Journal of Food Quality最新文献

Potassium fertilisation plays an important role in improving pineapple fruit weight and quality. Potassium chloride (KCl)-based compound fertilizer instead of potassium sulphate (K₂SO₄) is often used in the pineapple cultivation due to its cheaper cost. A naturally formed mineral fertiliser mined in the U.K. known as polyhalite is one of the K₂SO₄-based fertiliser suitable for use in pineapple cultivation, besides supplying other macronutrients, which include magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and sulphur (S). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of polyhalite application after anthesis on yield, quality and postharvest storage shelf life of MD2 pineapples. Results showed that the average fruit weight increased by 12.8% with polyhalite dosage with significant increase recorded at the dose of 660 kg/ha. N, K, Mg, Ca and B levels in D leaf increased with polyhalite application. Pineapples treated with 660 kg/ha had slightly higher total soluble solids (11.30%), crude fibre content (28.50%), titratable acidity (13.30%) and sensory profile of overall acceptability (1.90%) compared with the control (without polyhalite application) at Day 13 of storage period. Thus, it can be concluded that polyhalite has the potential to serve as fertiliser source supplying K and secondary macronutrients such as Ca, Mg and S to enhance yield, quality and shelf life of pineapples grown in Malaysia.

Flaxseed oil, rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as α-linolenic acid (50%–60%) and essential vitamins (E and A), is highly susceptible to oxidation, leading to the formation of harmful by-products that diminish its nutritional value. Addressing this oxidative instability is critical for preserving the oil’s health benefits. While synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are commonly used to mitigate oxidation, they pose potential carcinogenic risks, prompting the search for safer, natural alternatives. Curcumin, derived from turmeric, has shown to exhibit potent antioxidant properties due to its unique molecular structure, including both phenolic and beta-diketone moieties, making it an attractive candidate for replacing synthetic antioxidants. This study aimed to use peroxidase and TBARS tests to investigate the comparative effects of curcumin and BHT on the oxidative stability of flaxseed oil. Results demonstrated that curcumin at higher concentrations (500 and 1000 ppm) significantly improved the oil’s resistance to oxidation, as indicated by lower peroxide and TBARS values during storage at elevated temperatures. Activation energy (Ea) calculated from TBARS tests increased in case of 500 and 1000 ppm curcumin, which proves inhibitory effect of antioxidants toward the oxidation reaction in these samples. In terms of Ea calculated from peroxide value, a decrease is seen for samples containing 200 ppm BHT and 500 ppm curcumin which shows the ease of the oxidation process and lower shelf life in these samples compared to the ones containing 200 and 1000 ppm of curcumin. In the current study, the change in entropy (ΔS) decreases to 1000 ppm curcumin which explains the slower rate of oxidation in this case. Also, higher concentration of curcumin could inhibit an increase in the acid value at all temperature conditions, especially at 97°C. Furthermore, curcumin exhibited superior antioxidant efficacy compared to BHT, suggesting its potential as a natural antioxidant in food applications. This research underscores the importance of curcumin in enhancing the shelf life and oxidative stability of flaxseed oil, offering a natural, safer alternative to synthetic antioxidants in the food industry.

It is reported that coconut (Cocos nucifera Linn.) water possesses properties such as being refreshing, cardioprotective, digestive stimulant, and having therapeutic and nutritional benefits. In this study, an attempt has been made to make a therapeutic and nutritional beverage consisting of coconut water and orange (Citrus sinensis Linn.) juice. Different ratios of the blended beverage were tested, and the final composition with 80% coconut water and 20% orange juice was chosen. Proximate analysis, sensory evaluation, phenolic and flavonoid contents, and antioxidant activity were determined. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) identified and quantified the beverage’s metabolites. Shelf-life evaluation was performed by assessing bacterial count and phenolic and flavonoid contents for up to 1 month. Further, network pharmacology analysis was performed to find out the tentative bimolecular relationship of identified metabolites in antioxidant potential. The results demonstrated that the blended beverage remained stable, including pH, °Brix, ash content, titratable acidity, total sugars, protein, and fat. The blended beverage exhibited strong antioxidant activity with significant contents of ascorbic acid, phenolic, and flavonoid levels. The content of gallic acid, hesperidin, and cinnamic acid in blended beverages was found to be 0.46%, 0.23%, and 0.31%, respectively. TLC–bioautography revealed that gallic acid is a predominant antioxidant compound in blended beverages. The network pharmacology analysis of identified metabolites with target proteins and genes plays a multimechanistic role in antioxidant potential. The study revealed that the beverage’s quality was maintained for the first month. The formulated beverage is rich in antioxidants and beneficial for human health.

