Heat treatment as postharvest tool for improving quality in extra-early nectarines.

BACKGROUND: Extra-early nectarine cultivars such as 'VioWhite 5' could present a lack of organoleptic and nutritional quality. Heat treatments (HT) can be applied to improve their primary characteristics. In this experiment, control (non-treated), HT1 (3 h; 45 °C) and HT2 (2 h; 50 °C) were studied. Fruit were stored (10 days; 0 ± 0.5 °C; 90-95% RH) followed by a simulated retail sale period (3 days; 15 °C; 70-75% RH). RESULTS: HT fruit showed higher weight loss (2.76 ± 0.06% and 3.32 ± 0.01% for HT1 and HT2 , respectively; vs. 2.23 ± 0.14% for control) and lower firmness than control samples (28.88% and 21.67% less for HT1 and HT2 , respectively). HT treatments induced an increase in soluble solids content and a decrease in total acidity, which led to a better sensory quality. These changes were positively received by consumers. Total antioxidant capacity was enhanced by HT due to an increase in phenolic compound content. A higher enzymatic activity was found in pectin methylesterase and polygaracturonase in HT nectarines when compared to control. CONCLUSION: The application of HT on extra-early nectarine cv. demonstrated a strong potential to improve consumption quality in the industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Natural vitamin B12 and fucose supplementation of green smoothies with edible algae and related quality changes during their shelf life.

BACKGROUND: Some algae are an excellent sources of vitamin B12, of special interest for vegetarian/vegan consumers, and of fucose to supplement fruit and vegetable beverages such as smoothies. Nevertheless, supplementation of smoothies with algae may lead to possible quality changes during smoothie shelf life that need to be studied. Therefore, the quality changes in fresh green smoothies supplemented (2.2%) with nine edible algae (sea lettuce, kombu, wakame, thongweed, dulse, Irish moss, nori, Spirulina and Chlorella) were studied throughout 24 days at 5 °C. RESULTS: The initial vitamin C content - 238.7-326.0 mg kg-1 fresh weight (FW) - of a 200 g portion of any of the smoothies ensured full coverage of its recommended daily intake, and still supplying 50-60% of the recommended intake after 7 days. Chlorella and Spirulina smoothies showed the highest vitamin B12 content (33.3 and 15.3 µg kg-1 FW, respectively), while brown algae showed fucose content of 141.1-571.3 mg kg-1 FW. These vitamin B12 and fucose contents were highly maintained during shelf life. CONCLUSION: The Spirulina supplementation of a 200 g smoothie portion ensured full coverage of the recommended vitamin B12 intake, with lower vitamin C degradation, during a shelf life of 17 days. Furthermore, thongweed and kombu are also considered as excellent fucose sources with similar shelf life. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Microwave heating modelling of a green smoothie: Effects on glucoraphanin, sulforaphane and S-methyl cysteine sulfoxide changes during storage.

BACKGROUND: The heating of a green smoothie during an innovative semi-continuous microwave treatment (MW; 9 kW for 15 s) was modelled. Thermal and dielectric properties of the samples were previously determined. Furthermore, the heating effect on the main chemopreventive compounds of the smoothie and during its subsequent storage up to 30 days at 5 or 15 °C were studied. Such results were compared to conventional pasteurisation (CP; 90 °C for 45 s) while unheated fresh blended samples were used as the control. RESULTS: A procedure was developed to predict the temperature distribution in samples inside the MW oven with the help of numerical tools. MW-treated samples showed the highest sulforaphane formation after 20 days, regardless of the storage temperature, while its content was two-fold reduced in CP samples. Storage of the smoothie at 5 °C is crucial for maximising the levels of the bioactive compound S-methyl cysteine sulfoxide. CONCLUSION: The proposed MW treatment can be used by the food industry to obtain an excellent homogeneous heating of a green smoothie product retaining high levels of bioactive compounds during subsequent retail/domestic storage up to 1 month at 5 °C. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Microwave flow and conventional heating effects on the physicochemical properties, bioactive compounds and enzymatic activity of tomato puree.

