Transfer versus co-production: Knowledge as ‘MEANS’ to sustainability as an ‘END’

This study examines the relationship between sustainability performance and knowledge, as well as between innovation transfer and coproduction. It moves away from evaluating processes to exploring impact by investigating how explicit and tacit knowledge archetypes are associated with sustainability performance in the agri-food sector. Applying the knowledge-based theory and the Shannon index, we rely on a database from 2013 to 2020 of two case studies selected from a Spanish research institution. At the institutional level, the results postulate that knowledge and innovation transfer tends to have a higher diversity index, mainly driven by explicit knowledge archetype. Tacit type of knowledge in both transfer and co-production mechanisms predominately relies on engagement parameters. At the case study level, as an educational toolkit, the first case study prioritizes engagement that is, transferring and transmitting knowledge to a higher number of participants— tacit knowledge transfer. As an innovative technique, the second case study prioritizes diversity that is, transferring and transmitting knowledge through various channels—explicit knowledge transfer. Regarding sustainability performance, the findings demonstrate that both explicit and tacit knowledge are associated with health and capacity building pillars in the first case study through the transfer mechanism. However, in the second one, tacit knowledge is mainly associated with economic and socioterritorial pillars through transfer and co-production mechanisms. This study sheds light on the micro level of knowledge, proposing an approach for researchers and practitioners to categorize knowledge in different proxies and evaluate their performance.This study was funded by the Institute of Agri-food Research and Technology (IRTA). The authors gratefully acknowledged this support.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Impact of intervention strategies on listeriosis risk in cooked ham: Biopreservation and high pressure processing

Biopreservation and post-lethality treatments (PLT) are the basis of operating procedures applied to reduce the levels of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat food. The combination of these strategies must be wisely selected, and their interaction should be considered in quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRA) assessing the listeriosis risk. The aim of the present study was to develop a QMRA model to assess the impact of intervention strategies, including formulation with lactate, bioprotective cultures and the use of high-pressure processing (HPP), on reducing the listeriosis risk associated to the consumption of cooked meat products by elderly populations. Particularly, the interaction between the formulation with lactate and the application of HPP was addressed as lactate is reported to exert (i) a piezo-protection on L. monocytogenes inactivation by HPP and (ii) a piezo-stimulation effect on the growth rate of survivors. Results showed that the reduction of product's shelf-life or the use of biopreservation strategies (lactate and bioprotective cultures) were more effective in reducing the listeriosis risk than mild HPP treatments. Moreover, the application of a mild HPP treatment in combination with the formulation with lactate did not result in a higher risk reduction compared to the formulation of lactate alone. On the other hand, the application of a 5-log PLT was more effective for risk reduction compared to other strategies. The results provided in this work can help in the design of measures to control L. monocytogenes that have the desired impact on risk of reduction.This work was supported by the Consolidated Research Group (2017 SGR 1650) and the CERCA Programme (Generalitat de Catalunya). Cristina Serra-Castelló was a recipient of IRTA mobility fellowship 2022.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Exclusion of ants conditions the efficiency of an attract and reward strategy against Dysaphis plantaginea in apple orchards

The rosy apple aphid is a major pest of apple orchards, it is also potentially ant tended. Attract&Reward strategy is a promising pest management method, combining semiochemicals as attractant and companion plants as food sources for natural enemies. However, this method is difficult to implement owing to complex multi-tropic interactions (including mutualist interactions) at play in agroecosystems. Using sentinel plants (apple seedlings bearing rosy apple aphid) we investigated individual and combined effect(s) of Attract&Reward components on aphid biocontrol in early and late spring in apple orchards. The attract component was implemented by adding apple seedlings treated with a plant defense stimulator (inducing plant semiochemicals attractive for natural enemies). The reward component was implemented by adding potted plants producing extrafloral nectar. Moreover, the impact of ant tending on aphids (in exchange of honeydew) was evaluated using exclusion device. We demonstrated that the Attract&Reward strategy enabled increasing aphid biocontrol (vs. control) but only when ants were excluded, and only in early spring. The exclusion device successfully excluded ants in early and late spring but not Araneae and Syrphidae. Araneae and Syrphidae were not affected by the individual Attract&Reward components or their combination. The combination of Attract&Reward components is an effective strategy but only when ants are excluded. This is among the few studies showing experimentally that presence of ants conditions the efficiency of biocontrol strategies, including those based on Attract&Reward concept. A better understanding of trophic and mutualistic interactions is required to design effective conservation biocontrol strategies.This study would not been possible without the additional support of M.Gaubert, A.Cailleau, L. Vitteaut, C.Douay and K.Dassé in setting up the experiment, in counting and sampling arthropods. We also thank the apple producers for letting us use their orchards as well as I. Gutierrez and M. Yguel. This work benefited from a government grant managed by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche under the Investissements d’avenir programme France 2030 with the reference ANR-20-PCPA-0003. A.P.-C. was financially supported by the PECT AgroBioFood b.Ponent.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Visible near-infrared hyperspectral imaging as a tool to characterise chicken breasts with myopathies and their durability

