Microbiological and sensory evaluations of bread and ketchup supplemented with β-D-glucan hydrogels isolated from wheat, oat, barley, and rye were carried out. Adding hydrocolloids did not affect sensory parameters of bread negatively; moreover rye and oat β-D-glucans improved the total tastiness of bread. Water activity values in fortifi ed breads showed β-D-glucans, except isolated from oat, as elements moderately increasing this parameter and subsequently increasing also bread freshness during the storage. All β-D-glucans resulted in softening the acidic taste of ketchup and did not negatively infl uence the total tastiness. Quality of fortifi ed fresh tomato ketchups and stored for 180 days, were also not negatively infl uenced by the addition of hydrocolloids. Therefore, cereal hydrocolloids could be very perspective in the further exploitation in preparing new health-benefi cial foods.

The composite flours were created from basic wheat flour and from buckwheat and millet flours used as additives in the weight ratio of 5-30%. Basic technological parameters of flours (ash content, wet gluten, gluten swelling, sedimentation index, falling number), rheological properties of dough, and sensory parameters of baked bread loaves (weight, specific volume, aroma, taste, structure) were studied. Additives influenced all traits of flours, doughs, and baked breads. From the technological and sensory points of view, baked breads with the addition of buckwheat were accepted up to the addition of 20% and breads with millet up to 5% (even though taste and flavour were accepted up to 15% addition).

In this study, a total of 299 grain samples of wheat were collected from four production regions: the maize, sugar beet, potato and feed sectors of Slovakia. The samples were analyzed for deoxynivalenol (DON) content by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay Ridascreen® Fast DON. Analysis of variance revealed a significant difference between years in DON contents (p < 0.027). The occurrence of samples with DON was 82.2% in 2010, with maximum DON content of 7.88 mg kg−1, and 70.7% in 2011, with maximum DON content of 2.12 mg·kg−1. The total mean DON content was 0.62 mg·kg−1; in the feed region 0.22 mg·kg−1; 0.63 mg·kg−1 in the maize region; 0.78 mg·kg−1 in the sugar beet region; 0.45 mg·kg−1 the potato region. The limit of 1.25 mg·kg−1 imposed by the European Union (EU) for DON content was exceeded in 13.7% of the studied samples. The average monthly rainfall for May to June played a critical role in DON content of wheat grains for maize and sugar beet producing regions. The present results indicate that DON content was at a high level in grains from wheat grown during 2010.

SUMMARYThe mycotoxin survey focused on natural occurrence of Deoxynivalenol (DON) in mature grains of oats and wheat produced by Slovak fields in 2013. DON is one of the most predominant mycotoxins occurring in grains of cereals produced by Fusarium fungi after the attack of plants. A total of 10 oat samples from 9 locations and 178 wheat samples from 89 locations were collected in 2013. The samples were collected directly from growers. A commercial ELISA kit was used to determine the DON concentration in wheat samples with the limit of detection < 0.2 mg.kg-1 (ppm) and limit of quantification 0.2 mg.kg-1 (ppm). Mycotoxin was found in 30.0% (max. 0.49 mg.kg-1) of oat and 82.0 % (max. 5.10 mg.kg-1) of wheat samples. The natural mean DON contamination of oat samples was lower than in wheat samples. Only wheat samples had higher DON content than defined by the regulations of the European Union (EU) for this mycotoxin. Results indicated that the location had a significant effect on the DON content (p<0.000) in wheat grains what was connected with climatic conditions.

The aim of our study is to find out the influence of different share of cereals and various fertilisation on the grain yield and quality of winter wheat. The long-term field trial with 40, 60 and 80% share of the cereals and two levels of fertilisation (H1 mineral fertilisation + organic manure Veget®; H2 mineral fertilisation only) were carried out in the very warm and dry area of continental weather on luvi-haplic chernozem. In the years 2010–2013, the grain yield, the wet gluten content, gluten index, the falling number and sedimentation index of winter wheat according to Zeleny were investigated. The significantly higher grain yield of winter wheat was recorded after preceding crop of common pea. The yield of cereals in crop rotation with 60% share of cereals (7.00 t/ha) was significantly higher than in crop rotation with 80% share of cereals (6.78 t/ha).The statistically higher wet gluten content after pea fore-crop was found out when the mineral fertilisation and organic fertiliser Veget® were applied (33.4%) with comparison to the treatment with mineral fertilisation only (30.08%).

