Volume 17, Issue 12

A comprehensive literature search for articles published on spray and freeze-dried anthocyanins from a large variety of berries was performed. Out of a total of two-hundred and eight collected values, anthocyanin content in encapsulates had a 120-fold variation depending on the raw material and type of encapsulating agents. Highest observed anthocyanin concentration amounted to about 3500 mg/100 g powder. In most cases increasing the amount of encapsulant agents led to a noticeable reduction in the concentration of anthocyanins, this being attributable to a predominance of the dilution effect. Retention of encapsulated anthocyanins after storage at 25 °C (in darkness) for periods between 90 and 180 days were in the range of 80–67%, as long as the water activity (a w ) was 0.33 or less. Some predicted values of half-time (t 1/2 ) from literature must be taken with precaution since in many cases they were derived from experimental measurements taken at storage times smaller than predicted half times. Anthocyanin degradation during storage occurred even below the glass transition temperature (T g ) of the amorphous matrices.

The dry fractionation beef tallow and their products were analyzed in the dynamic thermodynamic analysis, isothermal analysis and crystallization kinetics analysis in this experiment. Through the dynamic thermodynamic analysis by DSC, the possibility of fine fractionation of beef tallow at 25 °C and 42.9 °C crystallization temperature was obtained. The dynamic thermodynamic analysis of dry fractionation products was carried out, and the linear functions of peak temperature and melting/crystallization rate of beef tallow and its stearic acid mixture were constructed. The crystallization temperature and melting point were obtained by linear function. The isothermal crystallization kinetic model was used to calculate and fit the experimental data by the Avrami model. Beef tallow and its stearic mixture were fitted with the Avrami equation to obtain R 2  ≥ 0.98. This analysis provides an innovative idea and method for thermodynamics and crystallization kinetics of beef tallow.

Quorum sensing (QS) can exist in food-related bacteria and potentially affect bacterial growth through acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs). To verify the role of QS compounds in the cell-free supernatant, this study examined the effect of supernatant extracted from Pseudomonas aeruginosa culture on the growth kinetics of Salmonella Enteritidis. The results showed that the lag time ( λ ) of S. Enteritidis was apparently reduced ( p  < 0.05) under the influence of P. aeruginosa culture supernatant compared with the S. Enteritidis culture supernatant. HPLC-MS/MS test demonstrated that AHLs secreted by P. aeruginosa were mainly C14-HSL with a content of 85.71 μg/mL and a small amount of 3-oxo-C12-HSL. In addition, the commercially synthetic C14-HSL had positive effects on the growth of S . Enteritidis, confirming once again that the growth of S. Enteritidis was affected by AHL metabolized by other bacteria and the complexity of bacterial communication.

Industrially, the use of far-infrared (FIR) as a heat source for drying daylily presents some issues, such as high energy consumption and large loss of nutrients. The use of mid-infrared (MIR) was performed to study the drying of daylily to explore its advantages, with the FIR drying as a comparison. Drying models were established by the drying kinetics, and the changes of nutrition, rehydration ratio (RR) and water migration pattern were researched. The results showed the best-fitting drying model was the Modified Henderson and Pabis model. Under the same temperature, compared with FIR drying, the drying time of MIR drying was shortened by 50%, the effective moisture diffusivity ( D eff ) was increased by 103%, the drying activation energy ( E a ) was reduced by 10%, the reducing sugar and ascorbic acid retention rate was increased by 13.9% and 9.7%, respectively. The MIR drying had better RR and water migration characteristics.

Native rice starches were treated with five periods of ultra-high pressure homogenization (UHPH) under each of 60, 80, 100, 120, 140 and 160 MPa, respectively. The morphological, structural and physicochemical properties of starches treated with UHPH were examined. The mean particle diameter of starch nanoparticles ranged between 154.20 and 260.40 nm. SEM revealed that the granular amorphous region of starch granules was damaged under pressures between 60 and 80 MPa, and the crystalline region was further destroyed under pressures as high as 100–160 MPa. DSC demonstrated that the gelatinization temperatures and enthalpies of nanoparticles reduced. The relative crystallinity reduced from 22.90 to 13.61% as the pressure increased. FTIR showed that the absorbance ratio at 1047/1022 cm −1 decreased, and increased at 1022/995 cm −1 . RVA results indicated that the viscosity of starch samples increased between 60 and 120 MPa, and the reverse effect was observed under 140 and 160 MPa.

In order to improve Perccottus glenii myofibrillar protein (MP) gel properties, three treatments were evaluated: ultrasonic, transglutaminase (TGase) and combined ultrasonic-transglutaminase treatments. Combined ultrasonic-transglutaminase treatment altered protein structure and gel properties most dramatically. As compared with untreated control group protein, treated protein gels possessed decreased sulfhydryl group content and increases in water holding capacity, whiteness value and hydrophobic interactions that increased gel strength value by up to 3.79 times that of untreated protein gel. Protein structural and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses revealed that combined ultrasonic-TGase treatment increased both protein thermal denaturation temperature and UV absorbance (as compared to control and other treatment groups) that supported formation of MP gels with desirable characteristics. These results provide a theoretical basis for development of superior MP gels to promote greater utilization of this fish protein resource by the food industry.

To improve the extraction efficiency and quality, ultrasound-assisted solvent enzymatic extraction (UASEE) method was applied to extract oil from Elaeagnus mollis Diels. The soxhlet extraction (SE) and cold pressing (CP) were carried out to be compared with UASEE. The optimal UASEE conditions were liquid–solid ratio of 11.6 mL/g, enzyme amount of 1.1%, and ultrasound power of 583 W, which gave by Plackett–Burman and Box–Behnken design. Under optimum conditions, the oil yield of 43.35 ± 0.26% was reached, which was similar to that of SE (43.02 ± 0.77%). The oil obtained by UASEE is more desirable than that of SE, but similar with CP, especially on unsaturated fatty acids content and total tocopherol content. Overall, UASEE is a potential alternative to traditional methods for the efficient extraction of E. mollis oil for its higher oil yield and better quality.