The aim of this paper is to analyse the chemical compositional and nutritional profiles of a two number of white lupine cultivars (Lupinus albus, cultivars Amiga and Energy) suited to the pedoclimatic conditions in Romania, collected in the year 2015. No significant differences were observed among lupine cultivars in their dry matter (DM), crude ash or alkaloid contents. The highest protein content (36.4�1.1% of DM) and crude fat (10.1�1.2% of DM) was found in seeds from lupines belonging to cv. Amiga, while the highest crude fibre content (15.2�1.7% of DM) was found in cv. Energy. Both varieties examined were characterised by a shortage of methionine and lysine, but lysine deficiency was higher in cv. Energy. Amiga cultivar was found to be a nutritionally more valuable crop than cv. Energy by the standards of nutrition for mature human and animals (chicken broilers and growing pigs). Amiga lupine was characterised by a higher essential amino acid index (EAAI) as well as chemical score (CS) of lysine, and the high nutritional index (NI) and biological value (BV) of protein as compared to cv. Energy. The white lupine seeds examined can serve as a source of good quality food protein for adult humans, meet the requirement for exogenous amino acids (EAA) and Lys in chicken broilers and to a lesser degree in the case of growing pigs, according to the standards of nutrition used. Fatty acid (FA) composition showed that oleic acid (C18:1 n-9) was the major fatty acid, followed by linoleic (C18:2 n-6) and linolenic (C18:3 n-3) acids. Apart from the highest level of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) the seed oil of Amiga cultivar showed and the largest content of linolenic acid (n-3) and the most favourable report n-3/n-6 FA.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different dietary inclusion of raw white lupine seed meal (WL) in diets of laying hen on fatty acids (FA) profile, health lipid indices and oxidative stability of egg yolk. A total of 160 TETRA-SL LL laying hens (30-week old) were used in a ten week trial. The laying hens were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: control diet which contained soybean meal (C), and study diets in which soybean meal was replaced with WL at 150 g/kg (E15), 200 g/kg (E20) and 250 g/kg (E25). Each treatment was replicated 5 times with 8 birds each. The inclusion of WL in experimental diets caused a linear increase in n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) content and a decrease in monounsaturated FA (MUFA), but it had no influence on the saturated FA (SFA) of egg yolk lipids. The data suggested that the partial replacement of soybean meal with WL of in laying hen diet it significant increase h/H (hypocholesterolemic/Hypercholesterolemic) and PUFA/SFA ratio, and decrease thrombogenic index (TI), which improves human health because of the beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. The authors determined the concentration of a-tocopherol by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and assessed the degree of oxidative degradation of lipids using the classical test based on the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA). Inclusion of WL in diets led to increases in a-tocopherol and decrease in MDA in eggs (P [0.05). Egg storage for 20 d or 40 d led to linear reduction in egg �-tocopherol and increase of MDA content (P [0.05). The results of the present study suggest that the seeds of modern white lupine varieties can be included at 250 g/kg in layer diets as an effective substitute for soybean meal, improving fatty acids profile, health lipid indices and oxidative stability of egg yolk.

