Exploring Consumer's Propensity to Consume Insect-Based Foods. Empirical Evidence from a Study in Southern Italy

While admitting that neophobia and sociocultural factors negatively affect consumers' propensity to consume insect-based foods, other aspects related to food values that consumers attach to these foods could have an influence on consuming decision. In order to identify the motivations and determinants that influence the propensity to consume insects and then to explore the drivers behind consumers' willingness to consume insect-based foods, the data collected through the questionnaire were processed. After a descriptive analysis of the data, ANOVA was performed. Moreover, Student's t test and pairwise correlation indices were estimated in order to determine statistically significant correlation. Our findings show that information about edible insects brought about an increase in food neophobia and appearance affected the expected liking levels. In addition, we have shown that respondents' propensity to consume insect-based foods also depends on consumers' subjective beliefs about food values such as healthiness, naturalness and environmental impact. We also found that respondents' beliefs about food values associated with insect-based foods do not depend on the degree of information provided but are probably due to pre-existing prejudices about them

Activated Carbons: In Vitro Affinity for Aflatoxin B1 and Relation of Adsorption Ability to Physicochemical Parameters

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Wholegrain Durum Wheat Bread Fortified With Citrus Fibers: Evaluation of Quality Parameters During Long Storage

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of the addition of citrus fibers, from blood orange and lemon peels to produce a functional durum wheat bread. Breads fortified in fiber were packaged under a modified atmosphere (MAP) and stored at 25°C up to 120 days. No significant differences were observed with respect to the specific volume and weight, internal structure, pH and titratable acidity among the bread samples obtained using different types and percentages of fibers. Storage time, at 30 up to 90 days, affected significantly the bread firmness and caused significant differences in 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) levels in all bread samples. In fortified breads with citrus fibers the yeast and mold counts showed values of approximately 1 log10 cfu/g for the first 30 days and 3.5 log10 cfu/g at the end of storage. The results of the sensory evaluation highlight that loaves enriched with blood orange and lemon fibers showed a citrus flavor but had a similar overall evaluation respect to control bread produced without addition of citrus fiber. The results of this study showed that the addition up to 2% of blood orange and lemon fibers in wheat whole durum flour is a possible strategy to produce “high fibre” bread

Detrimental effect on the gut microbiota of 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds after in vitro gastro-intestinal and fermentative digestion

This study, investigated the stability of dicarbonyl compounds (DCs), 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG), glyoxal (GO) and methylglyoxal (MGO) during simulated gastrointestinal digestion processes and the impact these compounds have on the gut microbiota. DCs pass almost unaltered through the in-vitro gastrointestinal digestion phases (concentration loss: 11% for 3-DG, 24% for GO and MGO) and have an effect on the fermentative digestion process, reducing the total gut bacterial population up to 6 Log10 units. Previous studies have shown no antimicrobial activity for 3-DG, however, for the first time it has been shown that when incubated with faecal bacteria 3-DG strongly depressed this microbial community. The influence of dicarbonyl compounds on the anaerobic fermentation processes was confirmed by the reduced production of short-chain fatty acids. Considering the modern Western diet, characterised by high consumption of ultra-processed foods rich in dicarbonyl compounds, this could lead to a reduction of bacteria important for the microbiome

Hazardous Chemical Compounds in Cookies: The Role of Sugars and the Kinetics of Their Formation during Baking

Baking goods are an essential part of the diet worldwide and are consumed daily, so they represent ideal foods for vehicle health- and unhealth-promoting substances. This work aimed to study the influence of sugars and baking conditions of cookies on the final levels of the main reported hazardous chemical compounds such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), 3-deoxyglucosone (3-DG), glyoxal (GO) and methylglyoxal (MGO). The replacement of sucrose with fructose or glucose in the cookies recipe deeply modifies the levels of α-dicarbonyl compounds (DCs), particularly 3-DG, independently of the baking temperature used. A longer baking time, even a few minutes, can drastically modify the HMF level in cookies and the use of fructose or glucose in the recipe seems to ensure the optimal conditions for generating this compound. The use of sucrose is required to keep levels of the hazardous compounds below a few mg/kg. Additionally, the ability to retain water, the titratable acidity and/or the pH of the final products were influenced by the used sugars with effects on the final levels of DCs and HMF. The highest Ea values determined for DCs and HMF formation in the cookies with sucrose suggest that this system requires very high temperatures to increase meaningful levels of these molecules, limiting their accumulation

Influence of Ripeness and Drying Process on the Polyphenols and Tocopherols of Pistacia vera L.

