روش سطح پاسخ

This study investigates the impact of the hydration process on the softening, desirability, and quality of Deiri dates under the influence of ultrasound waves. The experimental setup included two ultrasound application conditions (with ultrasound and without ultrasound), five water temperatures (30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 degrees Celsius), and five soaking durations (40, 55, 70, 85, and 100 minutes). The qualitative parameters examined were moisture content, color indices L, a, b, ∆E, total sugar, and reduced sugar. Textural characteristics such as firmness, chewability, gumminess, and springiness were also evaluated. The response surface methodology (RSM) with a central composite design (CCD) was employed for data analysis using the Design Expert 10 software.The results demonstrated that the proposed regression models were significant in determining the effects of hydration on moisture content, reduced sugar, total sugar, color indices L and ∆E, firmness, chewability, cohesiveness, and springiness of the treated samples. Specifically, the moisture content and reduced sugar of samples treated with ultrasonic hydration were 7.47% and 1.34 times higher, respectively, compared to those treated without ultrasound, indicating a pronounced effect of ultrasound. However, the color indices a and b were not significant at the 0.05 level. Optimization results indicated that the optimal conditions for the hydration process of Deiri date fruits involved a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius and a duration of 85 minutes with the application of ultrasound. While ultrasound had a significant effect on several traits, its economic justification must also be considered.

Roasting is a thermal process and various factors such as temperature and duration of roasting play an important role in the textural and sensory properties of the product. In this research, a roasting machine was designed and fabricated for the process of roasting sunflower seeds. Using an electronic nose, the aroma resulting from the roasting process of the samples were investigated and optimized using the response surface method (Central Compound Design) in the temperature range of 80 to 160 degrees Celsius and the time range of 10 to 30 minutes. The response of electronic nose sensors, color parameters including (L*, a*, b*, ΔE, BI) and sensory evaluation were used to develop prediction models and optimize sunflower seed roasting process. The results showed that increasing the temperature and duration of roasting has a significant effect on the response of electronic nose sensors. With increasing temperature and duration of roasting, the value of L* decreased, but a*, b*, ΔE and BI increased, and the highest overall acceptance value of the human panelist was obtained for the sample with a temperature of 120 degrees Celsius and a duration of 20 minutes. The optimum point for roasting sunflower seeds with the fabricated system was 116 degrees Celsius and a duration of 18 minutes. The results of the research showed the useful efficiency of the fabricated system and for the models presented by the response surface method for predicting the values of the dependent variables, the results were very near to the experimental findings. It was (P<0.05) in all the studied values, which indicated the suitability of the proposed models.

Producing powder from fruit pulp is a good way to prevent the loss of useful properties in the remaining meat from the skin, juice and core of fruits. The physicochemical properties of the powder play an important role in its storage time, customer friendliness and taste.This process was carried out using a vacuum dryer using the atmosphere control method and was checked in terms of drying time and browning index. The dryer is set on a laboratory scale for five temperature levels of 45, 55, 65, 75 and 85 °C and five vacuum pressure levels of 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 kPa for a thickness of 6.5 mm.The statistical analysis of the obtained data and the optimization of the vacuum drying process were performed using the response surface method. The results showed that by increasing the temperature of the drying chamber, the drying rate of apple pulp sheets increased and the drying time decreased by 78.3%. The temperature values of the drying chamber were significant to the color indices of apple pulp powder. The lowest amount of browning index under the conditions of the temperature of the dryer chamber of 45 degrees Celsius and the vacuum pressure of 60 kPa for the vacuum dryer using the atmosphere control method was 100.26. The optimum point of the powder produced from the dried apple pulp sheets was proposed by the vacuum system using the atmosphere control method at the temperature of the drying chamber at 74.83 °Cand the vacuum pressure at 55.9 kPa. Under these conditions, the optimal value of the response variables, including drying time and browning time, were obtained in equal order.

