The purpose of this Special Issue entitled "Spicy and Aromatic Plants" is to expand our knowledge about edible plants, which have been used for thousands of years, by all the peoples of the world, in ...every household ....
The avocado seed is an underused waste resulting from the processing of pulp. Polyphenols, fibers, and carotenoids are present in the seed, which also exhibits prophylactic, fungicidal, and ...larvicidal effects. Developing food products with avocado seed as an ingredient or spice is highly desired for nutritional, environmental, and economic reasons. The present study proposed its valorization in a hot drink, similar to already existing coffee alternatives, obtained by infusing the roasted and grinded avocado seed. The proximate composition of the raw or conditioned avocado seed and that of the novel drink were determined. The total phenolic content was assessed using the Folin-Ciocâlteu method. The total carotenoids were extracted and assessed spectrophotometrically. Starch determination was performed by the Ewers Polarimetric method. The highest content of polyphenols, 772.90 mg GAE/100 g, was determined in the crude seed, while in the drink was as low as 17.55 mg GAE/100 g. However, the proposed drink demonstrated high antioxidant capacity, evaluated through the DPPH method. This might be due to the high content of the total carotenoid compounds determined in the roasted seed (6534.48 µg/100 g). The proposed drink demonstrated high antiproliferative activity on Hs27 and DLD-1 cell lines.
The large number of cultivars belonging to the cultivated apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) reflects an extremely wide range of variability, including for fruit quality traits. To evaluate some ...characteristics of fruit quality, 22 apple genotypes were selected from a collection of germplasms containing more than 600 accessions, based on different considerations, including the use of fruits (dessert, cooking, processing, juice, cider, multipurpose). The mean water content of the studied apple genotypes was 85.05%, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 2.74%; the mean ash content was 2.32% with a CV of 22.1%, and the mean total soluble solids was 16.22% with a CV of 17.78%, indicating a relatively small difference between genotypes for these indices. On the contrary, relatively large differences were registered between genotypes for fruit weight, volume, and titratable acidity with means of 119.52 g, 155 mL, and 0.55% malic acid, and CVs of 35.17%, 34.58%, and 54.3%, respectively. The results showed that peel hardness varied between 3.80 and 13.69 N, the toughness between 0.2 and 1.07 mm, the flesh hardness between 0.97 and 4.76 N, and the hardness work between 6.88 and 27.84 mJ. The current study can emphasize the possibility of choosing the appropriate apple cultivars to cross in the breeding process and how future strategies can help apple breeders select breeding parents, which are essential key steps when breeding new apple cultivars. In addition, multivariate analysis has proven to be a useful tool in assessing the relationships between Malus genetic resources.
Individual sugars were analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) in plum juice samples obtained from “Stanley”, “Vânăt de Italia”, and “Tuleu Gras”. The samples were harvested from ...the inside and periphery of the crown during six development phases. The aim of the present study was to determine the individual sugars in plum juice by the HPLC and Fourier transform mid-infrared spectroscopy (FT-MIR) methods and to validate them. Our findings were as follows: levels between 0.26–3.73% for fructose, 1.43–1.10% for glucose, and 0.01–10.19% for sucrose. The FT-MIR analyses confirmed the differences between the juice samples, mainly in the spectral region characteristic to sugars which ranged from 900 to 1500 cm−1. FT-MIR coupled with Partial least squares (PLS) was used to develop calibration models for estimating individual plum juice sugars, the predictive characteristics being assessed. The optimal regions and spectral pretreatments were 800–1600 cm−1 and Savitzky Golay first derivative (d1) for fructose, 800–1600 cm−1 for glucose, and 915–1145 cm−1 and second derivative (d2) for sucrose. The selection of optimal spectral zones and pre-treatments led to PLS calibration models with acceptable predictive abilities for glucose, very good for sucrose, and less satisfactory for fructose. Moreover, the FT-MIR results were compared to the HPLC results in external validation tests and reference values included.
The current trend is represented by replacing solid fats with structured liquid oil while maintaining the plastic properties of food products. In this study, the behavior of refined sunflower oil ...structured with various agents (carnauba wax-CRW,
-sitosterol:beeswax-BS:BW,
-sitosterol:lecithin-BS:LEC, and glycerol monostearate-GM) was evaluated in the process dynamics of oleogel-based tender dough products. The oleogel with the mixture of
-sitosterol:beeswax (OG_BS:BW) displayed the highest capacity to retain oil inside the matrix with a percentage of oil loss as low as 0.05% and also had a significantly higher hardness (6.37 N) than the reference, a commercial margarine (MR-3.58 N). During cooling from 90 to 4 °C, the increase in oleogel' viscosity results from oleogelator's liquid-solid phase transition. As demonstrated by the frequency sweeps performed, storage modulus G' was higher than loss modulus G″, no cross-over points were observed, and the strongest gel network was for the oleogel with glycerol monostearate (OG_GM). Regarding the dough, the sample prepared using the oleogel with carnauba wax (D_CRW) showed the strongest hardness (92.49 N) compared to the reference (D_MR-21.80 N). All the oleogel-containing doughs had elastic solid-like behavior. The samples with margarine (D_MR) and the mixture of
-sitosterol:lecithin (D_BS:LEC) presented the lowest value of both moduli of G' and G" during the frequency sweep. The biscuits formulated with commercial margarine (B_MR) registered a hardness of 28.74 N. Samples with oleogels showed a specific tenderness for tender dough products, thus being suitable for this type of product (11.22-20.97 N).
Aromatic and spicy plants are an important factor that contributes not only to improving the taste of meat, meat products, and meat analogues, but also to increasing the nutritional value of the ...products to which they are added. The aim of this paper is to present the latest information on the bioactive antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the most commonly used herbs and spices (parsley, dill, basil, oregano, sage, coriander, rosemary, marjoram, tarragon, bay, thyme, and mint) used in the meat and meat analogues industry, or proposed to be used for meat analogues.
The advanced biochemical characterisation of green, red lentil and wheat flours was performed by assessing their folic acid content as well as individual minerals, amino acids, fatty acids and ...volatile compounds. Moreover, a nutritionally improved wheat–lentil composite flour, with a content of 133.33 μg of folic acid/100 g, was proposed in order to assure the folic acid daily intake (200 μg) for an adult person. The wheat and lentil flours percentages used for the composite were calculated by using the equations for total material balance and folic acid content material balance. Bread was selected as model food for the composite flour due to its high daily intake (~ 250 g day
−1
) and to its great potential in biofortification. By this algorithm, two composite flours were developed, wheat–green lentil flour (22.21–77.79%) and wheat–red lentil flour (42.62–57.38%), their advanced biochemical characteristics being predicted based on the determined compositions of their constituents. The baking behaviour of the new developed wheat-lentils composite flours with optimised folic acid content was tested. In order to objectively compare the bread samples, texture profile analysis was considered the most relevant test. A good baking behaviour was observed for the wheat–red lentil bread, while for the wheat–green lentil composite flour, encouraging results were obtained.
Abstract Saturated and trans fat intake have been linked to an increased risk of developing diseases such as cardiovascular and coronary heart disease, obesity, and myocardial infarction. As a result ...of the actions and regulations proposed to reduce and eliminate the content of saturated and trans fats, it is necessary to develop and implement new structuring technologies, such as oleogelation. Oleogelation is a promising strategy for structuring liquid oil, that allows the incorporation of vegetable oils rich in unsaturated fatty acids into food matrix and which can provide the functionality of solid fats and improved nutritional characteristics. The partial or total replacement of conventional fats with oleogels in pastry products is of great interest due to their larger consumption. In this research paper, the puff (jam-filled puff pastry) and tender pastries (bow tie cookies, cheese crackers, apple pie, and cookies) have been reformulated by totally replacing of conventional fats with oleogel and the structural behavior in the dynamics of the technological process was evaluated. The textural properties of oleogel were comparable to those of some conventional fats, but frequency sweep measurements showed that the oleogel formulated with refined sunflower oil and carnauba wax (10% w/w) had the highest storage modulus G’ and loss modulus G’’ values when compared to conventional fats (commercial margarine, butter, a mixture of 73% margarine and 27% lard, and puff pastry margarine). The textural properties of oleogel (2.34 N and 2.30 mJ) were significantly different from those of puff pastry margarine (9.78 N and 21.73 mJ), but compared to other conventional fats, the values of hardness (1.42–2.70 N) and adhesiveness (4.40–5.17 mJ) were similar. For conventional and oleogel doughs the storage modulus (Gʹ) were higher than loss modulus (G″) and both increased with the applied frequency (Hz). In terms of the products textural profile, the prototypes formed with oleogel exhibited lower hardness values (2.37–15.64 N) than the conventional products (8.83–19.89 N), indicating the tenderizing effect produced by the oleogel. The fat losses determined during 14 days of storage showed a lower physical stability of the doughs and products formulated with oleogel, most probably due to the destabilization kinetics of the lipid system during the operations of the technological process.
