Food Products with High Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities and Their Sensory Appreciation

(1) Background: The demand for healthy and nutritious food is growing worldwide. Fermented dairy products are highly valued by consumers for their health benefits. Kefir is a fermented dairy product that brings many benefits to the consumer due to its antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, antihypertensive and antimicrobial properties. Extracts from various plants in the form of volatile oils have a beneficial efct on consumer health. their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were demonstrated. (2) Methods: In the present study, the main purpose was to obtain a fermented dairy product with a high nutritional value; therefore, kefir, enriched with three types of volatile oils, namely, volatile mint oil, volatile fennel oil and volatile lavender oil, was made. The kefir samples obtained were sensory and texturally analyzed. The beneficial effect on health must also be studied in terms of the acceptability of these products by consumers from a sensory point of view. A non-numerical method based on several multi-personal approval criteria was used to interpret the results obtained in the sensory analysis. In the textural analysis, the consistency, cohesiveness and firmness of the kefir samples were analyzed. (3) Results: The samples enriched with volatile oils obtained superior results compared to the control sample in both conducted examinations. Kefir samples with volatile oils retained their sensory and textural characteristics for a longer time during storage. (4) Conclusions: The volatile oils added to kefir positively influenced the sensory and textural characteristics of the finished product.

Spatial Market Integration: A Case Study of the Polish–Czech Milk Market

Analyses of spatial market integration contributes to the knowledge about market efficiency and provides information to policymakers, as the spatial integration of markets contributes to competitiveness and economic development. Although the integration of agri-food markets is widely discussed in the economic literature, research on the dairy sector is relatively limited. This paper fulfils the research gap with an in-depth investigation of spatial milk and dairy product market integration between two neighboring countries—Poland and Czechia—using regional data, and including both production and processing levels. The econometric analysis of time series covering the period 2001–2021 reveals that only long-run milk and skimmed milk powder (SMP) price relationships are between the Czech Republic and Poland. The results of the study confirm that the factors influencing spatial price relationships between the Czech Republic and Poland are: strong trade ties, the common moment of accession to the EU, a close distance between markets, and region specialization.

Status of the buffalo milk trade and dairy manufacturing business at Bhola district of Bangladesh, and opportunities for buffalo milk products branding

The objective of this study was to know the existing buffalo milk trade and dairy products production status along with scope for buffalo milk product branding. Hence, a face-to-face interview with eighteen milk traders and processors were performed through simple random sampling method. Milk traders and processors were above 25 years old (94%) and above 5 years (89%) experienced in dairy business. The findings exposed that 11% of the participants were involved in milk collection and selling, 39% were directly involved in product manufacturing, and 50% were engaged in milk collection and processing. Among the manufactured dairy products, traditionally made fermented doi was the best - selling dairy product in the Bhola district. About 47% participants desired to incorporate fat-rich dairy products into their production processes. In general, milk traders sold the maximum amount of milk monthly to doi manufacturers (1453 L), followed by local customers (1175 L), sweetmeat manufacturers (1000 L), restaurants (257 L), and household consumers (250 L). Results showed that buffalo milk prices varied significantly (P<0.001) over the year. The peak buffalo milk price (122 BDT/L) was recorded between November and December, and the off-peak price (82 BDT/L) was between March to May. Data indicated that about 43-50 BDT profit derived through per kg doi and sweetmeat selling. Milk traders and processors mentioned that studied areas had greater shortage of milk preservation facilities. Overall, the findings of this study may give some context for developing sustainable buffalo milk and dairy products value chain in Bangladesh. Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.8(3): 301-310, December 2021

Research on the whole chain traceability system of dairy products based on consortium blockchain

Dairy products are one of the indispensable foods in people's life. However, reports about the quality and safety of dairy products often appear. In this paper, a dairy product quality and safety traceability system based on consortium blockchain is proposed by using block chain technology. In addition, the traceability link in the dairy supply chain is defined, and the basic framework and traceability bar code of the traceability system are designed. The system guarantees the integrity and security of the traceability information from the technical level, and provides the dairy traceability service for the government, enterprises and consumers.

