European Food Research and Technology最新文献

The present research sought to evaluate the detection capacity of the electronic nose for the hazelnut aroma in a filled chocolate wafer, measuring its release and physical–chemical, thermal, and microbiological properties during 60 days where the product was stored at 25 °C and 40 °C. It was found that moisture, Aw, pH, thermal resistivity, and diffusivity remained stable during storage at both temperatures, with no significant difference (p > 0.05). While there was variation in color (L*, a*, b*, and ΔE) and in thermal conductivity. The microbiological analyses of mesophilic bacteria, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and coagulase-positive staphylococci were maintained in accordance with the standards established by current legislation. The results obtained with the sensors array showed good sensitivity and a high limit of detection (> 0.001 mg/mL) for hazelnut aroma. The electronic nose was able to discriminate between the release of volatiles from chocolates stored at 25 and 40 °C, with a greater response observed at high temperature (40 °C) at the beginning of storage. Through the application of the Arrhenius model, we successfully determined the activation energy for key color components (L*, a*, b*) and thermal conductivity. Additionally, our findings revealed a good fit of volatile component release to the zero-order model, characterized by a high correlation coefficient (> 0.9). These findings underscore the importance of considering storage temperature when preserving the quality of products such as chocolates. Furthermore, the study validates the use of the electronic nose as a viable technique for analyzing volatiles in food, providing valuable insights for the food industry.

Graphical abstract

Consumers are increasingly interested in chestnuts for their health benefits and also for their organoleptic qualities. It is therefore very important to enhance the chestnut from a sensorial point of view. The sensorial characteristics of commercial chestnuts from three Italian Marrone cultivars (M1 ‘Marrone di Antrodoco’; M2 ‘Marrone dei Monti Cimini’; M3 ‘Marrone del Mugello’ PGI) were investigated with the aim of identifying their sensory profiles. The sensory evaluation was conducted according to (ISO 8589 in Sensory analysis. General guidance for the design of test rooms, 2007; UNI EN ISO 13299 in Sensory analysis. Methodology. General guidance for establishing a sensory profile, 2016). Each descriptor was scored on a range with intervals ranging from 0 (absence of the descriptor) to 10 (maximum intensity of the descriptor). The M1 cultivar is characterized by greater crunchiness (8.0, on a scale from 0 to 10), sweetness (7.5), aromatic intensity (7.9) and caramel aroma (3.3). The M2 cultivar is distinguished by its buttery (3.2) and floral aroma (3.0) with a wood/musk note (1.9) that is missing from the other two cultivars. The M3 cultivar has an almond aroma (5.2) and is distinguished by walnut (3.0) and citrus (2.8) aromas, which are absent in cultivars M1 and M2. The results of this study are important as they experimentally demonstrate that the identification of characteristic sensory profile makes the qualitative differences between cultivars evident. The results showed that linoleic, oleic and palmitic acids were the main components of the lipid fraction of chestnut nuts. In all samples the unsaturated fraction predominated over the saturated one. It is also important to note that there were significant quantitative differences between cultivars. The valorization of Marrone chestnut cultivars contributes to promoting consumer use of these products with their high nutritional value and therefore contributes to the promotion of public health.

Microbial pigments have extensive applications in the food, cosmetic, and biopharmaceutical industries. In this study, a pigment-rich actinomycete identified as Streptomyces tauricus was isolated from soil, and the solubility and stability of its were investigated. The pigment was separated and purified through thin-layer chromatography (TLC), column chromatography, and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine its components. The chemical structure of the pigment was characterized through infrared (IR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS), tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS–MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Additionally, the antioxidant properties and safety profile of the pigment were assessed. The S. tauricus pigment was bright, vivid brownish-red, intracellular, and fat-soluble; it exhibited considerable photothermal stability and maintained its color below pH 7. The presence of Cu²⁺, Fe²⁺, and Fe³⁺ ions markedly influenced the pigment’s characteristics. The pigment comprised primarily purple and orange components. The purple component, which is relatively rare in microbial sources, was subjected to detailed study. The core structure of the purple component was identified as methylbenzanthracene dione, which has high antioxidant activity and no toxicity in brine shrimp assays. Due to its resilience to high temperatures and acidic environments, coupled with its bioactivity and lack of toxicity, this pigment may serve as a promising candidate for various industrial and food applications.

Sourdough bread has gained interest with the increasing demand of consumers for more natural, delicious and healthy foods. Also, consumption of whole grain flour is increasing due to the bioactive compounds it contains. This study aimed to investigate the effects of wheat variety (Tosunbey, Kenanbey, İkizce-96, Bezostaja-1), sourdough treatment [Spontaneous fermentation (SP), Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (LP), Fructilactobacillus sanfranciscensis (LS)] and sourdough level (0–10–20–30%) on the technological characteristics of whole wheat bread. The investigated factors had significant effects on pH, total titratable acidity, specific volume, color and textural parameters. The increasing levels of sourdough decreased the specific volume of whole wheat bread and increased the crumb hardness. The whole wheat sourdough breads produced with LP and LS had lower specific volumes due to the acidity, but were more favorable in terms of smell compared to SP. The hardness and chewiness of the bread samples significantly increased with the three days of storage, while the cohesiveness and springiness decreased. Wheat varieties with higher protein content and Zeleny sedimentation value had better performance for whole wheat sourdough bread production. The study showed that sourdough with selected lactic starters (LP and LS) could be used at 10–20% levels in whole wheat bread formulations to have acceptable technological and sensory characteristics.

