Effect of the type of acetic fermentation process on the chemical composition of prickly pear vinegar (Opuntia ficus-indica)

Characterization of Fruit Vinegars via Bioactive and Organic Acid Profile Using Chemometrics

Vinegar has been known as a traditional remedy since ancient times. In addition to being used as a flavoring and aroma enhancer in world cuisines, it has attracted more and more attention due to its bioactive potential and health properties. Although the most common use is apple cider vinegar together with grape vinegar, vinegar produced from red fruits has come to the fore due to their health purposes. Rosehip, pomegranate, fig, guelder-rose, blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry vinegars were evaluated regarding the organic acid content, phenolic compound content, and bioactive potential to assess their health potential and associated contents. Acetic acid, citric acid, succinic acid, and malic acid were determined as prominent organic acids in the vinegar samples. In contrast, gallic acid, vanillic acid, protocatechuic acid, and ferulic acid were dominant regarding phenolic compounds. Raspberry, guelder-rose, and pomegranate vinegars came forth regarding their bioactive content and potential. The discriminative parameters of the vinegar samples were pH, total acidity, dL-isocitric acid, gallic acid, and hydroxybenzoic acid. Fruit vinegars were determined to have a notable bioactive content compared to apple and grape vinegars. The use of these vulnerable bioactive materials in vinegar fermentation could provide an effective way for nutrition and raw material resourcing.

Characterization of aroma compounds in Rosa roxburghii Tratt using solvent-assisted flavor evaporation headspace-solid phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-olfactometry

Rosa roxburghii Tratt (RRT) has become popular owing to its high vitamin C content. Volatiles are important factors that affect the quality of RRTs and their processed products. In this study, volatile compounds were extracted using headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and solvent-assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE); 143 volatile compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and RRT from different origins were well distinguished based on principal component analysis. 45 odor-active components were identified using gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O). Through quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA), there were prominent "grassy" and "tea-like" attributes in RRT. Partial least-squares regression (PLSR) revealed that Longli RRT was greatly related to "tea-like" and "woody" attributes. Among the volatiles identified, alcohols and esters were considered the dominant volatile compounds of RRT, 4-methoxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone was the most prominent compound. This study enriches the flavor chemistry theory of RRT and provides a scientific basis for optimizing the aroma of RRT and its processed products.

Physicochemical, Nutritional, and Medicinal Properties of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. and Its Main Agro-Industrial Use: A Review

The cactus, Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. (OFI) belongs to the Cactaceae family, which contains about 130 genera and nearly 1600 species. This review aims to evaluate this plant from several perspectives, namely, botanic, physicochemical, nutritional, and medicinal properties, as well as agro-industrial use. The botanical aspects and morphological characteristics of OFI enable genetic variability, ecological adaptation, and broad geographic distribution. Due to its physicochemical and nutritional composition, it has several medicinal properties appropriate (or suitable) for several industries, such as pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics. Its fruit, the prickly pear (PP), has potential agro-industrial expansion through the application of different conservation and transformation methods, making it possible to obtain a variety of products. The PP is a source of several nutrients and is an effective system to produce varied foods, which have several advantages from a nutritional, sensory, economic, and shelf-life point of view.