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During a food product’s life, storage conditions affect its composition of nutrients, bioactive compounds, and sensory attributes. In this research, strawberry and apple purees were selected as a model to examine how the storage of various purees industrially produced with different technologies affect the bioactive phenolic compounds, color, and sensory attributes. Specifically, fruit products processed on an industrial scale by different technologies including freezing, thermal treatment (mild and standard), and high-pressure processing were studied, as well as storage for up to 12 months at −20, 4, and 24 °C. In strawberry puree, storage conditions had a stronger impact on phenolic compound levels, particularly on anthocyanins, whereas in apple puree, the initial processing techniques exerted a greater influence than storage conditions, mainly caused by the hot or cold crushing processes. In general, proanthocyanidins were the major phenolic group and the most stable during storage, while anthocyanins were the group most affected by both processing and storage. Apple flavonols and dihydrochalcones were quite stable, while strawberry ellagitannins suffered higher degradations during storage. Through our analysis, it is found that during storage, the stability of polyphenols in each fruit is different, and processing and storage can be either detrimental or even beneficial. The selection of the ideal storage conditions (time and temperature) is a key factor to maintaining the polyphenol content in sensitive fruits such as strawberries. However, storage conditions are in some cases more important to minimizing the polyphenol losses than how the product is processed

The present study analyses the effect of a beverage composed of citrus and maqui (Aristotelia chilensis) with different sweeteners on male and female consumers. Beverages were designed and tested (140 volunteers) as a source of polyphenols, in a previous work. Plasma samples were taken before and after two months of daily intake. Samples were measured for bioactive-compound levels with metabolomics techniques, and the resulting data were analysed with advanced versions of ANOVA and clustering analysis, to describe the effects of sex and sweetener factors on bioactive compounds. To improve the results, machine learning techniques were applied to perform feature selection and data imputation. The results reflect a series of compounds which are more regulated for men, such as caffeic acid or 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, and for women, trans ferulic acid (TFA) or naringenin glucuronide. Regulations are also observed with sweeteners, such as TFA with stevia in women, or vanillic acid with sucrose in men. These results show that there is a differential regulation of these two families of polyphenols by sex, and that this is influenced by sweeteners

The inactivation kinetics of Listeria monocytogenes during High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) treatments was studied in a purple smoothie based of fresh fruit and vegetables. Pressure intensity studied was 300, 350, 400 and 450 MPa. Untreated samples were used as control. Furthermore, the effects on quality attributes (sensory, total soluble solids content, colour, titratable acidity, pH, vitamin C and total phenolics content) were also monitored. Microbial inactivation was modelled as a function of the HHP intensity using the Geeraerd model. Shoulder and tail effects were observed only for the 300 MPa pressure assayed, supporting a multiple hit kinetic inactivation of critical factors. Increasing the HHP intensity resulted in a faster inactivation with tailing. A strong positive correlation was observed between the pressure level and the inactivation rate (k). Hence, a linear model was used to describe the relationship between both variables. Nevertheless, further data are required to confirm this secondary model. Quality was mostly unaffected by the HHP treatments, except for the vitamin C content, which reported reductions of 26 and 21% after 300 and 350 MPa, respectively. In conclusion, HHP can be a viable technology for processing fruit and vegetable-based smoothies to preserve quality and safety. A pressure of 400 MPa is advisable to ensure an efficient microbial inactivation with the best sensory and nutritional quality retention

Temperate trees require low temperatures during winter and subsequent warm conditions in early spring to flower and eventually bear fruit. Many parts of the Mediterranean region feature winters with low and sometimes marginal chill accumulation. To assess historic and future agroclimatic conditions for cultivating temperate trees (including almonds, pistachios, apricots, sweet cherries and apples), we mapped winter chill throughout this important growing region. We used on-site weather records (1974–2020) to calibrate a weather generator and produced data for historic and future scenarios. To broaden our analysis, we spatially interpolated chill for the whole Mediterranean basin. We supplemented our simulation outcomes by collecting expert knowledge (from farmers and researchers) regarding observed climate change impacts on temperate orchards as well as future risks and concerns generated by climate change. Results showed that northern African growing regions have experienced major chill losses, a likely cause of the irregular and delayed bloom highlighted by experts. The same regions, together with southern Europe, may lose up to 30 Chill Portions by 2050 under a moderate warming scenario. For the future, experts foresee increasing risk of spring frost in early-blooming cultivars, exacerbated bloom-related problems and increasing occurrence of heat waves. Our results provide evidence of likely climate change impacts on temperate orchards. Expert knowledge proved instrumental in interpreting the simulation results as well as in orienting climate change adaptation strategies. The results we present are useful for farmers and orchard managers planning new plantings, as well as for researchers and policy makers developing strategies to adapt fruit orchards to the impacts of climate change

