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The purpose of this paper is to understand the innovative scenario in Portugal, assess the patterns of goods and service change in the past decade and evaluate several essential characteristics from innovation and its relevant aspects.

This research is a case study with secondary data obtained from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) in which it is applied to the constant comparative method of data analysis proposed by Spiggle (1994).

The innovation of products and services in Portugal increased over the entire period analyzed although not linear, the financing programs contributed to the recovery and growth of innovation and small companies presented the most significant increase in product innovation.

This investigation has limitations related to the data collected because the secondary data analyzed generalize the indicators and make it impossible to comprehend each aspect analyzed in this study in detail. This study also pointed out that Portuguese small- and medium-sized enterprises are more easily able to innovate in times of difficulty when compared to large companies. However, it is necessary to understand this phenomenon and present elements that can support or refute this discovery.

This paper offers a broad view of product and service innovation in Portugal for companies, entrepreneurs, universities and researchers, in addition to facilitating the creation and structuring of policies, research and financing that can develop innovation processes.

By presenting a macro view of product and service innovation, this paper may facilitate the creation of incentives for innovation in Portugal and, consequently, to improve economic and development indicators.

This paper is unique in showing the patterns of innovation in the product and service in Portugal over almost a decade and in demonstrating important indicators that can be used in future research.

The main purpose of this paper was to evaluate the influence of the zein coating containing essential oils on the sensory characteristics of sodium-reduced mozzarellas.

Mozzarellas were prepared by dipping in brine containing 5, 10, 15 or 20% of NaCl (w/v) that correspond, respectively, to 25, 50, 75 and 100% of NaCl content used in industry. These salted mozzarellas and another one, unsalted, were coated by an edible zein film added with 3% of a mixture of thyme and garlic essential oils (1:1). They were subjected to sensory analysis in relation to salty taste and overall impression. The mozzarella without salt reduction (20% NaCl w/v), coated or uncoated with the edible film, was also subjected to the analysis of water loss and microbiological quality, in order to evaluate the impact of this film on product quality.

The zein coating added with oils did not compromise the sensory acceptance of the mozzarella prepared with up to 50% of salt reduction. Water loss and microbial growth were lower in zein-coated mozzarella than in uncoated mozzarella. These results showed that this film could be applied as natural additive, contributing to the microbiological and sensory characteristics of the mozzarella.

This paper contributes to reducing the lack of studies in relation to new technologies for food preservation and sodium reduction. In addition, the zein coating containing essential oils can be tested on other food categories.

Despite the technological paradigm shift presented to the architecture, engineering, construction and operations sector (AECO), the full-fledged acceptance of the building information modelling (BIM) methodology has been slower than initially anticipated. Indeed, this study aims to acknowledge the need for increasing supportive technologies enabling the use of BIM, attending to available human resources, their requirements and their tasks.

A complete case study is described, including the development process centred on design science research methodology followed by the usability assessment procedure validated by construction projects facility management operational staff.

Results show that participants could interact with BIM using openBIM processes and file formats naturally, as most participants reached an efficiency level close to that expected for users already familiar with the interface (i.e. high-efficiency values). These results are consistent with the reported perceived satisfaction and analysis of participants’ discourses through 62 semi-structured interviews.

The contributions of the present study are twofold: a proposal for a virtual reality openBIM framework is presented, particularly for the semantic enrichment of BIM models, and a methodology for evaluating the usability of this type of system in the AECO sector.

A healthy diet has been recognized as one of the most important factors associated with maintaining human health and helping in preventing the development of some chronic diseases. Therefore, this paper aims to study the perceptions of a sample of university people regarding a healthy diet.

It was undertaken a descriptive cross-sectional study on a non-probabilistic sample of 382 participants. The data were collected among a sample of Portuguese university people and measured whether people’s perceptions were compliant with a healthy diet.

The results revealed that the participants’ perceptions were, in general, compliant with a healthy diet (scores between 0.5 and 1.5, on a scale from −2 to +2). However, significant differences were found between age groups (p = 0.004), with a higher average score for young adults, and also between groups with different levels of education (p = 0.025), with a higher score for university degree. The variable chronic diseases also showed significant differences (p = 0.017), so that people who did not have any chronic diseases obtained a higher score.

This study is considered important because it provides evidences about the relation between nutrition knowledge and the perceptions towards a healthy diet. The study allowed concluding that the participants were aware about some nutritional aspects of their diets and, therefore, their perceptions were compliant with a healthy diet. This finding is very relevant because it could be a support for health policy initiatives directed at promoting healthy eating behaviours.

Thistle flower (Cynara cardunculus) aqueous extracts, as rich source of milk-clotting peptidases, have been widely used for cheeses marketed under the Registry of the Protected Designation of Origin, as it is the case of Serra da Estrela cheese, manufactured from raw ewes’ milk and without addition of any commercial starter culture. This paper aims at studying the influence of six different ecotypes of thistle flowers in cheese properties during the ripening and of final products.

Cheeses were produced with different thistle flower extracts and then the clotting time, weight and colour of cheeses, as well as texture properties and sensorial characteristics, were evaluated.

The clotting time varied from 47 to 66 min, and the weight loss along ripening varied between 32 and 40 per cent. There was some influence of thistle flower ecotype on the colour during ripening and in the final product. The results of texture analysis revealed significant differences between the thistle ecotypes: crust firmness varying from 2.4 to 5.6 N; inner firmness from 0.82 to 1.82 N; stickiness from −0.5 to −1.60 N; adhesiveness from −3.0 to −11.3 N.s; and Ecotype C was particularly distinguishable. Sensorial evaluation revealed differences among the cheeses, with Ecotype C receiving the highest score for global appreciation.

The usage of different extracts of thistle flower to produce Serra da Estrela cheese with different properties is a novelty, and it allows the possibility of manipulating this parameter in the future so as to produce cheeses with specific characteristics, addressed to different consumer targets.