Dietary fibers and bread: Attitudes, beliefs and knowledge among young population

The link between dietary fibers and prevention of non-communicable diseases is well documented in the existing scientific literature. Despite that, most of the population still do not have enough knowledge about fibers and their presence in certain food. This study intended to make an insight in the knowledge of the Serbian young population about dietary fibers and bioactive compounds through a questionnaire survey. A survey was conducted to a sample of 173 individuals, (37% male and 63% female) randomly selected among students from elementary, high school and university in the Novi Sad municipality. Topics covered by the questionnaire included knowledge of the term dietary fiber, fiber content in different bread types, the relationship between fibers and health and bioactive compounds sources in food. The results for each of the particular topics addressed varied among studied groups, but generally level of knowledge was related to the education level. The highest overall knowledge about dietary fibers and bioactive compounds was expressed by the university students, although elementary and high school students showed a considerable level of knowledge on the subject. Male participants appeared as more familiar with the questions related to bioactive compounds, while females were more informed on questions regarding dietary fiber. This survey revealed that young population in Serbia is well informed about the contribution of dietary fiber and bioactive compounds in promoting health. However, further expansion of existing knowledge will be beneficial in order to improve general health of the entire community

Sequential micro and ultrafiltration of distillery wastewater

Water reuse and recycling, wastewater treatment, drinking water production and environmental protection are the key challenges for the future of our planet. Membrane separation technologies for the removal of all suspended solids and a fraction of dissolved solids from wastewaters, are becoming more and more promising. Also, these processes are playing a major role in wastewater purification systems because of their high potential for recovery of water from many industrial wastewaters. The aim of this work was to evaluate the application of micro and ultrafiltration for distillery wastewater purification in order to produce water suitable for reuse in the bioethanol industry. The results of the analyses of the permeate obtained after micro and ultrafiltration showed that the content of pollutants in distillery wastewater was significantly reduced. The removal efficiency for chemical oxygen demand, dry matter and total nitrogen was 90%, 99.2% and 99.9%, respectively. Suspended solids were completely removed from the stillage

Effects of quantity and layers number of low trans margarines on puff pastry quality

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of puff pastry margarine with reduced content of trans isomers in production of puff pastry with enhanced nutritional value. Experiments were carried out on the basis of 32 factorial design, wherein the independent variables were the amount of puff pastry margarines (30, 40 and 50%, on flour weight) and number of margarine layers formed during the dough processing (108, 144, and 256). In order to determine the optimum values of independent parameters, the study was focused on defining of relevant qualitative indicators of the final product. By investigation of influence of the type of puff pastry margarine (ML1 and ML2) on the quality of puff pastry, it was determined that physico-chemical properties of margarine ML1 were not optimal for puff pastry production. Margarine ML1 had lower hardness by 50-60%, lower SFC by 20-35% and worse thermal characteristics compared to margarine ML2. Only by application of the maximum amount of margarine ML1 and 144 margarine layers a satisfactory quality of puff pastry was obtained: the lift of 2.89, hardness of 17.7 kgs, volume 83.6 cm3 and the total number of points of 14.8. Because of its better technological characteristics, margarine ML2 is favorable for making puff pastry. Significantly better physical properties and excellent pastry quality was obtained in samples with margarine ML2 in an amount of 50% of margarine and 256 layers: higher lift by 45%, volume by 25% and the total number of points by about 20% compared to sample ML1 with the best quality