In this document, we provide supplementary materials for the work ‘Climate change impacts on winter chill in Mediterranean temperate fruit orchards’ by Eduardo Fernandez and co-authors. The study is published in the journal Regional Environmental Change under the doi: 10.1007/s10113-022-02006-x. We conducted this work in collaboration with researchers from northern and southern Spain, Tunisia, Morocco and Germany under the umbrella of an international project (AdaMedOr) funded by the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA). Compared to previous similar studies, we provide now an analysis that combines the spatial interpolation of winter chill accumulation in the Mediterranean region under future scenarios with expert knowledge regarding the impacts of climate change on temperate orchards as well as future concerns of farmers cultivating temperate species. Our approach allowed us to frame and contextualize the results of our chill estimations, potentially contributing to the development of management strategies to adapt Mediterranean orchards to future climate conditions. We offer figures that were not included in the main manuscript, as well as additional information about the weather stations used for the analysis.

Stone fruit production has enormous economic importance in Spain. Cultivation locations for these fruit species (i.e., peach, apricot, plum, and sweet cherry) cover wide and climatically diverse geographical areas within the country. Climate change is already producing an increase in average temperatures with special intensity in certain areas like the Mediterranean ones. These changes lead to a decrease in the accumulated chill, which can have a profound impact on the phenology of Prunus species like stone fruits due to, e.g., difficulties to cover the chilling requirements to break endodormancy, the occurrence of late frost events, or abnormal early high temperatures. All these factors can severely affect fruit production and quality and therefore provoke very negative consequences from the socio-economic point of view in the incumbent regions. Thus, characterization of current cultivation areas in terms of agroclimatic variables (e.g., chill and heat accumulation and probabilities of frost and early abnormal heat events), based on data from 270 weather stations for the past 20 years, is carried out in this work to produce an informative picture of the current situation. Besides, future climatic projections from different global climate models (data retrieved from the Meteorological State Agency of Spain—AEMET) up to 2065 for two Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios (i.e., RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) are also analyzed. Using the current situation as a baseline and considering the future scenarios, information on the current and future adaptive suitability of the different species/cultivars to the different growing areas can be inferred. This information could be the basis of a decision support tool to help the different stakeholders to take optimal decisions regarding current and future stone fruit or other temperate species cultivation in Spain.

Metabolic diseases have been related to the overdrinking of high-sugar content beverages. As a result, the demand for alternative formulations based on plant-based ingredients with health-promoting properties has increased during the last few years. Nonetheless, the design and production of effective formulations requires understanding the bioavailability of these compounds. For this purpose, a two-month longitudinal trial with 140 volunteers was conducted to measure the beneficial effects of a maqui–citrus beverage, rich in (poly)phenols. From data obtained by quantifying metabolites present in urine samples, biostatistical and machine learning (data imputation, feature selection, and clustering) methods were applied to assess whether a volunteer’s sex and the sweetener added to the beverage (sucrose, sucralose, or stevia) affected the bioavailability of (poly)phenol metabolites. Several metabolites have been described as being differentially influenced: 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and naringenin with its derivatives were positively influenced by stevia and men, while eriodictyol sulfate and homoeridictyol glucunoride concentrations were enhanced with stevia and women. By examining groups of volunteers created by clustering analysis, patterns in metabolites’ bioavailability distribution as a function of sex and/or sweeteners (or even due to an uncontrolled factor) were also discovered. These results underline the potential of stevia as a (poly)phenol bioavailability enhancer. Furthermore, they also evidence sex affects the bioavailability of (poly)phenols, pointing at a sex-dependent metabolic pathway regulation.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are novel compounds used as antimicrobial and antiviral agents. In addition, AgNPs have been used to improve the growth of different plants, as well as the in vitro multiplication of plant material. In this work the effect of AgNPs on in vitro growth of ‘Canino’ and ‘Mirlo Rojo’ cultivars, as well as the leaf ion composition, are studied. Different concentrations of AgNPs (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg L−1) were added to two culture systems: semisolid medium with agar (SSM) in jars and liquid medium in temporary immersion system (TIS). Proliferation (number of shoots), shoot length, productivity (number of shoot × average length), leaf surface, fresh and dry weight were measured. Additionally, the silver and other ion accumulation in the leaves were evaluated by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) analysis. The productivity of ‘Canino’ and ‘Mirlo Rojo’ decreased when increasing the concentration of AgNPs in the semisolid medium. However, the use of AgNPs in the TIS improved the proliferation and productivity of ‘Canino’ and Mirlo Rojo’, increasing biomass production, and the concentration of nutrients in the plants, although these effects are genotype-dependent. TISs are the best system for introducing silver into shoots, the optimum concentration being 50 mg L−1 for ‘Canino’ and 75 mg L−1 for ‘Mirlo Rojo’. Principal component analysis, considering all the analyzed ions along the treatments, separates samples in two clear groups related to the culture system used. The use of bioreactors with a liquid medium has improved the productivity of ‘Canino’ and ‘Mirlo Rojo’ in the proliferation stage, avoiding hyperhydration and other disorders. The amount of metallic silver that penetrates apricot plant tissues depends on the culture system, cultivar and concentration of AgNPs added to the culture medium. Silver ion accumulation measured in the shoots grown in the TIS was higher than in shoots micropropagated in a semis