BACKGROUND: Thermal processing causes a number of undesirable changes in physicochemical and bioactive properties of tomato products. Microwave (MW) technology is an emergent thermal industrial process that offers a rapid and uniform heating, high energy efficiency and high overall quality of the final product. The main quality changes of tomato puree after pasteurization at 96 ± 2 °C for 35 s, provided by a semi-industrial continuous microwave oven (MWP) under different doses (low power/long time to high power/short time) or by conventional method (CP) were studied. RESULTS: All heat treatments reduced colour quality, total antioxidant capacity and vitamin C, with a greater reduction in CP than in MWP. On the other hand, use of an MWP, in particular high power/short time (1900 W/180 s, 2700 W/160 s and 3150 W/150 s) enhanced the viscosity and lycopene extraction and decreased the enzyme residual activity better than with CP samples. For tomato puree, polygalacturonase was the more thermo-resistant enzyme, and could be used as an indicator of pasteurization efficiency. CONCLUSION: MWP was an excellent pasteurization technique that provided tomato puree with improved nutritional quality, reducing process times compared to the standard pasteurization process. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Improving quality of an innovative pea puree by high hydrostatic pressure.

BACKGROUND: The food industry is continuously innovating to fulfill consumer demand for new, healthy, ready-to-eat products. Pea purees could satisfy this trend by increasing the intake of legumes, which are an important source of nutrients. Moreover, sensorial properties like viscosity could be improved by high hydrostatic pressure (HHP). In this study the effect of a boiling treatment (10 min) followed by HHP at 550 kPa (0, 5 or 10 min) on the rheological properties, associated with enzymatic activity and particle size, as well as on the microbial and sensory quality of a pea-based puree stored for 36 days at 5 °C, has been assessed. RESULTS: The particle size of pea puree decreased after all processing treatments, but increased during storage in HHP-treated samples. Conversely, boiling treatment showed an increase in polygalacturonase activity at the end of the storage period, with a decrease in particle size, viscosity and stability. However, 5 min of 550 kPa HHP showed the highest mean particle size, mean surface diameter and viscosity regarding the remaining treatments. The microbial load remained low during storage. CONCLUSIONS: HHP treatment can be used by the food industry to improve the rheological properties, viscosity and stability of pea purees. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Immature pea seeds: effect of storage under modified atmosphere packaging and sanitation with acidified sodium chlorite.

BACKGROUND: Appropriate sanitation is a priority for extending the shelf life and promoting the consumption of immature pea seeds, as processing accelerates quality deterioration and microbial growth. RESULTS: The combined effect of disinfection with acidified sodium chlorite (ASC) or sodium hypochlorite (SH) and packaging under a passive modified atmosphere (MAP) at 1 or 4 °C on quality was analysed. After 14 days, greenness and vitamin C had decreased, especially in the SH-disinfected samples. Total phenols and antioxidant capacity were not affected by disinfection. Proteins levels fell by around 27%, regardless of the sanitizer and storage temperature. Compared with the initial microbial load, samples stored at 1 °C showed an increase of 1 log CFU g-1 in psychrophiles when treated with SH, whereas no increase of note occurred with ASC. In general, microbial counts were always below 3 log CFU g-1 for all the treatments. CONCLUSION: Immature pea seeds could be stored for 14 days at 1-4 °C under MAP with only minor quality changes. Disinfection with ASC resulted in better sensory quality, higher content of vitamin C and lower psychrophile counts. More research is needed to analyse the effect of these treatments on other quality parameters. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Deficit irrigation strategies enhance health-promoting compounds through the intensification of specific enzymes in early peaches.

