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Interest in plant-based meat alternatives (PMBAs) has been rapidly growing in both the food research community and the food industry due to higher consumer demands in recent years. However, scientific data regarding the health and aroma aspects of PBMA are rare. In this study, the fatty acids (FAs) and volatile flavor compounds (VFCs) were profiled in four types of plant-based burgers (PBs) and compared to beef burger (BB). Over 40 FAs and 64 VFCs were detected and quantified in the samples. Nonsignificant differences (α = 0.05) were observed in the percentages of most FAs between uncooked and cooked PBs. PBs contained lower percentages of saturated FAs and trans-FAs, higher percentages of unsaturated FAs, and lower ratio of n-6 to n-3 FAs comparing to the BB. The FA profiles in PBs are mainly determined by their ingredients. The VFC profile of cooked PBs was different from that of the uncooked ones. The ingredients, thermally induced Maillard reaction, and lipid oxidation had contributed to the formation of the flavor. For uncooked samples, the VFC profiles of PB 3 and PB 4 were similar to that of BB. While for cooked samples, PB 1 had similar VFC profile as BB. This illustrated the importance of the cooking process for aroma formation; however, ingredients, such as spices, remain an important source of VFCs in these burger samples. Ingredient optimization could be an effective strategy to enhance the flavor of PBs to resemble BB. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study provides the knowledge of health and aroma-related components in both raw and cooked PBs, including FA and VFC profiles. It also explains the source of those components. This will not only help consumer's decision making in choosing plant-based meat alternatives, but also help the related industry to choose proper ingredients to optimize the final products.

The topic of plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) has been discussed for several decades, but it has only recently become one of the hottest topics in the food and research communities. With the purpose of investigating the current situation of scientific research on PBMA and determining future research opportunities, the driving forces for PBMA development, a brief history of its progression, key technologies required for production, and the resulting consumer attitudes are summarized. Environmental, human health, and animal welfare concerns are the main factors that have driven the development of PBMA. Although its history can trace back to ancient Asian civilizations, the first generation of PBMA originated in 1960s and a new generation of PBMA designed for carnivore was developed in recently years. Structuring methods such as extrusion and shear cell techniques have been widely studied, but improvements toward the overall appearance and flavor, biological and chemical safety control, as well as the selection of protein sources are also very important for PBMA production. The consumer acceptance of PBMA remains unsatisfactory but is continually improving. Based on those knowledge, future research opportunities include developing more effective strategies for consumer education, providing more scientific evidence for the health properties of PBMA, finding more suitable protein sources to improve the quality of the final products, improving the appearance and flavor, further examining and securing the chemical safety, exploring the structure formation mechanism during the extraction or shearing processes, and developing methods and standards for a quality evaluation of PBMA.

The effects of acid soaking as a pre-treatment on the glycoalkaloid and acrylamide levels in raw and cooked potatoes (French fries) were examined. Soaking raw potato cuts in 1.0%, 2.5% or 5.0% acetic acid solutions for at least 8 hours resulted in90% reduction of α-solanine and α-chaconine in potato samples. Processing of pre-acid soaked potato cuts into French fries resulted in an additional50% decrease in the glycoalkaloid contents in the samples. Soaking time was found to be a more important factor in reducing glycoalkaloid levels compared to the acid solution concentrations. Over a 95% reduction in acrylamide was also observed in potato cuts pre-soaked in acetic acid before cooking. The reduction in acrylamide formation in the pre-soaked French fry samples was attributed to the lowered pH and the removal of reducing sugars and asparagine in the raw samples prior to cooking. Findings in this study demonstrate that pre-treatment using acid soaking provides a simple and effective way to mitigate glycoalkaloid and acrylamide levels in potatoes.

A method to detect volatile nitrosamines in meat samples was developed using headspace sampling by solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), with analysis by GC-MS. A 50/30 µm divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane fused silica fibre was selected to extract a total of nine volatile nitrosamines: N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosomethylethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine, N-nitrosomorpholine, N-nitrosopyrrolidine, N-nitrosopiperidine, N-nitrosodi-n-butylamine, and N-nitrosodiphenylamine. Extraction at 65°C for 45 min with 36% (w/v) NaCl were the optimal conditions determined for the extraction of nine nitrosamines. Excellent linearity was obtained for all analytes with determination coefficients greater than 0.997. Recovery rates were between 92 and 113%. The relative standard deviation ranged from 0.81 to 8.0% for six of the nine compounds, and from 16 to 32% for the other three. For seven out of nine nitrosamines, limits of detection were below 3.6 µg kg

Furan, which has been identified as a carcinogenic risk for humans, can be induced in different foods by UV-C light. In this study, we hypothesized that furan was produced by a UV light-induced free radical mechanism and antioxidants could suppress its formation. Our results demonstrated that, by adding antioxidants, such as butylated hydroxyl toluene, ascorbic acid or gallic acid, to simulated juice or apple cider during UV-C treatment, amounts of furan were significantly reduced. For example, the concentration of furan produced in apple cider by UV-C at 9.0 J/cm2 was 636 ppb but was less than 20 ppb with 0.25 ppm butylated hydroxyl toluene present, less than 3 ppb with 0.5% (w/v) ascorbic acid, and less than 1.0 ppb with 0.5% (w/v) gallic acid. These findings confirmed that antioxidants can be used as a safe and simple mitigation measure to control furan production in fruit drinks exposed to UV-light.

A headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) procedure followed by gas chromatography-flame ionisation detector (GC-FID) analysis was developed and validated for the simultaneous analysis of furan, 2-methylfuran and 2-pentylfuran from juice samples. Extraction at 32 °C for 20 min with stirring at 600 rpm and NaCl concentration 15% (W/V) was the optimal HS-SPME condition for all the three compounds by using a carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane fused silica fibre (75 μm). The extracted compounds were base line separated on a SPB-1 GC column within 12 min. The relative standard deviations of all analytes were less than 6.7%. The recovery rates were between 90.2% and 110.1%. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were 0.056-0.23 ng/mL and 0.14-0.76 ng/mL, respectively. The results showed that the developed method was sensitive, precise, accurate and robust for the determination of furan, 2-methylfuran and 2-pentylfuran in complex matrices without interferences from other components.

Effects of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) treatment (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0kJ/m(2)) and cold storage on ergosterol and vitamin D2 content in different parts of white and brown button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) were investigated. UV-C treatment did not significantly affect ergosterol content in the caps and stems of the two mushrooms, but ergosterol content increased significantly during 14days cold storage. Vitamin D2 content in the caps and stems of two mushrooms significantly increased as UV-C dose increased, and 2.0kJ/m(2) UV-C showed the best result. During cold storage, vitamin D2 content in the caps of the two mushrooms decreased from day 1 to day 7, and then kept stable until day 14, but vitamin D2 content in the stems of brown mushrooms kept increasing for the whole 14days period. UV-C could increase vitamin D2 contents in both caps and stems of white and brown mushrooms without significantly affecting ergosterol content.