mohsen mokhtarian

Nowadays, due to the interest in consuming extra-beneficial foods and the increasing spread of cardiovascular diseases, the desire to consume extra-beneficial products has increased. Therefore, researchers are looking for the optimization of new formulations of products with practical features in this direction. The study aimed to produce a functional energy drink containing tannin-linoleic acid-conjugated chitosome. After extracting bioactive compounds (especially tannin) from pomegranate peel, they were included in the structure of chitosomes along with conjugated linoleic acid. The results showed the significant effect of different concentrations of pomegranate biological extract on the oxidative stability of linoleic acid. The results showed the significant effect of different concentrations of pomegranate biological extract on the oxidative stability of linoleic acid. The examination of nano-chitosome groups showed the presence of structures in pomegranate bioactive along with linoleic acid in chitosomes. The uniformly chitosan spherical particles were observed with sizes of 77.66 and 79.90 nm. The addition of nano chitosomes showed a significant increase in pH (decrease in acidity), increase in turbidity, viscosity, two phases, and phenolic content. Also, a decrease in the L* value and an increase in a* and b* values were reported. The present results showed that biopolymers play a key role in the stability of the liposome membrane structure. They have a stable release of molecules trapped by a spatial barrier on the surface. This nano chitosome will provide a potential platform for the carrier's design for nutrients or preservatives, to increase the shelf life and safety of food matrices.

The kinetic mechanisms governing fatty acid (FA) degradation and microbial growth rate in seafood products are of paramount importance. This study evaluated the interactive effects of propolis incorporation at varying concentrations and storage duration on fatty acid oxidation kinetics and its inhibitory role in suppressing bacterial and fungal proliferation in frozen fish burger patties (FFB) stored at -18°C. The rates of fatty acid degradation and microbial growth in FFB during the storage period were found to follow zero-order kinetic models. After three months of storage, the treatment group containing 0.4% propolis (P-IV) exhibited the lowest growth rates (log10 CFU/g) for total viable count (3.66) and fungi (2.43). Correspondingly, this group displayed the lowest rate of peroxide value increase (k0 = 0.0462 meq O2/kg oil/day), indicative of minimal fatty acid oxidation, and received the highest sensory evaluation scores. The results demonstrate that incorporating 0.4% propolis into FFB and storing them at -18°C can effectively retard lipid oxidation and microbial proliferation, while concomitantly enhancing sensory quality for up to 86 days, which can be considered the optimal shelf life under these conditions.

A model for simultaneous heat and mass transfer during the cooking process of frozen hamburger has been developed, using a modified form of Darcy's law to describe the capillary flow of moisture and Fourier's second law in cylindrical coordinates to describe the heat transfer. The effects of cooking time (0 to 12 min), cooking temperature (140 to 160 °C), and patty thickness (10 to 14 mm) during the hamburger cooking process on temperature profile, moisture content, and inactivation kinetics of Salmonella bacteria were investigated. The results showed that the predicted temperature and moisture values are in good agreement with the measured data. Due to the low convective heat transfer coefficient in the upper part of the sample at the beginning of the cooking process, non-uniformity in temperature was observed, which was resolved by flipping the hamburger and resulted in a reduction in cooking time. In addition, an increase in the heating temperature results in an increase in the rate of evaporation and moisture loss from the hamburger patty. The simulation results showed that at a cooking temperature of 140 °C and a patty thickness of 14 mm, all points of the hamburger will not achieve a 12D reduction of Salmonella and there is a possibility of salmonellosis under these conditions.

The Ultrasound-Assisted Leaching Process (UALP) was done through to improve the extraction process and recovery of biophenolic compounds (BPCs) from Dried Pomegranate Biowaste (DPB). In addition, the leaching process was optimized under the operating conditions of temperature (25-85oC), time (20-60 min), and ultrasonic wave amplitude (0-100%) to make the Freeze-Dried Pomegranate Biowaste (FDPB) extract based on the quality indicators of the extraction productivity ratio (TPC/EC50) and Tannin Concentration (TC). Accordingly, the ratio of (TPC/EC50) and the TC value of FDPB increased significantly, under the Conventional Leaching Process (CLP) and operating conditions (55oC and 60 min) to ~1.04 and 20.78 mg CyaE/[g DM], respectively. However, the mentioned parameter increased to ~1.65 and 25.77 mg CyaE/[g DM], respectively, after applying the UALP treatment under similar conditions. Furthermore, the HPLC injections of the FDPB extract indicated that the most abundant compounds isolated from the DPB were p-coumaric acid, Gallic acid, Ellagic acid, and Caffeic acid. Besides, the dominant chemical functional groups were identified by Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Generally, the UALP of BPCs from the FDPB extract used less energy than the one extracted using the CLP.

One of the most important challenges related to fresh meat products (especially sheep liver) is the short shelf-life of the product. For this purpose, synthetic preservative compounds are used to extend their shelf life, which have many side effects on human health. In this research, the effect of using an edible coating containing phenolic compounds of pomegranate peel cross-linked in the structure of aloe vera hydrogel was studied to extend the shelf life of sheep liver. Physicochemical (pH, peroxide index, total volatile nitrogen, thiobarbituric acid index and color parameters L*a*b*) and sensory (aroma, color, texture and overall acceptability) properties of the product in storage days of 1, 3 and 7 days and in the storage temperature of +4oC was evaluated. The results indicated that, the lowest value of monohydroperoxide formation (i.e. peroxide index) was observed in test samples coated with aleo vera gel containing phenolic compound of pomegranate peel extract that corresponding to the lowest total volatile nitrogen. Generally, in accordance to the results of sensory evaluation and quality tests, using of aleo vera gel containing bioactive compounds of pomegranate peel extract is recommended for shelf life extending of sheep liver.

This study aimed to optimize the formulation of chitosan-caffeic acid nanogel containing Shirazi thyme (Zataria multiflora) essential oil (ZEO) and nisin. The independent variables (the concentration of chitosan nanogel, Shirazi-thyme, and nisin) were optimized based on the highest zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency, besides the lowest particle size and IC50(DPPH) values. The results of The Box-Behnken experimental design and Stepwise-response surface model showed the optimal nanogel formulation was as follows: chitosan concentration= 0.4 g; ZEO= 157.1 ppm and nisin= 10.1 ppm. The particle size, zeta-potential, antioxidant activity, and encapsulation efficiency of the optimal chitosan-ZEO-nisin nanogel were 411.39±18.11 nm, 32.90±1.10 mV, 0.79±0.06 mg.mL-1, 71.06-82.69% respectively. Moreover, the addition of optimized nanogel to the Iranian white cheese formulation showed that the treated cheese samples with ZEO and nisin (free or encapsulated in chitosan nanogel) improved the microbial quality of chess. The antimicrobial activity of the ZEO and nisin encapsulated in chitosan-caffeic acid nanogel was higher than a free form of ZEO-nisin. The Coliforms population of cheeses treated with sodium nitrate and chitosan nanogel containing ZEO-nisin was acceptable during 60 days of storage. During the storage period, the most changes in the color and texture (hardness) of the cheese samples were related to the control sample, and the least change was obtained for samples treated with sodium-nitrate and chitosan nanogel (P < 0.05). Also, the sensory quality of the sample containing ZEO and nisin was acceptable for the sensory evaluator. The sample containing chitosan nanogel received an acceptable sensory score (> 3) during 60 days of storage. In general, the potential of the nanogel in increasing the shelf-life of Iranian white cheese was comparable with sodium nitrate.

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is a basic nutrients and very effective antioxidant that acts as a natural preservative in fruits (such as Cucumis sativus). Aiming to maintain bioactive compounds (especially inhibition the dehydroascorbic acid formation) and preventing the spoilage development, the effect of edible coating types (I: control, II: Shiraz gum & III: Shiraz gum containing 1000 ppm Mentha piperita L. essential oil) and storage times (1, 8 and 16 days) on the auto-oxidation kinetics of vitamin C and its inhibitory role on inhibition of bacterial/fungal growth of Cucumis sativus at +4 °C, was evaluated. The results indicated that the variation rate of Cucumis sativus vitamin C degradation during storage period follows the zero-order kinetic reaction (the highest R2/P(%) ratio). The lowest growth rate of mesophilic bacteria (6.95), mold (3.21) and yeast (6.04) of Cucumis sativus in (log10 CFU/g) observed after 16 days of storage in sample (III) that corresponding to the lowest rate of vitamin C degradation. The half-time values (t1/2) of vitamin C degradation rate showed that, the best shelf-life of Cucumis sativus (in the studied conditions) was ~10 days, aiming to maintain the most nutritional properties. Generally, the findings of present research can be useful for monitoring the shelf life of Cucumis sativus kept in cold stowage.

