BACKGROUND: ANTHOCYANINS, FLAVONOIDS AND ORGANIC ACIDS WIDELY OCCURRING IN EXTRACTS OF THE FRUITS OF ARISTOTELIA CHILENSIS (?MAQUI?), CONCERTEDLY ACTS ON THE EXPRESSION OF CYCLOOXYGENASE-2 (COX-2), NF-?B, HT-29 AND CACO-2 COLON CANCER CELL GROWTH INHIBITION AND ON THE PRODUCTION OF INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS. OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS OF EXTRACTS FROM FRUITS OF ?MAQUI BERRY?, ON THE HT-29 AND CACO-2 HUMAN COLORECTAL CANCER CELL LINES BY MEASURING COX-2 AND NF-?B AS WELL AS THEIR ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES. MATERIAL AND METHODS: METHANOL/WATER EXTRACTS AND ITS PARTITIONS (ACETONE AND ETHYL ACETATE) FROM THREE VARIETIES OF ?MAQUI? WERE USED TO ACCESS THEIR EFFECTS ON GROWTH OF HT-29 AND CACO-2 COLON CANCER CELLS, COX-2, NF-?B, NO FORMATION, OXIDATIONS BY DPPH, TBARS, FRAP AND ORAC.

IN CHILEAN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE, ARISTOTELIA CHILENSIS (MOL) STUNTZ IS COMMONLY UTILIZED FOR A VARIETY OF CONDITIONS (PARTICULARLY DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS). WE INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF AN AQUEOUS EXTRACT FROM THE FRUIT PULP OF A. CHILENSIS (MAQUI BERRY: M2) ON ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM STRESS AND MITOCHONDRIAL PATHWAY-INDUCED EARLY APOPTOSIS IN ISHIKAWA CELLS. USING THE MTT ASSAY, THE AQUEOUS EXTRACT WAS FOUND TO HAVE AN INHIBITORY IMPACT ON HUMAN ENDOMETRIAL CANCER ISHIKAWA CELLS, WITH AN IC50 OF 5.36 MU G/ML. THE CHANGES IN ISHIKAWA CELLS UNDER THE EFFECT OF M2 WERE DETECTED BY FLOW CYTOMETRY WITH CYCLE ARREST IN S PHASE, REDUCED MITOCHONDRIAL MEMBRANE POTENTIAL, ROS AND CALCIUM ION AGGREGATION. WESTERN BLOTTING AND RT-QPCR WERE USED TO IDENTIFY THE INTRACELLULAR MRNA AND PROTEIN ALTERATIONS. THE PRESENCE OF M2 RESULTED IN THE UP-REGULATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL PATHWAYRELATED PROTEINS BAD, BAX, AND CYTO C, DOWN-REGULATION OF BCL-2, AND UP-REGULATION OF ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM STRESS-RELATED PROTEINS IRE1 ALPHA, P-EIF2 ALPHA, ATF4, AND CHOP. THE FINDINGS IMPLY THAT A. CHILENSIS PULP MAY BE USED AS A POSSIBLE RAW MATERIAL FOR THE INNOVATIVE FUNCTIONAL APPLICATIONS.

