FOOD ENGINEERING RESEARCH (JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH)
Year:2024 | Volume:22 | Issue:75|Papers Count:7

Fruit-based pastiles play a special role in the food culture of adolescents and young people, and their frequent and sufficient consumption has an effective role in achieving general health. In this study, functional pastille with a puffy texture was produced using the statistical method of central composite design. For this purpose, pastilles using jujube-apple puree as the main base of the formulation with percentages (20: 80, 40: 60: and 60:40 w/w of jujube-apple), flaxseed mucilage gum as a foam-forming amount (zero, 1, and 2%), whey protein concentrate as a source of protein and foam stabilizer (zero, 10 and 20%) were produced and tested using the response level method. The physical properties of the produced pastilles such as foam density, gas holding capacity, texture, color changes, and sensory evaluation were evaluated. In all cases, the quadratic model was able to fit the laboratory data appropriately. The results showed that the increase of gum in the pastille tissue increased the gas retention and decreased the density. With increasing the percentage of jujube-apple, in all percentages of whey protein, the firmness of the lozenge texture increased linearly. As the amount of flaxseed increased, the color changes first increased and then decreased. As the percentage of jujube-apple increases, the percentage of overall acceptance increases. While increasing the percentage of flax gum and whey protein had no significant effect on increasing the overall acceptance of samples. The optimal conditions for the formulation of puffy pastille were obtained with the percentage of jujube-apple 57:43%, flaxseed mucillage gum 2% and whey protein 13%. In optimal conditions, gas holding capacity, foam density, color changes, texture stiffness and overall acceptance were 45.55%, 0.244 g/ml, 50.11, 9.59 N and 4.47, respectively.

Extensive research has been conducted in many industries, including the mayonnaise industry, to explore the use of fat substitutes and to create useful products, which is especially relevant given the growing prevalence of obesity and its associated illnesses in society. In this study, mayonnaise was formulated with varying concentrations of eggs (0, 4.15, 7.15, 10.15, and 13.15%) mixed with Physalis fruits and tragacanth gum, as well as their combination. The mayonnaise was stored at 4°C during manufacturing and over a 6-month period. Tests for pH levels, emulsion stability, particle sizes, peroxide index, viscosity measurements, colorimetric analysis for brightness (L*), yellowness (b*), and redness (a*) values were conducted in addition to testing for molds and yeasts. The data was processed using SAS statistical software version 9.3, employing Duncan's multivariate method for comparing means and with a 95% confidence interval (α = 0.05). The findings demonstrated that for the control treatment, there was a statistically significant divergence (p ≤ 0.05) between the significance index for each predictor and the control treatment. The comparison of the collected results showed that the usage of 3% Physalis angulate fruit and 6% tragacanth gum had no considerable effect on the observed factors. But, when values increased above these percentages, it led to a decrease in brightness index (L*) and yellowness (b*). Additionally, parameters such as particle size indicators, yellowness, cohesiveness, adhesion force, acid number, peroxide index, viscosity, pH, redness index (a*) along with molds and yeasts numbers were substantially higher than standard treatment after 6 months of storage (p≤0.05). Consequently, it was concluded that using 3% Physalis fruit and 6% tragacanth gum was the most optimal option for this treatment.

Vinegar has long been used worldwide as a basic seasoning that can be produced from different materials. Many reports have focused on the antioxidant activity of vinegar and its use to lose fat and weight. It is also one of the superior food additives as it contains different nutrients such as carbohydrates, amino acids, peptides, vitamins and minerals. To produce vinegar of higher yield, substrates with suitable amounts of sugar should be transformed to ethanol in optimum situation, then acetic acid should be produced from alcohol using suitable ­aerobic microtrganisms. In this project, Estamaran dates due to their high amount of sugar were transformed into vinegar in two stages. During the first stage, anaerobic fermentation of different concentrations of date sugars (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50%) to ethanol was carried out using different concentrations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 g/L) and ethanol concentrations were measured in 24, 48, 72 and 96 h), then, the aerobic conversion of ethanol to acetic acid was accomplished by Acetobacters in 30 ̊C for 21 days. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS and graphs were represented by Excel. The results showed that 4.3 liters of ethanol with a purity of nearly 48% (v/w) were produced during 96 h from one kilogram of date fruit. In the acetic acid fermentation stage, 4 liters of acetic acid with a purity of 6.62% (v/w) and fermentation yield of 90.5% after 12-14 days were collected. 

