Spices

The 14-page questionnaire was designed to capture the habitual food intake among Norwegian adults the preceding year. The FFQ was an extended and revised version of the semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire used in the Norwegian nation wide survey NORKOST 1997 (NFFQ). The original NFFQ was a validated, 180 items optical readable FFQ, developed to cover 100% of the total EI of the population [3 -6 (link)]. Based on our extensive screening of antioxidant content in foods and beverages [7 (link)], the NFFQ was updated and revised with questions about food products and food categories assumed to be important sources of antioxidant intake in Norway. The new FFQ included 270 food items, grouped together according to the Norwegian meal pattern. Additional questions were added concerning intake of several food categories. In detail, 19 questions about berries, 4 questions about fruit, 6 questions about vegetables, 2 questions about chocolate, 3 questions about coffee and 2 questions about tea were added. Questions concerning the variable intake of berries due to seasonal variations were included. Furthermore, 10 questions were added about nuts and seeds and 27 questions about spices and herbs. The options of frequency of consumption of particular food items varied from several times a day to never/seldom, with portion sizes based on typical household units: slices, glasses, cups, pieces, spoons and teaspoons. When frequency was answered but not portion size, the food item was given the smallest portion size. When portion size was answered but not frequency, the food item was given the value zero. One participant was excluded from the study because a substantial amount of the questions in the FFQ were left unanswered. The dietary questions totaled 11 pages of the questionnaire whereas the last 3 pages were dedicated to questions concerning dietary supplements, smoking, physical activity and past and present illnesses and medication. The answered FFQs were scanned and the image files translated into data files using the Cardiff Teleform 2006 software.

Fresh mutton hindleg meat and tail fat were obtained from a local commercial processor (Hohhot, China), and sausages were made with modifications to the method previously described^{47 (link)}. The sausage's ingredients were as follows: mutton hindleg meat (70%), mutton tail fat (30%), salt (2.5%), glucose (0.5%), sugar (1%), NaNO₂ (0.01%), ascorbic acid (0.05%), pepper powder (0.2%), ginger powder (0.2%), spice powder (0.1%), corn starch (1%), and lactalbumin powder (0.5%). The ingredients were thoroughly mixed and filled into pig casings. The sausage diameter was approximately 3 cm, and length was approximately 20 cm. Control was fermented sausage without starter culture and the treatment was fermented sausage inoculated with L.fermentum 332 (the concentration of the starter culture was 4%, 10⁶ CFU/g). For 24 h, fermentation was carried out at 30 °C and 95% relative humidity (day 1). This was known as the fermentation period. For four days, the sausages were placed in a 15 °C and 75–85% relative humidity environment (day 5). This stage was regarded as the drying period. Then, the sausages were transferred to an environment of 10 °C and 65% relative humidity for 6 days (day 11). This stage was regarded as the maturation period. After preparation, the samples were packed and stored at − 20 °C until further analyses. The sausages in both groups were sampled at various fermentation times (day 1, 5, and 11) to determine AI-2 activity, LAB viable count, physicochemical characteristics, and volatile flavor components.

Process waters generated
during various steps of herring processing were collected at Sweden
Pelagic AB in Ellös, Sweden, as follows: (i) RSW from herring
storage on board a boat was collected in March 2020, (ii) salt brines
(13% NaCl) from presalting of herring skin-on fillets or deskinned
fillet pieces were collected in the North Sea (October 2018), and
(iii) marination brines into which the presalted herring is placed
and stored for up to 2 years: (a) salt marination brine (SMB), (b)
spice marination brine (SPB), and (c) vinegar marination brine (VMB).
Mussel (Mytilus edulis) processing
at Vilsund Blue, Nykobing Mors, Denmark, comprises four different
steps: boiling, removal of impurities through treatment with 15% salt
brine, vibration to remove the shells, and a final rinsing step to
remove salt residues. The four different process waters collected
for this study were boiling water (generated during boiling mussels),
juice (generated during dripping of the boiling water from mussels
when transferred on a belt to the next step), salt brine (generated
during brining with salt brine), and rinsing brine (generated while
mussels are rinsed to remove salt). Mussel process waters were sampled
in 2016 and 2017.