ARSENIC (AS) IS A TOXIC METALLOID FOR PLANTS AND ANIMALS. LARGE AMOUNTS OF AS HAVE BEEN RELEASED IN ARABLE SOILS THROUGH ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITIES, USE OF CONTAMINATED IRRIGATION WATER, AND MINING AMONG OTHERS. RICE (ORYZA SATIVA L.) IS ONE OF THE MOST CONSUMED CEREALS WORLDWIDE; IT IS AN IMPORTANT ROUTE OF EXPOSURE FOR AS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO EXPLAIN POSSIBLE MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN AS ABSORPTION THAT CONTAMINATE RICE PLANT THROUGH THE SOIL AND WATER, AND TO MENTION STUDIES THAT HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED TO MINIMIZE THE RISK OF HUMAN EXPOSURE. THE ROOT IS ABLE TO ABSORB AND ACCUMULATE LARGE AMOUNTS OF AS, BUT ONLY SMALL AMOUNTS ARE TRANSLOCATED TO THE GRAIN AND TILLERS. ARSENIC CONCENTRATIONS IN RICE TISSUES DECREASE FROM THE ROOT TO THE GRAIN. INFORMATION ABOUT AS TRANSLOCATION IN RICE IS SPARSE AND RESEARCH IS DIRECTED TOWARD STUDYING THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF ABSORPTION AND ACCUMULATION IN THE GRAIN BECAUSE IT HAS NOT YET BEEN EXPLAINED. SOME RICE VARIETIES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED THAT ARE RESISTANT TO HIGH SOIL AS CONCENTRATIONS AND ARE NOT ABLE TO TRANSLOCATE THE METALLOID TOWARD THE ROOT. MANY STUDIES SUGGEST THAT NOT ALL INGESTED INORGANIC AS ACCUMULATED IN THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT IS ABSORBED INTO THE BLOODSTREAM AND PRODUCES TOXICITY. IT IS THEREFORE RECOMMENDED THAT AS BIOAVAILABILITY BE EVALUATED IN IMPORTED OR DOMESTIC CHILEAN RICE TO MORE PRECISELY ESTIMATE HUMAN HEALTH RISK.

THIS STUDY ESTIMATES THE INTAKE OF ARSENIC, LEAD AND CADMIUM BY THE ADULT POPULATION (AGED 18-91) OF CUBA. THE FOOD CONSUMPTION INDICES WERE OBTAINED THROUGH 24-H DIETARY RECALL SURVEYS APPLIED TO 450 PEOPLE BETWEEN OCTOBER 2020 AND MARCH 2021. THE ESTIMATED DIETARY INTAKE (EDI) OF T-AS (54.6 MU G/DAY), PB (118.5 MU G/DAY) AND CD (35.1 MU G/DAY) COMPLIED WITH CUBAN LEGISLATION BUT WAS HIGHER THAN THE EDI FOR CD ESTABLISHED BY THE CONTAM PANEL. THE TARGET HAZARD QUOTIENTS FOR THE THREE CONTAMINANTS WERE: IAS (0.220), PB (0.409) AND CD (0.424), MAKING THE VALUE OF THE TOTAL TARGET HAZARD QUOTIENT 1.05, WHICH INDICATES POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS FOR THE POPULATION. ADDITIONALLY, ASSOCIATED CARCINOGENIC RISKS WERE: IAS (1.0 CENTER DOT 10-4), PB (7.2 CENTER DOT 10-4) AND CD (25.9 CENTER DOT 10-4). THEREFORE, 10, 72 AND 259 PERSONS PER 100,000 INHABITANTS ARE LIKELY PRONE TO DEVELOPING CANCER DUE TO THE INGESTION OF IAS, PB AND CD, RESPECTIVELY.

BACKGROUND: FLAXSEED IS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF LIGNAN SECOISOLARICIRESINOL DIGLUCOSIDE (SDG) AND ITS AGLYCONE, SECOISOLARICIRESINOL (SECO). THESE PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS CAN BE METABOLIZED TO THE MAMMALIAN LIGNANS ENTERODIOL (ED) AND ENTEROLACTONE (EL) BY HUMAN INTESTINAL MICROFLORA. FLAXSEED LIGNANS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR POTENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS, WHICH ARE ATTRIBUTED TO THEIR ANTIOXIDANT AND PHYTOESTROGENIC PROPERTIES. THE FOCUS OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE BIOACCESSIBILITY OF PLANT AND MAMMALIAN LIGNANS IN WHOLE FLAXSEED (WF) AND FLAXSEED FLOUR (FF) THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE DIGESTIVE PROCESS. MOREOVER, THE METABOLIC ACTIVITY OF INTESTINAL MICROFLORA WAS EVALUATED. RESULTS: A SINGLE-BATCH IN VITRO SIMULATION OF THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS WAS PERFORMED, INCLUDING FERMENTATION BY THE INTESTINAL MICROFLORA IN THE COLON. BIOACCESSIBILITY WAS CALCULATED AS (FREE LIGNAN)/(TOTAL LIGNAN). IN DIGESTED WF, THE BIOACCESSIBILITY VALUES OF SECO, ED AND EL WERE 0.75%, 1.56% AND 1.23%, RESPECTIVELY. CONVERSELY, IN DIGESTED FF, THE BIOACCESSIBILITY VALUES OF SDG, ED AND EL WERE 2.06%, 2.72% AND 1.04%, RESPECTIVELY. THE ANAEROBIC COUNT AND SHORT-CHAIN FATTY ACIDS INDICATE THAT BACTERIA SURVIVAL AND CARBOHYDRATE FERMENTATION OCCURRED. CONCLUSION: THE CONTENTS OF BOTH SDG AND ED WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN DIGESTED FF THAN IN DIGESTED WF. FF FACILITATED THE ACTION OF INTESTINAL BACTERIA TO RELEASE SDG AND METABOLIZE ED.

