In this study, various extracts of Hypericum perforatum L. were investigated in terms of their extraction yields. For this purpose, five solvent systems including 70%EtOH-30% H2O (A), 50%EtOH-50% H2O (B), 30%EtOH-70% H2O (C), 100% EtOH (D), and 100% H2O (E) were used. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction was used for extraction and extraction processes were performed at different temperatures (30°-70oC) and extraction times (30-70 min.). The optimum extraction conditions for H. perforatum was determined based on extraction yield, total phenolic contents, and DPPH radical scavenging activities of the crude extracts, as well. The best ultrasound extraction conditions are achieved in the presence of 70%EtOH-30% H2O solvent system, for 40 min, at 30°C for H. perforatum.

There are many natural growth area in Turkey and utilizability is increasingly in different areas. Berry fruits involve several species such as grape (Vitis spp.), currant (Ribes spp.), rosehip (Rosa spp.), strawberry (Fragaria spp.), raspberry (Rubus spp.), pomegranate (Punica spp.), blackberry (Rubus spp.), bilberry (Vaccinium spp.), mulberry (Morus spp.) and cornelian cherry (Cornus spp.). Berries are soft fruits that turn from red to blue or black. They contain a good source of vitamins and minerals, and they have various phytochemical compositions that relevant to consumer health. Different varieties of berries contain quite variable concentrations of ascorbic acid, folic acid, anthocyanin, flavonol, ellagitannins and many diversity of hydroxybenzoic acid. Berries have antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal and anticarcinogenic properties due to rich content of phytochemical. In this study, Antifungal effect of ethanol extracts obtained from strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, blackberry, bilberry, mulberry and cornelian cherry against 7 different subspecies of Penicillium, 6 different subspecies of Aspergillus and Mucor racemosus, Botrytis cinerea, Geotrichum candidum, Cladosporium claudosporioides, Rhizopus nigricans species were determined by using disk diffusion method. As a result of the research; It was determined that 9 different samples had antifungal effect on 18 different mold species at various rate. The highest antifungal effect was observed with 24.65 milimeter zone diameter against Mucor racemosus in pomegranate peel extract. This value was followed by blackberry extract against Penicillium glaucum and Penicillium chrysogenum with 20.54 and 20.03 milimeter zone diameter, respectively. It was concluded that the lowest antifungal effect on mold species apart from Aspergillus flavus in blue bilberry extract.

Fermented milk is known as a major functional food that has proven health benefits, such as probiotic effects. The fermented milk, laban, is the foremost dairy product in Yemen. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional and health-promoting properties and antioxidant activity of laban. Nutritional and health-promoting properties were estimated. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by measuring total polyphenol levels, 1.1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity, reducing power, and total antioxidant capacity. The antioxidant activity of a laban-Pulicaria jaubertii mixture was also determined. Results showed considerable quantities of nutrients, especially fats, in both milk and laban. The composition differences between milk and laban show several significant health-promoting properties for laban. Laban showed higher antioxidant activity than raw milk and the addition of P. jaubertii to the laban, increased antioxidant activity. The properties of laban suggested the potential use of laban as a promising functional food with excellent health benefits, especially when mixed with P. jaubertii.

The subject of the study is to evaluate the Niğde Akkaya Dam with SWOT analysis and to make recommendations in terms of recreational use. The aim of the study is to identify the strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the Akkaya dam and to determine its goals and strategies in terms of recreation. In line with this purpose, the socio-economic, cultural and natural features, landscape potential of the area were evaluated using the SWOT, the opportunities that the positive and negative aspects of the area, were presented, and the possible or existing threats were determined. At the same time, the current recreation potential of the dam was determined, and suggestions were developed in line with the data in order to offer alternatives that can be evaluated in terms of sustainable use of the areas. It was determined that pollution occurs in the dam water due to environmental wastes, as a result of this pollution, harmful creatures multiply and bad smells are formed. However, it is accepted that the dam is home to a large number of migratory birds, that it has not lost its naturalness, and that most of the dam is in the university campus. Threats to the dam are; low water level, fishing, duck hunting etc. damage to ecological life due to activities, smell gradually increased. Their opportunities are determined as providing a suitable environment for bird watching, having a suitable infrastructure for ecological research, and being suitable for recreational activities for water. At the end of the study, suggestions were developed in terms of suitability of Akkaya Dam for recreational activities.

The increasing scarcity and competition for irrigation water entails adoption of innovative practices that increase efficient water use. The objective of this research was to compare different mulching techniques and investigated the combined effect of irrigation levels under drip irrigation system based on the parametric evaluation system in western part of Ethiopia during the 2018 dry season. A factorial combination of five levels of water (namely 100%, 80% and 70%, 60% and 50%ETc) combined with three mulch treatments (namely, Normal Mulch (NM), Straw Mulch (SM) and Plastic Mulch (PM)) with three replications. The analysis of variance showed that, days to 50% maturity, leaf number per plant, mean leaf length, plant height and leaf area were significantly affected by the main effects of deficit irrigation levels and mulching materials. The interaction effects of deficit irrigation levels and mulching materials significantly influenced plant height, number of leaf per plant, plant height, Leaf length and Leaf area of the onion. The present study suggests that, in water scarce area, farmers are advised to adopt deficit irrigation level with 80% ETc under plastic mulch. It is important even to undertake similar studies at different seasons with different varieties in consideration of their cost benefit analysis. However, if water is not a limiting factor, farmers are advised to apply full irrigation water application under plastic mulch.

