Effect of water cooking on proximate composition of grain in three Sicilian chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the effects of cooking upon proximate composition in three Sicilian chickpeas differing for seed-coat incidence ('12CL2'–low, 'Calia'–medium, 'Etna'–high). Raw and cooked seeds were analyzed for moisture, nitrogen, starch, ash, fat, tannins, crude fiber, magnesium, calcium and iron content. Among cultivars, 'Etna' (higher in seed-coat incidence) exhibited the greatest tannin content in raw seeds (>6 g kg −1 dry weight-DW). Cooking induced a drop in tannins. Protein content did not differ with cultivar in raw seeds (238.0 g kg −1 DW) but increased after cooking (+6%). Starch content was strongly reduced after cooking (−30% on average), irrespective of cultivar. Fat content (43.6 g kg −1 DW in raw seeds) did not vary with cultivar but increased with cooking. This last determined a decrease of ash content (−31.3% in average). Minerals diminished as well due to cooking process, but with a different extent depending on cultivar; iron content decreased in all chickpeas except 'Etna', calcium and magnesium content greatly diminished in '12Cl2' and 'Calia', less in 'Etna'. The higher rate of mineral retention of 'Etna' seeds could be attributed to their higher seed coat incidence

Polyphenol oxidase, total phenolics and ascorbic acid changes during storage of minimally processed 'California Wonder' and 'Quadrato d'Asti' sweet peppers

Abstract A growing sector of 'minimally processed' vegetables market is represented by sweet peppers, whose quality may be affected by enzymatic activities. Among these, polyphenol oxidase leads to browning reactions, which is a major cause of quality loss. This research aimed at assessing the changes in PPO activity, total phenolics and ascorbic acid throughout a 30-days cold storage in minimally processed green (cv. 'California Wonder'), yellow and red (cv. 'Quadrato d'Asti') sweet peppers. At day 0 PPO was active in red and yellow fruits but not in green ones, where it started to show relevant activity from the 3rd week of storage. At the end of the storage period (day 30), PPO activity was 1.36, 0.94 and 0.61 U/g d.m. in yellow, red and green peppers, respectively. Total phenols content was highest in green peppers, followed by red and yellow ones. In green fruits it increased up to the 3rd week of storage, decreasing afterwards, whilst in red and yellow fruits phenols content progressively declined after the 2nd week. Yellow fruits showed the highest ascorbic acid content, followed by red and green ones. Results confirm that green peppers 'California Wonder' are more suitable to minimal processing than yellow and red fruits

Oxidases activities and antioxidant capacity of minimally processed baby romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. duende) cultivated under different salinity conditions

[SPA] El pardeamiento enzimático es uno de los principales problemas implicados en el procesamiento mínimo y en la siguiente conservación de hortalizas de hoja, reduciendo la vida comercial del producto. Se han evaluado las variaciones de las dos principales oxidasas, polifenol oxidasa (PPO) y peroxidasa (POD), así como del contenido en fenoles, del color y de la capacidad antioxidante (metodo ORAC) durante 10 días de conservación a 4 °C de lechuga Baby Romaine (Lactuca sativa L. cv. Duende) mínimamente procesada, cultivada bajo 3 distintas condiciones de salinidad (2,8, 3,8, 4,8 dS/m), para determinar la condición más apta al siguiente procesamiento. Niveles crecientes de salinidad redujeron las dos actividades enzimáticas durante 7 días de conservación. En las muestras cultivadas en condición de elevada salinidad se observó también la menor variación de color, expresada como ΔE* [(ΔL*2+Δa*2+Δb*2)1/2], y la menor reducción de contenido en fenoles y de capacidad antioxidante en el día 3. [ENG] Enzymatic browning is a main problem involved in minimal processing and further storage of leafy vegetables, leading to shorter shelf-life of the product. Changes in the two oxidative activities, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD), as well as in total phenolic content, colour parameters and antioxidant capacity (assayed with ORAC method), were monitored during 10 days of storage at 4 °C of minimally processed Baby Romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. Duende) cultivated under 3 different salinity conditions (2,8, 3,8, 4,8 dS/m), in order to determine the most suitable condition for further processing. Increasing levels of salinity reduced both oxidases activities immediately after cutting and throughout 7 days of storage. Samples cultivated under high salinity had also the lowest change in colour, expressed as ΔE* [(ΔL*2+Δa*2+Δb*2)1/2], and showed the lowest reduction in total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity after 3 days of storage

Clinical features and outcomes of elderly hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure or both

