Food Bioengineering最新文献

With the growth of the global population and the development of the economy, the demand for delicious and nutritious meat is increasing. However, the pursuit of high productivity and a high lean meat rate in pig breeding has led to a serious decline in meat quality. How to moderately improve the quality and flavor of pork through nutritional supplementation is of great significance in meeting consumers' demand for high-quality and delicious pork. Recent studies have shown that fermented feed using probiotics can not only improve the nutritional quality and utilization rate of agricultural by-products, but also play an important role in improving meat color, increasing intramuscular fat content, regulating the flavor of pork, leading to a sustainable development of agriculture and husbandry. In this paper, we will review the current situation of the probiotics used in fermented feed, the effects of fermentation on the improvement of feed quality, the influence and mechanism of fermented feed on the growth performance, meat quality, and flavor of pigs, and so forth, aiming to provide theoretical basis and technical support for the research and development of fermented feed and its application in the production of high-quality pork.

Industry 4.0 integrates the physical, digital, and biological realms by applying digital automation in systems, processes, and manufacturing facilities. Industry 4.0 is actively shaping the development of intelligent food processing industries in cultivated meat (CM) sector. This integration plays a crucial role in accelerating progress within the global CM sector, facilitating the achievement of its objectives related to food sustainability, security, human health, environmental concerns, and hygiene. Incorporating Industry 4.0 into CM manufacturing systems empowers upstream and downstream production processes to become more intelligent and capable of self-optimisation. However, enabling rapid adoption of Industry 4.0 by emerging startups and small to medium-sized enterprises in the CM industry necessitates a thorough understanding of prerequisites and evaluation of technological and biological limitations. Challenges include the substantial initial costs associated with establishing Industry 4.0 infrastructure, robust cybersecurity measures to ensure effective risk management, and acquiring skilled professionals proficient in both operational and maintenance roles. Integrating Industry 4.0 with the evolving CM sector presents an exciting opportunity to foster business-to-business investments across various domains, including local markets, export opportunities, and the broader global consumer ecosystem.

Almond hulls can be used as an inexpensive source of nutrients for producing fungi that can be used as nontraditional foods such as alternative protein, probiotics, and food ingredients. Nutrients were extracted from almond hulls using hot water and their utility in cultivating filamentous fungus Aspergillus awamori (A. awamori) in submerged cultivation was investigated using batch fermentation in flasks with passive aeration. The almond hulls extract supplied all the nutrients required for A. awamori growth. The uptake preference of various sugars was investigated and the growth kinetic parameters of A. awamori were determined. Utilization of sugars by A. awamori grown in almond hull extract proceeded sequentially with preference for glucose followed by sucrose, fructose, and then xylose. Compared to potato dextrose broth medium, the fungal biomass produced using almond hull extract as growth medium had higher protein (19.59%) and lower fat (1.50%) contents. The modified Gompertz model described the kinetics of A. awamori well with a lag phase of 0.18 days and a specific growth rate of 1.77 d⁻¹.

Algae have attracted the attention of researchers and consumers due to their health-promoting bioactive compounds. In addition, the high content of polysaccharides may confer important technological properties when included in foods with high moisture content, such as fresh cheese. In this study, two dried algae species—Fucus spiralis and Petalonia binghamiae, were added to fresh cheese to improve its functional properties. Syneresis was evaluated by water holding capacity (WHC) and measurement of weight loss of the cheeses during storage at 4°C. Cheeses were also analysed for antioxidant activity, composition, and organoleptic properties. The addition of dried seaweed significantly reduced the weight loss of fresh cheese during storage (p < 0.05), which is normally associated with a loss of sensory properties. A significant increase (p < 0.05) in antioxidant activity was also observed in the cheeses with the addition of both algae. Except for the cheese with the addition of F. spiralis (1 g/100 g), the chemical composition did not change (p > 0.05) when the algae were added to the cheeses. Cheese with the addition of dried F. spiralis showed the best results in the sensory tests, consumer preference, and purchase intention.

Probiotics have become increasingly popular over the past two decades due to the continuously expanding scientific evidence indicating their beneficial effects on human health. Therefore, they have been applied in the food industry to produce functional food, which plays a significant role in human health and reduces disease risk. However, maintaining the viability of probiotics and targeting the successful delivery to the gastrointestinal tract remain two challenging tasks in food applications. Specifically, this paper reviews the potentially beneficial properties of probiotics, highlighting the use and challenges of probiotics in food application and the associated health benefits. Of foremost importance, this paper also explores the potential underlying molecular mechanisms of the enhanced effect of probiotics on gastrointestinal epithelial cells, including a discussion on various surface adhesion-related proteins on the probiotic cell surface that facilitate colonization.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major global health problem with few therapeutic options available so far. Accumulating evidence suggests that probiotics have beneficial effects on NAFLD by modulating gut microbiota. Bifidobacterium lactis Probio-M8 (M8) is a new probiotic strain isolated from human breast milk. The aim of this study was to investigate whether M8 could protect against NAFLD in rats fed a high-fat diet by modulating gut microbiota. In this study, rats were randomly distributed into four groups: normal diet (ND) group, normal diet plus M8 (ND+M8) group, high-fat diet (HFD) group, and high-fat diet plus M8 (HFD+M8) group. Ten weeks later, hepatic morphological changes and biochemical indicators were measured. 16S rDNA sequencing was applied to analyze the gut microbiota alterations. Our results showed that M8 administration effectively improved hepatic steatosis and liver damage in high-fat diet-fed rats. 16S rDNA analysis of gut microbiota indicated that M8 could modulate the gut microbiota composition, especially increasing Bifidobacterium and decreasing Bilophila, Lachnoclostridium, GCA-900066225, and Phascolarctobacterium in high-fat diet-fed rats. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that M8 could protect against NAFLD in rats fed a high-fat diet, which may be attributed to the modulation of gut microbiota.

To investigate the hypolipidemic and modulation effects of probiotics, the golden hamster of hyperlipidemia model was established and intervened with Lactobacillus fermentum GLF-217 (GLF-217) and lovastatin (LOV) for 6 weeks. Body weight and serum biochemical indexes were measured, and liver, colonic contents, and feces were collected after autopsy for pathological and gut microbiota analysis. The results showed that the intervention of GLF-217 and LOV could significantly reduce serum lipid levels and liver fat accumulation in golden hamsters on a high-fat diet, more importantly, the LOV intervention could cause damage to the liver. The LOV intervention significantly reduced the contents of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the colonic and downregulated the abundance of SCFAs-producing bacteria, but GLF-217 intake increased butyric acid, thus reducing blood lipids and protected the liver. This study elucidates the possible mechanism of the hypolipidemic effect of probiotics in terms of regulating gut microbiota.