Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023-07-06"
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- Multivariate Analysis applied in the study of the nutritional quality of processed productsPublication . Pereira, Beatriz Pimentel; Trigueirão, Eunice Isabel Ganhão Carrasquinha; Costa, H.S.Recently, the search for processed food has been increasing due to its characteristics and convenience, and accessibility in our everyday life. Regrettably, most of these products have salt and fat content superior to what national and international entities recommend. Following this issue, to contribute to the betterment of the nutritional quality of a diversity of processed products, the contents of their total fat and salt as well as fatty acids were analysed to verify the major differences between them. Under the PTranSALT project, 280 processed products were acquired in supermarkets, restaurants, takeaway, pastry shops, and fast-food chains and analysed as well. The purpose was to prioritize the nutritional parameters with the intent to proceed with the reformulation (if needed) of its composition. This leads to the contribution towards more safe and balanced nutrition. And for that, two multivariate techniques were considered: Cluster Analysis (CA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Once these methods were applied it was verified that some of the products in the category of snacks, fries, and cookies show a poor nutritional profile, having simultaneously elevated levels of salt and saturated fatty acids. These are nutrients that, when consumed excessively, are associated with illnesses such as obesity, hypertension, and some other chronic diseases. In the future, it will be necessary for the topic of food processing to remain in the spotlight to address many of the existing gaps, both in current food classifications and their rather negative impact on public health.
- Packaging of Fresh Poultry Meat with Innovative and Sustainable ZnO/Pectin Bionanocomposite Films—A Contribution to the Bio and Circular EconomyPublication . Przybyszewska, A.; Barbosa, C.H.; Pires, F.; Pires, J.R.A.; Rodrigues, C.; Galus, S.; Souza, V.G.L.; Alves, M M.; Santos, C.F.; Coelhoso, I.; Fernando, A.L.The development of innovative/sustainable materials capable of enlarging the shelf-life of food products has lately been a focus of research, aiming to reduce food waste. Due to their good antimicrobial properties, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) can add activity to food packaging, improving its performance. Furthermore, these nanoparticles are considered GRAS by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which represents an advantage in their application. Through an innovative and sustainable approach using tomato and passionfruit extracts, ZnO NPs were produced and incorporated into pectin films. The resulting bionanocomposites were tested for their activity via in situ studies, using fresh poultry meat as a food matrix. Overall, the bionanocomposites presented good antimicrobial activity, with the intrinsic antimicrobial properties of pectin having shown to be enhanced by the incorporated ZnO NPs. When used as primary packaging for the meat, the deterioration rate of the poultry meat, measured through microbiological growth and total volatile basic nitrogen content, was reduced. However, the nanoparticles contributed to the increment of discoloration and meat oxidation processes. Nonetheless, it can be concluded that fresh poultry meat protected with the bionanocomposites presented an extension of its shelf-life time, and it was confirmed that this eco-friendly packaging has potential to be employed by the food industry.