مجله علوم و صنایع غذایی ایران
سال بیستم شماره 12 (پیاپی 145، اسفند 1402)

Extracts and essential oils of medicinal plants have many bioactive agents, including phenolic compounds with significant antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Choosing the suitable extraction method affects the quantity and quality of antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of ultrasound waves in extracting phenolic, antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds of Caper fruit. Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box–Behnken design were used to optimize the extraction factors, including extraction time (10, 25, 40 min) and ultrasound intensity (40, 70, 100 %) with ethanolic solvent (70 %). From the results of the tests performed with the response surface methodology, ultrasound intensity was recognized as the most effective factor in extracting phenolic, antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds of Caper fruit and by increasing time and ultrasound intensity, the extraction of these compounds increased. The optimum conditions for extraction of antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds of Caper fruit were determined extraction time 36 minutes and ultrasound intensity 91 percent. In these optimum conditions, the amount of total phenolic contents and IC50 index of ethanolic extracts extracted from Caper fruit were obtained 23.63 mg/g and 45.30 μg/mg, respectively, the optimum amount of minimum inhibitory concentration of coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus were obtained 0.19 and 6.07 mg/ml, respectively, and the optimum amount of minimum batericidal concentration of coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus was obtained 11.81 mg/ml. Also, the extracts extracted at time 36 minutes and ultrasound intensity 91 percent had the ability to inhibit the activity of Escherichia coli O157: H7 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at concentrations of 25 and 25 mg/ml, respectively, and had the batericidal ability of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli O157: H7 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at concentrations of 25, 50 and 50 mg/ml, respectively.

Vegetable oils play an important role in food preparation and food formulation and play a significant role in diet and health. Identification and cultivation of new oilseeds is an important step in the direction of supplying the required oil in the country. Milk thistle plant with the scientific name of Silybum marianum is a one-year or two-year herb that has many medical, medicinal and industrial uses since ancient times. Due to its biological characteristics, this plant requires very little fertilizer and is particularly resistant to dry conditions and weak soils, and it is compatible with the climate conditions of most regions of Iran. Milk thistle seed contains a significant percentage of oil (20-30%) with high nutritional value due to the presence of essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid (40-60%), oleic acid (20-32%) and antioxidant and bioactive compounds such as tocopherols, carotenoids and sterols. Therefore, the oil obtained from milk thistle seed can be considered as a new edible oil due to its long-term consumption in different societies and its bioactive compounds. In this review article, a brief look at milk thistle plant, oil percentage and its composition in different regions has been discussed. According to scientific reports and articles, the cultivation and development of this new and valuable oil seed with good economic value is recommended as a new source of edible oil.

In Iran, there is a large capacity for animal fat production, which is less used in food products. In this study, the fat obtained from sheep tail and ostrich abdominal tissue were investigated as waste from the slaughterhouse. For this purpose, in the first step, fats were extracted by wet rendering method and their chemical compositions were analyzed. In the second step, the fat was separated into two parts, stearin and olein, by dry fractionation. Then, the olein fraction was divided into two parts, soft stearin and superolein, and their fatty acid composition and physicochemical properties were measured. The sheep tail and ostrich tissues contained 10.66% and 5.18% moisture, 4.10% and 4.29% protein, 0.26% and 0.62% ash, and 84.93% and 88.35% fat, respectively, and the extraction yield were obtained 37.42% and 62.56%, respectively. The gas chromatography results showed that oleic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid were the main fatty acids in sheep tail fat and oleic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid and linoleic acid were dominant in the fatty acid profile of ostrich fat. After fractionation, an increase in oleic content of olein and superolein in both fats increased iodine value and refractive index followed by decreasing melting point and L*. Peroxide value of sheep tail fat was 1.54 meqO2/ kg and the fractionation process had no significant effect on it, however, the peroxide value of ostrich fat increased significantly after the separation (p<0.05), which could be due to the presence of a considerable portion of linoleic in this fat. Therefore, it can be concluded that the fat extracted by wet rendering from sheep tail and ostrich tissues has an acceptable quality for edible use, and their stearin and soft stearin fractions can be used as an alternative to the hydrogenation process to produce semi-solid fat in food products.

