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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the possibility of utilization of pomegranate seed powder and tomato powder in the development of fiber-enriched chicken nuggets.

The study was designed to incorporate and evaluate the effect of pomegranate seed powder and tomato powder on the quality characteristics of the chicken nuggets. The products were developed by incorporating different levels of pomegranate seed powder (1, 2, 3 per cent) and tomato powder (1, 2, 3 per cent) separately and were analyzed for various physicochemical and sensory parameters.

The pomegranate seed powder and tomato powder significantly (p < 0.05) increased the fiber content of the chicken nuggets besides improving various sensory attributes of the products. A significant (p < 0.05) effect of the pomegranate seed powder was observed on the pH, emulsion stability, cooking yield and proximate parameters of the chicken nuggets. Tomato powder also showed a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the emulsion stability, moisture and fat content of the products. No significant (p > 0.05) effect of tomato was observed on the pH and cooking yield of the products.

Fiber-enriched chicken nuggets could be developed by incorporating pomegranate seed powder and tomato powder in the formulation besides improving various sensory attributes of the products.

This paper aims to determine the nutritional profile of popular takeaway meals in the UK. Fast food has a poor nutritional profile; research has focused on the major catering chains, with limited data on takeaway food from independent establishments.

Random samples of takeaway meals were purchased from small, independent takeaway establishments. Multiple samples of 27 different takeaway meals, from Indian, Chinese, kebab, pizza and English-style establishments (n = 489), were analysed for portion size, energy, protein, carbohydrate, total fat, salt and total sugars.

Takeaway meals were inconsistent with UK dietary recommendations; pizzas revealed the highest energy content, and Chinese meals were lowest in total fat. However, there was a high degree of variability between and within categories, but the majority of meals were excessive for portion size, energy, macronutrients and salt.

The present study focused on energy, macronutrients, salt and total sugars. Future research should analyse the quality of fat and carbohydrates and micronutrients to provide a more detailed nutritional profile of takeaway food.

The nutritional variability between establishments suggests that recipe reformulation should be explored in an attempt to improve the nutritional quality of takeaway foods. In addition, portion size reduction could favour both the consumer and the industry.

Takeaway outlets do not provide nutritional information; due to the excessive nutritional profiles, regular intake may increase the risk of non-communicable disease. Therefore, there is a pressing need for this provision to help consumers make conscious food choices.

This is the first study to analyse energy and macronutrient content of independent takeaway meals in the UK.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the associations between food literacy, consumer profiling and purchasing behaviour in a sample of Italian consumers.

Participants (N = 194) completed an online survey including personal data, two questionnaires on purchase behaviour and food consumption, the General Trust Scale (GTS), a questionnaire assessing individual chronotype and two scales about food literacy: one investigating nutritional knowledge (short food literacy questionnaire, SFLQ) and the other focussing on procedural skills (self-perceived food literacy scale, SPFL). Associations between food literacy, consumer profiling and purchase behaviour were analysed with linear regression models.

Participants with specific education in nutrition reported higher scores in food literacy. The final score of food literacy was predicted by a greater attention to nutritional content and nutritional properties of products. Women paid more attention to nutritional properties than men, and they obtained higher scores in SFLQ. Evening types obtained lower scores in SFPL compared to intermediate and morning chronotypes. Body mass index (BMI) was negatively correlated to SPFL score, while it was associated with the easy availability of a product, so that obese (BMI ≥ 30) subjects considered the easy availability of a product more important compared to non-obese ones (BMI < 30).

This study investigates the influence of personal and psychometric variables of consumer profiling on food literacy and consequently on purchase behaviour, paving the way for implementing healthier food consumption policies. These findings reinforce the primacy of specific education in building healthy eating habits.

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is a rich source of nutrients as compared to the major cultivated cereal crops. However, major factors which limit its utilization are the presence of anti-nutritional factors (phytate, tannins and polyphenols) which lower availability of minerals and poor keeping quality because of higher lipase activity. Therefore, this paper aims to focus on the impact of different processing methods on the nutrient composition and anti-nutritional components of pearl millet.

This is a literature review study from 1983 to 2017, focusing on studies related to pearl millet processing and their effectiveness in the enrichment of nutritional value through reduction of anti-nutritional compounds.

