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The development of pesticides has significantly advanced global agricultural production, but the ensuing problem of pesticide residues poses a severe threat to human health. So, there is an urgent need to establish a rapid, accurate, sensitive, cost-effective and on-site method for large-scale detection of pesticide residues. Electrochemical paper-based analytical devices (ePADs) represents a highly sensitive and portable microanalysis system, which uses paper as a substrate and relies on a capillary force to drive the fluid for the separation and detection of samples. The diversity of pesticides and agricultural products and the complexity of matrices impose high requirements on the sample preparation procedure. This article summarizes the preparation process of ePADs from the aspects of paper selection, the establishment of hydrophilic and hydrophobic channels, the integration of separation zones, and electrode printing. Subsequently, this paper establishes the relationship between pesticide detection and chip preparation based on the mechanism of electrochemical detection of pesticides. Finally, it discusses the advantages, challenges and future prospects of ePADs with a view to providing theoretical reference for enhanced application of ePADs in the field of pesticide residue detection.

A flexible wipe paper for rapid nondestructive detection of ferbam residues on the surface of fruits and vegetables by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was prepared using filter paper as the substate by a simple soaking method. The synthesis and storage conditions were optimized to ensure that the SERS method has excellent performance. The results showed that concentration factor of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), soaking time in AgNP solution and drying method greatly affected the performance of the SERS wipe paper. The performance under the condition of soaking for 8 h in a 5-fold concentrate of AgNP solution was significantly better than that under other conditions. The SERS wipe paper prepared by vacuum drying had better performance that those prepared by other drying methods. After 9 days of storage at −20 ℃, the optimized substrate retained approximately 50% of the original peak value. Besides, it exhibited good sensitivity, uniformity, and repeatability. The limit of detection (LOD) for ferbam on a glass plate was 4.07 × 10-6 mg/mL, and the LOD for ferbam on the surface of spinach and nectarine were 0.043 and 0.062 mg/kg, respectively. This study provides an excellent basis for the development and utilization of SERS wipe paper.

Based on the selective quenching effect of the flavonoid rutin on the fluorescence of carbon dots prepared by asparagine pyrolysis, a method for rapid detection of rutin content in the flower buds of Sophora japonica by using chitosan-based carbon dot paper chip was developed. A filter paper was immersed in the casting solution of carbon dots and chitosan. After drying, a carbon dot chitosan film was formed on the surface of the filter paper, so that the chitosan-based carbon dot paper chip was obtained. After samples were dripped on the chip, chromogenic reaction occurred uniformly within a limited region, and pictures were taken under an ultraviolet (UV) lamp at 365 nm for analysis of the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) values of the colored spots in order to optimize the preparation conditions and detection conditions. The results showed that the optimal conditions were as follows: chitosan concentration of 20 mg/mL, carbon spot concentration of 1.0 mg/mL, 50% ethanol as sample solvent, and reaction time of 20 min. Under these conditions, the difference (ΔG) in G-value between sample and solvent spots had a linear relationship with rutin concentration (C) in the range of 4 to 120 mg/mL. Using this method, the average contents of rutin in the flower buds of S. japonica from three batches were determined to be 23.85%, 22.83% and 20.30%, the average relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 6.1%, 5.6% and 6.7%, and the recoveries were 91.27% to 107.5%, which were close to the results of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The proposed method is simple and rapid, and can be used for rapid on-site determination of rutin content in the flower buds of S. japonica.

“Lab on paper” is a paper-based microanalytical system with unique advantages such as high sensitivity, low cost, portability, and mass production, which breaks through the limitations of traditional detection technologies and shows great potential in the field of rapid on-site food detection. In this paper, the typical “labs on paper”, including chromatographic paper, chemical test chip, lateral flow assay (LFA), microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs), and synthetic biological paper, are systematically reviewed. Special emphasis is put on the application of “lab on paper” in the field of food detection. Finally, the advantages, challenges, and future prospects of paper-based analytic methods are discussed, which may provide theoretical support for better application of “lab on paper” in the field of food detection.

