Food Innovation Research Articles

Leveraging capabilities for the creation of a smart, healthy and personalized breakfast: a case study of collaborative innovation in the EU

Background: Rapid population growth, increasing urbanization, and an expanding global middle class has profound impacts on food and nutrition. In the long run the smart appliance industry will reflect the social, technological, and demographic forces around food without losing the authenticity of food traditionally prepared in the kitchen. This paper investigates the capability of collaborative innovation to co-create a new consumer-driven breakfast concept. Methods: Three smart cooking technology providers (3D food printing, digital sous-vide cooking and instant dough baking), one ingredient supplier, and a top-tier food research and innovation centre shared resources to carry out common tasks such as market research, product development, and consumer taste tests. Consumers were segmented into four types of households (single, young families, consolidated families, and senior). An online community (40 participants), nine focus groups, two interviews with eight experts, and one quantitative study with 2055 participants were carried out in Spain, UK, and Germany. The findings provided both theoretical and practical insights into the perception of the three smart cooking devices per type of household and per country. A combination of technologies was used to develop the new breakfast concept for the target group and country with the most positive perception. Results: A customized, fresh, tasty, nutritious, and healthy 3D printed breakfast bar was developed for senior consumers in Spain. Sensory analysis and acceptability were tested with 80 senior consumers aged between 45 and 75 years and divided in two groups: 46-60 years (mature), and 61-75 (senior). Around 56% of consumers increased their acceptance of the new breakfast bar after being informed about the technological, nutritional, and convenient benefits of the new breakfast concept. Conclusions: A strategic collaborative innovation method was implemented to show how sharing resources can encourage productive entrepreneurship, and help start-ups define and identify their target customer segments.

Effect of banana flour and tempeh flour on sensory characteristics of prebiotic snack bar

Prebiotic snack bar is a food innovation in the form of a bar that contains a source of functional nutrients that can improve chronic small intestinal inflammation syndrome (pediatric environmental enteropathy) in stunting children, increase the absorption of nutrition, and then improve the nutritional status of stunting children. The aim of this research was to determine the sensory characteristics of snack bar with any level of banana flour and tempeh flour addition. Sensory analyses were carried out on flavor, color, taste, texture and overall of the snack bar. The results showed that the ratio of banana flour : tempeh flour (95% : 5%) was more acceptable in terms of flavor (3,89), color (3,60), taste (3,91), texture (3,77) and overall (4,00). The result also showed that the addition of tempeh flour and banana flour to the formulation snack bar had a significant effect (p ≤ 0,05) on the sensory quality of prebiotic snack bar

Computational gastronomy: A data science approach to food

Cooking forms the core of our cultural identity other than being the basis of nutrition and health. The increasing availability of culinary data and the advent of computational methods for their scrutiny are dramatically changing the artistic outlook towards gastronomy. Starting with a seemingly simple question, 'Why do we eat what we eat?', data-driven research conducted in our lab has led to interesting explorations of traditional recipes, their flavor composition, and health associations. Our investigations have revealed 'culinary fingerprints' of regional cuisines across the world. Application of data-driven strategies for investigating the gastronomic data has opened up exciting avenues, giving rise to an all-new field of 'computational gastronomy'. This emerging interdisciplinary science asks questions of culinary origin to seek their answers via the compilation of culinary data and their analysis using methods of complex systems, statistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence. Along with complementary experimental studies, these endeavors have the potential to transform the food landscape by effectively leveraging data-driven food innovations for better health and nutrition.

Assessing a Nation’s Competitiveness in Global Food Innovation: Creating a Global Food Innovation Index

While food innovation is heavily influenced by the myriad of policies, regulations and other environmental factors within a country, globalization means that food innovation is also a matter of international competitiveness. This benchmarking exercise uses 24 variables to compare the different innovation environments across ten countries: Canada, the US, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, and Australia. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected from publicly available sources only to measure each variable and ultimately provide a ranking. Qualitative data was evaluated using thematic coding to establish baseline practices and then compare each country to the baseline. Quantitative data was evaluated by constructing an average to which each country was compared. Countries whose data showed they met the average were awarded two points, and those who performed above or below average were either awarded an additional point or saw a point deducted. A final ranking was established from the scores across all four pillars, and the ranking was weighted to account for lacking data. The final weighted ranking saw the UK rank first, followed by the US, Germany, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Mexico, France and finally, Italy in tenth place.