This paper highlights, for the first time, the changes in the phenolics fraction (anthocyanins, flavonoids and stilbenes) and tocopherols of unpeeled Pistacia vera L. var. bianca with ripening, and the effect of the sun-drying process. The total polyphenol levels in pistachios, measured as mg of Gallic Acid Equivalent (GAE), were: 201 ± 10.1, 349 ± 18.3 and 184.7 ± 6.2 mg GAE/100 g DM in unripe, ripe and dried ripe samples, respectively. Most phenolics in ripe pistachios were found to be anthocyanins. They increased with ripening, while the sun drying process caused a susbtantial loss. Flavonoids found in all pistachio samples were daidzein, genistein, daidzin, quercetin, eriodictyol, luteolin, genistin and naringenin, which decreased both with ripening and drying. Before the drying process both unripe and ripe pistachios showed a higher content of trans-resveratrol than dried ripe samples. γ-Tocopherol was the major vitamin E isomer found in pistachios. The total content (of α- and γ-tocopherols) decreased, both during ripening and during the drying process. These results suggested that unpeeled pistachios can be considered an important source of phenolics, particularly of anthocyanins. Moreover, in order to preserve these healthy characteristics, new and more efficient drying processes should be adopted

Exposure to pesticide residues from consumption of Italian blood oranges

International audienceThe paper reports findings concerning a five years study aimed to evaluate pesticides levels, deriving from orchards activities, on the Italian most common orange cultivar (Citrus Sinensis, L. Osbeck, cv. Tarocco). The study, using a Bayesian approach, allowed obtaining both the qualitative (the number) and quantitative distributions (the amount) of pesticides with its own probability value. Multi residues analyses of the 460 analysed samples highlighted the presence of: ethyl and methyl Chlorpyrifos, Dicofol, Etofenprox, Fenazaquin, Fenitrotion, Imazalil, Malathion and Metalaxil-m. The 30.5% of samples shown just one pesticide, the 2.16% two pesticides and the 0.65% of samples shown three pesticides at the same time. The most common residue was ethyl chlorpyrifos followed by methyl chlorpyrifos.. The Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) values distributions for ethyl and methyl chlorpyrifos, as well as the distance from safety level (NOAEL), were calculated. The risk has been differentiate in order: 1) to keep in account also the period of real citrus consuming (180 days); 2) to differentiate the risk deriving from eating oranges that contain a certain level of chlorpyrifos from those unspecified. The most likely EDI values for ethyl chlorpyrifos, deriving from Italian blood oranges consumption are: 0.01 and 0.006 mg/day, calculated on 180 and 365 days, respectively. Considering the probalility of occurrence of ethyl chlorpyrifos, the EDI values are reduced up to: 2.6*10-3 and 1.3*10-3 mg/day, respectively. Analogously for methyl chlorpyrifos, the EDI most likely values are: 0.09 and 0.04 mg/day, respectively. Considering its probability of occurrence the EDI values are: 6.7*10-3 and 3.4*10-3 mg/day, respectively. Results highlighted that levels of pesticides in Italian Tarocco oranges deriving from a controlled chain are safe

Assessment of the exposure to Allura red colour from the consumption of red juice-based and red soft drinks in Italy

International audienceThis paper reports on a survey and an exposure study, based on a probabilistic approach, concerning red juice-based and red soft drink products in Italy. This study highlighted that the estimations, both of consumption rates and colorant intakes, are related to the hypotheses of scenarios. In fact, the study estimated that, on the average, consumers of red soft drinks consume 53.1 litres per year, ranging from 39.1 litres to 70.7 litres of soft drink products under a scenario, or, 21.3 litres, ranging from 12.7 litres and 35.9 litres under other hypotheses; while 9.5 litres of red juice-based drinks are consumed per year, ranging between 7.0 litres and 12.5 litres, under a scenario, or, on the average, 6.9 litres, ranging from 3.2 litres and 17.7 litres, under the other scenario. The amount of colorant in a red beverage ranges from 10.9 mg/l in a red soft drink up to 55.9 mg/l in a red-juice based product. The risk evaluation process showed that in all cases, the intake of E129 was always lower than the Acceptable Daily Intake value. The exposure assessment showed high average intakes of Allura red in the worst-case scenario, on the average, 6.5 mg/day and 13.9 mg/day, up to 25.0 mg/day and 33.0 mg/day at the 95th percentile, from juice-based and soft drinks respectively. The most realistic scenario estimated a weighted average daily intake of Allura red, on the average about 0.3 mg/day up to 0.5 mg/day at the 95th percentile, and 0.4 mg/day up to 0.6 mg/day at the 95th percentile, from juice-based and soft drinks, respectively. Actually, the highest colorant intake was estimated in a "health" juice-based drink. The intake of E129 significantly increased with a high level of colorant (> 40 mg/l)

Public and Private Standards in Crop Production: Their Role in Ensuring Safety and Sustainability

From the comparison of regulations and/or standards for the organic, conventional and/or integrated citrus production method and a voluntary certification, it emerges that farms certified with voluntary non-regulated certification systems, such as the IFA FV GLOBALG.A.P, are obliged to take into account the highest number of aspects, reported in a more complete register, than the organic ones. Moreover, this is also supported by a continuous-time planned process of revision and updating of the applicable versions of the standard. The environmental impact of the food production, the safety aspects of food products, as well as the health, ethics, and safety aspects of workers, are largely considered and inspected in the GLOBALG.A.P., while the organic system, despite the IFOAM suggestions and indications, is only considered partially. This means that, from a practical point of view, the organic product can be considered “clean and safe”, but not more environmentally friendly than the GLOBALG.A.P. products