Food and health

Rapid cooling is recommended to decrease postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables. Cooling rate and homogeneity are affected by the package design. Thus, the aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of different container opening configurations on cooling process. The variables analyzed were: thirteen opening designs and four airflow rates. Twenty-eight out of the 224 produce simulators inside the container were instrumented with thermocouple. The configurations of the openings on the package walls were compared in terms of three individual orifice areas (0.67, 1 and 2%) distributed in 4 and 3 positions in width and height (X and Y directions), respectively. The statistical analysis demonstrated that airflow rate was the most important variable in explaining the variations of half-cooling time. The opening position in Y direction had no significant effect on pressure drop, cooling rate and its uniformity. At the maximum airflow rate studied, individual area and position of the openings had no significant effect on half-cooling time. Increasing total opening area for more than 8% did not produce significant cooling rate increment. The 14% opening area generated cooling rates as uniform as the ones obtained using fully opened configuration as well as negligible differences in pressure drop.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/110

Dipping treatment of aqueous solutions of methyl jasmonate (MJ) at different levels (0, 0.5 and 1 mM) was investigated as a possible strategy for postharvest button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) quality enhancement during storage. Changes in colour, total soluble protein contents, polyphenol oxidase (PPO, EC 1.10.3.1), peroxidase (POD, EC 1.11.1.7) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, H2O2 and O2• – activities and microorganisms such as aerobic mesophiles, psychrotrophs, Pseudomonas spp. and yeasts and molds were studied as quality markers. As compared to control, methyl jasmonate resulted in better colour maintenance during storage by decreasing the activities of PPO and POD and also reduced the accumulation of MDA, H2O2 and O2• – during subsequent storage. Moreover, methyl jasmonate significantly reduced the microbial loads as compared to control. Our results suggest that exogenous application of methyl jasmonate at 0.5 mM concentration as dipping treatment can serve as promising tool for quality enhancement of button mushroom during storage.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/2066

Buckwheat, pseudo-cereal, has an important role in celiac diets due to being gluten free. Egg noodle, erişte, is a widely consumed traditional cereal product in Turkey. In this research gluten-free egg noodles were made with buckwheat flour, rice flour and corn starch at a ratio of 20:40:40 or 30:35:35 and with 3% xanthan gum, 20% whole egg and 0.5% salt. Control noodle was prepared with wheat flour, egg and salt. Cooking quality (weight and volume increase, cooking loss), chemical composition (ash, protein, cellulose, crude fat, phytic acid, Ca, Mg, K, P, Fe and Zn contents), color values (L, a and b) and sensory properties (color, taste, stickiness, firmness and overall acceptability) of gluten-free noodles were evaluated and compared with control samples. Noodles containing 30% buckwheat flour gave the highest weight and volume increase in all samples. Cooking loss of gluten-free noodles containing buckwheat flour was higher than that of control sample. Ash, crude fat and phytic acid contents of noodles were significantly (p<0.05) affected by formulation type and increased with buckwheat flour addition. Especially K and Mg contents were higher in gluten-free noodle containing 30% buckwheat flour. Dark color of buckwheat flour significantly (p<0.05) affected the color values of gluten-free noodles and decreased the lightness (L) of noodles. As the buckwheat flour addition ratio increased in gluten-free noodle formulation, redness (a) values increased. Noodles with 20% buckwheat flour received the highest taste score in all noodle samples. Overall acceptability scores of control and gluten-free noodle with 20% buckwheat flour were found statistically similar.

Link of the paper : https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/1159

Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen is a rare species with high economical value and medicinal properties. Lignum Dalbergiae Odoriferae (D. odorifera), the heartwood of Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen is used as a kind of Chinese medicine to treat ischemic and cardiovascular diseases. In spite of the uses in folk medicine, little is known about the composition of the seeds and their possible bioactivities. Essential oil composition of the seeds of D. odorifera T. Chen (Leguminosae) is reported for the first time. The purpose of the study was to analyze the major components of seeds, to compare them with the heartwood reported previously and to find out the intrinsic relationship. The essential oil was obtained by simultaneous distillation and extraction (SDE). The chemical composition was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thirty-one compounds representing 93.8% of the essential oil were characterized. Major components identified were P,P,P-triphenyl phosphine imide (35.3%), bis(1- methylethyl) peroxide(16.4%), 1-methyl-1H-pyrrole (5.2%), 3,3,6-trimethyl-1, 5-heptadien-4-one (4.7%), 1H-pyrrole (3.9%), 4-ethenyl-2-methoxyphenol (3.9%), 2-β-pinene (3.5%), 3-(1-methylethyl) phenol (2.0%), formic acid n-pentyl ester (2.0%), glycidol (1.7%) and phenol (1.6%).

