In traditional medicine Thymus serpyllum L. (wild thyme) herb represents a part of a large number of herbal medicinal formulations such as syrups, tinctures, infusions, teas, and decoctions. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in testing the biological properties of wild thyme, because the plant is a high-quality raw material, rich in essential oil and pharmacologically active polyphenolic compounds, which can be included in various formulations in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and chemical industries. Wild thyme extracts and essential oil have shown significant nitric oxide, ABTS and DPPH radicals scavenging potential, ferrous ion chelating property, reducing activity and ability to inhibit peroxidation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), proteins and lipids. Wild thyme extracts exerted antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Yersinia enterocolitica, as well as Lactic acid bacteria. Wild thyme essential oil has shown antibacterial potential against E. coli, L. monocytogenes, P. aeruginosa, S. enteritidis, S. aureus, Streptococcus salivariu, S. mutans, S. sanguinis, S. pyogenes, E. feacalis, B. cereus, B. subtilis, B. pumilis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella choleraesuis, and Salmonella poona. T. serpyllum extract possesses antifungal activity against Fusarium solani, F. moniliforme, Aspergillus flavus, Microsporum canis, Alternaria species, Candida albicans, and C. glabarata. The essential oil efficiently inhibited the growth of C. albicans, C. glabrata and Aspergillus fungi. Depending on the concentration, wild thyme extract significantly relaxed spontaneous contractions, as well as acetylcholine-, potassium chloride-, barium chlorideand calcium chloride-induced contractions of the isolated rat ileum. The extract significantly reduced the expression of the inducible enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 and inhibited acetylcholinesterase, myeloperoxidase and α-glucosidase activity. T. serpyllum extract has shown cytotoxic activity on human breast cancer cell lines, while essential oil has shown the antitumor potential in human cell lung cancer, colon, cervical, hepatocellular, prostate, and breast adeno-carcinoma.

This paper presents experimental investigations of the efficiency of an open-type refrigerated display cabinet used to store food at temperatures between –1 and +7 °C. The purpose of the study was to increase the efficiency of the open-type cabinet by improving its design. The cabinet has five shelves for food products with lengths of 350-600 mm. The spacing between the base and the first shelf is 280 mm, and between the other shelves it is 250 mm. The air enters the cabinet from the return air grille (RAG) at the bottom of the front panel, fans blow air through the evaporator, and the cooled air travels through a tunnel to the top of the refrigerator. The perforated distributor at the top distributes the cooled air, and part of the air is blown through the perforated back panel and the other part passes through the air-off honeycomb (dimensions (WH) are 12020 mm) at the front top of the cabinet, thus forming an air curtain between the inside of the refrigerator and the ambient warm air to protect the chilled food products. The cooled air entering through the perforated back panel into the display area helps maintain the required food temperature. In this study, two versions of the refrigerated cabinet were analyzed. The first version is the standard refrigeration cabinet and the second version is the same cabinet but with a change in the angle of inclination of the honeycomb and a reduction in the depth of the shelves. Air and test product temperatures were measured with thermocouples, and electrical energy consumption was measured with the Carel MT300W1100 energy meter. The experimental results show that the infiltration ratio decreases from 38.7 to 27.7%, and the 24-hour electrical consumption decreases from 24.91 to 19.22 kWh in the case of the modified cabinet. The average air temperature in the return air grille (RAG) decreased from 7.5 to 6.52 °C with the same temperature settings. The average temperature of the M packages decreased by 0.2-2.2 °C depending on the position in the refrigerator.

Development of a food product requires integrated scientific and professional knowledge on the technological process, the final product and, the quality of the ingredients and their interaction. This research examined the effect of formulation variables on the sensory quality of a thermo-reversible sour cherry fruit filling, as well as the modelling and optimization of the variables for achieving the quality suitable for filling frozen semi-finished bakery products in industrial conditions. Each formulation for 15 model-samples was successively corrected, to achieve the appropriate sensory quality of the filling in finished products after baking. Their quality was evaluated by descriptive sensory and physico-chemical methods of analysis and compared. The basic formulation for the filling was defined after the successive production of 7 model-samples in laboratory conditions, their use in industrial conditions (puff pastry filling, shaping, quick freezing, storage for at least 24 hours at -18°C, baking and cooling to room temperature) and analysing their quality. Further formulation optimization included selecting: the type and amount of fruits (sour cherry, apple), food additives and cherry flavour for 8 new model-samples. The formulation and ingredients for the fruit filling production (30% sour cherry fruit, 30% apple puree, 58% sugar, 2% starch, 1% pectin, 0.03% firming agent E509, 0.03% acidity regulator E331, 0.025% cherry flavour) and quality parameters (dry matter 65%, acidity 0.85%, pH = 3.2-3.4) were defined. The fruit filling had appropriate sensory quality before and after baking of filled puff pastry: clear cherry-red colour, moderately firm consistency and stable volume, rich fruity aroma, and refreshing sweet-sour taste. The results also confirmed that the product was suitable for manual or machine filling of raw dough.