 Pistachio is one of Iran's strategic products, playing a significant role in providing the country's foreign exchange resources. The quality of the dried product is of high importance. Therefore, solar drying is one of the new and suitable methods for drying this strategic product.

 In this study, a solar dryer was used to dry fresh pistachios. Fresh samples were dried to a safe moisture content of approximately 5% (wet basis). During the drying process, the thermodynamic parameters of the solar collector (as the heat energy generator for the dryer) were measured, including solar radiation intensity and the temperature of the air exiting the collector. These parameters were then predicted using an intelligent artificial neural network system (multilayer perceptron network).

 The results of this research indicated that the single-layer neural network with 8 neurons in the hidden layer provided the best fit in predicting solar radiation intensity (R²=0.988) and the temperature of the air exiting the collector (R²=0.941).

 Overall, the findings of this study showed that the artificial neural network has a high capability in predicting the thermodynamic characteristics of the solar dryer.

Aiming to improve nutritional value (reduce sugar), bioactive compounds stability, producing of novel products and based on up-to-date knowledge (applying the encapsulation technology) & reducing of potential pomace in the agricultural part (like green tea & green coffee), a functional beverage based on Stevia sweetener was enriched by adding 84 g/L of cross-linked bioactive compounds of green tea and green coffee in chitosome microcapsule and physicochemical properties (pH, acidity, turbidity, total phenolic compounds & antioxidant power) and organoleptic characteristics (flavor, color, aroma, mouth feel and overall acceptance) of product were evaluated during storage time (1, 9, 18, 27, 36 & 45 days) and at different temperatures (5, 25 & 45oC). While the release rate of beverage phenolic compounds at temperature of 45oC, were significantly (p<0.05) increased to ~50% after 27 days of storage, the noted parameters increased at the rates of ~36 and ~46% at 5 and 25oC respectively at the same conditions. As well, the results show that, the parameter of beverage antioxidant productivity ratio (TPC/EC50) was obtained 0.06 and 5.71 in control and enriched samples, respectively after 27 days of storage (at 25oC). Generally, the chitosomal structure due to biodegradability, biocompatibility and non-toxicity is recommended as a suitable option for stability of bioactive compounds and design of effective systems for drug delivery.

 Ensuring food security is one of the important factors in maintaining the society health and using nutritious food is an important step in achieving this goal. Milk and dairy products are one of the most complete and natural foods that have a special place in people's diets. Therefore, it seems necessary to ensure health and to be aware of the safety of this food.

 In this review study, using the databases "Elsevier", "Springer", "Wiley", "PubMed" and "SID" using the keywords "Milk", "Aflatoxin", "Dairy products" and "Antiaflatoxigenic", the level of aflatoxin in different dairy products (during the years of 2010 to 2017) was investigated. A total of 58 research articles related to the risk of aflatoxin M1 prevalence in dairy products were found. In the conducted research, it was observed that the most important aflatoxin detected in dairy products is M1 aflatoxin.

One of the factors that endanger the health of dairy products is its contamination with aflatoxin M1, which is the result of feeding dairy animals with moldy food and fodder, which leads to the production and secretion of the said poison in animal milk. Therefore, in this study, by examining the level of contamination of different dairy products (raw milk, pasteurized milk, sterilized milk, milk powder, butter, cream cheese, white cheese, ice-cream and yogurt) with aflatoxin M1, it is possible to monitor the causes of the increase and provide preventive solutions (biological, chemical, physical, surface adsorption and mixing) to reduce it.

 Peppermint is one of the valuable medicinal plants with strong anti-microbial and anti-oxidant properties, which has various applications in the food industry.

 Fresh peppermint leaves were processed as a single layer by different drying methods (solar, sun and shade). Then, the effect of different drying methods on the quality and quantity of essential oil compounds was evaluated by GC-MS. Also, the antibacterial efficiency of the noted essential oil against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria was studied by disk diffusion method.