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/2215

Extended dormancy, low tuber sugar accumulation and light fry color are key traits in the selection of potato chipping cultivars. Within the scope of this three-year study we report on storage characteristics, sugar accumulation profiles and chipping performance of four potato cultivars (Diamant, Lady Rosetta, Hermes and Spunta) under three storage temperature regimes (4.5, 8.5 and 11.0°C). Hermes demonstrated the most prolonged dormancy (197, 112 and 73 days from harvest at 4.5, 8.5 and 11.0°C, respectively), the slowest sprout growth (SPT) and the lowest tuber fresh weight loss. Reducing sugar (RS) accumulation throughout storage was significantly higher in ‘Spunta’ and ‘Diamant’ in comparison to ‘Hermes’ and ‘Lady Rosetta’. A rise in tuber RS content ensued within the first 30 days of storage irrespective of cultivar and temperature. Chip fry color (FCL) demonstrated a highly significant correlation to RS but not to sucrose. Accumulation patterns throughout cold storage suggest sucrose may function mainly as a transient balance in the starch breakdown process but not as a main repository commanding RS formation. Tuber fresh weight loss and sprout growth did not correlate significantly to FCL in any of the cultivars examined. In all profiled cultivars, FCL scores throughout 4.5°C storage were commercially substandard. Significantly superior and commercially acceptable chipping performance was observed at 8.5°C and was further improved at 11.0°C. FCL scores demonstrated a tendency for decline over storage time most pronounced at 4.5°C. ‘Hermes’ and ‘Lady Rosetta’ produced similar, high FCL scores followed by ‘Diamant’ and ‘Spunta’. Chip fry color scores over storage time exhibited patterns inverse to those for RS content. Collective data regression analysis indicated that tuber RS concentrations in excess of 0.147 g/100 g DM may result in substandard chipping performance.

Link of the paper : https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/1399

Dietary fiber has been recognized as an important dietary constituent, which posses a wide range of positive properties. It was found that some components of dietary fiber, particularly soluble in water, might influence lipid metabolism. Many sources of dietary fiber have been tested in animals and humans. The scientific community continues to search for new sources of dietary fiber. Date is one of the most important fruit crops in the United Arab Emirates. Dates are a good source of fiber and other nutrients. They are commonly eaten with milk, yogurt or coffee. They are also used to produce Debis, a date syrup extraction. The effect of date fiber (DF), a by-product of date syrup (Debis) extraction on lipid metabolism was investigated in male Sprague Dawley rats adapted to 0.2% cholesterol (CHO) diets. The rats were divided in four groups of 5 animals. The basal diet consisted of AIN 76 diet. The control group (C) consumed the basal diet with 0.2% of cholesterol. To the control diet 2, 3 or 5% of DF were added. Plasma total cholesterol (TC), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG) and the ration HDL-C/LDL-C were measured. The results showed that the addition of 2, 3 and 5% of DF did not affect weight gain, feed intake and feed efficiency. The addition of 5% DF to the diet significantly (P< 0.05) increased HDL-C (40.2 vs 21.9 mg/100 ml; +83%), lessened the rise in plasma LDL-C (24 vs. 47.3 mg/100 ml; -97%) and increased the HDL-C/LDL-C ratio (1.6 vs. 0.5; 220%). The addition of DF to diets containing 0.2% CHO did not affect total cholesterol and triglycerides. These results demonstrate that DF possesses hypolipidemic effects that are evident when it is added to the diet of rats fed cholesterol. Date fiber can be used to develop functional foods with health benefits for consumers. The advantage becomes more economically sound if these food can be developed from by-products.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/906

Chilli shrimp paste is a traditional Southeast Asian condiment, usually consumed uncooked as a side dish with meal or raw vegetables. Chilli shrimp paste conventionally is prepared by housewives at home or at the restaurants using toasted fermented shrimp and fresh red chillies which are ground together with a granite mortar and pestle. The physicochemical properties and consumer preference of different chilli shrimp pastes were determined. The analyses were carried out using products obtained from the hypermarkets (commercially processed), restaurants (fresh made), and a product made in the laboratory by a professional chef. The colour value, pH, total soluble solids, moisture content, salt and sucrose were investigated. The results indicated that chilli shrimp paste with approximately 70% moisture content, 27 °Brix, 4.4% salt, 10% sucrose, thick and chunky paste with lightness value (L) of 23, redness value (a) of more than 20 and yellowness value (b) of 12 was more preferred. The linear model was found to describe the correlation between panellist score and colour values. Based on the model, panellists like redness and lightness but not yellowness. The highest coefficient of (a) value shows the most effective factor in colour score by panellist was redness. The pH range of samples was from 4.02 to 6.33. The pH of the samples did not affect the preference. Chilli shrimp paste prepared in the laboratory was most preferred while the commercially processed product was least preferred. The provided information in this study will help those in the food service industry to improve their products to meet consumer demand.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/1432

