Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization最新文献

In the present investigation, fresh purple yam slices were blanched in hot water (80 °C) for 8–10 min, followed by drying under a cabinet dryer at 45, 55 and 65 °C, and open sunlight. This research aimed at comparing the drying kinetics, nutritional profile, functional properties, sensory characteristics and microbial stability of purple yam. The drying temperature of 45 °C was suggested to retain the quality of dried purple yam in terms of physical properties, sensory qualities, nutritional content: proximate compositions and functional properties: swelling capacity and bulk density. In comparison to other treatments, drying at 65 °C produced the fastest drying of slices. Moreover, the anti-oxidant activity, phenolic and flavonoid contents and water and oil absorption capacity increased with temperature rise. The study found that purple yam dried in a cabinet dryer had better microbial stability than those dried under open sunlight. The drying kinetics was calculated using Newton, Page, Henderson and Pabis, Logarithmic and Two-term models. Among them, the Page model was the best-fit model to explain the drying kinetics of purple yam for all treatments. This study on comparing drying treatments for purple yam will improve the science of drying purple yam in both controlled and uncontrolled conditions, enhancing quality retention and shelf life.

Since only a limited number of fruit sources are utilized for commercial pectin production, there is a growing need to explore new and unique sources in light of the recent rise in industrial demand for this polymer. In this study, pectin from the pomace of the Phyllantus acidus fruit was extracted, optimized using response surface methodology and characterized for the first time in relation to its physicochemical characteristics and techno-functional properties. A maximized yield of 6.54 ± 0.83% was obtained through optimized conditions of a 180 min extraction time, an extraction solvent pH of 1.5 and a solid-liquid ratio of 1:50. Spectroscopic analysis confirmed a high-methoxyl pectin and intrinsic viscosity measurements revealed that the pectin had a molecular weight of 33389.58 g/mol. The emulsion stability of the extracted pectin (100%) was significantly greater than values reported in the literature due to its high protein content (12.56%). Additionally, it displayed excellent antioxidant properties due to its high total phenolic content of 33.10 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay showed that the pectin had a scavenging rate of 94% compared to the 97% of ascorbic acid and the 66% of commercial pectin. Furthermore, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) analysis revealed that compared to ascorbic acid, the extracted pectin had more than a 10-time higher relative FRAP value (45.48%) than commercial pectin (3.95%). The study’s results highlight Phyllantus acidus as a promising and alternative source of pectin with potential applications in the food industry.

Fruit quality assessment is paramount in the food industry and significantly influences storage conditions and duration. Classifying citrus fruits early is cru- cial for all agricultural products since it can affect market needs and result in potential financial losses. Employing non-destructive X-ray techniques to assess mandarin orange quality before reaching consumers helps maintain trust and sat- isfaction by delivering high-quality fruits. Citrus fruits rank among the world’s top five consumed fruits. This study employed X-ray CT scanning of 280 cit- rus fruits (mandarine orange) stored under real-time established ambient and refrigeration conditions to perform a non-destructive evaluation of citrus fruits. The images’ raw data files (in digital radiography format) were converted to JPEG using NanoVoxel software and trained on benchmark datasets, success- fully classifying images based on the storage type and period. In the proposed architecture, hierarchical fruit classification was performed by embedding CNN blocks with transfer learning models like VGG16, ResNet50, EfficientNetB0, InceptionV3, DenseNet201, MobileNetV2, and InceptionResNetV2. The VGG- Deep CNN demonstrated exceptional proficiency in classifying citrus fruit images compared to all other parallel models. Results from the suggested study indi- cated high accuracy, precision, recall, F1, and AUC scores of 0.98073, 0.98343, 0.98071, 0.97794, and 0.9994, respectively, for the training and validation set. It corroborates the testament that the classification of citrus fruits is authorita- tive, promising, and adept. Moreover, the potential investigation exhibits a 15% improvement over state-of-the-art approaches, suggesting its potential implemen- tation on a large scale in the food industry for the measurement of fruits’ different external and internal characteristics.

