Sucrose in the concentrated solution or the supercooled “state” : a review of caramelisation reactions and physical behaviour

Sucrose is probably one of the most studied molecules by food scientists, since it plays an important role as an ingredient or preserving agent in many formulations and technological processes. When sucrose is present in a product with a concentration near or greater than the saturation point—i.e. in the supercooled state—it possesses high potentialities for the food industry in areas as different as pastry industry, dairy and frozen desserts or films and coatings production. This paper presents a review on critical issues and research on highly concentrated sucrose solutions—mainly, on sucrose thermal degradation and relaxation behaviour in such solutions. The reviewed works allow identifying several issues with great potential for contributing to significant advances in Food Science and Technology.Authors are grateful for the valuable discussions with Teresa S. Brandao and Rosiane Lopes da Cunha during this research. Author M. A. C. Quintas acknowledges the financial support of her research by FCT grant SFRH/BPD/41715/2007

2006-2010

Ergosterol is an important constituent of fungal cell wall and measurement of it is a useful method to detect fungal activity, which correspond to mycotoxine production. Monitoring of ergosterol content in tomato products in Turkey has been carried out since 2006. The results of monitoring over the period 2006-2010 are presented. During this time 344 samples of six different tomato products (home-made tomato paste, commercial tomato paste, diced or crushed tomato, tomato juice, ketchup and tomato puree) were analysed for ergosterol using high-performance liquid chromatography. The detection limit of ergosterol was 0.1 mg/kg. Recovery experiments were carried out with spiked samples in the range 2-10 mg/kg of ergosterol. Average ergosterol contents were highest in home-made tomato paste (1,074 mg/kg), and lowest in tomato juice (4.5 mg/kg). Ergosterol exceeded the Turkish legal limit of 15 mg/kg in 65 of 88 commercial tomato paste samples; however all home-made tomato paste were >15 mg/kg. This paper reports data of the first survey for the presence of ergosterol in tomato products in Turkey

A new quality parameter in tomato and tomato products: ergosterol.

The poor precision of the "percentage of discarded fruits" and "Howard mold count" methods has increased the importance of ergosterol for the microbiological quality evaluation of tomato and tomato products. Ergosterol, a constituent of the cell wall of some important vegetable parasites, such as molds, has been recently recognized as a potential objective parameter useful for the characterization of the quality of processing tomatoes. Thus, 15 mg of ergosterol/kg total solids has been stated as an acceptability maximum limit of tomato products

Turkish cereal food, by high-performance liquid chromatography

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure has been developed for determination of water-soluble vitamins (ascorbic acid, niacin, panthothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), thiamine (vitamin B-1), folic acid, and riboflavin (vitamin B-2)) in tarhana samples, a traditional Turkish cereal food. Sample-treatment entails SPE with Sep-Pak C-18 (500-mg) cartridges. The water-soluble vitamins were analyzed by HPLC on a Discovery C-18 150 min x 4.6 min column with 0.1 mol L-1 KH2PO4 (pH 7.0)-methanol, 90: 10, as mobile phase (0.7 mL min(-1)) in isocratic mode. Identification of compounds was achieved by comparing their retention times and UV spectra with those of standards stored in a data bank. The detection limits ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 mg L-1. The accuracy of the method was tested by measuring average recovery; values ranged between 96.51 and 99.40%

