We review the functionality of sucrose during the manufacture of biscuits from the perspective of sugar replacement. Besides to providing sweetness, sucrose has important functionalities concerning ...structure and texture formation. These functionalities also need to be mimicked in reformulated biscuits. First, we review the hypotheses concerning the development of structure and texture of biscuits during manufacturing, which are conveniently summarized in a qualitative way using the Complex Dispersed Systems methodology. Subsequently, we represent the changes of the state of the biscuit during manufacturing in the supplemented state diagram, which indicates the important phase transitions occurring during mixing and baking. We propose that when reformulated biscuits follow similar paths in the state diagram, similar structures and textures can be obtained. Physical theories exist for predicting these phase transitions for existing sucrose-rich biscuits and also reformulated biscuits containing extensive sweeteners as sugar replacers. More accurate predictions of structure and texture can be eventually obtained if they are combined with computational models, including heat and moisture transfer.
We review the functionality of sucrose during the manufacture of cakes from the perspective of sugar replacement. Besides providing sweetness, sucrose has important functionalities concerning ...structure formation. These functionalities also need to be mimicked in reformulated cakes. First, we review the hypotheses, concerning the development of structure and texture of cakes during manufacturing, which are conveniently summarized in a qualitative way using the Complex Dispersed Systems methodology. Subsequently, we represent the changes of the state of the cake during manufacturing in a supplemented state diagram, which indicates the important phase transitions occurring during baking. From the analysis, we have learned that sucrose act both as a plasticizer and as a humectant, modifying the phase transitions of biopolymers, dough viscosity, and water activity. If sugar replacers exactly mimick this behavior of sucrose, similar textures in reformulated cakes can be obtained. Physical theories exist for characterizing the plasticizing and hygroscopic behavior of sugars and their replacers. We have shown that the starch gelatinization and egg white denaturation can be predicted by the volumetric density of hydrogen bonds present in the solvent, consisting of water, sugar or its replacers, such as polyols or amino-acids.
In this study, protease treatment of brown rice (BR) batters was investigated in order to evaluate its impact on the textural and baking properties of BR bread. The enzymatic treatment improved bread ...quality by significantly increasing specific volume (
p
<
0.05), while decreasing crumb hardness and chewiness (
p
<
0.05). Fundamental rheology and viscometry of batters revealed that protein hydrolysis induced lower complex modulus and initial viscosity, while phase angle was unaffected. Flour pasting properties were also affected, with a significant decrease in paste viscosity and breakdown (
p
<
0.05). Protein analysis of batters revealed that the enzymatic treatment induced the release of low molecular weight proteins from macromolecular protein complexes. In conclusion, a lower resistance to deformation of batters during proofing and in the early stages of baking as well as the preserved batter elasticity and the increased paste stability positively affected the breadmaking performance.
Commercial preparations of laccase (LAC) and glucose oxidase (GO) (0.01% and 0.1% addition levels), as well as of a protease (PR) (0.001% and 0.01% addition levels) were tested for their impact on ...the breadmaking performance of gluten-free oat flour. LAC 0.1%, PR 0.001% and PR 0.01% additions significantly improved oat bread quality, as they increased specific volume and decreased crumb hardness and chewiness. In contrast, GO 0.1% addition revealed detrimental effects, as it resulted in the hardest bread crumb. The improved breadmaking performances of oat breads with LAC and PR addition was explained by the increase in batter softness, deformability and elasticity which were achieved upon addition of these enzyme preparations, both containing discernible levels of endo-β-glucanase side activity. With LAC, the effect is due to prevalence of β-glucan depolymerisation over protein polymerisation while, with PR, it is due to the combined effect of protein and β-glucan degradation. Extensive protein hydrolysis during baking may have increased functionality of the soluble protein fraction. In contrast, extensive protein polymerisation was detrimental, as indicated by GO addition.
Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the exposure to Cobalt (Co) and Tungsten (W) in a group of hard metal tool sharpeners through a combined approach of air and biological monitoring, and to ...evaluate the effectiveness of a control and improvement intervention carried out in collaboration with the medical officers of the local Health Protection Agency, by biomonitoring.