This work investigated the binding interaction between (+)-catechin (CC) and rice bran protein isolate (RBPI) by determining the structure and function. The binding methods were covalent and non-covalent with different CC concentrations (0.05, 0.15, and 0.25%). Compared with non-covalent interactions, CC was more likely to form covalent interactions with RBPI. Additionally, the oligomers were formed during the covalent interactions of protein to CC. The results showed that CC reduced the ɑ-helices and β-sheets of the protein, and increased β-turns and random coils. The content of SH group contents decreased with the increase of CC concentration. Since in the covalent interactions at pH 9.0, the negatively charged quinonoid forms of CC will neutralize the positively charged protein, so the absolute ζ-potential will increase. The covalently linked RBPI-CC complexes have a smaller particle size. It can be seen from the microscopic image that the protein forms become more granular through the covalent action of CC. In this contribution functional properties were obtained by emulsifying activity index (EAI), emulsifying stability index (ESI), water holding capacity (WHC) and fat holding capacity (FHC). The WHC and FHC exhibited noticeable improvement, especially when the covalent interactions concentration of CC was 0.15%. Additionally, CC effectively increased the antioxidant activity of RBPI. This study is advantageous to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the interactions of CC with RBPI and the possible uses of RBPI-CC complexes in food formulations.

Functional oligosaccharides (FOSS) are low molecular weight non-digestible short chain carbohydrate polymers linked together by glycosidic bonds. FOSS being non-digestible escape the digestion in the upper gut and move as such to the colon where they are fermented to lactate, short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and carbon dioxide, hence promoting the growth of the prebiotic bacteria mainly Bifidobacteria and inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria, thus imparting several health benefits such as prevention from colon cancer, constipation, improved gut health, mineral absorption, glucose tolerance etc. They are extracted from natural sources such as yacon, apple, citrus etc. by using various extraction techniques, synthesised from simpler oligosaccharides or can be produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharides. In the current article, the nutraceutical properties of FOSS have been discussed, and the article aims to provide an overview of different FOSS including their various sources, chemical structures and their production methods. This review is a first of its kind to highlight the techno-functional advantages provided by various FOSS. Different oligosaccharides possess nutraceutical properties such as prebiotic effect, immuno-modulatory effects, improved bowel function, increased mineral absorption, protection against diabetes and cancer. Thus, they can be introduced into various food products such as cookies, ketchup, chocolates, jam, jelly, yoghurt etc. to increase their nutritional value as well as consumer acceptability. Although, at higher concentrations FOSS may lead to some side effects such as flatulence, bloating, stomach cramps, gastrointestinal discomfort and diarrhoea. Additionally, they have been found to provide technical advantages like improving taste, texture, humectant, bulking agent and water holding capacity (WHC) thus increasing their applicability as a food ingredient.

Beetroot pomace, rich in bioactive components, offers versatile applications in betalain extraction through various methodologies, including ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE), conventional extraction (CE), and enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE). In CE, accurately weighed pomace powder (PP) was homogenized with deionized water, forming slurry which underwent conventional heating at 30–60 °C for 20–60 min. EAE involved mixing pomace powder with xylanase enzyme and distilled water under various time-temperature conditions. UAE utilized amplitudes of 20, 30 and 40% for durations ranging from 10 to 60 min. The comparison of UAE, EAE and CE methods demonstrated that UAE exhibited elevated levels of betalains, total phenols, flavonoids, minerals and total antioxidants, which were confirmed through FTIR, LCMS and SEM analyses. Optimizing UAE conditions significantly enhanced phytochemical extraction from beetroot pomace, with betacyanins, betaxanthins and total betalains increasing by 54, 11 and 36%, respectively, compared to EAE and CE. Total phenols (193.26 mg GAE/g) and antioxidant activity (53.23%) were also notably higher, demonstrating UAE’s superior extraction efficacy. SEM analysis confirmed enhanced porosity in UAE-treated pomace, supporting its efficient utilization. Conclusion, UAE demonstrates superior extraction efficacy over EAE and CE methods.

This study aimed to analyze three fractions obtained from starch extraction from cuajinicuil (Inga jinicuil) seeds, to determine their physicochemical composition and potential functionality. The proximal, morphological, structural, and thermogravimetric characteristics of CF_U, CF_I, and CF_A fractions were determined. CF_U had high fat and fiber content, CF_I had high protein values and CF_A had high carbohydrate content. The size and shape of the particles seen in the micrographs, the intensity of the signals in the infrared spectrum, and the thermogravimetric behavior suggest that the CF_U fraction does not correspond to starch, but rather contains impurities related to lignin, since the particles had polyhedral shape, size larger than 50 µm, a signal at 1530 cm⁻¹ and a band at 600 °C, which are characteristic of lignin. The CF_I fraction contained starch granules embedded in larger polyhedral portions and exhibited a behavior more similar to starch, but with impurities. The CF_A fraction showed uniform granule size, infrared spectra, crystallinity, and thermogravimetric behavior characteristic of purified native starch. Cuajinicuil seeds are a new source of high-quality purified starch, as well as other fractions with potential applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. This represents a regional, sustainable, and economically viable alternative for utilizing this important plant resource.