BACKGROUND: Biochemical and enzymatic responses to long-term regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) at harvest, during cold storage and after the retail sale period of 'Flordastar' early peaches were evaluated. Irrigation strategies were Control, and two RDI applied during post-harvest period (RDI1 , severe; RDI2 , moderate), based on different thresholds of maximum daily shrinkage signal intensity (RDI1 , 1.4 to dry; RDI2 , 1.3 to 1.6). RESULTS: Both RDI provoked stress in the plant. This meant higher antioxidant concentration [averaging 1.30 ± 0.27 g ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE) kg(-1) fresh weight (FW) for control and 1.77 ± 0.35 and 1.50 ± 0.30 g AAE kg(-1) FW for RDI1 and RDI2 , respectively]. Antioxidant levels decreased with storage by polyphenoloxydase action, which increased (from 0.04 ± 0.01 U mg(-1) protein to 0.32 ± 0.08 U mg(-1) protein). Vitamin C was initially higher in RDI samples (44.22 ± 0.05 g total vitamin C kg(-1) FW for control vs. 46.77 ± 0.02 and 46.27 ± 0.03 g total vitamin C kg(-1) FW for RDI1 and RDI2 , respectively). CONCLUSION: The way RDI was applied affected bioactive fruit composition, being catalase and dehydroascorbic acid good water stress indicators. RDI strategies can be used as field practice, allowing water savings while enhanced healthy compound content in early peaches.

Semi-industrial microwave treatments positively affect the quality of orange-colored smoothies.

Thermal processing extends the shelf life of fruit and vegetables products by inactivating microorganisms and enzymes. The effect of a pasteurization (P) treatment, 90 ± 2 °C for 35 s, provided by continuous semi-industrial microwave (MW) under different conditions (high power/short time and low power/long time) or conventional pasteurization (CP) on orange-colored smoothies and their changes throughout 45 days of storage at 5 °C were investigated. Results indicated that vitamin C and antioxidant capacity (FRAP) in CP decreased dramatically in comparison with the unheated and MWP smoothies. On the contrary, all heating treatments increased the contents of total phenolic compounds and carotenoids. Based on the sensory quality and microbial counts, the shelf life of all those heated smoothies reached 45 days. No Listeria monocytogenes growth was found and all microbial counts were below the European legal limits (2007). MWP as compared to the CP method led to a greater reduction of mesophilic bacteria after 45 days at 5 °C (3.7 log cfu g-1 for CP and 1.6 log cfu g-1 for MWP). The highest power and the shortest time MWP treatments (3600 W for 93 s), resulted into better preservation of FRAP and vitamin C.

UV-C and hyperoxia abiotic stresses to improve healthiness of carrots: study of combined effects.

Phenolic compounds are phytochemicals with high health-promoting properties. Carrot is a vegetable highly worldwide consumed although its phenolic content is low compared to other plant products. The aim of this work was to evaluate changes in phenolic compounds in carrots caused by abiotic stresses. The phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity, phenolic compounds and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) changes during storage up to 72 h at 15 °C after wounding (shredding), 9 kJ UV-C m-2 pretreatment and hyperoxia (80 kPa) conditions of carrots were studied. Shredding and hyperoxia storage induced the highest phenolic compounds and TAC enhancements. Accumulation of phenolic compounds in shredded carrots could be structured in the following phases: 1st phase (<24 h): unchanged phenolic compounds levels with minimum PAL activity; 2nd phase (24-48 h): moderate phenolic increases (≈600-700 mg CAE kg-1 accumulated in 24 h) concurring with the greatest increase of PAL activity; 3nd phase (48-72 h): high phenolic increases (≈1600-2700 mg CAE kg-1, accumulated in 24 h) while a moderate increment of PAL activity was registered. Although UV-C pretreatment of shreds reduced phenolic accumulation, 600 % increments were still registered in those samples stored under hyperoxia conditions for 72 h. However, the contents of chlorogenic acid at 72 h were 1.4-fold higher in irradiated shreds under hyperoxia compared to the same samples under air conditions.

Quality changes of fresh-cut pomegranate arils during shelf life as affected by deficit irrigation and postharvest vapour treatments.

