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The Mediterranean Basin is a major hotspot of plant biodiversity, including forest trees. Over the past centuries, Mediterranean forests have been fragmented and over‐exploited, to which the threats of climate change are now added. Our aim is to better understand patterns and processes of tree biodiversity in the Mediterranean and to provide indicators complementing the traditional approaches to biodiversity conservation based on species counts and occurrences, using georeferenced phylogenetic diversity and endemism analyses in a spatial ecological context.

Abstract Preserving diversity of indigenous pig ( Sus scrofa ) breeds is a key factor to (i) sustain the pork chain (both at local and global scales) including the production of high-quality branded products, (ii) enrich the animal biobanking and (iii) progress conservation policies. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips offer the opportunity for whole-genome comparisons among individuals and breeds. Animals from twenty European local pigs breeds, reared in nine countries (Croatia: Black Slavonian, Turopolje; France: Basque, Gascon; Germany: Schwabisch-Hällisches Schwein; Italy: Apulo Calabrese, Casertana, Cinta Senese, Mora Romagnola, Nero Siciliano, Sarda; Lithuania: Indigenous Wattle, White Old Type; Portugal: Alentejana, Bísara; Serbia: Moravka, Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa; Slovenia: Krškopolje pig; Spain: Iberian, Majorcan Black), and three commercial breeds (Duroc, Landrace and Large White) were sampled and genotyped with the GeneSeek Genomic Profiler (GGP) 70 K HD porcine genotyping chip. A dataset of 51 Wild Boars from nine countries was also added, summing up to 1186 pigs (~ 49 pigs/breed). The aim was to: (i) investigate individual admixture ancestries and (ii) assess breed traceability via discriminant analysis on principal components (DAPC). Albeit the mosaic of shared ancestries found for Nero Siciliano, Sarda and Moravka, admixture analysis indicated independent evolvement for the rest of the breeds. High prediction accuracy of DAPC mark SNP data as a reliable solution for the traceability of breed-specific pig products.

Grape volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play an important role in the winemaking industry due to their contribution to wine sensory characteristics. Another important role in the winemaking industry have the grapevine varieties used in specific regions or countries for wine production. Due to the high variability of grapevine germplasm, grapevine varieties are as classified based on their genetic and geographical origin into genetic-geographic groups (GEN-GEO). The aim of this research was to investigate VOCs in 50 red grapevine varieties belonging to different GEN-GEO groups. The study included varieties from groups C2 (Italy and France), C7 (Croatia), and C8 (Spain and Portugal). The analysis of VOCs was performed by SPME-Arrow-GC/MS directly from grape skins. The analyzed VOCs included aldehydes, ketones, acids, alcohols, monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes. The most abundant VOCs were aldehydes and alcohols, while the most numerous were sesquiterpenes. The most abundant compounds, aldehydes and alcohols, were found to be ( E )-2-hexenal, hexenal, ( E )-2-hexen-1-ol, and 1-hexanol. Using discriminant analysis, the GEN-GEO groups were separated based on their volatile profile. Some of the individual compounds contributing to the discrimination were found in relatively small amounts, such as benzoic acid, ( E,E )-2,4-hexadienal, 4-pentenal, and nonanoic acid. The groups were also discriminated by their overall volatile profile: group C2 was characterized by a higher content of aldehydes and alcohols, and group C8 was characterized by a higher content of sesquiterpenes and acids. Group C7 was characterized by all low amount of all classes of VOCs.

