Journal of Food Process Engineering最新文献

As petroleum-based plastics contribute significantly to environmental pollution, the development of novel biodegradable and even edible packaging materials has become a research hotspot. In this study, lotus seed protein hydrolysate (LSPH) was extracted and used to fabricate a propylene glycol alginate (PGA)/LSPH composite film. The antioxidant activity of LSPH was predicted through structural analysis and bioinformatics tools, complemented by peptide sequencing and amino acid composition analysis. The composite film with 0.2% LSPH/PGA exhibited the highest tensile strength (35 MPa) along with improved elongation at break. Moreover, this film demonstrated the lowest water vapor permeability (WVP), enhanced surface hydrophobicity, and increased thermal stability. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses indicated that the addition of LSPH led to the formation of non-covalent bonds—including hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions, and electrostatic interactions—with other components in the composite film, contributing to a homogeneous and smooth microstructure.

Tagatose is a low-calorie alternative sweetener with several health benefits. This study is the first demonstration of continuous-flow microwave-assisted isomerization of galactose using arginine as an alkaline catalyst, which enabled precise residence time control under pressurized conditions. With a microwave power of 800 W and a residence time of 3.18 min (flow rate of 0.5 mL/min), a tagatose yield of 10.9% was obtained using 0.2 M galactose and 10 mol% arginine, together with a small amount of talose and sorbose. Increasing arginine concentration from 2.5 to 15 mol% significantly increased the yield to the highest value of 14.9%, but the yield decreased at 20 mol%. Initial galactose concentration from 0.1 to 0.6 M with 15 mol% arginine did not enhance tagatose yield, but productivity increased to the highest value of 254.4 g/L h. Acid formation and browning increased with the galactose concentration. Lower galactose concentration (0.2 M) provided lower productivity (101.4 g/L h), but also much lower browning, which is an advantage for further downstream purification. Overall, this study shows the potential of this novel continuous process using microwave heating, which is more energy-efficient than the conventional batch method and provides a novel and sustainable rare sugar production approach.

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of ultra-high pressure homogenization [UHPH, 0 MPa (Control without UHPH), 100, and 150 MPa] and different enzyme treatments (non-enzyme, pectinase and cellulase) on some quality and color changes of fruit juices produced from dried apple pomace powder (DAPP). DAPP was a valuable waste product due to its high total phenolic content (198.42 ± 2.60 mg GAE/100 g dw) as well as low moisture (2.78 ± 0.17%) and pH (3.20 ± 0.03). The pH, total soluble solids (TSS), color, total color difference (ΔE), and National Bureau of Standards (NBS) parameters of fruit juices (DAPPJ) produced from DAPP were affected by both enzyme (p < 0.01) and UHPH treatments (p < 0.01). Enzyme and UHPH treatments increased the TSS value (p < 0.05). Pectinase treatment of DAPPJ resulted in lower pH values and color coordinates (L*, a*, and b*) compared to cellulase and non-enzyme groups (p < 0.05). Regardless of enzyme treatment, UHPH processing increased lightness and yellowness, while decreasing redness in DAPPJ. The combination of pectinase enzyme and 100 MPa UHPH offered a ‘distinct’ color difference with the lowest ΔE, while ΔE was ‘very distinct’ in all treatment groups processed with 150 MPa UHPH (p < 0.05). The color difference based on NBS classification was “noticeable” for enzyme treatments and “appreciable” for UHPH processing. Considering a lighter yellowish and less reddish fruit juice for consumer acceptance, the combination of cellulase enzyme and 150 MPa UHPH can be recommended for industrial applications of DAPPJ. On the other hand, to minimize the visible color difference, a combination of pectinase enzyme and 100 MPa UHPH is a more suitable option for DAPPJ production.

