An experimental investigation performed to study changes to the olive oil quality as a function of sunlight and air. The chemical property changes of Nabali Baladi olive oil were monitored as a function of sun/air exposure and recorded in terms of free acidity, peroxide value, ΔK, chlorophyll and carotenoids. Three batches of samples (run in triplicates) that were classified extra virgin olive oil from previous years 2014, 2015, and 2016 were studied. The results showed that as sun/air-exposure time interval increases, the acidity, the peroxide value and ΔK increase rapidly, and the concentration of the carotenoids and chlorophyll decreased. Exposing extra virgin olive to sunlight/air for long periods of time results in rapid deterioration of its quality. The statistical calculations aided in confirmation and support of the experimental results.

A variety of herbal plants have been used worldwide to remedy various diseases. The healing aspect of herbal plants have been accepted in many cultures and have been known as alternative medicine. Some herbs may consist of pharmaceutical ingredients suitable to treat certain cases such as stomach acidity or ulcers. Our aim was to verify the claim that some herbal "folk" plants can be used as an alternative for neutralizing the stomach acidity. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to test selected herbal plants for anti acid efficacy and estimate the acid-neutralizing capacity by addition of excess acid, followed by back-titration of the excess acid with sodium hydroxide. The anti acid capacity of the herbs was compared with that of anti acid tablets containing magnesium hydroxide and calcium carbonate as the active ingredient.

The aim of this experiment is to estimate the relative ratio of geometric isomers of Dibenzalacetone that was prepared via the crossed-aldol condensation by reacting benzaldehyde with acetone. Dibenzalacetone was synthesized in the lab from benzaldehyde and acetone under basic conditions. The GC-MS was used to relate the molar mass of the product. Thin layer chromatography was used to visualize the relative RF factor for each isomer. Uv-Vis instrument showed three peaks that were assigned to each isomer. And the FT-IR was used for the assignment of the vibrational modes of each isomer. The relative ratio of trans-trans, Cis-trans, and Cis-Cis was 59.87%, 26.53%, and 13.60% respectively with the aid of FT-IR instruments peak assignments were made for the vibrational frequency of the functional groups. For organic laboratory setups and practices, the fragments from the MS spectrum of DBA can be explained based on cleaving or rearrangement in gas phase by mechanisms known as α-cleavage, β-cleavage, and Rearrangement migration.

Soil erosion is a serious problem in Palestine. It is enhanced mainly by poor farming practices used in upland agricultural areas occupying the Central Highland of Palestine. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of terracing on soil erosion and deposition rates in the Al-Yamoun area (the Northern West Bank) using the fallout radionuclides cesium -137 (FRN 137Cs). The FRN 137Cs technique, which has proved its efficiency in estimating erosion rates over the last 50–60 years, was used for the first time in Palestine to measure rates of erosion and deposition. The activity of 137Cs was measured by gamma spectrometry using an HPGe detector. For the reference site, the 137Cs inventories ranged between 2499 and 4086 Bq/m2. The average value of the reference site is 3315 ± 410 Bq/m2, which corresponds to a coefficient of variance of 12%, suggesting that the reference site is well representative for estimating 137Cs fallout. This 137Cs amount is too high for bomb-derived fallout and indicates that a significant part of the deposition is from the Chernobyl accident. The 137Cs inventories at both studied sites (terrace site and foot slope site) are significantly lower than those of the reference site. For the terrace site, the inventories are found between 1707 and 2749 Bq/m2, while for the slope site they are between 1050 and 2617 Bq/m2. The lower 137Cs values at both studied sites than values at the reference site indicate that the entire areas of both study sites are eroded and no depositional activity occurs.

Olive trees, fruits and oil play an essential part of the Mediterranean life, culture, economy and diet. Taking good care the trees, fruits and oil is one of the main concerns to the farmers in Palestine, because of the impact on the final quality of olives. Proximity of the olive tree to streets frequented by high traffic diesel trucks influences the overall health of the trees that affects quality of the product. Exhaust emission from diesel engines releases by product called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH's), which are known to be carcinogenic agents. The purpose of the project is to analyze olive fruits and olive oil for the presence of such chemicals using Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) followed by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and U.V. Florescence for rapid Detection. Interesting results were obtained and showed that most olive oil samples tested negative, while the olive fruits tested positive for PAH's.