Sickonomics : Diagnoses and remedies

Original article can be found at: http://www.tandfonline.com/ Copyright Taylor & FrancisIn their recent analysis of the alleged decay in modern economics, Ben Fine and Dimitris Milonakis claim to find its source and origin in the "marginal revolution" of the 1870s. They argue that this development led to "methodological individualism" and the detachment of economics from society and history. I contest their account of the marginal revolution and of the role of Alfred Marshall among others. They also fail to provide an adequate definition of methodological individualism. I suggest that neoclassical economics adopted a denuded concept of the social rather than removing these factors entirely. No such removal is possible in principle. It is also mistaken to depict neoclassical economics as the science of prices and the market. In truth, neoclassical economics fails to capture the true nature of markets. I consider some sketch an alternative explanation of the sickness of modern economics, which focuses on institutional developments since World War II.Peer reviewe

Les agro-solvants pour l’extraction des huiles végétales issues de graines oléagineuses

Les huiles représentent une part importante du régime alimentaire chez l’homme et contiennent de nombreux nutriments essentiels. Les consommateurs se montrent de plus en plus attentifs aux mentions relatives à l’origine et à la qualité des produits qu’ils achètent. Quant aux industries, elles ont compris qu’il n’est désormais plus possible de produire sans penser à l’environnement. Cet article traite de l’utilisation d’agro-solvants afin de substituer l’hexane, solvant le plus largement utilisé pour l’extraction de graines oléagineuses. En effet, l’hexane présente de nombreux inconvénients, comme par exemple sa grande inflammabilité, sa dangerosité pour la santé et l’environnement et son origine non-renouvelable. Son utilisation dans le domaine de l’extraction est discutée depuis les années 1980, avec une intensité renouvelée depuis les années 2000. Une vue d’ensemble d’agro-solvants alternatifs est présentée

Stearic sunflower oil as a sustainable and healthy alternative to palm oil : A review

Palm oil is widely used in the food industry because of its lower cost, high oxidative stability index, long shelf-life, and a reasonable replacement of trans fats. However, increased palm oil production reduces biodiversity, damages the ecosystem, and poses health risks to humans. Unsustainable development of palm plantations has caused deforestation and loss of natural habitat, rendering many species (Sumatran orangutans, elephants, and tigers) critically endangered. Similarly, decomposition and burning of carbon-rich soil in vast and deep peatlands is increasing carbon emissions. Furthermore, excessive consumption of palmitic acid (and other saturated fats except stearic acid) increases bad cholesterol and the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, we need healthier, stable, and solid/semi-solid oils at room temperature with longer shelf-life and without trans fats. Here, we review the advancements in the development of sunflower oil varieties containing high stearic (similar to 18%) and high oleic (similar to 70%) acids which makes them healthy and sustainable alternatives to palm oil. First, the high-stearic-high-oleic sunflower crops can have grain and oil yield as high as 4036 and 1685 kg/ha and oleic and stearic acid yield up to similar to 73 and similar to 21%. Second, high-stearic-high-oleic oils obtained frommutant and hybrid sunflower cultivars have higher oxidative stability index and therefore have better stability, quality, and functionality than regular sunflower oil. For example, the oxidative stability index of commercially available Nutrisun at 110 degrees C is six times greater than that of regular sunflower oil. Finally, recent advances have made several mutant and hybrid cultivars with high grain and oil yield and high levels of stearic and oleic acids available. Given this progress, natural healthy high-stearic-high-oleic sunflower oil can now be grown in both the hemispheres in a sustainable manner with the currently available advanced technology and without damaging the ecosystem as is currently happening with palm oil cultivation

High Metal Chelating Properties from Rapeseed Meal Proteins to Counteract Lipid Oxidation in Foods: Controlled Proteolysis and Characterization

International audienceRapeseed meal proteins (RP) are enzymatically hydrolyzed using three individual proteases (Alcalase, Flavourzyme, and Prolyve) and the enzymatic mechanism is studied. Rapeseed hydrolysates are produced under controlled conditions and the Prolyve hydrolysate is separated by membrane filtration. Their capacity to reduce free radicals (by transfer of hydrogen or electron) or transition metals (by electron transfer) in the absence of an oxidizable substrate, their metal chelating capacity as well as the antioxidant performances in model (conjugated autoxidizable triene assay) are investigated. All hydrolysates show a reduction capacity (by transfer of hydrogen or electron) and antioxidant activities, in a dose-dependent manner, which are however not significantly increased in comparison to the native proteins. A noteworthy metal chelating activity of the peptides produced with Prolyve is highlighted. These results indicate the potential of valorization of RP as a source of high metal chelating peptides to counteract lipid oxidation in foods. Practical applications: Over the last decade, the antioxidative potential of peptides from plant biomass has been evidenced by much research. Considering the myriad of possible sources and the diversity of technology and means to obtain peptides from protein materials, it is reasonable to expect more applications. Concomitantly, preventing lipid oxidation, especially with the polyunsaturated fat-based products, is a major concern in sectors such as agri-food and cosmetic. Although the efficacy of synthetic antioxidants is recognized, both consumers and manufacturers are looking for more innovative, healthy, environmental-friendly processes and quality products. In this context, a controlled proteolysis of proteins from plant by-products can be used as a sustainable strategy to produce antioxidant peptides. Among them, new peptides released from rapeseed proteins with Prolyve can provide interesting metal chelators to counteract lipid oxidation in foods