The orange affected by freeze damage will experience the loss of partial nutrients, decline in taste quality, and acceleration of deterioration. According to the early signs of freeze damage, it becomes challenging for the naked eye to differentiate between oranges with freeze damage and those that are intact. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of using hyperspectral imaging for identification of oranges with different degrees of early freeze damage. Firstly, the fundamental mechanism of hyperspectral imaging for identifying early freeze damage of orange was investigated by weight change before and after freeze damage, soluble solids content, and fluorescence images of the oranges with different degrees of early freeze damage. Subsequently, a variance inflation factor modified competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (VIF-CARS) algorithm and a reptile search algorithm optimized support vector machine (RSA-SVM) were proposed to extract effective wavelengths associated with freeze damage information of oranges and identify oranges with different degrees of early freeze damage. The results demonstrated that VIF-CARS exhibited promising outcomes in dimensionality reduction, effective information extraction, and wavelength interpretability compared with traditional methods. Moreover, when combined with the RSA-SVM model, this combination showcased reliable discrimination capabilities for identifying oranges with different degrees of early freeze damage, achieving the optimal classification accuracy of 94.44% and the F1-score of 0.9484. Therefore, hyperspectral imaging offers a feasible approach for identification of oranges with different degrees of early freeze damage, which is a crucial step toward improving the detection system for the fruit supply chains.

Under high temperature and humidity environments, the pollution characteristics of rice exhibit instability and high complexity, which makes traditional prediction models face challenges of insufficient stability and robustness in feature screening and outlier processing. Therefore, this paper proposes a rice safety risk prediction model of OREDRVFL (Outlier-robust Ensemble Deep Random Vector Functional Link Network) improved by the FAOA (Fitness-Distance-Balance-Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm). First, the MI (Mutual Information) method is employed to screen a series of key risk factors. Second, the AOA (Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm) is improved by the FDB (Fitness-Distance-Balance) strategy. Then, regularization constraints and sparsity modeling are used to construct the OREDRVFL network, and FAOA is employed to optimize its number of hidden layers and regularization parameters. Finally, experimental verification is carried out using the detection data of a major rice-producing province from 2022 to 2023. The results show that the improved MI-FAOA-OREDRVFL model significantly outperforms traditional models in terms of indicators such as root mean square error (RMSE = 0.4300), mean absolute error (MAE = 0.2900), and correlation coefficient (R² = 0.8800). Under noise interference, its RMSE remains stable at 0.1700, verifying the high precision and strong robustness of the model, and providing technical support for the prediction of rice safety risks under high temperature and humidity environments.

Starch is a natural, renewable, and low-cost biopolymer with promising potential to replace petrochemical plastics in food packaging applications. Starch as a polymeric matrix offers a wide range of possibilities for improvement, making it more attractive to use in various applications in rigid/semi-rigid packaging than other biodegradable materials such as cellulose-based paper/cardboard or polylactic acid (PLA). Thermoplastic starch (TPS) processing under optimized plasticization conditions allows suitable mechanical properties (tensile strength: 2–15 MPa; elongation at break: 10%–150%). However, native starch exhibits high hydrophilicity and poor thermal stability. This review critically evaluates TPS performance for rigid/semi-rigid food packaging applications, such as mechanical strength, moisture barrier, thermal stability, and structural integrity, and discusses advanced reinforcement strategies. These include nanofillers (starch/nanocellulose composites achieving Young's modulus > 3 GPa), natural fibers (e.g., 20% hemp fiber increasing tensile strength by ~200%; thermal stability improvement up to 50°C with lignocellulosic fibers), nano clays (WVTR reduction by 30%–70%) and polymer blending (e.g., TPS/PLA mixtures with 10% lower moisture absorption). Processing techniques (extrusion, injection, compression molding) and interfacial compatibility (e.g., silane coupling agents that improve adhesion between filler and matrix) are also analyzed. Finally, the main challenges of industrial adaptation to advance starch-based packaging toward high-performance biodegradable applications are addressed.

In this study, bigel systems were developed as potential alternatives to palm oil in cocoa spreads. This study developed citrus fiber (CF)-based bigel systems as alternatives to palm oil in cocoa spreads. Bigels were formulated by combining hydrogels (HG) containing CF (5% and 7.5%) with olive oil oleogels (OG) structured using 10% beeswax at different HG:OG ratios (80:20, 50:50, and 20:80). All bigels exhibited higher storage (G′) and loss (G″) moduli than palm oil, indicating enhanced viscoelastic behavior. Increasing the oleogel fraction improved the structural integrity of the bigel network. Bigels containing 7.5% CF were incorporated into cocoa spreads, where higher oleogel ratios increased the solid character (G′). All bigel-enriched cocoa spreads showed thixotropic behavior with lower deformation and higher structural recovery compared to palm oil-based spreads. Additionally, bigel addition improved temperature-dependent stability. These results demonstrate that CF-based bigels provide a compact, viscoelastic, and stable fat system, highlighting their potential as palm oil replacers in cocoa spread formulations.