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Every year, agri-food industries in industrialised countries produce approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food loss and waste. The adoption of a circular economy policy has received special attention by the agri-food industries, allowing for the creation and development of new food products made of by-products that would otherwise be wasted or used for secondary applications. The present work, of an exploratory nature, aims to assess how consumers conceptualise the circular economy in order to identify consumer recognition of the use of by-products from the food industry to upcycle food products and to evaluate attitudes towards the circular economy. To this end, a mixedmethodology was applied to 340 participants. The first part was qualitative and used free word association to evaluate consumers’ conceptualisation of the circular economy and use of by-products as foods. Data were analysed by grouping the responses into exclusive and exhaustive categories and a correspondence analysis was also performed to originate perceptual maps. Additionally, a questionnaire was designed to evaluate major concepts and attitudes correlated with the circular economy. Data were reduced by principal component analysis (PCA) and participants grouped through clustering. Results showed that consumers understand circular economy as related mainly into Sustainability, Economy, and Circularity dimensions. Participants had great difficulty identifying the by-products used as foods or as food ingredients. From the quantitative data, four groups were identified based on the associations to the six principal components originated by the PCA. However, the results highlighted a very low association with all clusters of the Food Valorisation dimension within the concept of the circular economy, and also a lack of a clear understanding of consumers’ attitudes towards food products from the circular economy. Greater promotion and dissemination by the competent entities aimed at the general public may contribute towards greater integration, participation and acceptance of the circular economy concept for the upscaling of food by-products. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion more...

There is an increasing importance of the role of children and adolescents in the food market and to successfully develop food products intended for them, it is necessary to apply proper sensory evaluation methodologies. Although children can execute traditional methods for food liking and preference evaluation, traditional sensory descriptive methods may not be suitable for them and it is necessary to assess their ability to perform novel sensory profiling methods. Thus, this study aimed to assess children’s acceptance of an innovative food product – cookies incorporating fermented grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) flour – and their ability to describe a sensory profile using a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) approach. Two different types of cookies (salty and sweet) were developed, differing in the level of substitution of wheat flour by fermented grass pea flour (between 0 and 40%). The cookies were evaluated by two sensory panels of 60 children (8–12 years), who assessed the overall liking using a 7-point facial hedonic scale and the sensory profile of the samples using a CATA ballot with 21 sensory terms previously developed through focus groups with children. Children showed the ability to discriminate the different samples with the hedonic scale and according to their sensory profile. Results revealed that the focusgroup with children is an adequate way to generate CATA ballots and that the CATA approach is adequate to evaluate how children discriminate the sensory profile of food products. Furthermore, the food neophobia level of the children negatively impacted their acceptance of the food products info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion more...

This work aimed to adapt the EsSense Profile® emotions list to the discrimination of herbal infusions, aiming to evaluate the effect of harvesting conditions on the emotional profile. A panel of 100 consumers evaluated eight organic infusions: lemon verbena, peppermint, lemon thyme, lemongrass, chamomile, lemon balm, globe amaranth and tutsan, using a check-all-that-apply (CATA) ballot with the original EsSense Profile®. A set of criteria was applied to get a discriminant list. First, the terms with low discriminant power and with a frequency mention below 35% were removed. Two focus groups were also performed to evaluate the applicability of the questionnaire. The content analysis of focus groups suggests the removal of the terms good and pleasant, recognized as sensory attributes. Six additional terms were removed, considered to be too similar to other existing emotion terms. Changes in the questionnaire, resulting in a list of 24 emotion terms for the evaluation of selected herbal infusions, were able to discriminate beyond overall liking. When comparing finer differences between plants harvested under different conditions, differences were identified for lemon verbena infusions, yielding the mechanical cut of plant tips as the one leading to a more appealing evoked emotions profile. Author C. Rocha acknowledges Industry Doctoral grant No. SFRH/BDE/100483/2014, funded by FCT, Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). Authors Rocha, Cunha and Moura acknowledge financial support from the national funds by FCT, under projects UIDB/05748/2020 and UIDP/05748/2020 with funding from FCT/MCTES through national funds. This research was funded through project “Infusão Premium— Criação de lotes de plantas aromáticas premium com propriedades sensoriais e funcionais validadas com elevada aceitação pelo consumidor”, financed by ANI, through Sistemas de Incentivos à Investigação e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico do QREN; and also through project “4C’s—Consumer Cross-Cultural Context”, funded by COMPETE2020, Portugal2020, Norte2020 and FEDER-European Regional Development Funds. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion more...

