The MRC National Survey of Health and Development reaches age 70: maintaining participation at older ages in a birth cohort study.

A life course approach to ageing relies on maintaining participation rates in national birth cohorts and other long-term longitudinal studies. This reduces the risk of selective attrition biasing associations between lifetime risk factors and health outcomes in later life and ensures the studies remain as representative as possible of the original population. We report the participation patterns for a postal questionnaire and home visit at 68-69 years of study members in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, the oldest and longest-running British birth cohort study. We investigated how participation varied by lifetime and recent contact, health status, previous clinical feedback and study engagement, taking account of prior socioeconomic and cognitive characteristics. Overall participation and home visit participation remained high (94 and 80%, respectively) and there were no gender differences. Participation was higher in those with higher levels of prior contact and lower in those with the poorest health status. Having previously received clinical feedback on actionable blood results was associated with reduced home visit participation but other forms of clinical feedback were not associated with subsequent participation. Activities that fostered study engagement were associated with increased home visit participation. These findings inform strategies to maintain participation in life course studies.

Second order kinetic modeling of headspace solid phase microextraction of flavors released from selected food model systems.

The application of headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) has been widely used in various fields as a simple and versatile method, yet challenging in quantification. In order to improve the reproducibility in quantification, a mathematical model with its root in psychological modeling and chemical reactor modeling was developed, describing the kinetic behavior of aroma active compounds extracted by SPME from two different food model systems, i.e., a semi-solid food and a liquid food. The model accounted for both adsorption and release of the analytes from SPME fiber, which occurred simultaneously but were counter-directed. The model had four parameters and their estimated values were found to be more reproducible than the direct measurement of the compounds themselves by instrumental analysis. With the relative standard deviations (RSD) of each parameter less than 5% and root mean square error (RMSE) less than 0.15, the model was proved to be a robust one in estimating the release of a wide range of low molecular weight acetates at three environmental temperatures i.e., 30, 40 and 60 °C. More insights of SPME behavior regarding the small molecule analytes were also obtained through the kinetic parameters and the model itself.

Modulation of coffee aroma via the fermentation of green coffee beans with Rhizopus oligosporus: II. Effects of different roast levels.

This study aims to evaluate how changes of the volatile and non-volatile profiles of green coffees induced by Rhizopus oligosporus fermentation of green coffee beans (Part I) translated to changes in the volatile and aroma profiles of light, medium and dark roasted coffees and non-volatile profile of roasted coffee where fermentation effects were most distinctive (light roast). R. oligosporus fermentation resulted in 1.7-, 1.5- and 1.3-fold increases in pyrazine, 2-methylpyrazine and 2-ethylpyrazine levels in coffees of all roast degrees, respectively. This corresponded with the greater extent of amino acids degradation in light roasted fermented coffee. Ethyl palmitate was detected exclusively in medium and dark roasted fermented coffees. The sweet attribute of light and dark roasted coffees were increased following fermentation along with other aroma profile changes that were roast degree specific. This work aims to develop a direct but novel methodology for coffee aroma modulation through green coffee beans fermentation.

Modulation of coffee aroma via the fermentation of green coffee beans with Rhizopus oligosporus: I. Green coffee.

Modulation of coffee aroma via the biotransformation/fermentation of different coffee matrices during post-harvest remains sparingly explored despite some studies showing their positive impacts on coffee aroma. Therefore, this is an unprecedented study aimed at modulating coffee aroma via the fermentation of green coffee beans with a food-grade fungus Rhizopus oligosporus. The objective of part I of this two-part study was to characterize the volatile and non-volatile profiles of green coffee beans after fermentation. Proteolysis during fermentation resulted in 1.5-fold increase in the concentrations of proline and aspartic acid which exhibited high Maillard reactivity. Extensive degradation of ferulic and caffeic acids led to 2-fold increase in the total concentrations of volatile phenolic derivatives. 36% of the total volatiles detected in fermented green coffee beans were generated during fermentation. Hence, the work presented demonstrated that R. oligosporus fermentation of green coffee beans could induce modification of the aroma precursors of green coffees.

Coffee fermentation and flavor--An intricate and delicate relationship.

