Renata Žvirdauskienė
Kaunas University of Technology, Food technology, Faculty Member
Soil management, in terms of tillage and cropping systems, strongly influences the biological properties of soil involved in the suppression of plant diseases. Fungistasis mediated by soil microbiota is an important component of... more
Soil management, in terms of tillage and cropping systems, strongly influences the biological properties of soil involved in the suppression of plant diseases. Fungistasis mediated by soil microbiota is an important component of disease-suppressive soils. We evaluated the influence of different management systems on fungistasis against Fusarium graminearum, the relationship of fungistasis to the bacterial profile of the soil, and the possible mechanisms involved in this process. Samples were taken from a long-term experiment set up in a Paleudult soil under conventional tillage or no-tillage management and three cropping systems: black oat (Avena strigose L.) + vetch (Vicia sativa L.)/maize (Zea mays L.) + cowpea (Vigna sinensis L.), black oat/maize, and vetch/maize. Soil fungistasis was evaluated in terms of reduction of radial growth of F. graminearum, and bacterial diversity was assessed using ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (RISA). A total of 120 bacterial isolates were obt...
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Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides, but is still in the spotlight due to its controversial impact on the environment and human health. The main purpose of this study was to explore the effects of different glyphosate... more
Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides, but is still in the spotlight due to its controversial impact on the environment and human health. The main purpose of this study was to explore the effects of different glyphosate usages on harvested grain/seed contamination. Two field experiments of different glyphosate usage were carried out in Central Lithuania during 2015–2021. The first experiment was a pre-harvest application, with two timings, the first according to the label (14–10 days), and the other applied 4–2 days before harvest (off-label), performed in winter wheat and spring barley in 2015 and 2016. The second experiment consisted of glyphosate applications at label rate (1.44 kg ha−1) and double dose rate (2.88 kg ha−1) at two application timings (pre-emergence of crop and at pre-harvest), conducted in spring wheat and spring oilseed rape in 2019–2021. The results suggest that pre-emergence application at both dose rates did not affect the harvested spring wheat...
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In the food industry, there is always a demand for food products which are colourful, have an attractive appearance, and also have nutritional and health-enhancing properties to attract the attention of consumers. Synthetic pigments are... more
In the food industry, there is always a demand for food products which are colourful, have an attractive appearance, and also have nutritional and health-enhancing properties to attract the attention of consumers. Synthetic pigments are widely used in the global market, however, they can cause many side effects such as hyperallergenicity, carcinogenicity and other toxicological problems. Recent studies have revealed that microorganisms are an abundant source of natural colours that allow the industrial production of safe, environmentally friendly biodegradable pigments. The aim of the work was to isolate pigmented microorganisms from environmental samples, select fermentation conditions, isolate pigments from microorganisms and check their antimicrobial activity. Pigments have been isolated from various sources such as soil, food waste, flour, etc. Growth parameters of pigment-producing microorganisms such as growth temperature, pH, tryptone and NaCl concentration in the medium were...
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This study investigates the potential of epiphytic bacteria isolated from citrus fruits to control green mold post-harvest disease caused by Penicillium digitatum in Thompson Navel sweet oranges in the north of Iran. Twenty-three... more
This study investigates the potential of epiphytic bacteria isolated from citrus fruits to control green mold post-harvest disease caused by Penicillium digitatum in Thompson Navel sweet oranges in the north of Iran. Twenty-three epiphytic bacteria were isolated and screened in vitro against P. digitatum, and 13 isolates with antagonistic activity were selected for further studies. Isolates B15 (Bacillus sp.), P17 (Pseudomonas sp.), and S13 (Streptomyces sp.) exhibited the most effective inhibitory effects on P. digitatum in vitro and in vivo. Among these, B15 showed the highest percentage of mycelium growth reduction and was further identified as B. cereus by 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Metabolic analysis of Bacillus sp. isolate B15 extract revealed the presence of the inhibiting antifungal substance Iturin A. The result showed that the application of epiphytic B. cereus decreased the percentage of green mold post-harvest diseases in orange fruit. This indicates their potential as ...