First report of banana freckle disease caused by Phyllosticta cavendishii in Mauritius

Banana (Musa sp.) is among the most important fruit crops grown in Mauritius with significant socioeconomic and cultural considerations. The annual production of banana approximates to around 8000 tonnes (Statistics Mauritius, 2018). Dwarf Cavendish is the main variety grown commercially in Mauritius. During the hot and humid month of February 2014, symptoms consisting of dark black spots were observed on unripe banana of Dwarf Cavendish from the region of Nouvelle Découverte (super humid zone). A disease incidence of more than 50% with a moderate to severe level of severity across the field was reported by the extension services of the Food and Agricultural Research and Extension Institute. On the fruits, the initial symptom was tiny reddish-brown spots, bordered by dark green water-soaked margins (Figure 1). As the spots enlarged and coalesced, the surface became rough and turned black. These spots had a rough texture like sand-paper, similar to the description described by Wong et al. (2012). Comparable symptoms were observed on the leaves (Figure 2). Results from a rapid island-wide survey showed that only the Cavendish-type banana varieties displayed symptoms of infection. Out of 98 banana fields surveyed (50.9 ha), 65% were affected. Morphological identification of the suspected fungal pathogen was done using a compound light microscope. A sterile needle was used to tease pycnidia on leaves in a drop of sterile water to release conidia, before being mounted in clear lactic acid for microscopic examination. Conidia (Figure 3) formed singly at the apex of the conidiogenous cell were hyaline, aseptate, oblong to ellipsoidal, coarsely guttulate and measured 7.1-15.6 × 4.4-8.3 μm. The apical mucilaginous appendage arising from the conidium was straight to curved and was 5.1-12.9 μm long. Spermagonia were 70–125 μm in diameter and 50–85 μm high. Dumbbell-shaped spermatia (Figure 4) were hyaline, aseptate, biguttulate and measured 7.5-9.5 × 1.3-1.8 μm. These morphological characters are consistent with the species description of Phyllosticta cavendishii (Wong et al., 2012). Lesions from 11 samples of leaf and fruit with fruiting bodies were ground in liquid nitrogen followed by genomic DNA extraction. Extraction of DNA was done on c. 50 mg fresh plant tissue using the Biosprint 15 DNA Plant Kit (Qiagen, Germany). Tissues were first homogenized using a Tissuelyser (Qiagen, Germany) in a 2 ml microcentrifuge tube containing a 3 mm metal bead for two 30 second bursts at 30Hz. Two microliters of the eluted DNA was used as template in an ITS PCR amplification using AmpliTaq Gold 360 Mastermix (Applied Biosystems, USA) and 0.5 μM each of primers GMF1 and GMR2 (Wong et al., 2012). Thermal cycling conditions were 95°C for 10 min followed by 40 cycles of 95°C for 30 sec, 55°C for 30 sec and 72°C for 1 min. Final extension of PCR products was done at 72°C for 10 min. Amplicons (550bp) were directly sequenced using the same primer pair. Resulting sequences were analysed using BlastN as well as by manual comparison to known sequences of Phyllosticta isolates which cause freckle disease of banana. The causal agent from all 11 samples tested was found to be Phyllosticta cavendishii. The ITS sequences were deposited in GenBank (Accession Nos. MW520341-MW520351) and at the Queensland Plant Pathology Herbarium (BRIP 72048 to 72058). Pathogenicity was tested using twenty mature green healthy fruits of banana variety Dwarf Cavendish. Fruits were surface sterilised using 0.2% sodium hypochlorite for 2 mins, rinsed with sterilised distilled water and allowed to dry before inoculation. Ten fruits were artificially inoculated on the outer surface, clearly marked, with a conidial suspension of 106 conidia/ml, prepared from pycnidia extracted from field infected tissue. Control fruits were treated with sterile distilled water. All the fruits were covered with plastic bags for 48 hours and incubated at room temperature, 80% relative humidity and with a 12-hour photoperiod. After 7 days, typical minute black spots identical to those observed in the field, appeared on inoculated fruits, whereas controls remained healthy. The morphological characteristics of the fungus were consistent with those previously observed, hence fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Phyllosticta cavendishii causing banana freckle disease in Mauritius. The authors acknowledge the Centre for Plant Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation for the molecular identification of Phyllosticta cavendishii and also Dr Yu Pei Tan from the Brisbane Plant Pathology Herbarium for accessioning isolates and submission into GenBank.

Extending indigenous knowledge to unveil the evolutionary journey of food preferences and socio-cultural phenomena

Food acceptance is substantially influenced by eating behavior and society norms in relation to preferences, lifestyles, and socio-cultural practices. Food innovation communities need to comprehend the impact of changing trends in eating behavior as a driving force. Meanwhile, many studies indicate that indigenous knowledge plays an important role in uncovering various social phenomena and interpreting local holistic views, cultural ecology, and behavior. However, it is not easy to employ this knowledge due to its fragmented form. This study aims to exhibit a systematic process for investigating scattered indigenous food knowledge and revealing the evolution of socio-cultural movement and food preferences. Initially, ontology-based indigenous food knowledge was structured for this study using the qualitative method, with data subsequently gathered from cookbooks and cremation festschrifts using the quantitative method to construct a knowledge-based system. A total of 2486 recipes recorded in cookbooks dating back to 1782 were retrospectively considered; the findings of which revealed the evolutionary journey of food preferences and its cultural culinary impact.

Leveraging capabilities for the creation of a smart, healthy and personalized breakfast: a case study of innovation ecosystems in the EU

Background: Rapid population growth, increasing urbanization, and an expanding global middle class has profound impacts on food and nutrition. In the long run the smart home appliance industry will reflect the social, technological, and demographic forces around food without losing the authenticity of food traditionally prepared in the kitchen. This paper investigates the capability of an innovation ecosystem to co-create a new consumer-driven breakfast concept. Methods: Three smart cooking technology providers (3D food printing, digital sous-vide cooking and instant dough baking), one ingredient supplier, and a top-tier food research and innovation centre shared resources to carry out common tasks such as market research, product development, and consumer taste tests. Consumers were segmented into four types of households (single, young families, consolidated families, and senior). An online community (40 participants), nine focus groups, two interviews with eight experts, and one quantitative study with 2055 cases were carried out in Spain, UK, and Germany. The findings provided both theoretical and practical insights into the perception of the three smart cooking devices per type of household and per country. A combination of technologies was used to develop the new breakfast concept for the target group and country with the most positive perception. Results: A customized, fresh, tasty, nutritious, and healthy 3D printed breakfast bar was developed for senior consumers in Spain. Sensory analysis and acceptability were tested with 80 senior consumers aged between 45 and 75 years and divided in two groups: 46-60 years (mature), and 61-75 (senior). Around 56% of consumers increased their acceptance of the new breakfast bar after being informed about the technological, nutritional, and convenient benefits of the new breakfast concept. Conclusions: A strategic collaborative innovation method was implemented to show how innovation ecosystems can encourage productive entrepreneurship, and help start-ups define and identify their target customer segments.

