Quality Product (quality + product)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Relating Instrumental Texture, Determined by Variable-Blade and Allo-Kramer Shear Attachments, to Sensory Analysis of Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, Fillets

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 7 2010
Aunchalee Aussanasuwannakul
Abstract:, Texture is one of the most important quality attributes of fish fillets, and accurate assessment of variation in this attribute, as affected by storage and handling, is critical in providing consistent quality product. Trout fillets received 4 treatments: 3-d refrigeration (R3), 7-d refrigeration (R7), 3-d refrigeration followed by 30-d frozen storage (R3F30), and 7-d refrigeration followed by 30-d frozen storage (R7F30). Instrumental texture of raw and cooked fillets was determined by 3 approaches: 5-blade Allo-Kramer (AK) and variable-blade (VB) attachment with 12 blades arranged in perpendicular (PER) and parallel (PAR) orientations to muscle fibers. Correlation between instrumental texture and sensory hardness, juiciness, elasticity, fatness, and coarseness was determined. Muscle pH remained constant at 6.54 to 6.64. Raw fillets lost 3.66% of their original weight after 30-d frozen storage. After cooking, weight loss further increased to 15.97%. Moisture content decreased from 69.11 to 65.02%, while fat content remained constant at 10.41%. VBPER detected differences in muscle sample strength (P= 0.0019) and demonstrated effect of shear direction reported as maximum force (g force/g sample). AKPER detected differences in energy of shear (g × mm; P= 0.0001). Fillets that received F30 treatments were less extensible. Cooking increased muscle strength and toughness. Force determined by VBPER was correlated with sensory hardness (r= 0.423, P= 0.0394) and cook loss (r= 0.412, P= 0.0450). VB attachment is accurate, valid, and less destructive in fillet texture analysis. Practical Application:, A new shearing device was validated with sensory analysis. Settings and parameters obtained could be used to define fillet texture quality associated with muscle fiber orientation. [source]


Quality in the outsourcing process: part I. The quality outsourcer

QUALITY ASSURANCE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2001
Yvonne Russell Dr.
Abstract In clinical research, the definition of quality and overall responsibility for ensuring that performance parameters are adequately tracked and the necessary corrective action taken, lies firmly in the hands of the outsourcing project director/manager (outsourcer or sponsor). Meticulous planning of requirements prior to project start and strong ,general management' throughout the life of the outsourced project play a critical role in influencing both the outcome of the study and also in determining the quality of the research data. For ,quality in the outsourcing process', read ,quality outsourcing'. The implementation of a carefully formulated project-specific outsourcing strategy means that macromanagement (general management), not micromanagement (defined here as a form of ,intensive therapy for the ailing project' management), will be the primary task of the sponsor. A research team that is well-defined, with all members (sponsor and vendor alike) mindful of their individual responsibilities, in addition to being well-directed, will achieve consensus of opinion faster and deliver a quality product. An outsourcing strategy for the full clinical development program, clearly defined outsourcing standard operating procedures (SOPs) and a strategy tailored to each individually outsourced project form an integral part of the recipe to outsourcing success. Individual components of an outsourcing strategy and how one can safeguard that an outsourced project is brought to completion successfully, and to the prescribed quality standards, are addressed in detail in this article. Part two of this article, entitled ,Quality in the Outsourcing Process: II. The Vendor Selection Process and The Quality Vendor', will provide the quality outsourcer with tips and tools on how to make a quality decision in the vendor selection process and addresses further issues that are fundamental to the maintenance of quality in the outsourcing process. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Influence of postharvest water stress on lipoxygenase and alcohol dehydrogenase activities, and on the composition of some volatile compounds of Gewürztraminer grapes dehydrated under controlled and uncontrolled thermohygrometric conditions

