Agricultural Research Center

Nowadays, the worldwide market includes a wide variety of sweets with processed sugar. The food industry has been developing alternatives based on health products. This study aimed to formulate alternative, highly-nutritional date-based sweets filled with cooked pulses and sweetened with date products without using processed sugar. Different cooked pulses (red cowpea, soybean, and chickpea seeds) sweetened with date powder or date syrup (dips) were used to prepare alternative date sweets. They were exposed to physicochemical and microbiological analyses and sensory evaluation. Adding pulses to the pulse-date sweet samples significantly raised their contents of protein, fats, crude fibers, total sugars, calcium, iron, and zinc, as well as caloric values, lightness, and water activity. Compared to the control (date paste mixed with dark chocolate), the sweets with cooked pulses had lower contents of ash, carbohydrates, phenolics, and caffeine, as well as lower antioxidant activity and hardness values. Following storage for three months, the water activity and microbiological counts slightly declined. The date sweets filled with cooked pulses had high sensory acceptability. The samples containing cooked red cowpeas and chickpeas were the most acceptable, while those sweetened with date powder had maximum antioxidant activity. Our study revealed that enriching date sweets with cooked pulses increases their nutritional value without involving processed sugar in the final product.

The development of a new working tool for deep soil loosening requires a comprehensive approach to determining its design parameters and operating modes, based on interrelated and harmonized dependencies. The design process must account not only for the geometry of the tool itself but also for the heterogeneous physical and mechanical properties of the soil environment. It is also essential to ensure stable operation and achieve the required quality of work and energy efficiency of the technological process. ( Research purpose ) The aim of this study is to develop an anti-erosion deep soil loosener capable of bringing soil clods to the surface. ( Materials and methods ) The newly designed working tool is designed for primary tillage and deep loosening of soil to depths exceeding 25 centimeters, without inverting the soil layer. During anti-erosion treatment, it simultaneously forms molelike channels. A schematic diagram is presented to illustrate the interaction between the working tool and the soil. ( Results and discussion ) The scientific novelty of the study lies in establishing dependencies that describe the relationship between the tool’s design parameters and its operating modes during its interaction with the soil. These dependencies form the basis for developing an engineering method for calculating the tool, which is implemented in the form of reinforced bars that interact with the soil surface. The study also substantiates the mechanism of soil layer displacement and identifies the potential disruption modes, including the formation of secondary fracture planes that occur during the upward movement of the soil layer. ( Conclusions ) The parameters and operating modes of the working tool of the new deep soil loosener have been determined. To initiate effective soil descent, the clearance between the bars should not exceed 50 millimeters. For optimal soil clod trajectory, the shape of the bars should follow a first-order brachistochrone curve (a cycloid). The bar length of the working tool ranges from 0 to 0.4 meters, depending on soil conditions and operational requirements.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata ssp. unguiculata) is a promising legume crop for arid and semi-arid regions due to its short growth duration, nutritional value, and drought tolerance. However, sandy soils in Egypt suffer from low fertility, weak aggregation, and poor water-holding capacity, which limit crop productivity. This study evaluated the combined effects of biochar and microbial inoculants (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on sandy soil fertility and cowpea productivity in Egypt. A two-season (2020–2021) field experiment was conducted in the Ismailia Governorate, Egypt, using cowpea cv. Dokki 126 in a randomized complete block design with 12 treatments (biochar, microbial inoculants, nitrogen fertilizer, and their combinations) and three replicates. The integrated application of biochar and microbial inoculants significantly increased total microbial counts by up to 65% and dehydrogenase activity by 42% compared to the control. Soil bulk density decreased by 18%, total porosity increased by 22%, and available soil N, P, and K contents increased by 45%, 52%, and 39%, respectively, leading to higher chlorophyll content (+ 28%), plant length (+ 21%), and seed yield (+ 33%) relative to the control. These findings indicate that integrating biochar with microbial inoculants significantly enhances sandy soil fertility and cowpea productivity, offering a sustainable pathway for soil restoration in arid ecosystems.

Foam mat drying is a new and very effective process for converting liquid into stable fruit powders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of microwave drying parameters on the foam-mat drying behavior and quality of mandarin juice powder. The research findings are based on the production of a high-quality, color-retentive, and energy-efficient fruit powder. Mandarin juice was foamed with guar gum as an emulsifier (0.45 g 100 g −1 ), soy protein isolate (3.30 g 100 g −1 ), and sugar (10 g 100 g −1 ) and whipped for 6 min. The prepared foam was dried under different microwave power levels (from 180 to 900 W) with varied foam thicknesses of 2, 4, and 6 mm. The combination of raised power from microwaves with reduced foam thickness in layers leads to a faster rate of moisture evacuation. The eleven drying models were fitted, and among all models investigated, the Midilli model best represented the drying curves under all conditions studied. The moisture diffusion varied between 0.041 × 10 −9 and 3.29 × 10 −9 m 2 s −1 , and the corresponding energies of activation were found to be 19.68, 19.29, and 18.94 Wg −1 for 2, 4, and 6 mm thicknesses, respectively. The light-yellow hue (L value) of the mandarin powder was found to be between 51.57 and 38.61 at microwave power levels ranging from 180 to 900 W. Ascorbic acid retention rose as microwave power climbed from 180 to 540 W (24.45 mg/100 g to 29.02 mg/100 g), but declined when microwave power increased from 540 to 900 W. Water activity ranged from 0.40 to 0.57. The findings of this study will be valuable to the food processing industry, particularly in the creation of an efficient foam-mat drying process for citrus products. Under these optimum conditions, large-scale productions of good-quality mandarin powder may be achieved, retaining more nutrients, with improved color and increased shelf stability, appropriate for usage in beverages, confectionery, nutraceuticals, and instant food premixes.