Assessing the Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Functional Food Ingredient Production Process

Development and application of novel technologies in food processing is vital for ensuring the availability of adequate, safe, and convenient food with the desired quality and functional properties. Environmental and economic sustainability of technologies is essential prior to their application in the food processing sector. The objective of this research is to determine the environmental and economic feasibility of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) for recovering functional food ingredients from seaweed. Experimental data is used to conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental performance with a functional unit (FU) of obtaining 1 g of extracted polyphenols, measured as gallic acid equivalents (mg GAE)/g seaweed. A life cycle impact assessment is performed with ReCiPe 2016 at midpoint. The cost of manufacturing (COM) of phenolic-rich extracts (as functional ingredient, bioactive, or nutraceutical) is estimated using time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). The environmental profile findings show that across all categories, the UAE has considerably lower impacts than the conventional method, with electricity as the most important impact contributor, followed by solvent production. An economic assessment estimates the COM over a one-year period at a large scale using the UAE to be EUR 1,200,304, EUR 2,368,440, and EUR 4,623,290 for extraction vessel capacities of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15 m3, respectively. Raw materials (including the type of raw material) and operational labour costs are the primary contributors to the COM. The findings thus present evidence to support the adoption of an environmentally and economically viable technology for functional ingredient production

3D mammalian cell culture models in toxicology testing

3D cell culture can be successfully used as an alternative to laboratory animals, and as a cost effective and time-saving tissue culture technique, which also reduces the trial period for drug testing

Investigating the influence of ultrasound pre-treatment on drying kinetics and moisture migration measurement in Lactobacillus sakei cultured and uncultured beef jerky

Low Frequency-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (LF-NMR) was employed to elucidate changes in water distribution in cultured (Lactobacillus sakei) and uncultured beef jerky samples subjected to ultrasound pre-treatment. Ultrasound pre-treatment at frequencies of 25, 33 and 45 kHz for 30 min, followed by marination (18 h) was carried out for both cultured and uncultured jerky samples. Among the various kinetic models assessed, the Wang and Singh model provided the closest fit to the drying experimental data, with high R2 (≥0.994), low RMSE (≤0.023) and low AICc (100 ms (T22), respectively. Results presented in this study demonstrates that the ultrasound effect on drying behaviour was frequency dependent and that LF-NMR can be employed to evaluate moisture mobility and drying degree of beef jerky

Moderate electric fields and ohmic heating as promising fermentation tools

peer-reviewedFermentation is an important bioprocess in food production and its improvements can bring profits to the food industry. Therefore, researchers are exploring the feasibility of applying emerging processing technologies such as moderate electric field (MEF) and ohmic heating to improve this bioprocess. This study demonstrated the current status, potential benefits, mechanisms, and limitations of innovative MEF- and ohmic-assisted fermentation. Research showed that these techniques can positively affect Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, and Saccharomyces fermentations that are involved in the production of bakery (e.g., leavened breads), dairy (e.g., yogurt), and alcoholic products. Also, volumetric ohmic heating can accelerate fermentation by providing optimum fermentation temperatures quickly. MEF-induced stress-response conditions can affect microbial metabolism and fermentation products. Besides, electrical fields may affect the fermentation process by altering the substrate such as releasing its micronutrients. These approaches can be considered prospective industrial fermentation tools. Further economic studies and in-depth research on their effects on fermentation by-products are expected in the near future

Bio-Waste to Bio-Based

Research projects are currently underway in Teagasc and UCD todevelop cleaner and greener pre-treatment technologies forconversion of ‘bio-waste’ into ‘bio-based’ products withpotential applications in food, feed and biofuel. These projectshave the potential to significantly reduce the burden on land usefor protein and biofuels, not only in Ireland/Europe butworldwide, along with dramatically improving the conversionefficiencies of current bio-based production technologies.Moreover, these can significantly reduce the ever-increasingenvironmental problem of waste management and landfill usefor waste deposition

Robotics in meat processing

Scientists are currently investigating micro-robotics in the medical field with a potential to provide better medical technology in the near future. When it comes to the food industry, the use of robots has been traditionally limited to picking and palletization. Today, however, robots are used in material handling and secondary or tertiary packing. Recent developments with faster computers and sophisticated sensors have made it possible to use robotics in the meat processing sectors, where their application has reduced processing costs, occupational injuries, improved efficiency and hygiene associated with meat products. Compared to other industries, the working environment in the meat industry is not very conducive to robotics due to the noisy, damp and cold conditions. Slaughtering animals and cutting meat into pieces and disposing waste is an intensive physically demanding task. This chapter reviews the application of robotics in the meat industry and the advancements that have been made until now

Exploitation of Ultrasound Technique for Enhancement of Microbial Metabolites Production

Microbial metabolites have significant impacts on our lives from providing valuable compounds for nutrition to agriculture and healthcare. Ever-growing demand for these natural compounds has led to the need for smart and efficient production techniques. Ultrasound is a multi-applicable technology widely exploited in a range of industries such as chemical, medical, biotechnological, pharmaceutical, and food processes. Depending on the type of ultrasound employed, it can be used to either monitor or drive fermentation processes. Ultrasonication can improve bioproduct productivity via intensifying the performance of living organisms. Controlled ultrasonication can influence the metabolites' biosynthesis efficiency and growth rates by improvement of cell permeability as well as mass transfer and nutrient uptake rates through cell membranes. This review contains a summarized description about suitable microbial metabolites and the applications of ultrasound technique for enhancement of the production of these metabolites as well as the associated downstream processing

Bioprocessing of brewers\u27 spent grain for production of xylanopectinolytic enzymes by Mucor sp.

The potential of microwave and ultrasound was evaluated for the pretreatment of brewer\u27s spent grain (BSG). Under optimal conditions of microwave and ultrasound pretreatments, reducing sugar yields per 1 g of pretreated BSG were 64.4 ± 7 mg and 39.9 ± 6 mg, respectively. Subsequently, the pretreated BSG was evaluated as a substrate for production of Xylanopectinolytic enzymes using fungi isolated from spoiled fruits. Out of twenty-nine (29) isolates recovered, Mucor sp. (AB1) isolated from Bramley apple (Malus domestica) produced xylanopectinolytic enzymes with higher specific activity, and was selected for further studies. The highest enzyme activity (137 U/g, and 67 U/g BSG, for pectinase and xylanase, respectively) was achieved in a medium that contained 15 g of BSG, at pH 6, temperature of 30 °C, supplemented with 1% xylan or pectin for inducing the production of xylanase or pectinase, respectively. The partially purified xylanopectinolytic enzymes were optimally active at 60 °C and pH 5

Principles and mechanisms of ultraviolet light emitting diode technology for food industry applications

peer-reviewedThe application of ultraviolet (UV) light to water, food contact surfaces and medical equipment for microbial inactivation is widely employed. To date, UV disinfection sources employed are primarily low-pressure and medium-pressure mercury lamps; emitting monochromatic and polychromatic light, respectively. Despite the widespread use of mercury lamps, there are multiple drawbacks associated with their use including; high energy consumption, large size which limits reactor design, high heat emission and the presence of mercury. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have potential for use as a highly efficient UV decontamination technology. Recent advances in semiconductor development have resulted in UV-LEDs becoming more widely available. UV-LEDs emit monochromatic light, which enables customised UV-LED disinfection systems at specific wavelengths to be developed. The application of UV-LEDs for disinfection purposes has been studied in recent years, particularly with respect to water disinfections systems. In this review, studies relating to UV-LED food applications are discussed. Furthermore, the chemical changes induced in foods, as a result of UV treatment, together with advantages and limitations of the technology are outlined