Methods: We enrolled 132 workers from 17 companies of the province of Brescia, northern Italy. The study was performed in two phases: (1) an environmental and biomonitoring survey to assess the workers' exposure to Co and W at their usual working conditions; (2) a further biomonitoring survey 3 months after the enforcement of a control and improvement intervention, to assess its effectiveness.
Results: Workers were found to be exposed to low concentration of airborne dust containing Co and W but after the intervention we recorded a significant decrease of the urinary concentrations of both Co and W. The extent of the decrease was correlated to the number of preventive industrial hygiene interventions that were carried out.
Conclusions: Biological monitoring of Co and W in the hard metal tools manufacturing industry is a sensitive and effective method to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention practices.
Recently, screening of transglutaminase (TGase) treatment on several gluten-free cereals revealed significant improvements on the baking performances of buckwheat flour by promoting protein networks. ...In this study, the impact of TGase on the protein fractions of buckwheat flour was investigated in order to better understand the activity and specificity of the enzyme. Albumin, globulin, prolamin and glutelin fractions were extracted from the flour and incubated with TGase. Capillary electrophoresis, two dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) were performed on each fraction. Capillary electrophoresis and 2D gel electrophoresis revealed that buckwheat main storage proteins, i.e. 2S albumin, 13S and 8S globulin, were cross-linked after TGase treatment. SEC showed the presence of high molecular weight (HMW) protein polymers in the TGase-treated albumin and globulin fraction. Analysis of the amino acid composition of the fractions revealed high amounts of glutamine and lysine residues in all fractions. In conclusion, the increase in the average molecular weight of buckwheat proteins and the formation of HMW protein polymers after TGase treatment are responsible for the improved functionality of buckwheat flour in terms of breadmaking potential. The enzyme was revealed to be not fraction specific as all fractions were TGase-reactive.
► Water migration mechanisms in amorphous particulate material (i.e. maltodextrins) as function of material properties. ► Agglomeration phenomena in amorphous particulate material (i.e. ...maltodextrins) as function of material properties. ► Water migration mechanism controlled by relaxation phenomena when T−Tg far below 0. ► T−Tg at which the relaxation phenomena occur is a property of the material. ► Matrix relaxation phenomena occurring far below Tg did not affect the onset of agglomeration.
The agglomeration phenomenon of amorphous particulate material is a major problem in the food industry. Currently, the glass transition temperature (Tg) is used as a fundamental parameter to describe and control agglomeration. Models are available that describe the kinetics of the agglomeration process as a function of the distance of the material from Tg (i.e. T−Tg). In practice these models are often not applied because they assume that the powder material is instantly in equilibrium with the humidity conditions of the environment and that solid mobility only occurs at T>Tg. Insights in the kinetics and mechanisms of water transport in powder material can help to better understand and control powder agglomeration. For this purpose, gravimetric step-change water sorption experiments were performed on maltodextrins as a function of the water activity aw. The maltodextrins vary in dextrose equivalents (DE), particle size and morphology. The experimental results were compared with a Fickian diffusion model in order to understand the dependency of the transport mechanism on water concentration gradient and material relaxation. The water transport kinetics in the maltodextrins with low DE (i.e. 6) were well described by Fickian diffusion for low aw, independently of particle size and morphology, until relaxation phenomena started to occur at an aw corresponding to T−Tg=−20°C. The importance of the matrix relaxation phenomena on the water transport mechanism increased with increasing DE (i.e. 29 and 32), not showing any relationship with the Tg. The results of this study indicate that the water migration mechanism is controlled by relaxation phenomena when the amorphous material is still far from the glass–rubber transition. The T−Tg at which the relaxation phenomena occur depends on the material. On the contrary, the T−Tg parameter could well describe the onset of agglomeration, independently from the material properties. Therefore, it can be concluded that within the conditions of this study, matrix relaxation occurring far below Tg did not affect the onset of agglomeration.
Lombardy, the most populated and industrialized Italian region, was the epicentre of the first wave (March and April 2020) of COVID-19 in Italy and it is among the most air polluted areas of Europe. ...We carried out an ecological study to assess the association between long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on COVID-19 incidence and all-cause mortality after accounting for demographic, socioeconomic and meteorological variables.
The study was based on publicly available data. Multivariable negative binomial mixed regression models were fitted, and results were reported in terms of incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and standardized mortality ratios (SMR). The effect of winter temperature and humidity was modelled through restricted cubic spline.
