Search Results (2,812)

Background/Objectives: This study evaluated the in vitro probiotic potential of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Probio87 (Probio87), focusing on its physiological robustness, safety, antimicrobial properties, and anticancer activity, with relevance to vaginal and cervical health. Methods: Tests included acid and bile salt tolerance, mucin adhesion, and carbohydrate utilization. Prebiotic preferences were assessed using FOS, GOS, and inulin. Antibiotic susceptibility was evaluated per EFSA standards. Antimicrobial activity of the cell-free supernatant (CFS) was tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida species. Effects on Lactobacillus iners and L. crispatus were analyzed. Anticancer properties were assessed in HeLa, CaSki (HPV-positive), and C-33A (HPV-negative) cervical cancer cell lines through proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and cell cycle assays. Results: Probio87 showed strong acid and bile tolerance, efficient mucin adhesion, and broad carbohydrate utilization, favoring short-chain prebiotics like FOS and GOS over inulin. It met EFSA antibiotic safety standards. The CFS exhibited potent antimicrobial activity, including complete inhibition of Candida albicans. Probio87 selectively inhibited L. iners without affecting L. crispatus, indicating positive modulation of vaginal microbiota. In cervical cancer cells, the CFS significantly reduced proliferation and angiogenesis markers (p < 0.05), and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in HPV-positive cells, with minimal effects on HPV-negative C-33A cells. Conclusions: Probio87 demonstrates strong probiotic potential, with safe, selective antimicrobial and anticancer effects. Its ability to modulate key microbial and cancer-related pathways supports its application in functional foods or therapeutic strategies for vaginal and cervical health. Full article

Understanding the components of the diet, food groups, and nutritional strategies that help prevent MASLD (Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease) is essential for identifying dietary behaviors that can stop the progression of this condition, which currently affects over one-quarter of the global population. This review highlights the importance of including antioxidant nutrients in the diet, such as vitamins C and E, CoQ10, and polyphenolic compounds. It also emphasizes substances that support lipid metabolism, including choline, alpha-lipoic acid, and berberine. Among food groups, it is crucial to choose those that help prevent metabolic disturbances. Among carbohydrate-rich foods, vegetables, fruits, and high-fiber products are recommended. For protein sources, eggs, fish, and white meat are preferred. Among fat sources, plant oils and fatty fish are advised due to their content of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Various dietary strategies aimed at preventing MASLD should include elements of the Mediterranean diet or be personalized to provide anti-inflammatory compounds and substances that inhibit fat accumulation in liver cells. Other recommended dietary models include the DASH diet, the flexitarian diet, intermittent fasting, and diets that limit fructose and simple sugars. Additionally, supplementing the diet with spirulina or chlorella, berberine, probiotics, or omega-3 fatty acids, as well as drinking several cups of coffee per day, may be beneficial. Full article

The increasing demand for food to meet the needs of the planet’s growing population requires, among other factors, greater and improved meat production. Meat quality is determined by key consumer-preferred traits, particularly tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. Recently, interest has grown in analyzing the genes associated with these phenotypic characteristics. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are common genomic variations in cattle and represent the most widely used molecular markers. Research on SNP variation is now a major focus of genomic studies aimed at improving meat quality. Leptin levels reflect the amount of adipose tissue in meat, also known as marbling. Several SNPs in the leptin gene and its receptor have been linked to this meat quality trait. Similarly, SNPs in the calpain/calpastatin system play a significant role in postmortem muscle proteolysis and pork tenderness. This review examines these genetic variants as markers involved in the expression of phenotypic traits in meat products and explores their mechanisms of action. Additionally, it provides insights into the genetic variants associated with production-related characteristics. Full article

Pork is a major global source of animal protein, and improving both its production efficiency and meat quality is a central goal in modern animal agriculture and food systems. This study investigated post-inflection-point growth patterns in two genetically distinct pig breeds—the lean-type Yorkshire pig (YP) and the fatty-type Qingyu pig (QYP)—with the aim of elucidating breed-specific characteristics that influence pork quality and yield. Comprehensive evaluations of carcass traits, meat quality attributes, nutritional composition, and gene expression profiles were conducted. After the growth inflection point, carcass traits exhibited greater variability than meat quality traits in both breeds, though with distinct patterns. YPs displayed superior muscle development, with the longissimus muscle area (LMA) increasing rapidly before plateauing at ~130 kg, whereas QYPs maintained more gradual but sustained muscle growth. In contrast, intramuscular fat (IMF)—a key determinant of meat flavor and texture—accumulated faster in YPs post inflection but plateaued earlier in QYPs. Correlation and clustering analyses revealed more synchronized regulation of meat quality traits in QYPs, while YPs showed greater trait variability. Gene expression patterns aligned with these phenotypic trends, highlighting distinct regulatory mechanisms for muscle and fat development in each breed. In addition, based on the growth curves, we calculated the peak age at which the growth rate declined in lean-type and fat-type pigs, which was approximately 200 days for YPs and around 270 days for QYPs. This suggests that these ages may represent the optimal slaughter times for the respective breeds, balancing both economic efficiency and meat quality. These findings provide valuable insights for enhancing pork quality through precision management and offer theoretical guidance for developing breed-specific feeding strategies, slaughter timing, and value-added pork production tailored to consumer preferences in the modern food market. Full article

