Browsing by Author "Nunes, M.A."
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- Accuracy of labelled nutrition declaration among cereal productsPublication . Albuquerque, T.G.; Nunes, M.A.; Oliveira, M.B.P.P.; Costa, H.S.Introduction: In the last years, consumers are paying increasing attention to the nutritional composition of foods, in order to make healthier food choices, and therefore to prevent chronic diseases. The European Union has faced the challenge of standardizing the nutritional declaration of prepacked foods. Therefore, in 2011, Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers was published (1). Accordingly, and concerning the declared values on the nutrition declaration, they should be an average and can be obtained by: (a) the manufacturer’s analysis of the food; (b) a calculation from the known or actual average values of the ingredients used; and (c) a calculation from generally established and accepted data. However, the food nutrient content should not deviate markedly from labeled values, otherwise consumers can be misled. Therefore, a tolerance guide regarding the deviations of labeled values for the different nutrients for analytical control purposes has been set up (2). In our study, an analysis regarding the accuracy of labeled nutrition declaration in cereal products was performed. Materials and Methods: In 2015, twelve samples of cereal products (cereal bars and breakfast cereals) were selected from the major supermarket chains in Portugal. An Excel® form was filled out with the labeled information for each one of the selected foods. Afterwards, the same foods were analysed concerning their salt, total fat and fatty acids composition, according to the methods described by Albuquerque et al. (3). Then, all the information was used to perform an analysis of the accuracy of the declared values, considering the tolerance limits defined for salt, total fat and saturated fatty acids (SFA). Results: Considering salt, in two (17%) of the selected foods, the declared values were not in compliance with the tolerance limits, being the analytical values lower than the lower tolerance value. The comparison between declared and analytical values for total fat shows that all the selected foods were within the tolerance limits fixed for this nutrient. On the other hand, for SFA, 33% of the samples were out of the tolerance limits, but from those samples, only one had an analytical value (10.3 g/100 g) higher than the upper tolerance value (4.7 g/100 g). Discussion and Conclusions: Food labels, namely nutrition declaration, are the most direct source of information for consumers. Therefore, it is very important that these labels provide accurate information in order to allow consumers to make informed and healthier dietary choices. In our study, SFA values were the ones for which a higher number of samples was out of the tolerance limits. References: (1) European Parliament/Council of the European Union. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. Official J Eur Union, 2011; L304: 18-63. (2) European Commission. Guidance document for competent authorities for the control of compliance with EU legislation. 2012. Available at: https://www.fsai.ie/uploadedfiles/guidance_tolerances_december_2012.pdf. (3) Albuquerque TG, Oliveira MBPP, Sanches-Silva A, Bento AC, Costa HS. The impact of cooking methods on the nutritional quality and safety of chicken breaded nuggets. Food Func. 2016; 7: 2736-46.
- Alimentos processados: avaliação da conformidade da rotulagemPublication . Albuquerque, T.G.; Nunes, M.A.; Oliveira, M.B.P.P.; Costa, H.S.A rotulagem dos alimentos é crucial para o consumidor fazer, caso queira, uma escolha informada e consciente dos produtos alimentares que adquire. Com a entrada em vigor do Regulamento (UE) n.º 1169/2011, foram estabelecidas regras relativamente à rotulagem dos géneros alimentícios que são aplicáveis a todos os Estados-Membros da União Europeia. No entanto, existem por vezes desvios entre os valores dos nutrientes declarados na informação nutricional e os presentes no alimento. Em 2012, para ultrapassar esta situação, foram fixadas as tolerâncias aplicáveis aos valores de nutrientes declarados no rótulo, uma vez que tais desvios poderiam levar a que os consumidores fossem induzidos em erro. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar a conformidade da rotulagem de 10 categorias de alimentos processados (snacks, fast-food, frutos secos e sementes oleaginosas, refeições prontas-a-comer, cereais, molhos, sopas, produtos de pastelaria, produtos de panificação, batatas fritas e outros produtos à base de batata) amplamente disponíveis no mercado nacional e internacional. Foram incluídos 209 alimentos recolhidos em grandes superfícies e restaurantes de fast-food. Determinou-se quantitativamente os teores de sal, gordura total e ácidos gordos, pelos métodos de Charpentier-Volhard, hidrólise ácida com extração em Soxhlet e cromatografia gasosa com deteção por ionização de chama, respetivamente. Foram aplicadas as tolerâncias de acordo com a legislação em vigor, utilizando os valores declarados no rótulo das embalagens. Apenas 50% das amostras analisadas estavam dentro dos limites de tolerância para o teor de sal. O menor número de amostras fora dos limites de tolerância foi observado para a gordura. Para os ácidos gordos saturados, 26% das amostras estavam fora dos limites de tolerância. A categoria dos cereais foi a única em que 100% dos produtos estavam em conformidade para os teores de gordura e sal. Conclui-se, assim, ser de extrema importância que a indústria alimentar atualize continuamente os valores declarados nos rótulos, pois essa informação é crucial para os consumidores e para a elaboração de políticas alimentares. As maiores diferenças foram encontradas nas categorias snacks e fast-food. Os resultados apresentados podem ser importantes não só para os consumidores, como também para organizações de saúde pública e indústria alimentar.
