The growing demand for nutritious foods has spurred investigations into alternative sources of nutrition beyond traditional options. For this reason, the present study approaches amaranth, which is a plant with high nutritional potential. Based on the unique pedoclimatic conditions of the Somes meadow in Transylvania and the known adaptability of amaranth varieties to diverse environments, we hypothesize that certain amaranth varieties of South American origin will demonstrate their potential for morphological development, grain biomass yield, and quantitative characteristics when cultivated in this specific environment. Our study aims to identify if, based on morpho-productive traits, the six amaranth varieties under investigation in a specific environment are suitable for consumption as functional food. A bifactorial trial was implemented with the following factors: amaranth species and amaranth varieties. Two species and seven varieties of amaranth were studied. Differences are reported between morpho-productive and quantitative traits of the seven amaranth varieties studied in this research. The Pearson simple correlations show that morphological traits moderately contribute to grain fresh biomass yield, while morphological traits and fresh biomass strongly contributed to grains dry biomass yield. Our study shows that while current research offers valuable perspectives on the performance and nutritional composition of amaranth varieties studied, there are recommended more studies conducted across diverse environments.

The aim of this study was to establish the optimal content of beeswax (BW) that can be added to a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix in order to obtain the maximum barrier effect against water vapor. The beeswax, ranging from 0 wt.% to 17.79 wt.%, induced surface heterogeneity and increased roughness. Although migration in all the studied simulants exceeded the limit of 10 mg/dm²/24 h, of all the prepared films, the most efficient ones were found to be those containing 12.63–15.5 wt.% beeswax, which exhibited 50% lower solubility in aqueous, acidic, alcoholic, and fatty food simulants than did neat PVA. The disadvantage is that the tensile strength of the films is 16 times less than PE and 8 times less than unchanged PVA when 12.63–17.79 wt.% BW is added. The water vapor transmission rate was 24 times lower than that of neat PVA and only 2 times higher than that of polyethylene (PE). Additionally, the results confirmed the separation of PVA and beeswax phases with the addition of more than 15.5 wt.% beeswax. BW incorporation modifies the high-temperature degradation pathway of PVA, leading to more substantial mass losses, but without compromising the overall thermal stability of the films. This is a preliminary study that established that the maximum hydrophobic effect is obtained at a beeswax content of 15.29 wt%. The preparation recipe must be optimized by testing with other hydrophobic agents that reduce migration in simulants and increase the barrier properties, and nanoparticles that increase mechanical strength.

This study aimed to investigate bioactive poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films incorporating three chemically distinct naturally phenolic additives—aronia extract (A), apple peel extract (AP), and rutin (R)—as individual functional modifiers for active packaging applications. Here, we studied how the chemical nature of these phenolic compounds influenced the physicochemical characteristics, structure, release behavior, and functional properties of the PVA matrix. The FTIR, SEM, AFM and XPS analyses revealed intermolecular interactions between the hydroxyl groups from the PVA matrix and the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups from phenolic compounds, a high degree of miscibility between them, as well as uniform dispersion of polyphenols in the PVA matrix. XRD analysis indicated the ability of phenolic compounds to change the PVA film’s crystallinity. The films showed very low permeability to castor oil and the UV-Vis light barrier property of the film modified with aronia extract was 47% higher as compared to the reference film. The phenolic compounds improved the antioxidant activity of the reference film by about 90% and inhibited the growth of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. The modified films proved their functionality by keeping the quality of the butter packed for 43 days, demonstrating their potential as active packaging materials.