In this study, water extracts from fermented (F), ultrasonicated (US), and enzyme-hydrolyzed (E) rice bran (RB) were evaluated against sixteen fungal plant stem and root-rot-associated pathogens. The effects of pre-treated RB additives on... more
In this study, water extracts from fermented (F), ultrasonicated (US), and enzyme-hydrolyzed (E) rice bran (RB) were evaluated against sixteen fungal plant stem and root-rot-associated pathogens. The effects of pre-treated RB additives on plant growth substrate (PGS) on bean and tomato seed germination, stem height and root length of seedlings, and chlorophyll concentration in plants were analyzed. The results showed that US-assisted pre-treatments did not affect protein content in RB, while 36 h semi-solid fermentation (SSF) reduced protein content by 10.3–14.8%. US initiated a 2.9- and 2-fold increase in total sugar and total phenolics (TPC) contents compared to the untreated RB (3.89 g/100 g dw and 0.61 mg GAE/g dw, respectively). Lactic acid (19.66–23.42 g/100 g dw), acetic acid (10.54–14.24 g/100g dw), propionic acid (0.40–1.72 g/100 g dw), phenolic compounds (0.82–1.04 mg GAE/g dw), among which phenolic acids, such as p-coumaric, cinnamic, sinapic, vanillic, and ferulic, were ...
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DESCRIPTION The studies of the usage of prebiotic dietary fibre (PDF) chitosan (further chitosan) in food industry, and especially its effect on safety and complex quality characteristics of food products are insufficient. Therefore, this... more
DESCRIPTION The studies of the usage of prebiotic dietary fibre (PDF) chitosan (further chitosan) in food industry, and especially its effect on safety and complex quality characteristics of food products are insufficient. Therefore, this paper represents the results obtained on the influence of chitosan on microbiological, physical and sensory data of food products, such as spreadable curd cheese and mayonnaise.
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The race is on to achieve an important level of efficiency in the attainment of a circular economy in agriculture especially with the aim of sustainable nitrogen management. This cycle in the agricultural sector cuts across livestock... more
The race is on to achieve an important level of efficiency in the attainment of a circular economy in agriculture especially with the aim of sustainable nitrogen management. This cycle in the agricultural sector cuts across livestock farming, agriculture-induced waste generation, recycling and utilization, energy generation, crop production, ecosystem protection and environmental management through the mitigation of climate changes. In this work, we assess the process and functionalities of livestock waste generated from the piggery farm and their combinations with other by-products such as biochar and ash in comparison with mineral fertilization as sources of nitrogen applied in agricultural soil. The experiment was performed in a controlled environment with wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) grown in a neutral and an acidic soil. Pig manure was used as the primary feedstock, fed and processed to biogas and nutrient-rich digestate by the anaerobic digestion process. The results revealed...
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The Fusarium head blight emerged as the main disease of wheat in Lithuania in 2012. The chemotype diversity of FHB pathogens was not investigated prior that time. In this study chemotype determination of pure F. graminearum cultures, the... more
The Fusarium head blight emerged as the main disease of wheat in Lithuania in 2012. The chemotype diversity of FHB pathogens was not investigated prior that time. In this study chemotype determination of pure F. graminearum cultures, the main cause of FHB in wheat, isolated from grain and chemotype detection rates in homogenized grain were compared. A total of 105 pure culture F. graminearum isolates from 2013 and 144 homogenized wheat grain samples from 2013 and 2014 were analysed for presence and quantification of 15ADON, 3ADON and NIV chemotype DNA. Results show that 15ADON chemotype was clearly dominant in pure culture isolates, but not in homogenized grain, where 3ADON incidence was almost as high. Also the results allow dismissal of other toxigenic Fusarium species, F. culmorum, as either a source of NIV or the main source of 3ADON chemotype DNA in grain.