Changes in quality and bioactivity of native food during storage

Australian native foods have long been consumed by the Indigenous people of Australia. There is growing interest in the application of these foods in the functional food and complementary health care industries. Recent studies have provided information on the health properties of native foods but systematic study of changes in flavour and health components during processing and storage has not been done. It is well known that processing technologies such as packaging, drying and freezing can significantly alter the levels of health and flavour compounds. However, losses in compounds responsible for quality and bioactivity can be minimised by improving production practices. This report outlines research developed to provide the native food industry with reliable information on the retention of bioactive compounds during processing and storage to enable the development of product standards which in turn will provide the industry with scientific evidence to expand and explore new market opportunities globally.

Effect of water quality and season on the population dynamics of Cabomba caroliniana in subtropical Queensland, Australia

Cabomba caroliniana is a submersed aquatic macrophyte that originates from the Americas and is currently invading temperate, subtropical, and tropical freshwater habitats around the world. Despite being a nuisance in many countries, little is known about its ecology. We monitored C. caroliniana populations in three reservoirs in subtropical Queensland, Australia, over 5.5 years. Although biomass, stem length, and plant density of the C. caroliniana stands fluctuated over time, they did not exhibit clear seasonal patterns. Water depth was the most important environmental factor explaining C. caroliniana abundance. Plant biomass was greatest at depths from 2–4 m and rooted plants were not found beyond 5 m. Plant density was greatest in shallow water and decreased with depth, most likely as a function of decreasing light and increasing physical stress. We tested the effect of a range of water physico-chemical parameters. The concentration of phosphorus in the water column was the variable that explained most of the variation in C. caroliniana population parameters. We found that in subtropical Australia, C. caroliniana abundance does not appear to be affected by seasonal conditions but is influenced by other environmental variables such as water depth and nutrient loading. Therefore, further spread will more likely be governed by local habitat rather than climatic conditions.

A time minimising transportation problem with quality dependent time

The usual assumption made in time minimising transportation problem is that the time for transporting a positive amount in a route is independent of the actual amount transported in that route. In this paper we make a more general and natural assumption that the time depends on the actual amount transported. We assume that the time function for each route is an increasing piecewise constant function. Four algorithms - (1) a threshold algorithm, (2) an upper bounding technique, (3) a primal dual approach, and (4) a branch and bound algorithm - are presented to solve the given problem. A method is also given to compute the minimum bottle-neck shipment corresponding to the optimal time. A numerical example is solved illustrating the algorithms presented in this paper.

Drying characteristics and quality of grape under physical pretreatment

Grape drying is a slow and energy intensive process because the waxy peel has low permeability to moisture. Therefore, peel chemical and physical pretreatments are considered before drying in order to facilitate water diffusion. However, they cause heterogeneity in the waxes removal and problems during shelf-life. In this paper an alternative abrasive pretreatment of grape peel, for enhancing the drying rate and preserving the samples, was applied to Red Globe grapes. Convective drying experiments were carried out at 40-70 Centigrade and at 2.3 m/s air velocity. The effect of wax abrasive pretreatment on the drying kinetics and quality parameters of raisins was investigated. The results were compared with those of samples pretreated by dipping in alkaline ethyl oleate solution and untreated grapes. All the dried samples are darker than fresh one and shrunked. The samples pretreated by peel abrasion and dried at 50 centigrade showed the lowest color changes, less shrinkage and the best rehydration capacity. The drying kinetics and shrinkage curves were also analyzed using some commonly available empirical models.

Effect of water quality and season on the population dynamics of Cabomba caroliniana in subtropical Queensland, Australia

Cabomba caroliniana is a submersed aquatic macrophyte that originates from the Americas and is currently invading temperate, subtropical, and tropical freshwater habitats around the world. Despite being a nuisance in many countries, little is known about its ecology. We monitored C. caroliniana populations in three reservoirs in subtropical Queensland, Australia, over 5.5 years. Although biomass, stem length, and plant density of the C. caroliniana stands fluctuated over time, they did not exhibit clear seasonal patterns. Water depth was the most important environmental factor explaining C. caroliniana abundance. Plant biomass was greatest at depths from 2–4 m and rooted plants were not found beyond 5 m. Plant density was greatest in shallow water and decreased with depth, most likely as a function of decreasing light and increasing physical stress. We tested the effect of a range of water physico-chemical parameters. The concentration of phosphorus in the water column was the variable that explained most of the variation in C. caroliniana population parameters. We found that in subtropical Australia, C. caroliniana abundance does not appear to be affected by seasonal conditions but is influenced by other environmental variables such as water depth and nutrient loading. Therefore, further spread will more likely be governed by local habitat rather than climatic conditions.

