On food quality

Many structure-function relationships of food colorants are stressed in this book, helping readers understand the effects of their biosynthesis, structures, and function modifications during food storage and processing conditions, and their influences on food quality and safety. This knowledge is necessary to control the rate of... 

Leifert, C, Rembialkowska, E, Nielson J H, Cooper, J M, Butler, G and Lueck L (2007) Effects of organic and low input production methods on food quality and safety. In Niggli, U, Leifert, C, Alfoldi, T L, Lueck and Wilier, H, Improving Sustainability in Organic and Low Input Food Production Systems. Published by the Research Institute of organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland. Available as a web-publication on http //www.fibl.org/shop/pdf/hp-1455-organic-food-production.pdf... 

In this chapter we have explained several system-inherent factors of organic fruit growing that can improve fruit quality. However, with the intensification of organic fruit production currently under way worldwide (e.g. more intensive nitrogen application on horticultural crops), there is a risk of quality decrease. Therefore, technical progress in organic farming should be closely and scientifically monitored for (side) effects on food quality, possibly in a holistic view that also includes environmental, social and human health criteria. 

Luck, W.A.P. 1981. Structures of water in aqueous systems. In Water Activity Influences on Food Quality (L.B. Rockland and G.F. Stewart, eds), pp. 407 134. Academic Press, New York. Ludescher, R.D., Shah, N.K., McCaul, C.P., and Simon, K.V. 2001. Beyond Tg Optical luminescence measurements of molecular mobility in amorphous solid foods. Food Hydro colloids 15, 331-339. Ludwig, R. 2001. Water From cluster to the bulk. Angewandte Chem. Int. Ed. 40, 1808-1827. Maclnnes, W.M. 1993. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis of sucrose solutions. In The Glassy State in Foods (J.M.V. Blanshard and PJ. Lillford, eds), pp. 223-248. Nottingham Univ. Press, Loughborough, Leicestershire. 

Van den Berg, C. and Bruin, S. 1981. Water activity and its estimation in food systems Theoretical aspects. In Water Activity Influence on Food Quality (I.B. Rockland and G.E. Steward, eds), pp. 1-64. Academic Press, New York. 

A conclusive assessment on the effects of organic farming on food quality indicators is given in the scheme shown in Table 4-24. 

Strategies to measure the effects of production methods on food quality... 

Most studies intending to assess effects of production methods on food quality have done so by analysing the nutrient content and assuming that it would somehow be possible to translate these data into a ranking of effect on health. These studies, reviewed in detail by Woese et al. (1997), O Doherty Jensen et al. (2001), Bourn and Prescott (2002), Soil Association (2002), Williams (2002), BMVEL (2003) and Magkos et al. (2003), have shown systematic effects, which can be summarised as follows. 

The taste of foods and beverages often depend on the concentration and type of acid they contain. Two common concepts deal with acidity in foods titratable acidity and pH. Each of these must be determined experimentally as each has its own impact on food quality. Over the years it has been shown that titratable acidity and pH contribute to the acid taste. However, the acid taste of food high in organic acids is dependent primarily on titratable acidity and secondarily on pH (Plane et al., 1980). The following equation has been proposed by Plane et al. to determine an acid taste index, i.e., acidity index (/a), of a food sample ... 

Ingredient Interactions Effects on Food Quality, edited byAnilkumar G. Gaonkar... 

Lechert HT. In Rockland LB, Stewards GF, eds. Water Activity Influences on Food Quality. London, UK Academic Press 1981 223-245. 

T. P. Labuza and M. Saltmarch, The nonenzymatic browning reaction as affected by water in foods, in Water Activity Influences on Food Quality, L. B. Rockland and G. F. Stewart (eds), Academic Press, New York, 1981, 605-650. 

When considering the addition of a bioactive to food, it is useful to classify them as oil-soluble (e.g., polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenes, lycopene), water-soluble (e.g., anthocyanins, proteins and peptides), or water/oil dispersible components (e.g., probiotics). Bioactives may be added directly to food if they are in a compatible format with the food matrix and provided their direct addition does not impact negatively on food quality or the bioavailability of the bioactive. When the solubility in a food matrix is limiting, its hydrophilicity/lipophilicity may be modified to enable improved incorporation. An example is the conversion of free plant sterols to fatty acid esters in order to make them more oil-soluble and readily incorporated into spreads (Deckere de and Verschuren 2000). 

J. Bakker, in A.G. Gaonkar, ed. Ingredient Interactions Effects on Food Quality, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1995. 

Van den Berg, C. Bruin, S. Water Activity Influences on Food Quality Rockland, L.B., Stewart, G.F., Eds. Academic Press New York, 1981. 

Skrede, G. 1996. Fruits, in Freezing Effects on Food Quality, ed., L.E. Jeremiah, New York Marcel Dekker, Inc., pp. 183-245. 

Box 3.3 The European Commission s view on food quality and food safety issues in organic farming (EC 2002a)... 

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