Journal of Food Engineering最新文献

Temperature control throughout the cold chain is of crucial importance in the preservation of the quality of cheese. As a result of cheese heat generation, both natural and forced convection need to be considered. This numerical study aimed to characterise the airflow and temperature fields within a ventilated pallet of heat-generating cheeses. An original computational fluid dynamics (CFD) hybrid approach was developed. This approach is based on a combination of a porous media approach for the contents of the boxes and a direct CFD approach for the outer cardboard walls, including vent size and position. The computational domain is limited to one pallet level. The simulations were conducted on a steady state for two upwind air velocities 0.31 m/s and 0.73 m/s and three generated heat fluxes 0.05 W, 0.15 W, and 0.3 W per product item (250 g). The model was validated by comparison with experimental results related to velocity and product temperature profiles obtained on a full-scale experimental set-up. The hybrid approach shows good accuracy while reducing the mesh size and the computational time in comparison with the direct CFD approach.

In this study, pH-responsive whey protein (WP)/sodium alginate (SA) composite hydrogel beads using the ionic gelation method were described and evaluated for their potential as delivery carriers for theaflavin (TF). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the interaction between WP and SA in the hydrogel beads is driven primarily by the strong intermolecular interactions, including hydrogen bonding and electrostatic attractions. The swelling ratio of the beads possesses good pH dependence and pH reversibility, effectively preventing the release of TF in the gastric environment. The encapsulation efficiency (EE) of TF in hydrogel beads ranged from 94.995 ± 0.03 to 95.709 ± 0.14, with a loading capacity (LC) of 27–34 mg/g. In in vitro digestion simulations, owing to the pH responsiveness, hydrogel beads released minimal TF throughout gastric digestion and were fully released in the intestine phase. Additionally, the release kinetics of TF from the beads were further examined in a simulated intestinal environment. These findings suggest that the hydrogel bead system is a promising carrier for encapsulating TF, offering a theoretical and experimental basis for its future application in the food industry.

Eggshells are rich in Ca²⁺ and organic compounds, which can be taken as coupling agents for sustained-release materials. Essential oils are widely applied due to their excellent volatility, but poor sustained-release stability has limited their development. The study aimed to develop a novel eggshell powder (EP) sustained-release microcapsule, providing a new approach to protect the active ingredients of Lavender essential oil (LEO), and investigated the reasons for EP to regulate protein-polysaccharide microcapsule structure. Experimental results showed when the addition ratio of EP and Whey protein (WPI) was 1: 3, the dosage of LEO was 25%, the microcapsule displayed smooth and porous spherical structure. XRD and FT-IR indicated that a dense and orderly network structure was formed via the cross-linking reaction between eggshell powder and wall materials, which induced protein and polysaccharide to form special spherical hollow sustained-release shell structure through the calcium bridge (-COO-Ca-COO-), then achieved the sustained-release effect on LEO.

Bake stable filling creams are important for some products such as biscuits, cakes, cookies, etc. In the present study, a rheometer-based method for determining the baking stability of the cream fillings was developed considering the consistency and fluidity of the fillings after baking. For this aim, the heating and cooling process was simulated depending on the temperature of the filling reached during the baking process of cookies. Three bake-stable and three bake-unstable filling creams were obtained from the market. Rheological, textural, and baking stability analysis were performed on the samples. Change in the apparent viscosity values of the samples was observed at temperature values from 20 °C to 105 °C and from 105 °C to 30 °C using rheometer. The percentage of viscosity change at 30 °C before and after the heating process was calculated. This value for stable samples was 67%, 73% and 9%. Fluctuation observation during the measurement is also important for stability. Unstable fillings have many fluctuations in the temperature versus apparent viscosity curve as their viscosity change value was lower. The absence of fluctuations on the temperature versus viscosity graph indicates the stability of the filling creams. The findings of the study indicated that a rheometer can be used as an effective tool for determining the baking stability of the creams with minimal effort, labor, sample requirement, and time.

Oleogels, a novel technology for structuring fats, show great potential for partially or completely replacing solid fats in chocolate products containing unhealthy saturated fatty acids. However, how to maintain similar rheological properties and sensory texture attributes is a major challenge. Given the lack of a concise and effective mathematical framework, simulating the rheological response and quantifying the textural parameters of the hybrid oleogel-dispersed chocolate products, is complicated. In this work, the rheological power law behavior of hybrid oleogel-dispersed chocolate products is accurately captured by using a fractional constitutive mathematical framework with few constitutive parameters. The sensory texture parameter firmness is quantified on the basis of creep response. The rheological response and firmness index are linked together on the basis of the fractional derivative model. This work helps provide heuristic insights into the structure-texture engineering of this food type. Such insights may, in turn, guide the formulation and design of food products.

