1,721,120 research outputs found
Effects of ingredients and process conditions on “Amaretti” cookies characteristics
Full text linkThis research aimed at determining the influence of different factors (i.e. ingredients and process conditions) on the most important characteristics defining consumers’ appreciation of ‘Amaretti’ cookies using DOE (design of experiment) technique. A different recipe than the original one was used in the manufacturing of the cookies, where saccharose was partially replaced with fructose and bamboo fibre was added as a new ingredient. Besides fructose/saccharose ratio and fibre, the effect of egg white, baking time and baking temperature on quality responses (hardness, water activity, moisture content and colour) of ‘Amaretti’ was measured by using a fractional factorial design in a screening test. Responses were affected mostly by changes in temperature and fructose/saccharose ratio levels and then by baking time; bamboo fibre had a statistically significant influence only on hardness. The power of fit of the regression models was significant for all four responses and had R2 value in the range of 0.886–0.997. However, the power of prediction was significant only for hardness, moisture content and colour and had Q2 value in the range of 0.584–0.965. The mathematical model for water activity resulted inappropriate to explain the link between factors and response. The achieved results can represent a useful tool to address and facilitate the next phase of optimisation
The protective effect of film metallization against oxidative deterioration and discoloration of sensitive foods
No full textThe importance of the optical properties of packaging materials is often underestimated and little attention is generally given to the shelf-life of lightsensitive food products. In this paper, the effects of the light barrier of different
metallized films in delaying chemical degradative reactions, which occur in dry lasagna made with eggs and spinach, were investigated. The array of films
evaluated in the experiment accounted for a large distribution of optical properties.
Pouches prepared from the different films were filled with dry lasagna and stored at room temperature for about 4 months under a fluorescent light source. Sensory evaluations, CIE-L*, a*, b* colour measurements and hexanal formation were evaluated during storage. The shelf-life of lasagna packed in metallized films was 2.5 times greater than the same product packed in non-metallized films. A
correlation between transmittance values of the packaging films and shelf-life reduction was obtained. Because of the fat and the pigments of lasagna and also its shape (large surface area), lasagna seems to be a good model system when studying the protective performance of packaging materials against degradative reactions that involve oxygen and are very sensitive to light exposure
NAFISPACK (Natural Antimicrobial for Innovative and Safe Packaging) EU Research Project: objectives and current outcomes
No full textScientific research was one of the first and most important functions that the European community shared and harmonized. In 1984, the European Commission (the executive body of the EU) launched the first pluriannual Framework Programme (FP1) for research and technological development. Since then the FPs have played a leading role in multidisciplinary research and cooperative activities in Europe and beyond, and in each FP the themes of packaging, and food packaging in particular, have had much relevance, leading to important results and real and effective consequences in real life. 2007 saw the start of the seventh programme which is both larger and more comprehensive than earlier Framework Programmes. It will run to 2013 with a budget of 53.2 billion euros, the largest funding allocation yet for such programmes. Also in this latest project, the themes of safe and innovative packaging are well represented, attracting the attention of several research groups in research centers and universities in Europe. The first project concerning food packaging approved for funding in the first call of FP7 was NAFISPACK, acronyms that stays for Natural Antimicrobial for Innovative and Safe Packaging, and the project started at the end of November 2008 .
The delivery of safe food from the producer to the consumer requires meticulous monitoring at every stage in the supply chain, a concept now called “farm-to-fork”. The “farm-to-fork” philosophy underlines the fact that the quality and safety of food is a major priority for the industry and authorities. Packaging plays here a crucial role since its most important functions are preservation and protection of food. Packaging materials are good substrates where an active substance, that can be usefully released to the food, can be placed. In NAFISPACK project, interest is focused on the preservation of fresh food which has short shelf life due to its rapidly spoilage by microorganism. As in most solid and semi solid foods the microorganisms grow mainly at the surface thus, the concept of incorporating antimicrobial agents into or onto the food contact material has been widely developed in the past. The concern about synthetic preservatives, however, is steadily rising due to a limited documentation on safety and tolerance. Instead, natural antimicrobials (NAs) are time tested as food additives and ingredients but, in general, isolation of bioactive components from natural sources and their use in packaging pose new parameters of evaluation and new problems for several different reasons. Some of these reasons are related to the effectiveness of the active substance on target microorganism, others deal with the NAs capacity of overcoming the process for including them in a packaging materials; others are related to their chemical stability, solubility, diffusion kinetics, others refer to the availability, the costs, the food and packaging law. This situation deserves a very careful evaluation of many points that have been little or never faced in the past.
The lecture will present the main, strategic objectives of the three years project NAFISPACK and will detail the specific objectives that will be achieved through out an interdiciplinary and joint work of research. It will also introduce the 17 partners involved in NAFISPACK network, their specific competences and how their scientific job is related and managed. Finally, preliminary results in the NAs selection and in the choice of process technologies to be used in manufacturing the new packaging materials, will be shortly presented
Minimally processed potatoes : part 2. Effects of high oxygen partial pressures in combination with ascorbic and citric acid on loss of some quality traits
Full text linkSliced potatoes were stored in flexible packaging under different oxygen partial pressures (10, 55 and 100 kPa) after dipping treatments
with ascorbic and citric acid at different concentrations. The levels of oxygen, ascorbic and citric acid were modulated according to a Central
Composite Design. The response surface methodology allowed an assessment of the effects of these variables and their interactions on the
respiration rate in a closed system, on the carbon dioxide accumulation rate and the volatile metabolites production inside flexible pouches.
The results showed that the respiration rate did not increase in direct linear proportion to the oxygen partial pressure and there was no
significant difference in respiration between 55 and 100 kPa, even though the respiration rate was higher at these super-atmospheric oxygen
levels than at 10 kPa. Citric acid did not affect the respiration significantly, while the respiration rate increased with the increase in ascorbic
acid concentration. However, at the highest level of ascorbic acid tested (5%), the respiration rate decreased. During storage in a high barrier
plastic pouch, a higher CO2 accumulation rate was generally observed under 55 kPa than under 10 and 100 kPa. High oxygen partial pressures
(55 and 100 kPa) did not stop the production of hexanal but they had an inhibitory effect on the anaerobic volatiles productio
Shelf life of minimally processed potatoes : part 1. Effects of high oxygen partial pressures in combination with ascorbic and citric acids on enzymatic browning
Full text linkThe shelf life of minimally processed potatoes is limited by enzyme-catalysed browning reactions. Generally, this phenomenon is controlled by the use of chemical reagents such as ascorbic acid, citric acid, or 4-hexyl resorcinol, but it seems that "oxygen shock" treatments are also particularly effective in inhibiting enzymatic browning. The aim of this work was to study the effects of high oxygen partial pressures in combination with ascorbic and citric acid on the development of the enzymatic browning of peeled and cut potatoes ('Primura' variety) that were packaged in flexible pouches and stored at 5 degrees C for 10 days. Different treatments, chosen in according to a central composite design, were applied to the sliced potatoes. The browning development during storage was measured by a tristimulus colorimeter. Second-order polynomial models were computed for three periods of storage (3, 7 and 10 days) to relate the independent variables (oxygen partial pressure, ascorbic and citric acid concentrations) to the colour function attributes. The effectiveness of the statistical approach offered the possibility to investigate the effects of several processing conditions involved in the enzymatic browning of minimally processed potatoes, while the response surface methodology allowed the identification of the optimum range of the independent variables which prevented browning. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Primo convegno nazionale Shelf-life degli alimenti confezionati : Milano, 11-13 giugno 2003
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