Physico-chemical properties of flour and starch from jackfruit seeds (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) compared with modified starches

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) is one of the most popular tropical fruits grown in Asia. The objective of this study was to compare physico‐chemical properties of native flour and starch from jackfruit seeds (A. heterophyllus) to commercially modified starches (Novation 2300 and Purity 4). The colour of jackfruit seed starch was lighter than the Novation 2300 starch but darker than the Purity 4 starch. The jackfruit seed starch had a narrower gelatinization temperature range than Purity 4 and required less gelatinization energy compared with modified starches. The peak viscosity of jackfruit seed starch was lower than commercially modified starches. Likewise, setback viscosity, swelling power and solubility of jackfruit seed starch showed similar trends. Results from this study suggest that native starch from jackfruit seed could be used as an alternative for modified starches in a system needing starch with a high thermal and/or mechanical shear stability.     

Rheological Characterization of Rice Flour-Based Batters

ABSTRACT: The flow behavior and the applicability of rheological models to predict the viscosity of rice flour-based batter (RFBB) for deep-fat frying at 5,15, and 25 °C were investigated. The Herschel-Bulkley model was found to be the best fit for all RFBBs formulated with different ratios of rice to corn flour, oxidized corn starch, and methylcellulose (R²= 0.85–0.99). Rheological parameters depended on RFBB compositions, temperature, and shear rate. The relationship between temperature and RFBB apparent viscosity can be predicted within shear rate range between 30 to 132 s⁻¹. Correlation coefficient (r) of model validation decreased as temperature increased.     

An innovative method for the preparation of mum (Thai fermented sausages) with acceptable technological quality and extended shelf-life

Freshly-manufactured mum sausages were assigned to two processing methods (process I: stored at ～30 °C for 14 days; process II: stored at ～30 °C for three days, vacuum-packaged, and stored at 4 °C until day 28). Physicochemical, microbial, textural, and sensory properties of samples were analysed. The results showed that dehydration was more intense in process I samples, and resulted in lower moisture content and water activity. Significant decreases in pH values, and increases in lactic acid were observed in both samples by day 3. The total microflora and lactic acid bacteria counts increased rapidly during the fermentation and then decreased while the Enterobacteriaceae counts decreased steadily. Too much dehydration resulted in tough textures and unacceptable sensory qualities for process I samples. In conclusion, after three days of fermentation, with vacuum-packaging, ripening and storage at 4 °C up to 28 days, it is possible to produce mum sausages with better qualities and an extended shelf life.     

Effect of thermal annealing on the properties of a-SiCN:H films by hot wire chemical vapor deposition using hexamethyldisilazane

We investigated the effect of thermal annealing on the properties of a-SiCN:H films prepared by HWCVD using hexamethyldisilazane focusing on the change in the passivation quality. We found that annealing a-SiCN:H films at the temperature around 600 °C led to an effective hydrogen diffusion, resulting in the enhancement of the passivation effect. The performance of cast polycrystalline silicon solar cells using a-SiCN:H films showed a strong dependence on the contact firing temperature. The best efficiency of 13.75% was achieved at the firing temperature of 750 °C.     

Sparse power equalization placement for limiting jamming attack propagation in transparent optical networks

The latest advances in Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology are making it possible to build all-optical transparent WDM networks, which are expected to be able to satisfy the rapid growth of today’s capacity demand. However, the transparency of such networks makes them highly vulnerable to deliberate attacks, specifically targeting the physical layer. Physical-layer attacks, such as high-power jamming, can cause severe service disruption or even service denial, enhanced by their capability to propagate through a transparent optical network. Several attack-aware routing and wavelength assignment algorithms have been proposed to reduce the possible disruption caused by high-power jamming attacks. However, even with network planning approaches which take network security, specifically physical-layer attacks, into account, resilience to deliberate attacks in such scenarios remains an issue.In this paper, we propose the use of wavelength-selective attenuators as power equalizers inside network nodes to limit the propagation of high-power jamming attacks. Due to the increased cost of optical switching nodes associated with the addition of power equalizers, we aim at minimizing their number through sparse power equalization placement. We developed a set of greedy algorithms to solve what we call the Power Equalization Placement (PEP) problem with the objective of minimizing the number of power equalizers needed to reduce, to a desired level, the propagation of high-power jamming attacks for a given routing scheme. We further improved upon these results by proposing a GRASP (Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure) heuristic with a somewhat longer execution time, but with significantly superior results. The performance evaluation results indicate that the proposed GRASP heuristic can achieve the same attack propagation reduction as can be obtained by equipping all nodes with power equalizers by placing them at less than 50% of the nodes on average, potentially yielding significant cost savings.