EuroFIR Component Thesaurus
The EuroFIR Component Thesaurus defines codes and descriptors used to identify the food component associated with compositional values reported in data conforming to EuroFIR specifications, for example the Food Data Transport Package. The thesaurus also includes identifiers for numeric food properties, e.g. density and pH, that may be reported within food data.
Viewing the Component Thesaurus
Current and old versions of the Component Thesaurus can be viewed using the EuroFIR eThesaurus facility, as described on the main thesauri page.
Some extra information specific to components is included in the thesaurus, in the Additional Information field. The <ChEBI> sub-field contains the corresponding identifier in EBI's Chemical Entities of Biological Interest database and links to the relevant ChEBI record. This will provide a range of further chemical information for the component, such as its chemical structure, systematic name and related structures. The <INFOODS> sub-field lists one of more INFOODS tagnames that correspond to the EuroFIR component identifier. Where more than one tagname is listed, these are more specific than the EuroFIR identifier because the tagname incorporates extra detail such as analytical method.
Versions of the Component Thesaurus
The official current Component Thesaurus is version 1.2, which was finalised on 21 June 2010. Within the EuroFIR Nexus project, a new version is due March 2012. In summary, the versions so far are:
| Version | Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2 | 2010-06-21 | Revisions mainly for organic acids and bioactive components |
| 1.1 | 2010-05-10 | Major revisions; hierarchical grouping of components introduced |
| 1.0 | 2008-03-12 | Basic non-hierarchical listing |
| Under preparation | ||
| 1.3 | - | Miscellaneous revisions, mainly additions required by national databases |
Component grouping and hierarchy
The current version of the Component Thesaurus is hierarchical, with terms for individual components organised into component groups, which can be easily recognised as all group codes begin GRP_. The organisation is polyhierarchical, i.e. a single term can be placed in more than one group if this is appropriate.
Component Thesaurus discussion forum
The Component Thesaurus discussion forum allows topics such as the coverage of components by the thesaurus and the definition of component identification codes to be debated. Although access to the discussions is open, currently only EuroFIR AISBL Full and Associate Members can post to the EuroFIR Forums. Comments from other users can be submitted by email to Ian Unwin for inclusion on the forum.
Topics open for discussion include: