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Edible squash (Cucurbita pepo) flower is highly in demand in Mexico and internationally, but its high perishability limits marketing. An evaluation of the effect of storage under controlled atmosphere (CA) on physicochemical parameters and antioxidant compounds contents in squash flower was carried out. Male flowers were stored at 5C under a continuous flow of gas with one of four compositions: 5% O2 + N2 (CA1); 5% O2 + 10% CO2 + N2 (CA2); 10% CO2 + air (CA3); and air as a control. Compared with the control, the CA treatments had greater retention of total sugars, total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity and lower physiological weight loss. At 16 days, CA2 retained the highest amount of ascorbic acid (49.5%), polyphenols (65.2%) and carotenoids (72.8%). Application of CA2 or CA3 could prolong postharvest life in squash flowers up to 16 days. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSSquash plants are monoecious, bearing male and female flowers on the same plant. Female flowers produce the fruit, while male flowers are edible and used widely in a number of dishes, but their short shelf life limits marketability. The results demonstrate that storage of squash flowers in atmospheres with high (10%) CO2 concentration prolongs shelf life up to 16 days. bs_bs_banner Journal of Food Quality

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Several reports indicate that CLA, a fatty acid, has different beneficial biological activities. Milk and dairy products are major sources of CLA in the human diet. TVA is the main precursor of CLA. Synthetic CLA-fortified milk has shown off-flavors. Therefore, this study was undertaken to evaluate sensory properties of cream and butter made of milk from cows fed a control or a sunflower seed (11.2% dry matter basis) diet. Milk from cows fed the control and sunflower diets contained 0.54 and 2 g of CLA; 1.6 and 6.4 g of TVA; 34.5 and 42.7 g of unsaturated fatty acids/100 g of fatty acids, respectively. A sensorial evaluation performed by 66 non-trained panelists evaluated aroma, flavor and overall opinion of both, control and CLA-TVA-rich cream. In addition, aroma, flavor, spreadability and overall opinion were evaluated in both, control and CLA-TVA-rich butter. A nine-point hedonic scale was used for the analysis. The sensory evaluation did not show any significant (p>0.05) difference between control and CLA-TVA-rich cream or butter in the acceptability for all evaluated attributes, except for CLA-TVA-rich butter spreadability, which scored almost 8 points ("like very much") on the hedonic scale, 2 points more than the control butter. Most acceptability scores were between 6 ("like slightly") and 7 ("like moderately") on the hedonic scale. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) on the general preference between control and CLA-TVA-rich cream and butter. These results indicate that is feasible to make CLA-rich dairy products from manipulation of cow's diets with acceptable sensory characteristics.

Extruded blends (EB) of whey protein concentrate 35 (WPC 35)-corn starch-sugarcane bagasse with 0%, 25%, and 50% substituted yogurt formulations were evaluated for some functional characteristics. Yogurts substituted with EB showed higher viscosity and lower syneresis index than that without EB. During storage for 48 h, the syneresis values of yogurt with and without EB decreased. The pH values and color differences (ΔE) decreased slightly in the yogurts formulated with EB. However, the color differences were not statistically significant (p>0.05) and were also acceptable to the judges. In general, yogurts substituted with EB at different levels had sensory attributes of taste, acidity, texture, and viscosity scores similar to those observed for yogurt with no EB. Scores of yogurts were not affected significantly with substitution of EB at all the levels.