Now adays around the world, raisin concentrate is considered as a valuable material for producing nectars, raisin paste, raisin juice and confectionary industries as well as a natural alternative for sugar, there are numerous raisin production which condensed concentrate is of great importance It has variable properties and industrial utilizations. In order to extract it, tests were conducted in three levels of extraction temperatures (40oC, 60oC, 80oC), These levels of solvent proportion (1:1, 2:1 and 3:1) and three levels of condensation temperature (65oC, 75oC, 85oC). At the end the chemo- physical characteristics (color, viscosity, and freed sugar concentrate weight and production efficiency) were studied carefully, and then microbial tasts (mould, fermentation and total counting) were carried on. After the statistical analysis, those extracted at the extraction temperature 80centigrade degrees and 75 centigrade degrees condensation temperature, and solvent proportion 2:1, 3:1 leading to better result are suggested, considering higher extracted as well as condensation in thermul conditions.

The present study aimed to determine the concentrations of several disinfection byproducts (DBPs), including trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), and haloacetonitriles (HANs), in the public and private swimming pools in Sanandaj, Iran (n=16). Correlations between DBP levels with water quality parameters (free chlorine, pH, total organic carbon, temperature, number of swimmers, and gender of swimmers) and various DBP categories were investigated and compared. According to the results, concentrations of THMs in public and private pools were lower than the recommended limit in Iran (200 μ g/L). In addition, HAAs had the highest concentrations, followed by THMs and HANs, respectively. Among the HAAs, THMs, and HANs, trichloroacetic acid was the most dominant species, followed by chloroform and dichloroacetonitrile, respectively. DBP levels were not affected by the gender of swimmers, number of swimmers, pH, temperature, and free chlorine. However, total organic carbon showed a fairly good correlation with TTHM, THAA, and DBP levels (r=0. 45-0. 78; P<0. 05). Some correlations were also observed between various DBP categories.

Introduction: Grapes are one of the most important and most productive agricultural harvests in the world. Iran is currently the seventh largest producer of grapes in the world, with over 252,000 hectares of vineyards. Also, due to its fertile lands, Iran has been known since ancient times for its diversity in grape varieties and the production and export of various types of its products.Given the economic importance of raisins and grapes in the national economy and the country's great potential for improving the quantity and quality of this group of products, and given the global competition in the agricultural market and the high potential of the raisin product for export, the need to produce this product is obvious. One of the important factors for survival in today's competitive condition, is reducing the costs of production and marketing the product. Choosing the right methods can significantly reduce costs and increase the competitiveness of manufacturers. The existence of inseparable waste in this industry has faced producers with challenges that, if waste and scrap management during processing is carried out with the help of modern technology, it will be of great help to producers not only in terms of waste disposal but also in terms of energy and cost savings. In the field of raisins, the added value of by-products resulting from waste, which is currently achieved in leading countries, is sometimes equal to the product itself. Raisin waste is recycled and used in various ways. One of the valuable compounds in grapes is phenolic compounds that are used in various industries. In this work, with the aim of management of raisin production units’ waste, the potential of various raisin wastes in extracting phenolic compounds has been investigated.Materials and Methods: To investigate the possibility of extracting phenolic compounds from raisin waste from raisin processing units in East Azerbaijan province, various raisin wastes including laser-backed wastes, empty, tail chips, broken and immature wastes were investigated for the extraction of phenolic compounds. Also, various solvents including methanol, ethanol, acetone and combinations of solvents were used to extract phenolic compounds. The parameters of extraction efficiency, antioxidant activity and total phenol content were used to evaluate and compare the process. To measure the antioxidant property, the DPPH free radical scavenging method and to calculate the total phenol content, the Folin reagent reaction method was used.Results: The results showed that all raisin wastes contained phenolic compounds in different amounts. The amount of antioxidant activity for unripe raisin, fractured, tail, absurd, and laser were ontained as 23.16, 24.31,26.19,28.42, and 18.82 µg/ml respectively. Also, the phenolic content for unripe raisin, fractured, tail, absurd, and laser were ontained as 421, 426.11, 387.86, 369.24, and 465.2 mg GAE/100 g respectively. Among the raisin waste, the laser waste has the best condition in terms of phenol content and antioxidant activity. Also, the best solvent for extracting phenolic compounds is pure methanol. Laser waste in the extraction solvent of pure methanol has 468.2 mg per gram of gallic acid equivalent extract with phenolic content.Discussion: Based on results, it is concluded that, the best antioxidant result obtained at the lowest IC50 value is related to laser waste with a concentration of 18.82 μg/ml. In general, the results showed that raisin processing waste can be used as a costeffective source for extracting phenolic compounds.

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting comparative advantage of raisin export in Iran for period of 1961 to 2009. Besides, comparative advantages of major raisin exporting countries were calculated and compared. For this purpose, three indices, namely, Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) and Chi square measure (X2) were calculated. The results of RCA index showed that the trend was highly fluctuating. Also, comparing the calculated comparative advantages of raisin export for major exporting countries indicated that volume of production and export were not necessarily related to their comparative advantages. Factors affecting comparative advantage of raisin export were investigated through estimating a vector auto regressive (VAR) model for period 1961-2008. The results indicated that variables such as exchange rate, amount of domestic production, production of competing countries and world export price had positive effect on comparative advantage of Iranian raisin export while fluctuation in production had a negative effect on it. It was concluded that in order to increase comparative advantage attempts should be made to reduce production fluctuation.

Background and Objective: The use of biopolyesters and natural fibres or fillers for production of biobased composites has attracted interest of various application sectors ranging from packaging to automotive components and other high value applications in agreement with a bioeconomy approach. In the present paper biobased composites were produced by using compostable polymers degradable even in soil and marine water such as polyhydroxyalkanoates with natural fibres or fillers derived by food wastes (legumes by-products) and by wood industry. Material and Methods: Polyhydroxyalkanoates were processed with a biobased, biodegradable plasticizer such as acetyltributylcitrate and calcium carbonate as inorganic filler. The selected polymeric matrix was used for the production of composites with variable amounts of natural fibres. Green composites were manufactured by extrusion and injection moulding. Thermal, rheological, mechanical and morphological characterizations of the developed composites were performed. Results and Conclusion: The bio composites properties match the requirements for production of rigid food packaging or other single use items where the market is looking for more sustainable solutions versus the products actually used and hardly recyclable, opening a route for valorization of food residue. Pukanzsky’ s model predicts with good accuracy the tensile behavior of the composites showing a medium intensity adhesion between fibres and polymer matrix in both cases analyzed.