The cell-free biosensor is a tool designed to detect trace substances based on a cell-free system, which solves the problems of the traditional cell-based biosensor including having no ability to detect toxic substances, long response time, being controlled by living cells, and inconvenient operation. In recent years, cell-free biosensors have attracted extensive attention for their wide detection range, fast response speed, high sensitivity and portability. In this paper, the construction and characteristics of different types of cell-free sensors are reviewed. In addition, their applications in the detection of metal ions, pesticide residues and veterinary drug residues are introduced, and future prospects also are discussed.

In recent years, with the significant rise in global obesity rate, the demand for sugar substitutes such as artificial sweeteners (AS) has soared, but the safety of AS remains controversial. New research from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the journal Nature suggests that long-term consumption of AS may have negative health effects. Currently, the standards on the use of AS in different countries are different, and the mechanism of the health impact of long-term AS consumption is not clear. Therefore, based on recent research results related to AS, this review paper focuses on the human health effect of AS and the current domestic and foreign standards on AS. It elaborates on the relationship between AS and gut microbes, obesity and diabetes, lipid metabolism, cardiovascular disease and cancer, and summarizes the current Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), US, EU, Japanese and Chinese standards on AS. In addition, this paper also discusses the key issue of how to determine standards on AS addition in the food industry in order to provide a reference for future research in this field.

Polysaccharides are a class of natural macromolecular polymers with complex and large molecular structures, which are closely related to their biological activities. However, traditional analytical methods can only provide limited information on the structures of polysaccharides. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical method that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of molecules allowing for determination of the mass and calculation of the the molecular structure. As a powerful tool for polysaccharide structure analysis, MS can provide rich information, including molecular mass, polymerization degree, monosaccharide composition, glycosidic bond type, the order of arrangement of glycosyl groups, and substituent group sites, which has unique advantages in the characterization of polysaccharide structure. This paper summarizes the general pattern of mass spectral fragmentation of polysaccharides, introduces the principles and characteristics of different types of MS as well as representative applications of MS combined with electron ionization source, fast atom bombardment source, electrospray ionization source, matrix-assisted laser desorption ion source, real-time direct analysis source, ion mobility or tandem mass spectrometry for the structural elucidation of polysaccharides. Furthermore, future prospects for the application of new MS techniques for analyzing the structures of polysaccharides are discussed. The aim of this paper is to summarize the application of MS to provide scientific reference for the basic research work of polysaccharide compounds, such as quality standard, structural characterization, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetic, constitutive relationship, and the development and creation of polysaccharide food, health food, and clinical drugs.

Hyperuricemia (HUA) is a purine metabolism disorder caused by the imbalance between uric acid production and excretion, which, when severe, can lead to gout and renal function damage. At present, the prevalence of HUA/gout is increasing yearly in China and the HUA/gout patients are becoming younger and younger. Recent studies have shown that the intestinal flora of patients with HUA/gout is imbalanced when compared with that of healthy people, and different dietary patterns can affect the level of uric acid by adjusting the intestinal flora. This paper elaborates on the characteristics of the intestinal flora in patients with HUA/gout and the effect of the intestinal flora on uric acid metabolism, which will lay a theoretical foundation for the prevention, early diagnosis and auxiliary treatment of HUA/gout. This paper also summarizes recent progress in understanding the impact of different dietary patterns on uric acid levels in order to guide patients to effectively prevent and delay the occurrence of HUA/gout by adjusting their dietary patterns.

Sweet potato is a kind of low-calorie root food that has also been used for medicinal purpose. It is rich in a variety of essential nutrients and bioactive ingredients for the human body, and can be used to prevent various diseases. The quality of sweet potato directly affects its product quality, classification and quality grading and economic value. Rapid and efficient detection technologies play an important role in ensuring the quality and safety of sweet potato. Many studies on the rapid detection and analysis of sweet potato quality based on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) have been reported. This paper comprehensively summarizes recent progress in the application of NIRS in the detection of the general chemical components (protein, starch, sugar, and water), active components (flavonoids and carotenoids), adulterants, heavy metals and microbial contamination in sweet potato as well as in its varietal identification. Moreover, this paper proposes future trends and research priorities for the application of NIRS in the quality detection of sweet potato. This review is expected to provide more references for further improvement of rapid quality assessment of sweet potato by NIRS and for the development of related fast testing equipment.

