research Farm of Ondokuz Mayis University was examined. Mean square error, R2 value and significance of parameters were used to evaluate estimator performance. The multicollinearity, between front and middle rump width which were used to estimate live weight, was eliminated by using RR and PCR. Although research findings showed that RR method had the smallest MSE and the highest R2 value, the estimates of PCR were determined to be more consistent when the importance tests of parameters were taken into account. The results showed that principal component regression approach should be used to estimate the live weight of Karayaka lambs at weaning period.

The aim of this study is to understand Turkish consumers’ perception of functional dairy products in three different categories, namely milk, yogurt, and cream cheese, as well as their willingness to buy products with health claims. In this study, 50 untrained participants from the city of İstanbul, Turkey, were enrolled to evaluate three types of milk (calcium & vitamin fortified, soy, and whole), three types of yogurt (probiotic, strawberry flavoured probiotic, and plain) and four types of cream cheese (calcium, phosphate & vitamin fortified, reduced fat, light, and regular) using free listing testing and check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions together with Yes/No questions. Twenty-five participants were recruited from Yeditepe University’s Food Engineering Department and 25 participants from public places to form two clusters. In the free listing analysis, the number of frequent terms related to health dramatically decreased after the tasting session for all products, whereas sensory related terms became more important. CATA analysis showed that consumers look for different product properties in different dairy categories. The findings of both analyses showed that, regardless of their education and awareness, consumers still are not willing to compromise on the taste of dairy foods independent of how healthy the product might be. Their preference of functional dairy products was only 22%, 26% and 14% for fortified milk, probiotic yogurt, and fortified cream cheese, respectively. Moreover, only 30% of the participants were found to believe the health claims on the package, which is another obstacle the functional food industry has to face.

In this study, rooting performance of cuttings of local olive types of Northern Cyprus taken in spring and autumn seasons was investigated. Gemlik Olive cultivar was used as the control group and 14 different local olive types constituted the experimental groups. Green cuttings taken from local olive types were initially treated with 4000 ppm indole-3-butyric (IBA) and they were then rooted in perlite medium under fogging unit in a plastic greenhouse. Following 100-days of rooting, rooting ratios, root lengths, number of roots and shooting ratios were determined. As expected, the best rooting ratio was obtained from Gemlik Olive cultivar (control group). Among the local types, the best rooting ratio (58.67%) was obtained from Çamlıköy with Type 8 olive type and the best rooting performance (45.87%) was achieved in cuttings rooted in autumn season.

Particularly in the fruit juice industry, the remaining peels and pulp parts are not available for human consumption after the juices are used. It is possible to evaluate these wastes by adding them to poultry feeds. A number of studies have been conducted by researchers on the nutritional value of many fruit wastes and on the performance of poultry. Natural antioxidant content has been reported to have a positive effect on growth, microbial and immunological parameters when high fruit peels are used as feed additive in poultry feeding.

Protein, vitamin ve mineral içeriği yüksek olan et, taze olarak tüketilemediği için farklı yöntemlerle işlenmektedir. Kurutma, etin uzun süre saklanmasında kullanılan en eski yöntemlerden birisidir. Kurutulmuş et ürünleri genel kapsamda Jerky olarak isimlendirilmekte ve genel olarak etin çeşitli ön işlemlere tabi tutulup (marinasyon, tuzlama, tütsüleme vb.) sonrasında uygun kurutma işlemiyle son ürün haline getirilmesi ile üretilmektedir. Etin kurutulmasında yaygın olarak kullanılan yöntemler güneşte kurutma ve gölgede kurutmayı model alan geleneksel sıcak hava ile kurutmadır. Bununla birlikte, günümüzde geleneksel yöntemlerin meydana getirmiş olduğu çeşitli fizikokimyasal, dokusal ve duyusal kalite kayıplarının azaltılmasına yönelik olarak çeşitli kurutma tekniklerinin geliştirilmesi ve bu tekniklerin et kurutulmasında kullanılması yaygınlaşmaktadır. Yapılan bu derleme çalışması, çeşitli et gruplarının geleneksel ve güncel yöntemlerle kurutulmasına yönelik çalışmaları ve bu yöntemlere ilişkin güncel önerileri içermektedir.

This study was carried out to determine the effect of non-genetic factors on growth and reproductive traits in Saanen goats. For this aim, total of 274 Saanen goats and kids were investigated for growth and reproductive traits in South Marmara Region of Turkey. Fertility parameters were evaluated during two reproductive years. Saanen kids were measured from birth to 6 months of life. The average live weights at birth, weaning, 60th, 90th, 120th and 180th days of age were calculated and determined as 3.05±0.04kg, 11.80±0.27kg, 12.26±0.08kg, 14.20±0.32kg, 17.41±0.45kg, 25.01±0.65kg, respectively. The effects of sex and birth type on live weights until 90th days of age; maternal age only on birth weight; month at birth on all of investigated days were found significant statistically. The pregnancy, birth rate per pregnancy (BRP), birth rate per mating (BRM), infertility, abortion, kidding rate (single, twin or triplet), survival rate (until weaning), number of kids per parturition (NKP), number of kids per mating (NKM) were found; 92.98%, 85.07%, 91.25%, 7.02%, 8.75%, 36.12%, 49.00%, 14.88%, 89.13% and 1.74±0.06, 1.42±0.07 respectively. The effects of maternal age on all rates (out of BRM and abortion rate); the year on birth, abortion, single kidding rate, survival rate and NKM were found significant for reproductive traits. The advanced reproductive performance and rapid growth rates were observed in Saanen goats. Environmental factors such as age, year, sex, birth type and month at birth were found significant on some growth and reproductive traits in Saanen. So consideration of these factors could be useful as a selection criteria in dairy goat breeding.

Most of the non-irrigated areas in the southeast of the Harran Plain are irrigated by groundwater. The aim of this study is to determine the importance of 13 underground irrigation water sources operating in the agricultural areas of Ohali village in southeast of Harran Plain in Sanliurfa province in terms of some quality characteristics and irrigation. In this context, the waters belonging to 13 underground wells were analysed and examined in terms of irrigation water quality. According to the results of the analysis, the electrical conductivity of water samples was measured between 1127-4090 µS/cm. The SAR value of irrigation water was found to be between 1.05-3.41 and the %Na value was between 16.2% - 31.8%. In the evaluation made according to four different classification systems, in general, waters 6, 7, 8 and 9 were determined as the worst quality in all classification systems. These waters are described “unsuitable” irrigation water. Considering that the plants which have high water consumption such as cotton and corn are cultivated in the region, it is foreseen that if the necessary precautions are not taken, the salinity in the soil will increase and yield losses will be high. It is imperative that these areas, which cannot be irrigated within the scope of GAP irrigation project, be irrigated with clean water as soon as possible. However, an appropriate drainage system must be installed in the area.