The surgency of myopathies has posed challenges for the industry as well as researchers, making relevant the use of objective and non-destructive technologies to inspect and discriminate these disorders. In this context, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) provides special properties that allow for an accurate selection of the affected region(s). Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of visible and near-infrared (VIS-NIR) HSI to (1) discriminate between myopathies and (2) assess their evolution during refrigerated storage. Hyperspectral images of 98 and 77 chicken breasts, for experiment (1) and (2), respectively, were analysed dividing the breast in 3 regions to precisely assign each one a myopathy or the absence of one. Support vector machine models were employed for classification. Differences between myoglobin content and water binding detected in the VIS-NIR range (386–1016 nm) were relevant enough to accurately discriminate between myopathies (76.1 % accuracy), especially spaghetti meat (94.0 % balanced accuracy). Discrimination was also successful for storage days, detecting spoilage through spectral myoglobin isoform fingerprints (99.3 % accuracy) in the short-wave NIR region (800–1015 nm). These findings suggest a potential industrial use of hyperspectral systems to sort chicken breasts based on myopathy presence by region, and to predict the evolution of their quality traits during refrigerated storage, ultimately tailoring the breast destination for each case and avoiding food waste.Part of this work was financed by the Operational Group DETRED-Miopaties through Operation 16.01.01 of Cooperation for Innovation under the Rural Development program of Catalonia 2014–2022 from the Generalitat de Catalunya.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

New insights into the epidemiology of Streptococcus suis in pig production systems using whole genome sequencing

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is a major pathogen for pigs, causing large economic losses to the swine industry. Moreover, this bacterium has a zoonotic potential, being capable of infecting humans in close contact with pigs or, less frequently, through contact with pork products. Given its importance in both veterinary and public health, S. suis remains a key topic of research. This study explores the genetic characteristics of 154 S. suis isolates obtained from clinical samples collected from pigs between 2018 and 2022. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) allowed a comprehensive analysis of the S. suis population in Spain, including detection of serotype, sequence type (ST), antimicrobial resistance genes, and virulence-associated genes. This approach also explored the vertical transmission of this pathogen through vertically integrated pyramids, as evidenced by associations between grandmother and mother sow farms, and phylogenetic groups, serotypes, and STs. Our analysis revealed that serotype 9 was the most prevalent in our strain collection, predominantly associated with ST123. Notably, the three most significant virulence genes, encoding the extracellular protein factor (EPF), the muramidase-release protein (MRP), and suilysin (SLY), were not consistently present in all clinical isolates. Regarding antimicrobial resistance, no phenotypic resistance was observed to ceftiofur or florfenicol, while observing low resistance to ampicillin (0.6 %) and enrofloxacin (2.6 %), intermediate resistance to penicillin (22.1 %), and high percentage of non-wild-type isolates to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (57.1 %), and doxycycline (96.1 %). The most prevalent antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) were tet(O) (85.1 %) and erm(B) (86.4 %), conferring resistance to tetracyclines and macrolides, respectively, although macrolides were not included in the phenotypic testing. Overall, this study provides key epidemiological insights into this significant systemic pathogen within the Spanish swine population. The findings underscore the importance of understanding sample origins, such as grandmother and mother sow farms, to develop an effective antimicrobial stewardship program for managing S. suis-associated diseases.This study was partially funded by AEMPS/PRAN with the European funds “Mecanismo de recuperación y resilencia (C18.I2.P3.S2)” and the CERCA program. Anna Vilaró is supported by the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) of the Catalan Government though the industrial doctorate grant 2021DI 86. This study was carried out with the support of Grup de Sanejament Porcí, Lleida (GSP). The authors wish to thank the veterinary clinicians involved and Dr. Øysten Angen from Statens Serum Institute.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Computer simulation of ready-to-eat rice reheating on a microwave oven: Application of dielectric mixture equations in foods of varying porosity ratio

