ABSTRACT:The objective of this study was to compare the performance of laying hens, quality of air in poultry house, and microbial contamination of eggshell in laying hens kept under blue, green, red, and yellow light colour in enriched cages. The daily photoperiod consisted of 15 h light, light intensity of 10 lx at bird head level. The laying performance characteristics (hen-day egg production, mortality, and egg weight) were not affected by light colour. Similarly, microbial contamination of the air was not significantly different related to the light colour. There were significant interactions in eggshell contamination between the position of the cage floor and light colour in Escherichia coli (P ≤ 0.042) and Enterococcus (P ≤ 0.019). The highest number of Escherichia coli was detected in eggs from hens housed on the middle floor given yellow light (6.06 log colony forming units (cfu)/eggshell) and the lowest values (3.30 log cfu/eggshell) on the upper floor also under yellow light colour. Similar results were observed in Enterococcus, where the highest contamination was on the middle floor under yellow light colour (5.26 log cfu/eggshell), while the lowest contamination (2.45 log cfu/eggshell) was found on the upper floor under blue colour. The results of our study indicate that the light colour has a minor effect on microbial contamination but the significant influence was in the floor position. The highest microbial egg contamination was found on eggs from the middle floor.

Microbial activities and counts of microorganisms were monitored as a part of research projects at 11 localities on arable land of different soil types during the years [2002][2003][2004][2005][2006]. The counts of microorganisms (total bacteria count, actinomycetes, micromycetes, Azotobacter, oligotrophic and spore-forming bacteria) and microbial activities (respiration, ammonification and nitrification tests) were evaluated using summary statistics, analysis of variance and correlation coefficients. The average counts of microorganisms corresponded with usual counts of microbes in arable soils. There were only some differences among localities in Azotobacter counts. Soil respiration is very often used as an indicator of soil microflora activity. Average values of basal respiration were slightly lower (0.45 mg CO 2 /h per 100 g dry soil) than usual values, potential respiration with glucose (G) or with ammonium and G (NG) responded to usual values (average G 4.27, NG 9.53 mg CO 2 /h per 100 g dry soil). All activities (except actual ammonification) were higher in spring season, but the differences were not significant. There were significant differences in correlation coefficients among the selected criteria; 66% from the total number of correlation coefficients were non-significant, 34% were significant (13% of them was at the significance level 0.05, 10% P < 0.01, and 11% P < 0.001).

During the years 19982000 soil chemical (C org , N t , pH), textural (sand, silt clay) and microbiological (microbial biomass carbon C MB , microbial extracellular carbon C EX , respiration, ammonification, nitrification) characteristics were tested on grassed chernozem [mollisol] after arable land setting-aside. Different harvest management was also tested: black and green fallow, one or two mulching per year, three cuts with plant biomass removal. For the evaluation of the influence of management and plants we have used three main criteria: (1) µg C MB /g dry soil, (2) ratio C MB /C org (%), (3) µg C EX /mg C MB or eight criteria respectively: (4) ratio of measured and model values of C MB , (5) ratio of measured and model values of C EX /C MB , (6) potential respiration with glucose, (7) potential ammonification with peptone and (8) potential nitrification with (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 . According to these criteria, the best harvest management after arable land setting-aside from 5 different systems, which were tested, could be based on one or two mulching per year. It could be stressed that the two mulching was evaluated as the best in sum of dry mass yield (27.5 for mixtures, 20.1 for legumes and 14.2 for grasses in t/ha/3 years).

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Microwave (MW) irradiation is a non-destructive method that can be applied as an alternative method to inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The present study evaluated the effect of MW irradiation on the occurrence of moulds in nuts and almonds. Samples of unshelled natural almonds, pistachios, and in-shell peanuts were treated with different doses of MW irradiation (2400–4000 W). The effect of MW irradiation on mould counts was evaluated by cultivating immediately after irradiation and after 3 and 6 months of storage. The most represented genera in all analysed samples were Aspergillus (68%), Penicillium (21%), and a small amount of Cladosporium (3%). Mould numbers significantly decreased after MW treatment. The treatments with MW irradiations at 3000 and 4000 W significantly reduced the mould colony counts, and their effect persisted during storage; irradiation at 2400 W was partially effective. The strongest effect of MW irradiation was observed in in-shell peanuts. MW irradiation seems to be a promising method for maintaining the microbiological quality of nuts.