Journal of Food Quality最新文献

Microbial contamination, chemical reactions like auto-oxidation, and physical damages are the main factors that can restrict the shelf life of food products. Using chemical additives is a common way to control these reactions; however, some of them are carcinogenic and consumers demand natural agents. These drawbacks prompt manufacturers to seek healthier alternatives to chemical preservatives. Essential oils (EOs) are secondary aromatic metabolites of plants that are familiar as ethereal or volatile oils and contain various chemical components. They are extracted from plants through hydrodistillation and possess excellent antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, making them ideal natural preservatives for food products. EOs and their components have exhibited high antimicrobial properties toward different pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms containing Gram-negative and Gram-positive species, mycobacteria, yeasts, and molds. Research has explored using of EOs in various food products, as well as their application in packaging. The use of EOs as preservatives in food products is indeed promising due to their natural antimicrobial properties. However, their application is often hindered by the strong flavor and aroma profiles associated with these oils, which may not be suitable for all food products. This flavor intensity can be particularly challenging, especially for products that need to maintain a subtle or specific taste profile. By using encapsulation, active packaging, hurdle technology, etc., the applied dose is reduced which can further reduce the negative effects of EOs on sensorial properties. This review aims to highlight EOs as superior antimicrobial and antioxidant agents for increasing the quality and safety of different food products.

Foodborne bacterial pathogens and related diseases are a major public health concern worldwide. Vegetables are a major healthy diet in our lives and an extraordinary dietary source of nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, vitamins, minerals, iron, and fiber. Because of their high moisture and low acidity, they provide a medium for foodborne pathogens. Foodborne bacterial pathogens or their toxins can affect consumer’s health and may even lead to death when foods are contaminated with them. However, there was no previous research in the study area related to spoiled vegetables and foodborne pathogens. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of foodborne bacterial pathogens by isolation and identification, and antibiotic susceptibility profile of foodborne pathogenic bacteria isolated from spoiled vegetables. A total of 96 samples of three different vegetables were randomly collected from vendors in the public market of Wolaita Sodo Town. All the samples were processed by standard microbiological techniques for enumeration of total viable count, selective media isolation and biochemical identification, and antibiotic susceptibility patterns using standard antibiotics. The total viable count was very high in cabbage (10.8 ± 0.29 × 10⁵ cfu/gm) followed by tomato (8.1 ± 0.27 × 10⁵ cfu/gm) and carrot (6.6 ± 0.26 × 10⁵ cfu/gm). The most frequently isolated bacterial pathogen was Staphylococcus aureus with a 28.12% prevalence rate followed by Escherichia coli at 26%, Salmonella spp. at 14.58%, and Shigella spp. at 6.25%. The isolated E. coli, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., and S. aureus strains were highly resistant to respective antibiotics cloxacillin, vancomycin, ceftriaxone, and ampicillin. All the bacterial isolates showed resistance to ampicillin, amoxicillin, and cloxacillin and were highly susceptible to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol. The presence of foodborne bacterial pathogens with resistance to several antibiotics is a serious public health concern in the study area. Therefore, regular monitoring of the quality of vegetables and enteric bacterial infections among vendors and farmers should also be informed about the sources of microbial contamination.

The need to use innovative packaging (active or intelligent) that extends food shelf-life and promotes sustainable production and consumption systems has become a global priority. In this context, the current research explores the consumer’s buying experience regarding food actively packed with biopolymer films. The research used a questionnaire targeting potential customers for food packed with a protein-based active film. A conceptual model was created to investigate the dependency relations between the following concepts: “superior functional packaging,” “affordable packaging,” “aesthetic packaging,” “nutritional value,” ,”spoilage prevention packaging,” “buying experience for food packed with biopolymer films,” “experiential consumption” and “informative health packaging.” The research demonstrates that affordable pricing, appealing aesthetics, functional attributes and shelf-life extension are significant elements of biopolymer films for active packaging. It validates that these incentives significantly enhance consumer awareness, shaping their experience, preference and proactive search for products packed with such materials in stores. Using biopolymer films for active packaging of foods will have social, environmental and economic benefits, both for producers and consumers.

