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Vegetables are an important source of vitamins and minerals and are one of the most perishable products. Fresh vegetables need to be cleaned, sorted, washed and dried before entering distribution and trading systems. The quality of the product and the effect of the environment during preparation are very important. One method of stabilizing vegetable quality is the application of ozone, which is a strong disinfectant used to inactivate microorganisms. Ozone, when in contact with a product surface, does not leave any harmful by-products. This research aims to optimize carrot treatment with ozonated water and evaluate its effect and efficiency on the storage of products. A constant concentration of 1.53 ± 0.09 mg L-1 ozone in water was used, and processing times of 5, 10, 15 and 20 min were applied. The carrots' weight and changes to the mould population on the carrots' surface during storage were observed after treatment with ozonated water. A decrease in mycological contamination on washable vegetable surfaces occurred within the first 5 min, and longer processing times (more than 5 min) did not influence the efficacy of the treatment. Thus, using ozonated water at an ozone concentration of 1.53 ± 0.09 mg L-1 reduced the mould population by up to 99.99% and could also prolong carrot storage duration up to 1.7 times. Treatment of carrots with ozonated water had minimal impact on the carrots' weight.

Studies have shown that ozone is a good oxidizer and a strong disinfectant. There are many uses for ozone in the food industry, but there is relatively little information about the influence of ozone on biochemical composition and the capacity to reduce the number of microorganisms in birch sap. In this study, sap was ozonated at different intervals for 5 min (O3: 0.087 ± 0.009 mg L−1), 10 min, 15 min, 20 min, 25 min, or 30 min (O3: 0.99 ± 0.09 mg L−1). The parameters of the birch sap were studied immediately after the ozone treatment as well as during storage for seven days at 2 °C and for five days at 20 °C. The parameters of ozonated birch sap were compared with the parameters of fresh sap (control). The microbiological analysis included total bacterial count, lactic acid bacterial count, and yeast and mold count. Birch sap color, pH, titratable acidity, and ºBrix values were also determined. Evaluation of monosaccharides, sucrose, total sugars, and ascorbic acid was carried out in fresh sap as well as sap ozonated for 30 min, immediately after ozonation. The results show the statistical significance of the inactivation of microorganisms after treatment in most cases. The microorganism counts gradually reduced with increasing intervals of ozone treatment. The best results were obtained after 25 and 30 min of ozonation. Ozone treatment did not significantly influence the pH, titratable acidity, or °Brix statistically. Values of monosaccharides, sucrose, total sugars, and ascorbic acid were influenced within the margin of error. Ozone had a significant influence on the chroma and hue angle.

One of the problematic sectors according to GHG (greenhouse gas) and ammonia (NH3) emission quantities is agriculture. Without endangering food production (and intensifying), GHG emissions come from all sources in animal husbandry. The aim of this study was to comprehensively reduce GHG emissions by applying a holistic process management model to one of the most popular cowsheds in Lithuania (260-seat boxing cowshed, cows are milked on site, computerized management of technological processes, productivity of 8600 kg of milk, barn system, and liquid manure). Considering the cow keeping technology applied on the farm, the equipment used, and the feed production and ration system, a model for the management of technological parameters of production processes was prepared for the farm. This model balanced trade-offs among animal welfare, cow productivity, production costs, and GHG and NH3 emissions. The aim of the research was the adaptation of the integrated model to fully control, manage, and optimize milk production processes through bio- and engineering innovations to implement climate-friendly feed production and feeding and feed rationing systems, to improve animal housing and working conditions, and to reduce GHG and NH3 emissions without increasing production costs. The environmental impact assessment was performed with SimaPro 9.1 process modeling software. Data from milk production, biomass cultivation, and feed preparation, transportation, and equipment were used from the Ecoinvent v3 database. Based on the LML-I calculation methodology, the effect of processes was determined. To quantify the potential emissions in the dairy farm, the emission factors were estimated using a life cycle assessment method per functional unit—1000 kg—of standardized milk. Grass silage, maize silage, and feed concentrate were found to account for the largest share of gas emissions—26.09% (107.39 kg CO2 eq. FU−1), 22.70% (93.44 kg CO2 eq. FU−1), and 21.85% (89.92 kg CO2 eq. FU−1) of the total CO2 emissions during the process, respectively. Considering the critical points of the classic SC scenario, the cultivation technology was adjusted, where 50% of N fertilizers were replaced by bioproducts (biological preparations). Both scenarios—classic SC (control variant) and Bio SC (variants using bioproducts)—were evaluated for comparison. The use of biopreparations in the categories reduced the environmental impact from 0.1% to 45.7% in dairy production technology grass silage, barley grain, hay production, and corn silage stocks. The carbon footprint of the sustainable bio-based milk production (0.393 kg CO2 eq. kg−1 FPCM (fat- and protein-adjusted milk)) was lower by 4.6% compared to the average Lithuanian classic dairy farm (0.412 kg CO2 eq. kg−1 FPCM). Based on this methodology, it is possible to assess many dairy farms and address critical points in an integrated way, which can help to improve the quality of dairy production and the environment.

In recent years there is an increase in consumption of food products and the supply of fresh vegetables to the consumer is getting more and more popular. However, this group of products is among the fastest perishing products. It is because of environmental and internal factors in vegetables during storage are unavoidable. During the preparation for the market vegetables are being cleaned, washed, sanded, sorted and dried. This consumes a lot of energy and water. Different technological measures are used to reduce the consumption of natural resources during the preparation of products for the market and to slow down their quality changes. Ozone is an effective measure to slow down product bio destruction. Ozone usage in small doses as a disinfectant is recognized as safe. Although there are a lot of publications in the usage of ozone, but its impact on vegetable qualitative indicators has not been sufficiently investigated. There is a lack of research in the analysis of the effects of ozonated water, which can be successfully used in vegetable washing technologies. The article analyzes the effect of ozonated water treatment on fresh carrots colour and quantity of carotenoids. The obtained data showed that the use of ozonated water in concentration of 1.53 ± 0.09 mg L -1 did not have an effect on the amount carotenoids accumulated in the products. Also, ozonated water did not have significant effect on the colour of products.