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- Chemical and Physical Properties of Some Hazelnut Varieties Grown in PortugalPublication . Ferrão, Ana Cristina; Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Ramalhosa, Elsa; Lopes, Arminda; Rodrigues, Cláudia Filipa; Martins, Hugo; Gonçalves, Roberto; Correia, PaulaHazelnuts are one of the most appreciated nuts worldwide due to their unique organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. The present work intended to analyse several physical and chemical properties of different hazelnut varieties grown in Portugal, namely Tonda de Giffoni, Grada de Viseu, Segorbe, Longa de Espanha, Butler, Gunslebert, and Negreta. In general, the results revealed statistically significant differences between the varieties under study. The Gunslebert had more elongated hazelnuts and with heavier shelled fruits, while the kernels of the Grada de Viseu revealed to be heavier. Grada de Viseu was harder in the shell, Gunslebert had a harder core, and Segorbe was more resistant to fracture. Fat was the more representative component for all varieties and in some cases the values of moisture and water activity were over the recommended amount (≥0.62). Tonda de Giffoni was the variety with the highest induction time, indicating the highest oxidation stability. Moreover, discriminant analysis revealed that the variables more important to distinguish the varieties were protein (λ = 0.007) and water activity (λ = 0.010). The results of this study help to better understand the differences between some hazelnut varieties that are cultivated in Portugal, which gives important hints for all players in the hazelnut sector.
- Produção de farinha de larvas e pupas de zângãoPublication . Correia, Paula; Vouga, C.; Coelho, C.; Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Costa, Cristina Amaro DaA técnica da remoção dos quadros de zângão, utilizada no controlo do ácaro Varroa destructor, pode proporcionar uma fonte alternativa de alimento, sendo para isso necessário desenvolver técnicas simples e viáveis de extração e utilização das larvas e pupas. Este trabalho teve como objetivo testar dois métodos de extração, o método de extração a frio e a quente. Após a recolha os quadros foram congelados para garantir a sua conservação. Seguiu-se a extração das larvas e pupas através de métodos de extração a frio e extração quente (imersão em água a ferver). A extração a frio foi realizada manualmente com duas condições: sala fria (61ºC); superfície fria. Os rendimentos de extração variaram entre 62,57,5% e 84,94,0%, respetivamente para a superfície fria e para a extração a quente. Os tempos de extração mais elevado foi para a extração a frio em sala fria (336,342,4 segundos) e o mais baixo para a superfície fria (246,830,1 segundos). As larvas e pupas foram submetidas a dois tipos de desidratação: vaporização e liofilização. A vaporização escureceu demasiado as larvas e pupas não se revelando um bom processo de secagem. Deste modo, a farinha foi produzida a partir da trituração das larvas e pupas secadas por liofilização (até peso constante). Nutricionalmente as farinhas apresentaram-se ricas em proteína e gordura. Este novo produto poderá proporcionar o aumento do rendimento da atividade apícola, benefícios nutricionais e usos na produção de novos produtos à base de farinha de zângão.
- Is Better Knowledge about Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber Related to Food Labels Reading Habits? A Croatian OverviewPublication . Ljubičić, M.; Sarić, M. M.; Rumbak, I.; Barić, I. C.; Sarić, A.; Komes, D.; Šatalić, Z.; Dželalija, B.; Guiné, Raquel P. F.The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the associations between health dietary patterns, knowledge, and consumption of dietary fiber (DF) with frequency of food label reading on food products with special reference to DF. The study was conducted in 2536 Croatian adults using an original questionnaire. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess associations between food label reading habits and predictor variables. Our study confirms the association between habits regarding the reading of labels on food products, especially in relation to information about DF with the sociodemographic factors of respondents, dietary food patterns and DF consumption, as well as knowledge and sources of information about DF. Women, individuals with a university-level education, and those living in an urban environment had more frequent labels used. Food habits as well as eating outside of the home were positive predictors while eating fast food was a negative predictor of food label reading. Knowledge about DF, especially about its health benefits, was also associated with food label reading. The interpretation of associations could help with the design of effective public health programs. Targeted education campaigns to educate and sensitize the population about food labeling and monitoring may improve general knowledge about healthy food and its benefits, which include indirect effects on the prevention of non-communicable chronic diseases.
