Analysis of texturometric properties of selected traditional and commercial sausage

Food texture is one of the main features that affect the consumer's judgment. Instrumental texture analysis is suitable method for objective assessment of the texturometric characteristic of food. In this experimental work we have analysed textural properties of different traditional and commercial sausages originating from Slovakia. Twenty sausages were classified in four groups. Group 1 (traditional home-made sausages purchased directly from a producer), Group 2 (traditional sausages purchased from butchery), Group 3 (non-traditional sausages purchased from a supermarket) and Group 4 (non- traditional sausages purchased from a hypermarket). Once taken, samples were immediately transported to the laboratory. Samples were analysed immediately and after the storage 72 h at 25 °C and 80% relative humidity. Samples were analysed with texturometer TA-XT2 plus and we have used the Warner-Bratzler probe. The main reason of this experiment was to find differences for two selected textural parameters, firmness and toughness of the fresh and stored sausages. The average firmness and toughness of fresh sausages before storage were 1.83 kg and 12.86 kg.s-1 respectively. These values were increased after the storage. The average firmness and toughness of stored sausages were 2.74 kg and 19.23 kg.s-1 respectively. It means, storage affects the textural properties of sausages (p <0.05). We were observed decrease of the water activity after the storage. The loss of free water was 5.1% higher in the case of commercial sausages. Also, the protein content, fat content and minerals elements content were analysed. The content of overall protein was 5.8% higher in the traditional sausages. The fat content in commercial sausages was 3.36% higher in comparison to traditional sausages. The sensory quality of traditional sausages was better than commercial sausages

Quality and safety of raw cow’s milk in Slovakia in 2011

The quality and safety of raw cow’s milk is very important for dairy companies and consumers of milk products. Due to the methods of production, it is impossible to completely eliminate contamination of milk with microorganisms, therefore the microbial content of milk is a major feature in determining its quality. Other important factors to consider include somatic cells count, veterinary drug residues, milk composition and freezing point. Somatic cells represent the udder health and can be used for monitoring of subclinical mastitis. A high level of somatic cells can increase proteolysis in milk which affects technological processes. Veterinary drugs administered to cows may lead to residues in the milk which are harmful to humans. The content of fat, protein and solids-non-fat are the main indicators used by dairies for technological purposes. In this article we discuss the quality and safety of raw cow’s milk in Slovakia during 2011. We found that 73.53% of samples tested for somatic cell count, and 84.54% of samples tested for total bacterial count, met the European Union legislation limits. We found the largest decrease in fat and protein content was during the summer period and the largest increase was in the winter period. We found that 92.14 %, 98.7% and 91.38% of samples met the limit presented in STN 570529:1999 for fat content, protein content and freezing point respectively. The percentage of drug positive samples was 0.087%

Effects of storage on the major constituents of raw milk

Milk testing and quality control should be carried out at all stages of the dairy chain. Milk can be tested for quantity, organoleptic characteristic, compositional characteristic, physical and chemical characteristics, hygienic characteristics, adulteration or drug residues. The content of the major constituents of raw milk is important for milk payment system. Enzymes naturally present in the milk can change the chemical composition of raw milk. Also, enzymes secreted by bacteria or enzymes from somatic cells can degrade the raw milk composition. Products of these degradation reactions can have undesirable effects on milk structure, smell and taste. It is very important that farm-fresh raw milk be cooled immediately to not more than 8 °C in the case of daily collection, or not more than 6 °C if collection is not daily. During transport the cold chain must be maintained. An authorized person, properly trained in the appropriate technique, shall perform sampling of bulk milk in farm. Laboratory samples should be dispatched immediately after sampling to the dairy company and consequently to the testing laboratory. The time for dispatch of the samples to the testing laboratory should be as short as possible, preferably within 24 h. Laboratory samples shall be transported and stored at temperature 1 to 5 °C. Higher temperatures may adversely affect the composition of the laboratory sample and may cause disputes between the farmer, the dairy company and the laboratory. The effect of refrigerated storage at temperature 4 °C during 24 h on the composition of raw milk were investigated in this work, because we wanted to know how the milk composition will be changed and how the laboratory results will be affected. In many cases, the samples are not preserved with chemical preservants like azidiol, bronopol, potassium dichromate or Microtabs. We found, that the composition of raw cows' milk after 24 was changed significantly (p >0.005). We found an average decrease in the fat content of -0.04 g/100g, increase in the protein content of +0.02 g/100g, increase in the lactose content of +0.02 g/100g, increase in the solid-not-fat content of +0.02 g/100g and decrease in the total solid content of -0.02 g/100g. It is necessary to cool the raw cows' milk after the milking to decrease the changes in milk composition caused mainly due to the lipolytic activity of lipase

