Search Results (10)

Sensory analysis is a fundamental tool in evaluating extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) quality, playing an essential role in both consumer markets and international competitions that recognize and promote high-quality olive oils. Among the key attributes assessed, the fruitiness descriptor—subcategorized as green or ripe—is particularly significant, especially considering that higher green fruitiness is often associated with greater prestige. However, a clear methodological approach to distinguish between green fruitiness and ripe fruitiness perceptions, particularly in their overlapping zone, is still lacking. This study aims to establish precise criteria for defining these boundaries by analyzing monovarietal EVOOs produced from nine olive varieties at three maturity stages over two consecutive harvest seasons (2021/2022 and 2022/2023). Sensory assessments were conducted by the Official Tasting Panel of Virgin Olive Oils of Catalunya, ensuring representativeness across the different fruitiness perceptions. Volatile compounds of the samples were extracted using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS/SPME) and separated and identified via gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Multivariate analysis revealed three distinct volatile profiles corresponding to different sensory perceptions. These findings suggest that incorporating an intermediate sensory attribute between green fruitiness and ripe fruitiness could improve classification accuracy in both competitions and premium markets, enhancing the appreciation and valuation of high-quality EVOOs. Full article

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is a promising route for realizing green and sustainable ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions. However, one of the major challenges of currently available Single-atom catalysts (SACs) is poor catalytic activity and low catalytic selectivity, which is far away from the requirements of industrial applications. Herein, first-principle calculations within the density functional theory were performed to evaluate the feasibility of a single Mo atom anchored on a g-C₉N₁₀ monolayer (Mo@g-C₉N₁₀) as NRR electrocatalysts. The results demonstrated that the gas phase N₂ molecule can be sufficiently activated on Mo@g-C₉N₁₀, and N₂ reduction dominantly occurs on the active Mo atom via the preferred enzymatic mechanism, with a low limiting potential of −0.48 V. In addition, Mo@g-C₉N₁₀ possesses a good prohibition ability for the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction. More impressively, good electronic conductivity and high electron transport efficiency endow Mo SACs with excellent activity for electrocatalytic N₂ reduction. This theoretical research not only accelerates the development of NRR electrocatalysts but also increases our insights into optimizing the catalytic performance of SACs. Full article

Urban green transformation is an important part of global low-carbon development. Coercive government policies are critical to achieving success, but, as of now, there is no unified concept of “green competitiveness”. To address climate change, it is necessary to clearly define core concepts and apply measures. For this study, “urban green competitiveness” refers to the continuous improvement of total factor productivity by cities while fully emphasizing resource limitations and environmental issues to achieve economic growth. This article focuses on a Chinese policy of “dual control of the amount and intensity of energy consumption” (DCEC), which has not been fully studied. The DCEC policy incorporates a quasi-natural experiment to assess whether urban green competitiveness has been affected. This paper builds on the multi-period DID model and explores the effect based on city-level data from 2003 to 2019. The conclusion shows that DCEC policy can address climate change by restricting energy consumption and intensity. Success is achieved through the promotion of local green patent innovation and by intensifying environmental regulation. The policy should start from a long-term perspective by promoting structural and technological changes in the economy, rather than short-term quick success and instant benefits. Full article

The escalating environmental pollution primarily caused by construction enterprises has raised concerns about the urgent need for sustainable practices. This study aims to establish a novel framework of Green Organizational Capabilities (GOC) for construction enterprises in Vietnam. Additionally, it addresses the research gap regarding the relationship between GOC and Competitive Advantage (CA) while also exploring the mediating effect of Green Innovation (GI). Employing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), we simultaneously model and estimate the intricate relationships among GOC, GI, and CA, which are often unobservable and measured indirectly by the Likert scale point. Through SEM, we account for measurement errors in observed variables and test hypotheses from a sample of 278 valid respondents. The findings reveal that (1) Organizational capabilities are being transformed into GOC, encompassing three key capabilities: Operational Capabilities (OC), Green Dynamic Capabilities (GDC), and Green Creativity (GC); (2) Only GDC and GC have a positive impact on CA; and (3) There is a mediating role of GI on the relation between GC, GDC, and CA. These results highlight the significance of focusing on developing GDC and GC to bolster green innovation practices and achieve a competitive edge. Construction companies can leverage these insights to enhance their sustainability efforts and seize opportunities for growth in the green economy. Full article

The success or failure of a company is acquired from a competition, which requires a specific strategy to achieve competitive goals and benefits. One of these strategies is green competitive advantage (GCA) management, initially introduced in 2011, which is highly considered and identified as a management concept. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate a systematic review of GCA management. It emphasizes the analysis of trending literature, geography, and other factors influencing GCA. It also prioritizes the impact obtained when adopting GCA as a framework to support organizational sustainability. This study is the first literature review that presents GCA management. The results show that the application of green innovation and high environmental awareness led to the development of improved performance, a better competitive advantage, and sustainable business. This study highlights significant theoretical and practical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, it allows one to synthesize GCA outcomes to describe better how it affects organizations and the environment. From a practical perspective, it provides concrete implications for policymakers in defining the best mechanism for developing green innovation to achieve competitive advantage and business sustainability. Meanwhile, the actual outputs of this process are emphasized for practitioners, which subsequently enables easier access and increased GCA literacy for practitioners and stakeholders to encourage the selection of organizational GCs (green changes), especially concerning the role of GCA as a promotional and sustainable business framework. Full article

