Development of a long-life vacuum-packaged ready-to-eat meat product based on a traditional Portuguese seasoned meat

Carne do alguidar is a Portuguese traditional pork fried meat, usually manufactured for self-consumption purposes. This study developed a ready-to-eat (RTE) meat product, to meet today's consumers’ convenience, manufactured at the industrial scale evaluating its quality and shelf-life, assessing the effect of vacuum packaging and the use of an antioxidant (50 ppm BHT) to enhance oxidative stability. Physicochemical and microbiological parameters were assessed and a sensory analysis was performed. Interestingly, no significant differences were recorded between control (non-BHT) and antioxidant (BHT) samples. Microbiological counts remained at low levels throughout the storage period, ensuring the product’s required microbiological quality. At later storage stages, higher values of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances arose and off flavours and aromas were perceived. Still, overall appreciation was not affected until 12 months storage and a significant depreciation was perceived only after 15 months. Fibrousness and rising of off flavours were negatively correlated with overall appreciation

Porous hydrogels from shark skin collagen crosslinked under dense carbon dioxide atmosphere

The possibility to fabricate marine collagen porous structures crosslinked with genipin under high pressure carbon dioxide is investigated. Collagen from shark skin is used to prepare prescaffolds by freeze-drying. The poor stability of the structures and low mechanical properties require crosslinking of the structures. Under dense CO2 atmosphere, crosslinking of collagen pre-scaffolds is allowed for 16 h. Additionally, the hydrogels are foamed and the scaffolds obtained present a highly porous structure. In vitro cell culture tests performed with a chondrocyte-like cell line show good cell adherence and proliferation, which is a strong indication of the potential of these scaffolds to be used in tissue cartilage tissue engineering.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. KBBE-2010-266033 (project SPECIAL) and from FEDER through POCTEP Project 0330_IBEROMARE_1_P. Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology is also gratefully acknowledged for post-doc grants of J. Moreira-Silva and T.H. Silva

Active packaging of fish gelatin films with Morinda citrifolia oil

Active packaging is of interest in helping to prevent autoxidation process in foods. Morinda citrifolia contains a wide range of antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, terpenoids, and polyphenols. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential of Morinda citrifolia as a natural antioxidant in an active packaging film. Fish gelatin films incorporated with 1–3% of Morinda citrifolia oil (MO) were used to prepare antioxidant films. It was found that the incorporation of MO would not affect the thickness and solubility of gelatin films, independent of concentration. However, the solubility ranging from 13.4% to 13.8% might be considered low for these films. As for the mechanical properties, Young's modulus and elongation at break were not affected significantly by incorporation of 1–3% MO (p>0.05). As for the tensile strength, fish gelatin film incorporated with 1–3% MO showed a higher value than control (p≤0.05). The opacity between the samples and control varied statistically with the highest value with films containing 3% oil (p≤0.05). However, increasing the MO concentrations would decrease the water vapor permeability (p>0.05). DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) was used to determine the antioxidant activity and the result increased significantly (p≤0.05) from 9% to 16% with the increase of oil concentration, suggesting MO incorporation in films as potential means of active packaging

Active packaging of fish gelatin films with Morinda citrifolia oil

Active packaging is of interest in helping to prevent autoxidation process in foods. Morinda citrifolia contains a wide range of antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, terpenoids, and polyphenols. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential of Morinda citrifolia as a natural antioxidant in an active packaging film. Fish gelatin films incorporated with 1–3% of Morinda citrifolia oil (MO) were used to prepare antioxidant films. It was found that the incorporation of MO would not affect the thickness and solubility of gelatin films, independent of concentration. However, the solubility ranging from 13.4% to 13.8% might be considered low for these films. As for the mechanical properties, Young's modulus and elongation at break were not affected significantly by incorporation of 1–3% MO (p>0.05). As for the tensile strength, fish gelatin film incorporated with 1–3% MO showed a higher value than control (p≤0.05). The opacity between the samples and control varied statistically with the highest value with films containing 3% oil (p≤0.05). However, increasing the MO concentrations would decrease the water vapor permeability (p>0.05). DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) was used to determine the antioxidant activity and the result increased significantly (p≤0.05) from 9% to 16% with the increase of oil concentration, suggesting MO incorporation in films as potential means of active packaging

การศึกษาคุณลักษณะและสมบัติเชิงหน้าที่ของคอลลาเจนและเจลาตินจากหนังปลาตาหวานและหนังปลากะพงข้างเหลือง

Thesis (Ph.D., Food Technology)--Prince of Songkla University, 200