The food industry is increasingly interested in ethnic foods that satisfy sophisticated appetite of today's consumers. Korean cuisine is recently gaining popularity and perceived as "adventurous and spicy," appealing to researchers and marketers in the food industry worldwide. However, it is not easy to develop a new product based on ethnic cuisine because nonsensory factors, such as food neophobia and openness to new culture, can evoke adverse responses from the consumers. A systematic sensory approach can guide the product development by identifying both sensory and nonsensory factors affecting consumer acceptability. This study investigated sensory attributes of Bulgogi (Korean traditional barbecued beef), one of the most famous Korean foods, and compared consumer acceptability between Korea and the United States. The outcomes of this study, such as flavor profiles, consumer responses, evaluation procedure, and approaches taken for cross-cultural comparison, will provide the food industries with valuable information that will help to develop effective strategies for commercializing ethnic foods including recipe development for Bulgogi marinades.
Amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide, one of the most important pathogenic traits of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), invokes a cascade of oxidative damage and eventually leads to neuronal death. In the present study, baicalein, wogonin, and oroxylin A, main active flavones in Scutellaria baicalensis, were evaluated for their neuroprotective effects against Aβ25–35-stimulated damage. All tested compounds decreased Aβ25–35-induced ROS generation and cell cycle arrest. In particular, baicalein exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity. In addition, these compounds suppressed apoptosis by attenuating mitochondrial dysfunction such as loss of membrane potential, Ca2+ accumulation and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Furthermore, all tested flavones inhibited the expression of iNOS and COX-2, which resulted in suppressing inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, NO, and PGE2. Noticeably, all compounds exhibited the anti-inflammatory effects through downregulating NF-κB/MAPK pathway. Especially, oroxylin A was effective against both p65 and IκBα, while wogonin and baicalein were suppressed phospho-p65 and phospho-IκBα, respectively. Taken together, baicalein, wogonin, and oroxylin A can effectively relieve Aβ25–35-stimulated neuronal apoptosis and inflammation in PC12 cells via downregulating NF-κB/MAPK signaling pathway.
The red ginseng extract (RGE) market is rapidly growing due to the consumer awareness of its superior health-promoting effects. However, little attention has been given to sensory properties that are a critical factor in determining quality and consumer preference. The results of this study will be helpful for researchers and manufacturers to understand the sensory characteristics of RGEs and to detect the driving factors of consumer acceptability. Also, the sample preparation and presentation procedures developed in this experiment will be used effectively in academia and industries to examine sensory characteristics of RGE products.
The objectives of this study were to determine how U.S. consumers perceive 6 Korean traditional beverages (Bokbunja, Hongsaam, Korean date, Omija, Sansuyu and Yuja) and to find out the influence of extrinsic information (name, nutritional information, picture of raw material and stories related to each sample) on acceptability, liking and intensity appropriateness of sweetness and bitterness, and emotion when consuming novel beverages. Bokbunja, Yuja and Korean date were samples received high acceptability, had adequate intensity of sweetness and bitterness, and evoked positive emotions. When the extrinsic information of the samples was provided, acceptability of all six samples tended to increase. Percentage of consumers who perceived the intensity of sweetness and bitterness of products as “just about right” increased when evaluated the samples in the informed condition. Also principal component analysis (PCA) biplot of emotions revealed the influence of information during evaluation. When tested in the informed condition, samples evoked relatively positive emotion compare to samples tested in the blind condition. The disliked products showed the greater increase of acceptability from the blind to the informed conditions. Practical Applications There is not much research conducted to evaluate acceptability of Korean traditional beverages with foreign consumers. In our study, we used these traditional beverages, which were still novel to U.S. consumers, and measured overall acceptability, liking and intensity appropriateness of sweetness and bitterness, and emotion using EsSense Profile™. Among six beverage samples we used, three samples (Bokbunja, Yuja and Korean date) received positive scores for all measurements. Also by comparing the results of evaluations conducted in blind and informed conditions, importance of information when evaluating the samples was shown. Our work provided the basis of launching favored Korean traditional beverage products in the U.S. market and demonstrated importance of the information when introducing the novel products to consumers.
The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the perception and attitudes of middle school students toward food safety between those who possess high behavioral intentions to prevent contracting a foodborne illness and those who do not. The survey collected 871 usable data from several middle schools in Seoul, Korea in July 2007. Using six behavioral intention measurement items, a two-step cluster analysis approach was conducted resulting in a strong intention group and a weak intention group. Perception and attitudes toward foods safety were different between the two groups. Students with strong behavioral intentions to prevent foodborne illness tended to possess a stronger perception and attitude toward various food safety issues. Students with strong intentions were more certain of consumer's right to purchase safe foods, more concerned about foodborne illness and food safety, believed that the government should put more efforts toward establishing a safe food chain, possess more distrust for food suppliers, were more aware of specific foodborne illness pathogens, had more food safety education/training, and washed their hands more frequently than those with less strong intentions. No significant differences were found between the groups but,overall, chemical residues and food additives were perceived as more harmful and more serious food safety issues than those of foodborne illness pathogens despite that microorganisms are the main cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in schools. Participants seemed to underestimate the importance of temperature control for preventing foodborne outbreaks. Several implications and suggestions on how to improve the behavioral intentions of middle school students to prevent possible foodborne illness were provided.
The authors investigated how often specific preventive measures against possible food terrorism threats were practiced in on-site foodservice operations and what characteristics those relatively well-secured operations possess. Information about 35 food biosecurity practices from six categories and nine operational characteristics were obtained from foodservice directors in health care operations and schools in Kansas during the spring of 2005. Basic descriptive analysis and canonical correlation analysis were used to address research questions. Based on the data analyses results, the on-site foodservice operations that were more cautious about possible food terrorism threats performed specific food biosecurity preventive measures more often.
Staphylococcus aureus, the species most commonly associated with staphylococcal food poisoning, is one of the most prevalent causes of foodborne disease in Korea and other parts of the world, with much damage inflicted to the health of individuals and economic losses estimated at $120 million. To reduce food poisoning outbreaks by implementing prevention methods, rapid detection of S. aureus in foods is essential. Various types of detection methods for S. aureus are available. Although each method has advantages and disadvantages, high levels of sensitivity and specificity are key aspects of a robust detection method. Here, we describe a novel real-time isothermal target and probe amplification (iTPA) method that allows the rapid and simultaneous amplification of target DNA (the S. aureus nuc gene) and a fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based signal probe under isothermal conditions at 61 °C or detection of S. aureus in real time. The assay was able to specifically detect all 91 S. aureus strains tested without nonspecific detection of 51 non-S. aureus strains. The real-time iTPA assay detected S. aureus at an initial level of 10(1) CFU in overnight cultures of preenriched food samples (kiwi dressing, soybean milk, and custard cream). The advantage of this detection system is that it does not require a thermal cycler, reducing the cost of the real-time PCR and its footprint. Combined with a miniaturized fluorescence detector, this system can be developed into a simplified quantitative hand-held real-time device, which is often required. The iTPA assay was highly reliable and therefore may be used as a rapid and sensitive means of identifying S. aureus in foods.
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