Following cocoa beans to chocolate : The search for intrinsic characteristics

The assessment of cocoa’s natural characteristics can be used to link cocoa beans and chocolate. Establishing a link between the raw material and the finished product is complicated not only because of complex characteristics of the supply chain but also because of the technology involved in the production and the composition of the ingredients. One may wonder why a link between raw material and the finished product is relevant. Nowadays, more and more attention is given to sustainability, pushing the cocoa manufacturers to take into account social, economic and environmental issues while producing. As a consequence, the demand in cocoa-importing countries for certified sustainable cocoa has increased considerably and is expected to show continuous growth over the next years. Moreover, more consumers have become increasingly aware of the existence of different cocoa varieties and their origins, and the market of specialty chocolates such as chocolates with single-origin bean, organic and fair-trade chocolate has largely grown in the last decades. The aforementioned trends in the chocolate sector and the growing concerns regarding food quality and safety led to a growing effort in the implementation of traceability systems. This trend has facilitated the need to verify and guarantee the origin of the cocoa beans along with the cocoa-chocolate supply chain and to establish a link between raw material and the finished product. For these reasons, the main objective of this thesis is to discover cocoa beans’ traits in terms of the botanical and geographical origin carried along the cocoa–chocolate supply chain. Compositional characteristics of botanical and geographical origin of cocoa beans after fermentation and drying, after manufacturing chocolate and during chocolate consumption were analysed. This information can be used to derive a link between raw material and the finished product, which in turn can be used to support traceability systems. To investigate the cocoa-chocolate botanical and geographical origin information, markers related to intrinsic properties were used: volatile and non-volatile characteristics. The latter include small non-volatile compounds, elemental composition, isotope ratios and hyperspectral profiles. The reflectance of the cocoa beans origin along the supply chain is investigated starting from the consumer perspective with the analysis of the nosespace (NS) profile of consumers eating chocolates manufactured from beans of different origins. Moving back along the supply chain, the possibility to extract botanical and geographical traits from both volatile and non-volatile profiles is further tested in chocolates available in the supermarket. To extract more information cocoa beans and corresponding chocolates to extract raw material markers in a finished product analysing their volatile, elemental and isotopic compositional traits. Finally, the raw material analysis completes the assessment of cocoa beans origin traits along the supply chain. Regarding the botanical traits carried along the supply chain, the volatile intrinsic characteristic showed the potential to track and trace raw material origin along the entire supply chain. It was possible to identify typical volatile compounds of the raw material in chocolate bar and chocolate during chocolate consumption. VOCs were found to be the most robust markers that were carried from cocoa beans to consumer products, revealing a constant shift/change between the raw materials and the finished products. Potential markers (i.e. acetic acid) were detected to reveal botanical traits from raw material to chocolate to chocolate consumption. However, in general, it was difficult to identify specific individual markers carried along the supply chain highlighting the fact that the botanical traits are more related to a general volatile pattern. The same is valid for the small non-volatile compounds analysed in chocolate. Interestingly, when analysing the non-volatile compositional traits, the botanical trend explained the samples overlapping according to the geographical origin. This occurred despite the impact of the processing step or the ingredient added on the origin expression. The brand influence was confirmed also when the elemental and stable isotope fingerprints of cocoa beans and chocolates were compared. Stable isotope signatures appear less sufficient for tracing the characteristics of cocoa in chocolate products without previously estimating the isotope signature of all the ingredients reducing the possibility to use them as origin markers. Our results support the botanical traits’ influence as highlighted for the volatile and non-volatile profiles of chocolate and the volatile NS profile of chocolate during consumption and it indicates that intrinsic features of the beans are retained after processing and even during consumption. Regarding the geographical origin traits carried along the supply chain, volatile compounds reflected the geographical trait from cocoa beans to consumers. Within the non-volatile compositional traits Cr, Fe and Cd appeared to be distinct geographical markers although they are susceptible to environmental contamination. However, along the supply chain, the geographical traits were hidden by other factors. During chocolate consumption, geographical discrimination was possible only within each botanical group. In chocolate, the geographical information was evidently contained by the volatile compounds. However, we highlighted an interference with botanical and brand traits. This was particularly clear when analysing the small non-volatile compounds. Only when reducing the influence of the brands, it becomes clear that the samples are spread according to the three origins. Regarding the raw material, the impact of the geographical origin on the volatile and hyperspectral profile of cocoa beans is influenced by the variability related to differences in fermentation and drying within a country and between countries. Despite these interferences, a similar trend both in cocoa beans and in chocolates is visible for certain compounds, making them usable as cocoa-chocolate linking markers. The evidence from this study suggests that volatile and non-volatile compositional traits of cocoa and cocoa products can be used to verify and/or follow origin traits along the supply chain and link raw material and the finished product. However, more research is needed on how to reduce botanical and geographical interaction and improve the product characterisation along the supply chain. Within the compositional traits that were measured, the volatile profile is the most suitable for gathering information at the beginning of the production and at different stages in the supply chain

