Evaluation of browning rate of quince at ambient exposure

Since quince is a fruit relatively susceptible to browning, in the present work it was evaluated the colour of the quince over time of exposure to the atmospheric air. The colour of the fresh pulp was assessed using a handheld tristimulus colorimeter using the CIELab colour coordinates: L*a*b*. These Cartesian coordinates were then used to calculate the polar or cylindrical coordinates: value, hue angle (º) and chroma. At each instant, ten measurements of colour were made, and to evaluate the colour change, measurements were repeated in the same samples after every 5 minutes, over a period of two hours. The results obtained for the medium values of the cylindrical coordinates in the freshly cut quince were found to be: value = 7.80, chroma = 31.78 and Hue = 92.28º, being these values determined right after cutting. Total colour difference (TCD) was calculated having the values of the Cartesian coordinates of the freshly cut quince as reference. In relation to the colour change, the values for TCD were 0.00, 26.35, 30.41, 31.81 and 32.39, respectively for times 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes, indicating a faster rate initially and a tendency for stabilization towards the end of the period analyzed

Effect of drying on the physical properties of quince

This study aimed at evaluating the textural properties of quince in fresh and after drying at different conditions. In parallel, colour was also measured to evaluate how the visual aspect of the product changed with drying. The experiments were done in a tunnel drier, at different temperatures, from 30 to 60ºC, and different air velocities, varying in the range 0.7 to 1.2 m/s. The colour coordinates of the fresh quince were: L* = 78.02±0.86, a* = - 1.27±0.32 and b* = 31.75±1.68. These values indicate that the samples were bright, because L* was closer to 100 than to 0. Furthermore, it can be seen that quince was greenish, although very slightly and strongly yellowish. With drying, the samples became darker and redness was intensified, as a result of browning. In relation to the textural properties in fresh, the values were: hardness = 48.46±6.47 (N), springiness = 74.86±5.17 (%), cohesiveness = 0.75±0.06, resilience = 0.47±0.08 and chewiness = 27.23±4.06 (N). Furthermore, it was observed that drying, regardless of the conditions, induced an important hardening, increasing hardness and diminishing springiness

Milk: A Nutritive and Healthy Food? Consumer Perspective from French and Portuguese Participants

Milk from different animals is a staple food consumed since immemorial times all over the world. However, there is a lack of knowledge in the scientific literature about knowledge related to milk and its effects on nutrition and health. The objective of this study was to investigate consumers’ knowledge about milk, its composition, and its effects on human health in two different countries. The study was conducted through a questionnaire survey in Portugal and France and involved 542 participants of whom 332 were French and 210 were Portuguese. For data analysis, we used basic statistics, parametric tests, tree classification, and factor analysis. The results showed that some sociodemographic variables significantly influenced the level of knowledge, namely country (p < 0.001), age (p = 0.029), and the dimension of the household (p < 0.001). Nevertheless, tree classification analyses revealed that other variables such as education, occupation, and body mass index showed some discriminating ability. Factor analysis retained 20 items of the 23 initially tested. The solution contained five factors, two of which had very good internal consistency (alpha values of 0.825 and 0.803). The mean scores for knowledge in practically all factors were consistently higher for the Portuguese as compared with the French sample. In conclusion, the level of knowledge about milk composition and its health effects differs according to several sociodemographic variables, particularly in what constitutes country differences.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Consumption of fruits and vegetables in two European countries: Results from a survey in France and Portuga

Presently, there is a huge burden on public health due to a very high incidence of chronic diseases like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity, among others. The modern lifestyle, with inadequate diets and insufficient physical activity, is one of the most important factors contributing to this situation. Therefore, a healthy diet can have a very positive impact on global population health. Fruits and vegetables are staple foods with a typically low caloric value that still contribute to an adequate ingestion of the necessary macro and micronutrients and bioactive compounds, with a beneficial effect on health. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge about the consumption of fruits and vegetables in two countries, Portugal and France. A questionnaire survey was carried out on a sample of 639 adult participants (382 French and 257 Portuguese). The results revealed significant differences in knowledge between countries, sexes, level of education, body mass index, satisfaction with body weight, reasons for dissatisfaction with weight, and having a chronic disease. The most influential sociodemographic variable was the country, while the most influential behavioral variable was practicing a varied diet. Factor analysis identified two factors, one accounting for items in the scale that were true, and the other accounting for false items; both factors had acceptable internal consistency. Finally, cluster analysis showed three clusters of participants: The first included individuals with high knowledge of both factors, the second included individuals with low or very low knowledge, and the third cluster included individuals with partial knowledge, who only knew about true items. These results are relevant for planning educational measures aimed at improving knowledge and thus helping to promote healthier diets.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Environmental aspects of Hungarian consumers’ food choice

