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Thistle flower (Cynara cardunculus) aqueous extracts, as rich source of milk-clotting peptidases, have been widely used for cheeses marketed under the Registry of the Protected Designation of Origin, as it is the case of Serra da Estrela cheese, manufactured from raw ewes’ milk and without addition of any commercial starter culture. This paper aims at studying the influence of six different ecotypes of thistle flowers in cheese properties during the ripening and of final products.

Cheeses were produced with different thistle flower extracts and then the clotting time, weight and colour of cheeses, as well as texture properties and sensorial characteristics, were evaluated.

The clotting time varied from 47 to 66 min, and the weight loss along ripening varied between 32 and 40 per cent. There was some influence of thistle flower ecotype on the colour during ripening and in the final product. The results of texture analysis revealed significant differences between the thistle ecotypes: crust firmness varying from 2.4 to 5.6 N; inner firmness from 0.82 to 1.82 N; stickiness from −0.5 to −1.60 N; adhesiveness from −3.0 to −11.3 N.s; and Ecotype C was particularly distinguishable. Sensorial evaluation revealed differences among the cheeses, with Ecotype C receiving the highest score for global appreciation.

The usage of different extracts of thistle flower to produce Serra da Estrela cheese with different properties is a novelty, and it allows the possibility of manipulating this parameter in the future so as to produce cheeses with specific characteristics, addressed to different consumer targets.

Bread is one of the most consumed foods in the world, and its main function is to provide nutrients and energy for the body. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to raise awareness about the consumption habits of bread and consumer preferences in the region of Viseu (centre of Portugal), assessing the extent to which the preferences and consumption habits differ based on individual variables.

The study was conducted by means of a questionnaire by direct interviewing. The questionnaire included sections aimed at gathering information about demographics, consumption habits and preferences related to bread. The sample consisted of 500 consented respondents.

The results showed significant differences between genders regarding the type of bread eaten: women consumed less wheat bread (52 per cent against 62 per cent; p = 0.029) and less unsalted bread (0.3 per cent against 3 per cent; p = 0.023), but more whole bread (25 per cent against 11 per cent; p < 0.001) and more bread with cereal grains (23 per cent against 11 per cent; p = 0.001), thus revealing a trend for a nutritionally more adequate choice. Accordingly, women valued more the composition of the bread when purchasing it (p < 0.001). It was also observed a trend for a lower consumption of wheat bread among classes with more advanced studies (47 per cent on university graduates against 60 per cent on nongraduates; p = 0.004).

This work is innovative because it was the first time the preferences and consuming habits of a sample of Portuguese population regarding bread were accessed, altogether. The results hereby obtained may be of importance both to understand the nutritional importance of bread in the diet of the Portuguese and also for the industry and manufacturers to better correspond to the buying preferences.

Because dietary fibre has been recognized as a major ally to the maintenance of a healthy body as well as to help against the development of some chronic diseases, this paper aims to study the level of knowledge of a relatively wide range of people about the health effects related to the ingestion of dietary fibre in appropriate dosages.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6,010 participants. The data were collected from 10 countries in three different continents (Europe, Africa and America) and measured the level of knowledge regarding different health benefits from dietary fibre. The questionnaires were applied by direct interview after verbal informed consent.

The results obtained considering the general level of knowledge revealed a considerable degree of information about the benefits of fibre (average score of 3.54 ± 0.5, on a scale from 1 to 5). There were significant differences between genders (p < 0.001), with higher average score for women, and also for level of education (p < 0.001), with higher score for university level. The living environment also showed significant differences (p < 0.001), with people living in urban areas showing a higher degree of knowledge. Also for countries the differences were significant (p < 0.001), with the highest score obtained for Portugal (3.7), and the lowest for Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia and Romania (3.5). However, despite these differences, the results showed that for all the countries the degree of knowledge was good (above 3.5), corresponding to a minimum level of knowledge of 70 per cent.

This work is considered important due to the wide coverage, including so many countries inclusive with different social and cultural settings. The study allowed concluding that, in general, the participants in the study were quite well informed about the benefits of dietary fibre for the improvement of human health, regardless of gender, level of education, living environment or country. This finding is very relevant considering the diversity of people that composed the sample and reinforces the necessity of continuing with educational policies aimed at providing the general population with the knowledge that might help them make appropriate food choices.

A healthy diet has been recognized as one of the most important factors associated with maintaining human health and helping in preventing the development of some chronic diseases. Therefore, this paper aims to study the perceptions of a sample of university people regarding a healthy diet.

It was undertaken a descriptive cross-sectional study on a non-probabilistic sample of 382 participants. The data were collected among a sample of Portuguese university people and measured whether people’s perceptions were compliant with a healthy diet.

The results revealed that the participants’ perceptions were, in general, compliant with a healthy diet (scores between 0.5 and 1.5, on a scale from −2 to +2). However, significant differences were found between age groups (p = 0.004), with a higher average score for young adults, and also between groups with different levels of education (p = 0.025), with a higher score for university degree. The variable chronic diseases also showed significant differences (p = 0.017), so that people who did not have any chronic diseases obtained a higher score.

This study is considered important because it provides evidences about the relation between nutrition knowledge and the perceptions towards a healthy diet. The study allowed concluding that the participants were aware about some nutritional aspects of their diets and, therefore, their perceptions were compliant with a healthy diet. This finding is very relevant because it could be a support for health policy initiatives directed at promoting healthy eating behaviours.

The purpose of this paper is to characterize the agricultural activities and past experiences in professional training in the context of mobile learning in different countries (Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Hungary, UK, Italy and Turkey).

