Säävaihtelun ja ääri-ilmiöiden aiheuttamien riskien hallinta haavoittuvuuden vähentämiseksi ja puskurointi- ja palautumiskyvyn parantamiseksi

Loppuraportti, Ilmapuskuri201

Texture and structure of fermented oat- and milk-based products with sensory and instrumental methods

Kasvipohjaisten elintarvikkeiden ja välipalatuotteiden saatavuus on lisääntynyt viime vuosina. Suomessa erityisesti kaurasta valmistetut elintarvikkeet ovat olleet suosiossa. Maitopohjaisten jogurttien rinnalle on tullut kaurasta valmistettuja hapatettuja välipalatuotteita eli kauragurtteja. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tutkia kaupallisten kauragurttien ja maitopohjaisten jogurttien tekstuuri- eli suutuntumaominaisuuksia sekä niiden suutuntuman miellyttävyyttä ja kokonaismiellyttävyyttä. Tuotteiden rakenteita tutkittiin lisäksi instrumentaalisin menetelmin. Aistinvarainen tutkimus suoritettiin kuluttajatutkimuksena (n = 87) aikariippuvaista TDS-menetelmää (engl. Temporal Dominance of Sensations) käyttäen. TDS-menetelmän avulla selvitettiin hallitsevia suutuntumaominaisuuksia (kermaisuus, ohuus, paksuus, tahmeus, vaahtomaisuus ja vetisyys) syömisen aikana. Näytteinä oli kaksi maitopohjaista jogurttia, joiden rasvapitoisuudet olivat 2,5 % ja 4,0 %, ja viisi kauragurttia. Kokonaismiellyttävyys ja suutuntuman miellyttävyys selvitettiin 7-portaisen asteikon avulla. Arvioijien demografisia tekijöitä, innovatiivisuutta ja erilaisten kasvipohjaisten jogurttien käyttöuseutta selvitettiin aistinvaraisen tutkimuksen yhteydessä. Instrumentaalisesti tuotteista mitattiin viskositeetit, kun niihin kohdistettiin tasainen leikkausnopeus 10 s-1 ja 50 s-1. Lisäksi tuotteille tehtiin virtauskäyrämittaus, amplitudipyyhkäisy ja frekvenssipyyhkäisy sekä niiden partikkelikoot mitattiin. Aistinvaraisen tutkimuksen perusteella maitopohjaisia jogurtteja pidettiin kokonaismiellyttävyyden ja suutuntuman miellyttävyyden suhteen miellyttävämpinä kauragurtteihin verrattuna. Yksi kauragurteista arvioitiin kuitenkin suutuntuman miellyttävyysarvioissa tilastollisesti yhtä miellyttäväksi kuin vähärasvaisempi (2,5 % rasvaa) maitojogurtti. Arvioijien etninen tausta vaikutti kauragurttien miellyttävyysarvioihin, jolloin taustaltaan suomalaiset (n = 68) arvioivat kauragurtit miellyttävämmiksi suuntumaltaan ja kokonaismiellyttävyydeltään. Arvioijien innovatiivisuus vaikutti kauratuotteiden kokonaismiellyttävyyteen mutta ei kauratuotteiden suutuntuman miellyttävyyteen. TDS-tulosten perusteella kermaisuus ja paksuus paransivat tuotteiden miellyttävyyttä, kun taas vetisyys ja ohuus vaikuttivat negatiivisesti miellyttävyyteen. Instrumentaalisten tulosten perusteella tuotteiden rakenteet olivat erilaisia. Kauragurteista yhdellä esiintyi elintarvikkeille harvinaisempaa reopektisyyttä, kun taas muut tutkimuksen tuotteet olivat tiksotrooppisia. Tulosten perusteella voidaan päätellä, että korkea viskositeetti korreloi positiivisesti paksuuden hallitsevuuden kanssa. Luotettavien yhteyksien saavuttamiseksi aistinvaraisten ominaisuuksien ja instrumentaalisten tulosten välille on tehtävä lisätutkimuksia. Maito- ja kaurapohjaisten tuotteiden suutuntumaominaisuuksissa oli eroja. Kauragurttien suutuntumaominaisuuksissa on parannettavaa, jotta ne vastaisivat miellyttävyydeltä maitopohjaisia jogurtteja. Tulevaisuuden tutkimuksessa olisi hyvä selvittää tarkemmin, minkälaisia ominaisuuksia kuluttajat kauragurteilta toivovat, ja ovatko maitopohjaiset jogurtit hyviä vertailutuotteita kauragurteille.Availability of plant-based food products and snack products has increased during the last years. In Finland, especially oat-based food products have been popular. Milk-based yogurts have been accompanied by fermented oat-based snack products, ‘oatgurts’. The aim of this study was to investigate texture and mouthfeel properties of commercial oatgurts and milk-based yogurts. Pleasantness of the mouthfeel and overall pleasantness were also studied. In addition, structure properties of the products were measured with instrumental methods. Sensory study of the products was conducted as a consumer study (n = 87) using a time-dependent method called Temporal Dominance of Sensations, TDS. TDS was used to study dominant sensations of mouthfeel properties (creamy, foamy, thick, thin, sticky and watery) during eating. Two milk-based yogurts with 2,5 % and 4,0 % of fat and five oat-based gurts were used as samples. Overall pleasantness and pleasantness of the mouthfeel were evaluated with a 7-point hedonic scale. Assessor’s demographic factors, innovativeness and usage frequency of plant-based yogurts were studied with the sensory study. With instrumental methods viscosities during steady state shear rates 10 s-1 and 50 s-1 were measured. In addition, flow curves, amplitude sweeps, frequency sweeps were conducted, and particle sizes of the products were measured. According to the results, milk-based products were scored more pleasant in the overall pleasantness and in the mouthfeel pleasantness. However, one of the gurts was statistically as pleasant in the mouthfeel as the milk-based yogurt with lower fat content (2,5 % of fat). Ethnic background of the assessors had an impact to the hedonic ratings of the gurts. Assessors with Finnish background (n = 68) evaluated the gurts more pleasant in the overall pleasantness and in the pleasantness of the mouthfeel. Innovativeness of the assessors had an impact to the overall pleasantness of the gurts but not to the pleasantness of the mouthfeel. According to TDS results, creaminess and thickness improved the hedonic ratings whereas wateriness and thinness had a negative effect on the hedonic ratings. According to the instrumental measurements, structures of the products were different. One of the gurts showed rheopectic behavior which is less common among food products. Other products were thixotropic. From the results it can be concluded that high viscosity of the products correlated positively with dominance ratings of thickness. To find reliable connections between sensory properties and instrumental measurements, more research must be done. There were differences in the mouthfeel properties of the milk- and oat-based products. Oatgurts and their mouthfeel properties have lot to be improved that their pleasantness would be equal to milk-based yogurts. In a future research, it would be good idea to find out what kind of qualities consumers want for oatgurts and whether milk-based yogurts are good reference products for oatgurts

