Use of ultrasound in food preservation

Ultrasound is versatile and innovative technology due to its wide range of application and increase in knowledge and research studies. It is used in food industry for many purposes including analysis methods and food processings such as freezing, cutting, drying, tempering, homogenization, degassing, antifoaming, filtration and extraction. Ultrasound can be used as a promoter or alternative to food processing. There may be numereous advantages of using ultrasound for food processing such as effective mixing, increased mass transfer, reduced energy, reduced temperature and increased production rate. Due to the elimination of microorganisms and enzymes without destroying nutrients of foods, ultrasound can be used as an alternative method to thermal treatments in the food preservation. Additionally, low power ultrasound is thought to be an attractive nonthermal method due to overcome problems which occur during heat treatments such as physical and chemical changes, nutritional loss and change in organoleptic properties. This review summarizes mechanism, operation and latest potential applications of ultrasound in the food preservation.

Development of African Earthenware Container Imbedded with Nanosilver Particles for Food Preservation

With the aim of ameliorating its preservation capacity, silver nanoparticles (0 - 100nm) with 99.9% purity and 35nm average particle size, were used as building material for earthenware jar, an extremely old container which is still used in rural African villages specifically in North Cameroon. Earth material was dissolved in water at the weight ratio of 5% to 10%. Silver nanoparticles were then added to the mixture and stirred to prepare 1% to 5% Ag/Earth paste (1 to 5 ppm). A grounded metal rotating drum was used to prepare earth embedded nanosilver plates. An n-order mathematic expression was used to evaluate the shelf-live quality and deterioration rate of sorghum porridge preserved in this African earthenware container imbedded with nanosilver particles. Accelerated shelf-life testing was used to predict the shelf life of the product at usual rural storage conditions. The used Arrhenius model indicated that the shelf life of the sorghum porridge stored in African earthenware container imbedded with nanosilver particles can be extended to 14 days at 4&degC ± 1&degC, 6 days at 15&degC ± 5&degC, and 4 days at 30&degC ± 2&degC. The calculated Q10 values were found to be in the range of 1.5 - 2.0.

Associations of lifestyle and diet with the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Singapore:a case–control study

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) is a commonly diagnosed cancer in Southeast Asia. Many studies have examined the risk factors for NPC, yet the roles of some risk factors remain inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between modifiable lifestyle factors and the risk of NPC in the Singaporean population.Methods: We conducted a case–control study in Singapore with 300 patients and 310 controls who were recruited between 2008 and 2012. Each control was selected and individually matched to each patient based on sex, ethnicity, and age(±5 years). A total of 290 pairs of cases and controls were matched successfully. We examined lifestyle factors such as tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, various salted and preserved food consumption, and weaning practices.Results: After adjusting for covariates, multivariate analysis showed that those participants who were current smokers and had ever smoked tobacco had a higher risk of NPC than participants who had never smoked, with odds ratios(ORs) of 4.50(95% confidence interval [CI] 2.58–7.86; P < 0.001) and 2.52(95% CI 1.54–4.12; P < 0.001), respectively. Those who consumed salted vegetables at least once a week also showed a significantly increased risk of NPC than those who never or rarely consumed salted vegetables, with an OR of 4.18(95% CI 1.69–10.38; P = 0.002).Conclusion: Smoking(currently and ever-smoked) and consuming salted vegetables once a week or more were lifestyle risk factors for NPC, and changes of these factors for the better may reduce the risk of NPC.

Research progress of plant antimicrobial peptides

Plant antimicrobial peptides are a very large family of antimicrobial peptides,which have strong resistance to various pathogenic microorganisms,especially fungi.With the increasing use of antibiotics,the problems caused by antibiotics,including antibiotic residues and pathogen resistance,are becoming more and more prominent.The research on antimicrobial peptides as new antibiotic substitutes is also a hot spot.This article introduces the action sites and antibacterial mechanisms of several plant antimicrobial peptides,as well as the application of plant antimicrobial peptides in the fields of medicine,agriculture,and food preservation.

