Diversity of Legumes in the Cashew Agroforestry System in East Timor (Southeast Asia).
Cashew is an important export-oriented crop in several tropical countries, often under monocropping systems. Intercropping with legume species is promoted as a sustainable practice, enhancing agricultural productivity and providing nutritional food sources to rural communities. This study aimed to characterize the diversity of Leguminosae (or Fabaceae) in the cashew agroforestry systems of East Timor (Southeast […]
Effects of Regular Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa HBK) Consumption on Health: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials.
The Brazil nut (BN) is a promising food due to its numerous health benefits, but it is still necessary to systematically review the scientific evidence on these benefits. Thus, we examined the effects of regular BN consumption on health markers in humans according to the health state (with specific diseases or not) of the subjects. […]
INFOGEST Digestion Assay of Raw and Roasted Hazelnuts and Its Impact on Allergens and Their IgE Binding Activity.
Most of the food allergens sensitized via the gastrointestinal tract resist thermal treatments and digestion, particularly digestion by pepsin. Roasted hazelnuts are more commonly consumed than raw ones. Since no studies have characterized gastric digestion protein fragments of raw and roasted hazelnuts nor their IgE binding properties, we compared these aspects of raw and roasted […]
The Effect of Microwave Irradiation on the Representation and Growth of Moulds in Nuts and Almonds
Microwave (MW) irradiation is a non-destructive method that can be applied as an alternative method to inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The present study evaluated the effect of MW irradiation on the occurrence of moulds in nuts and almonds. Samples of unshelled natural almonds, pistachios, and in-shell peanuts were treated with different doses of MW […]
Emulsion and Microemulsion Systems to Improve Functional Edible Oils Enriched with Walnut and Pistachio Phenolic Extracts
The purpose of this research was to improve the properties of functional edible oils with potential health promoting effects, enriched with phenolic-rich extracts obtained from pistachio and walnut (5.1 and 27.4% phenolic contents respectively), by means of emulsion and micro emulsion systems. Stable water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions were obtained employing polyglycerol polyrhizinoleate (PGPR) as emulsifier (0.5, […]
Determination of Mycotoxins in Dried Fruits Using LC-MS/MS-A Sample Homogeneity, Troubleshooting and Confirmation of Identity Study.
To monitor co-exposure to toxic mycotoxins in dried fruits, it is advantageous to simultaneously determine multiple mycotoxins using a single extraction and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. In this study, we applied a stable isotope dilution and LC-MS/MS method to multi-mycotoxin analysis in dried fruits, selecting raisins, plums, figs, and cranberries for […]
Almond By-Products: Valorization for Sustainability and Competitiveness of the Industry.
The search for waste minimization and the valorization of by-products are key practices for good management and improved sustainability in the food industry. The production of almonds generates a large amount of waste, most of which is not used. Until now, almonds have been used for their high nutritional value as food, especially almond meat. […]
Revalorization of Almond By-Products for the Design of Novel Functional Foods: An Updated Review.
The search for waste minimization and the valorization of by-products are key to good management and improved sustainability in the food industry. The great production of almonds, based on their high nutritional value as food, especially almond kernels, generates tons of waste yearly. The remaining parts (skin, shell, hulls, etc.) are still little explored, even […]
Dried Figs Quality Improvement and Process Energy Savings by Combinatory Application of Osmotic Pretreatment and Conventional Air Drying.
This study concerns the implementation of osmotic dehydration (OD) as a pre-treatment of air-drying in fig halves, aiming at drying acceleration, energy savings and product quality improvement. The effect of solid/liquid mass ratio, process temperature (25-45 °C) and duration (up to 300 min) on water activity (aw) and transport phenomena during OD, was modelled. The […]
Comparative Study of Chemical Compositions and Antioxidant Capacities of Oils Obtained from 15 Macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) Cultivars in China.
The planting area of macadamia in China accounted for more than one third of the world's planted area. The lipid compositions, minor components, and antioxidant capacities of fifteen varieties of macadamia oil (MO) in China were comparatively investigated. All varieties of MO were rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, mainly including oleic acid (61.74-66.47%) and palmitoleic […]