BACKGROUND: An apparently large disparity still exists between developed and developing countries in historical trends of the amounts of nitrogen (N) fertilizers consumed, and the same situation holds true in China. The situation of either N overuse or underuse has become one of the major limiting factors in agricultural production ...

Developing crops that are better adapted to abiotic stresses is important for food production in many parts of the world today. Anticipated changes in climate and its variability, particularly extreme temperatures and changes in rainfall, are expected to make crop improvement even more crucial for food production. Here, we review ...

This study examined the effects of a probiotic, protexin, on the growth performance and hematological parameters in an ornamental fish, the Oscar Astronotus ocellatus fingerlings. A completely randomized experimental design was applied with three experimental diets each with three replicates. A commercial food, BioMar, was supplemented with protexin at levels ...

β-Galactosidases (EC 3.2.1.23) constitute a large family of proteins that are known to catalyze both hydrolytic and transgalactosylation reactions. The hydrolytic activity has been applied in the food industry for decades for reducing the lactose content in milk, while the transgalactosylation activity has been used to synthesize galacto-oligosaccharides and galactose ...

A range of stakeholders have been involved in the development and implementation of dietary guidelines (DG) across Europe. Seventy-seven semi-structured qualitative interviews explored stakeholders' beliefs of DG in six European countries/regions. A main theme, variation in the interpretation of the term dietary guideline, was identified using thematic analysis. Descriptions of ...

Samples of 15 second generation soy-based products (n = 3), commercially available, were analyzed for their protein and isoflavone contents, and in vitro antioxidant activity, by means of the Folin-Ciocalteu reducing ability, DPPH radical scavenging capacity and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Isoflavone identification and quantification were performed by High ...

Recent years have witnessed a re-evaluation of the cognitive capabilities of fishes, including with respect to social learning. Indeed, some of the best experimental evidence for animal traditions can be found in fishes. Laboratory experimental studies reveal that many fishes acquire dietary, food site and mating preferences, predator recognition and ...

Flavor and compositional quality are the ultimate criterion of the desirability of any food product. The nutritive value of any peanut product is closely associated with the fatty acid composition of its oil content, which influences its quality. Peanut butter was prepared using seven groundnut varieties commonly grown in major ...

Combustion processes commonly create fine and ultrafine particles whose effects are often harmful to human health. The present study is aimed at providing more data in this field by testing the capability of environmental electron scanning microscopy of detecting and analyzing such particles. For this purpose, we examined a range ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The structure of whole grain cereals is maintained to varying degrees during processing and preparation of foods. Food structure can influence metabolism, including perceived hunger and satiety. A diet that enhances satiety per calorie may help to prevent excessive calorie intake. The objective of this work was to ...

It has been suggested that access to high caloric food attenuates stress response. The present paper investigates whether access to commercial chow enriched with glucose and fat, here referred to as comfort food alters behavioral, metabolic, and hormonal parameters of rats submitted to three daily sessions of foot-shock stress. Food ...

Quality inspection of food and agricultural produce are difficult and labor intensive. Simultaneously, with increased expectations for food products of high quality and safety standards, the need for accurate, fast and objective quality determination of these characteristics in food products continues to grow. However, these operations generally in India are ...

Fermentation technology has become a modern method for food production the last decades as a process for enhancing product stability, safety and sensory standards. The main reason for this development is the increasing consumers' demand for safe and high quality food products. The above has led the scientific community to ...

The Greek grey-mullet roe is produced from the fully developed gonads of the female mullet (Mugil cephalus) couth in lagoons during their reproductive migration. The traditional processing method of the roe includes, air drying, salting, shape formation and covering with multiple layers of natural beeswax for preservation and distribution. Fish ...

Background Food allergy affects approximately 6% of children and is the leading cause of hospitalization for anaphylactic reactions in westernized countries. Crucial in the establishment of allergy is the activation of dendritic cells (DC) leading to T helper 2-mediated responses. Objective We, therefore, investigated whether changes in DC subsets precede ...

The element phosphorus has no substitute in sustaining all life and food production on our planet. Yet today's phosphorus use patterns have resulted in both a global environmental epidemic of eutrophication and led to a situation where the future availability of the world's main sources of phosphorus is uncertain. This ...

This paper reports the environmental results, integrated with those arising from mass and energy balances, of a research project on the comparative analysis of strategies for material and energy recovery from waste, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. The project, involving the cooperation of five University ...

