Critical reviews in food science and nutrition最新文献

Enzymes, as macromolecular biocatalysts, play an essential role in various food processing operations, including juice, baking, brewing, and dairy production. However, their applications are often constrained by poor thermal and pH stability, as well as sensitivity to chemical inhibitors. Enzyme immobilization, as one of the most effective tools in the food industry, offers a solution to these problems. Its principal advantage lies in the ability to shield enzymes from harsh environmental conditions, such as elevated temperatures and extreme pH levels, and it can be readily recovered or recycled compared to its free forms. In addition to the benefits of enzyme immobilization itself, the integration of enzymes with nanotechnology holds great promise for improving the efficiency and specificity of enzyme-based processes in food industry. The use of nanomaterials as carriers for enzymes can increase the surface area available for enzyme-catalyzed reactions, leading to higher yields and faster processing times. Overall, this review highlights the significance of enzyme immobilization and nanotechnology in the food industry and their potential for future advancement. The integration of these technologies can lead to the development of new food products and the improvement of existing processes, ultimately contributing to the sustainability and competitiveness of the food industry.

Fish assessment plays a crucial role in ensuring the freshness and safety of fish products, thereby enhancing consumer satisfaction and improving supply chain management. The rapid advancement of computer vision (CV) and image processing technologies offers a promising noninvasive solution for evaluating fish freshness, enabling the detection and classification of freshness indicators efficiently. This review presents an overview of the application of CV techniques in fish freshness assessment, focusing on advancements over the past decade. The fish freshness evaluation task is categorized into three key aspects such as freshness indicators, texture features, and biochemical changes. Traditional methods as well as deep learning approaches in CV are summarized, highlighting their respective applications for assessing these freshness aspects. Furthermore, commonly used algorithmic models in fish freshness detection are comprehensively introduced. Additionally, the review discusses the integration of advanced imaging technologies, such as hyperspectral and thermal imaging, which provide detailed insights into biochemical and microbial alterations that traditional imaging techniques fail to detect. Finally, the review identifies several challenges in fish freshness assessment, proposing feasible strategies to address these issues and underlining the importance of improving models to integrate data from various sources.

Millets and sorghum are important, climate-resilient, and sustainable crops rich in bioactive compounds which provide health benefits by reducing oxidative stress and lowering the risk of chronic diseases. Despite these benefits, the presence of antinutrients such as tannins, phytates, oxalates, and enzyme inhibitors limits nutrient absorption and bioavailability. This review comprehensively evaluates current research on the impact of extrusion cooking, a high-temperature, high-pressure processing with shear force, on the bioactive composition, antioxidant capacity, and antinutritional factors in sorghum and millets. Across studies, extrusion has been shown to reduce total phenolics by approximately 30-40%, decrease antinutrients by 25%-85%, and substantially lower trypsin inhibitors, while, in some cases, retaining 50%-60% of total polyphenolics and antioxidant activity, depending on grain type and processing conditions. Optimizing extrusion parameters is therefore critical to achieving a balance between preserving bioactive compounds and minimizing nutrient losses. Through a comprehensive synthesis of existing research, this review enhances understanding of the transformations occurring during extrusion and discusses processing conditions as key factors driving these inconsistencies. These insights facilitate the formulation of value-added millet and sorghum-based products, while also contributing to broader goals of enhancing nutrition security and reinforcing sustainable and resilient food systems.

Citrus oils (COs) are extremely popular food-grade natural flavors and are renowned for their health benefits and food preservation attributes. However, challenges related to their low solubility, instability, and intense volatility have impeded the controlled release of COs within food matrices. In recent years, encapsulation techniques have emerged as promising ways to overcome these issues. Citrus oil-loaded encapsulation systems designed using suitable biopolymers and encapsulation techniques enable safe usage, effective encapsulation, and controlled release. Encapsulated COs with controlled-release profiles have enhanced functionality in a range of food application scenarios, thereby increasing the commercial value of COs. This review summarizes the natural biopolymers that have been used as encapsulation materials (e.g., protein-based and carbohydrate-based). It also explores the encapsulation techniques, predominantly the non-thermal methods (e.g., low-energy emulsification, spraying, and electrospinning techniques), and the controlled release of CO-loaded encapsulation systems, including release profiles, release kinetics, and multiple factors affecting release. Finally, it provides a detailed summary of commercial applications and future potential of encapsulated COs. This review summarizes the available evidence and the technical supports needed to further guide the development of encapsulated COs as food additives, dietary supplements, and food preservatives.

The growing global population and rising living standards are driving an increased demand for protein-rich animal-derived foods. However, traditional livestock-based protein production poses serious environmental concerns, including greenhouse gas emissions, land degradation, and high-water usage. Single-cell proteins (SCPs), defined as protein-rich microbial biomass derived from organisms such as bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and microalgae, have emerged as a promising alternative. SCPs offer high nutritional value with essential amino acids such as lysine, methionine, and threonine, along with additional nutrients including carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. This review aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of SCPs as a sustainable and scalable protein source, with a specific focus on their production through diverse fermentation strategies including solid-state, semisolid-state, liquid, and gas fermentation. Particular attention is given to the use of agro-industrial by-products and renewable gases as cost-effective substrates that align with circular economy principles. In addition to outlining the nutritional and environmental advantages of SCPs, this review critically examines their current limitations, including production scalability, potential safety concerns, and consumer acceptance. By integrating recent findings on life cycle assessments, nutritional profiling, and digestibility, this work highlights key technological innovations needed to accelerate industrial adoption of SCPs. The purpose of this review is therefore to synthesize current advances while identifying the challenges and research priorities that must be addressed for SCPs to achieve widespread application in global food systems.

