Iron deficiency is a common problem especially among children, women of reproductive age and sportsmen. Addition of highly bioavailable iron to foods could be one possibility to enrich daily diet and increase iron absorption. At present moment, there is a limited number of fortified products with iron in the market. Fortification of common food products is an effective strategy to prevent or overcome iron deficiency. The results show a significant increase of iron in products supplemented with bovine alimentary albumin. Comparing fortified products with non‑fortified control samples of chocolate snacks the iron content increased from (1.17 – 2.61) to (10.15 − 11.53) mg 100 gE-1 in products supplemented with bovine alimentary albumin. By developing a successful recipe of fortified food products, animal origin heme iron could be applicable component and satisfy sensory acceptability from consumers. The aim of this work was to create an alternative sweet product as healthy snack with incorporated highly bioavailable heme iron which may be an addition to daily diet with nutritional properties and accepted by consumers.

This study was designed with the aim to determine the impact of residual antibiotics on haematological and biochemical constituents of broiler chickens’ blood. For this, one-day-old chickens were randomly divided into four equal groups with 10 individuals in each group (n = 40). All groups of chickens fed with commercial basal diet; the first group considered as control, fed only with basal ration; the feed of the second, third and fourth groups of chicken were supplemented with amoxystin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol, respectively. Antibiotics were given daily, individually, in sub-therapeutic concentrations: amoxystin at the dosage 10 mg kgE-1, tetracycline and chloramphenicol – 20 mg kgE-1 of the chicken’s weight for 41 days. The blood parameters were measured at the end of experiment on the 42nd day. In comparison with the control group, decreasing of leukocytes was observed in the 2nd and 4th groups, and increasing in the 3rd group of broilers. The concentration of erythrocytes and hemoglobin was reduced in the 2nd group and hematocrit was higher in the 3rd and 4th groups (p is less than or equal 0.01). The total protein was decreased by 22% in the 2nd group, 16% – in the 3rd and 4th groups as compared to the control group (p is less than or equal 0.01) in blood serum. The concentration of glucose was decreased by 45.8, 46.5 and 51.5% in the second, third and fourth groups of treated birds, respectively, compared to those of birds in the control group (p is less than or equal 0.01). Based on the results it could be concluded that antibiotics influence the dynamics of haematopoiesis and biochemical indices of broilers.

The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) extract on Cryptosporidium spp. invasion in calves. Sea buckthorn is a good source of vitamins, carotenoids, organic acids and tannins. It has been reported that it possesses anti-inflammatory effect, as well as anthelmintic and antibacterial activity. Research was conducted in a dairy cattle farm ‘Mežacīruļi’ during April and July 2015. Experimental (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups of calves were used. The experimental group received a mix of aqueous alcohol sea buckthorn leaf and berry pomace extract, administered with milk, at dose of 5 – 8 mL twice a day for 20 days. The control group received only milk. Samples were analysed with the concentration McMaster technique. The results showed that there is no significant (p is greater than 0.05) difference in the number of oocysts per gram of faeces between the experimental and control groups. It was concluded that the administration of sea buckthorn leaf and berry pomace extract had no effect on Cryptosporidium spp. invasion in calves. Studies will be continued with a higher dose of extract.

From the 1920s through the 90s, most streams in Lithuania were channelized. Channelization is the deepening, clearing and straightening of meandering streambeds resulting increase of water flow velocity and the rate at which water drained away from agricultural land. Channelized and straightened streams have better hydrodynamic parameters and different morphological properties, but at the same time that caused more unfavourable conditions for natural biodiversity along stream beds and banks reducing the amount of vegetation which means less food and cover for wildlife. Most of West European countries have a good practice for restoring of channelized rivers. This experience is quite new in Lithuania and starting with pilot projects. The most important purpose of these projects is to choose the appropriate restoration measures and evaluate their effectiveness under conditions of dense channel network and tile drainage systems in Lithuania. Two channelized streams, selected for a pilot project are discussed in this paper. The main purpose is to restore stream meandering with minimal efforts allocating artificial obstructions at a right place and reach the necessary stream velocities to initiate the stream bed deformation. For this purpose detailed channel geometry data were collected and 1D hydrodynamic model applied. The results of different scenarios revealed that installed obstructions can accelerate deformations processes initiate the meandering process and at the same time it will not have any significant effect on the agricultural land along restored stream.

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) fibre and seeds are widely used to produce healthy and environmentally friendly products. It is known that the main factors that influence flax fibre’ and seeds’ yield are genotype and growing conditions. The main task of the Latvian flax breeding program is to develop flax genotypes that are highly productive (both fibre and seeds) and well adaptable to changing environmental conditions. Goal of this study is to identify high yielding genotypes with good adaptation to local variable agro-ecological conditions. The agronomically important traits, such as yield of stem and seeds, total and technical plant height and fibre content were evaluated for 13 Latvian origin flax lines and standard variety ‘Vega 2’. The field trials have been carried out over the period from 2012 to 2015 at the Agricultural Scientific Centre of Latgale. The regression, correlation, coefficient of variation and cluster analysis between yield and yield provided components were used for identification of high yielding genotypes with good adaptation. On the basis of cluster analysis the genotypes were classified in two groups by lower and higher yield of stem, fibre content, total plant height and technical plant height. The line ‘I18-1’ was identifying as genotype with the highest average yield of stem (751.25 g mE-2) as well as highest yield against other genotypes in moisture and drought years. Most valuable by the average technical plant height was line ‘L26-1’ (73.05 cm).

