Fruits of Wild-Grown Shrubs for Health Nutrition.

Cultivated fruits and berries, such as raspberries, strawberries, black currants, cherries, blueberries, are generally recognized sources of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and other substances beneficial to human health and well-being. However, there are also wild berries and fruits that are of undoubted interest as food products having valuable medicinal properties due to the presence of phenolic compounds, antioxidants, and vitamins. These fruits have a great potential to be used in functional food making. The present review is dedicated to fruits of wild-grown shrubs Bird cherry (Prunus padus L.), Rowan berry (Sorbus aucuparia L.), Guelder rose (Viburnum opulus L.), Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.), and Barberry (Berberis vulgaris L.) The chemical compositions of these wild berries are described as well as their effects on the improvement of human health proved by clinical trials and epidemiological studies. The possibilities of using the fruits of wild-grown shrubs in the preparation of functional foods and examples of their implementation for the manufacturing of dairy, bakery and meat products are considered.

Biosynthesis of selenium nanoparticles by lactic acid bacteria and areas of their possible applications.

Lactic acid bacteria, being generally recognized as safe, are the preferred choice among other microbial producers of selenium nanoparticles. For successful production of SeNPs, it is necessary to take into account the physiological properties of the bacterium used as a biotransformer of inorganic forms of selenium in Se0. The antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of SeNPs allows to use them in the form of pure nanoparticles or biomass of lactic acid bacteria enriched with selenium in preparation of food, in agriculture, aquaculture, medicine, veterinary, and manufacturing of packing materials for food products. To attract attention to the promising new directions of lactic acid bacteria applications and to accelerate their implementation, the examples of the use of SeNPs synthesized by lactic acid bacteria in the mentioned above areas of human activity are described.

The role of microplastics biofilm in accumulation of trace metals in aquatic environments.

Microplastics are one of the major contaminants of aquatic nature where they can interact with organic and inorganic pollutants, including trace metals, and adsorb them. At the same time, after the microplastics have entered the aquatic environments, they are quickly covered with a biofilm - microorganisms which are able to produce extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) that can facilitate sorption of trace metals from surrounding water. The microbial community of biofilm contains bacteria which synthesizes EPS with antimicrobial activity making them more competitive than other microbial inhabitants. The trace metal trapping by bacterial EPS can inhibit the development of certain microorganisms, therefore, a single microparticle participates in complex interactions of the diverse elements surrounding it. The presented review aims to consider the variety of interactions associated with the adsorption of trace metal ions on the surface of microplastics covered with biofilm, the fate of such microplastics and the ever-increasing risk to the environment caused by the combination of these large-scale pollutants - microplastics and trace metals. Since aquatic pollution problems affect the entire planet, strict regulation of the production, use, and disposal of plastic materials is needed to mitigate the effects of this emerging pollutant and its complexes could have on the environment and human health.

The effect of co-cultivation of Rhodococcus erythropolis with other bacterial strains on biological activity of synthesized surface-active substances.

Surface-active substances synthesized by Rhodococcus erythropolis ІMВ Ас-5017 during co-cultivation with inducing bacteria either Bacillus subtilis BT-2 or Escherichia coli ІЕM-1 (SASI) had the higher antimicrobial and antiadhesive activities in comparison with surface-active substances synthesized in the medium without cells of inducing bacteria (SAS). Minimum inhibitory concentrations of SASI ranged from 3 to12 µg/mL and were in 4-32 times lower than the same parameter for SAS. Treatment of abiotic surfaces (ceramic, steel, and glass) with SASI decreased adhesion of bacteria Staphylococcus aureus BMC-1 or yeasts Candida albicans D-6 to the level of 10-32 % in comparison with 32-87 % after treatment of surfaces with SAS. Destruction of bacterial and yeast biofilms treated with SASI was in the range from 40 to 94 %, while it was 32-65 % in the case when SAS was used. Increasing of biological activity of surface-active substances synthesized by R. erythropolis in co-culture with inducing bacteria E. coli or B. subtilis was shown for the first time.

Application of Lactic Acid Bacteria for Coating of Wheat Bread to Protect it from Microbial Spoilage.

Comparative study of four edible coatings of wheat bread containing lactic acid bacteria showed that coating with Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, sodium alginate, whey and glycerol had the best protective properties against microbial spoilage. The viability of lactic acid bacteria was high in the coating containing alginate and whey: a loss in viability was in one - three orders of magnitude lower from initial concentration of 108-109 CFU/g coating after 120 h of storage. Wheat bread with edible coating did not differ by organoleptic assessment from control. The application of edible coating containing lactic acid bacteria to wheat bread diminished the number of mesophilic aerobic and facultative aerobic bacteria in the bread crust and protected it from contamination of mycelium fungi of genera Aspergillus and Penicillium that could preserve wheat bread from mold spoilage and increase shell life.

Ukrainian Dietary Bread with Selenium-Enriched Soya Malt.

The production of bread with addition of selenium-enriched soya malt was studied. Processing of this soya malt included soaking of the soya beans in the solution of hydroselenite with concentration 1.5 mg Se/L (20 µg of Se per 1 g of soya beans), then 4 days of beans germination at 20 °C, drying at 50 °C until moisture content 8%, separation from the sprouts and grinding. The soya malt was a powder containing 15-18 µg of Se in 1 g. The accumulated selenium was mainly in the protein fraction of soya malt. Addition of selenium-enriched soya malt to leaven intensified activity of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. The quality of the wheat bread with selenium-enriched soya malt was better than that of the bread in control. The enriched bread had specific pleasant smell and soft texture. The daily intake of 277 g of bread with the selenium-enriched soya malt, which is added in quantity of 1.0-1.75% to mass of plain flour, ensures the consumption of 30-50% of selenium recommended daily allowance for 17 million population of the northern and northwestern Ukraine.