The Arecaceae and Myrtaceae families are widespread across Brazil. They include many of Brazil's native fruit species. Local communities use these plants for many purposes. Their health impacts come from bioactive compounds, notably phytochemicals. These compounds are crucial for managing chronic diseases and can serve as antimicrobial agents. Therefore, this review aimed to present and discuss the importance of commercialization, consumption, and development of new products from some plant matrices native to Brazil, such as purple-araçá, bacaba, cherry of Rio Grande, grumixama, juçara, and pitanga with emphasis on the phenolic profile and functional potential as agents in biological activities. The information presented herein serves as a foundation for enhancing practices ranging from cultivation and consumption to the formulation of innovative ingredients and food products. This emphasis is particularly relevant for underexplored fruits, such as purple-araçá and bacaba, which possess untapped potential for further investigation and application.

Almond (Prunus dulcis) is a nutritious food with a rich content. In addition to consuming as food, it is also used for various purposes in sectors such as medicine, cosmetics and bioenergy. With all these usages, almond has become a globally demanded product. Accurately determining almond variety is crucial for quality assessment and market value. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) has a great performance in image classification. In this study, a public dataset containing images of four different almond varieties was created. Five well-known and light-weight CNN models (DenseNet121, EfficientNetB0, MobileNet, MobileNet V2, NASNetMobile) were used to classify almond images. Additionally, a model called 'Genetic CNN', which has its hyperparameters determined by Genetic Algorithm, was proposed. Among the well-known and light-weight CNN models, NASNetMobile achieved the most successful result with an accuracy rate of 99.20%, precision of 99.21%, recall of 99.20% and f1-score of 99.19%. Genetic CNN outperformed well-known models with an accuracy rate of 99.55%, precision of 99.56%, recall of 99.55% and f1-score of 99.55%. Furthermore, the Genetic CNN model has a relatively small size and low test time in comparison to other models, with a parameter count of only 1.1 million. Genetic CNN is suitable for embedded and mobile systems and can be used in real-life solutions.

Due to the ban of certain single-use plastics in the European Union, food contact materials (FCM) from biobased and/or biodegradable polymers are increasingly being used. Some FCM are made from wheat or rye and therefore contain gluten, which is a food allergen and known to cause celiac disease. Legislation currently does not require allergen labelling on FCM and there is only some first information that gluten from FCM can migrate into gluten-free foods. Our aim was to analyze the extent of gluten migration from six different FCM into a variety of liquid and solid foods to assess the risk of exposure for wheat allergy and celiac disease patients. We show that the extent of gluten migration depended on the properties of the material, the liquid or solid food it comes into contact with and contact time. There was no clear effect of temperature or pH value. Of the six FCM studied, wheat bran-based plates had the highest potential to release gluten with concentrations of up to 203.0 mg/L of gluten in deionized water after 30 min. To protect patients, it is important to raise awareness of the risk of gluten migration from such FCM and help patients identify and avoid gluten-containing FCM. Further, legislation needs to be adapted urgently to include mandatory labelling of allergens on these biodegradable FCM.

The current study aimed at investigating the effect of certain operational parameters of UV-C radiator on the selected mechanical properties of semifinished potato tuber. Innovator potato variety was selected for the preparation of semifinished potato strips. The prepared potato strips were stored for 24 h following exposure at the desired storage condition. The irradiation experiment was carried out using a UV-C chamber at varied UV-C doses, Mode of exposure, and distance from the radiator. UV-C dose has a pronounced effect over the other tested parameters. Samples subjected at 60 mJ/cm² resulted in higher resistance to compression and bending force while the resistance to cutting force was enhanced at a lower UV-C dose (15 mJ/cm²). Mechanical properties were not significantly impacted by the mode of exposure and distance from the light. Furthermore, the Morphological and microstructural properties of the sample were examined using SEM and AFM resulting in alteration in granule size, spacing, and roughness of the irradiated samples.

Animal proteins from meat and its stuffs have recently been one of main concerns in the drive for sustainable food production. This viewpoint suggests that there are exciting prospects to reformulate meat products that are produced more sustainably and may also have health benefits by substituting high-protein nonmeat ingredients for some of the meat. Considering these pre-existing conditions, this review critically reviews recent data on extenders from several sources, including pulses, plant-based components, plant byproducts, and unconventional sources. We used the related keywords from Scopus-database without limiting the publishing date. With an emphasis on how these findings may impact the sustainability of meat products, it sees them as a great chance to enhance the functional quality and technological profile of meat. Therefore, to promote sustainability, meat alternatives such as plant-based meat equivalents are being made available. To boost consumer acceptability of these goods, further initiatives should also be developed to enhance the functioning of these innovative food items and increase public knowledge of plant-based meat analogues.

Coffee is one of the most highly valued, consumed and comercialized foods in the world. Due to its considerable importance, it has become the target of numerous adulterations. Detecting a possible adulteration and the presence of additional adulterants in coffee has become an issue of great concern mainly because the compounds used as adulterants exhibit physical features very similar to ground roasted coffee. Aiming to overcome these difficulties, this work reports the development and application of a relatively faster, highly effective and reliable method for the detection and identification of adulterations in roasted coffee through the analysis of the composition of the volatile fraction in the presence of adulterants such as rice, corn, soybeans and barley. The proposed method was based on gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and chemometric tools. The application of the method led to the exclusive identification of many compounds in the volatile fraction of the adulterants investigated. The adulterants, despite having compounds similar to coffee, differed in terms of their volatile profiles, and consisted mainly of hydrocarbons, aldehydes, esters and carboxylic acids. Among all the compounds identified, five compounds were found to be the main determinants of adulteration: 2-furanmethanol-acetate, 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, 5-methyl-2-furancarboxaldehyde, 2-furanmethanol and glycerol-1,2-diacetate.