How does the phytochemical composition of sprouts and microgreens from Brassica vegetables affect the sensory profile and consumer acceptability?

Pre- and postharvest strategies have been developed during the last decades to increase yield, quality, and bioactive compounds of sprouts and microgreens. Depending on the growth stage, especially in the first stages, the phytochemicals amount differs and usually affects the sensory profile and consumer acceptability. The aim of this work was to compare key biocompounds content (organosulfur compounds and total phenolic content) with their sensory profile in two growing stages (sprouts and microgreens) of five Brassica species (kale, radish, rocket, broccoli, and mustard). A penalty analysis with consumer study data was also performed to optimize their harvest time by avoiding undesirable intensity of sensory descriptors. An online survey was conducted in two Mediterranean basin populations (Italy and Spain) to fix these product intentions and consumption preferences. Brassica sprouts were generally richer in organosulfur compounds than microgreens of the same species. This study confirms that some organosulfur compounds and/or their hydrolyzed compounds are linked with spicy/pungent sensory attributes in brassicas sprouts and microgreens. The results reported provide useful information for microscale vegetable farmers as a tool to determine their harvest time according to the content and composition of phytochemical compounds

Combined effect of salinity and led lights on the yield and quality of purslane (Portulaca oleracea l.) microgreens

The present work aims to explore the potential to improve quality of purslane microgreens by combining water salinity and LED lighting during their cultivation. Purslane plants were grown in a growth chamber with light insulated compartments, under different lighting sources on a 16 h d-1 photoperiod\u2014fluorescent lamps (FL) and two LED treatments, including a red and blue (RB)) spectrum and a red, blue and far red (RB+IR) LED lights spectrum\u2014while providing all of them a light intensity of 150 umol m-2 s-1. Plants were exposed to two salinity treatments, by adding 0 or 80 mM NaCl. Biomass, cation and anions, total phenolics (TPC) and flavonoids content (TFC), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total chlorophylls (Chl) and carotenoids content (Car) and fatty acids were determined. The results showed that yield was increased by 21% both in RB and RB+FR lights compared to FL and in salinity compared to non-salinity conditions. The nitrate content was reduced by 81% and 91% when microgreens were grown under RB and RB+FR, respectively, as compared to FL light, and by 9.5% under saline conditions as compared with non-salinity conditions. The lowest oxalate contents were obtained with the combinations of RB or RB+FR lighting and salinity. The content of Cl and Na in the leaves were also reduced when microgreens were grown under RB and RB+FR lights under saline conditions. Microgreens grown under RB light reached the highest TPC, while salinity reduced TFC, Chl and Car. Finally, the fatty acid content was not affected by light or salinity, but these factors slightly influenced their composition. It is concluded that the use of RB and RB+FR lights in saline conditions is of potential use in purslane microgreens production, since it improves the yield and quality of the product, reducing the content of anti-nutritional compounds

A New Methodology for Vibration Error Compensation of Optical Encoders

Optical encoders are sensors based on grating interference patterns. Tolerances inherent to the manufacturing process can induce errors in the position accuracy as the measurement signals stand apart from the ideal conditions. In case the encoder is working under vibrations, the oscillating movement of the scanning head is registered by the encoder system as a displacement, introducing an error into the counter to be added up to graduation, system and installation errors. Behavior improvement can be based on different techniques trying to compensate the error from measurement signals processing. In this work a new “ad hoc” methodology is presented to compensate the error of the encoder when is working under the influence of vibration. The methodology is based on fitting techniques to the Lissajous figure of the deteriorated measurement signals and the use of a look up table, giving as a result a compensation procedure in which a higher accuracy of the sensor is obtained

Alumnado femenino en las enseñanzas de artes plásticas y diseño en el sistema educativo público español 1940-2015

