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Wild fennel is a common component of early-stage wild vegetation communities of the Mediterranean area. In Italy, wild fennel is amply used to flavour a relevant number of traditional foods, covering almost all combination of basic ingredients, from pasta, to meat, fish, mushrooms, mixed soups etc. All the plant parts are used: leaves, fresh or dried, stems, seeds and the young florets picked and dried; these latter represent an absolutely peculiar and prized product, with intense penetrating aroma, traditionally prepared in many places of central Italy. Products from wild fennel can be obtained from wild stands, home garden production and, sometimes, from small scale commercial crops. Wild fennel seeds and florets are also traded at wholesalers level. However, the supply chain is little known and poorly understood, so prices are very unstable, discouraging potential growers to establish organised crops and first processing enterprises. Wild fennel is also used in South Europe, from the Balkans to the Caucasus, where it is however often not well distinguished from dill, that is used for similar purposes. A program to enhance the knowledge of this interesting species was started in Italy, with the initial aim of thoroughly documenting traditional uses in food preparation and preliminarily analytically characterising the different plant parts at the main developmental stages.

Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 33. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1 Introduction. Russian Federation traditional foods are part of the cultural heritage. Some of them, unfortunately, are almost forgotten, and their recipes are preserved only in old cookbooks. Others are prepared only in some regions of Russia. However, some traditional foods are still part of the usual dietary patterns of most Russians. The latter include buckwheat porridge and, to a lesser extent, kvass and okroshka, for which consumption increases significantly in the summer. This work aims to determine the nutritional composition of five traditional foods from Russian Federation that have been prioritised in the frame of the BaSeFood project (Sustainable Exploitation of Bioactive Components Black Sea Area traditional foods). Material and methods. Five traditional foods: buckwheat porridge crumby, vegetable okroshka, watermelon juice, mustard oil and kvass southern were selected and the nutritional composition was determined. The following components: moisture, ash, total nitrogen (for protein), total fat, individual fatty acids, starch, total sugars and dietary fibre were quantified for each food. Results. The energy value for the analysed traditional foods varied between 18 kJ/4 kcal and 3760 kJ/900 kcal, for kvass southern and mustard oil, respectively. From the five selected Russian traditional foods, 3 contain mainly water (92.2  0.02 g/100 g for watermelon juice, 92.4  0.03 g/100 g for vegetable okroshka and 98.7  0.03 g/100 g for kvass southern. The food with the highest monounsaturated fatty acids content was mustard oil (55.1 ± 0.68 g/100 g), and it also has a high polyunsaturated fatty acids content (38.0 ± 0.56 g/100 g). Buckwheat porridge crumby has a significant amount of available carbohydrates (about 24%) and about 5% of total dietary fibre because it is prepared with buckwheat. For watermelon juice the available carbohydrates are mainly sugars (6.43  0.14 g/100 g). All results are given per 100 g of edible portion. Conclusions. New data on nutritional composition of Russian traditional foods will enhance the knowledge base on traditional foods which is necessary for the development of exploitation plans and will be useful for their promotion. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118

Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 39. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1 Introduction. In the last years, great attention has been devoted to the study of bioactive compounds in order to prevent or delay the onset of chronic diseases. This work aims to study the carotenoid, vitamins and total folate content of the traditional foods from Black Sea Area countries (BSAC) that have been prioritised in the frame of the BaSeFood project. Material and methods. Carotenoids and vitamins A and E were quantified by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography with diode array detection (DAD). In order to quantify L ascorbic acid and vitamin B2, samples were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography with DAD and fluorescence detection, respectively. The total folate content in foods was carried out by a microbiological assay. Results. From the analysed BSAC foods, 12 (43%) contained lycopene. The foods with highest lycopene content were watermelon juice, sautéed picked green beans and Ukrainian borsch (235  19.9, 176  48.3 and 166  1.01 µg/100 g, respectively). Rodopian dried beans from the group of vegetables and vegetable based foods presented the highest α-carotene content (167.8  18.0 µg/100 g). Among the analysed traditional foods, 15 (54%) contained β-carotene. The highest β-carotene content (608  52.4 µg/100 g) was found in plums jam, followed by kale soup (538  51.4 µg/100 g). Vitamin C was quantified in only 5 of the analysed foods, with fruit of the evergreen cherry laurel (29.9 mg/100 g) having the highest content. The traditional food from BSAC with higher concentration in vitamins B2, E and total folate was roasted sunflower seeds (0.19  0.02 mg/100 g, 6.0  0.99 mg/100 g and 113 µg/100 g, respectively). All results are given per 100 g of edible portion. Conclusions. Despite the great variability on the content of carotenoids and vitamins, most of the analysed traditional foods from BSAC can be considered good sources of these health promoting compounds. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118.

Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 22. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1 Introduction. Romania has an old tradition in different dishes that suffered outstanding influences along the time from: a) developed countries cuisines and experiments - French, Prussian; b) invading people (Ottomans), c) neighbourhoods related - Serbian, Hungarian, Ukrainian. Despite the strong influences, national food still maintained its own character. This work aims to determine the nutritional composition of five traditional foods from Romania that have been prioritised in the frame of the BaSeFood project (Sustainable Exploitation of Bioactive Components Black Sea Area traditional foods). Material and methods. Five traditional foods: cornmeal mush, nettle sour soup, plums jam, herbal dish and elderberry soft drink were selected and the nutritional composition was determined. The following components: moisture, ash, total nitrogen (for protein), total fat, individual fatty acids, starch, total sugars and dietary fibre were quantified for each food. Results. The energy value for the analysed Romanian traditional foods varied between 99 kJ/24 kcal for elderberry soft drink and 732 kJ/175 kcal for plums jam. The food with the highest available carbohydrates content was plums jam with 40.1 ± 0.40 g/100 g. Among the analysed traditional foods, total fat varied between 0.237 and 3.58 g/100 g, while total protein ranged from 0.903 to 1.99 g/100 g, with the exception of elderberry soft drink, which does not contain these nutrients. Herbal dish presented the highest content of total dietary fibre (3.48 ± 0.26 g/100 g), followed by plums jam with 3.30 ± 0.14 g/100 g. All results are given per 100 g of edible portion. Conclusions. This study provided new data on nutritional composition of five traditional foods from Romania, in order to preserve and promote these foods. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118

Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 16. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1 Introduction. Traditional foods from 6 Black Sea Area Countries (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine) were prioritized within the frame of the European Project BaSeFood (Sustainable Exploitation of Bioactive Components Black Sea Area traditional foods). The selected traditional foods were categorized into 6 food groups: 1) Cereal or cereal based foods; 2) Fruit or fruit based foods; 3) Vegetable or vegetable based foods; 4) Oilseeds or oilseed products; 5) Herbs, spices and aromatic plants; and 6) Low or non-alcoholic fermented products. One of the aims within BaSeFood project was to produce an overview of the nutritional value of each traditional food and compare it among the categorized food groups. Material and methods. The 33 selected traditional foods were prepared according to a recorded traditional recipe, ingredients and traditional preparation methods. The following components were determined: moisture, ash, total nitrogen (for protein), total fat, individual fatty acids, starch, total sugars and dietary fibre for each food. Results. Our results show that vegetables and vegetable based foods; herbs, spices and aromatic plants; and low or non-alcoholic fermented foods and beverages of plant origin were the food groups with the lower energy content mainly due to its high water content (>60.0 g/100 g). Oilseeds or oilseed products were the group that presented the highest mean content of ash (2.23 g/100 g), total protein (15.9 g/100 g) and total fat (72.0 g/100 g). Sour rye bread, which belongs to the cereals and cereal based foods group, contained the highest starch content (66.3  0.55 g/100 g). The highest total sugars content (85.3  0.30 g/100 g) was found in rose jam, a food from the fruit or fruit based foods group. All results are given per 100 g of edible portion. Conclusions. The proximate composition of the selected traditional foods from Black Sea Area countries is important in order to elucidate their role in the dietary pattern of populations and will be useful to include new nutritional data in national food composition databases. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118

Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 17. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1 Introduction. Bulgaria is located in Southeast Europe, in the northeast part of the Balkan Peninsula. Its location on the transition line between two climate zones influences the climate, soils, vegetation and animal species. Bulgarian cuisine is exceptionally diverse and delicious, consisting of various salads, breadstuffs, stews, and other local foods. Many of the dishes are prepared according to traditional recipes and have been passed from generation to generation over the centuries. This study was carried out within BaSeFood project (Sustainable Exploitation of Bioactive Components Black Sea Area traditional foods) and the aim was to determine the nutritional composition of six traditional foods from Bulgaria. Material and methods. Six traditional foods: baked layers of pastry stuffed with pumpkin, rodopian dried bean, rose jam, halva, mursal tea and millet ale were selected and the nutritional composition was determined. The following components: moisture, ash, total nitrogen (for protein), total fat, individual fatty acids, starch, total sugars and dietary fibre were quantified for each food. Results. Our results show that mursal tea, millet ale and rodopian dried beans were the analysed traditional foods with the lowest energy content due to the high water content (>81%). Total protein content varied between 0.344  0.01 g/100 g and 11.0  0.10 g/100 g for rose jam and halva, respectively. Halva was the selected traditional food with the highest amount of total fat (30.1 ± 0.74 g/100 g), from which the major fatty acids were unsaturated, since it is made with sunflower seeds. All results are given per 100 g of edible portion. Conclusions. New data on nutritional composition of Bulgarian traditional foods will enhance the knowledge base on traditional foods which is necessary for the development of exploitation plans and will be useful for their promotion. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118

Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 31. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1 Introduction. Georgia is a small country in the Caucasus which has a variety of regions, which differ greatly from each other. The Georgian cuisine is specific of the country, but it also contains some influences from other Middle Eastern and European culinary traditions, as well as those of the surrounding Western Asia. The cuisine offers a variety of dishes with various herbs and spices. This study was carried out within BaSeFood project (Sustainable Exploitation of Bioactive Components Black Sea Area traditional foods) and the aim was to determine the nutritional composition of five traditional foods from Georgia. Material and methods. Five traditional foods: tsiteli doli bread, nettles with walnut sauce, churchkhela, flax oil and wild plum sauce were selected and the nutritional composition was determined. The following components: moisture, ash, total nitrogen (for protein), total fat, individual fatty acids, starch, total sugars and dietary fibre were quantified for each food. Results. The energy value for the analysed traditional foods varied between 193 kJ/46 kcal and 3758 kJ/899 kcal, for wild plum sauce and flax oil, respectively. Nettles with walnut sauce have the highest total protein content (9.56  0.26 g/100 g). Besides the oil, the analysed traditional foods with the highest total fat content were churchkhela and nettles with walnut sauce, mainly due to walnuts which is present in both recipes. Flax oil is mainly composed by unsaturated fatty acids (79.8 g/100 g). The highest starch and total dietary fibre concentrations (41.3  0.16 g/100 g and 8.59  0.34 g/100 g, respectively) were found for Tsiteli doli bread. All results are given per 100 g of edible portion. Conclusions. New data on nutritional composition of Georgian traditional foods will enhance the knowledge base on traditional foods which is necessary for the development of exploitation plans and will be useful for their promotion. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118

Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 11. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1 Introduction. Brassica oleracea L. is a polymorph species including, besides the more commonly used horticultural types (cauliflower, broccoli, head cabbage, Brussels sprouts), also types which leaves are the more commonly used part. These are mainly referred to as kales, or collards, but also include kohlrabi types, when the leaves are consumed. Kales are typical components of local food systems of many European areas, but are not generally utilised as large scale commercial crops. The rather unique abundance of glucobrassicin, besides that of flavonoids and carotenoids, make them also a potentially interesting health promoting crop. Material and methods. On site surveys were carried out during BaSeFood project, interviewing local respondents, according to qualitative descriptive methods in Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria. Information about the local populations, growing systems, uses, recipes and health promoting properties perceptions were retrieved. Cross country comparison were carried out. Results. Kales are used in Italy, Portugal and Turkey, whereas the use of kohlrabi leaves is reported in Bulgaria and Georgia. The local populations present a different level of variability; selection is practised by farmers but only in Italy and Portugal some kind of organised seed production seems to occur. In almost all areas, the leaves are used at different stages, as a typical winter vegetable, often representing the only fresh green available during the cool season. Over 40 traditional recipes were recorded and critically compared. They combine locally available ingredients and, in almost all cases, they represent a main course: use of kales as side dish does not belong to tradition. Kales are exploited at commercial level especially in Italy, and to a lesser extend in Portugal; these cases may represent an example for other situations. The local perception of health promoting value is very low. Conclusions. As a whole leafy forms of Brassica oleracea can be considered a very significant example of traditional crops with potential of exploitation. They are highly adaptable to local conditions but also sufficiently plastic to be fitted to more intensive exploitation systems. This flexibility represents a possibility for the preservation of local populations, together with the selection of stabilised varieties. Kale recipes also represent a typical example of how traditional foods make use of what available, are intrinsically variable and are difficult to define in terms of quality and quantity of ingredients. Kales are also a good example of how new knowledge of potential health promoting properties can enhance the interest on traditional crops and foods. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118.