The current research used a hybrid conveyor belt drying system, including a solar water heater and solar-powered infrared lamps, to dry rosemary leaves. Its performance characteristics were evaluated regarding drying time, total energy consumption, solar energy ratio and energy efficiency. In each experiment, 300 g of freshly harvested rosemary leaves at a drying air temperature of 50 °C and different values of inlet air velocity (7, 8 and 9 m/s) and infrared lamp power (0, 150 and 300 W) were fed into in the drying system. The optimum point for the working of the drying system was determined using Response Surface Method (RSM) by selecting the appropriate values for the inlet air velocity and infrared power based on these criteria: to minimize drying time, to minimize total energy consumption, to maximize energy efficiency, and to maximize solar energy ratio. Accordingly, the selected optimum point included infrared power of 300 W and an air velocity of 8.85 m/s. Under the defined conditions, the performance characteristics of the drying system, including drying time, total energy consumption, energy efficiency and solar ratio, were equal to 149.13 minutes, 3868.91 kJ, 52.37% and 0.75, respectively. According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that using a developed drying system can significantly reduce the need for fossil fuel resources and lead to an acceptable performance efficiency in the drying process of medical plants.

The nut sunflower is usually cultivated in small farms and is harvested with a low capacity of harvester at high moisture content. For the rigid threshing components, impact and knead force are so large as it leads to crushing of the grain or inner stress. This reduces marketability and the germination rate of seeds. The mechanical damage degree of sunflower grain is influenced by the material of the threshing beaters, the velocity of impact, moisture contents, etc. Traditional manual methods, that separate grain from the sunflower head, take a lot of time, require large manpower, have high grain damage, and low efficiency. The objective of the present work was to develop and optimize a threshing unit for nutty sunflower that would combine safe impact velocities with appropriate adjusting of its variable to maximize threshing efficiency whilst minimizing grain damage resulting from shearing, cracking, or crushing.

The nutty Sunflower heads were procured from the Experimental Orchard of University of Tabriz, Iran at the moisture content of harvesting. Axial threshing units using kinematic equation and properties of the grain, designed and constructed that the variables of its components are adjustable. The beater of the thresher is flexible, which the deformation and vibration undergoing the overall rotation and impact process becomes larger with increasing speed and prevents grain damage. The power required for threshing and separation grain from heads was calculated at about 4.5 kW. Diameter and rotational drum speed value estimated using relation (V=  and study of other researches as considering critical impact velocity of sunflower grain. The length of the thresher was 1.2 m that estimated by determining the capacity and the number of beaters. Threshing efficiency (%), separation efficiency (%), and grain damage (%) were parameters of performance for study. The experimental design by the Response Surface Methodology in Design Expert software 11 with central composite experiment design developed and the affecting parameters on accuracy analyzed and optimized. The threshing unit was evaluated against three threshing drum speeds of 380, 280, and 180 (rpm), feed rates 4000, 3000, and 2000 (kg (head)h-1), moisture content of 60%, 45%, and 30 (%w.b).

The results showed that the models and effect of variables were statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. The moisture content on threshing efficiency and grain damage had the greatest effect followed by drum speed and feed rate. While for separation efficiency, the feed rate had the most influence. With reducing feed rate and moisture content the threshing efficiency increased, although the decrease in drum speed reduced it. This might be due to sunflower grains adhering loosely to the head at the low moisture contents. The maximum (99.81) and minimum (96.12) percentage of threshed heads was at the moisture content of 30 and 60, respectively. The separation efficiency increased with reducing of feed rate and moisture content. Though, drum speed had insignificant efficacy statistically. The sunflower heads with high moisture content are fragile and brittle, also at high feed rates, the number of impact forces and collisions of heads rises in the condition of threshing. Therefore, the extra MOG is produced and passed from the separator grille. The feed rate of 2000 kg h-1 and moisture content of 30% was the maximum point of separation efficiency that obtained 69.82%. The grain damage decreased significantly with reducing drum speed (380 to 180) and moisture content (60 to 30). This result may be due to the reasons that at higher moisture content the husk of grains becomes soft. The goal of optimization is maximizing threshing and separation efficiency and minimizing grain damage that the optimized values of variables were determined 292.134 rpm for drum speed, 2000 kg h-1 for feed rate, and 30.7406% (w.b) for moisture content.

