Dried Beetroots: Optimization of the Osmotic Dehydration Process and Storage Stability.

In this study, beetroots were osmotically dehydrated in sugar beet molasses. The input parameters of the drying process were varied: temperature (20 °C, 40 °C, and 60 °C), time (1 h, 3 h, and 5 h), and concentration of sugar beet molasses (40%, 60%, and 80%). Basic quality indicators were determined for the dried beetroot samples: dry matter content, water loss, solid gain, mineral and betaine content, and phenols and flavonoids, as well as antioxidant potential. After optimizing the results, favorable drying parameters were selected: temperature 60 °C, molasses concentration 70%, and processing time 5 h. According to the optimal drying conditions, the beetroots were dried and stored at 4 °C for 28 days. Half of the dried samples were coated with an edible biopolymer coating based on Camelina sativa oilcake, while the other half of the samples remained uncoated. The sustainability study aimed to confirm the effects of the biopolymer coating on the quality and sustainability of the osmotically dried beetroots.

Impact of Using Oilseed Industry Byproducts Rich in Linoleic and Alpha-Linolenic Acid in Ruminant Nutrition on Milk Production and Milk Fatty Acid Profile.

Milk contains more than 400 different fatty acids, some of which play a positive role in promoting human health. The profile of fatty acids in milk can be enhanced by providing animals with plant-based resources that possess feeding characteristics adequate for favorable changes in the fatty acid composition and increasing healthy fatty acids in milk. This review summarizes the available 41 research studies on the utilization of oilseed industry byproducts rich in linoleic acid (hemp, pumpkin, sunflower) and alpha-linolenic acid (camelina and linseed) in dairy cow, sheep, and goat nutrition; their impact on milk production characteristics; and potential to improve fatty acid composition of milk through the diet. This review illustrates that incorporating byproducts into the diet for dairy ruminants generally does not have any adverse effects on both milk production and composition. A similar trend of improvement in milk fatty acid profile was observed when ruminants were fed diets supplemented with camelina, linseed, and sunflower byproducts, while no significant changes were noted with pumpkin byproducts. Hempseed byproducts showed potential for use as an alternative ingredient in dairy ruminant diets. Nevertheless, more in-depth research investigating the inclusion of selected byproducts is required before valid conclusions can be drawn regarding their value.

Cold-Pressed Oilseed Cakes as Alternative and Sustainable Feed Ingredients: A Review.

Due to the increasing demand for alternative protein feed ingredients, the utilization of oilseed by-products in animal nutrition has been sought as a promising solution to ensure cheap and environmentally sustainable feedstuffs. This review aimed to summarize the nutritional value of six cold-pressed cakes (rapeseed, hempseed, linseed, sunflower seed, camelina seed, and pumpkin seed) and the effects of their inclusion in diet for ruminant, pig, and poultry on nutrient digestibility, growth and productive performance, and quality of the products. The presented results indicated that these unconventional feed ingredients are a good protein and lipid source and have a balanced amino acid and fatty acid profile. However, contradictory results of animal production performances can be found in the literature depending on the cake type and chemical composition, dietary inclusion level, animal category, and trial duration. Due to the substantial amount of essential fatty acid, these cakes can be efficiently used in the production of animal products rich in n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, the utilization of cakes in pig and poultry nutrition is limited because of the presence of antinutritive factors that can deteriorate feed intake and nutrient utilization.

Invasive Crayfish Faxonius limosus: Meat Safety, Nutritional Quality and Sensory Profile.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety parameters, nutritional value and sensory profile of the meat from spiny-cheek crayfish (Faxonius limosus), captured from the Danube River in Serbia. To achieve this, we determined their microbiological safety, chemical composition, minerals and heavy metals, fatty acid and amino acid profile, as well as a sensory profile of the meat. The obtained results showed that the meat from crayfish was microbiologically safe. Crayfish meat has a high nutritional quality, high protein content (18.12%) and a total of 17 detected amino acids, of which essential amino acids constituted 6.96 g/100 g sample. Additionally, the crayfish meat was characterized by high levels of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), particularly n-3 PUFA, at an optimal ratio of n-3/n-6 and with low values of atherogenic and thrombogenic indices. Predominant macrominerals in the meat are K, followed by Na, Ca, P and Mg, whereas the content of microminerals was in the following order: Zn > Cu > Fe > Mn. The concentrations of accumulated toxic metals (Cd, Pb, As and Hg) did not exceed the maximum allowed levels. Sensory analysis confirmed that the meat from spiny-cheek crayfish has the potential to become a new food source of essential nutrients.

Chia Seed Hydrogel as a Solid Fat Replacer and Structure Forming Agent in Gluten-Free Cookies.

