A perspective of the Portuguese consumer awareness, beliefs and preferences towards piglet castration methods and its implications on the meat quality

Received: January 31st, 2021 ; Accepted: May 8th, 2021 ; Published: May 13th, 2021 ; Correspondence: [email protected] male piglets by surgical procedures without anaesthesia, with analgesia and/or anaesthesia and, recently, immunological-chemical castration are practices to avoid unwanted or aggressive sexual behaviour, and to prevent the development of meat boar taint. This exploratory study aims to investigate Portuguese consumer’s awareness, beliefs and attitudes in issues like boar taint, piglet’s castration and pork meat quality, observing possible demographic trends. It is also intended to identify clusters of consumers with similar attitudes, crossing them with demographic data to verify the existence of patterns in Portugal related to these issues. To attain this objective, a consumer’s survey was performed through an online questionnaire open for 30 days. A total of 158 respondents completed the survey. Almost a half (46%) of respondents stated their unknowledge about boar taint. Surgical castration and its effects are topics with which older consumers with a rural background are more familiar with, while immunological-chemical castration is still unknown to most consumers: 65% of consumers said they were not aware of this method, and 75% did not know whether it is an effective method for eliminating boar taint. Hierarchical clustering followed by K-means analysis segmented consumers into three clusters characterized according to their opinions, mainly divided by ethical and chemical-free orientations and by a more conservative meat quality and flavour-oriented attitudes, generally independent of prevailing demographics. In general, there were no defined opinions about the subjects under study, due mainly to the lack of information or knowledge. Nevertheless, cluster classification revealed differences in consumer’s opinions, especially regarding the reasons for castration and the pain inflicted, about meat quality and the willingness to buy pork from entire males or to pay more for this type of product

Nota. Presencia de Listeria spp. en trucha asalmonada (Onchorhyncus mykiss) y salmón (Salmo salar)

Salmon-trout (Onchorhyncus mykiss) and salmon (Salmo salar) are the main raw materiaIs in the cold-smoked fish industry. It is important to prevent the contamination of these ready-to-eat products with Listeria monocytogenes and other (Listeria spp.) because the temperature used in the cold-smoking process is not sufficient to inactivate these organisms. The presence of Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes in the cold-smoked salmon and salmon-trout processing chains of three Portuguese factories examined was already confirmed in previous studies. Thus, it was important to ascertain the possible sources of contamination, the raw material being the most important one. AlI the Portuguese cold-smoking fish factories use fresh salmon-trout from two trout farms in the north of Portugal and Norwegian salmon which arrives by lorry every week under refrigeration, imported always by the same company; 88 samples of salmon and salmon-trout were analysed; 67 environrnental samples from the two trout farms were also examined. The overalI frequency (n =40) of Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes in salmon was 12 and 0% respectively. The overalI frequency (n =48) of Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes in salmon-trout was 6.3 and 2.1% respectively. Listeria was not found in the environmental samples

O cuidado nas profissões dedicadas ao bem-estar e desenvolvimento humano.

O livro O cuidado nas profissões dedicadas ao bem-estar e ao desenvolvimento humano” reúne contributos de académicos e profissionais de várias áreas disciplinares para pensar a relação do cuidado com os diversos campos de ação e da vida humana, nomeadamente o cuidado nas profissões dedicadas ao bem-estar e ao desenvolvimento humano, procurando ultrapassar os lugares comuns a ele ligados, bem como alguns estereótipos mais ou menos instalados sobre o tema. O livro emerge da vivência de um frutífero encontro que se deu nos dias 11 e 12 de novembro de 2016 na Universidade de Évora no colóquio “Cuidado: pare, escute, olhe e intervenha” sobre o cuidado nas profissões dedicadas ao bem-estar e ao desenvolvimento humano. Compõem esta publicação dezasseis textos organizados em três secções: na primeira - O Cuidado em diversas áreas de conhecimento - incluem-se três textos de fundo oriundos de três áreas do conhecimento em que o conceito de cuidado tem sido objeto de relevante atenção: “Prática e teoria do cuidado – polissemia de um conceito esquecido” pela Professora Irene Borges Duarte do Departamento de Filosofia da UE; “O ‘Cuidar’ na relação com o não hu¬mano: do Despotismo vs. Custódia às lições da Ecologia” pelo Professor João Ber¬nardo do Departamento de Paisagem, Ambiente e Ordenamento da UE e “Vulnerabilidade e sustentabilidade – uma equação difícil” pela Professora Manuela Silva do Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão em que equaciona o nosso lugar e o nosso agir no mundo em que vivemos, perante desafios que nos enchem de perplexidade. Na segunda secção - O Cuidado na prática profissional – reúnem-se quatro testemunhos de profissionais (uma psicometrista uma psicóloga, uma educadora de infância, e duas enfermeiras) que nos falam de como integram na sua profissionalidade o ato de cuidar enquanto matriz fundamental da sua intervenção em prol do bem-estar e do desenvolvimento humano nas respetivas profissões. Na terceira e última secção do livro - O Cuidado em diálogo – incluem-se textos produzidos sobre e a partir das vivências no colóquio em que se incluem propostas de dinâmicas para pensar o cuidado nas profissões ligadas ao bem-estar e ao desenvolvimento humano e, ainda, quatro textos que espelham processos de reflexão sobre o conceito do cuidado vividos por autores, também eles de várias áreas profissionais e do conhecimento, a partir da experiência vivida no colóquio

Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from production lines of fresh and cold-smoked fish