Surfactants are a diverse group of chemicals that are best known for their wide use in detergents and other cleaning products. After use, residual surfactants are discharged into sewage systems or directly into surface waters, and most of them end up dispersed in different environmental compartments such as soil, water or sediment. The toxic effects of surfactants on various aquatic organisms are well known. In general, surfactants are present in the environment at levels below toxicity and in Croatia below the national limit. Most surfactants are readily biodegradable and their amount is greatly reduced with secondary treatment in wastewater treatment plants. The highest concern is the release of untreated wastewater or wastewater that has undergone primary treatment alone. The discharge of wastewater polluted with massive quantities of surfactants could have serious effects on the ecosystem. Future studies of surfactant toxicities and biodegradation are necessary to withdraw highly toxic and non-biodegradable compounds from commercial use and replace them with more environmentally friendly ones. Surfaktanti ili površinski aktivne tvari raznolika su skupina molekula najpoznatijih po uporabi u sastavu deterdženata i ostalih sredstava za pranje i _išćenje. Nakon uporabe u kućanstvu ili industriji, surfaktanti se ispuštaju u kanalizacijski sustav ili izravno u površinske vode te većina surfaktanata završi raspršena u vodi, sedimentu ili tlu. Toksi _ni utjecaj surfaktanata na vodne organizme dobro je istražen i opisan u literaturi. U većini slu _ajeva surfaktanti su u okolišu prisutni u koncentracijama nižim od toksi _ne te nižim od maksimalne koncentracije dopuštene hrvatskim zakonskim odredbama. Većina surfaktanata klasificirana je kao biološki razgradiva i njihova se koncentracija znatno smanjuje biološkom obradom otpadne vode pa je najveći rizik za okoliš ispuštanje prethodno pro _išćene ili nepro _išćene otpadne vode. Takva otpadna voda opterećena visokim koncentracijama surfaktanata može nepovoljno utjecati na okoliš. Potrebno je prou _avati toksi _nost i biološku razgradnju surfaktanata u svrhu uklanjanja visoko štetnih i biološki nerazgradljivih surfaktanata iz komercijalne uporabe te njihovu zamjenu tvarima manje štetnim za okoliš.

Thallium is a naturally occurring trace element, widely distributed in the earth's crust, but at very low concentrations. It does not have a known biological use and does not appear to be an essential element for life. It has been considered one of the most toxic heavy metals.Occasionally, there are reports on thallium poisoning as results of suicide or murder attempt or accident. The main threat to humans is through occupational exposure, environmental contamination, and accumulation in food, mainly in vegetables grown on contaminated soil. Increasing use in emerging new technologies and demanding high-tech industry constantly raise concern about exposure risk to all living organisms. Thallium is considered a cumulative poison that can cause adverse health effects and degenerative changes in many organs. The effects are the most severe in the nervous system. The exact mechanism of thallium toxicity still remains unknown, although impaired glutathione metabolism, oxidative stress, and disruption of potassium-regulated homeostasis may play a role. The lack of data about mutagenic, carcinogenic, or teratogenic effects of thallium compounds in humans calls for further research. Talij je u prirodi široko rasprostranjen teški metal, prisutan u vrlo niskim koncentracijama pa ga stoga ubrajamo u elemente u tragovima. Budući da organizmima nije potreban ni u jednoj razvojnoj fazi, ne ubrajamo ga u grupu esencijalnih elemenata. Talij zbog njegovih svojstava ubrajamo među najtoksi _nije teške metale.Povremeno se još uvijek pojavljuju slu _ajevi u kojima je talij upotrijebljen kao sredstvo za pokušaj ubojstva, odnosno samoubojstva, ali i slu _ajevi nenamjernog, slu _ajnog trovanja talijem. U današnje vrijeme potencijalna opasnost od trovanja talijem postoji zbog profesionalne izloženosti, izbijanja ekološke katastrofe ili zbog akumulacije u hranidbenim lancima, uglavnom zbog uzgoja hrane na one _išćenom tlu. Sve _ešća uporaba talija u visokotehnološkoj industriji kao odgovor na zahtjeve moderne tehnologije neprestano povećava rizik od izloženosti svih živih organizama štetnim utjecajima talija u okolišu.Talij ima izuzetno negativan u _inak na razli _ite organske sustave, a osobito na živ _ani sustav. Mehanizmi toksi _nosti talija još uvijek nisu u potpunosti razjašnjeni, premda važnu ulogu imaju poremećaji metabolizma glutationa, oksidativni stres i narušavanje homeostaze posredovane ionima kalija. Nedostatak podataka o mutagenim, kancerogenim ili teratogenim u _incima talija i njegovih spojeva u ljudi opravdava buduća istraživanja ovog vrlo toksi _nog metala.

