Brewing potential of strains of the boreal wild yeast Mrakia gelida

Demand for low- or non-alcoholic beers has been growing in recent years. Thus, research is increasingly focusing on non-Saccharomyces species that typically are only able to consume the simple sugars in wort, and therefore have a limited production of alcohol. In this project, new species and strains of non-conventional yeasts were sampled and identified from Finnish forest environments. From this wild yeast collection, a number of Mrakia gelida strains were selected for small-scale fermentation tests and compared with a reference strain, the low-alcohol brewing yeast Saccharomycodes ludwigii. All the M. gelida strains were able to produce beer with an average of 0.7% alcohol, similar to the control strain. One M. gelida strain showing the most promising combination of good fermentation profile and production of desirable flavor active compounds was selected for pilot-scale (40 L) fermentation. The beers produced were matured, filtered, carbonated, and bottled. The bottled beers were then directed for in-house evaluation, and further analyzed for sensory profiles. The beers produced contained 0.6% Alcohol by volume (ABV). According to the sensory analysis, the beers were comparable to those produced by S. ludwigii, and contained detectable fruit notes (banana and plum). No distinct off-flavors were noted. A comprehensive analysis of M. gelida's resistance to temperature extremes, disinfectant, common preservatives, and antifungal agents would suggest that the strains pose little risk to either process hygiene or occupational safety.

Underutilized Northern plant sources and technological aspects for recovering their polyphenols

Consumers worldwide are increasingly interested in the authenticity and naturalness of products. At the same time, the food, agricultural and forest industries generate large quantities of sidestreams that are not effectively utilized. However, these raw materials are rich and inexpensive sources of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols. The exploitation of these raw materials increases income for producers and processors, while reducing transportation and waste management costs. Many Northern sidestreams and other underutilized raw materials are good sources of polyphenols. These include berry, apple, vegetable, softwood, and rapeseed sidestreams, as well as underutilized algae species. Berry sidestreams are especially good sources of various phenolic compounds. This chapter presents the properties of these raw materials, providing an overview of the techniques for refining these materials into functional polyphenol-rich ingredients. The focus is on economically and environmentally sound technologies suitable for the pre-treatment of the raw materials, the modification and recovery of the polyphenols, as well as the formulation and stabilization of the ingredients. For example, sprouting, fermentation, and enzyme technologies, as well as various traditional and novel extraction methods are discussed. Regarding the extraction technologies, this chapter focuses on safe and green technologies that do not use organic solvents. In addition, formulation and stabilization that aim to protect isolated polyphenols during storage and extend shelflife are reviewed. The formulated polyphenol-rich ingredients produced from underutilized renewable resources could be used as sustainable, active ingredients--for example, in food and nutraceutical industries.

Red beet (Beta vulgaris) betalains and grape (Vitis vinifera) anthocyanins as colorants in white currant juice - Effect of storage on degradation kinetics, color stability and sensory properties

Red beet betalains, grape anthocyanins, and their mixtures were used as colorants in white currant juice. Storage stability of the compounds was evaluated using liquid chromatography and the degradation kinetic order and parameters were calculated. Degradation of betalains followed first-order kinetics, while the degradation of anthocyanins did not have any trend toward any order kinetics. The coexisting anthocyanins and their concentration affected the rate constant of betalains. Betalains degraded faster than anthocyanins, their mixtures promoted respective degradation. Pyruvate derivatives of anthocyanins showed better stability. During storage, all samples became more yellowish with CIELab method and lighter in color. In the projective mapping sensory test, samples were distinguished by the colorant type as the main criteria and the storage time as the second criteria. Anthocyanin (described as 'dark' and 'natural') was preferred by sensory panelists over betalain (described as 'pink' and 'unnatural'), as were the fresh samples over stored samples.

Impact of lactic acid fermentation on sensory and chemical quality of dairy analogues prepared from lupine (Lupinus angustifolius L.) seeds

Lupine (Lupinus sp.) is a valuable source of plant proteins. There is little knowledge on the impact of food processing on composition and sensory properties of lupine products. In this research, we investigated the impact of fermentation with five starters of lactic acid bacteria on the sensory quality and flavor-active compounds in dairy analogues prepared from sweet lupine (Lupinus angustifolius L.). The sensory qualities of unfermented and fermented products were studied with generic descriptive analysis and affective tests. Acids and sugars were analyzed with GC-FID and volatiles with HS-SPME-GC-MS and GC-O. Fermentation increased sourness and 'vinegar' odor and reduced the 'beany' odor and flavor as well as the unpleasantness of flavor. Formation of volatiles during the fermentation was dependent on the starters. However, all fermentations increased the contents of lactic, acetic, and hexanoic acids, while reducing the contents of hexanal, described as 'grassy' in the unfermented lupine sample.

