Too ugly,but I love its shape: Reducing food waste of suboptimal products with authenticity (and sustainability) positioning

In the societal change towards a more sustainable future, reducing food waste is one of the mostly discussed topics. One significant source of food waste is the reluctance of supply chains and consumers to sell, purchase, or consume products that deviate from optimal products on the basis of only cosmetic specifications. Yet, it is currently unclear how consumers can be motivated to purchase such suboptimal products. The present research suggests that presenting suboptimal products with a sustainability positioning or with an authenticity positioning can positively affect consumers’ purchase intentions and quality perceptions of suboptimal products. Two studies (total N = 1804) presenting suboptimal products with a sustainability positioning, an authenticity positioning, or no positioning under varying price levels reveal that especially authenticity positioning can increase purchase intentions for and quality perceptions of suboptimal products independent of the prices of suboptimal products. A sustainability positioning appears to work best when combined with a moderate price discount. Moreover, the findings show that respondents have lower intentions to waste suboptimal foods when a clear positioning is provided compared to when this is not provided. Together, these findings provide a constructive first step towards a more sustainable solution for the suboptimal product waste problem.     

Aromagrams – Aromatic profiles in the appreciation of food quality

In this review a new approach to the food aroma analysis using various instrumental techniques is described. In the last decade extensive studies have been performed concerning aroma profiles (called in this article ‘aromagrams’) of food products and beverages. Aromagram is characteristic or even individual fingerprint of the odour, obtained usually by chromatographic methods or electronic nose. Basing on the fact that each product has its own unique pattern of volatile components, it is possible to get desired information about organoleptic quality and health safety of the product by qualitative and quantitative comparison of aromagrams of different foodstuffs. Appearance of aromagrams and their usefulness depend on the assay method, particularly on the extraction step. The paper reviews the methods developed to analyse volatiles in food products basing upon their aroma profiles.     

肉制品中动物源性成分DNA检测方法的研究进展

肉制品主要成分标识的真实性是全球重要的食品安全问题之一,特别是肉制品中动物源性成分的掺假和标识问题已引发全球关注。如何对肉制品中动物源性成分进行鉴定和标识已成为产品真实性鉴定的热点。基于DNA分子稳定性强的优点,DNA检测技术被广泛用于食品安全检测和监测诸多领域,体现出了灵敏度高、特异性强等优势。本文重点从动物源性检测的靶序列DNA选择和DNA分析技术研究2个方面,阐述了肉制品中动物源性成分定性、定量检测技术的研究和应用,并讨论动物源性成分定量分析的可能性,为我国实施动物源性成分量化监管提供思路。     

The dynamics of aroma compound transfer properties in cheeses during simulated eating conditions

In vivo aroma release during solid food consumption is a complex phenomenon that depends on food structure and composition, as well as on oral processing (combination of mastication and incorporation of saliva into the food product). The objective of this study was to understand and to predict the physico-chemical properties of aroma compounds through the dynamics of flavor release during in-mouth oral processing of food before bolus swallowing. Within this context, the evolution of two aroma compounds during bolus formation was explored by studying the two main properties that account for mass transfer: air/bolus partition and mass transfer coefficients. Four types of industrial cheese products (varying in fat and firmness) flavored with ethyl propanoate and 2-nonanone were chosen. Each matrix was mixed with various amounts of artificial saliva to mimic boluses at different stages of mastication. The air/bolus partition coefficient was determined by the static phase ratio variation method (PRV), while the mass transfer coefficient was obtained by non-linear regression from dynamic headspace experiments. Results showed that there is a dilution effect on the air/bolus partition coefficient and both a dilution and a product effect (firmness) on the mass transfer coefficient of ethyl propanoate in the bolus. These results were also validated with 2-nonanone for the low-fat cheeses.     

Gas Chromatography‐Combustion‐Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry for Traceability and Authenticity in Foods and Beverages

As consumers demand more certainty over where their food and beverages originate from and the genuineness of ingredients, there is a need for analytical techniques that are able to provide data on issues such as traceability, authenticity, and origin of foods and beverages. One such technique that shows enormous promise in this area is gas chromatography‐combustion‐isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC‐C‐IRMS). As will be demonstrated in this review, GC‐C‐IRMS is able to be applied to a wide array of foods and beverages generating data on key food components such as aroma compounds, sugars, amino acids, and carbon dioxide (in carbonated beverages). Such data can be used to determine synthetic and natural ingredients; substitution of 1 ingredient for another (such as apple for pear); the use of synthetic or organic fertilizers; and origin of foods and food ingredients, including carbon dioxide. Therefore, GC‐C‐IRMS is one of the most powerful techniques available to detect fraudulent, illegal, or unsafe practices in the food and beverages industries and its increasing use will ensure that consumers may have confidence in buying authentic products of known origin.     

Methods used for extraction of plant volatiles have potential to preserve truffle aroma: A review

Truffles are considered one of the world's most highly prized foods mainly due to their desirable organoleptic properties and rarity. However, truffles are seasonal (harvested mostly in winter from June to August in the Southern Hemisphere and from December to February in the Northern Hemisphere) and extremely perishable. Truffles deteriorate rapidly showing undesirable changes within 10 days from harvest in aroma and visual appearance after harvest. The very short postharvest shelf life (about 7–10 days) limits the potential for export and domestic consumption all year round. Several preservation methods have been studied to prolong their shelf life without the loss of aroma. However, all traditional preservation techniques have their own shortcomings and remain challenging. The extraction of natural truffle aroma volatiles for food applications could be a potential alternative to replace the existing synthetic flavoring used for processed truffle products. Four commonly used extraction methods for recovering volatile compounds from plants, namely, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, Soxhlet extraction, distillation, and cold pressing, are critically analyzed. Up to date, existing research about the extraction of aroma volatiles from truffles is limited in the literature but based on the volatility of the key truffle volatile compounds, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction may offer the best possibility so that a natural truffle-based product that can be used in food applications throughout the year can be made available.     

Application of real-time PCR (qPCR) for characterization of microbial populations and type of milk in dairy food products

Dairy foods represent an important sector of the food market for their nutritional qualities and their organoleptic characteristics, which are often linked to tradition and to region. These products are typically protected by labels such as PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication). Real-time PCR (qPCR) is a fundamental tool in “Food Genomics;” a discipline concerned with the residual DNA in food, which, alongside traditional physical and chemical methods, is frequently used to determine product safety, quality and authenticity. Compared to conventional or “end-point” PCR, qPCR incorporates continuous monitoring of reaction progress, thereby enabling quantification of target DNA. This review describes qPCR applications to the analysis of microbiota, and to the identification of the animal species source of milk from which dairy products have been made. These are important aspects for ensuring safety and authenticity. The various applications of qPCR are discussed, as well as advantages and disadvantages in comparison with other analytical methods.     

Exploration of a new consumer test method based on metacognitive certainty

Successful product development and marketing necessitate a study of the consumer concept of culture-specific or deep-positioned branded food. In this study, a new consumer test method was designed based on an authenticity test and used as a reference frame for the target concept without an upsetting story. The response format of this method included the metacognitive certainty response following the sensory authenticity response using the A-Not A test procedure. The method was applied to study the concept of goso flavor, as perceived by 91 female consumers with three commercial soymilk products, having each consumer evaluate each product 45 times over three days. The repeated responses of sensory authenticity were analyzed as mean scores and signal detection theory (SDT) d-prime (d′) values of the product difference. From the metacognitive certainty responses after the sensory authenticity response, a new quantitative group measure of d-prime metacognition (d′_MC) was calculated in the SDT context and compared with the other outputs. The measure ranged from negative to positive values, indicating a mismatch to a match for the concept of each product. Data analyses were conducted on both pooled data and segmented data, which was driven from the results of cluster analyses using the mean sensory authenticity scores and SDT C values (estimates of response bias about the concept tested). The results showed that d′_MC of each product corresponded to the mean scores and d′ with the advantage of easy interpretation. Overall, d′_MC can be a useful group measure for studying the consumer concept towards food and beverages.     

基于肽生物标志物技术鉴别肉品的真实性研究进展

基于DNA和蛋白质的方法已广泛应用于肉制品的真实性鉴定,但肉制品经加工处理后,DNA和蛋白质很容易发生降解和变性,而蛋白质的一级结构(氨基酸序列)则足够稳定。伴随着蛋白质组学的发展,以肽生物标志物为基础的鉴定方法逐渐应用于肉制品的真实性分析。本文将从肉中肽生物标志物的分离鉴定方法、肽生物标志物在鉴定不同肉制品及肉制品中外源蛋白的应用三个方面进行归纳和总结,并对肽生物标志物在鉴定肉品真实性应用中的发展方向进行展望,以期为食品溯源提供更丰富的技术手段。     

水果香气物质分析研究进展

香气是水果及其产品最重要的质量指标之一.保持天然风味、改善香气以及提高产品品质一直是行业追求的目标,这使得准确全面分析水果中的香气物质至关重要.由于水果基质复杂,香气化合物含量低,特别是一些关键香气物质极微量或不稳定,所以对水果香气成分的准确分析是一项复杂且困难的工作.简述了水果香气物质的提取方法和目前水果香气物质研究...     

An Updated Review of Meat Authenticity Methods and Applications

Adulteration of foods is a serious economic problem concerning most foodstuffs, and in particular meat products. Since high-priced meat demand premium prices, producers of meat-based products might be tempted to blend these products with lower cost meat. Moreover, the labeled meat contents may not be met. Both types of adulteration are difficult to detect and lead to deterioration of product quality. For the consumer, it is of outmost importance to guarantee both authenticity and compliance with product labeling. The purpose of this article is to review the state of the art of meat authenticity with analytical and immunochemical methods with the focus on the issue of geographic origin and sensory characteristics. This review is also intended to provide an overview of the various currently applied statistical analyses (multivariate analysis (MAV), such as principal component analysis, discriminant analysis, cluster analysis, etc.) and their effectiveness for meat authenticity.     

Quality and authenticity control of fruit purées,fruit preparations and jams—a review

Adulteration of foods is a serious economic problem concerning most food commodities, in particular fruit products. Since high-priced fruits command premium prices, producers of fruit-based products such as juices, jams, jellies, purées, and fruit preparations might be tempted to blend these products with cheaper fruits. In addition to admixtures of adulterants, the labelled fruit contents may not be met. Both types of adulteration are difficult to detect and lead to a deterioration of product quality. For consumer protection and to avoid unfair competition, it is of essential importance to guarantee both authenticity and compliance with the product specification. While approaches for the detection of fraudulent admixtures to fruit juices have extensively been reviewed, the objective of the present treatise is to provide an overview of the approaches so far suggested to detect and even quantify adulterations of the above-mentioned fruit products.     

Diacetyl levels and volatile profiles of commercial starter distillates and selected dairy foods

Starter distillates (SDL) are used as ingredients in the formulation of many food products such as cottage cheese, margarine, vegetable oil spreads, processed cheese, and sour cream to increase the levels of naturally occurring buttery aroma associated with fermentation. This buttery aroma results, in part, from the presence of the vicinal dicarbonyl, diacetyl, which imparts a high level of buttery flavor notes and is a key component of SDL. Diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) is a volatile product of citrate metabolism produced by certain bacteria, including Lactococcus lactis ssp. diacetylactis and Leuconostoc citrovorum. In the United States, SDL are regarded as generally recognized as safe ingredients, whereby usage in food products is limited by good manufacturing practices. Recently, diacetyl has been implicated as a causative agent in certain lung ailments in plant workers; however, little is published about the volatile composition of SDL and the levels of diacetyl or other flavoring components in finished dairy products. The objective of this work was to characterize the volatile compounds of commercial SDL and to quantitate levels of diacetyl and other Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association-designated high-priority flavoring components found in 18 SDL samples and 24 selected dairy products. Headspace volatiles were assessed using a solid-phase microextraction and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In addition to diacetyl (ranging from 1.2 to 22,000 μg/g), 40 compounds including 8 organic acids, 4 alcohols, 3 aldehydes, 7 esters, 3 furans, 10 ketones, 2 lactones, 2 sulfur-containing compounds, and 1 terpene were detected in the SDL. A total of 22 food samples were found to contain diacetyl ranging from 4.5 to 2,700 μg/100g. Other volatile compounds, including acetaldehyde, acetic acid, acetoin, benzaldehyde, butyric acid, formic acid, furfural, 2,3-heptanedione, 2,3-pentanedione, and propanoic acid, were also identified and quantified in SDL or food samples, or both. The results obtained in this work summarize the volatile composition of commercial SDL and the approximate levels of diacetyl and other Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association-designated high-priority flavoring components found in SDL and selected dairy foods.     

Melittis melissophyllum L. subsp. melissophyllum (Lamiaceae) from central Italy: A new source of a mushroom-like flavour

1-Octen-3-ol is the most important C8 mushroom aromatic compound produced by many species of edible fungi and is also an aroma component in several food and beverages products. Under this view, the essential oil of flowering aerial parts of Melittis melissophyllum subsp. melissophyllum (Lamiaceae) growing in central Italy, obtained by hydrodistillation was characterised by GC–FID and GC–MS. This oil contained extremely high amount of the mushroom-like aroma component 1-octen-3-ol (43.6–54.2%), and could be considered as a new natural product for the use as flavouring agent in the food industry. Furthermore, headspace analysis suggested that this aromatic compound is only present in low concentration in the plant part, and is primarily formed in higher amount during hydrodistillation of this material.     

美拉德反应中间体对卷烟评吸品质的影响及其风味受控形成研究

完全美拉德反应产物(MRPs)是构成烟草特征香味的重要来源,但普遍存在易逸失、不稳定的问题。以果糖为原料,制备了6种Heyns重排产物(HRP)类美拉德反应中间体,通过卷烟感官评吸筛选发现,果糖和苯丙氨酸反应得到的中间体2-脱氧-2-L-苯丙氨酸-D-葡萄糖具有最理想的加香效果。比较了苯丙氨酸—果糖的完全美拉德反应产物溶液和相应中间体HRP溶液的后续热加工稳定性,随着热处理时间延长,完全美拉德反应产物的香气降低了74.7%,而中间体HRP溶液挥发性风味成分增加为未加热的12.1倍,具有加工风味受控形成的特点,从而很好地克服了完全美拉德反应产物在食品、烟草加工过程中的加香缺陷。     

水产品香气研究进展

香气是水产品新鲜度和风味的重要评价指标,对产品品质评级及消费者消费导向均有重要影响.研究表明:挥发性化合物的种类和含量是造成水产品香气差异的主要原因,不同水产种类、新鲜程度和加工方式等均会影响其最终香气;水产品香气成分复杂,对挥发性风味物质的准确分析是研究其特征香气的关键.概述了水产品香气分析的感官品评和仪器分析技术,...     

How Maillard Reaction Influences Sensorial Properties (Color,Flavor and Texture) of Food Products?