Several factors influence consumers’ choices of food products. While price remains the main criterion, quality, pleasure, convenience, and health are also important driving factors in food market evolution. Food enterprises are making significant efforts to manufacture products that meet consumers’ demands without compromising on safety standards. Additionally, the food industry also aims to improve the efficiency of transformation and conservation processes by minimizing energy consumption, process duration, and waste generation. However, foods are highly complex systems in which: (i) non-linear dynamics and interactions among different temporal and spatial scales must be considered; (ii) a wide range of physical phenomena (such as evaporation, mechanical changes, thawing, energy/mass transport, and color changes) occur; (iii) different food matrices (such as meat, vegetables, cereal, milk, and juices) with different microstructures and properties are involved; and (iv) the number of quality and safety indicators (such as bacteria, total volatile basic nitrogen, color, texture, odor, and sensory characteristics) is substantial. Mathematical modeling and simulation are key elements that allow us to gain a deeper understanding of food processes and enable the use of tools such as optimization and real-time control to improve their efficiency. This special issue aims to gather research on the development of dynamic mathematical models that describe the relevant factors in food processes from the perspectives of food safety (chemical or microbiological), food quality (organoleptic or nutritional), or resource consumption. Additionally, the development of model-based tools to improve food processes is also considered. This includes decision-making and optimization tools, the characterization of uncertainty/variability in model predictions, model simulation techniques, software sensors, and software development. The contributions published in this Special Issue can be gr

This is a reprint of articles from the Special Issue published online in the open access journal Foods (ISSN 2304-8158)

The Dynamic model has been described as one of the most accurate models to quantify chill accumulation based on hourly temperatures in nuts and temperate fruits. This model considers that a dynamic process occurs at a biochemical level that determines the endodormancy breaking through the accumulation of the so-called portions. The kinetic parameters present in the model should reflect how the fruit trees integrate chilling exposure and thus they should be characteristic for each species. However, the original parameter values, reported in the late 1980s, are still being used. Even if the use of such parameter values is useful to compare among chilling requirements (CRs) for different species or cultivars, it is not the optimal choice when one intends to explain the CR variations in different years for a given cultivar. In this work we propose a data-based model calibration that makes use of phenological data for different apricot cultivars within different years to obtain model parameters, which minimize the variations among years and that have, at the same time, physical meaning to characterize the incumbent species. Results reveal that the estimation not only reduces the accumulated portion dispersion within the considered time periods but also allows to improve the CR predictions for subsequent years. We propose a set of model parameter values to predict endodormancy breaking dates in the apricot cultivars studied here.