The principles of modern pesticide residue chemistry were articulated in the 1950s. Early authors pointed out the advantages of systematizing and standardizing analytical methods for pesticides so that they could be widely practiced and the results could be reproduced from one laboratory to the next. The availability of improved methods ...

BACKGROUND: Extensive physiological and biological emphasis has been placed on pharmaceutical and medicinal uses of mushrooms containing β-glucans, but their incorporation into processed functional foods is quite limited. Thus, low-grade Lentinus edodes mushrooms were utilised to produce β-glucan-enriched materials (BGEMs), which were evaluated as a high-fibre and low-calorie substitute for ...

Stress in fish can be assessed by means of a bioenergetic approach, based on the evaluation of changes in their physiological parameters. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of sublethal water-borne cadmium (Cd) on the energetic balance of juvenile Cyprinus carpio under laboratory conditions after a ...

Cues in the environment associated with drug use draw the attention of addicts, elicit approach, and motivate drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior, making abstinence difficult. However, preclinical studies have identified large individual differences in the extent to which reward cues acquire these incentive motivational properties. For example, only in some rats ...

We investigated polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) bioaccumulation relative to octanol-water partition coefficient (K(OW)) and organism trophic position (TP) at the Lake Hartwell Superfund site (South Carolina). We measured PCBs (127 congeners) and stable isotopes (δ(15)N) in sediment, organic matter, phytoplankton, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, and fish. TP, as calculated from δ(15)N, was significantly, ...

The Food Related Lifestyle (FRL) model, widely used on European data, is applied to US data using a modified survey instrument to examine organic and local food consumption. Since empirical studies indicate these shoppers are motivated by environmental and health concerns and limited by access, the conceptual framework employs an ...

Impaired sensorial perception is very common in older people and low sensorial quality of foods is associated with decreased appetite and dietary intake. Hospital undernutrition in older patients could be linked to sensorial quality of hospital food if the quality were low or inappropriate for older people. The aim of ...

OBJECTIVE: To explore the extent to which appetite status influences portion size estimation in men under laboratory conditions and to quantify how much participants' portion estimates differed from the recommended portion sizes defined by authoritative bodies (i.e. government and health professionals' reference amounts). DESIGN: Repeated, randomized cross-over trial with each ...

Even though in vivo studies of mastication in living primates are often used to test functional and adaptive hypotheses explaining primate masticatory behavior, we currently have little data addressing how experimental procedures performed in the laboratory influence mastication. The obvious logistical issue in assessing how animal manipulation impacts feeding physiology ...

In general, fruit consumption in the EU does not meet governments' recommended levels, and innovations in the fruit industry are thought to be useful for increasing fruit consumption. Despite the enormous number of product innovations, the majority of new products in the market fail within the first two years, due ...

Using zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a case study, we show that the maturity concept of Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory is a useful metric for developmental state. Maturity does not depend on food or temperature contrary to age and to some extent length. We compile the maturity levels for each ...

ε-Polylysine (ε-PL) is a food-grade cationic antimicrobial that is highly effective against a range of food pathogens and spoilage organisms. In compositionally complex environments, like those found in most foods and beverages, the antimicrobial activity of cationic ε-PL is likely to be impacted by its interactions with anionic components. The ...

Isoprenoids, also known as terpenoids, are the largest and oldest class of natural products known. They are comprised of more than 40,000 different molecules all biosynthetically related via a common five carbon building block (isopentenyl). Many isoprenoids are of commercial interest and are used as fragrances in cosmetics and flavours, ...

To explore the relationship among the amount of food intake of 8- to 12-years old overweight children, their psychopathology (internalizing, externalizing and attention problems) and the mothers' amount of food intake. In a previous trial designed to test the influence of a preload on food intake, overweight to obese children ...

Knowledge of the relative importance of food quality attributes in determining consumer purchase intention is critical for robust assessment of economic opportunities for industry growth. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how conjoint analysis methodology that incorporates tasting of fruit can be used to collect such information. Three ...

Communities are being encouraged to develop locally based interventions to address environmental risk factors for obesity. Online public directories represent an affordable and easily accessible mechanism for mapping community food environments, but may have limited utility in rural areas. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy ...

  Rapid detection of Salmonella in foods is often limited by the high demand for the sensitivity of detection, poor physiological conditions of the target cells, and high concentration of background flora. In this study, the conditions of nonselective enrichment cultivation were modified in order to improve the quantitative detection of heat-injured Salmonella in ...

