Using functional foods which are recently a rising value in the food science arouses curiosity in terms of health among people. Honey, as a natural functional food, might play an important role in the increase of this value with a large but conscious use of it in kitchens. Having a prebiotic property with its oligosaccharide components, honey has a characteristic of supporting the increase of probiotic Bifidobacterium and lactobacilli bacteria. In the current study, the culinary status of honey was investigated depending on the views of professional chef trainers. For honey that shows different compositions, chefs point out that, because of the changes of nectars in the flora collected by bees, the qualitative honey bought from local producers could be a more functional food by using it with sauces, milk products like yoghurt and cheese, with such spices as ginger, turmeric, black pepper, and cinnamon at room temperature without an application of heat treatment.

Tıbbi ve aromatik bitkiler, doğadan toplananlar ve yetiştirilenler olmak üzere iki gruba ayrılır. Doğadan toplanan tıbbi ve aromatik bitkiler, orman gibi doğal yerlerde kendiliğinden yetişen bitkilerdir. Akdeniz bölgesinde bulunan bu bitkilerden ikisi Laurus nobilis L. ve Myrtus communis L'dir. Bu çalışma, defne ağaçları ve mersin bitkilerinden elde edilen uçucu yağların oran ve bileşenlerini belirlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Türkiye'nin Osmaniye ili florasında yoğun olarak yetişen bu bitkilerden elde edilen yapraklar endüstriyel uygulamalarda büyük damıtma kazanlarında (imbik) su buharı distilasyon yöntemi uygulanarak uçucu yağları elde edilmiştir. İmbik yöntemleriyle elde edilen uçucu yağ oranları defne bitkisinde %0,9-1,4 ve mersin bitkisinde %0,4-0,8 arasında gözlenmiştir. Uçucu yağ bileşenleri incelendiğinde defnenin ana bileşenleri α-pinene (%5,75), sabinen (%8,9), eucalyptol (%44,42) ve α-terpinyl asetat (%17,37) olarak belirlenmiş olup, mersin bitkisinin ana bileşenleri ise, α-pinene (%50,79), limonene (%4,08), eucalyptol (%31,66), α-terpineol (%5,57), α-terpinyl acetate (%2,37) olarak belirlenmiştir.

The visual perception of landscapes is expressed as seeing the qualities of the landscape. This level of perception varies depending on the socio-cultural and economic structure of the people and the environment in which they live. The fact that the environment in which people live has a variable visual structure also constantly affects their landscape perception. Parks are one of the important urban landscape areas in cities. The existing structure of the parks located in the urban landscape areas affects the visual perception value of these areas on the users. The aim of the research is to evaluate the visual landscape quality value of the parks in the city of Serik in the direction of user opinions. In this context, the photographs of the selected parks within the boundaries of the research area were taken from certain points. The questionnaire form prepared with these photographs was applied to the park users on a voluntary basis. The data obtained from the questionnaire forms were digitized and analyzed. Within the scope of the analysis, the data belonging to the socio-demographic structure of the participants and the answers they gave to the propositions about the parks were determined by descriptive analysis (frequencies and descriptives). Whether there was a statistically significant difference between the sociodemographic structure of the participants and their answers to the propositions was analyzed with parametric tests (independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance). At the same time, the relationship between the visual landscape quality assessment criteria of the parks was examined by Pearson Correlation Analysis. The results of the analysis show that the features of the parks due to their planning, design and maintenance affect the visual landscape quality values. In this direction, suggestions have been developed to increase the visual landscape quality value of the parks.

Ocimum gratissimum L. is a perennial herbaceous plant used in the treatment of fungal and bacterial infections. Green synthesis has provided cost effective, environment friendly procedure and raising safe strategies for the synthesis of nanoparticles. This study was aimed at investigating the potential of O. gratissimum for the synthesis of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and their antimicrobial activities. Phytochemical screening on aqueous extract was carried out using standard procedures. Selenium nanoparticles was biosynthesized by O. gratissimum and characterized using Visual detection, UV-Visible spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope, Transmission Electron Microscope, Energy dispersive X-ray, Fourier Transform Infra-red spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. Antimicrobial activity of the biosynthesized selenium nanoparticles by O. gratissimum was done using agar well diffusion method. Saponins, tannins, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids and phenols were present. The biosynthesized SeNPs had a strong plasmon resonance band at 300 nm, changes in colour from dark brown to ruby red. The SeNPs were spherical and aggregated with varying shapes and size ranged from 20 – 50 nm. Strong signal of selenium element was observed. Hydroxyl, esters, aldehyde, alkane and amine are present and responsible for the efficient stabilization and bioreduction of Selenium nanoparticle. Furthermore, biosynthesized SeNPs by O. gratissimum (OGSeNPs) exhibited higher antimicrobial activity against both Gram ositive and Gram negative bacteria. Green synthesis of nanoparticles is a promising method in the biomedical field, due to its high bioactive components.