Yogurt drink is one of the fermented dairy products. Probiotic yogurt drink has special health properties due to the presence of probiotics. Also, adding herbal-medicinal plants including chavil to this product can make it more attractive. However, the shelf life of probiotic bacteria in yogurt drink is not very long. This research was therefore carried out to increase the shelf life of Lactobacillus rhamnosus in yogurt drink by nanoencapsulation technique with Persian gum and whey protein isolate. Particle size and SEM was used for determination nanoencapsulated bacteria (bead) characteristics. In this regard, three samples of yogurt drink containing free Lactobacillus rhamnosus, its bead and the control were produced. Some characteristics including pH, acidity, sensory including color, taste, consistency and overall acceptability of yogurt drink were measured as well as the shelf life of probiotic bacteria under gastrointestinal conditions and storage in the refrigerator. The results showed that the beads had a size from 246.98 to 356.2 nm. The efficiency of nanoencapsulation was 87.2%, and the SEM images showed that the bacteria were covered well. At the end of the storage time, the decrease in pH (3.41) and increase in acidity (97.3 °D) of the sample containing beads was highest. The counting of free and beads also showed that the shelf life of bead was greater than free bacteria in yogurt drink. In the 21st day of storage, the product was eligible for probiotics. Moreover, the bead survival in simulation gasterointestinal condition was 3.33 log cfu/ml. The evaluation of the sensory parameters also showed that the sample containing bead had the lowest score among the panellist in all the sensory components except the texture. In conclusion, it can be stated that the yogurt drink containing the bead sample can qualify as a probiotic product during 21 days of storage time.

The aim of this study was optimization and improvement of the physic-chemical characteristics films based on basil seed mucilage (BSM) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) (100, 162.5 and 225% w/w the mucilage) using montmorillonite (MMT) (0 and 8% w/w the mucilage) by casting method. The produced films properties were evaluated for thickness, moisture content, density, mechanical properties, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results indicated that thickness and density of the films were not significantly influenced by CMC and MMT addition (p>0.05), but the moisture content of nanocomposites decreased with increasing CMC content (p<0.05). Presence of CMC and MMT in the film matrix caused to enhancement of ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation at break (EB) in nanocomposites; the maximum of UTS and EB with the values of 27.9 MPa and 41%, respectively, were obtained for the nanocomposite made by 225% CMC and 8% MMT. FTIR spectra revealed no new compounds resultant from the chemical interactions, and only some shifts were observed for some peaks, and also slightly weakening or intensifying in several peaks. TGA plots showed that incorporation of CMC and MMT led to improvement of thermal properties. In conclusion, simultaneous loading of nanoclay and CMC generated the improved nanocomposites, and the treatment loaded with both MMT and the maximum level of CMC (T7) is advised as the best film for employing in the food packaging.

The yoghurt fortification with bioactive-rich components is one of numerous approaches to prevent the diseases correlated with nutritional shortages. However, this method may alter product characteristics. Therefore, the aim of current research was to study the effect of bell pepper extract (BPE) with three different colors on the sensory and microbial properties of set yogurt. For yogurt preparation, 5% of concentrated BPE with the yellow, orange, or red colors were substituted with the milk used for yogurt production. Results showed that by using BPE in yogurt formulation, the count of starter bacteria increased meaningfully while for sensory attributes, except for yogurt texture and appearance, the scores of taste and color were significantly decreased (p<0.01). The mean viable counts of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for control and  yogurt samples containing yellow, orange and red BPE were determined as  9.62, 10.09, 10.08 and 10.10 Log CFU/g, respectively. The time of storage also had significant impact on the yogurt properties and as the time of storage increased, the count of LAB and sensory scores reduced notably. Results revealed that although addition of BPE with different colors into the yogurt formulation led to inferior scores of sensory characteristics (taste and color), all the yogurts containing BPE had acceptable sensory scores (mean scores>7, i.e. good mark). Consequently, with respect to the healthy components of bell pepper extracts, a yogurt with appropriate functionality could be produced. Therefore, the use of BPE with different colors (particularly orang BPE) in production of functional yogurt is recommended.

Chemical properties and antimicrobial effect of Thymus trautvetteri essential oil against some of the bacteria causing infection and food poisoning were evaluated in this study. For this purpose, T. trautvetteri essential oil was extracted with the help of hydrodistillation method and its total phenol content was based on Folin-Ciocalteu method, its antioxidant activity was based on DPPH and ABTS free radical inhibition methods and its antibacterial effect against Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus were investigated based on disc diffusion agar, well diffusion agar, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration methods. The results showed that T. trautvetteri essential oil contained 6.27 mg of catechin/g total phenol and its inhibitory activity against DPPH and ABTS free radicals was obtained as 12.32 and 10.20 mg/ml, respectively. The results of the antibacterial activity of the essential oil showed that S. aureus and E. coli were the most sensitive and resistant bacterial strains against T. trautvetteri essential oil, respectively. The inhibition zone in the disc diffusion agar and well diffusion agar methods, and the minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations for S. aureus were 14.60 mm, 16 mm, 1 mg/ml and 4 mg/ml, respectively. According to the findings of this research, T. trautvetteri essential oil can be used as a natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agent to prevent oxidative reactions and microbial spoilage in food.

