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This study evaluated the effectiveness of two different packaging systems, using micro-perforated (MPP) and semipermeable (SP) films, on the physico-chemical and nutraceutical traits, microbial quality, and antioxidant enzymatic system of ready-to-eat pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) arils (cultivar ‘Purple Queen’) stored at 5 °C for 16 d. Statistically significant differences in gas composition and arils qualitative traits such as pH and titratable acidity between the two packaging systems were found. Arils packaged in the SP system had higher polyphenols and anthocyanins contents, followed by a high antioxidant activity, with a positive correlation (r = 0.610 and 0.940, respectively) among them. An increase in the activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase, were registered in the arils in the SP system, with a decrease in polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase activity involved in arils-browning. Overall, SP packaging could be a valid system to preserve ready-to-eat arils within food chains that maintain high qualitative and nutraceutical features up to 16 d of storage.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques are widely used in food science, mainly because they are non-invasive techniques. MRI, as a non-destructive technique, allows the study of intact samples and without any preparation of the samples before analysis. In food processing, the monitoring of distribution and water content is a consolidated analysis technique, frequently used on the market in order to preserve appropriate nutritional and health characteristics of food according to quality standards. In a food matrix, the variation of the water content is related to the changes in the internal structure and in the physico-chemical properties that occur during the transformation process. In this study MRI technique is used to evaluate the variation of the water content as a function of the drying time. Pumpkin samples are analyzed at four different drying temperatures of 50, 60, 65, and 70°C. The transverse relaxation time, T2, is used to assess the hydration level of the samples by comparing the information extracted from MR images with the drying kinetics measured by gravimetric method. Moreover, T2 maps are used to correlate the change in water distribution with the change in T2 values. The results show that the global weight loss curves obtained with the standard gravimetric method and with the MRI data are in excellent agreement. This work indicates that monitoring changes in the T2 profile of food (i.e., pumpkin) is a useful method for evaluating moisture profiles and changes induced on the sample during the drying process.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of drying temperature and innovative pre-treatments (i.e., microwave and ultrasound) on “Rocha” pear drying behavior and quality characteristics, such as color, total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Experiments were carried out with pear slabs subjected to microwaves (2450 MHz, 539 W, 4 min, microwave oven) and ultrasounds (35 kHz, 10 min, in an ultrasonic bath) as well as control samples. The drying process was conducted in a tray dryer at three different temperatures (50, 55 and 60 °C) and a fixed air velocity of 0.75 m/s. Microwave technology resulted in a higher quality deterioration in dried pear samples compared to those of controls and ultrasound pre-treated samples. The combined application of ultrasound pre-treatment and the higher drying temperature of 60 °C was characterized by the lowest color changes (ΔE = 3.86 ± 0.23) and higher preservation of nutritional parameters (total phenolic content, TPC = 345.60 ± 8.99, and antioxidant activity, EC50 = 8.80 ± 0.34). The drying characteristics of pear fruits were also analyzed by taking into account empirical models, with the Page model presenting the best prediction of the drying behavior. In conclusion, ultrasound application is a promising technology to obtain healthy/nutritious dried “Rocha” pear snacks as dietary sources for consumers.

The aim of this research was to study the evolution of carotenoid compounds, antioxidant &beta, ctivity, volatiles and sensory quality in two mango cultivars dried at 50, 60 and 70 &deg, C. Total carotenoids in fresh samples were about 12 and 6 mg/100 g (dry basis) in Keitt and Osteen samples, respectively. &beta, carotene was the main carotenoid, representing about 50% of total carotenoids. In both cultivars, carotenoids were more susceptible to drying at 60 &deg, C. Total phenols and metal reduction activity were higher in Osteen than in Keitt, which had higher values in radical scavenging capacity. The antioxidant activities were best preserved with drying temperatures at 50 &deg, C in Keitt and 60 &deg, C in Osteen fruits. Fresh Osteen mango fruits had a volatile compound content of about 37.1, while Keitt of about 5.2 mg/kg (dry basis). All the compounds with odorous impact were significantly reduced after drying. As regards organoleptic characteristics through sensory analysis, Keitt dried mangoes were quite similar to the fresh product, compared to Osteen.

