Long-term effect of conservation agriculture on the composition and nutritional value of durum wheat grains grown over 2 years in a Mediterranean environment.

BACKGROUND: Given the interest in mitigating the consequences of soil deterioration and climate change impacts on durum wheat grain, the objective of our study was to evaluate the effect of two soil management systems - conservation agriculture (CA) and conventional tillage (CT) - on the grain composition and nutritional value of two durum wheat varieties (Karim and Monastir) grown over two cropping seasons (2018-2019 and 2019-2020). RESULTS: The soil management system had an impact on all studied parameters, namely 1000-kernel weight (TKW), proximate composition, energy value, total phenol content (TPC), antioxidant capacities (DPPH and ABTS) and mineral elements (K, P and Na), excluding hectoliter weight. CA resulted in high moisture content, crude protein, P, K, Na, TPC, DPPH and ABTS. However, TKW, crude fat, crude ash, energy value, and total carbohydrate were higher when using CT. CONCLUSION: A 2-year adoption of conservation agriculture after a long-term conversion enhanced some compositional parameters and nutritional value of durum wheat varieties. The interaction with year and/or variety was very influential. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

COVID-19 virus outbreak lockdown: What impacts on household food wastage?

The 2019-2020 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a public health issue. Lockdown is among options suggested to reduce spread of the virus. This study aimed to determining the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on Tunisian consumer awareness, attitudes and behaviors related to food wastage. An online survey was conducted during the first 2 weeks of COVID-19 lockdown. The survey collected information on demographic data, awareness and attitudes toward food waste, food purchase behavior and household food expenditure estimation; extent of household food waste; willingness and information needs to reduce food waste. This study included 284 respondents. About 89% of respondents claimed to be aware of food waste, and the COVID-19 lockdown would impact for 93% of respondents, their waste levels, and for 80%, their grocery shopping habits. Interestingly, the COVID-19 lockdown improved food shopping performances and pushed toward a positive behavioral change regarding food wastage: 85% respondents declared nothing of what they bought would be discarded, and most of the respondents have set up a strategy of saving, storing and eating leftovers. The most cited reasons given for discarding food were overcooking, inappropriate storage and overbuying. Consumers' changes in food waste prevention might be probably driven more by the socioeconomical context of the COVID-19 lockdown (i.e. food availability, restricted movements, loss of income), than by a pro-environmental concern. Finally, our study pointed out the consumers' needs of information for taking further action. In conclusion, our study can constitute a basis to further promote household food waste prevention behavior, outlasting the COVID-19 crisis.

Zinc fortification as a tool for improving sprout hygienic and nutritional quality: a factorial design approach.

BACKGROUND: Sprouting is known to improve cereal and pulse nutritional properties. However, several outbreaks of illness have been reported after raw sprout consumption. This research aimed to improve wheat sprout hygienic properties through the use of zinc diacetate. Sprouting conditions (sprouting temperature, soaking time and zinc diacetate solution concentration) were optimized to decrease total plate count, coliforms, and molds and yeasts using a factorial design approach and a desirability function. RESULTS: Based on the responses, the effects of variables were calculated and the interactions between them were determined. Optimal conditions were defined as follows: sprouting temperature 18 °C, soaking time 0.66 h and zinc diacetate concentration 400 mg L-1 . These conditions led to the elimination of coliforms and a decrease in total flora count by 2 log. Interestingly, zinc sprouting increased the zinc content of sprouts and improved their nutritional properties. CONCLUSION: Results showed that the use of zinc solution is a useful tool to improve sprout hygienic and nutritional properties. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.