Influence of guar gum and chitosan enriched with lemon peel essential oil coatings on the quality of pears.

Pear is a typically climacteric fruit and highly perishable with a low shelf life owing to extreme metabolic activity after harvesting. The present study aimed to reduce weight loss and improve the firmness of pear during storage. The lemon peel essential oil (LPEO) has gained considerable attention due to being the richest source of bioactive compounds that behaved as a natural antioxidant agent, being cost-effective, and being generally recognized as safe.

Polyphenols, the new frontiers of prebiotics.

There is a growing interest in the identification of molecules capable to promote health and with a concurrent potential for technological applications. Prebiotics are functional ingredients naturally occurring in some plant and animal foods that since many decades stimulated considerable attention from the pharmaceutical and food industries due to their positive health effects. Together the well-known biomolecules with ascertained prebiotic effect, in last year new molecules were finally recognized as prebiotics, so capable to improve the health of an organism, also through the positive effect exerted on host microbiota.

Qualitative Aspects of Some of Some Traditional Landraces of the Tomato "Piennolo" ( L.) of the Campania Region, Southern Italy.

Our study aimed to analyze some qualitative aspects of five landraces of the tomato "Piennolo," typical of the Vesuvian area, Italy, and determine the in vitro antioxidant activity. All samples showed a high °Brix value and acidity, as well as a discrete amount of reducing sugars, indicating their good quality as fresh products. They showed a high content of lycopene (up to 218 mg g of fresh product) and ascorbic acid (up to 238 mg g of fresh product).

Biochemical Characterization of Traditional Varieties of Sweet Pepper ( L.) of the Campania Region, Southern Italy.

Bioactive compounds of different Campania native sweet pepper varieties were evaluated. Polyphenols ranged between 1.37 mmol g and 3.

Production of low-calorie apricot nectar sweetened with stevia: Impact on qualitative, sensory, and nutritional profiles.

This study aimed to develop a low-calorie apricot nectar by replacing sucrose with different amount of (Rebaudioside A, 98%). Stevia has become very popular as sweetener for the production of low-calorie products but its addition could be a challenge for industry, since it could modify sensory features of the product and consumers' acceptance. To this end, apricot nectars without sugar, with sucrose 10%, and with different amounts of stevia were produced and evaluated for microbiological quality using the pour-plate technique, and physicochemical (pH, TTA, and ) and nutritional (moisture, fat, protein, carbohydrates, and ash) characteristics.

Polyphenols, Antioxidant, Antibacterial, and Biofilm Inhibitory Activities of Peel and Pulp of L., , and cv. Salò Cultivated in Southern Italy.

The aim of this paper was to study the polyphenols of peel and pulp of three taxa-, and cv. Salò-cultivated in the Cosenza province, Southern Italy, and to evaluate their antioxidant and antibacterial activity, performed against , , , , and . Furthermore, we assessed the inhibitory effect of the extracts on bacterial capacity to form biofilm, and on the metabolic activity of the cells present therein.

Effective assay for olive vinegar production from olive oil mill wastewaters.

In this work, an effective and simple approach for vinegar production from olive oil press-mill wastewaters (OMW) is presented. Effects of sterilization and yeast presence on the acetic acid production were investigated. Sugar addition and inoculum of selected yeast starter have been crucial for a satisfactory acidification.