Sea urchin gonads are considered a prized seafood product. Their market price depends on quality and appearance, mainly evaluated through colour. The desirable yellow-orange colour is determined by carotenoids deposition in the gonads, mainly the accumulation of echinenone, which depends on availability, uptake and bioconversion of β-carotene from dietary sources. Two β-carotene sources, a synthetic (SYN) and a natural (paprika, PAP) source, were tested at low (L) and high (H) incorporation target levels (100 and 250 mg β-carotene kg−1 feed) in diets for Paracentrotus lividus. A non-supplemented diet was used as a control (CTRL) diet. After eight weeks of feeding, all diets effectively increased gonad weight and somatic index in both sexes, without significant differences between treatments. Total carotenoid content and profile, lightness (L*) and texture of gonads did not vary significantly among dietary treatments. However, gonad redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) values were significantly higher in urchins fed the L_SYN diet than in those fed either with the CTRL or L_PAP diets; female displayed higher values than male. L_SYN also showed higher consumers´ acceptance when compared to the other diets and female displayed higher acceptance rates than male, probably due to the fact that females were more orange, appealing and pleasant compared with the yellow, grainy and not appealing males. Male fed L_SYN diet exhibited similar colour and carotenoid content compared to wild animals in the same stage of gonad maturation (stage III), but female differed significantly; however, neither of the sex demonstrated acceptance differences in relation to their wild counterparts. Diets with the lower β-carotene inclusion induced changes in gonad colour but not in carotenoid pigments. This suggests that gonad colour is not exclusively modulated by dietary carotenoid supplementation and that it may be affected by other sex-dependent nutritional or metabolic factors. more...

The fortification of maize bread with legume flour was explored in order to increase the protein content of the traditional Portuguese bread &lsquo, broa&rsquo, comprised of more than 50% maize flour. The optimization of legume incorporation (pea, chickpea, faba bean, lentil), considering the influence of different maize flours (traditional-white, traditional-yellow, hybrid-white, hybrid-yellow), on consumer liking and sensory profiling of &lsquo, was studied. A panel of 60 na&iuml, ve tasters evaluated twenty different breads, divided in four sets for each legume flour fortification, each set including four breads with varying maize flour and a control (no legume). Tasters evaluated overall liking and the sensory profile through a check-all-that-apply ballot. Crude protein and water content were also analyzed. There were no significant differences in overall liking between the different types of legumes and maize. The incorporation of chickpea flour yields a sensory profile that most closely resembles the control. The protein content increased, on average, 21% in &lsquo, with legume flours having the highest value obtained with faba bean incorporation (29% increase). Thus, incorporation of legume flours appears to be an interesting strategy to increase bread protein content, with no significant impact on consumer liking and the &lsquo, bread sensory profile. more...

The proximate composition, instrumental and perceived appearance of chicken nuggets formulated with varying contents of mechanically deboned chicken meat and varying concentrations of grape pomace extract were evaluated, with the choice of formulations following a central composite design. Significant differences (P more...

Herbal infusions are receiving increasing attention for the number of physiological benefits that can bring to human health. Cymbopogon citratus is one the most used plants in traditional medicine besides its characteristics and unique aroma appreciated by the consumers; however, little is known about the effects of harvesting on functional and sensory properties of this plant. The present work aimed to assess the lemongrass infusions, which were harvested following a factorial plan according to the type of cut (manual and mechanical) and part of the plant (tips and 2nd half leaves). Total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, aroma compounds composition (terpenoids) and sensory profiles and consumer perception of different samples were assessed. The quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) and Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) methods were used to describe the lemongrass infusion, complemented with the overall liking evaluation, using a 9-point scale. Results showed that there were significant differences between type of cut and part of the plant concerning phenolic compounds: samples obtained by mechanical cut showed in general higher content of individual phenolic compounds (in particular for chlorogenic acid) and tips showed in general the highest contents for both types of cut. Consumers panel did not found significant differences between samples. Generally, consumers indicate a bitter taste in all infusions when the content of the phenolic compounds was higher, in particular for p-coumaric acid. Concerning the aroma compounds no significant differences were observed between type of cut and part of the plant, and citral was the terpenoid present in higher quantity. Regarding the sensory profile methods, it was found that QDA and CATA were both good methods to describe this infusion. Considering the role of consumers' evaluation throughout the value chain, the infusion prepared with plant tips of lemongrass was selected as the premium herbal tea. more...