- Food behavior, social aspects, and nutritional status in romaniaPublication . Tarcea, M.; Matran, I. M.; Martin-Hadmas, R.; Fazakas, Z.; Guiné, Raquel P. F.Introduction. Health status is directly linked with nutritional status, life style and food behaviour. There are 4 Health Indicators: Health Conscience, Health Information Orientation, Health-Oriented Beliefs, and Healthy Activities. People who are health conscious have a positive attitude towards preventive measures such as healthy eating. Health information refers to the extent to which an individual is willing to seek health information. At the cognitive level, health orientation is manifested in the field of health beliefs, which refers to the specific cognitions held by individuals about health behaviors. Also, health-oriented individuals are more likely to engage in healthy activities than other people in the population. The four aspects of the health orientation mentioned suggest the differences between individuals in the context of their sources of information in the health field. Our aim was to evaluate connections between social characteristics, nutritional status data and food behaviour, in a Romanian population sample. Material and methods. We followed a qualitative cross-sectional study based on screening of 751 Romanian adults from different regions of our country, which was carried out in 2018. We used a validated questionnaire from an international project, based on 26 specific questions, filled in online, regarding their nutritional and social data completed by their attitudes and information towards food behaviour. In our group, 68.7% were women, one quarter had over 50 years old, 82.3% were from urban areas and almost 2/3rds were higly educated. Results. We obtained a positive correlation between demographic parameters and the BMI, also healthy food behaviors were more frequent at women versus man. On the opposite, the confidence of men upon the information about healthy eating from the internet was higher than that of women. The number of hours/day spent watching TV or in front of the computer was positively correlated with age and also with their BMI. A high education level was significantly positively associated with healthier choices regarding nutrition practices. Health status in relation with nutritional status showed us that the most concerned group for their diet was those who suffered from different pathologies especially cardiovascular disorders. We obtained no significant associations among BMI, environment, current professional activity, responsibility for eating, and physical activity. Conclusions. Nutritionists, specialists in medicine, and food stakeholders should promote healthy diets through adequate sources of information aimed at target groups. Multidisciplinary teams should develop a more efficient strategy to motivate people to make healthy eating choices and improve population food behavior.
- Drying of Maritime Plants: Effect on Antioxidant ActivityPublication . Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Barroca, M. J.; Mansinhos, I.; Silva, A. M.Salicornia and Sarcocornia belong to the same family and have similar morphological and organoleptic properties. [1]. The objective of this work was to evaluate the antioxidant activity extracts obtained from the plants in the fresh state and after being dried. Their extracts may represent a valuable source for developing novel food products (antioxidant-enriched foods), and/or table salt substitutes that satisfy the desires of consumers in terms of health benefits and sensorial acceptance. The plants (Salicornia macrostachya Moric. and Sarcocornia perennis) were collected from Portuguese salt pans, in the central region of Portugal and the aerial parts were used as raw material. The drying of plants was performed in a pilot tray drier at 40 ºC and air velocity of 1.5 ms -1 , for approximately three days. The initial moisture content was 92.30% and 84.24%, respectively, for Salicornia and Sarcocornia. The drying was carried out until reaching a final moisture content of 5%. The antioxidant activity was measured with DPPH method. Regarding the DPPH method, the results showed that the incubation time of 15 minutes is enough to measure the DPPH scavenging activity in halophyte extracts in the tested range of extract concentrations (Figure 1). However, the time defined to measure the DPPH scavenging activity was fixed at 30 minutes, since this was the common time in different laboratorial protocols. For Salicornia, the values of inhibition IC 50 were 1.09 and 1.12 mg/mL for the fresh and dried samples, respectively. For Sarcocornia, the values of IC 50 were 1.42 and 1.02 mg/mL for the fresh and dried samples, respectively. The results showed that the convective air-drying process at 40 ºC is adequate to improve the shelf life of the two halophyte plants, since the antioxidant activity was maintained or even improved as compared with the fresh samples. This might be due to a response of the plant to the stress induced by the heat and humidity conditions in the drying chamber. In this way, it was concluded that both studied halophyte plants constitute a valuable source of natural antioxidants when they are consumed as foods either in the fresh or dried states. Additionally, their extracts may represent a valuable source for developing novel antioxidant-enriched food products aimed to meet the desires of consumers who seek for health-beneficial foods.