The paper investigated the effect of a physical surface abrasion of goji berries on drying kinetics and the evolution of phenolic compounds at 323, 333, and 343K. A diffusion model was developed to describe the drying process. The effective diffusion coefficient estimated by the model ranged from 7.5 × 10–9 to 4.2 × 10–8 m2/s for cylinder and 2.0 × 10–9 to 1.15 × 10–8 m2/s for sphere for untreated samples (UTR). Higher values were found for treated samples (TR) (from 2.50 × 10–8 to 1.20 × 10–7 m2/s for cylinder and 8.0 × 10–9 to 2.70 × 10–8 m2/s for sphere). For the UTR samples, the values of activation energy were found to be 79.5 and 80.8kJ/mol, respectively, in the cylinder and sphere models, which decreased to 72.0 and 55.8kJ/mol for the TR samples. Catechins and cinnamic acids were the main phenols in goji berry. TR samples showed high antioxidant activity owing to the shorter exposure time to high temperatures and to oxygen. Practical applications: The fruit of Lycium barbarum is known for its nutritional properties and health benefits. Dried goji berries are consumed as a snack or they are added as ingredients in other foodstuffs. The drying of goji is difficult because the berry contains an outer layer of peeled wax, which does not allow moisture escape from the inside to the outside.The physical surface abrasion pretreatment here proposed before convective air drying helps in reducing the time and energy required for goji drying. The dried berries so obtained exhibit better nutritional quality and good appearance respect to the untreated ones. The use of this pretreatment combined with the best hot air drying conditions identified by the developed diffusion model, could represent an effective innovation in order to obtain dried products with high physicochemical properties. Furthermore, these dried goji berries have no sulfites added as a preservative.

In this study, the effect of passive- and active-modified atmosphere packaging (PMA and MAP with 70% N2 and 30% CO2) using semipermeable and barrier films on physicochemical and enzymatic properties and quality of freshly shelled walnut kernels stored at 6 °C for 18 days were investigated. Changes in physicochemical such as free fatty acidity content, peroxide value, colour and enzymatic traits such as polyphenol oxidase, lipoxygenase were tracked in the fresh kernels during cold storage in different packaging systems. The MAP system inhibited polyphenol oxidase activity, delayed browning of tegumented kernels, and helped in maintaining a high total polyphenol content. The PMA system preserved membrane integrity by inhibiting lipoxygenase activity and malondialdehyde accumulation with values of 3.26 ± 0.05 nmol hydroperoxides min−1 g−1 dry weight and 10.90 ± 0.50 nmol g−1 dry weight, respectively after 18 days of cold storage. Moreover, this system inhibited free fatty acid formation and it was characterised by lower peroxide values with 5.17 ± 0.04 mEq O2 kg−1 oil at the end of storage. Principal component analysis provided a global view of the differential qualitative responses of fresh walnut kernels in different packaging systems during cold storage. Our results show that packaging systems could be utilised to extend postharvest shelf life, improve qualitative traits, and inhibit enzyme-mediated browning of fresh kernel walnuts during cold storage.

Celiac disease is a serious autoimmune disorder caused by the ingestion of gluten. Gliadin is the gluten fraction responsible for the triggering of disease. The only cure for the celiac patients, known until now, is a diet with gluten-free foods, classified by the European regulation doesn't exceed 20 ppm in gluten. With the aim to guarantee the food safety for celiac patients in this study the developing and optimization of a fast and reliable label free impedimetric aptasensor for gliadin detection is reported. The aptamer (Gli1) at 0.5 μmol and poly (amidoamine) dendrimer of fourth generation (PAMAM G4) at 2 mg/ml were chosen during the developing steps of the sensing platform because the best ones for the detection of low gluten concentrations with the highest sensitivity. The aptasensor showed linearity in the range of 5–50 μg/l and 50–1000 μg/l in gliadin, a limit of detection of 5 μg/l corresponding to 5 ppm of gluten, a reproducibility lower than 5% and a storage stability at 4 °C of two months. Finally the aptasensor was used to measure gluten, in gluten and gluten-free food products, showing a good agreement with the results obtained with official R5 ELISA method.

