Application of sensory methodologies to the development of functional foods

El objetivo general de la tesis fue la aplicación y el estudio de metodologías sensoriales al desarrollo de un alimento funcional. La tesis se dividió en tres grandes partes: el estudio de la percepción de alimentos funcionales por parte de consumidores uruguayos, el estudio de extractos antioxidantes de plantas nativas uruguayas como ingredientes funcionales, y el desarrollo de un alimento funcional enriquecido con antioxidantes. En la primer parte de la tesis se estudió la percepción de consumidores uruguayos de alimentos funcionales mediante la aplicación de distintas metodologías (encuestas, laddering, asociación libre y análisis conjunto). Los resultados de los estudios realizados indicaron que los consumidores uruguayos tienen una actitud positiva hacia los alimentos funcionales. En particular, los consumidores estuvieron interesados en postres lácteos y yogures enriquecidos con antioxidantes. La f en que se declara el agregado del ingrediente funcional y la utilización de declaraciones sobre efectos en la salud tuvieron un elevado impacto en el interés de los consumidores en estos productos. Luego, se estudió el perfil sensorial, el contenido de polifenoles y la capacidad de secuestrar radicales libres de tres extractos (acuoso, etanólico y acetónico) de tres plantas nativas uruguayas ( , and ). Debido a la elevada intensidad de amargor, astringencia y sabor característico de los extractos, se estudiaron alternativas para reducir estos sabores: sacarosa, sucralosa, polidextrosa leche y saborizantes. Los resultados indicaron que productos lácteos dulces sabor chocolate podrían ser alimentos base interesantes para el desarrollo de alimentos funcionales enriquecidos con extractos antioxidantes ricos en polifenoles obtenidos de . Utilizando diferentes metodologías, como mapeos proyectivos, preguntas abiertas, preguntas marque todo lo que corresponda y mapeos de preferencia externos se seleccionó una formu ión de Achyrocline s atureoide s Baccharis trime ra Mikania guaco Achyrocline s atureoide s un postre lácteo de chocolate con una elevada aceptación por parte de los consumidores. Utilizando esta formulación como producto base, se desarrollaron postres lácteos de chocolate enriquecidos con un extracto antioxidante acuoso de . Considerando los puntajes de aceptablidad de los consumidores se determinó que la máxima concentración de este extracto que podría ser agregada a los postres correspondía a una concentración de polifenoles de 0.4 g/L. Este producto podría alcanzar una porción interesante del mercado debido a que una alta proporción de los consumidores lo eligió frente a un postre lácteo de chocolate común. Por lo tanto, el desarrollo de este tipo de alimento funcional podría ser una alternativa para que las empresas lácteas uruguayas lancen al Mercado productos diferenciales con un mayor valor agregado. Todas las metodologías evaluadas probaron ser extremadamente útiles durante el desarrollo de un alimento funcional. Las mismas podrían ser utilizadas en el desarrollo de alimentos para lograr incorporar en mayor medida las necesidades de los consumidores, lo cual podría aumentar el éxito del pro e desarrollo de nuevos productos

La ocupación del espacio musical en Escrito sobre escrito sobre escrito de Marcelo Delgado

This article studies intertextual spaces that appear in a rewriting work done by Marcelo Delgado based on Eusebius by Gerardo Gandini. The analytical research will take the technique Cantus firmus as a historical reference. Thus, it will provide a framework to analyze the configuration of a musical and intertextual space widened by the recognition of interval-class content and pitch-class sets that refer to musical piece No. 14 of the piano cycle Davidsbündlertänze (1837) by Robert Schumann. As a final stage, the palimpsest metaphor is followed to interpret the relations derived from this analysis.El presente artículo estudia los vínculos intertextuales que surgen de un trabajo de reescritura realizada por Marcelo Delgado a partir de Eusebius de Gerardo Gandini. La labor analítica adoptará como referencia histórica la técnica del Cantus firmus. La misma dará un marco para analizar la configuración de un espacio musical e intertextual ampliado por la identificación de contenido interválico y conjuntos de clases de alturas que remiten a la pieza N° 14 del ciclo para piano Davidsbündlertänze (1837) de Robert Schumann. Como instancia final del trabajo, se aplicará la metáfora del palimpsesto para interpretar las relaciones derivadas del análisis