Phytoestrogens dietary intake and health status of retiree from middle-north Slovakia region

Phytoestrogens found in foods of plant origin presents chemical substances that possess a wide range of biochemical benefits. It has been found that they contribute in different health related problems. A wide range of commonly consumed foods contain appreciable amounts of phytoestrogens. Consumption of diet rich to phytoestrogen acts as a protective factor against many diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, post-menopausal symptoms in the context of osteoporosis, cancerous illnesses of colon, prostate and breast. Three main classes of phytoestrogens covers: isoflavones, lignans and coumestans. Selected nine major phytoestrogens had been analyzed simultaneously in the same foods. Questionnaire designed to determine intake frequency as well as amount of selected foods and the most common diseases presented in the population has been used to find relationships between dietary habits and health status. Evaluation of selected goals in the present study has been realized in cooperation with 140 respondents in retired age (divided into Males - covered by 34 individuals and Females - 106 individuals), comming from middle-north Slovakia region. On the base of collected data it can be concluded, that evaluated population is presented by high values of lignans intake and particularly secoisolariciresinol, mainly caused by relative high proportion of cereals and linseed in the diet. Furthermore, the relationship between phytoestrogens intake and eating habits as well as its contribution in protection against selected diseases was demonstrated

New methodologies for biofilms control in food industry

The complete removal of biofilms on food  equipment surfaces  is essential to ensure food safety and quality. However, cells in biofilms exhibit greater resistance against the action of sanitizers and other antimicrobial agents compared to their free living counterparts, making them much more difficult to remove. They can be a significant source of post - processing contamination and could potentially harbor pathogens in food processing platns. The biotechnology sector is just beginning to tackle the problem of biofilms by developing antimicrobial agents with novel mechanisms of action. Some studies seek to prevent biofilm formation, others aim to develop antimicrobial agents to treat existing biofilms, and still others are trying to disrupt the polymeric ties that bind the biofilms together

Verification of the food safety management system in deep frozen food production plant

In work is presented verification of food safety management system of deep frozen food. Main emphasis is on creating set of verification questions within articles of standard STN EN ISO 22000:2006 and on searching of effectiveness in food safety management system. Information were acquired from scientific literature sources and they pointed out importance of implementation and upkeep of effective food safety management system.

Identification of differences in chemical composition among whole stick and sliced Nitran salamis trough principal component analysis

The subject of this work was to examine differences in chemical composition of sliced and whole stick Nitran salamis, purchased from various manufacturers. Nitran salamis are traditional dry fermented meat products of Slovak origin. Taking into account variations in raw materials, production process and potential adulteration, differences in chemical composition within one brand of salami from different manufacturers might be expected. Ten salamis were determined for basic chemical composition attributes and Principal Component Analysis was applied on data matrix to identify anomalous ones. It has been shown that six attributes, namely: protein without collagen of total protein, total protein, total meat, total fat, collagen of total protein and NaCl, were the most important for salamis as first two Principal Components together explained 70.16% of variance among them. Nitran D was found to be the most anomalous salami, as had the lowest value of protein without collagen of total protein (14.14% ±0.26%), total protein (17.42% ±0.44%), total meat (120.29% ±0.98%) and the highest one of total fat (50.85% ±0.95%), collagen of total protein (18.83% ±0.50%) and NaCl (9.55% ±1.93%), when compared to its whole stick variant Nitran C and other samples. In addition to collagen of total protein content, Nitran D together with Nitran A, F and H did not satisfied the legislatively determined criterion, which is ≤16%. This suggested that extra connective tissues were added to intermediate products, which resulted in high variability and inferior quality of final products. It is a common practice in the meat industry to increase the protein content or water binding properties of meat products