Background/Objectives: Excessive sugar intake through sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has raised global concerns due to its association with various health risks. This study evaluates the effectiveness of nudges—in the form of order placement, variety expansion, and a combination of both—in promoting non-SSB purchases at self-service kiosks, a key environment for SSB consumption. Methods: This study was conducted using a real-world kiosk at food and beverage outlets in South Korea from 28 May to 12 July, 2024. A total of 183 consumers aged 19 to 29 participated in this study. A single kiosk device was used with four screen layouts, each reflecting a different nudge strategy. Participants were unaware of these manipulations when making their purchases. After their purchases, participants completed a survey. All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 29.0. Results: Females reported significantly higher positive attitudes, preferences, and perceived necessity regarding nudges compared to males. In particular, both the single (variety) and combination (order and variety) nudges received positive responses from females (p < 0.001). The combination nudge significantly increased non-SSB purchases compared to the control (p < 0.05) and single (order) nudge groups (p < 0.01), which suggests that combination nudge is effective in promoting healthier beverage choices. Females were also more likely to purchase non-SSBs than males (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The findings suggest that the combination nudge strategy effectively promotes healthier beverage choices in real kiosk settings. Notably, females demonstrate significantly higher positive attitudes, preferences, and perceived necessity regarding nudges compared to males, and are also more likely to purchase non-SSBs. These findings offer valuable insights for real-world applications aimed at encouraging healthier consumption behaviors. Full article

Background/Objectives: International students pursuing higher education in the United States face unique challenges that increase their risk of food insecurity, including limited financial resources, employment restrictions, and cultural barriers. While food insecurity among domestic students has been widely studied, limited research focuses on the lived experiences of international graduate students. This study explores the challenges, perceptions, and coping strategies related to food insecurity among international graduate students at a large public university in North Texas. Methods: This qualitative, ethnographic study involved 20 semi-structured interviews with international graduate students who were clients of the university’s food pantry. Participants were recruited using purposive convenience sampling. Interviews focused on students’ experiences with food access, financial constraints, campus resources, and cultural food preferences. Data were analyzed using thematic coding in MAXQDA. Two standardized food insecurity measures—the USDA and FAO scales—were also administered and analyzed using SPSS. Results: Findings revealed that 85% of participants experienced limited access to nutritious and culturally appropriate foods, with 70% reporting hunger due to financial constraints. Themes included lack of cooking skills, limited campus food options, difficulty accessing familiar groceries, and limited job opportunities. Students expressed that food insecurity significantly impacted their physical health, mental well-being, and social lives, though many continued to prioritize academics over personal nourishment. Conclusions: Food insecurity among international graduate students is multifaceted, shaped by financial, cultural, and institutional barriers. Addressing this issue requires culturally sensitive interventions, improved access to diverse food options, tailored student support services, and institutional efforts to better understand and meet the needs of international students. Full article

The use of microwaves (MWs) has been proposed as an energy-efficient method for reducing checking. Along with understanding moisture distribution, it is essential to consider structural characteristics to explain how MWs reduce checking. The influence of MWs on these characteristics depends on the food matrix’s dielectric and viscoelastic properties, which vary significantly between fresh and pre-baked dough. This study investigates the effects of MW treatment applied before (MW-O) or after conventional oven baking (O-MW) on low-fat biscuits that are prone to checking. Color (CIELab), thickness, moisture content and distribution, checking rate, texture, sensory properties, energy consumption and baking time were analyzed. The findings suggest that MWs reduce checking rate by eliminating internal moisture differences, while also changing structural properties, as evidenced by increased thickness and hardness. MW-O eliminated checking (control samples showed 100%) but negatively affected color, texture (increased hardness and breaking work), and sensory quality. The O-MW checking rate (3.41%) was slightly higher than in MW-O, probably due to the resulting different structural properties (less thickness, less hardness and breaking work). O-MW biscuits were the most preferred by consumers (54.76% ranked them first), with color and texture close to the control samples. MW-O reduced total energy consumption by 16.39% and baking time by 25.00%. For producers, these improvements could compensate for the lower biscuit quality. O-MW did not affect energy consumption but reduced baking time by 14.38%. The productivity improvement, along with the reduction in checking and the satisfactory sensory quality, indicates that O-MW could be beneficial for the bakery sector. Full article