Screening of mucoadhesive vaginal gel formulations

Rational design of vaginal drug delivery formulations requires special attention to vehicle properties that optimize vaginal coating and retention. The aim of the present work was to perform a screening of mucoadhesive vaginal gels formulated with carbomer or carrageenan in binary combination with a second polymer (carbomer, guar or xanthan gum). The gels were characterised using in vitro adhesion, spreadability and leakage potential studies, as well as rheological measurements (stress and frequency sweep tests) and the effect of dilution with simulated vaginal fluid (SVF) on spreadability. Results were analysed using analysis of variance and multiple factor analysis. The combination of polymers enhanced adhesion of both primary gelling agents, carbomer and carrageenan. From the rheological point of view all formulations presented a similar behaviour, prevalently elastic and characterised by loss tangent values well below 1. No correlation between rheological and adhesion behaviour was found. Carbomer and carrageenan gels containing the highest percentage of xanthan gum displayed good in vitro mucoadhesion and spreadability, minimal leakage potential and high resistance to dilution. The positive results obtained with carrageenan-xanthan gum-based gels can encourage the use of natural biocompatible adjuvants in the composition of vaginal products, a formulation field that is currently under the synthetic domain.O planejamento racional de formulações para a liberação vaginal de fármacos requer atenção especial às propriedades do veículo, que otimizem o revestimento e a retenção vaginal. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi realizar uma triagem de géis vaginais mucoadesivos formulados com carbomero ou carragenina em combinação binária com um segundo polímero (carbomero, goma guár ou xantana). Os géis foram caracterizados usando estudos in vitro de aderência, espalhabilidade e potencial de vazamento, bem como medições reológicas (testes de varredura de tensão e frequência) e o efeito de diluição com fluido vaginal simulado (SVF) na espalhabilidade. Os resultados foram analisados utilizando a análise de variância e de fator múltiplo. A combinação de polímeros reforçou a adesão de ambos os agentes gelificantes primários, carbomero e carragenina. Do ponto de vista reológico todas as formulações apresentaram comportamento semelhante, predominantemente elástico e caracterizado por valores de tangente de perda bem abaixo de 1. Não se encontrou correlação entre as medições reológicas e o comportamento de adesão. Os géis de carbomero e carragenina contendo o maior porcentual de goma xantana apresentaram melhor mucoadesão e espalhabilidade, menor potencial de vazamento e maior resistência à diluição in vitro. Os resultados positivos obtidos com géis de carragenina-goma xantana podem incentivar o uso de adjuvantes biocompatíveis naturais na composição dos produtos vaginais, um campo de formulação atualmente sob o domínio de produtos sintéticos

Listening to children voices in early stages of new product development through co-creation – Creative focus group and online platform

To tackle current nutritional issues like obesity, it could be valuable to involve children in the development of healthy food products that they will actively chose and enjoy. The aims of the present exploratory study were (i) to assess a methodology for early-stage idea generation through co-creation, for the development of healthy snacks with pre-adolescents, and (ii) to compare two settings, creative focus groups (CFG) and an online community (ONL). Three steps were defined to allow the gradual exploration of the topic and mutual learning throughout the process: (1) Show &Tell: photo taking and -elicitation to understand what children ate; (2) Reflect: a sorting task of the pictures to discuss and reflect on snacking practices (3) Create: an idea generation step, in which a newspaper article describing an idea for a new healthy snack was created. To increase engagement and creativity, gamification strategies were used. Our results demonstrated that children (preadolescents) can create new food product ideas with the proposed process, using enabling and creative techniques. In the CFG the trained moderator could steer the group to the co-creation goal. The setting facilitated teamwork and group learning, collaborative ideas considering preferences of peers and produced a few detailed and mostly actionable ideas. In the ONL less control over the process was possible. The setting produced many ideas varying in the degree of detail and actionability focusing on individual preferences. The feedback and observations from our study, particularly in the CFG setting, implied that the creative approach was highly engaging for participants. Further research is necessary to assess the potential of initial ideas developed by pre-adolescents.publishedVersio