Boosting the productivity and profitability of northern Australian beef enterprises: Exploring innovation options using simulation modelling and systems analysis

The financial health of beef cattle enterprises in northern Australia has declined markedly over the last decade due to an escalation in production and marketing costs and a real decline in beef prices. Historically, gains in animal productivity have offset the effect of declining terms of trade on farm incomes. This raises the question of whether future productivity improvements can remain a key path for lifting enterprise profitability sufficient to ensure that the industry remains economically viable over the longer term. The key objective of this study was to assess the production and financial implications for north Australian beef enterprises of a range of technology interventions (development scenarios), including genetic gain in cattle, nutrient supplementation, and alteration of the feed base through introduced pastures and forage crops, across a variety of natural environments. To achieve this objective a beef systems model was developed that is capable of simulating livestock production at the enterprise level, including reproduction, growth and mortality, based on energy and protein supply from natural C4 pastures that are subject to high inter-annual climate variability. Comparisons between simulation outputs and enterprise performance data in three case study regions suggested that the simulation model (the Northern Australia Beef Systems Analyser) can adequately represent the performance beef cattle enterprises in northern Australia. Testing of a range of development scenarios suggested that the application of individual technologies can substantially lift productivity and profitability, especially where the entire feedbase was altered through legume augmentation. The simultaneous implementation of multiple technologies that provide benefits to different aspects of animal productivity resulted in the greatest increases in cattle productivity and enterprise profitability, with projected weaning rates increasing by 25%, liveweight gain by 40% and net profit by 150% above current baseline levels, although gains of this magnitude might not necessarily be realised in practice. While there were slight increases in total methane output from these development scenarios, the methane emissions per kg of beef produced were reduced by 20% in scenarios with higher productivity gain. Combinations of technologies or innovative practices applied in a systematic and integrated fashion thus offer scope for providing the productivity and profitability gains necessary to maintain viable beef enterprises in northern Australia into the future.

Pre-emptive breeding to combine superior eating quality in tropical super sweet corn with resistance to major diseases

This report presents the process and outcomes of a five year project, which employed genetics and breeding approach for integrating disease resistance,agronomy and quality traits that enhances sustainable productivity improvement in sweet corn production. The report outlines a molecular markers based approach to introgress quantitative traits loci that are believed to contribute to resistance to downy mildew, a potentially devastating disease that threatens sweet corn and other similar crops. It also details the approach followed to integrate resistances for other major diseases such as southern rust (caused by Puccinia polysora Underw), Northern Corn Leaf Blight (Exserohilum turcicum) with improved agronomy and eating quality. The report explains the importance of heterosis (hybrid vigour) and combining ability in the development of useful sweet corn hybrids. It also explains the relevance of parental performance to predict its breeding value and the performance of its hybrids.

Welfare outcomes for 3- and 6-month-old beef calves in a tropical environment castrated surgically or by applying rubber rings

Castration of cattle using rubber rings is becoming increasingly popular due to the perceived ease of the procedure and greater operator safety when compared with surgical castration. Few comparative studies have investigated the effects of different castration methods and calf age on welfare outcomes, particularly in a tropical environment. Thirty Belmont Red (a tropically adapted breed), 3-month-old (liveweight 71–119 kg) and 30, 6-month-old (liveweight 141–189 kg) calves were assigned to a two age × three castration (surgical, ring and sham) treatment factorial study (Surg3, Surg6, Ring3, Ring6, Sham3 and Sham6, n = 10 for each treatment group). Welfare outcomes were assessed post-castration using: behaviour for 2 weeks; blood parameters (cortisol and haptoglobin concentrations) to 4 weeks; wound healing to 5 weeks; and liveweights to 6 weeks. More Surg calves struggled during castration compared with Sham and Ring (P < 0.05, 90 ± 7% vs. 20 ± 9% and 24 ± 10%) and performed more struggles (1.9 ± 0.2, 1.1 ± 0.3 and 1.1 ± 0.3 for Surg, Sham and Ring, respectively), suggesting that surgical castration caused most pain during performance of the procedure. A significant (P < 0.05) time × castration method × age interaction for plasma cortisol revealed that concentrations decreased most rapidly in Sham; the Ring6 calves failed to show reduced cortisol concentrations at 2 h post-castration, unlike other treatment groups. By 7 h post-castration, all treatment groups had similar concentrations. A significant (P < 0.01) interaction between time and castration method showed that haptoglobin concentrations increased slightly to 0.89 and 0.84 mg/mL for Surg and Ring, respectively over the first 3 days post-castration. Concentrations for Surg then decreased to levels similar to Sham by day 21 and, although concentrations for Ring decreased on day 7 to 0.76 mg/mL, they increased significantly on day 14 to 0.97 mg/mL before reducing to concentrations similar to the other groups (0.66 mg/mL) by day 21. Significantly (P < 0.05) more of the wounds of the 3-month compared with the 6-month calves scored as ‘healed’ at day 7 (74% vs. 39%), while more (P = 0.062) of the Surg than Ring scored as ‘healed’ at day 21 (60% vs. 29%). At day 14 there were significantly (P < 0.05) fewer healed wounds in Ring6 compared with other treatment groups (13% vs. 40–60%). Liveweight gain was significantly (P < 0.05) greater in 3-month (0.53 kg/day) than in 6-month calves (0.44 kg/day) and in Sham calves (P < 0.001, 0.54 kg/day), than in Ring (0.44 kg/day) and Surg (0.48 kg/day) calves. Overall, welfare outcomes were slightly better for Surg than Ring calves due to reduced inflammation and faster wound healing, with little difference between age groups.