 The results showed that the most important chemical compounds in peppermint essential oil include menthone, menthol, isomenthol, mentofuran, polygon and piperitone. The highest amount of bacterial inhibition zone (IZ) was observed in the case of essential oil extracted from peppermint leaves dried by solar method (IZ=55 mm).

In general, the drying method is one of the main stages of medicinal plants processing, which has a significant effect on the bioactive compounds (extracts and essential oils) of medicinal plants. Therefore, it is necessary to use the suitable drying method.

 The novel corona virus disease COVID-19 which is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a pandemic causing the death of many people in the world and severe economic stagnation in the worldwhile imposing a significant pressure on the health structures of the nations worldwide. This article highlighted the possibilities of utilizing medicinal plants rich in phytochemicals (mainly the bioactive compounds of green tea) and vitamin D supplementation in the form of nanoencapsulated in the structure of the chitosome whichhas proven immunomodulatory and antiviral antiviral activities. It is worth mentioning that these compounds have played a role in the development of new functional foods (such as ultra-beneficial drinks) and should be used to reduce the risk of contracting SARS-2-CoV by strengthening the body's immune system. In addition, the use of these compounds can complement the therapeutic measures taken against this disease.

 Coronavirus mostly affects the human respiratory system and causes mild symptoms such as fever, dry cough, even severe life-threatening complications such as pneumoni and acute respiratory distress syndrome which eventually leads to death.

Innovative functional foods enriched by fortification of medicinal plants and vitamin supplements have promised to improve public health and immensely help the general public against the viral infections such as COVID-19.

 One of the most reactions that related with edible oil spoilage is oxidative reactions that cuase undesirable change in taste, smell and texture. On the other hand, consumers are not preferred the desirable taste and smell. Thus, in this research to improve these limitations, production of flavored soy oil by peppermint essential oil was investigated.

 To find the minimal concentration addition of peppermint essential oil to improve oxidation stability (by determining the peroxide and TBA indices, oxidative stability index) and also organoleptical properties of soy oil (taste, smell and overall palatability), central composed design (CCD) with 13 experiments was used. In optimization design, the range of essential oil concentration and storage time were select (up to 8 day) and (0, 900 & 1800 ppm), respectively.

 The results indicated that by increasing oil storage time in the oven (at 60oC) peroxide (p<0.01) and TBA (p<0.05) indices increased relatively and induction period and OSI decreased (p>0.05) that this action corresponding to reduction of organoleptic attributes of the oil. Also, the results showed that addition of essential oil to optimum value (1300 ppm) caused to decreased peroxide (p<0.01) and TBA (p>0.05) indexes and increased of induction period (p>0.05). Furthermore, the addition of essential oil to soybean oil in all concentrations had a positive effect on the perception of organoleptic attributes by panelist.

According to optimization properties, the minimum concentration of essential oil for production of flavored soybean oil was determined equal 1300 ppm. At optimum point (essential oil concentration of 1300 ppm), the values of responses such as peroxide value, TBA index, induction period, OSI, taste, smell and overall palatability were reported 0.034 meq O2/g, 0.023 meq MDA/kg, 7.33 h, 1.029, 9 cm, 8.43 cm and 17.43 cm, respectively.

 In recent years, bread waste has increased, which can be attributed to the poor quality of flour in the country and the phenomenon of bread stale. In this study, the effects of separate addition of two hydrocolloids carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) and hydroxyl propylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) at 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5% levels with two flours made from two native wheat varieties (Sardary and Sorkheh) in Khorasan provience were studied. Chemical (including moisture content, ash, protein, wet gluten and pH) and rheological tests were performed on both flour and after preparing bread, stale test was performed (immediately after baking, 24 hours and 48 hours after baking).

Present study is on Taftoon bread. The obtained data evaluated in basis of split plots experiment in a complete random design and by using the Duncan's multiple range tests, and the average of  replicates were compared at statistical level of 1% (a=0.01).

 The results indicated that, the CMC and HPMC gums enhanced mixing tolerance and raising dough resistance of their resulting dough’s, but anti-staling and improving properties of HPMC was better than CMC. In addition to, while Sardary flour didn't show appropriate baking quality, the Sorkheh flour exhibited good baking quality (due to high protein and wet-gluten).