Predictive modeling of dielectric heating in porous foods is challenging due to their nature as multiphase materials. To explore the relationship between the topological structure of multiphase foods and the accuracy of dielectric mixture models, the degree of anisotropy of two cooked rice samples with 26 and 32 % porosity was determined, and their dielectric properties were estimated using the Lichtenecker (LK), Landau-Lifshitz-Looyenga (LLL), and Complex Refractive Index Mixture (CRIM) equations. These properties were used in a predictive finite-element model for reheating an apparent homogeneous rice sample on a flatbed microwave (MW) for 120 s. The results were compared with experimental data and a validated two-element model. Unlike LK and LLL equations, the CRIM equation predicted heat accumulation towards the edges of the container at the two values of porosity ratio evaluated, in accordance with the experimental results and the isotropic nature of the sample. The simulated temperature distributions suggest that the three evaluated equations could predict the MW heating behavior of rice to some extent, but that in order to obtain more accurate results, it could be useful to obtain an empirical topology-related parameter specific for this sample. These results can provide insight on the relationship between the topology of the porous structure in the sample and the adequacy of different dielectric mixture models.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Mono- and sesquiterpenoid fingerprinting: A powerful and streamlined solution for pine nut authentication

This study proposes a novel authentication method for pine nut geographical and botanical origin, using mono- and sesquiterpene fingerprints (extracted ion chromatograms from specific ions) analysed via solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, combined with chemometrics (partial least squares – discriminant analysis). It was tested on 253 samples from China, Russia (major producers of Pinus koraiensis and Pinus sibirica), Spain and Turkey (supplying Pinus pinea), across harvest years. The method ach- ieved 100 % accuracy in external validation when distinguishing Spanish from non-Spanish pine nuts, and 99 % accuracy in differentiating Pinus pinea samples from two distinct Spanish regions. This simple, affordable, and automatable approach proves to be an effective screening tool. It could support official controls in preventing pine nut counterfeiting, as these highly valued nuts have sensory and nutritional characteristics influenced by their species and origin, which, in turn, affect their priceThis work was developed in the context of the project TRACENUTS, PID2020-117701RB-I00 financed by MICIU/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033. B. Torres-Cobos thanks the Spanish Ministry of Universities predoctoral fellowships FPU20/01454.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Strategy combining mammalian fats with supplementation of pungent spices in aquafeeds, to mitigate negative impacts of fish oil replacement in fish performance, fillet quality and hepatic condition of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata)

The replacement of fish oil (FO) in aquafeeds usually leads to imbalances in the dietary content of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), with negative consequences for fish performance, health, and fillet quality. Animal-rendered fats are an alternative lipid source high in saturated fatty acids, potentially sparing n-3 PUFA from oxidation, and with lower n-6 PUFA contents than plant-based oils, especially in the case of mammalian fats (MF). Hence, this work assessed the effect of replacing 45% FO by MF (negative control, NC) compared to a diet containing only FO (positive control, PC) in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata, initial body weight: 85 ± 4 g, mean ± standard deviation) at low water temperature. In addition, we studied the effect of supplementing the NC diet with a combination of pungent spices with hypolipidemic and anti-inflammatory properties at three inclusion levels: 0.05 (SPICY0.05%), 0.1 (SPICY0.1%), and 0.15% (SPICY0.15%). At the end of the trial (112 days), FO substitution by MF led to poorer fish performance in terms of body weight (BW), specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and protein efficiency ratio (PER). Supplementation of the NC diet with spices numerically improved SGR, FCR and PER at all inclusion levels (non-significantly different from the PC group), being FCR and PER significantly different from the NC group in the SPICY0.1% and SPICY0.15% treatments. A remarkable increase in lipid level was observed in fillets of fish fed the NC diet, but was fully counteracted by spice supplementation, especially in fish fed the SPICY0.15% diet. A lower fat accumulation was also found in the liver of fish fed the SPICY0.1% and SPICY0.15% diets, with respect to the PC and NC groups. The fillets' fatty acid profile mostly reflected the diet composition, but the SPICY0.15% diet modified it in an inverse direction to that observed in the NC, to more closely resemble the profile of fish fed the PC diet. In particular, the SPICY0.15% diet reduced fillet levels of MUFA, linoleic and linolenic acids, and increased n-3 LC-PUFA (including EPA and DHA), compared to the NC. A microarray-based transcriptomic analysis revealed a better hepatic health status, as indicated by different biological processes associated to immunity. Overall, supplementation with the combination of pungent spices at 0.15% enabled the incorporation of alternative lipid sources, such as MF, in aquafeeds without significantly compromising growth and feeding performance, liver health, and quality of the edible product.The Research was funded by LUCTA S.A.. Alberto Ruiz was supported by a predoctoral grant ( PRE2019-091259 ) linked to the ADIPOQUIZ Project ( RTI2018-095653-R-I00 ) funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain). Eva Vallejos-Vidal acknowledges the support of Fondecyt Iniciación project number 11221308 (ANID; Chile). Felipe E. Reyes-López acknowledges the support of Fondecyt Regular 1211841 (ANID; Chile). The authors would like to thank Olga Bellot, Marta Sastre and Maria Curto, staff from IRTA La Ràpita, for their assistance in the histological and biochemical analyses.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Nutrient addition increases insect herbivory in Nothofagus antarctica on North-Patagonian forests