Cereals serve as major food supply for human population. The cereals are rich source of carbohydrates and some proteins, but they are limited in various biologically active compounds such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoid pigments, coenzyme Q10, etc. Therefore value-added cereal-derived biomaterials have been prepared by the fungal solid state fermentations that could be attractive in food/feed industry. Application of fermented biomaterials into bakery products does not only enrich the final products with new compound (PUFA, ergosterol, etc), but very significantly change the rheological and nutritional and properties of dough and breads such as dough development time and stability, content of starch, glucans, dietary fibre, etc. Sensorial quality of these new products is acceptable for customers. Thus, biotechnologically prepared PUFA-enriched cereals may open novel prospects for the market of functional cereal foods.

Wheat grain samples from 108 fields in Slovakia were analysed for their technological quality parameters and deoxynivalenol (DON) content. A total of 206 samples were sorted into those that were suitable (S; n = 186) and those that were unsuitable for human consumption (U; n = 20). The S samples were sorted into grain quality grades (E – elite; A – standard; B – minimum; P – biscuit). The natural occurrences of DON were 72.3 % in the E; 84.9 % in the A; 86.1 % in the B; 58.1 % in the P and 100.0 % in the U samples. The mean DON content was 0.55 mg kg−1 in the E; 0.47 mg kg−1 in the A; 0.67 mg kg−1 in the B; 0.36 mg kg−1 in the P and 1.67 mg kg−1 in the U samples. The natural mean DON contamination of the human consumption samples was lower (0.52 mg kg−1) than for the samples that were unsuitable for human consumption (1.67 mg kg−1).

Composite flours were formulated from wheat flour and additives containing high amylose starch, resistant starches of RS 2 and RS 3 types, and barley β-glucan. Different parameters of flours, doughs, and final breads were evaluated. Almost all composite flours had significantly worse parameters as flour and dough in comparison to control. Sensory parameters of breads were also lower, though loaves supplemented with up to 15% (w/w) of high amylose starch (Hylon ® VII), RS 2 (Hi-maize TM 260), and RS 3 (Novelose ® 330) were considered as acceptable, with higher content of RS observed. Loaves with β-glucan (Barliv™ barley betafiber) were not acceptable either in sensory or technological parameters.Keywords: wheat, flour, dough, bread, resistant starch, β-D-glucan, functional foodBoth the sufficiency and quality of food influence the physiological state of the consumer. A relevant trend is the supplementation of foods with compounds uncovered by the daily nutrition and the production of functional foods. Foods are functional when it is possible to evidently demonstrate their beneficial effect in amounts normally consumable in the daily diet. From practical point of view, the functional food could be food with compounds added or replaced to achieve the benefit. Food additives usually change technological parameters, content of nutrients, and final product traits; in wheat it is gluten quality, rheological parameters, and bread acceptability. Attractive additives from nutritional point of view are resistant starches (RS) and β-glucans (BG). RSs are resistant to absorption in the small intestine and provide substrate for microbial fermentation in the large intestine resulting in beneficial short-chain fatty acids. enGlySt and co-workers (1992) described RS 1 (unavailable for enzymatic degradation in gastrointestinal tract), RS 2 (naturally resistant to degradation), RS 3 (created by hydrothermal processing), and RS 4 (chemically modified). β-glucan affects human body as an activator of immune processes (eStrada et al., 1997) or an agent reducing the risk of cardio-vascular diseases and gastrointestinal problems (Mälkki & virtanen, 2001;keoGH et al., 2003). Different additives supplied to basic wheat flour essentially influence parameters of flour, dough, and the final product. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different additives (high amylose starch and resistant starches from maize, barley β-glucan) on parameters of composite flours, dough, and bread. ® VII (all from National Starch & Chemical Co., Bridgewater, USA), and Barliv™ barley betafiber (concentrated barley β-glucan) (Cargill Inc., Minneapolis, USA). The weight ratios (w/w) of additives in composite flours were 5-20%.Wet gluten content and gluten swelling (STN, 1988), total ash (STN ISO, 2006a), Zeleny's sedimentation index (STN ISO, 2000), falling number (STN ISO, 2006b), farinographic parameters (ICC, 1992), and final bread, made from flour 250 g, yeasts 12.5 g, sugar 2.5 g, salt 3.75 g, fat 2.5 g, and water, were evaluated. Fl...