Nowadays, with the increase in diseases and consumers’ preference for organic foods, the use of natural plant compounds to improve and increase their shelf life is on the rise. In addition, the use of medicinal plants, which can have therapeutic properties, has attracted attention. Black seed oil has attracted a lot of attention in the past due to its unique therapeutic properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activity and evaluate the antimicrobial activity of black seed oil against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes and Bacillus cereus. The amount of phenolic compounds in black seed oil was measured by Folin-Ciocalteu. The antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging methods. The antimicrobial effect of Nigella sativa oil was investigated according to well diffusion  agar, disk diffusion agar, interaction, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration methods.The Nigella sativa oil had 16.25 mg GAE/g phenolic compounds. The antioxidant activity based on DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging were 86.62% and 94.85%, respectively.The Nigella sativa oil showed a significant antimicrobial effect on the tested microorganisms. In the combined mode (interaction) of Nigella sativa oil with chloramphenicol antibiotic, synergistic mode was observed for all bacterial strains. Given the significant antioxidant activity and antimicrobial effect of Nigella sativa, it can be used in food and pharmaceutical industries.

This work's main objective was to investigate the gum Arabic effect on reducing oxidative stress in bell peppers during ripening. Gum Arabic in 6, 9, 12, and 15% aqueous solutions was applied as an edible coating before storage on mature bell peppers stored at 8°C and 90-95% relative humidity for 28 days. The fruits that were coated with 12% gum Arabic had the lowest rate of decay, weight loss, total carotenoid content, and peroxidation of membrane lipids, as well as the highest total antioxidant capacity, total phenol, ascorbic acid, and antioxidant enzyme activity (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase) during storage compared to the control without coating and the fruit treated with 6 and 9% gum. Still, there was no statistically significant difference with the fruit treated with 15% gum Arabic except for the total carotenoid content. The amount of peroxidation of membrane lipids showed positive and high correlation coefficients with decay (**0.93) and physiological weight loss (**0.89), but with antioxidant capacity (-0.93**), ascorbic acid (**) -0.94), total phenol (-0.92**), activity of SOD (-0.96**), CAT (-0.87**) and POD (-0.86**) correlation. It was negative and high. The results showed that the use of 12% gum Arabic as an edible coating can delay oxidative stress and decay and maintain the antioxidant properties of the fruit for up to 28 days during storage at 8 degrees Celsius.

The drying process is one of the methods of processing vegetables and fruits, helping to reduce the volume of the product, facilitate transportation, increase preservation ability, and reduce microbial activities. As a fast and effective heat source with thermal and non-thermal effects, microwaves can directly affect food and thus accelerate physicochemical reactions and drying rates, and produce high quality dried products. The purpose of this research is to use microwave pretreatment to increase the mass transfer rate in the drying process of carrot slices and to model the process using the genetic algorithm-artificial neural network method. In this study, the effects of microwave treatment time at five levels of 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 seconds on the drying time and moisture content of carrot slices were investigated in three replications. This process was modeled using the genetic algorithm-artificial neural network method with 2 inputs (microwave processing time and drying process duration) and 1 output (moisture percentage). The results showed that by increasing the microwave treatment time, the rate of moisture removal from the samples increased and thus the drying time decreased. Different training algorithms were evaluated and the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm was chosen as the best algorithm. Based on modeling data analysis, the Perceptron artificial neural network with 2-5-1 structure is the most suitable network to predict the moisture content of microwaves-treated carrot slices. In this study, the values of mean squared error (MSE), normalized mean squared error (NMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and correlation coefficient (r) for predicting the moisture content of carrot slices during drying process were equal to 5.298, 0.006, 1.650, and 0.997, respectively. The results of the optimal neural network sensitivity analysis showed that the drying process duration was the most effective factor in predicting the moisture content of carrot slices.

Okra is a vegetable crop with high nutritional value that quickly loses its quality and decay after harvesting. This research aimed to investigate influences of calcium chloride concentrations combined with chitosan coating on the quality characteristics of okra pods during post-harvest. Okra pods were immersed in different concentrations of calcium chloride (0%, 1%, 2%, 4%) and then covered with chitosan (0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5%). Physicochemical analysis including: physiological weight loss, firmness, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, ascorbic acid content, total phenol content, and visual appearance and decay rate were performed at 4-day intervals for 16 days. The results showed that during storage, weight loss, soluble solids, and decay rate increased and firmness, ascorbic acid, total phenol content, titratable acidity and visual appearance showed a sharp decrease. Chitosan coating containing calcium chloride was significantly effective in maintaining the quality characteristics of okra. Among the investigated treatments, a combination of 2% calcium chloride and 1% chitosan was the most effective method to maintain the highest overall quality index score of okra pods stored at 4°C for up to 16 days. This treatment also significantly reduced weight loss and maintained ascorbic acid, total phenolic content, titratable acidity and visual appearance, and delayed increase in soluble solids and decay.