Up today technological processes are intended to produce safe and palatable food products. Yet, it is also expected that processing produces healthy and sustainable foods. However, due to the dramatic increase of chronic diseases prevalence worldwide, i.e., obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and some cancers, ultraprocessing has been pointed out as producing unhealthy foods, rich in energy and poor in protective micronutrients and fiber, i.e., “empty” calories. Indeed the 1980s saw massive arrivals of ultraprocessed foods in supermarkets, i.e., fractionated–recombined foods with added ingredients and/or additives. Epidemiological studies clearly emphasized that populations adhering the most to ultraprocessed foods, e.g., processed meat, refined grains, ultraprocessed plant-based foods, and/or sweetened beverages, exhibited the higher prevalence of chronic diseases. This prompted researchers to classify foods according to their degree of processing as with the international NOVA classification (i.e., un/minimally processed, processed, and ultraprocessed foods). More and more studies showed that such a classification makes sense for health. Overall one distinguishes three categories of processes: mechanical, thermal, and fermentative treatments, this latter being the more favorable to food health potential. This chapter has therefore several ambitions: (1) to review association between degree of food processing and chronic disease risk prevalence; (2) to explore the impact of technological processes on food health potential considering both matrix and compositional effects; (3) to discuss the need for classifying food according to their degree of processing in future epidemiological studies; and (4) to analyze consequences of adhering to a more holistic paradigm in both food processing and nutrition.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the consumers' attitude and intention toward reducing meat consumption. In exploring such, the influence of social norm, perceived benefits, perceived barrier and environmental concern are examined. A self-administered online survey was employed for data collection. A sample of 298 Australians was analysed through structural equation modelling with SPSS AMOS 25. Social norm, perceived benefits and barriers as well as environmental concerns had significant impact on the consumers' attitude toward reducing meat consumption. The findings of this paper validate and extend the theoretical framework on dietary behaviour change in particular one that involves reducing the consumption of meat. The findings provide valuable insights to food producers and the food industry, as well as health professionals as it highlights the linkages between meat consumption reduction and a broad array of motivations such as health and care for the environment. The study provides insights into the motivations of individuals to limit their meat consumption. More importantly, it also systematically examines the perceived benefits and barriers of meat consumption thus shedding insights on the opportunities for dietary behaviour change and public health.

On the table spread of Adventist histories and biographies, many of the dishes have already been sampled.  Left cold on the corner of the table behind the narratives of church leaders, missions, sanitariums and other institutions, however, is the history of Adventist cookie bakeries. Adventist families like the McKees, Casons, Byrds, Dortchs, Callicotts, and Bishops have dominated commercial sweet cake and cookie baking in the South since the 1910s and found success in sweet cake baking even as the depression deepened into the 1930s.  While the culture of Adventism today is less accepting of the industry of sugar, many of those who became cookie bakers were devout Adventists and were migrating from professions in medicine and the ministry. Many had also come to cookies from other food work in sanitariums, or as farmers, or grocers. Some started baking right out of college, but very few came from a business background until the 1930s.  Commercially baked cookies were probably a healthier option that mom’s cookies in the 1910s.  It was at this pivotal moment that Adventists began migrating to cookie bakeries by the dozens. Between 1910 and 1930 there were more than one hundred Adventists who entered cookie baking. By the 1970s, another hundred had joined their ranks. These bakers were raised in and around Adventist centers of gravity, such as Battle Creek.  They were physicians, pastors, nurses, Adventist publishers, and teachers. Were they furthering the health message by selling cookies?
For the first time, oral histories have been taken with many of these bakers, their surviving families, and with the men and women who managed their baking empires.  These oral histories were conducted with more than forty subjects in cities throughout the South, from Daytona to Dallas, from to Birmingham to Winston-Salem, Rome, Savannah, Baton Rouge, Knoxville, Keene, and Chattanooga.
The author has utilized primary sources at the libraries of both Southern Adventist University and Southwestern Adventist University. The digital archives at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist’s Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research was also heavily utilized. College annual yearbooks and bulletins, and student records were consulted, as were the private collections of many of those interviewed for this research. Hundreds of newspapers were scoured, as were census records, city directories, and military records, and archives throughout the South.
By the 1980s most of these bakeries were gone but this culinary biography suggests that not only might these bakers have believed themselves part of the Adventist health message, but that the contemporary application of that Adventist health message is missing a few ingredients.

