Search Results (3,523)

Genetic modification and genome editing have become important tools in agriculture, animal production, biotechnology, and human medicine, but their safety and societal acceptance remain subjects of debate. This review examines genetically modified (GM) and gene-edited organisms, distinguishing transgenesis from precision genome editing technologies, including CRISPR/Cas9, base editing, and prime editing. Representative applications in crops, livestock, pharmaceutical production, and xenotransplantation are discussed, together with their regulatory framework and public perception. Current scientific assessments indicate that approved GM foods are not inherently more hazardous to human health than their conventional counterparts when evaluated case by case. Potential benefits include improved nutritional quality, biofortification, disease resistance, increased agricultural efficiency, production of therapeutic proteins, and applications in animal health and medicine. Possible concerns include allergenicity, toxicity, unintended genetic or phenotypic effects, altered nutritional composition, environmental consequences, animal welfare issues, and uncertainties associated with long-term or large-scale deployment. Public acceptance varies substantially according to geographical region, application, cultural and ethical considerations, regulatory environment, scientific literacy, and institutional trust. Overall, GM and gene-edited organisms should not be considered a homogeneous category. Their benefits, risks, and societal acceptability depend on the specific organism, genetic modification, intended trait, and context of use, supporting a balanced, evidence-based, and case-specific approach. Full article

The integration of AI into higher education provides new opportunities for supporting learning in interdisciplinary contexts and fostering entrepreneurial development. However, previous research has mainly focused on AI technology adoption, with limited attention paid to its broader educational outcomes. In particular, how AI-assisted learning contributes to students’ entrepreneurial intention within an interdisciplinary course context remains underexplored. This study develops an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model by incorporating AI-assisted learning engagement as a mediating factor. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 300 undergraduate students enrolled in a food product development course within a food science and engineering program at a university in China. Using PLS-SEM, the results reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions positively influence AI-assisted learning engagement and entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, AI-assisted learning engagement significantly mediates the relationships between UTAUT factors and entrepreneurial intention. This study contributes to AI education and entrepreneurial learning research by demonstrating how AI-assisted learning within interdisciplinary contexts can promote students’ entrepreneurial intention through learning engagement. Full article

The European Union Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods has created new opportunities for the valorization of marine by-products within the framework of the circular bioeconomy and sustainable blue economy. Refined shrimp peptide concentrate (RSPC), obtained through enzymatic hydrolysis of Pandalus borealis shells and heads, represents a relevant case study for examining the interaction between food innovation, regulatory assessment, sustainability, and value-chain development. This study analyzes the EFSA scientific opinion on RSPC and reviews available compositional, toxicological, allergenicity, and clinical evidence, contextualizing the ingredient within European policies on circular economy, resource efficiency, and sustainable food systems. The assessment indicates that RSPC consists mainly of 8 low-molecular-weight peptides with demonstrated angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity and potential applications in blood pressure management. Beyond its functional properties, the valorization of shrimp processing by-products offers opportunities to reduce waste generation, increase resource efficiency, and create new economic value within the seafood sector. The case study highlights how the novel food regulatory framework can support the safe market introduction of innovative marine-derived ingredients while contributing to circular economy objectives. Although challenges related to allergenicity management, consumer acceptance, and industrial scalability remain, RSPC demonstrates the potential of marine by-product valorization to foster more sustainable, resilient, and economically viable food systems. Full article

