Horsemeat: The Way of the Future?

            Walking through the streets of Venice, Italy, I knew I’d eventually find a surprising difference between the Italian and American cultures.  Little did I know it would come by walking in front of a meat store and stumbling upon a depiction of a horse made using window marker.  After a careful inspection, I determined it was actually horse meat being sold on the other side of the window, something I’ve never seen in the states.  It’s just something I had never been exposed to in my life.  After more research, it turns out that horse meat is not as unusual in diets as I previously believed.  Although it’s considered taboo to eat horse meat in some cultures, the Dutch MMA star Alistair Overeem contributed his fifty pound weight gain of muscle to a diet in which horse meat was essential (1).

            From a purely medical standpoint, the consumption of horsemeat is highly endorsable.  This stems from the fact that horse meat helps prevent artery illness and cardiovascular diseases due to the low ration of fat to protein in horsemeat compared to that of beef.  The average horsemeat contains only 2.7 percent of the fat required in an average daily diet, while encompassing 20.6 percent of the recommended protein intake.  The average beef contains 22.1 percent of the fat required for an average day, while only providing 17.2 percent of protein nutrients.  The high protein to fat ratio places horsemeat as one of the healthiest types of meat (2).

            In 2002, a study was performed to determine the technological feasibility of using horsemeat to replace some of the beef in an average human diet.  Similar to how we have learned in our classes that olive oil must be robustly tested to pass as “extra virgin olive oil”, this paper dealt with comparing horsemeat to regular beef.  For comparing these two meats, many tests were run and analyzed.  First, the pH of a sample of each meat was sampled over fifteen days in storage.  To determine the hydroxyproline content (which corresponds to the collagen content) in both horsemeat and beef, a sample of each was prepared and read using visible spectroscopy.  The data collected was transformed into a standard curve to determine the hydroxyproline or collagen content of each meat.  Another test implemented by the research group dealt with the sensory analysis of the meats.  A group of panelists was selected to compare samples of the horsemeat and beef against controls of the raw meat color.  The panel also judged flavor, juiciness, and tenderness of the horsemeat and beef samples on a 10-point scale.  After all of the data from these tests and others not listed was collected, the research group performed statistical analysis on the gathered data.  Concluding the work done by the research group, horsemeat seems to be a possibility for replacing beef in a human diet if certain additives were incorporated into the horse meat to account for discrepancies with the quality of the meat (3).  How hard it would be to mass produce horse meat is still unknown.  Even if a method to mass produce horsemeat was discovered, whether or not cultures would adapt to eating horsemeat after considering it to be taboo is another obstacle horsemeat would have to overcome to be a substantial portion of any diet.

References:

(1) Alistair Overeem

 http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Horse-meat-diet-is-the-secret-to-Overeem-rsquo-s?urn=mma,158278

(2) Horsemeat as Precious Nutrition

http://www.pferd-und-fleisch.de/Horsemeat/index.htm

(3) Physicochemical, Sensory, Functional, and Microbial Characterization of Horse Meat

http://www.ufpel.tche.br/faem/agrociencia/v8n1/artigo07.pdf

The Supreme Sense of Smell

For years, the idea of artificial intelligence has been seen everywhere from national news to sci-fi conventions. We’ve all seen trailers for movies like I, Robot and A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and many have wondered if the human imagination (and a little bit of science) could create a robot that is superior to ourselves. Robots can already do everything from play the violin to bartend, and new innovations are being born every day. Regardless of the advances in technology we see, I have to ask myself: Will robots ever compare to humans?

The reason for my questioning might come as a surprise…it has to do with the sense of smell and the creation of the electronic nose. Dr. Michele Gregorkiewitz, of the University of Siena, works with microporous and mesoporous membranes, which are porous solids with pore sizes between 2 and 50 nanometers. The tiny holes in these membranes can be used for many purposes, but my favorite has to be as chemical sensors to detect smell. Did you catch a whiff of that? They can recognize smells.

Now, the human nose has about 5 million olfactory receptors and is able to recognize some 10,000 different types of smells (Alabama A&M and Auburn University). That seems like a lot for this device to match up to. However, the sensors in an electronic nose are receptive to the same types of chemicals that the human nose can sense. In the commercial market, electronic noses can have over 100 sensors with individualized responses. Each of these sensors has a high response to specific chemical compounds, but will also respond to a wide variety of other chemicals as well, leading to sensory overlap and the detection of tiny differences between similar smells (Iowa State University). Can you smell the difference between a dairy farm and a pig farm? Our noses have the ability to distinguish between these differences, but we'd probably just classify both as unpleasant. The electronic nose can distinguish between them and help us determine the exact chemical differences in the smells.   

