Value-Added Foods: Composition, Sensory and Consumer Research

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Security and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 11818

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The term “value-added” continues to be topical for global research, especially when it is related to increased economic value, increased consumer satisfaction, food waste reduction and sustainability. In general, adding value is a process of changing or transforming raw or pre-processed materials, agricultural commodities, or products from their original state to a more desirable state that satisfies consumer demands in terms of intrinsic and/or extrinsic qualities. “Value-added” is one of production/marketing strategies driven by consumer’s needs and perceptions. Pertaining to the food industry, recycling generally refers to transforming wastes or by-products into a product or ingredient that can be further used to make something new and more valuable. Upcycling refers to the repurposing of materials (e.g., ugly produce) that would normally be discarded by grocery stores; hence, it leverages their value and creates a sustainable and resilient food system.

Consumer interest in safer, more sustainable, and healthier foods drives research on value-added new foods, new food ingredients, new food processing technologies, and novel packaging. These research foci, in turn, lead to positive changes in food quality including physical, chemical, and sensory properties, and health benefits. There must be a balance between the new ingredients, processing, and technologies to be implemented and their effects of sensory quality, food safety, availability, shelf life, and consumer perception, affordability, and purchase decision of the final product. These above-mentioned positive changes can be measured using sensory methods (for example, trained panel or consumer evaluations) and/or instrumental methods.

This Special Issue of Foods aims to publish both comprehensive reviews and original and cutting-edge research, contributing to an understanding of value-added product development, including process modifications, and changes associated with this process in terms of physicochemical properties, sensory quality, and consumer perception. Papers from multi- and inter-disciplinary perspectives, such as food and sensory sciences, culinology and gastronomy, nutrition and health sciences, psychology, business and marketing, and consumer behavior are highly desirable and very welcome.

Prof. Dr. Witoon Prinyawiwatkul
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • value-added product
  • product development
  • process development
  • new food products
  • recycling and upcycling
  • quality characteristics
  • nutrient composition
  • sensory quality
  • consumer acceptance
  • consumer perception

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 4590 KiB  
Article
Mangosteen Pericarp Processing Technology to Create Economic Value and Reduce Biowaste
by Alisa Soontornwat, Thadchapong Pongsuttiyakorn, Samak Rakmae, Eakasit Sritham, Panmanas Sirisomboon, Umed Kumar Pun, Warawut Krusong and Pimpen Pornchaloempong
Foods 2024, 13(14), 2286; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13142286 - 20 Jul 2024
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Abstract
This research comparatively investigates different mangosteen pericarp processing schemes. The experimental pericarp processing schemes were hot air drying (HAD; control), quick freezing/HAD (QF + HAD), slow freezing/HAD (SF + HAD), and slow freezing/freeze-drying (SF + FD). For freezing, the QF temperature was −38 [...] Read more.
This research comparatively investigates different mangosteen pericarp processing schemes. The experimental pericarp processing schemes were hot air drying (HAD; control), quick freezing/HAD (QF + HAD), slow freezing/HAD (SF + HAD), and slow freezing/freeze-drying (SF + FD). For freezing, the QF temperature was −38 °C for 2 h and that of SF was −25 °C for 2 weeks. For drying, the HAD temperature was 60 °C for 7 h. In the FD process, the primary and secondary temperatures were −20 °C and 50 °C for 48 h. The experimental results showed that the freezing method (i.e., QF and SF) affected the physical properties (moisture content, water activity, and color) of dried mangosteen pericarp. The antioxidant activities (DPPH and ABTS) of the SF + HAD scheme (28.20 and 26.86 mg Trolox/g DW of mangosteen pericarp) were lower than the SF + FD scheme (40.68 and 41.20 mg Trolox/g DW of mangosteen pericarp). The α-mangostin contents were 82.3 and 78.9 mg/g DW of mangosteen pericarp for FD and HAD, respectively; and the corresponding TPC were 1065.57 and 783.24 mg GAE/g DW of mangosteen pericarp. The results of this study suggest that the drying process had a negligible effect on bioactive compounds. Essentially, the SF + HAD technology is the most operationally and economically viable scheme to process mangosteen pericarp. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Value-Added Foods: Composition, Sensory and Consumer Research)
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14 pages, 949 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Information Presentation on Consumer Perceptions of Cricket-Containing Chocolate Chip Cookies
by Yupeng Gao, Pitchayapat Chonpracha, Bin Li, Ryan Ardoin and Witoon Prinyawiwatkul
Foods 2024, 13(3), 479; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13030479 - 2 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1483
Abstract
As a source of protein and other nutrients for a growing population, edible insect production offers environmental and sustainability advantages over traditional meat production. Although around 2 billion people consume insects worldwide, Western consumers are still reluctant to practice entomophagy, hindered largely by [...] Read more.
As a source of protein and other nutrients for a growing population, edible insect production offers environmental and sustainability advantages over traditional meat production. Although around 2 billion people consume insects worldwide, Western consumers are still reluctant to practice entomophagy, hindered largely by neophobia and negative emotions. In addition to sensory quality and safety, an informational component may be crucial to consumers’ decision making involving insect consumption. In this study, three different information types, namely text, image, and a tangible product, were used to convey information about chocolate chip cookies (CCCs) containing cricket flour. The nature of the information was related to the ingredient usage level (5%), the type of insect (cricket), nutritional values, sustainability benefits, packaging, celebrity endorsement, and/or visual appearance of an actual product. Consumers’ willingness to consume (WTC), acceptance, and purchase intent (PI) were measured in response to each informed condition. Once informed of the insect ingredient, all scores significantly (α = 0.05) dropped. The lowest WTC (1.97 ± 1.06, Text), acceptance (3.55 ± 2.23, Image), and PI (1.85 ± 1.05, Text) scores were found after identifying cricket as the insect ingredient. Compared to other informed conditions, the presentation of a real chocolate chip cookie containing insects achieved the highest scores on all affective scores (WTC: 3.4 ± 1.04, acceptance: 6.17 ± 1.89, PI: 3.07 ± 1.09). The greatest improvement in scores was observed after information about nutrition and sustainability benefits (based on ANOVA), which was more impactful for males than females (based on a t-test). Celebrity endorsement did not have a significant effect. The presentation of the actual CCC containing cricket flour (for visual observation only) significantly increased WTC, acceptance, and PI compared to presenting text and images alone. Acceptance, WTC, and certain information cues were significant predictors of PI for CCCs containing cricket flour. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Value-Added Foods: Composition, Sensory and Consumer Research)
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Review