The aims were to give a general review on the significance of psychrometric chart in food production and to discuss its applications in various food processing operations. For this purpose, the paper was written by bringing together information and findings from recent published articles as well as from some well-established food engineering textbooks, handbooks and university extensions. The review revealed that the psychrometric chart plays a vital role in the design, analyses and optimization of various food engineering systems and processing equipments. This review stressed the most common food processes where there is heat and moisture transfer between the food and the surrounding air. These processes are food drying, chilling, storage of grains and frozen storage of foods to draw the attention of industry in the overall understanding of the psychrometrics in food production and provide a positive insight to the literature of psychrometrics in those processes.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/3041

Microbes associated with jewellery and some body ornaments such as necklaces, earrings, hand chains, wristwatches, spectacles, rings, bangles and hairclips were investigated. Unused samples were obtained from the Oba Market, Akure, Nigeria to serve as control. Bacteria were found on all the samples collected for individuals while three out of the eight control samples had bacterial growth. The bacteria isolated include Staphylococcus aureus, S. albus, Listeria murrayi, B. cereus, B. subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Rothia dentocariosa. No fungus was isolated from spectacles samples. Percentage occurrence of the fungal isolates from various samples were as follows: Aspergillus niger 75%, A. flavus 25%, Diplococcium sp. 25%, Articulospora sp. 50%, Alternaria sp. 38%, Geotrichum sp. 75%, Acaulopage microspora 12.5% and Penicillum sp. 38%. The bacterial load of the handchain was the highest, (9.6 x 104 cfu/ml), followed by wristwatches (8.4 x 104 cfu/ml), earrings (4.6 x 104 cfu/ml), necklace (4.4 x 104 cfu/ml), and bangles (4.0 x 104 cfu/ml) and ring (2.6 x 104 cfu/ml).

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/87

“Food adulteration” is a very common issue to the society and its harmful effects on health are the vital reason for the mortality and morbidity in the developing countries. The most common adulterant foods are milk, infant formula, meat, fish, honey, ghee, spices, tea, coffee, wine, sugar, grains, wheat etc. Food adulteration may be of intentional, incidental or by contamination with foreign substances such as metals. There are lots of health hazards seen with the food adulteration starting from infant to the older people such as various stomach disorder, small intestine problems, nausea, vomiting, food poisoning, cardiac disorder, kidney problems, liver problems, appendicitis, delay in brain development in case of children and carcinogenic effects etc. Before we eat any kind of food, we must know its quality, authenticity and nutritional value whether, it is obtained from natural sources, processed or semi-processed one. The objective of this article is focused on the review of food adulterants and their hazardous effects on our health. Care must be taken in every step to prevent from adulteration i.e. from cultivation land, processing of food in the industry, transport, proper storage or preservation of food to the kitchen, catering service or at restaurants level. People make adulteration intentionally mainly for the making of profit and these adulterants not only cause GIT disorders but also some poisonous or carcinogenic effects. Thus, consumers should aware of this and some serious safety measures must be taken care to prevent the unnecessary death due to food borne diseases.

Il contributo non intende trattare il tema dell’olivicoltura, già adeguatamente studiato dalla storiografia, ma affronta il discorso abbastanza trascurato che riguarda il processo di estrazione dell’olio di oliva. Attraverso l’analisi dei testi di agronomia italiani compresi tra i secoli XIV e XVI, il lavoro segue le diverse fasi del ciclo di oleificazione: i tempi e le modalità per la raccolta delle olive, le operazioni preliminari alla frangitura, la lavorazione delle olive dal frantoio al torchio, il deposito del prodotto nella cella olearia. Gli autori delle opere prese in considerazione sono i seguenti: Pier de’ Crescenzi e Paganino Bonafede, per il Trecento; Corniolo della Cornia e Michelangelo Tanaglia, per il Quattrocento; Luigi Alamanni e Agostino Gallo, per il Cinquecento.

From the olive grove to the olive oil cellar in Italian agricultural treatises (14th-16th centuries)
This contribution does not examine the already well studied theme of olive tree cultivation but rather focuses on the more overlooked processes employed to extract olive oil. The goal of the article is to follow the different phases that olive pressing consisted in by analyzing Italian agricultural treatises composed between the 14th and the 16th centuries. The phases to be examined are: the period in which olives were meant to be picked and how this picking was supposed to be done, the preliminary procedures preceding the crushing of the olives, the steps going from the actual crushing the fruit to the final pressing of the resulting olive paste, ending with the way oil was deposited in the olive oil cellars. The authors analyzed in the process are Pier de’ Crescenzi and Paganino Bonafede for the 14th century, Corniolo della Cornia and Michelangelo Tanaglia for the 15th century and Luigi Alamanni as well as Agostino Gallo for the 16th century.