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) offer a potentially food-compatible alternative for extracting plant polyphenols, although their direct application in yoghurt remains limited. This study evaluated the antioxidant and physicochemical properties of yoghurt fortified with SunGold kiwifruit extracts obtained using a selected choline chloride and glycerol NADES, with water extraction used for comparison. The phenolic profile of the NADES extract was characterised using LC-MS/MS. Both extracts were incorporated before (PRE) or after (POS) fermentation at concentrations of 10%, 20%, and 30% (v/v). The extracts and fortified yoghurts were analysed for total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), DPPH radical scavenging activity, FRAP, CUPRAC, and physicochemical properties. LC-MS/MS tentatively annotated several phenolic compounds in the NADES extract, with catechin showing the largest peak area among the annotated compounds. The water extract showed higher TPC and DPPH activity, whereas the NADES extract showed higher TFC, FRAP, and CUPRAC values. Increasing extract concentration generally increased the measured bioactive properties of the yoghurts, although the magnitude of change varied among assays and treatments. Water extract-fortified yoghurts generally showed higher TPC and DPPH values, while NADES extract-fortified yoghurts showed higher TFC, FRAP, and CUPRAC values. Extract type, fortification stage, and concentration also influenced pH, °Brix, viscosity, colour, and syneresis. Higher fortification concentrations reduced viscosity and increased syneresis, while low-concentration NADES extract-fortified yoghurts retained physicochemical properties closer to those of the control. Overall, the NADES extract showed potential as an ingredient for yoghurt fortification. Further studies are required to evaluate sensory acceptability, storage stability, starter culture viability, and gastrointestinal bioaccessibility. Full article

Climate change perception among youth has gained increasing scholarly attention; however, immigrant youth remain underrepresented in empirical research despite navigating climate change impacts across multiple sociocultural and geopolitical contexts. This study investigates (1) immigrant youths’ beliefs about climate change, (2) how climate risks are perceived across space and time, and (3) how they construct their climate change beliefs and associated risks. Drawing on Social Constructivism, and Risk Perception Theory, the study employs a qualitative descriptive design using eight focus group discussions with 41 immigrant youth aged 14–18 in Calgary, Canada. Reflexive thematic analysis reveals that immigrant youth widely recognise climate change as real and intensifying, with beliefs shaped through lived and observed environmental experiences, social interaction, family narratives, and transnational comparisons rather than abstract scientific reasoning alone. Climate risk perception emerges as complex and relational. Participants associated climate change with impacts on health, wellbeing, food security, and everyday life; however, they often perceived its most severe consequences as temporally and spatially distant. This produces a notable “belief–risk gap,” where acceptance of climate change does not translate into a strong sense of personal vulnerability or urgency. Risk perceptions are mediated by everyday experiences, institutional trust in the host country, and comparisons with other global crises. The findings highlight the critical role of transnational experiences in shaping climate understanding and advance an integrated interpretation linking socially constructed climate knowledge with perceptions of risk and psychological distance, with implications for climate communication and public health communication strategies for immigrant youth. Full article

Taste contributes to food selection by integrating sensory information with physiological state and prior experience. Sodium is essential, continually lost, and homeostatically regulated, yet it is abundant and frequently overconsumed in contemporary food environments. This conceptual narrative review proposes the Sodium Priority Hypothesis, as follows: sodium may function as a nutritional target whose acquisition and food acceptance are supported by several partly independent sensory routes. Sodium chloride provides the dominant dietary route to saltiness, although the molecular basis of human salt taste remains unresolved and may involve both sodium- and chloride-dependent mechanisms. Sodium salts can also suppress bitterness and modify taste mixtures in concentration- and matrix-dependent ways. A further, more speculative proposition is that sodium-bearing umami stimuli may have behavioural relevance beyond glutamate-derived umami quality. The framework is intended to connect two timescales: the physiological and evolutionary pressures that promoted sodium acquisition when availability was variable, and the contemporary food environment, in which abundant, inexpensive sodium is widely used to enhance food palatability. It does not claim that sodium alone explains modern excess intake, that prehistoric populations routinely added salt, or that sodium is required for activation of umami receptors. Evidence is strongest for sodium physiology, sodium appetite, salt taste, and selected mixture effects; direct evidence for a sodium-specific contribution to umami liking or intake remains limited. The hypothesis is therefore an organising and falsifiable framework that requires experimental validation. It is explanatory rather than prescriptive. Full article

