In package control of Rhyzopertha dominica in wheat using a continuous atmospheric jet cold plasma system

Cold plasma is recognized and explored for a plethora of applications in the food and agricultural industry. This study investigated the influence of a continuous atmospheric pressure non-thermal jet plasma system on the mortality of Rhyzopertha dominica adults in whole wheat kernels and the changes in the milling and physicochemical attributes of the treated whole wheat. Air-filled packets of whole wheat kernels were artificially infested with R. dominica adults. The packages were carried by a continuous conveyor belt and treated with plasma at voltages ranging from 44-47 kV for 4-7 min. The mortality was determined after 24 h and milling yield, particle size, proximate composition, and color of plasma-treated and untreated wheat grains were also evaluated. The maximum mortality was 88.33% at 47 kV for 7 min. The milling yield, protein, and fiber content of wheat were enhanced with plasma treatment significantly. Thus the continuous atmospheric pressure jet plasma used in this study could be one of the practically implementable emerging techniques for the commercial disinfestation of packaged food products

Recent advances in the application of pulsed light processing for improving food safety and increasing shelf life

peer-reviewedBackground New technologies of non-thermal disinfection such as pulsed light (PL) have emerged lately as an alternative to traditional (thermal and chemical) disinfection and preservation methods. PL can be used to decontaminate a great variety of foods as well as to decontaminate contact surfaces, thus improving safety in foods and extending their shelf life. Moreover, this technology can prevent or reduce some of the detrimental effects of traditional methods on nutrients and bioactive compounds of food products. Scope and approach The combination of PL with other techniques such as ultraviolet light (UV), thermosonication (TS), pulsed electric fields (PEF), manothermosonication (MTS), etc., can improve the effectiveness of the decontamination process. Therefore, in this review, some of the most relevant studies evaluating the potential application of PL treatments to decontaminate food samples, and its impact of nutritional and physicochemical quality parameters will be discussed. Key findings and conclusions PL treatments are suitable for microbial decontamination in transparent drinks and for surface contaminated foods without complex microstructures. They also can be used for meat, fish and their by-products However, it is still necessary to evaluate the appropriate treatment conditions (number of light flashed, voltage, distance between sample and flash light, spectral range of light flashes and contamination) for each food and microorganism separately to improve the effectiveness and minimize the appearance of negative attributes reducing the quality of product as, in some cases, PL can have a negative effect on the photosensitive compounds and sensory characteristics of food products

Dispersion and release of embelin from electrospun biodegradable, polymeric, membranes

In this work, microfiber meshes containing embelin, a poorly water-soluble bioactive agent, were prepared by solubilizing embelin in a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer matrix of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). Plain or drug-loaded, highly porous, fibrous membranes with a high area-to-volume ratio were obtained by electrospinning. Non-woven microfibrous meshes were formed by uniform bead-free fibers with a mean diameter of 1.2 μm. Non-porous films were obtained by solution casting, and were used for comparison. The drug-loading content of the prepared systems was appropriate for topical applications. The thermal properties revealed that the crystallinity of embelin significantly decreased, the drug having almost completely dissolved in the PCL fibers. The in situ bioavailability of embelin, an antimycotic agent, is an important aspect to consider in topical drug applications. The drug-loaded systems presented different contact areas with the biological environment. When comparing the ability to expose embelin with the biological environment of the prepared systems, drug-loaded fibrous scaffolds showed a higher bioavailability of the bioactive agent because of an increase by 86% in the area-to-volume ratio, providing an effective area per unit mass that was 5.8-fold higher than that of the film. For the meshes, 90% embelin release was observed after 12h of exposure to phosphate-buffered saline, whereas for the films a comparable level of release occurred only after 72h.Fil: Cortez Tornello, Pablo Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigación En Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Feresin, Gabriela Egly. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Tapia, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Veiga, Itiara G.. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Moraes, Ângela M.. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Abraham, Gustavo Abel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigación En Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Cuadrado, Teresita Raquel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigación En Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentin

Immune boosting functional components of natural foods and its health benefits

Abstract Naturally available foods contain nutrients like vitamins (A, C, E, and D), zinc, calcium, magnesium, folate iron, omega fatty acids, selenium, and phytochemicals that have profound protective effects (boosting immunity) on human from diseases. The critical component of obtaining incredible health is to maintain proper diet with healthy food, proper sleep, and regular exercise. This review is drafted with an aim to lay out the importance of consuming immune boosting foods, present various nutritional compounds available and their mechanism in maintaining immunity, and briefly discuss some of the exotic immunity building food sources, nutrients present, health benefits, and its utilization. Some of the immune-boosting foods like almonds, spinach, citrus fruits, avocado, red bell pepper, pomegranate, kiwi, garlic, ginger, and passion fruit are deliberated to have positive impact on ameliorating cancer, diabetics, heart disease, skin, eyesight, bone health, blood pressure, brain development, anti-stress, antimicrobial, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-aging, anti-allergenicity, antimalarial, anti-mutagenicity, and anti-inflammatory. This review on immune boosting foods further emphasizes on the need and proved the importance of consuming natural fruits, vegetables, nut, and meat products for strengthening the immune system. Thus, the consumption of immune boosting foods is mandatory for maintaining the health and protecting our body from harmful pathogen and degenerative diseases naturally. Novelty impact statement Exploring diet-health approach is very important in the domain of food for enhancing immune response and activation in humans. Natural food that has health and nutritional benefits has made a noteworthy influence on changing consumer's lifestyles. The immune-strengthening foods with proper dietary recommendation play a significant role to increase the immunity of people. Graphical Abstrac

Uticaj hladne plzme na mortalitet Tribolium castaneum u brašnu

Cold plasma is an emerging non thermal processing technology and is one of the novel promising methods for insect mortality. In order to study whether cold plasma could be suitable for control and to investigate the effect of plasma stress on mortality of Tribolium castaneum, three treatment variables were used: electrode gap (3 to 5cm), exposure time (1 to 5min) and applied voltage (1000 to 2500V). Mortality rate of an adult was examined after 24h of incubation at 35°C with twenty different treatment combinations as per CCD of RSM. Significant increase in mortality rate of an adult was observed with increase in applied voltage, exposure time and decrease in electrode distance. No significant color change was observed due to plasma exposure on Maida flour using L, a, b color values. This study will pave the way for an effective low temperature treatment technique in stored food product insect management.Hladna plazma je nova tehnologija hladne prerade koja utiče na uginuće insekata . U cilju ispitivanja pogodnosti hladne plazme za kontrolu Tribolium castaneum korišćena su tri varijabilna tretmana: zazor elektroda (3 do 5 cm), vreme izlaganja (1 do 5 min) i napon (1000 do 2500V) . Stopa smrtnosti je ispitivana nakon 24h inkubacije na 35°C sa dvadeset različitih kombinacija tretmana kao prema CCD od RSM. Značajno povećanje stope smrtnosti primećena je sa porastom napona, vremena izloženosti i smanjenja zazora elektroda. Nema značajne promene boje zbog izlaganja brašna plazmi. Ova studija će otvoriti put za efikasnu tehniku tretmana niskim temperaturama u skladištu prehrambenih proizvoda radi kontrole insekata

Extraction, characterization, and application of tomato seed oil in the food industry: An updated review

Tomato seeds are the by-product of the tomato processing industry used to extract valuable compounds like tomato seed oil (TSO). The TSO is well known for its functional and health-promoting properties. Therefore, recent studies which focused on application of TSO became popular among food manufacturers. This review presents comprehensive methods of TSO extraction and its unique fatty acid profile. The characterization of TSO is briefly discussed, creating a better utilization for various diseases. This review also focused on the multiple application of TSO in the food industry, from dietary supplements to food packaging films, the demand for TSO in the market to improve economic value, and the importance of TSO in the food and medical industry. The TSO can be extensively applicable as a functional compound in the food and bakery industry as a covering material in tomato-based products like tomato sauce and slices. It also acts as a better antioxidant and has antimicrobial properties due to its essential fatty acids like oleic and linoleic acid. The assessment of this article provides an overview of the importance of TSO in food application, from extraction techniques to dietary supplements and its potential for bioactive compounds