Search Results (11)

Meat plays a key role in human nutrition, providing protein of high digestibility and essential micronutrients. However, according to the FAO and WHO, excessive consumption of red and processed meats may increase health risks due to their content of saturated fats, sodium, and E-number additives. For this reason, recent research has focused on the nutritional reformulation of meat products to develop functional and health-promoting alternatives that meet consumer expectations and respond to market trends for healthier and more sustainable foods. However, the addition or elimination of traditional ingredients in meat products leads to problems such as changes in texture, color, or sensory acceptability that must be solved. This review will focus on current reformulation strategies in the meat industry, including the reduction or replacement of animal fat with vegetable oils using technologies such as microencapsulation, or the elaboration of 3D gels using organogelants and hydrocolloids; the replacement of the umami flavor of salt with extracts from seafoods and mushrooms; the replacement of E-number additives with antioxidant and preservative extracts from plants and herbs; and the incorporation of dietary fiber through fruit peels and vegetable by-products. Full article

The primary active ingredient in capsicum is capsaicin. However, capsaicin bioavailability is low due to its restricted water solubility, and its potent spicy flavor will further restrict its use in food. This paper provides a complete overview of capsaicin. The biological activity of capsaicin and its impacts on metabolism in vivo are described. To increase capsaicin stability and bioavailability, several capsaicin-based delivery systems, including liposomes, double emulsions, nanoparticle mesosystems, and multiple systems made of distinct hydrocolloids, are covered in this review. Finally, potential uses for food preservation are introduced in line with this. Numerous delivery systems introduced in this review have effectively solved the problems of poor water solubility and poor bioavailability of capsaicin. Although capsaicin has potential uses in food preservation, there is little research on its application in functional food development. More innovative capsaicin-based delivery methods should be established, and more capsaicin-based applications should be developed in the future. Full article

This review aims at the current trends in chocolate ganache production and recipe formulation. Ganache is a blend of chocolate, sugars, dairy, and other ingredients commonly used to fill pralines, pastries, etc. In spite of ganache’s popularity in the food industry, a comprehensive review focused on the application of functional substances and ganache processing has not been discussed in the scientific literature. This review addresses the new ways of applying special ingredients, such as vegetable fats and seeds, flavor infusions, oleogels, hemp products, etc., which can be added to the ganache matrix to achieve desirable properties. In particular, the application of sterols and sterol esters as functional substances of oleogels seems to be a very promising method, enhancing the ganache fat profile. The elevated caloric content that is characteristic of ganache can be substantially attenuated through the application of hydrocolloids and/or fruit-based components, thereby offering the potential for caloric reduction without compromising on taste. The various alterations to ganache formulations by the application of natural substances offer a large base for the development of novel ganache variants and relevant food products. Full article

Oxidized black table olives are frequently consumed in the Mediterranean diet. To improve food quality, the use of by-products is an emergent strategy that should be more studied. With a better understanding of the use of by-products, healthier food with the highest possible quality could be obtained, increasing its added value. Different by-products at different concentrations (1:10 and 1:100) and phenol-rich aromatized hydrocolloids were added to Californian-style black olive in order to evaluate its effect in acrylamide. In general, the addition of by-products before the sterilization process resulted in a significant reduction of the acrylamide content (10–60%). The highest inhibition was obtained with the phenolic extract at a 1:10 dilution. Furthermore, flavored olives stuffed with higher concentrations caused a greater reduction in acrylamide content. The ’Garlic’ and ‘Thyme’ flavors showed the greatest reduction of this toxic substance. The tasting panel considered that olives with a 1:10 dilution and olives filled with flavored hydrocolloids at low concentrations had a pleasant odor and positive sensory attributes. Orange peel was the recommended by-product to mitigate the effects of acrylamide since it obtained the highest score both in acrylamide inhibition and in the taste panel. As for the hydrocolloids, ‘Thyme’ showed the greatest inhibition effect but did not perform well in the taste panel, with similar effects to ‘Oregano’ and ‘Garlic.’ The current research attempts to underline the use of local by-products to obtain additives rich in antioxidant activity that could enhance oxidized black table olives, becoming a healthier, safer and better-quality products. Moreover, this connects with the idea of moving from a linear economy to a circular economy, obtaining a product of high economic value from a by-product. Full article

