Sapropel or gyttja are the terms that relate to specific water body sediments containing a high level of organic matter formed from the remains of water biota mixed with mineral components. One of the most promising utilisation ways of sapropel is agriculture and forestry where this natural material can be used as soil amendment to enrich soil fertility, neutralise acidity, improve water capacity and reduce phytoavailablity of excess of metallic elements. The aim of this study was to perform plant germination and early seedling tests using various sapropel samples and to reveal response of plant development depending on the type of sapropel to be used as soil amendment. Pure natural sapropel and sapropel/sand substrate of such types as peaty, organic-sandy, cyanobacteria, green algae and carbonatic sapropel, derived from four lakes of eastern Latvia, were tested. Seeds of cucumber Cucumis sativus and tomato Solanum lycopersicum as dicotyledons and perennial rye-grass Lolium perenne as monocotyledon were chosen for the experiment. Seed germination and early seedling tests were performed in PHYTOTESTKIT plates. Seeds were germinated in thermostat at a temperature of 26 °C for 7 days but early seedling development was achieved after 23- 30 days (depending on plant species) under daylight conditions at a temperature of 20 °C. Developed radicles and hypocotyls were measured, shoots and roots were weighed. The obtained results showed a distinctive effect of applied sapropel type on the development of plants depending on species and substrate – substrate containing pure natural sapropel is effective for cucumber and perennial rye-grass, but not for tomato.

From legume seeds it is possible to make new products with different physical properties such as size and hardness by using extrusion-cooking. Peas are products that normally need a rather long cooking time, but extrusion-cooking can make them more usable in daily human diet. As protein based food products in markets are less represented than those based on carbohydrates, but for balanced diet protein intake is essential, our aim was to ensure availability of such products, so experiments were carried out in order to establish optimal moisture content for grey pea (Pisum sativum L.) flour extrusion. Three grey pea (Pisum sativum L.) based products were obtained with different water amount added before extrusion, and their size, volume mass and colour was analyzed in order to ascertain what amount of water is best for such products. Results show significant differences for size, volume mass and colour changes, establishing that the best of the products was the one with 9.00±0.01 g∙100gE-1 added water. This product had better characteristics than others, where 11.00±0.01 g∙100 gE-1 and 7.00±0.01 g∙100 gE-1 water was added. The products with 9.00±0.01 g∙100 gE-1 added water were by more than 100 g∙LE-1 lighter than other products, also colour changes compared to non extruded pea flour were fewer than for other samples and their size was the biggest of all obtained products, averagely 11±1mm.

Pea and buckwheat flours are gluten free and have high nutritional value; therefore they are advisable for frequent consumption. The addition of pea and buckwheat flours to products changes their nutritional value and technological properties significantly. The aim of the research was to investigate the starch content, colour and rheological properties of pea and buckwheat flours and their blends. Results showed that pea flour had a higher content of starch than wheat and buckwheat flours, pea-buckwheat flour blends and formed the largest part of dry matter. The peak, holding, final, breakdown and setback viscosities of buckwheat flour, in turn, were significantly higher than those of wheat (control) and pea flours. Buckwheat flour provided higher peak, holding, final, breakdown and setback viscosities and lower starch gelatinization temperature in flour blends. The highest lightness was demonstrated by the control sample, whereas the lowest by the buckwheat flour which had the highest redness value a* comparing with other flours and blends. Pea flour showed significantly higher yellowness b* in comparison with other samples, with the exception of flour blend with 60%PF + 40%BF. Colour values could be changed significantly by blending buckwheat and pea flours. It is possible to increase L* and b* values of buckwheat flour with pea flour and a* value of pea flour with buckwheat flour in flour blends. Results of farinograph showed that buckwheat flour was characterized by a long development time; high stability and high farinograph quality number (FQN), whereas pea flour and pea-buckwheat flour blends had short development time, low stability and low FQN.

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).

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 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.