Background and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) mutually increase the risk of being present in the same patient, especially if older. Whether or not this coexistence may be associated with a worse prognosis is debated. Therefore, employing data derived from the REPOSI register, we evaluated the clinical features and outcomes in a population of elderly patients admitted to internal medicine wards and having COPD, HF or COPD + HF. Methods: We measured socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics, severity and prevalence of comorbidities, clinical and laboratory features during hospitalization, mood disorders, functional independence, drug prescriptions and discharge destination. The primary study outcome was the risk of death. Results: We considered 2,343 elderly hospitalized patients (median age 81 years), of whom 1,154 (49%) had COPD, 813 (35%) HF, and 376 (16%) COPD + HF. Patients with COPD + HF had different characteristics than those with COPD or HF, such as a higher prevalence of previous hospitalizations, comorbidities (especially chronic kidney disease), higher respiratory rate at admission and number of prescribed drugs. Patients with COPD + HF (hazard ratio HR 1.74, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.16-2.61) and patients with dementia (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.06-2.90) had a higher risk of death at one year. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed a higher mortality risk in the group of patients with COPD + HF for all causes (p = 0.010), respiratory causes (p = 0.006), cardiovascular causes (p = 0.046) and respiratory plus cardiovascular causes (p = 0.009). Conclusion: In this real-life cohort of hospitalized elderly patients, the coexistence of COPD and HF significantly worsened prognosis at one year. This finding may help to better define the care needs of this population

Active Packaging-Releasing System with Foeniculum vulgare Essential Oil for the Quality Preservation of Ready-to-Cook (RTC) Globe Artichoke Slices

Two globe artichoke genotypes, “Spinoso sardo” and “Opera F1”, have been processed as ready-to-cook (RTC) slices and refrigerated at 4◦ C for 12 days (i) to evaluate the suitability to be processed as RTC slices; (ii) to evaluate the effect of a Foeniculum vulgare essential oil (EO) emitter, within an active package system, to delay quality decay, thus extending shelf life; (iii) to estimate the impact of EO emitter on the sensory profile of the RTC slices after cooking. Results revealed that both globe artichoke genotypes possess a good attitude to be processed as RTC product. “Opera F1” showed the best performances for color parameters, texture and chemical indexes, while “Spinoso sardo” showed lower mass loss (ML) over the storage time. The addition of EO emitter slowed down the consumption of O2, better preserved texture when compared to the control and more effectively control polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity and antioxidants’ retention during the cold storage. Microbial counts in control globe artichoke RTC slices were significantly higher than those packed with EO emitter, confirming the inhibiting role played by EO of F. vulgare. In addition, the EO emitter did not influence negatively the sensory profile of RTC globe artichoke slices after microwave cooking. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Shelf life study of ready to cook slices of globe artichoke 'Spinoso sardo': effects of anti-browning solutions and edible coating enriched with Foeniculum vulgare essential oil

For globe artichoke [Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus (L.) Fiori], a natural source of minerals, fibre, inulin and polyphenols, the possibility to achieve a ready-to-cook (RTC) product would be very convenient for improving its commercialization and consumption. In this study, the effects of (1) anti-browning treatments (citric acid 0.5% + ascorbic acid 2% or cysteine 0.5%, w/v) and (2) dipping in locust bean gum (LBG) edible coating with or without Foeniculum vulgare essential oil (EO) were evaluated on RTC globe artichoke slices cv. Spinoso sardo during storage (11 days at 4 °C). Fresh weight loss, color, texture, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), microbiological and chemical parameters, antioxidant capacity and sensory descriptors were determined

Study of an intrinsically safe infrastructure for training and research on nuclear technologies

Within European Partitioning & Transmutation research programs, infrastructures specifically dedicated to the study of fundamental reactor physics and engineering parameters of future fast-neutron-based reactors are very important, being some of these features not available in present zero-power prototypes. This presentation will illustrate the conceptual design of an Accelerator-Driven System with high safety standards, but ample flexibility for measurements. The design assumes as base option a 70MeV, 0.75mA proton cyclotron, as the one which will be installed at the INFN National Laboratory in Legnaro, Italy and a Beryllium target, with Helium gas as core coolant. Safety is guaranteed by limiting the thermal power to 200 kW, with a neutron multiplication coefficient around 0.94, loading the core with fuel containing Uranium enriched at 20% inserted in a solid-lead diffuser. The small decay heat can be passively removed by thermal radiation from the vessel. Such a system could be used to study, among others, some specific aspects of neutron diffusion in lead, beam-core coupling, target cooling and could serve as a training facility