The article discusses the results of comprehensive studies histomorphological signs of skin and hair of sheep (Degeress) of various stripes, especially the thickness of the skin and its layers that are commonly identified indicators. Studies allow to bring the scientific basis for the proper development of activities aimed at increasing production of wool, quantity and quality of which skin microstructure largely depends on. Sheep of different colors have a specific feature on the histological structure of the skin, which is essential for the development of effective methods of selection that enhance productivity of sheep wool. The researches have established that brown suit sheep has thickened skin as compared to red and gray color (p is less than 0.01). In turn, pilar layer of the skin is also much thicker at brown coloration sheep (2029.7 ×10E-6 m) than in sheep red (1850.6×10E-6 m) and sulfur (1773.7×10E-6 m) suits, the difference is statistically highly significant (p is less than 0.001). The thickness of the pilar layer is up to 70% of the dermis, which varies depending on sheep lear ranging from 1773.7×10E-6 m to 2029.7×10E-6 m. Reticular layer thickness varies depending on sheep lear ranging from 743.5×10E-6 m to 826.4×10E-6 m.

Nowadays the demand for fast and easy-to-make meals is ever increasing. This type of food is an essential dietary component of a large section of people in developed countries. Given the economic importance of ready-to-eat meals there is a need for a better understanding of the factors that determine their consumption. The aim of this research was to determine consumer attitudes towards the introduction of ready-to-eat meal (MRE) sets in the Latvian market. A survey was performed to determine the Latvian citizens’ attitudes towards the introduction of this type of quick-tomake, ready-to-eat products into the market of Latvia. The survey included a total of 800 respondents who answered 14 questions which were related to the interest in MRE sets that can be prepared (warmed up etc.) in less than 10 minutes and taste like home-cooked food, and the types of MRE sets these consumers would like to purchase. The demand forecast for MRE sets in the Latvian market is rather high as 67% of the respondents expressed a desire to purchase these products; the development and implementation of MRE sets is topical. The results show that the highest rated MRE set the respondents, a total of 77.1%, expressed a desire to purchase, was chicken fillet with vegetables. No significant differences in terms of liking were observed between chicken fillet with vegetables and chicken fillet with rice, the second highest rated MRE set by 73.9% of the respondents (p is greater than 0.05).

Pulses (Fabaceae) are an excellent source of nutrients with protein content equal to the protein of meats. Regularly choosing such meat alternatives as pulses can help minimize the amount of saturated fat and increase the amount of fibre in the diet. New pulse products could benefit vegetarians and people struggling with new diet changes. The aim of this study was to determine pulse consumption patterns of Latvian adults. An 11 question survey was developed on an online survey website www.visidati.lv to analyse consumer attitudes towards pulse consumption in Latvia. The questionnaire was completed by 780 respondents from September to December 2013. During the Baltics food industry fair ‘Riga Food 2013’ five question survey was carried out after vegetarian bean spread tasting. The questions were related to pulse consumption and preference; five questions survey consisted of overall preference and quality determination of the product. The results show that the majority of Latvian omnivore adults consume pulses about once a week or less; while pulse intake in vegetarian adults is significantly higher (p is less than 0.05). Latvian adults prefer green peas (Pisum sativum L.), navy and broad beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), lentils (Lens culinaris Medik.), chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) and maple peas (Pisum sativum L. var. arvense). Overall preference of vegetarian bean spread with sun-dried tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is ‘like very much’ (4.5 – 4.6) and most of the respondents would purchase this product if it was available in a store.

There are different methods of egg yolk oil extraction, but still solvent extraction is commonly used. Due to the high cost of egg yolk powder production, extraction of lipids from liquid egg yolk remains very topical. Crude egg yolk oil obtained by solvent extraction from liquid egg yolk contains high amount of water which can decrease shelf life of egg oil promoting lipid oxidation. High concentration of residual solvents limits the usage of egg oil in food or in cosmetics due to the health risks. The aim of this study is to purify egg yolk oil obtained by solvent extraction from liquid egg yolk. Results show that it is possible to decrease the water content in egg oil from 14.26 ± 1.29% to 0.88 ± 0.13% by eliminating lecithin from egg oil. Solvent evaporation in the rotary film evaporator under the vacuum cannot remove solvents completely from the extract, but nitrogen streaming through the extract as a last step in evaporation process removes solvent residues, leaving behind high quality egg yolk oil suitable for food application.

The present study was undertaken to estimate enzymatically hydrolysed and non–hydrolysed wheat (Triticum aestivum) and rye (Secale cereale) bran microflora. Enzymatic hydrolysis was accomplished by α – amylase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and by Viscozyme L which contain a wide range of enzymes responsible for the breakdown of carbohydrates into simple sugars. Wheat and rye bran samples were collected from native mills, namely Stock Company (SC) ‘Rigas dzirnavnieks’ wheat bran with large particle size (WLSR), SC ‘Jelgavas dzirnavas’ rye bran with small particle size (RSSJ), SC ‘Dobeles dzirnavnieks’ wheat bran with small particle size (WSSD) and wheat bran with large particle size (WLSD). Gained results indicate that before enzymatic hydrolysis all of the bran samples showed similar microbiological contamination with total plate count (TPC), yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. Enzymatic hydrolysis of bran gives the possibility to partially eliminate the microbiological contamination with TPC, yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. The amount of microorganisms after enzymatic hydrolysis (before storage) were decreased and ranged from 5.26 ± 0.04 to 5.45 ± 0.01 log CFU gE-1, from 4.81 ± 0.01 to 5.60 ± 0.05 log CFU gE-1, and from 4.09 ± 0.01 to 5.10 ± 0.05 log CFU gE-1, respectively. After eight weeks of storage (temperature – 20 ± 1 °C, relative humidity – 40 ± 1%) enumeration of microorganisms showed significant decrease of colony–forming units in all bran samples. The amount of TPC, yeasts and lactic acid bacteria in the control bran samples fluctuated in a range from 4.84 ± 0.04 to 5.49 ± 0.05 log CFU gE-1, from 4.86 ± 0.03 to 5.25 ± 0.03 log CFU g-1, 3.53 ± 0.03 to 4.21 ± 0.02 log CFU gE-1 respectively.

