1,720,959 research outputs found
Bioprocessing to preserve and improve microalgae nutritional and functional potential. Novel insight and perspectives
Full text linkMicroalgae are aquatic unicellular microorganisms and, although various species are approved for human consumption, Arthrospira and Chlorella are the most widespread. Several nutritional and functional properties have been bestowed to microalgae principal micro- and macro-nutrients, with antioxidant, immunomodulatory and anticancer being the most common. The many references to their potential as a food of the future is mainly ascribed to the high protein and essential amino acid content, but they are also a source of pigments, lipids, sterols, polysaccharides, vitamins, and phenolic compounds with positive effects on human health. Nevertheless, microalgae use is often hindered by unpleasant color and flavor and several strategies have been sought to minimize such challenges. This review provides an overview of the strategies so far proposed and the main nutritional and functional characteristic of microalgae and the foods made thereof. Processing treatments have been used to enrich microalgae-derived substrates in compounds with antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-hypertensive properties. Extraction, microencapsulation, enzymatic treatments, and fermentation are the most common, each with their own pros and cons. Yet, for microalgae to be the food of the future, more effort should be put into finding the right pre-treatments that can allow the use of the whole biomass and be cost-effective while bringing about features that go beyond the mere increase of proteins
Design and characterization of a novel fermented beverage from lentil grains
Full text linkThe experimental activities carried out in this study aimed at designing a lentil-based beverage rich in soluble and digestible proteins. In order to extract soluble proteins, lentil grains were soaked in water overnight, blended, treated with proteolytic enzymes and fermented with Lactobacillus strains. Protein enzymatic hydrolysis, carried out with four commercial food grade enzyme preparations, showed that bromelin, at the enzyme to substrate ratio of 10%, was the best solution to produce this novel beverage. Even though the seven Lactobacillus strains were all able to ferment aqueous extract within 24 h, L. acidophilus ATCC 4356, L. fermentum DSM 20052 and L. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 20312 showed the highest growth rate and the lowest pH values. In fermented lentil-based beverages, the antinutritional factor phytic acid decreased up to 30%, similarly, the highest reduction in raffinose oligosaccharides content reached about 12% the initial concentration. It is worthy of note that the viable density of all strains remained higher than 7 log cfu/mL after 28 days of cold storage. The results here reported show for the first time the possibility to obtain a probiotic lentil-based beverage rich in soluble proteins, peptides and amino acids with low content in main antinutritional factors
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Use of Selected Lactic Acid Bacteria and Carob Flour for the Production of a High-Fibre and “Clean Label” Plant-Based Yogurt-like Product
Full text linkCarob, an underutilized crop with several ecological and economic advantages, was traditionally used as animal feed and excluded from the human diet. Yet, nowadays, its beneficial effects on health are making it an interesting candidate as a food ingredient. In this study, a carob-based yogurt-like product was designed and fermented with six lactic acid bacteria strains, whose performances after fermentation and during shelf life were assessed through microbial and biochemical characterization. The strains showed different aptitudes to ferment the rice–carob matrix. Particularly, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum T6B10 was among the strains with the lowest latency phase and highest acidification at the end of fermentation. T6B10 also showed discrete proteolysis during storage, so free amino acids were up to 3-fold higher compared to the beverages fermented with the other strains. Overall, fermentation resulted in the inhibition of spoilage microorganisms, while an increase in yeasts was found in the chemically acidified control. The yogurt-like product was characterized by high-fiber and low-fat content; moreover, compared to the control, fermentation decreased the predicted glycemic index (−9%) and improved the sensory acceptability. Thus, this work demonstrated that the combination of carob flour and fermentation with selected lactic acid bacteria strains represents a sustainable and effective option to obtain safe and nutritious yogurt-like products
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Use of selected lactic acid bacteria for the fermentation of legume-based water extracts
Full text linkIn this study, the effect of selected Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356, Limosilactobacillus fermentum DSM 20052, and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 20312 strains on the sensory characteristics, and protein and amino acid content of fermented water extracts derived from lupin, pea, and bean grains is reported. Even though all strains were able to grow over 7 log cfu mL(-1) and to decrease pH in the range of -0.52 to -1.25 within 24 h, the release of an unpleasant ferric-sulfurous off-odor from the fermented bean water extract prohibited further characterization. Lupin and pea grain-based beverages underwent an in-depth sensory evaluation using a simplified check-all-that-apply (CATA) method, finding new and appreciable sensory notes such as cooked ham, almonds, and sandalwood. Fermented lupin water extract showed higher total protein content (on average, 0.93 mg mL(-1)) in comparison to that of pea grains (on average, 0.08 mg mL(-1)), and a free amino acid content (on average, 3.9 mg mL(-1)) close to that of cow milk. The concentrations of these nutrients decreased during refrigerated storage, when the lactic acid bacteria load was always higher than 7 log cfu mL(-1). The results of this study indicated that lactic fermentation improves the sensory characteristics of these innovative legume-based beverages, which sustained high loads of viable lactobacilli up to the end of cold storage
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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