1,720,987 research outputs found
Metabolomics Provides Valuable Insight for the Study of Durum Wheat: A Review
No full textMetabolomics is increasingly being applied in various fields offering a highly informative tool for high-throughput diagnostics. However, in plant sciences, metabolomics is underused, even though plant studies are relatively easy and cheap when compared to those on humans and animals. Despite their importance for human nutrition, cereals, and especially wheat, remain understudied from a metabolomics point of view. The metabolomics of durum wheat has been essentially neglected, although its genetic structure allows the inference of common mechanisms that can be extended to other wheat and cereal species. This review covers the present achievements in durum wheat metabolomics highlighting the connections with the metabolomics of other cereal species (especially bread wheat). We discuss the metabolomics data from various studies and their relationships to other "-omics" sciences, in terms of wheat genetics, abiotic and biotic stresses, beneficial microbes, and the characterization and use of durum wheat as feed, food, and food ingredient
Microbiological safety and the management of microbial resources in artisanal foods and beverages: The need for a transdisciplinary assessment to conciliate actual trends and risks avoidance
Full text linkCurrent social and environmental trends explain the rising popularity of artisanal fermented foods and beverages. In contrast with their marketing success, several studies underline a lack of regulations necessary to claim differences occurred from the farm to the fork and to certify high quality and safety standards. Microbial-based fermentative processes represent the crucial phase in the production of fermented foods and beverages. Nevertheless, what are the effects of the application of the “artisanal” category to the management of food fermentations? This opinion paper is built up on this issue by analyzing microbial aspects, instances of innovation, safety issues, and possible solutions. Evidence indicates: (i) a global curiosity to exploit food fermentations as drivers of innovation in artisanal contexts and (ii) an increasing interest of the artisanal producers into management of fermentation that relies on native microbial consortia. Unfortunately, this kind of revamp of “artisanal food microbiology,” rather than re-establishing artisanal content, can restore the scarce hygienic conditions that characterized underdeveloped food systems. We highlight that in the scientific literature, it is possible to underline existing approaches that, surpassing the dichotomy between relying on spontaneous fermentation and the use of commercial starter cultures, depict a “third way” to conjugate interest in enhancing the artisanal attributes with the need for correct management of microbial-related risks in the final products
A bioassay to evaluate plant responses to the allelopathic potential of rhizosphere soil of wild oat (Avena fatua L.)
No full textThis study investigates the growth responses of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) seedlings to the allelopathic potential of rhizosphere soil of wild oat (Avena fatua L.) using a new laboratory bioassay. The method consists of the evaluation of 15-day-old wheat seedlings grown in the rhizosphere soil from wild oat. The experiments were performed in a growth chamber, using seven durum wheat varieties ('Chiara', 'Creso', 'Dario', 'Daunia', 'Mediterraneo', 'Meridiano', 'Vesuvio') that were grown in control (non-rhizosphere) soil and rhizosphere soil of wild oat at three seed densities (1,3 and 5 seeds/dish). The inhibition of seedling growth was greater for the leaves than for the root tissue, and the degree of inhibition was cultivar-dependent. HPLC analysis indicated the presence of three potential allelochemicals in the rhizosphere soil of the wild oat: p-coumaric acid, syringaldehyde and vanillin. These preliminary results show the phytotoxic nature of the rhizosphere soil of wild oat and indicate the potential involvement of organic molecules in this growth inhibition of durum wheat
DYNAMICS OF ACCUMULATION AND PARTITIONING OF DRY MATTER AND FRUCTO-OLIGOSACCHARIDES IN PLANT FRACTIONS OF FORAGE CEREALS
No full textDuring growth, several cereals store significant amounts of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), which have important prebiotic properties. Cereal forage crops are also essential components of many Mediterranean agricultural systems, although little information is available on their dynamics of accumulation and partitioning of dry matter and FOS during growth. Oat (Avena sativa L., cv. 'Flavia' and cv. 'Genziana'), emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum Schrank, cv. 'Giovanni Paolo'), barley (Hordeum vulgare L., cv. 'Diomede') and triticale (xTriticosecale Wittmack, cv. 'Rigel') were investigated for their synthesis of FOS, with a view to development of management approaches for harvesting high-quality forage, and to determine whether these species can be used as natural sources of FOS for commercial use. The study was conducted at Foggia (Italy) and Bella (Potenza, Italy) over two growing seasons (2008-2009; 2009-2010). Dry-matter accumulation and FOS contents were determined for plant fractions from heading to kernel-hard stages. There were large variations across these species for dry-matter partitioning and dry-matter yield (greatest for triticale: 1.24 kg m(-2)), and for FOS levels of total plants and plant fractions. Emmer wheat and triticale showed greater FOS production (52.0, 41.1 gm(-2), respectively). Barley, emmer wheat and triticale showed higher FOS levels in total plants (4.11%, 5.93%, 4.33% dry matter, respectively). Barley, emmer wheat and triticale appear to be the most interesting species for production of forage biomass rich in FOS and as natural FOS sources for industrial use
DIMS techniques and the study on microbial VOCs in food: flavour attributes, fermentation monitoring and emerging trends
No full textThe renewed interest in fermentation as a sustainable and consumer-friendly process leads to a revamp in related R&D activities. DIMS techniques have proven to be versatile tools for monitoring VOCs during fermentation in food and beverages, offering new approaches for improving quality and safety standards and developing new product
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
Real-Time monitoring of flavoring starter cultures for different food matrices using PTR-MS
No full textIn fermented foods, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are often metabolic products of microorganisms, form a subset of the chemical compounds contributing to the sensory perceptions arising during product consumption. Direct injection mass spectrometry (DIMS) techniques allow for the direct and real-time measurement of VOC release without the need for laborious sample treatment, extraction procedures, and chromatographic separation. DIMS has been successfully applied in different fields, including characterizing the formation of flavor compounds associated with fermentation bioprocesses in foods and beverages. In this chapter, following a general overview on DIMS for the study of fermentation generated VOCs, the use of proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS to investigate VOC generation during the fermentation bioprocesses in yeast-based fermentations and to characterize the flavor contributions of starter cultures is described. To this extent, a panel of five experiments is presented that demonstrates a pipeline of increasing complexity where DIMS is used to monitor VOC release in association with a) yeasts grown in a standard culture media, b) the growth of different yeast starter cultures in a real food matrix, c) the interaction between yeast starter cultures and different wheat flours, d) the interaction between different combinations of starter cultures grown in multiple food matrices, and e) the contribution of commercial starter cultures to specific flavor attributes in a food matrix. Fermentation is globally recognized as one of the key sustainable technologies in food science, and DIMS offers a low-cost, time-saving, and low-impact methodology to investigate fundamental themes and support agroindustry applications. Hence, the proposed approach is of interest to the fields of food biotechnology and flavor science but, this coupling of ‘green’ biotechnological and analytical solutions also represents a bridge towards improved sustainability of agro-food systems
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