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

Food texture as affected by ohmic heating: Mechanisms involved, recent findings, benefits, and limitations

peer-reviewedBackground: Food texture is an important quality characteristic that affects sensory perception and consumer satisfaction. Thermal processing applies to food material for several reasons including palatability improvement and shelf life extension. Ohmic heating is an energy- and time-saving technique that was previously proposed as an alternative to conventional heating methods in the food industry. Scope and approach: Investigating the effects of ohmic processes on food quality parameters, such as texture, is an important step towards the industrial adaptation of ohmic heating technology. This review focuses specifically on the effects of ohmic heating on food texture and tries to elucidate the mechanisms behind the changes in textural attributes during an ohmic process as compared to the classical heating method. Key findings and conclusions: Achieving a predefined product texture in a shorter time and the uniformity of product texture are among the benefits of ohmic heating. However, several challenges (e.g. the possibility of negative effects on the chemical composition of the product and high capital investment) should be addressed for the industrial adoption of this emerging technology

Effect of HHP and UHPH High-Pressure Techniques on the Extraction and Stability of Grape and Other Fruit Anthocyanins

Altres ajuts: MALTA CONSOLIDER TEAM Research Network RED2022-134388-TThe use of high-pressure technologies is a hot topic in food science because of the potential for a gentle process in which spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms can be eliminated; these technologies also have effects on the extraction, preservation, and modification of some constituents. Whole grapes or bunches can be processed by High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP), which causes poration of the skin cell walls and rapid diffusion of the anthocyanins into the pulp and seeds in a short treatment time (2-10 min), improving maceration. Grape juice with colloidal skin particles of less than 500 µm processed by Ultra-High Pressure Homogenization (UHPH) is nano-fragmented with high anthocyanin release. Anthocyanins can be rapidly extracted from skins using HHP and cell fragments using UHPH, releasing them and facilitating their diffusion into the liquid quickly. HHP and UHPH techniques are gentle and protective of sensitive molecules such as phenols, terpenes, and vitamins. Both techniques are non-thermal technologies with mild temperatures and residence times. Moreover, UHPH produces an intense inactivation of oxidative enzymes (PPOs), thus preserving the antioxidant activity of grape juices. Both technologies can be applied to juices or concentrates; in addition, HHP can be applied to grapes or bunches. This review provides detailed information on the main features of these novel techniques, their current status in anthocyanin extraction, and their effects on stability and process sustainability

The combined effect of essential oils and emerging technologies on food safety and quality

Essential oils (EOs) are natural food preservatives, but they may impair the sensory characteristics of foods. Emerging technologies (ETs) can inactivate microorganisms, but high intensities of the process may compromise quality parameters. This manuscript discusses the use of EOs and ETs and presents the mechanisms of microbial inactivation in combined processes. Also, the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of EO and ETs were explained. It was found that lemongrass, lavender, thyme, sweet basil, lime, oregano, mentha, cinnamon, citral, carvacrol, carvone, geraniol, eugenol, citrus extract, mandarin, rosemary, and clove EOs have been combined with cold plasma, ultrasound, irradiation, ultraviolet light, high hydrostatic processing, pulsed light, pulsed electric fields, ohmic heating, and ozone to inactivate pathogens, spoilage bacteria, and molds. The food matrices explored for EO and ET include meat, fish, eggs, milk, plant-based products, as well as food-container surfaces. Synergistic effects between EOs and ETs have been reported in many cases. Microbial inactivation is influenced by the type of microorganism, the intensity of ET processing parameters, type and concentration of EOs, and the composition of foods. The combined use of EOs and ETs is a strategy capable of reducing the EO doses and the ET intensity while improving food safety and quality

Fucus vesiculosus extracts as natural antioxidants for improvement of physicochemical properties and shelf life of pork patties formulated with oleogels

There is limited information in the literature concerning the feasibility of using algal extracts as natural additives for improvement of the quality and shelf-life ofmeat products. Hence, a Fucus vesiculosus extract (FVE) at the concentrations of 250mg kg-1 (FVE-250), 500mg kg-1 (FVE-500) and 1000mg kg-1 (FVE-1000) were added to pork patties with linseed oil oleogel as a fat replacer. RESULTS: Total polyphenol content of FVE was determined to be 20 g phloroglucinol equivalents 100 g-1 extract. Antioxidant values ranged from 37.5 mol of Trolox equivalents (TE) g-1 (FRAP assay) to 2111 mol TE g-1 extract (ABTS assay). Regarding oxidation stability, FVE-1000 showed the lowest values of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance and carbonyl content. On the other hand, FVE did not improve color, surface discoloration or odor attributes of patties during storage. Sensory evaluation revealed that there was no significant difference among all studied samples. CONCLUSION: Although FVEs have a high polyphenol content and antioxidant activities, they are not effective oxidation inhibitors for long-term storage of meat products. Therefore, additional measures or compounds should be considered when FVE is the only antioxidant inmeat products.The authors would like to thank Xunta de Galicia (grant number IN607B 2016/28). The authors also thank the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias y Alimentarias, Spain, for granting Ruben Agregán a predoctoral scholarship (CPR2014-0128). Jose M. Lorenzo is a member of the HealthyMeat network, funded by CYTED (ref. 119RT0568). Mohsen Gavahian gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, project no. 107-EC-17-A-22-0332, Taiwan (R.O.C). He alsowould like to declare that his main contribution to this work was related to the extraction and antioxidant studies. Amin Mousavi Khaneghah gratefully acknowledges the support of a CNPq-TWAS Postgraduate Fellowship (Grant # 3240274290). Special thanks to Artur J. Martins and Miguel A. Cerqueira for supplying the ‘organogels’ used in this study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Valorization of wastewater from table olives: NMR identification of antioxidant phenolic fraction and microwave single-phase reaction of sugary fraction

