Hacia una Argentina libre de grasas trans / Towards a trans fat free Argentina

An unhealthy diet, consisting mainly of saturated and trans fats intake, is one of the strongest factors contributing to the development of cardiovascular disease. With an historical approach, this paper aims to describe policies regarding trans fats in Argentina. Main global strategies which inspired local interventions are included: from North Karelia memorable project, through the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health to the Argentinian experience which made it possible to replace 70% of partially hydrogenated oil from the market.

La mala alimentación, en particular el consumo de grasas saturadas y trans, es un factor de primer orden para el desarrollo de enfermedad cardiovascular. Mediante un relato histórico, el presente trabajo pretende describir las políticas referidas a grasas trans en Argentina. Se incluyen referencias a las principales estrategias mundiales que inspiraron intervenciones locales, desde el memorable proyecto de Karelia del Norte, pasando por la Estrategia Mundial sobre Régimen Alimentario, Actividad Física y Salud, hasta la experiencia Argentina que llevó a reemplazar el 70% del aceite parcialmente hidrogenado del mercado.

Impact of power ultrasound on chemical and physicochemical quality indicators of strawberries dried by convection.

A study on the quality parameters of strawberries dehydrated by convection assisted by power ultrasound (US) at 40-70°C and 30 and 60W has been carried out for the first time. In general, the quality of US-treated samples was higher than that of commercial samples. Even under the most severe conditions used (US at 70°C and 60W), high values of vitamin C retention (>65%) and scarce advance of Maillard reaction (2-furoylmethyl derivatives of Lys and Arg<90mg 100g(-1) protein) were observed. Rehydration ratio was not affected by the power applied and the obtained values were similar to those of convectively-treated samples. According to the results here presented, US is a suitable example of an emerging and environmentally friendly technology that accelerates convective drying, allowing the obtainment of dried strawberries with premium quality.

Impact of processing conditions on the kinetic of vitamin C degradation and 2-furoylmethyl amino acid formation in dried strawberries.

In this paper, a study on the usefulness of the determination of vitamin C together with indicators of the initial steps of Maillard reaction (2-furoylmethyl amino acids, 2-FM-AA) during the convective drying of strawberries has been carried out for the first time, paying special attention to the kinetics of degradation and formation, respectively, of both parameters. Formation of 2-FM-AA of Lys, Arg and GABA and vitamin C loss increased with time and temperature following, respectively, a zero and first-order kinetics. As supported by its lower activation energy, 2-FM-GABA (55.9 kJ/mol) and 2-FM-Lys+2-FM-Arg (58.2 kJ/mol) were shown to be slightly more sensitive indicators than vitamin C (82.1 kJ/mol). The obtained results, together with a complementary study on the rehydration ability and sensorial attributes of samples, pointed out the suitability of the convective drying system to obtain dried strawberries of high nutritive quality and bioactivity and good consumer acceptance.

Survey of quality indicators in commercial dehydrated fruits.

Physical and chemical quality parameters (dry matter, aw, protein, carbohydrates, vitamin C, 2-furoylmethyl amino acids, rehydration ratio and leaching loss) have been determined in 30 commercial dehydrated fruits (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, cherry, apple, grapefruit, mango, kiwifruit, pineapple, melon, coconut, banana and papaya). For comparison purposes, strawberry samples processed in the laboratory by freeze-drying and by convective drying were used as control samples. Overall quality of dehydrated fruits seemed to be greatly dependent on processing conditions and, in a cluster analysis, samples which were presumably subjected to osmotic dehydration were separated from the rest of fruits. These samples presented the lowest concentration of vitamin C and the highest evolution of Maillard reaction, as evidenced by its high concentration of 2-furoylmethyl amino acids. This is the first study on the usefulness of this combination of chemical and physical indicators to assess the overall quality of commercial dehydrated fruits.

Quality parameters in convective dehydrated carrots blanched by ultrasound and conventional treatment.

The effect of previous ultrasound and conventional blanching treatments on drying and quality parameters (2-furoylmethyl-amino acids -as indicators of lysine and arginine participation in the Maillard reaction-, carbohydrates, total polyphenols, protein profile, rehydration ratio, microstructure changes) of convective dehydrated carrots has been assessed. The most striking feature was the influence of blanching on the subsequent 2-furoylmethyl-amino acid formation during drying, probably due to changes in the protein structure. The highest values of 2-furoylmethyl-amino acids were found in carrots conventionally blanched with water at 95°C for 5 min. However, samples previously treated by ultrasound presented intermediate values of 2-furoylmethyl-amino acids and carbohydrates as compared to the conventionally blanched samples. Dried carrots previously subjected to ultrasound blanching preserved their total polyphenol content and showed rehydration properties, which were even better than those of the freeze-dried control sample. The results obtained here underline the usefulness of 2-furoylmethyl-amino acids as indicators of the damage suffered by carrots during their blanching and subsequent drying.

Vitamin C content and sensorial properties of dehydrated carrots blanched conventionally or by ultrasound.

Vitamin C content and sensorial properties have been evaluated in air-dried carrots previously subjected to different ultrasound (US) or conventional blanching pretreatments. In addition, mass spectral fingerprints obtained by the Headspace ChemSensor System have been evaluated for the first time for classification of carrots according to their processing. Conventional blanching treatments at high temperature gave rise to carrots with retention of vitamin C in the range 37.5-85%, whereas carrots blanched conventionally at 60°C and by US-probe at temperatures up to 60 and 70°C showed vitamin C retention values lower than 4%. Regarding sensorial analysis of rehydrated carrots, US-pretreated samples presented acceptable quality, and no statistically significant differences with respect to conventionally blanched carrots, were detected. In spite of this, differentiation of samples processed under comparable intensity conditions and/or with similar composition was possible from their mass spectral fingerprints after chemometric data analysis.

Chemical and physicochemical quality parameters in carrots dehydrated by power ultrasound.

Preservation of the quality and bioactivity of carrots dehydrated by power ultrasound (US) under different experimental conditions including prior blanching has been evaluated for the first time by measuring the evolution of the Maillard reaction and the changes in soluble sugars, proteins, total polyphenols, antioxidant activity, and rehydration ability. This study also includes a comparison with a freeze-dried sample and data of commercial dehydrated carrots. The synergic effect of US and temperature (60 degrees C) increased the dehydration rate of carrots (90% moisture loss in only 75 min) while still providing carrots with a level of 2-furoylmethyl-amino acids significantly lower than that of dehydrated commercial samples. Whereas a decrease in the content of reducing soluble sugars was observed with processing temperature, minor carbohydrates (scyllo- and myo-inositol and sedoheptulose) were rather stable, irrespective of the US dehydration parameters. Blanching significantly improved the rehydration ability of US-dehydrated carrots without increasing the loss of soluble sugars by leaching. As supported by the similarity of most quality indicators studied in both US-treated and freeze-dried carrots, the mild processing conditions employed in US dehydration gave rise to premium quality dehydrated carrots.