Due to their increasing use in agriculture, the presence of pesticide residues in food and water currently represents one of the major issues for the food safety. Among the pesticides, organophosphate and carbamate species are the most used, and their toxicity is mainly due to their inhibitory effect on acetylcholinesterase (AChE). For this reason, a monoenzymatic acetylcholinesterase impedimetric biosensor was developed in order to sensitively detect carbamate and organophosphate compounds with a very fast response. The working principle of the AChE biosensor exploits the capability of carbamate and organophosphate pesticides to form a stable complex with the enzyme, which causes an impedimetric change. The impedimetric biosensor showed a linearity between 5 and 170 ppb for carbamates and 2.5–170 ppb for organophosphate compounds, with a reproducibility (RSD%) interelectrode equal to 4.8 and 3.1% for organophosphates and carbamates, respectively. Moreover, the common amperometric evaluation of AChE inhibition degree was correlated to the impedimetric changes of the electrode surface, showing a good correlation (R 2 = 0.99 for carbamates and R 2 = 0.98 for organophosphates) between the two methods. In contrast to amperometric evaluation that needs a response time of 20 min, impedimetric detection requires only 4 min. Finally, the impedimetric biosensor was used to measure carbaryl and dichlorvos spiked in different concentrations in tap water and lettuce samples, showing a recovery near to 100% for all concentrations and for both pesticides.

'Annurca' apple, a southern Italian cultivar, is known for its reddening, taste and flavour among the other types of apples, and also for health promoting effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a novel pre-treatment, by dipping in a solution containing trehalose, sodium chloride, sucrose, and of drying process conditions (temperature and time) on drying kinetics and quality attributes of dried apple slabs. Drying experiments were carried out by convective drying at temperatures of 50, 55, 60 and 65 degrees C at a constant air velocity of 2.3 m/s. Pre-treatment provided an increment of moisture loss, and a reduction of drying time and shrinkage at all temperatures. The combination of pre-treatment and drying at 65 degrees C assured the lowest colour changes, the best preservation of structure, as well as the less shrinkage, the higher rehydration capacity and the highest score for sensorial overall acceptability. On the contrary, the used pre-treatment combined with lower drying temperatures (50 and 55 degrees C) better preserve the antioxidant activity of apple slabs. In conclusion, the proposed solution enabled to reduce the processing time and better retain the quality attributes (i.e. physical, chemical, nutritional, sensorial) of dried apples slabs for their commercialization as snacks. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In the last few years, the aromatic plant market for fresh consumption has been growing, especially packaged herbs for Mass Market Retailers. Pruning and selection of aromatic plants during packaging leads to the accumulation of a large amounts of plant residues with consequent disposal costs. In a circular economy perspective, the aim of this study was to recover residues of three aromatic plants (Ocimum basilicum L., Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Salvia officinalis L.) by extracting essential oil and aromatic water and, subsequently, reusing oil-free biomasses for composting. In fact, these by-products are currently considered very interesting and sustainable. The essential oils are natural products that have a wide range of biological activities useful for pharmaceutical, medical, veterinary and agriculture innovative purposes. Hydrolates have a much softer scent than the corresponding essential oils. The compost can be successfully applied for the restoration and maintenance of soil fertility. Results of this study showed that yields of essential oils obtained from plant residues, were sufficiently higher, especially for sage and rosemary, also if they were collected well far from plant balsamic period. Analysis of composition of essential oils confirmed the presence of characteristic compounds for each species. The aromatic waters were found to be an easily usable product due to the favourable physicochemical characteristics and, in particular, the aromatic waters of basil showed high antioxidant activity. About compost, the main physicochemical (humidity, pH, electrical conductivity) and biological (basal respiration and hydrolase activity) properties, were considered. Phytotoxicity tests indicated that composts derived from the three species can be used in agriculture. This research demonstrates that it is possible to eliminate completely plant residues and recover new products from aromatic species, supporting the effectiveness of an eco-friendly model to recover and reuse all fresh aromatic plant residues.

