Elsa M. Gonçalves

• PhD
• Researcher at Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária

Brewers’ spent grain (BSG), the major by-product of the brewery industry, has high nutritional value, making it suitable for upcycling into products such as healthy, and sustainable cookies. Nonetheless, the incorporation of BSG in cookies can impact their quality, given the increased fiber and protein content. This work explored the effect of repl...

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L) is one of the most important food crops worldwide, being a carbohydrate-rich food and resenting a good source of vitamins and minerals. Moreover, the mineral enrichment of potatoes through foliar application as been implemented over the years, namely in calcium (Ca). As such, this study aimed to assess the Ca effect on...

Com vista à obtenção de uma matéria-prima para posterior transformação em produtos com características funcionais, o presente estudo visou o uso de uma prova sensorial para avaliar a perceção dos consumidores a possíveis impactos de um itinerário de enriquecimento agronómico na pera Rocha. Desta forma, sete pulverizações foliares (concentrações de...

Mushroom cultivation presents a viable solution for utilizing agro-industrial byproducts as substrates for growth. This process enables the transformation of low-economic-value waste into nutritional foods. Enhancing the yield and quality of preharvest edible mushrooms, along with effectively preserving postharvest mushrooms, stands as a significan...

In the wake of escalating global concerns over the environmental impact of plastic pollution, there has been an unprecedented call for sustainable alternatives. The food-packaging industry, responsible for a staggering 40% of global plastic consumption, faces mounting challenges driven by environmental degradation and concerns about fossil fuel dep...

In this study, the lactic fermentation of immature tomatoes as a tool for food ingredient production was evaluated as a circular economy-oriented alternative for valorising industrial tomatoes that are unsuitable for processing and which have wasted away in large quantities in the field. Two lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were assessed as starter cultu...

The drying process is an essential thermal process for preserving vegetables and can be used in developing dried products as healthy alternative snacks. The effects of air-drying conditions using a convection dryer with hot air at different temperatures (60°, 65°, 70°, 75°, and 80 °C, in the range 5–200 min, at a fixed air speed of 2.3 m/s) were te...

Artigo técnico sobre biofortificação agronómica tomate em Mg (para processamento industrial) e em Zn e Fe (produzido em modo biológico). Revista "Frutas, Legumes e Flores": https://www.flfrevista.pt/sobre-nos/

Foi otimizado um método de extração simples para subprodutos de Brássicas, obtendo extratos com composição fenólica relevante e comprovada atividade antioxidante. ü Os subprodutos de brássicas constituem matrizes viáveis para a extração de compostos antioxidantes naturais, a utilizar como potenciais ingredientes no processamento alimentar. Conclusõ...

Artigo técnico sobre biofortificação de pera-rocha em cálcio. Publicado na revista "Frutas, Legumes e Flores": https://www.flfrevista.pt/sobre-nos/

Nowadays, there is a growing concern about micronutrient deficits in food products, with agronomic biofortification being considered a mitigation strategy. In this context, as Zn is essential for growth and maintenance of human health, a workflow for the biofortification of grapes from the Vitis vinifera variety Fernão Pires, which contains this nu...

The increasing consumption and popularity of Brassica vegetables can be linked to its nutrient composition and consequent health benefits. This review discusses the available evidence demonstrating the benefits of the Brassica family, particularly broccoli, and offers information to help ensure that public health messaging reflects current science....

Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, as near-fresh foods, are a quick and easy solution to a healthy and balanced diet. The rapid degradation of nutritional and sensory quality during the processing and storage of a product is critical and plant-type-dependent. The introduction of disruptive technological solutions in fresh-cut processing, which could...

Lactic fermentation of unripe green tomatoes as a tool to produce food ingredients is a viable alternative for adding value to industrial tomatoes unsuitable for processing and left in large quantities in the fields. Fermentation using starter cultures isolated from the fruit (plant-matrix adapted) can have advantages over allochthonous strains in...

Calcium is an essential nutrient in the human body, being its deficiency related to the development of pathologies such as osteoporosis. On the other hand, the food industry will have to focus on ways to guarantee the quantity and quality of marketed food products, especially when considering an increase in the world population in the future. In th...

The present study examines the impacts of supplementing yogurt with 1% whey protein concentrate (WPC), Ca-caseinate (Ca-CN) and Spirulina platensis on the physiological performance of V-line rabbits receiving diets containing yogurt (at a dose of 5 g/kg body weight/day) and the different meat quality aspects. The results show that fat content was h...

