Food and Bioprocess Technology最新文献

To address the safety risks posed by plastic packaging, the inability to monitor food spoilage in real time, and growing environmental concerns, eco-friendly, biodegradable smart packaging materials with high barrier properties and real-time monitoring capabilities are essential. Herein, this research is committed to the preparation of functional composite films with excellent barrier properties and pH response discoloration function for real-time monitoring of food freshness. By combining the highly crystalline nanofibrous network of bacterial cellulose (BC) with konjac glucomannan (KGM), a dense BC/KGM matrix was constructed through intermolecular hydrogen bonding, chain entanglement, and pore-filling interactions. In addition, eggplant skin anthocyanins (Rhim et al., 2011) extracted from eggplant peel were incorporated into the film via an in situ incorporation method to serve as a pH indicator, thereby producing a pH-responsive, high-barrier composite material. This optimized BC/KGM-6% EE composite film exhibits excellent oxygen and water vapor barrier properties, with an oxygen transmission rate as low as 8.7731 g·m⁻²·s⁻¹ and WVP reduced to 1.642 × 10⁻⁸ g·m⁻¹·s⁻¹·Pa⁻¹, while also showing good oil/solvent resistance after 7 days and strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, with antibacterial rates of approximately 95% and 85%, respectively. During the storage of pork, the color of the BC/KGM-EE film gradually changes from pale purple to orange (indicating spoilage), thereby enabling real-time monitoring of the pork’s freshness. Furthermore, the active film containing 6% (w/v) eggplant skin anthocyanins (BC/50%KGM-6%EE) effectively maintained the quality of chilled pork and extended the shelf life by 6 days. This intelligent packaging material provides a novel solution for dynamic food freshness monitoring and expands the potential application of intelligent packaging.

Walnut protein (WP) is composed of over 70% glutelin and tends to form compact aggregates, resulting in low solubility and poor emulsifying properties, thus severely limiting its utilization in industry. To address these limitations, this study developed a novel synergistic strategy to modify WP using pH-shift combined with ultrasonication and high-pressure homogenization (HUPST). Structural characterization demonstrated that HUPST effectively promoted the rearrangement and unfolding of WP. After HUPST modification, the solubility and emulsifying activity of WP increased to 1.90 and 1.52 times those of the control group, respectively. Furthermore, compared with the pH-shift combined with ultrasonication treatment (UPST) group, the HUPST group exhibited a more uniform particle size distribution, and its emulsion stability reached 1.59 times that of the UPST group, indicating that the introduction of high-pressure homogenization could further enhance the beneficial effects of UPST on the functional properties of WP. Meanwhile, correlation analysis revealed significant correlations of protein solubility and emulsifying capacity with the secondary and tertiary structures, while principal component analysis further demonstrated coordinated variations in structural and functional properties and confirmed the effectiveness of HUPST in modulating the structure–function relationship of WP. These findings provide a promising, feasible, and practical strategy for the efficient modification and high-value utilization of WP.

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β-Glucosidases are important biocatalysts for upgrading glycosylated phytochemicals into high-value functional ingredients, but practical bioprocessing is often constrained by insufficient stability and poor substrate selectivity. Herein, a thermostable β-glucosidase (CB-glu) from Caldicellulosiruptor bescii was immobilized on zirconium-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) bearing tunable surface functionalities (–H, –NH₂, –OH, and –2OH). In addition to catalytic characterization, N₂ adsorption–desorption, water-contact-angle, zeta-potential, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and fluorescence emission analyses were introduced to clarify how carrier physicochemical properties and interfacial microenvironments influence immobilized-enzyme performance. Interfacial analyses showed that CB-glu adsorption reduced the accessible BET area of UiO-66-OH from 1026.4 to 796.7 m² g⁻¹, introduced 11.78 at.% surface N, and occurred despite net-negative zeta potentials of both components, supporting adsorption dominated by interfacial rather than long-range electrostatic interactions. Among the tested supports, UiO-66-OH showed the best compatibility with CB-glu, broadening pH adaptability, improving activity at elevated temperatures, and enhancing tolerance to metal ions and organic solvents. Most importantly, CB-glu@UiO-66-OH selectively hydrolyzed the outer C20-linked glucose of PPD-type ginsenosides and completely converted ginsenosides Rb₁, Rb₂, and Rb₃ into ginsenoside Rd without further formation of F₂ or CK. The immobilized biocatalyst maintained 100% conversion over eight consecutive cycles. These findings establish surface-functionalized UiO-66 as a practical microenvironment-engineering platform for regulating β-glucosidase robustness and substrate selectivity, providing a reusable bioprocess for the targeted production of ginsenoside Rd as a high-value functional ingredient.