Tannins of Conifer Bark as Nordic Piquancy-Sustainable Preservative and Aroma?

Bark of Norway spruce and Scots pine trees contain large amounts of condensed tannins. Tannins extracted with hot water could be used in different applications as they possess antioxidative and antimicrobial activities. The use of bark tannins as e.g., food preservatives calls for increases in our knowledge of their antioxidative activities when applied in foodstuffs. To assess the ability of bark tannins to prevent lipid oxidation, hot water extracts were evaluated in a liposome model. Isolated tannins were also applied in dry-cured, salty meat snacks either as liquid extracts or in dry-powder form. Consumer acceptance of the snacks was tested by a sensory evaluation panel where outlook, odor, taste, and structure of the snacks were evaluated and compared to a commercial product without tannin ingredients. Our results show that conifer bark tannin-rich extracts have high capacity to prevent lipid oxidation in the liposome model. The efficacies of pine and spruce bark extracts were ten to hundred folds higher, respectively, than those of phenolic berry extracts. The bark extracts did not significantly influence the odor or taste of the meat snacks. The findings indicate that bark extracts may be used as sustainable food ingredients. However, more research is needed to verify their safety.

The glycaemic and C-peptide responses of foods rich in dietary fibre from oat, buckwheat and lingonberry

Dietary fibre has a beneficial effect on metabolic syndrome, e.g. by influencing the absorption of glucose. The source and structure of fibre affect the glucose response. In this study, the glycaemic and insulinaemic response to oat bread, oat bread with lingonberry fibre, oat-buckwheat bread and buckwheat porridge were tested in a small-scale clinical study (KHSHP E514/09). Nine healthy volunteers consumed test foods after overnight fasting. Serum glucose and C-peptide levels were determined by colorimetric and ELISA methods, respectively, from samples taken at seven time points during 120 min. The mean glycaemic and C-peptide indexes (C-pepIs) were 32 and 100 for oat bread, 47 and 119 for oat-lingonberry fibre bread, 58 and 105 for oat-buckwheat bread and 71 and 77 for buckwheat porridge. Similar to rye, buckwheat porridge having a relatively high glycaemic index (GI) tended to have a low C-pepI. Buckwheat and lingonberry fibres provide new alternatives for low GI foods.

A Probiotic, Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3, Has Antioxidative Capacity in Soft Cheese Spreads with Different Fats

Our aim was to develop a prototype of a functional spread cheese containing both a specific probiotic and n-3 fatty acids and to analyze the viability of the probiotic and stability of n-3 fatty acids during 4 wk of shelf life. Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 (Lf ME-3) isolated from a healthy Estonian child has been shown to have probiotic and antioxidative properties in several recent studies. In the current study this promising bacterial strain was combined with vegetable oils rich in nutritionally important alpha-linolenic acid and with unflavored cheese to obtain soft cheese spreads with different fat contents. Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 survived well in all cheeses although the viable count did not increase during 4 wk of storage. The fatty acid composition of cheese triacylglycerols remained stable, whereas the profile of volatile compounds changed: hexanal and pentanal disappeared and the proportion of some alcohols increased. The changes in the profile of volatile compounds show the reductive power of Lf ME-3. A functional spread cheese containing n-3 fatty acids can be prepared with the probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 strain leading to a reduced need for chemical anti-oxidants.

Managing a virtual team of newspaper journalists: a case study

This paper deals with managing of the joint editorial office of three regional newspapers in Finland. Competition with new media has forced newspaper editorial offices to reorganize their activities to get new competitive assets to survive. Mergers and coalitions of media houses have become common in newspaper industry in Europe. For newspaper editorials, networking with other newspaper editorials is one way to meet challenges of media markets. This study was conducted in a joint editorial office that produces material for three newspapers. Results show that, in editorial work, a virtual team is a beneficial way of co‐operation. Journalists are used to work autonomously and independently, and therefore they adjusted to work in a virtual team, whose members worked de‐located. They found face‐to‐face meetings important, because in that way they could identify themselves as members of a specific team and bond relationship with other members.

