In the current research, it was aimed to determine Somatic Cell Count (SCC) and the factors effecting on SCC in milk samples of Brown Swiss cattle raised at different farm conditions in Yıldızeli district of Sivas province in Turkey. Raw milk samples were collected at morning milking in months of May and November in year 2012. In total, 244 milk samples from 122 Brown Swiss cattle were analyzed. The effects of calving age, farm and test month on SCC were statistically significant. In the present study, the average SCC was determined as 1209696±111361 cells/ml. About 56.6% of milk from November month and about 48.4 % of milk samples from Brown Swiss were containing over 500.000 cell/ ml. As a result, Brown Swiss cattle identified SCC in raw milk samples were significantly higher than the values specified in the legislation of the European Union Commission and Turkish Food Codex.

Uğut (wheatgrass marmalade / dessert) is a traditional Turkish food which is almost to be forgotten. It is produced in various regions of Turkey by boiling the mixture of wheatgrass juice, flour and water. The wheatgrass contains amino acids, protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and enzyme. It is reported that the wheatgrass has antioxidant, anticancer, anti-aging, laxative, diuretic and antibacterial effects due to its rich composition. Uğut is also a good source of carbohydrate because of its flour contents. In this article, the composition and production methods of Uğut were discussed.

This study was conducted to determine a suitable time and temperature combination for the electrical conductivity test to be used in sorghum seeds. Fifty seeds known initial seed moisture content and weight of fresh and dead seeds (105°C for 6h) of seven sorghum cultivars were used as material. The electrical conductivities of soaking water were measured using an EC meter in 20, 25 and 30°C for 4, 8, 12 and 24 h using 50 mL deionized water. The experimental design was three factor factorial (7 × 3 × 4) arranged in a completely randomized design; with four replications and 50 seeds per replicate. The results showed that increased time and temperature caused a remarkable increase in EC values of all of the cultivars. Temperature significantly affected the electrical conductivity values and the best results were obtained at 25°C. The cultivars with the lower germination percentage gave the higher electrical conductivity value. Dead seeds always gave higher electrical conductivity at 25°C for all periods. It was concluded that the temperature of 25°C and 24 h was the optimum combination for the electrical conductivity test in sorghum.

Fruit and vegetables are an important component of a healthy diet and the main antioxidant suppliers in the human diet. Consumption of foods derived from fruits and vegetables is also essential; fruit juices, ciders, wines, and vinegars also contain significant amounts of polyphenolic compounds. The aim of the study was to determine the effect maceration of antioxidant activity and phenolic content of apple cider. Red delicious apples were used to produce natural apple cider with and without inclusion of maceration. Samples were taken from fresh red apple juice, macerated samples and apple cider. Apple cider (maceration was applied) (CAM) had the highest total phenolic content, chlorogenic acid, ORAC and TEAC levels. Chlorogenic acid was the dominant phenolic substance in apple juice and cider samples and chlorogenic acid was increased with maceration process.

Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is an annual plant as one of the natural sources for noradrenaline hormone. In this research, hairy root culture of purslane was established by using Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain ATCC 15834. In the following, Box-Behnken model of response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize B5 medium for the growth of P. oleracea L. hairy root line. According to the results, modelling and optimization conditions, including sucrose, CaCl2.H2O, H2PO4 and NO3-/NH4+ concentrations on maximum dry weight (0.155 g) and noradrenaline content (0.36 mg.g-1 DW) was predicted. These optimal conditions predicted by RSM were confirmed the enhancement of noradrenaline production as an application potential for production by hairy root cultures.

Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing E. coli (STEC) is the most important foodborne pathogen which is the causal agent of mild diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in human. The present study was designed to determine the prevalence and identification of Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing E. coli in poultry, detection of its source of infection in poultry and transmission pattern to human. For this purpose a total of 150 samples (cloacal swab-60, feed -15, water-15 and egg -60) were collected and analyzed in bacteriology laboratory by cultured in different bacteriological media followed by gram’s staining, biochemical tests and Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR). The PCR was performed by targeting 16s rRNA gene and shiga toxin producing gene in E. coli. Out of 150 collected samples, E. coli was found in 81 (54%) samples. Presence of E. coli was 100% in both feed (n=15) and egg (n=60), whereas 10% in cloacal swab (n=6). Water samples were totally free of E. coli. The stx2 gene was detected in all samples whether all samples were negative for stx1 gene. The study revealed that, poultry feed acts as a source of E. coli infection in poultry, which may be transmitted to environment and human via meat or eggs. Antibiotic sensitivity test revealed that isolated bacteria were highly sensitive to Ciprofloxacin.

