Antioxidant capacity, fatty acids profile, and descriptive sensory analysis of table olives as affected by deficit irrigation

preprintThe influence of three irrigation treatments (T0, no stress; T1, soft stress; and, T2, moderate stress) on the key functional properties [fatty acids, sugar alcohols, organic acids, minerals, total polyphenols content (TPC), and antioxidant activity (AA)], sensory quality, and consumers' acceptance of table olives, cv. ‘Manzanilla’, was evaluated. RESULTS: A soft water stress, T1, led to table olives with the highest oil and dry matter contents, with the highest intensities of key sensory attributes and slightly, although not significant, higher values of consumer satisfaction degree. Besides, RDI in general (T1 and T2) slightly increased green colour, the content of linoleic acid, but decreased the content of phytic acid and some minerals. CONCLUSION: The soft RDI conditions are a good option for the cultivation of olive trees because they are environmentally friendly and simultaneously maintain or even improve the functionality, sensory quality, and consumer acceptance of table olives. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2013-45922-C2-1-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2013-45922-C2-2-

Quantification of table olives' acid, bitter and salty tastes using potentiometric electronic tongue fingerprints

The intensities of the gustatory attributes of table olives is one of the sensory set of parameters evaluated by trained sensory panels accordingly to the recommendations of the International Olive Council. However this is an expensive and time-consuming process that only allows the evaluation of a limited number of samples per day. So, an electronic tongue coupled with multivariate statistical tools, is proposed for assessing the median intensities of acid, bitter and salty tastes perceived in table olives. The results showed that the device, coupled with linear discriminant analysis, could be used as a taste sensor, allowing classifying aqueous standard solutions according to the three basic tastes (repeated K-fold cross-validation: 98% ± 3% of correct classifications) based on the electrochemical signals of 5 sensors. It was demonstrated that the taste sensor with multiple linear regression models, enabled quantifying the median intensities of the three basic tastes (repeated K-fold cross-validation: R2 ? 0.96 ± 0.04) perceived in table olives by a trained sensory panel, based on the potentiometric fingerprints (2125 signal profiles) of aqueous olive pastes and brines. The overall satisfactory results showed the electronic tongue potential to assess the intensities of gustatory attributes of table olives, formerly only achievable by sensory panels.This work was financially supported by Project POCI-01–0145-FEDER-006984 – Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM and by Project UID/QUI/00616/2013 – CQ-VR both funded by FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional through COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) – and by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal. Strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit is also acknowledged. Nuno Rodrigues thanks FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE for the Ph.D. Grant (SFRH/BD/104038/2014)

Assessment of table olives' organoleptic defect intensities based on the potentiometric fingerprint recorded by an electronic tongue

Table olives are prone to the appearance of sensory defects that decrease their quality and in some cases result in olives unsuitable for consumption. The evaluation of the type and intensity of the sensory negative attributes of table olives is recommended by the International Olive Council, although not being legally required for commercialization. However, the accomplishment of this task requires the training and implementation of sensory panels according to strict directives, turning out in a time-consuming and expensive procedure that involves a degree of subjectivity. In this work, an electronic tongue is proposed as a taste sensor device for evaluating the intensity of sensory defects of table olives. The potentiometric signal profiles gathered allowed establishing multiple linear regression models, based on the most informative subsets of signals (from 24 to 29 recorded during the analysis of olive aqueous pastes and brine solutions) selected using a simulated annealing meta-heuristic algorithm. The models enabled the prediction of the median intensities (R2 ≥ 0.942 and RMSE ≤ 0.356, for leave-one-out or repeated K-fold cross-validation procedures) of butyric, musty, putrid, winey-vinegary, and zapateria negative sensations being, in general, the predicted intensities within the range of intensities perceived by the sensory panel. Indeed, based on the predicted mean intensities of the sensory defects, the electrochemical-chemometric approach developed could correctly classify 86.4% of the table olive samples according to their trade category based on a sensory panel evaluation and following the International Olive Council regulations (i.e., extra, 1st choice, 2nd choice, and olives that may not be sold as table olives). So, the satisfactory overall predictions achieved demonstrate that the electronic tongue could be a complementary tool for assessing table olive defects, reducing the effort of trained panelists and minimizing the risk of subjective evaluations.This work was financially supported by Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984—Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM, by Project UID/QUI/00616/2013 —CQ-VR, and UID/AGR/00690/ 2013—CIMO, all funded by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) through COMPETE2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) and by national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal. Strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit is also acknowledged. Nuno Rodrigues thanks FCT, POPH-QREN, and FSE for the Ph.D. Grant (SFRH/BD/104038/2014).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Anthocyanidins and anthocyanins: colored pigments as food, pharmaceutical ingredients, and the potential health benefits

