Effects of Tray-Drying on the Physicochemical, Microbiological, Proximate, and Sensory Properties of White- and Red-Fleshed Loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica Lindl.) Fruit

Loquat fruits, highly valued by consumers for their characteristic aroma and pleasant taste, have a short post-harvest life and are susceptible to mechanical damage, loss of firmness, and initial organoleptic characteristics. The aim of this work was to develop a drying method suitable for storing loquat fruits in polyamide/polyethylene (PA/PE) bags containing two gaseous mixtures (treatments): MAPN2 (100% N2) and MAPP (21% O2 and 0.04% CO2), at room temperature (20 ± 1 °C) for at least 2 months. The effects of these conditions on the physico-chemical, microbiological, proximate, and sensory properties of fruit stored over a 50-day time interval were studied. The results showed that convect…

Use of Hanseniaspora uvarum and a novel strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from manna ash to produce loquat beer

Nespole disidratate: un nuovo prodotto creato a partire da frutti di scarto

La disidratazione delle nespole, sia a polpa gialla che a polpa bianca, rappresenta un metodo innovativo per prolungare la shelf-life dei frutti e per poter reinventare un prodotto che altrimenti verrebbe individuato come scarto alimentare. Anche se alcuni parametri, come il colore e la consistenza, hanno subito un cambiamento, rimangono comunque apprezzati a livello sensoriale. Tra tutti i trattamenti le nespole disidratate a polpa bianca della cv Claudia hanno mostrato una migliore evoluzione dei parametri qualitativi e la tecnica di packaging in MAP non ne ha influenzato l’evoluzione dei parametri. In definitiva, tramite una semplice trasformazione, come la disidratazione in corrente di …

Land Cadastre in Italy for Sustainable Development: Application to Two Parcels of Land in a Geopark in the Process of Being Defined in Corleone (PA-Italy)

Geoparks, like all parks, are UNESCO awards for a sustainable management of all resources and therefore also of human life. Environmental emergencies such as climate change, pollution, soil erosion, salinisation, and fires that, together with health emergencies, undermine life on earth, require intervention. The widespread sustainable management of the territory of a municipality, a region, a nation, or all of them (European Union) allows to widen the application of these concepts to reach the limit of a planet that guarantees life for future generations. The work after having exposed the motivations of the geopark (an initiative born by chance), i.e. the surface where the environmental bea…

The evaluation of urban soils aimed at the sustainability of plants in public and private flowerbeds

The authors report the survey of some flowerbeds located in the city of Palermo with the aim of assessing the sustainability of the plants and the interventions to be implemented, i.e. cutting or transfer of plants, to achieve a sustainable green. In the case in which it is possible to insert other plants in the flowerbeds, it is recommended to elaborate a project using programs that allow to have a preview of the spaces available for the new plants. This work is methodological and is aimed at creating a green that can achieve the functional objectives in relation to the site where it is located (sustainability in all aspects) and at low management costs with no or almost no irrigation prac…

Influence of indigenous Hanseniaspora uvarum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae from sugar-rich substrates on the aromatic composition of loquat beer

The demand for unique and exclusive food products and beverages is constantly on the increase. One of the products that mostly evolved to encounter market dynamics in the last decade is craft beer. For a long time, craft breweries have included fruit in beer production to enrich flavour and aroma profile of different beer styles. In this study, for the first time, the use of Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces yeast strains isolated from high -sugar matrices (manna and fermented honey by-products) were investigated to diversify fruit craft beer pro-duction, in order to improve the fermentation process and highlight the complexity of aroma profiles generated during alcoholic fermentation. Tw…

Use of sequentially inoculation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Hanseniaspora uvarum strains isolated from honey by-products to improve and stabilize the quality of mead produced in Sicily

Mead is a beverage produced by alcoholic fermentation of honey-must. The starter yeasts that are commonly used for the alcoholic fermentation of honey-must are oenological Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. The objective of the present work was, for the first time, to apply yeasts of honey by-products origin to evaluate the influences the taste-olfactory attributes of mead. For this purpose, three experimental productions were set up, which included: (i) single inoculation of S. cerevisiae; (ii) single inoculation of Hanseniaspora uvarum; (iii) sequential inoculation of H. uvarum/S. cerevisiae. Two control trials were performed, using a commercial strain of S. cerevisiae of oenological origi…

Mango siciliano di IV gamma: come aumentarne la shelf life con l’uso di film edibili di origine naturale.

Un nuovo edible coating, a base di olio di neem e gel di aloe, allunga la vita commerciale di frutti di mango in IV gamma senza alterarne il gusto