Water resources are increasingly coming under pressure specially around the Mediterranean area, leading to water scarcity and a deterioration in water quality. The use of treated wastewater represents an alternative source to enhance the demand for irrigation water. Water reuse in combination with the promotion of the use of water-efficient technologies in industry and water-saving irrigation techniques could lead to good qualitative and quantitative water status for surface and ground water bodies. Nevertheless, food-borne outbreaks linked to fresh produce irrigated with partially or untreated wastewater caused by bacteria, parasites and enteropathogenic viruses have been widely reported. In the absence of solid scientific understanding of the actual risks involved, consumers are likely less receptive to buy leafy greens irrigated with treated wastewater, also known as reclaimed water. In this study, we aimed to assess the microbiological risks of leafy green vegetables irrigated with treated wastewater in Spain using Norovirus as a model organism to facilitate the development of risk management strategies. A conceptual exposure model was designed to describe the virus fate and transport from the Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) secondary effluent to the consumers' fork. This study is an example of the use of reclaimed water for irrigation of commercial fields producing leafy greens in the south-east of Spain and tries to assess potential microbiological risks to the consumers by establishing their safety.

The spatial distribution and temporal trends of trace metals (i.e. Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn) and a metalloid (i.e. As) along the Spanish Mediterranean coast from 1993 to 2013 are presented with a new estimation of their background levels monitored using wild mussels. Over a 20 years period, yearly mussel monitoring was undertaken with a rigorous field sampling protocol using 3 pooled samples strategy (3 x n = 80, with 8 mussels in the 3.0 to 3.9 size categories at each site), obtained in the pre-spawning period (May–June) to minimize biological factors and seasonal variability, which is a fundamental element of the international programme. Spatial distribution was characterized every 5 years and temporal trends were determined in 11 locations. The main aims of the present long term study are to evaluate the environmental status of different coastal locations regarding trace metal levels and follow the evolution of these levels over time after the implementation of regulatory measures. Regarding spatial distribution, the highest values for Cd, Cu, Hg and Pb were found close to known highly anthopogenic cities or shipyard areas. However, As and Zn did not strictly follow this pattern, showing natural increased concentrations in the Levantine Balearic and Strait of Gibraltar-Alboran Sea demarcations respectively. These distributions are associated with the conjunction of two geological formation inputs (Massif Central in France and Iberian Pyritic Belt in Spain) and the oceanographic conditions in the adjacent coastal area. In the case of temporal trends, metal concentrations decreased significantly over time in most stations, confirming the effectiveness of the regulatory measures and prohibitions established under European legislation. Concentrations of Pb were above the established thresholds for human consumption in only 12–14% of the sampling areas. With the information obtained for this study, we estimate background concentrations and propose new Background Assesmen

The spatial distribution and temporal trends of trace metals (i.e. Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn) and a metalloid (i.e. As) along the Spanish Mediterranean coast from 1993 to 2013 are presented with a new estimation of their background levels monitored using wild mussels. Over a 20 years period, yearly mussel monitoring was undertaken with a rigorous field sampling protocol using 3 pooled samples strategy (3 x n = 80, with 8 mussels in the 3.0 to 3.9 size categories at each site), obtained in the pre-spawning period (May–June) to minimize biological factors and seasonal variability, which is a fundamental element of the international programme. Spatial distribution was characterized every 5 years and temporal trends were determined in 11 locations. The main aims of the present long term study are to evaluate the environmental status of different coastal locations regarding trace metal levels and follow the evolution of these levels over time after the implementation of regulatory measures. Regarding spatial distribution, the highest values for Cd, Cu, Hg and Pb were found close to known highly anthopogenic cities or shipyard areas. However, As and Zn did not strictly follow this pattern, showing natural increased concentrations in the Levantine Balearic and Strait of Gibraltar-Alboran Sea demarcations respectively. These distributions are associated with the conjunction of two geological formation inputs (Massif Central in France and Iberian Pyritic Belt in Spain) and the oceanographic conditions in the adjacent coastal area. In the case of temporal trends, metal concentrations decreased significantly over time in most stations, confirming the effectiveness of the regulatory measures and prohibitions established under European legislation. Concentrations of Pb were above the established thresholds for human consumption in only 12–14% of the sampling areas. With the information obtained for this study, we estimate background concentrations and propose new Background Assesmen

‘lucía myrtea’ and ‘victoria myrtea’ are early-season cultivars of Japanese plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) typology, both characterized by their low chilling requirements, so their adaptation is ideal for warm growing areas in the current context of climate change. High productivity, high-quality fruit and attractiveness are three characteristics common to both new cultivars. ‘lucía myrtea’ and ‘victoria myrtea’ stand out for their attractive dark purplish skin; their striking and intense red flesh; and their excellent taste qualities, with firm, juicy and aromatic fruit. Another remarkable characteristic is the floral self-compatibility in the case of ‘victoria myrtea’, uncommon in Japanese plum cultivars and especially interesting for farmers. These new cultivars will contribute to improve the availability of early, red-flesh plums for the fresh market.