Exploring the food value chain using open innovation: a bibliometric review of the literature

PurposeThis paper reviews the literature, foundational works and current trends related to the adoption of open innovation (OI) practices in the food industry, with a particular focus on the food value chain, using a bibliometric and content analysis approach.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on 84 published documents in the field of food OI obtained using the Scopus database. First, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using a bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis approach to understand the common themes and key clusters of food OI research. It further highlighted authors, countries, journals, years of publication and subject areas to comprehend the scope of the established literature. Second, a content analysis was undertaken to examine the titles and abstracts of the documents to explore the intersection of OI and the food value chain.FindingsThis study provides an integrated framework of the intersection of OI and the food value chain, including information about under-researched and emerging areas in the field of food innovation. It also highlights the critical challenges associated with OI food research and practices.Practical implicationsPractitioners can use the findings to uncover areas with limited open innovation adoption in the food value chain. They can identify extended research areas to explore the food value chain using an open innovation perspective, in different contexts within the food and beverage (F&B) industry. The framework can also be used for conducting comparative studies of current food innovation trends across different contexts within the F&B industry.Originality/valueBy adopting a multi-step approach involving a computer-assisted bibliometric examination complemented by a manual review undertaken through the lens of the food value chain, this literature review provides fresh and unique insights into past and present research on OI in the food industry and paves the way for future studies by laying out specific research avenues.

Environmental and digital innovation in food: The role of digital food hubs in the creation of sustainable local agri-food systems

This document is based on the study of what a local digital food hub is. Topics such as the sustainability of agri-food systems, de-agrarianization and the causes related to them are covered, but also such principles as “shared value”, useful for improving the competitiveness of a company as well as the economical and social conditions within the communities in which it operates. In addition to these discussions, an excursus is created on the actual developments of the models ranging from “field to table”, with the new possibilities obtained from modern types of distribution networks, particularly focusing on Food Hubs and the first reasons for the validity of the system. Having explained these issues, the focus shifts exclusively to the Food Hub topic, defining what it is and what the models used for its different structures are, also based on the social and local contexts in which this reality is located or created. The results of the study highlight the presence of Food Hubs already developed and functioning in the USA, although they are almost non-existent in Europe and Italy where they could be a source of economic recovery in this sector, with the possibility of both digital and non-digital development. The presence of the only concrete example of a food hub in Italy is highlighted. Also, the current problems faced by Italian politics are considered regarding the possible legislative evolutions for the innovation and digitization of businesses, supported by the new financial programs envisaged by the “New Generation EU” European Plan, through which substantial funds have been allocated to Italy, also for the development of digital innovations and the enhancement of Italian products, as well as the “made in Italy” brand.

Optimalisasi Pengelolaan dan Pemanfaatan Lahan Untuk Mendukung Ketahanan Pangan Di Desa Sindangsari Dalam Mewujudkan Visi Integrated, Smart, and Green Campus

The provision of agricultural land for food is currently facing pressure due to competition from other sectors as a result of economic growth and population growth. This condition causes food agriculture land to be faced with the problem of decreasing land area due to conversion to non-agricultural uses. The converted land area is mostly intended for residential housing developments in addition to the construction of public infrastructure, offices, shops and industries. This conversion of agricultural land can have a negative impact on agricultural development. Each district or city actually has to reserve and protect agricultural land that has the potential to be developed into sustainable food-producing agricultural land. However, in its implementation, the determination of the area for sustainable food-producing agricultural land has not been carried out by many districts or cities for various reasons. Likewise in Banten, the availability of agricultural land in Banten Province is getting depleted due to being eroded by development, new efforts and breakthroughs are needed in maintaining the availability of agricultural products while maintaining food security for the Banten people, one of which is by utilizing idle land owned by developers in urban areas so that they can be worked on by the community. farmer. Currently, the management of idle land owned by developers in urban areas is still not optimal. As a result, a lot of unused land is left empty before being built into housing. There needs to be support from all parties so that the management of unused land can be optimized in maintaining food security in Banten Province can always be maintained, in addition to avoiding consumptive people's habits, relying on all their daily needs from buying, while a lot of land can still be cultivated and cooperated. This study explains about Land Management and Land Use for Food in the area around the Untirta Sindang Sari campus and around the Sindang Sari village area which is still not optimal. This research is also to find out, examine and develop alternative policies related to efforts to optimize the potential of agricultural land used for food utilization. The long-term goal of this research is that this research aims to optimize land use and management to support food security in Banten and national food security. Food products in Banten can not only meet the needs of their own region, but can also meet the needs of National Food and even for export commodities to foreign countries. The specific target to be achieved from this research is to strive to achieve one of Untita's Visions and Missions, namely Realizing the Integrated, Smart, and Green Campus Vision. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) has made Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University a Center for the Study of Food Security and Local Food Innovation in Banten so that with the new Untirta Building from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Untirta can become a center of excellence. in Food Security. Untirta does not only focus on the development of food products, but is also accompanied by the development of technology. This research uses Sociological Normative and Juridical Normative legal research methods. This research is descriptive analytical and uses primary data sources and secondary data sources. Descriptive in this study is a description of the situation, conditions, circumstances, and realities that exist in the area around the Untirta Sindang Sari campus and around the Sindang Sari village area in terms of land use and land management to support food security. Then analyze what the problem is in order to find a solution to the problem. Sources of data used in this study were obtained from Library Research (Library Research). The normative juridical in this research is in the form of a discussion of several laws and regulations made by the government that are enforced to regulate the formation of regional areas and land use. Sociological Normative Research on law constructs law as a system of laws and regulations that have existed so far and then constructed in a society's behavior.