- Consumer perception about edible insects’ relation with environment and sustainabilityPublication . Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Klava, D.; Straumite, E.; Kruma, Z.; Florença, S. G.; Anjos, O.; Djekic, I.; Chuck-Hernandez, C.; Matek Saric, M.; Bartkiene, E.; Boustani, N. M.; Papageorgiou, M.; Baro, J. M. F.; Korzeniowska, M.; Cernelic-Bizjak, M.; Tarcea, M.; Damarli, E.; Ferreira, V.The interest in adopting more sustainable diets can be a driver for consumers to engage the consumption of edible insects, even in countries where they are not culturally accepted as food. This work aimed to study the perceptions and knowledge of consumers in different countries towards edible insects and their relation with environment and sustainability. The present investigation was based on a questionnaire survey (11 questions) and this descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on a non-probabilistic sample of 7221 participants from 14 countries. The participants in the survey revealed high knowledge (over 50%) about the sustainability issues related with edible insects as food. The sociodemographic variables education, sex and age are influential, by decreasing order of importance. Regarding living environment, rural areas have the lowest percentage of informed participants. Comparing countries, statistically significant differences were observed for all questions, making this the most important predictor for information about sustainability of edible insects. This is expected, having in mind that cultural influences are highly variable among the set of countries included in the study, with a high number of European countries, but also with Latin American countries like Mexico or Brazil, or Middle East countries like Turkey or Lebanon.
- Food Choice Determinants and Perceptions of a Healthy Diet among Italian ConsumersPublication . Wongprawmas, Rungsaran; Mora, Cristina; Pellegrini, Nicoletta; Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Carini, Eleonora; Sogari, Giovanni; Vittadini, ElenaHealthy food choices are crucial for a healthy lifestyle. However, food choices are complex and affected by various factors. Understanding the determinant factors affecting food choices could aid policy-makers in designing better strategies to promote healthy food choices in the general public. This study aims to evaluate the food choice motivations and to segment consumer groups, according to their food choice motivations, in a sample of 531 Italian consumers (collected by convenience sampling), through offline and online survey platforms. K-means cluster analysis was applied to identify consumer groups using six food choice motivation categories (health, emotional, economic and availability, social and cultural, environmental and political, and marketing and commercial). The results suggest that the strongest determinants for the food choices of Italian consumers are Environmental factors and Health. Two consumer profiles were identified through the segmentation analysis: Emotional eating and Health-driven consumers. The respondents were found to have a good awareness of what comprises a healthy diet. There is a potential market for healthy and sustainable food products, especially products with minimal or environmentally friendly packages. Food labels and information strategies could be promoted as tools to assist consumers to make healthy food choices.
