Starch fraction profiles of milled,nonparboiled rice varieties from Nigeria

This study determined the levels of nutritionally important starch fractions in selected milled, nonparboiled rice cultivated in Nigeria. Five improved varieties (FARO 52, FARO 57, FARO 44, FARO 60 and FARO 61) and four local varieties (Kwandala, Yardass, Jeep and Jamila) were evaluated. There were significant differences in starch fractions among varieties. Resistant starch (RS) ranged between 1.43% and 3.13%. Rapidly digestible starch (RDS) was lowest in Jamila (27.70%) and highest in FARO 61 (39.26%). Generally, the local varieties had significant higher RS (2.71%) with a lower RDS (32.82%) compared with improved varieties (RS; 1.88% and RDS; 36.07%). RS was inversely related to RDS and starch digestion index (SDI). The SDI had a highly significant positive correlation with RDS (r = 0.879, P < 0.01). These results highlight the need for further work in the identification of milled, nonparboiled rice varieties with less rapid digestion for its associated health benefits to consumers.     

Proteolysis of Cheese Slurry Made from Pulsed Electric Field-Treated Milk

Raw milk cheeses have unique flavor and texture characteristics not obtainable in cheeses made from pasteurized milk. However, cheeses made from pasteurized milk are widespread, primarily for public health reasons. Pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment as a non-thermal pasteurization method has shown its ability to keep the flavor and natural characteristics of food samples intact, thus providing advantage over conventional heat processing. In this study, PEF treatment was performed in a continuous treatment chamber, consisting of two parallel stainless steel electrodes separated by a 50-mm-thick insulator. A 30-kV pulse generator was used to deliver bi-polar square waveform electric field to milk sample. Pulse width was 2 μs; pulse frequency was 2 Hz, and up to 120 pulses were applied. Cheese curds were made from raw milk, pasteurized milk, and PEF-treated milk, and their proteolysis processes were compared using curd slurry incubated at 30 °C for 5 days. The profiles of water-soluble peptides were measured using an reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) system. The concentration of free amino acids was measured by Cd–ninhydrin method. Results indicated that PEF-treated milk has intermediate proteolysis profiles between raw milk and pasteurized milk in terms of peptide and free amino acid concentration. The results showed the potential of making high-quality cheeses by PEF treatment without sacrificing the natural characteristics of the cheeses.     

Mapping of Fat and Moisture Distribution in Atlantic Salmon Using Near-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging

A nondestructive and rapid method using near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging was investigated to determine the spatial distribution of fat and moisture in Atlantic salmon fillets. Altogether, 100 samples were studied, cutting out from different parts of five whole fillets. For each sample, the hyperspectral image was collected with a pushbroom NIR (899–1,694 nm) hyperspectral imaging system followed by chemical analysis to measure its reference fat and moisture contents. Mean spectrum were extracted from the region of interest inside each hyperspectral image. The quantitative relationships between spectral data and the reference chemical values were successfully developed based on partial least squares (PLS) regression with correlation coefficient of prediction of 0.93 and 0.94, and root mean square error of prediction of 1.24 and 1.06 for fat and moisture, respectively. Then the PLS models were applied pixel-wise to the hyperspectral images of the prediction samples to produce chemical images for visualizing fat and moisture distribution. The results were promising and demonstrated the potential of this technique to predict constituent distribution in salmon fillets.     

Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enteritidis in Liquid Egg White Using Pulsed Electric Field

ABSTRACT: The effects of temperature and pulsed electric field (PEF) intensity on inactivation of pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enteritidis in egg white was investigated. Liquid egg white inoculated with 10⁸ colony-forming units (CFU)/mL of each pathogen was treated with up to 60 pulses (each of 2 JAS width) at electric field intensities of 20 and 30 kV/cm. The processing temperatures were 10°C, 20°C, and 30°C. After treatment, uninjured and total viable cells were enumerated in selective and nonselective agars, respectively. Maximum inactivations of 3.7 and 2.9 log units were obtained for S. enteritidis and E. coli O157:H7, respectively, while injured cells accounted for 0.5 and 0.9 logs for E. coli O157:H7 and S. enteritidis , respectively. For both bacteria, increasing treatment temperature tended to increase the inactivation rate. There was synergy between electric field intensity and processing temperature. The inactivation rate constant k _T values for E. coli O157:H7 on both selective and nonselective agars were 8.2 × 10^-3 and 6.6 × 10^-3/μS, whereas the values for S. enteritidis were 16.2 × 10^-3 and 12.6 × 10^-3/μS, respectively. The results suggest that E. coli O157:H7 was more resistant to heat-PEF treatment compared with S. enteritidis.     

Pore development in chicken meat during deep-fat frying

In this study, the effect frying oil temperature (FOT) and frying time on pore development was investigated during deep-fat frying (DFF) of chicken breast meat. The samples were sized to the following dimension: length×width×thickness=20×15×10 mm, and were fried at different FOTs (170°C, 180°C, and 190°C) in an industrial fryer for periods varying from 5 to 900 s. Oil uptake analysis was conducted by soxhlet extraction method with petroleum ether as the base extraction solvent. Pore development computation was based on the densities (bulk and apparent) measured after the end of each frying time with a fluid displacement pycnometry. The process variables significantly (P<0.01) influenced pore development in chicken meat during DFF. The final oil uptake was found to have influenced pore development. A goodness-of-fit test suggest linear model fitted well to the pore development and moisture loss experimental data while exponential model gave the best fit for pore development and oil uptake in chicken meat. A porosity of 0.28, 0.24 and 0.22 were found at FOT (170°C, 180°C, and 190°C), respectively.     

