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The literature review deals with water distribution in meat, the structure of the myofibrillar matrix, and the aspects related to the water-protein interaction. Special focus was given to the large water accessible area of myosin S1 units, surface hydrophobicity of proteins and factors affecting the hydrophobicity. Also the possible mechanisms of water-holding in meat were briefly introduced. The aim of the thesis was to study the effect of different ions and pH values on the surface hydrophobicity of the myosin S1 units, adding knowledge to the understanding of the interaction between myosin S1 units and water. Myosin S1 units were prepared from porcine longissimus dorsi muscle 48 h postmortem. Obtained myosin S1 units were subjected to 0.2 M, 0.4 M and 0.6 M ionic strength of NaCl and KCl and to pH 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0. The surface hydrophobicity of myosin S1 units was measured by fluorescent molecular probe (cis-Parinaric acid) method. The method of purifying myosin S1 units from porcine longissimus dorsi muscle 48 h postmortem was established under the conditions of our laboratory. Surface hydrophobicity was found to increase with increasing ionic strength of both KCl and NaCl. Concerning the different ions studied, only at 0.6 M, significantly higher surface hydrophobicity of myosin S1 units was measured in KCl compared to NaCl. This phenomenon is in accordance with chaotropic effect of K+ and Cl- and kosmotropic effect of Na+. Regarding the effect of pH, within KCl samples, more hydrophobicity myosin S1 unit was detected towards to the more acidic direction pH values than pH 6.0. For NaCl samples, at pH 5.5 and 6.0, surface hydrophobicity was significantly higher than at pH 5.0, 6.5 and 7.0. Differences may have been induced by the changes in the net charges of protein, and further in protein conformation. Considering the property of the protein surface, more hydrophobic protein results in less water-protein interaction. However, to look at the whole scenario of the interaction between myosin S1 units and water, changes of net charges of myosin S1 units and water structure at vicinity of them should be further studied.

Poultry meat has become popular in human diet and to secure the growing demand of poultry meat, breeders have developed broilers with fast growth and high breast muscle yield. Because of this genetic selection modern broilers are suffering from various quality defects in their breast muscles, one of which is called WB myopathy. The aim of the thesis was to study whether exercise, WB status or age have effects on ultimate pH and glycolytic potential (sum of total glucose and lactic acid content, given as lactate) in M. pectoralis major of modern broilers chickens. A total of 154 post-rigor breast muscle samples of male broilers of hybrid Ross 308 were used in this study. Broilers were divided randomly into three groups (A-C). Group A birds were not subjected to any exercise during the experiment. Group B birds lived 25 days exactly like group A but after that the drinking water dispensers was elevated to a higher level. Group C birds had their drinking water dispensers elevated to a 5 cm higher level after three days, and it was risen stepwise to 25 cm during the study. Broilers were slaughtered randomly from different groups at 20, 30 or 41 days old. Group B results were disregarded due to technical problems. Initial and ultimate pH, total glucose, free and in glycogen, and lactic acid contents for glycolytic potential, were determined from the breast muscle samples. The results showed that there were no differences between groups A and C (p > 0.05). There were differences between normal and WB cases in ultimate pH (pHu; p = 0.000), total glucose content (p = 0.000), lactate content (p = 0.007) and glycolytic potential (p = 0.000), but the pH values 5 minutes after death showed no significance (pH5; p = 0.190). There were differences in pHu, total glucose and glycolytic potential (p = 0.000), and lactate (p = 0.007), between ages 20, 30 and 41 days old birds. As the severity of WB increased in the breast muscle, the pHu increased and total glucose, lactate content and glycolytic potential decreased. The correlations showed significant relationships between WB score and all the above variables (p < 0.000). The results of the current study show that exercise does not have an effect on the levels of carbohydrates in M. pectoralis major of modern broiler chickens, but WB status and increasing slaughter age result a decrease in glycolytic potential and increase in ultimate pH.