This research was conducted to study fatty acids composition, especially content of n-3 FA; c9,t11-CLA (rumenic acid) and t11-C18:1 (vaccenic acid) and health lipid indices of milk according to the feeding practices in sheep. The exeperimental diets consisted of: P - pasture without any diet supplementation, PC - pasture + standard concentrate (500 g/d), PCs - pasture + fat-enriched concentrate (camelina seed-based concentrate: 500 g/d). Camelina seeds (Cs - Camelina sativa L) were used to increase the beneficial FA concentration in milk fat. PC diet as compared to P diet increases daily milk yield and the content of milk fat, but it adversely affects the quality of milk fats. Fat in the milk of PC ewes had a higher content of hypercholesterolemic FA, while the polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) concentration decreased (p [ 0.001). The use Cs in the concentrate mixture (PCs diet) increased by more than double the c9,t11-CLA, C20:5n-3 (EPA), C22:6n-3 (DHA), C18:3n-3 (ALA) and t11-C18:1 (VA) (p [ 0.001) in milk fat, without any negative effects on milk yield and composition. Beneficial changes of health lipid indices milk fat (atherogenic index, thrombogenic index, n-6/n-3 FA) were detected when the diet of ewes was supplemented with fat-enriched concentrate (PCs group) because of high concentration of c9,t11-CLA, n-3 FA which has sanogenic properties. It is concluded that, when pasture quality and availability do not limit dairy production, supplementation of grazing ewes with concentrate mixture is not recommended, because compromised the milk FA profile. The using camelina seeds in strategies for supplementing the diet of ewes on pastures is a good choice both for the daily milk yield and even more so for the sanogenetic quality of milk fats.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of whole grape pomace (GP), grape seed (GS) and grape pomace polyphenolic extract (GPEP) on growth performance, total antioxidant status (TAS) and complete blood count (CBC) of 40-day-old chicks (hybrid Cobb 500). A total of 432 unsexed one-day-old chicks were divided into six groups: control (CON) and five experimental groups, 10 g/kg GP, 20 g/kg GP, 5 g/kg GS, 10 g/kg GS and 15 mL/L GPEP. The results showed a higher increase in growing rate in 5 g/kg GS group, from the first week of the chicks' life throughout their growth, the average body weight of the chicks being significantly higher (p<0.01) than CON. The broilers that received 5 g/ kg seeds in the diet, 10 g/kg and 20 g/kg GP respectively, have achieved a better feed conversion ratio (FCR) than CON. The introduction of GPEP in drinking water has significantly affected (p<0.05) the growth performance in the fourth week of the experiment, lower weight gains could be due to high levels of polyphenols in grape pomace extract that may have a delayed effect on the growth of chickens. The CBC and TAS were not affected by dietary treatments (p>0.05) at 40 days of age. As a conclusion, the amount of 5 g/kg seeds, 10 g/kg and 20 g/kg pomace, can be added to the diet of the broilers, the dose of 5 g/kg seeds in the diet offering advantages in growing rate and feed valorization in weight gain.

Polyodon spathula sturgeon breed is successfully reared in Romania in many fishery farms for meat production and it is capitalized on domestic market as consumption fish. In the current paper were studied a number of 1400 sturgeons from Polyodon spathula breed (1200 individuals of one summer - P.s.0+ and 200 individuals of fourth summers - P.s.3+). From this flock were weighted around 10%, for each age group, and for laboratory determinations were chosen 10 fishes for each age with the corporal mass close to the group mean. After analysing the fillets gathered from the studied fishes for establishing the chemical characteristics, nutritive and biological values of proteins were drawn some interesting conclusions. So, regarding chemical composition we notice that in the meat of analysed fishes water is in a rate of 75.41% at P.s.3+ and 78.37% for P.s.0+; proteins - between 18.08% for P.s.0+ and 19.89% for P.s.3+, values which place those fishes in the group of protein fishes; lipids - between 2.45% and 3.45%, values which situated those sturgeons in category of fishes with a low content in lipids; collagen � 3.83% at P.s.0+ and 4.14% at P.s.3+ which indicate low values for proteins of weak quality in the meat of those sturgeons. Study of nutritive value for the analysed fishes indicate the fact that fishes P.s.0+ have a mediocre nutritive value, having the ratio w/p of 4.33 while sturgeons P.s.3+ were placed in the 2nd category � fishes with a good nutritive value (rate w/p = 3.79). Energetic value of the studied fillets was 97.39 kcal/100 g for P.s.0+ and 114.31 kcal/100 g for P.s.3+, which enlightened an increase of nutritive value with aging, fact especially due to accumulation of adipose tissue. Study of proteins quality, through the presence of those 8 essential amino-acids in the meat of analysed fishes, show the fact that at sturgeons P.s.0+ proportion of essential amino-acids was 20.88% from total amino-acids, while at sturgeons P.s.3+ was 26.23%, fact which enlightened an increasing of proteins� biological value with fish aging. This fact was also shown by calculation of proteins� biological value through chemical methods (EAA index); calculated value for sturgeons P.s.0+ was a little bit lower (118.73) than the one calculated for sturgeons P.s.3+ (118.79).