Egg yolk is an important food ingredient because of its outstanding nutritional value and emulsifying properties. The insoluble particle structure present in egg yolk and heat treatment during food processing may lead to poor stability of egg yolk emulsion. Hydrolysis, as a safe, efficient and low-energy modification method, has been widely used in studies on improving the emulsifying properties of egg yolk. In this paper, the effects of hydrolysis on the molecular structure, physicochemical properties and emulsifying characteristics of egg yolk are reviewed. Taking into account the actual needs of production, the formation mechanism and removal process of off-flavor in egg yolk hydrolysis products are discussed. Finally, this review summarizes the application of the emulsifying properties of egg yolk in the field of food processing, with a view to providing theoretical references for research on the hydrolytic modification of egg yolk.

In the traditional sharing mode, the risk information of food full-process and all-information is sensitive and easy to leak, the self-interest and complete autonomy of centralized servers and malicious nodes easily give rise to malicious behaviors, cross-link interactions are difficult to deal with, and the single purposes causes low utilization of data. In view of these problems, this paper proposes a trusted sharing model for risk information of food full-process and all-information based on blockchain and federated learning. First, based on analysis of the information sharing needs of food companies and regulatory agencies, federal learning was integrated into a hierarchical blockchain architecture, and the relay concept was used to construct the trusted sharing model. Next, the federated learning process was divided into horizontal and vertical federated learning processes based on the characteristics and categories of risk information, and two federated learning aggregation algorithms were used to achieve the aggregation of data. Then, in response to the different needs of sharing risk information within and between enterprises, and between enterprises and regulatory agencies, homomorphic encryption algorithms and zero-knowledge proof were utilized for hierarchical encryption and targeted trusted sharing of risk information with different sensitivities. Finally, this model was validated by applying it to food safety risk assessment based on the food risk information disclosure dataset and open-source platforms. The results showed that the trusted sharing model could meet the different risk information sharing needs of enterprises and regulatory agencies, and achieve the full utilization as well as safe, credible, efficient and accurate sharing of risk information, thereby strengthening the determination of food enterprises and regulatory agencies to share data, and promoting the development of trusted data sharing and food safety digitalization in the food industry.

Edible mushrooms, including cultivated and wild mushroom, are highly susceptible to absorption and accumulation of metal(loid)s from soils. Mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As) are typical toxic metal(loid)s in soils, which are readily absorbed by edible mushrooms, transported and enriched via the food chain and finally enters the human body, posing potential risks to food safety. The accumulation and potential risks of As and Hg in edible mushrooms (especially wild mushrooms) have attracted increasing attention, but a systematic review on their pollution characteristics and absorption mechanisms is lacking. Therefore, this paper reviews the concentrations and distribution characteristics (in the cap and stipe) of As and Hg in cultivated and wild mushrooms, with a focus on the accumulation ability, transportation ability and uptake modes (passive adsorption on the cell surface and active uptake within cells), which provides basic information for comparative analysis of differences in As and Hg absorption, enrichment and distribution between cultivated and wild mushrooms, and provide theoretical support for in-depth studies on the process and mechanism of metal(loid)s accumulation in edible mushrooms. This review is of practical significance for the prevention and control of the risk of heavy metals accumulation in edible mushrooms and for protecting the safety of edible mushrooms.

Honey, as a natural sweet substance, has always been favored by consumers due to its various functional activities, such as regulating the gastrointestinal tract, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. However, the production of honey is far less than the market demand for it, so driven by interests, honey is often adulterated, leading to quality deterioration. The adulteration of honey seriously undermines its natural attributes, having a negative impact on the honey industry. To safeguard the interests of consumers and producers, uphold the industry’s reputation, and promote its sustainable development, it is crucial to establish and improve methods for assessing honey authenticity. This article reviews the major methods for identifying the authenticity of honey, including traditional analytical techniques, targeted and non-targeted analytical techniques. In particular, the characteristic components in honey have been used for the identification of honey authenticity in recent years, which is achieved directly by analyzing the overall properties and chemical characteristics of honey are consistent with each other or not, but not relying on any prior knowledge of the adulterants. This paper aims to provide theoretical references for the authenticity identification of honey.