Characteristics of textural and sensory properties of Oštiepok cheese

Oštiepok is a traditional half-fat semi-hard cheese made in Slovakia. The basic raw material used to produce oštiepok cheese is ewe's milk, a mixture of ewe's and cow's milk or cow's milk. Oštiepok cheese is produced either directly at a small-scale mountainside sheep farm, using the traditional on-farm method of production, or at dairies, using the industrial method. Oštiepok cheese was produced as far back as the beginning of the 18th century. An industrial production of Oštiepok cheese using cow's milk were laid by the Galbavý family in Detva (Slovakia) in 1921. The cheese is originally made by cutting off fresh sweet cheese, which is pressed into a wooden, hand-cut and decorated round shape where it is left to stand. Subsequently, it is removed and immersed in warm salty water, left to stand there until the salt penetrates completely in. Then it is necessary that it pass slightly. In its salty water, the ostrich produces its traditional durability, its surface is slightly peeled, mostly yellowish. This cheese may or may not be steamed and may be smoked or unsmoked. Slovenský oštiepok is a protected trade name under the EU's protected geographical indication. A similar cheese is made in the Polish Tatra Mountains under the name Oscypek. The cheeses differ in ingredients' ratios, cheesemaking process and the characteristics of the final products. In this study we have characterized textural and sensory properties of the Oštiepok cheese produced in Slovakia made from ewe's milk, a mixture of ewe's and cow's milk and cow's milk

Optimalisation of species identification of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) using SYBR® green I real-time PCRmethod

European Union Member States, together with a number of countries around the world, places great emphasis on ensuring the protection of consumers as a potential food allergic from food allergies. to inform consumers that their product may contain any of the risk of allergenic ingredients. For species identification of fish and fish products as a potential food allergens are used by many analytical methods as well as their authentication. We are in our work applied the method of SYBR® Green I. Real-Time PCR. We focused on pre-designed molecular - genetic marker of common carp (Cyprinus carpio), which comes from the mtDNA control D - loop area. We analyzed its presence in DNA isolates from the 5 kinds of freshwater fish, diluted to 10 % concentration. Results of using the optimized SYBR ® Green I Real-Time PCR method for species identification common carp (Cyprinus carpio) indicate to its suitability

Distribution of invasive plants in the Nitra river basin: threats and benefits for food production

Invasive plants are introduced multicellular organisms of the kingdom Plantae, which produce their food by photosynthesis. An invasive plant has the ability to thrive and spread aggressively outside its native range. A naturally aggressive plant may be especially invasive when it is introduced to a new habitat. The basic literature emphasizes mainly the ecological and environmental effects of invasive plants. Impacts of these plants on the food production have never been studied in details. The direct and indirect or potential effects of occurrence of invasive plants on food production have been analysed on basis of published data according to eight selected criteria: food, fodder for animals, food and drink additives, indirect support for food production, weeds on arable lands, meadow weeds, allergenic plants in food and toxic plants. The principal components analysis of habitat preferences of invasive plants in the Nitra river basin showed that the majority of invasive plants growing along rivers is edible (Fallopia spp., Helianthus tuberosus, Impatiens glandulifera) and invasive plants preferring drier agricultural fields or grasslands are toxic and/or allergenic with low or zero level of edibility (Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Heracleum mantegazzianum). The plants living in drier conditions may produce more toxins to protect the sources (eg. water) in their tissues than plants near water flows where there is abundance of sources