This study evaluated the effects of sodium alginate, pectin and chitosan addition (0.5–1.5%) on the physicochemical properties including pH, water activity, moisture content, color values, hardness, diameter, thickness, spread ratio, antioxidant activities and sensory scores of biscuits in air frying processing. In addition, the formation of acrylamide and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) were discussed. Physicochemical properties of biscuits including water content, water activity, hardness, appearance, shape, color, flavor, texture, overall acceptability, and DPPH radical scavenging activity of biscuits were not influenced significantly by the addition (0.5–1.0%) of three food hydrocolloids. The data showed that the biscuits with hydrocolloids addition had lower acrylamide contents than that of the control biscuit without hydrocolloids addition, and the reducing power of biscuits increased after adding the hydrocolloids. The highest mitigation of acrylamide formation was obtained by the chitosan addition formulation. The formation of acrylamide showed a negative correlation with the content of sodium alginate and chitosan addition, and they were effective ingredients in terms of mitigating the formation of acrylamide in biscuit formulation. Full article

Celiac disease (CD) is an immunological mediated disorder that occurs to genetically susceptible individuals who suffer from gluten consumption. Therefore, the most effective treatment of CD is a life-long gluten-free diet. This study aimed to produce a nutritious gluten-free cinnamon roll, where resistant starch and lupine flour were used instead of wheat flour, in addition to 10% flaxseed flour and a fixed amount of hydrocolloid (1% xanthan gum). Eight different gluten-free cinnamon roll treatments (T1–T8) were produced with different ratios of resistant starch and lupine flour according to the following percentages (85:5, 80:10, 75:15, 70:20, 65:25, 60:30, 55:35 and 50:40, respectively). The proximate analysis, physical properties, color measurements and sensory evaluation of all cinnamon roll treatments and flours were determined. It was found that lupine and flaxseed flours in all different treatments had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher levels of ash, protein, lipid and crude fiber compared to wheat flour treatment (control treatment). However, carbohydrate levels were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher in control treatment compared with treatments 3–8. Gluten-free cinnamon rolls had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher levels of unsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid) than control. Further, there were significant differences in lightness (L*), redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) color values between the gluten-free and control treatments. The control cinnamon roll significantly (p ≤ 0.05) had the highest level of lightness and the lowest level of redness. The sensory evaluation obtained by consumer evaluation indicated that control cinnamon rolls significantly (p ≤ 0.05) received the highest score in overall impression, overall flavor, hardness and aftertaste. However, treatment 5 significantly (p ≤ 0.05) received the highest score in all the sensory scores in comparison with other gluten-free treatments. It is possible to develop a quality gluten-free cinnamon roll with respect to nutritional value manifested in higher levels of protein, fibers, unsaturated acids and prebiotics with acceptable sensory attributes. Full article

Dehydration during exercise has been shown to limit performance. This study aimed to determine the best hydrocolloid for producing sports energy gel from chia seeds (Salvia hispanica L.). This study was a completed random-design study using one factor: the addition of 0.1% w/w hydrocolloids (SEG1: xanthan gum; SEG2: pectin; and SEG3: carboxymethyl cellulose). A sports energy gel was then analyzed for pH, viscosity, total soluble solids, potassium content, and gross energy. The sensory characteristics that were analyzed include color, texture, aroma, and flavor, using hedonic tests on 25 panelists. The addition of different hydrocolloids resulted in significant differences in pH, viscosity, total soluble solids, potassium, and energy contents (p = 0.026; 0.0001; 0.0001; and 0.0001). Differences in hydrocolloid types also led to differences in the panelists’ perceptions of the sports energy gels’ colors and textures (p = 0.008 and 0.0001). The best formulation was the sports energy gel with added xanthan gum, which showed the highest average energy, total soluble solids, potassium, and viscosity values, and the lowest average of pH values (60.24 ± 0.340, 10.6 ± 0.08, 19.6 ± 0.23, 367.4 ± 9.81, and 5.2 ± 0.38, respectively). The conclusion is that chia seeds can be used as the main ingredient for producing a high-energy sports gel. Energy has a huge impact on a person’s physical and mental health. Full article