In the present study, we isolated three thermophilic Bacillus strains from the soil samples collected from the coast sediments of the Burnaz Stream located in Erzin. The isolates were entitled as Bacillus sp. CT1, CT2, and CT3, respectively. The maximum α-amylase production was revealed at 60°C for CT1 strain, and at 80°C for CT2 and CT3 strains, respectively. The optimum enzyme activity was observed at 90°C for CT1 α-amylase, whereas at 60°C for CT2 and CT3 α-amylases. On the other hand, optimum pH value for CT2 α-amylase was 7.0, whereas 8.0 for CT1 and CT3 α-amylases. The specific activities of CT1, CT2, and CT3 amylases were 317.6, 113.3 and 362.7 U/mg at 55°C, respectively. The estimated molecular weight of CT1 and CT3 α-amylase was 65 kDa, and for CT2 α-amylase was 38 kDa by zymogram analysis.

Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) is known as phenylthiourea and it is an organic compound that has the phenyl ring. Ability to perceive the tastes of PTC chemical is related to the dominance of taste genes. There are a large number of population studies regarding the PTC taste perception and different personal characteristics or disease conditions. The purpose of this study is to reveal and compare the relation between the PTC taste perception and work-out habits, smoking, alcohol consumption and tendency to the depression of people. A total of 2500 adults were volunteered to be included in this study. PTC taste perception was measured by tasting with PTC solution (10 mg/L) filtered in a paper. It showed that tasters were significantly more frequent (81.8%) than nontasters (18.2%) in all population. And in some parameters analyzed in this study, there are significant differences. The taste genetics show up with environmental factors and create the sense of taste, which develops the feeding behaviors. The taste perception resulting from food and beverages diversifies by genetic and environmental effects and the nervous system interprets this perception. This study is enlightening in terms of presenting that the taste perception of people affects their lifestyles and lead them to start and either continue or discontinue some habits.

Six groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) cultivars i.e. Golden, BARI-2000, Australian, BARD-479, ICG-7326 and 2KCGC20 were evaluated against the attack of Odontotermes obesus in terms of percentage infestation of workers and soldiers, their damage and impact on the yield. The maximum mean populations of O. obesus workers were recorded on 2KCGC20 (30.82±2.75 workers/plot) and Australian (30.65±2.92 workers/plot), followed by BARI 2000 (19.55±2.51 workers/plot), Golden (17.30±2.27 workers/plot) and BARD-479 (16.82±2.06 workers/plot). The minimum mean population of O. obesus workers was found on ICG-7326 cultivars (14.85±1.81) workers/plot. The maximum mean population infestation of O. obesus soldiers was recorded on 2KCGC20 cultivar (4.88±0.25 soldiers/plot) followed by Australian (4.15±.30, soldiers/per plot), BARD-479 (2.00±.17 soldiers/plot), ICG-7326 (1.70±.14 soldiers/plot), BARD 2000 (2.40±.25 soldiers/ plot). The minimum mean population of O. obesus soldiers was found on Gold (1.87±.17 soldiers/plot). Population of O. obesus workers was positively related with the damage and negatively related the yield in all the groundnut cultivars.

In this study, it was aimed to determine the water-borne and food-borne boron accumulation in the liver and muscle tissues of Gold Fish (Carassius auratus Linnaeus, 1758). For each treatment, 12 individuals were. The water-borne boron treatments were applied as boron acid concentration of 1 mg/L, 10 mg/L and 20 mg/L in the aquarium water, while the food-borne boron treatments were prepared food contained the defined levels of boron (1 mg/kg, 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg) as boric acid. The boron levels in the tissues were determined by an ICP-MS procedure. The maximum boron concentration was found in the 20mg/L water borne boron treatment in the liver tissue (1.78±0.02 mg/kg). In the water-borne boron treatments, the maximum Transfer Factor (TF) was found in the 20mg/L boron concentration, and TF values were increased when the boron concentrations were decreasing. In the 1 mg/kg food-borne boron treatment, TF was found as 0, and increasing concentration of boron in the food caused an increase in TF reached about 0.06. This study suggested that the target organ for boron accumulation is the liver rather than the muscles and the accumulation of food-borne boron is lower when comparing water-borne boron.