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Cell-cultured meat (CM) is a novel meat product grown in vitro from animal cells, widely framed as equivalent to conventional meat but presented as produced in a more sustainable way. Despite its limited availability for human consumption, consumer acceptance of CM (e.g., willingness to purchase and consume) has been extensively investigated. A key but under-investigated assumption of these studies is that CM’s sensory qualities are comparable to conventional, equivalent meat products. Therefore, the current review aims to clarify what is actually known about the sensory characteristics of CM and their potential impact on consumer acceptance. To this end, a structured scoping review of existing, peer-reviewed literature on the sensory evaluation of CM was conducted according to the PRISMA-ScR and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. Among the included studies (N = 26), only 5 conducted research activities that could be termed “sensory evaluation,” with only 4 of those 5 studies evaluating actual CM products in some form. The remaining 21 studies based their conclusions on the sensory characteristics of CM and consequent consumer acceptance to a set of hypothetical CM products and consumption experiences, often with explicitly positive information framing. In addition, many consumer acceptance studies in the literature have the explicit goal to increase the acceptance of CM, with some authors (researchers) acting as direct CM industry affiliates; this may be a source of bias on the level of consumer acceptance toward these products. By separating what is known about CM sensory characteristics and consumer acceptance from what is merely speculated, the current review reported realistic expectations of CM’s sensory characteristics within the promissory narratives of CM proponents.

The rise in diseases like obesity and diabetes is a worldwide challenge. The consumption of functional products such as hibiscus, which has been proven to be high in bioactive compounds and dietary fiber, providing it with anticancer, antiaging, anti-inflammatory and satiety properties, should be promoted. In the U.S., promoting the consumption of hibiscus products can be a good approach to increase fiber consumption and to reduce risk of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. However, information about knowledge of this functional product among consumers is still sparse and increasing consumption requires designing and marketing desired products made from hibiscus. Therefore in this preliminary study, we assessed consumer response to hibiscus products and investigated whether providing information about potential health benefits could impact consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for three types of non-alcoholic hibiscus beverages: ready-made tea, bottled juice, and kombucha. Our web-based survey was distributed through Qualtrics(XM) and a convenience sampling method was chosen. Most participants identified themselves as female, 18-34 years old, with a graduate degree. Most participants (81%) had consumed hibiscus products before and 57% had a weekly food budget lower than $60. Overall, tea and juices were the most liked hibiscus beverages, respectively. Although taste and health benefits were ranked as the main reasons to consume hibiscus beverages, additional information about hibiscus health benefits did not significantly affect WTP for these products. Without additional health benefit information, consumer WTP for non-alcoholic hibiscus beverages ranged from $2.9 to $3.60 for kombucha and $4.08-4.97 for Ready-made-tea. This study provides valuable insights that can support future research on hibiscus products and promote the development of novel hibiscus-based foods and beverages that are appealing to the U.S. market.

Due to the growing consumer demand for edamame (vegetable soybean) in the U.S., the domestic production of this specialty crop has been promoted in several Mid-Atlantic and Southeast states as an economically attractive alternative to replace the decreasing tobacco production. For the edamame agrobusiness to be successful in the U.S., consumer studies are as needed as new commercial cultivars that are developed for the U.S. environment. Thus, in this exploratory study, we investigated consumers' preferences and intentions to buy edamame products in the U.S., especially domestic products. Data was collected through a web-based survey distributed through Qualtrics(XM) and a convenience sampling method was chosen. Volunteers who completed the survey (N = 309) were 82% female, 57% residents of the South Atlantic area, and 79% daily consumers of vegetables. Survey respondents had a positive attitude toward domestically produced vegetables and valued supporting U.S. producers. Overall, domestically grown, in-shell edamame products were preferred compared to shelled edamame or imported products. Regarding future purchasing, respondents exhibited higher intention to buy fresh edamame relative to frozen edamame. Additionally, respondents considered price, availability, and familiarity with the vegetable brand, respectively, as the most important factors in their decision-making process to buy edamame products. Our study confirmed there is a market potential for domestically produced edamame and it also provides valuable information to support future studies, production decisions, and the growth of the edamame agrobusiness in the U.S.