Featured Application: Meat and meat products from autochthonous pig breeds enjoy a worldwide prestige because of their organoleptic, health, and sensory features. Nevertheless, these autochthonous breeds are characterized by a local production mainly derived from small populations, which make the assurance of traceability and quality control technically and/or economically feasible. Thus, a collective management would make possible the development of robust near-infrared calibration models, supporting the application of this technology to the traceability and quality control of meat derived from these native breeds in an efficient, practical, and affordable way Abstract: Autochthonous pig breeds provide products of differentiated quality, among which quality control is difficult to perform and insufficient for current market requirements. The present research evaluates the predictive ability of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, combined with chemometric methods as a rapid and affordable tool to assure traceability and quality control. Thus, NIR technology was assessed for intact and minced muscle Longissimus thoracis et lumborum samples collected from 12 European autochthonous pig breeds for the quantification of lipid content and fatty acid composition. Different tests were performed using different numbers of samples for calibration and validation. The best predictive ability was found using minced presentation and set with 80% of the samples for the calibration and the remaining 20% for the external validation test for the following traits: lipid content and saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which attained both the highest determination coefficients (0.89, 0.61, and 0.65, respectively) and the lowest root mean square errors in external validation (0.62, 1.82, and 1.36, respectively). Lower predictive ability was observed for intact muscles. These results could contribute to improve the management of autochthonous breeds and to ensure quality of their products by traditional meat industry chains.

Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium species frequently contaminate crops. For this reason mycotoxins such as aflatoxins (AFs), ochratoxin A (OTA), fumonisins (FBs), and zearalenone (ZEA) are found in food and feed in a wide range of concentrations, depending on environmental and storage conditions. Consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated food and feed has been associated with acute and chronic poisoning and carcinoma. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and co-occurrence of AFs (B 1 +B 2 +G 1 +G 2 ), OTA, FBs (B 1 +B 2 +B 3 ), and ZEA in 37 samples of cereals and feed randomly collected in 2007 from households of an endemic nephropathy (EN) area in Croatia. The mycotoxins were determined using the competitive direct ELISA test (CD-ELISA) in combination with thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The most frequent mycotoxin was ZEA (92%, mean 318.3 μg kg -1 ), followed by FBs (27%, 3690 μg kg -1 ), AFs (24.3%, 4.6 μg kg -1 ), and OTA (16.2%, 9.8 μg kg -1 ). Levels of AFs, ZEA, and FBs detected by CD-ELISA significantly correlated with the TLC results. However, only one OTA-positive sample was confirmed by TLC due to its high limit of detection. The levels of these mycotoxins were below the permissible limit for animal feed. Twenty-nine percent of cereals were contaminated with FBs, OTA, or ZEA in mass fractions above the permissible limit for humans. Co-occurrence of two toxins varied between 4.2% and 54% and of three between 4.2% and 7.6%. Prolonged co-exposure to AFs, OTA, FBs, and ZEA might increase the risk of various chronic diseases. Vrste plijesni iz rodova Aspergillus, Penicillium i Fusarium _esti su kontaminanti usjeva te na takvim supstratima tvore mikotoksine. Stoga su žitarice i krmiva _esto kontaminirana aflatoksinima (AFs), okratoksinom A (OTA), fumonizinima (FBs) i zearalenonom (ZEA) u razli _itim koncentracijama ovisno o mikroklimatskim uvjetima na polju i u skladištu. Konzumiranje hrane kontaminirane mikotoksinima _esto je povezano s akutnim ili kroni _nim trovanjima, ali i s razvojem karcinoma. Cilj ovog rada bio je odrediti istodobnu pojavnost AFs (B 1 +B 2 +G 1 +G 2 ), OTA, FBs (B 1 +B 2 +B 3 ) i ZEA u uzorcima žitarica i krme (N=37) koji su nasumi _no skupljeni u individualnim domaćinstvima na podru _ju endemske nefropatije (EN) u Hrvatskoj (2007). Za određivanje navedenih mikotoksina korišten je kompetitivni direktni ELISA-test (CD-ELISA) u kombinaciji s tankoslojnom kromatografijom (TLC). Najzastupljeniji mikotoksin bio je ZEA (92 %, srednja koncentracija 318.3 μg kg -1 ), nakon _ega slijede FBs (27 %, 3690 μg kg -1 ), AFs (24.3 %, 4.6 μg kg -1 ) te OTA (16.2 %, 9.8 μg kg -1 ). Koncentracije AFs, FBs i ZEA određene CD-ELISA-testom statisti _ki zna _ajno koreliraju s rezultatima dobivenim s TLC. OTA je potvrđen metodom TLC samo u jednom uzorku zbog visokog limita detekcije. Dokazane koncentracije su ispod razina dopuštenih za krmiva, dok je 29 % uzoraka žitarica sadržavalo FBs, OTA ili ZEA u koncentracijama iznad dopuštenih u hrani za ljude. Kokontaminacija s dvama odnosno trima toksinima varirala je između 4.2 % i 54 % odnosno između 4.2 % i 7.6 %. Dugotrajni unos AFs, OTA, FBs i ZEA putem hrane može povećati rizik od razvoja razli _itih kroni _nih bolesti zbog njihova mogućega sinergisti _kog djelovanja.