A threshing unit of sunflower, using properties of grains and kinematic equation, was designed and constructed. The models and effect of the variable were statistically significant on performances. The moisture content had a greater effect than other factors on threshing efficiency (%) and grain damage (%). Also, the feed rate of crops in thresher had the most influence on separation efficiency (%). With decreasing the moisture content, threshing and separation efficiency increased and grain damage reduced. The threshing efficiency (%), separation efficiency (%), and grain damage (%) were reported in the range of 96.12 to 99.81, 57.34 to 68.55, and 0.49 to 1.25, respectively. The optimized points were determined at the drum speed of 292.134 m s-1, feed rate of 2000 kg h-1, and moisture content of 30.7406% (w.b).

Wheat straw is widely used for animal feed and biorefinery to sugar production. However, cellulose, which is the major source of sugar, is protected by lignin. Ozone is a powerful oxidizer that can deconstruct lignin and makes cellulose accessible to enzymatic digestion. The aim of this study is the delignification of wheat straw using ozonolysis technology as a green, environmentally friendly, and energy-efficient process. Modeling and optimization were performed by response surface methodology and the effects of five factors including ozone production rate (1, 2, and 3 g/h), reaction time (15, 30, and 45 min), the flow rate of ozone/oxygen (0, 3, and 6 L/min), moisture content (100, 200, and 300% w/w) and urea (0, 1.5, and 3% w/w) were investigated. The results of this study showed that the highest delignification (50%) was observed in the highest levels of ozone amount, time, flow rate, urea, and the lowest level of moisture content. The flow rate and moisture content factors were the most contributing factors in the delignification process with 36 and 20%, respectively. Under optimal conditions, 49.8% of delignification was obtained at an ozone amount (3 g/h), time (45 min), flow rate (5.7 L/min), moisture content (100% w/w), and urea amount (3% w/w) with a desirability index of 0.99. The response surface method creates a desirable fitness between the experimental and predicted responses with R2=0.90. The results showed that the ozonolysis process using the proposed factors can be used to delignification of wheat straw.

Today, with advances in all sciences, we must always look for a way to make the best use of plant residues and turn them into valuable products. A consequence of improving family life standards and consistent industrial development is a higher demand for energy usage. Nowadays, agricultural residues are produced in huge quantities and could be considered as a promising source for renewable energy generation. Bagasse is one of the major sources of sugarcane production. The production of valuable products from Bagas, in addition to having economic benefits, can reduce the environmental damage caused by burning them. In recent years, there has been an increasing trend in the utilization of sugarcane bagasse as a major by-product of the sugarcane industry. Another very valuable substance produced from sugarcane bagasse, which we will discuss in this study, is bio compressed coal. Valorization of sugarcane bagasse to engineered biochar using hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) presents a perspective source to substitute conventional fossil fuels. HTC process offers the benefits of converting the sugarcane bagasse into biochar and bio-oil. In this process, biomass is usually conducted in the temperature range of 180–250 ◦C. HTC technique is promoted as one way of reducing carbon dioxide (CO) emissions, which mostly generated through open burning of crop residues. Besides the utilization for power/heat generation for sugarcane industries, Bagasse may find other potential applications, for instance: electricity generation, biogas production, livestock feed/compost production, and also bioethanol production. The unique features of biochar generated through HTC process are its portability, high volumetric energy density, hydrophobicity, and wear ability.

