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A new study investigates whether the location of an edible film in relation to the breading of fried chicken strips modifies its beneficial properties and prolongs the life of the frying oil.

Quality enhancement (QE) can increase the success rate of frozen food products introduced in the market, by stressing the importance of consumer acceptability and integration of research in product formulation. Relative importance of each food characteristic and the degree of acceptability by the consumers are crucial factors for the QE process. Frozen yoghurt should have good flavour and lack off-flavours. Rancid flavors in frozen fishes can be avoided by use of ascorbic acid. QE takes both external factors and sensory characteristics for the improvement of the food quality.

Various physicochemical measurements of raw and roasted pecans enable the development of predictive relationships for rancid aroma, crunchiness and rancid flavor. Rancid scores in roasted and raw pecans during storage exhibit close parallel with thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and peroxide value, respectively. Incorporation of numerous physicochemical measurements into the multiple regression models improves the prediction of sensory scores.

The quantitative extraction of lipids from a food product must be done without decomposition to enable a reliable study on lipid composition. Minced channel catfish samples were subjected to lipid extraction in three separate procedures. Nonpolar and polar lipids were fractionated, quantified and esterified. Individual phospholipids were separated for quantification and fatty acid characterization. The efficiency ofthe solvent system used in the extraction was demonstrated.

The effect of ascorbate concentrations, acidity and exposure duration on the ascorbate absorption of channel catfish muscle tissues is discussed. Live channel catfishes were treated with sodium ascorbate solutions. The concentration of ascorbic acid in muscle tissues were quantified by an ion-pairing high performance liquid chromatography method. Absorption was found to cause increases in muscle ascorbic acid.

Bacteriophages specific to Salmonella strains are isolated from sewage effluent and are analyzed. A five-strain bacteriophage mixture is applied to dairy manure compost inoculated with Salmonella enterica serotype Thyphimurium, which has resulted in a greater than 2-log-unit reduction of Salmonella at all moisture levels compared to the controls.

Aims Three soils that varied in their physicochemical characteristics and microbial diversity were inoculated with Escherichia coli O157: H7 and Salmonella to determine the relative impact of abiotic and biotic factors on the pathogens' survival when the soil was held at 25°C. Methods and Results Three soils that were classified as having low, medium and high microbial diversity were divided into two batches for adjustment to 20% of water-holding capacity and to 40% of water-holding capacity. Soils were inoculated with both green fluorescent-labelled E. coli O157: H7 and red fluorescent-labelled Salmonella (5 log CFU g−1 dry weight) and held at 25°C. Pathogens inoculated into an acidic soil died off within 9 weeks, whereas they were still detected in the other two soils by enrichment culture after 18 weeks. Moisture did not affect inactivation of E. coli O157: H7, but did affect Salmonella inactivation in soil having the greatest organic load and microbial diversity. Using multiple linear regression analysis, 98·7% of the variability in the inactivation rate for E. coli O157: H7 was explained by a model that included the variables of initial p H and electrical conductivity. Salmonella's inactivation rate was predicted by a model that included p H and initial cell numbers of copiotrophic and oligotrophic bacteria. Conclusion This study provided evidence of specific properties that impact inactivation of E. coli O157: H7 and Salmonella in soils at 25°C. Significance and Impact of the Study Identification of factors influential in the die-off of enteric pathogens will assist in developing guidelines for safe intervals between field contamination events and planting or harvesting of fresh-cut produce crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]