The change in nutrient availability in the soil can affect key functions of forest ecosystems, such as insect herbivory. Although insect herbivory is particularly relevant because it can impact on the growth and mortality of forest plant species, the evidence of the impacts of fertilizers addition on herbivory patterns is limited. In this study, we specifically evaluated how herbivory frequency on the timber species Nothofagus antarctica is affected by the addition of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and their combinations to the soil, using a long term full-factorial field experiment in a North-Patagonian Forest (Argentina). Our study investigated the effects of fertilizers (N, P, and K) on herbivory frequency and leaf nutrient concentrations of the studied species. We found that the addition of fertilizers to the soil increased herbivory frequency, which was mediated by increases in leaf nutrient concentrations. Furthermore, we observed that interactions between fertilizers in leaf nutrient concentrations generally produced increases in herbivory, both in the amount of leaf consumed and in the foliar damage percentage. These findings suggest that fertilization can have complex effects on plant-herbivore interactions, and that the specific effects may depend on the identity of the nutrients that combined, the plant species, and the level of nutrient availability. Our results provide evidence that changes in soil nutrient availability are important in forest ecosystems, and that should be considered to develop effective management strategies for the sustainable use of natural resources in Patagonian forests.This study was supported by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (FONCYT, PICT-2018-00941 and PICT-2019-0393), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, PIP 2020) and Universidad Nacional de Río Negro (UNRN-PI 40-B-892). Lucía C. Martínez has a doctoral fellowship granted by CONICET. N. Pérez-Méndez is supported by a Spanish "Ramón y Cajal" fellowship (RYC-2021-033599-I)info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Nutrient addition hinders microarthropod-driven leaf litter decomposition in Patagonian woodlands

Aims Global change threatens ecosystem functions, including those driven by soil fauna. In temperate forests, soil nutrients, litter quality, and microarthropods are essential players during litter decomposition. However, the impact of nutrient enrichment on the functional role of soil fauna remains poorly understood. Methods We used a full factorial experiment to test the effects of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) addition on litter decomposition through changes in soil conditions and litter quality. We incubated senesced leaves from fertilized and unfertilized control plots in litter bags with two different mesh sizes that included (2 mm) or excluded (45 µm) microarthropods. We assessed the interactive effects of nutrient addition and litter quality on microarthropod-driven decomposition using linear mixed-effects models. Results Nutrient addition was a stronger predictor than litter quality for organic matter remaining in litter bags over time. While N addition strongly influenced litter quality, it did not affect microarthropod activity in decomposition. P addition suppressed decomposition when microarthropods were present but enhanced it when microarthropods were absent. K strongly influenced litter quality and regulated the effects of phosphorus on decomposition. Conclusions Microarthropods may promote decomposition under conditions of limited nutrient availability in both litter and soil, potentially enhancing microbial activity. The responses of fungi and microbes to nutrient enrichment may explain the relatively modest effect of microarthropods on decomposition. Our study shows that nutrient enrichment in temperate forests may limit microarthropod participation in decomposition by possibly altering microsite conditions or affecting the availability of alternative food resources, thereby influencing carbon fluxes.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio