Effect of waxy flour blends on dough rheology and bread quality

Although much research has been conducted on wheat flour dough rheology, the principal focus has been the role of the protein fraction. Starch is the main component of flour and plays a key role in dough dynamic properties, particularly during heating. This study assesses the effect of two different waxy flours, a durum and a bread wheat, and their blends with commercial bakers' flour on dough rheology during heating with a concurrent investigation into baking performance. Both waxy flour blends produced similar effects on dough rheological behaviour despite differences in protein content, acting to delay gelatinisation and reduce storage modulus. The main effects in bread were to increase loaf expansion during baking and reduce loaf firmness. It is postulated these effects are largely water mediated, with the higher swelling ability of the waxy starch granules reducing overall water availability and driving complete gelatinisation to higher temperatures.     

Assessing the ability of nisin A and derivatives thereof to inhibit gram-negative bacteria from the genus Thermus

Nisin is a bacteriocin that is globally employed as a biopreservative in food systems to control gram-positive, and some gram-negative, bacteria. Here we tested the bioactivity of nisin A-producing Lactococcus lactis NZ9700 and producers of bioengineered variants thereof against representatives of the gram-negative genus Thermus, which has been associated with the pink discoloration defect in cheese. Starting with a total of 73 nisin variant-producing Lactococcus lactis, bioactivity against Thermus was assessed via agar diffusion assays, and 22 variants were found to have bioactivity greater than or equal to that of the nisin A-producing control. To determine to what extent this enhanced bioactivity was attributable to an increase in specific activity, minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined using the corresponding purified form of these 22 nisin A derivatives. From these experiments, nisin M17Q and M21F were identified as peptides with enhanced antimicrobial activity against the majority of Thermus target strains tested. In addition, several other peptide variants were found to exhibit enhanced specific activity against a subset of strains.     

Masked mycotoxins: A review

The aim of this review is to give a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on plant metabolites of mycotoxins, also called masked mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites, toxic to human and animals. Toxigenic fungi often grow on edible plants, thus contaminating food and feed. Plants, as living organisms, can alter the chemical structure of mycotoxins as part of their defence against xenobiotics. The extractable conjugated or non‐extractable bound mycotoxins formed remain present in the plant tissue but are currently neither routinely screened for in food nor regulated by legislation, thus they may be considered masked. Fusarium mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, fumonisins, nivalenol, fusarenon‐X, T‐2 toxin, HT‐2 toxin, fusaric acid) are prone to metabolisation or binding by plants, but transformation of other mycotoxins by plants (ochratoxin A, patulin, destruxins) has also been described. Toxicological data are scarce, but several studies highlight the potential threat to consumer safety from these substances. In particular, the possible hydrolysis of masked mycotoxins back to their toxic parents during mammalian digestion raises concerns. Dedicated chapters of this article address plant metabolism as well as the occurrence of masked mycotoxins in food, analytical aspects for their determination, toxicology and their impact on stakeholders.     

High‐Pressure Thermal Sterilization: Food Safety and Food Quality of Baby Food Puree

The benefits that high‐pressure thermal sterilization offers as an emerging technology could be used to produce a better overall food quality. Due to shorter dwell times and lower thermal load applied to the product in comparison to the thermal retorting, lower numbers and quantities of unwanted food processing contaminants (FPCs), for example, furan, acrylamide, HMF, and MCPD‐esters could be formed. Two spore strains were used to test the technique; Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, over the temperature range 90 to 121 °C at 600 MPa. The treatments were carried out in baby food puree and ACES‐buffer. The treatments at 90 and 105 °C showed that G. stearothermophilus is more pressure‐sensitive than B. amyloliquefaciens. The formation of FPCs was monitored during the sterilization process and compared to the amounts found in retorted samples of the same food. The amounts of furan could be reduced between 81% to 96% in comparison to retorting for the tested temperature pressure combination even at sterilization conditions of F₀‐value in 7 min.     

Specific populations of the yeast Geotrichum candidum revealed by molecular typing

Geotrichum candidum is a ubiquitous yeast and an essential component in the production of many soft cheeses. We developed a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme with five retained loci (NUP116, URA1, URA3, SAPT4 and PLB3) which were sufficiently divergent to distinguish 40 sequence types (STs) among the 67 G. candidum strains tested. Phylogenetic analyses defined five main clades; one clade was restricted to environmental isolates, three other clades included distinct environmental isolates and dairy strains, while the fifth clade comprised 34 strains (13 STs), among which all but two were isolated from milk, cheese or the dairy environment. These findings suggest an adaptation to the dairy ecosystems by a group of specialized European G. candidum strains. In addition, we developed a polymerase chain reaction inter‐long terminal repeat scheme, a fast and reproducible random amplification of polymorphic DNA‐like method for G. candidum, to type the closely related dairy strains, which could not be distinguished by MLST. Overall, our findings distinguished two types of dairy strains, one forming a homogeneous group with little genetic diversity, and the other more closely related to environmental isolates. Neither regional nor cheese specificity was observed in the dairy G. candidum strains analysed. This present study sheds light on the genetic diversity of both dairy and environmental strains of G. candidum and thus extends previous characterizations that have focused on the cheese isolates of this species. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The distribution of anthocyanins in grape skin extracts of port wine cultivars as determined by high performance liquid chromatography