Among pathogenic microbes that can produce toxins, Bacillus cereus plays an important role in foodborne disorders. It is responsible for the production of cereulide, a cyclic dodecadepsipeptide toxin, very stable to heat and acidic pH, that can cause emetic syndromes. The study describes the secondary validation of the ISO 18465 method for food matrices in the concentration range 1–100 μg/kg and the in-house validation of a more sensitive liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for infant formula at the lower concentration levels required by the EFSA since 2026. To improve the applicability of cereulide determination in infant formula, the solid matrix was reconstituted before extraction and the analysis was performed on the SCIEX QTRAP 7500 system. The method showed good linearity (0.010–1.000 μg/L, R² = 1000), a limit of quantification equal to the half-maximum level (LM = 0.054 μg/L, LOQ = 0.025 μg/L), good recovery (100–109%) and acceptable within-laboratory reproducibility (RSD% < 15%). This method provides a reliable analytical tool for cereulide monitoring in a broad variety of food commodities not considered before by ISO 18465 and makes it possible to reach the new lower limits established for infant formula. Furthermore, data on 332 samples involved in suspected food poisoning in Italy between 2019 and 2024 are presented in this retrospective study. Full article

Carob has traditionally been used as a nutritious alternative to cocoa. The present study evaluated the physicochemical, microbiological, nutritional, sensorial, phenolic, and antioxidant profile, along with the bioaccessibility of phenolics and antioxidants, of a developed carob-based spreadable product in comparison with two commercially available similar chocolate–hazelnut spreads popular in Greece. Moreover, the implemented food safety management system and the economic impact of the new product were also considered. The carob-based product was slightly more acidic (pH 5.3) and had an increased water activity (a_w = 0.67) when compared to the commercial chocolate spreads. Consumer acceptability for the developed product was almost 80%, and it had a shelf-life of over six months. In terms of nutritional value, the product is suitable for vegans with no added animal protein and preservatives, while it is also low in saturated fat, high in fiber, and very low in sodium. Comparatively, the carob-based product exhibited higher total phenolic (TPC) but lower total flavonoid (TFC) contents and increased DPPH activity than the other two cocoa-based spreads (p < 0.05). Predicted bioaccessibility in the newly developed product was 67% for TPC (p ≥ 0.05) and 10% for total antioxidant capacity (TAC; p < 0.05). Market analysis indicates that there is a considerable margin of profit for the developed product against competition. Conclusively, this research demonstrates that carob-based food products with functional properties can constitute a suitable, promising alternative to conventional cocoa-based similar products. Full article

Unlike medicinal products (MPs), dietary supplements (DSs), foods for special medical purposes (FSMPs) and fortified foods (FFs) available on the Polish market are not required to meet pharmacopoeial quality standards. Dose uniformity testing, a pharmacopoeial requirement for MPs, confirms both the accuracy of the declared dose and consistency between individual doses. As consumption of DSs, FSMPs, and FFs continues to increase, particularly among vulnerable populations, ensuring consistent intake of essential nutrients becomes increasingly important. Therefore, adapting pharmacopoeial dose uniformity criteria to elemental analysis may provide an additional quality assessment tool beyond the percentage of the label claim. Accordingly, this study aimed to (1) validate a multi-element High-Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (HR-ICP-OES) method for assessing dose uniformity and (2) evaluate the uniformity of elemental doses in one DS and four FSMPs according to pharmacopoeial guidelines, with MPs included as reference materials. To achieve this, the key parameters of the HR-ICP-OES measurement methodology were defined to ensure reliable results, and the uniformity of the doses of the seven preparations was determined by establishing a pharmacopoeial acceptance value. Although HR-ICP-OES is useful for multi-element analysis of products, limitations have been identified relating to chemical and spectral interference, and to the analysis of selenium at low levels. Of the DSs and FSMPs analysed, none complied with the pharmacopoeial requirements for uniformity. Full article