The reduction in freshness during green tea storage leads to a reduction in its commercial value and consumer acceptance, which is thought to be related to the oxidation of fatty acids. Here, we developed a novel and rapid method for the assessment of green tea freshness during storage. Hyperspectral images of green tea during storage were acquired, and fatty acid profiles were detected by GC–MS. Partial least squares (PLS) analysis was used to model the association of spectral data with fatty acid content. In addition, competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) was employed to select the characteristic wavelengths and thus simplify the model. The results show that the constructed CARS-PLS can achieve accurate prediction of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid content, with residual prediction deviation (RPD) values over 2. Ultimately, chemical imaging was used to visualize the distribution of fatty acids during storage, thus providing a fast and nondestructive method for green tea freshness evaluation. Full article

Environmental issues are a significant field in both research and practice. Manufacturing enterprises are adopting sustainable initiatives to achieve efficient resource usage, emissions reduction, energy utilization reduction, and improve waste management. Therefore, drawing on ecological modernization theory (EMT) and knowledge-based theory (KBT), this study proposes a comprehensive framework for the relationships among environmental innovation strategy (EIS), green knowledge sharing (GKS), organizational green learning (OGL), and green competitiveness (GC), through literature review; after, a survey questionnaire method was employed, and multiple-regression method was used for the analysis. The empirical results show that environmental innovation strategy has a positive effect on green competitiveness; the green knowledge sharing and organizational green learning chain mediates the relationship between environmental innovation strategy and green competitiveness. The results further reveal that green knowledge sharing and organizational green learning are crucial paths for manufacturing enterprises to enhance green competitiveness in implementing their environmental innovation strategies. This study extends previous research by emphasizing the importance of environmental innovation strategy in the context of sustainable development, and enriches existing research related to green competitiveness. Full article

Technological progress has made chemistry assume a role of primary importance in our daily life. However, the worsening of the level of environmental pollution is increasingly leading to the realization of more eco-friendly chemical processes due to the advent of green chemistry. The challenge of green chemistry is to produce more and better while consuming and rejecting less. It represents a profitable approach to address environmental problems and the new demands of industrial competitiveness. The concept of green chemistry finds application in several material syntheses such as organic, inorganic, and coordination materials and nanomaterials. One of the different goals pursued in the field of materials science is the application of GC for producing sustainable green polymers and membranes. In this context, extremely relevant is the application of green chemistry in the production of imprinted materials by means of its combination with molecular imprinting technology. Referring to this issue, in the present review, the application of the concept of green chemistry in the production of polymeric materials is discussed. In addition, the principles of green molecular imprinting as well as their application in developing greenificated, imprinted polymers and membranes are presented. In particular, green actions (e.g., the use of harmless chemicals, natural polymers, ultrasound-assisted synthesis and extraction, supercritical CO₂, etc.) characterizing the imprinting and the post-imprinting process for producing green molecularly imprinted membranes are highlighted. Full article

Tea is the second most consumed beverage, and its aroma, determined by volatile compounds (VOCs) present in leaves or developed during the processing stages, has a great influence on the final quality. The goal of this study is to determine the volatilome of different types of tea to provide a competitive tool in terms of time and costs to recognize and enhance the quality of the product in the food chain. Analyzed samples are representative of the three major types of tea: black, green, and white. VOCs were studied in parallel with different technologies and methods: gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer and solid phase microextraction (SPME-GC-MS) and a device called small sensor system, (S3). S3 is made up of tailor-made metal oxide gas sensors, whose operating principle is based on the variation of sensor resistance based on volatiloma exposure. The data obtained were processed through multivariate statistics, showing the full file of the pre-established aim. From the results obtained, it is understood how supportive an innovative technology can be, remotely controllable supported by machine learning (IoF), aimed in the future at increasing food safety along the entire production chain, as an early warning system for possible microbiological or chemical contamination. Full article

The biotransformation of steroid compounds is a promising, environmentally friendly route to new pharmaceuticals and hormones. One of the reaction types common in the metabolic fate of steroids is Baeyer-Villiger oxidation, which in the case of cyclic ketones, such as steroids, leads to lactones. Fungal enzymes catalyzing this reaction, Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs), have been shown to possess broad substrate scope, selectivity, and catalytic performance competitive to chemical oxidation, being far more environmentally green. This study covers the biotransformation of a series of androstane steroids (epiandrosterone and androsterone) and androstene steroids (progesterone, pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone, androstenedione, 19-OH-androstenedione, testosterone, and 19-nortestosterone) by the cultures of filamentous fungus Penicillium vinaceum AM110. The transformation was monitored by GC and the resulting products were identified on the basis of chromatographic and spectral data. The investigated fungus carries out effective Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of the substrates. Interestingly, introduction of the 19-OH group into androstenedione skeleton has significant inhibitory effect on the BVMO activity, as the 10-day transformation leaves half of the 19-OH-androstenedione unreacted. The metabolic fate of epiandrosterone and androsterone, the only 5α-saturated substrates among the investigated compounds, is more complicated. The transformation of these two substrates combined with time course monitoring revealed that each substrate is converted into three products, corresponding to oxidation at C-3 and C-17, with different time profiles and yields. Full article