The submitted thesis on the topic of Evaluation of Growth and Harvest Data of Kamchatka blueberries is focused on the description of possibilities of cultivation and using of individual varieties of edible honeysuckle. The evaluation and monitoring of planting took place on the property school agricultural enterprise in Žabčice, the laboratory pat and the evaluation of results took place in the laboratory of Mendel University in Brno. This thesis includes characteristic of genus Lonicera L., botanical description of genus Lonicera kamtschatica L., growing demands, multiplication possibilities, description of the most famous variety and results of observation of 27 varieties of edible honeysuckle. The height of the bush, cubic capacity of bush, annual increment and phenological phases were evaluated. To harvest parameters were monitored a height, fruit width, fruit weight, fruit shape shrub yield, content of refractometric dry matter,content of ascorbic acid and the total dry matter content of the fruit. The annex of this thesis comprise graphs and tables of recording of results. During the observation, a continuous documentation was taken, and it is used in the thesis.

The thesis „Determination of Vitamin C in Food Supplements“ is concerned with the comparison of vitamin C concentration levels in effervescent tablets and bulk mixtures stored in tubes with different closures (molecular sieve, silica gel, and the solitary closure) after a certain storage time. Two batches of dietary supplements for adult and juvenile populations were analyzed (Revital vitamin C 500 mg and MaxiVita Kids Multivitamin containing 40 mg of vitamin C). Measurements were taken 6 months after production, then after 10 months and after 14 months of storage. The content of vitamin C was determined by the titration method and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The types of closures, batches of products, individual measurements and methods of vitamin C determination were compared. Based on the measurements, it was found that after some time the concentration of vitamin C decreased significantly. Nevertheless, the type of closure did not significantly affect the vitamin C level in effervescent tablets and bulk mixtures.

The ability of freshly prepared spinach or poke weed (Phytolacca americana) chloroplasts to photoreduce triphosphopyridine nucleotide (TPN) under anaerobic conditions decreased in the presence of ascorbate and 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DPIP). On .aging the chloroplasts, however, addition of DPIP and ascorbate was required for a high rate of TPN photoreduction. Qualitatively similar results were obtained for photoreduction of DPN, indigo carmine, riboflavin-5'-phosphate and vitamin K3 . Addition of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,l-dimethylurea (DCMU) at 10-5 M to freshly prepared chloroplasts inhibited the photoreduction of TPN by more than 98 %, and activity was restored to 94 %o f the original value by addition of ascorbate and.DPIF. Hydroxylamine at 10-3 Mand ammonium ion at 0.17 M produced similar effects. Qualitatively similar results were obtained with .these three inhibitors for photoreduction of DPN, indigo , carmine, .riboflavin-5 1 -phosphate, vitamin K3, methyl red and tetrazolium blue. Cesium ion and orthophenanthroline produced inhibitory effects similar to those of DCMU, hydroxylamine and ammonium ion which responded analogously to the DPIP-ascorbate couple. The data substantiate the previously proposed idea that ascorbate is photooxidized in the absence of oxygen by the photochemical oxidizing equivalents produced by illuminated chloroplasts, with the dye DPIP· acting as intermediate electron carrier. With intact .chloroplasts 2 the oxidizing equivalents are utilized preferentially for oxidation of water to produce oxygen. Only after the oxygen-evolution .system becomes .inoperativec1;1.n the ascorbate-DPIP couple compete successfully for the oxidizing equivalents. ExPosure of chloroplasts . to . light for 20 minutes _prior to ,adding .a Hill oxidant resulted in a reduced photoreducin,g capacity in the Hill reaction with TPN, indigo .carmine .and tetrazoli:um blue. However, such a treatment .actually increased the photoreducing _ability of the chloroplasts in the presence of DPIP and .ascorbate. Chloroplasts were inactivated toward the Hill reaction .by a pH of 7.7 at 30°. This inactivation was .readily overcome by addition of ascorbate and DPIP, indicating that .the principal effect of this treatment was to inactivate the oxygen-evolution system. Since indigo carmine photoreduction is stabili.z-ed· much more by the presence of sucrose in the reaction mixture than the photoreduction of DPIP it is indicated that there are components in the electron transport system leading from the site of DPIP photoreduction to that of indigo carmine photoreduction which .are sensitiye to distilled water dilution. The photoreduction of TPN, PPN .and indigo carmine was stimulated by addition of cysteine, whereas reduced glutathione was without effect. Cysteine was unable to overcome the inhibitions of DCMU, hydroxylamine and ammonium ion and no stimulation was observed when cysteine was .added to the inhibited systems containing DPIP and ascorbate even though cysteine was capable of stimulating the uninhibited reaction containing the DI"IP-ascorbate couple. It was there3 fore concluded that cysteine acts by stabilizing or reacting with the oxygen-evolving system. Chloride-deficient chloroplasts .were stimulated by added chloride and cyanide in Hill reaction activities. Reaction .mixtures containing sufficient chloride to provide maximal stimulation were further stimulated by added cyanide, versene and Tris.