BLUEBERRIES (VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM L.) CONTAIN COMPOUNDS WITH ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES THAT ARE BENEFICIAL TO HEALTH. THE EFFECTS OF FRUIT PRESERVATION (FREEZE-DRYING, OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION, AND CONVECTION DRYING) ON ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY (DPPH AND ORAC), TOTAL POLYPHENOLS AND TOTAL ANTHOCYANINS WERE STUDIED. CONVECTION DRYING BEST PRESERVED THE TOTAL POLYPHENOL CONTENTS AND ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY. WHILE, FREEZE-DRYING AND CONVECTION DRYING SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN TOTAL ANTHOCYANINS. TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF THE PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES ON THE PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS/ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY, THEIR BIOACCESSIBILITY WAS DETERMINED BY A STATIC MODEL OF IN VITRO GASTROINTESTINAL DIGESTION. THE RESULTS OF THE INTESTINAL STAGE (ILEUM) SHOWED THAT CONVECTION DRYING IMPROVED THE PRESERVATION OF ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES (DPPH), REACHING VALUES OF 91.6% BIOACCESSIBILITY (29.1?MMOL TROLOX EQUIVALENTS (TE)/G DW) AND 48.7% (9.4?MMOL TE/G DW) FOR THE FREEZE-DRIED BERRIES. MEANWHILE, OSMOTICALLY DEHYDRATED BERRIES EXHIBITED THE LOWEST PERCENTAGE OF BIOACCESSIBILITY OF THE ANTIOXIDANT COMPOUNDS AT 27.6% (4.0?MMOL TE/G DW). IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT TOTAL POLYPHENOLS, TOTAL ANTHOCYANINS AND ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY ARE BETTER PRESERVED BY CONVECTION DRYING, FOLLOWED BY FREEZE-DRYING AND OSMOTIC DEHYDRATION.

THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF COOKING ON CHANGES IN ARSENIC, CADMIUM, AND MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN BOILED AND BAKED SEAFOODS. FISH, LIKE JACK MACKEREL (TRACHURUS MURPHYI NICHOLS, 1920) AND BLACK CUSK-EEL (GENYPTERUS MACULATUS TSCHUDI, 1846), AND SHELLFISH, LIKE CLAM (PROTOTHA CATHACA MOLINA, 1782), COMMON MUSSEL (MYTILUS CHILENSIS HUPÉ 1854) AND MAGELLAN MUSSEL (AULACOMYA ATRA MOLINA, 1782) WERE SELECTED FOR THE STUDY. BOTH COOKING PROCESSES CAUSED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE ARSENIC CONTENT FOUND IN THREE OF THE FRESH SAMPLES; IN COMMON MUSSEL AND BLACK CUSK-EEL, ARSENIC CONCENTRATIONS SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES (P < 0.05). SIMILARLY, CADMIUM CONTENT WAS ALSO REDUCED IN THREE OF THE FIVE ANALYSED SEAFOODS, WITH COMMON MUSSELS AND CLAM SHOWING NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CADMIUM CONTENTS. IN TERMS OF MERCURY CONCENTRATION NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FRESH AND COOKED FISH SAMPLES WAS OBSERVED, WHICH SHOWED THAT MERCURY IS A PARTICULAR HEALTH RISK DUE TO THE FORMATION OF METHYLMERCURY THAT IS NOT SOLUBILISED DURING COOKING. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE COOKING PROCESSES, SUCH AS BAKING AND BOILING, DO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE HEAVY METAL CONTENT OF SEAFOODS, BUT THE EXTENT OF THE REDUCTION WOULD DEPEND ON THE PARTICULAR SEAFOOD AND HEAVY METAL ANALYSED.