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi as bio-derived environmental pollutants. They commonly contaminate grains, fruits, and nuts and can enter the human body through the food chain. With the rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases, increasing attention has been paid to the potential links between mycotoxins and chronic conditions; however, systematic reviews on this topic remain limited. This study summarizes current evidence on the role of mycotoxins (e.g., deoxynivalenol, T-2 toxin, patulin, and citrinin) in the progression of non-communicable diseases, including cancer, metabolic disorders, gastrointestinal diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, behavioral abnormalities, reproductive dysfunction, and thyroid disorders. Existing evidence suggests that mycotoxins may act as environmental triggers for non-communicable diseases, and individuals with such conditions may exhibit increased susceptibility due to factors such as impaired gut barrier function and metabolic dysregulation. Given the complexity of these interactions, further research is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and to establish targeted dietary safety thresholds for vulnerable populations.

Food byproducts are rich in bioactive compounds with nutritional and preservation benefits, yet conventional extraction methods are limited by high solvent use, time-consuming, and poor scalability. Green technologies such as ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) offer sustainable alternatives but require precise optimization of complex, non-linear parameters. This review highlights artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative tool to overcome these challenges by enabling predictive modeling, real-time optimization, and intelligent process control of extraction processes. Unlike previous reviews focusing mainly on green extraction techniques, this work uniquely synthesizes recent progress on AI-driven approaches. It critically compares their performance against traditional methods such as response Surface methodology. Case studies include how AI models, including artificial neural networks, support vector regression, and hybrid algorithms, deliver higher yields, lower energy use, and improved reproducibility. The review further addresses industrial applications, regulatory gaps, and commercialization challenges, offering future research directions for scalable and interpretable AI frameworks. Combining sustainability, efficiency, and innovation, this review positions AI-driven extraction as a frontier for advancing functional food development and circular bioeconomy strategies.

Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) has been extensively applied in the preservation of fruits and vegetables (F&Vs). However, challenges arise from the variety of packaging materials, complex gas compositions, and diverse respiration patterns of F&Vs. Traditional mathematical tools struggle to accurately design, detect, monitor, and predict MAP for foods. Artificial intelligence (AI), as one of the versatile tools which could simulate, extend, and expand human intelligence, has demonstrated its role in many fields, as well as in MAP for F&Vs. This review first revealed the literature and research team overview of AI in the field of MAP for F&Vs through bibliometric analysis. Then, the respective classifications and joint applications of MAP and AI for F&Vs were reviewed. At present, the application of AI-based MAP in exploring mechanisms, packaging design, parameter optimization, quality monitoring, and shelf-life prediction for F&Vs has made preliminary progress. In the future, it needs to develop toward high precision, high throughput, automation, and cost-effectiveness. Meanwhile, challenges remain, including data scarcity, complex models, high learning costs, and difficulties in verifying the authenticity of AI outputs. Additionally, specific issues related to F&V MAP, such as sample variability, packaging material selectivity, and interactions between gases, samples, and films, need further attention.

Yeast plays a central role in several industrial fermentation processes, including large-scale beer, wine, and ethanol production. Although widely recognized for its fermentative efficiency and robustness, its residual biomass-often discarded or underutilized-represents a rich source of valuable compounds. These include cell wall components such as β-glucans and mannans, which exhibit significant nutritional, functional, and technological properties. The expansion of these fermentation processes has resulted in an abundance of excreted yeast biomass, much of which is used in animal feed or discarded as waste. This review explores the valorization pathways of residual biomass from yeasts of the genus Saccharomyces from the brewing, wine, and sugar-alcohol industries, highlighting recent advances in extraction, biosorption, and microencapsulation methods for the development of food ingredients. Future perspectives include the integration of biorefinery approaches and circular bioeconomy models to increase the sustainability and economic viability of the use of biomass processes. By advancing the understanding and use of spent yeast, this work exposes the current scenario and future challenges in valorizing this raw material.

Background: Food-derived extracellular vesicles (FEVs) from plants, milk and probiotics are emerging as bioactive nanocarriers linking nutrition and metabolism. Their natural stability provides unique advantages for gastrointestinal therapeutics. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a refractory intestinal disease, and the current research shows that FEVs have potential application value in improving IBD. Scope and Approach: This review systematically summarizes the current understanding of FEVs from three major sources-plant-derived, milk-derived, and bacteria-derived EVs, encompassing their biogenesis, structural characteristics, application characteristics and mechanism of action, with emphasis on their role in IBD intervention. And put forward new strategies and prospects for FEVs' intervention and application in IBD, providing a comprehensive perspective for their role in nutrition intervention.

Key findings and conclusions: FEVs from distinct sources exhibit characteristic structural and functional profiles that enable source-specific intervention strategies for IBD. These natural nanovesicles demonstrate multi-modal therapeutic effects by modulating gut microbiota composition, enhancing intestinal barrier integrity, and fine-tuning immune responses. Their role as nutritional modulators and drug delivery vehicles holds significant clinical promise for IBD management. However, translational challenges persist, including mechanism uncertainties, suboptimal targeting efficiency, unverified long-term safety, and limited production yields. Future studies should prioritize bridging these knowledge gaps to facilitate FEV-based clinical translation.