Vitamin E contents of processed meats blended with palm oils

The vitamin E contents of beef burgers and chicken frankfurters blended with palm oil (PO) were determined. PO and red PO cooked beef burgers resulted in a significant (P � 0.05) loss of vitamin E from 427.5 to 178.0 mg/g and from 367.0 to 271.0 mg/g, respectively, after 6 months of storage. The concentration of alpha-tocopherol (a-tocopherol) for all retorted chicken frankfurters was reduced (P � 0.05) by 66.0–91.50 (16–46%) mg/g while the alpha-tocotrienol (a-tocotrienol) in all retorted chicken frankfurters significantly decreased (P � 0.05) by 63.0–95.5 mg/g (28–48%) after 6 months of storage. Both a-tocopherol and a-tocotrienol decreased at a faster rate (62– 64% and 53–61% loss, respectively) and was less stable than the gammatocotrienol (12–59%) and the delta-tocotrienol (4–28%) in beef burgers. The effect of processing, cooking, frozen storage and the type of fats used could influence vitamin E stability and content in meat products

Computational shelf-life dating : complex systems approaches to food quality and safety

Shelf-life is defined as the time that a product is acceptable and meets the consumers expectations regarding food quality. It is the result of the conjunction of all services in production, distribution, and consumption. Shelf-life dating is one of the most difficult tasks in food engineering. Market pressure has lead to the implementation of shelf-life by sensory analyses, which may not reflect the full quality spectra. Moreover, traditional methods for shelf-life dating and small-scale distribution chain tests cannot reproduce in a laboratory the real conditions of storage, distribution, and consumption on food quality. Today, food engineers are facing the challenges to monitor, diagnose, and control the quality and safety of food products. The advent of nanotechnology, multivariate sensors, information systems, and complex systems will revolutionize the way we manage, distribute, and consume foods. The informed consumer demands foods, under the legal standards, at low cost, high standards of nutritional, sensory, and health benefits. To accommodate the new paradigms, we herein present a critical review of shelf-life dating approaches with special emphasis in computational systems and future trends on complex systems methodologies applied to the prediction of food quality and safety.Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) - Programa POS-ConhecimentoFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - SFRH/BPD/26133/2005, SFRH/ BPD/20735/200