Can children use the A-not a test?

Sensory scientists have adapted several sensory methods to fit children's cognitive abilities. Although several discrimination methods have been reported with children, the A-not-A test has not been studied yet. The aims of this work were to: (i) evaluate the feasibility of using the A-Not-A test with school-aged children, and (ii) compare how the framing of the question (overall differences vs. differences in liking) may influence the results. A total of 126 children were involved in the study. They participated in three sessions, each composed of a familiarization task with a visual stimuli and sample tasting with one of three dairy products (vanilla milk desserts, chocolate-flavored milk, and vanilla-flavored yogurt). Half of the children evaluated the samples in terms of overall differences and the other half in terms of differences in liking. Results from the familiarization step showed that children correctly identified the visual reference in the A-not-A test regardless of how the question was framed, suggesting that they were able to understand the methodology. In the case of tasting samples, children were significantly more likely to correctly identify the reference in two of the three studied dairy products, when the question was based on liking, as compared to the framing based on overall differences.publishedVersio

The Meaning of Emoji to Describe Food Experiences in Pre-adolescents

Ongoing research has shown that emoji can be used by children to discriminate food products, but it is unclear if they express emotions and how they are linked to emotional words. Little is known about how children interpret emoji in terms of their emotional meaning in the context of food. This study aimed at investigating the emotional meaning of emoji used to describe food experiences in 9–13-year-old pre-adolescents and to measure related age and gender differences. The meaning of 46 emoji used to describe food experience was explored by: mapping emoji according to similarities and differences in their emotional meaning using the projective mapping technique, and linking emoji with emotion words using a check-all-that-apply (CATA) format. The two tasks gave consistent results and showed that emoji were discriminated along the valence (positive vs. negative) and power (dominant vs. submissive) dimension, and to a lower extent along the arousal dimension (high vs. low activation). In general, negative emoji had more distinct meanings than positive emoji in both studies, but differences in nuances of meaning were found also among positive emoji. Girls and older pre-adolescents (12–13 years old (y.o.)) discriminated positive emoji slightly better than boys and younger pre-adolescents (9–11 y.o.). This suggests that girls and older pre-adolescents may be higher in emotional granularity (the ability to experience and discriminate emotions), particularly of positive emotions. The results of the present work can be used for the development of an emoji-based tool to measure emotions elicited by foods in pre-adolescents.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 764985. The study was conducted as part of the project "Edulia - Bringing down barriers to children's healthy eating" (see https://edulia.eu/)

Aplicación de electroencefalografía digital para la evaluación de la disociación binocular

En este trabajo, discutimos nuestros hallazgos sobre los cambios que producen los diferentes elementos usados en la refracción subjetiva en la actividad cerebral usando la técnica de electroencefalografía digital. Tras lo cual se analizó la señal electroencefalográfica en función de su potencial espectral para los distintos estados inducidos

Percepção da batata-doce de polpa roxa: expectativas hedonicas, sensoriais e emocionais dos consumidores