This study used sequential hemicellulase (HC) or cellulase (CEL) pretreatment followed by alkaline protease (AP) hydrolysis to improve the aqueous Protein solubility of high-temperature defatted soybean meal (HS). Unlike conventional solubility-based evaluation, proteomics and multispectral characterization were combined to distinguish matrix loosening, acid-induced reassociation, and proteolytic depolymerization. Sequential HC-AP treatment increased soluble crude protein to 58.65% and nitrogen solubility index to 58.53%. Proteomics showed that HC/CEL pretreatment released matrix-associated non-storage proteins, including cytoplasmic enzymes and proteins related to protein processing and redox regulation, but also reduced the detectability of some originally soluble proteins, likely through reassociation near the isoelectric region. HC/CEL further expanded the AP-accessible protein pool, whereas AP converted intact proteins into smaller soluble fragments. Consistent with these compositional changes, spectral and electrophoretic results indicated weakened protein-polysaccharide associations, looser conformations, and molecular-weight redistribution. These findings clarify the two-stage solubilization mechanism of HS.

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Postharvest processing plays a decisive role in determining the sensory quality, aroma profile, and commercial consistency of Gastrodia elata Blume as a food and functional agricultural product. However, the lack of objective quality markers and rapid authentication strategies limits process standardization and quality control of processed Gastrodia elata products. This study developed an integrated, process-oriented quality evaluation strategy by combining electronic eye and electronic tongue analyses, headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry for volatile profiling, molecular docking, and machine learning. Six traditionally processed Gastrodia elata samples were analyzed to clarify how processing conditions affected color attributes, taste responses, volatile composition, and overall quality differentiation. The results showed that heat input, water involvement, and tissue form were the key processing factors driving quality variation among samples. Among the evaluated treatments, steaming followed by slicing and drying produced the most favorable aroma modification, characterized by reduced cresol-related off-odor and enhanced sweet, fruity, and roasted aroma notes. Differential volatile analysis identified m-cresol, 2-acetylpyrrole, vanillin, and γ-undecalactone as key markers for processing discrimination and aroma quality evaluation. Pathway enrichment suggested that aminobenzoate degradation, butanoate metabolism, furfural degradation, and caprolactam degradation were associated with processing-induced changes in volatile composition, while molecular docking provided supplementary evidence for the potential olfactory relevance of the marker compounds. Furthermore, random forest–selected multisource features enabled robust discrimination of differently processed samples, and the whale optimization algorithm–optimized convolutional neural network–long short-term memory model achieved high classification performance. Overall, this study shows that volatile marker profiling integrated with electronic sensing and machine learning offers an effective, rapid strategy for process authentication, aroma quality control, and quality evaluation of processed Gastrodia elata products. These findings provide practical guidance for improving the standardization and industrial processing quality of Gastrodia elata–based food products.

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Fermented plant matrices are chemically and structurally complex and remain underexplored as sources of bioactive compounds. Fermentation reshapes plant tissues, generating new metabolites and altering matrix architecture, which can markedly influence extractability. In this study, we evaluated 14 fermented plant matrices using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), and conventional maceration (MAC), combined with two pre-extraction processing modes (air-drying vs freeze-drying). Extraction yield, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity (DPPH/TEAC) were determined, and chemical profiles were assessed by MALDI-TOF–MS, GC-FID analysis of fatty acid methyl esters, and targeted LC–MS/MS analysis of phenolic compounds. Selected extracts were further evaluated for cytotoxicity and effects on viability in L929 fibroblasts. Extraction performance depended on matrix type and processing. Overall, extraction performance was matrix- and compound-class-dependent: SFE yielded extracts with the highest antioxidant activity and was enriched in saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, whereas maceration and ASE recovered higher total concentrations of phenolic compounds. The results indicate that the extraction strategy and pre-treatment can be selected to favor recovery of different bioactive compound classes from fermented plant matrices, supporting their potential valorization as sources of bioactive ingredients and clean-label additives.

Duckweed is a promising source of plant protein, but extraction performance depends strongly on the processing strategy. This study compared four fixed-condition protein extraction protocols for dried duckweed (Lemna minor and Lemna gibba) and, separately, two extraction approaches for frozen-thawed L. minor biomass. For dried duckweed, sequential ultrasound and orbital-shaker-assisted enzymatic extraction (USOSE) and ultrasound-assisted pH-shift extraction (USpH) gave significantly higher protein recovery than ultrasound-assisted enzymatic extraction (USE) and orbital-shaker-assisted enzymatic extraction (OSE) (p < 0.001). USOSE achieved the highest protein recovery (88.6 ± 2.5%), followed by USpH (84.7 ± 0.2%), while OSE and USE gave recoveries of 75.2 ± 1.2% and 73.2 ± 0.4%, respectively. USpH and USOSE produced concentrates with significantly higher protein contents than USE and OSE (p = 0.001), with USpH giving the highest concentrate protein content (55.6 ± 0.7 g/100 g). USpH also had the highest total quantified amino-acid concentration (39.0 ± 0.6 g/100 g). Electricity use differed significantly among the dried-biomass protocols (p < 0.001), with USE requiring the least electricity and USOSE the most; mean electricity per gram of recovered protein ranged from 0.011 kWh g⁻¹ for USE to 0.291 kWh g⁻¹ for USOSE. For frozen-thawed duckweed, magnetic stirring gave slightly higher recorded protein recovery, whereas ultrasound required less treatment time and electricity. Overall, the results quantify trade-offs between protein recovery, concentrate composition and bench-scale processing intensity rather than identifying a universally superior protocol.