Aims: The aims of this study were to characterize strains of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from cold-smoking fish plants to establish possible routes of contamination through the processing chain. Methods and Results: Listeria monocytogenes from fresh fish suppliers, raw materials, factory sites and finished products isolated in Portugal (162 isolates) and England (28 isolates) were characterized by serotyping, phage typing, tetracycline, cadmium and arsenic resistance, and plasmid profiling. On the basis of serotyping and phage typing, the isolates were categorized into eight groups. Although cultures within some of the groups could be further differentiated on the basis of plasmid profiling and cadmium and arsenite typing, consideration of all typing data predominantly clustered together isolates from a single location. L. monocytogenes strains: from fresh salmon suppliers were not found in the processing lines; from fresh salmon from different locations differed; and from the water where salmon trout were farmed differed from those isolated from the fish samples. Significance and Impact of the Study: No clear source or route of contamination in the cold-smoked processing chain could be established; however, these results highlight the complexity in tracking this bacterium through food chains

O aprender e o Bem-estar como conceitos complexos construídos por crianças pequenas

O modo como definimos conceitos complexos, como o conceito de “aprender” ou de “bem-estar” tem implicações na vida das crianças. Neste artigo, partimos de uma perspetiva histórico-sócio-cultural para evidenciar alguns processos dialógicos de construção de significados, entre crianças pequenas e investigadores. Revisitando duas pesquisas de cariz etnográfico, com crianças entre três e seis anos realizadas em contextos de educação infantil, reflectimos sobre algumas das condições que potenciaram a construção de significados acerca dos conceitos abstratos de “bem-estar” e de “aprender”. Identificámos como aspetos particularmente importantes: a compreensão pelas crianças dos objetivos e sentido da investigação e do valor do seu contributo; a utilização de instrumentos e linguagens em que as crianças sejam competentes; a possibilidade de construção partilhada em grupo, em que as crianças coconstroem os significados; e, por último, a competência do investigador na construção de um diálogo facilitador da exploração dos significados. As condições potenciadoras são aqui discutidas e ilustradas com exemplos concretos dos estudos revisitadas de modo a que possam ser questionadas e/ou servirem de inspiração a outros investigadores interessados em compreender o pensamento das crianças pequenas sobre conceitos abstratos, complexos e multidimensionais.FC

The effect of feed supplementation with inulin on boar taint levels and meat quality of entire male pigs

Received: March 19th, 2022 ; Accepted: May 3rd, 2022 ; Published: July 5th, 2022 ; Correspondence: [email protected] and androstenone are the two main compounds responsible for the foul odour in entire male pigs’ meat, known as boar taint. This study evaluated the effect of feed supplementation with inulin on the boar taint levels of 30 entire male pigs. Two months before slaughter, the animals were allocated into three groups (n = 10). The control group received a standard commercial diet. The other groups were fed the same commercial diet with 3% and 6% added inulin, respectively. Results showed that inulin addition to the feed significantly reduced skatole levels in the pigs’ adipose tissue compared with the control group. The levels of androstenone were not affected by the dietary approach. Although there were differences in some parameters, the supplementation with inulin did not promote extensive changes in the meat quality parameters between the tested groups. When raising entire males, supplementation with inulin in finishing diets could be considered to reduce the boar taint perception by the consumer

Monitoring the quality of sliced pork ham packed in different modified atmospheres during 45 days of storage

This study, financed by EXTRASLICED45 project, promoted by Primor Charcutaria-Prima S.A. and focused on extra-sliced pork ham, aims to use different modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) as a preservation technique for extending the lifetime of the product

Effect of protective cultures and different modified atmosphere packaging on Listeria innocua growth and on sensory properties in sliced cured-smoked pork loin

This study aims to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of two protective cultures combined with different modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) systems on Listeria innocua growth in sliced ready-to-eat pork loin, a Portuguese traditional cured-smoked product (Lombo). Two protective lactic acid (LAB) cultures - Lactobacillus sakei ST153 and BLC35 (CHR Hansen) were tested for their ability against L. innocua 20130c growth (as a surrogate for L. monocytogenes) in sliced “lombo” packed in two MAP conditions, (20%CO2/80%N2 and 40%CO2/60%N2) and stored at 5oC. The influence of MAP and protective cultures in the sensory characteristics of the product was also evaluated by semi-trained panel of fifteen judges. The MAP affected the growth of L. innocua, the Listeria population decreasing 3 log CFU/g after 120 days of storage at 5oC. In samples containing protective cultures a reduction of 1–2 log CFU/g in counts of L. innocua was observed after 12 hours. At the end of storage results indicated that L. sakei ST 153 was more efficient than BLC35 culture on inhibiting L. innocua growth and this inhibition was enhanced by MA (40%CO2/60%N2). Results of sensory evaluation showed that oiliness, hardness, succulence, and characteristic taste attributes of “lombo” decreased during storage whereas the bitter taste increased in both LAB applications and no significant differences between LAB cultures or MAP conditions were found

Influence of Extraction Solvent on the Biological Properties of Maritime Pine Bark (Pinus pinaster)

Maritime pine bark (Pinus pinaster Aiton subsp. atlantica) is rich in polyphenols with known bioactive properties which are beneficial for human health. However, biological activities of bark extracts depend on the type of polyphenols extracted and the characteristics of these extractives depend on several factors such as the type of solvents used. The in uence of the extraction solvent on the composition and consequently on the properties of the extracts has been poorly described. Thus, in this study the in uence of the extraction solvent (water, ethanol and ethanol-water (50/50 v/v%)) on the antibacterial and anticancer properties of P. pinaster bark samples were evaluated. LC-DAD-MS profiling of the different extracts was also carried out to study their polyphenol composition. Results show that extraction solvent must be carefully chosen with respect to foreseeing use of bark extracts, since ethanolic and hydroethanolic extracts displayed the greatest antibacterial activity whereas water extracts showed increased anticancer properties. © 2022. International Journal of Food Studies.All Rights Reserve