Fruits contain good nutrients such as protein and vitamins; therefore, fruits are usually used as complementary food ingredients. Apple fruit is one of the most important traditional table fruits in the temperate zone besides being the most commonly consumed fruit in the world. Apple’s freshness is a decisive characteristic of consumer choice. Consumption may increase if apples of satisfactory freshness and quality are provided to the consumers. Reduced freshness of canned apple fruit results in significant spoilage during storage and distribution, affecting both agricultural profitability and consumer satisfaction. Many approaches have been presented to predict apple fruit freshness; however, most of these studies suffer from low accuracy due to poor image quality and the unavailability of sufficient data. This study aims to grade the freshness level of canned apple fruits by combining digital image processing and machine learning techniques. The proposed technique involves data collection of apple fruit, image segmentation, and preprocessing, creating the neural network model, training the network model, and testing for apple freshness prediction. A dataset is collected for apple fruit images for fresh, semifresh, and rotten classes, which is further augmented for more images. We extensively evaluated the performance of the proposed convolutional neural network–transfer learning (CNN-TL)–based technique. For performance evaluation, ResNet, GoogleNet, AlexNet, VGG, MobileNetV2, and InceptionV3 are also utilized due to their superior performance reported in the existing literature. The experimental results indicate the superior performance of the proposed approach with a 98% accuracy on the original dataset, which is better than other deep learning models. The model secures a 97% accuracy on the augmented dataset. Cross-validation results report a 97.71% accuracy using five folds. Furthermore, a comparison with existing state-of-the-art approaches shows that the proposed approach has better results for apple freshness classification.

The traditional food information model cannot guarantee the traceability of food quality and safety information. In response to this problem, blockchain has garnered significant attention from the food industry, because it can ensure food quality in the food traceability system. However, a trusted traceability system covering the full supply chain, with characteristics of systematic, accountable, and user-friendly, is important for food quality and safety. Utilizing blockchain and intelligent Internet-of-Thing (IoT) technology, the architecture of the trusted traceability system is designed with a physical layer, IoT layer, and blockchain layer. Taking the Fabric alliance chain as the underlying platform, adopting a distributed management mode, and establishing nodes to upload accurate data from each link in the food supply chain, we design traceability information nodes for five organizations (namely, production, processing, distribution, sale, and supervision) and form traceability events at all levels of nodes to form a traceability chain. In addition, the key attributes and functions of the smart contract between institutions are designed, and the transfer parameters of the execution function are constructed so that the organic food node can activate them. Next, the trigger function is constructed to notify the institutional nodes to conduct transactions, thereby realizing the execution process of the three main smart contracts (namely, production–processing organizations, processing–distribution organizations, and distribution–sale organizations). Finally, we implemented a trusted food traceability system for organic grapes. The results show that the system can meet the demand for food traceability.

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a pathogenic and zoonotic parasite, with warm blooded animals being considered as its hosts. Humans, especially immune defective subjects, may show serious symptoms of toxoplasmosis, while in poultry it can lead to an asymptomatic infection. Consumption of raw or undercooked meat of chickens can cause infection in human and other animals. So in this study, we identified and genotyped toxoplasmosis in chickens of Isfahan, Iran. After assessing blood samples from 60 domestic chickens and roosters, 60 industrial broiler chickens and roosters, and 60 laying hens and identifying the seropositive specimens by MAT test, the brain and tongue tissues of positive cases by serological tests were examined to identify the genotypes of T. gondii by nested PCR-RFLP. Molecular tests showed that toxoplasmosis was recorded in the brain tissue more than the tongue tissue, which can be attributed to the neurophilic nature of the parasite. The parasite strain in our samples was Genotype I. A significant percentage of domestic and industrial chickens and roosters were infected with T. gondii. Therefore, safe and hygienic methods of keeping and caring for chickens in domestic and industrial farms should be taken into consideration to prevent chickens from becoming infected. According to previous studies in human, environment, and livestock meat in Isfahan, Genotype I was predominant, which indicates the establishment of this genotype in the region.

This study aims to investigate the potential anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of Lactobacillus brevis CQPC12 (LBCQPC12) to enhance brain, neural, and motor functioning in mice. Mice were given intraperitoneal injections of mixed antibiotics (5 mg/mL neomycin, 25 mg/mL vancomycin, 0.1 mg/mL amphotericin B, 10 mg/mL ampicillin, 5 mg/mL metronidazole, and 1.5 μg/mL lipopolysaccharide) to mimic human bodies. At the conclusion of the trial, the mice’s capacity to run for prolonged periods of time and swim with weight was assessed. Furthermore, hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining was employed to investigate pathological alterations in brain tissue; quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was applied to discover inflammatory pathway genes and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-related expressions in the brain and skeletal muscle, and the liver index, serum, and brain oxidation, and inflammation indicators were found. The findings demonstrated that LBCQPC12 increased total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), glutathione (GSH), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels while decreasing malondialdehyde (MDA), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels in the serum and brain, as well as lengthening the mice’s weight-carrying swimming and running durations and lowering the liver index. LBCQPC12 boosted the expression of VEGF-A, glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1), GLUT-4, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) mRNA in skeletal muscle as well as genes in the brain’s protein kinase B 1/cAMP-response element binding protein/brain-derived neurotrophic factor/extracellular regulated protein kinases 1 (AKT1/CREB/BDNF/ERK1) pathways. Finally, LBCQPC12 demonstrated potential utility in the creation of functional probiotics by reducing oxidative inflammation, skeletal muscle damage, and motor function in the central nervous system brought on by antibiotics.