While they certainly don’t look like human noses, the electronic kind have already been integrated into product development and quality control for many industries, such as beverage, food, and perfume. They can detect the types of aromas you should and shouldn’t find in wine and olive oil, and they can interpret this information into a graph showing what those scents say about the quality of the product. While the trained human nose may still be better at this type of quality control, I have to admit that the artificial nose does a pretty good job of imitating it.

 Electronic Nose Sensors

It’s amazing, but in the end I have to conclude that robots and electronics will never be quite as amazing as humans. Why? Because the human body is a myriad of functions, formations, and mysteries that we might never fully understand. Because every idea for a robot has come out of the mind of a human being, proving that a simple idea can turn into reality. Because even though we’re able to mimic and manipulate the biology of the body in a lab setting, the human being is more than just a network of chemical and biological responses. We’re more than just elements on a table, and definitely more than just a brain.

So the next time you take in the smell of something wonderful, remember that there's a device out there that can do the exact same thing your nose is doing, and might even be able to interpret it better than you do. That device just won't enjoy it as much as you will.

Non-artificial intelligence. Wins every time.

Resources: 
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/U/UNP-0066/UNP-0066.pdf

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1963C.pdf
http://www.chim.unisi.it/Emory_Unisi/2010/DidacticMaterials_file/MicheleGregorkiewtz_Presentation_03June2010.pdf

Preservation of the Past

Rome, or Roma in Italian, is everything I thought it would be: delicious food, phenomenal views, and a history like no other. The vast amounts of history that can be found in the artwork is unlike any other. I was completely overwhelmed by the collection of masterpieces in the Vatican, particularly the Michelangelo's The Last Judgment. I can't even begin to comprehend the thoughts of the genius Michelangelo during the years that he painted this fresco(wall or ceiling painting). Yet, as I stared deep into this piece, I couldn't help but think how our presence here was slowly deteriorating the colors of this piece so that future generations will be unable to enjoy the full affects of this piece.

            After being in the room that hosted this work, it was made apparent to me by our tour guide that photographs were NOT allowed. But why? How can one photo affect fresco? Well it can't. But if the millions (yes millions. In 2006 alone, there were 4.3 million people who visited the Vatican Museum) of people all decided to take a picture, it CAN. Photographs in a room as dark as this require flash to adequately capture the images. However, light emits UV radiation, which causes a pigment loss. As we all know, Michelangelo never exactly passed down his techniques to obtain such vibrant colors (since he was very proud and slightly insane), there is no way to exactly replace the colors lost to time.

            If that wasn't enough, just our mere presence is degrading the art. Humans naturally perspire and release moisture when we breath or open our mouth (that's why talking is prohibited). Enough moisture exposure can cause paint to peel or blister, resulting in a loss of color. Paint is very polar, and due to its large size, allows water to easily react.

Two very different structures of paint colors above.

            Just imagine how much moisture over 4 million people must produce in a year. In fact, the most famous cave frescos, the Altamira Caves, were damaged so badly that they were closed twice: once in 1977 for 5 years and once in 2002 for 8 years due to the damage on the paint from light exposure and moisture, even with a strict regulation on the number of visitors each year (the waiting list became so long at one point, that you had to book ahead 3 years!!).

Cave art from the Almatira Caves

             If we aren't careful, the pride of Italy, no the pride of the world may lose its luster for good.

Sources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/7814327/Spain-to-reopen-Altamira-Caves-despite-risk-of-destroying-prehistoric-paintings.html

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7330

http://www.vivilon.com/instruction-009.html

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/how-to-advice/paint-problems.shtml

And of course, http://www.wikipedia.org/ for background info

The Morning Pick-Me-Up

What comes to mind when you hear the word breakfast in the States? Waffles, pancakes, eggs, toast, and coffee. How the same word in Italy? Croissants, yogurt, fruit, and espresso. The common factor is caffeine in American coffee and in Italian espresso. What is the difference between the two?