The relationship between coffee fermentation and coffee aroma is intricate and delicate at which the coffee aroma profile is easily impacted by the fermentation process during coffee processing. However, as the fermentation process in coffee processing is conducted mainly for mucilage removal, its impacts on coffee aroma profile are usually neglected. Therefore, this review serves to summarize the available literature on the impacts of fermentation in coffee processing on coffee aroma as well as other unconventional avenues where fermentation is employed for coffee aroma modulation. Studies have noted that proper control over the fermentation process imparts desirable attributes and prevents undesirable fermentation which generates off-flavors. Other unconventional avenues in which fermentation is employed for aroma modulation include digestive bioprocessing and the fermentation of coffee extracts and green coffee beans. The latter is an area that should be explored further with appropriate microorganisms given its potential for coffee aroma modulation.

Lipase-catalysed ester synthesis in solvent-free oil system: is it esterification or transesterification?

Ester synthesis was carried out in a solvent-free system of lipase, coconut oil and ethanol or fusel alcohols to ascertain the reaction mechanism. During ester formation, octanoic and decanoic acids increased initially and then decreased gradually, indicating that ester production was a two-step reaction consisting of hydrolysis and esterification, rather than alcoholysis. With ethanol as the alcohol substrate, added butyric acid inhibited ester synthesis. However, when fusel alcohols were used as the alcohol substrate, no significant inhibitory effect by butyric acid was observed. Added octanoic acid did not show any adverse effect on the synthesis of corresponding esters. The results suggest that polarity of the reactants determines lipase activity. This study provides the first evidence on the mechanism of immobilised lipase-catalysed ester synthesis in a solvent-free system involving both hydrolysis and esterification.

Pressurised liquid extraction of volatile compounds in coffee bean.

In this work, we reported a novel application of pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) on coffee bean. The condition of PLE was carefully optimised with the aid of response surface methodology (RSM) including adjustment of experimental parameters (solvent type and sample to hydromatrix ratio) and other operating parameters (i.e. temperature (50-100°C), pressure (1000-2000 psi) and static extraction time (5-15 min)). The coffee extracts obtained under three different extraction conditions were evaluated through descriptive sensory analysis. Then, the results showed that those targeted compounds obtained from PLE were nearly three times higher (1473 ppm) than conventional solvent extraction (571 ppm). Thus, PLE demonstrated the feasibility of producing a series of coffee extracts under controllable extraction conditions in correlation with desirable sensory attributes. This approach has not previously reported to characterise the aroma of coffee bean.

Yeast ratio is a critical factor for sequential fermentation of papaya wine by Williopsis saturnus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The growth kinetics and fermentation performance of Williopsis saturnus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae at ratios of 10:1, 1:1 and 1:10 (W.:S.) were studied in papaya juice with initial 7-day fermentation by W.saturnus, followed by S. cerevisiae. The growth kinetics of W. saturnus were similar at all ratios, but its maximum cell count decreased as the proportion of S. cerevisiae was increased. Conversely, there was an early death of S. cerevisiae at the ratio of 10:1. Williopsis saturnus was the dominant yeast at 10:1 ratio that produced papaya wine with elevated concentrations of acetate esters. On the other hand, 1:1 and 1:10 ratios allowed the coexistence of both yeasts which enabled the flavour-enhancing potential of W.saturnus as well as the ethyl ester and alcohol-producing abilities of S. cerevisiae. In particular, 1:1 and 1:10 ratios resulted in production of more ethyl esters, alcohols and 2-phenylethyl acetate. However, the persistence of both yeasts at 1:1 and 1:10 ratios led to formation of high levels of acetic acid. The findings suggest that yeast ratio is a critical factor for sequential fermentation of papaya wine by W.saturnus and S. cerevisiae as a strategy to modulate papaya wine flavour.

Simultaneous quantitation of volatile compounds in citrus beverage through stir bar sorptive extraction coupled with thermal desorption-programmed temperature vaporization.

