Field assessments and genetic analyses on tansy aphid, Metopeurum fuscoviride Stroyan were made aiming to investigate whether a specialist aphid speci

One of the earliest biotechnological processes is brewing, which uses conventional raw materials like barley malt and, to a lesser extent, wheat malt. Today, adjuncts are used in the brewing of 85–90% of the world’s beer, with significant regional differences. The results of this study’s brewing were compared to those of beer made only from malted barley. Malted and unmalted sorghum were suggested for use in this study’s brewing. In order to improve the technical mashing operation and raise output yield, commercial enzymes were introduced. The following physicochemical analyses of the finished beer were carried out in accordance with regulatory requirements: original extract (% m/m), apparent extract (% m/m), alcohol content (% v/v, % m/m), density (g/cm³), turbidity (EBC), pH, color (EBC), bitterness value (IBU), oxygen content (mg/L), carbon dioxide content (g/L). A nine-point hedonic scale was used to conduct the sensory evaluation of the beer samples. Sorghum was easily included into the technological process to create a finished product that, in many ways, resembled traditional beer, making sorghum appropriate for typical beer drinkers. The laboratory brewing formula that produced the highest-quality results of all the tested variants included 60% sorghum malt and 40% unmalted sorghum: original extract 11.26% m/m, apparent extract 4.59% m/m, alcohol content 4.12% v/v, turbidity 0.74 EBC, CO₂ content 5.10 g/L. The resulting sorghum beer typically has low alcohol content, a complex, aromatic, slightly sour flavor, a mild bitter or astringent sensation, and less stable foam.

With the goal of introducing specialty beers with full flavor and effective processing, craft and functional beer have revived old assortments and established new assortments in countries throughout the world. These unique selections are produced utilizing various ingredient combinations or changes to the brewing process. Given the rise in celiac disease sufferers in recent years, research investigations on the use of buckwheat in brewing, particularly gluten-free beer, have intensified. In this study, malted and unmalted buckwheat were proposed for use in brewing, and the results were contrasted with those of beer made entirely of malted barley. Commercial enzymes were added to the technical mashing process in order to optimize it and increase output yield. It was simple to incorporate buckwheat in the technological process to produce a final product that, in many respects, resembled conventional beer, making buckwheat suitable for regular beer drinkers. In terms of original extract, apparent extract, alcohol content, and energy value, the beer obtained from 100% barley malt differs from the final beer, but only minor variations were found in color, pH, and bitterness value. Ethyl alcohol, a particularly significant distinguishing characteristic, was impacted by the use of buckwheat malt and unmalted buckwheat. The beer made from buckwheat was acceptable from a sensory perspective in terms of flavor, aroma, texture, bitterness, etc. The results demonstrate that the researched raw materials can be successfully used in the production of beer, both in malted and unmalted forms. For the latter option, it is recommended to use enzyme preparations to speed up the mashing and filtration of the wort.

The study assessed the effects of soaking hard cheeses and cheese slices in blackcurrant wine on their antioxidant, microbiological, and sensory properties. Soaking increased weekly, the phenolic content by 40.86 ± 0.3 mg GAE/100 g (gallic acid equivalent) of cheese, and their reached the maximum ethanol content of 1.29 ± 0.08 g/100 g. Soaking reduced the amount of foodborne pathogenic bacteria, enhancing microbiological safety. The lactic acid bacteria count significantly decreased during soaking time. The sensory evaluation shows that 45 % of tasters preferred the soaked cheese. Positive correlations were observed between taste and color (in whole-soaked cheese), while negative correlations were revealed among color, smell, and texture (in soaked quarter cheese). The results suggest that blackcurrant wine, containing a wealth of bioactive constituents, has the capacity to augment the favorable attributes of cheese and presents prospects for developing a novel gastronomic offering.

The production of heavily hopped beers, such as Indian Pale Ale (IPA) styles, has been gaining momentum in recent years in the Central European markets. To this end, the dry hopping process is becoming increasingly popular, mostly in microbreweries, but also with larger manufacturers. In our research, we investigated the dissolution rate of the main volatile component of hops, β-myrcene with a modified dry hopping method. Following the primary fermentation, we applied the dry hopping process, where the weighed hops were chopped and blended into a container with 0.5 L of beer and later added to the young beer. During the dry hopping process, we determined various important parameters of the beer, and we repeated the same measurements for the bottled beer. In the first 96 h of the dry hopping process, we monitored the concentration of β-myrcene so that we managed to determine the dissolution rate constant (k = 0.1946 h⁻¹). The β-myrcene concentration stabilizes after 44 h in the fermenter. At the same time, measurements were conducted for bitterness, pH, CO₂ and alcohol content, extract and density during the process. Our experiment demonstrates that a new method of dry hopping provides a much higher concentration of β-myrcene (215 μg/L) than other methods indicated in former studies in the field. A health and safety assessment of β-myrcene was also made and we determined what the safe amount of β-myrcene ingested with IPA beer is. Our modified process was successful, we were able to determine the dissolution rate of β-myrcene, and the recommended daily intake of IPA beer with particular reference to β-myrcene.

Plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), in addition to their well-known direct effects on plant growth and development, have been reported to be effective in plant abiotic (trace metal, drought, etc.) and biotic (phytopathogens, insects, etc.) stress management. PGPRs are involved in shaping the fate of trace metals in the rhizosphere and plants and thus may also reduce trace metal stress in plants. The aims of our study were to isolate and select indigenous trace-metal-resistant PGP strains and investigate their effects on maize germination and early development. The roles of the two selected strains, Pseudomonas koreensis and Serratia liquefaciens isolated from trace-metal-contaminated soil were investigated to mitigate trace metal stress in 21-day-old Zea mays seedlings. In the present study, 13 bacterial strains were isolated and screened for PGP traits under normal and trace metal stress conditions. The effect of two selected strains was further studied on plant experiments. The germination process, plant growth parameters (length, weight, dry matter content), photosynthetic activity, GPOX activity, trace metal accumulation, and translocation in microbes inoculated Cd (0.5 mM), Zn (1 mM), and Cd + Zn (0.1 + 0.5 mM) treated maize plants was studied. Our results revealed that trace metal toxicity, in terms germination and growth parameters and antioxidant enzyme activity, was enhanced upon inoculation with Pseudomonas koreensis BB2.A.1. Chlorophyll content and accumulation studies showed enhanced results following inoculation with Serratia liquefaciens BB2.1.1. Therefore, both bacterial strains possessed beneficial traits that enabled them to reduce metal toxicity in maize.