INTRODUCTION Tuberculosis remains a major public health threat globally and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) pandemic afflicting developing and developed countries has resulted in enormous increases in tuberculosis infections worldwide. Researchers have previously documented very low plasma vitamin C levels in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. This was attributed to a number of factors including: accelerated turnover of vitamin C, shifts in plasma concentrations, increased collagen formation and tissue repair and decreased vitamin C intake. Vitamin C appears to have a role in steroid-genesis and catecholamine synthesis. Decreased plasma vitamin C levels may therefore impact on the stress hormone response and acute phase reaction of patients with active tuberculosis. AIM The primary aims of the study were to measure plasma vitamin C levels, as well as stress hormone levels and acute phase reaction in patients with newly diagnosed active pulmonary tuberculosis and control patients (without tuberculosis), to determine if there was any relationship between vitamin C levels and the levels of these other variables. METHODS AND MATERIALS This was a prospective study of seventy one (71) consecutive patients admitted to Helen Joseph Hospital (between March and October 2002) with newly diagnosed active pulmonary tuberculosis and eighty nine (89) control patients with medical conditions other than tuberculosis. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were captured and analyzed using SPSS 7.5 soft-ware. Continuous variables were analyzed using students t-test. Categorical data were analyzed by non parametric analysis and Pearsons linear regression model was used to determine the correlation between vitamin C and the other variables in the two groups. RESULTS There were no differences in race, gender, age, suburb of residence and occupational distributions in the study group with tuberculosis compared to the control group. There were more smokers and consumers of alcohol in the control group (54 and 62 patients respectively) than in the study group (28 and 31 patients respectively). The study patients had lower blood pressure (average 90/40 mmHg versus 100/60 mmHg of controls), higher mean pulse rate (101.87 ± 15.14 beats/minute versus 82.92 ± 8.88 beats/minute, p< 0.01), higher mean temperature (38.66 ± 0.67oC versus 37.14 ± 0.44oC, p< 0.01), and lower body mass index (18.29 ± 3.80 Kg/ M2 versus 23.20 ± 5.35 Kg/ M2, p< 0.01). Laboratory data comparing study group and controls also showed marked differences as follows: White cell count (WCC) 8.68×106 / L ± 5.44 versus 11.00×106 / L ± 4.94, p = 0.01; Haemoglobin 9.56gm / dl ± 1.93 versus 12.92gm / dl ± 2.34, p < 0.01 and platelet count 369.21× 106/L ± 190.71 versus 295.94×106 / L ± 94.64, p = 0.01. White cell vitamin C levels (normal range – 20-40 μg/108 leucocytes) were low in half of the patients in both groups (study patients mean 29.85 ± 28.70μg/108 leucocytes versus controls 31.39 ± 30.24μg/108 leucocytes, p = NS). Plasma vitamin C levels were reduced (normal range 10-20 mg/ml) in both groups but more so in the controls (mean 3.87 ± 2.82 mg/ml versus 4.81 ± 3.21 mg / ml in study patients, p= 0.053). Mean cortisol levels were slightly higher in the study patients (448.11 ± 197.41ηmol/L) than controls (392.70 ± 191.25ηmol/L, p = NS). Norepinephrine levels were slightly higher in the study patients than controls (study patients mean 2531.61 ± 2043.60 ρmol/L versus 2178.98 ± 1719.98 ρmol/L of controls, p = NS). Dopamine levels were higher in the study patients than in the controls (468.42 ± 377.57 ρmol/L in study patients versus 293.37 ± 355.84 ρmol/L in controls, p = 0.01). Epinephrine levels were higher in the controls (control patients mean 680.64 ± 743.78 ρmol/L versus 449.41 ± 380.04 ρmol/L of the study patients, p = 0.03). Ferritin levels were much higher in the study patients compared with controls (study patients mean 3005.87 ± 5023.26 μg/L versus 466.51 ± 1774.76 μg/L of the controls, p<0.01) as were CRP levels (125.91 ± 54.77 mg/L in the study patients versus 77.22 ± 81.17 mg/L in the controls, p=0.01). Mean urine cotinine levels were 16.42 ± 24.26μM/L for controls and 9.28 ± 11.59 μM / L for the study patients (p=0.027). Correlation studies did not show any significant differences between the different variables. There was an inverse correlation between CRP levels and urine cotinine levels in the control group (R squared=0.058 and p= 0.024). DISCUSSION There were no differences in the demographic profile of the two groups. Smoking and alcohol consumption were more common in the control group than in the study patients. Over 90 % of patients in both groups had low plasma vitamin C levels, while half of the patients in each group had low white cell vitamin C levels. The low levels of vitamin C could be due to some of the reasons given above or possibly due to the fact that generally there are low levels in Africans for reasons that are not apparent. The control group had increased mean urine cotinine levels suggesting a possible influence of cigarette smoking on vitamin C homeostasis in these patients. In both groups, the majority of patients had normal cortisol levels as well as normal to high catecholamine levels. Also, Ferritin and CRP levels were much higher in the study group than in the controls. The low levels of vitamin C did not, however, have any relationship with stress hormone levels and acute phase reactants. CONCLUSION This study has reaffirmed low plasma and white cell vitamin C levels in patients with new onset pulmonary tuberculosis but has also found low levels in control patients with diseases other than pulmonary tuberculosis. The study demonstrates adequate stress hormone responses in tuberculosis patients, which was not different from non- tuberculosis patients. Acute phase responses were found to be of higher magnitude in tuberculosis patients than in the controls. There were, however, no correlations between plasma vitamin C and stress hormones or acute phase reactants.