Purple-fleshed sweet potatoes (PFSP) are a new product for Uruguayan consumers. It shows differentiable sensory characteristics and added nutritional benefits, but sensory and hedonic expectations raised by PFSP have not been explored yet in Uruguay. The aim of this work was to explore Uruguayan consumers' perception of PFSP with a special focus on the hedonic, sensory and emotional expectations raised by them in comparison to traditional yellow and orange-flesh genotypes available in the market. A series of pictures of three types of SP were used in a social-network-driven study completed by 179 SP consumers. A word-association task and rating of expected liking together with exploring how they would feel after consumption using a check-all-that-apply (CATA) question composed of 21 emoji were carried out. Participants were also asked to describe the expected sensory characteristics using a CATA questions composed of 17 terms, selected based on results from previous sensory studies. Results revealed a lack of consumer familiarity with purple flesh coloration and lower expected liking scores compared to traditional orange and yellow flesh genotypes. It was also associated with scarce positive hedonic and emotional associations related to the emojis flushed face, face screaming in fear, grimacing face and weary face. Moreover, they were expected to have similar characteristics to yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes (YFSP) in terms of texture and flavor, being also associated with off-flavors presence. This highlights the need to develop diverse marketing strategies to increase familiarity before the commercial release of PFSP.Los boniatos de pulpa violeta (BPV) constituyen un producto novedoso para los consumidores uruguayos. Presentan características fácilmente diferenciables, así como un valor nutricional añadido, pero aún se desconocen las expectativas sensoriales y hedónicas que generan en Uruguay. El objetivo de este trabajo fue explorar la percepción de los BPV con un foco especial en las expectativas hedónicas, sensoriales y emocionales en comparación con los tipos tradicionales presentes en el mercado. El estudio fue realizado con 179 consumidores que respondieron preguntas online, presentándoles una serie de fotografías. Se realizó una asociación libre y la evaluación de aceptabilidad esperada, y se exploró cómo se sentirían luego de probarlos, utilizando un «marque todo lo que corresponda» (CATA) compuesto de 21 emojis. También se solicitó a los participantes que describieran sus expectativas sensoriales aplicando un CATA compuesto por 17 términos validados en ensayos previos. Los resultados muestran una falta de familiaridad con la coloración violeta en la pulpa, lo que se refleja en menores valores de aceptabilidad esperada en comparación con los genotipos tradicionales de pulpa crema y naranja. Se asoció también con escasas asociaciones hedónicas positivas y emojis como cara de asombro o miedo, muecas o fatiga. Generaron expectativas sensoriales similares a los boniatos de pulpa crema en términos de textura y sabor, asociándose, además, con sabores no deseados. Esto resalta la necesidad de desarrollar estrategias de marketing para favorecer la familiaridad previo a la liberación comercial de los BPV.A batata-doce com polpa violeta (BPV) é uma novidade para o consumidor uruguaio. Apresentam características facilmente diferenciáveis ​​e valor nutricional agregado, mas as expectativas sensoriais e hedônicas que geram no Uruguai ainda são desconhecidas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi explorar a percepção do BPV com foco especial nas expectativas hedônicas, sensoriais e emocionais em comparação com os tipos tradicionais presentes no mercado. O estudo foi conduzido por 179 consumidores que responderam a perguntas online, apresentando-lhes uma série de fotos. Foi realizada uma avaliação de associação livre e aceitabilidade esperada e explorado como eles se sentiriam depois de experimentá-los, usando uma marca de seleção todos que se aplicam (CATA) composta por 21 emojis. Os participantes também foram solicitados a descrever suas expectativas sensoriais, aplicando um CATA composto por 17 termos validados em ensaios anteriores. Os resultados mostram um desconhecimento da coloração violeta da polpa, o que se reflete em menores valores de aceitabilidade esperada em relação aos genótipos tradicionais de polpa creme e laranja. Também foi associado a poucas associações hedônicas positivas e emojis, como rosto surpreso ou medo, caretas o fadiga. Eles geraram expectativas sensoriais semelhantes à polpa cremosa de batata-doce em termos de textura e sabor, e também foram associados a sabores indesejados. Isso destaca a necessidade de desenvolver estratégias de marketing para promover a familiaridade antes do lançamento comercial da batata-doce de polpa roxa

