Conference Agenda

The control of adulteration in dairy products requires rapid, accurate, and non-destructive methods to ensure authenticity and quality. This study aimed to detect starch adulteration levels in soft cheese using NIR spectra (700–1000 nm) acquired through hyperspectral imaging (HSI) and machine learning models. A total of 20 averaged spectra were collected across five adulteration levels, and eight representative models were trained, ranging from penalized regression approaches to non-linear methods. Results show that Elastic Net achieved the highest performance (R²_test = 0.986, RMSE = 0.628), outperforming Lasso and Ridge, while more complex models such as Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, and MLP exhibited overfitting. After hyperparameter optimization via Grid Search, Ridge reached R²_test = 0.981 and RMSE = 0.739, confirming the robustness of penalized linear methods when working with reduced datasets. These findings indicate that the combination of NIR spectroscopy and regularized regression provides an efficient and feasible tool for the rapid detection of starch adulteration in soft cheese, enabling future applications in in-plant quality control and routine monitoring.

Biochar is a carbon-rich material, such as wood or agricultural or livestock waste, which, when pyrolyzed, acquires characteristics of great interest to agriculture. These include increased microbiota, improved nutrient availability, and soil water retention.

The double burden of malnutrition in Ecuador constitutes a major public health challenge characterized by the coexistence of chronic undernutrition and excess weight in childhood. Chronic malnutrition affects approximately 23% of children under five years of age, mainly due to diets deficient in essential nutrients, while overweight and obesity reach a prevalence of 35% among schoolchildren, largely associated with the excessive consumption of energy-dense, ultra-processed foods. Herein, the development of nutritionally improved foods using locally available raw materials represents a relevant strategy to address both forms of malnutrition. This study aimed to develop nutrient-enriched cookies through partial and total substitution of wheat flour with cereal–legume flour blends to improve their nutritional profile. Two composite flours were formulated: M1, composed of 10% quinoa, 10% Licto corn, 60% chocho, and 20% whole fava bean; and M2, composed of 10% quinoa, 10% Chazo corn, 60% chocho, and 20% peeled fava bean. A completely randomized design was applied to seven cookie formulations, including wheat flour and substitution levels of 25%, 50%, and 100%. Proximal composition analyses were conducted to evaluate nutritional quality and physicochemical stability. The results showed significant differences (p<0.05) among formulations in protein content (7.25–17.63%), dietary fiber (1.51–2.84%), and carbohydrate content (45.86–56.95%). No statistically significant differences (p>0.05) were observed for ash, fat, moisture, water activity (0.368–0.397), pH (5.51–5.92), or titratable acidity (0.22–0.40). Replacing wheat flour with cereal–legume blends improved protein and fiber content, offering a feasible strategy for healthier snack development in Ecuador.

Forage refers to any plant used for animal feeding. Among the plants used as forage are those belonging to the Poaceae family. In this study, eight transgenic corn varieties were evaluated to determine their suitability as fresh forage for silage production.

The objective of the research was to assess the nutritional content and quality indicators of eight commercial transgenic corn varieties used as fresh forage. The study was conducted at the Pan-American Agricultural School, Zamorano. The variables analyzed included carbohydrate, protein, and fat content; energy indicators; ash and dry matter; and fermentation quality indicators.

Eight treatments were evaluated: DK-7088 VT3 PRO®, DK-370 VT3 PRO®, DK-390 VT TRIPLE PRO®, BM-790 PRO3®, BM-3063 PRO3®, BM-3066 PRO3®, P-3966WHR®, and P-4082WHR®, with three replications per treatment, resulting in 24 experimental units randomly distributed within the selected field. A Randomized Complete Block Design was used.

Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software version 23.1, applying analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan’s multiple range test for mean separation. Significant differences were observed in the following measured variables: total sugars, digestible neutral detergent fiber, fat, dry matter, crude protein, and soluble crude protein. In terms of energy value, the transgenic corn varieties did not show significant differences.

The development of innovative products based on cocoa and natural additives with functional properties that benefit health has been studied in recent years. The use of natural extracts obtained with green technology is a sustainable alternative to be considered as part of the chocolate production chain. Previous studies have shown that ginger oleoresin has a high antioxidant capacity; so thus, its use in small quantities as a replacement for cocoa butter can improve the properties of chocolate. In this study, three formulations of 70% cocoa dark chocolate were developed with ginger oleoresin at 0.026%, 0.078%, and 0.129%. Viscosity, texture, thermal properties, color, oxidative stability index, sensory analysis, total polyphenol content, and antioxidant capacity were measured. The results showed that the viscosity, melting point, and antioxidant capacity of the evaluated chocolates increased with the increase in ginger oleoresin content, indicating an improvement in the thermal properties of the enriched chocolates. Furthermore, the color and whiteness index properties were not altered. On the other hand, the sensory acceptability of the chocolate with 0.026% ginger oleoresin was the only one of all the formulations similar to that of the control; thus, it can be considered a technological prototype for industrial scaling.

The incorporation of germinated wheat flour (HTG) in the production of whole wheat bread represents a promising strategy to improve the nutritional and functional properties of this basic food and is also considered a strategy for a healthy diet for the population. The objective of this work was to determine the impact of incorporating an optimal percentage of germinated wheat flour (HTG) on the rheological properties of the dough, as well as on the nutritional and sensory quality of whole wheat bread. The results showed that the addition of HTG significantly modified the rheological behavior for water absorption (AA-56.2 g), gluten weakening (DG-0.217 Nm), stability (S-5.50 min), dough development time (DT -53.9 min), with the treatments with 8% and 15% being the closest to the control. Furthermore, the inclusion of 15% HTG increased the levels of protein (11.61g), iron (5.77mg) and folic acid (163.01 µg) in the bread, improving its nutritional profile. Sensory properties, such as color, smell, flavor and texture, were also favored at 15%, resulting in a bread with acceptable attributes comparable to 100% wheat bread. In general, it was found that the optimal replacement of HTG is 15% for rheological, sensory and nutritional properties. These findings suggest that HTG may be a viable alternative for the production of more nutritious and functional breads.

The poultry industry plays a fundamental role in global food security; however, ensuring the quality of its products remains a challenge, especially on small-scale farms with technological and infrastructure limitations. This systematic review aims to compare traditional and digital methods applied to quality control in poultry production, evaluating their accuracy. Using the PICO model and PRISMA methodology, 684 articles were identified in a database. Exclusion and inclusion criteria were applied, and 70 relevant studies published between 2019 and 2025 were selected from the Scopus database. The results show a growing acceptance of digital technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, computer vision, hyperspectral analysis combined with neural networks, and portable molecular diagnostic systems, which demonstrate that conventional methods are 93 to 99% accurate, fast, and reduce errors. However, its implementation faces challenges such as high costs, the need for technical training, and limitations in infrastructure and environmental adaptability. It is concluded that, although digital technologies represent a significant advance in quality control, their large-scale adoption requires strategic management in training, standardization, and accessibility to achieve sustainable implementation, strengthening the technological tools used for efficient management within the poultry sector.