BACKGROUND: The effect of two sustained deficit irrigation (SDI) strategies, compared to a control, on postharvest physicochemical, microbial, sensory quality attributes and anthocyanin content of fresh-cut pomegranates arils throughout 18 days at 5 °C was studied. Furthermore, the effect of vapour treatments (4, 7 and 10 s) compared to a conventional sanitizing treatment with NaClO on such quality parameters in combination with the preharvest treatments was also studied. RESULTS: According to sensory analyses, the shelf life of arils from control and SDI-irrigated fruit was established in 14 and 18 days at 5 °C, respectively, showing 4 and 7 s vapour treatment time the best sensory quality. No significant change was observed in physicochemical quality attributes, across all treatments during storage, while low microbial loads were registered (<3 log CFU g(-1)) after shelf life. Postharvest treatments that had least effect on anthocyanin content on processing day were 7 and 10 s. CONCLUSION: Vapour treatments of 7-10 s applied to pomegranate arils led to an extended shelf life up to 18 days at 5 °C with better results in SDI-irrigated samples with a water saving of 6-11%.

Quality of tomato slices disinfected with ozonated water.

Fresh-cut industry needs novel disinfectant to replace the use of chlorine. Ozone is one of the most powerful oxidizing agents and is applied in gaseous or aqueous form for sanitation purposes. However, the strong oxidative effect could affect the nutritional and sensorial quality, in particular, when time of washing is extended. For that reason, the overall impact of ozonated water (0.4 mg/L) dipping applied during 1, 3 and 5 min compared to control washed in water during 5 min was studied in tomato slices stored during 14 days at 5 . According to the results, ozonated water treatment of 3 min achieved the best firmness retention, microbial quality (mesophilic, psychrotrophic and yeas load) and reduced the consumption of fructose and glucose. The use of ozonated water did not affect the total acidity, pH, total solid soluble, organic acid as ascorbic, fumaric or succinic acid and the sensorial parameters, which were only affected by storage time. However, the poor appearance, aroma and overall quality obtained in all treatments prevented shelf life of 14 days and the quality at acceptable levels was established in 10 days at 5 . It is recommended to wash tomato slices with 0.4 mg/L ozonated water for 3 min only. Extending treatment duration did not improve the microbiological quality, possibly due to the extra time permitting the ozone to react with other components of the fruit tissue, undermining the antimicrobial benefits.

Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Bioactive Compounds from Broccoli By-Products.

The objective of this work was to gain insight into the operating conditions that affect the efficiency of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) parameters to achieve the best recovery of bioactive compounds from broccoli leaf and floret byproducts. Therefore, total phenolic content (TPC) and the main sulfur bioactive compounds (sulforaphane (SFN) and glucosinolates (GLSs)) were assayed. Distilled water was used as solvent. For each byproduct type, solid/liquid ratio (1:25 and 2:25 g/mL), temperature (25, 40, and 55 °C), and extraction time (2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, and 20 min) were the studied variables to optimize the UAE process by using a kinetic and a cubic regression model. TPC was 12.5-fold higher in broccoli leaves than in florets, while SFN was from 2.5- to 4.5-fold higher in florets regarding the leaf's extracts obtained from the same plants, their precursors (GLS) being in similar amounts for both plant tissues. The most efficient extraction conditions were at 25 °C, ratio 2:25, and during 15 or 20 min according to the target phytochemical to extract. In conclusion, the type of plant tissue and used ratio significantly influenced the extraction of bioactive compounds, the most efficient UAE parameters being those with lower energy consumption.

Influence of acidification, pasteurization, centrifugation and storage time and temperature on watermelon juice quality.

BACKGROUND: Watermelon juice has gained increasing popularity among consumers as a rich natural source of functional compounds such as lycopene and citrulline. However, the final quality of the juice depends significantly on its acidification, pasteurization, centrifugation and storage time and temperature. In this study, these characteristics were assessed in watermelon juice pasteurized at 87.7 °C for 20 s and stored for up to 30 days at 4 or 8 °C. RESULTS: The acidifier citric acid provided an adequate sensory quality, similar to natural watermelon juice. Centrifugation and pasteurization significantly reduced the red color, bioactive compounds (lycopene, antioxidant capacity and total polyphenols) and sensory quality of the juice, particularly when the storage time was extended and a temperature of 8 °C was used (P ≤ 0.05). All treated juices were microbiologically safe for up to 30 days when stored at 4 or 8 °C. In terms of sensory acceptability, only non-centrifuged juices stored for up to 20 days at 4 °C remained above the commercial limit. CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that using a non-centrifugation process and a storage temperature of 4 °C yields a watermelon juice that better retains its sensory and functional qualities.

