Structural and functional properties of hydrolyzed/glycosylated ovalbumin under spray drying and microwave freeze drying

Ovalbumin(OVA),the main protein in egg white,affects most of the functional properties of egg white protein in food processing.The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of spray drying(SD)and microwave freeze drying(MFD)on the preparation of hydrolyzed/glycosylated ovalbumin(HGOVA)and provide useful information on the applications of egg protein powders in the food industry.Results demonstrated that the structure of HGOVA was considerably changed,and its functional properties were improved compared with those of native OVA.SD and MFD processing did not lead to dissociation of HGOVA subunits.SD-HGOVA exhibited higher protein solubility,emulsifying activity,foaming capacities,and gel hardness than MFD-HGOVA.However,MFD-HGOVA was better than the SD-HGOVA in terms of color,emulsion stability,foam stability,water/oil absorption capacity,and thermal stability.Selection of an appropriate drying method could enhance the potential applications of HGOVA in the food industry.

Effects of different pretreatments on the pore structure of Chinese yam during microwave freeze drying

In order to explore the effects of different pretreatments on the pore structure of Chinese yam during Microwave Freeze Drying(MFD),the samples were treated by typical drying pretreatments including osmosis,blanching and ultrasound,and compared with the untreated samples.The results showed that the pretreatment had significant impacts on the porosity of MFD Chinese yam.Ultrasonic pretreatment could obtain the highest open porosity,and the internal pore network structure of the material showed a uniform sponge shape.The shape of pores obtained by blanching pretreatment was the most irregular.The pore network structure obtained by different pretreatments could result in various product texture and rehydration,which implied that pretreatment methods should be carefully selected according to actual requirements.All these pretreatments could improve the open porosity of MFD Chinese yam,which result in a better rehydration capability.Among them,ultrasonic treatment is worth further investigating.

Evolution of pore structure during microwave freeze-drying of Chinese yam

In order to reduce the energy consumption of freeze drying(FD),microwave freeze drying(MFD)can be used to dry Chinese yam.Porosity is a critical factor influencing transport mechanism,and can be considered as an important index to reflect the changes of structure of MFD foods.In this study,the changes of pore structure during the process of MFD Chinese yam were investigated by SEM and mercury porosimetry.The results showed that some closed pores could transform to open pores in drying process,and the open porosity showed a rising trend throughout the drying process.The pore size distribution range was about 10 nm to 10^(6) nm throughout the drying process.In the early stage of drying,the pore size was mainly in the range of 10-10^(4) nm,and then the pore size and the number of pores reduced.In the middle and late drying stages,the size of large pores increased again.

Comparative study on the effects and efficiencies of three sublimation drying methods for mushrooms

Freeze drying(FD)yields the best quality of dried mushrooms but needs long drying time and higher cost.Air drying(AD)gives relatively poor product quality.In order to achieve faster drying along with high product quality,microwave freeze drying(MFD)and atmospheric freeze drying(AFD)were developed to dry mushrooms.By comparison of three sublimation drying processes,it was concluded that FD could lead to the best product quality,but cost the highest energy consumption.AFD mushrooms had the worst quality and longest drying time,but the lowest energy consumption.Compared with FD and AFD,MFD could get relatively acceptable quality and drying efficiency.As a result,MFD can be used to replace traditional FD,and AFD also should be popularized because of its low energy consumption.