Welfare outcomes for 3- and 6-month-old beef calves in a tropical environment castrated surgically or by applying rubber rings

Castration of cattle using rubber rings is becoming increasingly popular due to the perceived ease of the procedure and greater operator safety when compared with surgical castration. Few comparative studies have investigated the effects of different castration methods and calf age on welfare outcomes, particularly in a tropical environment. Thirty Belmont Red (a tropically adapted breed), 3-month-old (liveweight 71–119 kg) and 30, 6-month-old (liveweight 141–189 kg) calves were assigned to a two age × three castration (surgical, ring and sham) treatment factorial study (Surg3, Surg6, Ring3, Ring6, Sham3 and Sham6, n = 10 for each treatment group). Welfare outcomes were assessed post-castration using: behaviour for 2 weeks; blood parameters (cortisol and haptoglobin concentrations) to 4 weeks; wound healing to 5 weeks; and liveweights to 6 weeks. More Surg calves struggled during castration compared with Sham and Ring (P < 0.05, 90 ± 7% vs. 20 ± 9% and 24 ± 10%) and performed more struggles (1.9 ± 0.2, 1.1 ± 0.3 and 1.1 ± 0.3 for Surg, Sham and Ring, respectively), suggesting that surgical castration caused most pain during performance of the procedure. A significant (P < 0.05) time × castration method × age interaction for plasma cortisol revealed that concentrations decreased most rapidly in Sham; the Ring6 calves failed to show reduced cortisol concentrations at 2 h post-castration, unlike other treatment groups. By 7 h post-castration, all treatment groups had similar concentrations. A significant (P < 0.01) interaction between time and castration method showed that haptoglobin concentrations increased slightly to 0.89 and 0.84 mg/mL for Surg and Ring, respectively over the first 3 days post-castration. Concentrations for Surg then decreased to levels similar to Sham by day 21 and, although concentrations for Ring decreased on day 7 to 0.76 mg/mL, they increased significantly on day 14 to 0.97 mg/mL before reducing to concentrations similar to the other groups (0.66 mg/mL) by day 21. Significantly (P < 0.05) more of the wounds of the 3-month compared with the 6-month calves scored as ‘healed’ at day 7 (74% vs. 39%), while more (P = 0.062) of the Surg than Ring scored as ‘healed’ at day 21 (60% vs. 29%). At day 14 there were significantly (P < 0.05) fewer healed wounds in Ring6 compared with other treatment groups (13% vs. 40–60%). Liveweight gain was significantly (P < 0.05) greater in 3-month (0.53 kg/day) than in 6-month calves (0.44 kg/day) and in Sham calves (P < 0.001, 0.54 kg/day), than in Ring (0.44 kg/day) and Surg (0.48 kg/day) calves. Overall, welfare outcomes were slightly better for Surg than Ring calves due to reduced inflammation and faster wound healing, with little difference between age groups.

The effects of lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) addition to wheat bread on its nutritional, phytochemical and bioactive composition and protein quality

The grain legume Australian sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius; ASL) is gaining international interest as a functional food ingredient; however its addition to refined wheat bread has been shown to decrease bread volume and textural quality, the extent of which is influenced by ASL variety. The present study evaluated the effects of ASL incorporation (20% of total flour) of the six commercial varieties; Belara, Coromup, Gungurru, Jenabillup, Mandelup and Tanjil, on the level of nutritional, phytochemical and bioactive composition and protein quality of refined wheat flour bread. Protein, dietary fiber, phenolic and carotenoid content, antioxidant capacity and protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) were higher (p < 0.05), whereas available carbohydrate level was lower (p < 0.05) in ASL–wheat breads than the wheat-only bread, regardless of the ASL variety used. In addition, the blood-glucose lowering bioactive peptide γ-conglutin was detected in all ASL–wheat breads but not in wheat-only bread. The ASL variety used significantly (p < 0.05) affected the dietary fiber, fat, available carbohydrates and polyphenolic level, the antioxidant capacity and the PDCAAS of the ASL–wheat breads. These findings demonstrate the potential nutritional and health benefits of adding ASL to refined wheat bread and highlight the importance of selecting specific ASL varieties to maximise its nutritional attributes.