African leafy vegetables (ALVs) are increasingly recognised for their nutritional, phytochemical, and socioeconomic importance, particularly in resource-limited communities. This narrative review synthesises current evidence on the effects of preservation methods on nutritional composition, phytochemical stability, microbial quality, sensory attributes, consumer acceptability, and their contribution to sustainable food systems in South Africa, supported by evidence from across Africa and the broader scientific literature. Evidence indicates that ALVs are rich sources of essential nutrients and bioactive compounds with important health-promoting properties. Preservation methods such as sun drying, blanching, freezing and solar drying are widely used to extend shelf life and improve year-round availability. However, their effects on nutrient retention, phytochemical stability, microbial safety, and sensory quality vary considerably. The review further highlights persistent challenges within ALV value chains, including inadequate processing and storage infrastructure, limited value addition, weak market integration, and low consumer awareness. Collectively, these constraints restrict the wider utilisation and commercialisation of ALVs despite their potential to strengthen food security and improve dietary quality. Standardised preservation approaches, investment in appropriate processing infrastructure, stronger value chains, improved consumer awareness, and supportive institutional and policy frameworks are required to enhance the adoption and sustainable utilisation of ALVs. Full article

Feline food palatability is fundamental to ensure nutritional intake and the commercial success of pet foods, yet the field has several gaps, unresolved contradictions, and methodological inconsistencies. A literature search identified 141 relevant publications. Critical evaluation of this body of work revealed four recurring areas of tension: the inconsistent definition of palatability, where the same term evaluates different constructs; contradictory behavioral indicators, where the same behaviors (e.g., nose-licking) are variably interpreted as positive or negative across studies; methodological fragmentation arising from overarching test selection, study design implementation, and inconsistent or selective reporting; and the disconnect between owners’ perception of palatability and objectively measured feline responses. This critical narrative review discusses the origins of these inconsistencies, their implications for cross-study comparison, and their combined effect on the reliability of existing evidence. Resolving these contradictions may benefit from a proposed integrative framework for defining palatability, a standardized ethogram for behavioral indicators, and a decision framework for selecting assessment methodologies. These approaches could improve the comparability and reliability of future studies, but their effectiveness requires validation. Full article

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a high-protein legume limited by its sensory profile and antinutritional factors like RFOs (Raffinose Family Oligosaccharides). The impact of solid-state fermentation (SSF) with Saccharomyces cerevisiae on properties of starch-(SF) and protein-rich (PF) faba bean flours was investigated. Proximate composition, amino acid profile, digestible carbohydrates, organic acid contents, and techno-functional properties were determined. Sensory properties of SF- and PF-based crepes were also assessed. SSF reduced digestible carbohydrates by 10% (SF) and 22% (PF). RFOs concentration decreased by 39% in SF after SSF. Malic and acetic acids increased in both fractions. In PF, glutamic and aspartic acids increased (14.09 and 8.41%, respectively), whereas lysine decreased, suggesting protein structural modifications without compromising nutritional quality. Water absorption capacity rose by 12.41% (SF) and 6.7% (PF), while oil absorption capacity improved only in SF (22.63%). Water solubility decreased by 43.78% and 23.76% in SF and PF. Finally, compared to crepes made with unfermented flour, those prepared with fermented PF received a global acceptance 48.50% more favorable. These findings highlight SSF with S. cerevisiae as a promising strategy to improve sensory properties and expand the application of faba bean flour fractions as functional ingredients in plant-based food products. Full article