Consumption of edamame (vegetable soybeans) has increased significantly in the U.S. over the last 20 years. Although market demand has been increasing, most edamame is still imported from Asian countries. A team of multistate plant-breeding programs in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. has focused on developing new breeding lines that grow well in the U.S. and deliver what domestic growers, processors and consumers need and expect from their edamame. In our study, sensory evaluation was used to identify edamame genotypes and sensory attributes preferred by consumers to support breeding selection criteria. In the first year (reported as our "screening study"), 20 edamame genotypes were grown in three locations: Newport, AR, and Blacksburg and Painter, VA. In the second year (reported as our "validation study"), 10 edamame genotypes selected after our screening study were grown in Blacksburg and Painter, VA, Portageville, MO, and Stoneville, MS. In both years of research, untrained participants (adults; vegetable consumers not allergic to soy; N >= 50) used a traditional 9-point acceptability (hedonic) scale (1 = "dislike extremely"; 9 = "like extremely") to evaluate overall-liking, aroma, appearance, taste, and texture, and a 5-point scale (1 = "not sweet," 5 = "extremely sweet") to evaluate sweetness intensity. Next, participants used a check-all-that-apply (CATA) list of selected sensory terms to describe the sensory characteristics of each edamame sample. Overall acceptability of edamame genotypes was significantly different among all genotypes (p < 0.05). Samples described as "bitter," "sour" (flavor) or "starchy" (texture) were associated with lower acceptability scores while "salty" and "sweet" (flavor) were correlated with higher acceptability. Sensory data from the screening study were used to select the best genotypes by use of a defined decision process based on the consumer data. The validation study tested the selection decisions and further supported t

Bile salts (BS) play a key role in cholesterol and lipid metabolism as well as in many other key metabolic pathways. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the most common technique used to analyze BS in diverse type of samples. However, current HPLC analysis methods used to analyze and quantify single BS in in vitro digested samples showed poor separation of a complex mixture of BS. In this article, we improved a standard method originally used for quantifying individual BS in food samples subjected to in vitro digestion. We also adapted a method previously developed for BS examination in human blood samples to the analysis of these molecules in chyme samples obtained during simulated gastrointestinal digestion. Our method was simple and achieved a fast and successful separation and quantification of four primary BS (sodium salts of taurocholic, glycocholic, taurochenodeoxycholic and glycochenodeoxycholic acids). •A method used to analyze bile salts in human blood samples has been adapted to separate and quantify four primary bile salts in in vitro digested bean samples. •Addition of an ion-pair reagent led to complete separation of glycine and taurine conjugates of chenodeoxycholic and cholic acids within 10 min, and achieved good peak symmetry. •The minimum BS concentration that could be measured was as low as 0.03125mM.

Herbal teas like vine tea (Ampelopsis grossedentata) have been traditionally consumed worldwide because of their health-promotion and pleasant taste. Vine tea and its main bioactive component, dihydromyricetin, have gained attention because of their potential applications in food, material, and pharmaceutical sciences. Vine tea and dihydromyricetin have been suggested as potential natural antioxidants to extend shelf life of foods. Studies have also suggested potential application in packaging and food safety. Additionally, dietary supplementation with vine tea extract have shown great potential to prevent metabolic diseases, which can justify its application in novel functional foods. This review discusses the chemistry, functional properties, and potential applications of vine tea and dihydromyricetin in the food industry. Although vine tea extracts and dihydromyricetin have shown promising results, further studies on optimal application, thermal stability, synergetic effect with other natural antioxidants, consumer acceptability, and sensory profile of vine tea are needed to support food product innovation.

The light-protective effectiveness of titanium dioxide polylactic acid (TiO2 PLA) nanocomposite films (T-PLA) and oleic-acid-modified (OA_TiO2PLA) nanocomposite films was investigated in ready-to-drink (RTD) green tea infusions in oxygen-impermeable glass packaging. The stability of (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was evaluated in RTD green tea infusions in glass packaging covered with PLA (polylactic acid), T-PLA and OT-PLA under fluorescent light during 20 days of storage at 4 °C. Levels of EGCG and color change of RTD green tea infusions were determined. In addition, sensory tests for difference were conducted on green tea infusions in glass packaging without and with complete light protection during 10 days of storage at 4 °C. Of the panelists, 60% noticed sensory differences in the RTD green tea infusion in two different packaging conditions during 10 days of storage under fluorescent light by a triangle test (p < 0.05). During 20 days of storage, levels of EGCG with complete light protection decreased by 10.8% (0.73 mg/mL), and there was a 42.2% loss of EGCG (0.48 mg/mL) in RTD green tea infusions in the glass packaging covered by PLA film. Finally, 3% T-PLA preserved higher levels of EGCG in RTD green tea infusions compared to 1% T-PLA and OT-PLA.