Due to disparate concentrations and physiochemical properties of analytes, difficulties in terms of sensitivity and reproducibility are commonly encountered in flavour analysis. In this study, we attempted to improve the performance of stir bar sorptive extraction coupled with thermal desorption and programmed temperature vaporization (SBSE-TD-PTV) based on a model citrus beverage. Through response surface methodology, thermal desorption conditions (i.e. desorption flow, thermal desorption time and cryofocusing temperature) were optimised based on constrained optimisation. Solute discrimination during injection was alleviated by normalising the variability of peak responses of different analytes. In addition, the effects of extraction conditions (i.e. ionic strength, stirring speed, extraction time, temperature and pH) were also investigated using partial factorial design. The obtained method showed high precision and good linearity over the concentration ranged from 0.10 to 20.00 µg L(-1) with the correlation coefficients higher than 0.991 for most of the selected chemicals, except indole. The limit of detection ranged from 0.03 to 3.89 µg L(-1). Hence, our results indicated that through the systematic study, SBSE-TD-PTV method became much less solute discriminative and more reliable to quantitate complex analytes.

Optimisation of flavour ester biosynthesis in an aqueous system of coconut cream and fusel oil catalysed by lipase.

Coconut cream and fusel oil, two low-cost natural substances, were used as starting materials for the biosynthesis of flavour-active octanoic acid esters (ethyl-, butyl-, isobutyl- and (iso)amyl octanoate) using lipase Palatase as the biocatalyst. The Taguchi design method was used for the first time to optimize the biosynthesis of esters by a lipase in an aqueous system of coconut cream and fusel oil. Temperature, time and enzyme amount were found to be statistically significant factors and the optimal conditions were determined to be as follows: temperature 30°C, fusel oil concentration 9% (v/w), reaction time 24h, pH 6.2 and enzyme amount 0.26 g. Under the optimised conditions, a yield of 14.25mg/g (based on cream weight) and signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of 23.07 dB were obtained. The results indicate that the Taguchi design method was an efficient and systematic approach to the optimisation of lipase-catalysed biological processes.

Characterization of the volatility of flavor compounds in alcoholic beverages through headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and mathematical modeling.

UNLABELLED: The volatility of flavor compounds (10 distinctive esters commonly found in alcoholic beverages) was characterized using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) analysis combined with mathematical modeling. The impacts of extrinsic factors (extraction time and temperature) and intrinsic parameters (ethanol content and concentration of these flavor compounds) were evaluated on their influences. From extraction profiles, different kinetic behaviors of flavor compounds revealed that volatility is influenced by chemical natures (that is, molecular weight and physicochemical properties). Moreover, volatility was also found to be interrelated with extraction temperature and absorption/adsorption on the fiber's surface. Through mathematical modeling, the kinetic constants of these volatile compounds were computed, and their release profiles were determined. Finally, it was observed that an increase of ethanol (a competitive interference compound to flavor compounds) could decrease the extraction efficiency. Our studies indicated that this approach might be a rapid and practical method that would provide a better understanding of flavor release behavior from alcoholic beverages. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The proposed approach may provide a simple and fast method in predicting the performance of key aroma esters in different alcoholic beverages. It could also be a practical way in quality control during the production of alcoholic beverage by monitoring key aroma esters.

Chemical composition and sensory profile of pomelo (Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck) juice.

Two cultivars (Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck PO 51 and PO 52) of Malaysian pomelo juices were studied by examining their physicochemical properties (i.e. pH, °Brix and titratable acidity), volatile and non-volatile components (sugars and organic acids). Using solvent extraction and headspace solid-phase microextraction, 49 and 65 volatile compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer/flame ionisation detector, respectively. Compared to pink pomelo juice (cultivar PO 52), white pomelo juice (cultivar PO 51) contained lower amount of total volatiles but higher terpenoids. Descriptive sensory evaluation indicated that white pomelo juice was milder in taste especially acidity. Furthermore, principal component analysis and partial least square regression revealed a strong correlation in pomelo juices between their chemical components and some flavour attributes (i.e. acidic, fresh, peely and sweet). Hence, this research enabled a deeper insight into the flavour of this unique citrus fruit.

Fermentation of three varieties of mango juices with a mixture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Williopsis saturnus var. mrakii.

