High-pressure processing (HPP) is typically used for the microorganism inactivation, which provides safety and prolonged shelf life of meat and meat products. However, for consumers along with safety, it is important to have good sensory properties, which is a combination of tender and juicy meat with an intense meat flavour. These attributes may change because of the high pressure processing; therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of HPP on sensory and physical attributes of pork upon processing at 300 and 600 MPa at room temperature for 1 and 15 min. After HPP the processed pork samples were cooked within the package in a water bath. Colour of cooked pork did not differ among samples. Moisture content of samples decreased with the increased processing time. Sensory evaluation revealed that HPP treatment did not influence the colour and flavour of cooked pork irrespective of treatment parameters applied in the current study. The panellists indicated that increased pressure made pork samples drier and tougher, thus changing such sensory attributes as juiciness and chewiness, which are important for meat palatability. The correlation found between chewiness determined by sensory analysis and toughness determined by Warner-Bratzler shear device suggested this instrumental method as a better tool when compared to the instrumental texture profile analysis (TPA).

Lactobionic acid is a high value added compound industrially produced through energy intensive chemical synthesis, which uses costly metal catalysts, like gold and platinum. In the next years, biotechnological production of lactobionic acid can be supposed to take the full transition to the manufacturing stage. Productivity of lactobionic acid by microbial production can be affected by various factors – choice of microorganism and its concentration, supply of oxygen, temperature, substrate, cultivation method, pH and aeration rate. The aim was to review research findings for lactobionic acid production as well innovative and efficient technology solutions for self-costs reducing. Whey was recommended as a cheap and suitable substrate for the lactobionic acid production. Whey processing has been advised with Pseudonomas teatrolens in 28 °C and in pH 6 to 7 for yielding the highest productivity. The increasing commercial importance urges the progression of schemes for lactobionic acid biotechnological manufacturing.

In the celebration of the Annual 25th International Scientific Conference “Research for Rural Development 2019ˮ held at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, in Jelgava, from 15 to 17 May, participants with different backgrounds from 12 countries did 156 presentations, enjoyed welcome dinner with Latvian folk songs and dances as well as tasted a special cake. During a social programme of the conference, the participants visited a malt production plant, Rundāle palace and had farewell lunch. In the retrospect, four months later, we consider the Conference a great success in terms of interdisciplinary studies and networking opportunities. The sessions of the conference were structured so as to give all participants the opportunity to contribute to the primary purpose of the conference, which is discussion of important current issues facing rural development. The interdisciplinary proceedings of the Annual 25th International Scientific Conference “Research for Rural Development 2019ˮ (two volumes since 2010) are intended for academics, students and professionals. The subjects covered by those issues are as follows: crop production, animal breeding, agricultural engineering, agrarian and regional economics, food sciences, veterinary medicine, forestry, wood processing, water management, environmental engineering, information and communication technologies.

The Annual 24th International Scientific Conference ‘Research for Rural Development 2018’ was special and dedicated to the Latvia a 100 years since became an independent state, 155th Anniversary of Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LLU) and 280th Anniversary of Jelgava palace, where is located the main building of university. In the retrospect of four months later, we can count the Conference as a great success as interdisciplinary studies. The theme – Research for Rural Development - attracted participation more than 167 researchers with very different backgrounds. There were 139 presentations from different universities of Estonia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Ukraine, Sweden, South Africa, Indonesia, Russia and Latvia. The interdisciplinary proceedings of the Annual 24th International Scientific Conference ‘Research for Rural Development 2018’ (two volumes since 2010) are intended for academics, students and professionals. The subjects covered by those issues are crop production, animal breeding, agricultural engineering, agrarian and regional economics, food sciences, veterinary medicine, forestry, wood processing, water management, environmental engineering, landscape architecture, information and communication technologies.

Whole grain flour can be considered as a good candidate for pasta fortification due to the health benefits. Literature reports pasta dough fortification with non-traditional ingredients and cereals. Therefore, the purpose of the current research was to investigate rheological properties of whole grain flour blends for pasta production. Flour blends were made from wheat flour (type 405) in a combination with other flours (whole grain wheat, rye or hull-less barley flour) in various proportions (from 10% to 50%). Wheat flour type 405 was used as a control. Rheological properties of dough were analysed using Farinograph AT (Brabender, GmbH and Co.KG., Germany) and starch gelatinization properties of flour starch using Amylograph-E (Brabender GmbH and Co.KG., Germany); moisture content of flour samples (AACC 44-15A from 2000). The results of present research demonstrate that rheological properties of dough decrease if the amount of whole grain flour in blend increases. It was concluded that water absorption and dough development time of dough with whole grain flour blends addition is less than the parameters of control wheat flour (type 405). However, a higher starch gelatinization was obtained for flour blends with whole wheat grain flour, comparing to blends with whole rye and hull-less barley grain flour, which mainly could be explained with a higher gluten content of whole wheat grain flour.

