Stamatis Aggelopoulos

Effect of dietary saffron (Crocus sativus L.) on the oxidative stability of egg yolk

1. The effects of dietary inclusion of red stigmas of Greek saffron (Crocus sativus L.) on the oxidative stability of shell eggs and liquid yolks were investigated and compared with those of dietary α-tocopherol. 2. Ninety-six Lohmann laying hens, 38 weeks old, distributed into 4 groups with 4 replicates each, were given either a control diet, diets enriched with 10 (SAF10) or 20 (SAF20) mg/kg saffron, or a diet enriched with 200 mg/kg α-tocopheryl acetate (VE200). 3. Following 6 weeks of feeding, eggs were collected and the rate of lipid oxidation was determined in refrigerated stored shell eggs, as well as in yolks adjusted to a pH of 6·2 or 4·2 and stored in the presence of light. 4. The results showed that the extent of lipid oxidation in shell eggs, as measured by malondialdehyde (MDA) formation, differed between dietary treatments, but did not change with storage time. In stored shell eggs, MDA levels differed between dietary treatments at all time points. 5. Yolks from the control group adjusted to pH 6·2 gave MDA values higher than those of the SAF10 group, which in turn were higher than those of the SAF20 group, a finding suggesting that saffron exerted a dose-dependent antioxidative activity. The VE200 group gave lower MDA values than the other groups at all time points. The oxidation profile of yolks at pH 4·2 showed a similar pattern but the rate of oxidation was greater.

Agricultural Land Use in an Environmentally Sensitive Area: An Assessment of an Agri-environmental Policy Measure

The agri-environmental measures included in European Union regulation 1257/99 encourage agricultural methods designed to protect the environment and maintain the countryside. The option of such environmentally favourable management of farming round a sensitive ecosystem including two lakes is examined. A multi-objective programming model is used to assess the cost of reducing the use of agrochemicals by changing the pattern of cropping alone. The solution shows that a substantial reduction in the use of agrochemicals can be achieved, if the support scheme provided for in this regulation can offset income loss due to reduced agrochemical use. The proposed aid results in a substantial reduction in the use of fungicides and insecticides, which are the most noxious agrochemicals.

Implicit prices of product characteristics in the milk and cheese market

Building a competitive advantage, which is based on differentiation, is more attractive to firms when many product characteristics are not perceptible prior to a purchase, as in the case of most food products. The hedonic price analysis is used in this paper to investigate the influence of food differentiation on consumer prices and to identify the implicit prices of product characteristics related to the milk and cheese market in Greece. Its results will help those involved in the milk and cheese industry to adopt the appropriate product development and product differentiation strategies on a national and international scale. The analysis results reveal that milk retail prices are influenced by fat content, production and processing conditions, product enrichment, and the size, type or form of packaging. Cheese prices are influenced by the origin of the milk (domestic, sheep or goat), packaging size and the protected designation of origin element.

Sustainable Farming Systems vs Conventional Agriculture: A Socioeconomic Approach

Athanasios Theocharopoulos1, Stamatis Aggelopoulos1, Panoraia Papanagiotou2, Katerina Melfou3 and Evangelos Papanagiotou2 1Department of Agricultural Development and Agribusiness Management, Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki 2Department of Agricultural Economics, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 3Department of Agricultural Products Marketing and Quality Control, TEI of Western Macedonia, Florina Branch, Florina Greece

Implications for the financing and sustainability of enterprises based on a ranking methodology for categorical financial data

Purpose – The aim of the study is to present the implications for the financing and sustainability of enterprises based on a ranking methodology for categorical financial data.Design/methodology/approach – Taking advantage of the optimal scaling properties of correspondence analysis (CA), a ranking‐clustering procedure is proposed. The proposed method was applied to categorical financial variables (i.e family farm income, gross profit, gross income, labour income and profitability) collected from a stratified random sampling of 80 Greek pig farms using a structured questionnaire.Findings – The cluster analysis revealed three distinct groups of pig farms. Several recommendations for managerial practices and financial development resulted from this study. For the farms belonging to cluster C1, that present low rankings on both criteria, a development planning process must be applied that will focus on organizational and management issues. For the farms belonging to cluster C2, that present low rankings on t...