Freeze-dried snacks obtained from frozen vegetable by-products and apple pomace – Selected properties,energy consumption and carbon footprint

Valorisation of food waste is one of the goals that food industry needs to achieve in terms of sustainable development. The aim of the research has been to analyse selected properties of freeze-dried vegetable snacks obtained from wholesome waste derived from the fruit and vegetable industry, such as frozen vegetable by-products and apple pomace as well as to estimate carbon footprint as the technological process output on the basis of the energy used for the purpose of producing snacks. Properties of snacks, such as water content and activity, shrinkage, density, porosity and hardness, were determined using common methodology. The water content of the finished products was very low (<1.5%) and determined the water activity below 0.02. Technological operations, such as grinding, caused destruction of the cell structure of the ingredients, which subsequently made the product structure inhomogeneous and more dense than most of the freeze-dried plant tissues. The snacks were porous and featured by hardness of 79.43–113.26 N. The colour depended on their composition, and freeze-drying caused the products to brighten significantly. The estimated carbon footprint (CF) depended on the technological process. Freeze-drying had the most significant impact upon the CF, accounting for 86–87%. The use of apple pomace powder as a structure- and texture-forming additive constitutes the subject matter representing great prospects for further research.     

多功能自动绞肉机设计

多功能自动绞肉机用独特的绞肉乳化头设计,实现出骨、绞肉、乳化三种功能的有机结合,同时依据人工模糊神经网络技术、单片机数控技术,自动完成多功能自动绞肉机的温度控制、速度控制、绞肉与乳化粒度控制。     

Prediction model for methanation reaction conditions based on a state transition simulated annealing algorithm optimized extreme learning machine

Methanation is the core process of synthetic natural gas, the performance of the entire reaction system depends on precise values of the reaction condition parameters. Accurate predictions of the CO conversion rate of the methanation reaction can eliminate time-consuming and complex steps in experiments and speed up the discovery of the best reaction conditions. However, the methanation reaction is an uncertain, highly complex, and highly nonlinear process. Thus, this paper proposes a machine learning prediction model for the methanation reaction to facilitate the subsequent search for optimal reaction conditions. The reaction temperature, pressure, hydrogen–carbon ratio, water vapor content, CO₂ content, and space velocity were selected as the condition variables. The CO conversion rate was the optimization objective. An extreme learning machine (ELM) was selected as a prediction model. Because the input weights and bias matrices of the ELM are randomly generated, an ELM based on a state transition simulated annealing (STASA-ELM) algorithm is proposed. The STASA algorithm was used to optimize the ELM to improve the accuracy and stability of the model. Five additional sets of experimental data were designed for the experiment, and the error between the experimental and predicted values was small. Thus, the STASA-ELM algorithm can accurately predict the conversion of CO for different values of reaction conditions.     

A new one parameter viscosity model for binary mixtures

The Grunberg & Nissian equation with one parameter is widely recommended in the viscosity calculation. However, it is demonstrated that this equation fails to generate satisfactory results for size‐asymmetric mixtures containing large and small molecules. In this work, a new one parameter viscosity model for binary mixtures has been developed on the basis of Eyring's absolute reaction rate theory and the Flory‐Huggins equation. The concept of molecular surface fraction is introduced for modeling liquid mixture viscosities. The viscosity calculations of the new equation are compared with the Grunberg & Nissian equation for a broad range of chemical mixtures including 527 binary systems (containing 63 binary ionic liquid cosolvent systems) and total 17,268 viscosity points. The new equation was found to have an improved performance over the frequently employed Grunberg & Nissian equation, especially for size‐asymmetric mixtures containing large and small molecules. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 57: 517–524, 2011     

Visible laser microfabrication of transparent plastic using Au nanoparticles-dispersed polymer film

A polymer film in which Au nanoparticles with average diameter of around 3 nm dispersed in ethylcellulose was applied to an absorber for laser microfabrication of a transparent plastic. Since the polymer film has a strong absorption at the wavelength of around 530 nm, it can be micromachined using focused low power Nd:YVO₄–SHG laser (CW, wavelength of 532 nm). When laser beam was irradiated on the polymer film coated on transparent substrate, the substrate under the polymer film which has no absorbance in the range of wavelength of laser beam was processed. A micropattern was clearly fabricated on transparent poly(methyl methacrylate) and polyethylene terephthalate using our polymer film. In poly(methyl methacrylate) substrate, the processed depth showed a maximum at the polymer film thickness of 15 μm under the condition of laser power of 23 mW. Finally, laser marking test on the transparent poly(methyl methacrylate) was demonstrated as an application of our system using the optimal polymer film thickness.     

