Design of a Novel Auxiliary Diagnostic Test for the Determination of Authenticity of Tequila 100% Agave Silver Class Based on Chemometrics Analysis of the Isotopic Fingerprint of the Beverage.

The present research shows a robust isotopic ratio characterization of Carbon-13 (δ13CVPDB) in congeneric compounds such as methanol, n-propanol, isoamyl alcohol, ethyl lactate, ethyl acetate, ethanol, and acetaldehyde in representative samples (n = 69) of Tequila 100% agave silver class (TSC), employing gas chromatography/combustion/isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS). From the information obtained, the construction of a radial plot attributable to the isotopic fingerprint of TSC was achieved. With this information, a diagnostic test was designed to determine the authenticity of TSC, comparing alcoholic beverages from other agave species as non-authentic samples. The sensitivity of the test was 94.2%; the specificity was 83.3%. Additionally, non-authentic samples were analyzed that meet all the criteria established in the regulations. The results obtained show that the GC/C/IRMS analytical technique and designed diagnostic test are useful as auxiliary parameters to determine the authenticity of the beverage, thus managing to determine the adulteration or falsification of the product.

Yield and Chemical Characteristics of Salvia hispanica L. (Chia) Oil from Native Seeds from Four Provenances of Guatemala.

INTRODUCTION: Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) is a plant from the Lamiaceae family that has been used as ancestral food, medicine, and oil, with culinary, artistic, and religious purposes by most of the Mesoamerican civilizations. Native from Mesoamerica, introduced into South America, Australia, and Europe, it is presently consumed as a nutritional and functional food. OBJECTIVE: This research aims to characterize ancient native cultivars from four provenances in Guatemala to recommend their direct consumption by the population as well as to establish its trade. METHOD: Seed samples were collected in four places where they have been cultivated for several generations. The oil was obtained by expression and analyzed chemically by gas chromatography following standard qualitative and quantitative methods. RESULTS: Variations in oil yield and some of the characteristic parameters of the phytochemical analysis were obtained. In general, the profile was similar to most of the reported data in the literature, with the saturated fatty acids (8.54-9.25%) relatively lower than the references (7.95-11.45%) but a higher concentration of unsaturated fatty oils, particularly of omega-3 (64.68-68.62%). CONCLUSION: The oil from native cultivars contains high quantities of omega-3, which might help pregnant women during gestation and to control other conditions such as metabolic syndrome, particularly in low- and middle-income populations where these seeds are consumed regularly. The suggestion is made to encourage the cultivation and use of these ancestral seeds with the possibility of commercialization abroad with an appellation of origin label.

Patients With Hidradenitis Suppurativa Negatively Perceive Both Medical and Euphemistic Appellations of Their Disease: A Study From Turkey.

BACKGROUND: The use of medical terms and folk names (euphemisms) affect a patient's understanding of diseases and perceptions of severity. OBJECTIVES: We determine the psychological effects on patients with hidradenitis suppurativa of medical and folk names of their disease. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional and exploratory study conducted at a tertiary referral university hospital in Turkey. A questionnaire on the medical and folk names of hidradenitis suppurativa was administered to 31 males and 25 females. RESULTS: The patients expressed that they found the medical term hidradenitis suppurativa to be incomprehensible because it is a foreign term. When hearing it for the first time, it evoked negative responses such as confusion and worry about their health. Half of the patients preferred their doctors to use a more understandable and pronounceable name. More than 80% of patients expressed feeling depressed and stigmatized by the folk name of their disease. They preferred the terms boils, abscesses, or hidradenitis when referring to their disease. CONCLUSION: Both medical and folk names for hidradenitis suppurativa have negative effects on patients, and most patients feel stigmatized by either term.