From the literature reviewed, pearl millet processing through various methods including milling, malting, fermentation, blanching and acid as well as heat treatments were found to be effective in achieving the higher mineral digestibility, retardation of off flavor, bitterness as well as rancidity problems found during storage of flour.

Through this review paper, possible processing methods and their impact on the nutrient and anti-nutrient profile of pearl millet are discussed after detailed studied of literature from journal articles and thesis.

The purpose of this paper is a single-center six-month follow-up study to determine nutritional status of children with maple syrup urine disease (MSUD). Prolonged restriction on essential amino acid could cause malnutrition. By far, there is no study reported in the context of nutritional status among children with maple syrup urine disease (MSUD), who required life-long protein restriction.

A total of 22 children with MSUD, aged from 1 to 12 years (6.54 ± 3.27) undergoing regular treatment in Institute of Pediatrics, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, were recruited. Body height, weight and head circumference were measured for anthropometry, whereas total protein, albumin and plasma branched-chain amino acid were measured for biochemical aspects. Clinical features diagnosed by pediatrician were recorded from children’s medical record. The 24-hour dietary recall was conducted to measure their nutrients intake. All assessments were repeated at six-month interval except clinical profile.

There were no significant differences in all nutritional parameters from baseline to end of the visit. There was a prominence (particular noticeable of) of growth stunting (68; 64 per cent), undernutrition (35; 32 per cent) and microcephalic (57; 57 per cent) among children with MSUD. Nevertheless, children showed no significant improvement of anthropometric variables from baseline and after 6-month follow-up visit. Nearly all biochemical indicators were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the reference value except valine. Intellectual disability was the most frequently (71 per cent) presenting symptoms among them. The finding also did not show any macro- or micronutrients fail to achieve above recommended nutrient intake in both visits. In conclusion, it is clear that no significant nutritional deficiency was induced by the use of MSUD dietary therapy; however, the findings indicated that MSUD children are at risk of malnutrition and regular nutritional assessment and monitoring should always be emphasized for optimal linear growth without affecting their amino acid profiles.

Multiple 24-hour recalls instead of single 24-hour recall should be used in this study for a better estimate of intake.

Although there are retrospective studies targeted in presenting the clinical and biochemical profile of MSUD children which has been extensively examined, limited research has focused on prospective aspect of nutritional status of these children who are undergoing active and regular diet and medical nutrition therapy because of the absence of comprehensive reliable nutritional assessment data.

This paper is a systemic review on enset plant’s role in Ethiopian people’s life as the source of food. This paper aims to summarize the traditional processing and preparation methods of enset-based foods and their nutritional composition.

Available scientific articles were collected and reviewed for enset plant evaluation, description, enset plant’s role in Ethiopian people’s food security, post harvesting and traditional processing of enset plants, microbiology of the fermented enset foods, different foods reported from enset, nutritional profile of the three food from enset base (kocho, bulla and amicho) and other non-food applications of enset plant.

Enset plant has a predominant role in people living in the southern part of Ethiopia. This plant is drought-tolerant and provides many non-food applications. Harvesting of the enset plant, preparing for fermentation and food preparations follow the traditional route by using the indigenous knowledge and practices. Limited studies have been reported on the microbiology of the enset fermentation, but various types of microbes have been reported. In case of nutritional composition, foods from enset are reported to contain high carbohydrate and minerals content, such as calcium, potassium and zinc, but limited protein content; they are also the best source of the essential amino acids such as lysine and leucine. Limited data are available on vitamins, anti-oxidant and fatty acids profiles of enset-based foods. The existing data indicate variations, and the reasons for variability are discussed in this paper.

Scientific reviews on enset food nutrition profile and related issues are scarce; this paper will compile information about enset plant-based foods for researchers for their future research.

Due to fast changes in consumer demands and expectations, developing and introducing new products have become a necessity for the food companies in order to survive on the competitive market. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of decomposition analysis in combination with consumer research in the new food product development process.

A survey concerning nutritional habits of consumers based on 339 respondents and an analysis of the sensory and nutritional properties of products available on the market have been performed.

It has been indicated that owing to the proposed research methods, a niche in the market can be found. It was found that products currently available on the market do not fully fulfil the essential nutritional and/or sensory criteria.