The table olive industry is producing a huge amount of wastewater, which is a post-processing cost and an environmental concern. The present study aims to valorize this processing by-product to obtain a value-added product, thereby enhancing resource efficiency and contributing to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). In this sense, a chemical reaction-based platform was developed to obtain valuable components, such as levulinic acid (LA) and 5-hydromethylfurfural (HMF). The products were then analyzed using NMR identification of the antioxidant phenolic fraction and microwave single-phase reaction of the sugary fraction. According to the results, the highest concentration of phenolic compounds does not correspond to the sample directly obtained from NaOH treatment (S1), indicating that water washing steps (S2-S5) are fundamental to recover phenolic substances. Moreover, glucose was presented in the sugary fraction that can be transformed into levulinic acid by a single-phase reaction under microwave irradiation. The information provided in this manuscript suggests that the wastewater from the olive processing industry can be valorized to obtain valuable products

“Emerging Food Processing and Novel Approaches for Extraction and Application of Bioactive Compounds”: Special Issue Editorial Overview

The guest editors Mohsen Gavahian and Changwei Hsieh are pleased to present the editorial overview of the Special Issue entitled “Emerging Food Processing and Novel Approaches for Extraction and Application of Bioactive Compounds” [...

Ohmic Heating Extraction at Different Times, Temperatures, Voltages, and Frequencies: A New Energy-Saving Technique for Pineapple Core Valorization

Pineapple core is considered a processing by-product. This study proposed and evaluated an ohmic heating extraction-based valorization platform to obtain value-added bioactive compounds from pineapple core and studied the effects of four important processing parameters. In this sense, a Taguchi design (L16(4)4) was used to assess the effects of temperature (70, 80, 90, and 100 °C), time (15, 30, 45, and 60 min), voltage (110, 160, 210, and 260 V), and frequency (60, 340, 620, and 900 Hz) on heating rate, come-up time, energy consumption, system performance efficiency, total phenolic compounds (TPC), DPPH, and ABTS. Finally, a side-by-side comparison of optimized ohmic heating (OOH) and conventional extraction was performed, and chemical composition was compared by ultra-performance liquid chromatography equipped with photodiode array detection-mass (UPLC-DAD-ESI-MS-MS). According to the results, increasing temperatures enhanced system performance efficiency but negatively affected TPC and antioxidant values above 90 ℃. Similarly, prolonging the extraction (>30 min) decreased TPC. Further, increasing voltage (from 110 to 260 V) shortened the come-up time (from 35.75 to 5.16 min) and increased the heating rate (from 2.71 to 18.80 °C/min−1). The optimal conditions were 30 min of extraction at 80 °C, 160 V, and 900 Hz. Verification of the optimal conditions revealed that OOH yielded an extract with valuable bioactive compounds and saved 50% of the time and 80% of energy compared to the conventional treatment. The UPLC-DAD-ESI-MS-MS showed that there were similarities between the chemical profiles of the extracts obtained by conventional and OOH methods, while the concentration of major compounds varied depending on the extraction method. This information can help achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) by maximizing the yield and minimizing energy and time consumption

Cold plasma as a tool for the elimination of food contaminants: Recent advances and future trends

Food contaminants are challenging the food industry due to the inefficiency of conventional decontamination techniques. Cold plasma as an emerging technique for the degradation of food contaminants attracted notable attention. The current study overviews the plasma-induced degradation of food contaminants, discusses the mechanisms involved, points its benefits and drawbacks out, highlights the research needed in this area, and explores future trends. According to the literature, cold plasma efficiently degraded many common pesticides (e.g. parathion, paraoxon, omethoate, dichlorvos, malathion, azoxystrobin, cyprodinil, fludioxonil, cypermethrin, and chlorpyrifos) and food allergens (e.g. tropomyosin, b-conglycinin, glycinin, trypsin inhibitor, and Kunitztype trypsin inhibitor). These degradations occurred primarily due to the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) in the plasma that attack the chemical bonds of food contaminants. The type of pesticide degrades are highly dependent on the concentrations of plasma-generated ROS and RNS. Research showed that several parameters, such as plasma generation device, plasma exposure time, plasma power, and the carrier gas composition, influence the type and concentration of reactive species (e.g. ROS and RNS) and the overall efficiency of cold plasma degradation for a specific pesticide or allergen60915811592sem informaçãosem informaçã

Editorial Overview on Emerging Thermal Food Processing Technologies

In many cases, thermal processing technologies are necessary to provide safe food products [...