Effect of Tamarillo Fortification and Fermentation Process on Physicochemical Properties and Nutrient and Volatiles Content of Yoghurt

Bright-red Laird’s Large tamarillo is a unique and under-utilised fruit that is a dietary source of carotenoids, vitamins C and E, and dietary fibre. The effects of the addition of freeze-dried tamarillo powder (5–15%) to milk and yoghurt starter either before (PRE) or after (POS) fermentation on physicochemical properties were examined. Using LC-MS and GG-MS, nutrient and volatile contents of tamarillo yoghurt were also examined. The addition of tamarillo prior to fermentation was associated with a more yellow colour and higher concentrations of tocopherol compared to when tamarillo was added after fermentation. Higher elastic modulus, PUFAs, pro-vitamin A content, and vitamin C retention were observed for POS than PRE. All tamarillo yoghurts showed improvement in syneresis, lower lactose content, and higher concentrations of antioxidant vitamins than the commercial premium-assorted fruits yoghurt from New Zealand Food Composition Data. Yoghurt fortified with tamarillo powder offers the potential for the development of a high-value nutritional product that could be a good source of vitamin C and a source of vitamin E and β-carotene, and maintain the volatiles that give tamarillo its distinctive flavour.

Current perspectives on global sugars consumption: definitions, recommendations, population intakes, challenges and future direction

Currently there is considerable emphasis on the relationship between dietary sugars consumption and various health outcomes, with some countries and regions implementing national sugar reduction campaigns. This has resulted in significant efforts to quantify dietary sugars intakes, to agree on terms to describe dietary sugars and to establish associated recommendations. However, this information is infrequently collated on a global basis and in a regularised manner. The present review provides context regarding sugars definitions and recommendations. It provides a global review of the available data regarding dietary sugars intake, considering forms such as total, free and added sugars. A comprehensive breakdown of intakes is provided by age-group, country and sugars form. This analysis shows that free sugars intakes as a percentage of total energy (%E) are the highest for children and adolescents (13-14%E) and the lowest for older adults (8%E). This trend across lifecycle stages has also been observed for added sugars. The available data also suggest that while some reductions in sugars intake are observed in a few individual studies, overall intakes of free/added sugars remain above recommendations. However, any wider conclusions are hampered by a lack of detailed high quality data on sugars intake, especially in developing countries. Furthermore, there is a need for harmonisation of terms describing sugars (ideally driven by public health objectives) and for collaborative efforts to ensure that the most up-to-date food composition data are used to underpin recommendations and any estimates of intake or modelling scenarios.

Assessment of Plant Sterols in the Diet of Adult Polish Population with the Use of a Newly Developed Database

Plant sterols are compounds with multiple biological functions, mainly cholesterol-reducing. There are no comprehensive databases on plant sterols, which makes it difficult to estimate their intake in the Polish population. This work attempted to use international food databases, additionally supplemented by scientific data from the literature, to create a database of plant sterols, which would cover various kinds of foods and dishes consumed in Poland. The aim was to assess the size and sources of dietary plant sterols in the adult population of Poland. The literature search was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar to identify possible sources of published food composition data for plant sterols. The study group consisted of 5690 participants of the WOBASZ II survey. We identified 361 dietary sources of plant sterols based on the consumption of foods and dishes reported by participants. Cereals and fats provided 61% of the total plant sterols, and together with vegetables and fruits, this totaled 80%. The median intake of plant sterols in the Polish population was 255.96 mg/day, and for men and women 291.76 and 230.61 mg/day, respectively. Canola oil provided the most plant sterols at 16.92%, followed by white bread at 16.65% and soft margarine at 8.33%. The study found that plant sterol intake in Poland is comparable to other populations, and women’s diets are more dense in plant sterols. Due to the lack of literature sources on plant sterol content in some foods, future studies should expand and complete the databases on plant sterol content in foods.

Dietary fiber, starch, and sugars in bananas at different stages of ripeness in the retail market

The goal of this work was to evaluate changes in dietary fiber measured by the traditional enzymatic-gravimetric method (AOAC 991.43) and the more recently accepted modified enzymatic-gravimetric method (AOAC 2011.25), mono- and disaccharides, and starch as a function of assessed ripeness in a controlled study of a single lot of bananas and in bananas at the same assessed stages of ripeness from bananas purchased in retail stores, from different suppliers. Sugars, starch, and dietary fiber were analyzed in bananas from a single lot, at different stages of ripeness, and in retail samples at the same assessed stages of ripeness. Mean fiber measured by the traditional enzymatic-gravimetric method (EG) was ~2 g/100g and not affected by ripeness. Mean fiber assessed with the recently modified method (mEG) was ~18 g/100g in unripe fruit and decreased to 4–5 g/100g in ripe and ~2 g/100g in overripe bananas. Slightly ripe and ripe bananas differed by ~1.1 g/100g in the controlled single-lot study but not among retail samples. There was a large increase in fructose, glucose and total sugar going from unripe to ripe with no differences between ripe and overripe. Aside from stage of ripeness, the carbohydrate composition in retail bananas is likely affected by differences in cultivar and post-harvest handling. Results from this study demonstrate the importance of measuring dietary fiber using the mEG approach, developing more comprehensive and sensitive carbohydrate analytical protocols and food composition data, and recognizing the impact of different stages of maturity and ripeness on carbohydrate intake estimated from food composition data.

CLUSTER ANALYSIS FOR DATABASES TYPOLOGIZATION CHARACTERISTICS

The article deals with basic concepts of cluster analysis and data clustering. The authors give brief information on the history of cluster analysis and its first applications. The article gives the classification of methods by the way of data processing and analysis in cluster analysis. The detailed description of the popular, non- hierarchical K-means algorithm is given. When developing databases, their structure should provide for the division of products into clusters based on various characteristics. It is necessary to consider the division into clusters based on other characteristics, such as allergenicity (whether the product contains an allergic component or not) or carbohydrate content (important for diabetics). The content of protein, potassium and phosphates should be taken into account when developing diets for those suffering from kidney diseases. The presence of specific amino acids - for metabolic diseases, etc. In this way, food composition data and product clustering across different categories allow nutritionists to create interchangeable lists of meals with portion sizes, or lists of permitted and prohibited food products in terms of various diseases. The authors give the clustering of the database fragment of chemical composition of food products on the example of cottage cheese products and confectionary by one of the signs – the content of carbohydrates – in the R software environment by k-means. Food clusters based on carbohydrate content are very important in shaping the diet for diabetics. A visual gradation of products into clusters is demonstrated in the form of a dendrogram showing the degree of proximity of individual clusters. The resulting dendrogram contains 5 clusters. Cluster 4 includes the largest number of products (170 items) with an average carbohydrate content of 1.8 g with a variation range from 0 to 7.1 g. Food products and dishes that fall into this cluster are the least dangerous for people with diabetes. Cluster 5 includes only 8 products with a distribution of carbohydrates within the cluster from 62.60 to 80.40 g. This category of food should be excluded when preparing a diet for people with diabetes.