Uso de diferentes agentes ligantes no desenvolvimento de barra de cereal salgada adicionada de chia (Salvia hispânica L.)

The objective of this study was to evaluate different binders when preparing salt cereal bars and to characterize them as physical, physico-chemical and sensory parameters. Four formulations of different cereal bars using binders have been developed. The evaluated binders were collagen, guar gum, xanthan gum and psyllium. The developed cereal bars were evaluated according to their physical characteristics (color and texture), physicochemical (pH, moisture, ash, protein, lipids, Aw, crude fiber) beyond their calorie, fatty acid composition and concentration of the main minerals. Among the four binding agents evaluated, psyllium stood out due to its physicochemical characteristics. A cereal bar high in protein and fiber; low in carbohydrates and water activity. The binding agent guar gum and xanthan showed characteristics similar to psyllium, especially regarding to fiber content. Collagen as binder gave the final product a high level in protein and lipid. The color and texture analyzes showed that the salt cereal bars had the color and crispness characteristics for this type of product. Regarding to the composition in the fatty acid, the developed bars offer a good supply of essential fatty acids to the human body. The same was observed regarding to mineral contents. Sensory, salt cereal bars made with chia showed good acceptability, highlighting the elaborate bar with psyllium binder. Different binders demonstrated technological efficiency in the preparation of salt cereal bars. The binder psyllium agent over others showed better physical-chemical and sensory characteristics. However, in general the product has healthy and nutritional characteristics it may be indicated for a protein diet with high fiber content and free sugars.

Araça amarelo: atividade antioxidante, composição nutricional e aplicação em barra de cereais

Brazil has a great diversity of native fruits, which are not always widely consumed, being sold only in certain regions, due to their difficulty of post-harvest conservation. One such fruit is yellow guava, interesting source of nutrients. To promote the consumption and use of this fruit to the consumer public in different regions of the country, this study evaluated the incorporation of yellow Ya-cy araçá in formulating a cereal bar. Therefore, fruits were evaluated for their chemical, physical and chemical characteristics and bioactive compounds in different stages of maturation yellow guava (green, mature and dried forms). The behavior of guava yellow front of to UV-C radiation was also evaluated. After these reviews, there was obtained yellow ripe guava flour after previous tests, was added to the base formulation cereal bar. For the experimental planning and development of the formulations was used factorial design 22 with a central point. The developed formulations were subjected to sensory evaluation using for treatment of multivariate data analysis (Principal Component Analysis- ACP). The preferred formulation in sensory evaluation was evaluated in their physical characteristics (texture), physical-chemical (moisture, ash, lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, dietary fiber and calorie), mineral content and fatty acid profile. The results indicated that the added yellow guava cereal bar developed in this study is one way to application and use of guava, increasing the consumption of fruit to different regions of the country, and can be considered a functional product, not only to contain the fruit in its composition, but also to present many beneficial nutrients that contribute to the health of consumers.

Estudio de factibilidad de exportación de quinua elaborada como alimento

En el actual mundo cambiante, la forma de pensar y la cultura de las personas se transforman a gran velocidad. Dentro de estos cambios se incluye la cultura alimenticia de las personas, pues hoy en día se observa un creciente porcentaje de personas que se preocupan por tener una alimentación balanceada y muchos buscan mantener este equilibrio en productos que brinden la mayor cantidad de nutrientes para mantenerse bien física y saludablemente. Mediante ésta investigación se busca explorar las posibilidades de producción y exportación de la quinua con el fin de promocionar y fomentar el cuidado de la salud. Se busca producir quinua y transformarla en producto terminado en forma de barra de cereal, logrando reunir los requerimientos nutricionales que los consumidores buscan hoy en día y aprovechando al máximo las condiciones climáticas que tiene un país como Colombia que hace parte de la región Andina, terreno originario de la quinua.