BROWNING REACTION VARIABILITY IN APPLE SLICES WAS CHARACTERIZED USING A NEW PROCEDURE DENOMINATING THE DIFFERENTIAL PIXEL METHOD. USING THIS METHOD, A KINETIC RATE AND AN EMPIRICAL ORDER OF REACTION WERE DERIVED FOR EACH PIXEL IN AN IMAGE CORRESPONDING TO A SLICED APPLE SURFACE UNDERGOING BROWNING; EACH PIXEL IN THE IMAGE CAN BE SEEN AS A SMALL PORTION OF THE FRUIT. IN THE EXPERIMENTS, 40 SAMPLES OF FRESH-CUT APPLE SLICE WERE PUT ON A COMPUTER VISION SYSTEM AND IMAGES RECORDED OVER TIME AT A ROOM TEMPERATURE OF 5 °C. DATA WAS FITTED TO THE WEIBULLIAN MODEL KINETIC. RESULTS CONFIRMED STRONG HETEROGENEITY IN THE VALUES OF ENZYMATIC BROWNING KINETIC RATE ON THE APPLE SURFACE; THIS VARIABILITY WAS CHARACTERIZED AS A NORMAL LOGARITHMICAL DISTRIBUTION, WITH A MEAN RATE KINETIC VALUE OF THE ?0.0117?±?0.0036 UNITS OF L* DECAYED PER MINUTE. THE EMPIRICAL ORDER OF REACTION WAS DISTRIBUTED ON THE SURFACE FOLLOWING A NORMAL STATISTICAL DISTRIBUTION WITH A MEAN EQUAL TO 0.451?±?0.046. NO STATISTICAL DIFFERENCES WERE ESTABLISHED IN THE KINETIC RATE AND IN THE EMPIRICAL ORDER WHEN THE DIFFERENTIAL PIXEL METHOD WAS COMPARED WITH THE TRADITIONAL METHOD (WHERE A MEAN OF THE L* INTENSITY VALUE WAS USED).

MAQUI-BERRY (ARISTOTELIA CHILENSIS) IS THE EMERGING CHILEAN SUPERFRUIT WITH HIGH NUTRACEUTICAL VALUE. UNTIL NOW, THE RESEARCH ON THIS COMMODITY WAS FOCUSED ON THE FORMULATIONS ENRICHED WITH POLYPHENOLS FROM THE PULP. HEREIN, CONTENTS OF TOCOLS WERE COMPARED IN THE SEED OIL OF MAQUI-BERRY OBTAINED THROUGH THREE DIFFERENT EXTRACTION METHODS FOLLOWED BY DETERMINING THEIR ANTIOXIDATIVE AND ENZYME INHIBITIONS IN-VITRO. FIRSTLY, OILSEED WAS EXTRACTED WITH N-HEXANE (SOXHLET METHOD), CHLOROFORM/METHANOL/WATER (BLIGH AND DYER METHOD) AND PRESSING (INDUSTRIAL). THESE SAMPLES WERE USED TO ACCESS THEIR EFFECTS AGAINST DPPH, HORAC, ORAC, FRAP, LIPID-PEROXIDATION (TBARS), ?-AMYLASE, ?-GLUCOSIDASE, AND PANCREATIC LIPASE. ALL THE ISOMERS OF TOCOPHEROL AND TOCOTRIENOL WERE IDENTIFIED, AND ?-SITOSTEROL WAS THE ONLY STEROL FOUND IN HIGHER AMOUNTS THAN OTHER VEGETABLE OILS. THE BLIGH AND DYER METHOD COULD LEAD TO THE HIGHEST ANTIOXIDATIVE CAPACITY COMPARED TO SOXHLET AND PRESS METHODS LIKELY BECAUSE THE LATTER HAVE A HIGHER AMOUNT OF TOCOPHEROLS. FURTHER, SEED OIL FROM MAQUI BERRY AND THEIR TOCOLS (?, ?, ?, ?-TOCOPHEROLS, TOCOTRIENOLS, AND ?-SITOSTEROL) WARRANT CLINICAL INVESTIGATION FOR THEIR ANTIOXIDATIVE AND ANTIOBESITY POTENTIAL. TAKEN TOGETHER, THESE FINDINGS PROVIDE RELEVANT AND SUITABLE CONDITIONS FOR THE INDUSTRIAL PROCESSING OF MAQUI-BERRY.