Background: Tree species represent 20% of the vascular plant species worldwide and they play a crucial role in the global functioning of the biosphere. The Mediterranean Basin is one of the 36 world biodiversity hotspots, and it is estimated that forests covered 82% of the landscape before the first human impacts, thousands of years ago. However, the spatial distribution of the Mediterranean biodiversity is still imperfectly known, and a focus on tree species constitutes a key issue for understanding forest functioning and develop conservation strategies.Methods: We provide the first comprehensive checklist of all native tree taxa (species and subspecies) present in the Mediterranean-European region (from Portugal to Cyprus). We identified some cases of woody species difficult to categorize as trees that we further called \"cryptic trees\". We collected the occurrences of tree taxa by \"administrative regions\", i.e. country or large island, and by biogeographical provinces. We studied the species-area relationship, and evaluated the conservation issues for threatened taxa following IUCN criteria.Results: We identified 245 tree taxa that included 210 species and 35 subspecies, belonging to 33 families and 64 genera. It included 46 endemic tree taxa (30 species and 16 subspecies), mainly distributed within a single biogeographical unit. The countries with the highest tree richness are Greece (146 taxa), Italy (133), Albania (122), Spain (155), Macedonia (116), and Croatia (110). The species-area relationship clearly discriminated the richest central-eastern (Balkans) and northern (Alpine and Cevenno-Pyrenean) biogeographical provinces, against the five western provinces in the Iberian Peninsula. We identified 44 unrecognized \"cryptic trees\", representing 21% of the total trees. Among the 245 taxa identified, 19 are considered to be threatened (15 CR + EN + VU) or near threatened (4 NT) by IUCN.Conclusions: The Mediterranean-European region includes an unsuspectedly high number of tree taxa, almost 200 tree taxa more than in the central European region. This tree diversity is not distributed evenly and culminates in the central-eastern part of the Mediterranean region, whereas some large Tyrrhenian islands shelter several narrow endemic tree taxa. Few taxa are recognized as threatened in the IUCN Red list, and the vulnerability of these species is probably underestimated.

