RESUMEN
In recent years, cocoa and dark chocolate have attracted the interest of consumers not only for their sensory characteristics but also for their nutritional properties and positive impact on health. The baobab is a fruit of African origin with a sour and slightly sweet flavour, widely consumed by local communities due to its unique nutritional features. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of the concentration of baobab flour in the development of functional dark chocolate, including physical, chemical, nutritional and sensory evaluations. The results presented a positive correlation between the incorporation of baobab flour and the antioxidant activity (up to 2297 mmol TE/100 g), vitamin C content (up to 49.7 mg/100 g), calcium (up to 1052 mg/kg), potassium (up to 10,175 mg/kg), phosphorus (up to 795.9 mg/kg), chlorine (up to 235.4 mg/kg) and sulphur (up to 1158 mg/kg). The sensory evaluation of dark chocolate with 3% baobab presented the highest evaluation on the parameters "texture" and "overall flavour", while the parameter "overall flavour" presented the lowest evaluation on chocolate with 9% baobab. No influence was observed on fatty acid profile, protein, fat and hardness.
RESUMEN
The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of high-pressure processing (HPP) on the long-term storage of chocolate fillings at room temperature, compared with conventional storage at lower temperatures. Dark chocolate fillings were treated at different pressure levels, holding times and stored at 20 °C for 12 months. Unprocessed batches were stored at 4 °C and at -12 °C. Moisture, water activity (aw), pH, colour, G'1Hz and indigenous microflora were measured at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months of storage. Results showed that 600 MPa/20 min processing was the most effective controlling mesophilic group, presenting 3.8 log cfu/g after 12 months of storage, and inactivating moulds and yeasts after HPP treatment. Colour was affected by storage, including a reduction in the L* parameter in all conditions to final values between 37.8 and 39.3, while the a* parameter increased during storage time at -12 °C and 4 °C to final values of around 12, and parameter b* decreased at storage temperature 20 °C to 5.3. Storage time affected the rheological behaviour of HPP-treated samples, increasing G'1Hz from the 2nd to 12th month of storage time to the final values between 1603 kPa and 2139 kPa. Moisture, aw and pH were not affected by HPP treatment nor storage time.
RESUMEN
"Queijo de Évora" is a traditional Portuguese cheese from raw ewe's milk and granted with PDO label. It is ripened traditionally in rooms with empirical control of temperature and humidity. Nowadays, almost all cheese factories use rooms with temperature and humidity control, but still a significant heterogeneity among cheeses is acknowledged due to unequal distribution of environmental conditions. This paper discusses the influence of the environmental conditions on the ripening of Queijo de Évora, including the application of computational fluid dynamics in steady state conditions. Experimental data was obtained in cheeses ripened along the traditional ripening cycle, in different locations. A significant influence of environmental conditions was observed, especially air velocity and humidity, affecting physical-chemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics. Locations with higher air velocity, presented cheeses with lower moisture content, higher mesophilic bacteria count, darker appearance and higher number of holes. Locations with higher humidity presented cheeses with lower scores on some sensorial parameters like appearance, firmness and intensity of odor. The results of computational fluid dynamics made possible the identification of areas in and around the cheese stacks were the air distribution is less than adequate or uneven, which may influence the evolution of cheese during ripening.
RESUMEN
Traditional ewe's cheese producers face certain challenges caused by fluctuating environmental parameters inside the ripening room, which lead to lack of homogeneity in the final product. The present research discusses the application of computer fluid dynamics for simulating the distribution of environmental parameters, predicting the airflow pattern, and identifying critical areas where such parameters could cause reduced cheese quality. A new monitoring system was developed including presence sensors, temperature and humidity dataloggers, pneumatic actuators, microcontrollers, and microcomputers connected remotely for control, data visualization, and processing. The validation of the computer simulation and monitoring system was made with a batch of 40 ewe's cheeses distributed in three different zones inside a prototype ripening room and ripened for 35 days. At 35 days, a physical, chemical, and microbiological characterization of cheeses was made for evaluation of the influence of environmental conditions on cheese quality. The comparison between simulated and local measurements showed close agreement, especially concerning air velocity inside the stacks of cheese. The results of Pearson's correlation analysis and PCA concluded that temperature affected the appearance of the rind, hardness, number and area occupied by holes. Humidity affected aw and mFeret. Air velocity affected pH and the circularity of gas holes.