ABSTRACT

Maillard reaction products are largely responsible for the development of color, taste and especially aroma of thermally treated food. For this reason, our review focused on gathering literature from the last 10 years about the influence of the Maillard reaction products formation on food acceptance in aspects of color, texture and flavor. Maillard reaction products have a characteristic odor note and can significantly positively or negatively influence the sensory acceptance of a product. For example, pyrazines and thiols were found in most cases as the most potential odor compounds formed in MR. Another important aspect of high sensorial acceptability is food color. Color development of thermally treated products is mainly attributed to the formation of brown polymers called melanoidins. It was also noted that the increasing concentration of “probably carcinogenic and mutagenic” acrylamide is related to the darker color of a product. Not much attention is focused on the connection between Maillard reaction products formation and textural properties. Therefore, textural properties have been mostly investigated in meat products. Changes in the texture of meat products were estimated as the difference in linkage formations between proteins and polysaccharides.     

消费者感官评价对酸奶品质提升的导向研究

消费者感官评价为产品开发和工艺改良提供实际依据。本文以酸奶为例,结合消费者感官测试完成其品质提升。分别收集消费者的基本信息,以及他们对酸奶整体喜好度、香气喜好度；香气、甜味、酸味、稠度接受度；和酸奶所需要提升的感官属性的主观建议等。结合喜好度分析、惩罚分析、词云频率等数据分析方法,得到消费者对酸奶的品评结果。实验结果表明四种酸奶的整体喜好度与香气喜好度平均值都在5分以下,说明消费者的认可度不高；且酸奶的香气与整体喜好度之间有正相关性。酸奶661和467的产品更受消费者的欢迎。由于这两者目前的喜好度分值仍较低(<5.0),需要进一步优化其配方,以期获得更好的市场价值。消费者关注的酸奶品质主要包括酸度、甜度、香气和稠度。喜好度分析和接受度惩罚分析的结果发现酸奶467是目前消费者喜好度较高的产品,后期通过降低其酸度,可以更好地提高它的接受度,从而获得更多消费者的青睐。以消费者为导向探究乳制品的风味感官品质,为产品的优化升级提供指导意义。未来通过调试酸奶的风味性质可生产出深受消费者喜爱的产品。     

Olfactometric characterization of aroma active compounds in fermented fish paste in comparison with fish sauce,fermented soy paste and sauce products

Aroma active compounds in commercial fermented fish meat paste product (fish miso), fermented soy paste (soy miso), fish sauce and soy sauces were characterized by using a dynamic headspace method for volatile isolation and GC olfactometry for odor perception. A total of 123 volatile compounds consisting mainly of aldehydes, alcohols, esters, ketones, furans, sulfur and nitrogen-containing compounds, aromatics and acids were consistently identified. A major 16 odor-active compounds were distinguished to contribute as key aroma compounds for the miso and sauce products. Olfactometric and sensory findings clearly differentiated miso products with caramelic, fruity aroma notes, whereas fish sauce products were characterized by ammoniacal, fishy, nutty and cheesy odor note. Soy sauce products, however, were dominated by nutty and cheese aroma. Use of koji for fish miso production was found effective to enhance sweet aroma to the product with a reduction of nutty, meaty and rancid nuance. Principal component analysis employed for statistical interpretations clearly elucidated the relationship among different types of fermented products.     

稳定同位素技术在有机农产品真实性鉴别中的应用进展

近年来, 有机农产品深受消费者的青睐, 然而在经济利益驱动下, 无良商家伪造有机农产品的现象时有发生, 使得有机农产品的真实性问题逐渐成为全球关注的焦点。有机农产品真实性鉴别对确保食品质量安全, 保护合法经营, 重建我国消费者对有机农产品的信任, 完善有机农产品质量监督体系均具有十分重要的意义。稳定同位素技术是用于有机食品真实性鉴别的方法之一, 具有高效、准确、可靠的特点, 已广泛应用于蔬菜、水果、茶叶、葡萄酒、谷物、鸡蛋、肉类、牛奶等。本文在查阅大量有关稳定同位素技术在有机农产品真实性鉴别的相关文献的基础上, 总结了稳定同位素鉴别有机农产品的原理, 系统分析了近几年国内外学者关于稳定同位素技术在植物源性和动物源性有机农产品的研究进展, 并展望了今后稳定同位素在有机农产品真实性鉴别的研究重点和发展方向。