Consumption of edamame (vegetable soybeans) has increased significantly in the U.S. over the last 20 years. Although market demand has been increasing, most edamame is still imported from Asian countries. A team of multistate plant-breeding programs in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast U.S. has focused on developing new breeding lines that grow well in the U.S. and deliver what domestic growers, processors and consumers need and expect from their edamame. In our study, sensory evaluation was used to identify edamame genotypes and sensory attributes preferred by consumers to support breeding selection criteria. In the first year (reported as our "screening study"), 20 edamame genotypes were grown in three locations: Newport, AR, and Blacksburg and Painter, VA. In the second year (reported as our "validation study"), 10 edamame genotypes selected after our screening study were grown in Blacksburg and Painter, VA, Portageville, MO, and Stoneville, MS. In both years of research, untrained participants (adults; vegetable consumers not allergic to soy; N >= 50) used a traditional 9-point acceptability (hedonic) scale (1 = "dislike extremely"; 9 = "like extremely") to evaluate overall-liking, aroma, appearance, taste, and texture, and a 5-point scale (1 = "not sweet," 5 = "extremely sweet") to evaluate sweetness intensity. Next, participants used a check-all-that-apply (CATA) list of selected sensory terms to describe the sensory characteristics of each edamame sample. Overall acceptability of edamame genotypes was significantly different among all genotypes (p < 0.05). Samples described as "bitter," "sour" (flavor) or "starchy" (texture) were associated with lower acceptability scores while "salty" and "sweet" (flavor) were correlated with higher acceptability. Sensory data from the screening study were used to select the best genotypes by use of a defined decision process based on the consumer data. The validation study tested the selection decisions and further supported t

Fibers produced by electrospinning from biocompatible, biodegradable and naturally occurring polymers have potential advantages in drug delivery and biomedical applications because of their unique functionalities. Here, electrospun submicron fibers were produced from mixtures containing an exopolysaccharide (pullulan) and a small molecule with hosting abilities, hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD), thus serving as multi-functional blend. The procedure used water as sole solvent and excluded synthetic polymers. Rheological characterization was performed to evaluate the impact of HP-β-CD on pullulan entanglement concentration (CE); the relationship with electrospinnability and fiber morphology was investigated. Neat pullulan solutions required three times CE (~20% w/v pullulan) for effective electrospinning and formation of bead-free nanofibers. HP-β-CD (30% w/v) facilitated electrospinning, leading to the production of continuous, beadless fibers (average diameters: 853-1019 nm) at lower polymer concentrations than those required in neat pullulan systems, without significantly shifting the polymer CE. Rheological, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) measurements suggested that electrospinnability improvement was due to HP-β-CD assisting in pullulan entanglement, probably acting as a crosslinker. Yet, the type of association was not clearly identified. This study shows that blending pullulan with HP-β-CD offers a platform to exploit the inherent properties and advantages of both components in encapsulation applications.

Plant breeding is an important discipline to develop food products and improve overall quality, chemical composition, and nutritional value of crops, vegetables, fruits, and nuts, which can be important allies in health promotion. Apples, blueberries, wine grapes, tomatoes, and peanuts are a few examples of food products that were improved in past decades through plant breeding programs in the United States. Recently, edamame (vegetable soybean) has gained special attention from breeders, non-breeder researchers, growers, and consumers, and new edamame varieties are currently being developed for domestic production. As a popular nutritious crop in Asian countries, edamame is increasing in sales and consumption in the United States. Therefore, edamame has great potential to be a profitable alternative crop to replace tobacco farming, whose production and market value have been declining. Until the present date, most published reviews on edamame have focused on its agronomic characteristics. However, understanding consumer expectations, needs, and acceptability for new and improved crops like edamame is vital to guide and sustain their production. It is important that researchers working on plant breeding programs understand and consider the aspects that are relevant for both growers and consumers (e.g., crop productivity, pest and disease resistance, nutritional properties, and sensory attributes). Thus, this review paper aims to integrate available information on sensory quality of edamame and to support its development and production in the United States. This review presents an overview of how sensory evaluation and consumer studies have been used to support plant breeding programs in the development of alternative crops, such as edamame.