Gluten-free cookies based on rice and chickpea flour with reduced-fat and increased protein content compared with conventional commercial gluten-free cookies were developed and used as a base for further vegetable fat replacement with chia seed hydrogel. Rheological properties of chia seed hydrogel revealed that 8% gels exhibited the optimal properties as a fat substitute. Designed cookie samples were characterized for their chemical composition, fatty acid profile, mineral content, physical, textural and color parameters, and sensory properties. All gluten-free cookies developed in this study could be labeled as "a source of iron and potassium", while those with chia seed hydrogel and cocoa powder could bear the additional claim "high in zinc and magnesium". Fat replacement with chia seed hydrogel resulted in a more favorable fatty acid composition with a PUFA/SFA ratio over 0.40 and nonsignificant changes in the cookies' hardness, weight, eccentricity, and specific volume, indicating that the chia seed hydrogel addition did not disturb the cookie structure and texture. The results of the sensory analysis confirmed that it is possible to apply chia seed hydrogel to produce reduced-fat cookies with sensory properties comparable to their full-fat counterpart and available commercial samples, and they are more appealing than commercial reduced-fat gluten-free cookies.

Comparison of Nutritional Profiles of Super Worm (Zophobas morio) and Yellow Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) as Alternative Feeds Used in Animal Husbandry: Is Super Worm Superior?

Edible insects are acknowledged as a valuable nutritional source and promising alternative to traditional feed ingredients, while the optimization of rearing conditions is required for their wider utilization in the animal feed industry. The main goal of this study was to compare and optimize the rearing conditions of the two species' larvae and identify the most favorable nutritive composition of the full-fat larval meal. For that purpose, Tenebrio molitor (TM) and Zophobas morio (ZM) were reared on three different substrates and harvested after three time periods. An artificial neural network (ANN) with multi-objective optimization (MOO) was used to investigate the influence between the observed parameters as well as to optimize and determine rearing conditions. The optimization of the larval rearing conditions showed that the best nutritive composition of full-fat larval meal was obtained for ZM larvae reared on a mixture of cabbage, carrot and flaxseed and harvested after 104 days. The best nutritive composition contained 39.52% protein, 32% crude fat, 44.01% essential amino acids, 65.21 mg/100 g Ca and 651.15 mg/100 g P with a favorable ratio of 1.5 of n6/n3 fatty acids. Additionally, the incorporation of flaxseed in the larval diet resulted in an increase in C18:3n3 content in all samples.

Isolation of Cherry Seed Oil Using Conventional Techniques and Supercritical Fluid Extraction.

This study aims to compare the suitability of three extraction techniques (cold pressing, Soxhlet and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE)) to isolate oil from cherry seeds. Oils were examined in terms of extraction yield, fatty acids profile, tocopherols yield and antioxidant activity. Additionally, influence of SFE parameters was evaluated using one-factor-at-a-time design with pressure (200−350 bar), temperature (40−70 °C), flow rate (0.2−0.4 kg/h) and particle size (<800 µm and >800 µm). Oil yields ranged from 2.50% to 13.02%, whereas the highest yield was achieved with SFE. Samples were rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, regardless of the applied extraction technique. The main fatty acids were linoleic (46.32−47.29%), oleic (40.89−41.65%), palmitic (6.56−8.00%) and stearic (2.21−2.30%) acid. Total tocopherols yield was between 16.63 mg/100 g oil and 60.61 mg/100 g oil, and highest yield was achieved with SFE. Among the tocopherols, γ-tocopherol was the most abundant, followed by α-, δ- and ß-tocopherol. Antioxidant activity was determined using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic) cation (ABTS) assays, and the results indicated that SFE extracts exhibited better or comparable antioxidant potential compared to traditional techniques. The comparison between modern and conventional extractions for oil recovery demonstrates pros and cons for the possibility of industrial application.

Predicting rheological behavior and baking quality of wheat flour using a GlutoPeak test.

