Food
Science

Mexican edible flowers

The traditional Mexican cuisine has made use of edible flowers for centuries and probably even millennia. In fact, many present-day Mexican dishes are still made with different parts of a variety of endemic edible flowers, such as squash blossoms, coral tree flowers, yucca flowers, Mexican marigolds, dahlias, cactus flowers, funeral tree flowers, and others. These flowers are an integral part of Mexican culture and they are typically cooked instead of being consumed raw. Mexican edible flowers also seem to be particularly rich in good quality protein and bioactive compounds with antioxidant activity that might be beneficial to human health. 

Text from Mulík & Ozuna (2020)

Publications

Mulík, S., & Ozuna, C. (2020). Mexican edible flowers: Cultural background, traditional culinary uses, and potential health benefits. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 21, 100235.

Mulík, S., Hernández-Carrión, M., Pacheco-Pantoja, S. E., Aguilar-Ruiz, N., & Ozuna, C. (2022). Culinary uses of Mexican edible flowers: Recipe analysis. International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 28, 100539. 

Mulík, S., Hernández-Carrión, M., Pacheco-Pantoja, S. E., & Ozuna, C. (2024). Endemic edible flowers in the Mexican diet: Understanding people's knowledge, consumption, and experience. Future Foods, 2024, 100374. 

Mexican coffee

Mexico is one of the world leaders in the production of organic coffee, but research on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in Mexican coffee has been extremely limited. In the research conducted at the Food Technology and Innovation Lab at the University of Guanajuato, we have shown that organic farming can produce coffee that is richer in bioactive compounds and antioxidants than that produced in conventional farming. In another study, we described the brewing process of cold brew coffee in terms of the evolution of its physicochemical, bioactive, and antioxidant properties, which was influenced by the complex relationship between brewing temperature and coffee grind particle size. 

Since coffee producers in Mexico belong to a fraction of the population that is often marginalized and poverty-stricken, the use of Mexican coffee in research may promote the consumption of this product nationally and internationally, hopefully resulting in positive effects on both the farmers’ financial situation and the country’s economy as a whole. 

Text from Castañeda-Rodríguez et al. (2022) and Ozuna et al. (2020)

Publications

Ozuna, C., Mulík, S., Valdez-Rodríguez, B., Abraham-Juarez, M. R., & Fernández-López, C. L. (2020). The effect of organic farming on total phenols, total flavonoids, brown compounds and antioxidant activity of spent coffee grounds from Mexico. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture, 36(2), 107-118.

Castañeda-Rodríguez, R., Mulík, S., & Ozuna, C. (2022). Brewing temperature and particle size affect extraction kinetics of cold brew coffee in terms of its physicochemical, bioactive, and antioxidant properties. Journal of Culinary Science & Technology, 20(4), 366-387.

Edible insects

Mexico is a multi-diverse country where insect consumption has been associated with traditional practices. In Mexico, there are around 550 edible insect species, one of the highest numbers recorded worldwide and associated with the remarkable biological diversity of this country.

Despite the advantages of insects as food, both on our nutrition and the environment, a challenge to overcome with consumers is the emotional disgust barrier and several factors associated as food neophobia, lack of information, the image of insects as an emergency diet in case of food shortage or a diet for poor people. 

Text from Escalante-Aburto et al. (2022)

Publications

Escalante-Aburto, A., Rodríguez-Sifuentes, L., Ozuna, C., Mariscal-Moreno, R. M., Mulík, S., Guiné, R. & Chuck-Hernández, C. (2022). Consumer perception of insects as food: Mexico as an example of the importance of studying socio-economic and geographical differences for decision-making in food development. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 57(10), 6306-6316.