Flavor profiling of apple ciders from the UK and Scandinavian region

Natural fruit beverages fortified by biologically active substances of grape vines

Based on the study of general knowledge of biochemical and all subsequent developmental studies of organic matter, especially products of grapevine and selected fruit products, a comprehensive study of processing technologies is prepared. Use of a combination of vine products and fruit products in the form of natural grapes. Beverages are researched and developed to be purely natural on the basis of grape musts, blue and white, either individually and again separately in targeted combinations, both biochemically, organoleptically and colorfully, with fruit sources. The core of grape value of biologically active substances is an integral and essential new part and condition of designing these beverages. Their increased biological values, which create the preconditions for containment and if properly managed on the basis of scientific knowledge, may in some cases almost result in the elimination of synthetic additives. It should be noted that 20 - 25% of the adult population suffers from many unexpected allergies, for example, to the sulphite content, although its content in the final product does not exceed the health-approved normatives. And there are many other, interrelated relationships. Beverages are technologically dealt with both without alcohol fermentation and with this fermentation, but only based on their compositional natural resources. They are therefore suitable for the entire population profile. The whole set contains 7 variants and a combination of natural beverages from different fruits. Including natural beverages with or without alcoholic fermentation from the must of white wine grapes, the juice of apple puree with those of biologically active substances from the products grapevine. Three months of monitoring and determination of basic (oenological) values and biologically active substances were performed on these products. The high-performance liquid chromatography method with a refractometric detector determined amount of sugar and alcohol, whilst titrating determined total and volatile acids and free sulfur dioxide. Yeast assimilable nitrogen, total anthocyanins and polyphenols were determined by spectrophotometry, antioxidant activity by DPPH and ABTS methods.

Chemometric assisted Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopic analysis of fruit wine samples: Optimizing the initialization and convergence criteria in the non-negative factor analysis algorithm for developing a robust classification model

The present work proposes certain optimization in the non-negative factor analysis (NNFA) algorithm to ensure an efficient analysis of the Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) spectral data sets of the fruit wine samples. The first optimization deals with initialization of the variables in a controlled fashion that would ensure a reasonably good quality initial estimate to implement NNFA algorithm. It prevents NNFA algorithm from itinerating with random numbers that essentially have no chemical relevance. The second implemented optimization involves eliminating the alternate least square of convergence and allowing the algorithm to iterate until the iteration limit is reached. This criterion avoids the algorithm to have premature convergence and ensures that model provide the solutions which corresponds to the global minima. The application of NNFA with suggested optimizations are found to capture the subtle differences in the spectral profiles and classify the fruit wine samples that are essentially complex mixtures of several chemicals in unknown proportions. The proposed approach is also found to perform better than principal component analysis on practical grounds. In summary, the current work provides a simple, sensitive and cost-effective approach using optimized NNFA and FTIR spectroscopy for classifying the fruit wine samples.

Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis: differences and similarities in Nutritional Epidemiology application

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Statistical methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Factor Analysis (FA) are increasingly popular in Nutritional Epidemiology studies. However, misunderstandings regarding the choice and application of these methods have been observed. Objectives: This study aims to compare and present the main differences and similarities between FA and PCA, focusing on their applicability to nutritional studies. Methods: PCA and FA were applied on a matrix of 34 variables expressing the mean food intake of 1,102 individuals from a population-based study. Results: Two factors were extracted and, together, they explained 57.66% of the common variance of food group variables, while five components were extracted, explaining 26.25% of the total variance of food group variables. Among the main differences of these two methods are: normality assumption, matrices of variance-covariance/correlation and its explained variance, factorial scores, and associated error. The similarities are: both analyses are used for data reduction, the sample size usually needs to be big, correlated data, and they are based on matrices of variance-covariance. Conclusion: PCA and FA should not be treated as equal statistical methods, given that the theoretical rationale and assumptions for using these methods as well as the interpretation of results are different.

Impact of the Ripening Stage of Wax Apples on Chemical Profiles of Juice and Cider

Wax apple fruit (Syzygium aqueum Alston cv. Taaptimjan) is a tropical fruit with many nutritional bioactive compounds and high economic value. However, when fully ripe, the thin-skinned fruit is highly susceptible to physical damage and microbial spoilage that significantly reduce its commercial value. The present study was aimed to find a suitable ripening stage between the ripe and overripe wax apple fruits for developing a value-added beverage specifically cider. The chemical profiles of ripe and overripe wax apple juice and cider were determined by measuring sugar, acid, alcohol, mineral, proximate, ascorbic acid, amino acid, antioxidant, and volatile levels. Overall, the results showed significant variations. The physicochemical and proximate analysis showed highest values for ripe fruit juice than overripe fruit juice and the cider samples. The amino acids in the samples were found almost at similar levels. Polyphenolic content and antioxidant activities were higher in ciders than in unfermented juices. In addition, the overripe fruit cider had more volatile compounds than ripe fruit cider and unfermented juices. Overall, the overripe fruit is suitable for producing cider, whereas the ripe fruit is more suitable for the unfermented beverages.