The intrinsic relationship between food and health has led to growing interest in functional foods, particularly among athletes seeking to optimize performance and recovery. This study investigates the impact of product information and sensory attributes on athletes’ willingness to pay for an innovative high-protein bread. Utilizing a two-treatment experimental design, athletes were exposed to sensory evaluations either before or after receiving information. A combination of hedonic sensory analysis and economic evaluation assessed preferences through a non-hypothetical auction. Findings show that both sensory attributes—especially taste and aroma—and product information significantly influenced willingness to pay. The order of presentation played a crucial role: providing information first enhanced perceived value more strongly. While sensory evaluation moderately increased willingness to pay, product information had a stronger impact. A key contribution of this study is its novel evidence on how athletes balance sensory and informational cues in food evaluation—an aspect rarely explored. Contrary to assumptions that athletes ignore sensory quality due to their focus on nutrition, they did value sensory aspects, though they prioritized product information. These findings suggest that developing functional foods for athletes should integrate nutritional benefits and sensory appeal, as both elements contribute to acceptance and potential market success. Full article

In this study, the seeking behaviour and food acceptance of larvae of Plodia interpunctella Hübner (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) were analysed under laboratory conditions. Larval orientation and feeding preferences were assessed using a selection arena for neonate larvae and a four-way olfactometer for third-instar larvae. Stimulants included amaranth bars with additives (honey and chocolate) and natural amaranth (toasted grain only). The results showed that amaranth volatiles influence the orientation and feeding behaviour of this polyphagous insect. A marked preference for sugar-rich foods was observed, with amaranth with honey and amaranth with chocolate being the food sources most frequently chosen by the neonate larvae. These individuals exhibited a gregarious feeding behaviour and did not engage in cannibalism. The third-instar larvae also showed a preference for sweet food but were more attracted to the amaranth–additive combination. In the four-way olfactometer bioassays, chocolate was the most frequently chosen stimulus, while cellophane did not differ significantly from air. An analysis of volatile compounds by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed that amaranth with chocolate releases more volatile compounds (16) compared with honey (12) and natural amaranth (6), suggesting that these volatiles could possibly influence the larvae’s choice of food source. Full article

The advancement of non-thermal disinfection technologies represents a critical pathway for ensuring food safety, meeting environmental sustainability requirements, and meeting consumer preferences for clean-label products. This study systematically evaluated the combined preservation effect of ultrasonic-assisted slightly acidic electrolyzed water (US+SAEW) on mirror carp fillets during refrigeration. Results demonstrated that US+SAEW exhibited superior antimicrobial efficacy compared to individual US or SAEW, achieving reductions of 0.73, 0.74, and 0.79 log CFU/g in total viable counts (TVC), Aeromonas bacteria, and lactic acid bacteria counts compared to the control, respectively. Furthermore, the combined intervention significantly suppressed microbial proliferation throughout the refrigeration period while simultaneously delaying protein and lipid degradation/oxidation induced by spoilage bacteria, thereby inhibiting the formation of alkaline nitrogenous compounds. Consequently, lower levels of pH, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), protein carbonyl, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were observed in US+SAEW compared to the other treatments. Multimodal characterization through low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR), texture, and color analysis confirmed that US+SAEW effectively preserved quality characteristics, extending the shelf life of mirror carp fillets by four days. This study provides a novel non-thermal preservation strategy that combines microbial safety maintenance with quality retention, offering particular advantages for thermolabile food. Full article

The consumer acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods varies widely based on personal values and social context. This study investigates how cultural worldviews—measured through the Individualism–Communitarianism and Hierarchical–Egalitarianism dimensions—affect willingness to pay (WTP) for food labeling attributes related to GM content. We surveyed 932 U.S. primary grocery shoppers and conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) with poultry product options. Using a Mixed Logit model and supplemental cognitive data from Query Theory, we find that rural individualists are more accepting of GM-labeled products. At the same time, urban communitarians show a stronger preference for non-GM labels. These results offer insight into how values and thought patterns shape food technology perceptions, with implications for communication and policy. Full article