Effects of climate and historical adaptation measures on barley yield trends in Finland

201

Dynamic texture perception in plant-based yogurt alternatives: Identifying temporal drivers of liking by TDS

As texture properties in novel food categories have a crucial role in consumer acceptance, mouthfeel profile of different plant-based yogurt-like semi-solid products were studied and compared to dairy yogurts. Mouthfeel properties of five plant-based yogurt-like products and two dairy yogurts were analyzed using temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) with consumers (n = 87). The attributes evaluated were thick, thin, creamy, watery, sticky, and foamy. Following TDS, overall liking and mouthfeel liking were evaluated using a 7-point hedonic scale. Temporal drivers of mouthfeel liking were studied using correspondence analysis and penalty-lift analysis with different time points during mastication. For penalty-lift analysis TDS data was analyzed as check-all-that-apply (CATA) data. Results from the present work show that mouthfeel perception in non-dairy yogurt alternatives is a dynamic process. Attributes typically used to describe dairy yogurts are also relevant for describing non-dairy yogurt alternatives. Yogurt alternatives and dairy yogurts can be similar and equally liked by their mouthfeel profile. Temporal drivers of liking in plant-based products are thickness and creaminess and temporal drivers of disliking are thinness and wateriness. In this study, the first dominant attributes were found to have a stronger impact on mouthfeel liking than the dominant attributes perceived later during mastication

Physicochemical Properties and Mouthfeel in Commercial Plant-Based Yogurts

There is a growing need for plant-based yogurts that meet consumer demands in terms of texture. However, more research is needed to understand the relationship between physicochemical and mouthfeel properties in plant-based yogurts. The purpose of the study was to determine the physicochemical properties of five commercial plant-based yogurt alternatives with different chemical compositions, making comparisons to dairy yogurts and mouthfeel sensations such as thick, creamy, thin, and watery. The physicochemical parameters studied included large and small deformation rheology, particle size, soluble solids, acidity, and chemical composition. Significant differences in flow behavior and small deformation rheology were found between dairy and plant-based yogurts. Among plant-based yogurts, mouthfeel sensations such as thick, creamy, thin, and watery were strongly associated with steady shear rates and apparent viscosity. The results highlight the importance of large deformation rheology in advancing the use of plant-based ingredients in the development of yogurt alternatives. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that dairy and plant-based yogurts with a similar mouthfeel profile may have different viscoelastic properties, which indicates that instrumental and sensory methods should not be considered substitutes but complementary methods when developing plant-based yogurts in a cost-effective and timely manner