Determinantes Socioeconómicos del Hambre en Países de América Latina

El hambre puede ser definida como la sensación incómoda o dolorosa causada por el consumo insuficiente de alimentos. Es la forma más grave de inseguridad alimentaria, ya que implica que las personas no tienen acceso a suficientes alimentos para satisfacer sus necesidades básicas. A efectos de conocer con qué variables socioeconómicas está correlacionada la inseguridad alimentaria en América Latina se han estimado modelos probit ordenados utilizando los datos de la Encuesta Latinobarómetro del 2017 para 18 países latinoamericanos. En promedio, el 53% de los encuestados indicaron que nunca experimentaron falta de alimentos para satisfacer sus necesidades en los últimos 12 meses. Esto sugiere que el hambre es un problema relevante en América Latina. La heterogeneidad en la región es amplia. Mientras que el porcentaje de personas que a menudo experimentaron falta de alimentos es del 2% para los países del sur de América Latina (Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay y Brasil), alcanza valores superiores al 10% para varios países de Centroamérica (Honduras, República Dominicana, Panamá, Nicaragua y Venezuela). Los resultados de los modelos mostraron que la edad, el nivel educativo, la situación laboral, la raza y la privación de bienes materiales en el hogar son determinantes importantes de la prevalencia del hambre. Los programas dirigidos a mejorar el acceso a los alimentos en América Latina deben tener en cuenta estas variables para identificar a los segmentos más vulnerables de la población. Hunger can be defined as an uncomfortable or painful feeling caused by insufficient food intake. It is the most serious form of food insecurity, since it implies that people do not have access to enough food to satisfy their basic needs. In order to know which socioeconomic variables are correlated with food insecurity in Latin America, we have estimated probit ordered models using data from the 2017 Latinobarómetro Survey for 18 Latin American countries. On average, 53% of respondents indicated that they have never experienced a lack of food to meet their needs in the last 12 months. This, however, suggests that hunger is a relevant problem in Latin America. The heterogeneity in the region is wide. While the percentage of people who often experienced a lack of food is 2% for the countries of southern Latin America (Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and Brazil), it reaches values above 10% for several Central American countries (Honduras, Dominican Republic, Panama, Nicaragua and Venezuela). The results of the models showed that age, educational level, work situation, race, and deprivation of material goods in the home are important determinants of the prevalence of hunger. Programs aimed at improving access to food in Latin America must take these variables into account in order to identify the most vulnerable segments of the population

Parenthood as a Window of Opportunity for Dietary Changes: Perspectives From Uruguayan Parents

Research on behavioral and social science has demonstrated that transitions throughout a person’s life course, as the life event of becoming a parent, represent an opportunity for dietary changes. However, research in this area has been mostly restricted to developed European and North American countries and has shown ambiguous results. The present work aimed to gain an in-depth understanding on the changes in eating habits caused by the transition to parenthood and to explore factors influencing those changes in Uruguay, a Latin American country. Forty-two in-depth interviews with Uruguayan parents from diverse social-economic backgrounds were conducted. The narrations by the interviewees evidenced mostly positive changes during three stages in the transition: pregnancy, the first months with the baby, and the beginning of complementary feeding. Most informants perceived changes mainly in terms of increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, and pulses; increased consumption of homemade meals; and decreased consumption of ultra-processed foods, fast foods, and fried foods. Reasons for these changes included adaptation of meals to the child’s needs and schedule, feeling of responsibility for the child’s health, and willingness to be a good role model. Factors influencing changes in eating habits were identified in some levels of the socioecological model and included socioeconomic status; price of fruits, vegetables, and fish; low accessibility of good quality fish; perceived time pressure; father’s low interest on healthy eating; social support; and access to nutrition information. Findings suggest that parenthood represents a window of opportunity for favorable changes in eating habits. However, barriers constraining those changes should be addressed by stakeholders