Herbal textual research of Astragali Complanati Semen / 中草药

Astragali Complanati Semen has a long-term history of use as a common Chinese traditional and herbal medicine. Through a herbal textual research on the appellation, origin, efficacy, genuine producing area and counterfeit of Astragali Complanati Semen, the evolution of its appellation underwent three stages of "white terrestris", "Shayuan terrestris", and "Astragali Complanati Semen"; The botanical origin and medicinal part is dried mature seed from Astragalus complanatus of Legume family recorded in the literatures of past dynasties; And the varieties of ancient and modern application are basically the same. Its kidney-nourishing and essence-enriching efficacy has been progressively cleared with clinical application since records began in Bencao Yanyi in the Song dynasty; The genuine producing areas of Astragali Complanati Semen were Shayuan in Shaanxi Province from the Song Dynasty, and gradually moved to Tongguan in Shaanxi Province and Shanxi Province in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. After the founding of new China, it was mainly distributed in Shaanxi Province and then spread to northern adjacent provinces, in which the Tongguan in Shaanxi Province was preferred. Its counterfeits included Mapiao semon, an unknown counterfeit with a hint of green and Astragalus sinicus seed based on herbal literatures published before 1949, and mainly included the seeds of A. sinicus, Crotalaria pallida, Asfraglus chinensis and Astragalus adsurgens after 1949. Based on a systematic herbal textual research, this article takes a radical reform of Astragali Complanati Semen, so as to provide reference for its further development and utilization.

Prediction Models to Control Aging Time in Red Wine.

A combination of physical-chemical analysis has been used to monitor the aging of red wines from D.O. Toro (Spain). The changes in the chemical composition of wines that occur over the aging time can be used to distinguish between wine samples collected after one, four, seven and ten months of aging. Different computational models were used to develop a good authenticity tool to certify wines. In this research, different models have been developed: Artificial Neural Network models (ANNs), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) models. The results obtained for the ANN model developed with sigmoidal function in the output neuron and the RF model permit us to determine the aging time, with an average absolute percentage deviation below 1%, so it can be concluded that these two models have demonstrated their capacity to predict the age of wine.

Water footprint and economic water productivity of Italian wines with appellation of origin: Managing sustainability through an integrated approach.

In the agribusiness wine is certainly a very interesting sector to analyze. The specific aim of this work is to assess water efficiency and economic water productivity for the Italian wines with Appellation of Origin (AO). This assessment could represent a potential management instrument to improve production performances from a more integrated perspective, pursuing new market trends. The study is related to Italy, the first worldwide producer, and analyzes the available data of AO wines, which globally have specific features, being strictly connected with the territory and its background. The results show the top and bottom five AO wines in terms of crop water use and economic water productivity and their trends during the period 2011-2015, based on average annual change rates. Results of this study are relevant for the wine sector since they can guide decision makers on vine variety selection in the context of micro- and macro-level sustainability of water resource use.

O processo de reconhecimento das indicações geográficas de alimentos e bebidas brasileiras: regulamento de uso, delimitação da área e diferenciação do produto / The process of geographical indications recognition for food and beverages in Brazil: regulation of use, delimitation aerea and product differentiation

As denominações de origem e as indicações de procedência compõem as espécies de indicação geográfica (IG) previstas pela legislação brasileira e têm sido vistas como formas de mobilização e valorização dos territórios e de agregação de valor aos produtos típicos e de qualidade diferenciada. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo caracterizar a condução das etapas de elaboração do regulamento de uso, delimitação da área e comprovação da notoriedade e da relação entre produto e meio geográfico das IGs brasileiras. A metodologia adotada foi pesquisa survey, realizada por meio de questionários semiestruturados. Os resultados revelaram que, apesar das lacunas da legislação brasileira sobre IGs, vários órgãos têm viabilizado o processo de construção das IGs brasileiras atuando de forma decisiva nas etapas de elaboração do regulamento de uso (universidades, ONGs, INPI), delimitação da área (universidades, Embrapa, Emater, IMA), comprovação da notoriedade (SEBRAE) e da relação entre meio geográfico e qualidade (universidades). A comprovação da influência do território nas características qualitativas do produto constitui, atualmente, o principal entrave ao desenvolvimento das denominações de origem no País.

The appellations of origin and indication of source are species of geographical indication (GI) provided by the Brazilian industrial property law that could be seen as one of the ways of mobilization and recovering of the rural territories adding value to local products with differentiated quality. This study aimed to characterize the stages of the construction of the regulations of use of GI, the geographical area delimitation, the evidence of reputation and the relationship between product and geographical environment of GIs in Brazil. The survey research was the methodology adopted conducted through semi-structured questionnaires. The results showed that despite the shortcomings of the Brazilian legislation on GIs, several organs has enabled the construction process of the Brazilian GIs acting decisively on the elaboration steps of the regulation of use (universities, NGOs, INPI), on the area delimitation (universities , Embrapa, Emater, IMA), on the evidence of reputation (SEBRAE) and on the relationship between geographical environment and quality (universities). The proof of the influence of the geographical environment on the product qualitative characteristics is currently the main obstacle to the development of appellations of origin in the country.