Analysis of the Reproduction Traits and Milk Yield in Cows from Apuseni Mountains Farms

Milk production in cows is influenced by a series of factors with direct or indirect action upon its body. Farms from three counties in Apuseni Mountains (Alba, Bihor and Hunedoara) were monitorized for milk production and other reproductive attributes. Age of first calving, service period, calving interval and natality were the parameters monitorized in the study to determine the reproduction trains in the area of Apuseni Mountains. Analyzing the obtained data regarding the average production of milk, lactation duration in the studied counties, it is found that: on total lactation, the largest production was obtained in Bihor county with 4815.26 kg (332.6 days), followed by Hunedoara county with 4796.40 kg (325.6 days) and Alba county with 4528.05 kg ( 321.4 days). The obtained results, which reflect the current level of milk production in Apuseni Mountain area, show that the studied cows have a real productive potential, the average of the lactation yields as well as its duration, being at the upper limit of the breed, according also to specialized literature data. Breeding activity was found to be good but can be improved. Due to the great importance of reproduction, the economic and productive performance of dairy farms requires careful attention to its planning and management

Honey and Diabetes: The Importance of Natural Simple Sugars in Diet for Preventing and Treating Different Type of Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder with multifactorial and heterogeneous etiologies. Two types of diabetes are common among humans: type 1 diabetes that occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys insulin and type 2 diabetes, the most common form, that may be caused by several factors, the most important being lifestyle, but also may be determined by different genes. Honey was used in folk medicine for a long time, but the health benefits were explained in the last decades, when the scientific world was concerned in testing and thus explaining the benefits of honey. Different studies demonstrate the hypoglycemic effect of honey, but the mechanism of this effect remains unclear. This review presents the experimental studies completed in the recent years, which support honey as a novel antidiabetic agent that might be of potential significance for the management of diabetes and its complications and also highlights the potential impacts and future perspectives on the use of honey as an antidiabetic agent

HPLC Determination and FT-MIR Prediction of Sugars from Juices of Different Apple Cultivars during Fruits Development

Individual sugars were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in samples of apple juices obtained from the fruits of ‘Jonathan’, ‘Starkrimson’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ cultivars. Samples were harvested from the inside and the periphery of the crown, at different periods during fruits growth, from 7 to 144 days after full bloom (DAFB). Values from 0.42 to 14.33%, 0.29 to 4.06% and 0 to 4.28% were determined for fructose, glucose and sucrose, respectively. The values of fructose and glucose have increased significantly (p<0.05), starting with the seventh DAFB, regardless of the studied cultivar, while sucrose increased slowly at the beginning and then faster starting 65 DAFB. Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) analysis confirmed the differences between juice samples, the region 900-1500 cm-1 being the most specific to sugars signals. FT-MIR coupled to partial least squares (PLS) calibration models for predicting individual sugars of apple juices were developed. The optimal regions and pre-treatments of the spectra were 900-1500 cm-1 and Savitzky Golay first derivative (d1) for fructose, 900-1200 cm-1 and d2 for glucose and 900-1200 cm-1 and standard normal variate for sucrose. In cross-validation, the PLS calibration models showed very good performance for fructose (Rcval 2=0.95; standard error of cross-validation (SECV) =0.907) and acceptable for glucose (Rcval 2=0.85; SECV=0.424), while for sucrose showed only satisfactory performance (Rcval 2=0.75; SECV=0.561). For practical relevance, the FT-MIR predicted values were compared against the HPLC determined reference values in external validations tests. The best results were achieved for fructose (Rp 2=0.94; RPD=4.9), while glucose (Rp 2=0.84; RPD=2.61) and sucrose (Rp 2=0.7; RPD=2.08) models reached satisfactory values

A Review of Nosema cerane and Nosema apis: Caracterization and Impact for Beekeeping

Two microsporidia have been described infecting honey bees worldwide: Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. The infecting forms of the parasite are the spores, ingested by the adult host insects. Studies demonstrated that the infection with Nosema spp. range from less than 1 to 100 percent, this disease reduces worker longevity by 22-44% which in turn reduces honey production and causes incomplete crop pollination. However, the used conventional drugs in beekeeping sector has a strong limitation due to the big concern about antibiotics resistance, transmission of antibiotics residues in beehive products and to a lesser extent, unbalancing risk of bee gut microbiota.This review highlights the importance to have healthy bee colonies, which implicitly lead to safety bee products. For this reason, orientation towards alternative treatments without antibiotics and based on natural products with higher antimicrobial effects it is very topical