Comparison of Cheese Aroma Intensity Measured Using an Electronic Nose (E-Nose) Non-Destructively with the Aroma Intensity Scores of a Sensory Evaluation: A Pilot Study

Cheese aroma is known to affect consumer preference. One of the methods to measure cheese aroma is the use of an electronic nose (e-nose), which has been used to classify cheese types, production areas, and cheese ages. However, few studies have directly compared the aroma intensity scores derived from sensory evaluations with the values of metal oxide semiconductor sensors that can easily measure the aroma intensity. This pilot study aimed to investigate the relationship between sensory evaluation scores and e-nose values with respect to cheese aroma. Five types of processed cheese (two types of normal processed cheese, one type containing aged cheese, and two types containing blue cheese), and one type of natural cheese were used as samples. The sensor values obtained using the electronic nose, which measured sample aroma non-destructively, and five sensory evaluation scores related to aroma (aroma intensity before intake, during mastication, and after swallowing; taste intensity during mastication; and remaining flavor after swallowing (lasting flavor)) determined by six panelists, were compared. The e-nose values of many of the tested cheese types were significantly different, whereas the sensory scores of the one or two types of processed cheese containing blue cheese and those of the natural cheese were significantly different. Significant correlations were observed between the means of e-nose values and the medians of aroma intensity scores derived from the sensory evaluation testing before intake, during mastication, and after swallowing. In particular, the aroma intensity score during mastication was found to have a linear relationship with the e-nose values (Pearson’s R = 0.983). In conclusion, the e-nose values correlated with the sensory scores with respect to cheese aroma intensity and could be helpful in predicting them.

Eating habits in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Wstęp : Wrzodziejące zapalenie jelita grubego i choroba Leśniowskiego-Crohna są najczęstszymi chorobami zapalnymi jelit. Farmakoterapia odgrywa dużą rolę w leczeniu zarówno zaostrzeń, jak i remisji, jednak ważna jest również dieta, którą należy dobierać indywidualnie do potrzeb pacjenta, zwłaszcza biorąc pod uwagę potrzeby pacjenta. reakcja na pokarm i objawy, których obecnie doświadczasz. Celem wprowadzenia diety jest m.in. ułatwienie regeneracji jelit, przyspieszenie i wydłużenie okresu remisji choroby oraz zapobieganie niedożywieniu u pacjentów.Cel: Celem pracy jest analiza nawyków żywieniowych i diety pacjentów z IBD w okresie remisji.Materials and methods: The results were obtained on the basis of a questionnaire survey.Results: 95 people took part in the survey, 56.4% of them suffer from UC and 43.6% from CDI, 48.5% of respondents admit that they smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day. As many as 43.6% do not do any sports More than half of respondents eat white bread and exclude blue cheese from the diet. 24.5% of respondents are mostly meat products and 13.8% - vegetables. Only 27% of respondents use probiotics, only 40% consume pickled products regularly. Almost 6% do not eat fish and 35 people do it sporadically, unlike poultry, which is eaten several times a week by less than half of the respondents, 27 of the respondents excluded smoked meats from their diets. Only 25% of the respondents do not consume NSAIDs, while for 6% their consumption is everyday life.Wnioski: Z przeprowadzonych badań wynika, że istnieje ciągła potrzeba edukowania pacjentów w zakresie zdrowego stylu życia, w tym promowania aktywności fizycznej oraz przestrzegania szkodliwego wpływu palenia na ich zdrowie, życie i przebieg chorób poprzez podkreślanie CDD, ponieważ palenie tytoniu pogłębia tę chorobę , podobnie jak zażywanie NLPZ. Analizując uzyskane wyniki należy zwrócić uwagę na małe zainteresowanie spożywaniem probiotyków, które mają pozytywny wpływ na mikroflorę jelitową oraz podkreślić korzyści płynące ze spożywania produktów marynowanych. Wydaje się, że dobór produktów spożywczych i stosowanej przez respondentów diety jest wyrazem indywidualnych potrzeb, subiektywnych przekonań i preferencji