Quelques éléments marquants de la 107ème réunion annuelle de l’AOCS (Salt Lake City, 1–4 mai 2016)

The 107th AOCS Annual Meeting and Expo held in Salt Lake City (Utah, USA) from 1st to 4th May 2016. As usual, this congress overviewed research in areas about lipids with up to 11 technical sessions in parallel. Note the holding for the first time a full session "Protein and Co-products" highlighting the rise of research on proteins. The aim of this article is not to provide a comprehensive account but to present the remarkable advancements within the sessions.La 107ème réunion annuelle de l’AOCS s’est tenue à Salt Lake City (USA) du 1 au 4 mai 2016. Comme à son habitude, ce congrès a balayé l’ensemble des domaines de la recherche concernant de près ou de loin les lipides avec pas moins de 11 sessions techniques en parallèle. À noter la mise en place pour la première fois d’une véritable session « Protein and Co-products » soulignant la montée en puissance des recherches sur les protéines. L’objectif de cet article n’est pas de faire un compte-rendu exhaustif mais plutôt de présenter les avancées remarquables dans les différentes sessions

Les agro-solvants pour l’extraction des huiles végétales issues de graines oléagineuses

Les huiles représentent une part importante du régime alimentaire chez l’homme et contiennent de nombreux nutriments essentiels. Les consommateurs se montrent de plus en plus attentifs aux mentions relatives à l’origine et à la qualité des produits qu’ils achètent. Quant aux industries, elles ont compris qu’il n’est désormais plus possible de produire sans penser à l’environnement. Cet article traite de l’utilisation d’agro-solvants afin de substituer l’hexane, solvant le plus largement utilisé pour l’extraction de graines oléagineuses. En effet, l’hexane présente de nombreux inconvénients, comme par exemple sa grande inflammabilité, sa dangerosité pour la santé et l’environnement et son origine non-renouvelable. Son utilisation dans le domaine de l’extraction est discutée depuis les années 1980, avec une intensité renouvelée depuis les années 2000. Une vue d’ensemble d’agro-solvants alternatifs est présentée

Phylogenetic overdispersion in lepidoptera communities of amazonian white-sand forests

In the Amazon basin and the Guiana Shield, white-sand (WS) forests are recognized as a low-resource habitat often composed by a distinct flora with many edaphic endemic plants. Small patches of nutrient-poor white-sand forests can pose a series of challenges to plants and animals. For plants, these challenges have been shown to function as strong filters that in turn drive taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic plant composition. However, very little is known about animal communities in WS forest and the effect that low-resource availability may have on higher trophic levels. Here, we investigate the diversity of both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of three Lepidoptera families' (Nymphalidae, Saturniidae, and Sphingidae) assemblages between low-resource (White-Sand Forest) and two adjacent high-resource habitats, terra firme clay and seasonally flooded forests. We found no clear effect of habitat type on taxonomic composition although butterfly and moth species abundance differed among the three contrasted habitats. The WS forest Lepidoptera community is significantly more phylogenetically overdispersed than expected by chance. We suggest that these low-resource habitats filter the number of plant lineages which, in turn, creates a bottom-up control structuring Lepidoptera phylogenetic structure. We recommend long-term sampling on Lepidoptera community both at larval and adult stages that may complement this study and test hypotheses linking herbivore phylogenetic structure to plant resource availability and trophic cascade theory

Influence of rapeseed meal treatments on its total phenolic content and composition in sinapine, sinapic acid and canolol

Rapeseed meal is the co-product of the pressing and de-oiling process of rapeseed seeds and is used as animal feed. Most of phenolic compounds remain in the meal after processing the seeds. While sinapine (sinapoyl choline), sinapoyl glucose and sinapic acid are naturally present in the seed, canolol (4-vinylsyringol) is formed during processes of pressing, oil extraction and roasting treatments via decarboxylation of sinapic acid. Canolol was recently described as a free-radical scavenger with various biological activities. One of the objectives of this work was the valorization of rapeseed meal as a source of canolol, this latter being produced through the transformation of sinapine and sinapic acid under hydration and roasting processes applicable at industrial scale. The parameters studied for the rapeseed meal processing were: (i) time of incubation after hydration: 0, 2 and 18 h and, (ii) thermal treatment: high-temperature steam (105 degrees-160 degrees C) or microwave roasting (160 degrees-180 degrees C). It was concluded that temperature, and exposure time in case of microwaves, were the most important factors in increasing concentrations of canolol in rapeseed meal. Incubation time after hydration did not influence the total phenolic compounds content suggesting the absence of endogenous enzymatic hydrolysis. However, it showed a particular contribution in sinapine, sinapic acid and canolol transformation during the microwave treatment. Finally, whatever the treatment, only a part of the sinapic acid initially present or generated during the processes, was converted into canolol