The preformed cooked cured meat pigment (CCMP) synthesized directly from bovine red blood cells or through a hemin intermediate was found to be a viable colorant for application to comminuted pork as a nitrite substitute. However the genotoxicity of CCMP and meat emulsion coagulates prepared with CCMP has not been evaluated. Therefore the objectives of this work were to investigate genotoxicity of CCMP and the influence of CCMP addition on genotoxicity and the content of residual nitrite in model meat emulsion coagulates. Meat emulsions were prepared from white (musculus longissimus dorsi) and red (musculus quadriceps femoris) pork muscles with two different amounts of synthesized pigment CCMP. Comparatively, emulsions with fixed addition of nitrite salt and emulsions without any addition for color development were made. Genotoxicity of CCMP and meat emulsion coagulates was tested with the SOS/umu test and the Ames test. Neither CCMP nor meat emulsion coagulates prepared with CCMP or nitrite salt were genotoxic in the SOS/umu test. In the Ames test using Salmonella Typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100 samples of coagulates prepared with CCMP and with nitrite showed weak mutagenic activity in Salmonella Typhimurium strain TA100 but only in the absence of the metabolic activation, while CCMP was not mutagenic. Coagulates prepared with CCMP contained significantly less residual nitrite than coagulates prepared with nitrite salt. These results indicate that from the human health standpoint the substitution of nitrite salt with CCMP would be highly recommendable.

Blackberry cane diseases with the symptoms of necrosis, canker, and wilting are caused by several fungi worldwide. Surveys conducted from 2013 to 2016 in Serbia revealed the occurrence of Gnomoniopsis idaeicola, the causal agent of cane canker and wilting, which was found to be distributed in almost half of the surveyed orchards, in three blackberry cultivars, and with disease incidence of up to 80%. Wide distribution and high disease incidence suggest that G. idaeicola has been present in Serbia for some time. Out of 427 samples, a total of 65 G. idaeicola isolates were obtained (isolation rate of 34.19%). Reference isolates, originating from different localities, were conventionally and molecularly identified and characterized. G. idaeicola was detected in single and mixed infections with fungi from genera Paraconiothyrium, Colletotrichum, Diaporthe, Botryosphaeria, Botrytis, Septoria, Neofusicoccum, and Discostroma, and no diagnostically specific symptoms could be related directly to the G. idaeicola infection. In orchards solely infected with G. idaeicola, blackberry plant mortality was up to 40%, and yield loses were estimated at 50%. G. idaeicola isolates included in this study demonstrated intraspecies diversity in morphological, biological, pathogenic, and molecular features, which indicates that population in Serbia may be of different origin. This is the first record of a massive outbreak of G. idaeicola infection, illustrating its capability of harmful influence on blackberry production. This study represents the initial step in studying G. idaeicola as a new blackberry pathogen in Serbia, aiming at developing efficient control measures.

Anise (Pimpinella anisum L.) is an important medicinal spice plant that belongs to the family Apiaceae. Anise seeds are rich in essential oils and this is a reason why anise production in Serbia has increased over the last decade. During a routine health inspection on anise seeds collected from three localities in the province of Vojvodina (Mošorin, Veliki Radinci and Ostojićevo) during 2012 and 2013, it was found out that Fusarium spp. were a commonly observed fungi.

The control of Plasmopara viticola and Botrytis cinerea, two of the most dangerous pathogens on grapevine, requires frequent treatments with chemicals based on weather conditions. Numerous applications of fungicides have resulted in developing fungicide resistance. Active ingredients based on copper have been used very successfully for a long time to protect grapevines against these pathogens. Application of a copper citrate formulation with high degree dissociation at a very low concentration (1%) was evaluated in field trials. The efficacy of two concentrations of copper citrate, 0.5 and 1.0%, were tested against P. viticola on grapevine in three locations, and against B. cinerea in two locations during 2018. Our results demonstrated that the concentration of 1.0% copper citrate was highly effective against P. viticola (87.4%) and B. cinerea (63.7%), compared to standard treatment (90.6 and 53.1%), under a high level of infection.

Raspberry cane decay disease are the major problem in its production by reducing yield and lifetime of orchards. This disease cause a several disease-causing agents, and the most important is Didymella applanata, causal agent of raspberry spur blight. With regard to the biology of the pathogen fungicide use postharvest is not efficient enough because pathogen can infect raspberry far earlier. Therefore, the aim of this study is testing the efficacy of newer organic fungicides applied before and after the harvest raspberries and mutual comparison thereof on biological efficacy. The results show that the tested fungicides exhibited very high efficacy against D. apllanata on the raspberry leavs and the canes (from 83.0-96.5%).