The aim of this study is to contribute to the valorization of the cocoa bean varieties “Mercedes” and “Forastero” grown in Côte d’Ivoire. A comparative characterisation of phenolic compounds and minerals in the beans of the “Mercedes” and “Forastero” varieties from two major cocoa production areas of Côte d’Ivoire were determined. The phenolic compounds of cocoa beans were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the minerals by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The study showed that a significant difference at the 5% level was observed in the averages of minerals, cinnamic acid, protocatechic acid, quercetin, coumaric acid, rutin, ellagic acid, veratric acid, epicatechin, ferulic acid and naringenin. On the other hand, no significant difference at the 5% level was observed in the averages of arbutin, catechin, vanillic acid and caffeic acid in the bean kernels analysed in the Divo and Abengourou regions. The proportion of cinnamic acid is (6.18±0.63 mg/100g “Mercedes” Divo), that of ellagic acid is (18.48±0.44 mg/100g “Mercedes” Divo) and that of naringenin is (5.95±0.35 mg/100g “Mercedes” Divo). The amount of potassium is (7569.97±1.51 mg/kg “Forastero” of Abengourou) and that of iron is (179.9 ± 0.70 mg/Kg “Forastero” of Divo). The phenolic compounds and minerals in the cocoa bean samples analysed are highly correlated and rich in antioxidants. They would be beneficial for many biological functions. They can be recommended in pharmacology and cosmetics to fight against oxidative stress and cardiovascular diseases.

In this study, it was aimed to determine the total carbohydrate (CHO), minerals and phenolic (total phenolic content, total flavanols, total flavonols, and anthocyanins) of grape and grape products. For this reason, fresh grapes (Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, Emir, and Narince), raisins (Karadimrit and Sultani Çekirdeksiz), wines (Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, Emir, and Narince), commercial red grape juice, molasses, and vinegar were used as research materials. In conclusion, total CHO contents in the samples were ranged from 0.14 to 48.37 g 100 g-1. In terms of the minerals, molasses was rich in K while the highest contents of P and Fe were found in vinegar. Raisin of Karadimrit contained the highest Ca content among all the samples tested. Not only total phenolic contents but also total flavanols, total flavonols, and anthocyanins were altered depending on the sample types and the varieties. As a result, it was determined that grape and grape products represent a potentially significant source of CHO, minerals, and phenolic.

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the effects of adding olive seed powder (OSP) and eggshell powder (ESP) to whole wheat biscuit formulation on some of the physico-chemical, chemical, textural and sensory properties. Incorporation of powder materials was done by adding to biscuit dough at prespecified concentrations of OSP (7.5% and 15%) and ESP (2.5%) based on total wheat flour. The data obtained from this study revealed that fortification with powder materials affected protein and moisture content of final product. Additionally, adding powder materials to whole wheat biscuit formulation increased the total amount of phenolics and antioxidant activity significantly. Results of instrumental colour analysis indicated that fortification increased darkness and redness when compared with the control. Sensory analysis data indicated that non-fortified and fortified samples provided similar sensory attributes.

The present study used chemical fertilizer, brown algae compost and zeolite carried out in the field of Giresun Hazelnut Research Center between May-November 2014 in pots according to randomized blog design as three replicate each. Treatment groups were consist of eight different combinations as follow; G1-Control, G2-Zeolite, G3-Compost, G4-Chemical Fertilizer, G5-Zeolite+Compost, G6-Zeolite+Chemical Fertilizer, G7-Compost+ Chemical Fertilizer, G8-Compost+Zeolite+ Chemical Fertilizer. The brown algae (Cystoseira sp.) were used as compost material. These combinations were applied to green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). The green beans were seeded by hand to arrange planting depth of 5-6 cm and 20 seeds/m2. Except control group, each treatment was added fertilizers as 50 g zeolite, 50 g compost, and 25 g chemical according to treatment design. Half of the chemical fertilizers were added at seeding time and the rest after two weeks. Collected soil samples were analyzed right after harvest, the greatest values of treatment groups were determined as; Carbon% G1: 5.08, nitrogen G3: 0.09 ppm, sodium G5: 139 ppm, potassium G6 and G8: 5 ppm, magnesium G2: 1865 ppm, calcium G6: 8.33 ppm, manganese G2: 359 ppm, iron G6 : 16070 ppm, cobalt G6 and G7: 7.91 ppm, copper G2: 17.5 ppm, zinc G8: 28.0 ppm, selenium G7: 4.17 ppm, cadmium G5: 0.08 ppm, lead G4: 5.31 ppm. The greatest harvest value as g/m2 was obtained from zeolite only group G2 with 273 while the lowest was obtained from Compost only group G3 with 113 g/m2, obviously showing the effectiveness of zeolite only application moreover, also thinking that better results may get if the present study run for longer period.

An 8-week experiment was conducted to study the effect of added Natuphos® 5000 phytase in corn–soybean meal-based diets on laying hens fed different levels of crude protein (CP) (14 and 17%). Two levels of phytase enzyme were used: 0 and 600 Phytase Units (FTU)/kg feed. The experiment used 144 Hisex Brown laying hens in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Four treatments and three replicates per treatment with 12 hens per replicate were used. Egg production was recorded daily while egg weight was assessed on 13th and 14th day of each two-week period to calculate total egg mass. Total excreta were collected and approximately 10% of the amount was used for analysis after drying in a forced draft oven. The results showed no significant effect of added phytase on excreta Calcium (Ca) content, but significantly lower Magnesium (Mg) content was observed with phytase (3.54, 2.48, 3.13 and 2.75 % for hens fed 14% CP no phytase, 14% CP + phytase, 17% CP no phytase, and 17% CP + phytase, respectively). Added phytase also significantly decreased Mg excretion measured as grams/kg of egg mass (21.43, 12.47, 16.76 and 14.75 g/kg egg mass for hens of respective dietary treatments. Phytase had a strong effect on Zink (Zn) levels with 438.96, 369.17, 434.38 and 374.58 mg Zn/kg dry excreta of hens. Similar results were observed with Cu. Added phytase significantly reduced the excreta content and the excretion of Cu. The results of this experiment indicate that adding 600 FTU to laying hen diets containing 14% CP decreases the excretion of Mg, Zn and Cu without any adverse effects on the egg mass produced of laying hens.

Erzincan Tulum Cheese (ETC) holds a significant place among the most popular cheeses in Türkiye. It has been awarded Protected Geographical Indication status, which restricts the allowable milk species, its production area, and specific sheep breed used in its production. Mineral content and antioxidant activity of ETC were aimed to be predicted using conventional FT-NIR and a portable FT-MIR spectrometer combined with partial least square regression (PLSR) and machine learning algorithms based on conditional entropy. Seventy ETC samples were analyzed for their mineral (Al, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, and P) content using ICP-MS. The samples' antioxidant activity was measured using the DPPH•+ scavenging activity method. PLSR combined with FT-NIR spectral data correlated with antioxidant activity (r=0.89) and minerals (as low as r=0.83) except for Cr and Fe. FT-MIR data provided a good correlation for minerals (as low as r=0.82) except for Cr and Mn and a moderate correlation with antioxidant activity (r=0.64). Information theory was applied to select wavenumbers used in machine learning algorithms, and better results were obtained compared to PLSR. Overall, FT-NIR and FT-MIR spectroscopy provided rapid (~ 1 min), non-destructive, sensitive, and reliable output for mineral and antioxidant activity predictions in commercial cheese samples.