Physical-chemical characteristics of Triticum Aestivum wheat from three Romanian regions

The purpose of this paper was to determine the total protein content, gluten content, moisture, Zeleny sedimentation index, hectolitre mass and deformation index of T. aestivum wheat. The total protein content, gluten content, Zeleny sedimentation index and hectolitre mass was analyzed by the NIR, Infralum FT 10 cereal analyzer instruments. Humidity was determined by oven drying method and deformation index by thermostating. The samples were collected from three Romanian areas: West, South and Central. The highest total protein content was registered in wheat from South (13.5%), followed by wheat from West (13.2%), respectively from Centre (10.6%). The gluten content, in direct correlation with total protein content, was in the range 24% (wheat from Centre) - 30% (wheat from South). The deformation index of West and South samples was 5 mm, respectively 2mm of sample from Central. Wheat South Zeleny sedimentation index was 44 mL followed by West area wheat (49 mL) and wheat from Central (51 mL). The wheat samples hectolitre mass was very close, between 80.5-81.0 kg/hL. The humidity of the samples varied from 11.9% to 12.7%. The results recommend the wheat from South Romania area as being of high quality, followed by wheat from West Romania area. The wheat from Centre Romania area is of medium quality

Effects of Cultivation Systems and Environmental Conditions on Peppermint (Mentha × piperita L.) Biomass Yield and Oil Content

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita L.) is perennial plant cultivated for essential oil production. In the present study, field experiments were conducted to determine the performance of peppermint under different cultivation systems for two consecutive growing periods in 2015 and 2016. The effects of environmental conditions on peppermint biomass yield and oil content was also evaluated. The experiments were carried out according to randomized complete block design with five replications per cultivation system. The results of the present study indicate that the total aboveground dry weight and dry leaves biomass were affected by cultivation system and year. For both growing seasons, the highest values were found under the conventional farming system. In contrast, oil content was approximately 14% higher in organic system than in conventional system. Moreover, oil content differed by year, with higher values being observed in 2015 comparing to 2016. Both oil content and biomass yield were positively affected by high temperatures. The results from this study demonstrated that both environmental conditions and the cultivation systems affect the biomass and oil content in peppermint crop