Blackberry wines mineral and heavy metal content determination after dry ashing: multivariate data analysis as a tool for fruit wine quality control.

This study brings out the data on the content of 21 mineral and heavy metal in 15 blackberry wines made of conventionally and organically grown blackberries. The objective of this study was to classify the blackberry wine samples based on their mineral composition and the applied cultivation method of the starting raw material by using chemometric analysis. The metal content of Croatian blackberry wine samples was determined by AAS after dry ashing. The comparison between an organic and conventional group of investigated blackberry wines showed statistically significant difference in concentrations of Si and Li, where the organic group contained higher concentrations of these compounds. According to multivariate data analysis, the model based on the original metal content data set finally included seven original variables (K, Fe, Mn, Cu, Ba, Cd and Cr) and gave a satisfactory separation of two applied cultivation methods of the starting raw material.

Waste Management in the Agri-Food Industry: The Conversion of Eggshells, Spent Coffee Grounds, and Brown Onion Skins into Carriers for Lipase Immobilization.

One of the major challenges in sustainable waste management in the agri-food industry following the "zero waste" model is the application of the circular economy strategy, including the development of innovative waste utilization techniques. The conversion of agri-food waste into carriers for the immobilization of enzymes is one such technique. Replacing chemical catalysts with immobilized enzymes (i.e., immobilized/heterogeneous biocatalysts) could help reduce the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability problems of existing chemically catalysed processes. On the other hand, the economics of the process strongly depend on the price of the immobilized enzyme. The conversion of agricultural and food wastes into low-cost enzyme carriers could lead to the development of immobilized enzymes with desirable operating characteristics and subsequently lower the price of immobilized enzymes for use in biocatalytic production. In this context, this review provides insight into the possibilities of reusing food industry wastes, namely, eggshells, coffee grounds, and brown onion skins, as carriers for lipase immobilization.

Modified Grape Seeds: A Promising Alternative for Nitrate Removal from Water.

The aim of this work was to investigate grape seeds as a potential adsorbent for nitrate removal from water. Grape seeds were modified by quaternization and the applicability of the modified grape seeds (MGS) was evaluated in batch adsorption experiments. Fixed bed adsorption and regeneration studies were carried out to determine the regeneration capacity of MGS. The maximum adsorption capacity of 25.626 mg g-1 at native pH (6.3) for nitrate removal by MSG was comparable to that of the commercial anion exchange resin Relite A490 under similar conditions. The percent removal of nitrate from model nitrate solution was 86.47% and 93.25% for MGS, and Relite A490, respectively, and in synthetic wastewater 57.54% and 78.37%. Analysis of the batch adsorption data using isotherm models revealed that the Freundlich model provided a better fit to the data obtained than the Langmuir model, indicating multilayer adsorption. In kinetic terms, the results showed that the adsorption followed the pseudo-first order model. By investigating the adsorption mechanism, the results suggest that the intraparticle diffusion model was not the only process controlling the adsorption of nitrate on MGS. In column experiments (adsorption/desorption studies), three adsorption cycles were tested with minimal decrease in adsorption capacities, implying that this alternative adsorbent can be successfully regenerated and reused.

Assessment of Bioactive Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Blackberry Wines.

Blackberry wine is a natural source of bioactive phenolic compounds that have profound antioxidant potential. The objectives of the present research were to assess the phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of blackberry wines (BW), and to use the chemometric analysis to differentiate among the two groups of samples, i.e., conventional and organic. Fifteen BW samples were analyzed for their total polyphenol index, total polyphenols, total flavonoids, total tannins, total monomeric anthocyanins and antioxidant activity by the appropriate spectrophotometric methods. The concentrations of individual phenolic acids (gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid and cinnamic acid) and trans-resveratrol were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. A comparison between the two groups of investigated BW samples revealed a statistically significant difference in the concentration of caffeic acid and p-coumaric acid, both being higher in the organic BW samples. Furthermore, the results showed a series of statistically highly significant relationships between the analyzed constituents (caffeic acid and p-coumaric acid). The antioxidant activity of the investigated wines was proportional to the concentrations of bioactive phytochemicals.

Contamination of malt barley and wheat by Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum from the crop years 2001-2003 in eastern Croatia.

This study investigated infection levels with Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum in malt barley and wheat in eastern Croatia. The contamination was surveyed over three consecutive crop years (2001-2003) on five locations for barley and three wheat cultivating locations. F. graminearum loads reached levels of potentially serious threat for the commercial production of malting raw materials in both cereals (up to 29.1%). On the other hand, the mean percentage of kernels infected with F. culmorum was low to medium (up to 6.1%). The fungal invasions for years and locations were affected by meteorologic and other environmental factors and the pattern seemed to be consistent with species-specific optimal conditions reported by other authors.