Solid Foodstuff Research Articles

Relationship between arsenic content of food and water applied for food processing

As part of a survey conducted by the Central Agricultural Office of Hungary, 67 food samples including beverages were taken from 57 food industrial and catering companies, 75% of them being small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, 40% of the SMEs were micro entities. Water used for food processing was simultaneously sampled. The arsenic (As) content of solid food stuff was determined by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry after dry ashing. Food stuff with high water content and water samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The As concentration exceeded 10μg/L in 74% of the water samples taken from SMEs. The As concentrations of samples with high water content and water used were linearly correlated. Estimated As intake from combined exposure to drinking water and food of the population was on average 40% of the daily lower limit of WHO on the benchmark dose for a 0.5% increased incidence of lung cancer (BMDL0.5) for As. Five settlements had higher As intake than the BMDL0.5. Three of these settlements are situated in Csongrád county and the distance between them is less than 55km. The maximum As intake might be 3.8μg/kg body weight.

Synthesis of triheptanoin and formulation as a solid diet for rodents

AbstractTriheptanoin‐enriched diets have been successfully used in the experimental treatment of various metabolic disorders. Maximal therapeutic effect is achieved in the context of a ketogenic diet where triheptanoin oil provides 30–40% of the daily caloric intake. However, pre‐clinical studies using triheptanoin‐rich diets are hindered by the difficulty of administering to laboratory animals as a solid foodstuff. In the present study, we successfully synthesized triheptanoin to the highest standards of purity from glycerol and heptanoic acid, using sulfonated charcoal as a catalyst. Triheptanoin oil was then formulated as a solid, stable and palatable preparation using a ketogenic base and a combination of four commercially available formulation agents: hydrophilic fumed silica, hydrophobic fumed silica, microcrystalline cellulose, and talc. Diet compliance and safety was tested on C57Bl/6 mice over a 15‐week period, comparing overall status and body weight change.Practical applications: This work provides a complete description of (i) an efficient and cost‐effective synthesis of triheptanoin and (ii) its formulation as a solid, stable, and palatable ketogenic diet (triheptanoin‐rich; 39% of the caloric intake) for rodents. Triheptanoin‐rich diets will be helpful on pre‐clinical experiments testing the therapeutic efficacy of triheptanoin in different rodent models of human diseases. In addition, using the same solidification procedure, other oils could be incorporated into rodent ketogenic diet to study their dosage and long‐term effects on mammal health and development. This approach could be extremely valuable as ketogenic diet is widely used clinically for epilepsy treatment.

A Large Symmetrical Esophageal Ulcer Caused by Thermal and Compressive Injury from a Solid Foodstuff Known as 'Song-Pyen'

A Large Symmetrical Esophageal Ulcer Caused by Thermal and Compressive Injury from a Solid Foodstuff Known as 'Song-Pyen'

Minimising heat losses during batch ohmic heating of solid food

The influence of cell design on the uniformity of batch ohmic heating of a solid foodstuff was examined. Various ways of minimising heat loss from the cell surface including insulation or providing supplementary heat via a heating belt or panel were assessed but discarded in favour of housing the cell in a hot air cabinet maintained at 80 °C and eliminating the surrounding cell body. Various electrode materials and designs were evaluated prior to opting in favour of platinised titanium electrodes of minimal practicable thickness (1 mm). The final system developed involved the use of a combined ohmic/convection heating with the food stuff contained in a plastic casing pressurised between two spring-loaded electrodes. Under optimised conditions a maximum overall temperature variation of 12.1 °C within the product was achieved after 150 s which was reduced to 8.6 °C after 3 min standing time.

Use of commercial grape phenolic extracts to supplement solid foodstuff

Osmotic treatment (OT) has been applied to infuse phenolic compounds into a model food. Two commercial grape extracts were used as a source of phenolics, a grape seed extract (GSE) and a white grape marc extract (WGME). Three different concentrations of total phenolics were applied with and without presence of osmo-active solute (50 g/100 g and 0 g/100 g of sucrose) in the osmotic solution (OS). With a 50 g/100 g sucrose and a total phenolic content in OS ranging from 3 g/L to 15 g/L and operating time up to 8 h, the final total phenolic content in the osmo-treated model food was between 815 mg GAE/kg and 7176 mg GAE/kg. That is between the 0.5 and 1.5 times higher than that of the richest fruits. A soaking process with the same phenolic content but with no sucrose in OS led to a total phenolic content in the model food that was between 80% and 100% higher. Mass transfer of the major phenolics infused into the model food during OT and soaking process was characterized considering the diffusional approach and Peleg's model. Progress of total and individual phenolic content fitted well both models with the exception of the flavan-3-ol dimer concentration.

Direct Formulation of a Solid Foodstuff with Phenolic-Rich Multicomponent Solutions from Grape Seed: Effects on Composition and Antioxidant Properties

The aim of our work was to supplement a solid foodstuff with grape phenolics by osmotic treatment with an aqueous solution made of osmo-active agents (NaCl and sucrose) and a commercial grape seed extract. To investigate how the composition of the osmotic solution affected phenolic infusion, experimental conditions were set by a central composite design with two factors (the molality of NaCl and sucrose in the osmotic solution). In all experiments, the total phenolic content in the osmotic solution was kept constant (6300 +/- 45 mg gallic acid equivalents/kg), and the model food (an agar-agar gel) was processed for 8 h. Throughout the response surface, the osmo-treated model food was significantly supplemented with flavan-3-ols. At the central point of the experimental design, flavan-3-ol monomers and dimers were found in concentrations of 1334 +/- 126 and 486 +/- 55 mg/kg, respectively. Their penetration into the model food was limited by sucrose to a different extent. The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity of the osmo-treated gel was higher than that of fruits with a very high free radical scavenging activity.

