Journal of Food Quality

This paper reviews the contribution of tocopherols and tocotrienols (tocols) to food quality as well as their bioactivity and health-promoting properties, which have attracted researchers and food technologists. Tocols are lipophilic phenolic antioxidants encompassing tocopherols that are characterized by a saturated side chain and tocotrienols with an unsaturated isoprenoid side chain. Tocols are natural constituents of several foods like dairy, vegetable oils, nuts, and grains. Their presence in foods, namely, as food additives, helps prevent lipid oxidation, which negatively affects the sensorial quality of foods, and even the nutritional value and safety. Supplementation of animals’ diets with tocopherols has proven its effectiveness in preserving fresh color and flavor of the meat. Although alfa-tocopherol displays much higher vitamin E activity than other tocols, health outcomes have been reported for tocotrienols, thus calling for more studies.

Appearance and aroma deterioration are the main concerns during the retail display of fresh-cut watermelons. Here, fresh-cut watermelons were exposed to the red, green, blue, and conventional white light at 4°C for 4 days, respectively, and their resulting qualities were compared with the conventional white light as the control. Specifically, the red light presented its maximum emissions in 620–650 nm with a purity of 100% and an intensity of 1104.7 lux. The red light exposure reduced the weight loss to 1.81%, which was reduced by 51.1% of the control. The red light exposure reduced the color difference of the fruit surface significantly as well as maintaining its redness. The water-soaking ratio of the red light exposure was also reduced by 62.8% of the control. Moreover, the red light exposure delayed the aroma deterioration, which resulted from both microbial metabolism and the self-metabolism of volatiles of the fresh-cut watermelon. In summary, the red light exposure was better to delay the appearance and aroma deterioration of fresh-cut watermelons than the conventional white light during their retail display.

A method for the quantitative determination of ganoderic acid A was constructed using the principle of indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and this method was used to determine the ganoderic A contents of Ganoderma lucidum samples in the market. The conjugate of ganoderic acid A and bovine serum albumin was used for four rounds of immunization on test rabbits to obtain rabbit antiganoderic acid A antibody IgG. The enzyme-labeled plate was coated with the conjugate of ganoderic acid A and ovalbumin. The first stage reaction in the indirect competitive ELISA was that the conjugate of ganoderic acid A in the sample competed with the conjugate coated on the enzyme-labeled plate to bind rabbit antibodies. The second stage reaction was the combination of goat anti-rabbit IgG–horseradish peroxidase and rabbit antiganoderic acid A antibody IgG. The results of the determination of ganoderic acid A standard by this method showed that the coefficient of variation of repeated wells in the group was <5%, the detection limit of ganoderic acid A was 0.6 μg/L, and ganoderic acid A had a substantial dose-response relationship in the content range of 0.9–72.9 μg/L (R² = 0.994). This method was used to measure the ganoderic A content of 12 varieties of G. lucidum in the market and showed the obvious differences in the ganoderic acid A contents of the different varieties. This method is simple, fast, and of great importance to the quality control of Ganoderma products.

The present research aimed to produce Fruit Feta-type cheese and investigate the effects of pomegranate juice on the manufacturing process and characterization of Feta-type cheese during storage. In order to produce Feta-type cheese with pomegranate juice, part of the milk was replaced with pomegranate juice. Therefore, it was necessary to produce Feta-type cheese with whey-less method, which is a good substitute for ultrafiltrated cheese. Initially, whey-less Feta-type cheese was produced. The formula was optimized based on the physicochemical characteristics of the marketed ultrafiltrated Feta cheeses. At the optimal point, the amount of cream, MPC, WPC, and fresh milk were 45.6, 11.7, 2.7, and 40%, respectively. Whey-less Feta-type cheese with these ratios was produced and the effects of different levels of pomegranate juice (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20%) on its physicochemical, textural, microbial, and sensorial properties during 60 days of storage were studied. The results showed that pomegranate juice increased acidity, total phenol, anthocyanin, DPPH inhibition, and avalue, and reduced the pH, peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid (TBA), proteolysis, lipolysis, and L and b values. Adding pomegranate juice to cheese reduced all of the textural indices except the adhesiveness. Sensory evaluation of the samples showed that the sample containing 20% of pomegranate juice had a higher score and was selected as the best sample.

Iron fortification is an effective strategy that can be implemented to ensure supply and intake of iron for the public at large. Even though iron-fortified foods are widely available in the Sri Lankan market, the quantification of iron in those foods is not under the regulations of the food authorities in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study aims to quantify the concentration of iron in selected iron-fortified foods available in the local market and determine their contribution to the recommended daily allowances (RDA) per serving. The iron content in most popular powdered milk, biscuits, and breakfast cereals among the children of 15-16 years in Horana Divisional Secretariat was analyzed using atomic absorption spectroscopy, and its contribution to RDA was calculated. The average iron values of iron-fortified milk powder (IFMP), iron-fortified biscuit (IFB), and iron-fortified breakfast cereals (IFBC) were found to be 18.08 ± 9.53, 7.88 ± 0.07, and 17.78 ± 7.47 mg/100 g, respectively. The average estimated daily intake (EDI) per serving of IFMP, IFB, and IFBC was 3.61 ± 1.75, 2.13 ± 0.06, and 5.60 ± 1.45 mg, respectively. The highest contribution to the RDA can be obtained by a single serving of IFBC. Only less than half of the tested products have compatible iron levels with their labeled information. Iron-fortified foods which were studied have a high amount of iron, and they can make from 5% to 35% contribution to RDAs in young children, adolescents, and adults even by a single serving.

Battered and breaded fish nuggets (BBFNs) were fried at three different temperatures (160, 170, and 180°C) for 30–180 s to study the mass transfer kinetics of moisture loss and fat absorption. The mass transfer mechanism was investigated through an analysis of microstructure, surface oil (SO), and penetrated surface oil (PSO) contents of fried BBFNs. The results showed that Fick’s second law of diffusion and the first-order kinetic model could well describe the kinetics of moisture loss and fat absorption of the crust, respectively. Transfer coefficients of the two mass transports significantly increased with an increase in the frying temperature (). With the increase in the frying temperature, pore size of the crust increased. The PSO content of the crust also increased with elevated frying temperature. These results suggest that frying temperature affects the moisture loss and fat absorption kinetics of the crust by changing its microstructure.