Can foods produced with new plant engineering techniques succeed in the marketplace? A case study of apples

AbstractWe present a model for research and development (R&D) investment in food innovations based on new plant engineering techniques (NPETs) and traditional hybridization methods. The framework combines uncertain and costly food innovation with consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for the new food. The framework is applied with elicited WTP of French and US consumers for new improved apples. NPETs may be socially beneficial under full information and when the probability of success under NPETs is relatively high. Otherwise, the traditional hybridization is socially optimal. A probable collapse of conventional apples raises the social desirability of new apples generated by NPETs and traditional hybridization.

Digital agriculture platforms: Driving data‐enabled agricultural innovation in a world fraught with privacy and security concerns

AbstractDigital agriculture is often heralded as the next major wave of innovation in food and agriculture. Driven by big data, the intention is that digital agriculture will transform the entire research and development pipeline across agricultural value chains throughout the developed and developing worlds. Yet, issues concerning data quality, interoperability, intellectual property ownership and data privacy present considerable challenges to this vision. Digital agriculture platforms, which support data sharing, analysis, interoperability, and public and private sector collaboration, are one approach to address this challenge, but as a new research domain, there is a lack of conceptual clarity around what constitutes a “digital agriculture platform”. Here, we use a “bottom up” and “top down” analysis approach to develop a taxonomy of the digital agriculture landscape. Then, we select a set of digital agriculture platforms for in‐depth analysis across a set of technical and use requirements. While digital agriculture will remain a constantly evolving landscape with varied technologies and application areas, this presents a first attempt to characterize this landscape and establish a common vocabulary for understanding digital agriculture platforms.

Collaboration for social innovation in the agri-food system in Latin America and the Caribbean

Aim of study: This study reviews the state of the art of collaboration for social innovation in food and rural systems. The analysis focuses on cooperation by farms and agro-industry companies. The purpose is to identify not only the state of the art of this research topic but also the main authors, the countries where these studies are conducted and the dynamics of research networks in relation to these topics. Area of study: Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Material and methods: The Web of Science database was used to search for articles containing the terms ‘cooperation’, ‘networks’, ‘innovation’, ‘social’, ‘rural’ and ‘LAC’. Using VOSviewer network creation and analysis software, maps of citations, co-authorship, co-citations and co-occurrence of key-words were created and analysed. Content analysis was then performed. Finally, the research areas that the authors of the analysed articles consider to be of interest for future research were identified. Main results: The results reveal that researchers from Latin America and other regions, especially Europe and the English-speaking world, are showing a growing interest in collaborative systems for development and social innovation in LAC. Research highlights: The analysis enables further progress to be made in identifying the main drivers of collaboration in the LAC rural sector. These main drivers include social innovation, knowledge, sustainable management and social capital.