The suitability of three Galia melon cultivars and different types of cuts for the fresh-cut industry.

BACKGROUND: Melons (Cucumis melo L.) are widely cultivated in Mediterranean countries. For fresh-cut melon elaboration, factors such as type of cultivar and cut have a significant impact on final product quality. The quality parameters from long, medium and short shelf-life Galia melon cultivars, cut into different shapes such as slices, trapezoids and cylinders and stored up to 10 days at 5 °C, were evaluated in order to learn the suitability of these cultivars and type of cut for minimal processing. RESULTS: In general, long-life melon cultivar had a low respiration rate and ethylene emissions, and high tissue firmness, but low levels of glucose, fructose, vitamin C and flavor rating by consumers. However, despite having higher metabolic activity and susceptibility to microbial spoilage, the short shelf-life cultivar melon had higher firmness retention. This cultivar was characterized by its richness in glucose, fructose and vitamin C, and its sensory quality (flavor) was highly valued. In general, the medium cultivar had an intermediate behavior between long and short cultivars but without their positive attributes. As a consequence of the most intense damage, the cylindrical shape had higher metabolic activity, susceptibility to microbial spoilage and reduced appearance. CONCLUSIONS: In the long and medium-life cultivars studied, low flavor was the limiting factor to extend the shelf-life of fresh-cut melon while for the short-life cultivar the limiting factor was its susceptibility to bacterial growth. Cut types such as cylinders should be avoided.

Can household storage conditions reduce food waste and environmental impact? A broccoli case study.

The consumption stage has been identified as the largest producer of food waste (FW) across the food supply chain (FSC), with fruit and vegetables being the most affected product category. The present study aims to determine the optimal storage scenario at household level to avoid food waste and which has the lowest environmental footprint. Broccoli was stored under different storage conditions: unbagged or bagged (periodically opened) in bioplastic bags inside a domestic refrigerator at 5 or 7 °C for 34 days and then analysed for relative humidity (RH), sensory properties and bioactive compounds. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate the environmental profile of 1 kg of broccoli purchased by the consumer (cradle-to-grave). At day 0 (base scenario) the carbon footprint was 0.81 kg CO2 eq/kg, with the vegetable farming being the main contributor to this environmental impact, mostly driven by fertiliser (production and its emissions to air and water) and irrigation (due to electricity consumption for water pumping). Quality and food waste depended on time and storage conditions: For short storage times, within three days, the best quality combined with the lowest environmental footprint was for unbagged broccoli at 7 °C and no household food waste. However, this scenario had the highest food waste level from day 3 onwards, with increased resource loss and overall environmental footprint. For long-term storage, using a bag and storing at 5 °C helped to reduce food waste with the lowest environmental footprint. For example, at 16 days, this scenario (bagged at 5 °C) could save 4.63 kg/FU of broccoli and 3.16 kg CO2 eq/FU compared to the worst scenario (unbagged at 7 °C). Consumers are the key to reducing household food waste and this research provides the knowledge for improvement.

Revalorization of Melon By-Product to Obtain a Novel Sparkling Fruity-Based Wine.

