Technologies used for food preservation using microwaves

Food preservation is the process of treating food, with the aim of preserving its qualities for as long as possible. Extending the freshness period for processed foods has been and is a continuing challenge for producers in the food industry. New technologies and conservation methodologies are continuously researched, which will have as little effect as possible on the nutritional value of the products. Microwave food processing is constantly evolving, rapid heating and high energy efficiency are the major advantages of using this technology. The paper presents a study regarding the preservation of food products using microwaves, its acting mechanism and other applications of microwaves for food processing, as well as some installations and equipment that use this technology

Aspects regarding the use of ultrasounds in the food industry

Ultrasound is a rapidly developping research field that is more and more used in the food domain, both for analysis and processing of food products. This technology has been successfully applied within food industry for various processes like freezing, filtration, drying, separation, emulsion, sterilization and extraction. The paper presents aspects regarding the mechanism and use of ultrasound in food processing, as well as some technical equipment that use ultrasound within a combined technology, for the decontamination of the external surfaces of some horticultural products

Researches on the capitalization of some medicinal plants to obtain essential oils by using the performant innovative installation EUV 2x1000 type

The article includes research on the production of essential oils from medicinal plants by applying water vapour distillation, the method most commonly used for the extraction of essential oils from plants. The results consist of extracting the essential oil from 2 types of medicinal plants: lavender and mint with the help of the EUV installation. The paper highlights the important aspects of obtaining quality products, on economically advantageous terms, addressing both specialists, farmers in larger farms and family associations. The article presents the experimental research results on obtaining essential oils from medicinal plants. Oils obtained by this method contain only volatile components, while wax and volatile resins are not found in the finished product

Study on the effects and changes of soil degradation under the influence of antibiotics

The use of antibiotics in large quantities against the combat of pests in soils, indicates an increased remanence of them, which leads to major environmental risks. After entering in the soil, antibiotics are subjected to a succession of biogeochemical processes under the action of multiple environmental factors: absorption, migration, transformation, degradation or nutritional prosperity of plants. In order to know the current state of the environment and the effects of antibiotics it is essential to discover procedures for improving the degradation and combating the dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Research in recent years on the extraction of antibiotics from the soil is based on complex processes, such as: Soxhlet extraction, ultrasonic extraction or accelerated solvent extraction. Soil residue was determined using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, being the equipment that provides the highest accuracy in the analysis of polar compounds in very low concentrations. The purpose of the paper is to find an efficient and ecological solution for the elimination of antibiotics from soils and to highlight the evaluation of the contaminated land regarding the antibiotic residues and the impact on the composition of the bacterial community. Information about the effects of antibiotics accumulated in soil, persistence, resistance and sensitivity to chemical and microbiological substances, degradation and results related to soil fertility and crop production are highlighted