Attitudes and beliefs of Eastern European consumers towards piglet castration and meat from castrated pigs

Castration of male piglets is a common practice to avoid boar taint but is being questioned. The present work has an exploratory character and aims to investigate the beliefs and attitudes of Eastern European consumers regarding boar taint, surgical castration immunocastration and perception of meat from castrated pigs and to find out possible segments of consumers regarding these attitudes and beliefs. For this purpose, a consumer study was carried out involving 5508 consumers from 13 Eastern European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, North Macedonia, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine). The questionnaire included statements related to beliefs about castration and perception of meat from castrated pigs, attitudes towards meat from castrated pigs. Results show that in general beliefs and attitudes of the consumers are not defined, probably because of the lack of knowledge (information was not provided to the consumers) towards these issues. Three different clusters of consumers were obtained with different beliefs towards castration.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The fifth dimension of the taste in Spirulina platensis feed. Study on the influence of monosodium glutamate in the development and composition of the Spirulina platensis algae

Food additives have become a way of life, creating pleasure and food request. But from the point of view of health promotion, it is necessary to demonstrate the risks and find out new possibilities for a good sensorial aspect of the food. This would apply especially in the case of long-term consumption, or in some particular conditions (allergies to different ingredients which appear more often to consumers). Cheap products are manufactured by using E-dangerous. The explanation is simple: the natural E extracted from various fruits and vegetables are very expensive. The study wants to demonstrate that the monosodium glutamate (MSG) into the culture medium of plantscan affect their healthiness. Spirulina platensis has the same type of amino acids as humans and this is why it has been chosen as an experiment plant. Four samples obtained from the Spirulina’s culturemedium were studied: one blank and three with 0.2%, 0.4% and respectively 0.6% MSG in the culture medium. The mineral content was evaluated using the Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and a rapid increase of calcium and magnesium content was registered for the sample with the biggest amount of MSG. The structure of the filaments and the cells appearance were evaluated microscopically. There were changes identified in the structure after three days of cultivating. Also, the sample with 0.6% MSG presented dead cells and the ones which were still alive had profound changes in form and structure

Physico-chemical characteristics and antioxidant activity of goji fruits jam and jelly during storage

Since the 1990s, when the news about antioxidants and their benefits to health has begun to spread to the general public, statements about the benefits of antioxidants ranged from preventing colds to cancer treatment. Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of antioxidants. Since the beginning of the 21st century, goji berries have become increasingly popular in Europe and North America and have been promoted in advertisements and in the media as an anti-aging remedy. Goji is a relatively new name given to Lycium Barbarum and Lycium chinense, two nearby species, with a long history of use as medicinal and food plants in East Asia, particularly in China. In the present paper are presented analysis results of Goji fruits and food products made from goji fruits (jam and jelly). Storage conditions are important factors for jams and jelly quality. The objective of this study was to monitor the physicochemical stability, antioxidant activity and sensorial profile of goji fruits jam and jelly. Special attention was paid to total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH and sensorial characteristics. Our results showed the antioxidant activity of the goji fruit, values which correlate well with the results obtained for total phenolic (351±7.25 mg GAE/100g ) and flavonoid content (53.06±1.23 mg QE/100g). The antioxidant activity of the goji fruits was maintained also in the finished products obtained in the present study jam (60.98 %) and jelly (41.96 %). Both goji fruits jam and goji fruits jelly showed no significant variations of physico-chemical characteristics and sensorial parameter scores after storage at refrigeration temperature for 10 days

POSTHARVEST LOSSES IN TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE FOR FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SECTOR

It is expected that total food consumption will especially increase in strong economies due to growing world population and changes in consumption habits. This situation increases the pressure on resources and causes negative effects on the environment and health. Reducing losses in the fresh fruit and vegetable sector also contribute to resource efficiency while creating economic opportunities. In addition, policies aimed at reducing post-harvest losses and assessing food waste developed in countries are also causing new markets for secondary raw materials. This study is an important source in terms of showing post-harvest losses in the fresh fruit and vegetable sector, the current situation regarding the assessment of food waste and the training needs of the sector employees. Also, it reveals the causes of food losses in the post-harvest sectors in Romania and the vocational training needs of the sector workers to reduce these losses

Comparative sensory analysis of products with low animal fat meat compositions

Public concern for a healthy diet led to significant changes in the approach to food composition and nutritional principles by specialists in nutrition processed foods. In recent years researches in the meat industry were aimed at replacing animal fats with vegetable fats (oils), rich in essential fatty acids mono-and polyunsaturated. It was found that the existence of equilibrium in the human diet is some correlations between macronutrients and biologically active substances in food, which ensures the normal functioning of the body. In these experiment we observed how it was affected the sensory quality of compositions of chicken mincemeat in which the fat was gradually replaced by vegetable oil, sunflower oil, canola oil and walnut oil. In parallel the color parameters (CIELAB method) of the low fat meat compositions were analyzed to determine how the animal fat replacement procedure affects the color of chicken minced. Sensory acceptability of the products was medium for the compositions in which the replacement of fat with oils was up to 60%, the best results being recorded for sunflower oil. The brightness value initially increased, but color parameters decreased, and acceptability of products decreased with increasing of oil amount. The correlation between the two types of measurements led to clear conclusions regarding the consumers’ acceptability of these products, obtained by adding varying amounts of oils

The influence of animal fat replacement with vegetable oils on sensorial perception of meat emulsified products

For the purpose of the present study, in an emulsified meat product the pork backfat was replaced with a vegetable oil pre-emulsion and its effect on quality attributes were investigated. In order to do so, a classic and a new meat products were manufactured. Extra virgin olive oil and palm oil pre-emulsion were added instead of animal fat in the new product. Texture and physiochemical properties were analyzed by instrumental measurements. It was observed that during storage moisture and pH decreased. Using vegetable oils determined substantial increase of TBA values. Texture was influenced mainly by storage time for both products, while replacement of pork backfat with vegetable oil pre-emulsion had no influence on sample firmness. The sensory properties of meat products were evaluated by a group of trained panelists using an analitycal sensory evaluation technique. Overall the new product presented good acceptability which recommends it like a new healthier meat product