The set of methods used in the study provides a valuable input into the new food product development process. The results of the research show that a company that will deliver a low-caloric bakery savoury snack of high nutritional quality and successfully present its properties to customers may gain a competitive advantage.

The topic is relatively new. Other studies focus on complex methods, whereas this research investigates the usefulness of a set of simple but effective tools that can be used in the new food product development process.

This study aims to determine the physicochemical and fatty acids composition of Serra da Estrela cheese (SEC), as well as health-related lipid indices, like the atherogenic and thrombogenic indices, and to evaluate the influence of producer, geographical origin and production date.

All 24 SEC produced between November 2017 and March 2018 were collected at selected certified producers and analyzed by NIR spectrophotometer and by GC. Data were statistically evaluated by chemometric tools.

In all evaluated SEC, 23 fatty acids were quantified. Cheese origin influenced nutritional and health-related lipid indices). The cheeses were characterized by a relative high abundance of saturated fatty acids (67-76%), followed by a medium content of monounsaturated fatty acids (17-25%) and by low level of polyunsaturated fatty acids (5-7%). A putative positive association between cheese consumption and healthy lipid indices could be reached.

The contents of some medium and long chain fatty acids as well as of nutritional and health indices were influenced by cheese producer, geographical origin and production date pointing out the need for standardizing production procedures.

The SEC plays a key role in the local economy, being an endogenous product with unique sensory characteristics and nutritional potential, for which the knowledge of the lipids profile and health indices is of utmost relevance.

SEC is an iconic Portuguese cheese with Protected Designation of Origin. Based on the results, like health-related lipid indices, evaluated for the first time, a positive association between cheese consumption and healthy lipid indices could be envisaged.

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of garden cress supplemented biscuits on the nutritional status of malnourished children.

For the present study, 60 underweight and anemic seven-nine-year-old school children were selected according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification and divided into two groups, i.e. experimental (30) and control (30). Biscuits (60 g) developed using roasted garden cress seeds were supplemented to the experimental group, while biscuits without garden cress seeds were provided to control group for a period of three months and impact was observed in terms of improvement in nutritional status of subjects before and after the supplementation.

The food and nutrient intake increased with increased percent nutrient adequacy and sharp increase (p ≤ 0.05) was noticed in cereal, fat and sugar after supplementation. Average height, weight, body mass index and mid-upper arm circumference increased, with 3.56 and 0.87 per cent gain in weight and height (p ≤ 0.05) respectively. Hemoglobin levels increased from 10.6 to 11g/dl with little improvement (p ≤ 0.05) in proteins, albumin and other indices of blood profile and nine subjects fell in non-anemic category.

The diets of both groups were not controlled, which might have varied the results.

Garden cress-seed-enriched biscuits were able to have a positive impact on the nutritional profile of malnourished and anemic school children.

The duration of supplementation was short, which may have affected these results. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to perform long-duration supplementation study for more accurate results.

This paper identifies the need for promoting garden cress seeds in supplementary foods to reduce malnutrition.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the proportionality of market brand (MB) foods versus supermarket own brand (OB) foods sold on promotion and to compare their healthiness.

An existing dataset containing nutritional information about a variety of foods on promotion (n = 6,776) from 48 stores across 8 retail chains in Northern Ireland (NI) was reanalysed. Product healthiness was measured using a score aligned to the Food Standards Agency's Front of Pack nutrient labelling system. MBs and OBs were considered as a whole and in their respective subsets–international/national and regional MBs, and premium, mid-market and value tiered OBs.

Results found a balance in favour of health (52.4% amber/green versus 47.6% red) across retailers' promotions in NI. Further, OB products were often found to be superior to MBs with regards to overall healthfulness, and regional brands were found to be less healthy than international/national brands.

Findings rationale further retail research to compare nutritionally OB and MB product types, and further consumer research regarding important attributes of OBs.

Retailers should communicate the comparative healthiness of their OBs in comparison to MB alternatives, in addition to communicating comparative price savings. There is opportunity for retailers to increase visibility of mid-market and value OB tiers, and for regional MBs to improve the nutritional profile of products in line with the consumer trend for health.

This study provides a contribution by using data on OBs and MBs on promotion, and by investigating the nutritional differences between different tiers of OB and MB products.