The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| Spain’s wine surplus spills across the planet Posted: 19 Mar 2014 07:22 PM PDT They didn't expect just how big. It vaulted Spain to the world's biggest wine producer, forcing its vintners to compete abroad in a tough market to sell off the surplus. Spain overall produced 50 million hectolitres (6.7 billion bottles) of wine in 2013, a 41% surge from 2012, the Spanish agriculture ministry says. The ministry's figure for Spanish production exceeds the estimates from the Italian and French wine industries for their own production – 47 million and 42 million hectolitres respectively. The definitive production figures from the International Organisation of Wine and Vine are published in May. But if confirmed, they would give Spain another industry to look to for exports to build a lasting recovery from the burst property bubble that has hobbled the economy since 2008. Even Rafael del Rey, director of the Spanish Wine Market Observatory, admitted he found it "most surprising" that Spain leapt ahead to become the top wine producer in the world in 2013. While weather helped – last summer the country enjoyed the usual sunny weather plus enough rain to really water the vines – the rise in Spanish production is also the result of a drive to increase productivity. "We have spent many years investing in improving the vineyards," said del Rey. Twenty five years ago, Spanish vineyards had average yield of 17 hectolitres per hectare – "very low", said Roca. But in recent years the yield has reached about 50 hectolitres per hectare. Older, less productive vines have been torn up and vineyards made more efficient by replacing handpicking with machines where possible. "The vineyards' productivity has improved noticeably," del Rey said. But one problem for winemakers is that Spanish drinkers, who generally prefer a cold beer on their sunny terraces, are not keeping pace with the surge. "Apart from Norway, Spain is the country with the lowest wine consumption per capita in Europe," said Pau Roca, secretary general of the Spanish Wine Federation. While just eight years ago, wine made in Spain was mostly drunk there, according to del Rey, now it is mostly exported. "In the past two years, Spain has been exporting more than double the amount of wine it consumes," he said. The experience of the Jesus del Perdon cooperative, nestled in the Castile-La Mancha region whose windmills and castles are the setting for Miguel de Cervantes's classic novel "Don Quixote", is typical. The group of 682 producers in the central Spanish region exported just 20% of its output a decade ago. Now 86% goes abroad. Exporting is not always an easy option for vineyards, however. While Castile-La Mancha accounts for over half of the country's wine production, the region's producers must fight to distinguish themselves from better-known names in Spanish wine such as La Rioja and Cava. "Unfortunately, wine from our region is still not sufficiently appreciated, especially in the foreign market," said the cooperative's viticulturist, Jorge Martinez. And competition at the lower end of the market is fierce. Spanish wine generally sells for half the price of French and the vintners of Castile-La Mancha have to keep their prices especially low. Martinez said the range of 11 bottles the cooperative produces under its own brand sell for between one and six euros (RM4.53 and RM27.18) per bottle. While growing output and need to export pose challenges for Spanish vineyards, it is an opportunity for the government which is counting on exports to drive economic recovery. With the economy having contracted more than 5% since the property bubble burst in 2008, Spanish firms have been looking abroad for sales and the country's exports hit a record high last year. The government expects the economy will grow by 1.0% this year, after having contracted in four out of the past five years. – AFP, March 20, 2014. |
| Dark chocolate’s healthy effects due to actions of gut bacteria Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:44 PM PDT Researchers have discovered a specific stomach bacteria that breaks down chocolate and ferments it into anti-inflammatory compounds, making the dark stuff highly useful in terms of heart health. Findings were presented at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The meeting is happening at the Dallas Convention Center and area hotels in Dallas, Texas through today. "We found that there are two kinds of microbes in the gut: the 'good' ones and the 'bad' ones," explained Louisiana State University undergraduate student and study researcher Maria Moore. "The good microbes, such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria, feast on chocolate," she said. "When you eat dark chocolate, they grow and ferment it, producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory." "When these compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the long-term risk of stroke," said lead researcher John Finley, PhD of Louisiana State. Finley also noted that the study is the first to examine the effects of dark chocolate on various types of stomach bacteria. The professor and his team analysed three cocoa powders using a model digestive tract designed to simulate normal digestion. The researchers then put non-digestible materials through anaerobic fermentation using human fecal bacteria. Cocoa powder is one of the main ingredients in chocolate, and contains several antioxidant compounds such as catechin and epicatechin, as well as a small amount of dietary fibre. While both catechin and epicatechin are difficult for the body to digest and absorb, this changes when they reach the colon, as "desirable microbes" take over. "In our study we found that the fibre is fermented and the large polyphenolic polymers are metabolised to smaller molecules, which are more easily absorbed. These smaller polymers exhibit anti-inflammatory activity," Finley said. Finley also remarked that combining cocoa's fibre content with prebiotics can contribute to overall health and help change antioxidants in the stomach into anti-inflammatory compounds. Prebiotics are food components found in raw garlic, whole wheat flour and other foods humans cannot digest but are heavily favoured by gut bacteria. "When you ingest prebiotics, the beneficial gut microbial population increases and outcompetes any undesirable microbes in the gut, like those that cause stomach problems," Finley said. He also noted that combining dark chocolate with solid fruits such as pomegranates is even more beneficial to health, and is likely the future of the industry. Another recent study on dark chocolate and heart health found eating the stuff in moderation can reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, or the thickening and hardening of the arteries, by restoring arterial flexibility and preventing white blood cells from sticking to blood vessel walls. The study was conducted by a research team at the Top Institute Food and Nutrition and the Division of Human Nutrition at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and published in The FASEB Journal. – AFP/Relaxnews, March 20, 2014. |
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