A Review on the Effects of Soccer Small-Sided Games: Over the last years there has been a substantial growth in research related to specific training methods in soccer with a strong emphasis on the effects of small-sided games. The increase of research in this topic is coincident with the increase of popularity obtained by specific soccer conditioning, which involves training players to deal with soccer match situations. Given the limited time available for fitness training in soccer, the effectiveness of small-sided games as a conditioning stimulus needs to be optimized to allow players to compete at the highest level. Available studies indicate that physiological responses (e.g. heart rate, blood lactate concentration and rating of perceived exertion), tactical and technical skill requirements can be modified during small-sided games by altering factors such as the number of players, the size of the pitch, the rules of the game, and coach encouragement. However, because of the lack of consistency in small-sided games design, player fitness, age, ability, level of coach encouragement, and playing rules in each of these studies, it is difficult to make accurate conclusions on the influence of each of these factors separately.

The research and development of alternatives to meat (including fish) and dairy products for human consumption have been increasing in recent years. In the context of these alternatives, there is a diversity of products such as tofu, tempeh, seitan, pulses, algae, seeds, nuts and insects. Apart from these, some products require new technical processes such as needed by milk drink alternatives, mycoprotein and meat, cheese and fish analogues. The aim of these analogues is to mimic the physical and organoleptic properties of animal origin products through fibrous composition and mix of ingredients from vegetable sources using adequate technology, which allow providing similar texture and flavor. Using a narrative approach to review literature, the objectives of this paper are to systematize the arguments supporting the adoption of meat, eggs and dairy alternatives, to identify the diversity of alternatives to these products on the market, including the related technological processes, and to project the challenges that the food industry may face soon. From a total of 302 scientific papers identified in databases, 186 papers were considered. More research papers on products associated with alternatives to milk were found. Nevertheless, there are products that need more research as analogues to meat and dairy products. A general scheme that brings together the main reasons, resources and challenges that the food industry faces in this promising area of alternatives to meat and dairy products is presented.

The aim of this study was to identify the acute physiological responses and activity profiles of football small-sided games (SSG) formats. Ten professional football players participated in 4 variations of SSG (2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-a-side) with an intermittent regime involving 3 × 6-minute bouts with 1 minute of passive planned rest in which the heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), activity profile, and body load were recorded. The higher percentage of maximum HR values were found in 2- and 3-a-side formats (p ≤ 0.05). The lowest RPE value was found at the 5-a-side, and the highest was found at the 2-a-side (13.48 ± 2.67 and 17.01 ± 1.80, respectively, p ≤ 0.05). The distance covered in the 2-a-side format (598.97 ± 78.91 m) was smaller than in all other formats. The 2-a-side format presented the lowest number of sprints (0.71 ± 0.86) and the 3-a-side the highest (2.50 ± 1.65). Statistically significant differences were found across SSG in the total body load. The 4-a-side presented the highest and the 5-a-side the lowest values (95.18 ± 17.54 and 86.43 ± 14.47, respectively). The body load per minute declined each 2 minutes of play. Maintaining a constant area:player ratio, coaches can use lower number of players (2- and 3-a-side) to increase cardiovascular effects but use higher number of players (4- and 5-a-side) to increase variability and specificity according to the competition demands.

The aim of this study was to compare footballers’ movement behaviour during 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-a-side small-sided games. Ten young professional players (age = 18.0 ± 0.67 years) participated in 3 bouts of each small-sided games for 6 min with 1 min of active rest between bouts. Positional data were collected using GPS system units and used to calculate the following variables: team centroid, distance between each player and own and opponent team centroids and distance between centroids. Approximate entropy was used to identify the time series regularity for each variable. The distance to own team centroid increased with the number of players (effect sizes from moderate to perfect). The results from the distance to the opponent’s centroid exhibited a similar trend. The distance between centroids decreased from 2- to the 4-a-side, but then increased in 5-a-side. A higher number of players were associated with lower approximate entropy values, suggesting higher positional organisation in small-sided games with more players. The highest movement regularity found in 4- and 5-a-side identified these formats as more adequate to promote team-related emergent and self-organised behaviours.

Spirits are alcoholic beverages commonly consumed in European countries. Their raw materials are diverse and include fruits, cereals, honey, sugar cane, or grape pomace. The main aim of this work is to present and discuss the source, quality control, and legal limits of methanol in spirits produced using fruit and honey spirits. The impact of the raw material, alcoholic fermentation, and the distillation process and aging process on the characteristics and quality of the final distilled beverage are discussed. In addition, a critical view of the legal aspects related to the volatile composition of these distillates, the origin and presence of methanol, and the techniques used for quantification are also described. The methanol levels found in the different types of spirits are those expected based on the specific raw materials of each and, almost in all studies, respect the legal limits.

Fucus vesiculosus is a brown seaweed rich in iodine, fucoxanthin, and phlorotannins, all known to be bioactive compounds associated with health-promoting events. The enrichment of a staple food such as pasta with seaweed flour, could convey health benefits without changing eating habits. In this work, F. vesiculosus flour (FVF) was incorporated into durum wheat pasta at 1, 5.5, and 10% gradient levels. The pasta enriched with FVF needed additional water during dough formation and required more cooking time, resulting in higher weight gain but also increased cooking loss (observed with 5.5 and 10%). The fracturability of raw pasta decreased for all the FVF pasta, though the cooked firmness and hardness were only affected with the inclusion of 10% FVF. The substitution of wheat semolina with FVF at a 10% level caused an increase in the pasta’s fiber content, which resulted in a more discontinuous protein–matrix structure, as observed at the microscopic level. Untrained consumers were very positive about the overall sensory traits of the pasta with low supplementation levels (1 and 5.5%). About 72% of panelists selected the 1% FVF pasta as their favorite sample. The utilization of FVF in pasta should be targeted at low inclusion levels to cope with the expected texture quality and prevent the impairment of the sensory traits.