Milk and dairy products are nutritionally rich foods, providing energy and high-quality proteins along with a number of essential micronutrients. In this way, the dairy sector supports the existence of people in food chains around the world. Human activities affect the Earth's climate because they cause the release of huge amounts of greenhouse gases, which are retained in the Earth's atmosphere along with the gases that are naturally present in it. Food and drink are considered to be responsible for 20 to 30% of the impact on the environment, in which meat and dairy products are the most important. Research and methodologies are mostly focused on the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), but numerous other impacts on the environment must also be taken into account, such as impacts on land and water through various types of pollution. In addition, the consumption of scarce water reserves and energy resources is also taken into account. Therefore, a sustainable approach to food and beverage production has no alternative. The dairy sector faces challenges to which it responds with numerous organized and synchronized actions and projects in order to successfully restructure and fit into the overall human activities to reduce pollution. Sustainability itself has 3 dimensions, ecological, economic and social. The aim of this paper is to present the current situation of sustainability in the dairy sector in the world and numerous activities undertaken by various actors in the dairy sector, from farm entities and dairy companies to various associations and umbrella organizations such as the International Dairy Federation, the European Dairy Association as well as non-specific dairy-strictly unrelated bodies. All activities are carried out in coordination and under the auspices of the United Nations and its organizations, primarily the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Kupres cheese is hard, full-fat cheese made at Kupres plateau, rich in pastures region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In last decades this cheese became popular among consumers and known by its quality which was proven by manny awards and recognitions obtained at exibitions and fairs in wider region. While its technology, chemical composition and sensory quality are already described in some paper’s articles data on its physical properties related to sensory profile are yet scarce. Thus, the aim of this work is to give an overwiev of the history data, chemical and sensory features with emphasize to new results on physical properties of Kupres cheese and their connection with sensory quality.

Traditional dairy products, especially cheeses, represent part of the cultural food heritage of many countries. In addition, these cheeses constitute microbiological “reservoirs”, of which many have been lost due to the introduction of the pasteurization of milk in the dairy industry. Increased awareness of the importance of microorganisms that make up the biodiversity of traditional cheeses, as well as the development of molecular methods in recent decades, have enabled efforts to identify and preserve them. Traditional Livno cheese is a full-fat hard cheese, considered one of the most famous traditional cheeses of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is seasonally produced from a mixture of raw sheep’s milk supplemented with cow’s milk. Often, Livno cheese has variable quality, due to microbial contamination and poor milk quality. In this study, traditional Livno cheese was studied during the ripening of cheeses produced by different producers during two seasons. Culture-dependent analyses were made during ripening using microbiological plating on suitable media. Likewise, culture-independent methods Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) and Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA) were used to elucidate the cheese microbiota. Results of analysis showed Lactococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp., Pediococcus spp. and Leuconostoc spp. to be dominant species in traditional Livno cheese. However, when comparing the use of culture-dependent and culture-independent methods in the evaluation of Livno cheese microbiota, Enterococcus was not detected by culture-independent DGGE methods. The microbial population of both the milk and the environment determines the fermentation processes during cheese production and ripening, and thereby defines the quality of this cheese. The numbers of bacteria in the cheese were shown to be dependent on the manufacturer, the degree of ripening and the production season.

Thanks to the climatic and geographical conditions, the area of the Northwestern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a long tradition of producing honey and other bee products. However, there is little or no literature data on the physico-chemical properties and biological activity of different types of honey and other bee products from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Five different types of honey were analyzed: monofloral honey (acacia, chestnut, linden), meadow honey and forest honey. Physico-chemical parameters, sensory analysis, color of honey, antioxidant activity, and content of total phenols were analyzed in five types off collected honey samples. The analyzes performed showed that chestnut honey contains the highest and acacia honey has the lowest content oftotal phenolic compounds. The forest honey showed the best antioxidant activity. The color of the honey was measured according to the CIELab system and the estimated L, a, bparameters show that all types of honey from this area can be characterized asdark types of honey (L50) with the presence of a yellow color. The obtained results show that the analyzed samples of five different types of honey are rich in polyphenolic components and represent a good source of antioxidants in the human diet.KEYWORDS:honey,physico-chemical parameters, color, antioxidant activity, total phenols

The microbiological aspects of traditional Travnik/Vlašić cheese was investigated. The cheese was made traditionally, from raw sheep milk at three small farms (A, B, C) on Mountain Vlašić. The microbiological quality of the cheese was examined during three stages of ripening (5, 30, 60 days) and followed during three seasons (3 years). Twenty-seven samples of cheese were collected and analyzed for the aerobic mesophilic count, yeasts and molds, coliforms and microorganisms from the group Staphylococcus spp. Average values determined for the number of investigated groups of microorganisms of all cheese samples throughout three different stages, seasons, and small farms were: aerobic mesophilic bacteria 8.03 log10 cfu·g-1, yeasts and molds 3.63 log10 cfu·g-1, coliforms 5.16 log10 cfu g-1, and microorganisms from the group Staphylococcus spp. 4.49 log10 cfu g-1. ANOVA showed that experimental factor ripening stage (days) had a significant effect on all testing parameters. Results obtained with this study indicate that hygiene during the production of traditional products must be increased in order to assure high quality of the final products.

Kupres cheese is a traditional Bosnian full-fat hard cheese. This paper deals with the change of protein and fatty acid profiles, mineral content and antioxidant potential during the period of three months of its ripening. Proteolysis was monitored by the electrophoresis of total extracts and water-soluble fractions under reducing conditions, whereas fatty acid profiles were determined by gas chromatography. The mineral content in the ripened cheeses was determined by using methods of Inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for microelements and Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for microelements, respectively. Ripening of Kupres cheese during three months is characterised by a relatively slow proteolysis, especially during the first month and by the increase in desirable fatty acid content. After 30 days of ripening, the WSN/TN and TCA/TN contents increased from 8.23% and 2.25% to 10.15% and 3.59%, respectively. Further, ripening induced higher increase of these parameters and more intensive degradation of the major caseins, especially αs-CN. After three months of ripening, residual level of αs-CN and β-CN was 12.02% and 80.96%, respectively. Three month-old cheese had improved indexes of lipid quality as well as improved reducing power and ability to scavenge free radicals. Ripening affected the content of Ca, P and Na whereas no significant changes of the other macro- and microelements of Kupres cheese were observed.

Labelling products as “mountain products” provides producers in hilly and mountainous areas with effective tools to improve marketing of their products and reduce the risk of confusion among consumers regarding the hilly and mountainous origin of products on the market. The European Union has adopted legal framework regarding optional quality schemes for hilly - mountain products. The definition of a hilly-mountainous area should be based on the general classification criteria used to identify the hilly-mountainous area. For third countries, mountain areas include areas that third countries have officially designated as mountainous or that meet the same criteria as those in the European Union (EU). Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as well as some other countries in its vicinity, has not yet normatively prescribed criteria for the possibility of protecting the optional quality label “mountain product”. The main aim of this paper is to analyse and propose criteria for “mountain product” label in BiH and to evaluate potential of this scheme for three traditional cheeses. The authors used the desk research method and secondary data for this research, as well as the results of empirical research and comparison with regional countries. Taking into account the experiences of countries with similar geographical characteristics, but also following the production of the three most widespread indigenous cheeses, Herzegovina cheese in a skin sack, Livno cheese, and Vlašić/ Travnik cheese, an attempt was made to find the best model for Bosnia and Herzegovina where the label “mountain product” can be used for agricultural and/ or food products originating from mountainous areas.