Kefir; is a fermented milk product which is produced by granules containing a wide variety of microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria and yeasts. It is traditionally consumed in many countries. It has been shown in many studies that the polysaccharide structure surrounding the granules which is composed mainly of kefiran molecule has antimicrobial effect against various pathogens as well as many health promoting effects. In this study, 24 h fermented kefir was used with two types of kefir granules for production of kefiran extract. One of them is being sold commercially and the other was collected from private households in a different region of Turkey. Kefiran extraction was carried out from matured kefir granules using three different temperatures, 80°C, 90°C and 100°C. Also, the protein contents of the extracted solutions were determined by Bradford method. Protein content of the extract solutions obtained were measured as 0.001 g/ml. The antibacterial effect of 0.05, 0.1, 1 and 2 mg of this extract against several plant pathogenic bacterial strains belonging to genus Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas, Erwinia ve Clavibacter was investigated in vitro for the first time. For this purpose, two methods, disc diffusion method and spreading method were used. The AN and SD kefir supernatants used as the positive controls in the experiments showed an average of 13-17 mm and 10-14 mm inhibition zones on the isolates, respectively, but the antibacterial effect of kefiran extracts was not observed.

This research was carried out in Haymana Research Farm of Ankara University. Three different varieties of wheat were used in the study. These varieties were; Kırgız-95, Kırkpınar-79, and Svevo. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between soil electrical conductivity values and vegetation index. In the study, EM38, electrical conductivity sensor, and GreenSeeker, vegetation index sensor were used. The obtained values were evaluated statistically, and the relationships between the two parameters were determined. As a result of the research, the relationships between the electrical conductivity of the soil and plant growth index values were found to be negative (R2) as 0.7718 for Kyrgyz-95, 0.7675 for Kırkpınar-79 and 0.7807 for Svevo.

The aim of the present study is to assess the effects Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum, Fabaceae), sunflower (Helianthus annuus, Asteraceae), green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum, Zingiberaceae) and seed extracts, which they belonged to three different plant families, on common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) spermatozoa motility parameters and oxidative stress conditions. For this reason, sperm samples treated with seed extracts at the ratios of 0.1%, %0.5, 1%, and 2%, were incubated at 4°C and sampled at 2nd and 48th hours. Among sperm motility parameters, curvilinear velocity (VCL), average path velocity (VAP), straight-line velocity (VSL), straightness STR), linearity (LIN), and wobble (WOB) were determined by computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). According to the results, sunflower and green cardamom seed extracts have attenuated motility parameters at all tested concentrations. However, motility parameters measured in %0.5 of fenugreek seed extract were higher than all other groups including the control at 48th hour. Also, TBARS values as an oxidative stress indicator in this group were decreased. 2% of all seed extracts had negative effects on the sperm samples. Particularly, 2% sunflower seed extract caused the higher oxidative stress. These results indicate that fenugreek seed extract is more proper for the maintenance of common carp spermatozoa at 4°C, comparing to those of sunflower and green cardamom.

This experiment was conducted in Antsokia Gemza district, Ethiopia in 2017/18 to evaluate the effect of intra-row spacing on bulb quality and storability of onion varieties. A 4×4 factorial experiment with four different varieties (Adama Red, Bombay Red, Melkam and Shendi) and four levels of intra-row spacing (5.00, 7.50, 10.00 and 12.50 cm) was laid on randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were collected on bulb quality attributes and storability and subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using statistical analysis system (SAS) computer software 9.1. The mean separation test was done by list significant difference (LSD) test at 5% probability level. Simple linear correlation analyses between and among the different parameters were made using Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Accordingly, most of the parameters were significantly affected by intra-row spacing and variety. Variety Melkam exhibited the highest bulb diameter, bulb length, bulb dry matter content and bulb fresh weight. Melkam and Adama Red were with the lowest weight loss in storage while Bombay Red and Shendi scored the highest weight loss in storage. Most of the bulb quality parameters were significantly highest at the widest intra-row spacing of 10.00 and 12.50 cm. However, there was no significant variation between 7.50 and 10.00 cm intra-row spacing on average bulb weight which is considered as the most important bulb quality parameter for the producers from the market point of view. Weight loss was higher at the widest intra-row spacing for all varieties. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the bulb quality and storability of onion in Antsokia Gemza district can be optimized through cultivating variety Melkam at intra-row spacing of 7.5 cm.

Powdery mildew is a serious disease of economically important hazelnut crop in Turkey. Hazelnut production has been extremely affected by the disease in terms of quality and quantity. The disease is caused by two different fungi, namely Erysiphe corylacearum and Phyllactinia guttata. E. corylacearum has been shown to be the responsible one predominantly for the recent economic damage. The fungi produce a mycelium network on hazelnut plants before they sporulate and visually detected. Early detection of these pathogens is important for management as well as understanding their spread and epidemics. In this study, a PCR assay was developed for the detection of both pathogens from hazelnut plant leaves by targeting their ribosomal DNA genes in their internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. Two sets of specific primers were designed for the detection of E. corylacearum and P. guttata at an early stage of infection. As a result of PCR, a specific band of 578 bp was observed. The amplicon sequencing confirmed the presence of only E. corylacearum, but not P. guttata. Therefore, this PCR-based test can identify plants that are infected with powdery mildew before they show any visual signs. From there, the infected plants can be treated or removed before the fungus has a chance to produce spores that infect neighboring plants. These results would help tackle the eradication of powdery mildew.