Environmental safety and biosafety in construction biotechnology.

The topics of Construction Biotechnology are the development of construction biomaterials and construction biotechnologies for soil biocementation, biogrouting, biodesaturation, bioaggregation and biocoating. There are known different biochemical types of these biotechnologies. The most popular construction biotechnology is based on precipitation of calcium carbonate initiated by enzymatic hydrolysis of urea which follows with release of ammonia and ammonium to environment. This review focuses on the hazards and remedies for construction biotechnologies and on the novel environmentally friendly biotechnologies based on precipitation of hydroxyapatite, decay of calcium bicarbonate, and aerobic oxidation of calcium salts of organic acids. The use of enzymes or not living bacteria are the best options to ensure biosafety of construction biotechnologies. Only environmentally safe construction biotechnologies should be used for such environmental and geotechnical engineering works as control of the seepage in dams, channels, landfills or tunnels, sealing of the channels and the ponds, prevention of soil erosion and soil dust emission, mitigation of soil liquefaction, and immobilization of soil pollutants.

Construction Biotechnology: a new area of biotechnological research and applications.

A new scientific and engineering discipline, Construction Biotechnology, is developing exponentially during the last decade. The major directions of this discipline are selection of microorganisms and development of the microbially-mediated construction processes and biotechnologies for the production of construction biomaterials. The products of construction biotechnologies are low cost, sustainable, and environmentally friendly microbial biocements and biogrouts for the construction ground improvement. The microbial polysaccharides are used as admixtures for cement. Microbially produced biodegradable bioplastics can be used for the temporarily constructions. The bioagents that are used in construction biotechnologies are either pure or enrichment cultures of microorganisms or activated indigenous microorganisms of soil. The applications of microorganisms in the construction processes are bioaggregation, biocementation, bioclogging, and biodesaturation of soil. The biotechnologically produced construction materials and the microbially-mediated construction technologies have a lot of advantages in comparison with the conventional construction materials and processes. Proper practical implementations of construction biotechnologies could give significant economic and environmental benefits.

Halotolerant, alkaliphilic urease-producing bacteria from different climate zones and their application for biocementation of sand.

Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a phenomenon based on urease activity of halotolerant and alkaliphilic microorganisms that can be used for the soil bioclogging and biocementation in geotechnical engineering. However, enrichment cultures produced from indigenous soil bacteria cannot be used for large-scale MICP because their urease activity decreased with the rate about 5 % per one generation. To ensure stability of urease activity in biocement, halotolerant and alkaliphilic strains of urease-producing bacteria for soil biocementation were isolated from either sandy soil or high salinity water in different climate zones. The strain Bacillus sp. VUK5, isolated from soil in Ukraine (continental climate), was phylogenetically close in identity (99 % of 16S rRNA gene sequence) to the strain of Bacillus sp. VS1 isolated from beach sand in Singapore (tropical rainforest climate), as well as to the strains of Bacillus sp. isolated by other researchers in Ghent, Belgium (maritime temperate climate) and Yogyakarta, Indonesia (tropical rainforest climate). Both strains Bacillus sp. VS1 and VUK5 had maximum specific growth rate of 0.09/h and maximum urease activities of 6.2 and 8.8 mM of hydrolysed urea/min, respectively. The halotolerant and alkaliphilic strain of urease-producing bacteria isolated from water of the saline lake Dead Sea in Jordan was presented by Gram-positive cocci close to the species Staphylococcus succinus. However, the strains of this species could be hemolytic and toxigenic, therefore only representatives of alkaliphilic Bacillus sp. were used for the biocementation studies. Unconfined compressive strengths for dry biocemented sand samples after six batch treatments with strains VS1and VUK5 were 765 and 845 kPa, respectively. The content of precipitated calcium and the strength of dry biocemented sand at permeability equals to 1 % of initial value were 12.4 g Ca/kg of dry sand and 454 kPa, respectively, in case of biocementation by the strain VS1. So, halotolerant, alkaliphilic, urease-producing bacteria isolated from different climate zones have similar properties and can be used for biocementation of soil.

The removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from reject water of municipal wastewater treatment plant using ferric and nitrate bioreductions.

Reject water, which is the liquid fraction produced after dewatering of anaerobically digested activated sludge on the municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs), contributes up to 80% of the nitrogen and phosphorus loads to the MWWTP. It was proposed to combine the removal of nitrogen from reject water using the sequential biooxidation of NH(4)(+) and bioreduction of NO(3)(-) with precipitation of phosphate by Fe(2+) ions produced due to bioreduction of Fe(3+) in iron ore. Bioreduction of NO(3)(-) decreased Fe(3+) bioreduction rate in reject water from 37 to 21mg Fe(2+)/Ld due to competition between NO(3)(-) and Fe(3+) for electron donors. Addition of acetate as electron donor increased both bioreduction rates of Fe(3+) and NO(3)(-) but acetate interfered with the competition between nitrate and phosphate anions reacting with ferrous cations decreasing efficiency of the phosphate removal from reject water. The stages of denitrification and ferric bioreduction/phosphate precipitation must be performed sequentially.