Effect of different types of pectin on the physicochemical, rheology, and sensory properties of low-fat yogurt

Low-fat yogurt has been defined to contain fat content of not more than 2.0 percent as per The Code of Federal Regulations, FDA, U.S. Nevertheless, the reduced fat content affects the physicochemical properties of yogurt by weakened texture, poor body, syneresis, and sensory quality. This is due to fat globules that govern the protein linkages that are responsible for the yogurt’s texture and firmness. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the physicochemical, rheology properties, and to determine the sensory properties and overall acceptability of low-fat yogurt enriched with different types of pectin. Pectin helps improve the gel characteristics, rheology, and microstructure of set yogurt through interactions with the casein network. Two different types of pectins are used which are low-methoxyl pectin (LMP) and high-methoxyl pectin (HMP). For each type, two different concentrations were used which are 0.5% and 1.0% for both types of pectin. Analysis such as pH measurement, titrable acidity, color measurement, water holding capacity measurement, syneresis measurement, viscosity measurement, microbial analysis, and scanning electron microscopy were conducted. The results from the analysis above were subjected to two-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey’s test. The addition of LMP (0.5% and 1.0%) showed a positive effect on the quality of yogurt with primary attributes compared to the pectin added with HMP and control sample. In conclusion, the low-fat yogurt had a positive effect due to the enrichment of the pectin. Sample 4 which is the low-fat yogurt with 1.0% of LMP showed better properties compared to other samples

Towards a sustainable innovation process: integrating lean and sustainability principles

Many companies are heavily investing resources to innovate faster and smarter in order to gain or retain a competitive advantage. Nevertheless, defining and deploying a sustainable innovation vision still represents a challenge to most companies, as a deep change of mindset is required to reflect going beyond the design, development, production and distribution of new products, to also consider their disposal, recycling or reuse, as part of their end-to-end product life cycle. Therefore, this paper aims to: (1) highlight the relevance of including lean and sustainability principles in the early design and conceptualization phases, (2) explain how lean and sustainability can bring benefits when applied as an integrated system considering three axes: the economic, the social and the environmental, and (3) share a case study providing insights of a successful application

How can hackathons accelerate corporate innovation?

In recent years, the way corporates innovate has changed significantly. Going from ‘behind closed doors’ innovation to open innovation where collaboration with outsiders is encouraged, companies are in the pursuit of more effective ways to accelerate their innovation outcomes. As a result, many companies are investing to create more entrepreneurial environments, which not only empower employees to proactively propose and test new ideas, but also reach beyond company walls to involve many others in the co-creation of new solutions. In this paper, we outline the most notable benefits of hackathons from the perspective of large organizations, and present the benefits and a methodology for organizing hackathons, i.e. competition-based events where participants work in small teams over a short period of time to ideate, design, rapidly prototype and test their ideas with a user-centric approach to solve a determined challenge. This paper also provides a brief insight into the CEMEX Hackathon, which was organized following the aforementioned methodology