The present study focuses on how the contagion effect between food products placed on different color backgrounds influences consumer evaluations, through a series of three experiments. The color characteristics are discussed, and contagion theory is used to explicate the underlying process. Across the three studies, color feature plays an important role in a consumer context. Study 1 indicates that consumers feel stronger contagion effects when a source is placed on an expansive color rather than a contractive one. In addition, colors also show their mobile, dynamic, and diverse features. Study 2 shows that the transfer of a product’s quality might be reduced when the source is on a heavy color and the target is on a light color, resulting in stronger contagion effects for consumers. Moreover, Study 3 finds that bright colors lead to stronger positive contagion effects, while dark colors intensify negative contagion effects. The findings of this research suggest that practitioners should not only use contagious stimuli to elicit consumers’ perceptions but they should also place products on different background colors to capture the attention of consumers.

Psidium guajava (Family: Myrtaceae) is a well-known fruit in tropical and subtropical areas of nations such as India, South America, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Pakistan. This study seeks to provide a thorough overview of the pharmacological characteristics, phytochemistry, nutritional profile, ethnomedical use, and possible applications of P. guajava. Several databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and ScienceDirect, served as the primary data sources for this study. Different parts of this plant, fruit, pulp, peel, seeds, leaves, bark, and oil, are rich in bioactive phytochemicals, which are responsible for various biological activities as well as for the synthesis of nanoparticles. The fruit of P. guajava has been used to produce processed food items such as juice, cake, puree, jelly, jam, toffee, pickles, and wine. The leaf extract has also been used to heal wounds with swollen gums, cough, diarrhea, and oral ulcers. Iron, calcium, phosphorus, vitamins A and C, and minerals are abundant in P. guajava fruit. The fruit, seed, leaf, and peel of P. guajava are rich in organic and inorganic elements. Although plant extracts have an outstanding nutritional and phytochemical profile, more in-depth clinical research and effective commercialization of P. guajava-based processed food are still required to confirm their usefulness. In addition, using P. guajava to synthesize nanoparticles for industrial applications has untapped scientific potential that calls for more examination and exploration.

In recent years, food allergies have emerged as a significant global health concern that affect an increasing percentage of the population. Despite being under investigation and discussed as a major or minor elicitor of food allergies, soybean remains a notable allergenic food source, affecting approximately 0.3%–3% of people worldwide, with a higher prevalence in Asian countries. Allergic reactions to soy can manifest as mild symptoms or progress to severe, life-threatening conditions such as anaphylaxis. Consequently, there is an urgent need for the specific detection of soy allergens in food to mitigate the risk of inadvertent exposure and associated allergic reactions. State-of-the-art methods for detecting food allergens include immunoassays utilizing either food source- or, ideally, allergen-specific antibodies, along with mass spectrometry for detecting specific protein-derived peptides. However, many commercially available immunoassays predominantly utilize polyclonal antibodies, which can confirm the presence of the entire food source but lack specificity for individual allergens. In response to this limitation, the aim is to develop specific monoclonal antibodies targeting individual soy allergens. These antibodies enable “component-resolved analysis” of food samples, aligning with the emerging trend of component-resolved diagnosis in allergy research. The generated monoclonal antibodies not only offer the ability to detect individual soy allergens in food and raw materials but also serve as valuable tools for quality and safety control of materials used in oral immunotherapy and allergy diagnosis. This improvement contributes significantly to aiding people with soy allergies and can be adapted for other food allergenic sources. This advancement represents a pivotal step toward enhancing the precision and comprehensiveness of allergen detection methodologies, addresses the specific challenges faced by individuals with soy allergies, and lays the foundation for broader applications to other food allergenic sources.

Sustainable food production through harnessing the potential of phenolic-rich vegetable by-products is crucial to ensuring food security. Thus, the current work signifies the impact of vegetable peel powder (VPP) substitution (3%, 5%, and 10%) on the physico-functional, pasting, gel texture, dough rheology, antioxidant and sensory properties of panned wheat bread. The VPP’s existence elevated the oil and water holding capacities (OHCs and WHCs) of the composite flour. The pasting properties, such as final and peak viscosities (cp) and pasting temperature (°C), were significantly debilitated (p < 0.05) with the substitution of VPP. Moreover, the composite flour gels showed reduced hardness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, and gumminess. The micro-doughLab data showed that the dough showed elevated dough development time and water absorption, greater softening and lower stability with enlarged VPP substitution. The final baked bread obtained a lower volume, a lower specific volume and a darker crust and crumb, whereas lipids, proteins and minerals were magnified by the increased substitution of VPP. An impressive increase in total phenolic content was noticed with a marginal surge in flavonoids; however, antioxidant activity was amplified significantly (p < 0.05) for the extract of VPP-containing bread. Although the bread substituted with VPP remained less accepted by sensory analysis for its colour, taste, flavour, texture and overall acceptability, it could be a potential source of fibres, minerals and other beneficial bioactive components that would enhance the consumer’s life quality and health.