Public Health Rep

To assess the accuracy of maternally reported birth weights, we compared birth weights reported by mothers in the Tennessee Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Feeding Program (WIC) from 1975 to 1984 with the birth weights recorded on the corresponding Tennessee birth certificate file. Differences in birth weights between these two sources were compared for the total group and were also stratified by sociodemographic and medical variables that might influence the accuracy of birth weight recall. An accurate birth weight was defined as one reported within 1 ounce of the birth certificate birth weight. We also calculated the proportion of birth weights that would be incorrectly classified as low or normal by maternal reporting. A total of 72,245 WIC records were matched with their corresponding birth certificates. Of these, 46,637 had WIC birth weights recorded within the specified birth weight range. Eighty-nine percent of birth weights were reported within 1 ounce of birth certificate birth weights. Lower accuracy of birth weight reporting was associated with the infant's low birth weight, preterm delivery, and low Apgar scores, and with the mother's grand multiparity, less than a high school education, black race, single marital status, and young age. Only 1.1 percent of birth weights would have been incorrectly classified into low or normal birth weight categories based on maternal reporting. Overall, our results suggest that maternally reported birth weights are sufficiently accurate for research and programmatic purposes when birth certificate information is not readily available.3128829PMCnul

Turkish cereal food, by high-performance liquid chromatography

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure has been developed for determination of water-soluble vitamins (ascorbic acid, niacin, panthothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), thiamine (vitamin B-1), folic acid, and riboflavin (vitamin B-2)) in tarhana samples, a traditional Turkish cereal food. Sample-treatment entails SPE with Sep-Pak C-18 (500-mg) cartridges. The water-soluble vitamins were analyzed by HPLC on a Discovery C-18 150 min x 4.6 min column with 0.1 mol L-1 KH2PO4 (pH 7.0)-methanol, 90: 10, as mobile phase (0.7 mL min(-1)) in isocratic mode. Identification of compounds was achieved by comparing their retention times and UV spectra with those of standards stored in a data bank. The detection limits ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 mg L-1. The accuracy of the method was tested by measuring average recovery; values ranged between 96.51 and 99.40%.C1 Pamukkale Univ, Coll Engn, Dept Food Engn, TR-20020 Camlik, Denizli, Turkey

Temperature and slice size dependences of acrylamide in potato fries

In this paper, two varieties of potato (Ranger Russet and Van Gogh) with various slice size (9, 6, and 3 mm) were deep fried at various temperatures and time combinations (150, 170, and 190 degrees C for 10, 20, and 30 min) and contents and kinetic parameters of acrylamide were investigated. Formation of acrylamide for both potato varieties followed zero-order reaction models. As the frying temperature and time increased, formation of acrylamide increased in both potato varieties. Moreover, acrylamide formation significantly reduced by increasing slice size of samples. The most appropriate frying temperature, time, and slice size for the lowest acrylamide formation at 150 degrees C, for 10 min and 9 mm slice size, respectively. The consequences of this study will be helpful for the industry of potato products. Practical applications Potato is one of the most cultivated crops worldwide and potato-based product have been mostly consumed as fast food such as french fries, chips, etc. Among the potato-based products, French fries have been considered as one of acrylamide main source in foods because of high content of asparagine, reducing sugars, and deep-oil frying. This paper aims to provide new knowledge to potato industry in terms of potato slice size's effect on acrylamide formation and to facilitate predicting probable acrylamide contents that can form at the end of frying process. In the current study, acrylamide formation increased as slice size decreased. This means that it should be avoid from low slice size in the commercial production of French fries to decrease the content of acrylamide in the final product. The results of this paper may enable to determine optimum process conditions for products containing low acrylamide.C1 [Tepe, Tolga Kagan; Kadakal, Cetin] Univ Pamukkale, Fac Engn, Dept Food Engn, Denizli, Kinikli, Turkey

A new quality parameter in tomato and tomato products: Ergosterol

The poor precision of the "percentage of discarded fruits" and "Howard mold count" methods has increased the importance of ergosterol for the microbiological quality evaluation of tomato and tomato products. Ergosterol, a constituent of the cell wall of some important vegetable parasites, such as molds, has been recently recognized as a potential objective parameter useful for the characterization of the quality of processing tomatoes. Thus, 15 mg of ergosterol/kg total solids has been stated as an acceptability maximum limit of tomato products.C1 Pamukkale Univ, Fac Engn, Dept Food Engn, TR-20020 Camlik Denizli, Turkey.Ankara Univ, Fac Agr, Dept Food Engn, TR-06100 Ankara, Turkey