Winter wheat noodle colour evaluation in sustainable farming systems

The aim of this work was to evaluate colour of noodles that were prepared from winter wheat grown in ecological and integrated arable farming systems after different forecrops with two levels of fertilization (fertilized and unfertilized) during the years 2009 and 2010. Winter wheat noodles were prepared from white flour and wholegrain flour and it’s colour was evaluated using the spectro-colorimeter. Colour of white flour noodles was significantly influenced by forecrop, crop nutrition (fertilized and unfertilized variants) and by meteorological conditions during experimental years. Farming systems had no statistical effect on white flour noodles colour values. The colour of wholegrain noodles was affected by farming system, forecrop, crop nutrition and also the year of growing. Whole grain noodles from ecological system were darker, with lower lightness, higher redness compared to noodles from integrated system. Fertilization increased redness, yellowness and decrease the lightness of white flour noodles, on the contrary, fertilization increase the lightness and decrease the redness of wholegrain noodles.Keywords: ecological, integrated arable system, wheat noodle colou

Emmer wheat – Production parameters

The objective of the present work was to evaluate the influence of growing season and variety on quantitative parameters (the total number of stems per m2 (pcs), the number of productive tillers per m2 (pcs), the average length of the stem and spike (cm), the number of  fertile spikelets (pcs), the number of grains per spike (pcs), weight of grains per spike (g), the weight of thousand grains (g), the share of glumes (%), harvest index, the theoretical yield (t ha-1) of four emmer wheat varieties (Agnone, Farvento, Guardiaregia, Molise sel Colli) grown under the conditions of organic farming in the south of Slovakia. The experiment was established on Scientific Research Base Dolna Malanta near Nitra during 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 growing seasons. Seven quantitative parameters were significantly influenced by the weather conditions. Tasted varieties showed lower influence on quantitative parameters. Only four out of twelve parameters were influenced by the variety. The best adaptable emmer wheat varieties to growing conditions of the south region of the Slovak Republic were Agnone and Guardiaregia which were characterized by the highest theoretical yield and other parameters. Emmer wheat is suitable, advantageous and profitable crop when cultivated under conditions of organic agriculture from the point of its agronomic characters.Keywords: emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccon Schrank, organic production, quantitative parameter

Measuring and evaluating spelt bread texture

Texture analysis is an objective physical examination of baked products and gives direct information on the product quality, oppositely to dough rheology tests what inform on the baking suitability of the flour, as raw material. It is the major criterion in assessing the eating quality of bread because of its close association with the consumer´s perception of freshness. During the years 2010–2011   selected indicators for bread texture quality of three Triticum spelta L. cultivars – Altgold, Ostro and Franckenkorn grown in an ecological system were analyzed. The bread texture quality was evaluated on texture analyzer, following the AACC (74-09) standard method and expressed as crumb firmness, stiffness and relative elasticity. The influence of the variety as well as weather condition on textural properties of bread crumb values was statistically significant. The spelt wheat bread crumb texture required further investigation as it can be a reliable quality parameter.Keywords: spelt bread, texture, firmness, stiffness, elasticit

Sustainable development in higher education in Europe. Good practices compendium

Higher Education Institutions among all educational structures are vested with significant responsibility in implementing the concept of Sustainable Development, both to incorporate this concept within their activities (teaching, research, operations) and to widespread Sustainable Development in the society and business world. The report is the final product of Work Package 3 (WP3) entitled “Identifying sustainable and user-friendly Good Practices”. The objective is the identification and diffusion of Good Practices concerned with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Higher Education Institutions. The topic is analysed in a broader sense, on one side considering the characterisation of the political and institutional framework, and on the other side describing formal and informal learning experiences in Higher Education Institutions. 36 Good Practices are discussed and presented in systematic forms, that have been categorized according to the following topics related to the implementation of Sustainable Development education: policies, institutional activities, teaching and practical experiences. The Good Practices represent a wide range of situations concerning different European countries, institutions, typologies of the initiatives, geographical levels of implementation. However in this diversity some characterizing aspects emerge: the holistic and interdisciplinary approaches to ESD, the attention in achieving tangible results, the involvement of local communities and the bottom-up approaches, the importance of partnerships and networking, the capacity building, the innovation of the initiatives, and the attention in building a framework favorable to Sustainable Development. The Good Practices were selected in a wider range of case studies, emerging from a “State of the Art” analysis in the field of Sustainable Development in the University Studies of Life Sciences in Europe, carried out within the ISLE project, and from the research of the project partners. The selection has been done in accordance with the criteria of transferability, pertinence, capacity building, user friendless, innovation, networking capacity and interdisciplinarity.peer-reviewe

Effect of farming system on colour components of wheat noodles

Colour of noodles is definitely a key element of a consumer's buying decisions. It can be influenced by many factors. Conditions, under which is winter wheat grown, can be considered as one of these factors. The aim of this work was to evaluate colour of noodles that were prepared from winter wheat grown in ecological and integrated arable farming systems, after different forecrops with two levels of fertilization (fertilized and unfertilized) during the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. Winter wheat noodles were prepared from white flour and wholegrain flour and its colour was evaluated using the spectro-colorimeter. Colour was measured by three coordinates: lightness L*, red/ green value a* and yellow/ blue value b*. Wholegrain noodles had lower L* value, so they were darker than white flour noodles, with higher redness and higher yellowness. Colour of white flour noodles and wholegrain noodles was significantly influenced by crop nutrition (fertilized and unfertilized variants), farming system and meteorological conditions during experimental years. Wholegrain noodles from ecological system were darker, with lower lightness and higher redness compared to noodles from integrated system. White flour noodles from ecological system were also darker compared to noodles from integrated system. Fertilization decreased lightness of white flour noodles, on the contrary, fertilization increased the lightness and decreased the redness of wholegrain noodles. In non-fertilized treatment, ecological wheat noodles were darker, with higher redness and yellowness than noodles prepared from winter wheat grown in integrated arable farming system.</p

Comparative Study on Protein Quality and Rheological Behavior of Different Wheat Species

The quantity and quality of protein and the rheological traits of wheat are crucial for processing flour in the baking industry, but there are few comparisons in the literature between old and modern wheat species. To help fill this gap, the baking quality characterization, gluten content, protein fraction composition, high molecular weight glutenin subunits, and rheological properties of ancient and modern wheat were determined and compared. These varieties were collected by the gene bank of the Crop Research Institute in Prague-Ruzyne and were grown in organically certified research areas in the Czech Republic. Results revealed differences in protein content and composition between varieties with different ploidy levels, as well as differences in development time and stability between einkorn and bread wheat varieties. Based on the proximity of their positions to the parameter quality in the principal components analysis, such as gluten content, gluten index (GI), Zeleny test, stability, dough development time (C1) and gliadin, the baking performances of cultivars were identified