Drying characteristics of persimmon, cv. &ldquo, Rojo Brillante&rdquo, slabs were experimentally determined in a hot air convective drier at drying temperatures of 45, 50, 55, 60, and 65 &deg, C at a fixed air velocity of 2.3 m/s. It was observed that the drying temperature affected the drying time, shrinkage, and colour. Four empirical mathematical models namely, Enderson and Pabis, Page, Logarithmic, and Two term, were evaluated in order to deeply understand the drying process (moisture ratio). The Page model described the best representation of the experimental drying data at all investigated temperatures (45, 50, 55, 60, 65 &deg, C). According to the evaluation of the shrinkage models, the Quadratic model provided the best representation of the volumetric shrinkage of persimmons as a function of moisture content. Overall, higher drying temperature (65 &deg, C) improved the colour retention of dried persimmon slabs.

Due to their interesting ferroelectric, conductive and dielectric properties, in recent years, perovskite-structured materials have begun to attract increasing interest in the biosensing field. In this study, a strontium titanate perovskite layer (SrTiO3) has been synthesized on a platinum electrode and exploited for the development of an impedimetric label-free immunosensor for Escherichia coli O157: H7 detection. The electrochemical characterization of the perovskite-modified electrode during the construction of the immunosensor, as well as after the interaction with different E. coli O157: H7 concentrations, showed a reproducible decrease of the total capacitance of the system that was used for the analytical characterization of the immunosensor. Under optimized conditions, the capacitive immunosensor showed a linear relationship from to 1 to 7 log cfu/mL with a low detection limit of 1 log cfu/mL. Moreover, the atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique underlined the increase in roughness of the SrTiO3-modified electrode surface after antibody immobilization, as well as the effective presence of cells with the typical size of E. coli.

Low alcohol beverages represent a new fast-growing sector due to major awareness about serious long-term effects of drinking and societal and individual vulnerability factors on alcohol consumption have been reported, together with consumers’ preferences. This chapter is focused on the various techniques for low alcohol beverage production from wine and beer. Regarding wine, climate changes along with research of more intensely flavored products have produced more alcoholic wine. Regarding beer, the reduction of alcohol content aims at drinking less alcohol and familiarizing consumers with new, lower-alcoholic drinks. The main obstacles for development of these types of beverages are taste and quality. The right process should combine efficiency in terms of energy demand and capital costs, reducing alcohol content and keeping sensory quality of beverage. Finally, low-alcohol beverages may widen the marketing of functional beverages and satisfy the needs of different people.

Pomegranate is considered a functional food but several local accessions and cultivars are widespread in different countries. The characterization of local germoplasm allows to identify genotypes that possess the highest nutraceutical value compared to standard cultivars (cvs.) and that are well-adapted to local climatic conditions and could be used in the breeding programs. The aim of this study was the characterization of pomological and physico-chemical traits as well as antioxidant system in local pomegranate accessions (‘Mondrone Dolce’, ‘San Pietro’, ‘Granato’ and ‘Roce’), comparing to an Italian (‘Dente di Cavallo’) and international cvs. (‘Wonderful’). A high variability of the pomological traits resulted among the cultivars. ‘Wonderful’ showed the highest value of anthocyanins (554.99 ± 0.05 mg C3gE L− 1), total phenols (1494.00 ± 116.20 mg GAE L− 1) and antioxidant activity ( EC50 values 21.21 ± 0.05 μL mL− 1), whereas ‘Granato’ had the highest values among local accessions. Furthermore, the antioxidant enzymes activities varied with genotypes. Principal component analysis revealed great differences in all investigated parameters among pomegranate genotypes. ‘Mondrone Dolce’, ‘San Pietro’ and ‘Dente di Cavallo’ showed similar pomological and nutraceutical traits compared to ‘Granato’ and ‘Roce’. Conversely, ‘Wonderful’, due to its peculiar traits, revealed significant differences with respect to other genotypes.