The growing demand for sustainable and healthy practices has led to an increased interest in the electrolyzed water (EW) application. This technology has garnered widespread acceptance as a sanitizer within the food industry. It also enhances the nutritional, functional, and sensory properties of food products to improve quality and safety. This review undertakes a comprehensive review of the recent advancements in electrolysis technology, exploring its applications in fruits and meat industry and its impact on nutritional, functional, microbiological, safety, and sensory characteristics. It is concluded that the EW should be considered an essential component of industrial equipment sanitization and food product decontamination by offering antimicrobial benefits and promoting functional component accumulation. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of EW can be compromised by the presence of organic matter and equipment corrosion. Furthermore, it provides a concise overview of EW generation, elucidates the influential factors governing its production, and delineates prospective directions for research and development in this field.

Nixtamalization is a process used in the production of tortillas. This process offers many advantages, such as improving the rheological, nutritional, and textural properties of the masa. This process is carried out under different steps which affect the quality of the final product such as the cooking and soaking conditions and the quantity of ash. In addition, the fragility of the masa makes the tortillas brittle. The present work was initiated with the aim of determining the nixtamalization conditions that would improve the textural, rheological, and nutritional properties of masa. The response surface methodology, using the central composite design was applied to three factors including the ash content and cooking and soaking times, and the responses evaluated were the adhesiveness, cohesion, final viscosity, and gelatinization temperature of masa obtained from two varieties of maize (Atp-Y and Kassaï). The optimums masa flours obtained were characterized using standard methods. Results showed that, the masa made from Kassaï variety needed a cooking time of 51.21 min and soaking time of 16.10 h in the presence of 0.80 g of ash. For the Atp-Y variety, the conditions included a cooking time of 49.17 min and a soaking time of 23.4 h in the presence of 0.24 g of ash. The responses obtained showed an adhesiveness of 0.10 kg/f and 0.05 kg/f, cohesion of 1.08 kg/f and 1.23 kg/f, final viscosity of 1504.80 cP and 1328.30 cP, gelatinization temperature 73.50 °C and 71.50 °C, and finally retrogradation 435.50 cP and 316 cP, respectively, for Kassaï and Atp-Y. Chemical characterization of the optimum masa showed that the white masa had a high protein content (10.50%), carbohydrates (71.70%), and fiber (2%) while the yellow masa presented the highest lipid content (5.47%). These finding demonstrated that Kassaï (white) maize-masa flour obtained in optimal conditions can be recommended for the production of good quality tortillas because tortillas made with this masa are less crumbly and more elastic.

Pakistani small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have an important role and contribute less than other countries, yet their significance cannot be denied. The SME sector is confronted with multiple problems, including export issues because of the trust factor and least knowledge of the latest food safety standards, which have made it difficult to contribute to the GDP of the nation. Various standards such as Food Safety, HACCP, GGAP YUM GAP, MacDonald’s GAP, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001 are being implemented in Pakistan for decades. This study was designed to highlight the critical issues of Pakistani SMEs in adopting management systems, i.e., food safety management systems. Data from 107 SMEs from different fields (beverages, baking, meat, postharvest processing, etc.) of Pakistan were collected through a detailed questionnaire and fed to SPSS V 26.0 for statistical illustration and articulation of the results. In this study, SME company profiles were analyzed and showed that 43% had 6–20 employees, 78.5% were manufacturers, and 68.2% were in business for 7–15 years. The focus was on sales growth (35.5%), profit growth (38.3%), return on assets (42.1%), gross revenues (47.7%), net cash flow (46.7%), customer satisfaction (47.7%), and customer satisfaction relative to competitors (46.7%). A total of 21.5% of SMEs implemented local standards, 23.4% implemented international standards, and 54.2% implemented both local and international standards. Certification benefits included establishing an effective system (62.6% agreed), understanding roles and responsibilities (76.6% agreed), and more efficient documentation (60.7% agreed). However, 29.9% and 24.3% of respondents found international standards such as FSSC 22000 and BRC challenging to apply in local organizations due to language and cost barriers. Above all, the current study implies the dire need for the development of Pakistan’s food safety management system (PFSMS) standard. The PFSMS should be easy to understand, low in cost, and highly applicable in different sectors of the SMEs in Pakistan.