Individual sugars were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in samples of apple juices obtained from the fruits of ‘Jonathan’, ‘Starkrimson’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ cultivars. ...Samples were harvested from the inside and the periphery of the crown, at different periods during fruits growth, from 7 to 144 days after full bloom (DAFB). Values from 0.42 to 14.33%, 0.29 to 4.06% and 0 to 4.28% were determined for fructose, glucose and sucrose, respectively. The values of fructose and glucose have increased significantly (p<0.05), starting with the seventh DAFB, regardless of the studied cultivar, while sucrose increased slowly at the beginning and then faster starting 65 DAFB. Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) analysis confirmed the differences between juice samples, the region 900-1500 cm-1 being the most specific to sugars signals. FT-MIR coupled to partial least squares (PLS) calibration models for predicting individual sugars of apple juices were developed. The optimal regions and pre-treatments of the spectra were 900-1500 cm-1 and Savitzky Golay first derivative (d1) for fructose, 900-1200 cm-1 and d2 for glucose and 900-1200 cm-1 and standard normal variate for sucrose. In cross-validation, the PLS calibration models showed very good performance for fructose (Rcval2=0.95; standard error of cross-validation (SECV) =0.907) and acceptable for glucose (Rcval2=0.85; SECV=0.424), while for sucrose showed only satisfactory performance (Rcval2=0.75; SECV=0.561). For practical relevance, the FT-MIR predicted values were compared against the HPLC determined reference values in external validations tests. The best results were achieved for fructose (Rp2=0.94; RPD=4.9), while glucose (Rp2=0.84; RPD=2.61) and sucrose (Rp2=0.7; RPD=2.08) models reached satisfactory values.
Individual sugars were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in samples of apple juices obtained from the fruits of ‘Jonathan’, ‘Starkrimson’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ cultivars. ...Samples were harvested from the inside and the periphery of the crown, at different periods during fruits growth, from 7 to 144 days after full bloom (DAFB). Values from 0.42 to 14.33%, 0.29 to 4.06% and 0 to 4.28% were determined for fructose, glucose and sucrose, respectively. The values of fructose and glucose have increased significantly (p<0.05), starting with the seventh DAFB, regardless of the studied cultivar, while sucrose increased slowly at the beginning and then faster starting 65 DAFB. Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) analysis confirmed the differences between juice samples, the region 900-1500 cm-1 being the most specific to sugars signals. FT-MIR coupled to partial least squares (PLS) calibration models for predicting individual sugars of apple juices were developed. The optimal regions and pre-treatments of the spectra were 900-1500 cm-1 and Savitzky Golay first derivative (d1) for fructose, 900-1200 cm-1 and d2 for glucose and 900-1200 cm-1 and standard normal variate for sucrose. In cross-validation, the PLS calibration models showed very good performance for fructose (Rcval 2=0.95; standard error of cross-validation (SECV) =0.907) and acceptable for glucose (Rcval 2=0.85; SECV=0.424), while for sucrose showed only satisfactory performance (Rcval 2=0.75; SECV=0.561). For practical relevance, the FT-MIR predicted values were compared against the HPLC determined reference values in external validations tests. The best results were achieved for fructose (Rp 2=0.94; RPD=4.9), while glucose (Rp 2=0.84; RPD=2.61) and sucrose (Rp 2=0.7; RPD=2.08) models reached satisfactory values.
PDF