Purple basil is widely used medicinally and aromatically due to its essential oil properties, and it is a plant that stands out with its antibacterial, antimutagenic and antioxidant properties. It has been determined that purple basil has positive effects on health such as appetizing, insomnia, sputum, diuretical and antispasmodic. Purple basil contains high concentrations of anthocyanins and with these properties it stands out as a potential new source of stable red pigments for the food industry. In recent years, it has been seen that purple basil has been processed into different products such as tea and sherbet in order to benefit from its functional properties. With the processing of purple basil into different products, it is seen that the consumption of basil and basil products has increased by consumers. In this study, purple basil sherbet samples were concentrated at different voltage gradient values (14, 17 and 20 V/cm) under atmospheric conditions with ohmic heating up to 25% soluble solid content (SSC) and the changes in their rheological properties during the concentration process was investigated. The changes in the rheological properties of the purple basil samples were determined in the range of 1-148 s-1 shear rate values and measurement temperature was 25°C. The compatibility of different rheological models (Newton, Power-Law and Herschel-Bulkley) to the experimental data was statistically evaluated to determine the flow behavior index of the purple basil sherbet samples. It has been determined that the shear stress values increased as the shear rate values increased in all the process conditions. Similarly, at the same shear rate values, it was determined that the shear stress values increased as the SSC values increased. It has been determined that the best suitable rheological model was Herschel-Bulkley Model for all purple basil sherbet concentrates. It is thought that the results obtained will provide important data to the food and machinery industry for the installation of pilot and industrial scale ohmic heating systems.

Fruits and vegetables are basic crops of mass consumption for human population to meet their food requirements. Recent advances in medicinal studies have revealed that different parts of fruits and vegetables are loaded with phytochemicals responsible for eliminating the risks of different diseases. Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima Duchesne) is one of the abundantly grown and consumed vegetable all around the world. Seeds of this vegetables are named as nutritional power houses due to their excellent nutrient profiles. In present study total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI) and DPPH free radical scavenging activity, of pumpkin seeds extracts were determined. Extraction of pumpkin seeds was carried out in a Soxhlet apparatus using ethanol as extraction solvent. TAS and TOS were determined through Rel Assay Kits and free radical scavenging activity was measured through DPPH assay. TAS was found 4.18±0.36 and TOS 14.68±0.42, whereas value of OSI was measured 0.35±0.10. DPPH free radical scavenging activity was observed increasing with increasing the concentration and maximum value 56.10±0.90% was observed at 2 mg/mL concentration. From these results it was concluded that pumpkin seeds could be utilized as natural antioxidant source with potential to reduce oxidative stress and minimizing the risks of certain diseases.

African eggplants are highly valued constituents of the Nigerian food. However, their nutritional potentials have not been fully tapped due to inadequate information on their nutritional and anti-nutritional qualities. This present study investigated the proximate, minerals, anti-nutrient contents as well as the estimation of mineral ratios and Mineral Safety Index of four selected edible solanum species namely, Solanum anguivi, S. gilo, S. menalogena and S. aethiopicum. The proximate contents (%) ranged from 4.19-5.46 (moisture content), 1.71-2.49 (crude fat), 4.57-5.45 (crude ash), 3.76-4.93 (crude protein), 5.20-6.30 (crude fiber) and 77.14-78.58 (carbohydrate). The solanum species were good sources of energy with total metabolizable energy of 1.458MJ-1.484MJ. The four solanum species contained high K, Ca, Mg, low Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu, while amount of Cd, Ni and Pb were very low. The mineral ratios of K/Na, Ca/Mg, Ca/K, Zn/Cu and [K/(Ca+Mg)] were below the minimum good ratios levels of 1.0, 4.17, 4.0, 8.0 and 2.2 respectively which are good for man. The anti-nutrient contents revealed low phytate, oxalate and cyanide levels. The calculated Phytate/Zn, Phytate/Ca and Oxalate/Ca were lower than the threshold levels and would support absorption and bioavailability of Zn and Ca in the samples while that of Phytate/Fe was above the critical value and this indicates unavailability of iron in these eggplant fruits. The mineral differences observed showed that S. menalogena and S. aethiopicum had greater minerals while the Mineral Safety Index results revealed that the body could not be overloaded with any of the minerals investigated. The eggplants are rich in fiber, ash, carbohydrate and minerals with moderate protein. The low level of the anti-nutrient is good and poses no deleterious effect when consumed. The eggplants have nutritional health benefits; hence, their consumption should be encouraged to address food insecurity in Nigeria

