Substitution of Pork Fat by Emulsified Seed Oils in Fresh Deer Sausage ('Chorizo') and Its Impact on the Physical, Nutritional, and Sensory Properties.

Meat products are consumed worldwide, but their high content of saturated fatty acids requires a reformulation of that type of food. In this regard, the objective of this study is to reformulate 'chorizos' by replacing the pork fat with emulsified seed oils from seeds (50%, 75%, and 100%). Commercial seeds (chia and poppy) and other seeds considered wastes from the agri-food industry (melon and pumpkin) were evaluated. Physical parameters, nutritional composition, fatty acid profile, and consumer evaluation were analyzed. The reformulated chorizos presented a softer texture but a better fatty acid profile due to their decrease in saturated fatty acids and their increase in linoleic and linolenic fatty acids. Regarding consumer evaluation, all the batches were positively evaluated in all the parameters studied.

Development of Seed-Oil Based Dried Sausages, Considering Physicochemical and Nutritional Quality and the Role of Food Neophobia.

A growing number of consumers now consider the consumption of processed meat products to be an essentially unhealthy habit. Hence, the reformulation of meat products is crucial. In this regard, the aim of this study is to reformulate "fuet", a traditional Spanish dried sausage, by replacing the pork fat with emulsified seed oils (50-50%, 25-75% and 0-100%). Four seed oils were evaluated, including commercial seeds (poppy and chia) and other seeds considered subproducts (melon and pumpkin). Physical parameters, nutritional quality and consumer evaluation of the reformulated dried sausages were analyzed. Additionally, we considered the effects of food neophobia on consumer evaluation. The resulting fuets had a higher concentration of linoleic and linolenic acids, which varied according to the oil used. In the sensory analysis, non-neophobic consumers showed higher preference for the reformulated fuets, while all consumers gave their highest ratings to the fuets produced with pumpkin seed oil.

E-Nose Discrimination of Almond Oils Extracted from Roasted Kernels.

Almonds contain around 50% fat with a health-promoting fatty acid profile that can be extracted by pressing to obtain high-quality oils. To improve oil sensory properties, the almonds can be subjected to roasting treatments before oil extraction. However, intense thermal treatments may cause the appearance of undesirable volatile compounds causing unpleasant aromas. Thus, oils from almonds subjected to different roasting treatments (30, 45, 60 and 90 min at 150 °C) were analyzed from sensory and the chemical points of view. In addition, an electronic device (E-nose) was used in order to evaluate its usefulness in discriminating samples according to their aromas. The almonds' roasting treatments caused changes in the sensory properties, since defects such as a burned, dry smell or wood fragrance appeared when almonds were subjected to roasting treatments (>45 min). These data agree with the analysis of volatile compounds, which showed an increase in the content of aldehyde and aromatic groups in roasted almonds oils while alcohols and terpenes decreased. Partial least squares discriminant analysis and partial least squares obtained from the E-nose were able to classify samples (97.5% success) and quantify the burned defect of the oils (Rp2 of 0.88), showing that the E-nose can be an effective tool for classifying oils.

Evolution of Virgin Olive Oil during Long-term Storage.

In this work, the evolution of virgin olive oil from 4 olive varieties when stored at 5°C, 10°C and 20°C for a period of up to 3 years was studied. Free acidity increased progressively for the 4 varieties, staying below the limit for extra virgin olive oil, even at the highest temperature. The peroxide value also increased, reaching its maximum after about 28 months of storage, when some samples stored at 20°C exceeded the limit for extra virgin olive oil. The maximum values for K270 and K232 were reached at the end of the storage period, also exceeding the limit for extra virgin olive oil in the case of some varieties stored at 20°C. Oxidative stability decreased by 38%-50% depending on the storage temperature and the variety. Most of the color indexes increased in value because of the degradation of the oil pigments.

Optimization of cultivation techniques improves the agronomic behavior of Agaricus subrufescens.

New species of medicinal mushrooms have emerged over the past several decades, such as the Sun mushroom, Agaricus subrufescens. Horticultural improvements are required to shift its cultivation from small-scale local production to large-scale international production. The research reported here evaluated the agronomic behavior and the chemical characteristics of the Sun mushroom as a function of i) nutritional supplementation ii) ruffling of the casing layer and iii) the temperature management on the primordia induction and reduction of the crop cycle. Supplementation was beneficial for yield, unit mushroom weigh and decrease in time to first harvest. Supplementation improved biological efficiency with Champfood providing a yield increase of 15% over the non-supplemented compost. Among the supplements only Promycel increased the individual mushroom weight. Ruffling overall improved the yield in the 2nd and 4th flush. Already biological efficiency was greater by 21%. The highest yield harvested in any single day in the crop occurred in 3rd flush with the amount of 2.484 kg of mushrooms per m2 for the rapid induction method. Still the biological efficiency was not significantly affected by the mushroom induction temperature method. Only the fat content of the mushrooms was positively affected by the rapid induction of primordia. Champfood supplement promotes a reduction in the value of earliness and an increase of 1st flush yield. The ruffling technique provided an increase in biological efficiency due to the great number of mushrooms harvested. Rapid primordia induction allowed the crop cycle to end 3 days earlier than the slow primordia induction, providing a higher production rate.

Use of peanut waste for oyster mushroom substrate supplementation-oyster mushroom and peanut waste.