COLOR STABILITY OF FRESH MEAT GIVES AN IDEA ABOUT POSSIBLE CONSUMER PREFERENCES BASED ON THE APPEARANCE OF THE PRODUCT, AND IT IS AN IMPORTANT PROPERTY THAT INFLUENCES ITS MARKET VALUE AND THE CONSUMER'S PURCHASE DECISION. COLOR CHANGES ON THE SURFACE OF FRESH CUT MEAT WERE EVALUATED APPLYING FRACTAL KINETIC ANALYSIS BASED ON THE REDNESS COLOR VALUE (A* VALUE FROM CIELAB AND R VALUE FROM RGB) AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE TRADITIONAL METHOD WHERE AN AVERAGE OF THE COLOR INTENSITY IS USED; IN ADDITION THE THIOBARBITURIC ACID AND METMYOGLOBIN CONTENT IN THE MEAT SAMPLES WERE MEASURED. THE KINETIC RATE AND THE SHAPE FACTOR (EMPIRICAL ORDER) VALUES WERE CALCULATED FROM DATA FITTED TO THE POWER LAW MODEL. IN THE EXPERIMENTS, FRESHLY CUT SAMPLES OF MEAT WERE PLACED ON A STYROFOAM TRAY AND THE FRESH CUT SURFACE WAS EVALUATED FOR COLOR AND COLOR STABILITY USING A COMPUTER VISION SYSTEM. THE STYROFOAM TRAY WITH THE SAMPLES WAS PLACED INSIDE AN ENVIRONMENTAL TEST CHAMBER AT 5 °C (± 1 °C) AND AT 85% RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR 2.2 DAYS. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO MODEL CHANGES IN THE INTENSITY OF THE REDNESS COLOR IN MEAT USING FRACTAL KINETIC ANALYSIS, AND THAT FRACTAL DIMENSION CAN BE USED AS AN INDICATOR OF CHANGES IN THE NON-HOMOGENOUS DISTRIBUTION OF THE COLORS ASSOCIATED WITH REDNESS INTENSITY.

MODELING OF BLOOM IS ESSENTIAL TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROCESSES IN CHOCOLATE AND TO DETERMINE ITS SHELF LIFE. COMPUTER VISION AND THE FRACTAL KINETIC METHOD WERE USED TO QUANTIFY BLOOM IN SAMPLES OF CHOCOLATE COATING AND COCOA CHOCOLATE SUBJECTED TO A 3- OR 6-H TEMPERATURE CYCLE. BLOOM WAS ALSO DETERMINED BY CLASSICAL METHODS (L* LIGHTNESS AND WHITENESS INDEX). IN THE RESULTS, THE KINETIC BLOOM RATE DERIVED BY THE FRACTAL KINETIC METHOD WAS HIGHER THAN THAT OBTAINED WITH THE L* OR WHITE INDEX. FRACTAL METHOD CAN BE USED TO DETERMINE KINETIC BLOOM AND TO DETECT DIFFERENCES IN CHOCOLATE COATING AFFECTED BY 3 OR 6 H OF TEMPERATURE CYCLE. THE BLOOM RATE DERIVED BY THE FRACTAL METHOD WAS HIGHER THAT THE MEAN L* VALUE AND WHITENESS INDEX METHODS; NO DIFFERENCES COULD BE REGISTERED BETWEEN THE LAST TWO METHODS. IN GENERAL, THE FRACTAL METHOD CAN BE SEEN AS A NEW MEANS OF QUANTIFYING BLOOM IN CHOCOLATE AND ALLOWS REGISTERING THE BLOOM FASTER THAN THE L* VALUE AND WHITE INDEX METHODS.