The purpose of this research was to gain an insight into the ability of the GlutoPeak instrument to predict flour functionality for bread making, as well as to determine which of the GlutoPeak parameters show the best potential in predicting dough rheological behavior and baking performance. Obtained results showed that GlutoPeak parameters correlated better with the indices of extensional rheological tests which consider constant dough hydration than with those which were performed at constant dough consistency. The GlutoPeak test showed that it is suitable for discriminating wheat varieties of good quality from those of poor quality, while the most discriminating index was maximum torque (MT). Moreover, MT value of 50 BU and aggregation energy value of 1,300 GPU were set as limits of wheat flour quality. The backward stepwise regression analysis revealed that a high-level prediction of indices which are highly affected by protein content (gluten content, flour water absorption, and dough tenacity) was achieved by using the GlutoPeak indices. Concerning bread quality, a moderate prediction of specific loaf volume and an intense level prediction of breadcrumb textural properties were accomplished by using the GlutoPeak parameters. The presented results indicated that the application of this quick test in wheat transformation chain for the assessment of baking quality would be useful. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Baking test is considered as the most reliable method for assessing wheat-baking quality. However, baking test requires trained stuff, time, and large sample amount. These disadvantages have led to a growing demand to develop new rapid tests which would enable prediction of baked product quality with a limited flour size. Therefore, we tested the possibility of using a GlutoPeak tester to predict loaf volume and breadcrumb textural properties. Discrimination of wheat varieties according to quality with a restricted flour amount was also examined. Furthermore, we proposed the limit values of GlutoPeak parameters which would be highly beneficial for millers and bakers when determine suitability of flour for end-use.

Optimization of additive content and their combination to improve the quality of pure barley bread.

The objective of this study was to model the influence of pregelatinized OSA starch (OSA), wheat gluten (Gl) and xylanase (Xyl) on breadmaking potential of barley flour by using response surface methodology. Addition of these ingredients had significant effect on specific bread volume, crust and crumb lightness, crumb texture, average cell size and crumb density. OSA showed the most pronounced effect on specific bread volume, average cell size, crumb density and hardness. Interaction between OSA and Gl, as well as Gl and Xyl, respectively, increased and decreased the specific bread volume and crumb chewiness, while the interaction between OSA and Xyl decreased the specific volume decrease and increased crumb chewiness. An optimal barley bread formulation appeared to be the one containing 9.68% OSA, 2.0% Gl and 4.51 g/100 kg Xyl. This optimal barley bread formulation predicted an increment of 14-28% in volume and a decrease of 105-217% in crumb chewiness in comparison to formulations containing medium amounts of improvers (1% Gl, 5% OSA, 2.5 g/100 kg Xyl).

Changes in the rheological properties of wheat dough during short-term storage of wheat.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to investigate the ability of the small- and large-deformation fundamental rheological tests to monitor the changes during short-term post-harvest storage of wheat. RESULTS: At the end of wheat storage period, wet gluten quantity decreased, while gluten index increased in comparison to those of freshly harvested samples. The rheological properties of dough changed over the pre-defined period of storage in terms of becoming more elastic and less extensible in comparison to that of freshly harvested wheat. Visco-elastic properties of weaker flour samples changed more markedly during storage than those of stronger flours, indicating that the intensity of dough rheological changes during wheat storage might be dependent on gluten quality and were the characteristic of wheat variety. CONCLUSION: It was shown that small deformation dynamic oscillation and large deformation creep-recovery tests can be successfully employed to monitor the changes in flour quality during wheat storage and that required storage period after wheat harvesting has to be defined according to wheat variety initial rheological properties and its gluten quality.

Content of free amino groups during postharvest wheat and flour maturation in relation to gluten quality.

The objective of this study was to monitor the changes in the content of free amino groups during postharvest wheat and flour maturation. The content of free amino groups of wheat flour was analysed immediately after wheat harvest, after 50 days of wheat storage and after 14 days of flour storage varying by wet gluten samples incubation temperatures and incubation times (0, 90 or 135 min at 30°C and after that 180 min at 37°C). The results were observed in relation to wheat-bug damaged kernels content, gluten index values, proteolytic activity and electrophoretic properties of gliadins and glutenins. The content of free amino groups increased during postharvest wheat and flour maturation periods. Proteolytic activity values were the highest 50 days after the wheat storage. The electrophoretic determination indicated a macromolecular redistribution of the gluten proteins from the moment of the wheat harvest until the moment of flour stabilisation.

Determination of free sulphydryl groups in wheat gluten under the influence of different time and temperature of incubation: method validation.

The aim of the present study was to determine the characteristics of an analytical method for determination of free sulphydryl (SH) groups of wheat gluten performed with previous gluten incubation for variable times (45, 90 and 135min) at variable temperatures (30 and 37°C), in order to determine its fitness-for-purpose. It was observed that the increase in temperature and gluten incubation time caused the increase in the amount of free SH groups, with more dynamic changes at 37°C. The method characteristics identified as relevant were: linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, precision (repeatability and reproducibility) and measurement uncertainty, which were checked within the validation protocol, while the method performance was monitored by X- and R-control charts. Identified method characteristics demonstrated its acceptable fitness-for-purpose, when assay included previous gluten incubation at 30°C. Although the method repeatability at 37°C was acceptable, the corresponding reproducibility did not meet the performance criterion on the basis of HORRAT value (HORRAT<2).