Effect of calcium on the fouling of whey protein isolate on stainless steel using QCM-D

Effects of steaming on physicochemical and emulsification properties of gum arabic

Gum arabic finds extensive application and typically undergoes sterilization prior to utilization in the food industry. This study explored the impact of steam sterilization temperature and duration on the physicochemical and emulsification characteristics of gum arabic, accompanied by proposed mechanisms elucidating observed effects. The results showed that when gum arabic was treated with high temperature sterilization (110 °C ∼ 140 °C), the emulsion prepared turned unstable. The interfacial tension decreased from 8.26 mN/m to 6.77 mN/m after sterilization, while the elastic modulus decreased from 23.65 mN/m to 16.16 mN/m. Moreover, the circular dichroic chromatographic results indicated that the arabinogalactan protein (AGP) structure of gum arabic was more relaxed after high temperature treatment with β-sheets content decreased from 36.2 % to 29.8 % and random coil content increased from 41.3 % to 51.8 %. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) results demonstrated that emulsion surface film thickness and toughness decreased after sterilization treatment of gum arabic. The study indicates that high temperature sterilization may change protein structure in gum arabic and reduce the stability of prepared emulsions.

Monitoring and Characterization of Milk Fouling on Stainless Steel Using a High-Pressure High-Temperature Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation

Fouling at interfaces deteriorates the efficiency and hygiene of processes within numerous industrial sectors, including the oil and gas, biomedical device, and food industries. In the food industry, the fouling of a complex food matrix to a heated stainless steel surface reduces production efficiency by increasing heating resistance, pumping requirements, and the frequency of cleaning operations. In this work, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) was used to study the interface formed by the fouling of milk on a stainless steel surface at different flow rates and protein concentrations at high temperatures (135 °C). Subsequently, the QCM-D response was recorded during the cleaning of the foulant. Two phases of fouling were identified. During phase-1, the fouling rate was dependent on the flow rate, while the fouling rate during phase-2 was dependent on the flow rate and protein concentration. During cleaning, foulants deposited at the higher flow rate swelled more than those deposited at the lower flow rate. The composition of the fouling deposits consisted of both protein and mineral species. Two crystalline phases of calcium phosphate, β-tricalcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite, were identified at both flow rates. Stratification in topography was observed across the surface of the QCM-D sensor with a brittle and cracked structure for deposits formed at 0.2 mL/min and a smooth and close-packed structure for deposits formed at 0.1 mL/min. These stratifications in the composition and topography were correlated to differences in the reaction time and flow dynamics at different flow rates. This high-temperature application of QCM-D to complex food systems illuminates the initial interaction between proteins and minerals and a stainless steel surface, which might otherwise be undetectable in low-temperature applications of QCM-D or at larger bench and industrial scales. The methods and results presented here have implications for optimizing processing scenarios that limit fouling formation while also enhancing removal during cleaning.

Molecular Understanding of Fouling Induction and Removal: Effect of the Interface Temperature on Milk Deposits

Molecular details concerning the induction phase of milk fouling on stainless steel at an elevated temperature range were established to better understand the effect of temperature on surface fouling during pasteurization. The liquid-solid interface that replicates an industrial heat exchanger (≤75°C), including four stages (preheating, heating, holding, and cooling), was investigated using both a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D) and a customized flow cell. We found that the milk fouling induction process is rate-limited by the synergistic effects of bulk reactions, mass transfer, and surface reactions, all of which are controlled by both liquid and surface temperatures. Surface milk foulant becomes more rigid and compact as it builds up. The presence of protein aggregates in the bulk fluid leads to a fast formation of surface deposit with a reduced Young's modulus. Foulant adhesion and cohesion strength was enhanced as both interfacial temperature and processing time increased, while removal force increased with an increasing deposit thickness. During cleaning, caustic swelling and removal showed semilinear correlations with surface temperature (T_S), where higher T_S reduced swelling and enhanced removal. Our findings evidence that adsorption kinetics, characteristics of the foulant, and the subsequent removal mechanism are greatly dependent on the temperature profile, of which the surface temperature is the most critical one.