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of dehulling white lupine seeds (Lupinus albus, cultivar Amiga) on the raw chemical composition and nutritional profile of lipids. There was no significant differences (p ˃ 0.05) between whole and dehulled lupine seeds in respect of their content in dry matter, ether extract, crude ash and nitrogen-free extract. However, the dehulled lupine seeds had a higher (p ˂ 0.05) crude protein level (51.69% of DM) than whole seeds (43.16% of DM), and a lower (p ˂ 0.05) crude fiber content (4.35% of DM) compared to that of whole seeds (14.15% of DM). The fatty acids profile is not affected (p ˃ 0.05) by the dehulling process. Oleic acid (C18:1 cis-9) is the main fatty acid in lupine seeds, and the level of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) is slightly higher in whole seeds. The n-3 / n-6 report is adequate in both whole (0.88) and dehulled (0.94) seeds, and the favorable polyunsaturated index (PI) indicates the high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which indicates that lupine seeds are a valuable source of essential fatty acids. Also, lupine seeds are characterized by favorable values of the thrombogenic (0.18) and atherogenic (0.14) indexes, and an appropriate hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic index value, features considered important for human health and animal nutrition.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by various fungi. A very important category of mycotoxins are aflatoxins, considered to be the most dangerous in humans. Aflatoxin B1, well known as a favorable factor in the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in humans, is the most controversial of all mycotoxins. Aflatoxins, found in naturally contaminated food, are resistant to degradation by heat. Current food processing practices and conventional storage conditions do not completely eliminate aflatoxin contamination from the food supply chain. Long storage food products—such as peanuts, pistachio, nuts in general, and dried fruits—are susceptible to aflatoxins contamination. The type of plastic material can influence the concentration of aflatoxins during storage due to the permeability to gas and moisture exchange with the external milieu. Nuts in general and dried fruits are consumed in large quantities worldwide. Therefore, herein we investigated the effect of plastic material on the total aflatoxins and aflatoxin B1 content in 64 samples of nuts and dried fruits packed and stored in low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The method consisted in a cleanup procedure using immunoaffinity columns coupled with RIDASCREEN FAST immunoenzymatic competitive assays based on the ELISA technique. Collected data were subjected to statistical analysis and multiple comparisons tests were applied. From the total analyzed samples, 14.06% exceeded the maximum admitted European levels for total aflatoxins. The highest concentrations of total aflatoxins were obtained from samples packed in LDPE, followed by PP, PE, and PET. Aflatoxin B1 was detected in all samples packed in LDPE, PP, and PE. Most of the samples packed in PET had concentrations <1 µg/kg. These results indicate that nuts in general packed and stored in LDPE are more prone to contamination with aflatoxins, while PET is more suitable for maintaining the quality and safety of these products.

This study aimed to nutritionally and technologically characterize the meat produced by rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus, Flemish Giant breed, 50 farmed individuals) and hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 50 hunted individuals). Muscles were sampled from several carcass regions: dorsal torso—Longissimus dorsi (LD), thigh—Semimembranosus (SM), and upper arm—Triceps brachii (TB). To better depict the meat’s nutritional quality, the proximate composition and fatty acid profile were assessed, and then gross energy content and lipid sanogenic indices (Polyunsaturation—PI, atherogenic—AI, thrombogenic—TI, hypocholersyerolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio—h/H, Nutritional Value Index—NVI) were calculated. pH values at 24 and 48 h post-slaughter, cooking loss (CL), and water-holding capacity (WHC) were the investigated technological quality traits. Gross energy was higher in rabbit TB samples, compared with hare, due to more accumulated lipids (p < 0.001). pH value was higher for TB muscles in both species; the WHC was higher for hare (p < 0.001), and CL was higher for rabbit (p < 0.001). The PI values were 6.72 in hare and 4.59 in rabbit, AI reached 0.78 in hare and 0.73 in rabbit, TI was calculated at 0.66 in hare and 0.39 in rabbit, and the h/H ratio reached 3.57 in hare and 1.97 in rabbit, while the NVI was 1.48 in hare and 1.34 in rabbit samples. Meat from both species is nutritionally valuable for human consumers, meeting nutritional values better than the meat of farmed or other wild species of fowl and mammals. Hare meat was found to be healthier than rabbit in terms of lower fat content, lighter energy, and better lipid health indices.