BYPRODUCTS DERIVED FROM THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY AND FOOD PROCESSING, SUCH AS SEEDS AND SKIN OR HUSKS, HAVE BECOME IMPORTANT DUE TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND THEIR VALUE-ADDED POTENTIAL. MAQUI (ARISTOTELIA CHILENSIS (MOL.) STUNTZ) IS A NATIVE CHILEAN WILD TREE THAT HAS SEVERAL BENEFICIAL PROPERTIES DUE TO ITS HIGH CONTENT OF ANTHOCYANINS, ANTHOCYANIDINS, PHENOLIC ACIDS, TANNINS, AND FIBER. THE PRESENT STUDY INVOLVED FLOUR DERIVED FROM MAQUI BYPRODUCTS (SEEDS AND SKIN) TO PRODUCE COOKIES WITH A HIGHER CONTENT OF NUTRIENTS, DIETARY FIBER, AND ANTIOXIDANTS. MAQUI BAGASSE WAS CONVERTED INTO FLOUR AND MIXED WITH WHEAT FLOUR TO PREPARE THE COOKIES. THE CONTROL CONSISTED OF WHEAT FLOUR COOKIES WITH NO ADDED MAQUI FLOUR. RESULTS INDICATED THAT THE COOKIES WITH THE ADDED MAQUI FLOUR WERE PREFERRED MORE THAN THE CONTROL AND HAD A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF FIBER. COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL, THE AMOUNT OF ANTHOCYANINS INCREASED 3.5 TIMES, AND THE AMOUNT OF ANTIOXIDANTS, MEASURED VIA THE DPPH (2,2? -DIPHENYL-1-PICRYLHYDRAZYL RADICAL) ASSAY, INCREASED PPROXIMATELY 10 TIMES. OUR RESULTS SHOW THAT THE INCORPORATION OF MAQUI BYPRODUCTS, IN THE FORM OF MAQUI FLOUR, INTO THE COOKIE FORMULATION IS AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO ADD NUTRITIONAL VALUE TO COOKIES BY INCREASING DIETARY FIBER, TOTAL POLYPHENOLS, AND TOTAL ANTHOCYANINS.

THE GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICES (GMP) IS A BASIC TOOL TO OBTAIN SAFE FOODSTUFFS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH WAS TO DETERMINE THE PERCENTAGE OF COMPLIANCE WITH GMP IN ICE CREAM FACTORIES AND ITS CORRELATION WITH THE ACCEPTANCE OF MICROBIOLOGICAL CRITERIA IN SAMPLES OF ICE CREAM, ACCORDING TO THE SANITARY CHILEAN FOOD REGULATION. INSPECTORS FROM THE MINISTERIAL REGIONAL SECRETARIAT (SEREMI) OF HEALTH ÑUBLE AUDITED GMP IN 40 ICE CREAM FACTORIES AND 435 MICROBIAL ANALYSES FROM ICE CREAM SAMPLES TAKEN BETWEEN THE YEARS 2005 AND 2010 WERE ANALYZED. RESULTS SHOWED THAT 55.2% OF SAMPLES FAILED IN RAM (105 UFC/G) AND COLIFORM (102 UFC/G) AND 4.6% FOR STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (102 UFC/G) AND 100% FOR SALMONELLA SPP. THE BIGGEST RAM WAS DURING SUMMER WITH 60% REJECTION. SIXTY SEVEN% OF INSPECTIONS OF GMP REACHED VALUES ABOVE THE MINIMUM (70% COMPLIANCE). FACILITIES WERE THE BEST ITEM ASSESSED (88.4%), AND TRAINING WAS THE WORST (20.3%). THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE RESULTS OF AUDITS OF GMP AND MICROBIOLOGICAL CRITERIA ALLOWED PROVING THAT WITH A PERCENTAGE EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN 80% COMPLIANCE WITH GMP WOULD ENSURE THE MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF ICE CREAM, THEREBY DECREASING THE RISK FOR CONSUMER HEALTH.