In fresh-cut vegetables, plant tissues are often challenged by (a)biotic stresses that act in combination, and the response to combinatorial stresses differs from that triggered by each individually. Phenolic induction by wounding is a known response contributing to increase products phenolic content. Heat application is a promising treatment in mi...

Seaweeds are a good source of several nutrients such as proteins, dietary fibers, vitamins (e.g. B12) and minerals (e.g. iodine) as well as bioactive compounds such as polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3). This study aimed to evaluate the potential of Kombu seaweed as a natural source of antioxidants, acting as a natural additive (...

As nowadays there is a growing concern about micronutrients deficiency in human food products, agronomic biofortification is being considered an enrichment potential technological option. In this context, to surpass limitations of Zn intake, ensuring proper level of this element for growth and maintenance of human health, this study aimed to develo...

Low dietary intake of Ca in humans has been epidemiologically linked to various diseases, which can have serious health consequences over time. Accordingly, the development of an agronomic itinerary for Ca bio-fortification of Rocha pears and the assessment of physicochemical deviations prompted this study. Two orchards with contrasting soil and wa...

Smoothies are a popular and convenient way for to consume bioactive compounds from fruits and vegetables such as total phenolics, carotenoids and flavonoids, with the preservation treatment being an important action to guarantee the safety and extension of shelf-life. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of heat treatment (HT) on...

In order to improve the overall quality of frozen carrots (Daucus carota L.), the degradation kinetics of several attributes were quantified during frozen storage under isothermal and nonisothermal conditions. The experimental results showed that the analyzed quality parameters were significantly affected by both tested frozen regimes. For both sto...

Queijo de Évora” is a traditional Portuguese cheese from raw ewe’s milk and granted with PDO label. It is ripened traditionally in rooms with empirical control of temperature and humidity. Nowadays, almost all cheese factories use rooms with temperature and humidity control, but still a significant heterogeneity among cheeses is acknowledged due to...

The present work aimed to evaluate, through thermal degradation kinetics (80 °C to 98 °C in time intervals of 0.5 to 25 min), the effects of different thermal treatments on the biochemical, physicochemical, sensory and microbiological parameters of two mixed fruit and vegetable pulps, a yellow and a red one. The evaluated fruit and vegetable pulps...

Tomatoes are a popular and rich fruit due to their nutritional and bioactive composition as vitamins, antioxidants, and phenolics contributing to the promotion of consumer health. For this reason, emerging postharvest technologies need to be evaluated to achieve the maintenance of sensorial and quality-related characteristics, like color and textur...

https://pt.calameo.com/read/000821192a1ebd4785d6f

http://www.tecnoalimentar.pt/noticias/desenvolvimento-de-um-produto-saudavel-chips-de-beterraba/

http://www.tecnoalimentar.pt/noticias/tratamentos-de-stress-abiotico-na-qualidade-sensorial-e-funcional-de-cenoura-minimamente-processada/

In this study we evaluated the effect of abiotic stresses, peeling and shredding, in different carrot tissues as a phenolic synthesis elicitor to improve bioactive quality of shredded carrot as a fresh-cut. The phenolic content (TPC) present in carrot peels (2954 mg kg-1) is up to 6 times higher than that of inner tissues (762 and 510 mg kg-1 for...

Previously optimised postharvest treatments were compared to conventional chlorinated water treatment in terms of their effects on the overall quality of tomato (‘Zinac’) during storage at 10 °C. The treatments in question were water heat treatment (WHT = 40 °C, 30 min), ultrasounds (US = 45 kHz, 80 %, 30 min), thermosonication (TS = 40 °C, 30 min,...

The effect of UV-C treatments (0.32, 0.97, 2.56, 4.16 and 4.83 kJ.m(-2) at 254 nm) on the physical-chemical properties [colour, texture, total phenolic content (TPC), weight loss (WL)], and mesophylic counts of whole tomato, was evaluated during 15 days at 10 °C. During storage, the Ctr samples acquired faster red colour than all UV-C samples (high...

This study evaluated the effect of water heat treatment (WHT, immersion in a water bath at 40C – 30 min) application in alternative to the conventional decontamination treatment of chlorinated water (150 ppm at 5C, pH 6.5 during 2 min) on tomato (cv. Zinac) at two maturity stages (turning and pink).Physiochemical attributes, enzymatic activities an...