Five onion landraces belonging toBianca di Pompeicv., cultivated in Campania region (Italy), were characterized for their main quality parameters. The onion landraces were harvested at the end of the growth cycle corresponding to the ripening time and harvest month, respectively: February, March, April, May, and June. The total content of volatile compounds as well as the sulfur-containing compounds inAprilaticawas significantly (p≤0.05) higher than the other landraces investigated. The nutraceutical feature investigated through the total phenols, phenols profile, and antioxidant activity showed higher values for the samples harvested in spring months. High pungency values ranging from 9 to 14 μmol/g FW were found in all onion landraces investigated as enzymatically (alliinase) produced pyruvate (EPY). The organic acids profile (malic, citric, succinic, pyruvic, oxalic, ascorbic, and tartaric acids) highlighted malic and citric acids in higher amounts in all landraces. Fructose, glucose, and sucrose were found as soluble sugars and fructose was the most abundant. Generally, the results highlighted the growth temperature influence on the investigated quality parameters.

Fatty acid and sterol content of oil from nuts (cv Tonda di Giffoni) affected by two different biotic damages were characterized. Hazelnuts were sorted by a visual inspection of the kernels in three different samples (cimiciate, apparently healthy and moldy). The oil was extracted and analyzed by gas–liquid chromatography coupled to a flame ionization detector for fatty acid and sterol composition. The higher level of total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in cimiciato oil compared to apparently healthy nuts was associated with the decrease in total monounsaturated fatty acids, resulting in a higher unsaturated/saturated acid ratio, while the PUFA content in moldy nut oil was lower than in apparently healthy nut oil. In both damaged samples, the appearance of four new chromatography peaks could be due to the presence of hydroperoxides, as proved by carrying out a TLC analysis. The overall phytosterol amount decreased in both cimiciato and moldy nut oils compared to the apparently healthy nut oil, and the main differences were observed in terms of sitosterol, campesterol and clerosterol.

Drying processes generally cause volume and surface change of foodstuffs. Information on the porous structure and the mechanical properties of dried food products is needed for determining food quality, process design and estimating properties such as density and moisture diffusivity. In this work we investigated the structural changes induced in eggplant by convective air drying at four different temperatures (40, 50, 60 and 70 °C) and their effect on the subsequent rehydration process. Drying and rehydration kinetic curves were also measured. The changes in physical properties, such as porosity, pore-size distribution and bulk density were determined by Hg porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy while their effect on the textural characteristics by dynamometric measurements. As expected, the increase of the drying air temperature causes shorter drying times. The drying temperature influences strongly the microstructure of dried samples: the porosity increases with the air temperature, but the structure is better preserved at intermediate temperature (60 °C) as confirmed by the lower firmness values with respect to the other dehydrated samples (40, 50 and 70 °C). In these latter, the longer drying time and the higher temperature, respectively, causes the development of a wrinkled structure. In particular, at 70 °C the structure of dehydrated samples appears totally broken with a consequent faster water uptake during rehydration.