Estudo da funcionalidade de espécies comestíveis do semiárido nordestino e estratégias para sua utilização como ingredientes para fins alimentícios

The Brazilian caatinga is characterized by low annual rainfall and arid soils. Several cactaceae, either native or adapted species, grow in this semi-arid region, including the prickly pear (Opuntia fícus indica) and facheiro ((Philosocereus pachycladus Ritter) which produce underexploited edible fruits. In addition to these species, the algaroba is a leguminous with little studied technological applications and bioactive potential so far. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the physicochemical, bioactive and functional attributes of the prickly pear and facheiro fruit pulps and the algaroba flour. Specifically, this study approaches the physicochemical characterization, total phenolic compounds (TPC) and the betalain identification and quantification by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS. It is also investigated the DPPH antioxidant capacity and the antienzymatic activities against alpha-amylase and alphaglucosidase of water and ethanolic extracts of these food material. In order to address their potential to be used as food ingredients, juice blends prepared with mixtures of cajá and prickly pear, biofilms with facheiro and cereal bars with algaroba flour were elaborated and analyzed. The prickly pear fruits presented low acidity and high sugar content when compared to facheiro. The Philosocereus pachycladus Ritter fruits had higher protein and ash content, but the algaroba flour was the species with higher protein and sugar content among all. The algaroba flour also presented outstanding food fiber content, which reveals its potentiality to be used as a natural intestinal regulator. The TPC of water and ethanol extracts ranged from 3.87 to 16.21 mg GAE/100g for algaroba flour, 79.24 to 110.20 GAE/ 100g for prickly pear and 412.23 to 539.14 mg GAE/100g for facheiro. The 70% (w/v) ethanol extract reached the highest DPPH antioxidant activity, which was linearly correlated to its high TPC content. In regard to the enzymatic inhibitory activities, the best performance was observed for the prickly pear extracts which presented a moderate inhibition for both investigated enzymes, but interestingly, no alpha-glucosidase inhibition was observed for facheiro extracts. This work shows, for the first time in the literature, the functional attributes of facheiro fruits, as well as the presence of betacianins and isobetanin in the pulp of this exotic fruit. When it comes to the food products developed here, the sensory attributes that better described the juice blend cajá-prickly pear were sweetness, acidity, color yellow-orange, body, turbidity and cajá flavor. The discriminative test applied for cereal bars produced with and without algaroba revealed that the texture was the only sensory attribute that differed (p<0.05) between these two samples. It was also observed that the addition of facheiro extracts did not influence the visual characteristics of the biofilms. Overall, this work unveils the physicochemical and bioactive attributes of these commercial and technologically underexploited species widely found in the Brazilian caatinga and presents alternatives for their rational use

Caracterização de fibras de milho e sua incorporação em barras de cereais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Aproveitamento da casca de banana na elaboração de barras de cereais: avaliação dos compostos bioativos, características físicas e sensoriais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Desenvolvimento de barra alimentícia adicionada de café: estudo de marketing

The consumption of snack bars is based especially on the demand for practical and nutritious food. Coffee is highlighted for being appreciated and consumed worldwide, presenting elevated antioxidant activity, in addition to peculiar sensorial attributes. Therefore, it has great potential for use in many formulations. However, the success in the acceptance of a new product also derives from adequate marketing strategies. In this context, the present study aimed at evaluating the feasibility of introducing to the market a snack bar added with coffee, by means of sensorial acceptance and purchase intent of the consumers, in addition to identifying the best concept and the possible market segments. This work was a qualitative, by means of a focus group (content analysis), and quantitative research, by means of sensorial analysis and structures questionnaires (descriptive – frequency distribution, arithmetic mean, crosstabs and t test – and multivariate – cluster and discriminate analysis - statistical techniques). With the results, we showed that the main aspects considered by the consumers regarding the snack bar added with coffee. According to the qualitative evaluation, the consumer prefers packaging with matte colors ranging in the tones related to the coffee grain. The analysis of the quantitative data allows us to infer that the evaluations of the product regarding overall impression, purchase intent, preference and expectation before and after consuming the product are better for packaging containing the information “special coffee flavor – 100% arabic”. Regarding market segment, it was possible to conclude that, of the three extracted groups, the group of “healthy and conscious consumers” was the segment with higher potential for exploitation regarding purchase and consumption of the snack bar added with coffee.

Allelic variation at a single gene increases food value in a drought-tolerant staple cereal

The production of adequate agricultural outputs to support the growing human population places great demands on agriculture, especially in light of ever-greater restrictions on input resources. Sorghum is a drought-adapted cereal capable of reliable production where other cereals fail, and thus represents a good candidate to address food security as agricultural inputs of water and arable land grow scarce. A long-standing issue with sorghum grain is that it has an inherently lower digestibility. Here we show that a low-frequency allele type in the starch metabolic gene, pullulanase, is associated with increased digestibility, regardless of genotypic background. We also provide evidence that the beneficial allele type is not associated with deleterious pleiotropic effects in the modern field environment. We argue that increasing the digestibility of an adapted crop is a viable way forward towards addressing food security while maximizing water and land-use efficiency.

Whole-genome sequencing reveals untapped genetic potential in Africa’s indigenous cereal crop sorghum

Sorghum is a food and feed cereal crop adapted to heat and drought and a staple for 500 million of the world’s poorest people. Its small diploid genome and phenotypic diversity make it an ideal C4 grass model as a complement to C3 rice. Here we present high coverage (16–45 × ) resequenced genomes of 44 sorghum lines representing the primary gene pool and spanning dimensions of geographic origin, end-use and taxonomic group. We also report the first resequenced genome of S. propinquum, identifying 8 M high-quality SNPs, 1.9 M indels and specific gene loss and gain events in S. bicolor. We observe strong racial structure and a complex domestication history involving at least two distinct domestication events. These assembled genomes enable the leveraging of existing cereal functional genomics data against the novel diversity available in sorghum, providing an unmatched resource for the genetic improvement of sorghum and other grass species.

Impact of a change in tillage and crop residue management practice on soil chemical and microbiological properties in a cereal-producing red duplex soil in NSW, Australia

The effect of a change of tillage and crop residue management practice on the chemical and micro-biological properties of a cereal-producing red duplex soil was investigated by superimposing each of three management practices (CC: conventional cultivation, stubble burnt, crop conventionally sown; DD: direct-drilling, stubble retained, no cultivation, crop direct-drilled; SI: stubble incorporated with a single cultivation, crop conventionally sown), for a 3-year period on plots previously managed with each of the same three practices for 14 years. A change from DD to CC or SI practice resulted in a significant decline, in the top 0-5 cm of soil, in organic C, total N, electrical conductivity, NH4-N, NO3-N, soil moisture holding capacity, microbial biomass and CO2 respiration as well as a decline in the microbial quotient (the ratio of microbial biomass C to organic C; P <0.05). In contrast, a change from SI to DD or CC practice or a change from CC to DD or SI practice had only negligible impact on soil chemical properties (P >0.05). However, there was a significant increase in microbial biomass and the microbial quotient in the top 0-5 cm of soil following the change from CC to DD or SI practice and with the change from SI to DD practice (P <0.05). Analysis of ester-linked fatty acid methyl esters (EL-FAMEs) extracted from the 0- to 5-cm and 5- to 10-cm layers of the soils of the various treatments detected changes in the FAME profiles following a change in tillage practice. A change from DD practice to SI or CC practice was associated with a significant decline in the ratio of fungal to bacterial fatty acids in the 0- to 5-cm soil (P <0.05). The results show that a change in tillage practice, particularly the cultivation of a previously minimum-tilled (direct-drilled) soil, will result in significant changes in soil chemical and microbiological properties within a 3-year period. They also show that soil microbiological properties are sensitive indicators of a change in tillage practice.

Reducing nitrous oxide emissions while supporting subtropical cereal production in Oxisols

This is the first study to investigate alternative fertilisation strategies to increase cereal production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the most common soil type in subtropical regions. The results of this research will contribute to define future farming practices to achieve global food security and mitigate climate change. The study established that introducing legumes in cropping systems is the most agronomically viable and environmentally sustainable fertilisation strategy. Importantly, this strategy can be widely adopted in subtropical regions since it is economically accessible, requires little know-how transfer and technology investment, and can be profitable in both low- and high-input cropping systems.