This study presents a computational analysis of industry-specific advertising message strategies through the theoretical lens of the FCB (Foote, Cone & Belding) grid framework. Leveraging the AiSAC (AI Analysis System for Ad Creation) system developed by the Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation (KOBACO), we analyzed 27,000 Korean advertisements across five major industries using advanced machine learning techniques. Through Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling with a coherence score of 0.78, we identified five distinct message strategies: emotional appeal, product features, visual techniques, setting and objects, and entertainment and promotion. Our computational analysis revealed that each industry exhibits a unique “message strategy fingerprint” that significantly discriminates between categories, with discriminant analysis achieving 62.7% classification accuracy. Time-series analysis using recurrent neural networks demonstrated a significant evolution in strategy preferences, with emotional appeal increasing by 44.3% over the study period (2015–2024). By mapping these empirical findings onto the FCB grid, the present study validated that industry positioning within the grid’s quadrants aligns with theoretical expectations: high-involvement/think (IT and Telecom), high-involvement/feel (Public Institutions), low-involvement/think (Food and Household Goods), and low-involvement/feel (Services). This study contributes to media science by demonstrating how computational methods can empirically validate the established theoretical frameworks in advertising, providing a data-driven approach to understanding message strategy patterns across industries. Full article

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp) is a vital food security crop in sub-Saharan Africa, including Eswatini. The productivity of the crop is low (<600 kg/ha) in the country due to a lack of improved, locally adapted, and farmer-preferred varieties with biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. The objective of the study was to assess the agronomic performance of newly developed elite cowpea mutants to select best-yielding and adapted pure lines for production and genetic improvement in Eswatini. A total of 30 cowpea genotypes, including 24 newly developed advanced mutant lines, their 3 founder parents and 3 local checks, were profiled for major agronomic traits in two selected sites (Lowveld Experiment and Malkerns Research Stations) using a 6 × 5 alpha lattice design with three replications. A combined analysis of variance revealed that the genotype x location interaction effects were significant (p < 0.05) for germination percentage (DG %), days to flowering (DTF), days to maturity (DMT), number of pods per plant (NPP), pod length (PDL), number of seeds per pod (NSP), hundred seed weight (HSW), and grain yield (GYD). Elite mutant genotypes, including NKL9P7, BRR4P11, SHR9P5, and NKL9P7-2 exhibited higher grain yields at 3158.8 kg/ha, 2651.6 kg/ha, 2627.5 kg/ha, and 2255.8 kg/ha in that order. The highest-yielding mutant, NKL9P7, produced 70%, 61%, and 54% more grain yield than the check varieties Mtilane, Black Eye, and Accession 792, respectively. Furthermore, the selected genotypes displayed promising yield components such as better PDL (varying from 13.1 to 26.3 cm), NPP (15.9 to 26.8), and NSP (9.8 to 16.2). Grain yield had significant positive correlations (p < 0.05) with DG %, NSP, and NPP. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that 81.5% of the total genotypic variation was attributable to the assessed quantitative traits. Principal component (PC) 1 accounted for 48.6%, while PC 2 and PC 3 contributed 18.9% and 14% of the overall variation, respectively. Key traits correlated with PC1 were NPP with a loading score of 0.91, NSP (0.83), PDL (0.73), GYD (0.68), HSW (0.58), DMT (−0.60), and DTF (−0.43) in a desirable direction. In conclusion, genotypes NKL9P7, BRR4P11, SHR9P5, NKL9P7-2, Bira, SHR3P4, and SHR2P7 were identified as complementary parents with relatively best yields and local adaptation, making them ideal selections for direct production or breeding. The following traits, NPP, NSP, PDL, GYD, and HSW, offered unique opportunities for genotype selection in the cowpea breeding program in Eswatini. Full article

Food safety regulations and their implementations are becoming increasingly complex due to various reasons such as diverse food sources, supply chain, processing technologies, distribution systems and environmental concerns. Additionally, it is crucial to address diversified consumers and their preferences. To address these multifaceted challenges, adopting an integrated unified management system is essential. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the progressive food safety governance in the Sultanate of Oman. The country is transitioning from a multi-agency to an integrated food control management system. This integrated approach can enhance the coordination between different government agencies and other stakeholders, avoid duplication, identify required resources and ensure optimum use of the resources. The progress can enhance efficiency and effectiveness in managing food safety in Oman. It addresses the issues of the food safety management system, explores the legislative frameworks, risk-based assessment and their enforcement, and creates public awareness and required research for continuous improvement in food safety. This integration approach is expected to continue strengthening food safety governance in the country. Finally, future challenges in achieving food safety are envisioned, including new food sources and technologies, applications of artificial intelligence, and new sensors for quick identification of risks in foods. Full article