The aim of the research was to verify the influence of macro and micronutrients present in the peanut waste (hulls and nuts) for supplementation of Pleurotus ostreatus substrate. The raw materials for base substrate preparation were Brachiaria dictyoneura, sugarcane bagasse (bulk material), rice and wheat bran, calcitic limestone, and gypsum. The following supplement formulations were used as treatments: (1) 100% peanut hulls, (2) 80% peanut hulls + 20% nuts, (3) 60% peanut hulls + 40% nuts, (4) 40% peanut hulls + 60% nuts, (5) 20% peanut hulls + 80% nuts, and (6) 100% nuts. A commercial supplement was also used as an additional treatment. The supplementation was done at spawning using the rates of 1% and 2% wet weight of the substrate. Positive correlations amongst yield and N content, and weight of mushroom and P and K content were verified with 1% supplement. A positive correlation between yield and Cu content, and a negative correlation between yield and Mn content were observed with 2% supplement. The use of peanut waste can be used as supplement for the production of P. ostreatus increasing biological efficiency up to 61%. A better combination can be reached with 20% peanut hulls + 80% nuts or 100% nuts. The addition of 2% supplement in the substrate provided greater yield than 1%.

Effect of roasting conditions on pigment composition and some quality parameters of pistachio oil.

Pistachio roasting before oil extraction increases consumer preference but may cause changes in the oil composition. In this work, the effect of different roasting conditions on the physical parameters, oxidative stability, and pigment composition of pistachio oil extracted by pressure was studied. Density value of pistachio oil was reduced with severe roasting conditions (125 °C), while viscosity increased slightly. This adverse effect was compensated by a significant increase in both oxidative stability and, especially, in the content of chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments. Pistachio roasting temperature had a clear impact on the color of the pistachio oils, changing from yellow in oils from raw or minimally roasted pistachios (50-75 °C) to brilliant green in oils from pistachios subjected to higher temperature treatments (100-125 °C). An increase in temperature favored the pigment transfer to the oil. The green oils had a total pigment content between 2.3 and 4 times higher than the yellow oils.

Storage stability and composition changes of three cold-pressed nut oils under refrigeration and room temperature conditions.

Chemical composition and stability parameters of three cold-pressed nut oils (almond, walnut and pistachio) were monitored for up to 16 months of storage at 5 °C, 10 °C, 20 °C and room temperature. Freshly pressed pistachio oil had lower peroxide value than almond oil and higher induction period than almond and walnut oils, indicating a higher stability. The peroxide values increased faster at room temperature than at lower temperatures during the storage time, and the highest increase was for pistachio oil stored at room temperature exposed to daylight. The induction period decreased for all three nut oils during the storage time, regardless of the storage conditions. Pistachio oil remained the most stable oil at the end of the storage time, followed by almond oil. The percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids decreased slightly throughout the storage.

Olive oil aromatization with saffron by liquid-liquid extraction.

A new aromatization method for olive oils with saffron aqueous extracts rich in safranal has been developed using liquid-liquid extraction. Four flavoured olive oils were obtained (SO1-SO4). SO1 showed the highest safranal concentration (145.89 mg L-1), followed by SO2 (79.33 mg L-1), SO3 (0.30 mg L-1) and SO4 (0.01 mg L-1). Although flavouring originated a decrease in the quality parameters and the oxidative stability of the oils, even after 7 months of storage, at room and refrigeration temperatures, the oil parameters evaluated were still comparable to those of extra virgin olive oil. Flavored olive oils with less safranal (SO3, SO4) are preferred by consumers.

Quality and Composition of Virgin Olive Oil from Varietties Grown in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain).

The regulated physicochemical quality parameters (free acidity, peroxide value and UV absorption characteristics), sensory parameters (median of fruity, median of defect, panel classification, bitterness and pungency), stability parameters (total phenols and oxidative stability at 100°C) and chemical composition (fatty acids, sterols and triterpenic dialcohols) of virgin olive oils obtained from 12 olive varieties cultivated in 6 of the most representative zones of Castilla-La Mancha (La Alcarria, Campos de Calatrava, Campos de Hellín, Campos de Montiel, Montes de Toledo and Sierra de Alcaraz) were evaluated. The varieties Cornicabra and Picual showed remarkable total polyphenols content and high stability, in contrast with Arbequina. The other less common varieties were in-between these two groups. Cornicabra and Picual showed also high oleic and low linoleic acids content, while Arbequina showed low oleic, high linoleic high palmitic and high palimitoleic acid content. The varieties Benizal and Cornicabra showed very high campesterol content. Benizal stood out by its high stigmasterol, low apparent ß-sitosterol and low total sterols content, and the latter was below the established limit for olive oil. Triterpenic dialcohol content was significantly lower for Arbequina than for Cornicabra.

Influence of different drying and aging conditions on saffron constituents.

A dehydration postharvesting treatment is necessary to convert Crocus sativus L. stigmas into saffron spice. Three different dehydration treatments were evaluated: dehydration at room temperature; dehydration with hot air at different temperatures (70, 90, and 110 degrees C); and dehydration following traditional processing in Castille-La Mancha (Spain) with three different heating sources (vineshoot charcoal, gas cooker, and electric coil). The time (between 28 and 55 min) and mean temperature (between 54 and 83 degrees C) conditions for traditional dehydration were established for the first time. The highest coloring strength was obtained when saffron was submitted to higher temperatures and lower times. These findings may be supported by the fact that samples dehydrated at high temperature were more porous than those dehydrated at room temperature, as was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The higher the temperature during the process, the higher the proportion of trans-crocetin di-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) ester, although trans-crocetin (beta-D-glucosyl)-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) and trans-crocetin di-(beta-D-glucosyl) ester decrease while cis-crocins did not change significantly. A thermal aging process reveals that the trans-crocetin di-(beta-D-gentibiosyl) ester increases when saffron is resubmitted to a heating treatment before it is decomposed by the extreme conditions. The picrocrocin extinction during the aging process does not imply a consistent generation of safranal.