Innovative fouling-resistant materials for industrial heat exchangers: a review

Fouling of heat exchangers (HEs) has become a major concern across the industrial sector. Fouling is an omnipresent phenomenon but is particularly prevalent in the dairy, oil, and energy industries. Reduced energy performance that results from fouling represents significant operating loss in terms of both maintenance and impact on product quality and safety. In most industries, cleaning or replacing HEs are currently the only viable solutions for controlling fouling. This review examines the latest advances in the development of innovative materials and coatings for HEs that could mitigate the need for costly and frequent cleaning and potentially extend their operational life. To better understand the correlation between surface properties and fouling occurrence, we begin by providing an overview of the main mechanisms underlying fouling. We then present selected key strategies, which can differ considerably, for developing antifouling surfaces and conclude by discussing the current trends in the search for ideal materials for a range of applications. In our presentation of all these aspects, emphasis is given wherever possible to the potential transfer of these innovative surfaces from the laboratory to the three industries most concerned by HE fouling problems: food, petrochemicals, and energy production.

Impacts of Natural Organic Matter Adhesion on Irreversible Membrane Fouling during Surface Water Treatment Using Ultrafiltration

To understand impacts of organic adhesion on membrane fouling, ultrafiltration (UF) membrane fouling by dissolved natural organic matter (NOM) was investigated in the presence of background cations (Na⁺ and Ca²⁺) at typical concentrations in surface water. Moreover, NOM adhesion on the UF membrane was investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) with colloidal probes and a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). The results indicated that the adhesion forces at the NOM-membrane interface increased in the presence of background cations, particularly Ca²⁺, and that the amount of adhered NOM increased due to reduced electrostatic repulsion. However, the membrane permeability was almost not affected by background cations in the pore blocking-dominated phase but was aggravated to some extent in the cake filtration-governed phase. More importantly, the irreversible NOM fouling was not correlated with the amount of adhered NOM. The assumption for membrane autopsies is doubtful that retained or adsorbed organic materials are necessarily a primary cause of membrane fouling, particularly the irreversible fouling.

Interactions of Whey Proteins with Metal Ions

Whey proteins tend to interact with metal ions, which have implications in different fields related to human life quality. There are two impacts of such interactions: they can provide opportunities for applications in food and nutraceuticals, but may lead to analytical challenges related to their study and outcomes for food processing, storage, and food interactions. Moreover, interactions of whey proteins with metal ions are complicated, requiring deep understanding, leading to consequences, such as metalloproteins, metallocomplexes, nanoparticles, or aggregates, creating a biologically active system. To understand the phenomena of metal-protein interactions, it is important to develop analytical approaches combined with studies of changes in the biological activity and to analyze the impact of such interactions on different fields. The aim of this review was to discuss chemistry of β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, and lactotransferrin, their interactions with different metal ions, analytical techniques used to study them and the implications for food and nutraceuticals.

A label-free "SEF-FRET" fluorescent sensing platform for ultrasensitive DNA detection based on AgNPs SAMs

In this paper, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) with different lengths were used to control the distance between carbon dots (CDs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in self-assembled multilayers (SAMs). Surface-enhanced fluorescence and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (SEF-FRET) could be achieved based on changing DNA strands. The fluorescence intensity of CDs SAMs with 6-base DNA strands could be enhanced up to ca. 5.6 times by AgNPs. As-fabricated CDs SAMs with excellent luminescent properties, superior stability have been employed for the development of a label-free fluorescence sensing platform for DNA detection. Since DNA would hybridize with the complemented one which was attached on the surface of SAMs, resulting in a close distance between CDs and AgNPs, FRET could thus occur between AgNPs and CDs, resulting in quenching the fluorescence of CDs SAMs. This sensitive sensing platform could show excellent analytical performance for detecting DNA with a linear response ranging from 93.07 pM to 5.433 nM and a detection limit of 16.36 pM, which could be further employed to probe human blood samples. This could prove a promising method for the detection of DNA.