The territorial expansion of the British rule in India resulted in an increased interest in the Indian environment and its effects on the health and livelihood of Europeans. Belief in the distinctiveness of the tropical disease environment raised the fundamental question of whether or not it was possible for Europeans to acclimatise their bodies to their new surroundings. The first generation of Company surgeon observed that the indigenous people have been able to keep healthy even in this weather and the Europeans for preserving their health in the tropical climate should follow the same practice. In this regard attention has been directed to the inappropriate diet of the Europeans. The Europeans regularly consumed huge quantities of different kinds of meat including pork and beef. Stomach disorder or even liver dysfunction would be the resultant effect, if this diet was continued daily. This adaptation was necessary because what they perceived as Indian notions of how a ruling body should behave. And with the increasing racialization of the British Raj after 1857, food consumption became a powerful signifier of ‘Britishness’. This paper would like to explore the various facets of the diet prescribed in the numerous medical manuals and household advice compendiums that were being published for the newly recruited English rulers. The British conception of what should be the ‘ideal’ food habits for the English officialdom and how these perceptions were linked to specific ideologies of the Raj which helped to evolve the cultural identity of the English ruling class.

The topic of nutrition is of great interest in German media, but the patterns of media coverage vary as regards content, approach, or form. This paper presents the findings of a research which aimed to identify, at a general level, the major debate topics and the related issues on the subject of nutrition and food, as well as the main characteristics of the corresponding media coverage. At a specific level, different research questions focused both on the content and the form of the media messages. In this regard, a thematic content analysis of the German online media over a three-year period was conducted. According to the research results, the most common debate topics concerning nutrition were those related to health, diets, and the risks associated with nutrition and food, especially those pointing health, medical conditions and environment. Such topics were addressed by the German media over the considered time frame mostly in detailed articles, containing analyzes, reviews and viewpoints, and attended by a considerable number of photos and videos, largely emphasizing the importance of healthy nutrition and health food, and giving many recommendations and useful information in this matter. At the same time, however, creating a certain paradox, media constantly attempted to animate food and drink, mediatizing countless foods and drinks, some of them unhealthy, and generally numerous culinary delights and temptations.

Much of the western world is becoming increasingly
concerned about threats to global food security. These
include crop failures; intensive animal production; soil
erosion; climate change; water shortages; population
growth and extreme weather. At the same time we are all
becoming more aware of the role that food has to play in
our health (from obesity and heart disease to food poverty).

A local food strategy for the City of Lincoln can make a
positive contribution to these issues by developing
local polices and actions not just about growing or eating
food but about food seen as a whole food system, as
depicted below...
02 |

The possibility of using an indirect measurement method of air velocity pattern inside a container during precooling to aid the container openings design was discussed. This indirect measurement of air velocity is based on using the correlation between the cooling rate of a produce simulator and air approach velocity. Plastic balls were chosen to simulate packed horticultural produce in experiments with forced-air cooling. Specific heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, and a cooling rate index of the plastic balls were measured. The cooling rate of the balls was measured using still air and five approach velocities. A regression analysis demonstrated that 98.6% of the variation of the cooling rate of the balls could be explained by the variation of the air approach velocity and their cooling rate index. These findings will allow the prediction of valuable results while using indirect measurement of air velocity to establish the airflow pattern within horticultural produce containers during the next step of this research.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/572

The cold-chain was broken by transferring tomato fruit from cold storage to ambient room temperature. The transfer was performed at different storage time. Precooled tomato, stored under continuous cold condition, was used as control to ascertain the effect of cold-chain break on several quality parameters associated with postharvest tomato fruit. Surveyed quality parameters included weight loss, soluble solids, titratable acidity, firmness, color and global acceptance/general appearance. The results indicated that more severe effects resulted from earlier cold-chain breakage and that less ripened tomato was apparently more susceptible to abuse. It was also demonstrated that there were no significant differences between tomato submitted to a 4-day cooling-delay treatment and the tomatoes that were cooled immediately after harvest. Fruit submitted to cold-chain-breakage treatments exhibited signs of abnormal ripening, increased weight loss and fungus development. It is most likely that disease development was stimulated by water condensation on fruit surface during warming episode.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/517

Sprouting of stored onions in Serbia is not a great problem until the beginning of April following the year of harvest. For longer terms of storage growth regulators such as maleic hydrazide (MH) have been used commercially to increase the storage life of onions. In this work, we investigated the effect of foliar application of MH (Royal MH-30) at 8 litres ha-1 (MH1) and 12 litres ha-1 (MH2) and harvest in three intervals (one, two and three weeks) after MH application on prolonged onion storage. Use of MH should be combined with selection of a good keeping local Serbian variety (‘Kupusinski jabucar’ ±14% D.M.). After harvest onions bulbs were stored at 0-1°C in cooling room and shallow layers in an open-ventilated storage under ambient conditions, during 6 months. MH residues in the bulbs immediately after harvest depend of time of application and doses of MH. The maleic hydrazide was analyzed by HPLC with UV detection of 313 nm. The detection limits of MH was 0.4 μg·ml-1, and the ...