Postmortem muscle is highly susceptible to oxidative conditions, thus leading to deterioration of meat quality in terms of tenderness, color, and water-holding capacity (WHC). Therefore, the regulation of the oxidation mechanism is a major concern in research on postmortem meat quality. Reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are free radicals and nitro compounds with high oxidation activity derived from the interaction between nitric oxide (NO) and compounds including reactive oxygen species (ROS). RNS not only regulates mitochondria to promote cellular metabolic function, but also mediates mitochondrial damage to induce cell apoptosis, thereby regulating the quality of postmortem meat. Relevant research results need to be summarized urgently. Therefore, this paper provides an overview of the production and metabolism of RNS in cells, elaborates on the mechanism by which RNS regulates normal physiological functions of cells through mitochondria, induces cell apoptosis through causing mitochondrial damage and mediates oxidation mechanism including lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation, and discusses the mechanism by which RNS affect the tenderness, color, and WHC of postmortem muscle. We anticipate that this review will provide a theoretical reference for improving postmortem ageing.

In this study, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to analyze the chemical components of the essential oil extracted from the fruits of Aipinia oxyhylla Miq. (AOEO) by steam distillation. To evaluate the antimicrobial activity of AOEO against Listeria monocytogenes, the inhibitory zone diameter, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined by means of filter paper and micro-double dilution methods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were performed to observe the effect of AOEO on bacterial morphology. The antibacterial mechanism was investigated by measuring the growth curve, the change of electrical conductivity, the leakage of intracellular macromolecules, the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA). The results showed that a total of 45 chemical components were identified in AOEO, mainly including terpenes, aromatic hydrocarbons and oxygen-containing derivatives. Among them, valencene, nootkatone, 2,6,10,10-tetramethylbicyclo[7.2.0]undeca-1,6-diene, (2S,4aR,8aR)-4a,8-dimethyl-2-(prop-1-en-2-yl)-1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,8a-octahydronaphthalene, (2R,8R,8aS)-8,8a-dimethyl-2-(prop-1-en-2-yl)-1,2,3,7,8,8a-hexahydronaphthalene and p-cymene were predominant. AOEO significantly inhibited the growth of L. monocytogenes with an inhibitory zone diameter of 14.20 mm. The MIC and MBC were 0.195 and 0.781 mg/mL, respectively. The growth curve showed that the antimicrobial activity of AOEO was concentration-dependent. SEM and TEM showed that AOEO destroyed the morphological structure of L. monocytogenes and changed the permeability of the cell membrane, thereby causing the leakage of a large number of electrolytes and macromolecular contents (nucleic acids and proteins) out of the cells. The dynamic balance of the SOD system was also destroyed by the oil while inducing the generation of a large number of free radicals, thus resulting in increased levels of lipid oxidation and MDA content in the cells. Therefore, AOEO inhibited the growth of L. monocytogenes and causes cell apoptosis by causing a series of cellular changes. This could be due to the synergistic action of multiple components and multiple targets of AOEO. Terpenes, aromatic hydrocarbons and ketones were tentatively identified as the major antibacterial substances of AOEO. This study provides a scientific theoretical basis for the development and utilization of Aipinia oxyhylla Miq. as a natural bacteriostatic agent in the food industry.

Solid-state fermentation in mud pits is a typical brewing process for nongxiangxing baijiu and fuyuxiangxing baijiu. Pit mud is the functional carrier of mud pits, in which the abundance, diversity, metabolic activity and interaction of microorganisms could directly affect the quality of baijiu. This paper reviews the application of traditional culture and non-culture techniques in research on microorganisms in pit mud, the spatiotemporal differences in microbial community structure, the functional microorganisms and their interactions, the development and improvement of the methods for the quality evaluation of pit mud, and pit mud maintenance and aging focusing on the functional strains, and summarizes the development history and application status of different techniques in the field of research on microorganisms related to the production of Chinese baijiu, the growth and decline patterns of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms during pit mud aging, the spatial difference in the distribution of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms in the pit, and the functions and interdependence of the core functional microorganisms in pit mud such as caproic acid bacteria, butyric acid bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria and methane bacteria, the reason for pit mud aging, the transformation of the criteria for quality evaluation pit mud from traditional sensory and physicochemical analysis to the comprehensive evaluation system, and studies on pit mud maintenance and aging based on the functional properties of core strains. The purpose of this review is to provide a reference for evaluating the microbial diversity, exploring the metabolic function of microbial community and improving the quality of pit mud.