Anthocyanins are colored water-soluble pigments belonging to the phenolic group. The pigments are in glycosylated forms. Anthocyanins responsible for the colors, red, purple, and blue, are in fruits and vegetables. Berries, currants, grapes, and some tropical fruits have high anthocyanins content. Red to purplish blue-colored leafy vegetables, grains, roots, and tubers are the edible vegetables that contain a high level of anthocyanins. Among the anthocyanin pigments, cyanidin-3-glucoside is the major anthocyanin found in most of the plants. The colored anthocyanin pigments have been traditionally used as a natural food colorant. The color and stability of these pigments are influenced by pH, light, temperature, and structure. In acidic condition, anthocyanins appear as red but turn blue when the pH increases. Chromatography has been largely applied in extraction, separation, and quantification of anthocyanins. Besides the use of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins as natural dyes, these colored pigments are potential pharmaceutical ingredients that give various beneficial health effects. Scientific studies, such as cell culture studies, animal models, and human clinical trials, show that anthocyanidins and anthocyanins possess antioxidative and antimicrobial activities, improve visual and neurological health, and protect against various non-communicable diseases. These studies confer the health effects of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins, which are due to their potent antioxidant properties. Different mechanisms and pathways are involved in the protective effects, including free-radical scavenging pathway, cyclooxygenase pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, and inflammatory cytokines signaling. Therefore, this review focuses on the role of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins as natural food colorants and their nutraceutical properties for health. Abbreviations: CVD: Cardiovascular disease VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor

Quality attributes of table olives as affected by regulated deficit irrigation

8 páginas.-- 1 figuras.-- 6 tablas.-- 31 referencias© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) allows us to decrease the amount of water to apply without significantly affecting yield and fruit quality. The influence of 3 irrigation treatments [T0: control (no stress); T1: moderate stress during pit hardening; and, T2: low stress at the end of flowering stage and moderate during pit hardening) on the quality of table olives, cv. '. Manzanilla', was evaluated. The parameters evaluated in table olives (after processing) were: weight, size, texture, color, fatty acids, volatile compounds and sensory quality. T1 olives had the highest weight and size, and were rounded. Color coordinates L* and b* had the highest values in T2 olives. Aldehydes and monounsaturated fatty acids predominated in T0 olive fruits, while terpenes and polyunsaturated fatty acids predominated in T1 fruits, and finally saturated fatty acids were abundant in T2 olives. Finally, the results of sensory studies indicated that global acceptance was higher for T1 olive, obtaining better satisfaction degrees for fresh olive flavor, crunchiness, and global satisfaction. Deficit irrigation is effective and can be a good alternative for this type of crop, '. Manzanilla' table olives.The authors are grateful to the projects AGL2013-45922-C2-1-R yAGL2013-45922-C2-2-R (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain). Besides, Marina Cano-Lamadrid was funded by the Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche through an “introduction to research” scholarship.Peer Reviewe

How does water stress and roasting temperature affect the physicochemical parameters of almonds?

