Microorganisms thriving in poultry bedding materials during their exploitation are involved in the development of several diseases and disfunctions of animals. They can also contaminate food products and pose risks to the environment and human health. This study provides an analysis of dynamics and diversity in microbiological contamination observed during the exploitation of poultry bedding materials containing parts of medicinal plants: Satureja hortensis, Origanum vulgare, Melissa officinalis, Salvia officinalis, and Thymus vulgaris, compared with standard types of beddings: straw chaff and straw pellets. The research was carried out in two 42-day experimental cycles involving in total 2400 broiler chickens. Each week, the total count of mesophilic bacteria, fungi and yeasts, the presumptive presence and count of Staphylococcus sp., Escherichia sp., Listeria sp., Salmonella sp., and Candida sp. were determined by culturing on selective media, along with pH and moisture measurements. After 35 days of the experiment, a reduction of the total count of mesophilic bacteria above 1 log compared to the control (11.86 vs. 13.02 log CFU/g) was observed. As the count of yeasts decreased after 21 days, an increase in the total count of bacteria was reported, which indicates a strong competition between microorganisms. The results improve our understanding of the temporal effects of using materials containing parts of medicinal plants on the microbial contamination in poultry litter.

Main conclusion Methanol proved to be the most efficient solvent for pigment extraction using pressurized liquid extraction, while extraction temperature and static time critically influenced both the yield and stability of the pigments. Abstract Photosynthetic pigments, particularly chlorophylls and carotenoids, are central to plant physiology and are increasingly valued for their nutritional and functional benefits in the human diet. However, accurate quantification of these compounds remains challenging due to their sensitivity to degradation during sample preparation. The present study aimed to optimize extraction protocols for chlorophylls (a, b) and two major leaf carotenoids (β-carotene and lutein) from fresh parsley leaves, with a focus on balancing yield and stability. The effects of solvent type, extraction temperature, static extraction time, and number of extraction cycles were systematically evaluated using pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and compared with conventional solvent extraction. High-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection was employed for quantitative analysis. Methanol consistently outperformed acetone as a solvent, yielding significantly higher recoveries of both chlorophylls and carotenoids. Optimal performance was observed under two distinct PLE conditions: three 5-min cycles at 100 °C, which provided a balanced recovery of pigments with low chlorophyll a degradation, and a single 5-min extraction at 125 °C, which maximized carotenoid yields but accelerated chlorophyll a breakdown. Extractions at 150 °C and prolonged dimethyl sulfoxide treatment resulted in substantial chlorophyll a degradation, highlighting the need for carefully controlled conditions. Compared with conventional solvent extraction, PLE reduced extraction time and offered superior yields for β-carotene and lutein. The results underscore the trade-offs inherent in pigment extraction and demonstrate that PLE, when optimized, provides a robust and efficient tool for evaluating the nutritional quality of fresh leafy vegetables. These findings may serve as a methodological foundation for both research applications and the development of more reliable, industry-relevant quality assessment protocols.

The intensive use of mineral nitrogen fertilizers in cereal production contributes to environmental degradation, highlighting the need for more sustainable crop management strategies. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) offer a promising alternative; however, their effects on native rhizosphere communities remain underexplored, particularly in barley. This study evaluates the impact of a bacterial consortium composed of Paenibacillus sp. Z15 and Pseudomonas sp. KR227 on barley growth, yield, and rhizosphere bacteria under field conditions in temperate climate (2025). Plant biometric traits, photosynthetic pigment content, and soil properties were measured, and rhizobacterial communities were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene (V3–V4) sequencing. The PGPB consortium significantly increased early root biomass (120%), shoot height (7.8%), and grain yield (15.5%), while no significant effects were observed on soil chemistry or photosynthetic pigments. Sequencing revealed no major changes in alpha or beta diversity; however, transient shifts in the relative abundance of specific taxa were detected relatively shortly after inoculation and mostly disappeared by harvest. These findings indicate that the Paenibacillus–Pseudomonas consortium can enhance barley performance without disrupting native rhizobacterial communities. Overall, the results support the potential of PGPB as a sustainable agronomic tool and provide new insights into PGPB–microbiome interactions in barley under field conditions.

The paper presents results of quantitative and qualitative analyses of the composition of saprophytic and pathogenic microflora colonising contemporary wood of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and oak (Quercus sp.), deposited for eight years in peat soil, under anoxia conditions at two measuring stations located at the fortified settlement of the Lusatian culture in Biskupin. Qualitative determinations of bacteria were performed based on the analyses of their cultural, morphological, physiological, and bio-chemical characteristics. Petrifilms™ and conventional bacteriological media were used for quantitative analyses. Bacteria in the examined wood and surrounding soil were identified as belonging to species, including those of the genera Pseudomonas, Clostridium (Cl. butyricum/beierinckii, Cl. perfringens), Bacillus, Corynebacterium, bacteria from the family Enterobacteriaceae, as well as aerobic and anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria. An important correlation between the standard pour plate method and PetrifilmTM was observed. Petrifilms are an effective alternative, in comparison with traditional methods, for the determination of total bacterial counts for wood samples.

Sustainable care of urban lawns requires methods that maintain high turf quality while reducing the use of chemical fertilizers. The objective of this three-year field study was to evaluate whether microbial inoculants can complement or partially substitute conventional fertilization (65–190 kg N·ha⁻¹, 33–35.2 kg P·ha⁻¹, and 124.5 kg K·ha⁻¹) required to maintain high turf quality in an intensively managed lawn system. The experiment was conducted in Poland on a degraded chernozem, classified as Haplic Phaeozem. A standard mixture of perennial ryegrass and fescue was evaluated under four treatments: (1) untreated control; three commercial microbial formulations: (2) StymGrass P+K, containing nutrient-solubilizing Bacillus spp.; (3) BioVitaGrass, combining Bacillus spp. with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF); and (4) NitroGrass, containing nitrogen-fixing Azotobacter spp. with Bacillus spp. All microbial treatments improved lawn quality compared with the untreated control. Lawns receiving BioVitaGrass or NitroGrass showed the strongest responses, including denser plant cover, greener and finer leaves, reduced disease symptoms, and increased concentrations of nutrients in the plant tissue. StymGrass P+K produced smaller but still positive effects. Measurements of plant conditions, such as leaf greenness and canopy development, also indicated improved photosynthetic activity in inoculated plots. These results support the role of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in nutrient mobilization, root stimulation, and stress resilience. Although most evidence comes from crops, this study provides novel field-based confirmation of multi-functional microbial inoculant efficacy in turfgrass under this study’s conditions.