Infant formulas are breast milk substitutes for 0 to 12-month-old infants. Addition of milk fat to infant formulas leads to an increase in solid fat content. Infant formulas are oil-in- water emulsions in which oil is dispersed into a continuous aqueous phase. Milk fat crystallization leads to partial coalescence and creaming which are types of instability in emulsions. Partial coalescence occurs when two droplets containing crystals collide and they partially coalesce by making contact between their oil phases. The aim of this thesis was to study if milk fat crystallization leads to partial coalescence which leads to a higher rate of creaming or the increasing density of crystallizing droplets leads to a lower rate of creaming. Also, the aim was to study the effect of interfacial layer on partial coalescence. Milk fat crystallization and emulsion stability were investigated from four series of oil-in- water emulsions containing different oils in different concentrations and either whey protein or lecithin as stabilizer. The samples were stored at 5, 20 and 40 °C and measured after 0, 7 and 28 days of storage. The crystallization of bulk fat and oil in emulsions were studied with melting enthalpies measured with differential scanning calorimetry. Emulsion stability was examined with particle size distribution, instability index and creaming velocity measurements. According to the results combining vegetable oil and butter oil, and emulsifying the fat decreases the total enthalpy change and crystallization onset temperature of oils. Mixing vegetable oil and butter oil before homogenization decreased crystallization onset temperature and total enthalpy change because the oils were in same droplet, and made the emulsions behave more like vegetable oil emulsions. Mixing the oils after homogenization made the emulsions behave similarly to butter oil emulsions. Whey protein was found to be a better stabilizer of emulsions than lecithin at 5 and 20 °C, but at 40 °C some Maillard reaction was noticed. It was suspected that the concentration of lecithin in emulsions was insufficient. Based on the results it could be stated that the increasing density due to crystallizing droplets made the emulsions more stable against creaming. Best stability of emulsions containing oil mixtures would be achieved if butter oil and vegetable oil were mixed after homogenization and whey protein used as emulsifier.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) has high contents of phenolic compounds which have both beneficial and antinutritional health effects, including forming insoluble complexes with proteins. This is significant because sorghum has low protein digestibility. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation has been found to decrease and modify sorghum phenolic compounds and condensed tannins. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the effects of LAB fermentation on the phenolic compounds in white and red sorghum using a metabolomics approach. The hypothesis was that fermentation would degrade phenolic compounds into smaller metabolites. Free phenolic compounds were extracted from sorghum using 80% ethanol. The samples were analysed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode-array detector and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-PDA-Q-TOF). In order to identify phenolic compounds, both targeted and untargeted metabolomics approaches were used. Multivariate analysis was employed to determine compounds with different abundances between sample groups. The study confirmed the identification of 40 compounds, 37 of which were phenolic compounds, and 23 were distinct between sample groups. Red sorghum contained more flavonoids and condensed tannins compared to white sorghum. Native samples were statistically different from fermented samples, with most changes involving the release of phenolic acids from their conjugated forms and an increase in phenolamines. The metabolomics approach effectively covered the wide range of phenolic compound analysis in sorghum.

The literature review highlighted the principles of microencapsulation and spray drying, with emphasis on the properties of highly oxidizing oils, protein interface modification, and mechanism of lipid oxidation. The major aim of the research was to study the chemical and physical stability of microencapsulated flaxseed oil (MFSO) during storage under controlled relative humidity conditions (0%, 11%, 33%, 54%, and 75%RHs) and compare the results to bulk flaxseed oil (FSO). Microencapsulation was done by spray drying of non-cross linked (NCL) and transglutaminase cross-linked (CL) Na-caseinate FSO emulsions. Oxidative stability was examined through changes in physical and chemical properties of MFSOs and FSO as influenced by different RHs and storage periods. Chemical analyses were used to analyze the peroxide value (PV), fatty acid profile, γ-tocopherol, carotenoid and chlorophyll, phenolic compounds, and secondary oxidation products (hexanal and propanal) in MFSOs and FSO. Degree of secondary oxidation was determined by static headspace gas chromatography while the morphology of MFSOs was examined by scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that at dry condition (0%RH), surface lipids of CL and NCL MFSOs were unstable and more susceptible to oxidation after 17 weeks storage. Release of hexanal and propanal were higher for NCL than CL microencapsulated flaxseed oil which suggested that interfacial cross-linking of Na-caseinate was efficient. At high moisture condition (75%RH), MFSOs were oxidatively stable owing to their low PVs and structural transformation from porous structure to agglomerates or sticky form. High amounts of alpha-linolenic acid and γ-tocopherol were detected in FSO and MFSOs, and only minor losses occurred throughout storage period and under different RHs. FSO also contained considerable amounts of carotenoid and phenolic compounds but low in chlorophyll content. Oxidative stability of interface and matrix elucidated that humidity conditions considerably influenced the chemical and physical properties of CL and NCL MFSOs.