Sea urchin gonads are receiving increasing attention for their exclusive sensorial attributes. However, the sensory profile of this highly demanded gourmet product has not yet been well described, and it may potentially help enhancing the gonads’ marketability and acceptability. The main goal of this study was to build a sensory profile of sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) gonads, to evaluate differences between sex, harvest location, as well as the impact of presentation on consumer acceptance. Sixty untrained panellists (regular consumers of seafood) were asked to evaluate eight samples of raw sea urchin gonads, divided by sex, harvest location and presentation (in a clear translucent glass bowl or inside a sea urchin test). The panellists evaluated overall liking and acceptance (Food Action Scale), followed by a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) ballot with a list of 38 sensory attributes divided into four dimensions: appearance (9), odour (8), texture (7) and taste (14), launched in Sense Gest. From a three-way ANOVA, no significant effect of sex, harvest location and presentation were identified for both liking and acceptance. However, a significant interaction between presentation and sex was identified: females with gourmet presentation were rated higher than females presented in a bowl; and males presented in a bowl were favoured in relation to gourmet presentation. Sensory profiling clearly separates gonads according to sex, with females being more appealing than males that presented a milky white fluid. Gonads were also separated according to the presentation method: the white background of the bowl seemed to highlight the orange colour of females; the gourmet presentation favoured the females in relation to the males, mainly because the male gonad colour and white-colour exudate were emphasized by the background of the sea urchin test. Moreover, the gourmet presentation in both sexes was correlated with a fresh, tropical and pleasant odour. This study concluded that sea urchin with an orange gonad and a sweet, fresh and tropical flavour is preferable, which will allow future nutritional research efforts to be focused on the enhancement of these gonad attributes. more...

Herbal infusions are a new emerging trend among consumers, appearing in the market in many different forms. Due to intense competition, the commercial success of herbal infusions largely depends on flavour. The identification of the best combinations of steeping time and water temperature for the preparation of Aloysia triphylla infusions using a central composite design and response surface methodology was performed. The procedure aimed to maximize its antioxidant activity, phenolic and aromatic compounds, and consumers’ liking of the infusions. The antioxidant activity and phenolic content were evaluated using the 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid radical cation) method and the Folin–Ciocalteu procedure. The analysis of aromatic compounds was performed based on the method of terpenic compounds. Sensory evaluation encompassed overall liking using a 9-point hedonic scale. Antioxidant activity and extraction of most phenolic compounds was higher for longer steeping times and higher temperatures, with some presenting a contrasting effect due to degradation at higher temperatures for longer steeping times. Results for terpenic compounds showed similar contrasting patterns. Based on the quadratic response surface, it was possible to predict the maximum overall liking for lemon verbena infusions prepared by brewing for 6 min at 96 ℃. Under such conditions, extraction of bioactive compounds was kept at a high level, close to the maximum attainable, while reducing the extraction of bitter compounds. These results are considered of great importance for the development of premium infusions from organic lemon verbena leaves. more...

One of the greatest challenges when designing research on emotions is the conception of an efficient tool for their measurement. The FaceReader™ emerged as an implicit tool capable of analysing facial expression patterns whether in recorded or real-time videos. This software produces large datasets on temporal variation of the intensity of basic emotions. The main goals of this research were: (i) to develop a new data analysis procedure, based on temporal dominance approaches to evaluate temporal data from Face Reader, called the Temporal Dominance of Facial Emotions (TDFE), (ii) to relate the results from TDFE with the EsSense Profile® evaluation, (iii) to evaluate different market samples and to establish its emotional profile. An untrained panel of 50 naïve panellists tasted five samples. For each infusion, the overall liking was evaluated using a 9-point scale (1-dislike extremely to 9-like extremely) followed by the evaluation of the emotional profile, using an adapted version of the EsSense Profile®. The entire test was video- recorded using web cameras placed in front of the panellists and adjusted, to obtain a correct measurement of their facial expressions. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) between samples were found for overall liking. The correlation between TDFE and EsSense Profile® was 0.704, above the reference value of 0.680. However, from both methods one can identify a clear emotional profile of the samples under evaluation. Both methodologies appear to be promising regarding the emotional profile characterization. However, the lower direct correlation can be explained by the difference in positive and negative emotions. FaceReader™ identifies more negative than positive emotions, while the EsSense Profile® identified the opposite. Therefore, both approaches should be regarded as complementary. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion more...