Food Innovation: Fungi and Vegetables Potential as A Healthy and Sustainable Meat Substitute

One of the factor-driven global environmental concerns and health issues is excessive meat production and consumption. The popularity of meat substitutes for the benefit of sustainability and well-being has been increasing. This review highlights the health benefits, sustainability, and sensorial properties of plant-based materials as meat substitutes. Each of the materials has its advantages and disadvantages. Mushrooms, mycoprotein, soy, TVP, and seitan have a high potential to become a healthier and more sustainable meat alternative. However, there are some challenges, such as mushrooms' wide variety, mycoprotein production cost, beany and grainy nodes of soy-based products, increased seitan production that negatively impacts the environment, and low protein content of jackfruit. Nuts, cauliflower, potato, and eggplant require significant sensory improvement to mimic meat characteristics despite their environmental advantages. Moreover, their protein content and quality are low. On the other hand, Cottonseed proteins contain toxic gossypol, and research on their sustainability and nutritional value is limited. For legumes and lentils, their processing reduces some nutritional components and their taste and texture from meat. Overall, these fungi and vegetables possess great potential as meat substitutes due to their high nutritive value, workable sensorial properties, and good sustainability compared to conventional meat despite having their challenges to become potential plant-based meat products.

Relationships between functional food consumption and individual traits and values: A segmentation approach

• Psychographic segmentation of Norwegian food consumers. • Three segments with different propensities for functional foods are explored. • Self-controlled consumers have the healthiest eating habits. • Weight- and convenience-oriented consumers #1 target for functional food suppliers. This study aimed to identify, describe, and compare consumer segments based on food- and health-related values and traits and how the segments are related to functional food consumption. A hybrid hierarchical k-means clustering approach was used to identify homogeneous consumer segments based on food innovativeness, food self-control, hedonic eating values, convenience orientation, health importance, and weight management concern. Based on a representative sample in Norway, three consumer segments were identified: the careless , the self-controlled , and the convenience-oriented . The careless were uninterested in food and health matters and did not appreciate novelty or variation in their food choices. The self-controlled were the most receptive to novelty and food innovation and highly engaged in health matters. The convenience-oriented were the most inclined to consume functional foods, had a pronounced convenience orientation, and were concerned about weight gain. How the industry needs to adapt its marketing strategy across consumer segments are discussed.

Positive emotions explain increased intention to consume five types of alternative proteins

Transitions in consumer diets towards a more ‘meat-less’ diet are stated to result in various health and environmental benefits. Consumption of alternative proteins provides one of the alternatives towards more meat-less diets. Alternative proteins receive a lot of attention, however it is unclear whether consumer acceptance is changing over time. Moreover, changing consumers’ dietary habits is harsh. The current study explores with a longitudinally study whether trends are visible in consumer acceptance of alternative proteins, and which drivers are relevant to understand acceptance of alternative proteins over time.An online survey was conducted in the Netherlands resulting in two types of samples: a longitudinal sample (500 respondents) that answered the same survey in 2015 and 2019, and cross-sectional samples that answered the survey in 2015 (2,461 respondents) or in 2019 (2,000 respondents). The survey addressed a range of possible drivers, including personal norms, food innovation traits (i.e. food neophobia and domain-specific innovativeness), food-choice motives and positive and negative emotions. Respondents were randomly divided into five groups and presented with specific questions on: fish, seaweed, insects, legumes and cultured meat.The results reveal an increase in the intention to consume seaweed, legumes, and cultured meat over time, though self-reported consumption remains stable indicating an intention-behaviour gap. Positive emotions appear to be the most relevant driver for intention (beyond all other included variables), and intentions in turn are the most relevant driver of consumption. Thus indicating the relevance of positive emotions as joy, content and pride. Implicating that interventions, promotions and communications should not only focus on cognitive added values as environmental impact though also include affective communication messages, e.g., consumption of alternative proteins feels good.

