Databases are an important part of today’s applications where large amounts of data need to be stored, processed, and accessed quickly. One of the important criteria when choosing to use a database technology is its data processing performance. In this paper, some methods for optimizing the database structure and queries were applied on two popular open-source database management systems: MySQL as a relational DBMS, and document-based MySQL as a non-relational DBMS. The main objective of this paper was to conduct a comparative analysis of the impact that the proposed optimization methods have on each specific DBMS when carrying out CRUD (CREATE, READ, UPDATE, DELETE) requests. To perform the analysis and performance evaluation of CRUD operations for different amounts of data, a case study testing architecture based on Java was developed and used to show how the databases’ proposed optimization methods can influence the performance of the application, and to highlight the differences in response time and complexity. The results obtained show the degree to which the proposed optimization methods contributed to the application’s performance improvement in the case of both databases; based on these, a detailed analysis and several conclusions are presented to support a decision for choosing a specific approach.

The most widespread Sanguisorba species are Sanguisorba officinalis L. and Sanguisorba minor Scop. which are also found in the Romanian flora and classified as medicinal plants because of hemostatic, antibacterial, antitumor, antioxidant and antiviral activities. This study aimed to characterize and compare Sanguisorba species in order to highlight which species is more valuable according to phenolic profile and antimicrobial activity. Based on high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with photodiode array detection and mass spectrometry (electrospray ionization) (HPLC–DAD-MS (ESI⁺)) analysis, it was evident that the ethanol extract obtained from the leaves of S. minor Scop. contains the highest content of phenolic compounds at 160.96 mg/g p.s., followed by the flower and root extract (131.56 mg/g dw and 121.36 mg/g dw, respectively). While in S. officinalis, the highest amount of phenols was recorded in the root extract (127.06 mg/g), followed by the flower and leaves extract (102.31 mg/g and 81.09 mg/g dw, respectively). Our results show that among the two species, S. minor Scop. is richer in phenolic compounds compared with the S. officinalis L. sample. In addition, the antimicrobial potential of each plant organ of Sanguisorba species was investigated. The ethanol extract of S. minor Scop. leaves exhibited better antibacterial activity against all of the bacteria tested, especially on Staphylococcus aureus, with an inhibition zone of 15.33 ± 0.83 mm. Due to the chemical composition and antimicrobial effect, the Sanguisorba species can be used as food supplements with beneficial effects on human health.

Microwave extraction is becoming a popular option in many fields, especially for bioactive compounds from medicinal plants. This paper addresses the application of microwaves in the process of extracting bioactive compounds (phenols, flavonoids, chlorophyll) from peppermint with antioxidant capacity in order to highlight the influence of the microwave field on the quality of the final product in comparison with the control samples. The Mentha piperita L. is a rich source of phenols. The total phenol content after applying the MW treatments significant increased and varied between 25.000 ± 1.992 and 391.687 ± 20.537 mg GAE/100 g dw compared to the untreated sample (8.089 ± 2.745 mg GAE/100 g dw). The same trend was also recorded in the case of the flavonoid and pigment content in peppermint leaves following the application of microwave treatments. The obtained results were investigated using chemometric multivariate analysis. The main purpose of our research was to compare the possibilities of total or partial substitution of conventional extraction technologies with the microwave extraction technology, and also to highlight the existing differences in the amount of total phenols and flavonoids extracted from peppermint plants in different processing conditions. Through microwave processing, a significant increase in polyphenolic compounds is obtained.

In recent years, with the increase in the volume and complexity of data, choosing a suitable database for storing huge amounts of data is not easy, because it must consider aspects such as manageability, scalability, and extensibility. Nowadays, the NoSQL databases have gained immense popularity for their efficiency in managing such datasets compared to relational databases. However, relational databases also exhibit some advantages in certain circumstances, therefore many applications use a combined approach: relational and non-relational. This paper performs a comparative evaluation of two popular open-source DBMSs: MySQL Document Store and Elasticsearch as non-relational DBMSs; this comparison is based on a detailed analysis of CRUD operations for different amounts of data showing how the databases could be modeled and used in an application. A case-study application was developed for this purpose in Java programming language and Spring framework using for data storage both relational MySQL and non-relational Elasticsearch and MySQL Document Store. To model the real situation encountered in several developed applications that use both relational and non-relational databases, a data replication solution that imports data from the primary relational MySQL database into Elasticsearch and MySQL Document Store as possible alternatives for more efficient data search was proposed and implemented.

The aim of this paper is to study and compare the effect of microwave-assisted extraction (MW) on the content of bioactive compounds (total phenols, flavonoids, and monomeric anthocyanins), antioxidant capacity, chromatic parameters, and sensory properties of wines derived from three varieties of grapes (Muscat Ottonel, Pinot Noir, and Merlot). The applied MW treatment resulted in a more effective extraction of bioactive compounds from grapes that were also found in a large amount in the wine compared to the untreated (control) sample. The antioxidant capacity and colour intensity of the must and wine samples was much higher compared to the control sample. The influence of MW treatment depends on the variety of grapes treated. The results indicate that MW treatment is an appropriate method to produce white and red wine through increased extraction of bioactive compounds and implicitly colour enhancement.

Apples represent a category of products frequently consumed by people, owing both to their beneficial effects on human health and to their antioxidant effects. Microwave (MW) treatment is a simple and fast method that can be used successfully in the food industry to obtain dry apple slices, rich in bioactive compounds and with a pleasant aspect. This study presents the effect of applying microwave treating to apple slices from two cultivars (Golden Delicious and Idared), for three, four, and five minutes, respectively, at a power of 450 W, in order to reduce the browning effect. For this purpose, the browning index (BI), chromatic parameters (CIE L*a*b*), total phenolic content (Folin-Ciocâlteu method), and antioxidant capacity (by Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP assay) were evaluated in the case of apple slices before and after MW treatment. Based on the results obtained, it can be argued that the microwave treatment results in a significant increase in the total phenolic content and enhances antioxidant capacity in the case of both apple cultivars. Apples from the Idared cultivar have a higher total phenolic content than apples from the Golden cultivar, and this concentration increased by 56.14% and 48.9%, respectively, after MW treatment. In terms of antioxidant capacity, Idared apples also recorded a higher value compared to Golden cultivars. According to the results of the multivariate analysis, there are variations between the two apple categories with regard to the phenolic content and the browning process; browning was inhibited at the five-minute exposure to microwaves. The apple processing domain may use our findings in order to produce high-quality finished products, with a pleasant aspect, which retain the bioactive compounds of the fruit.