First and foremost the way the two are produced differs greatly:

• Coffee is brewed with hot water and ground up roasted coffee beans. The hot water is allowed to mix with the ground coffee long enough to extract the flavor. Though, over-extraction can lead to the presence of unnecessary bitter flavors. The end product is a dark homogenous liquid.
• Espresso is also brewed with hot water and ground coffee beans. However, the method of brewing is unique. Hot water, close to boiling, is forced through finely ground and compact coffee beans, all under high pressure. This process creates a syrup-like drink with solids and liquids, as well as a top cream layer, which comes from the emulsification of oils into a colloid.

Nonetheless, both coffee and espresso are used as a pick-me-up. This comes from the presence of caffeine in both drinks. But do both contain the same amount of caffeine? If no, which one contains more?

• A standard coffee size is 8 ounces but coffees range from 6 ounces to 24 ounces nowadays. The amount of caffeine in a standard 8 ounce cup can range anywhere from 65 mg to 120 mg according to the National Coffee Association. The range is so wide because of differences in brewing time, water temperature, grind level, bean type, roast level, and etc.
• On the other hand a standard serving size of espresso is 1 ounce. There is not too much deviation from this size. And this standard contains between 30 mg and 50 mg of caffeine.

From the perspective of the beverage taken as a whole, yes coffee has more caffeine. But from the perspective of caffeine per ounce, espresso has more. Espresso has about 30 to 50 mg per ounce. Coffee contains 8.125 to 15 mg per ounce. Most often we drink an 8-ounce cup of coffee or a 1-ounce shot of espresso. Thus for our purposes, coffee has more caffeine. Even if you change it up a bit with a cappuccino, it will have less caffeine than a cup of coffee because it is simply a shot of espresso with hot milk and steamed-foam milk. In conclusion, this means we can drink even more espressos and cappuccinos while in Italy!

Caffeine Content in Espresso versus Drip Coffee:
http://coffeechemistry.com/index.php/News/Caffeine/caffeine-content-in-espresso-vs-drip-coffee.html

Is it True That Espresso Has Less Caffeine Than Regular Coffee?:
http://coffeefaq.com/site/node/18

The Al Dente Dilemma

After a week here in Italy, I think it is safe to say that everyone has noticed the difference in the quality of real Italian pasta as opposed to what we eat in the States. I never knew the true meaning of “al dente” until I came to Italy to eat my first plate of delicious pasta. Italian kitchens are able to achieve cooked pasta that retains some firmness and texture, rather than the soft, overcooked stuff that we Americans are accustomed to. Try as we may, it is not possible to achieve true al dente perfection from a box of dried Barilla pasta. Instead, we just get underdone pasta that remains crunchy and uncooked in the middle.

Evidently, it is essential to use fresh, not boxed or packaged pasta to create a true culinary masterpiece. So why is this? A Japanese study by Horigane et. al. took this question to the lab, measuring the moisture distribution and diffusion in cooked fresh, dried, and frozen spaghetti. Using magnetic resonance imaging obtained with an NMR spectrometer they observed the moisture distribution in the different kinds of pasta, which is a more specific measurement than the bulk moisture content of the sample. MRI also enabled them to analyze the diffusion of water through the pasta over time.

The researchers found that the water diffusion at the center of the pasta varied by type of pasta. At the core of al dente pasta is ungelatinized starch, meaning that the center of the pasta is not yet cooked, at which point the bonds between starch molecules would break and absorb moisture. For dried spaghetti, it took 4 minutes longer than for fresh pasta to obtain the appropriate moisture content at the center (>40% moisture). At this level, starch gelatinization is still possible, so the center of the pasta will still cook. Also, the diffusion coefficient, or the rate at which moisture spread through the pasta after cooking, was slower for the dried pasta than for fresh pasta. This is because the drying process involved in spaghetti manufacturing deteriorates the texture of the pasta by tightening the structure of the starch molecules. Fresh pasta achieves moisture homogenization following the cooking process, while dried pasta retains more of a dry center while the outside is cooked, leading to the above-stated crunchy al dente pasta. Essentially, the researchers confirmed that the al dente state is not achievable in dried pasta because it takes longer to cook the center, at which point the outside has become overcooked.

