نشریه پژوهش های علوم و صنایع غذایی ایران
سال بیستم شماره 3 (پیاپی 87، امرداد و شهریور 1403)

The sapodilla fruit has a limited shelf life due to its perishability and rapid moisture loss. The application of edible coatings has attracted much interest because they are effective in prolonging the shelf life of fruits. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an edible coating made from xanthan gum (XG) (0.1% and 0.2%) combined with oleic acid (Ol) (1%) in prolonging the shelf life of sapodilla fruit at 8 ± 1 οc and a relative humidity (RH) of 85-90%. Weight loss was significantly reduced in the treated fruits, with the minimum weight loss observed in the Xan 0.2% + Ol treatment. Except for the Ol treatment, the other treatments showed a higher level of firmness compared to the control. At the end of the experiment, the treatments significantly reduced fruit respiration. The treated fruits also showed significantly increased antioxidant capacity and higher levels of ascorbic acid compared to the control. The lowest TSS (22.8%) level was noted in the Xan 0.2 + Ol treatment. Moreover, the results showed that fruit treated with Xan 0.1% + Ol coating exhibited higher activity in the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzymes compared to the fruit treated with Xan 0.2 + Ol coating and the control samples. In general, fruits treated with Xan 0.2 + Ol and Xan 0.1% + Ol demonstrated the highest overall quality compared to the control and other treatments. Therefore, the application of these treatments is recommended for maintaining the quality of sapodilla fruit.

Wheat flour is one of the most important and strategic food resources especially in developing countries. The addition of Sodium hydrosulfite to flour for improving some appearance features can have dangerous impacts on the consumer health. Therefore, detection of this harmful substance is great practical significance. In the present study, the potential of Fourier transform-mid infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy in 400-4000 cm-1 for the fast detection of Sodium hydrosulfite powder in wheat flour was investigated. After getting the spectral data from samples, firstly some preprocessing methods were used to correct harmful and unwanted effects on spectral data, and then Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as unsupervised and Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models as supervised classification models and Partial Least Square Regression (PLSR) as regression model were applied to detect and quantify the adulteration in pure flour samples. The best outcomes were the accuracy of 86.66 and 86.70 for SVM and ANN models with S-G + D2 + SNV preprocessing, respectively and R2p = 0.99 For PLSR model.

In this research, the effect of protease enzyme type (pepsin and pancreatin) and hydrolysis time (40-200 minutes) on the degree of hydrolysis and antioxidant properties (DPPH radical scavenging activity, Fe chelating activity, Fe reducing power and total antioxidant capacity) of flaxseed meal protein hydrolysates was investigated. The results showed that increasing the hydrolysis time increased the degree of hydrolysis, and the samples obtained from pancreatin had a higher degree of hydrolysis than pepsin. The highest activity of Fe2+ chelating (53.71 ± 0.45%) and Fe3+ reduction (1.32 ± 0.02, absorbance at 700 nm) was achieved by pancreatin after 200 minutes of hydrolysis. Pancreatin samples were more capable of inhibiting DPPH free radicals than pepsin, and their activity increased with increasing time up to 160 minutes. The highest total antioxidant capacity (1.36 ± 0.08 absorbance at 695 nm) among the samples was obtained after 160 minutes of hydrolysis with pancreatin. The antioxidant capacity of flax seed protein hydrolysates in inhibiting DPPH radical, Fe chelating activity, and total antioxidant capacity was lower than the antioxidant capacity of vitamin C at a concentration of 50 (mg/ml), but it had more Fe reducing power than vitamin C. Therefore, it can be concluded that compared to pepsin, pancreatin had a greater ability to produce flaxseed protein hydrolysates with significant antioxidant properties. According to the results, flaxseed protein hydrolysates from pancreatin enzyme and a hydrolysis time of 160 minutes have the ability to be used in food formulations to produce functional products.

This study aimed to determine the effects of preharvest spraying of melatonin and postharvest immersion in xanthan gum on the quality and postharvest performance of Orlando tangelo mandarin fruits. After selecting suitable and uniform trees, melatonin foliar spraying was performed at three different concentrations: 0,100 μM, and 200 μM. Foliar spraying was performed one month before harvest and was repeated three times at weekly intervals. Furthermore, the fruits were immersed in two different concentrations of xanthan gum (0.1% and 0.2%) postharvest, these fruits were stored in a cold room at 5 ± 1 °C. Evaluation of fruit characteristics was carried out at the time of harvest and after 45 and 90 days of cold storage. The results showed that foliar spraying of melatonin at a concentration of 100 μM showed the highest weight and pulp of the fruit. Furthermore, melatonin treatment resulted in higher levels of ascorbic acid and increased fruit acidity compared to the control. During storage, fruits treated with melatonin and xanthan coatings showed better quality than those of the control. At the end of the experiment, the lowest weight loss was observed in fruits treated with 200 μM melatonin + 0.1% xanthan. The highest ascorbic acid content was observed in the 100 μM melatonin +0.1% xanthan. The maximum antioxidant activity was observed in 100 μM and 200 μM +0.1% xanthan and also 100 μM melatonin alone. In general, the findings suggest that preharvest foliar spraying and the postharvest application of xanthan coatings can be effective strategies for maintaining Orlando tangelo quality during cold storage.

Soy whey (SW) is a byproduct from tofu and soy protein isolate (SPI) production that contains various nutrients such as protein, amino acids, minerals, carbohydrates, isoflavones. In this study, SW was fermented with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with the aim to enhance total phenolic contents (TPC), Gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) and antioxidant activity. Eight different LAB strains were selected and the activity and cell counts of the most potent strains were investigated during fermentation. The results showed that all the isolates were able to grow in SW and the increase in incubation time led to significantly (p<0.05) decrease the pH of all samples from 5.75 to 4.5. Among eight LAB isolates, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum MCM4 and Weissella confusa MDM8 showed higher activity in terms of acid production, increase in TPC content and proteolytic activity. The sample fermented by L. plantarum MCM4 had the highest content of free amino acids (1.73 mg/ml) and the unfermented sample with 0.9 mg/ml had the lowest content. GABA concentration varied from 6.15 mg/mL (unfermented) to 24.175 mg/100 mL (SW fermented with L. plantarum MCM4). In this research, it was found that fermentation increased the antioxidant capacity of SW in such a way that the highest amount was observed in sample fermented with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum MCM4. A positive correlation (R2= +0.72) was found between viable cell counts and proteolysis. It can be concluded that, fermentation with L. plantarum MCM4 and W. confusa MDM8 can be applied as an approach to valorize SW.

The effects of traditional livestock farming on the environment and its limited scalability contribute to the persistent worldwide dilemma of food insecurity. Growing animal cells under regulated conditions has given rise to cultured meat, which might be a more ethical and ecological option. The potential of cultured meat to solve issues with food security is critically examined in this review article, which does so by thoroughly analyzing its effects on global food systems, sustainability prospects, technical breakthroughs, and related obstacles. Life cycle analyses show that the environmental impact of producing cultured meat is much lower than that of producing traditional meat. Significant scientific advancements have moved the production of cultured meat closer to commercial viability, including scaffold advances, tissue engineering, bioreactor design, and cell line optimization. There are still a number of formidable obstacles to overcome, including establishing large-scale manufacturing at a reasonable cost, negotiating intricate regulatory environments, guaranteeing product safety, and cultivating customer acceptability. To overcome these challenges and realize the promise of cultured meat to improve food and nutrition security while promoting environmental sustainability and animal welfare, an interdisciplinary strategy incorporating scientific, technical, regulatory, and social views is essential.