Fresh melons not meeting cosmetic standards were revaluated into sparkling melon-based wine. Firstly, still melon wine was elaborated and bottled into 750 mL bottles, closed with a crown seal, and stored for 10-weeks at 14 °C. The oenological parameters and polar compounds in must, still wine, and during the sparkling process were evaluated during the experiment. The volatile profile was qualified by GC-MS, and the odor activity value (OAV) and relative odor contribution (ROC) were measured for aroma characterization. Results show that sparkling wine resulted in 12% v/v ethanol. Certain amino acids contributed to the transformation and increase of volatile compounds via Ehrlich's pathway: leucine to isoamyl alcohol; valine to iso-butyl alcohol; and phenylalanine to phenethyl alcohol. The volatile compounds also increased after the first fermentation, principally in acetate and ethyl esters, and higher alcohols. Isoamyl acetate, ethyl decanoate, 3,6-nonadienyl acetate, and (E,Z)-nonadien-1-ol had the highest OAV and ROC values among the volatiles; this contributed to the sweet, fruity, banana, tropical, nutty and melon aroma in this sparkling wine. Sensory evaluation (100 to 40) was evaluated according to International Organisation of Vine and Wine compendium, the final product (10-week) scored 92 points, with great visual, nose, and taste values. This study demonstrates how by-products revalorization can provide new products such as this novel sparkling wine with a characteristic and distinctive aroma, good sensory acceptance and market potential.

Environmental and economic sustainability of fresh-cut and pre-cooked vegetables.

Due to the growing awareness about the environmental and economic sustainability of food products, the present research aims to evaluate the sustainability of fresh-cut and pre-cooked vegetables, a niche market with growing demand. An analysis was carried out using a detailed material, energy, and economic inventory based on a commercial food processing plant located in northeast Spain. The environmental sustainability was determined using process-based environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA), applying a cradle-to-market approach, and using the EF3.0 impact assessment methodology to quantify impacts on five midpoint categories (climate change, photochemical ozone formation, acidification, freshwater eutrophication, and fossil resource use) and an aggregated single score. Additionally, an environmental life cycle costing (E-LCC) was performed. The pre-cooked vegetable products showed a higher environmental footprint than the fresh-cut products in all the impact categories (between 14.0 % and 39.9 %) and involved higher life cycle costs (15.2 %), due to the increased demand for ingredients, packaging materials, and electricity consumption per FU (kg of product). The carbon footprint (CF) and the cost for the fresh-cut products were 0.72 kg CO2 eq/kg and 2.62 €/kg, respectively, compared to 0.86 kg CO2/kg and 3.02 €/kg for the pre-cooked vegetables. The environmental profiles of both products were rather similar, with a dominance of the Upstream stage (production of ingredients and packaging materials), followed by the Core stage (mainly due to electricity consumed during vegetable processing). The relevance of the Core stage is amplified in the economic analysis due to the incorporation of certain processes which were not included in the process-based E-LCA (e.g., labour, capital, insurance, maintenance costs, etc.). To integrate the economic and environmental analyses, an eco-efficiency index was calculated that describes the carbon emissions per unit of monetary cost, resulting in 0.27 kg CO2eq/€ for the fresh-cut and 0.28 kg CO2 eq/€ for the pre-cooked vegetables.

Optimizing the environmental sustainability of alternative post-harvest scenarios for fresh vegetables: A case study in Spain.

The aim of this research is to define different scenarios that optimize the environmental sustainability of the post-harvest stage of vegetable products (cauliflower and brassicas mix). These scenarios considered different packaging materials; energy generation technologies for the processing plant (standard electricity mix vs. renewable options); organic waste management (composting, anaerobic digestion, and animal feeding); and refrigerated transportation (local, national, and international, using diesel, natural gas, and hybrid trucks and railway). The analysis has been carried out based on a foreground inventory provided by a company that operating internationally, in accordance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14,040 methodological framework and following the latest Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) protocols. The analysis describes four midpoint categories, single score (SS) using EF3.0 life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methodology and the Cumulative Energy Demand. The carbon footprint (CF) of the post-harvest stage for a base case scenario ranged between 0.24 and 0.29 kg CO2 eq/kg of vegetable, with a strong contribution associated to the production of packaging materials (57.8-65.2 %) and the transport stage (national range in conventional diesel vehicles) (31.5-38.0 %). Comparatively, lower emissions were associated with the energy consumed at the processing factory (up to 4.1 %) while the composting of organic waste management produced some impact savings (up to -3.5 %). Although certain differences were observed, the dominance of the transport stage and the packaging materials is sustained in all the other environmental impact and energy categories evaluated. The most effective measures to reduce the environmental footprint of the post-harvest stage involve: i) using reusable packaging materials; ii) reducing the transport range and using vehicles running on natural gas or hybrid technologies; iii) the incorporation of renewable energy to supply the factory; and iv) the utilization of the organic residues in higher value applications such as animal feeding. Implementing the measures proposed in this study would reduce the post-harvest CF of fresh vegetables by 90 %.

