Optimization of process parameters for the production of jaggery infused osmo-dehydrated coconut chips

Enhancing physicochemical properties of papaya through osmotic dehydration with various natural sweeteners

Osmotic processes play a crucial role in developing high-quality intermediate moisture food products. This study investigates the role of osmotic dehydration focusing on using natural sweeteners to reduce health risks from refined sugar. Jaggery and honey were used for osmosis of papaya cubes, with a Box-Behnken design to determine optimal conditions: osmosis temperature (30, 40, 50 °C), osmotic solution concentration (40, 50, 60°Brix), and osmosis time (3, 4, 5 h). Simultaneous optimization of these parameters considered responses such as water loss, solid gain, weight reduction, colour change, ascorbic acid content, lycopene content, and phenolic content. The optimized conditions were identified as 49.46 °C, 40°Brix, and 5 h for jaggery osmosed samples and 39.64 °C, 60°Brix, and 4.92 h for honey osmosed samples. Drying the osmosed samples using advanced domestic solar dryer revealed superior quality (total phenolic content and lycopene content) in jaggery osmosed papaya compared to honey osmosed papaya. The study suggests that introducing a new osmotic agent, jaggery, can enhance the nutritional value of osmosed papaya cubes.

Unveiling the Influence of Osmotic Pretreatment on Dried Fruit Characteristics: A Meta-Analysis Approach

Considering the diverse findings regarding the impact of osmotic pretreatment on the quality of dried products, it is important to determine whether osmotic pretreatment can either maintain or reduce the quality of fruit products. Thus, the present study aimed to scrutinize research regarding the influence of osmotic pretreatment on the qualities of dried fruits through meta-analysis. The Scopus database was used to search for relevant articles. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses protocol, 26 studies that met the criteria for meta-analysis were identified. The presentation included statistics (mean, standard deviation, sample size) and moderator variables (fruit types, osmotic agents, solution concentrations, drying methods, and drying temperatures). After pooling data using a random effects model, the OpenMEE software was used to conduct meta-analysis. The results showed that osmo-dried fruits had significantly decreased total color difference, titratable acidity, total flavonoid content, and vitamins B1 and B3 (P<0.05) and significantly increased β-carotene and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl levels (P<0.05). Osmotic pretreatment did not affect total phenolic content and vitamin C. Subgroup analysis highlighted the influence of moderator variables on the quality of osmo-dried fruits, with each fruit responding differently to osmotic pretreatment. Moreover, using 10% sugar solution as an additive effectively enhanced the quality of dried fruits. In addition, osmotic dehydration can be combined with convective drying at a temperature of 60°C for optimal results in the drying process.

Effects of thermal and salt water soaking pre-treatment on the physicochemical and nutritional properties of sundried tilapia fish (Oreocromis niloticus) products

The effects of saltwater soaking (10-30 %, w/v) and thermal (60°C-90 °C) pre-treatment on the physicochemical and nutritional quality of sundried tilapia fish (Oreocromis niloticus) products were assessed. The wet reduction was 14.47 % in the sample treated with a 30 % salt solution at 90 °C, whereas the wet reduction of 21.23 % was observed in the sample without treatment (control). Protein, lipid, and ash content were increased significantly (P < 0.05) with higher pre-treatment salt concentration and temperature, while the moisture content showed the opposite trend. The content of essential and non-essential amino acids in the treated samples ranged from 7149.97 mg/100 g to 8063.42 mg/100 g and 10530.66 mg/100 g to 11365.59 mg/100 g, respectively, whereas the values were 7018.55 mg/100 g and 10400.84 mg/100 g, respectively in the control. The fatty acids composition, particularly ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, was higher in pretreated samples (6.14-7.08 %) compared to the control. Mineral content was found to improve with saltwater and thermal pre-treatment, and the levels of heavy metals, including Ni and Cu, were significantly lower in the sundried tilapia fish. The sample pretreated with 10 % salt solution and 75 °C showed the highest rehydration capacity of 66.63 %. These findings suggest that saltwater and thermal pre-treatment can effectively enhance the physicochemical and nutritional properties of sundried tilapia fish products.

Effect of incorporation of wheat bran, rice bran and banana peel powder on the mesostructure and physicochemical characteristics of biscuits

Various types of natural fiber-rich ingredients are added into bakery-based products to improve their fiber content for health promotional purposes. But the majority of these products usually include exotic dietary fiber components. The aim of this study was to develop biscuits incorporated with wheat bran, rice bran and banana peel powder and to evaluate the effects on physicochemical properties and sensory acceptability of these different biscuit samples. Wheat bran, rice bran and banana peel powder was used to substitute refined wheat flour in biscuit samples at different levels (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30%). The effect of wheat bran, rice bran and banana peel powder incorporation on proximate composition, physical characteristics, texture profile, color and sensory evaluation of biscuit samples were investigated. The moisture content of the product showed a significant (p ≤ 0.01) decreasing trend while as protein showed increasing trend with increasing level of incorporation of wheat bran, rice bran and banana peel powder. Also there was a considerable effect on L*(darkness to lightness), a*(greeness to redness), and b*(blueness to yellowness) values of biscuit samples. Among the physical parameters diameter and thickness decreased non-significantly (p ≤ 0.01) with the addition of different fibers whereas spread ratio and weight increases. Sensory attributes showed a significant (p ≤ 0.01) increasing trend with an increase in the level of incorporation of different fibers. Based on sensory evaluation biscuits prepared with 15% wheat bran, 15% rice bran, and 10% banana peel powder were rated best. The biscuits were packed in high density polyethylene (HDPE) boxes and were analyzed on different intervals viz. 0, 30, and 60th day. In samples of optimized biscuits, the ash content, protein, fat and color exhibited a non- significant tendency of declining over storage. It was discovered that the ash content dropped from0.86 to 0.67% in Wb4, 0.95 to 0.75% in Rb4, and 1.15to 0.92% in Bpp3. However there was a considerable increase in moisture content during storage.