In this research, sugarcane waste was obtained from Hakim Farabi Sugarcane Cultivation and Industry Company in Ahvaz. The hydrothermal carbonization process was performed in a batch reactor at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. The parameters studied in this study include the retention time of the material inside the reactor (30, 75, and 120 minutes), bagasse mass to water ratio (0.15, 0.20, and 0.30) and the pressure inside the reactor (10, 12.5 And 15 bar). In order to measure the pressure, a Nuova FiMa barometer was used, which was able to measure the pressure values up to 25 bar. A temperature control system model HANYoung ED6 was used, which was equipped with a ceramic heater with a diameter of 230 mm and a height of 230 mm to provide heat for the process. The PARR1266 calorie bomb device was employed to measure the calorific value of the samples. The moisture content of the samples was also measured using ASTM-2010a standard. In this experimental work, the response surface method was employed to investigate the effect of input parameters (i.e., pressure, residence time, and water-to-biomass) on the response parameter (i.e., HHV and energy consumption). Design Expert ver.10 software was used to predict the corresponding models. The obtained models provided a good relationship between the independent/dependent parameters.

The HTC process has been analyzed using a Response Surface Method to derive predicted models for the HHV and energy parameters. The results obtained showed that all models provided could successfully predict the HTC process. According to the results, the models developed were statistically significant at the level of 1%. The multi-regression models between the input/response variables were obtained as second-order quadratic equations. The F-value for the residence time, and water-to- bagasse, and pressure were 2417, 286, and 1185, respectively. The value of F-value of each derived model indicates the significance of the studied parameters. The parameters of water-to-bagasse and pressure had a more significant effect compared to the residence time factor. The R-square value for this study was achieved as 0.0996, indicating that the proposed model was able to evaluate the experimental data thoroughly. A multi-objective optimization technique was used to achieve an optimal HTC process condition with the maximum possible amount of desirability value.

The optimum amount of water-to-bagasse, pressure, and residence time was calculated using the response surface techniques. A pressure of 11 bar, the residence time of 38 min, and water-to-bagasse of 0.15 were found to be optimal values. The findings of this study indicate that at optimal input variables, the value of calorific value and used energy was 21 Mj/kg and 0.09 kWh, respectively. Keywords: Hydrothermal carbonization, Sugarcane bagasse, Response surface method, Optimization

Herbal compounds, so-called phyto-constituents, illustrate poor stability and absorption. Niosomes, which are made of nonionic surfactants, create better chemical and stability conditions, higher absorption rate and bioavailability besides lipid vesicles. This study covers the preparation and characterization of phyto-niosomes of grape stem extract by modified thin film hydration technique. The developed formulations were statistically optimized using response surface methodology, The applied Box–Behnken design had three factors with three levels for each factor. Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB), phytosterol percent and extract amount were selected as the formulation variables. The results showed that extract concentration was the most important parameter affecting the encapsulation efficiency and poly dispersity index. Also HLB had the most important effects on the particle size. The optimized phyto-niosomes showed vesicle size, entrapment efficiency and poly dispersity index (PDI) of 173nm, 72% and 0.32 respectively .Before the encapsulation process, extracts of dried stems were prepared by Green extraction method and phenolic composition was identified with LC-MS/MS. Indeed, it was found that phyto-niosomes could be represented as an inexpensive and efficient nano vesicular carrier for nutraceuticals delivery in food industry.

In this paper the energy and exergy analysis of flat plate solar collector simulator equipped with Inclined Broken Rib roughness was investigated based on experimental data in open circuit as well as optimizing system operating conditions. The experiments were carried out with nine levels of mass flow rates (0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09, 0.10 and 0.11 kg/s), five levels of heat flux (1000, 1100, 1200, 1300 and 1400 W/m^2) and three levels of ambient air temperature (20, 25 and 30 °C). The results showed that the highest and lowest values of energy efficiency were found 49.8 and 0.3%, in treatments with ambient temperature of 20 and 25 °C, mass flow rate of 0.11 kg/s and heat flux of 1000 and 1400 W/m^2, respectively. Also, the highest and lowest exergy efficiency were calculated 5.75 and 0.607% in treatments with ambient temperature of 20 and 30 °C, mass flow rate of 0.11 kg/s and 0.03 and heat flux of 1000 W/m^2, respectively. The response surface methodology was employed to optimize solar collector operating conditions. Optimum operating conditions were found to be anambient temperature of 20 °C, mass flow rate of 0.11 kg/s and heat flux of 1000 W/m^2. At this optimum condition, the energy and exergy efficiency were found to be 42.08 and 5.76%, respectively at a desirability level of 0.92.