7 páginas.- 2 figuras.- 3 tablas.- 37 referenciasRegulated deficit irrigation (RDI) is a useful strategy to reduce the water consumption maintaining the fruit quality. The almonds cultivated under RDI conditions are called hydroSOStainable because are produced under environmentally friendly conditions and present an improved quality. It was demonstrated that almond cultivar and agronomical practices, can affect the kernel chemical composition and consequently the parameters for the roasting process of almonds. The influence of three roasting temperatures (150 °C, 170 °C and 190 °C) on the quality of almonds belonging to 2 irrigation treatments (T1: control and T2: hydroSOStainable almonds) was evaluated. For this, moisture, water activity (aw), organic acids, sugars, antioxidant activity (AA), total phenolic content (TPC) and fatty acids content were measured. Results showed that moisture content, aw, AA (ABTS•+ and DPPH•), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were reduced with the most severe roasting treatment. While citric, isobutyric, maltoheptaose and maltotriose content was increased. HydroSOStainable almonds had significantly higher content of AA, TPC, organic acids, sugars, PUFAs and total fatty acids than control almonds; this tendency was present at 170 °C, but not at 190 °C. Consequently, 170 °C during 10 min was the recommended roasting conditions for the hydroSOStainable almonds.This research was funded by the Spanish Government [Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MCI) and Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI)], through a coordinated research project (hydroSOS) including the Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche (AGL 2016-75794-C4-1-R, Productos hidroSOStenibles: identificación de debilidades y fortalezas, optimización del procesado, creación de marca propia, y estudio de su aceptación en el mercado europeo, hydroSOS foods) and the Universidad de Sevilla (AGL 2016-75794-C4-4-R); these projects have been also funded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) “Una manera de hacer Europa”, (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE). The author M. Cano-Lamadrid was funded by the Formación de Profesorado Universitario (FPU) grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU15/02158).Peer reviewe

A new combined sensory-instrumental tool for pomegranate seed hardness determination

BACKGROUND: Scanning electron microscopy was assayed and linked with previous data with respect to obtaining a new combined sensory-instrumental tool for pomegranate seed hardness determination. The present study aimed to develop an effective tool for the prediction of sensory properties via instrumental determinations. RESULTS: Simple regression analysis determined a high correlation within descriptive seed hardness and thickness of the wall, as well as descriptive wood perception and thickness of the wall, with values of 0.71 in both cases. Multiple regression analysis improved correlations when (i) descriptive seed hardness correlated with instrumental seed hardness and wood index (0.94); (ii) descriptive wood perception correlated with instrumental seed hardness and wood index (0.79); (iii) descriptive seed hardness correlated with instrumental seed hardness and thickness of the seed wall (0.96); and (iv) descriptive wood perception correlated with instrumental seed hardness and thickness of the seed wall (0.82). The same trend was found when (i) seed hardness satisfaction degree correlated with instrumental seed hardness and wood index (0.92); (ii) wood perception satisfaction degree correlated with instrumental seed hardness and wood index (0.82); (iii) seed hardness satisfaction degree correlated with instrumental seed hardness and thickness of the wall (0.99); and (iv) wood perception satisfaction degree correlated with instrumental seed hardness and thickness of the wall (0.99). CONCLUSION: Regarding mechanical properties, the results of the present study confirm that texture analysis and scanning electron microscopy are an effective tool for obtaining reliable information. This research led to establish an objective tool allowing prediction of the consumer acceptance of pomegranate cultivars worldwide. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.INIA-MINECO and FEDER and Spanish Ministry of Education. Grant Numbers: RFP2017-00005-00-00, FPU15/0215

Long-term correlation between water deficit and quality markers in hydrosostainable almonds