Crop loss identification at field parcel scale using satellite remote sensing and machine learning

Identifying crop loss at field parcel scale using satellite images is challenging: first, crop loss is caused by many factors during the growing season; second, reliable reference data about crop loss are lacking; third, there are many ways to define crop loss. This study investigates the feasibility of using satellite images to train machine learning (ML) models to classify agricultural field parcels into those with and without crop loss. The reference data for this study was provided by Finnish Food Authority (FFA) containing crop loss information of approximately 1.4 million field parcels in Finland covering about 3.5 million ha from 2000 to 2015. This reference data was combined with Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from Landsat 7 images, in which more than 80% of the possible data are missing. Despite the hard problem with extremely noisy data, among the four ML models we tested, random forest (with mean imputation and missing value indicators) achieved the average AUC (area under the ROC curve) of 0.688±0.059 over all 16 years with the range [0.602, 0.795] in identifying new crop-loss fields based on reference fields of the same year. To our knowledge, this is one of the first large scale benchmark study of using machine learning for crop loss classification at field parcel scale. The classification setting and trained models have numerous potential applications, for example, allowing government agencies or insurance companies to verify crop-loss claims by farmers and realise efficient agricultural monitoring

Dynamic texture perception in plant-based yogurt alternatives: Identifying temporal drivers of liking by TDS

As texture properties in novel food categories have a crucial role in consumer acceptance, mouthfeel profile of different plant-based yogurt-like semi-solid products were studied and compared to dairy yogurts. Mouthfeel properties of five plant-based yogurt-like products and two dairy yogurts were analyzed using temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) with consumers (n = 87). The attributes evaluated were thick, thin, creamy, watery, sticky, and foamy. Following TDS, overall liking and mouthfeel liking were evaluated using a 7-point hedonic scale. Temporal drivers of mouthfeel liking were studied using correspondence analysis and penalty-lift analysis with different time points during mastication. For penalty-lift analysis TDS data was analyzed as check-all-that apply (CATA) data. Results from the present work show that mouthfeel perception in non-dairy yogurt alternatives is a dynamic process. Attributes typically used to describe dairy yogurts are also relevant for describing non-dairy yogurt alternatives. Yogurt alternatives and dairy yogurts can be similar and equally liked by their mouthfeel profile. Temporal drivers of liking in plant-based products are thickness and creaminess and temporal drivers of disliking are thinness and wateriness. In this study, the first dominant attributes were found to have a stronger impact on mouthfeel liking than the dominant attributes perceived later during mastication.Peer reviewe

Cereal yield gaps across Europe

peer-reviewedEurope accounts for around 20% of the global cereal production and is a net exporter of ca. 15% of that production. Increasing global demand for cereals justifies questions as to where and by how much Europe’s production can be increased to meet future global market demands, and how much additional nitrogen (N) crops would require. The latter is important as environmental concern and legislation are equally important as production aims in Europe. Here, we used a country-by-country, bottom-up approach to establish statistical estimates of actual grain yield, and compare these to modelled estimates of potential yields for either irrigated or rainfed conditions. In this way, we identified the yield gaps and the opportunities for increased cereal production for wheat, barley and maize, which represent 90% of the cereals grown in Europe. The combined mean annual yield gap of wheat, barley, maize was 239 Mt, or 42% of the yield potential. The national yield gaps ranged between 10 and 70%, with small gaps in many north-western European countries, and large gaps in eastern and south-western Europe. Yield gaps for rainfed and irrigated maize were consistently lower than those of wheat and barley. If the yield gaps of maize, wheat and barley would be reduced from 42% to 20% of potential yields, this would increase annual cereal production by 128 Mt (39%). Potential for higher cereal production exists predominantly in Eastern Europe, and half of Europe’s potential increase is located in Ukraine, Romania and Poland. Unlocking the identified potential for production growth requires a substantial increase of the crop N uptake of 4.8 Mt. Across Europe, the average N uptake gaps, to achieve 80% of the yield potential, were 87, 77 and 43 kg N ha−1 for wheat, barley and maize, respectively. Emphasis on increasing the N use efficiency is necessary to minimize the need for additional N inputs. Whether yield gap reduction is desirable and feasible is a matter of balancing Europe’s role in global food security, farm economic objectives and environmental targets.We received financial contributions from the strategic investment funds (IPOP) of Wageningen University & Research, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, MACSUR under EU FACCE-JPI which was funded through several national contributions, and TempAg (http://tempag.net/)