Ultrasonic-assisted thermal treatment, as a mild and effective emerging sterilization technology, has been successfully used to control the microbial safety of various foods. In particular, it has broad application prospects in the field of dairy processing. Ultrasonic provides a unique strategy to dynamically inactivate bacteria, which plays a significant positive role in alleviating the pressure on the dairy supply chain and reducing the economic loss caused by dairy spoilage. This article reviews the research progress that has been made in the past decade on the mechanism behind the ultrasonic-assisted thermal sterilization of Bacillus subtilis in terms of the cavitation effect of ultrasonic, damage to the cell wall and membrane, generation of free radicals and antibacterial substances, and damage to cell metabolism-related enzymes. A new sterilization method for controlling the number of bacteria contaminating dairy products is proposed in this paper, aiming to provide a reference for better research and application of this technology for controlling the contamination of heat-resistant Bacillus during the storage and processing of dairy products, reducing the risk of dairy quality deterioration caused by the residue of heat-resistant Bacillus, and ensuring the quality and safety of dairy products during its shelf life.

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, which can form ectomycorrhiza with plants, are an important link between the above-ground symbiotic plants and the subsurface ecosystems, and many of them are nutritious and delicious food. ECM fungi promote the absorption of mineral nutrients by plants, especially for limiting mineral elements such as phosphorus, thereby improving the growth of plants. It is generally believed that ECM fungi acquire mineral nutrients from soil mainly through their weathering effect on soil minerals that are difficult to degrade, but the weathering process and mechanisms are still not clear. Through field investigation, strain isolation and weathering tests, it is found that many ECM fungi cannot weather minerals by up-regulating the synthesis of small molecular organic acids, showing a weak ability to weather mineral. Particularly, they cannot use phosphorus in apatite independently. Bio-omics studies find that in forest soils, some ECM fungi with weaker weathering ability can promote the dissolution of minerals by enrichment of mineral-weathering bacteria, and absorb dissolved mineral nutrients to supply host plants through their high-affinity ion transport systems. In addition, ECM fungi can enrich special versatile oxalate-degrading bacteria (such as those that have the capability of nitrogen fixation and promoting mycorrhizal formation) to eliminate the inhibitory effect of excess oxalate on mineral weathering and nutrient absorption. It has been confirmed that ECM fungi can regulate the rhizosphere microbial community structure and promote the mutually cooperative relationship among plants, fungi and bacteria to maintain a healthy and sustainable forest ecosystem. This paper reviews the symbiotic strategies of ECM fungi from the perspective of mineral weathering, puts forward new ideas for increasing the biomass of edible fungi in woodlands and promoting the sustainability of woodland ecosystems, and gives an outlook on future research directions in this field.

Acylation is a common method for chemical modification of proteins, which can effectively improve the functional properties of proteins and has been widely used in food processing in recent years. The effect of acylation on protein modification is related to the degree of modification, and low degree of acylation modification can significantly improve the solubility, thermal stability, foaming and emulsifying properties, gelation properties, film-forming properties and nutritional quality of proteins. This paper reviews the effect of acylation modification on protein structure, physicochemical properties, and functional properties, as well as the application of acylated proteins in food and other fields. Hopefully, this review will provide a theoretical reference for protein modification research.

Flavor substances endow foods with unique characteristics, which determine the aroma and taste sensory attributes of foods, directly affect food quality and reflect the characteristic quality and quality requirements of foods. Flavor substances play an important role in the research, production and consumption of foods, and deep research, development and utilization of flavor substances are important for the development of the food industry. In this paper, the definition and classification of flavor substances in foods are introduced, the synthesis mechanism of flavor substances through the fatty acid, amino acid, and carbohydrate metabolic pathways are elucidated, and the detection methods of flavor substances and their applications in the food processing industry are reviewed. Finally, the limitations of flavor substance detection are discussed and an outlook on future directions in this field is given. We hope that this review will provide directions for the development and utilization of food flavor substances.