Comunicação científica a convite. Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 47. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1 Introduction. Kales represent leafy forms and primitive types of Brassica oleracea L. They are traditional crops of several European areas (Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Turkey), rooted in local farming and food systems, and employed in the preparation of traditional dishes. Owing to similar aspects in their utilisation, kales appear a proper subject for a cross-country comparison. Furthermore, kales have gained increased attention due to their high content of healthy phytochemicals such as carotenoids, glucosinolates (GLS) and phenolics. The present investigation is aimed to compare different kale populations, either from local sources or cultivated in a common environment, for their bioactive amounts. Materials and methods. 25 kale samples were sampled from Italian, Portuguese, and Turkish local crops or markets. For the experimental trial, 15 kale seed samples were obtained from local seed companies or farmers, and planted in nursery. The plants were transplanted in a field located in Cesena (Italy). After freeze-drying, bioactives were extracted by proper solvent systems, quantified by HPLC, and identified by HPLC-mass spectrometry or standard compounds. Results. Total phenolics, GLS, carotenoids (lutein and beta-carotene), and chlorophylls were in the range 8310-38110, 755-8580, 135-2354, and 1740-16924 mg kg-1 d.m., respectively. Growing environment did not consistently influence phenolic content. Both local and experimental Portuguese samples showed higher phenolic levels in comparison to those determined in Italian and Turkish kales. A high variability was noticed within local populations. Even in case of GLS, a remarkable variability was assessed in local populations and higher amounts of these bioactives were determined in Portuguese kales in comparison to Italian and Turkish samples. Aliphatic GLS accounted for 60 and 40% of total GLS in experimental and local Portuguese kales, respectively, whereas indolic GLS were mainly quantified in Italian and Turkish populations. Local samples showed a total GLS amount about twice higher in comparison to experimental populations having the same geographical origin. On the contrary, pigments were significantly more abundant in experimental samples in comparison to local kales, owing to the higher soil fertility level. Conclusions. The first cross-country comparison of local kale types has been carried out as regards phytochemical amounts. Geographical origin and growing environment appeared as significant factors in determining bioactive levels in leafy kales and then nutritional and sensorial attributes of plants. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118.

Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 20. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1 Introduction. The Ukrainian traditional foods are characterized by the use of a large diversity of recipes for the same dish. The best example is the traditional Ukrainian food – borsch – known at least in dozens of varieties containing up to twenty ingredients. This work aims to determine the nutritional composition of three traditional foods from western Ukraine that have been prioritised in the frame of the BaSeFood project (Sustainable Exploitation of Bioactive Components Black Sea Area traditional foods). Material and methods. Three traditional foods: Transcarpathian green borsch, roasted sunflower seeds and cottage cheese with dill and garlic were selected and the nutritional composition was determined. The following components: moisture, ash, total nitrogen (for protein), total fat, individual fatty acids, starch, total sugars and dietary fibre were quantified for each food. Results. The energy value for the analysed traditional foods was 181 kJ/43 kcal for Transcarpathian green borsch, 687 kJ/164 kcal for cottage cheese with dill and garlic, and 2675 kJ/640 kcal for roasted sunflower seeds. From the three selected traditional foods for western Ukraine, roasted sunflower seeds have the highest total fat content (58.2  2.16 g/100 g), of which 49.4 g/100 g are unsaturated fatty acids. They also contain a high protein content (20.8  0.40 g/100 g) and a considerable total dietary fibre content (11.3  1.09 g/100 g). Regarding the available carbohydrates content, the amount per 100 g was 2.49 ± 1.33 g for roasted sunflower seeds, 5.52 ± 1.75 g for Transcarpathian green borsch and 8.20 ± 0.25 g for cottage cheese with dill and garlic. In the case of roasted sunflower seeds, most of the carbohydrates were sugars (2.36 ± 0.13 g/100 g). Results are given per 100 g of edible portion. Conclusions. This study will contribute to characterize the dietary pattern of western Ukraine as a part of the cultural inheritance of this country. Moreover, these results can be useful to preserve and promote these traditional foods. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118