Food Engineering Reviews最新文献

Present article is an overview of available solar drying technologies developed for small rural agricultural farms emphasizing domestic applications. A huge amount (about 61%) of perishable items gets wasted annually at the household level due to lack of awareness, negligence, improper handling, and inadequate storage facilities. Domestic solar dryers are reviewed and presented under the categories of natural and forced convection modes. The maximum attainable temperature inside the drying chamber under natural and forced convection mode is observed 98.6 and 78.1 °C, respectively. Thermal efficiency of solar dryers varies from 5.16 to 64.36% for the drying of various commodities. Natural convection solar dryers are appropriate for rural and undeveloped areas due to simple design and lower capital and electrical requirements. In comparison, forced convection solar dryers are more attractive due to better performance, higher drying rate, and lower drying time for high moisture content products. The designs of indirect and mixed-mode solar dryers seem very rare in the area of domestic solar drying. Solar dryers have potential to reduce the conventional drying cost by 50% and improve the return by 30%.

Gluten forms a continuous protein network that helps to retain gas produced by yeast fermentation and oven rise. Therefore, gluten-free baked products have poor quality in terms of volume, texture, and shelf life. As a result, manufacturing high-quality gluten-free baked products has become one of the most difficult challenges for manufacturers, cereal technologists, and scientists. Rheological testing of dough has been widely used to predict baked product quality and to adjust processing parameters in the manufacturing of gluten-free baked products. Linear viscoelastic properties are mostly determined by Small Amplitude Oscillatory Shear (SAOS) tests, which provide information without disturbing the 3-D structure of dough significantly, while characterization of the viscoelastic behavior of dough in the non-linear region using fundamental methods such as large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS), creep-recovery, and lubricated squeezing flow tests provide a more detailed understanding of dough’s viscoelastic response under large deformations. As dough processing involves small and large deformations, characterization of the linear and non-linear rheological properties of gluten-free dough systems might provide a deeper insight into baked product quality. Therefore, the aim of this review was to bring a detailed summary of the viscoelastic properties of gluten-free dough systems probed by fundamental rheological testing methods both in the linear and non-linear regions and their correlations with baked product quality, while providing an overview of the impact of ingredients on viscoelastic properties.

Food quality and safety are the essential hot issues of social concern. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for real-time food information, and non-destructive testing is gradually replacing traditional manual sensory testing and chemical analysis methods with lagging and destructive effects and has strong potential for application in the food supply chain. With the maturity and development of computer science and spectroscopic techniques, machine learning and hyperspectral imaging (HSI) have been widely demonstrated as efficient detection techniques that can be applied to rapidly evaluate sensory characteristics and quality attributes of food products nondestructively and efficiently. This paper first briefly described the basic concepts of hyperspectral imaging and machine learning, including the imaging process of HSI, the type of algorithms contained in machine learning, and the data processing flow. Secondly, this paper provided an objective and comprehensive overview of the current applications of machine learning and HSI in the food supply chain for sorting, packaging, transportation, storage, and sales, based on the state-of-art literature from 2017 to 2022. Finally, the potential of the technology is further discussed to provide optimized ideas for practical application.

Nanofiltration (NF) membranes are the globally recognized membrane technology, having potential use in food industries from a consistent, economical and standard operation point of view. NF has also attracted industries due to the need for lower pressure–driven membranes compared to reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. NF membranes are used in various applications for concentrating, fractionating and purifying various edible products from the dilute streams. Food processing industries are countlessly utilizing the NF membranes for beverage, dairy, vegetable oils and other food items for separation, concentration/purification, deacidification, demineralization, microbial reduction, etc. However, the increasing challenge in membrane science and technology is to develop low-cost, highly efficient, long-lasting membranes. The permeance-selectivity trade-off relationship, physical ageing and fouling are the main disputes in developing a promising membrane. This review provides a broad view of the current advancement of NF membranes in diverse fields related to the food industry. In this review article, the noteworthy growth of NF membrane in the food industries has been discussed. Various methods for the development of efficient NF membranes along with fouling control measures and research opportunities have been discussed. It is anticipated that this inclusive review may inspire a new research platform for developing next-generation NF membrane processes for diverse applications.