Artichokes (Cynara cardunculus L.) contain many minerals, vitamins, fibres, and polyphenols. Environmental conditions and climate change on a global scale affects the overall agriculture and food supply. Composition of biological active compounds in plants depends on the climate and growing conditions, cultivar properties, plant development stage, harvesting time and other factors. The aim of research was to evaluate the effect of agroecological factors on yield and flavonoids content of globe artichoke. An experiment was carried out under open field conditions in Institute of Horticulture, in Pūre investigation fields during the vegetation period of 2014 and 2015. The experiment was arranged in two different soils: brown soil with residual carbonates and the soil strongly altered by cultivation. The yield and its quality were analysed during the whole vegetation period. Higher yield was observed in the soil strongly altered by cultivation. The results showed tendency that the higher flavonoids content in artichoke heads was observed in 2014 than in 2015. Significant differences between flavonoid content per harvest time are observed in both soils.

The objective of the study was to detect the difference of the conformation scores between dams and daughters in Latvian Warmblood horse breed. For this purpose the correlations and regression coefficient between conformation traits of broodmares and the same traits of their daughters were estimated. Data of Latvian Warmblood horse breed broodmares were analyzed. The horse breeding organisations’ evaluating data from 1995 till 2015 were analyzed. The data included conformation valuation of Latvian Warmblood horse breed dams (n = 423) and their daughters (n = 596) of different ages. An average in ten-point scale in the group of dams was 7.71 ± 0.04 for top line scoring, 7.33 ± 0.05 for forelimbs and 7.35 ± 0.05 points for hind limbs. An average of valuation points of their daughters was 7.51 ± 0.03 for top line scoring, 7.21 ± 0.04 for forelimbs and 7.21 ± 0.04 for hind limbs. A significant difference between valuations of dams and their daughters (p0.05) was found for all three conformation traits. Positive and low correlation was calculated between groups of dams and daughters for all three conformation traits. The results show that the relationship between conformation traits of dams and daughters was weak. Further studies are needed in order to estimate influence of broodmare quality to daughters, analyzing the latest data of progeny.

The article analyses the data obtained while evaluating red deer calves on the red deer breeding farm ‘Dumpji’ during the herd’s annual prophylactic check-up in December and April of the years 2013 and 2014. Farm is a private enterprise owned by a company located in Northern Latvia. The study comprises data for calves born in 2013 (n = 36) that were born from the same hinds, but from different stags in consecutive years. It was discovered that the calves’ liveweight gain in 24 hours significantly decreases during wintering period. After the wintering smaller body mass was observed in calves of both sexes born in 2014; however, the body mass of bull calves born in both years of reference considerably exceeded that of the hind calves. In the group of hind calves born in both years of the study period the liveweight loss was observed during the wintering. Nevertheless, at the age of 1.5 years the lowest liveweight among hind calves was 82.4 kg (year 2013), and the highest 129.6 kg (year 2014). In the group of spikers, during the winter period liveweight loss was not observed. Analysis of the results revealed a close positive correlation between the liveweight in December and the liveweight in the spring among spikers and heifers alike. The conducted analysis of influencing factors attests to the fact that the liveweight at the age of six months has material impact on the animals’ liveweight both in the spring and at the age of 1.5 years.

The objective of the current research was to investigate effects of germination on chemical composition of hull-less barley (Hordeum vulgare L. var. nudum Hook. f.), hull-less oat (Avena sativa), rye (Secale spp.), and wheat (Triticum spp.) grains for comparison. All the grains were cleaned, washed, steeped and germinated at temperature 35 ± 2 °C and relative humidity 95 ± 2% for 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours. After germination grains were dried till moisture content 14 ± 2%. Main quality parameters such as starch, proteins, b-glucan (in hull-less barley) and individual sugars were determined in cereals during their steeping and germination. Non-germinated grains were used as a control sample. In the present experiments non-significant protein content increase was observed in the analysed hull-less barley, hull-less oat, rye, and wheat during their germination for 48 hours. Starch content in hull-less barley, wheat and rye grains decreased non-significantly during germination for 24 h; opposite results were obtained for hull-less oat grains, where content of starch decreased by 16.7% after steeping and by 26.4% after germination for 24 h. b-glucan content in hull-less barley grains after germination for 48 h decreased by 20.5%. Non-significant changes were obtained in fructose content in analysed cereal grains during germination for 48 h; it was significantly increased after germination for 24 h and in germination for 48 h. Non-significant sucrose content changes were observed in hull-less barley, rye and wheat grains during germination for 12 h and in hull-less oat grains – for 24 h significantly increasing in future germination for 48 h.

The present study provides research in content of protein, starch, sugars and concentration of B group vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine and niacin) in immature wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) compared to mature wheat kernels. The content of protein, starch was determined in kernels using Infratec1241 Grain Analyzer (Sweden), content of sugars was analysed by high- efficiency liquid chromatography HPLC (Shimadzu, Japan). The concentrations of vitamins were determined by high-efficiency liquid chromatography for vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6. Obtained results suggested that the immature wheat kernels obtained in milk stage showed higher contents of some compounds such as sugars and B group vitamins. The amount of all sugars presented in immature grains is higher and decreased uniformly during maturation. Therefore, immature grains are better sources of the B group vitamin that the mature grains, and therefore more nutritionally efficacious.