Current Opinion in Food Science最新文献

Mycotoxins are hazardous secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium, contaminating food and feed crops pre-, during, and post-harvest. Their consumption can lead to adverse health effects, impacting human health and agricultural productivity. Aflatoxins produced by members of Aspergillus section Flavi are the most toxically potent and naturally abundant mycotoxins. To mitigate mycotoxin contamination, physical, chemical, and biological methods have been developed and employed. Compared with laborious physical controls and hazardous chemical controls, biological controls offer a safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly alternative. The discovery of nonaflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus strains has spurred biocontrol strategies to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in economically relevant crops. More recently, the focus has slightly shifted to the production of extrolites from nonaflatoxigenic A. flavus that could inhibit aflatoxigenic A. flavus growth and aflatoxin production. This review discusses the potentials and challenges of the emerging use of nonaflatoxigenic A. flavus extrolites as a biocontrol strategy.

The encapsulation of bioactive compounds using pH-driven techniques has become a focal point of current research. Over the past 5 years, there has been a growing number of studies reporting the preparation of bioactive nanoparticles using pH-driven methods. However, the materials employed must possess pH-dependent solubility and high stability under varying acidic and basic conditions, which remains a significant limitation for the broader application and commercialization of pH-driven techniques. To surmount this restriction, it is imperative to optimize the pH-driven process, such as by incorporating stabilizers, identifying more optimal acidification points, and utilizing advanced acid–base regulators. Among these approaches, the combination of pH-driven technology with other techniques may prove to be a pivotal direction for advancing and promoting pH-driven technology. A comprehensive examination of the underlying mechanisms of pH-driven technology and a continuous process of optimization are fundamental to the advancement of pH-driven technology. In conclusion, the pH-driven encapsulation of bioactive compounds has a promising future.

In recent years, genomics has revolutionized various scientific fields, including food mycology. Next-generation sequencing and genome analysis methods are progressively advancing, and an increasing number of aspects are known on the characterization of fungi of food-related interest, which are widely used in research. However, issues remain to be resolved before this technique can be routinely used in the food industry. Therefore, the aim of this review was to present the potential uses and limitations of genomics in food mycology studies and its applications in this field with particular emphasis on their role to ensure food safety.

Over 1.2 billion people worldwide are affected by iron deficiency anaemia. While several strategies have been implemented to reduce the risk of iron deficiency, it remains a global public health challenge. Furthermore, iron deficiency presents in different forms, whereby absolute iron deficiency results from inadequate dietary iron intakes, but in a functional iron deficiency, the availability and utilisation of iron in the body is reduced due to underlying inflammation. Lactoferrin is a multifunctional protein, but its anti-inflammatory and iron-binding properties offer an interesting dual-purpose potential of supplying dietary iron, while counteracting one of the key barriers to iron absorption in inflammation. This article discusses the technofunctional properties of lactoferrin while highlighting recent evidence and discussion of its potential beneficial role in tackling the global challenge of iron deficiency.

High-protein systems exhibit a hierarchical structure consisting of interconnected multiscale length assemblies. Recent investigations are directed toward identifying these structural units under various processing and environmental conditions to establish structure–function correlations. Ultra-small and small-angle X-ray scattering (USAXS/SAXS) has become a crucial tool for characterizing the structures of proteins and their clusters/aggregates, ranging from nanometers to micrometers, with minimal disruption to their original state. This review first describes the facilities and principles of X-ray scattering, followed by discussions on the analysis of scattering data, including the interpretation of fitting models. It then delves into the main applications of USAXS/SAXS in plant and dairy protein-rich systems. Future strategies to enhance the utilization of scattering techniques for elucidating the structure of high-protein systems are also included.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR spectroscopy) is a powerful analytical technology for measuring food characteristics. More and more applications of NIR spectroscopy have been studied, and an increasing number of commercial solutions are available on the market. However, only 25 documents about NIR spectroscopy have been issued by international bodies, while the number of scientific papers published in recent years has always been higher than 60/year. Studies prove that NIR spectroscopy could boost the sustainability of the food system, the food quality, and the optimisation of production by real-time monitoring. Considering the technical, analytical, and environmental advantages of NIR spectroscopy, more efforts should be made to extend the applicability of NIR spectroscopy solutions and promote the development of more official methods based on NIR spectroscopy.

There is growing interest in replacing meat products with plant-based alternatives for environmental, health, and animal welfare reasons. Plant-based meat analogs are usually designed to have sensorial characteristics that match those of real meat. Lipids play a significant role in this. Therefore, there is interest in using structured plant-based lipids, like oleogels and emulsions, to replace the adipose tissue and other fats in meat analogs. Moreover, there is interest in creating natural antioxidant strategies to improve the quality and shelf life of the lipids in plant-based foods. However, further research is still needed to develop plant-based lipids that accurately mimic the behavior of animal-based ones. This review explores and discusses various technological approaches to address challenges in creating plant-based alternatives to animal fats, particularly in the context of meat and dairy products, to provide insights into innovative approaches for improving the sustainability, health, and sensory attributes of plant-based meat analogs, addressing challenges related to texture, oxidation, and overall product quality.

In recent years, much has been discussed about the use of edible insects as an alternative source of protein. Rearing insects require less use of land and water, as well as generate fewer greenhouse gases compared with conventional livestock. In this scenario, research has been carried out to explore the use of insect proteins as food ingredients since the decharacterization of insects increases their acceptance by consumers. Insect proteins display interesting technofunctional properties, such as the ability to form and stabilize emulsions, foams, and gels. Moreover, some studies already used insect proteins or insect flours to partially replace conventional ingredients in food formulations, mainly in bakery and meat analog products, obtaining promising results. However, to validate edible insects as a food ingredient, some challenges need to be overcome, such as the implementation of new regulations, increasing consumer acceptance, a better understanding of allergenic risks and toxicity, and using viable unit operations to scale up the production of protein-rich insect ingredients at an industrial level.

This review discusses the current and future potential of liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolomics approaches in foodomics studies, focusing primarily on literature from 2019 to 2024. Critical aspects of sample preparation are emphasized, including handling diverse sample types, adopting extraction methods such as all-in-one extraction for broad metabolite coverage, and using 96-well-plate formats for high-throughput studies. LC-MS platforms are highlighted, encompassing stationary phase chemistries, the selection of mobile phase modifiers, and strategies for rapid LC separations, including options for acquiring tandem mass spectrometry spectra. The review addresses data processing, pitfalls during metabolite annotation, and quality control measures crucial for ensuring reliable outcomes in metabolomics studies. Tools for statistical analysis and data interpretation are also discussed. Data sharing, metabolite reporting, and efforts toward standardization of metabolomics methods are emphasized as essential practices in foodomics research. Overall, the review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in metabolomics, offering insights relevant to foodomics studies.

Ensuring food authenticity has been a significant concern for all the food supply chain due to the increasing public awareness regarding food quality and safety. Recent advancement in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis and metabolome field represents great opportunities for food authentication. Hence, food metabolomics offers enormous opportunities to obtain detailed information that can be correlated to the composition of foods. NMR analysis allows the comprehensive monitoring of the molecular profile of hundreds of metabolites in foods in a single experiment, with high repeatability and accuracy. In this review, the key applications of NMR in food authentication, described in the literature in the 2019–2024 period, are summarized, with emphasis on food metabolomics, complementary tools such as other analytical platforms, and chemometric models.