Ultrafiltration (UF) is the step for concentrating protein in milk and whey prior to evaporation and drying in dairy ingredient production, e.g. milk protein concentrate (MPC). To optimize UF process, it is important to monitor changes in product/process parameters. Two in-line sensors with outputs: 1. bulk acoustic wave (BAW), acoustic viscosity (AV); 2. surface acoustic wave (SAW), acoustic impedance (AI) and acoustic transmission (AT), were evaluated to measure MPC physicochemical properties (total solids (TS), density, protein and apparent viscosity) during UF. Trials were quintuplicated in a UF membrane pilot-plant, to concentrate feed (TS 11.36–19.10%). Models for predicting MPC physicochemical properties developed by acoustic parameters performed well, especially by AI and AT, with R² > 0.963, SEP <1.076 to predict apparent viscosity, and R² > 0.980, SEP <0.627 for all other properties’ prediction. This study demonstrated the potential of both acoustic sensors for UF process monitoring.

Extrusion is significant in achieving 3D printing emulsion. The piston and screw extruders are the common structures to achieve the extrusion. The chocolate emulsion is taken for example, two extruders are numerically investigated and compared based on the fluid dynamic analysis. To conduct the simulations, the crazy and adaptive salp swarm algorithm-deep extreme learning machine (CASSA-DELM) is proposed to predict the viscosity of the chocolate emulsion, which is used to replace the traditional fitted model. The built model can avoid non-consistency in the whole shearing rate range. Then, an improved lattice Boltzmann method (I-LBM) is introduced to process the non-Newtonian behavior of the emulsion. In the simulation, the CASSA-DELM model provides the viscosities for each iteration in I-LBM based on the obtained shearing rates. Because the attachment(s) may be generated on the walls, the no-attachment and with-attachment(s) cases are explored, and the necessary results are obtained, which indicate that the piston extruder is more suitable for extruding the single component of food fluid. The screw extruder is recommended for the multiple components of food fluid because the vortex in the X-Y cross-section contributes to further mixing action for the emulsion containing different materials, such as the investigated chocolate emulsion. The indirect experiments are conducted to validate the above conclusions. The current work can contribute to improving the extruding theory of material extrusion technologies.

Although protein-based fibers have been developed, the preparation of inexpensive, safe and environmentally friendly plant protein fibers is still a hot topic. Herein, we constructed the microfluidic chip to produce protein fiber using pea protein and a small amount of cellulose nanofibers. The results demonstrated that compared to pea protein alone, the pea protein-based fiber produced through microfluidic spinning exhibited a smooth and dense surface structure, good thermal stability, higher Zeta potential and antioxidant activity, and lower surface hydrophobicity and sensitization. Furthermore, we comprehensively revealed the dynamic formation mechanism of pea protein-based fiber. During the fiber preparation process, hydrodynamics led the protein and cellulose nanofibers to align gradually along the flow direction, enhancing their molecular orientation. Additionally, strong hydrodynamic shear force altered the protein structure, transitioning its spatial structure from random coil and α-helix to β-sheet, and promoting a binding of protein to cellulose nanofibers. This research may offer theoretical guidance for the application of pea protein-based fiber in the preparation of hypoallergenic protein-based fibers and the construction of foodborne delivery materials.

This study examined the effect of fluidized-bed agglomeration with a carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) binder on the physical, thermal, and rheological properties of agglomerated milk protein isolate (MPI)-guar gum (GG) mixtures (AMGs). The agglomeration process produced larger and more porous particles, improving solubility and powder flowability. An exothermic event followed by an endothermic event was observed in DSC thermograms. These thermal events tended to occur at a higher temperature with lower enthalpy values as the binder concentration increased. All samples exhibited shear-thinning behavior, with apparent viscosity at 100 s⁻¹ values (0.27–0.29 Pa s) for AMGs being lower than for non-agglomerated MPI-GG mixture (NAMG; 0.34 Pa s). Viscoelastic moduli values showed similar trends. Additionally, compared to NAMG, larger and more guar gum lumps occurred in the AMGs. These findings suggest that the agglomeration process with CMC promoted depletion interactions between the protein and polysaccharide components in the mixture system.