Food and Bioproducts Processing最新文献

The search for renewable sources that can be used to develop products as alternatives to traditional polymers in the future, without affecting food safety, represents a challenge for the food industry. In this context, agro-industrial waste has emerged as an interesting alternative. This study evaluated biodegradable films made from Hass avocado seed flour without (Control film; PC) and with antioxidant extracts (PExBIO and PExIND) derived from the epicarp of the same fruit. The results showed that all the films blocked visible (over 96 %) and ultraviolet light (99.9 %), which was mainly attributed to perseorangine, a compound generated by the action of polyphenol-oxidase. The films also exhibited good water vapor barrier properties. PExIND showed the highest mechanical strength (Young's modulus = 901.8 ± 33.4 MPa; tensile strength = 9.1 ± 1.0 MPa; elongation = 3.5 ± 0.5 %), correlating with the highest crystallinity index (14.9 %). The incorporation of extracts increased the content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity in PExBIO and PExIND compared to PC, with no significant differences between them. Moreover, the biodegradation test indicated that the films showed high biodegradability. Therefore, Hass avocado residues could be used to produce biodegradable antioxidant films, suitable for packaging light-sensitive and low-moisture products.

The nutraceutical beverages market has increased in recent years, motivated by the increasing trend of consumers choosing food and beverages beneficial to health, mostly after the COVID-19 pandemic. Several researchers have proposed different formulations, where the combination of plants has been tested at the laboratory and pilot scales to maximize the desirable features of the beverages, including antioxidant capacity, anticarcinogens, and anti-inflammatory properties. Developing these products requires scaling-up from these scales to the industry one and, hence, identifying the criteria and/or parameters affecting process yield due to the transport phenomena associated with the scale increment. This work proposes a framework for scaling up solid-liquid extraction in a nutraceutical beverage process using available pilot plant data, combining brute-force and empirical scaling approaches. This framework provides an alternative for industries that have acquired equipment without considering the principles of similarity between the larger scale and the laboratory stage. Operating conditions are tuned to reach the product quality at the pilot level and the maximum beverage's antioxidant capacity. A techno-economic analysis of the production process and an environmental evaluation were performed, providing the basis for an effective scaling-up to the industry level. The scaling-up proved to be feasible, as the net present value of the process is $2018,000 with a payback time of 4.83 years; the major source of solid waste is the raw materials with a carbon footprint less than 0.205 MT eCO₂ due this process operates with temperatures lower than 100 °C. The circular economy indicators in this project were circular material usage rate and Waste Stream Recycling Rate. The Circular Material Usage Rate ranged from 16.7 % to 66.7 % depending on the composition of the cocoa husk in the raw material, and the Waste Stream Recycling Rate (%) ranged from 4.4 % to 5 % destined for composting development. The framework is designed to be applicable to other food production processes that encounter equipment constraints. It facilitates the evaluation of process yield and enables the simulation and analysis of economic profitability and environmental impact using circular economy indicators at an industrial/commercial scale.

Brewers’ spent grain (BSG), the solid waste of the brewing industry, is high in fibres, proteins and health-beneficial compounds such as polyphenols. This research investigated bioprocessing with enzymes and microbes to modify the properties of BSG for its utilisation as a food ingredient. Pre-treatment studies showed that wet milling performed better than dry milling, and heat and homogenisation either before or after the enzyme hydrolysis did not significantly influence the release of reducing sugars and free amino nitrogen (FAN). Four treatments were applied to wet-milled BSG: fermentation with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum POM1 with or without the enzyme Ondea pro and enzymatic bioprocessing without any fermentation. Control was the condition without enzyme and starter. Without the enzyme, there was negligible free sugar and FAN, and the starter had limited growth and organic acid production. Only the combination of enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation reached a pH of 4 and 10 mg/g DW lactic acid. The microbial preference for monosaccharides was evident, and the enzyme influenced the release of oligosaccharides that can have a prebiotic effect. Bioprocessing impacted the phenolic acid composition and microbial consumption, with a significant release of ferulic acid during enzyme hydrolysis.

Acid-induced precipitation (AIP) is the most efficient approach for isolation of rhamnolipids (RLs), while it does not work at certain cases. Therefore, for certain specific fermentation processes, efficient and low-cost separation of RLs remains a challenge. In this study, an advanced AIP process based on heat treatment was developed to efficiently isolate RLs from a fermentation broth where RLs were unable to precipitate. Over 97 % of RLs with purity of 90.8 % were recovered after treatment at 120 °C for 10 min at a pH below 4. The involved mechanism might be related to that heat treatment at pH below 4 results in the degradation of certain components in broth that interfere with the RLs precipitation, thus no longer affecting the precipitation performance of RLs at acidic conditions. Moreover, the obtained RLs manifested well-maintained surface and emulsification activities. It can reduce the surface tension of water to approximately 29 mN/m at concentration of 65 mg/L, and the emulsification index was 72–80 % against varied types of oil. The approach exhibited superior performance compared to regular AIP processes, demonstrating excellent universality in real applications. However, more systematic research needs to focus on clarifying the interfering component which should be the main limitation of the present study.