Antigenicity and Safety Evaluation of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 7-2 Screened to Reduce α-Casein Antigen

α-Casein (α-CN) is considered the main allergen in bovine milk. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation can hydrolyze milk protein and therefore reduce the antigenicity. In this paper, a LAB reducing the antigenicity of casein, identified as LactiplantibacillusPlantarum 7-2 (L. plantarum 7-2), was primarily identified by screening for protein hydrolysis ability using a method involving the determination of released free amino acid with further selection for the ideal antigenicity-reducing capability by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In order to verify the capability of L. plantarum 7-2 in inhibiting antigenicity, the standard milk proteins α-LA, β-LG, α-CN, β-CN and κ-CN were cultured with L. plantarum 7-2 for 18 h; The results of SDS-PAGE show that all the bands corresponding to the full length tested proteins became unclear or completely disappeared indicating that these proteins were hydrolyzed by L. plantarum 7-2. Correspondingly, the antigenicities of α-CN and β-LG were significantly reduced. L. plantarum 7-2 demonstrated negative hemolysis and nitrate reductase capabilities and was sensitive to the commonly used antibiotics ampicillin clindamycin tetracycline chloramphenicol, and erythromycin, demonstrating that L. plantarum 7-2 could be used in dairy product fermentation to reduce the antigenicity of milk protein.

Impact of Consumer Health Awareness on Dairy Product Purchase Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a reduction in the overall consumption of dairy products in China. How to restore the consumption potential of dairy products and alleviate the serious impact on the dairy market in the post-epidemic period is an urgent problem that needs to be resolved. Based on the survey data of 1780 consumers in 31 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) of China, the Heckman two-stage model was used to empirically test the impact of consumer health awareness on dairy product purchase behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic and to further analyze the differences in factors affecting dairy product purchase behavior with the restriction of consumer health awareness. The results showed that the overall level of consumer health awareness after the outbreak of COVID-19 was relatively high. A total of 79% of consumers preferred to buy dairy products after the COVID-19 outbreak, and the proportion of purchased dairy products increased by an average of 17.49%, compared with that before the COVID-19 outbreak. Health change perception, health concern degree, and health habit development in consumer health awareness all have important impacts on the purchase behavior of dairy products. Among them, health change perception and health habit development both positively and significantly affected the purchase intention. Moreover, all three aspects of consumer health awareness positively increased the proportion of dairy product purchases. Difference analysis showed that there were obvious differences among consumer groups with different health awareness in dairy product purchase decisions. Component factor analysis found that, overall, consumer health awareness directly affected the purchase intention and increased the purchase proportion of dairy products. Therefore, policy recommendations are proposed to increase the consumption momentum of dairy products by raising consumer health awareness in the post-epidemic period.

Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of Methicillin, Vancomycin, and Erythromycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Milk and Dairy Products

Detailed information on the resistance patterns of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in milk and cheese is strongly required to facilitate risk assessment analysis in case of food poisoning context and to improve therapeutic approaches used in dairy farms. The present study aimed to perform phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial characterizations of methicillin, vancomycin, and erythromycin-resistant S. aureus isolated from milk and dairy products through screening mecA, vanA, and ermC using molecular PCR amplification technology. Moreover, the association between each genotypic and its related antibiotic resistance phenotypic features within the isolated S. aureus strains were analyzed. Moreover, the current study aimed to study MRSA's ability to form biofilms. Out of 226 milk and dairy product samples collected from different retailers in Giza Governorate, 69.5% of the samples were positive for the presence of S. aureus. The isolation rate of S. aureus strains from cattle milk, sheep milk, white cheese, flamenco, and mesh samples were 79.7%, 76.5%, 56.0%, 40.0%, and 94.7%, respectively. Multidrug-resistant S. aureus (MDR) was detected in 51% of all isolated S. aureus strains. All tested S. aureus strains were sensitive to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, linezolid, ciprofloxacin, and gentamycin. However, their resistance rates against penicillin, oxacillin, vancomycin, erythromycin, tetracycline, clindamycin and chloramphenicol were 62.4%, 65.0%, 44.6%, 45.9%, 21.0%, 14.0%, and 2.5%, respectively. Of the isolated S. aureus strains, 72.6%, 40.1%, and 48.4% were carriers for mecA, vanA, and ermC genes and the amplified products were at 310, 1030, and 295 bp, respectively. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolates were detected in 47.1% of all isolated S. aureus strains. The results indicated that 35.0% of the tested S. aureus strains were genotypic vanA gene carriers and phenotypic resistant to vancomycin representing vancomycin-resistant S. aureus strains. Moreover, 42.7% of all isolated S. aureus strains were carriers for ermC gene and were phenotypic resistant to erythromycin representing erythromycin-resistant S. aureus. The presence of mecA, vanA, and ermC genes in S. aureus was statistically associated with their related phenotypic resistance patterns against both penicillin and oxacillin, vancomycin, and erythromycin, respectively. Moreover, along with an increase in the frequency of mecA, vanA, and ermC genes, their phenotypic antibiotic resistance patterns sharply increased with an odd ratio >1. Of MRSA isolates, 6.8% indicated weak biofilm-formation ability, while 93.2% exhibit no biofilm-forming ability.