This study was carried out to ascertain the behavior and fermentation performance of mixed yeasts in mango juices of three varieties. Saccharomyces cerevisiae MERIT.ferm and Williopsis saturnus var. mrakii NCYC500 at a ratio of 1:1000 were simultaneously inoculated into juices of three mango (Mangifera indica L.) varieties (R2E2, Harum Manis and Nam Doc Mai). Both yeasts grew well in all juices and there was no early growth arrest of either yeast, but there was late death of W. saturnus var. mrakii NCYC500 in the Nam Doc Mai juice. Fructose, glucose and sucrose were consumed to trace levels in all juices. Changes in citric, tartaric, malic, acetic and succinic acids varied with mango varieties. While the changes of major volatiles were similar in all varieties, there were significant varietal differences in the volatile composition of the resultant mango wines. The volatiles, especially most of the terpenes, of the juices decreased drastically and new volatiles such as ß-citronellol were formed. R2E2 wine had more fruity, sweet and creamy notes, and retained more of its original character due to a higher retention of ketones/lactones. Harum Manis wine had the lowest aroma intensity with more green and terpenic notes associated with higher levels of residual terpenes than the other two varieties. Nam Doc Mai wine possessed the highest aroma intensity with winey, yeasty, fruity and floral notes attributed to higher amounts of alcohols, acetate esters and ethyl esters. These findings may help develop different styles of mango wine.

Characterisation of calamansi (Citrus microcarpa). Part I: volatiles, aromatic profiles and phenolic acids in the peel.

Volatile compounds in the peel of calamansi (Citrus microcarpa) from Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam were extracted with dichloromethane and hexane, and then analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy/flame ionisation detector. Seventy-nine compounds representing >98% of the volatiles were identified. Across the three geographical sources, a relatively small proportion of potent oxygenated compounds was significantly different, exemplified by the highest amount of methyl N-methylanthranilate in Malaysian calamansi peel. Principal component analysis and canonical discriminant analysis were applied to interpret the complex volatile compounds in the calamansi peel extracts, and to verify the discrimination among the different origins. In addition, four common hydroxycinnamic acids (caffeic, p-coumaric, ferulic and sinapic acids) were determined in the methanolic extracts of calamansi peel using ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array detector. The Philippines calamansi peel contained the highest amount of total phenolic acids. In addition, p-Coumaric acid was the dominant free phenolic acids, whereas ferulic acid was the main bound phenolic acid.

Characterisation of calamansi (Citrus microcarpa). Part II: volatiles, physicochemical properties and non-volatiles in the juice.

Calamansi juices from three countries (Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam) were characterised through measuring volatiles, physicochemical properties and non-volatiles (sugars, organic acids and phenolic acids). The volatile components of manually squeezed calamansi juices were extracted using dichloromethane and headspace solid-phase microextraction, and then analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/flame ionisation detector, respectively. A total of 60 volatile compounds were identified. The results indicated that the Vietnam calamansi juice contained the highest amount of volatiles. Two principal components obtained from principal component analysis (PCA) represented 89.65% of the cumulative total variations of the volatiles. Among the non-volatile components, these three calamansi juices could be, to some extent, differentiated according to fructose and glucose concentrations. Hence, this study of calamansi juices could lead to a better understanding of calamansi fruits.

Evaluation of aroma-active compounds in Pontianak orange peel oil ( Citrus nobilis Lour. Var. microcarpa Hassk.) by gas chromatography-olfactometry, aroma reconstitution, and omission test.

The aroma-active compounds of Pontianak orange peel oil ( Citrus nobilis Lour. var. microcarpa Hassk.) were characterized by using gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) and aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) techniques. Forty-one compounds were found to be aroma-active, which were mainly dominated by saturated and unsaturated aldehydes. The flavor dilution (FD) factor was within the range of 2-2048, and compounds having the highest FD factor were alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, linalool, and 2-methoxy-3-(2-methylpropyl) pyrazine, including a few unknown compounds. On the basis of GC-O results, odor activity value (OAV) and relative flavor activity (RFA) were determined for aroma model reconstitution. These resembled the original aroma of the peel oil for the green, fatty, fresh, peely, floral, and tarry attributes, with the model solution derived from OAV being the closest to Pontianak oil. Omission tests were carried out to verify the significance of (Z)-5-dodecenal and 1-phenylethyl mercaptan as key compounds in the aroma of Pontianak orange peel oil.