Genetically modified organisms (GMO) were introduced in Poland at the end of last century (soya and corn in feed) and caused many controversy. Little is known about to- days CITIZEN’S attitude to GMO, so the aim of the study was the questionnaire evaluation of it and the definition of mains fear causes. The questionnaire was given to two groups of people: employees at Fundusz Ochrony Środowiska i Gospodarki Wodnej (FOŚiGW) at Wrocław and Legnica and Internet users (N92). Main conclusions: knowledge about GMO raised and fear diminished, but the employees at FOŚiGW have to learn more.

The aim of the work was to examine the influence of glucose concentration as a sole carbon source on oxalic acid synthesis by Aspergillus niger in submerged fer- mentation. Cultivations were conducted in synthetic medium containing glucose di- luted to 100, 125, 150 and 175 g·dm^-3. The highest product concentration 64,2 g·dm^-3 was obtained in medium containing 150 g·dm^-3 of glucose. There were also 15,4 g·dm^-3 of citric acid and 28,7 g·dm^-3 of gluconic acid present. Chemical selectivity of the process was 59,2%. The highest productivity and the highest substrate yield equalled respective- ly 2,9 g·dm^-3·d^-1 and 61,6% was obtained in medium containing 100 g·dm^-3 of substrate. In conclusion, optimal glucose concentration in medium was recognised as 150 g•dm-3 be- cause of the highest product concentration.

Beet vinasse is a by-product of distillery industry. It is characterized by a dark brown color. Mostly responsible for color are melanoidins, caramels and alkaline products of invert degradation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect the addition of yeast extract and concentration of beet vinasse on the degree of removal colored compounds using lactic acid bacteria Pediococcus parvulus MiLab099. The compositional rotatable plan (N0 = 2, α= 1.4142, N = 10) was used for the study. Cultivation was carried out as shake-flask culture (250 cm³, 120 rpm). Medium contained, resulting from plan of the experiment concentration of the vinasse (from 7.57 to 92.43%) and yeast extract (from 0.17 to 5.83 g·dm^-3). The inoculum was added in an amount of 1 cm³. The decolorization effectiveness was evaluated by measuring the absorbance (475 nm). Removal of colored compounds were determined using Ivanov-Sapronov method. For most runs decolorization did not exceed 10% and the maximum was approx. 21%. A statistically significant effect (p ≤ 0.05) on the decolorization has vinasse concentration. It has been shown that the addition of yeast extract was negligible.