Soy dairy performance metrics

Soybean (Glycine max (L. Merr.) has been a crop of interest to address both poverty and malnutrition in the developing world because of its high levels of both protein and oil, and its adaptability to grow in tropical environments. Development practitioners and policymakers have long sought value added opportunities for local crops to move communities out of poverty by introducing processing or manufacturing technologies. Soy dairy production technologies sit within this development conceptual model. To the researchers’ knowledge, no research to date measures soy dairy performance, though donors and NGOs have launched hundreds of enterprises over the last 18 years. The lack of firm-level data on operations limits the ability of donors and practitioners to fund and site sustainable dairy businesses. Therefore, the research team developed and implemented a recordkeeping system and training program first, as a 14-month beta test with a network of five dairies in Ghana and Mozambique in 2016-2017. Learning from the initial research then supported a formal research rollout over 18 months with a network of six different dairies in Malawi and key collaboration from USAID’s Agricultural Diversification activity. None of the beta or rollout dairies kept records prior to the intervention. The formal rollout resulted in a unique primary dataset to address the soy dairy performance knowledge gap. The results of analysis show that the dairies, on average, achieve positive operating margins of 61%, yet cannot cover the fixed costs associated with depreciation, amortization of equipment and infrastructure, working capital, marketing and promotion, and regulatory compliance. The enterprises in our sample operate only at 9% of capacity, which limits their ability to cover the normal fixed costs associated with the business. The challenge is not the technology itself, as when operated, it produces a high-quality dairy product. The challenges involve a business that requires too much capital for normal operations relative to a nascent and small addressable market.

Association of age-related cataract risk high polygenetic risk scores involved in galactose-related metabolism and dietary interactions

Introduction: Cataracts are associated with the accumulation of galactose and galactitol in the lens. We determined the polygenetic risk scores for the best model(PRSBM) associated with age-related cataract(ARC) risk and their interaction with diets and lifestyles in 40,262 Korean adults aged over 50 years belonged to a hospital-based city cohort. Methods: The genetic variants for ARC risk were selected in lactose and galactose metabolism-related genes with multivariate logistic regression using the PLINK 1.9 version. PRSBM from the selected genetic variants was estimated by generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) after adjusting covariates. The interactions between the PRSBM and each lifestyle factor were determined to modulate ARC risk. Results: The genetic variants for ARC risk related to lactose- and galactose metabolism were SLC2A1_rs3729548, ST3GAL3_rs3791047, LCT_rs2304371, GALNT5_rs6728956, ST6GAL1_rs2268536, GALNT17_rs17058752, CSGALNACT1_rs1994788, GALNTL4_rs10831608, B4GALT6_rs1667288, and A4GALT_ rs9623659. In GMDR, the best model included all ten genetic variants. The highest odds ratio (OR) for a single SNP in the PRSBM was 1.26. However, subjects with a high-PRSBM had a higher ARC risk by 2.1-fold than a low-PRSBM after adjusting for covariates. Carbohydrate, dairy products, kimchi, and alcohol intake interacted with PRSBM for ARC risk: the participants with high-PRSBM had a much higher ARC risk than those with low-PRSBM when consuming diets with high carbohydrate and low dairy product and kimchi intake. However, only with low alcohol intake, the participants with high-PRSBM had a higher ARC risk than those with low-PRSBM. Conclusion: Adults aged >50 years having high-PRSBM may modulate dietary habits to reduce ARC risk.