Propolis is rich in bioactive compounds, including antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds, therefore it is necessary to protect these sensitive compounds by high-performance methods such as encapsulation. The purpose of this research was to produce nanoparticles containing the propolis extract and to investigate its physicochemical characteristics. In this research, propolis was extracted with ethanol-water (70:30) solvents and protein nanoparticles containing it were prepared. Then, the dynamic light scattering characteristics, the encapsulation efficiency, the detection of crystalline and amorphous structure, and the interactions between the core and wall materials in nanoparticles were measured. To analyse the results, analysis of variance method was used, using SPSS software. The results of the dynamic test and encapsulation efficiency showed that with the increase in the amount of core and wall materials, the encapsulation efficiency, particle size and PDI increase. In the formulation with the same amounts of protein, with the increase in the concentration of propolis extract, the amount of negative charge of zeta potential also increased. The results of the XRD device showed that the treatments, 6 and 8, had the highest values of L and a, respectively. The graphs obtained from the FT-IR test showed that there were very minor changes in the form of peak displacement or symmetrical changes in the nanoparticles containing propolis extract compared to the control nanoparticles. This research showed that in the preparation of nanoparticles, the larger the amount of nuclear material, the larger the size of the resulting nanoparticles, the crystal intensity and the encapsulation efficiency.

Simultaneous application of modern baking methods with fermented substrates is of great importance in controlling bread mouldiness. In the present study, predominant LAB was isolated from rice bran sourdough and after molecular identification, it was used as a starter culture in sourdough bread processing. In the next step, effect of using oven-infrared radiation, oven-supersaturated vapor and oven baking systems was investigated on the inhibition of surface mouldiness in produced breads. Sequencing results of the PCR products led to the identification of Pediococcus acidilactici. The lowest level of surface mouldiness with 27.06% was observed in bread containing controlled fermented rice bran baked in an oven-supersaturated vapor, which was significantly (P≤0.05) lower than the control sample. Wheat breads containing rice bran sourdough in all the three baking processes had less fungal surface expansion and more porosity, compared to the control bread. The highest amount of crumb hardness was belonged to wheat bread containing controlled fermented rice bran and baked with oven-supersaturated vapor, and the lowest hardness was related to the control bread baked with this process. The overall acceptability of the produced breads did not differ much from each other, and there was mainly no significant difference among them. Considering the appropriate techno-functional capabilities of the LAB isolated from fermented rice bran, it can be used as a protective starter culture in the fermentation industry. Using the infrared process in bread baking can be useful due to the relatively high baking speed and low energy consumption, antifungal effect and uniform heating.

Smart packages provide information of the state of the packaged food to the consumer by using materials that monitor and interact with the packaging environment, through an internal or external indicator. The use of artificial colors, as indicators of food freshness in food packaging, not only have toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic properties, but also threaten the health of consumers and the environment, and in addition, they are also not suitable for application in food industries. But nature-based materials can be a suitable alternative to be used as indicators and sensors. Therefore, the purpose of writing of this article is to review the latest information about biosensors made based on compounds obtained from natural extracts in food packaging. Obviously, bioactive extracts based on anthocyanins, betalins, and curcumins obtained from natural sources, including byproducts of food industry, have significant potential to function as biosensors.

Rice bran is a by-product of the rice milling process and the outer layer of brown rice. In this study, rice bran of Tarom and Khazar cultivars were placed in an extrusion machine at 120 and 140 ° C and 40 bar pressure after 12 hours of grinding process, and then rice bran oil was extracted by using Hexane solvent. The oil extracted from the bran was refined and the profile of fatty acids, peroxide value, free fatty acid, Iodine value, anisidine value and wax content of oil were measured. Oleic acid (0.55 to 1.40%), linoleic acid (38.92 to 43.67%) and palmitic acid (15.71 to 19.39%) were the three major fatty acids identified in rice bran oil and extrusion treatment decreased the amount of unsaturated fatty acids and increased the amount of saturated fatty acids. also, the free fatty acid of Khazar rice bran oil was higher than Tarom. There was no difference in free fatty acids amount, peroxide value, anisidine value and wax content of the oil between untreated samples and extruded samples in 120 ° but Iodine value decreased after extrusion treatment. The content of non-Saponifiable compounds, γ- oryzanol, red and blue color parameters decreased and yellow color parameter increased. Furthermore, extrusion in 140 ° C increased peroxide value, anisidine value and wax content but decreased iodine value and free fatty acid content of the oil. As the results showed, using extrusion treatment in120 ° C had no unfavorable effects on oil qualitative characteristics so it is suggested for pretreatment of rice bran.