Regarding food borne intoxications, the accumulation of biogenic amines must be avoided in all kinds of food products. Moreover, biogenic amines can function as precursors for the formation of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines when nitrite is present. To estimate the food safety of the dry fermented sausages available on the Belgian market, a screening of the residual sodium nitrite and nitrate contents, biogenic amines and volatile N-nitrosamine concentrations was performed on 101 samples. The median concentrations of residual NaNO2 and NaNO3 were each individually lower than 20mg/kg. In general, the biogenic amine accumulation remained low at the end of shelf life. Only in one product the amounts of cadaverine and putrescine reached intoxicating levels. Concerning the occurrence of N-nitrosamines, only N-nitrosopiperidine and N-nitrosomorpholine were detected in a high number of samples (resp. 22% and 28%). No correlation between the presence of N-nitrosamines and the biogenic amines content was observed. Although the N-nitrosamines could not been linked to specific product categories, the occurrence of N-nitrosopiperidine could probably be attributed to the use of pepper.

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Because of the need to abolish the castration of piglets without anaesthesia/analgesia, the pig industry is searching for a mode of action for the valorization of meat with boar taint, an off-odour in entire male pigs. Carcasses with boar taint were selected by means of sensory and chemical analysis, after which patties with different levels of tainted boar meat were produced, as well as cooked ham and Frankfurter sausages using different smoke condensates and cooking temperatures. For these products, i.a. orthonasal and retronasal boar taint odour were assessed by a trained expert panel.The results offer guidance regarding dilution of tainted meat (with < 400 µg kg-1 androstenone if skatole is low or < 200 µg kg-1 androstenone in concurrence with ≥ 37 µg kg-1 skatole) and the potential application of smoke condensates (e.g. Rudinsmoke C for sausages and Smokez LFBN for ham) as promising boar taint masking strategies.

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Market demand for palatable plant-based meat alternatives is on the rise. One of the challenges is formulating products with sensorial characteristics similar to conventional meat. In this study, the effect of myoglobin on the aromatic profile of plant-based meat alternatives was assessed. Plant-based burgers were made with soy-textured protein, supplemented with three levels of myoglobin (0, 0.5 and 1.0%, the latter two mimicking endogenous myoglobin levels in meat), and grilled for 12 min at 250 °C. To evaluate the aromatic profile of the compounds, raw and grilled samples were subjected to headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Principal component analysis (PCA) analysis was then performed to visualize the interaction between grilling and myoglobin addition, and the effect exerted on the resulting aromatic profile. Myoglobin significantly affected several classes of volatile compounds, either by itself or in conjunction with grilling. A notable increase in aldehydes and a decrease in hydrocarbons were noted after adding myoglobin. As expected, an increase in pyrazines was observed after grilling. The results suggest myoglobin positively influences the aromatic profile of plant-based meat alternatives, contributing to a profile closer to the one of conventional meat.

& In this preliminary study, an attempt was made to develop a simple yet reliable overall approach to quantification of piperine in pepper (Piper nigrum L.), and also in the other piperinecontaining spice compositions. Such an approach can prove useful for rapid screening of the commercially traded pepper (and other spices) in a pulverized form, with piperine as a single adulteration marker. The main features of this approach consist in a rapid (ca. 40 min) and exhaustive (as proved in a recovery experiment) extraction of plant material with use of Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE), followed by an easy thin-layer chromatographic quantification of piperine in the obtained extracts. Within the framework of this approach, dichloromethane (DCM) was selected as an extracting agent and the extraction temperature was fixed at 70 C. With use of the piperine standard, the calibration curve was developed and applicability of the proposed approach was tested upon the commercial samples of white and black pepper in a pulverized and peppercorn form. The piperine levels obtained with the commercial pepper samples remained in agreement with the data available from the literature. Moreover, the assumed quantification approach correctly differentiates between the lower piperine levels in an unripe (black) pepper and the higher ones in a ripe (white) pepper, and also between the lower piperine levels extractable from the whole peppercorn and the higher ones extractable from the ground pepper. Now on the basis of this preliminary study, a completely validated method of quantifying piperine in botanical matter with use of the proposed approach can be elaborated.