88 research outputs found
Ultrasound in Olive Oil Extraction
Each olive oil extraction system should combine the best product quality and the highest efficiency. At the same time, the innovative technologies can develop only if they provide sustainable processes. To reach these goals, academic and industrial researchers need to understand the key elements that allow to modulate the events that occur during oil extraction. In the past years, many emerging technologies, that is techniques perceived as capable of changing the present situation, have been developed. Among these, ultrasounds applications seem to be the most promising for their mechanical and slightly thermal effects, without affecting sustainability. In order to explain the maturity of this emerging technology, the main effects of the ultrasounds application in the olive oil extraction process are discussed, the developed plants are presented, and the patents are reported
Sensory and Biochemical Characterization of Novel Drinks Based on Tomato Juice
In these last years, consumersâ choices are being directed towards healthier food and beverages with an increasing demand for functional products. In this study, we investigated the sensory and biochemical properties of novel drinks based on tomato juice. To this purpose, different blends were formulated mixing fresh tomato juice with other fruit juices and nectars in different proportions and then assayed to investigate their sensory (panel test), compositional and biochemical characteristics. Our results indicated that it is possible to formulate tasty drinks based on tomato juice with improved nutritional properties. The combinations of red fruits/tomato (60/40 v/v) and red fruits/orange/tomato (40/30/30 v/v/v) showed a sugar content lower than those of different soft drinks on the market including energy drinks, and suitable lycopene levels as well. Interestingly, the blended red fruits/orange/tomato had a greater number of polyphenols and vitamin C, a softer tomato flavour and high sensory appreciation. High pasteurization (90ÂșC,7 min), performed to increase storability, did not significantly affect sensory and biochemical properties of drinks. These achievements may be useful to modulate tomato flavour release and consumer acceptability of novel drinks based on tomato juice
Estimating the Cost of Wave Energy Converters at an Early Design Stage: A Bottom-Up Approach
The role of ocean energy is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, and techno-economic analysis will play a crucial role. Nowadays, despite strong assumptions, the vast majority of studies model costs using a top-down approach (the TdA) that leads to an unrepresentative economic model. WEC developers usually go through the the TdA approach because more detailed cost data are not available at an earlier design stage. At a very advanced design stage, some studies have also proposed techno-economic optimisation based on the bottom-up approach (BuA). This entails that the detailed cost metrics presented in the literature are very specific to the WEC type (hence not applicable to other cases) or unrepresentative. This lack of easily accessible detailed cost functions in the current state of the art leads to ineffective optimisations at an earlier stage of WEC development. In this paper, a BuA for WECs is proposed that can be used for techno-economic optimisation at the early design stage. To achieve this goal, cost functions of most common components in the WEC field are retrieved from the literature, exposed, and critically compared. The large number of components considered allows the results of this work to be applied to a vast pool of WECs. The novelty of the presented cost functions is their parameterization with respect to the technological specifications, which already enables their adoption in the design optimisation phase. With the goal of quantifying the results and critically discuss the differences between the TdA and the BuA, the developed methodology and cost functions are applied to a case study and specifically adopted for the calculation of the capital cost of PeWEC (pendulum wave energy converter). In addition, a hybrid approach (HyA) is presented and discussed as an intermediate approach between the TdA and the BdA. Results are compared in terms of capital expenditure (CapEx) and pie cost distribution: the impact of adopting different cost metrics is discussed, highlighting the role that reliable cost functions can have on early stage technology development. This paper proposes more than 50 cost functions for WEC components. Referring to the case study, it is shown that while the total cost differs only slightly (11%), the pie distribution changes by up to 22%. Mooring system and power take-off are the cost items where the TdA and the HyA differ more from the BuA cost estimate
Effect of Salt Addition and Fermentation Time on Phenolics, Microbial Dynamics, Volatile Organic Compounds, and Sensory Properties of the PDO Table Olives of Gaeta (Italy)
âOliva di Gaetaâ is almost certainly the most important and well-known PDO denomination
for table olives in Italy. Their production is based on a specific two-stage trade preparation called
the âItranaâ method. In this work, we investigated how variations in the duration of the initial
water fermentation (i.e., 15 and 30 days) and the salt concentration (i.e., 6% and 8% NaCl) influence
the chemical features, microbial dynamics, polyphenols, volatile organic compounds, and sensory
features of âOliva di Gaetaâ. The time of the addition of salt did not affect the final concentration
in the brine, but a longer initial water fermentation (before salt addition) led to lower pH values.
