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This study is aimed to define the effect of season on internal turkey eggs produced in backyard systems. To this goal, a total of 197 turkey eggs from Andalusian hens were continuously collected throughout 15 months to study internal quality attributes. A discriminant canonical analysis was performed considering season as the dependent variable and these quality attributes as independent variables. Yolk weight was discarded from analysis due to multicollinearity problems (VIF > 5), and then, statistically explanatory variables were obtained (p

The study examines the sensory profile of industrially processed, naturally fermented table olives. A detailed set of descriptors crunchiness, hardness, bitter, fibrousness, saltiness, chewiness, sourness, green fruit, ripe fruit, flesh/stone separation, piquant, and musty was developed for green and turning colour Manzanilla and Gordal products, using Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA). Green Gordal (GG) was characterised by higher than average chewiness (scores 7.0–7.1), crunchiness (7.5–8.2), hardness (scores 7.7–8.0) and fibrousness (6.2–6.4). In contrast, turning colour Gordal was lower than average in bitter (2.9–3.4), crunchiness (4.1–4.9), hardness (4.5–5.1) and fibrousness (4.4–4.7). Initially, the green Manzanilla was characterised by higher than average levels of bitter (6.5–7.1), crunchiness (7.2–7.4), hardness (6.9–7.0), and saltiness (3.2–3.3). However, they diminished to about average levels by the end of the fermentation process. The turning colour Manzanilla was initially associated with elevated bitter (5.6–5.9) and lower-than-average final crunchiness (4.6–4.9), hardness (5.1–5.7) and fibrousness (4.5-4.6). However, the final product resulting from this treatment had relatively high significant values for acetic/vinegar (3.5), astringent (3.5), musty (2.0), piquant (2.5), rancid (1.8) and ripe fruit flavour (3.3). The Hotelling T2 test, PCA, and the correlation circle reinforced the specific sensory profile associated with cultivars and maturation stages. Minimal changes were observed over time. PLS-R revealed associations between physicochemical characteristics and sensory profiles such as bitter with phenol content (standardised coefficient; 0.881) and texture (0.755) or ripe fruit with bitter index (0.475), among others. • Development of sensory descriptors for directly brined green and turning colour olives. • Chewiness, crunchiness, hardness, and fibrousness are linked to green Gordal olives. • Bitter, crunchiness, hardness, and salty defined in-process green Manzanilla olives. • Low values of bitter and kinaesthetic properties defined turning colour Gordal olives. • Bitter and sensations decreased during turning colour Manzanilla olive process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenotypic characterisation provides important information about novel crops that helps their developers to make technical and commercial decisions. Phenotypic characterisation comprises two activities. Product characterisation checks that the novel crop has the qualities of a viable product—the intended traits have been introduced and work as expected, and no unintended changes have been made that will adversely affect the performance of the final product. Risk assessment evaluates whether the intended and unintended changes are likely to harm human health or the environment. Product characterisation follows the principles of problem formulation, namely that the characteristics required in the final product are defined and criteria to decide whether the novel crop will have these properties are set. The hypothesis that the novel crop meets the criteria are tested during product development. If the hypothesis is corroborated, development continues, and if the hypothesis is falsified, the product is redesigned or its development is halted. Risk assessment should follow the same principles. Criteria that indicate the crop poses unacceptable risk should be set, and the hypothesis that the crop does not possess those properties should be tested. However, risk assessment, particularly when considering unintended changes introduced by new plant breeding methods such as gene editing, often ignores these principles. Instead, phenotypic characterisation seeks to catalogue all unintended changes by profiling methods and then proceeds to work out whether any of the changes are important. This paper argues that profiling is an inefficient and ineffective method of phenotypic characterisation for risk assessment. It discusses reasons why profiling is favoured and corrects some misconceptions about problem formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A lexicon from the literature has been used for the characterisation of black ripe table olives from Spanish Manzanilla and Hojiblanca cultivars by Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA). After confirming the acceptable reproducibility and repeatability of the panel, the descriptors that received the widest range of scores and significantly contributed to sample discrimination were: skin green, flesh green, skin sheen, flesh red, fibrousness, firmness, skin red, moisture release, fishy smell/ocean and flesh yellow. The effects of cultivar, growing area and storage period on the sensory profiles were relevant, as showed by spider graphs and multivariate methods. The map of variables, using bootstrapping techniques, associated descriptors like fibrousness, firmness, chewiness, skin red, flesh red, and skin sheen to PC1, which can then be related to texture, while PC2 was linked to skin green and astringency (related to phenols) or vinegar and fishy smell/ocean (possibly connected to cultivars). Centring data by panelist had a strong influence on the segregation of samples but increasing the number of panelists had a reduced additional effect. The diverse sensory profiles of samples were also summarised by biclustering. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • QDD was applied to characterize the sensory profile of Spanish black ripe olives. • The most relevant descriptors were related to physicochemical characteristics. • The olive profiles were affected by cultivar, growing area and storage period. • The multivariate analysis was performed with the implementation of bootstrapping. • Data pre-treatment was more relevant than panel members for improving discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Hydrothermal co-carbonization of sewage sludge and cheese whey was performed. • Co-carbonization improved the hydrochar properties (HHV, carbon content). • Thermogravimetric analysis of hydrochar revealed its potential for use as a fuel. • Germination tests showed that HTC products can be used for agricultural purposes. • Undiluted process liquids were toxic to Daphnia magna organisms. The impacts of operating conditions on hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge (SS) in water media were investigated in this study. Hydrothermal co-carbonization (co-HTC) of SS and cheese whey was also carried out under selected conditions (T = 250 °C, t = 5 h), to investigate the effects of replacing water with whey on product properties. Besides, the potential application was also tested of HTC products for agricultural use. The HTC treatment increased the content of nutrients (P, Ca, and Mg) in hydrochars compared to untreated SS, but fuel properties were not improved. Increasing the operating temperature and time increased the contents of nitrogen and volatile fatty acids in the process liquids. The replacement of water with whey resulted in remarkable improvement of the fuel properties of hydrochar, as the hydrochar yield increased from 57.10 to 64.14 wt%, the calorific value from 14.75 to 18.29 MJ/kg, and carbon content from 36.89 to 45.24 wt%. The ash content decreased from 46.55 to 40.06 wt%. The content of N, P, Ca, Mg and K increased significantly. SEM-EDS, FTIR and thermogravimetric analysis revealed the strong influence of the co-carbonization on the thermogravimetric behaviour of the hydrochars and their chemical properties. The HTC products proved efficient as fertiliser in a germination test with plants. Process liquids can be used as an N fertiliser, while hydrochars as a P fertiliser. Undiluted process liquids were toxic to the freshwater organisms Daphnia magna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work studies the influence of cultivar and farming area on the sensory profile of green Spanish-style table olives, using Quantitative Descriptive Analysis. The lexicon developed was subsequently applied to samples of Gordal (G), Manzanilla (M), and Hojiblanca (H) from different origins: Arahal (A), Utrera (U), Alameda (Al), Estepa (E), Casariche (C), Alcalá de Guadaira (AG), Posadas (P), and Almendralejo (Am). The analysis of the data by ANOVA, considering the effect of the sample as fixed and those of the panelists and the sessions as random, showed good repeatability (no significant effect of the session). Bitter, salty, astringent, acid, alcohol and lupin descriptors had significant discriminating power. The samples were characterised by the following sensory attributes: HC, pungent and winery/wine; MP, salty and lupin; GA, acid and lactic acid; HAl, astringent and acetic/vinegar; and MAm, bitter and musty. The multivariate analysis combined with bootstrapping techniques offered a multidimensional view of repeatability, relationships among descriptors, and characterisation and segregation of products. The results then pointed to sensible differences among the sensory profiles of the samples due to cultivar and origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brewer’s spent grains, major by-products of the beverage industries, were obtained from a Nigerian brewery and subjected to pyrolysis at 500 °C. Analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS) was conducted on the original BSG, extractive-free BSG and BSG CH 2 Cl 2 extract. There was a marked difference in the concentration of levoglucosan between the extractive-free BSG (40.5%) and the original BSG (11.5%). The Py-GC/MS detected significant amount of palmitic and oleic acids in the three samples. Prior to pyrolysis, the extractives content were isolated through methanolysis, transesterified and subjected to GC/MS analysis. The analysis revealed the presence of linoleic, oleic and palmitic acids in an appreciable quantity. The BSG and its biochar were also characterised according to Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopic, and thermogravimetric analyses alongside some conventional physico-chemical analysis. The total crystallinity and condensation indices were evaluated from specific FTIR spectra peaks so as to monitor structural transformations in the bio-char. Kinetic data were deduced from TGA measurements and it was apparent that thermal decomposition of BSG is better modelled as a multi-step reaction mechanism. The nitrogen content of the bio-char was relatively high making it a suitable feedstock for the production of in situ nitrogenised activated bio-carbon. There was a significant variation between the structural configuration of the original BSG and the bio-char as revealed by the change in the value of the condensation index as well as the cellulose crystallinity content. It may thus be concluded that the BSG biomass would be a viable feedstock for thermal decomposition and other valorisation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]