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The adoption of food safety systems (FSSs) is of major significance in the food industry, and that approach is especially of more promience in dairy and meat processing firms. In this study the aim was to introduce the factors affecting the probability of adoption of FSSs in the dairy and the meat processing plants in Aydin, western Turkey. It was observed that ten out of twenty-eight dairy businesses had implemented one or more FSSs, and eight out of twenty-six meat processing firms had also implemented one or more of the FSSs. In total, thirty-six enterprises had not adopted any food safety system intended for safe food production, eighteen of which were involved in dairy and eighteen in meat processings. Binomial logistic regression model was employed throughout the study. The results indicated that plant characteristics and activities play a major role in determining the relative importance of various incentives in adopting food safety practices. The results also indicated that the larger business plants benefitted from a greater marginal probability of being adopters of FSSs as compared with the other business properties. The businesses that had employed ten to fourteen, fifteen to twenty, or more than twenty employees along with a food engineer and/or a veterinarian as a permanent employee were more likely to adopt FSSs than firms that were employers of fewer staff. Moreover the study indicated that care of hand disinfection had a positive and statistically significant relationship with the decision of any firm to adopt FSSs. On the other hand, the positive and significant impacts of such other factors as knowledge of risk resources, presence of wastes, sufficient air ventilation, and also firm specialties like fewer ordinary employees, as well as the type of business sector (dairy or meat firms) did not prove possible to be verified.

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In this study, heavy metals (Cr, Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd) contents of five Brassicaceae species grown in four different locations in Turkey were determined, mapped, and interpreted. Spatial analyses of the collected data were conducted in GIS, and thematic maps for average heavy metal accumulations including root, stem, and leaf of each species was developed. The biomonitoring potentials of species was assessed based on the statistical analyses results of the different localities. The heavy metal deposition characteristics of the plants showed differences. The most accumulated heavy metal was Zn, while Cd was the least accumulated. Capsella bursa-pastoris had the highest Cr and Cu accumulation compared to other species. Lepidium draba, on the other hand, accumulated Pb and Zn at most. Sisymbrium loeselii had the highest Cd accumulation compared to the other species. The results of the present study have indicated that Lepidium draba (Zn and Pb), Capsella bursa-pastoris (Cr and Cu) and Sisymbrium loeselii (Cd) can be safely used for biomonitoring studies.

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Molecular studies show that okra germplasm harbour narrow genetic diversity despite certain level of phenotypic variation in Turkey. However, there is a gap in the information on the cytogenetics of Turkish okra genotypes.  Studies on the cytogenetics and ploidy level may provide further information on the genetic diversity of Turkish okra germplasm. This study, therefore, investigated nuclear DNA content, ploidy level and chromosome number of 26 okra landraces and 3 commercial cultivars (Akköy-41, Kabaklı-11 and Marmara-1). The 2C nuclear DNA content varied from 3.05 to 3.20 pg with mean 2C values ranging between 3.11 and 3.18. The variation in nuclear DNA content was, however, statistically insignificant. Okra had a high number of chromosomes with very small sizes. The chromosome number of the plants investigated in the study was determined to be 2n (10x)= 128±2. Based on these results, the genotypes investigated are, probably, allodehaploid with some extra chromosomes and B chromosomes. In conclusion, the Okra germplasm has a narrow base of genetic diversity in the germplasm pool, which may limit the success of future breeding programs. Suggestions are discussed to enhance genetic diversity in the germplasm for more effective breeding programs.