Antioxidant Action of Rosemary and Oregano Extract in Pre-Cooked Meat Hamburger

The main goal is to compare the antioxidant potential of rosemary and oregano natural extracts in precooked beef burger by assessing the lipid oxidation extent and sensory analysis. Five formulations (F) of hamburger were prepared from beef and mechanically separated as follows: meat containing sodium erythorbate (F1);deodorized rosemary extract (F2);oregano extract (F3);rosemary plus oregano extracts (F4) and without antioxidant addition, denominated control formulation (CF). The samples were frozen at ?18°C for 24 hours, then submitted to heat treatment in an electric oven with internal controlled temperature of 75°C, and again frozen for a period of 30 days. The lipid oxidation extent (determined by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances— TBRS) was evaluated at 0, 15 during 30 days. After heating in plate to temperature of 75°C, the samples were submitted to color, taste and odor evaluation by 40 untrained tasters. The formulations F1, F2 and F4 presented lower concentrations of TBRS, whereas CF at day zero already showed very high values, indicating oxidation of the product. The samples showed good acceptance in the sensorial analysis.

Chitosan as A Preservative for Fruits and Vegetables:A Review on Chemistry and Antimicrobial Properties

Chitosan,derived from chitin,a major constituent(in quantity)of crustaceans,is a unique aminopolysaccharide with emerging commercial potential in agriculture,food,pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals due to its nontoxic,biodegradable and biocompatable properties.Chitosan coating on fruits and vegetables has been found to be effective for the reduction of a variety of harmful micro-organims and extend the shelf-life of these products.In this review,our focus is on the antimicrobial properties of chitosan and its application as a natural preservative for fresh products.We detailed the key properties that are related to food preservation,the molecular mechanism of the antimicrobial activity of chitosan on fungi,gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria,coating methods for using chitosan and its formulation for preserving fruits and vegetables,as well as the radiation method of producing chitosan from chitin.Understanding the economic and scientific factors of chitosan’s production and efficiency as a preservative will open its practical application for fruits and vegetable preservation.

Ethanolic extract of rice bran: a thermally stable preservative for edible oils and cake

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermal stability of the rice bran extract (RBE) and analyze the effect of RBE on the shelf-life of sunflower oil and the quality characteristics and shelf-life of baked cake. The thermal stability of RBE was evaluated by a Rancimat test using sunflower oil. Properties such as moisture content, porosity, crumb density and pore area of cakes baked with RBE and the synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were compared. Sensory properties such as taste, aroma, texture, color and overall acceptability of the cake samples were compared using a sensory panel test. The shelf-life of the cakes was evaluated by microbial counts and chemical methods. Thermally treated RBE and BHT for 2 h at 180 °C retained 75% of their initial capacity in protecting sunflower oil while RBE had a significantly higher protection factor (p < 0.05). Cakes baked with RBE received higher scores for taste, color and overall acceptability compared to control or BHT-added cake. BHT-added cake and RBE-added cake exceeded the aerobic plate count (APC) and yeast and mold count (YMC) on days 11 and 13 respectively, while the control cakes without added antioxidants exceeded the APC and YMC on day 7. Both BHT- and RBE-added cakes maintained hexanal levels below 5 mg/kg over 28 days while the control cake exceeded this level on day 21. The results suggest that RBE can be used as a natural food additive to improve the quality and shelf-life of baked foods and edible oils.

Application of light emitting diodes (LEDs) for food preservation, post-harvest losses and production of bioactive compounds: a review

Light-emitting diode (LED) technology is a new non-thermal food preservation method that works by converting light energy into heat. LED has potential to revolutionize crop production, protection and preservation. This technology is economical and environmentally friendly. LEDs have been shown to improve the nutritive quality and shelf life of foods, control the ripening of fruits, induce the synthesis of bioactive compounds and antioxidants and reduce the microbial contamination. This technology also has great scope in countries, where safety, hygiene, storage and distribution of foods are serious issues. While comparing this technology with other lighting technologies, LEDs can bring numerous advantages to food supply chain from farm to fork. In case of small growing amenities which exploit only LEDs, energy expenditure has been successfully reduced while producing nutritious food. LEDs can be used to give us better understanding and control over production and preservation of food with relation to spectral composition of light. LEDs also play significant role in food safety by inactivating the food borne pathogens. Therefore, LED lighting is a very effective and promising technology for extending shelf life of agricultural produce by increasing disease resistance and with increased nutritional values.

