Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety最新文献

Emulsions serve vital roles in the food industry, including structural design and delivery of functional components. As thermodynamically unstable systems, emulsions undergo various destabilization processes over time. Therefore, understanding the instability mechanisms of emulsions and how to combat them have been long-term research topics. Although extensive research has focused on the impacts of the aqueous phase and emulsifiers on emulsion stability, the regulatory role of the oil phase has long been undervalued, and the underlying mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. This review mainly summarizes the influence of the oil phase on the formation and stability of food emulsions based on reported research, aiming to provide useful principles and rational references for future research. We focus on destabilization phenomena and mechanisms, as well as the effects of the physicochemical properties of the oil phase, including polarity, carbon chain length, degree of unsaturation, oxidation state, and other physical attributes such as density, viscosity, and water solubility. From a multi-scale perspective, we discuss the mechanisms by which the oil phase regulates emulsion formation and stability, including the adsorption kinetics, interfacial thickness, and interfacial rheological properties of emulsifiers, as well as the droplet size distribution and zeta potential of emulsions. In addition, the adaptability of various emulsifiers with specific oil phases is discussed, with emphasis on challenging systems including volatile essential oils, oxidation-prone polyunsaturated lipids, and aerated emulsions. This review highlights the pivotal role of the oil phase and provides a theoretical basis for the rational design and quality control of food emulsions.

Mushrooms are a novel and sustainable source of dietary protein with potential applications in the food system. Proteins found in mushrooms have balanced amino acids along with moderate digestibility. Mushroom proteins have a wide range of applications, and they are currently being used as fortifiers, dairy alternatives, meat analogs, and as functional ingredients. However, the complex native structure of mushroom proteins limits their functional applications, such as solubility, emulsifiability, and foaming properties. The existing reviews primarily emphasize the nutritional, extraction, and bioactive aspects of mushrooms or mushroom by-products, whereas the present review discusses protein extraction methods, modification strategies, structure–function relationships, and industrial applications, as well as food product development using modified mushroom proteins. Various modification and processing strategies, such as ultrasound-assisted processing, enzymatic hydrolysis, and pH-shifting, have been explored to enhance the yield and functional characteristics, such as solubility, emulsification, and digestibility of mushroom proteins, and ∼90% protein solubility has been achieved in certain studies. The combined ultrasound (20 kHz, 100% amplitude, 5 min, continuous mode) and TGase treatment (TGase, 0.4% w/v) of Trametes versicolor protein showed the higher oil-holding capacity (2.09%) and foaming capacity (123.1%) compared to control (1.43% and 57.7%, respectively), whereas, the ultrasound in combination with pH (pH 12) showed better in vitro digestibility (93.72%) than control (81.15%). With proper technological advancements, mushroom proteins can serve as a low-cost, high-return solution that supports both human nutrition and sustainable agricultural growth. However, challenges such as large-scale production, process standardization, and commercial availability need future research to enable food applications.

Optical nondestructive evaluation has become an indispensable tool for quality assessment in the food industry. Revealing light propagation mechanisms in multilayered fruit and vegetable tissues improves detection model accuracy and robustness. In fact, most natural and processed fruit and vegetable materials inherently exhibit layered structures, leading to inevitable deviations in optical signals interpretation and quality prediction. The complex structure and heterogeneous composition of fruit and vegetable matrices pose great challenges to light–tissue interaction analysis. This review summarizes the layer-specific differences in optical properties based on structural and compositional heterogeneity of fruit and vegetable matrices, using representative cases of other food matrices for comparison. It further addresses light propagation in multilayered fruit and vegetable tissues together with research on the optimization of detection parameters. Finally, a unified framework is proposed that integrates physicochemical properties, optical properties, and photon transport simulations to achieve mechanism-guided optimization for nondestructive detection. Notably, the advances of Monte Carlo (MC) simulation empowered by artificial intelligence (AI) are highlighted in denoising, accelerating computation, and improving prediction accuracy. AI-assisted MC simulation provides support for the efficient and high-precision prediction of light propagation in multilayer tissues, and lays a solid foundation for the progress of food photonics.

Global shifts in protein supply and demand are reshaping food systems toward sustainability and multifunctionality. Benefiting from its microbial biosynthesis advantage, balanced amino acid profile, and tunable molecular structure, yeast protein exhibits distinctive interfacial, colloidal, and bioactive functionalities that differentiate it from other microbial proteins. These support the potential use of yeast protein as a versatile ingredient in the structural and functional design of food systems. Despite increasing research attention, previous reviews have not systematically integrated source variability, extraction and fractionation strategies, processing-induced structural transformations, and interfacial/colloidal behavior with final food functionality. This review addresses these gaps by linking compositional features and multiscale structure–function relationships to emulsifying, foaming, and gelling behaviors across food matrices. However, commercialization is still restricted by compositional heterogeneity, sensory defects, process scalability, and the lack of standardized safety and performance evaluation. This review integrates advances in structural regulation and functional mechanisms to provide a clearer framework for performance optimization and practical translation of yeast protein in food systems.

Shrimp processing side streams are increasingly considered circular resources, yet their food use remains limited by a gap between compound recovery and ingredient-level validation in target food systems. This review examines how head and cephalothorax fractions, shells, trimming residues, hepatopancreas-associated materials, and process liquors can be directed toward fit-for-purpose ingredient platforms, including protein hydrolysates, savory bases, carotenoid-rich oils, chitin/chitosan systems, and multifunctional composites. Food use is constrained by sensory liabilities and matrix performance, including marine, rancid, ammoniacal, sulfurous, fermented, and bitter notes, as well as solubility, emulsification, water/oil binding, color stability, oxidative resistance, and target-matrix compatibility. Accordingly, processing strategies such as controlled hydrolysis, fermentation, defatting, Maillard-assisted flavor tailoring, encapsulation, and selected physical technologies are evaluated here as application-oriented interventions. To support industrial translation, we organize these factors into a staged ingredient-readiness framework linking feedstock classification, stabilization history, conversion route, aroma- and taste-active profiling, structure‒function behavior, prototype-food validation, safety and regulatory feasibility, scale-up feasibility, and commercial benchmarking. By emphasizing application-specific specifications, this review distinguishes ingredient readiness from laboratory recovery success. Future priorities include standardized reporting, sensomics-guided mechanisms, batch consistency, allergen and regulatory management, benchmarking against commercial ingredients, and pilot-scale validation. This application-oriented perspective may help clarify when shrimp by-products are likely to become standardized, multifunctional, and commercially viable ingredients for circular food systems.