EFFECTIVENESS OF VACUUM DEVICES FOR HOME STORAGE OF RAINBOW TROUTS FROM GAME FISHING LAKES

The aim of this work was to study the effectiveness of vacuum devices for home storage of rainbow trouts from sport fishing lakes located near Avellino, in the South of Italy. The trout were divided in two groups: one was vacuum-packaged by using a "Food Vacuum System", while the other was stored in plastic trays covered with plastic wrap. Both the fish samples were stored at 4°C for 6 days. Rainbow trout purchased in a local supermarket were used as control. The trout quality was evaluated by microbiological, chemical and sensory analyses. Fatty acids and volatile compounds were characterized by GC and SPME-GC/MS. Results proved the efficiency of the vacuum system in preserving the quality characteristics of the trout, limiting the formation of off-odors and off-flavors related to spoilage and oxidative processes

Declinazioni e strategie di progetto nei centri minori

Il tracciato stradale che attraversa il territorio siciliano e connette Palermo ad Agrigento oltre che ad essere infrastruttura tout-court, può essere visto come un nastro che si svolge lungo situazioni molto diverse. Attraversando a volte, ammirando da lontano altre, oltre che il paesaggio inteso banalmente come territorio naturale, non antropizzato, anche la geografia del suolo costituita dalla trama dei campi della campagna agricola, il sistema degli insediamenti rurali, le aree industriali, e diversi piccoli centri urbani che hanno con la strada a volte rapporto di prossimità, altre di lontananza. Centri, cosiddetti minori molto diversi per loro localizzazione topografica e fisica ma anche per tradizioni e specificità culturali. Se si analizzano le singole situazioni, si trovano ovviamente le distinzioni date dalle peculiarità di ogni singolo centro (cul- turali, paesaggistiche, geo-morfologiche, naturali, architettoniche) ma in linea generale è possibile, al contrario, trovare delle costanti nelle criticità che trovano nel progetto di ogni singola situazione declinazioni e forma di tipo specific

La questione della forma tra architettura e costruzione.

La "questione della forma", come risoluzione ultima nella costruzione del pensiero progettuale, cambia nella misura in cui cambia anche la scala del ragionamento (e dell'intervento), riportandola su un piano strettamente culturale e di ricerca. Esiste una diacronia tra momento inventivo (costruzione della forma nel pensiero progettuale) e momento esecutivo (costruzione materiale)?Quanto la forma dipende dal prevalere dell'uno sull'altro? Quanto, al contrario, è più il risultato lineare e cronologico di un processo che dal pensiero progettuale iniziale si sviluppa e matura attraverso il tempo della costruzione in forma fisica

Progettare la complessità

I territori periurbani delle nostre realtà contemporanee, per quanto oggetto di riflessione da alcuni decenni, continuano a essere una sfida accattivante per una progettazione urbana che vede nella complessità le più alte forme di potenzialità e ricchezza. I luoghi dell’eterotopia delle nostre periferie sono forse la forma materiale di una realtà generale sempre più complessa. È la compresenza dei diversi modelli insediativi, brani di campagna rimasti inclusi, spazi residui e/o aree dismesse, a caratterizzare il paesaggio attuale di moltissime, se non tutte, le aree appena fuori da gli ambiti storici delle nostre città

