An experiment was carried out at the ICAR-KVK Research farm, HansRoever Campus, Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India during the Kharif season (July to October), 2020 to study the effect of agronomic biofortification through integrated nutrient management on hybrid maize (biofortified and non-biofortified). The experiment was laid out in Split Plot Design having 36 treatment combinations of hybrids and nutrients and replicated thrice. The treatment sources consisted of two main plots of maize hybrids (M1: Non-biofortified and M2: biofortified), and six sub-plots of nutrients (S1: 100 % Recommended Dose of Fertilizer RDF through Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, S2: 100 % RDF through Farm Yard Manure, S3: 50% RDF through NPK + 50% RDF through FYM, S4: S1+ Iron and Zinc as foliar application @0.5% conc, S5: S2 + Iron and Zinc as foliar application @0.5% conc, S6: S3 + Iron and Zinc as foliar application @0.5% conc.). The recommended dose of fertilizer was NPK 150:75:75 kg ha-1. Application of 50% RDF through NPK + 50% RDF through FYM with Fe and Zn as foliar application @0.5% conc (S6) at 45 (active vegetative stage) and 90 (grain filling stage) days after sowing, significantly increased all the growth and yield attributes, grain and stover yield, quality attributes and nutrient uptake by maize. Among the nutrient levels, higher grain yield (8.2 t ha-1) and stover yield (10.16 t ha-1), quality attributes, and nutrient uptake were recorded with the application of 50% RDF through NPK + 50% RDF through FYM with Fe and Zn as foliar application @0.5% conc (S6). Similarly, significant net return (INR 78,767) and benefit cost ratio (3.07) were noted with the application of 100% RDF through NPK (S1) followed by 50% RDF through NPK + 50% RDF through FYM with Fe and Zn as foliar application @0.5% conc (S6). Hence, integrated nutrient management with agronomic biofortification @0.5% conc., at 45th and 90th DAS should be adopted to obtain maximum grain yield, net profit, and nutrient uptake by Kharif maize.

The present study was aimed at isolating endophytic fungi from the Algerian medicinal plant Salicornia arabica and analyzing its antifungal and antibacterial effects. The morphological analysis allowed us to identify endophyte isolates at the genus level as belonging to 8 different genera, Aureobasidium sp., Ulocladium sp., Acremonium sp., Stemphylium sp., Penicillium sp., Aspergillus sp., Phoma sp., and Chrysosporium sp. with frequency percentages 6.7%, 13.3%, 20%, 13.3%, 13.3%, 13.3%, 6.7%, 6.7%, respectively. The antimicrobial activity was caried out using the agar plug diffusion method. The three isolates of the genus Acremonium sp. were highly active against all tested bacteria except Enterococcus faecalis. Comparison of the means of inhibition zones of the active isolates showed that the three fungal isolates of Acremonium were the most active, followed by Chrysosporium sp., Penicillium sp.1, Aureobasidium sp., Stemphylium sp.1, Penicillium sp. .2, and Ulocladium sp.2. The widest zones of inhibition were 22.33 and 20.33mm for Acremonium sp.3, 18.33 and 15.33mm for Aureobasidium sp., 19.33mm for Penicillium sp.1, and 19 and 15mm for Stemphylium sp.1 obtained against Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, respectively. Regarding the antifungal activity, the best inhibitory activity was 80 and 64.70% obtained with the isolate Penicillium sp.2 against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciccri and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. albedinis, respectively, and of 63.29 and 58% observed against Phytophthora infestans and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciccri, respectively, with the endophytic isolate Aspergillus sp.2. These results indicated the possible prospect of endophytes fungi isolated from Salicornia arabica as a promising resource of antimicrobial compounds and in the quest for the potential starting points for the development of new antibiotics.

In this study, the production technology level of enterprises, meat and meat products, slaughterhouses, and combines; operating in the red meat industry in the TR83 Region and the practical criteria for selecting these technology levels have been determined. Within the scope of the study, the data obtained by face-to-face interviews with the managers of meat and meat products processing enterprises, slaughterhouses, and combines operating in the provinces of Amasya, Çorum, Samsun, and Tokat in the TR83 Region were evaluated. Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and TOPSIS methods were used to determine the production technology level. In the study, the level of production technology (alternatives) was considered as modern production technology and traditional production technology while the criteria are determined as family business, modern conditions, production capacity, market width, modernization, modern facility, hygiene, and quality. As a result of the study, modern production technology was determined as very important by 85% points with the AHP method and 99% points with the TOPSIS method. It has been concluded that the most essential criteria in determining the level of production technology are quality (0.291), hygiene (0.273), and modern conditions (0.106). The technology level used in production is important in terms of providing sufficient red meat supply and healthy and reliable food production and consumption. Therefore, it has been concluded that encouraging modernization in is this field and allowing enterprises to use modern technology will support production.

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