Significant interest has emerged in the introduction of food packaging materials manufactured from biodegradable polymers that have the potential to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional packaging materials. Current technologies in active packaging enable effective antimicrobial (AM) packaging films to be prepared from biodegradable materials that have been modified ...

Waxy corn starch was esterified with 2-octen-1-ylsuccinic anhydride (OSA) using response surface methodology. The molecular structure and paste properties were also investigated. Results indicated that the optimum parameters for esterification were as follows: reaction period 4 h, temperature 36.7 °C, pH of reaction system 8.3, concentration of starch slurry 36.9%, ...

Obesity is a world wide epidemic; it is becoming more usual to be overweight or obese than to be normal weight. Obesity increases the risk of an extensive range of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus type 2, hypertension, depression and some types of cancer. Adipose tissue is more ...

We presented four chimpanzees with a series of tasks that involved comparing two token sets or comparing a token set to a quantity of food. Selected tokens could be exchanged for food items on a one-to-one basis. Chimpanzees successfully selected the larger numerical set for comparisons of 1 to 5 ...

Objective In 2006, the Victorian Government adopted the School Canteens and other school Food Services (SCFS) Policy that bans the sale of sweet drinks and confectionary and recommends the proportions of menu items based on a traffic light system of food classification. This study aims to determine whether compliance with ...

Ecological research from the USA has demonstrated a positive relationship between sugars consumption and prevalence of obesity; however, the relationship in other nations is not well described. The aim of this study was to analyze the trends in obesity and sugar consumption in Australia over the past 30 years and ...

A difficult calving affects the welfare of the cow and has economic implications for the farm. The degree of calving difficulty can vary from no assistance needed through a slight pull required to surgery being needed. With respect to milk production, it is not clear at which degree of calving ...

Dental and skeletal fluorosis is endemic in the Ethiopian Rift Valley. Children are especially vulnerable to excessive fluoride intake because their permanent teeth are still being formed. Strategies to reduce the total fluoride intake by children are thus warranted. By combining the results of field studies in Ethiopia, the relevant ...

This study was conducted to evaluate recipients' perception of service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intention in home delivered meals program in the US. Out of 398 questionnaires, 265 (66.6%) were collected, and 209 questionnaires (52.5%) were used for the statistical analysis. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with a maximum likelihood ...

  Davidson's plum (Davidsonia pruriens, F. Muell.), a native to Australian rainforests, large, crimson-red fruit, which superficially resembles plum, has been commercially cultivated in Australia since 1990s. The current production volume exceeds market demands therefore this study was designed to evaluate the suitability of Davidson's plum extract as a source ...

This commentary challenges the conclusions of the NC3Rs Working Group's recent special report that food-or fluid control is sometimes necessary to conduct modern neuroscientific investigations in macaque monkeys (Prescott et al., 2010). Given the potential suffering of animals subjected to food-or fluid control, the decision to subject an animal to ...

Sharks are known to have been ammonoid predators, as indicated by analysis of bite marks or coprolite contents. However, body fossil associations attesting to this predator-prey relationship have never been described so far. Here, I report a unique finding from the Late Jurassic of western France: a complete specimen of ...

Nicotine acts on the mesocorticolimbic circuits of the brain leading to the release of dopamine. Repeated elevations of dopamine in the brain may cause smokers to become less sensitive to "natural reinforcers." To test the theory that adolescents with low nicotine exposure may already have decreased activation when exposed to ...

To understand the barriers to farmer participation in Farm-to-Table (F2T) programmes and to identify possible solutions to these obstacles. Cross-sectional analysis of farmer perspectives on F2T programmes. Three service units on the Navajo Nation (Chinle, Tuba City and Fort Defiance). Forty-four Navajo farmers. Most participants reported that farming on the ...

This study reports a novel form of interference behaviour between the invasive wasp Vespula vulgaris and the New Zealand native ant Prolasius advenus. By videotaping interactions at bait stations, we found that wasps commonly remove ant competitors from food resources by picking up the workers in their mandibles, flying backward ...

Although foregut fermentation is often equated with rumination in the literature, functional ruminants (ruminants, camelids) differ fundamentally from non-ruminant foregut fermenters (e.g. macropods, hippos, peccaries). They combine foregut fermentation with a sorting mechanism that allows them to remasticate large particles and clear their foregut quickly of digested particles; thus, they ...