Anti-Browning and Oxidative Enzyme Activity of Rice Bran Extract Treatment on Freshly Cut ‘Fuji’ Apple

Preserving the quality of freshly cut fruits is essential for food marketing. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-browning effect of rice bran extract (RE) added to a vitamin C mixture (VCM), which is widely used as an anti-browning agent. Freshly cut apples were prepared using the following processes: raw material selection, washing, cutting, soaking, and packaging. A comparison of cut apples soaked with 3% VCM combined with 1% RE (VR) and cut apples treated with 4% VCM showed that the L* and BI values had similar levels. After 12 days of storage, the amount of yeast and mold in cut apples after 4% VCM and VR treatment was 6.15 × 104 ± 0.48 CFU/mL and 4.25 × 103 ± 0.15 CFU/mL, respectively, and the degree of bacterial growth was reduced by VR treatment. On day 12 of storage, the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) were similar in the 4% VCM and VR groups. The polyphenol content was significantly higher in the VR group (121.0 ± 2.2) than in the 4% VCM group (76.9 ± 2.2). These results indicate that VR treatment for freshly cut apples is a potential alternative to 4% VCM treatment, with an effective anti-browning capacity and improved polyphenol content.

Pastoral subsistence and mounted fighting in the Eastern Tianshan Mountain region: New insights from the Shirenzigou worked bone assemblage

Situated at a geographic crossroads, the eastern Tianshan Mountain region in northwest China is crucial to understanding various economic, social, and cultural developments on the Eurasian Steppes. One promising way to gain a better knowledge of ancient subsistence economy, craft production, and social change in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region is to study the artifact assemblages from archaeological contexts. Here, we present an analysis of 488 worked animal bones from the large site of Shirenzigou (ca. 1300–1 BCE), to date the largest assemblage of this kind uncovered in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region. We classified these worked bones into six categories, including “ritual objects”, “ornaments”, “tools”, “worked astragali”, “warfare and mobility”, and “indeterminate”. The identification of animal species and skeletal elements indicates that worked bones from Shirenzigou are characterized by a predominance of caprine products, particularly worked astragali, which is consistent with the large proportion of caprine fragments found in animal remains associated with food consumption. This demonstrates the contribution of caprine pastoralism to bone working activities at Shirenzigou. The making of most worked bones does not appear to have required advanced or specialized skills. Considering the absence of dedicated bone working space, alongside the variability in raw material selection and in dimensions of certain types of artifacts, we infer that worked bone production at Shirenzigou was not standardized. In terms of raw material selection and mode of production, Shirenzigou differed from their settled, farming counterparts in the Yellow River valley of northern China. In addition, along with the evidence for violence and horseback riding, the increasing use of bone artifacts associated with warfare and mobility during the late occupation phase of Shirenzigou reflects growing social instability and implies the likely emergence of single mounted horsemen, equipped with light armors, in the region during the late first millennium BCE. Our results provide new insights into animal resource exploitation and changing lifeways of early pastoral societies in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region, expanding our knowledge of the economic, social, and political milieu of late Bronze Age and early Iron Age eastern Eurasia.

Volatile Profile of Nuts, Key Odorants and Analytical Methods for Quantification

The presence of nuts in diets has notably increased due to their composition, and the presence of antioxidants and their unsaturated fatty acid profile has led to a considerable increase in their consumption. The volatile profile of nuts is important from different points of view. It affects consumer’s selection, influences raw material selection for the production of composite foods, dictates variety selection in breeding programs, and, from a quality perspective, its changes can indicate food degradation or alteration. A review of the published bibliography concerning the determination of volatiles in nuts has been carried out. The information retrieved has been divided into four main sections. First, a discussion on the main volatiles present in nuts is performed; next, a revision of the methods used to determine the volatiles is presented; and, finally, two sections describing how harvesting conditions, healthy state and the thermal treatment of nuts modifies their volatile profile are added. Analysis of the published bibliography denoted the complexity of volatile determination and the different variables that can modify the compounds present in the volatile fraction of nuts.

Characterization of tofu produced with different soybean cultivars/ Caracterização de tofu produzido com diferentes cultivares de soja

Soybean has good properties for industrial application, including tofu production. Cultivar is one of the major factors that influence food product making potential of soybeans. This study aimed to perform the physicochemical characterization of grains, tofu and okara, as well as the sensory analysis of tofu produced from seven different experimental lines of soybean. CAC TNS showed the lowest 100 grain mass, which was equal to 12.43 g. The protein content of the cultivars showed no significant difference, which ranged from 27.77 % to 36.82 %. For tofu yield, there was no significant difference between all cultivars. Tofu of CP-09, CP-27 and CAC TNS cultivars showed the highest protein concentration and were equal to 12.76 %, 11.58 % e 11.20 %, respectively. Tofu from CP-02, CP-09, CP-12, CAC TN and CAC TNS cultivars had the highest scores for the flavor parameter. However, only tofu from CAC TN and CAC TNS had higher scores for the aroma parameter. Regarding the texture, the tofu from CP-09, CAC TN and CAC TNS showed the highest scores. Thus, CAC TNS cultivar is the most suitable to produce tofu for providing a product with better sensorial acceptance and high nutritional value. The okara obtained from the different cultivars showed considerable amounts of proteins, lipids, minerals and carbohydrates, constituting a potential residue for human consumption. These results could be used as auxiliary guide of tofu manufacturers during raw material selection with characteristics more acceptable by consumers.

Changes in Raw Material Selection and Use at 400,000 Years bp: A Novel, Symbolic Relationship between Humans and Their World. Discussing Technological, Social and Cognitive Arguments

Approximately 400,000 years bp, novel technological behaviours appeared in the archaeological record, attested by evidence of the exploitation of previously unused resources and the production of new tools. I have reviewed such innovations, and I discuss them in the frame of the anthropological, palaeoneurological, genetic and behavioural changes that appeared in the Middle Pleistocene. I propose that at this chronology humans started to see the resources as ‘other-than-human’ sentient co-dwellers. The technological innovations expressed this novel cognitive complexity and the possible new things–things, human–things and environment–things relationships. Artefacts and technologies acquired multiple semiotic meanings that were strongly interconnected with the functional value. Ethnoarchaeological evidence suggested the possible symbolic acting beyond these innovations in material culture. This perspective has relevant implications in the archaeology of the ancient Palaeolithic. It suggests the need for a new view of material culture, one that goes beyond the classical list approach in the definition of modern symbolic mediated behaviour. Further, it allows one to overcome the traditional juxtaposition between ancient cultures and Homo sapiens in terms of complexity. The evidence discussed in this paper suggests that the ontological hypothesis could change our view of Middle Pleistocene hominids and the origin and definition of modern behaviour, and test the archaeological visibility of cognition in prehistory.

Application of Spectroscopy in Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a rapidly expanding material production technique that brings new opportunities in various fields as it enables fast and low-cost prototyping as well as easy customisation. However, it is still hindered by raw material selection, processing defects and final product assessment/adjustment in pre-, in- and post-processing stages. Spectroscopic techniques offer suitable inspection, diagnosis and product trouble-shooting at each stage of AM processing. This review outlines the limitations in AM processes and the prospective role of spectroscopy in addressing these challenges. An overview on the principles and applications of AM techniques is presented, followed by the principles of spectroscopic techniques involved in AM and their applications in assessing additively manufactured parts.

Applying Green Chemistry to Raw Material Selection and Product Formulation at The Estée Lauder Companies

Advances in green chemistry over the past 25 years have improved sustainability in the development of new cosmetic and personal care products. Product formulators benefit from an expanding palette of...