For the survey, a questionnaire was prepared in English and Portuguese and then translated into the languages of the participating countries. It was delivered electronically for answering online by adults only. The participation was voluntary and in the end 133 consented valid questionnaires were obtained. For the treatment of the data, SPSS was used and basic descriptive statistics tools were applied, together with tests, namely, crosstabs and χ² tests, considering a level of significance of 5 percent.

The results showed that the majority of the participants presently have some agricultural activity and one-third is thinking about starting one in the future. Most of the participants want to produce food organically, with significant differences among the countries studied in this paper. Most of the participants were enrolled in training activities in agriculture, especially those with higher education. This participation showed significant differences between countries as well as according to the dimension of the farms owned by the participants. A significant association was found between being a teacher in forming activities related to agriculture and being a farmer. When compared to distance learning, the training activities in classroom were the most frequent, with significant differences among the countries.

This study allowed characterizing the learning activities in the field of organic agriculture and established vision for planning of future training programs, in different countries, with maybe different social, educational and cultural realities.

Because the study included the participation of people from several countries all around Europe, the results obtained enrich the scientific area of training in organic farming, in view of distance learning vs classroom learning on a more global basis.

This study to investigate several issues related to food choice and consumption patterns in different countries, including health-related factors; economic and availability aspects; emotional determinants; social, cultural and religious influences; marketing and advertising campaigns; and finally environmental concerns.

The present study was based on a questionnaire that was exclusively prepared for the project, and which was applied to collect data in different countries, in particular Croatia, Egypt, Italy, Greece and Portugal, which are typically associated with the Mediterranean diet (MD).

The results obtained allowed, in general, to conclude that in all five countries the motivations related to health as well as environment and politics were the more relevant to determine people’s eating habits (scores varying from 0.3 to 0.7). Women were more influenced by eating motivations than men, and people with moderate exercise were more susceptible to health and environmental motivations and less to emotional, social or marketing motivations (p < 0.001 in all cases). It was also observed that people who adopted a special diet were more prone to eating motivations and that the emotional motivations were more pronounced in people with eating disorders (p < 0.001). Finally, people without chronic diseases or allergies were even more influenced by health motivations than those who actually suffered from these health problems (p < 0.001 in both cases).

This work is important because of the multinational coverage, thus allowing to evaluate the most relevant factors that influenced the food choices of the populations around the Mediterranean Sea, sharing the common link to the MD. The study allowed concluding that, in general, the food choices were primarily determined by health factors and also by concerns related to the environment and sustainability as well as by political influences.

The Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest eating patterns and relies much on the regular consumption of fish, which is a source of unsaturated fatty acids, protein, vitamins and minerals. The purpose of this study was to describe and compare the macronutrients and micronutrients profile of 24 commercial fish species available in the Portuguese market.

A comparative study was undertaken based on nutritional datasheets provided by laboratories and based on the database of the Portuguese National Health Institute Doutor Ricardo Jorge.

The results obtained showed that while most of the fish species are low-fat, gilthead and salmon are considered high in fat, with salmon presenting significant amounts of unsaturated fatty acids. The blue shark shows the highest amounts of protein, whereas codfish shows significantly high levels of salt content. Sardine is much richer in terms of vitamins than the other species. With respect to minerals, there is a lot of variation among species. It is worth noticing the skate, with high amounts of sodium, calcium and phosphorous. Statistical analysis evidenced some relations between the properties evaluated, and it was possible to establish two distinct groups of fish through cluster analysis.

The species evaluated revealed a highly important nutritional value that should be an incentive to their regular consumption. Moreover, a lack of nutritional information about some micronutrients was found in several fish species, which should be studied in future studies.

This paper fulfils an identified need to compare nutritional composition of fish available in Portugal.

Understanding humans’ food intake practices is helpful in reducing health problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between eating behaviours and binge eating and to examine the influence of sex and weight status on these relationships.

A total of seventy-eight participants (39 with overweight; mean age: 38.1 ± 6.3 years; body mass index [BMI]: 25 ± 5.7 kg/m²) underwent measurements of binge eating, eating styles and body compositions. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to predict binge eating as a function of eating styles and demographic variables.

Women presented higher levels of binge eating symptomatology and emotional eating than men. The analysis showed that age and gender did not emerge as important predictors of binge eating. In contrast, emotional and external eating and BMI were found to be important predictors of binge eating. The results indicate that higher emotional and external eating behaviour with higher BMI are important risk factors for binge eating in a non-clinical sample.

In this study, BMI was used as a causal factor rather than a consequence of deregulation of eating behaviour. An individual’s tendency to binge eat may be determined by BMI, emotional eating and sensitivity to environmental food stimuli. Understanding sex differences and causal relationships between eating behaviours is critical for the prevention and treatment of obesity and related health problems and for proper dietary management.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain information to characterize potential trainees seeking training programs about organic farming in the form of mobile learning. This information is expected to allow for establishing a set of guidelines to design mobile training opportunities that could match the potential clients’ wishes.

For this survey an on-line questionnaire was used, translated into the languages of the participating countries (Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Hungary, UK, Italy and Turkey), and in the end 133 consented valid questionnaires were obtained. The data analysis was made with SPSS and included basic descriptive statistics, crosstabs and χ2 tests, considering a level of significance of 5 per cent.

The results obtained in the present study indicate that designing training programs in organic farming for a wide target population should attend to the differences between countries, which showed to significantly influence the preferences of the possible clients for this type of training.

This study provided valuable information for use in the preparation of training programs for adults who want to expand their knowledge on organic farming, in order to prepare courses more in accordance with their preferences.

The fact that the study was undertaken in several countries, including North, Central and South Europe, is a positive indicator that globally accepted courses could be implemented successfully. To the knowledge no such work was undertaken up to the present, thus confirming the originality of the study presented.