The use of medicinal plants in food has a long history. Flaxseed oil and eucalyptus essential oil are highly regarded due to their biological properties. In this research, the aim is to investigate the antimicrobial properties of zein nanofibers containing flaxseed oil and eucalyptus essential oil to control staphylococcus aureus and escherichia coli bacteria in a laboratory environment. For this purpose, flaxseed oil mixed with eucalyptus essential oil in zein solution. Then, it was converted into nanofibers using an electrospinning machine. In order to study the characteristics and antimicrobial properties of the nanofibers, tests including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fiber diameter determination with Image J software, atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed. Investigation of antimicrobial properties of produced nanofibers by disk diffusion method were performed. The SEM results showed that the morphology of the electrospun fibers was uniform and free of beads. AFM images represented three-dimensional and tubular images of fibers obtained from electrospinning zein/flaxseed oil/eucalyptus essential oil. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed an increase in the crystallinity intensity of the treatments compared to the control sample. Based on thermal analysis results, eucalyptus and flaxseed oil increased the thermal stability of zein nanofibers. The results showed that the addition of flaxseed oil to eucalyptus essential oil strengthened the antimicrobial properties of nanofibers. According to the results of the present research, the zein/flaxseed oil/eucalyptus essential oil fibers can be used as natural antimicrobials.

The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant properties of date seed methanolic extracts of Rabbi variety and evaluating the physicochemical properties of zein nanoparticles loaded with these extracts. Ultrasonic treatment was used to extract methanolic extract from date seed powder and antisolvent precipitation method was used to encapsulate date seed methanolic extracts in amounts of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 g in zein biopolymer carrier. In this study, the total phenolic content (TPC) and half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of date seed extracts of Rabbi variety in 45 min, the temperature of 500C of ultrasonic bath and 70% methanol solvent concentration were obtained respectively 369.47 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight and 5.08 µg/m1. By increasing the ratio of encapsulated extract in zein carrier from 0.1 to 0.4, the encapsulation efficiency from 85.90 to 95.19% and the size of zein particles loaded with methanolic extracts from 129.95 to 183.30 nm increased and the zeta potential of nanoparticles decreased from +19.15 to +14.48 mV. The size and zeta potential of extract-free zein particles were determined 109.30 nm and +21.96 mV, respectively. The results of ATR-FTIR analysis indicated that with increase the ratio of methanolic extract encapsulated in the zein carrier, the stretching peak of O‒H⋯O bond changed and increased from 3292.85 to 3294.85 cm-1. In Investigating the FE-SEM images, extract-free zein nanoparticles and zein nanoparticles loaded with date seed extracts had semi-spherical morphology. Overall, the hydrophobic nature of zein carrier caused it to bind with the phenolics of Rabbi date seed extract through non-covalent, van der Waals, hydrogen, and hydrophobic interactions. Therefore, it can be used as a strong carrier for the encapsulation of date seed extracts.

This study was carried out with the aim of covalent immobilization of Aspergillus oryzae beta-galactosidase and Bacillus licheniformis protease on multi-walled amino-carbon nanotubes. In this method, fractional 2k design was used to study the effect of seven continuous factors (activation pH, glutaraldehyde molarity, activation time, buffer solution pH, buffer solution molarity, MWCNT-NH3-glutaraldehyde amount and stabilization time) on the stabilization efficiency and enzyme activity. . Design-expert software was used to analyze data and draw graphs. The results showed that the aforementioned factors predict the level of enzyme activity of Bacillus licheniformis protease and Aspergillus oryzae beta-galactosidase with correlation coefficients of 0.80 and 0.92 at the rate of 77 and 88%, respectively. Also, the correlation coefficient of the covalent fixation efficiency model of Aspergillus oryzae beta-galactosidase and Bacillus licheniformis protease on multi-walled carbon nanotubes was 0.89 and 0.82, respectively, and the studied factors were able to determine the covalent fixation beta efficiency, respectively. Aspergillus oryzae galactosidase and Bacillus licheniformis protease on multi-walled amino-carbon nanotubes predict 83 and 77%, respectively.

The aim of this research was to produce a film from the mucilage of Paneerak flower modified with Shirin-Bian and copper sulfate nanoparticles. It was used to study the properties of thickness, humidity, solubility, permeability to water vapor, color and mechanical properties of the films. The results show that with the increase of licorice and copper sulfate nanoparticles, the thickness of the film increases. Humidity, water vapor permeability and solubility of the film decrease with the increase of copper sulfate nanoparticles and increase with the increase of sodium chloride. Also, with an increase in the concentration of Shirin Bayan, the color indices a* increased and the brightness of the layers decreased significantly. The results of the mechanical test show that with the increase of sugar and copper sulfate nanoparticles, the tensile strength decreases and with the increase of copper sulfate nanoparticles, the elongation at the breaking point increases significantly.