In this study we described the diversity of lactic acid bacteria and their representatives in raw and thermally treated milk, focusing on their potential in cheese production influencing cheese quality. The aim of the present study was to analyse the concentrations and representatives of lactic acid bacteria in raw milk and to detect the changes of lactic acid bacteria microflora during thermal treatment of cheese milk at a dairy processing plant. The analysis carried out in the study showed a seasonal variation in the microbial composition and quantity of raw milk. The most frequently isolated lactic acid bacteria: lactococci, lactobacilli, leuconostoc were found at low level in raw milk (mean 9.27×103 CFU mLE-1) and the most frequently identified species were Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus fermentum. The microflora of raw and pasteurised milk is similar to the analysed lactic acid bacteria representatives in the samples. Interestingly, we found the same species in raw milk and pasteurised milk, for example, Lactobacillus brevis and Lactobacillus fermentum were detected in the same samples in raw milk and pasteurised milk. Our study showed that lactic acid bacteria concentration was quite low in pasteurised milk (0-76 CFU mLE-1), but they grow rapidly in cheese during ripening; therefore the definition of limits of the non–starter lactic acid bacteria colony forming units in milk should be reasonable for selection of appropriate raw milk quality for cheesemaking.

In this work the combinations of commercial lactic acid bacteria starters and acetic acid bacteria strain were used for production of fructans in substrate, both with and without sucrose additive, and studied their potential in maintaining technological properties of yoghurt and fermented milk. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of fructans producing starter cultures on milk coagulation technique, the amount of secreted fructans and viscosity of fermented milk samples. An amount of fructans synthesized by starter cultures and Gluconobacter sp. B35, pH and viscosity of samples were measured using appropriate standards and analytical methods. Results showed that the addition of acetic acid bacteria did not influence the pH dynamics of fermented milk samples. Increasing sucrose concentration in samples significantly influences fructans production potential. The application of such technology in fermented dairy product production would have potential from microbiological exopolysaccharides increasing position with the aim to promote functionality of dairy foods and to substitute commercial stabilisers etc. The addition of acetic acid bacteria in milk showed negative impact on viscosity of the evaluated samples. The viscosity was liquid in all analyzed samples with acetic acid bacteria, the addition of sucrose helped to make the consistency of yoghurt and fermented milk more liquid. We concluded that the structure of synthesized fructans could not help to improve the textural properties of fermented dairy products. From this point of view, the studied acetic acid bacteria strain should have the potential as prebiotic.

The Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies and Organizing Committee of Annual 27th International Scientific Conference ‘Research for Rural Development 2021’ tried to continues a tradition of bringing together researchers, academic and professionals in Jelgava, from 12 to 14 May, 2021 from all over the world. But, unfortunately, this year again the rules were set by the Covid-19 virus pandemic. We did start new tradition from 2020, account from 1st until the 27th conference and totally are 36 Volumes. The interdisciplinary papers contributed the most recent scientific knowledge in crop production, animal breeding, agricultural engineering, agrarian and regional economics, food sciences, veterinary medicine, forestry, wood processing, water management, environmental engineering, information and communication technologies. These Proceedings will furnish the scientists of the world with an excellent reference volume. We trust also that this will be an impetus to stimulate further study and research in all these areas.

Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies and Organizing Committee of Annual 26th International Scientific Conference on Research for Rural Development 2020 tried to continues a tradition of bringing together researchers, academic and professionals in Jelgava, from 13 to 15 May, 2020 from all over the world. But, unfortunately, this year the rules were set by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We did start new tradition from 2020, account from 1st until the 26th conference and totally are 35 volumes. The interdisciplinary papers contributed the most recent scientific knowledge in agricultural sciences, forestry and wood processing, food sciences, veterinary medicine, economics, rural and environmental engineering, water management; information and communication technologies and education. These Proceedings will furnish the scientists of the world with an excellent reference volume. We trust also that this will be an impetus to stimulate further study and research in all these areas.

Kvass is a non-alcoholic beverage produced by fermenting kvass mash with yeast; alcohol content in kvass must be less than 1.2% by volume. Kvass extracts have longer shelf-life and they are essentially free of ethanol. The aim of this research was to evaluate and compare aroma compounds in naturally fermented kvass and kvass extracts. Experiments were carried out at the Latvia University of Agriculture, Department of Food Technology from November 2014 to February 2015. Three commercially available kvass samples (Bruveris, Bauskas and Liepkalni) were used to produce kvass extracts applying vacuum evaporation. The investigation of volatile compounds in kvass and kvass extracts was performed using solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Dry matter content in kvass extracts was 32.4 ± 0.3% (ISO 2173:2003). In all kvass and extract samples in total 25 volatile compounds were detected. Ten of them were esters, five alcohols, five acids, four aldehydes and three ketones. Such aroma compounds as ethyl acetate (fruity flavour), hexyl acetate (fruit, herb) and ethyl decanoate (grape) were found only in Bruveris kvass, 2,3-butanedione (buttery) and phenethyl butyrate (floral) were found only in Bauskas alus kvass and three volatile compounds were identified only in Liepkalni kvass – acetic acid (sour), furfuryl alcohol (burnt) and carvone (caraway). Less than a half of the main aroma volatiles in kvass were also identified in kvass extracts and total values of peak areas were significantly lower in kvass extracts compared to kvass (p = 0.01).