Food production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach to identify and reduce emissions. Efficient energy use is critical, alongside the adoption of low-carbon technologies that help agriculture and food processing adapt to climate change. Carbon footprint (CF) analysis is a key tool for assessing the environmental impact of food production and distribution, requiring a thorough evaluation of each product's life cycle from production to consumption. This study focused on the sugar production CF in three Polish plants, examining technological processes and creating unit process diagrams of the production cycle. This analysis led to the development of a database to calculate the CF based on production volume. The determined CF was 0.14–0.27 kg CO_2eq/kg, and the average CF_av: for plant 1–0.18; for plant 2–0.19; for plant 3–0.19 kg CO_2eq/kg. Continuous monitoring is essential, allowing production practices to adapt to changing conditions and ensuring quick responses to sustainability needs. Reducing the sugar production CF involves several strategies, including adopting sustainable cultivation practices, optimizing production processes, using renewable energy sources, improving transportation efficiency, and minimizing waste. Together, these measures promote more environmentally responsible sugar production. By prioritizing sustainability and embracing innovative solutions, the food industry can significantly reduce its environmental impact, meeting the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

The escalating demand for economical and durable materials has propelled plastics into an indispensable facet of daily human life, dominating commercial and industrial sectors. The global plastic production of 1.1 billion tons by 2050 exacerbates concerns. The COVID-19 pandemic has further intensified the issue, reaching an alarming 0.3–0.4 billion tons annually. Urgent action is imperative to curtail the drastic environmental impact. Various strategies, particularly microbial involvement in plastic production and degradation, must be implemented to address this. Poly-3-Hydroxybutyrate (PHB) microbial polyesters present a promising alternative to conventional plastics because of their biodegradable nature, thus offering a sustainable solution to plastic pollution. PHBs are employed in divergent industries, including agriculture, medicine, nanotechnology, food, and tissue engineering. This comprehensive review addresses the gap in the literature by encompassing a wide range of topics related to PHBs, their associated enzymes, metabolic pathways, and applications. It also provides an in-depth analysis, highlighting the significance of diverse microbial communities in both the synthesis and degradation of biopolymers. Strategies for augmenting PHA production and leveraging waste products for circular economy initiatives are also discussed, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions to address the global plastic crisis.Top of Form This review highlights two critical strategies for tackling plastic pollution: introducing alternative materials like bioplastics and leveraging biological recycling with microbial assistance. Adopting bio-based circular economy strategies, implementing comprehensive 6 R waste management practices, strengthening plastic pollution regulations, and raising social awareness can significantly improve eco-friendly plastic waste management, diminish pollution, and enhance socio-economic conditions, thus benefiting economies worldwide.

Sugarcane straw is a residual which can be used to obtain bioproducts in a biorefinery. In this study, the pretreated biomass was used to produce both high added value products and bioenergy biomolecules from enzymatic hydrolysis by optimizing the operating conditions of the process. Cello-oligosaccharides (COS) release of 102.2 mg g_biomass⁻¹ was obtained from 6 h of reaction, corresponding to a productivity of 16.6 mgCOS g_biomass⁻¹ h⁻¹ and a specific productivity of 3.3 mgCOS FPU⁻¹ h⁻¹ after pretreatment conditions optimization using mixture of ionic liquids (110 °C, 35 % w w⁻¹ water content, and 15 % w w⁻¹ [Mea][Hex]). This study also developed a one-step process integrating two important operations involved in the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomasses named deacetylation and lignin removal. The method described can be used for fermentable sugars (cellulose digestibility of 88 %) and oligosaccharides production under optimized pretreatment conditions using a mixture of protic ionic liquids with gains in productivity, cost and sustainability.

There are global concerns about the environmental, social, and economic consequences associated with the generation of food waste. To effectively address this challenge, and particularly to develop food waste valorisation approaches, it is necessary to acquire understanding of the physicochemical and biochemical characteristics of food waste. This study comprises a systematic overview and quantitative assessment of the characteristics of food waste biomass, and this was achieved through a comprehensive literature review. The resulting database encompasses the physicochemical, biochemical, and elemental composition of food waste. The study evaluates food waste variability, analyses correlations between components, and highlights patterns in composition. Overall, food waste is a rather variable material. Typology, collection source and geographical origin of food waste streams are the main contributing factors to variation in physicochemical, biochemical and elemental compositions of food waste, while collection season and storage temperature appear not to be contributing substantially to variation. A clear distinction between plant-based and animal-based food waste biomass can be observed with animal-matter enriched food waste having high contents of protein, lipid and ash, but a low starch content. On the other hand, plant-based food waste can be either high in lignin and low in starch or high in carbohydrates, starch and higher heating value. Fibre content appears an indicative parameter, distinguishing plant from animal enriched food waste, and correlating strongly with lignin-rich, starch-poor plant biomass. The heterogeneity of food waste biomass composition will create challenges in developing and scaling up appropriate food waste management. The current study shows that the analysis of specific food waste parameters, such as fibre content, can be used, to inform the choice of the most appropriate valorisation route.

Solar dryers present a clean and affordable solution to food wastage which is one of the biggest concerns of the world. The highest contribution of domestic sector to the global food waste and lack of researches on small-scale solar dryers have created a need to develop sustainable and low cost domestic solar dryers. The present research aims to develop and analyse the output behaviour of a beeswax-packed domestic solar dryer (BDSD) for intermittent bitter gourd drying. The drying kinetics of bitter gourd slices and thermal, economic, environmental and exergetic performances of the BDSD have been evaluated with varying sample masses for passive and active drying conditions. The average final moisture content of the bitter gourd slices for passive and active conditions were found to be 3.26 and 3.93 % (wb), respectively. Midilli-Kucuk model exhibited the strongest fit to the bitter gourd drying behaviour under both the drying conditions. The total moisture evaporation, heat transfer coefficients, thermal efficiency, specific moisture extraction rate, savings for dried bitter gourd slices drying, CO₂ mitigation, carbon credit earned and exergy efficiency were found to increase while the drying rate, effective moisture diffusivity, specific energy consumption, costs for bitter gourd slices drying, payback period and energy payback time decreased as the sample mass increased under both drying conditions. The performance of the BDSD was found to be a linear function of sample mass under both drying conditions.