The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19, broadly referred to as “coronavirus”) a global pandemic, while thousands of infections and deaths are reported daily. The current article explores the food systems in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It provides insights about the properties of bioactive ingredients of foods…
Olive oil, the product of olive fruit extraction, is the pillar of Mediterranean diet and its consumption is well known to provide multiple benefits to our health (e.g. for the cardiovascular system). Olive oil is nowadays highlighted and marketed as a “superfood” for human health not only due to its lipid profile (e.g. high oleic…
The preparation of foods fortified with functional components requires integration of diverse aspects under evaluation. These include selecting of the appropriate source, detecting the bioactive compounds, applying separation and recovery techniques, performing toxicological assessments and finally making stability, activity and bioaccessibility measurements. At this point, it is important to define carefully the terms “bioavailability”, “bioaccessibility”…
In the past 10 years, the growing interest of consumers has arised to a number of “superfoods”, which has been motivated by their high content of “polyphenols”. These compounds constitute a heterogeneous group of molecules which differentiate according to their chemical structure. Polyphenols is a collective term for several sub-groups of compounds, but the use…
Sustainability is a dynamic process in which long-term environmental, social, and economical requirements should be fulfilled by an integrated way without compromising the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs. The wastes produced along the coffee chain in both producing and importer countries are undoubtedly a source of contamination and a serious environmental…
Grapes are one of the largest fruit crops in the world, while their processing into juice is definitely a minor reality compared to wine-making. In 2013 the world wine production was 27.42 Mton, with 57 % of production in Europe, followed by Americas (25.7 %), Asia (7.5 %), Oceania (5.4 %) and Africa (4.5 %).…
Olive oil is obtained from olive fruit by mechanical procedures, whereas its production involves one of the following extraction processes: i) discontinuous (press) extraction, ii) 3-phase centrifugal extraction or iii) 2-phase centrifugal extraction. Each of these processes generates in different forms and compositions. The traditional olive pressing and the three phases continuous systems produce three…
Bioactive compounds are found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. They include an extremely heterogeneous class of compounds (polyphenolic compounds, carotenoids, tocopherols, phytosterols and organosulfur compounds) with different chemical structures (hydrophilic or lipophilic), distribution in nature (specific to vegetable species or ubiquitous), range of concentrations both in foods and in the human body, possible site…
Until the end of the 20th century, disposal of food wastes was not considered as a matter of concern. Particularly, increase of food production without improving the efficiency of the food systems was the prevalent policy. This consideration increased generation of wasted food along supply chains. In the 21th century, escalating demands for processed foods…
(IFA Webinars, 11th January 2018)