Le Rose Alessia, Panza Olimpia, Caro Dario, Conte Amalia, Del Nobile Matteo Alessandro
Ecodynamics Group, Department of Physical Sciences, Earth, Environment, University of Siena, Piazzetta Enzo Tiezzi, 1, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Department of Science, Technology and Society, University School for Advanced Studies IUSS Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Foods. 2025 Mar 26;14(7):1159. doi: 10.3390/foods14071159.
Due to the increasing concern about the negative impact of the modern food system and the need to design foods to improve their healthiness and sustainability, in the current study, a fortified cheesecake was developed by using juice, peels, and pomace from prickly pears, which are fruit by-products rich in active compounds. After proper dehydration and being ground to produce a fine powder, some traditional ingredients were substituted with fruit juice and by-products. The water content loss during dehydration and the energy consumed per g of dehydrated by-product were assessed using a proper mathematical approach. A sensory evaluation was carried out using a panel test, thus verifying that the new dessert made with prickly pears was comparable to the traditional one; both recorded high scores of acceptability (sensory score ranged between 8 and 9). The centesimal composition of the two cheesecakes also demonstrated that the ingredient substitution did not affect the energetic value of the final product (290 vs. 248 kcal/100 g); on the contrary, it promoted an increase in carbohydrates (27.38 vs. 26.26 g/100 g), lipids (16.98 vs. 12.94 g/100 g), and total fibers (5.7 vs. 4.2 g/100 g). To demonstrate that the recycling of by-products from prickly pears could represent an advantage from an environmental point of view, a full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was carried out. In relation to this, three environmental impact categories, such as Global Warming Potential, Acidification and Eutrophication, which are associated with three different biowaste treatment options-such as composting, landfilling, and recycling-were assessed. The results from the LCA highlighted that recycling always emerged as the most sustainable biowaste management option. For all environmental impact categories analyzed, recycling resulted in an overall environmental saving (-7.63 kgCOeq/kg biowaste; -0.116 kgSOeq/kg biowaste; and -0.055 kgPOeq/kg biowaste). In addition, the comparison between the traditional cheesecake and the fortified one, in terms of impacts per kg of cheesecake, demonstrated that replacing food items with recycled biowaste may result in a general reduction in emissions and resources. Therefore, this case study represents a valid example of zero-waste production, offering a concrete suggestion as to how processed foods can be redesigned to make them healthier from a more sustainable perspective.
由于对现代食品系统负面影响的担忧日益增加，以及设计更健康、更具可持续性食品的需求，在本研究中，利用仙人掌果的果汁、果皮和果渣开发了一种强化芝士蛋糕，这些都是富含活性化合物的水果副产品。经过适当脱水并研磨成细粉后，一些传统原料被果汁和副产品替代。采用适当的数学方法评估了脱水过程中的水分损失以及每克脱水副产品所消耗的能量。通过小组测试进行感官评价，从而验证用仙人掌果制作的新甜点与传统甜点相当；两者的可接受性得分都很高（感官得分在8到9分之间）。两种芝士蛋糕的百分组成还表明，原料替代并未影响最终产品的能量值（分别为290千卡/100克和248千卡/100克）；相反，它促进了碳水化合物（分别为27.38克/100克和26.26克/100克）、脂质（分别为16.98克/100克和12.94克/100克）和总纤维（分别为5.7克/100克和4.2克/100克）含量的增加。为了证明从环境角度来看，仙人掌果副产品的回收利用可能具有优势，进行了全面的生命周期评估（LCA）。在此方面，评估了与三种不同生物废弃物处理选项（如堆肥、填埋和回收利用）相关的三个环境影响类别，即全球变暖潜势、酸化和富营养化。生命周期评估结果突出表明，回收利用始终是最具可持续性的生物废弃物管理选项。对于所分析的所有环境影响类别，回收利用总体上实现了环境效益（-7.63千克二氧化碳当量/千克生物废弃物；-0.116千克二氧化硫当量/千克生物废弃物；-0.055千克磷当量/千克生物废弃物）。此外，传统芝士蛋糕和强化芝士蛋糕每千克的影响对比表明，用回收生物废弃物替代食品项目可能会导致排放和资源的总体减少。因此，本案例研究是零废弃物生产的一个有效范例，为如何从更可持续的角度重新设计加工食品以使其更健康提供了具体建议。