Lo sguardo del sacro sul mare - The Sacred overlooks the sea

Il saggio è inserito nella seconda parte del volume, intitolata "Mediterraneo, contaminazioni e influenze", esamina la capacità delle forme arcai-che e archetipiche dello spazio sacro di lasciare tracce della propria esistenza, mescolandosi e incrociandosi, nella costante, ciclica creazione di un nuovo ordine, che trova alimento nelle differenze e nelle peculiarità delle diverse realtà storiche e religiose, arricchendosi di intrecci trasversali e impuri che accomunano le culture architettoniche occidentali a quelle orientali del mare nostrum. In particolare affronta il tema del paesaggio delle isole Eolie ortemente connotato dalla presenza delle chiese e dalla loro ubicazione sul territorio. La posizione strategica delle isole, sul mar Mediterraneo, ha in prima istanza determinato nel tempo incursioni da parte di piraterie, essendo sedi determinanti per le dominazioni che si sono succedute. Per esempio «nel 1544, quando la Spagna dichiarò guerra alla Francia, il re francese Francesco I chiese aiuto al sultano ottomano Solimano il magnifico che mandò una flotta comandata da Khayr al-Din Barbarossa, che fece rotta sulle isole Eolie e le attaccò uccidendo e deportando i suoi abitanti». Le chiese pertanto, unici “monumenti” delle isole, rispetto alle case diventano dei veri e propri marcatori territoriali. Sono sui porti o sui promontori (ma sem- pre affacciate sul mare) e si presentano decisamente differenti dalle abitazioni per loro stessa caratterizzazione tipologica e volumetrica. Infatti sempre, in ogni approdo, le chiese svettano rispetto alle minute case sparse irregolarmente. La loro posizione, tranne le chiesette isolate nelle campagne, guarda strategicamente il mare e lo “benedice” essendo questo, attraverso i suoi frutti, la fonte principale del- l’economia eoliana insieme all’agricoltura. Il “sacro” benedice i suoi frutti e protegge i suoi pescatori.The Eolian landscape is characterized by the presence and peculiar location of its churches. Because of their strategic position in the Mediterranean Sea, the Eolian Islands have been attractive to pirates of all time, indeed under all dominations. For example, «in 1544, when Spain declared war against France, Francis I, King of France, requested help from the Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, who sent a fleet headed by Khayr al-Din Barbarossa. The ships attacked the Eolian Islands, whose inhabitants were either killed or deported». That year also marked an important date for both the transformation of Eolian architecture, especially that of the now destroyed or burned to the ground churches, and the repopulation of the territory with subjects from diffe- rent places and cultures in the Mediterranean basin. This was mostly «supported by Spain’s administrators who lured many people into repopulating the area through several types of benefits». It is precisely this exchange of different cultures that would then characterize the distinctive Eolian architecture

Sniffing out herbs and spices:exploring the potential of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the archaeobotanical research of cesspits

Assessing the range of economic plant taxa that were cultivated, procured and consumed by past societies is a difficult procedure within Archaeobotany. Food preparation, consumption and digestion have an impact on the preservation of seeds/fruits, roots, stems and leaves, and moreover it has an impact on their presence or absence within archaeobotanical samples. This results in a bias in favour of the preserved plant taxa, and can overestimate their position within past diets. Therefore, exploring an alternative methodology, which can indicate a fuller range of edible plant taxa and plant-based products in archaeobotanical samples is valuable. The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can provide a more representative range of such plants that cannot be identified via traditional microscopic methods (e.g. pulverised herbs and spices, resins and other aromatics). This pilot study has two main aims: to determine if VOCs related to consumed plant remains are still present in archaeological cesspit samples and to assess the potential application of this method within archaeobotanical research. By comparing the VOCs found in archaeological cesspits with the (species-specific) VOCs mentioned in contemporary food research publications, the share of vulnerable plant species such as herbs and spices in past societies diet will be better represented in archaeobotanical research.Assessing the range of economic plant taxa that were cultivated, procured and consumed by past societies is a difficult procedure within Archaeobotany. Food preparation, consumption and digestion have an impact on the preservation of seeds/fruits, roots, stems and leaves, and moreover it has an impact on their presence or absence within archaeobotanical samples. This results in a bias in favour of the preserved plant taxa, and can overestimate their position withinpast diets. Therefore, exploring an alternative methodology, which can indicate a fuller range of edible plant taxa and plant-based products in archaeobotanical samples is valuable. The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can provide a more representative range of such plants that cannot be identified via traditional microscopic methods (e.g. pulverised herbs and spices, resins and other aromatics). This pilot study has two main aims: to determine if VOCsrelated to consumed plant remains are still present in archaeological cesspit samples and to assess the potential application of this method within archaeobotanical research. By comparing the VOCs found in archaeological cesspits with the (species-specific) VOCs mentioned in contemporary food research publications, the share of vulnerable plant species such as herbs andspices in past societies diet will be better represented in archaeobotanical research