According to the findings of this study, it is suggested that CMC and HPMC gums at a level of 0.5% for Sardary flour and 0.3% for Sorkheh flour to improve the quality of the resulting breads and delay staleness.

The use of machine learning techniques such as artificial neural networks (ANN) improves the performance and speed of prediction processes as well as their reliability in the design of agricultural processing machines. Machine learning as a subset of artificial intelligence makes it possible to develop a unique way to create a predictive model system in the form of a known dataset by developing machine learning models (MLM).

In this study, first the geometric properties of pistachio kernels including the major diameter (L), intermediate diameter (T), minor diameter (W), geometric mean diameter (Dg), and surface area (S) were calculated at four moisture levels of 4.33, 22.64, 29.11, and 41.35% (w.b). Then, the data obtained in this step were used as the input values (L, W & T) and the output value (S) into the machine learning system. Multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and radial basis functions (RBF) were used as two machine learning models to predict the surface area of pistachio kernel during rehydration.

The data analysis revealed that the neural network model of RBF with 42 neurons in the hidden layer (N1st=42) had the lowest mean relative error (MRE=0.01414), and the highest coefficient of determination (R2=0.954) and chosen as the best model for predicting the surface area of pistachio kernel.

Following the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the MLM as one of new forecasting techniques can be used to estimate the engineering properties of agricultural products.

Characterization of the gravimetric and geometric properties of whole pistachios plays an essential role in the processes of transportation and handling, drying, processing, and storage of this valuable product.

This study measured some physical properties (i.e. axial dimensions, geometric and arithmetic mean diameter, aspect ratio, surface, and sphericity) and gravimetrical properties (i.e. bulk density, true density, and porosity) of two common Iranian pistachio cultivars (Ahmad Aghaei and Badami Sefid) with moisture content ranging from 37.11 to 4.28 and 4.33 to 41.35, respectively.

The ANOVA results showed that moisture content had a significant effect (p<0.05) on the geometrical properties of whole pistachios. Moreover, mean comparisons by Duncan's multiple range test showed that the gravimetrical and geometrical properties of Ahmad Aghaei pistachio cultivar have higher scores than those of the Badami Sefid cultivar. In addition, a comparison of the various models (Mohsenin, Jain & Bal and Maccabe) used to evaluate the sphericity coefficients showed that the models proposed by McCabe and Jain & Bal had the highest efficiency in predicting the sphericity coefficients of Ahmad Aghaei (R2=0.9838) and Badami Sefid cultivars (R2=0.878).

The findings of the present study can have some implications for design processing machines for pistachios as a valuable product.

This research aimed to investigate the process of pistachios solar drying in two different conditions of the designed dryer (recycle and without recycle modes). As well, in this study, the drying kinetics curves of pistachio were drawn and its dewatering behavior was monitored by empirical models. Furthermore, the mass transfer rate (MTR) of the examined product during drying in two noted modes was determined by Fick’s 2nd law. Maximum, minimum, and average values of collector output air temperature were recorded 54.20, 32.30 and 42.99°C & 47.10, 30.70 and 40.03°C in air recycle and without air recycle modes, respectively. The results dedicated that, 18.75 % saving in drying time was obtained for air recycle mode compared with without air recycle mode. Also, the obtained data revealed that the drying rate of pistachio nut under recycle mode was higher than that of pistachio nut under without recycle mode, especially during the first hours of drying. Moreover, the empirical modeling showed that the Parabolic and Diamante et al. models were found to be the most suitable for describing the drying curve of the thin layer solar drying process of whole pistachio nut under recycle and without recycle modes, respectively. In addition, the highest value of effective moisture diffusivity was observed in solar dried pistachio nut under air recycle mode with the Deff value of 2.26×10-6 m2/h (R2=0.9265).

