---

The effect of Spirulina powder at levels of 0 (control), 3, 7, and 10%, of food ratio on growth, survival, and total carotenoids of dwarf gourami fry (Trichogasterlalius) of 3.6 g average weight as well as its larval stage was investigated for a period of 8 weeks. Carotenoids was significantly increased with increase in spirulina level up to 7% (p<0.05), but not significantly different from 10% level (p> 0.05). Survival showed no significant difference (p> 0.05). In larvae, survival, total carotenoids and total length increased significantly with increasing spirulina powder (p<0.05). Overall, the spirulina powder at 3% improved the growth and total carotenoids factors in pre-adult gourami and 10% level for larval stage as the best treatments in this study.

---

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate effect of pellets contain Spirulina platensis on physiological indices of Ctenopharyngodon idella.
Materials & Methods: The number of 450 grass carp (10±0.5g) were divided into six treatments (three replicates) and fed with pellets contain 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4% spirulina for eight weeks, compared to forage (control). At initial and the end of experiment, growth and nutrition indices, meat composition, hematological and immunological indices, and carotenoid of fish were mesured. Means were compared by one-way ANOVA, Tukey test (p ≤ 0.05).
Findings: The best total length, weight, FCR, SGR, body weight gain, nutritional efficiency, daily growth and dietary intakes were observed in 4% Spirulina treatment, which showed significant difference with control (P˂0.05). Fat percentage of meat in 4% Spirulina treatment had difference with control significantly (P˂0.05). The number of RBCs in 1% spirulina treatment had significant difference (P˂0.05) with control. The highest Hct and Hb were observed in 1% spirulina treatment, and the highest WBCs and eosinophils were observed in 4% spirulina treatment, which had significant difference with control. Also, the percentage of lymphocytes in algae-treated treatments was significantly (P˂0.05) higher than control and non-algae-treated treatment. The highest level of lysozyme, bactericidal and anti-trypsin activity of serum were in 4% spirulina which had significant difference with control. Carotenoid of fish meat didn’t show significant difference between treatments.
 Conclusion: According to the results, food pellets containing 4% Spirulina is recommended for improving growth and nutrition, hematological and immunological indices in grass carp.

---

Apricot fruit consumption increased during past decades because of fruit is a rich source of carotenoids, polyphenol compounds, micro and macro element and vitamins. Current study was carried out to monitored quality changes during fruit ripening and post-harvest period. ‘Asgarabadi’ cultivar fruit was stored at 1 ⁰C and sampling was carried out in 0, 1, 7, 14 and 21 days. Some fruit quality attributes such as soluble solid content (SSC), titrable acidity (TA), carotenoid content, flesh color, total phenol (TP) and fruit antioxidant activity was monitored. SSC increased from 15.5 to 17.7 during experiment while TA was decreased. Carotenoid content was increased and it was accompanied with decrease in color index. TP was 101 mg Gallic acid in 100 g of fresh weight and there were no significant changes during experiment. The evaluation of result indicated that low temperature storage prolonged fruit postharvest life, maintain TP content and improved carotenoid content and color although some antioxidant parameters decreased  

---

Background: Carotenoids are biological antioxidants and play important roles in protecting the body from diseases and aging. Canthaxanthin is one of the most widely used carotenoids in the industry and medicine. This study aimed to investigate the biological properties of canthaxanthin pigment as well as its production optimization in a low-cost medium using a radioresistant microbial strain named Dietzia maris.
Materials and methods: Bacterial carotenoids were extracted and its antibacterial, anti-tumor, and cytotoxicity properties were investigated. Then, the effect of Krebs intermediates and pH on the production of pigment and microbial biomass in the whey medium was investigated using the response surface methodology.
Results: Maximum pigment production was found to be 92/54 mg/l in whey culture medium at pH 8 and in the presence of 12.5 mM of each of citrate, glutamate, malate, and succinate by the response surface method. The pigment did not show any cytotoxic effect on Hela, HFB, and MCF-7 cell lines. Besides, the pigment did not have any antibacterial properties.
Conclusion: Radioresistant microbial strains are better candidates for microbial pigment production due to their stability and high antioxidant activity. In this study, a whey culture medium was used to reduce the production cost of canthaxanthin. The addition of Krebs intermediaries in the fermentation medium increased the pigment production by Dietzia maris significantly.