Enhancing of environmental awareness is not just a local aim, is a global priority that will contribute to ensuring a sustainable future. As one of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations as well as among the key areas of the FOOD2030 priorities, sustainable and healthy diets have to be promoted both locally and globally. Even the environmental aspects are not the leading elements of the Hungarian consumers’ food choice (Törőcsik, 2009; Hofmeister-Tóth et al., 2011) and the rate of the most committed consumer group to sustainability is almost 8% (Lehota et al., 2014), the level of awareness is constantly rising (Dudás, 2011; Gulyás, 2017). In order to support this process identification of the intervention points is essential. Thus the aim of the present paper was to examine the appearance of the environmental factors in Hungarian consumers’ food choice decisions and their relation to the level of healthy lifestyle.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Experimental Determination and Computer Fitting of Desorption Isotherms of D. Joaquina Pears

Desorption isotherms at different operating temperatures provide valuable information for the design and control of drying processes. In the present work the desorption isotherms of pears are determined according to two equivalent forms of the GAB model at temperatures of 20, 25 and 30°C. These cover the range of summer average daily temperatures in Portugal, when the solar drying of pears is carried out. Two different computer fitting methodologies are used, namely, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Orthogonal Distance Regression (ODR), in order to evaluate the above mentioned forms of the GAB model.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B8JGD-4RTVWGX-2/1/6c903cd58bc08221bbe47d10c3f56d0

Chestnut as a culinary ingredient: Analysis of recipes and proposed innovative thematic menu

Chestnuts are natural dried fruits grown in many regions of the globe and have been used in different gastronomic preparations for centuries. Chestnuts are part of the local gastronomic cultures in several regions and are also being used for culinary innovations. This work analysed 266 recipes containing chestnuts obtained from different sources, such as cookbooks or the internet. The recipes were classified according to different criteria, and data analysis included basic statistical tools, significance tests, factor analysis and cluster analysis. The results showed that the utilisation of chestnuts was particularly frequent in main dishes containing meat of some sort (26.3%), as well as in desserts (24.4%). The chestnuts were usually added to the recipes mostly fresh, whole (24.1%) or cut (26.7%). The nature of the recipes was divided into classical or modern, being significantly associated with the form of incorporation of the chestnut, but not significantly associated with most of the variables used to classify the recipes (dish type, cooking, cooking method, preparation time, or moment of incorporation of the chestnut). Factor analysis indicated three factors, clearly differentiated, that in globally explained 58.1% of the variance. Cluster analysis allowed the establishment of four clusters of recipes, which were found significantly different according to all the variables used to classify the recipes. Ingredient analysis showed that the most frequent categories were spices, followed by vegetables & legumes and that the ingredients used in lower quantities were most frequently listed. Word clouds based on frequency indicated, in each of the categories, the most relevant ingredients, which were flour, butter, egg, pork, bacon, shrimp, onion, garlic, lemon, almond, salt, pepper, oil, and sugar. Lastly, a successful innovative thematic menu was developed and composed of recipes containing chestnuts, including one starter, one main dish, and one dessert. This work allows to conclude about the diverse utilisation of chestnut as a gastronomic ingredient and not only as a dried fruit.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fruit and vegetable consumption: Study involving Portuguese and French consumers