Wastewater treatment process design involves the optimization of multiple conflicting objectives. The detection of different equivalent solutions in terms of objective values is crucial for designers in order to efficiently switch to the new optimal operation policies if changes in the process conditions or new constraints occur. In this work, the dynamic multi-objective optimization of a municipal wastewater treatment plant model is carried out. The aim is to simultaneously optimize an economic cost term and an effluent quality index. The selected process variables for the optimization are (1) an aeration factor in the aerated tank previous to the clarifier, and (2) an internal recycle flow rate. Their time profiles are approximated using the control vector parameterization technique. To solve the multi-objective problem and find the Pareto front, the NSGA-II algorithm has been used. The simulation of different realistic scenarios which impose operational constraints (e.g., maintenance operations) reveals that, indeed, multiple solutions exist at least in some areas of the Pareto front. It is observed that different control profiles can produce nearly identical results in terms of Pareto solutions. The a priori knowledge of these equivalent solutions for different scenarios provides the decision makers with alternative choices to be adapted to their organizations policies when events altering decision variables bounds or adding new constraints to the process model occur.

In a global warming context, analyses of historic temperature records are essential to understand the potential impacts of climate change on spring phenology. To estimate flowering trends over recent decades, we analyzed long-term temperature and phenology records of eleven local apple cultivars in Asturias (northwestern Spain) in a temperate oceanic climate. Our results show that, over a period of 30 years, bloom dates of the local cultivars have experienced relatively minor changes, considering that temperatures increased strongly since 1978, by 0.30 °C per decade. An explanation for this weak phenological response to warming may be that these temperature changes only had a small effect on overall chill accumulation, but possibly delayed the onset date of endodormancy, which may have counteracted phenology-advancing effects of warming in spring. At present, chill accumulation in this area is high, at an average of 96 Chill Portions from November to March, which indicates that chill is not currently a limiting factor for the quality of flowering and fruiting in the study area. We used Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression to delineate an effective chilling period between November 12th and February 9th and effective heat accumulation between March 15th and May 4th. While these periods appear plausible, we noticed that this approach was unable to identify well-known differences in chilling requirements among many of the cultivars, with similar chill needs determined for many of them. This observation may be explained by inaccurate expectations about cultivars’ climatic needs, by inaccuracy of the chill (and possibly heat) model or, most concerning, by inability of the PLS approach to correctly identify the chilling periods of apple cultivars in this region. Bloom dates were similarly responsive to mean temperature during the chill and the heat accumulation phases, indicating that both processes need to be considered when predicting future phenology.

[ES] El plan de prevención de riesgos laborales es la herramienta mediante la cual las empresas integran la prevención de riesgos laborales en el sistema de gesƟón general de la empresa, como consecuencia del derecho de los trabajadores a la protección frente a los riesgos laborales establecido en la Ley 31/95, de 8 de noviembre, de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales. El presente Trabajo Fin de Grado Ɵtulado "Aplicación del Plan de prevención de riesgos laborales en un centro de ciclos formaƟvos del sector de automoción. Estudio de Seguridad de la maquinaria de talleres" pretende aplicar el Plan de Prevención existente en la Generalitat Valenciana a un centro educaƟvo en el que se integran varios ciclos formaƟvos de formación profesional del sector de la automoción en la familia del Transporte y mantenimiento de vehículos como son Automoción, Carrocería, Electromecánica de maquinaria, Electromecánica de vehículos automóviles y Mantenimiento de vehículos. Tal como establece la citada Ley 31/95, de 8 de noviembre, de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales en su arơculo 16, los instrumentos esenciales para la gesƟón y aplicación del plan de prevención son la evaluación de riesgos laborales y la planificación de la acƟvidad prevenƟva. En este Trabajo Fin de Grado se plasma como se aplica dicho plan de prevención al centro educaƟvo en cuesƟón, mediante la realización de la evaluación de riesgos y la planificación de la acƟvidad prevenƟva de los talleres de automoción del centro. Dentro de dicha evaluación de riesgos se incluye la evaluación específica en el ámbito de la seguridad industrial de la maquinaria existente en los mencionados talleres.