A FRACTAL KINETIC METHOD WAS APPLIED TO CHARACTERIZE ENZYMATIC BROWNING ACTIVITY IN SAMPLES FROM MUSHROOMS, PEARS AND APPLES. IN THIS STUDY, THREE INDEPENDENT REPETITIONS WERE FULFILLED TO DESCRIBE ENZYMATIC BROWNING KINETIC BY USING TWO COLORIMETRIC METHODS: (1) THE MEAN METHOD, WHEN CALCULATING AN AVERAGED INTENSITY COLOR (L* VALUE) AND ASSUMING THAT COLORS ARE DISTRIBUTED HOMOGENEOUSLY ON THE FRUIT SURFACE DURING BROWNING, AND (2) THE FRACTAL KINETIC METHOD, THAT DESCRIBES A NON-HOMOGENOUS COLOR DISTRIBUTION ON THE FOOD SURFACE DURING THE REACTION. SAMPLES OF APPLES (?GALA?), PEARS (?PACKHAM?) AND MUSHROOMS (AGARICUS BISPORUS) WERE CUT AND STORED AT FOUR DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES (I.E., 5, 15, 25 AND 35 °C). FOUR ENVIRONMENTAL TEST CHAMBERS, ALL EQUIPPED WITH A COMPUTER SYSTEM VISION, WERE USED. THE IMAGES WERE PHOTOGRAPHED EVERY 15 S DURING A PERIOD OF 4 H AND SAVED AS A TIFF FORMAT. THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY SHOWED THAT THE ENZYMATIC BROWNING KINETIC RATE WAS HIGHER WHEN THE FRACTAL KINETIC METHOD WAS APPLIED. THE ARRHENIUS LAW AND THE LOG-LOGISTIC MODEL WERE APPLIED IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ENZYMATIC BROWNING RATES AND THE TEMPERATURE REACTIONS. THE RESULTS REVEALED THAT THE ARRHENIUS LAW CAN ALSO BE APPLIED WHEN USING THE FRACTAL KINETIC METHOD.

MAQUI (ARISTOTELIA CHILENSIS (MOL.) STUNTZ) IS A CHILEAN BERRY RICH IN ANTIOXIDANTS, WHICH ARE MOSTLY FOUND IN THE PULP AND SKIN OF THE FRUIT. THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO EVALUATE THE CRYOCONCENTRATION PROCESS BY CENTRIFUGATION?FILTRATION AS A SIMULTANEOUS, EFFICIENT, AND INNOVATIVE METHOD TO INCREASE THE CONTENT OF THERMOSENSITIVE BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS OF AQUEOUS MAQUI EXTRACT. CRYOCONCENTRATION SEPARATED THE CONCENTRATED SOLUTE FROM THE AQUEOUS MAQUI EXTRACT WITH AN EFFICIENCY OF MORE THAN 95%; IT INCREASED THE CONTENT OF TOTAL POLYPHENOLS AND TOTAL ANTHOCYANINS AND ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY BY 280%, 573%, AND 226%, RESPECTIVELY. ALTHOUGH THE CONCENTRATES OBTAINED BY EVAPORATION AT 50, 70, AND 80 °C INCREASED THE CONTENT OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS, THEY DID SO IN A LOWER PERCENTAGE THAN THE CRYOCONCENTRATE. FURTHERMORE, CYANIDIN 3,5-DIGLUCOSIDE WAS DEGRADED AT 70 AND 80 °C. IN CONCLUSION, CRYOCONCENTRATION BY CENTRIFUGATION?FILTRATION AS A SIMULTANEOUS PROCESS EFFICIENTLY SEPARATES THE SOLUTES FROM THE FROZEN MATRIX OF AQUEOUS MAQUI EXTRACT, AND IT MAINTAINS AND INCREASES THE CONTENTS OF POLYPHENOLS AND ANTHOCYANINS AND ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY. THIS METHOD IS RECOMMENDED FOR CONCENTRATING NATURAL BERRY EXTRACTS WITH THERMOSENSITIVE COMPOUNDS.