Insight on Current Advances in Food Science and Technology for Feeding the World Population

While the world population is steadily increasing, the capacity of Earth to renew its resources is continuously declining. Consequently, the bioresources required for food production are diminishing and new approaches are needed to feed the current and future global population. In the last decades, scientists have developed novel strategies to reduce food loss and waste, improve food production, and find new ingredients, design and build new food structures, and introduce digitalization in the food system. In this work, we provide a general overview on circular economy, alternative technologies for food production such as cellular agriculture, and new sources of ingredients like microalgae, insects, and wood-derived fibers. We present a summary of the whole process of food design using creative problem-solving that fosters food innovation, and digitalization in the food sector such as artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, and blockchain technology. Finally, we briefly discuss the effect of COVID-19 on the food system. This review has been written for a broad audience, covering a wide spectrum and giving insights on the most recent advances in the food science and technology area, presenting examples from both academic and industrial sides, in terms of concepts, technologies, and tools which will possibly help the world to achieve food security in the next 30 years.

Trends in Food Innovation: An Interventional Study on the Benefits of Consuming Novel Functional Cookies Enriched with Olive Paste

Olive paste may exert bioactivity due to its richness in bioactive components, such as oleic acid and polyphenols. The present interventional human study investigated if the fortification of cookies with olive paste and herbs may affect postprandial lipemia, oxidative stress, and other biomarkers in healthy volunteers. In a cross-over design, 10 healthy volunteers aged 20–30 years, consumed a meal, rich in fat and carbohydrates (50 g cookies). After a washout week, the same volunteers consumed the same cookie meal, enhanced with 20% olive paste. Blood sampling was performed before, 0.5 h, 1.5 h, and 3 h after eating. Total plasma antioxidant capacity according to FRAP, ABTS, and resistance to copper-induced plasma oxidation, serum lipids, glucose, uric acid, and antithrombotic activity in platelet-rich plasma were determined at each timepoint. There was a significant decrease in triglycerides’ concentration in the last 1.5 h in the intervention compared to the control group (p < 0.05). A tendency for a decrease in glucose levels and an increase in the plasma antioxidant capacity was observed 0.5 h and 1.5 h, respectively, in the intervention compared to the control group. The remaining biomarkers did not show statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). More clinical and epidemiological studies in a larger sample are necessary in order to draw safer conclusions regarding the effect of olive paste on metabolic biomarkers, with the aim to enhance the industrial production of innovative functional cookies with possible bioactivity.

Capabilities and Opportunities of Flexitarians to Become Food Innovators for a Healthy Planet: Two Explorative Studies

To support the transition to a more plant-based diet, it is necessary to better understand flexitarians, i.e., individuals who curtail their meat intake by abstaining from eating meat occasionally without fully abandoning meat. Much of the research about eating (less) meat thus far has focused on motivations. However, a dietary shift toward less meat consumption also demands that capabilities and opportunities be taken into account. The present study explores the capability and opportunity variables in terms of enablers and barriers to reduced meat consumption. Focus group discussions (Study 1) and a survey study (Study 2) were conducted. Study 1 provides an overview of what food consumers perceive as capabilities and opportunities in the context of limiting meat consumption. Study 2 quantifies the aspects of capabilities and opportunities with a special focus on enabling and constraining aspects regarding plant-based meat substitutes. Both studies examine what Dutch flexitarians designate as capabilities and opportunities in transitioning to eating less meat in everyday life. More insight into this helps to find and facilitate food choices that make the flexitarian choice an easier and more obvious one and consequently contribute to flexitarians as food innovators for a healthy planet.

Active Polymeric Packaging: Innovation in Food with Potential Use of Sustainable Raw Material

The preparation of polymeric films for use as packaging is something that has been gaining prominence in recent years. In order to enhance the properties of natural polymers, researchers have used additives that are incorporated into film-forming solutions such as nano particles and essential oils.