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This work focuses on biodegradable packaging and edible coatings applied to fresh-cut fruits and vegetables and their effects on the product quality. Practical applications are mainly limited to the use of biodegradable materials that, however, do not allow full control of the product moisture loss. Better results can be achieved by the combined use of biodegradable packagings with edible coatings and recent research has shown that enrichment with silver-montmorillonite nanoparticles may be a promising technique. However, the actual utilization of these materials is still limited, due to the high costs of the raw materials and the limited production.

The effects of sunflower (SFO), extra-virgin olive (EVO), and soybean oils (SBO), In combination with canned aubergins and dried tomatoes were studied during an accelerated shelf-life trial. Hydrolytic and oxidative quality parameters was determined and a sensorial test was run. For both canned vegetables, the SBO showed greater resistance to the oxidation at the end of the shelf-life trial. The SBO in both vegetables yielded similar results for peroxide formation, whereas a reduced formation of secondary oxidation products was observed in aubergins. The results highlighted a higher oxidation stability of canned vegetables in SBO and EVO than those in SFO. The sensorial test underlined differences between the oils, in aubergins and dried tomatoes, after 30 days of accelerated storage (corresponding to the sell-by date). Flavour and texture were judged better for vegetables in SBO. --Keywords: canned vegetables, extra-virgin olive oil, oxidation, preservation, soybean oil, sunflower oil--

The effects of adding supercritical carbon dioxide extracts of garlic (at two different concentrations of allicin) on select chemical indices in extra-virgin olive oil used to canned artichokes were studied. Tests were performed after processing and over a storage period of 1 year. A sensorial test was also conducted on the canned artichokes to establish the impact on flavor (in particular perceptions of rancidity and garlic flavor). Acidity, peroxide levels and p -anisidine values were measured as quality analytical parameters. Radical scavenging activity was also evaluated using the DPPH assay. The samples containing supercritical garlic extracts were compared with several other formulations, including control sample (prepared by mixing artichokes with powdered chili pepper and fresh garlic), artichokes with only garlic or only chili pepper, and artichokes treated with the synthetic antioxidant BHT. The results suggested that the allicin extract may be superior, or at least comparable, with BHT in preserving canned artichokes as demonstrated by its positive effects on oxidative stability and sensory profile.

The year 2015 will certainly be remembered as the Year of the Universal Exposition (EXPO) hosted in Milan, Italy, focusing on a hot theme in the current scenario: “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. This event has drawn a wide international attention towards Italy as a country with peculiar and valuable food traditions, thus strengthening its reputation as “gastronomic capital of the world” rich in protected designation of origin products (PDOs) and characterised by a longstanding food culture.

The aim of the present study was to highlight the main differences between seed oils produced from conventionally cultivated crops and organically cultivated ones and processed using mild extraction procedures. The composition and the nutritional and health aspects of both types of sunflower seed oils were compared and were analytically tested to determine the macroscopic differences in proximate composition, the main differences in the minor components, the main quality parameters, the in vitro antioxidant activity, and the presence of trans‐ethylene steroisomers in FA. No significant trends were found in the oil samples for TAG and FA composition, but remarkable differences were found in the composition of minor components and in the main chemical and analytical quality properties. The organically grown samples had a higher total antioxidant activity compared with the conventional samples. Trans FA were found only in the conventional oils.

Accurate predictions of species abundance remain one of the most vexing challenges in ecology. This observation is perhaps unsurprising, because population dynamics are often strongly forced and highly nonlinear. Recently, however, numerous statistical techniques have been proposed for fitting highly parameterized mechanistic models to complex time series, potentially providing the machinery necessary for generating useful predictions. Alternatively, there is a wide variety of comparatively simple model-free forecasting methods that could be used to predict abundance. Here we pose a rather conservative challenge and ask whether a correctly specified mechanistic model, fit with commonly used statistical techniques, can provide better forecasts than simple model-free methods for ecological systems with noisy nonlinear dynamics. Using four different control models and seven experimental time series of flour beetles, we found that Markov chain Monte Carlo procedures for fitting mechanistic models often converged on best-fit parameterizations far different from the known parameters. As a result, the correctly specified models provided inaccurate forecasts and incorrect inferences. In contrast, a model-free method based on state-space reconstruction gave the most accurate short-term forecasts, even while using only a single time series from the multivariate system. Considering the recent push for ecosystem-based management and the increasing call for ecological predictions, our results suggest that a flexible model-free approach may be the most promising way forward.