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) beer is a very popular drink in Trinidad and Tobago, and it is consumed in large quantities, especially during the festive Christmas period. The traditional method of producing ginger beer results in a beverage that is variable due to the quality of the raw materials, the natural fermentation microflora and the non-standardised processing method. As a result, the quality of the final product is inconsistent. Since the quality of a fermented beverage depends on the fermenting micro-organisms, the use of natural microflora results in a product of variable quality. However, controlled fermentation produces a product that is consistent in quality. To achieve consistent quality, it is important to know the properties of the fermenting micro-organisms, thereby optimising the fermentation process. The objective of this study was to modify a traditional ginger beer formulation, to produce ginger beer by natural and controlled fermentation, and to compare the chemical, microbial and sensory properties of the two beers.

Ginger beer was made by natural fermentation and by partially controlled fermentation, followed by pasteurisation. The beers were analysed chemically for pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids and for methanol, ethanol, iso-butanol and ethyl acetate concentrations during a five-day fermentation period. Colour and turbidity of the beers were determined using the spectrophotometer. Sensory evaluation of the two beer samples was conducted. Methanol content was higher in the naturally fermented beer than in the beer produced by controlled fermentation. However, pasteurisation reduced methanol concentration to an innocuous (0.02%) amount. Pasteurisation also reduced the concentration of ethanol and ethyl acetate in the beers. Ethanol concentration of the beer produced by natural fermentation was lower than that of the beer produced by controlled fermentation, but the colour was darker and turbidity deeper. These differences however did not affect the sensory scores of the two beers, which were equally acceptable by the sensory panel.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/248

Lead uptake by growing 60 days old Wistar rats from diets contaminated with 160 µg g-1 PbO added with rice bran (RB) was investigated. Eight diets based on the AIN-93 were formulated to furnish either 0, 3 or 12 mg g-1 total phytates, while controlling the amounts of insoluble fiber at either 10 or 50 g kg-1. Two additional intermediate levels of phytates in the diet were obtained by adding partly hydrolyzed bran using exogenous phytase. After four weeks of feeding, the lead contents of blood, liver, kidney and bone were determined by atomic emission spectrometry. The accumulated metal in bone, kidney and liver were inversely proportional to the quantity of phytates ingested. It was possible to isolate the effect of the phytate on the lead accumulation in femur, liver and kidney of the animals consuming RB from that of the insoluble fiber. Significant reductions (P<0.05) were observed in bone from 65 to 35 to 15 µg kg-1, in kidney from 13 to 8 to 3.4 µg kg-1 and in liver from 1.34 to 0.9 to 0.5 µg kg-1, as the phytate content rose from 0 to 3 to 12 mg g-1 of diet, respectively. Differences in blood lead were significant only between the control diet and that with the higher addition of bran. The RB even at its lowest level (3 g kg-1 phytate) showed to be an effective dietary protectant against lead absorption and uptake by the animal, suggesting that too low phytate ingestion, as is often the case with some modern diets, increases the risk of lead poisoning, even from background contamination.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/915

There are 20 recognised species of rice out which only Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima are cultivated. These produce common rice consumed by over 5 billion people globally. A few varieties of Oryza sativa produce rice of uncommon kind in terms of aroma, kernel colour and chemical composition, termed as speciality rices. With the growing prosperity, demand for such speciality rices is growing. Demand for long-slender grained Basmati is growing in India and Pakistan dramatically. Immigrant Asians and even locals in Middle East, European and American countries prefer the best quality Basmati or Jasmine (Khao Dawk Mali or Hawm Mali) rice at any price. Thus it is estimated that demand can not be met at any given time in the foreseeable future. Glutinous or waxy or boutique rice or soft cooking rices sell at 50% higher price than common rice. There is upcoming demand for “black rice” from USA and EU for its value as health food and organic food colour. New speciality rices like special aroma rices, special colour rices, special nutritive rices etc. are being developed globally. Additionally, a number of traditional aromatic rice varieties can be projected as alternative to Basmati. Biotechnological tools have just produced experimental yellow rice or golden rice. But WTO must protect the producers of speciality rices by firmly implementing its regulatory provisions under Minimum Market Access, AoA, TBT and TRIP. Provisions of WTO and agreements of TRIP seek to promote effective and appropriate method of implementing the provisions of the agreement with the countries own legal system and practice. Under a strong WTO, transparency of its regulations and honest implementations of its provisions, prospects of speciality rices seems safe, sound and bright. The growth rate should be phenomenal, and producers and traders should be ready to benefit.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/336