Yogurt is one of the most popular and widely consumed dairy products that it is very important in people's food basket. Thus, the modification and improvement of its technological and nutritional properties has a special place. Aiming to improve nutritional value, syneresis reduction and reach to maximum overall palatability, the set-type yogurt was produced by adding various amount of freeze-dried orange seed protein concentrate at 0, 1, 2 and 3% and physicochemical properties (pH, acidity, syneresis and apparent viscosity) were evaluated at storage days of 1, 7, 14 and 21 at 4 °C. While the apparent viscosity and syneresis of set-type yogurt with no orange seed protein concentrate (control sample) were significantly (P<0.05) increased in the vicinity of 2.8 and 5.5 times during 21 days storage respectively, the noted parameters increased at rates of 5.7 and 4.24 times respectively in yogurt containing 3% of orange seed protein concentrate at the same conditions. While the control sample obtained only 75.5% of its maximum sensory and organoleptic (flavor, aroma, color, and creamy texture) scores, the produced yogurt comprising 3% of orange seed protein concentrate gained up to 93.5% of these attributes that corresponded to52.84% climb in total protein.

A rotational viscometer used to evaluate rheological parameters of pumpkin concentate with concentrations of 35, 50, and 65oBrix at respectively 35, 45, and 65oC. Then various mathematical models including Ostwald-de-Waele (power-law fluid), Bingham, Casson plastic, Herschel-Bulkley, Modified Casson and Sisko, which applied to define the flow characteristics of pumpkin concentrate. The results showed that the pumpkin concentrate behaves as non-Newtonian, shear thining fluid (n<1) in concentration and temperature ranges of 35-65oBrix and 35-65oC, respectively. The relationship between shear stress and shear rate of pumpkin concentrate showed that only Modified Casson models could describe the rheological parameters of pumpkin concentrate. Mathematical calculations showed that the consistency coefficient and fluid behavior index parameters of pumpkin concentrate were temperature dependence and time-independent, respectively. The Arrhenius equation showed that the activation energy (Ea) of pumpkin concentrate depends on two important parameters of brix concentration and apparent viscosity and changed from 0.076 to 20.34 (kJ/mol). The power-type and exponential-type equations adequately described the effect of concentration on the apparent viscosity of pumpkin concentrate. However, the exponential-type equation had a better fit for describing of noted behavour.

Today, food enrichment is one of the most widely used methods in benefiting the food processing industry. The effects of four different dietary groups [basic diet (I), basic diet+flaxseed oil (II), basic diet+non-absorbable fiber+flaxseed oil (III)& basic diet+non-absorbable fiber+fish oil (IV)] were studied on the development of eggs with high content of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids &vitamin D3. To achieve this goal, the egg yolk oil was extracted by the cold extraction method and analyzed by gas chromatography. A total of 24 fatty acid compounds were identified in egg yolk oil, which ~48-52% of contained monounsaturated fatty acids (mainly oleic acid). The diet modifications significantly (p<0.05) increased the total content of egg yolk omega-3 fatty acids, and the highest value was observed in the diet (III) (84.2% increase compared to the control). The highest elevations were observed in ALA (3.49%), DPA (0.24%), and DHA (1.21%) fatty acids. Also, the ratio of ω-6/ω-3 fatty acids was ~18.36% in the control group (I), while in the diets II, III, and IV, the ratios decreased to ~3.79 (~80%), ~3.16 (~83%), and ~6.09 (~67%), respectively. Overall, the results indicated that diet (III) & (IV) were the most effective to increase the content of omega-3 fatty acids and Vit-D3 in egg yolk, respectively.

The physical properties of almond kernel are necessary for the proper design of equipment for transporting, drying, processing, sorting, grading, and storage this crop. In this study, different models of ANNs with different activation functions were used to forecast surface area, volume, mass, and kernel density of almond. The results showed that multilayer perceptron network with tanh-tanh activation function as a goodness activation function can be estimated surface area, volume, mass, and kernel density with R2 value 0.983, 0.986, 0.981, and 0.982, respectively. Furthermore, the physical properties were fitted by regression relationships, the result showed linear regression method can be predicted surface area, volume, mass and kernel density with R2 value 0.979, 0.961, 0.945, and 0.791, respectively. Generally, the result showed neural network model had high ability to forecast the physical properties of almond than the linear regression method.