The aim of this project was to study the physical and chemical changes in the myofibrillar protein fraction during low-temperature long-time (LTLT) heat treatment of pork, in relation to cathepsin activity and evolution of tenderness. Porcine Longissimus dorsi muscles were cut, vacuum packaged and cooked in water baths at 53, 58, 63, 68 and 73°C. The process was monitored at: 1, 8 and 24h. Allo-Kramer shear force (AKSF), residual activity of cathepsin B+L, surface hydrophobicity (SH) and particle size of myofibrils were measured. Results showed that toughness decreased markedly between 53°C and 63°C and later increased to 73°C. Toughness also decreased with time. Myofibrillar SH, increased with temperature, but not with time, indicating aggregation and/or gelation. Treatments with low AKSF had smaller particles, suggesting that meat was easier to break, both macroscopically and microscopically. The high associated catheptic activity could be the reason for the weakening of myofibrils. They also might be able to prevent their aggregation and transition into a hard compact gel. As temperature increases, denaturation-aggregation-gelation overcomes proteolysis and bigger particles were detected. In conclusion, LTLT sous-vide cooking (53 and 63°C) allows the control of short term changes in myofibrils (so they do not toughen) and permits the slow ones (proteolysis) to decrease toughness of prime cuts.

The aim of this master’s thesis was to investigate the potential of reducing enteric methane production from dairy cows by replacing barley grain with oat grain on a grass silage-based diet. The effects of grain species on in vitro methane production, digestibility, pH and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production pattern were investigated and a regression analysis was performed to entangle possible methane mitigating mechanisms of oats. The study was conducted in the laboratory at the Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden in the autumn of 2016. An in vitro gas production system was applied, consisting of 16 diets with two replicates, four blanks and three runs, each with a three-day incubation time. The feed material consisted of eight varieties of barley, eight varieties of oats and timothy silage incubated at a grain/silage ratio of 1:1 on a dry matter basis. Rumen fluid was collected from two cannulated Nordic Red dairy cows after morning feeding. Gas sampling was performed at 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 32 and 48 hours of incubation, meanwhile VFA-sampling, pH-measurements and sampling of incubation residues were performed at 48 hours. Methane production was estimated as predicted in vivo methane production and stoichiometrically predicted methane production. The in vitro digestibility was determined as true dry matter digestibility (TDMD). Content of indigestible neutral detergent fiber (iNDF) was determined by applying a 12-day in situ incubation in two Ayrshire dairy cows. Oats had a higher content of crude protein, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), iNDF and fat compared to barley, whereas barley had a higher content of starch. Replacing barley with oats decreased predicted in vivo methane production by 9% and stoichiometrically predicted methane production by 11%. Variety within grain was not found to have any significant effect on methane production. True DM digestibility and total VFA production were lower in oat-based diets compared to barley-based diets. No significant differences were observed between the diets considering VFA molar proportions. The pH was lower in barley-based diets compared to oat-based diets. True DM digestibility was the best predictor of methane production. Among grain composition parameters, iNDF content was the best predictor of methane production, followed by NDF. Crude fat content also predicted methane production relatively well. Based on the results of this experiment, it can be concluded that replacing barley grain with oat grain in the diet of dairy cows has a potential to lower methane production predicted in vitro. Furthermore, the methane mitigating effect observed in this experiment is at least partly due to the higher fat content and lower digestibility of oats compared to barley.

The application of the split root fertigation (SRF) on strawberry cv. Elsanta (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) was tested in a greenhouse. Responses of strawberry plants under SRF treatments were evaluated by investigating plant water use, plant vegetative growth, berry yield, and berry quality. In this experiment. Strawberry plants had their roots separated evenly into two parts and grown in containers with two compartments in peat. In the traditional fertigation (TF), the control in the experiment, irrigation water with equal electrical conductivity (EC) (1.4 mS/cm) was applied to both root compartments. Three levels of SRF treatments with low, medium, and high mean EC in irrigation water were designed for the experiment. In these SRF treatments, half of roots received the irrigation solutions with lower EC value of 0.7 mS/cm, the other half of roots received irrigation solutions with EC values of 1.4 mS/cm (SRF1), 2.8 mS/cm (SRF2), and 4.2 mS/cm (SRF3). For plant growth, leaf number, petiole length, runner number and dry weight, plant dry weight, leaf nutrient contents, and flowering date were examined. For yield and berry quality, total fresh yield, total berry number, average berry fresh and dry weight, shelf life, contents of total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acid (TA), total phenolics, and ascorbic acid were measured. For plant water use, substrate water content (?) and EC, leakage amount and EC were recorded; water use efficiency (WUE) and water uptake percentage were calculated to investigate the water use. Compared to TF, plants under SRF treatments showed differences in some parameters. Plants grown under SRF2 had highest total leaf area, although no differences in total plant dry weight were observed; leaf Mg was improved by SRF treatments, leaf N increased by SRF with high EC (SRF3), and leaf B and Mn decreased in SRF with low EC (SRF1). More lateral roots were found of plants under SRF treatment. Plant flowering was accelerated in the medium SRF treatment. For fruit quality, berry size was reduced in SRF3, which was in consistent with the response of strawberry grown under salinity stress. TSS/TA decreased in SRF3. In all SRF treatments, more water was taken up from root compartment with the lower EC value. However, the total water uptake amount had no differences. As a conclusion, SRF treatments affected the plant water uptake distribution, plant vegetative growth, yield and yield quality in some parameters, but results were not consistent in this experiment. Treatments with more EC combinations in a wider range are recommended for further studies.