SUMMARY Research background Numerous factors affect the ripening of reduced-fat white cheese. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of ripening environment (brine or vacuum plastic bags without brine) on the chemical composition, protein, fatty acid profile and mineral content as well as antioxidant properties of industrially produced reduced-fat white cheese. Experimental approach A low-fat white cheese was manufactured on an industrial scale from milk that remained after the production of kajmak and ripened for 60 days at 4 °C after packaging in a polystyrene container with brine containing 6% salt or in vacuum-sealed polyethylene bags. The influence of ripening environment on proteolysis was monitored by the change of soluble nitrogen fractions as well as by sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane-HCl extracts of cheese proteins under non-reducing conditions and water-soluble fractions under reducing conditions. An effect that ripening environment had on fatty acid and mineral content was also monitored. The change of antioxidant potential of the investigated cheese during ripening led to the change of iron(II) chelating ability, reducing power and free-radical scavenging activity. Results and conclusions The ripening environment differently affected proteolysis, fatty acid composition, mineral profile and antioxidant properties of reduced-fat white cheese. White cheese ripened in brine had more intensive proteolytic changes than the cheese ripened in a vacuum, but also more intensive diffusion processes, especially between the 40th and 60th day of ripening. The brine-ripened cheese had higher values of water-soluble nitrogen content, but lower contents of trichloroacetic acid-soluble and phosphotungstic acid-soluble nitrogen than the vacuum-ripened cheese. Cheese ripened in brine had a lower content of almost all investigated macro- and microelements. After 60 days of ripening, in cheese ripened in brine only myristic (C14:0) and palmitic acid (C16:0) were detected, whereas in the vacuum-ripened cheese C10:0-C16:0 fatty acids dominated. Vacuum-ripened reduced-fat cheese had more favourable reducing power, while white brined reduced-fat cheese had better radical scavenging activity and iron(II) chelating activity. Novelty and scientific contribution These results suggest significant influence of ripening conditions (immersion in brine or in vacuum-sealed polyethylene bags) on nutritive and functional properties of reduced-fat white cheese. Ripening in a vacuum has become a useful method for obtaining high-value reduced-fat white cheese.

The influence of simulated in vitro digestion on antioxidant potential of protein fractions of traditional Serbian white-brined cheeses was investigated. Water-soluble (WSF) and water-insoluble fractions (WINF) of three cow’s and three ovine white-brined cheeses were fractionated. Total antioxidant capacity, reducing power and iron (II) chelating properties of these fractions before and after in vitro digestion were assayed. The investigated protein fractions had different antioxidant properties. WSFs had a better total antioxidant capacity and reducing power and less pronounced iron (II) chelating properties than WINFs. A strong negative correlation (-0.818, P<0.05) between the total antioxidant capacities of undigested WSF and WINF of traditional cheeses were observed. In vitro digestion greatly improved the total antioxidant capacities of WINFs (by 16.61-34.18 times), their reducing power (up to 95.77 %) and except in the case of Svrljig ovine cheese, the iron (II) chelating ability as well. A less pronounced increase (up to 71.29 %) of the total antioxidant capacity of WSFs was induced by in vitro digestion. In vitro digestion reduced reducing power of WSF of investigated ovine cheeses as well as reducing power of WSF of Homolje cow’s cheese. Since there was no significant correlation between the investigated antioxidant properties of digested WSFs and their free amino acids and mineral contents the observed differences should be attributed to different composition and properties of low molecular weight peptides. Thus, further investigations related to their isolation and characterization needs to be conducted. However, these results indicate that Serbian white-brined cheeses have great potential as source of antioxidant peptides.

SUMMARY The aim of this paper is to determine nutritive, functional, microbiological and sensory properties of probiotic beverages produced from different volume ratios of cow's milk and soy beverage (25:75, 50:50 and 75:25). Pure cow’s milk and soy beverage served as control samples. Fermentation was performed at 43 °C by a combined culture consisting of the probiotic strain Lactobacillus acidophilus La5 and yoghurt culture. Viable counts of La5 strain in the produced beverages ranged from 7.52 to 8.20 log CFU/mL, which is above the probiotic minimum (106 CFU/mL). Lactic acid was the most prevalent organic acid in all samples (660.1 to 1003.0 mg/100 mL). The fatty acid profiles of fermented beverages were as follows: the mass fraction of saturated fatty acids was 22.2-82.7%, of unsaturated fatty acids 22.3-77.8% and of polyunsaturated fatty acids 15.5-65.9%. The main soy sugars were transformed well (80% stachyose and 50% raffinose conversion) into lactic acid during fermentation. Functional probiotic beverages were successfully produced from different volume ratios of cow's milk and soy beverage by L. acidophilus La5 and yoghurt culture. Mixing cow's milk with soy beverage significantly improved the sensory properties of the product, especially its smell, taste and colour. The acceptability test showed good acceptance by potential consumers of all fermented beverage samples except for the sample made from 100% soy beverage. In the end, the obtained results represent a good basis for further optimisation of the ideal volume ratios of cow's milk and soy beverage for production of fermented beverages characterised by good viability of probiotic bacteria as well as by good functional, nutritive and sensory characteristics.