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF GRAPE AND WINE RESEARCH, Issue 3 2007
L. CHKAIBAN
ABSTRACT Gewürztraminer grapes with a sugar content of around 212 g/L (21.7oBrix) were dried at 17oC, 40% relative humidity and 1.5 m/sec air flow in a 300 L thermo-conditioned tunnel. Control grapes were dried traditionally in a window ventilated room, under uncontrolled environmental conditions varying with outside climate. Tunnel-dried grapes reached the desired sugar concentration (305 g/L, 29.5oBrix) in 17 days, loosing 36% of their weight. Control grapes lost only 22% of their weight and grey mould developed in several bunches at the last sampling. Titratable acidity decreased for tunnel-dried and control grapes from 6.5 g/L to 4 g/L and 5 g/L, respectively. Lipoxygenase (LOX) activity declined in both samples from 120 to 90 U/mg protein dw, with a subsequent significant increase after 20% weight loss in tunnel-treated grapes while the control grapes showed a small peak (150 U/mg protein dw) at 13% weight loss. Six carbon compound evolution showed a loose correlation with LOX activity. Alcohol dehydrogenase specific activity and the concentrations of ethanol and of acetaldehyde plus ethyl acetate showed fluctuating patterns of change, with the evolution of these three variables showing similarity, particularly evident in the tunnel-dried grapes. Carotenoids declined significantly, to increase slightly at the end of the experiment in both samples, with the decline more rapid in the control grapes. Traditional, uncontrolled conditions, did not permit constant dehydration, and provoked a rapid stress to the berries (10% of weight loss). Controlled conditions permitted uniform dehydration, postponed water stress, giving a higher quality product without loss of berries. [source]


Local discourse and global competition: production experiences in family workshops of the Brianza

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2003
Simone Ghezzi
One of the most important consequences of post-Fordist global restructuring has been the ,deterritorialization' of capital and its increasing geographic expansion. Another and quite different view emphasizes the fact that capitalist activity can be organized by means of localized or territorially based systems of specialized production. In this article my purpose is to show how these two disciplinary discourses are actually not mutually exclusive. Developed local economies are not immune from concerns of deterritorialization, nor should their economic achievement gloss over the glitches that are emerging at the local level due to stiffer global competition. These two aspects become immediately apparent as I illustrate the local discourse that emerges among workshop owners within an industrial district of the Brianza in the Italian region of Lombardy. After a discussion about the origin and the characteristics of this regional economy, I illustrate by way of ethnographic examples how innovation and competitiveness within and outside this industrial district mask forms of exploitation and contradictions amidst family-run workshops. In discursive terms, exploitation is articulated in various ways, but two in particular seem to be most recurrent in the narrative of small entrepreneurs of this region. One is the ideology of ,hard work' and the other, more recently heard of, is the ideology of ,high quality product'. In the brief concluding section I will stress the point that these two discourses emerging from exploitative social relations of production are to be viewed as responses to the concerns regarding the possible deterritorialization of some factories and the increasing competition with crossboundary markets. L'une des plus importantes conséquences de la restructuration mondiale post-fordiste a été la ,déterritorialisation' du capital et son expansion géographique croissante. Une autre opinion, tout à fait différente, avance que l'activité capitaliste peut s'organiser grâce à des systèmes localisés,ou liés à un territoire,de production spécialisée. Cet article a pour but de démontrer que ces deux discours disciplinaires ne sont, en fait, pas mutuellement exclusifs. Les économies locales développées ne sont pas à l'abri de problémes de déterritorialisation, pas plus que leurs résultats économiques ne doivent dissimuler les complications locales qui naissent d'une concurrence mondiale plus dure. Ces deux aspects se dégagent immédiatement du discours local émanant d'artisans du district industriel italien de Brianza en Lombardie. Après avoir présenté l'origine et les caractéristiques de cette économie régionale, l'article illustre par des exemples éthnographiques les façons dont innovation et compétitivité internes et externes à ce district masquent des formes d'exploitation et des contradictions au sein d'entreprises familiales. Logiquement, l'exploitation s'articule de manières diverses, mais deux d'entre eles semblent revenir très souvent dans le récit des petits entrepreneurs locaux. L'une tient à l'idéologie du ,dur labeur' et l'autre, plus récente, à celle du ,produit de qualité supérieure'. Une courte conclusion souligne que ces deux discours issus de relations sociales d'exploitation industrielle doivent être considérés comme des réactions aux préoccupations liées à la déterritorialisation de certaines usines et à la concurrence accrue avec des marchés transfrontaliers. [source]