To characterize human emotions, researchers have increasingly utilized Automatic Facial Expression Analysis (AFEA), which automates the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) and translates the facial muscular positioning into the basic universal emotions. There is broad interest in the application of FACS for assessing consumer expressions as an indication of emotions to consumer product-stimuli. However, the translation of FACS to characterization of emotions is elusive in the literature. The aim of this systematic review is to give an overview of how FACS has been used to investigate human emotional behavior to consumer product-based stimuli. The search was limited to studies published in English after 1978, conducted on humans, using FACS or its action units to investigate affect, where emotional response is elicited by consumer product-based stimuli evoking at least one of the five senses. The search resulted in an initial total of 1,935 records, of which 55 studies were extracted and categorized based on the outcomes of interest including (i) method of FACS implementation; (ii) purpose of study; (iii) consumer product-based stimuli used; and (iv) measures of affect validation. Most studies implemented FACS manually (73%) to develop products and/or software (20%) and used consumer product-based stimuli that had known and/or defined capacity to evoke a particular affective response, such as films and/or movie clips (20%); minimal attention was paid to consumer products with low levels of emotional competence or with unknown affective impact. The vast majority of studies (53%) did not validate FACS-determined affect and, of the validation measures that were used, most tended to be discontinuous in nature and only captured affect as it holistically related to an experience. This review illuminated some inconsistencies in how FACS is carried out as well as how emotional response is inferred from facial muscle activation. This may prompt researchers to considermeasuring

Plant breeding is an important discipline to develop food products and improve overall quality, chemical composition, and nutritional value of crops, vegetables, fruits, and nuts, which can be important allies in health promotion. Apples, blueberries, wine grapes, tomatoes, and peanuts are a few examples of food products that were improved in past decades through plant breeding programs in the United States. Recently, edamame (vegetable soybean) has gained special attention from breeders, non-breeder researchers, growers, and consumers, and new edamame varieties are currently being developed for domestic production. As a popular nutritious crop in Asian countries, edamame is increasing in sales and consumption in the United States. Therefore, edamame has great potential to be a profitable alternative crop to replace tobacco farming, whose production and market value have been declining. Until the present date, most published reviews on edamame have focused on its agronomic characteristics. However, understanding consumer expectations, needs, and acceptability for new and improved crops like edamame is vital to guide and sustain their production. It is important that researchers working on plant breeding programs understand and consider the aspects that are relevant for both growers and consumers (e.g., crop productivity, pest and disease resistance, nutritional properties, and sensory attributes). Thus, this review paper aims to integrate available information on sensory quality of edamame and to support its development and production in the United States. This review presents an overview of how sensory evaluation and consumer studies have been used to support plant breeding programs in the development of alternative crops, such as edamame.

Vine tea (Ampelopsis grossedentata) is a tea traditionally used in Chinese herbal medicine that is rich in the natural antioxidant dihydromyricetin (ampelopsin). In addition to its multiple health benefits, vine tea extracts and dihydromyricetin have been suggested as potential natural antioxidants for food applications, such as soybean oil and meat products. However, there is still little information available on vine tea chemistry, and in particular the volatile profile and sensory characteristics, which can affect product acceptability and restrict its use as a natural antioxidant. The objective of this exploratory study was to identify potential volatile components present in vine tea in order to support further research and applications in the food industry. Vine tea infusions brewed from commercial samples were characterized by acidic pH values and a dark, reddish-yellow color. Twenty-one volatile compounds were identified as potential flavor components of vine tea, including aldehydes and ketones. Further studies are suggested to quantify the volatile compounds and understand their importance to vine tea's aroma profile. Sensory studies are also suggested to access consumer's acceptability of vine tea and products containing vine tea as an ingredient.