This study aimed to develop a functional home meal replacement (HMR) sweet pumpkin porridge by enhancing the content of carotenoids, the naturally abundant antioxidant nutrients in sweet pumpkin, and fortifying it with calcium and vitamin D, which are commonly deficient in the Korean diet. The carotenoid contents in sweet pumpkin according to the origins, parts, and processing methods, as well as carotenoid stability in HMR sweet pumpkin porridge with and without natural calcium and vitamin D, were compared using ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). There was no significant difference in carotenoid content based on the origins of sweet pumpkin. However, carotenoid levels were highest in the skin (p < 0.001) and were best retained through steaming (p < 0.05). Xanthophyll and carotenes in HMR sweet pumpkin porridge decreased progressively over time. Xanthophyll levels declined by 43.52%, 57.58%, and 65.64% in regular HMR and 44.66%, 59.86%, and 61.45% in fortified HMR at 3, 12, and 18 months, respectively. Carotenes decreased by 26.74%, 87.05%, and 91.42% in regular HMR and 0.8%, 87.52%, and 91.33% in fortified HMR over the same periods. These findings demonstrate comparable carotenoid reduction patterns in both regular and fortified HMR sweet pumpkin porridge. This study demonstrated that selecting specific sweet pumpkin parts, such as the skin, optimizing processing methods like steaming, and incorporating fortification with calcium and vitamin D, without impacting carotenoid degradation, provides valuable insights for advancing the development of elderly-friendly functional HMR sweet pumpkin porridge.

This review examines colorimetric indicator packaging approaches for fresh fruit and vegetable (F&V) products, focusing on freshness monitoring, quality considerations, and potential future issues. Currently, consumers increasingly need to know F&V provenance and more information on quality and safety attributes. Methods for determining the freshness of F&V were created to reduce consumer use of expired F&V. Due to their short shelf lives, F&Vs have experienced numerous physiologic, chemical, and biological changes throughout time. These techniques altered their perception of quality, safety, and freshness. Today, F&V can be tracked along with their qualities and storage life through the supply chain using colorimetric freshness indicators. Those indicators detect pH, gas, temperature, humidity, and microbial activity from F&V metabolites during storage. Of them, pH indicators displayed more active responses due to the F&V being past its expiration date. However, fresh F&V is not yet fully commercially usable for freshness monitoring systems. This is because the response of indicators for F&V was inferior when compared to protein-based foods such as fish and meat. The basic problem is that the released metabolites of F&V during storage, such as carbon dioxide, cannot easily make the environment a stronger acid for indicator detection than ammonia metabolites from protein foods. On the other hand, most indicators are developed from synthetic dyes and polymers, which could be a reason for health effects, while natural dyes and biopolymers do not effectively detect the target metabolites and withstand moisture. In the future, an additional study must be done on various freshness monitoring systems and their widespread use with fresh F&V.

Bigels, composed of hydrogels and oleogels, are emerging as innovative materials with significant potential in the food industry. This review explores the application of bigels in various food contexts, including conventional and novel meats, plant-based alternatives, baked foods, 3D printing, and advanced packaging technologies. In traditional meat products, bigels have demonstrated their ability to replace up to 50% of animal fat, maintaining acceptable sensory and physical properties. Bigels are used in novel meat formulations to enhance nutritional profiles by reducing sodium, saturated fats, and synthetic additives, while providing improved stability and texture as effective fat substitutes. Additionally, bigels are utilized in 3D food printing for personalized nutrition and innovative designs, offering improved stability and structural integrity during printing process over traditional gels. Bigels are being explored in advanced packaging as coatings to delay oxidation and prevent dehydration in seafood, and in intelligent packaging that responds to food freshness, showcasing their potential to extend shelf life and reduce food waste. Despite their advantages, the use of bigels in the food industry faces challenges including ingredient safety, regulatory compliance, and consumer acceptance. The integration of bigels into food products requires careful consideration of their physicochemical properties and interactions with other ingredients. Future research is needed to optimize bigel formulations, improve their stability under processing conditions, and address consumer preferences. Overall, bigels present a promising solution for developing healthier, more sustainable food products with the potential to revolutionize the industry by enhancing food’s nutritional profile and sensory qualities. Continued research and innovation are crucial for overcoming existing challenges and fully realizing the benefits of bigels in the global food market.