Exploration of the functionality of sugars in cake-baking, and effects on cake quality.

This review paper describes our exploratory experimental studies on the functionality of sucrose and other sugars in cake-baking, and effects on cake quality. We have used the American Association of Cereal Chemists Method 10-90.01 as a base cake-baking method, and have applied Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Rapid Visco-Analyzer, and time-lapse photography analyses in experimental design studies of the effects of the following ingredient and formulation variables on cake quality (e.g. texture, color, moisture content) and other finished-product properties (e.g. shape, dimensions): (a) cake formula levels of sucrose and water, in terms of %Sucrose and Total Solvent; (b) concentration of sucrose or other sugars (e.g. xylose, ribose, fructose, glucose, maltose, polydextrose) vs. wheat flour starch gelatinization temperature and starch pasting during baking and gluten development during mixing; (c) unchlorinated flour vs. chlorinated flours (of varying pH); (d) cake formula %Sucrose and TS vs. cake color, shape, and dimensions; (e) cakes formulated with sucrose or other sugars (i.e. xylose, fructose, glucose), and variable %S and TS, and unchlorinated or chlorinated flour (pH 4.6), vs. cake color, shape, and dimensions.

Studies of human twins reveal genetic variation that affects dietary fat perception.

To learn more about the mechanisms of human dietary fat perception, 398 human twins rated fattiness and liking for six types of potato chips that differed in triglyceride content (2.5, 5, 10, and 15% corn oil); reliability estimates were obtained from a subset (n = 50) who did the task twice. Some chips also had a saturated long-chain fatty acid (hexadecanoic acid, 16:0) added (0.2%) to evaluate its effect on fattiness and liking. We computed the heritability of these measures and conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify regions of the genome that co-segregate with fattiness and liking. Perceived fattiness and liking for the potato chips were reliable (r = 0.31-0.62, p < 0.05) and heritable (up to h2 = 0.29, p < 0.001, for liking). Adding hexadecanoic acid to the potato chips significantly increased ratings of fattiness but decreased liking. Twins with the G allele of rs263429 near GATA3-AS1 or the G allele of rs8103990 within ZNF729 reported more liking for potato chips than did twins with the other allele (multivariate GWAS, p < 1×10-5), with results reaching genome-wide suggestive but not significance criteria. Person-to-person variation in the perception and liking of dietary fat was (a) negatively affected by the addition of a saturated fatty acid and (b) related to inborn genetic variants. These data suggest liking for dietary fat is not due solely to fatty acid content and highlight new candidate genes and proteins within this sensory pathway.

The "Food Polymer Science" approach to the practice of industrial R&D, leading to patent estates based on fundamental starch science and technology.

This article reviews the application of the "Food Polymer Science" approach to the practice of industrial R&D, leading to patent estates based on fundamental starch science and technology. The areas of patents and patented technologies reviewed here include: (a) soft-from-the-freezer ice creams and freezer-storage-stable frozen bread dough products, based on "cryostabilization technology" of frozen foods, utilizing commercial starch hydrolysis products (SHPs); (b) glassy-matrix encapsulation technology for flavors and other volatiles, based on structure-function relationships for commercial SHPs;

Cookie- versus cracker-baking--what's the difference? Flour functionality requirements explored by SRC and alveography.

The many differences between cookie- and cracker-baking are discussed and described in terms of the functionality, and functional requirements, of the major biscuit ingredients--flour and sugar. Both types of products are similar in their major ingredients, but different in their formulas and processes. One of the most important and consequential differences between traditional cracker and cookie formulas is sugar (i.e., sucrose) concentration: usually lower than 30% in a typical cracker formula and higher than 30% in a typical cookie formula. Gluten development is facilitated in lower-sugar cracker doughs during mixing and sheeting; this is a critical factor linked to baked-cracker quality. Therefore, soft wheat flours with greater gluten quality and strength are typically preferred for cracker production. In contrast, the concentrated aqueous sugar solutions existing in high-sugar cookie doughs generally act as an antiplasticizer, compared with water alone, so gluten development during dough mixing and starch gelatinization/pasting during baking are delayed or prevented in most cookie systems. Traditional cookies and crackers are low-moisture baked goods, which are desirably made from flours with low water absorption [low water-holding capacity (WHC)], and low levels of damaged starch and water-soluble pentosans (i.e., water-accessible arabinoxylans). Rheological (e.g., alveography) and baking tests are often used to evaluate flour quality for baked-goods applications, but the solvent retention capacity (SRC) method (AACC 56-11) is a better diagnostic tool for predicting the functional contribution of each individual flour functional component, as well as the overall functionality of flours for cookie- and/or cracker-baking.

Protein suppresses both bitterness and oleocanthal-elicited pungency of extra virgin olive oil.

The Mediterranean diet, considered one of the healthiest in the world, is characterized in part by the major source of its fat, which is extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Among the health benefits of consuming EVOOs is the presence of phenolic compounds, which have been shown to lower the incidence of coronary heart disease and are suspected of providing many other health benefits. These phenolic compounds also contribute to the flavor of EVOO, adding both specific pungency in the throat and bitter notes that are valued by connoisseurs but reported to be unpleasant by naïve consumers. Here, we demonstrate that some food-derived proteins, specifically from egg yolks and whey, when added to pungent and bitter EVOOs, reduce or even eliminate both the throat pungency and bitterness. The sensory loss is proportional to the food protein additions. Thus, when used in various foods recipes (e.g. mayonnaise), pungent and bitter EVOOs may lose their pungent and bitter characteristics thereby rendering them more palatable to many consumers. This sensory reduction might also indicate interaction between the proteins and the phenolic compounds, which, if confirmed, would raise the question of whether the bioactivities of EVOO phenolics remain unchanged when consumed with and without protein-containing foods.

Differential Scanning Calorimetry Analysis of the Effects of Heat and Pressure on Protein Denaturation in Soy Flour Mixed with Various Types of Plasticizers.

The effects of heat and pressure on protein denaturation in soy flour were explored by an experimental design that used pressure (atmospheric to 600 MPa), temperature (room to 90 °C), time (1 to 60 min), and type of aqueous plasticizer (NaCl, sucrose, betaine, and lactobionic acid (LBA)) as factors. When 50% (w/w) soy flour-water paste was high hydrostatic pressure (HHP)-treated for 20 min at 25 °C, the treatment at 200 MPa showed a small effect on denaturation of only the 7S soy globulin, but the treatment at 600 MPa showed a significant effect on denaturation of both the 7S and 11S soy globulins. The treatment at 60 °C showed a less-pronounced effect on denaturation of the 11S globulin, even at 600 MPa, but that at 90 °C showed a similar extent of denaturation of the 11S globulin at 600 MPa to that at 25 °C. Chaotropic 2N NaCl, 50% sucrose-, 50% betaine-, or 50% LBA-water solutions showed protective effects on protein denaturation during HHP treatment at 25 °C. Although LBA enhanced the extent of thermostability of soy protein less than did 2N NaCl, LBA exhibited better stabilization against pressure. The results from DSC analysis demonstrated that thermostable soy proteins were not always barostable.

Melting and crystallization of sugars in high-solids systems.

Crystalline structures of sugars, particularly that of sucrose, depend on crystallization conditions and the presence of impurities. Sugar crystals show melting that often occurs at low temperatures with time- and temperature-dependent characteristics. Melting at low temperatures can be accounted for by the presence of impurties and defects. Sugar crystals also contain noncrystalline regions that may undergo decomposition and subsequent dissolution at the decomposition interface and acceleration of decomposition reactions. Such processes with melting establish a supersaturated condition for the remaining crystals, leading to a time-dependent melting point depression and subsequent melting of the remaining crystals. Decomposition of sugars, as well as dissolution and melting of sugar crystals, are separate phenomena, although they are commonly found to coincide. Decomposition of sugars requires the presence and mobility of molecules for reactions outside the crystal lattice; that is, the molecular mobility of amorphous or melted regions is a prerequisite for decomposition, whereas melting of sugar crystals occurs as a separate thermodynamic process with no chemical change of the molecules.

Staphylococcus aureus growth boundaries: moving towards mechanistic predictive models based on solute-specific effects.

The formulation of shelf-stable intermediate-moisture products is a critical food safety issue. Therefore, knowing the precise boundary for the growth-no-growth interface of Staphylococcus aureus is necessary for food safety risk assessment. This study was designed to examine the effects of various humectants and to produce growth boundary models as tools for risk assessment. The molecular mobility and the effects of various physical properties of humectants, such as their glass transition temperatures, their membrane permeability, and their ionic and nonionic properties, on S. aureus growth were investigated. The effects of relative humidity (RH; 84 to 95%, adjusted by sucrose plus fructose, glycerol, or NaCl), initial pH (4.5 to 7.0, adjusted by HCl), and potassium sorbate concentration (0 or 1,000 ppm) on the growth of S. aureus were determined. Growth was monitored by turbidity over a 24-week period. Toxin production was determined by enterotoxin assay. The 1,792 data points generated were analyzed by LIFEREG procedures (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, N.C.), which showed that all parameters studied significantly affected the growth responses of S. aureus. Differences were observed in the growth-no-growth boundary when different humectants were used to achieve the desired RH values in both the absence and the presence of potassium sorbate. Sucrose plus fructose was most inhibitory at neutral pH values, while NaCl was most inhibitory at low pH values. The addition of potassium sorbate greatly increased the no-growth regions, particularly when pH was <6.0. Published kinetic growth and survival models were compared with boundary models developed in this work. The effects of solutes and differences in modeling approaches are discussed.