Nowadays, mathemathical simulation and modeling of drying curves are useful instruments in order to improve control systems for final product quality under various conditions. These approaches are usually applied for studying the factors present in the process, optimization of the conditions and working factors as well as predicting the drying kinetics of products. Two intelligent tools including artificial neural network (ANN) and genetic algorithm (GA) were used in the current paper for predicting tomato drying kinetics. For this purpose, four mathematical models were taken from the literatures, then they were matched with the empirical data. Final step was choosing the best fitting model for tomato drying curves. According to the results, the model proposed by Aghbashlo et al (Agh-m) showed great performance in predicting the moisture ratio of the dried tomato slices. Moreover, the genetic algorithm was utilized for optimization of the best empirical model. Ultimately, the results were compared with the findings observed in ANN and GA models. The comparison indicated that the GA model offers higher accuracy for predicting the moisture ratio of dried tomato with the correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.9987.

In this research, production process of pumpkin concentrate (Tanbal cultivar) was studied. To do this purpose, the extraction process of extract was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) by applying variables of mixing ratio of flesh to solvent (ranging from 1:1 to 1:3) and extraction temperature (ranging from 55-85oC). In order to optimization of pumpkin concentrate production process, quality properties of extraction yield, pH, acidity, vitamin C, HMF, protein, sugar, lycopene, beta-carotene and DPPH free radical scavenger were evaluated. The results show that, during the extraction process of extract, increasing the mixing ratio from 1:1 to 1:3 cause to decreasing and increaseing of quality parameters of (extraction yield, acidity, formalin number, vitamin C, protein, HMF, beta-carotene, lycopeneand DPPH free radical scavenger) and (pH, reduction sugar, total sugar and sucrose), respectively. Also, increaseing extraction temperature from 55oC to 85oC, increased the quality parameters of (acidity, formalin number, protein and HMF) and decreased the quality indices of (pH, vitamin C, reduction sugar, total sugar, sucrose, beta-carotene, lycopene and DPPH free radical scavenger). Oprimization results show that the best extraction temperature and mixing ratio were determined 55oC and 1:1, respectively. Also in optimum condition, the quantity of quality indices of extraction yield, acidity, pH, formalin number, vitamin C, protein, reduction sugar, total sugar, sucrose, HMF, beta-carotene, lycopene and DPPH free radical scavenger were 43.03%, 0.47 g/100g, 7.07, 16.8 g/100g, 0.477 mg/100g, 0.948%, 9.3 g/100g, 33.66 g/100g, 23 g/100g, 0.85 mg/kg, 0.63 mg/l, 0.17 mg/l and 32.32%, respectively.

Mentha piperita L., known as mint or peppermint used extensively in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. Although different techniques have been studied for drying mint leaves, there is not enough information on solar drying of peppermint (especially the Persian variety) in the literature. In this study, thin layers of peppermint leaves were dehydrated evenly with three methods of shade (MI), sun (MII), and solar heat collector (MIII). The air temperature rise and drying time in I, II, and III were (1, 5, and 18ºC) and (880, 300, and 150 min), respectively. The particle size, porosity, and rehydration rate of peppermint dried in III were significantly higher than those dried with I and II. While the overall color (∆E) of peppermint dried in I and III did not change, the greenish index and chlorophyll of peppermint dried in II were ~21% and ~15% less than those in III because it was exposed to direct sunlight radiation. The peppermint dried with III had lower bulk density, higher sensory attributes (minty aroma, flavor, cooling mouthfeel, and visual color), and overall acceptance scores than II and I. The solar dryer produced high quality dehydrated peppermint with renewable energy and without environmental contamination.

Walnut is one of the most important and valuable agricultural products in the country. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of three variables of pH values (1, 1.5 and 2), extraction temperatures (60, 70 and 80°C) and process times (60, 90 and 120 min) on yield, degree of esterification and galacturonic acid of pectin extracted from heartwood waste of walnut using response surface statistical method. Based on the results, optimum conditions for pectin extraction with the highest extraction yield (14.32%), degree of esterification (64.03%) and galacturonic acid (63.62 %) were associated with pH 1.68, process temperature of 80°C and extraction time of 120 min. Total ash, molecular weight, emulsifier, rheological and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy assessments were carried out on pectin optimum sample. The results showed the total ash was 14.1% and MW of pectin optimum sample was 35.61 kDa. This sample, with suitable emulsifier properties, showed pseudoplastic behavior and its FTIR spectroscopy diagram was rich in galacturonic acid.