The purpose of the current research was to investigate the total protein content and amino acid composition of flour blend made from several types of whole grain flour for pasta production. Conventional rye, hull-less barley, triticale and wheat grain was used in the experiments. For the flour blend obtaining white wheat flour type 550 was used. Using standard methods the following quality parameters were analysed: protein content in grain and flour samples by using InfratecTM model 1241 Grain Analyzer, in flour blend – by AACC 46–20, amino acid content by LVS ISO 13903:2005. In the present research it was determined that it is possible to increase the total protein content in wheat flour type 550 by 11% if adding whole wheat or whole triticale flour, and by 7% if adding whole grain flour of hull-less barley. Higher total amino acid content was obtained for whole wheat flour sample; lower – for whole rye flour sample. Significantly lower total amino acid content was obtained in whole rye, hull-less barley and triticale flour comparing with whole grain wheat flour. No significant differences (p=0.779) were found in the analysed essential amino acid content made of different flour blend – the content of essential amino acids in the analysed flour blend samples was very similar.

Studies have been conducted to find out the effect of the feeding of calves (Bos Taurus) with Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) concentrate produced in Latvia containing the prebiotic – inulin. The study was performed on two groups of animals - a control group of 8 animals and test (prebiotic) group of 8 animals in summer (from June to August, 2013), and winter (from December, 2013 to February, 2014) in one of cow farm of Latvia, in the municipality of Bauska. Both groups were fed the whole milk, but the test group received additionally 12 g of Jerusalem artichoke powder (an average of 500 g kgE-1 inulin) per day. The overall health status and physiological parameters (temperature, heartbeat and breathing frequency) of both animal groups before the study were of the normal range. After the experiment, we found out that the calves of the test group during both winter (one case) and summer seasons (seven cases), had fewer cases of diarrhea than the control (winter months four cases and summer months nine cases) group animals, the average daily weight gain (control group 0.53 g, prebiotic group 0.75 g) and the total weight gain (control group 29.42 kg, prebiotic group 42.13 kg) during 56 test days was significantly higher ( p is less than 0.05) than that for the control animals. We concluded that the use of Jerusalem artichoke flour concentrate when fed to the calves generally gives positive impact on the development and growth of the calves, improves the status of the gastrointestinal tract and the morphometric indicators.

During the controls for Trichinella in wild boar meat, Alaria spp. mesocercariae in the examined samples are diagnosed. There does not exist a routine veterinary inspection for diagnosis of alariosis (Alaria spp.) in Latvia. The aim of the study was to determine Alaria spp. mesocercariae distribution in wild boar (Sus scrofa) meat in Latvia. Laboratory examination was performed in Latvia University of Agriculture Faculty of Veterinary Medicine laboratory of Parasitology, from 2010 to 2013. Meat samples were examined using artificial digestion method, which in regulation No 2075/2005 is considered an official detection method for Trichinella. In total, 1233 wild boar meat samples from different hunting regions of Latvia were examined. The territory of Latvia was divided into four regions – Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme and Latgale. For examination we used meat samples from wild boar pillars of diaphragm. Samples were taken from wild boars of different age and gender. The prevalence of infection in the examined wild boar meat samples from all regions was 8.2%, but the intensity of infection 2.8.

A prospective study was performed on 15 client-owned dogs to assess the clinical outcome after surgical excision of canine cutaneous mast cell tumors (MCTs) depending on histologic grade and completeness of surgical margins. The surgical margins were evaluated as complete, close or incomplete if they were more than 3 mm, from 1 to 3 mm or less than 1 mm wide, respectively. Survival time for dogs with low grade MCT (based on grading by M. Kiupel et al.) was 409 days compared with only 60 days for dogs with high grade tumor. Dogs with high grade tumors had significantly shorter survival time and worse prognosis than dogs with low grade tumors (p=0.013). Complete excision was associated with lower possibility and longer time to tumor recurrence, as well as longer survival, however, marginal surgical border status did not have a significant impact on time to tumor recurrence and survival. It was also found that tumor duration but not tumor size had a significant impact on surgical margin status (p=0.047). Tumor size significantly affected survival time with larger tumors being correlated with shorter survival (p=0.03). The results of our study suggest that grade, tumor size and recurrence are significant factors for MCT prognostication.

A lot of different EU directives and regulations set the targets to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, to increase the share of renewable energy, and to improve energy efficiency. Biofuel usage is directly linked to all of these problems. Since the first generation food-based biofuels should not receive public support after 2020, investigations of next generation biofuels are topical. Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is one of the most promising next generation biofuels in the near future. This article deals with the results of mathematical modelling to determine the main diesel engine operating parameters (power, torque and fuel consumption) running them on HVO and its blends with fossil diesel fuel. The modelling results of the car Opel Insignia 2.0 CDTi show that every 5% of HVO in fuel blend reduces maximum power and torque of around 0.38% while raising specific fuel consumption by volume of around 0.10%. Analyzing the most realistic scenario in the near future – 7% HVO and 93% fossil diesel blend, the predicted fuel consumption increase (0.14%) and power and torque decrease (0.54%) is inconsiderable for vehicle exploitation, and HVO seems to be a promising biofuel to replace biodiesel in fuel blends and to promote reaching the EU targets.