Dracocephalum moldavica L. is an annual plant with blue or white flowers and fragrant leaves which belongs to the family of Lamiaceae with the height of up to 80 cm. This plant is native to Central Asia and is accepted in Central and Eastern Europe. In Iran, it is mainly grown in the province of West Azarbaijan and the Alborz Mountains. The essential oils and extracts derived from the secondary metabolisms which are mainly used in the pharmaceutical industry, dietary, cosmetic, flavoring and also as tea and beverage with sugar or honey. The liquid extract of the herb contains a high percentage of water, which should evaporate to increase shelf-life, easy transport, handling and storage, the ease of standardization and preservation of the product quality. On the other hand, the active compounds of the extracts are affected by temperature, oxygen, light and enzymes. Therefore, because of the uses and benefits of herbal extracts, they need to be dried by a practical and effective method like spray drying. In literature still there are no studies taking into account to the comparisons between RSM and TOPSIS as two important optimization methods. So, as the main objective of the present work, the effects of moisture content, drying performance, total phenol content, total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity have been surveyed. Finally, the optimal point of each process variable was presented by two optimization methods.

Aerial parts of Moldavian balm plant were cleaned and drying of plant was carried out under shade and thin layer conditions. The extraction of Moldavian balm was obtained by maceration method using ethanol 50 % (v/v), plant to solvent ratio of 1/10 (w/v). After 48h, the extract was concentrated in a rotary evaporator (Buchi Rotavapor R-205, Switzerland) to obtain a solid concentration of 6%. The used carrier was: Maltodextrin and apple pectin. Different ratios of carrier were prepared, then the ratio was added to distilled water and stirred by a magnetic stirrer. Finally, the solution was mixed with extract. The drying of Moldavian Balm plant extract was performed using a spray-dryer (Büchi B-191, Switzerland) with co-current flow regime. The powders provided by the spray drying were stored in refrigerator until they were needed for the experiment.

The results of variance analysis showed that the Box-Behnken design with the second-order model has led to the meaningfulness of the model, insignificant of the Lack of Fit and the appropriate correlation coefficient for each of the responses. A total number of 15 experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of process variables such as inlet air temperature, compressed air flow rate and concentration of carriers on moisture content, drying performance, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of  Moldavian balm powder. Inlet air temperature and compressed air flow rate had the most significant effect on moisture content and drying performance, while Chemical properties of the powder affected by changing the concentration of carriers.
Optimization parameters of the spray drying process was performed using surface response and TOPSIS methods. The optimum predicted conditions in the response surface method and TOPSIS method were obtained at inlet air temperature, compressed air flow rate and concentration of carrier (152.5-150°C), (8.046-7.5 lit min-1) and 20%, respectively.

By comparing two methods, it can be concluded that although they could provide the same optimum points, the RSM is more efficient. Because RSM offers a mathematical model that can be used at any desired point of variables to predict the output quantities as well as describing the process trend, while TOPSIS method is unable to predict the process trend and only provides the ranking of alternatives.

The purpose of this study was to model and optimize the offline refinement operations of sugarcane harvester hydraulic oil using RSM. For this purpose, the effects of independent variables of operating hours (250, 500 and 750 hours), Twin Dip Filter Mesh (7, 9 and 11 microns) and hydraulic oil refining times (0, 1 and 2) on variables of water contamination, uncleanness level (NAS), silicon (Si), viscosity (Vis) and oil acid number (TAN) were evaluated. The results indicated that all models were suitable for water contamination, uncleanness level (NAS), silicon (Si), viscosity (Vis) and oil acid number (TAN) for describing experimental data. In addition, the desirability function showed that the optimum conditions for the offline refinement operations of the hydraulic oil of the sugar cane harvester included 728.61 operating hours, the 7-micron filter mesh, and the two refining times of the oil. Under this condition, the amount of water contamination, the uncleanness level (particles 5 to 15 micrometers), Vis, Si, and TAN were equal to 187.63 ppm, 234000, 5.91 ppm, 66.34 centistokes and 0.65 (mg KOH g-1), respectively.