- Biologically active and health promoting food components of nuts, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, cereals, and legumesPublication . Albuquerque, T.G.; Nunes, M.A.; Bessada, S.M.F.; Costa, H.S.; Oliveira, M.B.P.P.The primary role of diet is to provide, in quality and quantity, enough nutrients to meet basic metabolic requirements of consumers. Cereals, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, vegetable oils, and related products are daily consumed by worldwide population as fundamental source of food energy, but also due to its richness in biologically active compounds with potential health promoting properties. There are thousands of bioactive compounds already identified and studied for their health promoting properties, however there still a lot of research to be done. This chapter describes the main food sources, as well as, health promoting properties, of some food components (phytosterols, fatty acids, polyphenols, carotenoids, glucosinolates, dietary fiber, isoflavones, and lignans). In fact, these compounds were selected due to its abundance in some of the major consumed food groups. Nuts, oilseeds, and derived products are well known for their richness in phytosterols and unsaturated fatty acids. In the last years, great attention has been given to this group of compounds because they are linked with several health benefits, namely antiinflammatory, antioxidative, anticarcinogenic activities, and cholesterol lowering capacity. On the other hand, fresh fruit and vegetables are the major sources of polyphenols, carotenoids, and glucosinolates. Nutritional guidelines promote the consumption of three to five daily servings of fruits and vegetables for protection against chronic diseases, such as cardio and neurovascular diseases. These foods, besides providing basic nutrition confers other significant health effects mainly due to its content in vitamins (especially vitamins C and A) minerals, polyphenols, and soluble and insoluble fiber. Lastly, cereals and/or legumes are the major sources of dietary fiber, lignans, and isoflavones. Besides their nutritional role, several scientific and epidemiological studies have shown that regular consumption of cereals and/or legumes and their related products are associated with reduced risk of various types of chronic diseases as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, and some types of cancers as colorectal, prostate, breast, and estrogen-related cancers. These evidences can mean that regular consumption of cereals and legumes promote human health and consequent prevention of diseases.
- Influence of germination on the nutritional value and lipid profile of Vigna unguiculata seedsPublication . Araújo, C.; Alves, R.C.; Costa, A.S.G.; Bessada, S.; Nunes, M.A.; Benevides, C.M.J.; Albuquerque, T.G.; Costa, H.S.; Soveral, G.; Oliveira, M.B.P.P.Introduction and objectives: Legumes have high levels of protein and fiber and despite their low fat content, their lipid fraction is of high nutritional quality, contributing to a balanced diet. Moreover, when supplemented with cereals, they can be good animal protein substitutes. Objective: In this work, seeds of Vigna unguiculata in different stages – germinated, green (in natura) and dried – were compared regarding their nutritional composition and lipid profile (fatty acids and vitamin E). Materials and Methods: The content of ash, protein, fat, fiber (total and insoluble) were analysed by AOAC methods. The moisture content was determined using an infrared moisture analyser. The content of carbohydrates and soluble fiber was obtained indirectly by calculation. The fatty acid (FA) and vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols) profiles were determined by chromatographic techniques (GC-FID and HPLC-DAD-FLD, respectively). Results: In a dry weight (dw) basis, no significant differences were found between protein and carbohydrate contents of the different types of seeds. However, significantly higher levels of ash (4.97%) and insoluble fiber (24.69%) were found in germinated seeds. In turn, green ones presented significantly higher levels of fat (1.58%) and soluble fiber (8.45%). Regarding vitamin E, total contents ranged from 5.2 to 10.3 mg/100 g dw. δ-Tocopherol (4.2-6.7 mg/100 g dw) was the major compound found, followed by γ-tocopherol (0.6-3.3 mg/100 g dw). Both vitamers were present in significantly higher contents in dried seeds, while α-tocopherol contents were significantly higher in germinated ones. In what concerns to the lipid profile, C16:0 (21.5-24.6%), C18:2n6 (33.5-34.7%), and C18:3n3 (22.1-26.1%) were the major FA. Some differences were noticed between the FA profiles of the different samples, being germinated seeds slightly richer in saturated FA, while dried seeds presented higher relative percentages of polyunsaturated ones. Conclusion: In general, with germination, there was a significant increase in the ash and insoluble fiber contents of the seeds, as well as modifications in the vitamin E and FA profiles. Nevertheless, the nutritional richness of the Vigna unguiculata seeds was demonstrated independently of the seed stage.