This article concludes that the moisture transport property of spaghetti is a key to the quality of the product. However, a different study investigated the use of natural antimicrobial compounds to improve the shelf life of fresh pasta, avoiding the issue of drying or freezing altogether. A summary of their findings can be found here: http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Natural-compounds-can-boost-pasta-shelf-life-Study

Reference:

Moisture Distribution and Diffusion in Cooked Spaghetti Studied by NMR Imaging and Diffusion Model

http://elbanet.ethz.ch/wikifarm/conde/uploads/GroupC/Paper.pdf

Cooking with olive oil

From Tom Muller’s book Extra Virginity, we got a glimpse of how olive oil is beneficial for health and its amazing curing ability. Those people who consume olive oil professionally would take 2 tablespoons per day. But as an amateur like me, who does love the special taste of olive oil, but finds it hard to just drink oil directly, trying to cook food with olive oil would be a better option.

Olive oil is at its best when it’s fresh and un-heated. And over-heating of the olive oil would damage the composition and lose some of the nutrition in the oil. In cooking, the concept smoking point is the temperature at which at cooking fat or oil begins to break down. When it breaks down, it gives food a burned taste. High quality extra virgin olive oil has a high smoking point because there is lower concentration of fatty acids; vice versa, the low quality blended oils have much lower smoking points. The IOOC states that the extra virgin olive oil has a high smoking point of 210^oC, and frying with olive oil for several times doesn’t give bad affects to the oil, unlike the seed oil. Because the virgin olive oil has highly monounsaturated fats, it keeps hydrogenation and oxidation away. So even highly heated, olive oil wouldn’t impact our health. This is pretty amazing!

Mediterranean diet is highly promoted to patients with heart disease, and also the public because it’s definitely a lot healthier. I like to add olive oil to my salads or fry vegetables with them, in the Asian way. Olive oil is better when cooked with vegetables, carbs, chicken (white meat) or fish because they don’t have a lot of fat, and the healthy fat in olive oil would give the dish not only a special touch of flavor, but also some great nutrition values. If cooking meat with olive oil it would seem a bit pointless because it has higher composition of fat and it won’t be much healthier when cooked with olive oil. My Asian way of cooking vegetables is just to simply stir fry string beans, broccoli, fungi, or Chinese cabbages with olive oil and salt. It would bring up the taste of the vegetable and a tint of olive oil flavor. Grilled asparagus would taste great with olive oil, then add some crushed garlic and salt. Yummmmm I’m getting hungry. I found the recipe of this delicious salad “chargrilled courgette with basil, mint, chilli and lemon” that's totally easy to prepare on BBC food. Enjoy!

Ingredients

·       6 courgettes, ends trimmed, cut into long strips

·       1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for dressing

·       1 fresh red chilli, seeded, finely chopped (or 5 tsp dried chilli flakes)

·       sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

·       ½ lemon, juice only

·       handful fresh mint, roughly chopped

·       handful fresh basil, roughly chopped

Preparation method

1.     Toss the courgette strips in a bowl with the olive oil (just enough to coat the courgette), chilli, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2.     Heat a ridged grill pan until smoking hot and griddle the courgettes in batches, about four minutes per side, being careful not to crowd the grill pan. They should be tender, but with a crunch to them in the middle. If the strips are not quite cooked, leave them on the grill pan for longer, but watch the heat as you don't want them to burn. Don't be tempted to move the courgette while it is cooking or you won't get the chargrill marks across the flesh. Drain on kitchen paper.

3.     Toss the griddled courgettes in the lemon juice, mint, basil and a good slug of your best extra virgin olive oil.

 Reference:

Heating Olive Oil 

http://www.oliveoilsource.com/page/heating-olive-oil

Chargrilled courgette with basil, mint, chilli and lemon

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chargrilledcourgette_85172

A Cup of Sweet Olive Tea

Ciao!

When I landed in Fiumicino airport after my 10-hour-flight, it didn't really hit me that I am actually in Italy. It was when I stood in front of the tall alter wall of the Sistine Chapel gazing at "The Last Judgement" by Michelangelo that I realized: Wow, I am in Italy.

Here are a few things about me: I love sugar, fashion, animals (cats!), and nature. Ever since I discovered a small cat shelter in the corner of the monuments at Largo di Torre Argentina, I knew I would return to Rome someday! While passionate for cats, I am also deeply in love with the nature of Italy: Fluffy white clouds, madly blooming flowers, and chunks of greenery blended in the landscape. The locals take good care of the plants and in return receive valuable gifts from nature, including fresh fruit, vegetable, honey, and especially, olive oil.