In rethinking the role of food substitutes and health supplements in India’s contemporary market culture, this paper will comment upon the commodification of fitness culture which has generated a pervasive need for consumption of these comparatively new kinds of products. It will locate consumer practices around the same in the interrelated flux of fitness, food substitutes and health supplements, and gyming. In doing so, it will evaluate the agency of India’s largely middle class consumer-base, a diverse segment of the demographic which has to negotiate the baffling proliferation of consumer-based organic/zero cholesterol/no trans-fats etc. food products to decide what’s on the table every day. It will conclude with comments on the position of the consumer with reference to medico-nutritional needs being facilitated primarily through compulsive consumption as integral to good health and fitness.

Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) are good sources of antioxidants, such as lycopene, which have been shown to be beneficial for health. Careful drying of tomatoes can concentrate antioxidants and provide a tasty food product that can help to reduce the incidence of cancers and cardiovascular diseases. Semi-drying to a final dry matter content of 20% at 40°C followed by smoking was used to produce a new tomato product. Colour, pH, titratable acidity and lycopene, vitamin C and total phenol content and antioxidant activity of two tomato cultivars (Caluna and Toronto) were determined on fresh, dried or smoked samples and on final products made from the two different cultivars. The pH of the fresh and final products were very similar (overall mean 4.43±0.02) while the titratable acidity of the final product increased to a mean of 1.24% citric acid compared to the fresh tissue mean of 0.47% citric acid. The drying process increased the extracted lycopene content from a mean of 94.4 mg/...

The paper details a modified method for isolation and culture of adipocyte precursors from pig adipose tissue. We modified the ceiling culture method for pig mature adipocytes, which use their buoyant property to allow them better adhere to a floating glass surface, where they remain viable for several weeks. The optimized conditions for adipose more cell culture is the collagenase concentration of 1mg/ml, digestion duration of two hours and FBS concentration of 15%. The method which overcomes the shortcomings of adipocyte suspension culture, can be used to study adipocyte cell biology.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/1905

Here, we describe a new-freeze method (NFM) for rapid purification of PCR products. After PCR products were separated by horizontal common agarose electrophoresis, gel fragments containing the desired PCR products were directly subjected to NFM. The resulting gel was frozen in nitrogen canister for 60 s and thawed in 70°C for 2 min and then centrifuged. DNA in the supernatant was stored at -20°C until further use. PCR products in the size range of 100-2000 bp were purified within nearly 5 min. NFM could separate 2 DNA fragments that differed in length by 50 bp. As judged by the purification efficiency, the quality of PCR products separated by NFM was equal to that of the method of DNA purification by low-melting-agarose gel method (LMM) and freeze-squeeze method (FSM). NFM reduces the operational time and cost of recombinant DNA technology, in which purification of PCR products is a repetitive process. With no complicated equipment and technical training, NFM is very simple and easy to operate.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/1558

This paper provides a critical overview of the utilisation and use of various types of meat and animal fat in emulsion type sausages. Emphasis has been placed on the functionality of beef, pork, poultry, fish and mutton in the meat emulsions. Meat raw material selection has an important influence on the yield, texture and microstructure of comminuted sausage products. It is difficult to evaluate the large amount of data due to the use of varying techniques in obtaining these data. Hence, standardization of these methods is required. Further research is needed to improve methodology to determine the functional properties of meat systems. Mathematical models are required to describe the behavior of various meat systems in meat emulsions. These models will assist in the optimization of the functionality of final product, and the optimum and proper utilisation of different meat products. Further investigations are required to determine the effects of various ingredients in structure forming properties of the sausages.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/581