---

The purpose of the present research was to investigate four commercial cultivars of tomato (Karoon, 3402, LS0019 and H1015) in order to determine the physicochemical attributes of the cultivar. During this investigation, fruit qualities were evaluated: Soluble solids, total solids, and moisture, pH, lycopene, β-carotene, lutein, and β-cryptoxanthin contents, color indexes (CIE a* b^* L*), hue angle (h), chroma (C), total polyphenols and antioxidant activity.The amounts of total solids, a^*, b^*, L^*, carotenoids (lycopene, β-carotene, lutein, β-cryptoxanthin), total polyphenols, and antioxidant activity (Free radical scavenging capacity, reducing power, total antioxidant capacity) remained significantly different among the investigated cultivars (p<0.05). The results showed that the H1015 cultivar had the highest antioxidant activity and carotenoids content especially lycopene. Moreover, this cultivar had the best color indexes (highest a^*) in comparison with the other cultivars, it is concluded that the H1015 cultivar is comparable to other cultivars and thus is recommended for cultivation and processing.

---

The research focused to evaluate physical, chemical, and sensory properties of raw, blanched, and 2, 4, and 6% osmotically salt treated Mandarin (Citrus reticulata) peel powder. The yields of Mandarin Peel Powder (MPP) were found in the range of 29.1 to 30.4% (db) for different treatments, which were not significantly different. The bulk density and solubility were found in the range of 1,267-1,308 (kg m^-3) and 17.4-28.4%, respectively, the highest value was for blanched peel powder. Blanched peel powder contained highest carotenoids (3245 µg g^-1) and polyphenols (102.72 mg GAE g^-1) whereas 6% salt treated peel powder contained the highest Tannin (0.19 mg of GA 100 g^-1 FW), ascorbic acid (13.62 mg 100 g^-1), and antioxidant activity (66.1% DPPH inhibition) among the other treatments. Blanched peel powder was found to be the best in terms of sensory evaluation.

---

In 2018, the effect of combined treatments of gamma aminobutyric acid with carnuba wax on storage of fresh pistachio cultivar Ahmad Aghaie was investigated using a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three repeats. Factors were edible coatings in five levels including control (distilled water), 10 mM gamma aminobutyric acid (G10), 1% carnoba with 10 mM gamma aminobutyric acid (C1G10), 2% carnoba with 10 mM gamma aminobutyric acid (C2G10) and 3% carnoba with 10 mM gamma aminobutyric acid (C3G10) and the storage time at two levels (25 and 50 days). The results showed that most of the qualitative and quantitative traits such as hull and kernel firmness (4-8% for hull firmness and 7-19% for kernel firmness in different treatments), hull moisture percent (1-2%), total kernel chlorophyll (11-34% in different treatments), aroma (3-30%) and taste (7% decrease in 50^th day) showed a descending trend during storage. Kernel carotenoids (5-22%), kernel phenolic compounds (35-44%), kernel flavonoids (8-32%), kernel lipids (31-65%), and antioxidant activity (2-4%) showed an increasing trend. Among the applied treatments, C1G10 seemed to be able to retain most of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of fresh Ahmad Aghaie pistachio up to 50 days of storage.

---

 The aim of this study was to evaluate thirteen cultivars of roses for nutritional composition, bioactive compounds and total antioxidant activity. Attaché cultivar had the highest amounts of proteins and total fiber. Regarding color,Avalanchepresented values for internal cromacity around 7 fold higher than Attaché cultivar. The results showed that the evaluated roses presented means of bioactive compounds as ascorbic acid (70.47 mg 100 g^-1), yellow flavonoids (35.25 mg 100 g^-1) and total anthocyanins (150.40 mg 100 g^-1).  The evaluated roses presented relatively low content of total carotenoids (1.25 mg 100 g^-1), and high content of total polyphenols (1565 mg 100 g^-1) and antioxidant capacity (260 µM trolox g^-1). Avalanche, Prima Donna, Dolce Vita, Salmone, and Elisa cultivar presented the minor Euclidean distance. The petals of the evaluated roses are excellent sources of nutritional compounds and antioxidants.

---

The study was performed with 40 Simmental cows divided into four groups (treatments). The group I received diet with grass silage, maize silage, and concentrate. Group II was fed similar as group I plus 400 mg d^-1 cow^-1 of β-carotene. In group III, 40% maize silage DM was replaced with pumpkin silage to ensure a 400 mg higher β-carotene intake compared to the group I. In group IV, 60% of maize silage DM was replaced with pumpkin silage without balancing β-carotene. Milk samples were collected at 4 and 8 weeks of experiment. The milk was analyzed for the basic composition, carotenoids, Total Antioxidant Status (TAS), and composition of fatty acids. In both measurements, the highest content of α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein, violaxanthin were in the milk of group IV, and the lowest in group I. In the milk groups III and IV, higher content of PUFA, including n-3 PUFA, was found in successive samplings. In all samplings, milk TAS in group I was significantly lower compared to groups III and IV.