Summary Tomato peels were firstly dried by different methods (hot air, freeze-drying, and fluidized bed drying) to evaluate the recovery of lycopene, β-carotene and DPPH radical scavenging activity. Comparison of the results showed that hot air drying at 50 °C was a suitable method and alternative to freeze-drying to preserve carotenoids compounds and antioxidant activity in tomato peels. Then, ethanol/ethyl acetate (1:1) extracts from tomato peel, previously dried at 50 °C by hot air, were submitted to heat (100 °C) and light treatment (1000 lumen) to evaluate their stability as natural food dyes. Heating of the extracts caused a progressive reduction of total carotenoids, up to about 30% after 250 min of treatment, whereas the colour at the end of heat treatment showed small changes, with an overall colour difference (∆E) equal to 7. Fluorescent lighting treatment showed an almost total degradation of carotenoids in the extracts after 48 h combined with a fading colour.

The practice of dealcoholization is used nowadays to reduce the alcohol content in beverages, and osmotic distillation seems to be a convenient membrane process due to its mild operating conditions. The focus is on the quality of final beverage which may lack in taste, flavor, and body. The aim of this work was to evaluate the quality attributes of low-alcohol beers, dealcoholized by osmotic distillation and using stripping solutions specific for the beverage composition. Two types of top-fermented beer were used: Weiss beer, with a very fruity aroma and strong phenolic content, and Bitter beer, with a malt aroma. Regarding the stripping solutions, they were obtained by dilution of the original beer with water, in order to limit the volatile compound loss during the process. Moreover, low-alcohol Weiss beer was also produced by using carbonated stripping solutions (i.e., saturated with CO2 at ambient pressure). The results highlighted that color, bitterness, total phenols, and antioxidant activity were unchanged in the low-alcohol beers but volatile compounds were reduced to a different extent. The lower vapor pressure of some volatile compounds (i.e., 2-phenylethanol, aldehydes) can explain their retention in beer. The carbonation of stripping solutions did not significantly reduce CO2 loss, but aldehydes and total alcohols were better retained in low-alcohol Weiss beer. Esters and other volatile compounds were reduced so that the low-alcohol beer may result with a weak sensory profile, which can be compensated by a re-addition of CO2 before bottling.

In this work the development and optimization of an impedimetric label free immunosensor for the detection of Ochratoxin A (OTA) is reported. Two antibody immobilization methods (oriented and not oriented) were compared highlighting a lower limit of detection (5 pg/ml) for the not oriented immobilization but a closer linear range in contrast to oriented anti-OTA immunosensors which showed linearity in the range of 0.01–5 ng/mL OTA. The analysis of the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) images showed two different nanostructures indicating that the use of oriented immobilization created a more ordered and highly dense antibody surface. Finally the oriented immunosensor was used to quantify OTA in spiked cocoa bean samples and the results were compared with those registered with competitive ELISA kit. The immunosensor was sensitive to OTA lower than 2 μg/kg that represents the lower acceptable limit of OTA established by European legislation for the common food products.

Summary We demonstrate how soft computing methods can be exploited to solve multicriteria quality optimisation problems in food science and technology. In particular, we link neuro-fuzzy modelling techniques with simulated annealing to optimise/design the quality of espresso coffee by pod. The design variables are the extraction time (ranging from 10 to 30 s), temperature (80–110 °C) and blends (100% Arabica, 100% Robusta and Arabica Robusta: A20R80, A80R20 and A40R60); they are not the only variables that affect the sensory profile of a cup of espresso coffee, but have a strong impact on the sensory quality of the beverage. Based on the framework, we show that the particular problem is a nonlinear one. Hence, an espresso coffee characterised by a specific sensory profile can be extracted using different sets of parameter values. For example, the same sensory profile can be obtained using either pure Robusta extracted at 22 s and 94 °C or 90% Arabica and 10% Robusta extracted at 25 s and 99 °C. Yet, the global optimum with respect to the distance to the optimum sensorial values is obtained using 70% Arabica and 30% Robusta extracted at 15 s around 93 °C.

The paper proposes an improved peeling treatment for hazelnut fruits consisting in dipping them in a solution (NaOH 0.4 g/100 g, NaH2PO4·H2O 0.2 g/100 g) for 10 min at 50 °C, then scrubbing them with rubber rollers. The effects of the treatment on quality and peeling of four Italian hazelnut varieties were investigated. The data collected on peeling capability showed that the treatment proposed was effective in cuticle removal with a yield of peeling higher than 90%. The comparison of chemical–physical parameters in unpeeled and peeled hazelnut samples highlights that no difference was detected in texture, sugar, protein and α-tocopherol values. After the peeling process a significant change (p < 0.05) in colour, total fat and peroxide value was observed in peeled hazelnut samples when compared with the unpeeled ones. With regard to the sensorial parameters, no significant changes were found between unpeeled and peeled hazelnut samples. The peeling solution proposed in this study shows a good potential in industrial applications as an alternative to the usual manufacturing peeling method (roasting) that causes changes, not always desired, to some sensorial and chemical–physical parameters of the fresh fruit.

In this paper two mathematical models with shrinkage effect describing eggplant drying are developed and discussed. The models are both modified diffusion equations and take differently into account changes of eggplant slice structure during drying. In the first model a diffusion coefficient variable with the water content is considered while in the second model a fictitious convective term is introduced. The two models are both suitable to describe the analyzed drying processes. Moreover, their equivalence is analytically demonstrated. Parameters values are estimated through a nonlinear regression procedure by comparison with the drying experiments carried out at different temperatures. Information about thickness evolution, derived from the models, are found to be in agreement with experimental data.

Compost, rich in plant nutrients, is a readily available fertilizer with beneficial effects on physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of the soils. Moreover compost-based treatments can exert protective effects against plant diseases occurrence and/or stimulate an enhanced plant physiological status with improvements in quantity and quality of crop productions. In this study the effects of three different compost-based cropping managements on the productive response and main quality parameters of watermelon fruits were investigated. Treatments, in comparison with the conventional cultivation method, were: soil amendment with an agricultural waste compost (AWC), a municipal waste compost (MWC) and a foliar treatment with a compost tea blend (CTB). The productive responses and colour parameters related to compost treatments did not show significant differences compared to control ones, which reached a total yield of about 10.22 kg·m-2 with a mean weight of 2.74 kg. AWC caused a higher ascorbic acid content with an increase of 50% than conventional treatment, while fruits obtained by CTB showed higher values in firmness and Quality Index than control samples. The analysis of main sugars highlighted that the application of compost as biofertilizer influenced the ratio among fructose, glucose and sucrose with respect to those observed for control fruits.

Alcohol-free beer is a secondary product of brewing industry, nevertheless, its production is motivated by the global trend for healthier lifestyle and the awareness about the benefits of moderate beer drinking. A modified osmotic distillation was investigated in order to minimize the loss of volatile compounds, to reduce the water consumption and, hence, decrease the environmental impact of the process. In particular, the osmotic distillation technique here proposed consists of recycling the stripping solutions from a preliminary dealcoholization process of a batch of beer to that of further batches. A cost estimation showed that the proposed modification of the process was able to significantly reduce the cost of stripping water, which negatively influenced the operating costs in conventional osmotic distillation processes. Regarding to the beer quality, properties such as colour and polyphenols content were almost unchanged in the dealcoholized beer with respect to the original one while bitterness, foam stability, turbidity, O 2 and CO 2 content were statistically different. From the comparison of alcohol-free and original beer, a modification in the content of volatile compounds was observed. The volatile compounds losses were respectively of 77% for higher alcohols, 99% for esters and 93% for aldehydes. However, the loss of volatile compounds obtained in this study was very similar to literature results on beer dealcoholization by dialysis, falling film evaporation, vacuum distillation and reverse osmosis. Post treatments and blending techniques such as carbonation, addition of fresh yeasts following by maturation or by blending with krausen, original or aromatic beer may be used to improve the product quality.