- Potato chips with flavours: accuracy of the nutritional labelled informationPublication . Albuquerque, T.G.; Nunes, M.A.; Oliveira, M.B.P.P.; Costa, H.S.Introduction and aim: The nutrition declaration presents information that should allow consumers to make an informed choice. Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 sets definitions, principles and procedures regarding the information provided on the labels of pre-packaged foods among the European Union (EU) Member States. Tolerances for nutritional labelling have been established in the EU food legislation framework. The aim of this study was to evaluate the compliance between the declared and analysed values for potato chips with flavours, considering the permitted tolerance limits for salt, fat and saturated fatty acids (SFA). Methods: Between 2015 and 2016, 14 types of flavoured potato chips were acquired in supermarkets from Lisbon region. Afterwards, the information from the nutrition declaration of the label was registered. Then samples were analysed regarding their salt, total fat and fatty acids composition. The obtained analytical values were compared with the declared ones and the compliance checked considering the limits fixed by legislation. Results: Regarding total fat, only one sample of the analysed foods had a declared value outside the tolerance limits whereas for salt and SFA, three products of each were outside the tolerance limits (n=3, 21%). However, for two of these products, the analytical value for salt content was higher than the upper tolerance limit. Conclusion: The obtained results can be noteworthy for consumers, public health organizations, and food industries. However, the results of the analysed potato chips fully justify the extension of this study to other categories of pre-packaged foods, but also to develop efforts with industry to carefully follow this situation and to provide reliable and accurate nutrition declarations.
- Prepacked processed foods: accuracy of the labelled informationPublication . Albuquerque, T.G.; Nunes, M.A.; Oliveira, M.B.P.P.; Costa, H.S.Introduction: The accuracy of nutritional labelling is important to establish health food policies. The European Commission on 25 October 2011, the Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information, setting common definitions, principles and procedures was published. Above all, food information should not mislead consumers about the nature, characteristics, and food effects. Aim: The compliance between the declared and the determined values of prepacked processed foods, selected from the Portuguese market, considering the permitted tolerance limits for salt, fat and saturated fatty acids, was explored in this work.
- The phytochemical and bioactivity profiles of wild Calluna vulgaris L. flowersPublication . Rodrigues, F.; Moreira, T.; Pinto, D.; Pimentel, F.B.; Costa, A.; Nunes, M.A.; Albuquerque, T.G.; Costa, H.S.; Palmeira-de-Oliveira, A.; Oliveira, A.I.; Sut, S.; Dall'Acqua, S.; Oliveira, M.B.P.P.The nutritional composition of Calluna vulgaris flowers as well as the phytochemical profile, antioxidant (DPPH and FRAP assays), antimicrobial and cytotoxic (in human immortalized non-tumorigenic keratinocyte and fibroblasts) activities of aqueous, hydroalcoholic and ethanolic extracts were evaluated. A high content of fiber and carbohydrates (75%) and the prevalence of α-tocopherol as vitamer deserves attention. Linolenic (35%), linoleic (27%) and palmitic (21%) acids were the most abundant fatty acids. Qualitative and quantitative analysis by LC-MS and 1NMR indicated high levels of quercetin, kaempferol and myricetin derivatives as well as procyanidins. The hydro-alcoholic extract displayed the highest antioxidant activity and total phenolics (TPC) and flavonoid contents (TFC). No adverse effects on cells were observed until a concentration of 100 μg/mL and a good antimicrobial activity was reported against S. epidermidis and S. aureus with the hydro-alcoholic extract. The data obtained demonstrated that wild plants like heather, although not being a common nutritional reference, can be used in an alimentary base as a source of bioactive compounds, namely antioxidants.