Insects are a novel food source with high nutritional value. However, acceptance of insects as food is low in Western countries and it is necessary to improve their sensory appeal. In this context, the effect of defatting was evaluated as a tool to improve consumers' acceptance, overall liking and sensory properties of foods incorporating edible crickets. Therefore, the nutritional content of two cricket species was analyzed, and the evaluation of the organic solvent which allowed for the best lipid extraction was performed. In addition, whole and defatted ground crickets were included in cereal and dry fruit bars to evaluate their sensory properties and consumers’ acceptance. Both cricket species had a high protein content and were valuable sources of minerals. Ethanol was the best solvent to defat the cricket species and the inclusion of defatted crickets in cereal bars had a positive effect on its sensory evaluations. The products incorporating whole ground crickets were associated with negative sensory descriptors and low liking and acceptance scores. The results suggest that the characteristic flavor of crickets seems to be associated with their lipid content, but it is unknown which components of the lipid fraction are responsible for their flavor. more...

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore women's perceptions about the benefits and risks of fish consumption, while exploring differences on their views about wild and farmed fish, considering light fish consumers.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology adopted is exploratory, using focus group technique, segregating women by education level (higher education versus lower education). A focus group guide was designed, taking into account the following dimensions: attitudes towards fish consumption and perceptions towards farmed fish relative to wild fish, also considering risk perceptions related to farmed versus wild fish.FindingsThis study has shown that fish consumers enjoy the taste of fish and they are strongly convinced that eating fish is healthy. The main reason for their low fish consumption is related to perceive lacking of convenience. Women with higher education levels expressed additional knowledge considering different aquaculture systems and women with lower education levels were convinced that both wild and farmed fish offer benefits and present disadvantages.Originality/valueThe paper shows that attitudes of light fish users are partially similar to heavy fish users considering farmed fish production, with the search for convenience being driven by either perceived lack of time or perceived lack of cookery skills to prepare fish‐based meals. more...

Nanostructural β-nickel hydroxide (β-Ni(OH) 2 ) plates were prepared using the microwave–hydrothermal (MH) method at a low temperature and short reaction times. An ammonia solution was employed as the coordinating agent, which reacts with [Ni(H 2 O) 6 ] 2+ to control the growth of β-Ni(OH) 2 nuclei. A trigonal β-Ni(OH) 2 single phase was observed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, and the crystal cell was constructed with structural parameters and atomic coordinates obtained from Rietveld refinement. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images revealed that the samples consisted of hexagonal-shaped nanoplates with a different particle size distribution. Broad absorption bands assigned as transitions of Ni 2+ in oxygen octahedral sites were revealed by UV–vis spectra. Photoluminescence (PL) properties observed with a maximum peak centered in the blue-green region were attributed to different defects, which were produced during the nucleation process. We present a growth process scheme of the β-Ni(OH) 2 nanoplates. more...

The present study aimed to investigate Portuguese consumers' interest for the provision of nutrition information at fast food restaurants and reactions to alternative presentations of this information. Four focus groups, with 5 to 8 consumers, were conducted in which participants were asked to look at three mock fast food restaurant menus that varied with respect to whether calorie information was provided and whether small portions and salads were available. Participants also discussed about fast food perceptions and attitudes, and fast food meal criteria decisions as well as the influence of nutrition information available at fast food restaurants on consumer meal decisions. Generally, participants were not interested on nutrition information when they eat at fast food restaurants, because eating at fast food restaurants continues to be mainly associated with taste, pleasure and convenience. Except for women with lower education, some participants were very critical regarding healthy menu identification, putting into question the regular menus without nutrition information. Some participants did not think they would do the calculations required to use the information on number of calories in each serving in order to report their estimation of daily energy requirements. Men, compared to women, were more aware of the possible ways in which fast food restaurants could provide point of purchase nutrition information. more...