Electrohydrodynamic Drying—A Concise Overview

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying is a novel method of non-thermal processing. The drying can be carried out using either AC or DC high voltages. The thermodynamic considerations regarding the lowering of temperature under EHD drying include rapid rates of evaporation and exothermic interaction of the electric field with a dielectric material. Multi-point and plate electrode systems are efficient in accelerating drying of agricultural materials. Compared to hot air (convective) drying systems, EHD drying systems offer lower food production costs along with superior quality in terms of physiochemical properties such as color, shrinkage, flavor, and nutrient content. Compared to convective and freeze-drying, EHD drying systems, given their simpler design and lesser energy consumption, show great potential for bulk and industrial drying applications.     

Mathematical modeling of airflow and heat transfer during forced convection cooling of produce considering various package vent areas

The influence of different package vent configurations, including ventilated packages with 1, 3 and 5 vents, on produce temperature distribution during forced convection cooling of produce was investigated by mathematical modeling of simultaneous airflow and heat transfer. Generally, produce cooling uniformity was increased by increasing the number of vents from 1 to 5. Produce cooling heterogeneity increased until about 90 min cooling and subsequently decreased with further cooling in all 3 ventilated packages. The methodology developed in this study can be used as a design tool to provide homogeneous temperature distribution in ventilated packages during forced convection cooling of produce.     

Protein Structural Changes During Preparation and Storage of Surimi

The changes in protein structure associated with the preparation and frozen storage of surimi were investigated. Raw surimi was prepared by repeatedly washing Alaska pollock flesh with chilled water. The product was either slowly frozen or underwent rapid freezing using liquid air; in either case it was then subjected to frozen storage at ‐20 °C for 24 mo. Fourier transform infrared/attenuated total reflectance (FTIR/ATR) spectroscopy showed that during preparation of surimi, the a‐helix content increased with increased number of washing cycles. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed a shift in the thermal transition of actin to a higher temperature during surimi preparation. Electrophoresis, FTIR/ATR spectroscopy, and DSC results revealed a loss of myofibrillar proteins from surimi after 3 washing cycles, suggesting that 3 washing cycles were adequate to prepare surimi. Sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE) showed relatively minor changes in protein subunit structure with some loss of the myosin light chains (MLC); myosin heavy chain (MHC), actin, and tropomyosin were found to be relatively stable. Native‐PAGE showed no major changes in surimi after 24 mo storage at ‐20 °C. FTIR/ ATR spectroscopy indicated a significant decrease in a‐helix relative to p‐sheet structure in surimi after 2 y of storage at ‐20 °C. The loss of α‐helical content was more significant in slowly frozen surimi compared with rapid‐frozen surimi samples. DSC results revealed a shift in the thermal transition of actin to lower temperatures during frozen storage of surimi.     

From pollutant to solution of wastewater pollution: Synthesis of activated carbon from textile sludge for dye adsorption

Adsorption is an important process in wastewater treatment,and conversion of waste materials to adsorbent offers a solution to high material cost related to the use of commercial activated carbon.This study investigated the adsorption behaviour of Reactive Black 5(RB5)and methylene blue(MB)onto activated carbon produced from textile sludge(TSAC).The activated carbon was synthesized through chemical activation of precursor followed with carbonization at 650°C under nitrogen flow.Effects of time(0–200 min),pH(2–10),temperature(25–60°C),initial dye concentration(0–200 mg·L~(-1)),and adsorbent dosage(0.01–0.15 g)on dye removal efficiency were investigated.Preliminary screening revealed that TSAC synthesized via H_2SO_4activation showed higher adsorption behaviour than TSAC activated by KCl and ZnCl_2.The adsorption capacity of TSAC was found to be 11.98 mg·g~(-1)(RB5)and 13.27 mg·g~(-1)(MB),and is dependent on adsorption time and initial dye concentration.The adsorption data for both dyes were well fitted to Freundlich isotherm model which explains the heterogeneous nature of TSAC surface.The dye adsorption obeyed pseudo-second order kinetic model,thus chemisorption was the controlling step.This study reveals potential of textile sludge in removal of dyes from aqueous solution,and further studies are required to establish the applicability of the synthesized adsorbent for the treatment of waste water containing toxic dyes from textile industry.     

Electrohydrodynamic Drying—A Concise Overview

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) drying is a novel method of non-thermal processing. The drying can be carried out using either AC or DC high voltages. The thermodynamic considerations regarding the lowering of temperature under EHD drying include rapid rates of evaporation and exothermic interaction of the electric field with a dielectric material. Multi-point and plate electrode systems are efficient in accelerating drying of agricultural materials. Compared to hot air (convective) drying systems, EHD drying systems offer lower food production costs along with superior quality in terms of physiochemical properties such as color, shrinkage, flavor, and nutrient content. Compared to convective and freeze-drying, EHD drying systems, given their simpler design and lesser energy consumption, show great potential for bulk and industrial drying applications.