Cortisol is a steroid hormone, one of the glucocorticoids, made in the cortex of the adrenal glands and then released into the blood, which transports it in the entire body. Almost every cell contains receptors for cortisol and so cortisol can have lots of different actions depending on which sort of cells it is acting upon. These effects include controlling the body’s blood sugar levels and thus regulating metabolism, acting as an anti-inflammatory product, controlling salt and water balance and influencing blood pressure. The study was conducted over a period of 3 months, between March-August 2020, in 2 swine farms in Iasi county, Romania, on a total of 46 pigs, 3 to 4 months old, both males and females, in order to investigate stress levels in finishing facilities. The study revealed higher levels of cortisol while eosinophil counts severely decreased, changes which are associated with a strong reaction to stress for individuals that were housed in finishing facilities.

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates a wide range of vital processes throughout the body, including metabolism and the immune response. It also has a very important role in helping the body respond to stress. Numerous studies have been conducted around the world to compare the development rates of pigs raised indoors to those raised outdoors, but the results have been ambiguous and, in many cases, conflicting. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of various housing systems (indoors with no free access to outdoor runs or indoors with free access to outdoor runs) on stress levels and slaughter value in growing-finishing pigs.

This study was focused on the assessment of fungal occurrence, mycotoxin dynamics, aflatoxin carry-over, and associated biochemical responses in dairy cattle. Moisture emerged as the dominant factor for fungal communities, promoting the co-proliferation of fungal genera adapted to high water activity conditions (a_w > 0.90) and antagonism against xerotolerant and xerophilic species. Aspergillus spp. dominated dry substrates (a_w < 0.75), Fusarium spp. showed strong positive associations with high-moisture matrices (a_w > 0.90), and Penicillium spp. exhibited intermediate, substrate-dependent behavior. Mycotoxin levels fluctuated non-linearly, independently of fungal counts: ochratoxin A (OTA) concentrations in corn silage increased from approximately 12 μg/kg at the onset of the ensiling period to >240 μg/kg at silo opening, indicating dynamic mycotoxin accumulation during storage, while zearalenone (ZEA) oscillated from 40 to 170 µg/kg. Despite the variation in total aflatoxins (AFLA-T) across feed matrices, aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk remained low (0.0020–0.0093 μg/kg), confirming limited carry-over. Serum biochemical parameters—alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin (BIL-T), total protein (PROT-T)—remained within physiological limits, yet multivariate analyses revealed metabolic modulation linked to aflatoxin exposure. AFM1 explained >7% of the variance in serum biochemical profiles according to PERMANOVA (p = 0.002), showed significant MANOVA effect (Pillai = 0.198), and displayed a significant canonical association (p < 10⁻¹³). Linear discriminant analysis further separated Normal vs. Borderline hepatic profiles, indicating subclinical physiological adaptation to chronic low-dose exposure.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of pig breed on stress levels and meat quality in two commercial pig farms in the north-eastern part of Romania. One farm raised 52 Mangalita pure-bred pigs and the other 82 Duroc x Landrace crossbred pigs. Serum cortisol, a biomarker of stress, and serum glucose were measured before and after slaughtering, while meat pH was measured at 45 minutes and 24 hours post-mortem. Results showed that the Duroc x Landrace crossbred pigs had higher serum cortisol and glucose values before and after slaughtering compared to the Mangalita purebred pigs. The meat pH values of the two breeds were similar, with the pH45 and pH24 values being 6.67 and 5.48 for Duroc x Landrace crossbred and 6.53 and 5.52 for Mangalita purebred, respectively. These results suggest that pig breed can have an impact on stress levels and meat quality, with Duroc x Landrace crossbred pigs showing higher stress levels and meat quality being not affected by the breed of pig. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to understand the underlying mechanisms.

Honey, represent a natural product made by bees from the nectar of flowers, with a lot of health benefits and a good nutritional value. Honey quality is assigned to sensorial, physicochemical and microbiological parameters in relation with purity, authenticity and environmental influences. The aim of this study is to evaluate the sensory attributes of most-favorable honey types (acacia, lime, rapeseed and sunflower honey), to select honey with the best sensorial overall and the highest consumer acceptance. The sensory analysis was conducted with a questionnaire survey, in total 30 consumers participated. The results showed that the majority of participants consume honey only occasionally, and according to sensory analysis the most appreciated type of honey was rapeseed, followed by acacia, sunflower and lime types.

Milk and dairy products are essential nutritious foods for all age groups, especially for infants and children. Their consumption can be dangerous due to a harmful substance called aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), the aflatoxin that comes from the conversion of aflatoxin B1 present in animal feed. Due to ingesting feed contaminated with aflatoxin B1, cattle can secrete aflatoxin M1 into their milk. Therefore, dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurts have the potential to be contaminated with this toxic substance. Although its toxicity is lower than that of aflatoxin B1, it is relatively stable during storage, pasteurization, and processing. Aflatoxins are part of the most important group of mycotoxins, mycotoxins being toxic compounds produced mainly by fungi of the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium and which can contaminate many types of food and feed and through their stability in the food chain can reach the consumer. Nowadays, food contamination with aflatoxin is significant. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the importance of mycotoxin M1, from the occurrence, factors that influence transfer rates, the method of determining mycotoxin M1, to the harmful effects resulting from the consumption of this mycotoxin. Therefore, aflatoxin M1 in milk and dairy products poses a major risk to mankind, as these products are regularly consumed in the daily diet.