Food thickening agents: Sources, chemistry, properties and applications - A review

Burdock root in natura has compounds with functional activity. However, few studies have evaluated the retention of these compounds after thermal processing. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the retention of functional compounds in burdock root-derived products. The processes consisted of blanching (98 °C/4 min; BR1) followed by cooking in oil (95 ± 4 °C/10 min; BR2), root infusion (2%, 98 °C/10 min; BR3), the infusion residue (BR4); as well as the production of two types of chips: roasted burdock roots (120 °C/20 min; BR5) and fried burdock roots (150 ± 4 °C/4 min; BR6). All samples were evaluated for the content of total phenolics (TPC), antioxidant capacity (AC), total fructooligosaccharides (FOSt), and bifidogenic activity in vitro. The control (BR1) presented TPC of 162.07 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g, AC of 0.42 μmol Trolox equivalent/100 g, and 0.71 g/100 g of FOSt. These levels changed significantly for all processed products (BR2 to BR6) (p < 0.05) when compared to the control, with a reduction of 46–99% of TPC (BR4 and BR6), 47%–99% of AC (BR5 and BR6) and 40–63% of FOSt (BR5 and BR6). The results showed that the retention of TPC, AC, and FOSt in burdock-derived products was affected by thermal treatment, which should be considered during root processing. Roasted burdock chips have proven to be an alternative for a new convenience product with functional properties.

In this article, we demonstrate that approaches from food chemistry and sensory science, combined with flavour and texture descriptions made available by ethnographic accounts, provide new understanding of former culinary practices described in historical and ethnological literature. We take departure from the 19th century Norwegian “porridge feud”, a historical dispute between proponents of nutrition science and crafts-based knowledge. As a conclusion we suggest that approaches drawing on a broader set of disciplines may be productive, and probably even required, to achieve deeper understandings of the reasoning behind common cooking practices. This also has implications for collaboration, interdomain cross-pollination, and culinary practices. Science communication and the relationship between science and society are discussed through the lens of this issue in particular, and historical culinary practices in general.

In recent years, several research projects have undertaken to gain in-depth knowledge of the demand for olive oil tourism. With the development of olive oil tourism by companies with a vastly different background to that of the tourist sector, precise and accurate information is required in order to meet demand expectations satisfactorily and generate quality experiences. This paper presents the characteristics of four major clusters into which olive oil tourists can be divided and the assessments made by these tourists of the activities carried out, their overall olive oil tourism experience, the various elements of the destination they visited, and the destination as a whole. The results obtained show that, a priori, the reasons for engaging in olive oil tourism, educational background, employment, and age, are the most influential factors when it comes to evaluating such experiences.

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world (International Trade Centre, 2011). Considering that sensory quality is the most profoundly related aspect to perceived quality, the development of innovations in Sensory Sciences directed to coffee may represent an important tool for this product’s quality improvement. Therefore, studies have explored more unconscious responses that precede the evaluation’s cognitive process, such as emotional responses. This study analyzed the emotional profile of four coffee samples produced at Serra de Baturite, CE, Brazil. Two focus groups were conducted to confirm or add emotional terms using the Rate-all-that-apply (RATA) technique and a hedonic scale with 106 consumer subjects. When arranged according to the acceptance profile, consumer clusters showed specific emotional patterns for coffee consumption clearly related to coffee acceptance. A coffee taster’s emotion wheel was also developed, which systematically presents the emotional terms of coffee guided according to its affective valence and increasing arousal. Next, the terms’ plot distribution was created based on their correlation from RATA data, and classification was established between the terms in the literature. The coffees’ acceptance pattern varied according to the expected emotional pattern observed in evaluating the ideal sample, showing that triggering expected emotions at the appropriate intensity directly impacts acceptance and can be explored to guide the consumer’s choice. Finally, the coffee taster’s emotion wheel can facilitate identifying emotions by the consumer and represent an enriching instrument to complement the previous list of analyses to better guide consumers to classify their emotional perception.

In recent years, a number of modernist chefs have started to pay more attention to the potential role of food or drink-extrinsic scents in enhancing their guest’s multisensory gastronomic experiences. This narrative review highlights the wide range of uses for such ambient, and/or food-extrinsic, aromas. Oftentimes, in a gastronomic setting, ambient scents have been introduced by chefs in order to help set the context for a particular dish, and/or to assist with the storytelling that surrounds a specific element within an experiential meal. Ambient scents have also been introduced in order to induce a specific mood and/or to trigger nostalgia in the minds of diners. Food-extrinsic scents have, on occasion, even been used deliberately to modify the taste/flavour of the food or drink itself. At the same time, however, a number of sensory marketers have become increasingly interested in the idea of signature scents associated with branded food establishments and the role that they may play in inducing a desire to consume, and thus bias (or nudge) people’s food purchasing behaviour. Another use of food scents is to help people control their food consumption. This narrative review highlights both the opportunities and challenges that are associated with the use of ambient and/or dish-extrinsic scent in a gastronomic setting. Ultimately, the literature reviewed here highlights the somewhat different uses to which ambient (or product-extrinsic) food smells have been put in the gastronomic, artistic/theatrical, health-related, and mainstream restaurant contexts.

Rating systems (RSs) are important for promotional efforts of service business and restaurants are not exceptions. However, current RSs are presumed to have some problems in transparency, objectivity, competence as well as in recognition. The purpose of this study is to design and develop a multidimensional restaurant rating scale, taking into account the shortcomings of elitist, democratic and academic/independent RSs. Using semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 12 restaurant experts and employing content analysis on the data, the Taband restaurant rating scale was developed. The reliability and validity of the scale was supported by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (655 participants as first data set) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (597 participants as second data set). The final version of the scale was composed of 42 items with 10 dimensions, and 20 new items were added to the restaurant rating literature via the present study.