In this research, draft requirement of subsoiler tine plus fuel consumption, slippage, drawbar power, traction efficiency and overall energy efficiency of MF399 and JD3140 tractors at four speeds of 1.8, 2.3, 2.9 and 3.5 km/h and two depths of 40 and 50 cm were compared. Tractor type, speed and depth plus interaction effects had a significant effect on all parameters other than draft and drawbar power. Generally, JD3140 showed a better performance as the increase in speed from 1.8 to 3.5 km/h caused the increase of draft, fuel consumption, slippage, drawbar power and overall energy efficiency in two depths of 40 and 50 cm of 7, 4, 23, 108.3 and 89%, respectively but caused the decrease of traction efficiency of 13.8%. Furthermore, 10 cm increase in depth caused the increase in draft, fuel consumption, slippage and drawbar power of 21.3, 31.6, 20.6 and 21.4%, respectively but caused the decrease in traction efficiency and overall energy efficiency of 9.7 and 25%, respectively. The results of optimization of studied parameters using response surface methodology (RSM) show that depth of 42.9 cm and speed of 2.4 km/h resulted in the optimized condition about the performance of the tractor-subsoiler set.

The dynamic response of soil on tillage tools, is an important factor in determining their performance. For a tractor with a certain size, a reduction in draft force, the working width and speed of tools can rise and result in increasing performance and reduce costs. Researches carried out in order to reduce the draft force led to design and build new tillage tools called Bent Leg and Parra plows. The dual bent blade sub-surface tillage tool was built and examined inspired by the shape of a bent leg. The researches indicated that the combination of a dual bent blade sub-surface tillage tool and chisel plow could be used in order to reduce draft force, loosen the seed bed by the chisel plow and wings, increase in soil disturbance area by the wings, and create a suitable space for root growth by chisel plow. Since the fuel consumption and traction power of tractor are the limiting factors for pulling tools in the soil. The rake angle of tillage tools is the penetration factor of the tools to the soil. It is necessary to determine the optimized rake and bend angles according to their effect on draft force and better penetration in soil. In this research, the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was utilized to determine the optimized points of wing geometry of winged chisel plow in order to minimize the draft and vertical forces of tillage tool.
Using the properties of dual bent blade subsurface tillage implement and chisel plow, the winged chisel plow was designed by Catia V5R20 software and was built in the workshop of mechanics of biosystems engineering department at Shiraz University. The effect of three factors of working depth of wing (5, 10, and 15 cm), bend angle (10, 20, and 30 degree), and rake angle (7.5, 15, and 22.5 degree) were analyzed on draft and vertical forces of wined chisel plow in soil bin of Karaj Agricultural Engineering Research Institute. The length, width, and depth of the soil bin were 24 m, 1.7 m, and 1 m, respectively. The most important issue was to study the main effects and interactions of factors. So, the Response Surface Methodology was selected. With the help of this statistical design, the numbers of experiments were reduced and all coefficients of quadratic regression and interaction factors were estimated. The experiments were conducted based on the central composite design considering three main surface including central and axial points for each factors. For each response the quadratic polynomial models were obtained using the multiple linear regression.
The results indicated that fitted quadratic model for draft force corresponded with the experimental data by determination coefficient of up to 94% (R2 0.94). Increasing the depth of wing, the contact with loosened soil decreased that led to failure in unloosened soil around the chisel blade and increase in pressure to the blade. The results showed that the effect of bend angle was significant on draft force and increasing the bend angle, the tip of wing located in deeper place so, the draft force was increased that was in line with previous researches. The effect of rake angle was not significant on the draft force and its effect on the model was positive and negligible which was reported positive and significant in previous works. The fitted quadratic model for vertical force corresponded with the test data by determination coefficient of up to 93% (R2 0.93). The effects of wing depth and bend angle were positively significant on the vertical force of the tool but the effect of rake angle was negligible. The increase in vertical force with increasing bend angle was further in deeper wing position. However, the impact of rake angle was seen in vertical force and the effect of bend angle was not significant in vertical force in rake angles of 7.5° and 15°, but it was significant in rake angle of 22.5°.
The draft and vertical forces were determined 3.43 and 1.31 kN, respectively, at optimum condition (wing depth of 5cm, bend angle of 11.1°, and rake angle of 19.46°). The proposed model to predict the dependent variables were very close to the results of obtained experimental findings. The wing depth and bend angle had positive and significant effects on draft and vertical forces but the effect of rake angle was positive and insignificant on both measured traits.