22 páginas.- 2 figuras.- 5 tablas.- 62 referencias.- Supplementary Materials: The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/10/1470/s1, Table S1: Mean values of morphological and chemical parameters of irrigation treatments (T1, T2, T3, and T4) for 3 years (2017, 2018, and 2019) and Table S2: Mean values of functional and sensorial parameters of irrigation treatments (T1, T2, T3, and T4) for 3 years (2017, 2018, and 2019).Global warming enhances the rainfall and temperature irregularity, producing a collapse in water resources and generating an urgent need for hydro-sustainable thinking in agriculture. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the water stress of almond trees and quality parameters of fruits, after 3 years of experiments, with the objective of establishing quality markers necessary in the certification process of hydroSOStainable almonds. The results showed positive correlations among the stress integral (SI) and dry weight, color coordinates (L*, a* and b*), minerals (K, Fe, and Zn), organic acids (citric acid), sugars (sucrose, fructose, and total sugars), antioxidant activity, and fatty acids [linoleic acid, polyunsaturated (PUFA)/monounsaturated (MUFA) ratio, PUFA and SFA, among others]. As well as negative correlations of SI with water activity, weight (almond, kernel, and shell), kernel size, minerals (Ca and Mg), fatty acids (oleic acid, oleic/linoleic ratio, MUFA, and PUFA/SFA ratio), and sensory attributes (size, bitterness, astringency, benzaldehyde, and woody). Finally, this research helped to prove key quality parameters that can be used as makers of hydroSOStainable almonds. In addition, it was demonstrated that controlling water stress in almond trees by using deficit irrigation strategies can lead to appropriate yields, improve the product quality, and consequently, lead to a final added value. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This research was funded by the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MCI), Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI), through a coordinated research project (hydroSOS) including the Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche (AGL2016-75794-C4-1-R, Productos hidroSOStenibles: identificación de debilidades y fortalezas, optimización del procesado, creación de marca propia, y estudio de su aceptación en el mercado europeo, hydroSOS foods) and the Universidad de Sevilla (AGL2016-75794-C4-4-R); these projects have been also funded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) “Una manera de hacer Europa”, (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE).Peer reviewe

Correlation between water stress and phenolic compounds of hydroSOStainable almonds

6 páginas.- 3 figuras.- 1 tablas.- 28 referenciasBACKGROUND Water scarcity is currently affecting many areas of the world, reaching worrying levels in drought areas such as southern Spain. To cope with this issue, researchers in the agricultural sector have implemented deficit irrigation strategies intended to reduce water consumption by increasing fruit quality. Almond is among the most popular tree nuts worldwide and also the most nut cultivated in Spain. Almond consumption, together with other nuts, has been widely associated with improvements in cardiovascular health, metabolic syndrome and diabetes owing to their bioactive compounds such as polyphenols. Water deficit strategies generate hydroSOStainable almonds, raised under water stress conditions, with high content of bioactive compounds. The aim of this work was to study the relationship between water stress, color and polyphenols in hydroSOStainable almonds. For this, instrumental color, total phenolic content and phenolic compounds were measured and correlated using Pearson's correlation. RESULTS The results showed a strong relationship between water stress, color and polyphenols of almonds, showing that increasing water stress in plants up to ~100 MPa × day values of stress integral increase the polyphenols in almonds, leading to a reddish color. CONCLUSION Finally, this research demonstrated that implementing water‐saving strategies help to improve the phenolic content and color of hydroSOStainable almonds and also that isorhamnetin‐3‐O‐rutinoside, isorhamnetin‐3‐O‐glucoside and kaempferol‐3‐O‐glucoside could be important markers of hydroSOStainable almonds (cv. Vairo). Besides, hydroSOStainable almonds could be an important source of phenols, providing 25% of the estimated total polyphenolic daily intake. © 2020 Society of Chemical IndustryThe study has been funded by the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCI), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), through a coordinated research project (hydroSOS) including the Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche (AGL2016-75794-C4-1-R, Productos hidroSOStenibles: identificación de debilidades y fortalezas, optimización del procesado, creación de marca propia, y estudio de su aceptación en el mercado europeo, hydroSOS foods) and the Universidad de Sevilla (AGL2016-75794-C4-4-R); these projects have been also funded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) ‘Una manera de hacer Europa’, (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE). The author M. Cano-Lamadrid was funded by a Formación de Profesorado Universitario (FPU) grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU15/02158).Peer reviewe