Hasan Uslu

Grape (Vitis vinifera) is a widely cultivated and highly consumed agricultural product around the world. Owing to their high content of sugars, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they hold an important place in human nutrition. In addition to being consumed raw or dried, due to their perishable nature, grapes are processed into various fruit-based products to extend their shelf life and make them available for consumption throughout the year. Köfter (köftür) is a traditional Turkish product prepared using grape juice, wheat flour, and starch. In Central Anatolia, particularly in provinces such as Nevşehir (Cappadocia) and Niğde, köfter is one of the most consumed snacks, especially during the winter months, and has a tradition of widespread production and consumption. Köfter is made by boiling grape juice obtained from high-yielding white grapes, adding wheat flour and starch, cooking the mixture to form a gel-like structure, and then spreading it onto trays to dry in the sun for several days. The dried köfters are stored in special containers produced from clay, allowing their surfaces to be coated with a thin layer of crystallized sugar. With its high nutritional value and energy-boosting properties, köfter offers a healthy snack alternative. Its unique texture and flavor make it an important product in Türkiye's cultural heritage. This review article was written to help conduct new research, preserve the traditional value of köfter in Turkish cuisine, and introduce it to more people.

This study delved into various aspects of noodle production, emphasizing the impact of waste fermented black carrot powder (WFBCP) concentration and drying techniques. Higher concentrations of WFBCP increased cooking times, particularly in freeze-dried (FD) samples, resulting in varying water absorption and notable cooking losses. Color variations, influenced by both WFBCP concentration and drying methods, led to generally darker hues in the FD samples. Significant differences in the water content were observed across treatments. Ash content increased significantly with higher WFBCP concentrations, particularly at 40%, indicating the impact of WFBCP on ash formation. Noodle samples exhibited a significant rise in oil content with increasing WFBCP concentration, reaching a peak at 20%. Total Phenolic Content notably increased at higher WFBCP concentrations, peaking at 40%, suggesting potential nutritional benefits. Similarly, antioxidant activity increased significantly with higher WFBCP concentrations, indicating enhanced protection against food oxidation. Total monomeric anthocyanin content surged with increased WFBCP concentration, establishing WFBCP as a noteworthy source of anthocyanins. HPLC analysis revealed elevated levels of phenolic compounds when WFBCP was added to noodles, with FD-WFBCP showing the highest content. Freeze-drying effectively preserved the phenolic compounds, while the protein content remained stable. Sensory analysis, conducted using a 0–10 scale, emphasized the impact of processing methods and WFBCP concentrations on attributes such as color, stickiness, chewing, flavor, and overall rating. This study underscores the importance of precise control over WFBCP concentrations and processing for enhancing noodle attributes. Principal component analysis, explaining 90.8% of the total variation, highlights distinct differences between control and treated samples.

In this study, the separation of lactic acid from aqueous solutions using trioctylamine (TOA) reactant and environmentally friendly solvents such as sunflower and rice bran oil was investigated, and it was aimed to contribute to the separation of lactic acid by reactive extraction. It is aimed to determine the most suitable reactant / solvent ratios with reactive extraction analyzes. As a result of the studies, the highest efficiency (72,91%) was achieved with the TOA reactant. An increase in yield occurred as a result of using both sunflower oil and rice bran oil (1:1) together. According to the results of the research, it was determined that the addition of TOA to the organic phase increases the extraction efficiency in the recovery of carboxylic acids from aqueous solutions. While the physical extraction yield was 11.85%, the yield increased up to 72,91% in reactive extraction. An increase in yield was observed about 7 times. As a result of the data obtained, it was understood that with the increase in the extractant concentration, the dispersion coefficient (from 0,13 to 2,69) increased, and the loading factor (from 1,79 to 0,69) values decreased. When the organic phase mixtures formed with the extractant and diluent combinations were examined, it was determined that the best results in terms of extraction efficiency were obtained when 3,62 M TOA for lactic acid was used.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can be used to produce clean energy from organic wastes. Various biomasses for MFCs can be used as biofuel materials. Moss ( Bryophyta ) is a source of biomass materials and can be used as an alternative fuel for microbial fuel cells. In this study, moss-enriched MFCs were produced by using moss as a biofuel source and aluminum and silver as an electrode. As a result of the good electrochemical performance of the metal electrodes (aluminum and silver), higher power density than previous studies involving moss was obtained, with the highest power density in this study being 20 mW/m ² . Moreover, in this study, bacterial activity, biofilm formation, soil utilization, pH change, and corrosion were investigated in MFCs and the effects of MFC on power density were discussed. The addition of soil increased the corrosion rate and internal resistance while reducing the power density. As a result of the addition of soil, the power density dropped to 16.13 mW/m ² . The corrosion rate was lower than industrial corrosion. Changes in pH confirmed that organic material dissolved and chemical reactions took place. Scanning electron microscope (SEM)-Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyzes showed the presence of Bacillus and Coccus bacteria species on the electrode surfaces. These bacteria were acted as biocatalysts by forming a biofilm on the electrode surfaces.

Moving towards green technology, alternatives to current detrimental, unsustainable, and expensive energy applications for eco-friendly energy are attracting great attention. Resource recycling and the convenient treatment of animal waste to diminish its nature impact are recently momentous subjects. Microbial fuel cells used cow waste have remarkable potential in electrical energy generation for clean, renewable and sustainable operation. In this study, double-chambered MFC was manufactured using cow manure as raw material at the anode chamber, graphite as the anode and cathode electrodes, fountain water in the cathode chamber, and proton exchange membrane. Because bacteria a catalytic reaction for the latent chemical energy of the cow manure was effectuated as a result of this, MFCs produced electricity. Electricity production performance of this MFC at low temperature (0–10 °C) conditions was examined. This MFC produced a maximum of 204.9 ± 0.1 mV open circuit voltage and 57.387 mW/m ² power density under low temperature conditions. In particular, the sustainability and applicability of MFCs have been increased thanks to this operation done at low temperatures (0–10 °C).