Black carrot (BC) has received much attention as a source of natural bioactive subtances like dietary fiber, polyphenols and antioxidants. Bioactive compounds have long been considered to exert protective effects against many diseases due to inhibition of oxidative damage. Dietary fiber is also recently the main focus area for human nutrition, and increased fiber intake is dietary recommendation for reducing the risk of some chronic diseases. Thus, a high-fiber food is an important objective in today’s food product development. Research to evaluate some properties of fiber from BC pomace, in order to use it as potential fiber source in the enrichment of cookies, was carried out. Fiber from BC pomace was incorporated into flour at different levels (0, 5, 10 and 15%), and the effects of increased levels on the rheological properties of dough, dietary fiber, polyphenol content, antioxidant activity and quality characteristics of cookies were investigated. Ash, total protein and dietary fiber content of BC fiber were 7.3, 6.8 and 52.5%, respectively. Farinograph characteristics of wheat flour-BC fiber blends showed increase in water absorption from 60.2 to 79.1% with increase in the level of fiber from 0 to 15%. On the contrary of extensibility of the dough, maximum resistance and resistance at constant deformation values increased with increase in the fiber level. The spread ratio of the cookies decreased from 7.1 to 5.5. The BC fiber affected the color of the cookies negatively, however, when it was added at the rate of 15%, it increased the total dietary fiber contents from 0.93 to 3.72%. The BC fiber also increased the polyphenol content and antioxidant activity of the cookies, and these values, respectively, increased 5 and 5.5 times greater at the level of 15%. The general acceptability was good at the level of 10% the BC fiber in the sensory evaluation.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/2223

The hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) system, created to prevent disease hazards caused by food and to provide food safety, has gained increasing importance in food companies. This part of the food industry can benefit at economic and human levels from the establishment and the effective management of such system. The article first reviews the concepts and explains the methodology underlying the HACCP system. The different steps necessary to set up an efficient HACCP system in food industries are outlined. In the concluding part of the article, an exemplary implementation of the system in a frozen fruit company is described.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/1565

Elevated concentrations of plasma glucose and free fatty acids (FFA) are associated with impaired endothelial function increasing risk of cardiovascular diseases. Previous studies suggested that fruits rich in polyphenolic compounds modulate endothelial cell migration and capillary-like tube formation via a redox-sensitive mechanism. We hypothesized that polyphenol-rich extracts of strawberry (SB) and wild blueberry (WB) would attenuate relatively high concentrations of glucose and/or FFA–mediated impaired cell migration and capillary-like tube formation in vitro in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). HUVECs treated with high FFA and combinations of glucose and FFA showed significantly reduced cell migration and capillary-like tube formation compared to the PBS control (p<0.05). However, HUVEC pre-treated with SB or WB extracts significantly increased cell migration and capillary-like tube formation in cells treated with FFA or a combination of FFA and glucose compared to cells exposed to the same nutrients/combinations alone. The results from this study suggest that berry fruits may play a role in promoting cardiovascular health especially in individuals with high blood glucose and/or FFA levels.
Keywords: Wild Blueberry; Strawberry; Glucose; Free Fatty Acids; Cell Migration; Tube Formation.

Fulvic acid (FA) is a class of compound including humic substances together with humic acid and humin. It is formed through the degradation of organic substances by chemical and biological process. FA consists of a mixture of closely related complex aromatic polymers with the presence of aromatic rings, phenolic hydroxyl, ketone carbonyl, quinone carbonyl, carboxyl and alkoxyl groups. The possible application of coal-derived FA as an antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory property has been reported. Actually, it is used as a soil supplement in agriculture and as a human nutritional supplement. In this work, we examined, for the first time, the scavenging activity of biosynthesized fulvic acid in comparison with reference compounds. It was evaluated the in vitro superoxide (O2•–), hypochlorous acid (HOCl), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical (OH•), peroxynitrite (ONOO–) and singlet oxygen (1O2) scavenging capacity of the fulvic acid synthesized from a compost elaborated with poultry manure by spectrophotometric methods. The IC50 (mg/ml) values were as follows: 4.97±0.02, 1.56±0.06, 1.39±0.03, 2.5±0.04, 5.73±0.05 and 3.54±0.03 for O2•–, HOCl, H2O2, OH•, ONOO– and 1O2, respectively. FA displays a scavenging activity compared with the reference compounds although it was less efficient than nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), ascorbic acid, pyruvate, dimethylthiourea (DMTU), penicillamine and glutathione (GSH) for O2•–, HOCl, H2O2, OH•, ONOO– and 1O2, respectively. The antioxidant properties of the FA partially support the health beneficial properties of this compound; and therefore, the FA is a good candidate to be used in pharmaceutical or food industries as an accessible source of natural antioxidants.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/2236

Temperature is one of the most important parameters of the quality control for frozen and chilled food, and then freshness is almost exclusively a function of time and temperature. As the temperature management is a very important function for fresh foods, it is desirable that the quality conditions during storage and transport are clearly understood and traceable. This paper describes the development of a temperature-managed traceability system based on RFID tag, GPS, mobile communication based on TTT theory. The system has been tested with the Haikou-Beijing transport scenario for chilled tilapia. The results show that the system is helpful in quality control, traceability and efficiency of frozen and chilled food during storage and transportation chain. In addition, the system also has significant impact on stakeholders across the supply chain via improved quality and reduced cost.

Link of the paper: https://www.wflpublisher.com/Abstract/2425