The distribution of anthocyanins in methanolic skin extracts of 16 grape cultivars used for port wine production and grown at five sites in the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal has been assessed by high performance liquid chromatography. Results are confined to the seven most readily separated and identified anthocyanins and are expressed as percentages of their total (88–99% of the total integrated area). Anthocyanins based on malvidin (Mv) predominated. Of these, Mv 3-glucoside was the major pigment (33–60%), being exceeded by Mv 3-p-coumarylglucoside (2–51%) in only two cultivars; Mv 3-acetylglucoside (1–15%) was consistently the lowest. Peonidin 3-glucoside (1–27%) was prominent in four cultivars, but delphinidin 3-glucoside (1–11%), petunidin 3-glucoside (2–11%) and cyanidin 3-glucoside (trace-6%) were of low proportions throughout. The ratio Mv 3-acetylglucoside/total Mv glucosides appeared characteristic of cultivar, independent of site, and a useful aid to identification of grape cultivars. The coloured pulp of some cultivars contained peonidin 3-glucoside as a major component, present in greater proportions than in the skin; the percentage of Mv 3-p-coumarylglucoside was lower in pulp than in skin. The identities of six of the seven anthocyanins were confirmed by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and the structures of the Mv derivatives were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance. The formation of formyl and acetyl anthocyanin artefacts is described.     

Extraction of lignans, proteins and carbohydrates from flaxseed meal with pressurized low polarity water

This study examined the application of pressurized low polarity water (PLPW) extraction of lignans, proteins and carbohydrates from defatted flaxseed meal. Key processing conditions included temperature (130, 160, 190 °C), solvent pH (4, 6.5 and 9), solvent to solid ratio (90, 150 and 210 mL/g) and introduction of co-packing material (0 and 3 g glass beads). The addition of 3 g glass beads increased the yields for all target compounds. The maximum yield of lignans (21 mg/g meal) was obtained at 170 °C with solvent to solid ratio of 100 mL/g meal at pH 9. Optimal conditions for protein extraction were pH 9, solvent to solid ratio of 210 mL/g meal and 160 °C. Total carbohydrates recovery was maximized at 215 mg/g meal (50% recovery) at pH 4 and 150 °C with solvent to solid ratio of 210 mL/g meal. The increase of temperature accelerated extraction, thus reducing solvent volume and time to reach equilibrium. For the extraction of proteins and carbohydrates, however, a temperature of 130-160 °C is recommended, as proteins and carbohydrates are vulnerable to thermal degradation.     

Characteristics of dissolved organic matter in Baltic coastal sea ice: allochthonous or autochthonous origins?

The origin of dissolved organic matter (DOM) within sea ice in coastal waters of the Baltic Sea was investigated using parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis of DOM fluorescence. Sea ice DOM had distinctly different fluorescence characteristics than that of the underlying humic-rich waters and was dominated by protein-like fluorescence signals. PARAFAC analysis identified five fluorescent components, all of which were present in both sea ice and water. Three humic components were negatively correlated to salinity and concluded to be terrestrially derived material. Baltic Sea ice DOM was found to be a mixture of humic material from the underlying water column incorporated during ice formation and autochthonous material produced by organisms within the ice. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) concentrations were correlated to the humic fluorescence, indicating that the majority of the organic carbon and nitrogen in Baltic Sea ice is bound in terrestrial humic material trapped within the ice. This has implications for our understanding of sea ice carbon cycling in regions influenced by riverine input (e.g., Baltic and Arctic coastal waters), as the susceptibility of DOM to degradation and remineralization is largely determined by its source.     

The Contribution of 4‐Hydroxyfuranone Derivatives to the Aroma of Commercial Beers and Malts

Analysis of hot water extracts from a range of commercial malts showed that 2,5‐dimethyl‐4‐hydroxy‐3(2H)furanone (DMHF) varied from undetectable (lager malt) to 4.2 mg/litre (crystal malt), a concentration twenty‐six times the flavour threshold in water. 5‐Methyl‐4‐hydroxy‐3 (2H)furanone (MHF) was detected in all samples except one but was always well under its flavour threshold value. 2(or 5)‐Ethyl‐5(or 2)‐methyl‐4‐hydroxy‐3(2H)furanone (EMHF) was not detected in any of the samples. Fermentation of lager, ale and crystal malt extracts with an ale strain of yeast led to the appearance of EMHF in all cases as well as additional DMHF. The greatest increases in both compounds was with the ale malt. Both increases and decreases occurred in MHF concentration as a result of fermentation but final levels were always well below the flavour threshold value. Analysis of ten commercial beers found DMHF in all the samples and in five cases levels exceeded twice the flavour threshold value in beer with flavour units from 2.4 to 9.1. A flavour panel noted that in four of these cases the beer had a distinctly sweet/caramel aroma which is typical of DMHF. EMHF was undetectable in six samples, detectable, but unquantifiable, in three cases but at about 80% of the flavour threshold value in the remaining sample. MHF was found in all samples but at insignificant levels. The results show that DMHF is an important flavour compound in British ales and EMHF may make a contribution in a limited number of situations. The contribution of malt type, brewery processing and yeast strain in determining the concentration of the two 4‐hydroxyfuranones in beer remains uncertain.