Ice crystal-induced mechanical damage during freezing and stochastic phase breakdown during supercooling remain major barriers to high-quality low-temperature food preservation. Although independent electric field (EF) and magnetic field (MF) treatments mitigate these issues non-thermally, their individual limitations—particularly electric field distortion across insulating lipids and weak thermodynamic driving forces in static magnetic fields—necessitate synergistic integration. Focusing predominantly on advances from the past decade, this review critically delineates the theoretical mechanisms, operating parameter windows, and preservation performances across electric field-assisted freezing/supercooling (EFAF/EFASP), magnetic field-assisted freezing/supercooling (MFAF/MFASP), and synergistic electric and magnetic field systems (SEMF-F/SEMF-S) across diverse food categories (meat, poultry, aquatic products, and plant tissues). Critical synthesis reveals that while EF governs dipole polarization and transient electropermeabilization to accelerate heterogeneous nucleation kinetics, MF perturbs water cluster networks, and proton spins. When coupled, oscillating electromagnetic regimes exert dynamic Lorentz vector mixing that restricts excessive crystal growth (reducing ice crystal cross-sectional area by up to 50%) and stabilizes metastable supercooled states at − 3 to − 7 °C for extended periods (7 to 14 days) by offsetting lipid dielectric shielding. Nevertheless, industrial translation is severely constrained by non-standardized nucleation statistics, electromagnetic interference (EMI) between high-voltage switchgears and excitation coils, and matrix dielectric shifts during phase transition. Future research must integrate multiphysics finite-element modeling, closed-loop impedance sensing for real-time duty cycle/frequency adaptation, and standardized reporting protocols to bridge the gap between laboratory phenomenology and continuous commercial equipment design.

Pulsed light (PL) is a fast-growing surface treatment technology with great potential for rapid microbial inactivation, no chemical residues and minimum influence on the internal food matrix, when properly optimized driven by increasing consumer demand for clean label dairy products. This review briefly summarizes the basics principles of PL technology, including the characteristics of light emission, delivery of fluency, and important process parameters. The mechanisms of microbial inactivation and possible degradation of mycotoxins, including photochemical, photothermal and photophysical mechanisms, with emphasis on DNA damage, cell membrane disruption, oxidative stress and cell responses. Special emphasis is placed on interaction between pulsed light (PL) and the cheese matrix, including the effects of surface roughness, optical properties, fat and protein content, and microbial characteristics. Moreover, the cheese specific PL studies are critically assessed for their role in microbial reduction, shelf life extension and quality effects, and biofilm control and mycotoxin mitigation are discussed as emerging applications where direct evidence for cheese specific PL is limited. Important technological and industrial challenges are thoroughly evaluated, and optimization approaches are suggested. In general, this review offers a critical perspective on the mechanistic and technological constraints of PL in cheese making and suggests priorities for moving laboratory scale data to industrial dairy applications.

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This study investigated the effects of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) treatment (2–10 min) on the structural properties and functional performance of pequi almond protein (PAP). Structural changes were evaluated through spectroscopic and chemical analyses, including free sulfhydryl and carbonyl contents, as well as secondary and tertiary structural modifications. Techno-functional properties related to solubility, emulsification, water- and oil-holding capacities, and rheological behavior were also assessed. Short CAP exposure (2–4 min) improved PAP functionality. Solubility increased up to ~ 2.6-fold, the emulsifying activity increased nearly sevenfold after 2 min, emulsifying stability improved by ~ 2.7-fold, and water- and oil-holding capacities increased by ~ 2.0-fold. These improvements were associated with conformational rearrangements at secondary and tertiary structural levels, evidenced by increased fluorescence intensity, UV–Vis absorbance, changes in FTIR profiles, and enhanced surface hydrophobicity (~ 2.31-fold), indicating partial protein unfolding and improved interfacial activity. FTIR analysis confirmed time-dependent rearrangements in the secondary structure of PAP, with β-sheet content increasing from 46.07% to 51.06%, while α-helix content remained relatively stable (22.19–21.97%) and β-turn content decreased from 26.53% to 22.64%. CAP treatment also altered the colloidal and rheological behavior of PAP dispersions. At prolonged exposure, apparent viscosity at 50 s⁻¹ increased from 2.0 ± 0.2 to 9.6 ± 0.1 mPa·s, accompanied by increases in particle size, polydispersity index, and rheological parameters, suggesting protein aggregation and network formation. These effects were accompanied by increased carbonyl content and reduced free sulfhydryl groups, indicating oxidative modifications induced by prolonged plasma exposure. Overall, CAP represents a promising strategy for tailoring PAP functionality under the processing conditions evaluated. These findings highlight the importance of controlling plasma exposure time to balance structural modification, oxidative reactions, and functional performance, and provide a basis for further evaluating CAP-treated PAP in food-relevant formulations.