There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

By Pierre Bourdieu (London: Routledge, 2010), xxx + 607 pp. £15.99 paper. A combination of social theory, statistical data, illustrations, and interviews, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judg...

Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste

The State of Food and Agriculture

The UK has passed legislation that introduces the world’s first long-term legally binding framework to tackle the dangers of climate change (The Climate Change Act 20084). The act requires Government to set carbon budgets, which are limits on greenhouse gas emissions in the UK for consecutive five year periods. 
Models analysed in IPCC AR4 have a range of 0-60% for an AMOC decrease over the next 100 years. The RAPID-WATCH 26˚N observations provide the only continuous measurements of the AMOC strength and vertical structure, and are thus a vital monitoring tool for this key climate variable'.
Analysis of the PSMSL data set, reviewed by scientific panels such as the IPCC, inform studies of impacts of climate change on both national and international levels (e.g. UK Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP), UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP), UK Foresight Flood and Coastal Defence Review, Charting Progress and Charting Progress 2, IPCC Working Group II).

Climate change impacts

The development of sustainable renewable polymers from natural resources has increasingly gained attention from scientists, engineers as well as the general public and government agencies. This review covers recent progress in the field of renewable bio-based monomers and polymers from natural resources: terpenes, terpenoids, and rosin, which are a class of hydrocarbon-rich biomass with abundance and low cost, holding much potential for utilization as organic feedstocks for green plastics and composites. This review details polymerization and copolymerization of terpenes such as pinene, limonene, and myrcene and their derivatives, terpenoids including carvone and menthol, and rosin-derived monomers. The future direction on the utilization of these natural resources is discussed.

Progress in Renewable Polymers from Natural Terpenes, Terpenoids, and Rosin

In the present study, apples of regional cultivars originating from Portugal were compared in terms of some chemical properties during three consecutive harvest years. It was possible to conclude that these regional cultivars of apples were generally sweeter and contained more minerals than other cultivars described in the literature. The data revealed that the acid, protein, and mineral content depended on the apple cultivar. The acid content varied notably with the 2004, 2005, and 2006 harvests. For total sugar or protein content, the variations observed were comparatively smaller. In the 2004 and 2005 harvests, the sugar and protein contents were similar but differ from the 2006 harvest. In respect to mineral content, the 2004 harvest registered the highest differences, and this was also the year when the apples had the highest maturation index, calculated as the sugar/acid ratio.

Composition of Regional Portuguese Apple Cultivars in Different Harvest Years

￻ Abstract—The textural parameters, together with appearance and flavor, are sensory attributes of great importance for the product to be accepted by the consumer. The objective of the present study was the evaluation of the textural attributes of Packhams pears in the fresh state, after drying in a chamber with forced convection at 50oC, lyophilized and re-hydrated. In texture analysis it was used the method of Texture Profile Analysis (TPA). The parameters analyzed were hardness, cohesiveness, adhesiveness, elasticity and chewiness. From the results obtained is possible to see that the drying operation greatly affected some textural properties of the pears, so that the hardness diminished very much with drying, for both drying methods.

Evaluation of Texture of Packhams Pears

This study investigated the knowledge and consumption habits related with white crowberries (“camarinhas” in Portuguese) among the Portuguese population. It consisted of a questionnaire survey, undertaken on a sample of 501 participants, higher than 18 years old. For the treatment of data, basic descriptive statistics were used, complemented with the Mann–Whitney U test to assess some associations between categorical variables. Moreover, a tree classification analysis was carried out using a classification and regression tree (CRT) algorithm with cross-validation and a factor analysis was also used to treat the data. The results indicated that the majority of participants know the “camarinha” berry but the level of knowledge decreases from senior adults to young adults. On the other hand, the knowledge and overall perception about their nutritive value, sensorial characteristics and health benefits are low. Regarding the consumption of crowberries, it was found that more than half of the participants did not eat them, and 31.9% ate them only around once a year, mainly fresh, being hand-harvested from the wild by the participants. Furthermore, it was observed that the Portuguese considered that the information about crowberries is scarce, which could justify that only a small part of the participants recognized this plant as vulnerable, due to loss of its habitat, mainly by human actions and owing to lack of information. To fill the gap of information observed in Portuguese people, it is hoped that the project (IDEAS4life) that supports this work could contribute to increase the knowledge about this species and also to alert for the need of preserving this endogenous plant of the Southern European Atlantic coast.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/12/5463/pdf

Knowledge and Consumption Habits Related with White Crowberries (Corema album L.)

Honey bee broods (larvae and pupae) can be consumed as human food, offering a rich nutritional value. Therefore, the objective of this work was to present an overview of the nutritional value of the honey bee brood and its gastronomic potential. The results indicated that honey bee broods are rich in protein (including essential amino acids), fat (essentially saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids), carbohydrates, vitamin C and those of the B complex, and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous. The results further highlight some variability according to the stage of development, with increasing content of fat and protein and decreasing carbohydrates from the larval to the pupal stages. The production of the honey bee brood in the hive, as well as its removal, can impact the wellbeing of the hive. This limits the production potential of the brood aimed at application for gastronomic purposes. The consumption and purchase of honey bee broods as food may be accessible in specialised markets where, for example, ethnic communities consume this type of food. However, in some markets, insects or products produced from insects are not readily accepted because of neophobia and disgust. The role of culinary chefs allied to traditional ways of preparing culinary dishes that include honey bee broods are relevant to motivate more people in western societies to consume of these types of food products.

/pdf/honey-bee-apis-mellifera-l-broods-composition-technology-and-2bfpg3pz.pdf

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Broods: Composition, Technology and Gastronomic Applicability

The role that insects will play in a healthier and more sustainable diet has been highlighted in the last years, at the European level. In future, due to environmental concerns and population growth, eating insects might be a solution for many problems. However, populations without the tradition of eating insects are still reluctant in accepting such a food as part of their diet. The present observational study highlights some factors that are influencing the acceptance of insects as food in Romania, in 2022. A number of 496 Romanian adults, 433 women and 63 men, with the mean age 39.3 ± 11 years, completed a validated questionnaire analyzing food behaviors, as well as attitudes and knowledge in relation to insects, including sustainability, nutrition and food safety aspects. Only 6.3% of participants had already eaten insects, while 43.8% claimed their openness to do it in future. Insect-based products were accepted more than insects that can be perceived as such. The most frequent words associated with insects were rather deleterious: disgust, odd, nausea, not to eat, or curiosity. Investigating the factors involved in insect acceptability in Romanians’ diets, we found a statistically significant correlation between openness to eat them and the knowledge about insects as being a valuable, sustainable and safe source of nutrients. Targeted education seems to be an important tool in accepting them as part of future diets.

/pdf/knowledge-a-factor-for-acceptance-of-insects-as-food-1m7hfga4.pdf

Raquel Guiné

Papers

Composition of Regional Portuguese Apple Cultivars in Different Harvest Years

Evaluation of Texture of Packhams Pears

Knowledge and Consumption Habits Related with White Crowberries (Corema album L.)

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Broods: Composition, Technology and Gastronomic Applicability

Knowledge: A Factor for Acceptance of Insects as Food