Relationship between volatile compounds and consumer-based sensory characteristics of bacon smoked with different Brazilian woods.

Bacon is a product made from pork meat that is subjected to curing, drying, and smoking. Researchers aim to associate the worldwide high-acceptance of such a product with the sensory and chemical properties of bacon. In this context, the objective of the present study was to characterize bacon samples smoked with different woods from reforestation using chemical and sensory methodologies, which were subsequently correlated by means of statistical multi-block analysis. Volatile compounds (VCs) of the smoked bacons were studied using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the consumer sensory perception was explored by the Napping technique. VCs were identified in smoked samples, which triggered sensory attributes related to odor, flavor, and texture, such as "smoky flavor", "salty taste", "pleasant taste", "woodsy flavor", and "hard texture". Multi-block analysis showed that the sensory attributes were associated with a group of VCs and not by a single compound.

The Eucalyptus Cuticular Waxes Contribute in Preformed Defense Against Austropuccinia psidii.

Austropuccinia psidii, the causal agent of myrtle rust, is a biotrophic pathogen whose growth and development depends on the host tissues. The uredospores of A. psidii infect Eucalyptus by engaging in close contact with the host surface and interacting with the leaf cuticle that provides important chemical and physical signals to trigger the infection process. In this study, the cuticular waxes of Eucalyptus spp. were analyzed to determine their composition or structure and correlation with susceptibility/resistance to A. psidii. Twenty-one Eucalyptus spp. in the field were classified as resistant or susceptible. The resistance/susceptibility level of six Eucalyptus spp. were validated in controlled conditions using qPCR, revealing that the pathogen can germinate on the eucalyptus surface of some species without multiplying in the host. CG-TOF-MS analysis detected 26 compounds in the Eucalyptus spp. cuticle and led to the discovery of the role of hexadecanoic acid in the susceptibility of Eucalyptus grandis and Eucalyptus phaeotricha to A. psidii. We characterized the epicuticular wax morphology of the six previously selected Eucalyptus spp. using scanning electron microscopy and observed different behavior in A. psidii germination during host infection. It was found a correlation of epicuticular morphology on the resistance to A. psidii. However, in this study, we provide the first report of considerable interspecific variation in Eucalyptus spp. on the susceptibility to A. psidii and its correlation with cuticular waxes chemical compounds that seem to play a synergistic role as a preformed defense mechanism.