Nano‐emulsion of saffron essential oil by spontaneous emulsification and ultrasonic homogenization extend the shelf life of shrimp ( Crocus sativus L.)

Emulsion-Based Coatings for Preservation of Meat and Related Products

One of the biggest challenges faced by the meat industry is maintaining the freshness of meat while extending its shelf life. Advanced packaging systems and food preservation techniques are highly beneficial in this regard. However, the energy crisis and environmental pollution demand an economically feasible and environmentally sustainable preservation method. Emulsion coatings (ECs) are highly trending in the food packaging industry. Efficiently developed coatings can preserve food, increase nutritional composition, and control antioxidants' release simultaneously. However, their construction has many challenges, especially for meat. Therefore, the following review focuses on the essential aspects of developing ECs for meat. The study begins by classifying emulsions based on composition and particle size, followed by a discussion on the physical properties, such as ingredient separation, rheology, and thermal characteristics. Furthermore, it discusses the lipid and protein oxidation and antimicrobial characteristics of ECs, which are necessary for other aspects to be relevant. Lastly, the review presents the limitations of the literature while discussing the future trends. ECs fabricated with antimicrobial/antioxidant properties present promising results in increasing the shelf life of meat while preserving its sensory aspects. In general, ECs are highly sustainable and effective packaging systems for meat industries.

When Bubbles Are Not Spherical: Artificial Intelligence Analysis of Ultrasonic Cavitation Bubbles in Solutions of Varying Concentrations

Ultrasonic irradiation of liquids, such as water-alcohol solutions, results in cavitation or the formation of small bubbles. Cavitation bubbles are generated in real solutions without the use of optical traps making our system as close to real conditions as possible. Under the action of the ultrasound, bubbles can grow, oscillate, and eventually collapse or decompose. We apply the mathematical method of separation of motions to interpret the acoustic effect on the bubbles. While in most situations, the spherical shape of a bubble is the most energetically profitable as it minimizes the surface energy, when the acoustic frequency is in resonance with the natural frequency of the bubble, shapes with the dihedral symmetry emerge. Some of these resonance shapes turn unstable, so the bubble decomposes. It turns out that bubbles in the solutions of different concentrations (with different surface energies and densities) attain different evolution paths. While it is difficult to obtain a deterministic description of how the solution concentration affects bubble dynamics, it is possible to separate images with different concentrations by applying the artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm. An ANN was trained to detect the concentration of alcohol in a water solution based on the bubble images. This indicates that artificial intelligence (AI) methods can complement deterministic analysis in nonequilibrium, near-unstable situations.

Application of oil-in-water nanoemulsions based on grape and cinnamon essential oils for shelf-life extension of chilled flathead mullet fillets

BACKGROUND

The effect of nanoemulsions prepared with grape seed and cinnamon essential oils on the shelf-life of flathead mullet (Mugil cephalus) fillets was evaluated by determining physicochemical (pH, free fatty acids, peroxide value, total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs)), sensory and microbiological (mesophilic aerobic bacteria, total psychrophilic bacteria, and Enterobacteriaceae counts) properties during 14 day storage at 2 °C.

RESULTS

The nanoemulsions showed good stability and low average droplet size. The results indicated that nanoemulsion treatments significantly prolonged the shelf-life of the fillets. Treatment inhibited increases in pH and TVB-N, and retarded lipid oxidation and hydrolysis. Sensory assessment revealed that treatment induced shelf-life extension from 10 to 14 days, compared with controls. Microbiological analyses showed nanoemulsion treatment caused shelf-life extension from 10 to 12 days with reduction of microbiological contamination by up to 1 log cfu g^-1 in mesophilic and 1.5 log cfu g^-1 in psychrotrophic bacteria.

CONCLUSION

Considering the results, grape seed and cinnamon essential oil nanoemulsions could be considered as novel antimicrobial and antioxidant materials for shelf-life extension of flathead mullet fillets during cold storage. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.