Development of a monoclonal antibody-based competitive enzyme linked-immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) for quantification of silver carp parvalbumin

Parvalbumin (PV) is a major allergen in fish. A monoclonal antibody (B2-E1) against silver carp parvalbumin was prepared in the present study. Western blot analysis indicated that the prepared monoclonal antibody was specific to PV in fish muscle extract. A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) was then developed to quantify the amount of PV in silver carp using B2-E1. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) of the developed c-ELISA were 0.04 and 0.3 mg/kg food, respectively. The c-ELISA was specific for detecting PV from fish, and the intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were 4.4% and 8.4%, respectively. The c-ELISA method was further applied to quantify PV from various fish species, and demonstrated that the PV content was 4–20 times higher in the white muscle than that in the dark muscle, which was coincident with the previous reports. Moreover, c-ELISA was used to trace the PV during fish surimi (fish ball) production, and the results indicated that washing process could effectively but not completely remove PV from fish ball. Our present study indicated that this c-ELISA method may be applied to monitor trace amounts of fish allergen PV during fishery product processing.     

Effect of tea polyphenols on the physical and chemical characteristics of dried-seasoned squid (Dosidicus gigas) during storage

The effects of tea polyphenols (TP) dip treatment on the physical and chemical characteristics of dried-seasoned squid (Dosidicus gigas) during storage at 25 °C were assessed. After the storage, the b* value increased significantly, while the free amino acids (FAA) including Ser, Gly, Arg, Tyr and Lys, and the dominant reducing sugar (RS), lactose, decreased remarkably, which revealed the occurrence of browning reaction in dried-seasoned squid. The progressive conversion of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) and production of thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) were found during the entire period of storage. Furthermore, the advantages of reducing moisture loss, inhibiting oxidation of lipids, depressing TMAO breakdown and TVB-N accumulation were observed, while the browning reaction exhibited no significant decrease for the TP samples. These results indicated that the addition of TP could maintain quality of dried-seasoned squid.     

Antimicrobial activity of natural antimicrobial substances against spoilage bacteria isolated from fresh produce

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of natural antimicrobial substances for inhibiting vegetable spoilage bacteria. Natural antimicrobial compounds (carvacrol, thymol, eugenol, cinnamic acid, nisin, and chitosan), organic acids (acetic acid and lactic acid), and chemical sanitizers (sodium hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide) were evaluated for their antibacterial activities, as single and combination treatments, against 15 spoilage bacteria isolated from vegetables, using the agar disc diffusion and broth dilution methods. Carvacrol, thymol, and eugenol showed strong inhibitory effects compared to those of the other antimicrobial substances, and their average minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values against 15 spoilage bacteria were 167, 648, and 168 μg/ml, respectively. When they were combined, four kinds (carvacrol + thymol, carvacrol + eugenol, thymol + eugenol, and carvarol + thymol + eugenol) of the combination formulas showed higher antibacterial effect than others against spoilage bacteria, with average MIC values of 47, 43, 59, and 42 μg/ml, respectively. However, two combinations (carvacrol + thymol, and carvacrol + thymol + eugenol) showed the strongest inhibitory effects against bacteria in fresh vegetables among all treatments. These results could be used for the development of new sanitation or preservation methods to improve freshness and to extend the shelf-life of fresh produce.     

Efficacy of atmospheric and pressurized carbon dioxide or air against Sitophilus zeamais Motchulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in milled rice

Carbon dioxide gas was evaluated in the laboratory for control of Sitophilus zeamais Motchulsky and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) in milled rice using a specially designed pressure chamber. Tests were conducted at atmospheric pressure with 60, 80 and 100% carbon dioxide and with 100% carbon dioxide pressurized to 4, 6 and 8 bars. LT₉₉ were ≤79, ≤78, and ≤148 h for all life stages of S. zeamais exposed to 60, 80 and 100% carbon dioxide, whereas, they were ≤59, ≤51 and ≤66 h for T. castaneum. Pure carbon dioxide controlled the adult stage, but there tended to be no significant differences of carbon dioxide concentrations on mortality of immature stages. When pure carbon dioxide was pressurized, mortalities of the two insect species were increased significantly. LT₉₉ values decreased with levels of applied pressure: ≤29, ≤9.0 and ≤4.8 h for S. zeamais and ≤15, ≤5.8 and ≤2.3 h for T. castaneum at pressures of 4, 6 and 8 bars, respectively. Sitophilus zeamais was more tolerant than T. castaneum to carbon dioxide gas. The adult was the most susceptible stage, however, immature stages responded differently to carbon dioxide gas applied at varying concentrations and pressure levels. Adult mortalities were lower when air was used in the pressure chamber instead of carbon dioxide. Pressurized carbon dioxide at relatively low pressure (4–8 bars) was found effective in controlling all live stages of S. zeamais and T. castaneum in milled rice with shorter exposure times than at atmospheric pressure using an inexpensive set of equipment as compared to high pressure carbon dioxide fumigation (20–30 bars).