Reducing the carbon emissions from Qianxi tomato fruits preservation by cold atmospheric plasma

China has pledged to reach its dual-carbon goals(i.e.,carbon peak and carbon neutrality)at the end of 2060.To reduce carbon emission in food preservation industry,the preservation effects of cold atmospheric plasma intermittent treatment(1 min/6 h each day,PL4)combined with 15℃ and 4℃ only on Qianxi tomato fruits during 7 d storage were investigated.Results indicated that the firmness,L*,sensory taste,glutathione(GSH)content,mineral(Fe,P,K)content,polyphenol oxidase activity of PL4 tomatoes were significantly increased than that in Control during earlier period storage,with worse weight loss,titratable acid,a*,b*,lycopene content,·OH radical scavenging capacity and same moisture content,total soluble solids,polysaccharide content,total phenolics content,total flavonoid content,ascorbic acid content,1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging capacity,pectin methylesterase activity.Moreover,the power and R134a consumption of PL4 were highly decreased by around 56.4 kW·h and 0.3 g respectively during whole storage as compared to Control,and reduced more than 99.8%carbon emission based on equipment using stage.All in all,this study illustrated that PL4 treatment can be applied as an ecofriendly,low carbon and sustainable preservation strategy for short-term storage of fruits under 4℃ or higher temperature.

Evidence on antimicrobial activity of essential oils and herbal extracts against Yersinia enterocolitica - A review

Yersinia enterocolitica is a very common food-borne pathogen which causes gastrointestinal infections (yersiniosis) in humans and a wide array of animals (e.g.cattle,deer,pigs,and birds).Due to the increasing interest in innovative plant-based substances as common food preservatives,several essential oils and herbal extracts have been investigated deeply that resulted in the emergence of novel anti-Yersinia additives.We reviewed relevant work done by 53 researchers covering literature from the year 2002 to till date.Some species such as Origanum vulgare ,Rosmarinus officinalis ,Thymus vulgaris ,Ocimum basilicum have been extensively investigated and identified that 1,8-cineole,linalool and γ-terpinene as compounds found in the essential oils of these plants have anti-Yersinia activity active food packaging agents.In the same direction,some promising results have been mentioned about the herbal extracts of Murrya koenigii ,Tanacetum vulgare and Tanacetum balsamita,but further investigations are needed for their sustainable implications.According to hierarchical cluster analysis,we found that Lamiaceae and Lauracea as the most significant families with anti-Yersinia activity.Towards the end,we proposed new research trends in order to enhance a global knowledge about the use of natural products against Y.enterocolitica .

IN VITRO ACTIVITY OF EXTRACTS OF FIVE MEDICINAL PLANT SPECIES ON PLANT PATHOGENIC FUNGI

The antifungal effectiveness of extracts of five medicinal plant species was determined.The inhibitory activity of extracts of Eucalyptus tereticornis,Xanthium sibiricum,Artemisia argyi,Tupistra chinensis and Pyrola calliantha were evaluated against the mycelial growth of the plant pathogenic fungi Aspergillus niger,Botrytis cinerea,Penicillium digitatum,P.expansum,P.italicum and Rhizopus stolonifer.All plant extracts were prepared at 60°C using solvents(either water,50%ethanol(v/v),95%ethanol(v/v),ethyl acetate or petroleum ether).Fungicidal effects of all plants tested were confirmed.Different extracts from the same plant species gave different degrees of inhibition.All aqueous extracts had weak or no activity on all fungi tested.Ethyl acetate and 95%ethanol extracts from T.chinensis rhizomes gave greater inhibition and a broader spectrum inhibition than the other extracts.T.chinensis may have potential as a new natural fungicide and may be used for the preservation of agricultural and forestry products such as fruits and vegetables.