Innovative Romanian Food Biotechnology

Physiochemical and antioxidant properties of Fenugreek and Moringa Oleifera seed oils, a comparative study

Fekria A. Mohamed — 2023-12-08

The current study focused on the extraction, physicochemical and oxidative characterization of fenugreek and Moringa seeds oils. The Moringa seeds (43.21%) produced significantly (P ≤ 0.05) more oil than fenugreek (5.58%). Fenugreek oil had significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher iodine (g/100 g oil) and saponification (mg KOH/g oil) values than Moringa seed oil (98.35 and 174.78, respectively), while acid and peroxide values were comparable. Furthermore, the viscosity of Moringa oil (71.55 Pa·s) was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher than that of fenugreek oil (63.18 Pa·s), while other physical properties such as refractive index and density were comparable. Moringa seed oil had significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher total phenols (39.17 mg GAE/g), total flavonoids (17.24 mg CE/g), and antioxidant activity (37.56%) than fenugreek oil. The phenolic components in both oils were examined using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In fenugreek seed oil, 20 chemical components were presumptively identified, such as 9, 12-octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z)-, methyl ester (41.23%), and 9-octadecenoic acid (Z), methyl ester (23.28%). While there were 21 phenolic compounds in Moringa seed oil, the predominant components included 9-octadecenoic acid (Z)-, methyl ester (41.21%) and docosanoic acid, methyl ester (18.45%). The Moringa seed oil outperformed fenugreek seed oil in terms of physico-chemical and oxidative qualities.

Statistical approach to assess the palm oil mill effluents biotreatment with Yarrowia Lipolytica

Yao Fulgence Koffi — 2023-12-08

The present study reports the biotechnological conditions of the biodegradation process of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) by using Yarrowia lipolytica MIUG D96 selected strain. For this purpose, a sequential statistical methodology, the Plackett-Burman Design (PBD) was applied for the selection of the biotechnological parameters that influence the process, aiming at enhancing the POME biodegradation. Among the tested parameters, the POME concentration, temperature, time, agitation rate, and inoculum concentration were identified as the most significant variables that influence the biodegradation process.

Transforming infrastructure into services: a case study of Metrofood-ro impact on the food and health sector in Romania

Elena Ungureanu — 2023-12-08

METROFOOD-RO is a Research Infrastructure operating in the "Health & Food" field in Romania, and it serves as an integral component of the pan-European METROFOOD Research Infrastructure (METROFOOD-RI). Its primary mission is to advance metrology within the food and nutrition sector. This infrastructure comprises a well-organized network with nine partners, including four universities, four research and development institutes, and one research center. These collaborative partners engage in research activities and provide advanced services for various user categories, such as academic and research institutions, food inspection and regulatory agencies, policymakers, food industry operators, and the general public. METROFOOD-RO offers a comprehensive range of services, including Food, Environmental, and Food Packaging Analysis. These services cover the analysis of contaminants, microbiological assessments, evaluations of nutritional properties, measurements of technological parameters, and detection of authenticity and fraud. Moreover, METROFOOD-RO is equipped to provide agro-ecosystem characterization services, with a specific focus on characterizing environmental matrices such as water, soil, sediments, and air, with an emphasis on identifying chemical and microbiological contaminants. The objective of this paper is to present METROFOOD-RO's service portfolio, categorized into food safety, food quality, food authenticity, nutritional properties, food packaging and agroecosystem.