Solid Foodstuff Supplemented with Phenolics from Grape: Antioxidant Properties and Correlation with Phenolic Profiles

Osmotic dehydration was assessed as an operation for supplementing a solid foodstuff (a gel was used as the model food) with grape phenolics from a concentrated red grape must to increase its antioxidant properties. The model food was processed for up to 24 h, and the osmotic pressure was adjusted by diluting the concentrated red grape must. In all conditions tested, low molecular weight phenolics (<or=610 g/mol) and, in particular, trans-caftaric acid, trans-coutaric acid, ferulic acid, coumaric acid, caffeic acid (hydroxycinnamic acids), gallic acid (hydroxybenzoic acids), quercetin, and rutin (flavonols), were quantified in the red grape must and also in the osmo-dehydrated food. Other flavonoids such as (+)-catechin and (-)epicatechin (flavan-3-ols) were detected only in the red grape must. Trolox equivalent antioxidant activity (TEAC) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were determined in the osmo-dehydrated food. Under the conditions that maximized phenolic infusion, the total phenolic content of the gel was close to the values reported in some rich-in-phenolic fruits and vegetables, whereas TEAC was 3 times that of fresh fruit with the highest antioxidant capacity. Regression analysis showed that the individual phenolics analyzed significantly explain the antioxidant capacity of the osmo-dehydrated food.

Analysis of vinylidene chloride and 1-chlorobutane in foods packaged with polyvinylidene chloride casing films by headspace gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS)

A headspace gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method was developed for the simultaneous determination of vinylidene chloride and 1-chlorobutane in foods packaged with polyvinylidene chloride casing films. The solid foodstuff was homogenized with an equal mass of distilled water. The homogenate was incubated for 1 h at 90°C in a sealed headspace vial, and the headspace gas was then analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in selected ion-monitoring mode using a bonded porous polymer-coated capillary column. The recovery rates of vinylidene chloride and 1-chlorobutane in foodstuffs were 94.5–103.9 and 85.8–120.3%, respectively. Among 13 samples tested, vinylidene chloride was detected at 0.001–0.020 µg g−1 in 11 foodstuffs, and 1-chlorobutane was detected at 0.004–0.040 µg g−1 in all 13 foodstuffs. Furthermore, vinylidene chloride was detected at 0.04 µg g−1 in one casing film, and 1-chlorobutane was detected in all casing films. The results indicate that these compounds migrated from the casing films into the foodstuffs.

Mathematical model for the migration of plasticisers from food contact materials into solid food

An equation was derived to describe the migration of plasticisers from food contact material into the solid foodstuff. Migration studies for sixteen different food/food contact material systems under different storage conditions were conducted and the experimental data obtained were found to fit the proposed equation well. The equation fitting, based on non-linear least squares analysis, was done by an iterative computer program. Further, the diffusion coefficients of the plasticisers and the partition coefficients of plasticisers between foodstuff and food contact materials were also determined by fitting experimental data to the equation. These parameters would be crucial if the equation were used for the prediction of the extent of migration. The proposed equation is simplified such that it can be more easily applied. The simplified equation has been shown to estimate the extent of migration to within ±20% of the experimental values using appropriate values of diffusion coefficients and partition coefficients determined in this work and the amounts of plasticisers in the packaging materials.

Studies on synthetic sweetening agents. XI. Colorimetric determination of dulcin. 2

Following the preceding report1) on the colorimetric determination of dulcin by the application of decomposition of dulcin with sodium nitrite, substances present in foodstuff in order to apply this method for the determination of dulcin in various foods. It was thereby found that methylnaphthoquinone, nitrofurazone, thiamine hydrochloride, ascorbic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid, ethanol, and some of the artificial coloring matter interfered in this determination but these substances were removed by solvent extraction or by pretreatment with ion-exchange resin. Satisfactory results were obtained by the application of this method to the determination of dulcin in liquid, semisolid, and solid foodstuff.

The Potato in Ireland

According to Arthur Young, writing in the 1770s, 'the food of the common Irish [is] potatoes and milk'.2 Many of the un common Irish of Ulster and parts of Leinster ate as much oaten bread or porridge as potatoes; they were familiar with the taste as well as the look of butter and eggs; and in good times they expected a daily meal with fish or bacon, even a weekly meal with meat. But for the greater part of the country, for a century before the Famine, Young's generalization will serve: the great mass of the population had, in effect, a single solid foodstuff: stirabout, or an oatmeal loaf, was an occasional treat: weeks or months separated the red-letter occasions when meat was eaten : day after day, three times a day, people ate salted, boiled potatoes, probably washing them down with milk, flavouring them, if they were fortunate, with an onion or a bit of lard, with boiled seaweed or a scrap of salted fish.

THE POTATO IN IRELAND

According to Arthur Young, writing in the 1770s, 'the food of the common Irish [is] potatoes and milk'.2 Many of the un common Irish of Ulster and parts of Leinster ate as much oaten bread or porridge as potatoes; they were familiar with the taste as well as the look of butter and eggs; and in good times they expected a daily meal with fish or bacon, even a weekly meal with meat. But for the greater part of the country, for a century before the Famine, Young's generalization will serve: the great mass of the population had, in effect, a single solid foodstuff: stirabout, or an oatmeal loaf, was an occasional treat: weeks or months separated the red-letter occasions when meat was eaten : day after day, three times a day, people ate salted, boiled potatoes, probably washing them down with milk, flavouring them, if they were fortunate, with an onion or a bit of lard, with boiled seaweed or a scrap of salted fish.