Despite the growing incorporation of plant-derived agri-food byproducts into beverage formulations, translating their bioactive potential into consistent physiological outcomes remains challenging. Functional performance is determined not only by the composition of bioactive ingredients but also by beverage matrix engineering, processing conditions, physicochemical stability, gastrointestinal bioaccessibility, and regulatory readiness. This review critically examines the valorization of plant-derived agri-food byproducts in functional beverage applications, with particular emphasis on matrix engineering strategies that enhance the stability, dispersibility, sensory quality, and delivery of bioactive compounds. The review further discusses how beverage matrix composition influences pH stability, phase behavior, flavor profile, and gastrointestinal interactions, thereby shaping biological performance. In addition, current evidence regarding the capacity of bioactive ingredients derived from plant-based byproducts to modulate the gut microbiota is evaluated from a mechanistic perspective. Translational challenges associated with industrial implementation, including formulation feasibility, physicochemical stability during storage, safety assessment, scalability, regulatory approval, and consumer acceptance, are also critically discussed. Available evidence indicates that many reported health benefits originate from controlled experimental models that only partially represent commercial beverage systems. Therefore, future research should prioritize integrated formulation strategies that combine sustainable byproduct valorization with beverage matrix optimization, mechanistic validation, and translational evaluation to bridge the gap between experimental evidence and commercially relevant functional beverage applications. Full article

Fermented beverages are increasingly recognized as promising vehicles for delivering probiotics and bioactive compounds; however, their functionality cannot be explained solely by microbial properties, as it is strongly shaped by interactions between the microorganism, the food matrix, and processing conditions. This review critically synthesizes evidence across fruit-, dairy-, and cereal-based fermented beverage systems, with particular attention to the fragmented and often difficult-to-compare nature of the available literature. Although Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii (S. boulardii) demonstrates notable tolerance to gastrointestinal and processing-related stresses and has been associated with immunomodulatory and gut-health benefits, the translation of these attributes into consistent beverage functionality remains highly matrix dependent. Evidence derived from in vitro, animal, and clinical studies suggests potential health benefits; however, differences in strains, fermentation conditions, beverage composition, and analytical approaches complicate direct comparisons and may partly explain the variability observed among reported outcomes. Beyond biological performance, important challenges remain regarding stability, ethanol production, sensory acceptance, safety considerations, and industrial implementation. Current evidence indicates that beverage composition and processing conditions are major determinants of S. boulardii performance and may partly explain the variability observed among studies. The review further highlights current knowledge gaps and identifies priorities for the development of next-generation functional beverages based on S. boulardii fermentation. Full article

Background: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne alphavirus transmitted predominantly by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Infection is characterized by an acute febrile illness accompanied by debilitating polyarthralgia, myalgia, and cutaneous manifestations. Although the acute syndrome is usually self-limited, a substantial proportion of patients experience persistent musculoskeletal symptoms that may progress to chronic inflammatory arthritis, resulting in prolonged disability and impaired quality of life. Objective: To summarize current evidence on the epidemiology, virology, immunopathogenesis, clinical manifestations, laboratory diagnosis, prevention, and vaccine development of CHIKV, with particular emphasis on its implications for public health policy and immunization strategies in Mexico. Methods: This position paper was developed through a structured narrative review of the scientific literature. Publications indexed in PubMed, Scopus, and Embase, together with documents issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and European Medicines Agency (EMA), were critically reviewed. Evidence was selected according to its scientific quality and relevance to Mexico and Latin America. Because this work represents an expert consensus rather than a systematic review, no formal risk-of-bias assessment was performed. Results: CHIKV circulates through both urban and sylvatic transmission cycles and continues to expand into regions where competent mosquito vectors are established. Disease progression is driven by complex innate and adaptive immune responses, with exaggerated inflammatory activation contributing to chronic rheumatologic sequelae. Laboratory confirmation relies primarily on molecular assays during the viremic phase and serological testing thereafter. Recent advances in vaccine development—including live-attenuated and virus-like particle (VLP) platforms—have demonstrated favorable immunogenicity and acceptable safety profiles. However, vaccination should be considered one component of an integrated prevention strategy that also includes vector surveillance, environmental control, and rapid outbreak detection. Conclusions: Chikungunya remains an emerging global public health challenge because of its expanding geographic distribution, epidemic potential, and long-term clinical consequences. Incorporating vaccination into comprehensive arboviral control programs, together with strengthened surveillance and integrated vector management, may substantially reduce disease burden. This position paper provides evidence-based recommendations to support future chikungunya prevention and vaccination policies in Mexico. Full article