Packaging requirements for fresh bakery goods are often minimal as many of the products are for immediate consumption. However, packaging can be an important factor in extending the shelf life of ...other cereal-based goods (toast, frozen products, biscuits, cakes, pastas). Some amount of the texture changes and flavor loss manifest over the shelf life of a soft-baked good can usually be minimized or delayed by effective use of packaging materials. The gains in the extension of shelf life will be application specific. It is recognized that defining the shelf life of a food is a difficult task and is an area of intense research for food product development scientists (food technologists, microbiologists, packaging experts). Proper application of chemical kinetic principles to food quality loss allows for efficiently designing appropriate shelf-life tests and maximizing the useful information that can be obtained from the resulting data. In the development of any new food product including reformulating, change of packaging, or storage/distribution condition (to penetrate into a new market), one important aspect is the knowledge of shelf life.
The effect of four edible hydrocolloid coatings (carboxymethyl cellulose, chitosan, pectin and gum arabic) on fresh-cut potato’s colour, pH and moisture content during storage was studied. ...Possibility of coating enrichment with natural olive leaf extract and sodium ascorbate was also evaluated. Coatings scored as the best ones straight after coating or during storage for 7 days at 10 ± 1 °C, were used for deep fat frying of potato. Chitosan was shown to cause significant decrease in pH and browning of potato strips. Pectin was classified as good coating alone but in combination with olive leaf extract showed lower quality parameters of fresh-cut samples compared to control. Only carboxymethyl cellulose and gum arabic itself or enriched with olive leaf extract or sodium ascorbate were shown not to affect colour, pH and moisture during storage. Moreover, these coatings significantly reduced fat content in deep fat fried potato strips, without influence on
L*
,
b*,
whiteness index
(WI)
, and
ΔE
.
The aim of this work was to study the effect of adding red prickly pear, as wasted source of antioxidants on various characteristics of novel functional (antioxidant) chitosan and pectin film ...formulations. Four types of prickly pear material were used: fruit pulp or peel, as powdered extracts and as aqueous extracts. Prickly pear peel extract was shown to possess higher antioxidant properties than fruit pulp. The antioxidant power of extracts was pretty high, around 1000 mgAAE∙100 g−1 for extract and that of all films around 100 mgAAE∙100 g−1 for films. Even though some changes in thickness, moisture content, water solubility, oxygen permeability and water vapor permeability of films occurred after the addition of aqueous extracts, the most significant were observed in samples produced with powdered extracts, which led to the significant mechanical failures. Chitosan films had yellow orange taints, while pectin films had rose violet taints. FTIR analysis did not reveal important structural changes. Good antioxidant capacity with unchanged physico-chemical properties, when compared to clean chitosan or pectin, suggested about the possibility of use of novel bio-based prickly pear agricultural waste formulations for potential food packaging applications.
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The influence of packaging barrier properties and frozen storage on phenolic and phytosterol content, oxidative stability and crumb texture of frozen dough, part-baked and fully baked frozen bread ...was investigated in comparison to conventionally produced bread. Samples were stored either in blue coloured high density polyethylene (PE-HD) or transparent polyester-polyethylene-ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (PET-PE/EVAL/PE) pouches for 22 days at −18 °C. Packaging materials were different in oxygen permeability: 3.67 cm
3m
−2day
−1 bar
−1 for PET-PE/EVAL/PE and 2080 cm
3m
−2day
−1 bar
−1 for PE-HD material, which did not significantly change during storage. Total phenolic content and oxidative stability of bread samples decreased during storage depending on the process. Frozen dough bread had the lowest phenolics decrease and the highest oxidative stability. Total phenolic content and oxidative stability of frozen breads during 8 days were similar to conventional bread. The phenolics reduction was higher for samples stored in PET-PE/EVAL/PE laminate than in PE-HD packaging. Total sterol content did not significantly change during bread storage in investigated packaging and did not contribute to the oxidation. Bread firmness was affected only by the process and not by the storage time and packaging material.
Shelf-life of frankfurters depends on various factors such as its composition, packaging material and method used as well as the effect of external conditions (temperature). The objective of this ...study was to determine the shelf-life of packaged (vacuum, shrink and modified atmosphere, MA) chicken frankfurters during storage at different temperatures. For this purpose regular and with sodium lactate addition chicken frankfurters were produced. For MA packaging (MAP), under gas mixture of 70% N2 and 30% CO2, a package consisting of container and heat sealable cover was used. Different laminate composition was used for vacuum and shrink packaging of frankfurters. During frankfurters storage physico-chemical (pH, aw), and microbiological (aerobic mesophiles, lactic acid bacteria and total bacterial count) analyses were performed. Packaging materials were analyzed for their barrier characteristic (oxygen permeability). The shelf-life of frankfurters can be extended if packaged in MA (54 days) and shrink (45 days) packaging compared to 36 days of shelf-life in vacuum packaging, at 3 °C. Higher shelf-life is obtained for frankfurters with lactate addition, in all packaging conditions, stored at 6 °C.
PTSD rarely occurs on its own and opinions on the correlation between PTSD and its comorbidities are still divided.
To identify the comorbidity profile of psychiatric diagnoses in PTSD – affected war ...veterans and to determine the correlation with mental and health problems.
The experimental group consisted of 154 war veterans with combat-related PTSD. The control group was made of 77 veterans without PTSD. The study applied a general demographic questionnaire, the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire – Bosnia and Herzegovina version and the MINI.
A 97.4% of PTSD-diagnosed veterans satisfied criteria for other mental disorders and that 44.8% suffered chronic somatic problems. More frequently they suffered from current depressive episode (41.6%), past depressive episode (36.4%), depressive episode with melancholic features (36.4%), dysthymia (13.6%), panic disorder with agoraphobia (11.0%), generalized anxiety disorder (82.5%) alcohol abuse (34.4%) and suicidal ideation (26.0%).
The study showed that chronic PTSD in war veterans was almost always accompanied by multiple psychiatric and often somatic comorbidities.
Guidewire loss is a rare complication of central venous catheterization. A 65-year-old male was hospitalized in a high-dependency unit for exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ...pneumonia, erythrocytosis, and clinical signs of heart failure. Upon admission, after an unsuccessful right jugular approach, a left jugular central venous catheter was placed. The next day, chest radiography revealed the catheter located in the left parasternal region, with suspected retention of the guidewire, visually confirmed by the presence of its proximal end inside the catheter. The left parasternal location of the catheter and the typical projection of the guidewire in the coronary sinus, later confirmed by echocardiography, raised suspicion of a persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC). Agitated saline injected into the left antecubital vein confirmed bubble entry from the coronary sinus into the right atrium. After clamping the guidewire, the catheter was carefully retrieved along with the guidewire without any complications. This is the first reported case of guidewire retention in PLSVC and coronary sinus. It underscores the potential causes of guidewire loss and advocates preventive measures to avoid this potentially fatal complication. Keywords: intraoperative complication, central venous catheter, persistent left superior vena cava, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive lung disease