The bacterial count constantly increased until the salt addition (i.e., either 15 or 30 days), while the
yeast population peaked on day 30. Generally, the two different salt concentrations did not affect the
count of microorganisms at the end of fermentation, with the only exception being a higher lactic
acid bacteria count for the treatment with 6% salt added at 30 days. At commercial maturity, the
crucial bitter tastant oleuropein was not completely removed from the drupes, and differences in salt
concentration and the length of the first-stage water fermentation did not influence its content at the
end of olive curing. Richer volatile profiles of olives were detected with higher-salt treatments, while
the combination of low salt and early saline treatment provided a more distinct profile. Longer initial
water fermentation caused a small increase in some phenolic compounds (e.g., iso-verbascoside,
verbascoside, and hydroxytyrosol-glucoside). A panel test indicated that salt application at 30 days
resulted in a more âSourâ and âBitterâ taste, irrespective of the salt concentration. The low salt
concentration coupled with the late saline treatment resulted in more âFruityâ notes, probably due
to the higher production of esters by lactobacilli. The slightly bitter perception of the olives was
consistent with the partial removal of oleuropein. Our work revealed the characteristics of the âItranaâ
method and that the variation in salt concentration and its time of application changes parameters
ranging from the microbial dynamics to the sensory profile. Specifically, our data indicate that
6% NaCl coupled with a longer initial water fermentation is the most different condition: it is less
effective in blocking microbial growth but, at the same time, is more potent in altering the nutritional
(e.g., polyphenols) and sensorial qualities (e.g., bitterness and fruitiness) of âOliva di Gaetaâ
Microwave and Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Capsaicinoids From Chili Peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) in Flavored Olive Oil
The extraction of flavoring compounds from different plants and aromatic herbs has been using since ancient
times in vegetable oils to enhance their aroma and taste, whereas the technology of production has changed over
time. Our work aimed to evaluate alternative technologies for the production of aromatized olive oil such as
ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction in comparison to traditional infusion or maceration of dried red
hot chili pepper (10% w/v for 7 days). For the ultrasonic treatment, samples of olive oil were prepared by adding
10% and 20% dried chili pepper and subjected to ultrasound-extraction for 10 or 20 minutes. For microwave
extraction, samples were added with 20% chili powder and treated for 10, 30 or 60 seconds. Capsaicinoids were
quantified by HPLC-DAD directly in the flavored olive oil and antioxidant activity was evaluated by ABTS+
method. Capsaicinoids analysis in aromatized olive oil treated 20 minutes by ultrasound resulted about 130 ppm
(capsaicin and hydroxycapsaicin), when 10% chili powder was used, while it was 250 ppm when 20% chili was
used. The content of capsaicinoids extracted by traditional infusion was always higher for both concentrations of
chili powder studied. The concentration of capsaicinoids in samples treated by microwaves extraction seem to be
dependent on the treatment time, resulting 130 and 230 ppm capsaicinoids for 10 and 60 seconds of treatment,
respectively. In conclusion, the production of flavored olive oils by using technologies such as microwave and
ultrasound-extraction could allow the production of high quality oils, with fast and cost-effectively methods
Biophenolic Compounds Influence the In-Mouth Perceived Intensity of Virgin Olive Oil Flavours and Off-Flavours.
In this study, the influence of phenolic compounds on the sensory scores attributed to extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) by panel test was investigated. Two model olive oils (MOOs) with identical concentrations of volatile compounds, differing only in the amount of biophenols (297 vs. 511 mg kgâ1), were analysed by two official panels and by SPME-GC/MS. Six other MOOs set up by the two previous models were also tested and analysed. They were formulated separately with the addition of three off-flavours (ârancidâ, âwineyâvinegaryâ and âfustyâmuddyâ). While high levels of EVOO phenolic compounds did not produce any effect on the headspace concentration of volatile compounds, they did affect the scores of both positive and negative sensory attributes of EVOO, due to the well-known in-mouth interactions between EVOO phenols, saliva and volatile compounds. In particular, a decrease of about 39% in the positive fruity score was found in the presence of a higher concentration of phenols. Regarding EVOO off-flavours, the higher level of phenolic compounds decreased by about 23% the score of âfustyâmuddyâ defect and increased the score of âwineyâvinegaryâ defect about 733%. No important effect of EVOO phenolics on the perceived intensity of the ârancidâ defect was found. These findings could be helpful in explaining some discrepancies of panel test responses observed during extra virgin olive oil shelf life
Industrial-scale filtration affects volatile compounds in extra virgin olive oil cv. Ravece
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) cv. Ravece (Campania region, Italy) was studied to investigate the effects
of the industrial filtration process on the legal quality parameters, fatty acids, phenolics, and volatile
compounds. Filtration did not cause significant changes in some quality indices, i.e., acidity and
spectrophotometric indices, with the exception of K232 value. Peroxide value was significantly higher after
the filtration process, probably due to further exposure to oxygen. This increasemay affect oil shelf life. The
content of total phenolic compounds did not change dramatically, but hydroxytyrosol and 3,4-DHPEA-EA
were significantly lower in filtered oil, arising from complex biophenols hydrolysis. Little but significant
changes were also observed for some fatty acids. The majority of 38 volatile compounds analyzed by the
SPME-GC/MS technique did not change significantly (p0.05) after industrial filtration, while some of
them increased their initial concentration up to twofold, i.e., 2-methylbutanal. 6-Methyl-5-hepten-2-one
and heptanol also increased after filtration, while t,t-2,4-hexadienal, t-2-hexen-1-ol, and c-2-penten-1-ol
significantly decreased
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