Data from 1439 municipalities out of 1507 (95%) were included in the analyses, leading to a total of 61,377 COVID-19 cases and 40,401 deaths from all-causes collected from February 20th to April 16th and from March 1st to April 30th, 2020, respectively. Several demographic and socioeconomic variables resulted significantly associated with COVID-19 incidence and all-cause mortality in a multivariable fashion. An increase in average winter temperature was associated with a nonlinear decrease in COVID-19 incidence and all-cause mortality, while an opposite trend emerged for the absolute humidity. An increase of 10 μg/m3 in the mean annual concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 over the previous years was associated with a 58% and 34% increase in COVID-19 incidence rate, respectively. Similarly, a 10 μg/m3 increase of annual mean PM2.5 concentration was associated with a 23% increase in all-cause mortality. An inverse association was found between NO2 levels and COVID-19 incidence and all-cause mortality.
Our ecological study showed that exposure to PM was significantly associated with the COVID-19 incidence and excess mortality during the first wave of the outbreak in Lombardy, Italy.
•Lombardy is an industrialized region with one of the worst air quality in Europe.•Lombardy was the epicentre of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.•Long-term exposure to PM was associated with COVID-19 incidence and mortality.•Meteorological variables were associated with COVID-19 incidence and mortality.•Socioeconomic variables were associated with COVID-19 incidence and mortality.
Gluten is a fundamental component for the overall quality and structure of breads. The replacement of the gluten network in the development of gluten-free cereal products is a challenging task for ...the cereal technologist. The functionality of proteins from gluten-free flours could be modified in order to improve their baking characteristics by promoting protein networks. Transglutaminase (TGase) has been successfully used in food systems to promote protein cross-linking. In this study, TGase was investigated for network forming potential on flours from six different gluten-free cereals (brown rice, buckwheat, corn, oat, sorghum and teff) used in breadmaking. TGase was added at 0, 1 or 10
U/g of proteins present in the recipe. The effect of TGase on batters and breads was evaluated by fundamental rheological tests, Texture Profile Analysis and standard baking tests. Three-dimensional elaborations of Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) images were performed on both batters and breads to evaluate the influence of TGase on microstructure. Fundamental rheological tests showed a significant increase in the pseudoplastic behaviour of buckwheat and brown rice batters when 10
U of TGase were used. The resulting buckwheat and brown rice breads showed improved baking characteristics as well as overall macroscopic appearance. Three-dimensional CLSM image elaborations confirmed the formation of protein complexes by TGase action. On the other side, TGase showed negative effects on corn flour as its application was detrimental for the elastic properties of the batters. Nevertheless, the resulting breads showed significant improvements in terms of increased specific volume and decreased crumb hardness and chewiness. Under the conditions of this study, no effects of TGase could be observed on breads from oat, sorghum or teff. Overall, the results of this study show that TGase can be successfully applied to gluten-free flours to improve their breadmaking potentials by promoting network formation. However, the protein source is a key element determining the impact of the enzyme.
In this paper we present a sugar replacements strategy, derived from physical theory, which we think is applicable for a wide range of food categories. The strategy is based on the hypothesis that ...reformulated foods must mimic the values of two physical characteristic numbers, related to the plasticizing and hygroscopic properties of sugar, to reproduce the texture of a sugar-rich product. We will show the validity of the strategy for reformulated biscuits, using experimental determination of physical properties of dough and baked biscuits, as well as sensorial evaluation by a trained panel. Our investigations shown that the majority of these physical and sensorial attributes correlate with the two physical characteristic numbers. Furthermore, multiple reformulations can be defined which are close to the reference product (in terms of the two physical characteristic numbers), which are indeed scored similar by the trained sensory panel. Hence, our strategy also leaves room for further optimization of the reformulated food towards dietary fiber content, laxative properties or sweetness.
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•Sugar replacement strategy is validated for biscuits.•Biscuit texture is controlled by plasticizing properties and hygroscopicity.•Multiple Reformulated biscuits with similar texture as reference are obtained.•Reformulated biscuits are scored similar as reference by sensorial panel.•Sugar replacement strategy is claimed to be universal for broad class of foods.
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