It is important to study the factors which inhibit the cultivation of major crops which serve as a source of food and feed, with various other medicinal values as well. One of these factors is soil degradation and infertility which could be due to high amounts of toxic elements or unfavourable pH conditions. Faba bean is one such crop and is widely affected by the acidity and aluminium toxicity in soil. In this study, an effort has been made to observe the varying tolerance of faba bean accessions and understand the underlying mechanisms used by them under stress conditions. The accessions selected were Aurora, Babylon and Kassa. Each accession was subjected to three treatments and were grown in pH 7 (control), pH 4.5 (acid treatment) and pH 4.5 + Al3+ (aluminium treatment). The pH of peat for acidic treatment was reduced to 4.5 using Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and for aluminium treatment, Aluminium sulphate (Al2(SO4)3) was added in addition to the acid. At 16 Day after Sowing (DAS) and 30 DAS the physiological data was collected which comprised of chlorophyll concentration (SPAD value), stomatal conductance, leaf temperature and photosynthesis rate. At 35 DAS, the experiment terminated and the shoot data (fresh and dry weights of leaves and stem; and leaf area) of each plant was recorded. Then the root data (tap root length, quality and quantity of nodules and photographs of roots) was taken for each plant. ICP samples for peat, shoot and shoot were also analysed. The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance using R version 4.0.3. (means separated by 5% significance level). From the plant data, Aurora was found to be tolerant. Kassa was sensitive (especially the roots) and Babylon was sensitive to both acid and aluminium treatments. The ICP results provided the reason for this tolerance pattern and a higher concentration of elements needed for plant growth such as P and S were found to be higher in aluminium and acid treatments.

Uneven-aged forest management with selective cutting might hold the potential to limit carbon emissions from the soil after harvesting, compared to rotation forest management with clear-cutting, which is currently more common in boreal forests. The permanently remaining tree cover in uneven- aged forests protects the soil and the microclimate within the stand. It is still poorly understood how selective harvesting affects the carbon fluxes and pools of boreal forests. The aim of this research was to find patterns in the soil respiration and soil carbon content in uneven aged stands that are related to canopy gaps resulting from harvesting operations. I tried to assess the effects of the light, soil temperature and soil moisture conditions in canopy gaps on soil respiration, soil carbon content, microbial decomposition and microbial biomass carbon in order to draw conclusions how uneven aged forest management should be adjusted to avoid carbon losses from the soil. Soil respiration was measured during the summer 2018 on two uneven-aged Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst) stands in Lapinjärvi, southern Finland. Measurements were taken with a mobile closed chamber at fixed measuring points under canopy and in canopy gaps. Soil moisture and soil temperature were measured alongside the respiration measurements. Soil cores were collected at each point to a depth of 30 cm in order to determine carbon and nitrogen stocks. The microbial biomass carbon was analysed at each point with the chloroform fumigation extraction method and the microbial decomposition was determined with the teabag method. The Global Light Index (GLI) and the canopy openness were derived from hemispherical pictures to assess the gap size. I found that the soil respiration in canopy gaps was in average 0.0243 mg CO2 s-1 m-2 higher then under canopy. Soil temperature and soil moisture however did not differ between the points in canopy gaps and under canopy and neither did microbial biomass carbon or the microbial decomposition. Microbial decomposition and microbial biomass C differed strongly between the two study plots and were not correlated with the soil respiration. C and N stocks were higher in canopy gaps than under canopy, but the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio was not affected by the canopy gaps. A statistical relationship between GLI or canopy openness could not be confirmed with neither soil respiration, nor soil carbon or microbial decomposition. The main driver affecting soil respiration and C and N stocks in mineral soil was soil temperature. We modelled soil respiration with the collected data. The best fitting model was selected by comparing the second order Akaike Information Criterions. It included soil temperature as fixed effect variable and the collars and time of measurement as random effect variables. The results confirm that gaps have an influence on soil respiration; however, the gap size seems to be less important. Soil respiration is influenced by a number of factors and complex interactions. The increased soil respiration in the gaps is probably caused by a higher autotrophic respiration by roots and mycorrhiza.