Your browser does not fully support modern features. Please upgrade for a smoother experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Meat Quality Perception in Argentina
In Argentina, color and intramuscular fat are the main attributes of raw beef quality; however, it is necessary to clarify how consumers use them, in order to establish different marketing strategies. Consumer preferences are affected by multiple factors. Thus, the objective of the present study was to identify the Argentinian consumer’s choice behavior regarding beef color and fat content. An online survey was carried out in Argentina. It inquired about socio-demographic characteristics, purchase and consumption habits and beliefs, showing pictures related to color, marbling and the amount of fat. Choice behavior was evaluated by asking why consumers chose a particular picture out of the ones shown. Several Kruskal–Wallis tests evaluated the different hypotheses. Three different decision trees using the CHAID analysis method were created. Multifactorial analysis was carried out for clustering consumers. Regarding consumer beliefs, 90% of the respondents agreed with the sentence, “The two main characteristics defining beef quality at purchase time are meat color and marbling”. Socio-demographic characteristics affected purchase habits and beliefs; they also affected perceptions about meat color and marbling. It was possible to build three consumer groups for future marketing strategies: “hedonic” focused on a pleasing sensory experience, “appearance” prioritized the visual aspects, and the “health-conscious” consumers were interested in their healthy nutrition. 
  • 1.6K
  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Interaction of Milk Protein Concentrates with Plant-Based Polyphenolics
Functional properties and biological activities of plant-derived polyphenolic compounds have gained great interest due to their epidemiologically proven health benefits and diverse industrial applications in the food and pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, the food processing conditions and certain chemical reactions such as pigmentation, acylation, hydroxylation, and glycosylation can also cause alteration in the stability, antioxidant activity, and structural characteristics of the polyphenolic compounds. Since the (poly)phenols are highly reactive, to overcome these problems, the formulation of a complex of polyphenolic compounds with natural biopolymers is an effective approach. Besides, to increase the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of polyphenolic compounds, milk proteins such as whey protein concentrate, sodium caseinate, and milk protein concentrate act as natural vehicles, due to their specific structural and functional properties with high nutritional value. Therefore, milk proteins are suitable for the delivery of polyphenols to parts of the gastrointestinal tract.
  • 1.6K
  • 21 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Grape Anthocyanins
Anthocyanins are flavonoid pigments broadly distributed in plants with great potential to be used as food colorants due to their range of colors, innocuous nature, and positive impact on human health. However, these molecules are unstable and affected by pH changes, oxidation and high temperatures, making it very important to extract them using gentle non-thermal technologies.
  • 1.5K
  • 02 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Aflatoxins in Cereals and Cereal-Based Products
Cereals and cereal-based products are primary sources of nutrition across the world. However, contamination of these foods with aflatoxins (AFs), secondary metabolites produced by several fungal species, has raised serious concerns. AF generation in innate substrates is influenced by several parameters, including the substrate type, fungus species, moisture content, minerals, humidity, temperature, and physical injury to the kernels. Consumption of AF-contaminated cereals and cereal-based products can lead to both acute and chronic health issues related to physical and mental maturity, reproduction, and the nervous system. Therefore, the precise detection methods, detoxification, and management strategies of AFs in cereal and cereal-based products are crucial for food safety as well as consumer health.
  • 1.5K
  • 03 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Methods for Quality Assessment of Citrus Fruit
Citrus spp. are spread mainly in the Mediterranean basin and represent the largest fruit source for human consumption. Postharvest losses, mainly due to diseases and metabolic disorders of fruits, can cause severe wastage, reaching 30 to 50% of the total production. Preserving quality and extending shelf life are essential objectives for postharvest technological innovation, determined by the proper handling, treatment, storage and transport of harvested produce. Moreover, the application of novel sustainable strategies is critical for the reduction of synthetic fungicide residues on fruit surfaces and the impact on the environment caused by waste disposal of fungicides. In modern citrus packinghouses, advanced systems for sorting and measuring the external and internal quality of large amounts of citrus fruits rely on automated and reliable inspection systems based on computer vision techniques, equipped with electronic sorting devices capable of examining fruit images at a very high speed and measuring external properties, such as colour, size and the presence of damage or defects.
