Novel green intelligent films based on basil seed gum (BSG)/chitosan containing red cabbage extract (RCA) (0, 2.5, 5, and 10, % (v/v)) as a colorimetric indicator for food freshness detection were fabricated by casting method. The physicochemical, barrier, mechanical, and antioxidant characteristics, as well as sensitivity to pH and ammonia gas of smart edible packaging films, were investigated. The interaction of anthocyanin extract as a natural dye with biopolymers in films characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and SEM images revealed their suitable compatibility. The film with maximum anthocyanin content (10% (v/v)) appeared robust color changes against various pH and ammonia gas levels. The color of indicator films when exposed to alkaline, neutral and acidic buffers are indicated with green, blue, and red colors, respectively. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of smart BSG/chitosan films improved from 23% to 90.32% with increasing RCA content from 2.5 to 10% (v/v). Generally, the incorporation of RCA in film structure enhanced their solubility, WVP, ΔE, turbidity, and flexibility, and reduced tensile strength. The observations successfully confirmed the efficacy of pH‐sensitive indicator smart film based on BSG/chitosan for evaluation of fish spoilage during storage.

Soil organic matter is the largest source of organic carbon in the soil surface which plays an enormous role in restoring balance, environmental sustainability, soil elements and climatic conditions. Organic materials directly and indirectly influence physical, chemical and biological properties of soil and thus soil fertility. The amount, type and composition of organic matter are different in different soil and climatic conditions. Different soil components can hold different combination of soil organic matter. In this study soil samples were collected from virgin, Populus and Alnus forests from Guilan Province, Iran. The amount of organic matter in the original samples and sand, silt and clay fractions were measured and the quality of organic carbon (13 C) and hydrogen (1 H) was determined in fractions by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Based on the results, the original samples of Alnus forest showed the highest amount of organic carbon. Among fractions, clay showed the highest amount of organic carbon. The result of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance showed presence of different aliphatic and aromatic carbons and hydrogen in different samples. Virgin forest had the highest proportion of alkyl to oxygenated alkyl carbon ratio and Alnus forest showed the highest ratio of aliphatic to aromatic carbon. Both of above mentioned ratios was higher in clay fraction than two other fractions.

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Humic substances have proved to be very important fractions in soils, playing a key role especially in agricultural soil and influencing chemical and physical soil properties. Spectroscopic methods are widely used to identify the quality of soil humic substances. In this study, 16 soil samples were selected from the Soil Bank of the Soil Science Laboratory at Szent István University, Gödöllő. The samples were extracted using the Hot Water Percolation (HWP) method and the amount of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in each fraction was measured. The kinetics of the DOC extraction process with the HWP method was estimated. The Ultraviolet Visible (UV-VIS) technique was used to characterize the properties of HWP-dissolved organic carbon (HWP-DOC), measuring absorbance at 200–700 nm. Among the humification parameters, the absorbance ratios at 254 and 365 nm (E2/E3) and 465 and 665 nm (E4/E6), the specific UV absorbance (SUVA) and the UV absorbance ratio index (URI) were estimated. The K factor (humus stability coefficient) and E2/E3 and E4/E6 in NaOH and NaF extracts were also measured. The properties of HWP-DOC were similar in most of the soil samples. There was a good correlation between the content of HWP-DOC and the absorbance at 254 nm. URI, SUVA, E2/E3 and E4/E6 indicated that most of the HWP-DOC in the samples consisted of fulvic acid components with greater activity, simpler structure and low molecular weight.