Intake, growth and carcass characteristics of lambs consuming low digestible hay and cereal grain

The influence of barley and oat grain supplements on hay dry matter intake (DMI), carcass components gain and meat quality in lambs fed a low quality basal diet was examined. Thirty five crossbred wether lambs (9 months of age) were divided into four groups. After adaptation to a basal diet of 85% oat hay and 15% lucerne hay for one week, an initial group of 11 was slaughtered. The weights of carcass components and digesta-free empty body weight (EBW) of this group was used to estimate the weight of carcass components of the other three experimental groups at the start of the experiment. The remaining three groups were randomly assigned to pens and fed ad libitum the basal diet alone (basal), basal with 300 g air dry barley grain (barley), basal with 300 g air dry oat grain (oat). Supplements were fed twice weekly (i.e., 900 g on Tuesday and 1200 g on Friday). After 13 weeks of feeding, animals were slaughtered and, at 24 h post-mortem meat quality and subcutaneous fat colour were measured. Samples of longissimus muscle were collected for determination of sarcomere length and meat tenderness. Hay DMI was reduced (P<0.01) by both barley and oat supplements. Lambs fed barley or oat had a higher and moderate digestibility of DM, and a higher intake of CP (P<0.05) and ME (P<0.01) than basal lambs. Final live weight of barley and oat lambs was higher (P<0.05) than basal, but this was not reflected in EBW or hot carcass weight. Lambs fed barley or oat had increases in protein (P<0.01) and water (P<0.001) in the carcass, but fat gain was not changed (P>0.05). There were no differences in eye muscle area or fat depth (total muscle and adipose tissue depth at 12th rib, 110 mm from midline; GR) among groups. The increased levels of protein and water components in the carcass of barley and oat fed lambs, associated with improved muscle production, were small and did not alter (P>0.05) any of the carcass/meat quality attributes compared to lambs fed a low quality forage diet. Feeding barley or oat grain at 0.9–1% of live weight daily to lambs consuming poor quality hay may not substantially improve carcass quality, but may be useful in maintaining body condition of lambs through the dry season for slaughter out of season

The process for implementation of a Quality Management System within a multi-functional cereal laboratory

The intent of this study was to design, document and implement a Quality Management System (QMS) into a laboratory that incorporated both research and development (R&D) and routine analytical activities. In addition, it was necessary for the QMS to be easily and efficiently maintained to: (a) provide documented evidence that would validate the system's compliance with a certifiable standard, (b) fit the purpose of the laboratory, (c) accommodate prevailing government policies and standards, and (d) promote positive outcomes for the laboratory through documentation and verification of the procedures and methodologies implemented. Initially, a matrix was developed that documented the standards' requirements and the necessary steps to be made to meet those requirements. The matrix provided a check mechanism on the progression of the system's development. In addition, it was later utilised in the Quality Manual as a reference tool for the location of full procedures documented elsewhere in the system. The necessary documentation to build and monitor the system consisted of a series of manuals along with forms that provided auditable evidence of the workings of the QMS. Quality Management (QM), in one form or another, has been in existence since the early 1900's. However, the question still remains: is it a good thing or just a bugbear? Many of the older style systems failed because they were designed by non-users, fiercely regulatory, restrictive and generally deemed to be an imposition. It is now considered important to foster a sense of ownership of the system by the people who use the system. The system's design must be tailored to best fit the purpose of the operations of the facility if maximum benefits to the organisation are to be gained.

Long-term trends in fertility of soils under continuous cultivation and cereal cropping in southern Queensland. IX. Simulation of soil carbon and nitrogen pools using CENTURY model

Cultivation and cropping of soils results in a decline in soil organic carbon and soil nitrogen, and can lead to reduced crop yields. The CENTURY model was used to simulate the effects of continuous cultivation and cereal cropping on total soil organic matter (C and N), carbon pools, nitrogen mineralisation, and crop yield from 6 locations in southern Queensland. The model was calibrated for each replicate from the original datasets, allowing comparisons for each replicate rather than site averages. The CENTURY model was able to satisfactorily predict the impact of long-term cultivation and cereal cropping on total organic carbon, but was less successful in simulating the different fractions and nitrogen mineralisation. The model firstly over-predicted the initial (pre-cropping) soil carbon and nitrogen concentration of the sites. To account for the unique shrinking and swelling characteristics of the Vertosol soils, the default annual decomposition rates of the slow and passive carbon pools were doubled, and then the model accurately predicted initial conditions. The ability of the model to predict carbon pool fractions varied, demonstrating the difficulty inherent in predicting the size of these conceptual pools. The strength of the model lies in the ability to closely predict the starting soil organic matter conditions, and the ability to predict the impact of clearing, cultivation, fertiliser application, and continuous cropping on total soil carbon and nitrogen.