Fresh tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most consumed fruits and the preservation of itsquality and shelf-life extension is a continuous challenge. An understanding of fruit deteriorationfactors allows the investigation of new approaches to reach this objective. Fruit preservationis achieved by destroying enzymes and micro-organisms, and...

Fresh tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most consumed fruits and the preservation of its quality and shelf-life extension is a continuous challenge. An understanding of fruit deterioration factors allows the investigation of new approaches to reach this objective. Fruit preservation is achieved by destroying enzymes and micro-organisms, a...

Consumers expect that food products will be safe and convenient to use and still have all the qualities of a fresh product. Foods often undergo processing, which has three major aims: to make food safe while providing products with the highest quality attributes, to transform food into forms that are more convenient or more appealing, and to extend...

Due to the many health benefits associated with fruits and vegetables, international dietary recommendations support their increased consumption. People ingest a vast diversity of pharmacologically active chemicals components, nutritional and medicinal, in the form of fruits and vegetables. The consumption of Brassicaceae in particular, contributed...

A termossonicação (TS) é uma tecnologia emergente que resulta da combinação da utilização de ultrassons e calor. Estudos anteriormente desenvolvidos demonstram a eficácia desta tecnologia sobre a inativação enzimática e microbiana [1], conduzindo a alterações mínimas em termos de sabor, textura e aparência nos produtos hortofrutícolas. Este estudo...

O processamento mínimo de cenoura ripada envolve operações de descasque e corte, cuja acção mecânica é responsável pela activação de diferentes vias metabólicas promotoras da rápida deterioração da qualidade em fresco, quer com origem fisiológica quer microbiológica. Por outro lado, uma resposta interessante a estes stresses (descasque e corte) ref...

Extension of fruits shelf-life is a continuous challenge for producers, distributors and industries. Ultrasound (US) is an example of emerging technology, which has the ability to inactivate microorganisms at room temperature, thereby avoiding the deleterious effects that heat has on the overall quality and nutritional value of foods. The involved...

Water heat treatments (WHT) are applied to fresh fruits for disinfection purposes as well as to promote changes to the biochemical pathways involved in the ripening process, resulting in remarkable beneficial effects on postharvest quality maintenance and storage life extension. The objective of this study was to evaluate the overall effects of WHT...

The effects of high O2 atmospheric treatment of whole 'Rocha' pear on subsequent quality and shelf-life of the fresh-cut fruit were assessed. Whole fruits were exposed to superatmospheric oxygen (ca. 100%) at 5°C for 30 days previous to minimal processing. Physical-chemical (soluble solids content, pH, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, whi...

Textural changes during fruit ripening have been attributed to pectin degradation due to pectic enzymes such as pectinmethylesterase (PME, EC 3.1.1.11). PME catalyzes the de-esterification of pectin, a complex mixture of polysaccharides, namely methyl esterified polygalacturonic acid, with the release of hydrogen and methanol, producing shorter cha...

Fresh-cut shredded carrot processing involves peeling and cut operations. These stress conditions promote several metabolic pathways which lead to fast quality deterioration (physiological and microbiological). However, advantages can be drawn from the use of these stresses due to the related effect of phenolic synthesis induction. Wounding induces...

Studies were undertaken on colour CIE L*a*b* values, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and drip loss alterations of frozen broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. ssp. Italica) stored at isothermal (-7, -15, and -25 degrees C) and non-isothermal (accelerated life testing with step-stress methodology; temperature range from -30 to -5 degrees C) conditions. The stora...

Os tratamentos de stresse abiótico tais como o choque térmico e a irradiação ultravioleta (UV‑C), constituem abordagens pós‑colheita, utilizadas para prevenir a degradação da qualidade de hortofrutícolas frescos e minimamente processados, podendo ainda atuar na indução da síntese de compostos bioativos. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os efeito...

Os frutos contêm na sua composição diversas substâncias, tais como carotenóides, vitaminas e compostos fenólicos (compostos não nutrientes das plantas), cuja capacidade antioxidante contribui, na alimentação humana para a redução do risco de doenças crónicas, especialmente as do foro oncológico. De entre estes fitoquímicos destacam‑se os compostos...

Response surface methodology based on a five-level, three-variable central composite rotatable design was used for modeling the effects of preheat treatments on fresh-cut “Rocha” pear quality. Studied variables were time (t: 0–150 min), temperature (T: 20–50C) and posttreatment storage time (St: 0–20 days, 5C). The quality-affecting parameters incl...

