Investigating the Quality and Purity Profiles of Olive Oils from Diverse Regions in Selçuk, Izmir.

The Selçuk district of Izmir is one of the most essential regions in terms of olive oil production. In this study, 60 olive oil samples were obtained from five different locations (ES: Eski Sirince Yolu, KK: Kinali Köprü, AU: Abu Hayat Üst, AA: Abu Hayat Alt, and DB: Degirmen Bogazi) in the Selçuk region of Izmir during two (2019-2020 and 2020-2021) consecutive cropping seasons. Quality indices (free acidity, peroxide value, p-Anisidine value, TOTOX, and spectral absorption at 232 and 270 nm) and the fatty acid, phenolic, and sterol profiles of the samples were determined to analyze the changes in the composition of Selcuk olive oils according to their growing areas. When the quality criteria were analyzed, it was observed that KK had the lowest FFA (0.11% oleic acid, PV (6.66 meq O2/kg), p-ANV (11.95 mmol/kg), TOTOX (25.28), and K232 (1.99) values and K270 had the highest value. During the assessment of phenolic profiles, the ES group exhibited the highest concentration of the phenolic compound p-HPEA-EDA (oleocanthal), with a content of 93.58 mg/kg, equivalent to tyrosol. Upon analyzing the fatty acid and sterol composition, it was noted that AU displayed the highest concentration of oleic acid (71.98%) and ß-sitosterol (87.65%). PCA analysis illustrated the distinct separation of the samples, revealing significant variations in both sterol and fatty acid methyl ester distributions among oils from different regions. Consequently, it was determined that VOOs originating from the Selçuk region exhibit distinct characteristics based on their geographical locations. Hence, this study holds great promise for the region to realize geographically labeled VOOs.

Molecular interactions and redox effects of carvacrol and thymol on myofibrillar proteins using a non-destructive and solvent-free methodological approach.

The present study provides molecular insight into the effect of thymol and carvacrol on the oxidative damage caused to myofibrillar proteins by a hydroxyl-radical generating system (HRGS). An innovative model system was designed, in which gels, prepared with increasing levels of myofibrillar proteins, were oxidized by a HRGS (Fe3+/H2O2, 60 °C and 7 days) in the presence of lipids. The molecular affinity between myofibrillar proteins and both terpenes, as well as their effect on the oxidative stability of the gel systems, were studied using a non-destructive and solvent-free procedure based on fluorescence spectroscopy. Carvacrol displayed more affinity than thymol for establishing chemical interactions with protein residues. Both terpenes exhibited a significant antioxidant potential against the generation of lipid-derived volatile carbonyls and against the formation of protein crosslinking. This procedure may be applied to meat products to assess the effectiveness of a given antioxidant additive without size reduction or sample processing.

Pork proteins oxidative modifications under the influence of varied time-temperature thermal treatments: A chemical and redox proteomics assessment.

The impact of thermal processing on meat proteins oxidation was investigated. Cooking treatments included 58 °C for either 72 min or 17 h (mimicking low temperature-long time sous vide cooking), 80, 98 and 160 °C for 72 min (mimicking common cooked meat products, stewing and roasting, respectively) and 118 °C for 8 min (autoclaving). Tryptophan degradation, fluorescent oxidation products, free thiol content and α-aminoadipic and γ-glutamic semialdehydes were tracked. For all of them, there was a consistent trend to increased levels of oxidative damage with higher cooking temperatures and longer cooking times, although the extent varied from one indicator to another. Through proteomics, peptide oxidative modifications like carbonylation, malonaldehyde adducts and hydroxykynurenin (tryptophan oxidation products) were also detected at residue level. Our findings indicate that protein oxidation is dependent upon the heat treatment, which point out to a different effect on the nutritional quality of proteins in meat products.

Effect of protein oxidation on the impaired quality of dry-cured loins produced from frozen pork meat.

Dry-cured loins elaborated from frozen (-20 °C/20 weeks)/thawed longissimus dorsi muscles (F) were compared with counterparts elaborated from fresh (unfrozen) muscles (UF) for the extent of protein oxidation (carbonylation and Schiff base formation) and their sensory profile (quantitative-descriptive analysis). All samples had similar moisture, fat and protein contents (p>0.05). In accordance with previous studies, freezing meat prior to processing affected the oxidative stability of meat proteins. This chemical change occurred concomitantly with modifications of the sensory profile of the loins as F-samples received significantly (p<0.05) higher scores for rancid and salty flavor, hardness and fibrousness than UF-counterparts. The formation of cross-links (assessed as Schiff bases) during freezing and the subsequent processing may have contributed to strengthening the meat structure and hence, impairing the texture properties of dry-cured loins.

The Effects of Potato Puree and Bread Crumbs on Some Quality Characteristics of Low Fat Meatballs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of using different amounts of potato puree (PP) (10 or 20%) and 10% bread crumbs (BC) as an extender and also control samples (C) with no added extender on chemical composition, energy values, cooking analyses, colour measurements, water holding capacity (WHC), penetration values, thiobarbituric acid value (TBA) and sensory analyses of meatballs. Meatball samples were cooked in a pre-heated 180℃ electric oven. Uncooked meatballs formulated with 20% PP had the highest moisture content. No significant differences were recorded for protein contents of uncooked samples. The highest cooking yield was found in samples extended with 10% BC. Increasing PP from 10% to 20% increased cooking yield of meatballs. 20% PP increased moisture and fat retention values and water holding capacity of meatballs. Meatballs with 10% BC had the lowest (the hardness in the texture) and meatballs with the 20% PP had the highest (the softness in the texture) penetration values. Formulating meatballs at a level of 20% resulted lower L* values. TBA values of control samples were higher than in PP added samples at the end of the storage period. Flavour scores for meatballs formulated with PP were higher than control and meatballs formulated with BC. Meatballs formulated with 10% PP had similar overall acceptability with meatballs added with 10% BC.