Production of Biopolymers by different microorganisms for industrial applications has been considered in recent years. Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens bacterium produces exopolysaccharid exists in kefir grains called kefiran. The objective of this study was optimization of environmental conditions to produce kefiran polysaccharide in a synthetic media based on whey substrate by using response surface methodology (RSM). Therefore, different combinations of factors including pH (4.7-6.3), temperature (23-37º C) and agitation rate (70-170 rpm) on production of kefiran (g/L) were studied. According to the results, the optimum condition for production of kefiran included pH equal to 5.7, 31º C and agitation rate of 127 rpm which led to producing 1.14 g/L kefiran after five days incubation period. Furthermore, the molecular weight of produced kefiran in pure culture of L.kefiranofaciens measured by gel filtration chromatography was 1.1× 106 Da.

In this study, optimization of fermentation conditions for pullulan production by Aureobasidium pullulans (KY767023) from pomegranate waste was investigated. Response surface methodology was used to evaluate the effects of three factors (initial pH, inoculum size and ratio of liquid to solid) on pullulan yield in solid-state fermentation (SSF). Results of these experiments indicated that maximum pullulan concentration (50.5 ± 0.35 g/kg) was obtained at the optimum levels of process variables (initial pH 7.75, inoculum size 5% v/v, ratio of liquid to solid 1:2.5). Furthermore, physicochemical characteristics of the obtained pullulan at the optimum conditions were studied. The emulsifying activity of extracted pullulan was 63% .The emulsion stability was 60.5% at 4 °C and 58.5% at 25 °C after 30 days of storage. The results of viscosity curves at different concentration demonstrated that the solutions of pullulan at low concentrations (0.1-0.5 % w/v) showed nearly Newtonian flow behavior, and as the concentration of pullulan solution increased, the behavior changes from Newtonian to pseudoplastic flow. FT-IR of the pullulan produced from pomegranate by-products revealed the presence of α (1→6) linked maltotriose units.

With the aim of improving the quality of Barbary bread, the effect of adding sesame meal (0-12.5%) and soluble soybean polysaccharide (0-2%) on some physicho-chemical (moisture, protein, fat, fiber, ash, specific volume, firmness and cohesiveness) and organoleptic characteristics of Barbary as dependent variables were investigated using response surface methodology.
The results showed that the addition of sesame meal increased the amounts of ash, protein and fat, while the firmness and cohesiveness of bread decreased significantly. It was revealed that adding soluble soybean polysaccharide increased moisture content and reduced significantly the firmness and specific volume of samples. The addition of sesame meal and soluble soybean polysaccharide had positive effects on the overall acceptability of the bread.
Based on the optimized results and obtained model, the application of 6.43% of sesame meal and 0.62% of the soluble soybean polysaccharide can be produced Barbary including the best quality and nutritional and sensory features.

