The palynological and physicochemical analysis of 62 honey samples produced in different biogeographical areas of Algeria was conducted. Results showed high variety in the botanical origin of samples and their physicochemical profile. Twenty-six samples were polyfloral honey, 30 were unifloral honey from different botanical sources such as Eucalyptus, Citrus, Apiaceae, Punica, Erica, Rosmarinus, Eriobotrya, or Hedysarum, and 6 were characterized as honeydew honey. Pollen analysis allowed the identification of 104 pollen types belonging to 51 botanical families, whereas the physicochemical profile showed important variations between samples. Multivariate techniques were used to compare the characteristics of samples from different biogeographical areas, showing significant differences between humid-area samples, located in the northeast of the country, and samples taken in semiarid, subhumid, and arid zones. Principal-component analysis (PCA) extracted nine components explaining 72% of data variance, being 30%, the sum of Component 1 and Component 2. The plot of both components showed samples grouped upon botanical and geographical origin. The results of this paper highlighted the great variability in honey production of Algeria, evidencing the importance of honey characterization to guarantee authenticity and to valorize local production.

The present study aimed to characterize the dairy cattle farming systems in semi arid region in western Algeria. A typology of the farms was established following the description of livestock dairy farming practices and the assessment of their contribution to farm efficiency. The enquiry was conducted on 60 dairy farms during 2018-2019 agricultural campaign to determine structural, technical and economic parameters. The Results show a large diversity of farmer?s strategies, particularly in feeding and economic indicators. The statistical analysis has identified 3 groups of farms. The first group contains 12 farms produce average milk yield about 4120 kg and promote use of forages. The participation of concentrates in total dry matter ingestion (DMI) is about 45.3 %, the average costs of milk production is of 37.1 DA/ liter?0.52 ? and charge of food in total production costs in the order of 62.8 %. 32 dairy farms of second group are characterized by average milk yields 3240 kg and the contribution of concentrated foods represents 49.2 % of total DMI. The cost of liter of milk is about 42.7 DA?0.60 ? and food costs in order of 68.7 % of total production costs. The third group contains 16 dairy farms whose illustrates farms with a significant contribution of concentrates in the global feed balance (54.3 % of total DMI). These concentrated foods were poorly converted into milk as recorded yields are the lowest (2010 kg). Production costs of liter milk and the percentage price of food in total cost production were respectively highest (49.4 DA?0.69 ?) and (80.2 %). The results of this typology indicate the diversity of dairy farms systems in semi-arid region in North Africa, which must be taken to ensure the profitability and sustainability of farms identified. The socio-economic factors are behind the genesis of sample farms, the technical feeding and rationing and no diversification of forage calendar make clear the variations in groups of dairy husbandry. To guarantee sustainability development of typological groups, a specific measure, particularly in feeding management, will be applied for different livestock systems identified.

Background: The microbial evolution of the J’ben Elgafs prepared with raw milk from local cows, was studied during the manufacturing and maturating process in order to characterize this variety of cheese from the Algerian terroir.Methods: The microbial activity and physical-chemical parameters were tested during the three dairy seasons of the year. Total, lactics and alteration floras were counted on their selective environments.Result: Lactic germs multiply considerably during the first days and only stabilize towards the end of maturation. The low presence of alteration floras is the result of the continuous modification of the physico-chemical parameters of Aw and pH from one stage to the other of the j’ben production and the respect of good processing practices. These different proportions of variation are induced by the biochemical reactions and microbial interactions that take place responsible for the sequential growth of one microbial group compared to another.

Recently, it has been found that cardamom extract acts as a powerful modulator of macrophages 15 and as a protective factor against uranium risks. 16 Elgayyar and Sekine [17][18] reported that cardamom extract has well-recognized antimicrobial and antifungal properties. Analgesic, antidepressant, anticonvulsive and antispasmodic activities have been attributed to this plant. 19,20

Microbial communities play an important role in the maturation of cheese and determine to a large degree its taste quality. The typicality and the sensory richness of Tessala camembert diversity is preserved by this microflora. In the present study, we tried after isolation and purification to characterize genotypically lactic microflora of this cheese at the end of maturation of the transformation from thermized milk of local breed cow. The bacterial DNA from twenty-two purified lactic culture was established by an amplification of ribosomal DNA 16S by specific universal primers of prokaryotes with strains reference of each isolated bacterial species used as positive controls. The results show the characteristic of the Tessala camembert by the diversity of its original lactic flora dominated by lactococci, enterococci, lactobacilli, pediococci and leuconostocs, preserved by the initial thermization of milk used to maintain the technologically-interested dairy microbial ecosystem.

Background: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the diversity of lactococci, lactic bacteria, recovered from “J’ben”, a local cheese made from the milk of the Rembi sheep breed, a product of exploitation in the Algerian steppe regions of Naama.Methods: The bacterial species were isolated from samples of the recovered cheese exploitation and analyzed using genotypic methods. The isolation of bacterial DNA from purified Lactococcus cultures has been established by an amplification of ribosomal DNA 16s using the specific universal primers of prokaryotes. Result: The 16s DNA sequencing of all isolates, for genotypic identification, confirmed the predominance of Lactococcus lactis. This lactic dominance determines the quality and distinctiveness of this cheese in the region. The results obtained from acidification and proteolysis kinetics met the technological requirements and good functionality, from the strains used individually and in mixed culture to the cheese processing.

Abstract. Abed F, Bachir-Bouiadjra B, Dahloum L, Yakubu A, Haddad A, Homrani A. 2021. Procruste analysis of forewing shape in two endemic honeybee subspecies Apis mellifera intermissa and A. m. sahariensis from the Northwest of Algeria. Biodiversitas 22: 154-164. Honey bees play an important role as pollinators of many crops. Thus they are collectively considered as a veritable economic source. The present study was undertaken to describe variation in the right forewing geometry in two Algerian honeybee subspecies Apis mellifera intermissa and Apis mellifera sahariensis using landmark-based geometric morphometrics. A total of 1286 honeybees were sampled from 12 provinces in the northwest of Algeria. The forewing geometry was evaluated using 20 homologous landmarks by applying Procrustes superimposition analysis. The top four principal components accounted for only 41.1% of wing shape variation between the two subspecies. There was a significant difference in wing shape between the two subspecies (Mahalanobis distance = 1.0626 ; P<0.001), whereas their wing size seemed similar (P>0.05). Regarding the allometric effect, the percentage of variation in wing shape explained by size changes was relatively small, with 1.28% and 4.37% for A. m. intermissa and A.m sahariensis, respectively. The cross-validation procedure correctly classified 68.3% of specimens into their original groups. PERMANOVA test revealed significant differences in the right forewing shape among all geographic areas studied (P<0.001). The results clearly showed that the landmark-based geometric approach applied to forewings venation is a powerful and reliable tool in the discrimination of native honey bee subspecies and should be considered in local honey bee biodiversity improvement and conservation initiatives.

Background: The cheese-making ability of milks varies due to its chemical composition and several factors related to good farming practices.Methods: Among these factors, the lactation stage was studied on a batch of 15 Prim’Holstein dairy cows under real production conditions at the experimental farm of the University of Mostaganem. The fresh milks produced were tested with simple criteria of chemical composition in protein rate, butyrous rate, mineral intake, on coagulation ability and cheese yield with a repeatability spread over 3 months. Result: The results indicated that the lactation stage has a significant effect, on the composition of milk, especially in terms of protein and mineral richness and on its ability to coagulate. In addition, the urea dosage showed a deficiency in the food ration of digestible nitrogen to the herd directly influenced the protein mass of milk and consequently on the technological processing times and cheese yields.