Advanced osmotic dehydration techniques combined with emerging drying methods for sustainable food production: Impact on bioactive components, texture, color, and sensory properties of food

The food industries are looking for potential preservation methods for fruits and vegetables. The combination of osmosis and drying has proved the efficient method to improve the food quality. Osmotic dehydration is a mass transfer process in which water molecules from the food move to an osmo-active solution and the solutes from the solution migrate into the food. Advanced osmotic dehydration techniques such as electric field pulse treatment, ultrasonic and microwave-assisted dehydration, pulsed vacuum, and osmodehydrofreezing can improve the nutritional quality (bioactive) and sensory properties (color, texture, aroma, flavor) of fresh and cut-fruits without changing their reliability. Emerging osmotic dehydration technologies can preserve the structure of fruit tissue by forming microscopic channels and increasing effective water diffusivity. However, it is important to analyze the effect of advanced osmotic dehydration techniques on the quality of food products to understand the industrial scalability of these techniques. The present paper discusses the impact of recent osmotic dehydration techniques on bioactive, antioxidant capacity, color, and sensory profile of food.

Mathematical Description of Changes of Dried Apple Characteristics during Their Rehydration

The mathematical description of changes of dried apples characteristics (mass gain, volume increase, dry matter loss, rehydration indices, and colour) during their rehydration was performed. The effect of conditions of both processes on model parameters were also considered. Apple slices (3 and 10 mm) and cubes (10 mm) were dried in natural convection (drying air velocity 0.01 m/s), forced convection (0.5 and 2 m/s), and fluidisation (6 m/s). Drying air temperatures (Td) were equal to 50, 60, and 70 °C. The rehydration process was carried out in distilled water at the temperatures (Tr) of 20, 45, 70, and 95 °C. Mass gain, volume increase, and dry matter loss were modelled using the following empirical models: Peleg, Pilosof–Boquet–Batholomai, Singh and Kulshrestha, Lewis (Newton), Henderson–Pabis, Page, and modified Page. Colour changes were described through applying the first-order model. Artificial neural networks (feedforward multilayer perceptron) were applied to make the rehydration indices and colour variations (ΔE) dependent on characteristic dimension, Td, drying air velocity, and Tr. The Page and the modified Page models can be considered to be the most appropriate in order to characterise the mass gain (RMSE = 0.0143–0.0619) and the volume increase (RMSE = 0.0142–0.1130), whereas the Peleg, Pilosof–Bouquet–Batholomai, and Singh and Kulshrestha models were found to be the most appropriate to characterise dry matter loss (RMSE = 0.0116–0.0454). The ANNs described rehydration indices and ΔE satisfactorily (RMSE = 0.0567–0.0802). Both considered process conditions influenced (although in different degree) the changes of the considered dried apple characteristics during their rehydration.

Optimization of Pulsed Electric Fields-Assisted Extraction of Phenolic Compounds From White Grape Pomace Using Response Surface Methodology

This study was focused on the optimization of the pulsed electric fields (PEF)-assisted extraction process using central composite design for response surface methodology from response surface methodology (RSM) with the aim to sustainably intensify the extractability of phenolic compounds from white grape pomace. The cell disintegration index (Zp) was used as response variable to identify the optimal PEF pre-treatment conditions of grape pomace in terms of field strength (E = 0.5–5 kV/cm) and energy input (WT = 1–20 kJ/kg), to be applied prior to the subsequent solid-liquid extraction (SLE) process. for both untreated and PEF-treated samples SLE process was optimized to determine the most effective combination of extraction temperature (20–50°C), extraction time (30–300 min), and solvent concentration (0–100% ethanol in water). Total phenolic content (TPC), flavonoid content (FC), and antioxidant activity (FRAP) of the obtained extracts were determined. The extracted compounds from untreated and PEF-treated samples at the optimal conditions were analyzed via HPLC-PDA analysis. Results revealed that, at a fixed extraction temperature (50°C), the application of PEF at optimal processing conditions (E = 3.8 kV/cm, WT = 10 kJ/kg) prior to SLE has the potential to reduce the solvent consumption (3–12%) and shorten the extraction time (23–103 min) to obtain the same recovery yield of phenolic compounds. Under optimized conditions, the extracts derived from PEF-treated samples showed significantly higher TPC (8%), FC (31%), and FRAP (36%) values, as compared to the control extraction. HPLC analyses revealed that epicatechin, p-coumaric acid, and quercetin were among the main phenolic compounds extracted, and no degradation phenomena occurred due to PEF application.