0000000000266812

AUTHOR

Vincenzo Alfeo

0000-0002-1631-2645

Physicochemical properties, sugar profile, and non-starch polysaccharides characterization of old wheat malt landraces

Abstract Craft beers produced by small breweries are becoming increasingly popular worldwide due to their unique composition, taste, and flavour. Wheat malt is a traditional brewing raw material with great potential to improve beer properties such as mouthfeel, foam, haze, and flavour. In this study, the malting quality of eight wheat varieties (four common and four durum) was evaluated to explore the feasibility of producing 100 % wheat malt beer from old landraces. The physicochemical characteristics such as friability, Kolbach index, viscosity, and colour, of the wheat malts indicated a better degree of modification in the common wheat varieties when compared to that of the durum wheat v…

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New development opportunities for the craft brewing segment: the case study of a micro-malthouse

In Italy in the past few years, the number of small breweries penetrating the craft beer sector has grown exponentially. Craft producers intend to give a strong added value and a local character to their production in different ways. One of these is the use of malt derived from small batches of local cereals and pseudo cereals. The aim of this study is the assessment of investment profitability, through a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), for a compact and a modular micro-malting plant in Sicily (Southern Italy). The CBA for a micro-malthouse was carried out considering both installation and operating costs. Net present value (NPV), discounted benefit-cost ratio (DBCR) and internal rate of retur…

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Cherry Tomato Drying: Sun versus Convective Oven

Solar drying and convective oven drying of cherry tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) were compared. The changes in the chemical parameters of tomatoes and principal drying parameters were recorded during the drying process. Drying curves were fitted to several mathematical models, and the effects of air temperature during drying were evaluated by multiple regression analyses, comparing to previously reported models. Models for drying conditions indicated a final water content of 30% (semidry products) and 15% (dry products) was achieved, comparing sun-drying and convective oven drying at three different temperatures. After 26–28 h of sun drying, the tomato tissue had reached a moisture content…

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Microbreweries, brewpubs and beerfirms in the Sicilian craft beer industry

Purpose This paper aims to illustrate the organisational and managing models characterising the craft beer producers in Sicily (Southern Italy) and the main issues of the provision of raw materials. Design/methodology/approach A direct survey involving the overall population of 41 craft breweries operating in Sicily in 2016 was carried out. Then 29 questionnaires were collected for exploratory analysis. A hierarchical cluster analysis was also performed out to group companies by similar structural, productive and economic features. Findings The findings of the survey showed a Sicilian craft beer industry characterised by a substantial dependence on the import of malts hops and yeasts and t…

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Non-conventional yeasts from fermented honey by-products: Focus on Hanseniaspora uvarum strains for craft beer production

The increasing interest in novel beer productions focused on non-Saccharomyces yeasts in order to pursue their potential in generating groundbreaking sensory profiles. Traditional fermented beverages represent an important source of yeast strains which could express interesting features during brewing. A total of 404 yeasts were isolated from fermented honey by-products and identified as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Zygosaccharomyces bailii, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii and Hanseniaspora uvarum. Five H. uvarum strains were screened for their brewing capability. Interestingly, Hanseniaspora uvarum strains showed growth in presence of ethanol and hop and a more rapid growth…

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Screening of durum wheat landraces (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) for the malting suitability

Abstract Durum (T. turgidum subsp. durum) wheat production worldwide is substantially less than that of common wheat (Triticum aestivum) mainly due to the relatively limited end-users. In order to evaluate malting and brewing suitability, sixteen old durum wheat landraces were malted at micro scale. Results show malt quality parameters in the range 78.2–85.9% for the extract, 72.9–80.9% for the fermentability, 3–5 EBC units for the colour, 0.49–0.79% dm for water-extractable arabinoxylans and 0.043–0.059% dm for the β-glucans. Regarding wort viscosity (1.53–1.92 mPa s), we found negative correlation with endo-1,4-β-D-xylanase, positive correlation with endo-β-glucanases and soluble proteins…

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The effect of different technologies in Pomegranate jam preparation on the phenolic compounds, vitamin C and antioxidant activity

The effect of different gelling agents and processing for jam production from pomegranate juice was evaluated. In the last years, different gelling agents were tested for improving jam quality in terms of color and bioactive compounds. The unsonicated and sonicated pomegranate juices were processed for jam production by micro waves, under vacuum and cryoconcentration concentration methods using low and high methoxy pectins, and carob seed flour as gelling agents. The polyphenols content of sonicated jam was significantly lower than unsonicated samples and cryoconcentrated jams showed the significantly highest value among other methods. The results showed the highest anthocyanin content in t…

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Addition of selected starter/non-starter lactic acid bacterial inoculums to stabilise PDO Pecorino Siciliano cheese production

Abstract The present study was carried out to produce Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) Pecorino Siciliano cheese with a multi-species lactic acid bacteria (LAB) culture, composed of starter and non-starter strains in order to reduce the microbiological variability of the products derived without LAB inoculums. To this end, cheese samples produced in six factories located in five provinces (Agrigento, Catania, Enna, Palermo and Trapani) of Sicily, and previously characterised for physicochemical, microbiological and sensory aspects, have been investigated in this work for bacterial microbiome, fatty acid (FA) composition as well as volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles. Analysis of …

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Craft Beer Sector: New Technologies and Economic Opportunities for Local Development

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Use of microbial enzyme on brewing

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Preliminary evaluation of durum wheat (Triticum Turgidum Subsp Durum) during malting process:

Durum (T. turgidum subsp. durum) wheat production worldwide is substantially less than that of common wheat (Triticum aestivum) mainly due to the relatively limited end-users. In order to evaluate malting and brewing suitability, sixteen old durum wheat landraces were malted at micro scale. Results show malt quality parameters in the range 78.2–85.9% for the extract, 72.9–80.9% for the fermentability, 3–5 EBC units for the colour, 0.49–0.79% dm for water-extractable arabinoxylans and 0.043–0.059% dm for the β-glucans. Regarding wort viscosity (1.53–1.92 mPa s), we found negative correlation with endo-1,4-β-D-xylanase, positive correlation with endo-β-glucanases and soluble proteins, while n…

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Use of stevia and chia seeds for the formulation of traditional and vegan artisanal ice cream

Abstract Gelato is the name of the Italian-style artisanal ice cream, a nutritious product widely consumed in different parts of the world. Due to the high content in simple sugars, ice cream should be consumed moderately by diabetic patient. This research aimed to create artisanal ice cream, using Stevia rebaudiana, a plant well known for its sweet taste and its hypoglycemic effect. Traditional and vegan ice cream were formulated using stevia and chia seeds, in order to obtain products with appreciable rheological, textural and sensorial properties. Physical and sensorial properties of the ice cream formulation containing milk protein (traditional) or vegan substitute, were evaluated. Resu…

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