This thesis is introducing us theme of the metabolic profile of biologically important compounds in honey. This thesis is devided into two parts. The first part (the literature review) is introducing characteristic of honey, history of a use for medical purposes, honey content, content of biologically active compounds and their positive effects on human health. There are also described methods of determination polyfenolic compounds in honey. The second part of this thesis (practical part) deals with determination of polyfenols in 11 kinds of honey using the high pressure liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Extraction was carried out by using liquid-liguid extraction using ethylacetate and diethylether as a solvent and solid phase extraction using water as a solvent. These methods were then statistically compared.

Few studies in the area of psychodietetics have concentrated upon the relationship between a single dietary nutrient and behavior. However, some vitamins have been shown to be particularly important to central nervous system activity. Among these is Vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Two experiments were done to determine the effects of ascorbic acid deficient diets on a learning task in which guinea pigs were subjects. Learning was defined as acquisition and extinction of shock-escape and shock-avoidance behavior. In Experiment I, twelve adult guinea pigs were fed diets containing two different deficient amounts of ascorbic acid for six weeks. They were then run on shock-escape, shock-avoidance and extinction schedules. No significant differences in behavior among the dietary groups were shown by statistical analysis, either in acquisition or extinction. In Experiment II, three adult guinea pigs were fed the same ascorbic acid-deficient diets as in Experiment I for six weeks after a baseline performance on a shuttlebox shock avoidance schedule was obtained. Performance after dietary treatment among or across subjects was not observably different from the performance prior to treatment. Serum and adrenal protein analysis confirmed that the dietary treatment had lowered the total ascorbic acid content of the serum and adrenals, but behavior did not show a corresponding or consistent change. These results indicate that ascorbic acid deficient diets fed to adult guinea pigs did not result in a change in behavior as observed on shock-escape, shock-avoidance, or extinction schedules.

Thesis. 1978. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nutrition and Food Science. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND SCIENCE. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 176-193. / by Henry M. Mallek. / Ph.D.

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<p> The research in this thesis investigated the effects of different vitamin C forms [ascorbic acid (Asc), sodium ascorbate, and calcium ascorbate] on gelatinization, pasting, and short-term retrogradation of wheat starch. Vitamin C is the third most supplemented nutrient in the U.S. and necessary for prevention or treatment of many illnesses. Asc is also used in food products as an acidulant that decreases microbial growth and extends shelf-life, flavoring agent that promotes sour taste, and bread improver that increases gluten development and dough strength in wheat doughs. Ascorbate salts are used as vitamin C sources when a sour taste or pH decrease is undesirable. The gelatinization temperature (Tgel) of wheat starch in solutions of the vitamin C forms and related acids and salts at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 M concentrations (or equivalent) was measured using a differential scanning calorimeter and, compared to starch in water, was increased by all the salt solutions and decreased only by Asc. Calcium ascorbate increased Tgel more than the other salts due to hydrogen bonds between ascorbate and starch and strong hydration by water of Ca2+ that stabilized the starch-water structure and inhibited gelatinization. Asc decreased starch Tgel while similarly acidic solutions did not because Asc caused more extensive starch hydrolysis, which promoted granule swelling and amylose leaching. The paste viscosity values of wheat starch in solution were measured with a rapid visco analyzer and, compared to starch in water, were increased by all salt solutions except NaCl and increased by all acidic solutions until breakdown, then decreased. Ascorbate salts increased paste viscosities significantly more than chloride salts due to the stabilization effect of ascorbate hydrogen bonds that increased the amount of larger starch structures, which increased the viscosity during pasting and short-term amylose retrogradation. Ascorbate-containing acidic solutions increased starch peak viscosity and decreased trough and final viscosities more than HCl because increased granular swelling and amylose leaching results in a more rapid and greater initial increase in viscosity and subsequent decrease in viscosity when granular breakdown overtakes swelling. The results of this work could be used by food researchers and product developers to supplement or fortify vitamin C in a starch-based food and/or modify the functions of starch within that food.  </p>