Artikuluak-Gastronomia

Food consumption, nutrient intake, and dietary patterns in Ghanaian migrants in Europe and their compatriots in Ghana

2026-06-06T06:15:35Z

Food consumption, nutrient intake, and dietary patterns in Ghanaian migrants in Europe and their compatriots in Ghana Galbete, Cecilia; Nicolaou, Mary; Meeks, Karlijn; de-Graft Aikins, Ama; Addo, Juliet; Amoah, Stephen K.; Smeeth, Liam; owusu-dabo, ellis; Klipstein-Grobusch , Kerstin; Silver, Bahendeka; Agyemang, Charles; Mockenhaupt, Frank; Beune, Erik; Stronks, Karien; Schulze, Matthias B.; Danquah, Ina Background : West African immigrants in Europe are disproportionally affected by metabolic conditions compared to European host populations. Nutrition transition through urbanisation and migration may contribute to this observations, but remains to be characterised. Objective : We aimed to describe the dietary behaviour and its socio-demographic factors among Ghanaian migrants in Europe and their compatriots living different Ghanaian settings. Methods : The multi-centre, cross-sectional RODAM (Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants) study was conducted among Ghanaian adults in rural and urban Ghana, and Europe. Dietary patterns were identified by principal component analysis. Results : Contributions of macronutrient to the daily energy intake was different across the three study sites. Three dietary patterns were identified. Adherence to the ‘mixed’ pattern was associated with female sex, higher education, and European residency. The ‘rice, pasta, meat, and fish’ pattern was associated with male sex, younger age, higher education, and urban Ghanaian environment. Adherence to the ‘roots, tubers, and plantain’ pattern was mainly related to rural Ghanaian residency. Conclusion : We observed differences in food preferences across study sites: in rural Ghana, diet concentrated on starchy foods; in urban Ghana, nutrition was dominated by animal-based products; and in Europe, diet appeared to be highly diverse.

Prebiotic effects of a mixture of agavins and green banana flour in a mouse model of obesity

2026-06-05T06:15:33Z

Prebiotic effects of a mixture of agavins and green banana flour in a mouse model of obesity Alvarado-Jasso, Guadalupe Monserrat; Camacho Díaz, Brenda Hildeliza; Arenas Ocampo, Martha; Jiménez-Ferrer, Jesús Enrique; Mora-Escobedo, Rosalva; Osorio-Díaz, Perla Dietary fibers from agavins and green banana flour are resistant to digestion but promote beneficial fermentation by gut microbiota. Therefore, the main of this work was evaluate potential synergistic effects of AV and BF on energy intake; body weight gain; metabolic markers, and gut short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels in ad libitum-fed, obese mice. C57BL/6 male mice were fed a standard (ST) or high-fat (HF) diet, supplemented with agavins (AV), green banana flour (BF), or with the mixture (MX). As relevant results HF diet-fed mouse showed a significant increase in body weight, and decrease in SCFA (t-test, p < 0.05). Mice fed with BF diet significantly decreased body weight and metabolic markers (p < 0.05). The use of a combination of AV and BF offer synergistic protection against the metabolic sequelae of obesity and warrant consideration as interventions against obesity-related disorders.

Sprouted grains in product development. Case studies of sprouted wheat for baking flours and fermented beverages

2026-06-04T06:15:42Z

Sprouted grains in product development. Case studies of sprouted wheat for baking flours and fermented beverages Peñaranda, Jerson Duvan; Bueno Tarodo, Marta; alvarez, francisco; PEREZ MIRANDA, DAVID PATRICIO; Perezábad, Laura Sprouted grains are a new addition to the food industry, being used as an ingredient in multiple food product developments because of their high nutritional value, interesting technological properties and sensory attributes. The germination conditions are decisive to produce appropriate physical and biochemical changes, that are responsible for ensuring the quality of sprouted grains and their particular characteristics to be used as food ingredients. However, there are a wide variety of conditions involved in the process and little is known yet about the optimization of these parameters of germination. In addition, bad practices during production could cause a high health risk by increasing the availability of nutrients for certain microorganisms and reducing barriers against them. In this article, sprouted wheat is chosen as being the most important staple food crop for more than one-third of the world’s population. Two case studies of sprouted wheat are presented: the effect of wheat germination time for producing new baking flours; and the evaluation of the microbiological risk of homemade Rej uvelac -a sprouted wheat-based fermented drink-, to develop a protocol for safety production. The properties of sprouted grains are emphasized with the purpose of inspiring innovative food products in the upcoming years.

Microbial diversity in dry-cured Iberian ham: an approach to the concept of microbial terroir

2026-06-04T06:15:41Z

Microbial diversity in dry-cured Iberian ham: an approach to the concept of microbial terroir Martín Miguélez, José María; Perezábad, Laura; Delgado, Josué; Cebrián, Eva; Andrade, Maria J Microbial terroir has been scarcely studied in the dry-cured ham industry. The microbial population and ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination in two Spanish facilities located in a specific geographical region (Salamanca) with differences in the environmental conditions used for the ham processing were evaluated for establishing the microbial terroir. Differences between the levels of Gram-positive catalase-positive cocci (GCC+), lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yeasts and moulds were found at the processing stage (post-salting, drying and cellar) and facility levels. Such variations could be responsible for the development of different flavour profiles, which indicate their potential functionality for determining the microbial terroir in the artisan dry-cured Iberian ham industry, despite the fact that this work constitutes a preliminary study. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the differences in the microbial population throughout the processing of both sampled facilities could directly impact on one of the main concerns of the meat industry from the food safety point of view consisting of the accumulation of OTA, since differences in its levels were detected between both checked facilities. These findings could lead to the enforcement of the terroir concept in artisan dry-cured Iberian ham elaboration, resulting in a value enhancement that might be reflected in economic and social positive results for the territory. Nevertheless, microbial terroir in the dry-cured Iberian ham must be further explored by the increase of the number of studied facilities.