This article is responsible for analyzing female students? incorporation to the teaching of Fine Arts and Design since the end of the Spanish Civil War to the present. The purpose is to examine the modest evolution of women in the education system during a time marked by the acquisition of rights. It also aims to analyse socially and qualitatively the place that women occupied and occupy in the configuration of a complex education system in our recent history. In this context, the most demanded artistic specialties by the female sex are analyzed in the baccalaureate, vocational training and non-university higher education courses.For this reason, we must conceptualize and situate these teachings throughout history and how the changes occurred during their evolution have affected female students. The teachings of Fine Arts and Design are heiresses to the reformist tradition that the Arts & Crafts Movement initiated in Europe by William Morris in the 19th century. For more than two hundred years it has evolved, always conditioned, by the instability of the changing Spanish educational system.Keywords: Education, women, artistic studies, art schools, plastic arts, design. http://dx.doi.org/10.7203/eari.9.1210

Recommendations for National Risk Assessment for Disaster Risk Management in EU

Union Civil Protection Mechanism Decision No 1313/2013/EU requires EU Member States and UCPM participating states to report to the Commission on their disaster risk management activities to support formulating an EU risk management policy that would complement and enhance the national ones. The aim of this report is to support the use of the new “Reporting Guidelines on Disaster Risk Management, Art. 6(1)d of Decision No.1313/2013/EU,” (2019/C 428/07) by relevant national authorities. This report is the second in the series of reports “Recommendations for National Risk Assessment for Disaster Risk Management”. The aim of this series of reports is to build-up a network of experts involved in the different aspects of the national risk assessment process. The European Commission Joint Research Centre joins national, regional and global efforts to acquire better risk governance structure through evidences, science and knowledge management. Risk governance facilitates policy cycle for the implementation of integrated disaster risk management. Risk Assessment is positioned at the heart of the policy cycle and provides evidence for DRM planning and the implementation of prevention and preparedness measures. This report explains the purpose and objective of each step of the reporting to give meaning and motivation to demanding risk governance processes. It collects the contributions of fourteen expert teams that prepared short step by step description of disaster risk assessment approaches specific for the chosen hazard/asset usable in the context of a national risk assessment exercise and addressed national risk assessment capability to be further developed in order to bring the evidence to next level A special focus is dedicated to capability needed to tackle climate change. The risks covered are of natural, anthropogenic and socio-natural origin: floods, droughts, wildfires, biodiversity loss, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, biological disasters, Natech accidents, chemical accidents, nuclear accidents, terrorist attacks, critical infrastructure disruptions, cybersecurity and hybrid threats.JRC.E.1 - Disaster Risk Managemen

Innovative Cooking Techniques for Improving the Overall Quality of a Kailan-Hybrid Broccoli

The microbial, physical, sensory and nutritional quality of boiled (vacuum and conventional), steamed, pressure cooked, sous vide, microwaved (sous vide and conventional), deep-fried (vacuum and conventional) and grilled kailan-hybrid broccoli (BimiA (R)) after cooking was studied. Sous vide microwaving greatly decreased microbial counts, achieving very low psychrophilic and enterobacteria counts (1.1 and 0.2 log CFU g(-1), respectively). Vacuum boiling and sous vide reduced the stem broccoli firmness by approximately 54-58 %, reaching a pleasant and moderate softening. Sous vide, grilling and steaming induced the lowest stem colour changes. Generally, all cooking treatments showed a good overall sensory quality. The total phenolic content (1,148 mg CAE kg(-1) fw) usually increased after cooking, with microwave and grilled treatments registering the highest increases up to 2-fold. Commonly, the total antioxidant capacity (296.6 mg AAE kg(-1) fw) increased after cooking by sous vide, microwaving and frying treatments registering the highest increments, by approximately 3.6-fold. Generally, the cooking process reduced the initial vitamin C content, with vacuum and conventional boiling showing the lowest and highest losses with 27 and 62 %, respectively, while vacuum deep frying preserved the initial value (1,737 mg kg(-1) fw). As a main conclusion, the studied grilling and vacuum-based cooking treatments resulted in better microbial quality, colour, stem firmness and sensory quality than the remaining ones. This maintained or even improved the total antioxidant content of the new kailan-hybrid broccoli studied.6821352149Sakata Seeds Iberica S.L.U.Fundacion Seneca de la Region de Murci