Honey has been employed since antiquity due to its sensory, nutritional, and therapeutic properties. These characteristics are related to its physical and chemical composition. For example, phenolic compounds are substances that can determine antioxidant activity, as well as sensory characteristics, and can be employed as biomarkers of floral and geographical origin. This has generated a growing interest in the study of phenolic compounds and their influence in the intrinsic properties of this beekeeping product. This review aims to summarize, analyze, and update the status of the research that demonstrates the role of phenolic compounds in antioxidant activity, botanical-geographical origin, and the sensory characteristics of honey. These phenolic compounds, according to various results reported, have great relevance in honey’s biological and functional activity. This leads to research that will link phenolic compounds to their floral, geographical, productive, and territorial origin, as well as some sensory and functional characteristics.

Insects are currently of interest due to their high nutritional value, in particular for the high concentration of quality protein. Moreover, it can also be used as an extender or binder in meat products. The objective was to evaluate grasshopper flour (GF) as a partial or total replacement for potato starch to increase the protein content of sausages and achieve good acceptability by consumers. GF has 48% moisture, 6.7% fat and 45% total protein. Sausages were analyzed by NIR and formulations with GF in all concentrations (10, 7, 5 and 3%) combined with starch (3, 5 and 7%) increased protein content. Results obtained for the sausages formulations with grasshoppers showed an increase in hardness, springiness, gumminess and chewiness through a Texture-Profile-Analysis. Moreover, a* and b* are similar to the control, but L* decreased. The check-all-that-apply test showed the attributes highlighted for sausages with GF possessed herbal flavor, brown color, and granular texture. The liking-product-landscape map showed that the incorporation of 7 and 10% of GF had an overall liking of 3.2 and 3.3, respectively, considered as “do not like much”. GF can be used as a binder in meat products up to 10% substitution. However, it is important to improve the overall liking of the sausage.

This study was undertaken to explore how the use of pigmented corn as brewing ingredient influences the sensory profile of craft beers, by using both sensory and chemical analyses. Six pigmented corn and barley beers were brewed and then analysed to obtain their sensory characteristics, volatile composition and non-volatile (alcohol, bitterness, anthocyanins and polyphenol content) composition. ANOVAs, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multiple Factor Analysis (MFA) were used to visualise these data for exploring the differences between beers based on the type of malt and to characterise corn beers considering the relationships between their sensory characteristics and their chemical parameters. The sensory attributes such as fermented fruits, cooked vegetables, tortillas, bread, dried fruits and dried chili characterised beers made 100% with pigmented corn. Over 100 volatiles were identified by head space-solid phase micro-extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). Among them, phenols and terpenes were the groups of volatiles that better characterised beers containing corn. The content of anthocyanins in corn beers provide the ‘amber-red-cooper’ colours in beers and may prevent the development of off-aromas and tastes. The use of pigmented corn seems to be a good option to renew the traditional ‘Sendechó’ while preserving some of its sensory attributes.