  • 1.5K
  • 20 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Aspartame Safety as a Food Sweetener
Aspartame is the methyl-ester of the aspartate-phenylalanine dipeptide. Over time, it has become a very popular artificial sweetener. However, since its approval by the main food safety agencies, several concerns have been raised related to neuropsychiatric effects and neurotoxicity due to its ability to activate glutamate receptors, as well as carcinogenic risks due to the increased production of reactive oxygen species. 
  • 1.5K
  • 13 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Invasive Algae Species
Invasive alien species (IAS), also known as exotic or non-native species, are plants or animals that have been introduced, intentionally or not, into regions where it is not usual to find them.
  • 1.5K
  • 21 Apr 2021
Topic Review
NMR-Based Metabolomics in Food Quality Assessment
The ability of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to extract chemical information from a complex mixture is invaluable and widely described in literature. Many applications of this technique in the foodomics field have highlighted how NMR could characterize food matrices, and it can be used all along its “life chain”: from farm to fork and from fork to the digestion process. 
  • 1.5K
  • 19 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Wine
Dietary habits are a determining factor of the higher incidence and prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In the aim to find a possible preventive and intervention strategy, the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been proposed as an effective approach. Within the MedDiet, moderate wine consumption with meals is a positive item in the MedDiet score; however, recent studies have reported a dose-response association between alcohol consumption and higher risk of a large number of NCDs. This review aimed to evaluate the association between NCDs and wine consumption in the framework of the MedDiet, with a simple review of 22 studies of the highest-level literature published over the last five years. We found that the information regarding the effects of wine in different health outcomes has not varied widely over the past five years, finding inconclusive results among the studies evaluated. Most of the literature agrees that light to moderate wine intake seems to have beneficial effects to some extent in NCDs, such as hypertension, cancer, dyslipidemia and dementia, but no definitive recommendations can be made on a specific dose intake that can benefit most diseases.
  • 1.5K
  • 11 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Influence of Peanut Variety on Peanut Butter Flavor
For peanut butter, flavor is one of the most important quality attributes, with strong influence on consumer acceptance. There are numerous peanut cultivars on the market, with widely differing chemical compositions and metabolite profiles, which can significantly affect the sensory quality attributes of peanut butter.
  • 1.5K
  • 22 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Alcoholic Fermentation in Fruit Spirits
Fermentation is a metabolic process of conversion of an organic substrate by the action of enzymes. It is a completely natural process that occurs unhindered in nature.
  • 1.5K
  • 16 May 2023
Topic Review
Influence of Root Vegetables on Health
Root vegetables are characterized by high nutritional value due to their richness in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. One of their most important features is their high content of bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, phenols, flavonoids, and vitamin C. These compounds are responsible for antioxidant potential. Moreover, root vegetables are characterized by several health-promoting effects, including the regulation of metabolic parameters (glucose level, lipid profile, and blood pressure), antioxidant potential, prebiotic function, and anti-cancer properties. However, due to the type of cultivation, root vegetables are vulnerable to contaminants from the soil, such as toxic metals (lead and cadmium), pesticides, pharmaceutical residues, microplastics, and nitrates. Vegetables can be classified based on their botanical origin, hardiness or temperature, and plant part used, i.e. leaves, fruits, or roots. Root vegetables include carrot, radish, potato, yam, ginseng, celery, parsley, and horseradish.  
  • 1.5K
  • 05 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Effect of Probiotics on Glucose Metabolism and Homeostasis
The maintenance of a healthy status depends on the coexistence between the host organism and the microbiota. Early studies have already focused on the nutritional properties of probiotics, which may also contribute to the structural changes in the gut microbiota, thereby affecting host metabolism and homeostasis. Maintaining homeostasis in the body is therefore crucial and is reflected at all levels, including that of glucose, a simple sugar molecule that is an essential fuel for normal cellular function. Despite numerous clinical studies that have shown the effect of various probiotics on glucose and its homeostasis, knowledge about the exact function of their mechanism is still scarce. 
