Foods
September 2024
Greek giant beans, also known as "Gigantes Elefantes" (elephant beans, L.,) are a traditional and highly cherished culinary delight in Greek cuisine, contributing significantly to the economic prosperity of local producers. However, the issue of food fraud associated with these products poses substantial risks to both consumer safety and economic stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdulteration of high-value agricultural products is a critical issue worldwide for consumers and industries. Discrimination of the geographical origin can verify food authenticity by reducing risk and detecting adulteration. Between agricultural products, beans are a very important crop cultivated worldwide that provides food rich in iron and vitamins, especially for people in third-world countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOlive trees have a unique reproductive pattern marked by biennial fruiting. This study examined the repercussions of alternate fruit bearing on the water relations of olive trees and the associated ecophysiological mechanisms. The experiment spanned two consecutive years: the "ON" year, characterized by a high crop load, and the "OFF" year, marked by minimal fruit production.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development and implementation of safe natural alternatives to synthetic pesticides are urgent needs that will provide ecological solutions for the control of plant diseases, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, pests, and weeds to ensure the economic stability of farmers and food security, as well as protection of the environment and human health. Unambiguously, production of botanical pesticides will allow for the sustainable and efficient use of natural resources and finally decrease the use of chemical inputs and burden. This is further underlined by the strict regulations on pesticide residues in agricultural products and is in harmony with the Farm to Fork strategy, which aims to reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is a plethora of food products with geographical indications registered in the European Union without any study about their discrimination from other similar products. This is also the case for Greek currants. This paper aims to analyze if stable isotope analysis of C, N, and S could discriminate the Greek currants "Vositzza", registered as a product of Protected Designation of Origin, from two other currants registered as products of Protected Geographical Indication coming from neighboring areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFraudulent practices are the first and foremost concern of food industry, with significant consequences in economy and human's health. The increasing demand for food has led to food fraud by replacing, mixing, blending, and mislabeling products attempting to increase the profits of producers and companies. Consequently, there was the rise of a multidisciplinary field which encompasses a large number of analytical techniques aiming to trace and authenticate the origins of agricultural products, food and beverages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConsumers are increasingly interested in the geographical origin of the foodstuff they consume as an important characteristic of food authenticity and quality. To assure the authenticity of the geographical origin, various methods have been proposed. Stable isotope analysis is a method that has been extensively used for products such as wine, oil, meat, while only a few studies have been conducted for the discrimination of seafood origin and especially for mullet roes or bottarga products.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study is a systematic literature review of geographical origin authentication by elemental analytical techniques. Authentication and certification of geographic origin of agri-food products is a useful tool toward the protection of the quality for products. The aim of this work was to map the current state of research in the area of agricultural products and food, identifying emerging fields to the geographical origin of products.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFe deficiency was imposed by omission of Fe (-Fe), or by inclusion of bicarbonate (supplied as 20 mM NaHCO3) in the nutrient solution in two contrasting peach rootstocks (GF-677; tolerant to Fe deficiency and Cadaman; sensitive to Fe deficiency) for 4 months. In the Fe-deprived leaves and roots, and especially in those treated with bicarbonate, a decrease in Fe concentrations was recorded. Omission of Fe resulted in an increase of the activity of root Fe(III)-chelate reductase (FCR) in both rootstocks, whereas FCR activity decreased in the bicarbonate-treated roots of Cadaman.
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