Every year, agri-food industries in industrialised countries produce approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food loss and waste. The adoption of a circular economy policy has received special attention by the agri-food industries, allowing for the creation and development of new food products made of by-products that would otherwise be wasted or used for secondary applications. The present work, of an exploratory nature, aims to assess how consumers conceptualise the circular economy in order to identify consumer recognition of the use of by-products from the food industry to upcycle food products and to evaluate attitudes towards the circular economy. To this end, a mixed-methodology was applied to 340 participants. The first part was qualitative and used free word association to evaluate consumers’ conceptualisation of the circular economy and use of by-products as foods. Data were analysed by grouping the responses into exclusive and exhaustive categories and a correspondence analysis was also performed to originate perceptual maps. Additionally, a questionnaire was designed to evaluate major concepts and attitudes correlated with the circular economy. Data were reduced by principal component analysis (PCA) and participants grouped through clustering. Results showed that consumers understand circular economy as related mainly into Sustainability, Economy, and Circularity dimensions. Participants had great difficulty identifying the by-products used as foods or as food ingredients. From the quantitative data, four groups were identified based on the associations to the six principal components originated by the PCA. However, the results highlighted a very low association with all clusters of the Food Valorisation dimension within the concept of the circular economy, and also a lack of a clear understanding of consumers’ attitudes towards food products from the circular economy. Greater promotion and dissemination by the competent entities aimed at the general public may contribute towards greater integration, participation and acceptance of the circular economy concept for the upscaling of food by-products.

Synthetic vitamin E is commonly used in aquafeeds to prevent oxidative stress in fish and delay feed and flesh oxidation during storage, but consumers’ preferences tend towards natural antioxidant sources. The potential of vegetable antioxidants-rich coproducts, dried tomato (TO), carrot (CA) and coriander (CO) was compared to that of synthetic vitamin E included in diets at either a regular (CTRL; 100 mg kg⁻¹) or reinforced dose (VITE; 500 mg kg⁻¹). Natural antioxidants were added at 2% to the CTRL. Mixes were then extruded and dried, generating five experimental diets that were fed to European sea bass juveniles (114 g) over 12 weeks. Vitamin E and carotenoid content of extruded diets showed signs of degradation. The experimental diets had very limited effects on fish growth or body composition, immunomodulatory response, muscle and liver antioxidant potential, organoleptic properties or consumer acceptance. Altogether, experimental findings suggest that neither a heightened inclusion dose of 500 mg kg⁻¹ of vitamin E, nor a 2% inclusion of natural antioxidants provided additional antioxidant protection, compared to fish fed diets including the regular dose of 100 mg kg⁻¹ of vitamin E.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore women's perceptions about the benefits and risks of fish consumption, while exploring differences on their views about wild and farmed fish, considering light fish consumers.Design/methodology/approach: The methodology adopted is exploratory, using focus group technique, segregating women by education level (higher education versus lower education). A focus group guide was designed, taking into account the following dimensions: attitudes towards fish consumption and perceptions towards farmed fish relative to wild fish, also considering risk perceptions related to farmed versus wild fish.Findings: This study has shown that fish consumers enjoy the taste of fish and they are strongly convinced that eating fish is healthy. The main reason for their low fish consumption is related to perceive lacking of convenience. Women with higher education levels expressed additional knowledge considering different aquaculture systems and women with lower education levels were convinced that both wild and farmed fish offer benefits and present disadvantages.Originality/value: The paper shows that attitudes of light fish users are partially similar to heavy fish users considering farmed fish production, with the search for convenience being driven by either perceived lack of time or perceived lack of cookery skills to prepare fish‐based meals.

Flow injection analysis (FIA) methods for the spectrophotometric determination of CO2 and SO2 in wines are described. The determination of CO2 is based on the colour change of a low capacity buffer (containing an acid-base indicator) due to the dissolved carbon dioxide. The determination of SO2 is based on the decoloration of malachite green by sulphur dioxide. Two FIA manifolds are presented; one for the determination of CO2 in sparkling wines and another for the simultaneous determination of CO2 and SO2 in table wines. The analytes are isolated inside the manifold from the sample matrix using gas-diffusion units. Regression equations (FIA versus reference methods) showed no statistical difference, at 95 % confidence level, between the two sets of results for both determinations; additionally, for the determination of CO2, recovery values between 93.5 % and 111 % were found. RSD lower than 4.5 % for SO2 and 2.4 % for the CO2 determination were found. The sampling rates achieved were: 30 h–1 for the uniparametric system and 40 h–1 for the biparametric system. The single determination manifold is applicable in the concentration ranges of 0.5 to 4 g L–1 of CO2, and the simultaneous determination manifold in the range of 0.25 to 3 g L–1 of CO2 and 0.05 to 0.3 g L–1 of SO

Paracentrotus lividus gonads are receiving increasing interest for their unique sensory attributes. However, the sensory profile of this highly demanded gourmet product has not yet been well described, and doing so may potentially benefit the gonads' marketability and acceptability. The main goal of this study was to build a sensory profile of sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) gonads, to evaluate differences between sex and harvest location. Eighty untrained panellists (regular consumers of seafood) were asked to evaluate four samples of raw sea urchin gonads (inside a sea urchin test), divided by sex and harvest location. The panellists evaluated overall liking and acceptance (Food Action Scale), followed by a Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA) ballot with a list of 22 sensory attributes divided into four dimensions: appearance (6), odour (6), texture (4) and taste (6). No significant effects of sex and harvest location were identified for liking, but a significant effect of the sex for the Food Action Rating Scale (FACT) was identified. Sensory profiling clearly separated gonads according to sex, with females being more appealing than males. Females were strongly correlated with a pleasant and intense tropical taste, as well as an overall appealing and grainy appearance and a pleasant tropical odour, while males had a slimy appearance and a milky white exudate. When compared with the Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) approach used in our previous study, the use of the RATA approach allowed to discriminate female gonads according to their origin, with those from Praia Norte being firmer, more resilient and more appealing than the ones from Carreço. This study reinforced the fact that female sea urchins tend to present an intense and pleasant tropical taste and a pleasant tropical odour, thus being more appealing to the panellists, contributing valuable information for future nutritional aquaculture studies aiming to enhance sea urchin gonads' attributes and, subsequently, their market valorisation.