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38 pages, 950 KiB  
Review
Dairy, Plant, and Novel Proteins: Scientific and Technological Aspects
by Yaozheng Liu, William R. Aimutis and MaryAnne Drake
Foods 2024, 13(7), 1010; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13071010 - 26 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4303
Abstract
Alternative proteins have gained popularity as consumers look for foods that are healthy, nutritious, and sustainable. Plant proteins, precision fermentation-derived proteins, cell-cultured proteins, algal proteins, and mycoproteins are the major types of alternative proteins that have emerged in recent years. This review addresses [...] Read more.
Alternative proteins have gained popularity as consumers look for foods that are healthy, nutritious, and sustainable. Plant proteins, precision fermentation-derived proteins, cell-cultured proteins, algal proteins, and mycoproteins are the major types of alternative proteins that have emerged in recent years. This review addresses the major alternative-protein categories and reviews their definitions, current market statuses, production methods, and regulations in different countries, safety assessments, nutrition statuses, functionalities and applications, and, finally, sensory properties and consumer perception. Knowledge relative to traditional dairy proteins is also addressed. Opportunities and challenges associated with these proteins are also discussed. Future research directions are proposed to better understand these technologies and to develop consumer-acceptable final products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Value-Added Foods: Composition, Sensory and Consumer Research)
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25 pages, 4860 KiB  
Review
Challenges in Functional Food Products with the Incorporation of Some Microalgae
by Abuzer Çelekli, Buket Özbal and Hüseyin Bozkurt
Foods 2024, 13(5), 725; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13050725 - 27 Feb 2024
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2854
Abstract
Much attention has been given to the use of microalgae to produce functional foods that have valuable bioactive chemicals, including essential amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, carotenoids, fiber, and minerals. Microalgal biomasses are increasingly being used to improve the nutritional values of [...] Read more.
Much attention has been given to the use of microalgae to produce functional foods that have valuable bioactive chemicals, including essential amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, carotenoids, fiber, and minerals. Microalgal biomasses are increasingly being used to improve the nutritional values of foods because of their unique nutrient compositions that are beneficial to human health. Their protein content and amino acid composition are the most important components. The microalgal biomass used in the therapeutic supplement industry is dominated by bio-compounds like astaxanthin, β-carotene, polyunsaturated fatty acids like eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, and polysaccharides such as β-glucan. The popularity of microalgal supplements is growing because of the health benefits of their bioactive substances. Moreover, some microalgae, such as Dunaliella, Arthrospira (Spirulina), Chlorella, and Haematococcus, are commonly used microalgal species in functional food production. The incorporation of microalgal biomass leads not only to enhanced nutritional value but also to improved sensory quality of food products without altering their cooking or textural characteristics. Microalgae, because of their eco-friendly potential, have emerged as one of the most promising and novel sources of new functional foods. This study reviews some recent and relevant works, as well as the current challenges for future research, using different methods of chemical modification in foods with the addition of a few commercial algae to allow their use in nutritional and sensory areas. It can be concluded that the production of functional foods through the use of microalgae in foods has become an important issue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Value-Added Foods: Composition, Sensory and Consumer Research)
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