Biofuels are considered as one of the largest sources of renewable fuels or replacement of fossil fuels. Combustion of plant-based fuels is the indirect use of solar energy. Biofuels significantly have less pollution than other fossil fuels and can easily generate from residual plant material. Waste and residues of foods and wastewater can also be a good source for biofuel production.
Transesterification method (one of biodiesel production methods) is the most common forms to produce mono-alkyl esters from vegetable oil and animal fats. The procedure aims are reduction the oil viscosity during the reaction between triglycerides and alcohol in the presence of a catalyst or without it. In this study, the method of transesterification with alkaline catalysts is used that it is the most common and most commercial biodiesel production method.
In this study, configurations of made hydrodynamic cavitation reactor were studied to measure biodiesel fuel quality and enhanced device performance with optimum condition. The Design Expert software and response surface methodology were used to get this purpose.
Transesterification method was used in this study. The procedure aims were reduction of the oil viscosity during the reaction between triglycerides and alcohol in the presence of a catalyst or without it. Materials needed in the production of biodiesel transesterification method include: vegetable oil, alcohol and catalysts. The used oil in the production of biodiesel was sunflower oil, which was used 0.6 liters per each test in the production process base on titration method. Methanol with purity of 99.8 percent and the molar ratio of 6:1 to oil was used based on titration equation and according to the results of other researchers. The used catalyst in continuous production process was high-purity sodium hydroxide (99%) that it is one of alkaline catalysts. Weight of hydroxide was 1% of the used oil weight in the reaction.
Response surface Three important settings of reactor were considered to optimize reactor performance, which include: inlet flow to reactor, reactor rotational speed and the fluid cycle time in the system. Each set was considered at three levels. The factorial design was used to the analysis without any repeat, there will be 27 situations that because of the cost of analysis per sample by GC, practically not possible to do it. Therefore, response surface methodology was used by Design Expert software. In the other words, after defining the number of variables and their boundaries, software determined the number of necessary tests and the value of the relevant variables.
Three parameters include the inlet flow to reactor, reactor rotational speed and the fluid cycle time in the system were considered as input variables and performance of reactor as outcome in analyzing of extracted data from the reactor and GC by Design Expert software. The results of tests and optimization by software indicated that in 3.51 minutes as retention time of the raw material of biodiesel fuel in the system, the method of transesterification reaction had more than 88% Methyl ester and this represents an improvement in reaction time of biodiesel production. This method has very low retention time rather than biodiesel fuel production in conventional batch reactors that it takes 20 minutes to more than one hour.
According to the researches, efficiency of biodiesel fuel production in hydrodynamic cavitation reactors is higher than ultrasonic reactors so in this study, the settings of hydrodynamic reactor were investigated so that the settings were optimized in production of biodiesel fuel. Sunflower oil was used in this research. The molar ratio of Methanol to oil was 6 to 1 and sodium hydroxide as a catalyst was used. Three important settings of reactor were considered which include: inlet flow to reactor, reactor rotational speed and the fluid cycle time in the system. The results were analyzed by gas chromatography. The results showed that at 8447 rpm of reactor speed, inlet flow of reactor at 0.86 liters per minute and 1.02 minute of circulation time, the best performance of reactor were created. The flash point, kinematic viscosity and density of biodiesel in this study were 172 ° C, 2.4 square millimeters per second and 861 kg per cubic meter, respectively. Maximum and minimum performances of hydrodynamic cavitation reactor in biodiesel production were 6.19 and 1.13 mg kJ-1, respectively.

In the present study, optimization of active-blend coating formulation was investigated by response surface methodology (RSM). For this purpose, central composite design with four variables (concentration of carboxymethyl cellulose-pectin, ascorbic acid-citric acid, potassium sorbate and Butylated hydroxyanisole ) were used. Weight loss is selected as responses of model. On the base of minimum weight loss, optimum coating solution was determined. Effects of coating solutions on quality attributes of apples were studied. The coated apples lost their 1.23% weight, while uncoated ones lost of 5% their weight (P