Abstract

Nanotechnology has been applied to develop materials with incomparable characteristics to produce innovative products in various fields of the industry. The use of nanomaterials with their unique properties is due to the advantages of their nanoscales. The physical and chemical properties of nanoscale materials differ significantly from those of their micro- and macroscopic equivalents, providing significant benefits for packaging materials. In recent years, the use of nanotechnology in packaging has been addressed suggesting a wide range of potential commercial uses. According to a recent market analysis, the usage of nanotechnology in packaging will grow in the next years, especially in applications like active, intelligent, and smart packaging. However, larger-scale adoption would involve consideration of their possible implications on both consumers and the environment. On the other hand, great interest in using nanotechnology by industrial stakeholders due to the innovative and economic benefits requires a well understanding of the potential impact on environment, safety and health and addressing relevant regulation and legislations to minimize the risks. Despite the interest in nanomaterials and their benefits in the food packaging industry, their application has not been as prevalent as one might assume. Various roadblocks, such as information shortages in the area of toxicity and safety evaluation, have hampered a more widespread application. Nevertheless, food packaging industry is a growing sector and requires more sustainable materials and implementations to diminish food waste. In this aspect, nanoscaled materials are promising in the future of packaging industry.

Changing consumers’ taste for chemical and thermally processed food and preference for perceived healthier minimally processed alternatives is a challenge to food industry. At present, several technologies have found usefulness as choice methods for ensuring that processed food remains unaltered while guaranteeing maximum safety and protection of consumers. However, the effectiveness of most green technology is limited due to the formation of resistant spores by certain foodborne microorganisms and the production of toxins. Cold plasma, a recent technology, has shown commendable superiority at both spore inactivation and enzymes and toxin deactivation. However, the exact mechanism behind the efficiency of cold plasma has remained unclear. In order to further optimize and apply cold plasma treatment in food processing, it is crucial to understand these mechanisms and possible factors that might limit or enhance their effectiveness and outcomes. As a novel non-thermal technology, cold plasma has emerged as a means to ensure the microbiological safety of food. Furthermore, this review presents the different design configurations for cold plasma applications, analysis the mechanisms of microbial spore and biofilm inactivation, and examines the impact of cold plasma on food compositional, organoleptic, and nutritional quality.

Cold plasma (CP) is a novel non-thermal technology and has marked a new trend in both the sectors of agriculture and food processing for their safety and quality. This review describes an overview on the effects of CP with respect to microbial decontamination, enzyme denaturation, pesticide degradation, food allergens, polyphenols, food packaging, and many other physiological processes. Furthermore, mechanisms and applications involving different aspects related to cold plasma are discussed. The recent studies on cold plasma referred mainly with the interactions of reactive species and target food commodity. Finally, the future prospects and challenges that could help in rendering substantial benefits of CP to the food industries and researchers, particularly in upscaling this eco-friendly technology, are discussed.

As consumers increasingly prefer “all-natural” and healthy foods, there has been increasing demand for non-toxic, residual-free, and environmentally friendly food processing techniques. Researchers and developers have shown increasing interest in innovative electrical processing techniques for the treatment of foods. Among electrotechnologies, induced electric fields (IEF) demonstrates the potential advantages to food processing. It combined with thermal effect and non-thermal effect has been explored for sterilization, modification, and extraction of agro-food materials. It is a sister electrotechnology of ohmic heating, which does not require the use of electrodes. Despite valuable contributions to the literature, there still lack of knowledge regarding the application of IEF treatment to food products. It has proven effective in inactivating microorganisms and enzymes in foods, changing biomacromolecule contents, extracting active constituents, and enhancing chemical reactions. This paper provides an overview of current application of IEFs in the treatment of foods. Issues relevant to electric field processing (e.g., basic principles, formulas) are also examined as they affect IEF techniques. Future perspectives and challenges related to technological application of IEFs are outlined in an effort to fill research gaps. IEF processing is projected to become a key technology in the food industry.

The response of microorganisms to chemical preservatives and disinfectants can be described by the traditional Chick-Watson-Hom’s (CWH) model or more general Weibullian survival model, of which it is a special case. The chemical agent efficacy and its concentration dependence can be described by either a power-law or log-exponential term. For dynamic inactivation, the unstable or volatile agent’s dissipation can be described by a flexible two-parameter model, which is inserted as an algebraic term into the differential rate equation. In principle, both models can be used to estimate a targeted microbe’s survival parameters from the agent’s concentrations when constant or its initial and final concentrations only if not, and the corresponding final survival ratios reached. This Endpoints Method eliminates the need to determine the entire survival curves, and in the dynamic case the agent’s entire dissipation curves too. Static inactivation requires the numerical solution of simultaneous nonlinear algebraic equations, and dynamic, of simultaneous nonlinear equations whose right-hand side is the numerical solution of differential rate equations in which the agent’s dissipating pattern is incorporated as a term. When the Weibullian survival model’s shape factor is known a priori, the theoretical minimum of experimental final survival ratios needed is two and when unknown three. However, validation of the model and mathematical procedure must come from their ability to predict correctly final survival ratios not used in the parameter magnitudes calculation, which requires at least one additional experimental final survival ratio determination.