Environmental management best practices: towards social innovation

This research investigates exploratory environmental initiatives in tourism companies in Mallorca over five years, with special consideration to those involving partnerships and synergies with other parties (including academic ones), in an exploration of Social Innovation (SI) approaches in the industry. The paper starts with an outline of the growing importance of sustainability within the hospitality industry and its inherent relation with SI. The study draws its empirical material from ten innovative practices on sustainability from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and a big hotel chain in Mallorca. The data were collected by means of questionnaires and interviews. All cases incorporated SI features (partnerships, synergies, circular processes, systemic approach), developing, therefore, towards an integrated system of SI policy and practice. The study indicates that embracing environmental principles alongside social and economic concerns can lead to a systemic approach and these commitments can be regarded as a more solid model of sustainability

Fibrous Cellular Structures are Found in a Commercial Fruit Smoothie and Remain Intact during Simulated Digestion

The intactness of cell wall structures in foods has important repercussions for nutrient digestion and availability. In this study, we show the presence of intact cell wall structures in a commercial fruit smoothie (blend of banana, mango, orange and apple) and fruit purée (banana, mango), but not in fruit juices (apple or orange). Small clusters of cells were observed in fresh crushed fruit (banana, mango, and apple), the size of the cluster dependent on the type of fruit. When the smoothie was subjected to simulated gastro-intestinal digestion, cell wall structures were found abundantly even after 16 hrs of agitated incubation with digestive enzymes (protease, amylase and amyloglucosidase). Total dietary fibre (TDF) content of the smoothie was measured using the AOAC (991.43) and integrated fibre (IF) analysis methods. TDF-AOAC value was significantly lower (1.61%) than the TDF-IF (2.22%), but the ratio of insoluble to soluble dietary fibre (IDF: SDF) was consistently 1:3. Disruption of the cell wall structures in the smoothie by high shear homogenisation led to a 68% reduction in viscosity, 30% reduction in TDF content and a 10% increase in SDF. These experiments suggest that cell wall structures similar to those observed in crushed fruit are preserved during commercial smoothie manufacture and are retained during digestion. Their presence may have implications for fibre quantification and fibre functionality in the gut. We discuss the need to consider fibre structure, as well as content, when evaluating the nutritional properties of fruit and their products

Growth Region Impacts Cell Wall Properties and Hard-to-Cook Phenotype of Canned Navy Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Cellular mechanisms underpinning the hard-to-cook phenomenon are poorly understood. Navy beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) from the same cultivar but grown in different regions of North America showed different canning characteristics. Up to 46.4% more force was required to disrupt hard beans (HB) grown in Ontario compared with soft beans (SB) grown in Manitoba. HB absorbed 12.5% and 14.7% less water during blanching and canning, respectively. Microscopic assessment revealed that canning led to swelling of middle lamella and cell walls, but preservation of cell adhesion in both types of beans. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed reduced labelling of methyl-esterified homogalacturonan (HG) and more non-methyl-esterified HG and arabinan epitopes in HB. Compositional analysis indicated that the polysaccharides from HB were less water soluble and enriched in neutral sugars, including 46.5% more arabinose and 51.8% more galactose than in SB. ELISA analysis of polymers in the canning medium supported the increased solubility of cell wall polymers in SB. In the same cultivar, growth region affects cell wall properties with consequences for processing, eating and nutritional quality

A review of micronutrient deficiencies and analysis of maize contribution to nutrient requirements of women and children in Eastern and Southern Africa

This paper reviews and analyses the importance of maize as staple food in Eastern and Southern Africa (E&SA) and contributes in understanding the nexus between maize nutritional composition and prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) in these regions. MNDs remain a major public health concern particularly for women and children, with calcium, iodine, iron, selenium, zinc, folate and vitamin A deficiencies being the most common. Estimates of their prevalence are among the highest in E&SA: iron-deficient anemia affected 26 to 31% of women of reproductive age, and deficiencies up to 53%, 36%, 66%, 75% and 62% for vitamin A, iodine, zinc, calcium and selenium, respectively, were measured in populations of these regions. Besides, these two regions show the highest worldwide maize per capita consumption (g/person/day) as main staple, with 157 in Eastern Africa and 267 in Southern Africa, including up to 444 in Lesotho. The analysis of food composition tables from these regions showed that 100 g of maize foods consumed by these populations could to some extent, contribute in satisfying dietary reference intakes (DRIs) of children and women in energy, proteins, carbohydrates, magnesium, zinc, vitamins B1 and B6. However, it provides very low supply of fats, calcium, sodium, selenium, vitamins C, A and E. The high occurrence of MNDs and considerable nutritional potential of maize consumed in E&SA can be explained by loss of nutrients due to processing practices, low food diversification and reduced nutrients bioavailability. Success cases of the main strategies to tackle the issue of MNDs in these regions by improving maize nutritional quality are discussed in this paper. Maize fortification was shown to improve nutrition and health outcomes of population. Increasing dietary diversity by complementing maize with other foods has improved nutrition through integration of micronutrient-rich foods in the diet. Mostly, biofortification has successfully contributed in reducing vitamin A and zinc deficiencies in rural communities more than nutrient supplementation, fortification and dietary diversity