AT THE PRESENT TIME, THE FOOD INDUSTRY IS INCREASINGLY INTERESTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FORMULATIONS WITH MAQUI-BERRY EXTRACTS AS A RICH SOURCE OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS. MAQUI, NATIVE TO CHILE, IS A RELATIVELY NEW FOOD RAW MATERIAL THAT IS OFTEN CALLED A ?SUPERFRUIT?, THE BERRIES OF THIS PLANT ARE RICH IN ANTHOCYANINS, PHENOLIC ACIDS, AND TANNINS; COMPOUNDS THAT PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE AS SOURCES OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN THE HEALTH OF CONSUMERS. CRYOCONCENTRATION, A TECHNOLOGY THAT PRESERVES THERMOLABILE BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS BY COMBINING TECHNIQUES OF FREEZING-CENTRIFUGATION, MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO OBTAIN CONCENTRATES WITH A GREATER CONTENT OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS THAN TRADITIONAL METHODS OF CONCENTRATION. IN THIS STUDY, MAQUI FRUITS WERE PULPED TO OBTAIN JUICE (J) AND CHAFF. THE CHAFF WAS SUBJECTED TO AQUEOUS EXTRACTION WITH DISTILLED WATER IN A RATIO OF 1?:?1?P/V TO OBTAIN MAQUI EXTRACT (E). COMBINED J AND E WERE HOMOGENIZED, AND VACUUM FILTERED TO OBTAIN THE FINAL EXTRACT (A), WHICH WAS CRYOCONCENTRATED AT ? 30°C AND THEN SUBJECTED TO 3 CONTINUOUS CYCLES OF FREEZING-CENTRIFUGATION AND FILTRATION.

THE BROWNING KINETIC WAS RECORDED USING COLOR DATA INFORMATION FROM IMAGES OF AVOCADO SLICES. GLCM IMAGE TEXTURE WAS USED TO DESCRIBE THE REACTION. IN THE EXPERIMENT, IMAGES OF AVOCADO SLICES STORED AT 4°C WERE CAPTURED AND SAVED IN TIFF FORMAT. THE CLASSICAL COLOR INTENSITY INDEX (THE MEAN L* VALUE) AND SOME STATISTICS GLCM IMAGE TEXTURES WERE USED. RESULTS SHOWED THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO USE GLCM IMAGE TEXTURE TO MODEL THE BROWNING KINETIC, BECAUSE THE SURFACE INTENSITY IN ONE IMAGE BECOMES MORE JAGGED AND LOCAL VARIATIONS IN COLOR INTENSITY ARE DISTRIBUTED NON-HOMOGENEOUSLY ON THE IMAGE DURING BROWNING. THE RATE DERIVED FROM THE MEAN L* COLOR INTENSITY WAS SIMILAR TO THOSE DERIVED FROM THE ENERGY TEXTURE; BUT IN GENERAL, EXCEPTED FOR THE ENERGY TEXTURE INDEX, RATES GENERATED USING THE TEXTURE IMAGES PRODUCE DIFFERENT VALUES FROM THOSE OBTAINED USING THE CLASSICAL BROWNING INDEX.

THE DIETARY INTAKE OF TOTAL ARSENIC (TAS), INORGANIC ARSENIC (IAS) AND TOTAL MERCURY (THG) IN LUNCH AND BREAKFAST SERVINGS PROVIDED BY THE CHILEAN SCHOOL MEAL PROGRAM (SMP) WAS ESTIMATED, USING THE DUPLICATE-PORTION VARIANT OF THE TOTAL DIET STUDY. LUNCH AND BREAKFAST SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED FROM 65 SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY IN 2006. THE POPULATION SAMPLE WAS A GROUP OF GIRLS AND BOYS BETWEEN 6 AND 18 YEARS OLD. THE TAS CONCENTRATION WAS MEASURED VIA HYDRIDE-GENERATION ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY. THE TOTAL MERCURY CONCENTRATION WAS MEASURED VIA COLD-VAPOR ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY. THE ESTIMATED IAS INTAKE WAS 12.5% (5.4 ?G/DAY) OF THE PROVISIONAL TOLERABLE DAILY INTAKE (PTDI) AS PROPOSED BY THE FAO/WHO, AND THE THG INTAKE WAS 13.2% (1.9 ?G/DAY) OF THE PTDI AS PROPOSED BY THE FAO/WHO. IT WAS THEREFORE CONCLUDED THAT TAS, IAS AND THG INTAKE FROM FOOD PROVIDED BY THE SMP DO NOT POSE RISKS TO STUDENT HEALTH.