The effects of lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) addition to wheat bread on its nutritional, phytochemical and bioactive composition and protein quality

The grain legume Australian sweet lupin (Lupinus angustifolius; ASL) is gaining international interest as a functional food ingredient; however its addition to refined wheat bread has been shown to decrease bread volume and textural quality, the extent of which is influenced by ASL variety. The present study evaluated the effects of ASL incorporation (20% of total flour) of the six commercial varieties; Belara, Coromup, Gungurru, Jenabillup, Mandelup and Tanjil, on the level of nutritional, phytochemical and bioactive composition and protein quality of refined wheat flour bread. Protein, dietary fiber, phenolic and carotenoid content, antioxidant capacity and protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) were higher (p < 0.05), whereas available carbohydrate level was lower (p < 0.05) in ASL–wheat breads than the wheat-only bread, regardless of the ASL variety used. In addition, the blood-glucose lowering bioactive peptide γ-conglutin was detected in all ASL–wheat breads but not in wheat-only bread. The ASL variety used significantly (p < 0.05) affected the dietary fiber, fat, available carbohydrates and polyphenolic level, the antioxidant capacity and the PDCAAS of the ASL–wheat breads. These findings demonstrate the potential nutritional and health benefits of adding ASL to refined wheat bread and highlight the importance of selecting specific ASL varieties to maximise its nutritional attributes.

Evaluating the role of extension in helping to improve water quality in the Great Barrier Reef

From 2012-2014 the Queensland Government delivered an extension project to help sugarcane growers adopt best management practices to reduce pollutant loss to the Great Barrier Reef. Coutts J&R were engaged to measure progress towards the project's engagement, capacity gain and practice change targets. The monitoring and evaluation program comprised a database, post-workshop evaluations and grower and advisor surveys. Coutts J&R conducted an independent phone survey with 97 growers, a subset of the 900 growers engaged in extension activities. Of those surveyed 64% stated they had made practice changes. There was higher (74%) adoption by growers engaged in one-on-one extension than those growers only involved in group-based activities (36%). Overall, the project reported 41% (+/-10%, 95% confidence) of growers engaged made a practice change. The structured monitoring and evaluation program, including independent surveys, was essential to quantify practice change and demonstrate the effectiveness of extension in contributing to water quality improvement.

Organisational culture and quality management system implementation in Indonesian construction companies

The study of the organisational culture in the construction industry is still in the stage of debate (Oney-Yazıcı et al., 2007). Despite the complexities involved in measuring the culture of the construction industry (Tijhuis and Fellows, 2012), this culture is regarded as being worthy of research, especially in relation to the organisational culture needed to support quality management systems (Koh and Low, 2008; Watson and Howarth, 2011) and to improve organisational effectiveness, and therefore, organisational performance (Coffey, 2010; Cheung et al., 2011). A number of recent studies have examined the construction companies’ organisational culture within the context of the use of Cameron and Quinn’s Competing Value Framework (CVF), as well as the use of their Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) as the conceptual paradigm for the analyses (Thomas et al., 2002; Nummelin, 2006; Oney- Yazıcı et al., 2007; Koh and Low, 2008). However, there has been little research based on the use of Cameron and Quinn’s CVF-OCAI tool for identifying types of construction companies’ organisational culture and their influences on the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001. Research output and information is also very limited relating to the strength of the companies’ organisational culture driving an effective QMS-ISO 9001 implementation, affecting the companies’ effectiveness. To rectify these research gaps, the research has been aimed to study organisational culture types (based on CVF) and their influences on the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001:2008 principles and elements, which eventually lead to improved companies’ quality performance. In order to fully examine the status of the QMS being implemented, the research has studied the relationships of the barriers of QMS implementation with the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001:2008 principles and elements and with the business performance of the companies, as well as the examination of the relationships of the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001:2008 principles and elements with the companies’ business performance. The research output has been the development of fundamental and original studies on the study topics, to provide the knowledge for improvements in Indonesian construction companies’ quality performance and quality outcomes.

Measuring and tracking quality factors in Free and Open Source Software projects

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has gained increased interest in the computer software industry, but assessing its quality remains a challenge. FOSS development is frequently carried out by globally distributed development teams, and all stages of development are publicly visible. Several product and process-level quality factors can be measured using the public data. This thesis presents a theoretical background for software quality and metrics and their application in a FOSS environment. Information available from FOSS projects in three information spaces are presented, and a quality model suitable for use in a FOSS context is constructed. The model includes both process and product quality metrics, and takes into account the tools and working methods commonly used in FOSS projects. A subset of the constructed quality model is applied to three FOSS projects, highlighting both theoretical and practical concerns in implementing automatic metric collection and analysis. The experiment shows that useful quality information can be extracted from the vast amount of data available. In particular, projects vary in their growth rate, complexity, modularity and team structure.