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The volatile fraction investigated by means of HS-SPME/GC–MS technique, the extractable color in terms of ASTA units, and the pungency measured on the Schoville scale of different experimental Capsicum annuum powders, designed for food industry, were evaluated in this study. In particular, six Capsicum annuum cultivars were included; fresh fruits were cultivated, harvested, dried and grinded to obtain different chilli powder samples that were analyzed and compared with an additional sample purchased from the market. Extractable color ranged between 36.9 ± 1.5 and 144.2 ± 0.8 ASTA units, while pungency was from 999 ± 42 to 47,814 ± 971 SHU units, showing an inverse trend between these two parameters. The volatile fraction of samples resulted to be composed of 64 volatiles belonging to different chemical classes among which terpenes and pyrazines were the most represented ones. The differences and similarities among the chilli pepper varieties were visualized by means of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as by Heat Map analysis.

In this study, wheat breads supplemented with different contents of chestnut flour (wheat/chestnut flour ratios: 100/0; 80/20; 50/50), were evaluated on the basis of physico-chemical properties (proximate composition, fatty acids, texture, colour, crumb grain, antioxidant capacity, volatile profile). Proximate composition, fatty acids, antioxidant capacity and volatiles for wheat and chestnut flours and their blends in the same proportion were also determined. Antioxidant capacity increased with chestnut flour content in bread, and in accordance with flour values. A richer volatile profile was shown by bread supplemented with this type of flour as well as for flours. In particular, a marked increase was observed in furans, with their toasty and nutty notes, and phenolic compounds, with their woody and smoky notes. A more heterogeneous crumb structure characterized 80/20 breads added of chestnut flour with larger and more asymmetrical cavities as compared to a finer and more homogeneous pore distribution of the other formulated breads. A lower volume, harder and darker crumb was also shown by bread formulated with 50/50 ratio of chestnut flour in comparison with the other formulations probably due to its higher fibre and sugar contents.

Physical properties, microbiological quality and volatile compounds of sous-vide-processed carrots and Brussels sprouts were analysed after 1, 5 and 10 days of refrigerated storage. Similar analyses were performed on raw and steamed carrots and Brussels sprout for comparison. Sous-vide carrots were firmer than steamed and firmness increased during storage. Similar values of colour indices were obtained for both steamed and sous-vide carrots, which also showed an increase of redness and colour saturation during storage. Aerobic and anaerobic counts of raw carrots were significantly reduced both by steaming and sous-vide procedures at values lower than 1 log cfu/g; these values were maintained until the end of storage. Among volatiles, terpenes were better preserved in sous-vide than steamed carrots, but all volatile fractions were significantly affected during storage. Steamed Brussels sprouts were softer and greener than sous-vide-processed ones, but softening and loss of green of the latter increased under vacuum storage. Microbiological counts of raw products were more efficiently reduced by sous-vide procedures than steaming. Higher amounts of nitriles and terpenes were shown in sous-vide vegetables in comparison to steamed, whereas thiocyanates and isothiocyanates occurred in lower quantities. Volatiles were not affected during 5 days of storage.

Head-space solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas-chromatography–mass spectrometry was developed and applied to obtain the volatile aromatic fingerprints of three typical Italian wines, Valpolicella, Amarone and Recioto, all produced in the restricted geographical area of Valpolicella (Veneto, Italy) with the same grape cultivars within the regulations of a rigid disciplinary of production. Differences between the three typologies are mainly linked to the different withering times to which grapes are subjected before vinification, which strongly influences the concentration and the development of volatile aroma compounds. A total of 22 different wines (7 Valpolicella, 10 Amarone and 5 Recioto) were characterised in terms of aromatic volatile profile with the aim to distinguish the different products and to evaluate the possibility to differentiate the same product from different brands. For the chemometric evaluation of the data one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were tested. All the chemometric tools employed allow to differentiate between the three products. More intriguing is the ability of the chemometric approach to differentiate between the same product (Amarone, Recioto) from different winery, thus showing the potential of this approach to characterize the brand-dependent typicality of wines, which is usually related to subtle technological differences which nevertheless have strong influences on the organoleptic characteristics of the products.