Caprine milk is a nutritional and therapeutic food. The unique and beneficial characteristics of caprine milk that are superior to bovine milk include: better digestibility; greater buffering capacity; fat globules that are smaller in diameter and better distributed in the milk emulsion; higher content of short‐chain fatty acids in the milk fat; higher content of zinc, iron and magnesium; stronger lactoperoxidase (antimicrobial) system as well as better immunological and antibacterial characteristics. The larger amounts of some minerals, such as calcium, zinc and magnesium, in caprine milk may influence the growth of lactic acid bacteria since they are a normal part of some enzymatic complexes involved in lactose fermentation. The higher whey protein content could also be significant because Lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacteria grow better in the presence of higher levels of some amino acids (valine, glycine, hystidine). The use of caprine and ovine milk in cheesemaking is well known, but the production of fermented caprine milk via probiotics has not yet been developed, although many studies have highlighted the requirements for production of that kind of healthy food. During fermentation caprine milk loses its characteristic ‘goaty’ taste, which is unacceptable to many consumers. Moreover, the nutritive value of caprine milk increases during fermentation. The rise in the number of goat farms in Croatia has created the need to find other products that can be produced using caprine milk. According to the present situation in Croatia, there is no real possibility of producing fermented caprine milk for the global market, but many studies of fermented caprine milk have been performed.

The sudden craft breweries expansion currently occurring in Europe, and by that also in Croatia, has been a true conundrum. The question is why craft breweries currently undergo such intense propagation. The answers to this is not simple and has to be monitored from a few different angles: what are today’s consumer’s preferences? Why this sudden need to drink posh beer? Health wise – is it healthier to drink craft beer than industrial? The fact is that craft breweries offer beer with a story. The popularity of health benefits of moderate beer consumption, different reports in popular papers and magazines on polyphenolic and other anti-oxidative compounds that aid catching free radicals and reduce the damage they cause, contribute to the shift from industrial plane lager beer craft beer. In the eye of the scientific storm-genetic manipulation with yeast strains, and barley cultivars, water treatments, automatization, people choose simple procedures and raw materials that give them a feeling of uniqueness. This paper contributes to the knowledge of why craft breweries are taking on more and more popularity and why are consumers attracted to such products.

This study was carried out to determine the influence of goat and cow milk fermented by Bifidobacterium longum Bb-46 on the pathogenic Salmonella enteritidis D strain. The basic hypothesis of this study was that fermented goat milk could possibly have a stronger inhibitory effect on the growth of Salmonella enteritidis D than fermented cow milk. The correlation between the inhibitory effect and some fermentation parameters (number of viable cells of Bifidobacterium longum Bb-46 and pH of fermented milk) was also analysed. S enteritidis D strains were isolated directly from the faeces of an infant with diagnosed salmonellosis. The inhibitory effects of goat and cow milk fermented with Bifidobacterium longum Bb-46 were determined on Salmonella-Shigella agar after 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 h from the start of fermentation. Bifidobacterium longum Bb-46 count and pH values were also measured in samples of goat and cow milk during fermentation. The results obtained have shown a considerably higher inhibitory effect of fermented goat milk on the growth of Salmonella enteritidis D as compared to that of fermented cow milk. At the same time, higher acidity and CFU of Bifidobacterium longum Bb-46 were noted in fermented goat milk in all the phases of the fermentation process. The inhibitory effects of the fermented goat and cow milk on Salmonella enteritidis D growth increased rapidly with the fermentation time. The results indicated high sensitivity of Salmonella enteritidis D to acidity of both fermented milks. Consequently, a significant correlation between the inhibition degree and pH values of fermented goat and cow milk was noted.

Introduction. A certain degree of damage to the starch granules is desirable but excessive level of starch damage can have deteriorating effect on the quality of the bakery products. Materials and methods. The wheat flour with lower (3.15%) and higher degree of starch damage (6.13%) were produced by repeat grinding (two passes) in a laboratory mill. The rheological measurements of dough samples were conducted using Farinograph and Extensograph, and gelatinisation and pasting propertiesdifferential scanning calorimetry and Micro Visco-Amylo-Graph. Texture profile analysis of bread samples were performed using a texture analyser, and specific volume by laser topography method. Results and discussion. The dough mixing properties were generally better for the samples with a higher level of starch damage and the most significant improvement has been manifested in the increased water absorption, from 60.7% to 63.8%. Higher water absorption can be associated with the influence of starch damage but also with the effect of flour particle size because smaller particles have larger total surface area. The starch damage had no significant effect on most of the extensographic indicators, although a slight decrease in resistance and extensibility was observed. Samples with a higher degree of starch damage showed decreased gelatinisation power. The gelatinization enthalpy (ΔHg) decreased from 1.41 to 1.31 J/kg, and amylographic peak viscosity from 582.5 to 505.0 BU. This could be explained by the restricted swelling of damaged starch granules due to the loss of organised structure. There were no significant differences in the moisture content and water activity between samples with different damaged starch content. The starch damage had a significant impact on majority of the bread quality parameters but the hardness increase and specific volume were most pronounced. The hardness increased from (from 4.09 N to 5.25 N) and specific volume (from 4.04 cm3/g to 3.53 cm3/g) when flour with a higher degree of damaged starch was used. Conclusions. The level of starch damage had a significant effect on the dough rheological properties, starch gelatinisation and pasting properties, as well as on the bread quality parameters.

No abstract