Nut Consumption is Associated with Reduced Mortality
This study, published recently in Food & Function journal conducted a search through PUBMED and EMBASE to evaluate the nut-mortality association. Previous studies showed a consistent inverse association between nut consumption and all-cause mortality, but the associations with cause-specific mortality remained unclear.
Genetic and geochemical signatures to prevent frauds and counterfeit of high-quality asparagus and pistachio.
A fingerprinting strategy based on genetic (simple sequence repeat) and geochemical (multielement and 87Sr/86Sr ratio) analysis was tested to prove the geographical origin of high-quality Italian products "White Asparagus from Bassano del Grappa" and "Green Pistachio from Bronte". Genetic analysis generated many polymorphic alleles and different specific amplified fragments in both agriproducts. In addition, a […]
Raisins and Currants as Conventional Nutraceuticals in Italian Market: Natural Occurrence of Ochratoxin A.
The healthy consumers make a strong pressure to natural products that can prevent the chronic diseases and improve the general health status, and therefore an important aspect that have to be considered is the safe level of the nutraceuticals. This study reports the occurrence of Ochratoxin A (OTA) and associated fungal contamination in 35 samples […]
Application of Power Ultrasound on the Convective Drying of Fruits and Vegetables: Effects on quality.
Drying allows the obtaining of products with a long shelf life by reducing the water activity to a level low enough for the growth of microorganisms, enzymatic reactions, and other deteriorative reactions to be inhibited. Despite the benefits of this operation, the quality of heat sensitive products is diminished when high temperatures are used. The […]
Evaluation of Extraction Methods for the Identification of Proteins from Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Seed and Flesh.
Date fruits are well known to be very nutritious. Nevertheless, the protein content of the fruit, particularly the seed and flesh is still understudied, largely due to their difficult physical characteristics. This study was conducted to compare three different protein extraction methods which were the TCA-acetone (TCA-A), phenol (Phe), and TCA-acetone-phenol (TCA-A-Phe), and to perform […]
Kinetics of carotenoids degradation and furosine formation in dried apricots (Prunus armeniaca L.).
The kinetics of carotenoid and color degradation, as well as furosine formation, were investigated in apricot fruits during convective heating at 50, 60 and 70°C. Degradation of carotenoids and color, expressed as total color difference (TCD), followed a first and zero order kinetic, respectively. The activation energy (Ea) for carotenoids degradation ranged from 73.7kJ/mol for […]
Gamma irradiation affects the total phenol, anthocyanin and antioxidant properties in three different persian pistachio nuts.
The effects of gamma irradiation (GR) on total phenol, anthocyanin and antioxidant activity were investigated in three different Persian pistachio nuts at doses of 0, 1, 2 and 4 kGy. The antioxidant activity, as determined by FRAP and DPPH methods, revealed a significant increase in the 1-2 kGy dose range. Total phenol content (TPC) revealed […]
Fast classification of hazelnut cultivars through portable infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics.
The authentication and traceability of hazelnuts is very important for both the consumer and the food industry, to safeguard the protected varieties and the food quality. This study investigates the use of a portable FTIR spectrometer coupled to multivariate statistical analysis for the classification of raw hazelnuts. The method discriminates hazelnuts from different origins/cultivars based […]
Effects of the Maillard Reaction on the Immunoreactivity of Amandin in Food Matrices
Amandin is the major storage protein and allergen in almond seeds. Foods, containing almonds, subjected to thermal processing typically experience Maillard browning reaction. The resulting destruction of amino groups, protein glycation, and/or denaturation may alter amandin immunoreactivity. Amandin immunoreactivity of variously processed almond containing foods was therefore the focus of the current investigation. Commercial and […]
Effects of processing and storage on almond (Prunus dulcis L.) amandin immunoreactivity.
A murine monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to assess amandin immunoreactivity in processed and long-term stored almonds. The results demonstrated that amandin immunoreactivity is stable in variously processed almond seeds. Using the ELISA, amandin immunoreactivity could be detected in commercial whole raw and processed (blanched, sliced, dry roasted, and indicated combinations […]