Fruit Wine Obtained from Melon by-Products: Physico-Chemical and Sensory Analysis, and Characterization of Key Aromas by GC-MS.

About 20% of fresh fruits and vegetables are rejected for not meeting the superficial aesthetic standards (color, shape, and size). Part of the food production is not used in the human food chain. The transformation of these fresh products into novel re-valuable ones is a challenge for a sustainable food industry. This research studies an alcoholic fermentation fruit-based wine from two melon (Cucumis melo L.) cultivars: Jimbee® (smooth and yellow skin with orange flesh) and Okashi® (netted yellow-orange skin with pale green flesh). The melon juice (must) was fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and enriched in sucrose and organic acids to achieve alcoholic fermentation, acidity, and flavors, obtaining a fruity-flavored and dry melon-based wine with 10° alcoholic grade, in both melon cultivars. The volatile compounds were measured by GC-MS and the odor activity value (OAV) was calculated. The Jimbee and Okashi melon wines increased their aromatic profile due to an increment in medium-chain fatty acid ethyl esters such as ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, and ethyl decanoate (OAV > 1), which contributed to the fruity aroma. Other volatile compounds such as ethyl 9-decenoate and phenethyl acetate (OAV > 1) appeared in the Okashi wine, which brought a floral aroma. For sensory evaluation (40−100), the Jimbee cultivar, with its orange flesh, scored 68.2 and the Okashi cultivar, with pale green flesh, scored 82.8, which was the preferred melon-based wine. This is an example of a circular economy model to produce a fruit-based wine with commercial potential and satisfactory sensory evaluation.

Short vs. Long-Distance Avocado Supply Chains: Life Cycle Assessment Impact Associated to Transport and Effect of Fruit Origin and Supply Conditions Chain on Primary and Secondary Metabolites.

Avocado consumption and trade are increasing worldwide, with North America and Europe being the main importing regions. Spain is the major European avocado producer (90% of the production), yet it only supplies 10% of the market. Consequently, more than 90% of the avocados consumed in Europe are imported from overseas, mainly from Chile and Peru. In this work, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) impact associated with the transport of two avocado supply chains (short (Spanish) and long (Chilean)) and the effect of the fruit origin and distance of both chains on primary and secondary metabolites from harvest to edible ripeness were evaluated using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection (LC-DAD) based metabolite analysis. The LCA transport impact of the fresh supply chain from production centers in Chile (Quillota) and Spain (Malaga), and then the distribution to several cities in Europe, suggested road export from Spain to European capitals to have the lowest impact (0.14 to 0.22 kg CO2 eq/kg of avocado). When export from Chile was considered, the option of oceanic freight to European ports closer to final destinations was clearly a better option (0.21 to 0.26 kg CO2 eq/kg) than via the Algeciras port in Spain followed by road transport to final destinations in European capitals (0.34 to 0.43 kg CO2 eq/kg), although the situation could be somewhat different if the avocados are transported from the destination ports in northern Europe to long-distance capitals in other European countries. Fruit origin had a significant impact on avocado primary and secondary metabolites. The conditions of the supply chain itself (10 d in cold storage in regular conditions vs. 30 d cold storage + controlled atmosphere conditions) largely influence the fate of some metabolites that certainly affect the pool of metabolites at edible ripeness. The long-assumed hypothesis that the longer the supply chain the more negative impact on nutritional and functional compounds might not hold in this case, as long as transport conditions are adequate in terms of temperature, atmosphere conditions, and time considering distance from origin to destination.