Graphical abstract

Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the reduced calorie kiwi jam production under the effect of the independent variables including apple juice (X₁), stevia (X₂), and low methoxyl pectin (LMP) (X₃). The effect of these independent variables on physicochemical properties (brix, total acidity, pH), color values, total phenolic content (TPC), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), sugar profile, 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content, textural properties and sensorial acceptability of jam samples studied using Box-Behnken Design. Additionally the bioaccessibility of TPC and TAC for kiwi fruit and jam products was evaluated using standardized in vitro digestion model. Jam processing led to a significant reduction in TPC (51.38%–79.92%), and TAC for DPPH (85.59–96.97%), CUPRAC (60.10–82.79%), and FRAP (78.50–95.59) (p < 0.05). The TPC of all jam samples increased significantly, ranging from 1.14 to 2.67 times higher after in vitro digestion (p < 0.05), despite the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) showing variable results. The results also indicated that the addition of apple juice and stevia significantly enhanced the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds (p < 0.05). The relationship between the responses (including brix, total acidity, pH, L*, a*, and b* values, firmness, stickiness, viscosity index, HMF, sucrose, TPC, CUPRAC, FRAP, and overall acceptability) and the variables was most accurately described using quadratic, reduced quadratic, and reduced cubic models with high R² values, as determined by RSM. The optimal condition for all responses with composite desirability of 0.877 was: 398.5 g of apple juice, 20.2 g of stevia, and 0.45 g of LMP. This study provides valuable insights into the formulation of healthier, low-calorie kiwi jams with enhanced nutritional and sensory properties, offering a promising approach for the food industry.

Myoglobin, a skeletal muscle protein, serves as a valuable biomarker for detecting pork adulteration in food products. This study presents an innovative colorimetric assay designed for the nanomolecular detection of myoglobin, facilitating the identification of pork in both raw and cooked samples. Utilizing aptamer-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles, our method enables the specific capture of pork myoglobin from complex food matrices. Upon capturing the myoglobin, we exploit its heme’s peroxidase-like activity to catalyze a reaction with a substrate-chromogen solution (H₂O₂-3,3’,5,5’-Tetramethylbenzidine). This reaction produces a color change that indicates the presence of myoglobin in the sample. Our results demonstrate a limit of detection of 10 mg/100 mg (10%) for this nanomolecular approach, even in the presence of other meats such as beef or sheep. Furthermore, our method exhibits 100% specificity for detection pork meat when compared to the other meats (such as beef and sheep) underscoring its potential as a reliable tool for food control laboratories. This study not only highlights the effectiveness of our assay but also paves the way for enhanced food safety measures against meat adulteration.

Here, a deep eutectic solvent depending on hydrophobic tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBABr) and decanoic acid (DecA) was used for the enrichment and extraction of minute quantities of cadmium heavy metal contained in the samples. In order to maximize Cd recovery in the samples, optimization studies of various extraction conditions were carried out, including the molar ratio and volume of HDES, salt amount, solution pH, vortex and centrifugation time. Although the pH value does not vary much between (2–10) under optimum conditions, the ideal working condition is pH (7), and the volume and molar ratio of HDES are found to be 1000 µL and 1:1 (TBABr: DecA), respectively. At the optimized extraction conditions, detection limit (LOD), quantification limit (LOQ), intra-day/inter-day precision (expressed as relative standard deviation %), and enrichment factor (PF) were observed to be 0.7 µg L^-1, 2.3 µg L^-1, 4.1- 4.4%, and 20, respectively. Cd extraction from certified reference materials (CRMs) was used to assess the method’s accuracy, and the resulting findings were successfully compared with certified values. Finally, the developed procedure was applied to a variety of food, and water samples. The amounts of Cd in the examined vegetable samples were found to be 0.73 ± 0.07 µg/g in spinach, 0.37 ± 0.04 µg/g in celery, and 0.44 ± 0.03 µg/g in leeks.