Nut consumption and age-related disease.
Current knowledge on the effects of nut consumption on human health has rapidly increased in recent years and it now appears that nuts may play a role in the prevention of chronic age-related diseases. Frequent nut consumption has been associated with better metabolic status, decreased body weight as well as lower body weight gain over […]
Do dry roasting, lightly salting nuts affect their cardioprotective properties and acceptability?
PURPOSE: Previous studies have reported improvements in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors with the consumption of raw nuts. However, around one-third of nuts consumed are roasted and salted. Thus, it is important to determine whether roasting and salting nuts affect the health benefits observed with raw nuts. This study aimed to compare the effects of […]
Quality changes of stabilizer-free natural peanut butter during storage
The storage stability of preservative-free peanut butter was evaluated for changes in physicochemical quality including moisture content and water activity, microbiological properties, oxidative stability and textural quality in terms of spreadability and firmness. The study was conducted for 16 weeks at storage temperature of 10, 25 and 35 °C on natural and pure peanut butter […]
Sensory and instrumental texture assessment of roasted pistachio nut/kernel by partial least square (PLS) regression analysis: effect of roasting conditions.
Roasting is an important step in the processing of pistachio nuts. The effect of hot air roasting temperature (90, 120 and 150 °C), time (20, 35 and 50 min) and air velocity (0.5, 1.5 and 2.5 m/s) on textural and sensory characteristics of pistachio nuts and kernels were investigated. The results showed that increasing the […]
Reduction of Aflatoxins in Apricot Kernels by Electronic and Manual Color Sorting.
The efficacy of color sorting on reducing aflatoxin levels in shelled apricot kernels was assessed. Naturally-contaminated kernels were submitted to an electronic optical sorter or blanched, peeled, and manually sorted to visually identify and sort discolored kernels (dark and spotted) from healthy ones. The samples obtained from the two sorting approaches were ground, homogenized, and […]
Diet quality improves for parents and children when almonds are incorporated into their daily diet: a randomized, crossover study.
The health benefits of nuts may, in part, be due to the fiber that provides substrate for the maintenance of a healthy and diverse microbiota. We hypothesized that consuming almonds would benefit immune status through improving diet quality and modulation of microbiota composition in parents and their children, while improving gastrointestinal function. In a crossover […]
Quantifying aflatoxins in peanuts using fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with multi-way methods: Resurrecting second-order advantage in excitation-emission matrices with rank overlap problem.
A rapid, simple and inexpensive method using fluorescence spectroscopy coupled with multi-way methods for the determination of aflatoxins B1 and B2 in peanuts has been developed. In this method, aflatoxins are extracted with a mixture of water and methanol (90:10), and then monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy producing EEMs. Although the combination of EEMs and multi-way […]
Inactivation of Salmonella Senftenberg, Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Tennessee in peanut butter by 915 MHz microwave heating.
This study evaluated the efficacy of a 915 MHz microwave with 3 different levels to inactivate 3 serovars of Salmonella in peanut butter. Peanut butter inoculated with Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium and S. enterica serovar Tennessee were treated with a 915 MHz microwave with 2, 4 and 6 kW and acid […]
Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergy.
Food allergy is a potentially life-threatening condition with no approved therapies, apart from avoidance and injectable epinephrine for acute allergic reactions. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is an experimental treatment in which food-allergic patients consume gradually increasing quantities of the food to increase their threshold for allergic reaction. This therapy carries significant risk of allergic reactions. The […]
Peanut proteins in periodate specific anion sensing: An ensuing reduction in allergic response.
Peanut proteins conarachin II, conarachin I and arachin were found to behave as highly selective fluorescence sensors for periodate amongst a set of different anions. The interactions of the proteins with periodate were also confirmed by other spectral methods and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results indicate a selective interaction of peanut proteins with […]