The effects of high power ultrasound of 24 kHz and ultrasound bath of 24 kHz frequency on the textural and pasting properties of corn starch suspensions was examined. Suspensions were treated with different intensities and treatment times (15 min and 30 min) using an ultrasound probe set and bath. The treatments with high power ultrasound probes caused a significant lowering of the starting gelatinisation temperatures of corn starch. The ultrasound treatment caused disruption of starch granules by cavitational forces and made the granules more permeable to water. The highest viscosity was observed for the treatment with 300 W probe. A significant increase in solubility in water (20 deg C) was observed, being caused by the disruption of starch granules and molecules by ultrasound treatment. When applying more powerful ultrasound, starch granules, specifically in the amorphous region, are much more mechanically damaged. The texture profile analyses of the starch gel prepared from the suspensions that had been treated with ultrasound probe presented higher hardness and higher values of adhesiveness and cohesiveness when compared with untreated suspensions or those treated with ultrasound bath. Micrography showed an obvious impact of ultrasound on the structure of starch granules. Ultrasound treatment ruptures and mechanically damages the starch granules causing collapse of cavitation bubbles which induces high pressure gradients and high local velocities of the liquid layers in their vicinity.

Fungi produce a large variety of extracellular proteins, organic acids, and other metabolites and can adapt to several environmental conditions. Mycotoxin-producing moulds of the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium are common food contaminants. One of the natural ways to protect food from mould contamination is to use essential oils. In this study, we evaluated the effect of essential oils of cinnamon, lavender, rosemary, and sage at 1 % (v/v) concentration in yeast media inoculated with spores (final concentration 10 6 mL -1 media) of Aspergillus ochraceus ZMPBF 318 and Penicillium expansum ZMPBF 565, alone or in combination, on fungal biomass. Cinnamon showed the best inhibitory effect (100 %). Lavender oil best inhibited the growth of Aspergillus ochraceus (nearly 100 %), and was less successful with Penicillium expansum (having dropped to 57 % on day 28). With cultivation time the inhibitory effect of sage and rosemary oil grew for Aspergillus ochraceus and dropped for Penicillium expansum.These results suggest that fungi can be controlled with essential oils, especially with cinnamon oil. Plijesni su poznate po svojoj visokoj sposobnosti proizvodnje razli _itih izvanstani _nih proteina, organskih kiselina i drugih metabolita i po svojoj mogućnosti prilagodbe na nepovoljne okolišne uvjete, a primjenjuju se i u obradi otpadnih voda. Plijesni iz rodova Aspergillus i Penicillium _esti su kontaminanti u hrani i posebno opasne jer tvore toksi _ne metabolite mikotoksine. Eteri _na ulja mogu se primijeniti kao prirodna sredstva za zaštitu hrane od kontaminacije plijesnima. U radu su prikazani rezultati istraživanja utjecaja eteri _nih ulja cimeta, lavande, ružmarina i kadulje na kontrolu rasta biomase plijesni Aspergillus ochraceus ZMPBF 318 i Penicillium expansum ZMPBF 565, u obliku _istih i miješanih kultura. Ulja su dodavana u koncentraciji od 1 % (v/v), a podloga (kvaš _ev ekstrakt) bila je nacijepljena suspenzijama spora plijesni (10 6 mL -1 podloge). Eteri _no ulje cimeta pokazalo je najveći inhibitorni u _inak (100 %). Inhibitorni u _inak eteri _nog ulja lavande bio je veći na rast Aspergillusa ochraceusa (skoro 100 %) nego Penicilliuma expansuma (57 %). Eteri _na ulja kadulje i ružmarina pokazala su suprotne u _inke. Inhibitorni u _inak na Aspergillus ochraceus tijekom perioda uzgoja je rastao, a na Penicillium expansum opadao.Rezultati pokazuju da se rast plijesni može kontrolirati primjenom eteri _nih ulja, a posebno uljem cimeta. Također upućuju na ekonomsku vrijednost takvih tretmana.