Short and long sleeping mutants reveal links between sleep and macroautophagy

Sleep is a conserved and essential behavior, but its mechanistic and functional underpinnings remain poorly defined. Through unbiased genetic screening in Drosophila, we discovered a novel short-sleep mutant we named argus. Positional cloning and subsequent complementation, CRISPR/Cas9 knock-out, and RNAi studies identified Argus as a transmembrane protein that acts in adult peptidergic neurons to regulate sleep. argus mutants accumulate undigested Atg8a(+) autophagosomes, and genetic manipulations impeding autophagosome formation suppress argus sleep phenotypes, indicating that autophagosome accumulation drives argus short-sleep. Conversely, a blue cheese neurodegenerative mutant that impairs autophagosome formation was identified independently as a gain-of-sleep mutant, and targeted RNAi screens identified additional genes involved in autophagosome formation whose knockdown increases sleep. Finally, autophagosomes normally accumulate during the daytime and nighttime sleep deprivation extends this accumulation into the following morning, while daytime gaboxadol feeding promotes sleep and reduces autophagosome accumulation at nightfall. In sum, our results paradoxically demonstrate that wakefulness increases and sleep decreases autophagosome levels under unperturbed conditions, yet strong and sustained upregulation of autophagosomes decreases sleep, whereas strong and sustained downregulation of autophagosomes increases sleep. The complex relationship between sleep and autophagy suggested by our findings may have implications for pathological states including chronic sleep disorders and neurodegeneration, as well as for integration of sleep need with other homeostats, such as under conditions of starvation.

Characterization and In Vitro Efficacy against Listeria monocytogenes of a Newly Isolated Bacteriophage, ΦIZSAM-1

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterial pathogen responsible of listeriosis, a disease that in humans is often related to the contamination of ready-to-eat foods. Phages are candidate biodecontaminants of pathogenic bacteria thanks to their ability to lyse prokaryotes while being safe for eukaryotic cells. In this study, ΦIZSAM-1 was isolated from the drain-waters of an Italian blue cheese plant and showed lytic activity against antimicrobial resistant Listeria monocytogenes strains. This phage was subjected to purification and in vitro efficacy tests. The results showed that at multiplicities of infection (MOIs) ≤ 1, phages were able to keep Listeria monocytogenes at low optical density values up to 8 h, with bacterial counts ranging from 1.02 to 3.96 log10 units lower than the control. Besides, ΦIZSAM-1 was further characterized, showing 25 principal proteins (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis profile) and a genome of approximately 50 kilo base pairs. Moreover, this study describes a new approach to phage isolation for applications in Listeriamonocytogenes biocontrol in food production. In particular, the authors believe that the selection of phages from the same environments where pathogens live could represent a new approach to successfully integrating the control measures in an innovative, cost effective, safe and environmentally friendly way.

Application of image processing using NI LabVIEW for mold distribution analysis in blue cheese

The NI LabVIEW is a software for real-time data processing and it is widely used for process control in industry. It has a lot of additional libraries and modules which extend its functions and support its applications in many different areas. Vision Builder and Vision Assistant are modules in NI LabVIEW which support image acquisition and processing. These modules are used for the purpose of the current research in order develop an algorithm to analyze mold distribution in blue cheese. Eight trademarks of blue cheese are used for comparative analysis of mold distribution. Every sample is cut with special cheese slicer in order to evaluate its mold distribution. The samples are captured with digital camera and images are processed in NI LabVIEW environment. Coefficient of mold (ratio of pixels with mold to all pixels in cut surface of cheese) is calculated for nine regions of interest on every picture. This coefficient is used for statistical analysis of mold distribution. It is observed that cheese which have low quantity of mold are presented with non-even mold distribution and cheese which have high quantity of mold are presented with almost even mold distribution. The results show that the upgraded experimental setting could be successfully applied for mold distribution analysis of blue cheese and the LabVIEW environment and its software modules Vision Builder and Vision Assistant could be effectively applied for fast and accurate evaluation of mold quantity and distribution in blue cheese.

Strong effect of Penicillium roqueforti populations on volatile and metabolic compounds responsible for aromas, flavour and texture in blue cheeses

Studies of food microorganism domestication can provide important insight into adaptation mechanisms and lead to commercial applications. The Penicillium roqueforti fungus consists of four genetically differentiated populations, two of which have been domesticated for blue cheese-making, the other two thriving in other environments. Most blue cheeses are made with strains from a single P. roqueforti population, whereas Roquefort cheeses are inoculated with strains from a second population. We made blue cheeses in accordance with the production specifications for Roquefort-type cheeses, inoculating each cheese with a single P. roqueforti strain and using three strains from each of the four populations. The strain population-of-origin had a minor impact on bacterial diversity and none on the main microorganism abundance. The strains from cheese populations produced cheeses with higher percentages of blue area and larger amounts of desired volatile compounds. In particular, the Roquefort strains produced larger amounts of appealing aromatic compounds, in part due to their greater efficiency of proteolysis and lipolysis. The typical appearance and flavors of blue cheeses thus result from human selection on P. roqueforti, and the two cheese populations have acquired specific features. This has important implications for our understanding of adaptation and domestication, and for cheese improvement.