Oral induction and consolidation of acute myeloid leukemia with etoposide, 6-thioguanine, and idarubicin (ETI) in elderly patients: a randomized comparison with 5-day TAD. Finnish Leukemia Group

In order to study the efficacy of an oral induction and consolidation regimen in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in elderly patients assessed not to tolerate full-scale intensive chemotherapy, 51 patients over 65 years of age with newly diagnosed AML were randomized to receive two cycles of either totally oral ETI (25 patients) or conventional 5-day TAD (26 patients). The median age of the patients was 73 years, range 65-87 years. Thirty-eight patients had de novo AML and the remaining patients AML subsequent to myelodysplastic syndrome ((n = 11) or treatment related AML (n = 2)). ETI consisted of etoposide 80 mg/m2 and thioguanine 100 mg/m2 twice a day on days 1-5, and idarubicin 15 mg/m2 on days 1-3, all given orally. TAD consisted of oral thioguanine and i.v. cytarabine, both in the dose of 100 mg/m2 twice a day on days 1-5, and daunorubicin 60 mg/m2 on day 5. The maintenance treatment was daily oral mercaptopurine 70 mg/m2 and weekly oral methotrexate 12 mg/m2. In the ETI group complete remission (CR) was achieved in six patients after the first cycle and in nine more patients after the second cycle. The CR rate was 15/25 = 60%. The corresponding figures for the TAD group were four and two remissions, CR rate 6/26 = 23% (p = 0.007). The survival was significantly longer in the ETI arm (p = 0.042). The median survival was 9.9 months in the ETI group and 3.7 months in the TAD group. There were no significant differences in the side effects between the two arms. In conclusion, the totally oral ETI regimen resulted in a significantly higher remission rate and longer survival than the 5-day TAD regimen in elderly patients with AML, with no more toxicity.

Corticosteroid is not beneficial in multiple-drug combination chemotherapy for multiple myeloma. Finnish Leukaemia Group

In a randomised multicentre trial a combination of methylprednisolone, vincristine, lomustine, cyclophosphamide and melphalan (MOCCA) was compared with the same regimen omitting methylprednisolone after the first course (COLA) in previously untreated patients with multiple myeloma. The MOCCA arm showed a response rate of 72% among 79 patients and the COLA arm a response rate of 60% among 59 patients. This difference was not statistically significant. The median survival time was 56 months in the MOCCA arm and 61 months in the COLA arm. There was a slight increase of early deaths (within the first 6 months) in the MOCCA arm as compared with the COLA arm. We conclude that, in multidrug therapies, the continuation of corticosteroid at conventional dosage beyond the first course does not improve response rate or survival time in multiple myeloma.

Treatment of multiple myeloma in old patients. Finnish Leukaemia Group

Patients aged 70 yr or older with multiple myeloma were treated, when suitable, according to concurrent trial protocols for younger patients, with the exception that the cytostatic regimen was not allocated at random. Intermittent melphalan and prednisone (MP) was given as the primary treatment to 42 patients and 5-drug combination MOCCA to 68 patients. The groups were comparable with each other, and the distribution of the clinical stages of the patients was similar to the younger patients in concurrent trials. An at least 50% response was achieved in 33% (SE 7.3) with MP and in 75% (SE 5.3) with MOCCA. The median survival times were 39 and 32 months, the relative age-adjusted survival times 45 and 41 months, respectively. Advanced age as such is thus no contraindication for active treatment of myeloma, and in suitable patients the results compare well with those achieved in younger patients.

Treatment of multiple myeloma with an intensive 5-drug combination or intermittent melphalan and prednisone; a randomised multicentre trial. Finnish Leukaemia Group

In a randomised multicentre trial a combination of methylprednisolone, vincristine, CCNU, cyclophosphamide and melphalan (MOCCA) was compared with intermittent melphalan and prednisone (MP) as primary treatment in multiple myeloma. In the MP arm the refractory or relapsed patients were treated with regimen MOCCA. The MOCCA arm produced a response rate of 75% among 64 patients and the MP arm a response rate of 54% among 66 patients. The median survival was 41 months in the MOCCA arm and 45 months in the patients primarily randomised to the MP arm. The initial response to MOCCA improved the survival, while this effect was not statistically significant in the MP arm. The results show that the median survival does not increase if aggressive chemotherapy is employed as the first line treatment in multiple myeloma.