Animal and vegetable wastes are mostly utilized by burning or as fertilizer on agricultural lands. Burning these wastes does not produce a desired level of heat, and the remaining material after heat production cannot be used as fertilizer, either. For this reason, plant and animal wastes are converted into energy by obtaining biogas from biomass, which is one of the most environmentally acceptable methods of solution. This system makes it possible to both produce energy and evaluate the end product as fertilizer. In this study, the efficiency of biogas and methane production from kitchen waste and ovine manure via anaerobic fermentation was evaluated. First of all, the C/N ratio of randomly selected kitchen wastes was determined, and it was found as 34.30. The mixing ratios with ovine manure were determined by considering the C/N ratio that was found. The mixing ratios of kitchen waste and ovine manure by mass were determined as 1:0, 0:1, 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1, respectively, and the C/N values providing optimum biogas production in the mixtures were found. At the end of the 48-day-long anaerobic fermentation process, the highest biogas and methane production was achieved as 525 ml and 332 ml, respectively, in reactor 5 with a mixing ratio of 2:1. This reactor was followed by reactor 2 with 450 ml of biogas and 271 ml of methane production. Accordingly, it was concluded that kitchen waste could be a good mixture with ovine manure in anaerobic fermentation.

Agroforestry (AF) is widely considered the most important tool to mitigate climate change-related issues by removing Carbon (C) Dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and storing C. Therefore, this study aims to broaden current knowledge on the impact of sustainable Agroforestry (AF) on the C sequestration rate and C stock in the surroundings of Cyamudongo isolated rain forest and Ruhande Arboretum. To understand this, the permanent sample plots (PSPs) were established mainly in the four designed transects of four km long originating on the Cyamudongo isolated rain forest boundary following the slope gradient ranging from 1286 to 2015 m asl. A total number of 73 PSPs were established in the Cyamudongo study area while 3 PSPs were established in the Ruhande AF plot. The Arc Map GIS 10.4 was used to design and map the sampling areas while GPS was used for the localization of the plots. Statistical significance was analyzed through R-software. The estimated quantity of sequestrated C for 2 years and 34 years of AF species was 13.11 t C ha -1 yr-1 (equivalent to 48 t CO2 ha -1 yr-1) and 6.85 t ha-1 yr-1 (equivalent to 25.1 t CO2 ha -1 yr-1) in Cyamudongo and Ruhande respectively. The estimated quantity of C stored by the Ruhande AF plot is 232.94 t ha-1. In Cyamudongo, the overall C stored by the AF systems was 823 t ha-1 by both young tree species established by the Cyamudongo Project (35.84 t ha-1) and C stored by existing AF species before the existence of the Project (787.12 t ha-1). In all study areas, the Grevillea robusta contributed more to overall stored C. The correlation coefficients between tree diameter and living biomass ranged from moderate to very strong due to differences in terms of age, stage of growth, and tree species.

This study aimed to determine the effect of pink rock rose extract (PRR) with or without ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate for improving the shelf life of sausages. Analyzed parameters were DPPH radical scavenging capacity of PRR extract; total aerobic count, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, heme iron, pH, water activity, proximate composition, and color values of MAP packaged sausages for 12 weeks at 4 °C. Treatments: (1) Control (0.02% ascorbic acid and 0.05% sodium ascorbate – AA-SA), (2) electrostatic spray application of PRR extract (2%) – ES-PRR, (3) 0.02% AA and, 0.05% PRR extract, (4) 0.05% SA and 0.02% PRR, (5) 0.07% PRR extract. PRR extract had the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 13.04 ± 0.133 µg/mL. Sausages formulated with 0.07% PRR had the lowest microbial growth rate, followed by AA-PRR formulation. The AA-PRR treatment had the lowest TBARS values for most of the storage. This study reveals that PRR extract can be added as a natural antioxidant in sausages, and it could be used as a replacement or for the reduction of ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate in sausage formulations.