The market of gluten-free (GF) products has been steadily increasing in last few years. Due to the technological importance of gluten, the GF food production is still a challenge for the industry. Indeed, large quantities of fat, sugars, structuring agents, and flavor enhancers are added to GF formulations to make textural and sensorial characteristics comparable to conventional products, leading to nutritional and caloric intake imbalances. The formulation of the novel “clean-label” GF bread included a commonly used mixture of maize and rice flour (ratio 1:1) fortified with selected protein-rich flours. Naturally hydrocolloids-containing flours (psyllium, flaxseed, chia) were included in the bread formulation as structuring agents. A type-II sourdough was obtained by using a selected Weissella cibaria P9 and a GF sucrose-containing flour as substrate for fermentation to promote the exo-polysaccharides synthesis by the starter lactic acid bacterium. A two-step protocol for bread-making was set-up: first, the GF sourdough was fermented (24 h at 30 °C); then, it was mixed with the other ingredients (30% of the final dough) and leavened with baker’s yeast before baking. Overall, the novel GF bread was characterized by good textural properties, high protein content (8.9% of dry matter) and in vitro protein digestibility (76.9%), low sugar (1.0% of dry matter) and fat (3.1% of dry matter) content, and an in vitro predicted glycemic index of 85. Full article

Sugar reduction in food and beverage products involves several challenges. Non-nutritive sweeteners may give unwanted off-flavors, while sugar-reduced products often lack mouthfeel. To overcome this, the addition of aroma to increase sweetness through cross-modal interactions, and the addition of hydrocolloids such as pectin to increase viscosity, have been suggested as strategies to aid sugar reduction. However, viscosity has been shown to decrease both taste and aroma intensities. An increase in viscosity may thereby affect the use of aromas as sweetness enhancers. Additionally, the effects of aromas and hydrocolloids on sweetness intensity and mouthfeel depend on the food matrix involved. The present study investigated cross-modal aroma–sweetness–viscosity interactions in two beverage matrices: water and apple nectar. The perceptual effects of vanilla aroma (0–1 mL/kg), sucrose (2.5%–7.5% w/w) and pectin (0%–0.3% w/w) were studied in both matrices. For each matrix, cross-modal interactions were analyzed with descriptive analysis using a trained sensory panel. The effect of vanilla aroma on sweetness intensity was found to be higher in apple nectar compared to in water. Furthermore, pectin affected neither taste, aroma, nor the cross-modal effects of aroma on taste in either of the matrices. These results indicate that pectin, in the studied range of concentrations, may be used to improve mouthfeel in sugar-reduced beverages, without compromising taste or aroma perception. Full article

Dairy desserts are complex mixtures and matrices including main components such as milk, sugar, starch, hydrocolloids, colorants and flavors, with a proteinaceous structure; they are widely consumed and present a semisolid consistency. In this work, the physicochemical and rheological properties of a dairy dessert with the addition of chickpea flour (raw and cooked, at four concentrations) were studied to determine the effect of the flour. The results indicated that luminosity (L*: 62.75–83.29), pH (6.35–7.11) and acidity (1.56–3.56) changed with the type of flour. The flow properties of the custards exhibited a non-Newtonian behavior that was well fitted by three flow models. The studied custard systems were stored for twelve days at 4 °C. The physicochemical and flow properties of the custards changed notably as a function of flour addition and storage time. From all samples, only four were analyzed with oscillatory tests, showing their mechanical spectra with elastic behavior. The dessert texture was also measured, founding that those formulated with Blanco Noroeste chickpea flour exhibited the highest values of hardness (0.356–0.391 N) through the twelve days. It can be concluded that those custard systems with the highest content of flour presented a very good response as a potential new dairy product. Full article