  • 1.5K
  • 12 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Food Bio-Based Packaging
Recently, academic research and industries have gained awareness about the economic, environmental, and social impacts of conventional plastic packaging and its disposal. This consciousness has oriented efforts towards more sustainable materials such as biopolymers, paving the way for the “green era” of food packaging.
  • 1.5K
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Mushroom Bioactive Peptides
Mushroom bioactive peptides (MBPs) are bioactive peptides extracted directly or indirectly from edible mushrooms. MBPs are known to have antioxidant, anti-aging, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive properties, and facilitate memory and cognitive improvement, antitumour and anti-diabetes activities, and cholesterol reduction.
  • 1.5K
  • 11 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Application of Postbiotics in Improving Human Health
In the 21st century, compressive health and functional foods are advocated by increasingly more people in order to eliminate sub-health conditions. Probiotics and postbiotics have gradually become the focus of scientific and nutrition communities. “Postbiotic” has been defined as a “preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host”.
  • 1.5K
  • 11 Jan 2023
Topic Review
By-Products for the Agri-Food Industry
In Europe, around 31 million tonnes of food by-products are generated during primary production and trade. The management of these by-products may cause a negative impact, both at the economic and environmental levels, for both industry and society. In this regard, taking into consideration that these by-products retain the dietary fibre compositions and the bioactive compounds of the starting materials, plant food agro-industries have an interest in taking advantage of them, from a nutritional point of view. Using different extraction techniques they can be used as the source of insoluble and soluble dietary fibre, polyphenols, carotenoids, and other bioactive compounds.
  • 1.5K
  • 06 May 2023
Topic Review
Composition of Red Fruit Juices
Red fruit juices are appreciated for almost all consumers due to their flavor and intense red color. Studies have also shown that their phytochemical composition, associated with their antioxidant activity, is protective against many chronic diseases.
  • 1.5K
  • 13 Sep 2023
Topic Review
Honey Properties and Postharvest Handling
In ancient Greece, people said that “honey is the Food of the Gods”, and they were right. They believed that honey fell from the sky, with the morning dew, on the flowers and leaves, and from this point, the bees collected it. Honey is one of the most nutritious food products, which can be found in most homes. A lot of honey products are stored in different types of packaging materials, including plastics. Plastic packaging has been studied for the migration of plasticizers, chemical compounds, and microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) in foodstuffs. Most of them have been achieved through food simulations, while some studies managed to detect and isolate MPs/NPs. There are evidence for the presence of MPs/NPs in honey products but not directly connected to food packaging or to the different types of honey and their properties (viscosity, pH value, and moisture content) or their storing conditions (temperature, humidity, light, and time). 
  • 1.5K
  • 25 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Food Losses and Waste of Food
In recent times the issue of food losses and waste of food (FLW) has received increased academic and political attention. Although the definition of FLW is not clear, the truth is that globally roughly one-third of food is not consumed and is wasted, equivalent to 1.3. billion tonnes per year. The reasons for FLW differ between countries. In developed countries, most FLW occurs at the retail, foodservice and, home stages of the food supply chain for a variety of reasons. For instance, food not used in time, burning, spoilage, personal preferences or, leftover waste. While in developing countries FLW is mainly due to the absence of infrastructure, lack of knowledge and, investment in storage technologies.
  • 1.5K
  • 02 Feb 2022
  • Page
  • of
  • 47
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Reprints

>>
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Medieval Royal Iconography
Academic Video Service
Feedback

Quick Survey

Encyclopedia MDPI is conducting a targeted survey to identify the specific barriers hindering efficient research. We invite you to spend 3 minutes defining the priorities for our next generation of structured knowledge tools.
Take Survey