- Slaughter Conditions and Slaughtering of Pregnant Cows in Southeast Nigeria: Implications to Meat Quality, Food Safety and SecurityPublication . Njoga, Ugochinyere J.; Njoga, Emmanuel O.; Nwobi, Obichukwu C.; Abonyi, Festus O.; Edeh, Henry O.; Ajibo, Festus E.; Azor, Nichodemus; Bello, Abubakar; Upadhyay, Anjani K.; Okpala, Charles Odilichukwu R.; Korzeniowska, Małgorzata; Guiné, Raquel P. F.The increase in the slaughter of pregnant cows (SPCs) for meat (except as may be approved by veterinarians on health grounds to salvage the animal) is unethical. SPCs for meat is also counterproductive, detrimental to food security, and may enhance zoonotic disease transmission. In this context, therefore, this current study examined slaughter conditions and the slaughtering of pregnant cows, and the implications for meat quality, food safety, and food security in Southeast Nigeria. The direct observational method was employed to examine the slaughterhouse activities, from when the cattle arrived at the lairage to the post-slaughter stage. A pre-tested and validated closed-ended-questionnaire was used to elicit information on causes of the SPCs and the method of disposal of eviscerated foetuses. Pregnancy status of cows slaughtered was determined by palpation followed by visual examination of the eviscerated and longitudinal incised uteri. The study lasted for six months during which 851 cows out of 1931 slaughtered cattle were surveyed. Assessment/decision-making protocol of slaughterhouse conditions, welfare conditions of slaughter- cattle, reasons for sale or slaughter of pregnant cows, distribution of pregnant cows slaughtered, method of disposal of eviscerated foetuses, and estimated economic losses of SPCs were delineated. Of the 851 cows examined, 17.4% (148/851) were pregnant while 43.2% (64/148) of the total foetuses recovered were in their third trimester. Major reasons adduced for SPCs by proportion of involved respondents were: ignorance of the animals’ pregnancy status (69.7%, 83/119), high demand for beef (61.3%, 73/119), preference for large-sized cattle (47.9%, 57/119), economic hardship (52.1%, 62/119) and diseases conditions (42.9%. 51/119). The conduct of SPCs for meat would not be profitable. This is because within six months, an estimated loss of about 44,000 kg of beef, equivalent to ₦ 70.1 million or $186,400 would be associated with SPCs and the consequential foetal wastages. If losses were to be replicated nationwide across slaughterhouses, 4.3 tons of beef estimated at ₦ 8.6 billion or $23 million would be wasted. Improving slaughter conditions and the welfare of slaughter-cattle in Nigerian slaughterhouses through advocacy, training of slaughterhouse workers, and strict implementation of laws promoting humane slaughter practices is imperative. Preventing SPCs for meat and inhumane slaughter practices at the slaughterhouse would enhance the welfare needs of slaughter cattle, grow the national herd size, and improve meat safety as well as food security.
- Identifying characteristics of marketing-influenced eating vulnerabilityPublication . Henriques, Carla; Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Matos, Ana; Malva, MadalenaNumerous people’s dietary decisions are influenced by commercial and marketing motiva- tions. Advertising and marketing tactics are in fact intended to pique consumer attention and influence their purchasing decisions. Yong people are known to be particularly vulner- able [1], and it is of interest to identify some other characteristics that may differentiate most vulnerable consumers. In this study, based in a sample of size 11919, collected as part of the project EATMOT [3], marketing motivations in food choices are analyzed through seven items. Factor analysis was applied by country, looking for a factor structure common to all countries. Three items were consistently combined in one factor. The other items were studied individually. Five variables were, then, considered to measure marketing mo- tivations in consumer’s food choices and used in a cluster analysis. Ward’s method, single linkage, and average linkage were three hierarchical techniques that were used; their results were considered as initial solutions for the k-means method. To find an optimal number of clusters, k-means method was applied to 50 bootstrap samples and the similarity of cluster solutions for different numbers of clusters was examined using the rand index [2]. The two cluster solution emerged as an optimal solution, distinguishing consumers more prone to the influence of marketing (Figure 1). Then, using statistical tests and logistic regression analysis, these two clusters were com- pared. For example, consumers of the Notably Motivated cluster were significantly younger (32.7 vs 36.7 years old, p < 0.005), as expected, and this cluster also had a higher per- centage of women (72.2% vs. 70.2%, p=0.016), a higher percentage of single individuals (51.9% vs. 37.9%, p < 0.005), a lower proportion of individuals with university education (58.3% vs. 66.1%, p < 0.005), more consumers living in rural or suburban areas (37.2% vs. 27.6%, p < 0.005), and more consumers without an active professional activity, that is, unemployed, non-working students or retired (43.1% vs.31.1%, p < 0.005). Furthermore, higher BMI and less physical exercise revealed to be associated with a greater chance of belonging to the notably motivated group (p < 0.005). We thus obtained evidence that the propensity for higher levels of commercial and marketing motivations is associated with socio-demographic, anthropometric, behavioural and health related characteristics of the consumer.
- Farinha de Castanha: caracterização e utilizaçãoPublication . Correia, Paula; Ferrão, A. C.; Silva, A. J.; Guiné, Raquel P. F.