Discrimination of almonds (Prunus dulcis) geographical origin by minerals and fatty acids profiling.

Twenty-one almond samples from three different geographical origins (Sicily, Spain and California) were investigated by determining minerals and fatty acids compositions. Data were used to discriminate by chemometry almond origin by linear discriminant analysis. With respect to previous PCA profiling studies, this work provides a simpler analytical protocol for the identification of almonds geographical origin. […]

Food Targeting: Geographical origin determination of hazelnuts (Corylus avellana) by LC-QqQ-MS/MS based targeted metabolomics application.

A targeted metabolomics LC-ESI-QqQ-MS application for geographical origin discrimination based on 20 non-polar key metabolites was developed, validated according to accepted guidelines and used for quantitation via stable isotope labeled internal standards in 202 raw authentic hazelnut samples from six countries (Turkey, Italy, Georgia, Spain, France and Germany) out of harvest years 2014 and 2015. […]

Argentinian pistachio oil and flour: a potential novel approach of pistachio nut utilization.

In order to searching a potential novel approach to pistachio utilization, the chemical and nutritional quality of oil and flour from natural, roasted, and salted roasted pistachios from Argentinian cultivars were evaluated. The pistachio oil has high contents of oleic and linoleic acid (53.5 – 55.3, 29 – 31.4 relative abundance, respectively), tocopherols (896 – […]

Color and texture of low-calorie peanuts as affected by a new oil extraction process named "Mechanical Expression Preserving Shape Integrity" (MEPSI).

The current healthy life style pushed to develop and implement a novel efficient defatting process of high quality called "Mechanical Expression Preserving Shape Integrity" that conserved the sensory, color, textural, morphological and acceptability of partially defatted roasted peanuts. In this study, Response Surface Methodology was used to investigate the best extraction parameters (initial water content, […]

Influence of water activity on inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes in peanut butter by microwave heating.

This study evaluated the efficacy of a 915 MHz microwave with 3 different electric power levels to inactivate three pathogens in peanut butter with different aw. Peanut butter inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes (0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 aw) were treated with a 915 MHz microwave with 2, 4, […]

Prevalence and Amounts of Salmonella Found on Raw California Inshell Pistachios.

After harvest, pistachios are hulled with mechanical abrasion and then separated in a float tank containing water; the nuts that float (∼15%; floaters) and those that sink (∼85%; sinkers) are dried and stored separately. To determine the prevalence of Salmonella in pistachios, a total of 3,966 samples (1,032 floaters and 2,934 sinkers) were collected within […]

Advances in ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry for sensitive detection of several food allergens in complex and processed foodstuffs.

Sensitive detection of food allergens is affected by food processing and foodstuff complexity. It is therefore a challenge to detect cross-contamination in food production that could endanger an allergic customer's life. Here we used ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry for simultaneous detection of traces of milk (casein, whey protein), egg (yolk, […]

Development of walnut dehulling machine and assessment of its performance using Ethephon and Tween-80 as pre-treatments for hull loosening.

A power- driven walnut dehulling machine was developed and tested. The machine was evaluated for dehulling after applying Ethephon and Tween-80 to green walnuts by dip and spray methods. The results showed that with the increase in dipping time and post dipping/spraying time, the effective throughput capacity, dehulling efficiency and fully dehulled walnut percentage increased, […]

Simultaneous determination of six mycotoxins in peanut by High-performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence detector.

BACKGROUND: Mycotoxins, which may contaminate peanut and peanut products, are responsible for many diseases to human beings. AflatoxinB1(AFB1), aflatoxinG1(AFG1), aflatoxinB2(AFB2), aflatoxinG2(AFG2), ochratoxin A(OTA) and zearalenone(ZEN) are considered the most relevant groups of mycotoxins found in food. This work aimed to develop a high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector(HPLC-FLD) combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction(DLLME) method for […]