Though Mediterranean countries relied heavily on the fruits of the Oleaceae family, they payed little attention to the flowers and leaves. In China and Japan, my favorite flower Osmanthus fragrans, also known as sweet olive, is widely applied in food, cosmetics, and medicine for its fragrance and therapeutic properties. Belonging to the same family as olives, O.fragrans are used as the active ingredients of many perfumes due to its strong aroma. In China, people also use this strong fragrance in medicine to disguise bitter tastes and apply essential oils made from O.fragrans as insect repellents.

Osmanthus fragrans (sweet olive, tea olive)

Another well known name for O.fragrans, as referred by Tom Muller in Extra Virginity, is tea olive. Muller often notes how real extra virgin olive oil brings out hidden tastes in foods. Similarly, O.fragrans also enhances the flavors of green and black teas, bringing out a unique, fruity smell. It was said that drinking Osmanthus Tea can beautify the skin, boost immunity, and bring cardiovascular benefits. In a research carried by Hsin-Hsueh Lee and his colleagues, O.fragrans was examined for its neuroprotection and free radical scavenging effects. The study focused on the ethanol extract of O.fragrans (OFE) and experimented on primary cultured neurons derived from rat embryonic cortical brain cells. The final results suggests that OFE does protect the cortical neurons against 6-OHDA and glutamate-induced neurotoxicity, thus making it useful in preventing neurodegenerative diseases. Also, its high total flavonoid content explains its potential antioxidative and anti-radical scavenging abilities (Antioxidants and free radical scavengers are all contributors to the prevention of heart disease, stroke, cancer, atherosclerosis, and arthritis). Furthermore, according to studies by The Australian Centre for Complementary Medicine Education and Research, it is found that olive leaves have five times the antioxidant capacity of vitamin C! Isn't it surprising that these small, cream-colored flowers have such huge medical benefits comparable to those of olive oil?

Dry Osmanthus fragrans used in teas

In the language of flowers, olive symbolizes peace and Osmanthus symbolizes honesty or modesty. Here is a Clematis symbolizing the joy of travelers we all feel upon our arrival in Italy!

Clematis - the joy of travelers

References:

Neuroprotection and free radical scavenging effects of Osmanthus fragrans.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17846921

Everything is Chiral!

Tom Mueller’s Extra Virginity delved into the world of olive oil and the lives that flourish or disintegrate around it.  The book highlights how chemists are involved in the fight against and for the addition of regulations in the olive oil industry.  One such chemist, Alissa Mattei, has a flair for chirality and excitingly declares that “everything is chiral!”  


While I decidedly disagree with her on the matter that everything is chiral, I do believe that chirality can be found in everyday life.  First, you may be wondering what chirality is, so that you may discern whether my assessment is correct.  Chirality is a term that is used in chemistry that means the configuration or handedness (left or right) of an asymmetric, optically active chemical compound (Grazie dictionary.com!). This is probably one of the most important things about stereochemistry which was my FAVORITE part of organic chemistry.  No, stereochemistry isn’t the chemistry of an iPod or a boom-box, but it is the part of chemistry that deals with molecules in 3D space. We’ve all talked about stereochemistry, and it does make a difference in our everyday life, ever heard of the insidious trans-fat?  The ‘trans’ part doesn’t refer to a transmission or a trek across the country, it refers to the shape of the fat molecule.

Now, that is stereochemistry and chirality in a nutshell, but I must comment on the beauty of chirality.  To someone who doesn’t know about chirality, tons of molecules would appear to be identical; however, to the trained eye, seemingly identical molecules become left or right handed.  This makes significant differences in bio-organic molecules and how certain drugs may function.  For some drugs, the ‘right-handed’ molecule could cure an illness, but the ‘left-handed’ molecule could cause a different illness. Stereochemistry is definitely an important part of our everyday life.

Stereochemistry is definitely not a hard idea to grasp once you understand how to visualize 3D space. For me, it definitely helped to think of other things that are seemingly identical, but when you closely analyze them, they have small details in their orientation that make them different. An example that every person that has passed a 2^nd-grade art class would know is that scissors are “chiral.” Those bloody left-handed scissors you got stuck with were the bane of your six-year old existence, and scissors for a lefty could have developed into an irrational phobia.  Everyone who has taken an exam in White Hall knows that infamous row of left-handed desks.  Every left-handed person knows that on average they die earlier than their right-handed counterparts (this is disputed, but I frequently let my left-handed sister know of her ill-fated handedness). While chirality may be a fancier term that scientists use to describe left or right handed objects, it is a simple idea that we encounter on an everyday basis. 

What are some other object or examples of chirality in every day life?