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Plant biodiversity preservation is one of the most important priorities of today’s agriculture. Wheat (Triticum spp. L.) is widely cultivated worldwide, mostly under a conventional and monovarietal farming method, leading to progressive biodiversity erosion. On the contrary, the evolutionary population (EP) cultivation technique is characterized by mixing and sowing together as many wheat genotypes as possible to allow the crop to genetically adapt over the years in relation to specific pedoclimatic conditions. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional, chemical and sensory qualities of three different breads obtained using different organic EP flours, produced following a traditional sourdough process and compared to a commercial wheat cultivar bread. Technological parameters, B-complex vitamins, microelements, dietary fibre and phenolic acids were determined in raw materials and final products. Flours obtained by EPs showed similar characteristics to the commercial wheat cultivar flour. However, significant differences on grain technological quality were found. The breads were comparable with respect to chemical and nutritional qualities. Overall, the sensory panellists rated the tasted breads positively assigning the highest score to those produced with EPs flours (6.75–7.02) as compared to commercial wheat cultivar-produced bread (cv. Bologna, 6.36).

Brine soaking is one of the most important steps in the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, since it determines the amount of salt in the final product. Reduction in salt in Parmigiano Reggiano cheese might be important for improving its nutritional profile, but it could affect the manufacturing processes by altering proteolysis and consequently the product quality. In this study, for the first time, salt reduction was explored at the industrial level on real cheese samples manufactured in a local dairy. In particular, 20 wheels were produced with conventional (18 days, 10 wheels) and shorter (12 days, 10 wheels) brining steps. In every group, wheels were studied at two different ripening times, 15 and 30 months. A shorter brining time resulted in an average 12% decrease in salt content. A full characterization of free amino acids and peptides was performed by LC-MS on all samples. Free amino acids and peptides, as expected, increased with ripening, due to proteolysis, with samples having low salt content showing a slightly faster increase when compared to standard ones, hinting to a slightly accelerated proteolytic process. Nonetheless, low-salt and conventional cheeses shared similar sensory profiles at both ripening times.

The aim of this study is to review the innovative techniques based on bioprocessing, thermal or physical treatments which have been proposed during the last few decades to convert rice bran into a valuable food ingredient. Rice bran (Oryza sativa) is the main by-product of rice grain processing. It is produced in large quantities worldwide and it contains a high amount of valuable nutrients and bioactive compounds with significant health-related properties. Despite that, its application in food industry is still scarce because of its sensitivity to oxidation processes, instability and poor technological suitability. Furthermore, the health-related effects of pretreated rice bran are also presented in this review, considering the up-to-date literature focused on both in vivo and in vitro studies. Moreover, in relation to this aspect, a brief description of rice bran arabinoxylans is provided. Finally, the application of rice bran in the food industry and the main technology aspects are concisely summarized.