This article presents the results of a comparative evaluation of preventive treatment of udder with probiotic agents: ‘Dipal’ (manufacturer DeLaval - Sweden), ‘Zorka’ (manufacturer «NPP Farmaks» - Russia). We have received data on the effects of probiotic preparation on quality of milk and number of somatic cells in milk. Research has been conducted in two dairy farms of Almaty region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Lactobacillus acidophilus 05ch - isolated from shubat (South Kazakhstan region, Turkestan). Lactococcus lactis 010k - isolated from three-day kumys (Zhambyl region, Merke). These probiotics are used as a means for sanitary treatment of the udder of cows. Thus, the procedure of determining the antagonistic activity revealed their high activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive microorganisms, notably Staphylococcus aureus (10-13 mm), Escherichia coli (12 mm), Proteus vulgaris (10-14 mm), Salmonella abortus ovis (11-13 mm). Significant changes in the milk indices can be found in the experimental group: 9.1% rise of lactose, and 7.2% reduction of protein. The level of protein increased by 4.1% , whereas the amount of lactose, on the contrary, went down 1.6%, which may be indicative of the increase in the content of serum protein when the udder is inflamed. The examination of the milk obtained from the cows of the control and experimental groups showed a nearly double reduction in the number of somatic cells from 488.00 down to 178.000 thousand, which was caused by the daily treatment of cows by probiotic cultures during 2 weeks.

The article presents the comparative, descriptive statistics analysis of the changes of the Baltic Sea coast in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. This paper analyzes the Baltic Sea coast measurements taken during the period between 2008 and 2015. The formation of the strip of the Northern breakwater - Giruliai during this period was influenced by the Hurricane Felix on January 10 of 2015. Describing the Baltic Sea coast strip dynamics trends, the Baltic Sea coastline change during the period between 2008 and 2015 was selected and calculated on the basis of the measurements results. Analysis of the erosive and accumulation processes of the 4 km long strip from the Northern breakwater to Giruliai strip was provided. The carried out data of the Baltic Sea coast changes analysis show that seacoast limits are constantly changing. The replenishment of the Baltic seacoast spatial data set during the period between 2008 and 2013 with the revised spatial data of the period between 2014 and 2015 showed that during the months of January during the period between 2008 and 2015 the 4 km long strip of the Baltic Sea coast decreased by 3.7075 ha, in the 1st Melnrage area, the 0.7 km long strip of coastline has moved more than 30 m inland. It was found that in the southern half of the researched section erosion processes prevailed, while in the northern part – both erosion and accumulative ones.

Development of tourism, understood as the result of human activity aimed at adapting space to the needs of tourism, requires a variety of specific spatial determinants recognized from the viewpoint of multi-dimensionality of tourist space. One of the major determinants of tourism intensity in an area are landscape values, including natural values. Natural elements of the environment (including the terrain, water reservoirs, and natural forms of land cover), sustainable landscape, or the unique cultural objects are the basis for long-term development of tourist activities. These values are characteristic of the so-called naturally valuable areas, including areas under the national and international law of different forms of nature protection. The paper aims at examining the relationship between the existing natural determinants affecting the development of tourism and the intensity of tourist movement as well as tourism intensity and the level of development of tourist facilities in the gminas of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodship. The overall objective will be implemented in three stages. The first one will be to identify the existing natural determinants for the development of tourism in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodship. The second phase will consist of an examination of the intensity of tourist movement and the level of the development of tourism by designating Schneider’s, Baretje’s and Defert’s indicators and the share of recreational areas. The final step will be to identify relationships between the variables obtained in the process of obtained in the two previous stages.

Each year, natural disasters affect various regions of the world. This is a profound problem, which leads to growing financial and human losses. It is believed that natural catastrophes are caused mainly by greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, deforestation, desertification, urbanization and land use. In rural areas, losses associated with natural disasters can also be exacerbated by local factors. These factors have caused the division of the area of research on subpopulations that showed homogeneous groups of factors. Areas covered by extensive forests, farmland, meadows, marshes and water bodies are more susceptible to financial losses in agriculture than territories with average share of those land features. Spatial attributes that are important determinants of agricultural production, including soil quality, climate, water availability and land relief, do not alleviate the negative consequences of extreme weather events. Spatial planning systems should be developed for managing high-risk areas in a way that minimizes the resulting losses.