Increasing consumption of instant noodles with high sodium content could elevate the risk of cardiovascular disease. Making instant noodle seasoning in the form of an oil-in-water emulsion was expected to improve the perception of salty taste without increasing the use of salt. However, the oil concentration in the emulsion affects the perception. The addition of antioxidant and retort processing was needed to overcome the nature of the emulsion that was quite susceptible to oxidation and microbial contamination. Preliminary research determined the optimum concentration of oil and antioxidant based on physical characteristics, the perception/gustation of saltiness, and emulsion oxidative stability and the results were used for further research. The final part of the research determined the effects of retort processing on emulsion stability, the perception of saltiness, and the degree of microbial contamination. Three different oil concentrations (26, 27, and 28%) and three types of antioxidants (natural vitamin E, ascorbyl palmitate and mixed tocopherol) were applied to the instant noodle seasoning oil-in-water emulsions. The results showed that using 28% oil and mixed tocopherol had the most stability, was more viscous, and had optimum salty taste perception, which significantly extended the shelf-life of the emulsion compared with the others. Retort processing for 21.5 minutes in 123.5 °C was applied to the seasoning emulsion with 28% oil content and mixed tocopherol. Although, the microbial contamination was significantly reduced, neither the stability of emulsion nor the perception of salty taste was significantly changed by the process.

A second nutrition transition seems to be emerging towards more plant-based diets, curbing meat consumption in developed countries at the beginning of the 21st century. This shift suggests that rational arguments tend to influence an increasing number of individuals to adopt vegetarian diets. This work aimed to understand and simulate the impact of different types of messages on the choice to change food diets at the individual level, and the impact of the diffusion of opinions at the collective level. It provided two results: (1) a network of arguments around vegetarian diets is modelled using an abstract argumentation approach. Each argument, formalized by a node, was connected with other arguments by arrows, thus formalizing relationships between arguments. This methodology made it possible to formalize an argument network about vegetarian diets and to identify the importance of health arguments compared to ethical or other types of arguments. This methodology also identified key arguments as a result of their high centrality in being challenged or challenging other arguments. The results of constructing this argument network suggested that any controversy surrounding vegetarian diets will be polarized around such high centrality arguments about health. Even though few ethical arguments appeared in our network, the health arguments concerning the necessity or not of animal products for humans were indirectly connected with ethical choices towards vegetarian diets; (2) an agent-based simulation of the social diffusion of opinions and practices concerning meat consumption is then introduced. The purpose of this simulation was to capture the balance of vegetarian vs. meat-based diets. It contributes to modelling consumer choices by exploring the balance between individual values and external influences such as social pressure, communication campaigns and sanitary, environmental or ethical crises.

Gari (roasted fermented cassava grits) is the most popular product consumed in West Africa and an important food product in the diet of millions of people in developing countries. The study investigated the effect of packaging materials (PM) and storage periods on the functional and pasting properties of Gari produced from white-fleshed cassava roots and sensory attributes of the cooked Gari dough (eba). Gari was produced using the standard method and packaged in a polypropylene woven sack (PP) and polyvinyl chloride container (PVC). Gari was stored for 24 weeks at room temperature and sampled at four-week intervals for functional and pasting properties, and sensory evaluation of the eba, using standard methods. The results showed that the storage periods significantly affected all the functional (except swelling power) and pasting properties of the Gari, and PM had no significant (p>0.05) effect on the functional (except bulk density) and pasting properties. Also, the PM had no significant effect on the sensory attributes of the eba except for the mouldability (p<0.05). The setback viscosity of the Gari packaged in PVC had a significant (p<0.05, r= -0.58) negative correlation with the texture of the eba. The panellists preferred all the sensory attributes of the eba made from the Gari stored in PP compared to that made from Gari stored in PVC. Therefore, packaging Gari in PP may keep most of the properties preferred by consumers when stored for up to 5 months.

Worldwide, there is a current need for new sources of vegetable oils. The natural content of total carotenoids in Acrocomia aculeata palm oil (up to 378 µg.g-1) surpasses that of many other tropical fruits, making it one of its main compositional characteristics. As far as can be verified, there is no available information on the degradation kinetics of carotenoids for A. aculeata oil, which is required to describe reaction rates and to predict changes that can occur during food processing. The present study considered prediction abilities that have emerged with the use of specific kinetic data and procedures to understand thermal processing better, as an essential unity operation. Two kinetic mechanisms were proposed to describe the overall thermal degradation of carotenoids in the oil; the first one consists of three reaction steps while the other presents only one-step reaction. Mass balance equations were numerically solved by a Backward Differentiation Formula technique. The kinetic parameters from both models were estimated through a hybrid optimisation method using the Particle Swarm Optimization and the Gauss-Newton method, followed by statistical analyses. The model with more than one reaction was shown to be overparameterized and was discarded. The model with a single reaction was highly suited to handle the experimental data available, and the dependency of its rate constant on temperature was expressed according to Arrhenius law. As far we know, this is the first time the kinetics of carotenoids thermal degradation in A. aculeata oil is investigated through modelling simulation.

This study produced fish mortadella from Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM) of Nile tilapia added with animal fat. Three formulations were developed: M1 (MSM - 89 % and 5 % pork fat), M2 (MSM - 84 % and 10 % pork fat) and M3 (MSM - 79 % and 15 % pork fat). The elaborated products were tested for technological, physical, physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory parameters. The results showed that the fish mortadella were microbiologically stable with a particular texture for an emulsified meat product, attractive colour and characteristic flavour. All formulations met the expected identity and quality requirements. They also achieved good acceptance by the judges, in which formulation M1 may be highlighted for presenting an emulsion stability of 97 %, higher protein content (18.09 %) and lower lipids (16.31 %). In addition, it also reached higher mean scores for texture attributes and purchase intent. Therefore, it is possible to prepare fish mortadellas from tilapia MSM using less animal fat.