The regular consumption of vegetables and fruits has been indicated as part of a healthy diet. They are considered healthy foods because they are sources of vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Adequate intake of these foods can reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and various types of cancer. The objective of the present study was to determine the consumption habits of vegetables and fruits in two different countries, Portugal and France. For this descriptive study, it was used a questionnaire survey, applied to individuals over 18 years old and carried out through the internet, being disseminated on social networks and by email. The sample was constituted by 640 participants (257 from Portugal and 383 from France). Statistical tools were used for the treatment of data, like the T-Test and chi-square test utilised to compare the results between Portuguese and French consumers. The results showed that the Portuguese eat out more often than the French. Portuguese and French like vegetables equally but the French eat more vegetables and fruit per week on average than the Portuguese. The French like soup as much as the Portuguese but the Portuguese eat soup more regularly than the French and prefer soup with cut pieces, unlike the French which prefer soup with grounded vegetables. The global consumption of vegetables and fruits is low in both countries and should be increased, most especially in Portugal, where the consumption is lower. In conclusion, despite some differences found across consumers according to country, the consumption of these foods is still below the recommendations of the World Health Organisation, and therefore, some more actions are necessary to incentivise a higher consumption of fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy lifestyle.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Healthy bread as an alternative to traditional bread

Today, bread is part of the culture and eating habits of most people and can be considered one of the most consumed foods in the world. The bread is made from a simple mixture of flour, water, salt and yeast, and it is an extremely versatile food and with a very good digestibility. Since it was first produced for thousands of years, it has undergone changes both in terms of production methods and in terms of its constitution, thus giving place nowadays to a wide variety of breads available on the market. The objectives of this study were to compare the sensory and nutritionally attributes of a special healthier bread, ―Pão São‖, which is a recent product in the Portuguese market. Nutritionally this type of bread turned out to be a food with high nutritional value, with a low salt content (0.4%, about half of traditional bread), and being a good source of omega-3 (0.67%), fibre and protein when compared with the traditional bread. These differences are mainly due to the wide variety of raw materials selected to the preparation of this bread, including the mixture of flour (wheat flour type 150 and 65 and rye flour type 70), oatmeal, sunflower and linseed seeds, soy, fish oil extracts rich in omega 3, malt and milk protein. From the results of the sensory analysis, conducted by a panel of 40 untrained tasters aged 7 to 63 years, it was found that the traditional breads from the region closest to the marketing of healthy bread were preferred by the tasters, especially for their wood and bread flavour, as well as elasticity. The healthy bread was evaluated as a denser bread, with a more intense fermented flavour. With this work it was concluded that the healthy bread is a nutritious and healthy bread, being currently recommended by the Portuguese Foundation of Cardiology. However from the sensory point of view, consumers still slighly prefer the traditional bread

Pão são, uma alternativa ao pão tradicional

Hoje em dia o pão faz parte da cultura e dos hábitos alimentares da maioria dos povos, podendo considerar-se um dos alimentos mais consumidos do mundo. O pão é feito a partir de uma mistura simples de farinha, água, sal e fermento, sendo um alimento extremamente versátil e com uma enorme digestibilidade [1]. Desde que foi produzido pela primeira vez há milhares de anos, foi sofrendo evoluções quer ao nível dos métodos de produção, quer ao nível da sua constituição encontrando-se nos dias de hoje uma grande diversidade de pães no mercado. Os objectivos deste trabalho foram comparar nutricionalmente e sensorialmente um pão classificado como especial, o Pão São, um produto recente no mercado Português. Nutricionalmente o Pão São revelou ser um pão com elevado valor nutricional, apresentando um baixo teor de sal (0.4%, cerca de metade do pão tradicional), sendo uma boa fonte de ómega 3 (0.67%), fibras e proteínas quando comparado com o pão tradicional. Estas diferenças devem-se sobretudo à grande variedade de matérias-primas seleccionadas na elaboração do Pão São, nomeadamente a mistura de farinhas (farinhas de trigo tipo 65 e 150 e farinha de centeio tipo 70), flocos de aveia, sementes de girassol e linhaça, soja, extractos de óleo de peixe rico em ómega 3, malte e proteína de leite. Dos resultados obtidos da análise sensorial, realizada por um painel de 40 provadores não treinados com idades compreendidas entre os 7 e os 63 anos, verificou-se que os pães tradicionais da região de comercialização mais próxima do Pão São foram os preferidos pelos provadores, destacando-se pelo seu sabor a lenha e a pão, e pela sua elasticidade. O Pão São foi avaliado como um pão mais denso, apresentando um sabor mais intenso a fermentado. Com a realização deste trabalho foi possível concluir que o Pão São é um pão nutritivo e saudável, sendo actualmente recomendado pela Fundação Portuguesa de Cardiologia. No entanto sobre o ponto de sensorial o consumidor aprecia e prefere o pão tradicional