The irregular appearance of planktonic algae blooms off the coast of southern California has been a source of wonder for over a century. Although large algal blooms can have significant negative impacts on ecosystems and human health, a predictive understanding of these events has eluded science, and many have come to regard them as ultimately random phenomena. However, the highly nonlinear nature of ecological dynamics can give the appearance of randomness and stress traditional methods—such as model fitting or analysis of variance—to the point of breaking. The intractability of this problem from a classical linear standpoint can thus give the impression that algal blooms are fundamentally unpredictable. Here, we use an exceptional time series study of coastal phytoplankton dynamics at La Jolla, CA, with an equation-free modeling approach, to show that these phenomena are not random, but can be understood as nonlinear population dynamics forced by external stochastic drivers (so-called \"stochastic chaos\"). The combination of this modeling approach with an extensive dataset allows us to not only describe historical behavior and clarify existing hypotheses about the mechanisms, but also make out-of-sample predictions of recent algal blooms at La Jolla that were not included in the model development.

For many marine species and habitats, climate change and overfishing present a double threat. To manage marine resources effectively, it is necessary to adapt management to changes in the physical environment. Simple relationships between environmental conditions and fish abundance have long been used in both fisheries and fishery management. In many cases, however, physical, biological, and human variables feed back on each other. For these systems, associations between variables can change as the system evolves in time. This can obscure relationships between population dynamics and environmental variability, undermining our ability to forecast changes in populations tied to physical processes. Here we present a methodology for identifying physical forcing variables based on nonlinear forecasting and show how the method provides a predictive understanding of the influence of physical forcing on Pacific sardine.

Understanding how environmental and anthropogenic factors influence group living is particularly valuable from an ecological and management point of view, since social systems influence individual feeding, breeding and health, which in turn affect the population size. Foraging strategies, presence of calves and avoidance of predators are known factors influencing group size in bottlenose dolphins, but little research has been done to investigate the concomitant effect of environmental, social and anthropogenic factors. Thus, here we tested the relationship between the group size of a common bottlenose dolphin population in Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea) and some proxies of prey availability (sea surface temperature, seabed depth and habitat type), social context (presence of calves and sex ratio) and sea ambient noise levels, as noise may impair communication and elicit predator avoidance-like response. Group size, both at intra-population (PGS) and individual levels (IGS), was mainly influenced by water temperature, noise, and the social factors. PGS changed with seasons and both PGS and IGS decreased with increasing sea surface temperature, likely suggesting a relationship between group size and the availability of demersal species assemblages, since the latter are known to be strongly affected by temperature. Further, the increase in noise levels led to a reduction in PGS (in presence of calves) and in IGS (in females with calves only). In degraded acoustic environments, the communication between group members may be further impaired by the density of individuals, thus mother-calf pairs may try to reduce the effect of boat noise by staying in a smaller group, where the masking of one’s signals by those from conspecifics decrease.Significance statementThe study highlighted the relationship between SST (sea surface temperature) and clustering pattern of a Mediterranean common bottlenose dolphin population, which in turn may derive from the influence of water temperature on prey abundance and distribution. Further, the effect of noise and boat presence on the grouping of the most vulnerable portion of the population (mothers with calves) was described for the first time. These results support the need for further investigations with the aim of better understanding the effects of warming and noise on coastal dolphins and provide information potentially useful in a management context.