Indonesian consumers are fond of commercially sterilized milk as indicated by increasing product sales. High demand for products intensifies the need to increase productivity, generally achieved by minimizing product defects. This study aimed to reduce the number of defects in commercially sterilized milk produced using overpressure rotary retorts. Based on Pareto analysis, the percentage of defective products was 5.14% of which 2.37% were dented bottles. A cause-effect diagram (Ishikawa Diagram) was used to find the root cause of dented bottles. The pressure difference between the retort chamber (external pressure) and inside the product packaging (internal pressure), and the number of bottles stacked inside the retort basket (bottle density) were found as major factors for causing dented bottles. The internal pressure was 1.20 bar higher than the external pressure. By reducing the pressure difference to 0.40 bar, the percentage of dented bottles could be reduced to 0.79%. Applying the low-est bottle density (73% of the retort basket area occupied by bottles) during the sterilization process could decrease the number of dented bottles, however, it also increased the appearance of striped lids. The best conditions for sterilization (pressure difference = 0.40 bar; number of bottles/basket = 1938 bottles) which were used in the three-month full-scale production trial reduced the percentage of defective products from 5.14% to 2.24% of which 0.76% were dented bottles. Setting the retort pressure at 2.80 bar could avoid 52,920 defective bottles of commercially sterilized products per month.

Consumption pattern among indigenous groups is usually influenced by consumers' sociocultural and perceptual factors. This study employs the binary logit model to analyse the factors that influence the consumption of sunflower oil in Kumasi, Ghana. A cross-sectional approach was used to obtain data from 200 consumers who were selected using a multi-stage sampling method. The results showed that a majority (93%) of the respondents were aware of the availability of sunflower oil on the local market and a third (69.5%) had used it for cooking before. The respondents agreed with the perception statements that sunflower oil is healthy, expensive, reduces the risk of heart diseases and cancer and has better frying performance. The empirical results of the logit regression model showed that consumption of sunflower oil is influenced by household size, awareness of the product and perceptions on health benefits, price and frying performance of sun ower oil. The price of the oil was identified as the most important constraint to its use albeit it had no negative effect on its consumption. Investments in the production and promotional strategies on the use of sunflower oil should consider the significant variables that have influence on its consumption.

Many innovative teaching and learning methods are used in higher level education including project-based learning (PBL). Since 2012 a PBL assignment project has been undertaken by master students of the Advanced Molecular Gastronomy module at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin). The aim is to stimulate student learning and creativity by using Note by Note cooking in a PBL assignment while at the same time complying with the requirements of the annual International Note by Note contest which is held in Paris, France. Direct and indirect assessment methods were used to assign individual grades and to gather student feedback about the module. The direct methods were both formative and summative. The indirect method used was a student feedback questionnaire. Results to date (2012-2019) showed that 92% of learners successfully passed the module. However, further evaluation of individual assessment results revealed that most students achieved higher scores for finding and using resources, asking further questions and developing their own answers than for analysing, synthesising and evaluating information (P≤0.01). Overall students were happy with the module content and said that they learnt about Note by Note cooking, chemical compounds, researching, independent-thinking and perseverance. In future students should carry out a more in-depth analysis, synthesis and evaluation of information.

This work examined the relationships between quality characteristics of raw milk and climatic conditions. Over a period of three years, a total of 5,065 samples were collected encompassing two types of farms. The quality characteristics analysed were titratable acidity (TA), total plate count (TPC) and somatic cells count (SCC). Climatic conditions were evaluated in respect to the outdoor air temperature, pressure, humidity and precipitation. Big farms showed a stronger correlation between TA and climatic conditions as opposed to SCC and climatic conditions. TPC was out of limit in big farms when the outdoor air temperature was higher than 19.8 °C (p<0.05) and during periods with accumulated precipitation over 4.2 mm (p>0.05). Small farms showed a stronger correlation between SCC and climatic conditions as opposed to TA. In these farms, occurrence of acidity out of limit was detected in less than 7.2% of samples. Samples with TA out of limit were observed when air temperature was higher than 18.4 °C (p<0.05) and accumulated precipitation was below 3.1 mm (p>0.05). These results can be used to improve good agricultural practices in respect to climatic conditions and size of farms.

Understanding the causes of obesity epidemic requires examination of what contributes to preference of palatable foods. Using a sensorial-consumer approach, this research examined the relationship between the sensation of the hedonic liking of fat with psychological and weight profiles. The study began with preliminary testing of the hedonic ratings of 24 food items (12 low fat (LF), 12 high fat(HF)) and completion of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R18) investigating cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating aspects. Eight (8) out of the twelve (12) food pairs that had discriminating characteristics were selected, for inclusion in the study, by 347 panellists. Results showed that overweight individuals had significantly lower liking towards LF sensation (4.27±2.13, p= 0.001) but significantly higher liking towards HF sensation (5.26±2.33, p= 0.001), compared to normal BMI individuals who had a significantly higher liking towards LF sensation (5.69±2.35, p= 0.001) but significantly lower liking towards HF sensation (4.17±2.40, p= 0.001). The Pearson product-moment correlation revealed similar trends on the association between liking of fat sensation and eating behaviour regardless of weight statuses. Specifically, cognitive restrainers were found to prefer the LF sensation while HF sensation were more favoured among uncontrolled and emotional eaters. This highlights the importance of investigating the combined effect of psychological aspects of eating behaviour and weight profiles towards liking of fat sensation.