The effects of freezing process and frozen storage at isothermal (-7, -15 and -25 °C) and non-isothermal (accelerated life testing with step-stress methodology; temperature range from -30 to -5 °C) conditions on pumpkin quality were investigated. Storage temperature conditions were selected to embrace the limits practiced in the cold chain. Quality...

Abiotic stresses, such as heat shock and UV-C radiation, can be used to induce the synthesis of bioactive compounds and prevent decay in fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of heat shock and UV-C radiation stress treatments, applied in whole carrots, on the overall quality of fresh-cut carrot cv. Nante...

The effects of freezing process and frozen storage at isothermal (−7, −15 and −25 °C) and non-isothermal (accelerated life testing with step-stress methodology; temperature range from −30 to −5 °C) conditions on pumpkin quality were investigated. Storage temperature conditions were selected to embrace the limits practiced in the cold chain. Quality...

The effect of ozonated water (0.5 ppm/5 min, 5°C) as an alternative decontamination treatment to chlorinated water (150 ppm active chlorine/1 min, 5°C) was evaluated in fresh-cut 'Rocha' pear (quarters). The quality of the product was studied just after minimal processing and during storage at 5°C (13 days) by evaluating microbial (total mesophilic...

a b s t r a c t The kinetics of peroxidase thermal inactivation, total phenolic content degradation, and colour (CIE L*a*b*) and texture changes were studied in a temperature range of 70–90 °C for carrots (Daucus carota L.). Peroxidase inactivation, total phenolic content degradation and the lightness colour (L* parameter) change were successfully...

The effects of water blanching, freezing, and frozen storage during 400 days at three different temperatures (−7, −15 and −30 °C), on watercress (Nasturtium officinale R. Br.) colour Hunter Lab parameters, chlorophyll degradation, vitamin C content loss and peroxidase (POD) activity were evaluated. The blanching induced significant changes on colou...

The effects of water blanching treatment on peroxidase inactivation, total phenolic content, color parameters [-a*/b* and hue (h degrees*)], texture (maximum shear force), and sensory attributes (color and texture, evaluated by a trained panel) of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. ssp. Italica) were studied at five temperatures (70, 75, 80, 85, and 90...

IntroductionQuality and Safety of Frozen Fruits and VegetablesTraditional Freezing TechnologiesInnovative TechnologiesReferences

The effects of alternative decontamination processes to chlorine: ozonated-water (1 ppm/5 min), hot water (100 °C/45 s) and ultrasonication (45 kHz/1 min), applied pre- or post-cut in the technological diagram of minimal processing of carrots were tested. Ultrasonication in chlorinated-water and thermo-ultrasonication as combined processes applied...

Quality and safety attributes, like colour (CIELab parameters), texture (Maximum force – MF), total phenolics content (TPC), peroxidase activity (POD), microbial count and moulds & yeasts (Log10 cfu g-1) were determined on heat treated mature-green tomatoes at temperature ranging of 40 to 50 C and different times. Heat treatments (HT) did not affe...

The effects of blanching treatment on peroxidase inactivation, colour and texture of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima L.) were studied in the temperature range of 75–95 °C. Peroxidase inactivation followed a first-order Arrhenius model, where the activation energy and rate of the reaction at a reference temperature of 85 °C were 86.20 ± 5.57 kJ mol−1 and...

Recent developments regarding the antimicrobial properties of certain types of light sources have promoted a growing interest in these applications, especially with concern to their potentialities for food processing. Ultraviolet radiation in the range of 200-280 nm is lethal to most microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and yeasts. Fr...

Impulsos eléctricos, ultrasons ou raios ultravioleta são uma boa alternativa ao branqueamento conven-cional dos hortofrutícolas para congelação. ~ A congelaçãode produtos hortofrutícolas apresenta-se comoum dosprocessos de conservação maisutilizados,re-sultandona produçãode produ-tos deelevada estabilidade e com qualidadenutricionale sensorial supe...

The effect of mild heat pre-treatments on quality of fresh-cut ‘Rocha’ pear (Pyrus communis L.) was evaluated by response surface methodology (RSM) in different time/temperature combinations. Susceptibility to cut surface discoloration and changes in firmness, total soluble solids content (SSC) and pH of cut pears (quarters) were the measured depen...