Rice bran, a byproduct of rice processing, holds great nutritional value. However, its application in the food industry is greatly restricted due to its high susceptibility to rancidity and spoilage during storage. Currently, it is primarily used as animal feed with low added value. The presence of lipase and lipoxygenase is the major cause of rapid rancidity of rice bran, and other factors such as water activity, microorganisms and phenolic substances also affect the rancidity reaction. Stabilization treatment of rice bran is a key prerequisite to achieving high-value utilization of the product. This paper provides an overview of the rancidity mechanism of rice bran, the common methods for stabilizing rice bran and their impact on its quality and nutritional characteristics, with a view to providing guidance and reference for the research and development of rice bran as a food-grade raw material.

As a common plant that is widely used for both medicinal and culinary purposes, ginger is rich in polysaccharides, terpenes, phenols and other active substances, imparting it with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anticancer, neuroprotective and antidiabetic properties. In this paper, we review the current understanding on the composition and biological activities of ginger extract, discusses the application of ginger in food packaging, and propose future directions for ginger extract research, hoping to arouse people’s attention on ginger and its further application so as to promote the comprehensive utilization of ginger resources.

Ice preservation is one of the most extensive methods of food preservation, and improving the ability of ice preservation is a key and difficult problem in the field of food preservation. However, the limited ability of traditional ice to inhibit microbial viability hinders the further development of the food industry. At present, new functional ices such as electrolyzed water ice, ozone ice, plasma activated water ice, bacteriostatic substance added ice, fluidized ice, ultraviolet radiation ice and composite functional ice, which have better preservation effect than traditional ice and therefore have broad prospects for development and application, have found wide applications in the field of food preservation. Research on new functional ice with better sterilization and preservation effect has become a hot spot in the food industry. Therefore, this paper summarizes the preparation, sterilization and preservation mechanism of new functional ice in order to provide a theoretical basis and scientific evidence for further development of new functional ice and to promote the application of new functional ice in food sterilization and preservation.

With the popularization of the concept of a healthy diet, people are increasingly concerned about food safety. Thermal processing provides foods with desired smell, unique flavor and taste, but also leads to the generation of harmful substances, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are a class of substances with acute toxicity, genotoxicity, carcinogenicity and phototoxicity that exist widely in thermally processed food matrices. Studies have shown that dietary exposure to PAHs accounts for 88%–98% of the total daily exposure of humans to PAHs. Thus, controlling PAHs levels in foods is of great practical importance for reducing the harmful effects brought about by dietary exposure to PAHs. This paper reviews the major generation pathways, deleterious effects and control strategies of PAHs, with a view to providing a reference for research on new control technologies for PAHs in foods.

A gold@platinum (Au@Pt) nanozyme-based test strip for the convenient and sensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide residues in foods was developed using Whatman No.1 filter paper as the carrier, Au@Pt nanozyme as the catalyst, 3,3’,5,5’-tetramethylbenzidine as the color developer, and acetic acid-sodium acetate solution at pH 4.6 as the buffer system. The optimized test strip soaking time was 10 s. The test paper could detect hydrogen peroxide in samples within 3 min with a minimum detection limit of 0.34 mg/kg and a good linearity (R2 = 0.993 1). The test paper is easy to make, highly accurate, stable and simple to operate, and can be used in the real-time on-site detection of food products in various distribution channels.

With the rapid development of the economy and society and the increasing improvement of people’s living standards, people have gained a scientific understanding of the sub-health state of the body. Many foods with functional claims such as supplementing dietary nutrients, maintaining or improving the body’s health status and reducing the risk of disease have emerged on the market. At the same time, as the country has introduced new policies, laws and regulations such as the “Healthy China 2030” plan to support the development of the health industry, the objective need for food functional claims has become increasingly apparent. But our current laws and regulations do not clearly definite the concept of functional foods and its requirements, so the directions of research, production and sale, market recognition and market regulation of functional foods are unclear. In particular, functional foods cannot be discriminated from health foods, which have a legal definition. In the long term, this will not only fail to promote scientific and technological innovations in ordinary foods, but also hinder the healthy development of the health food industry. In this paper, information concerning the definition and requirements of functional foods is collected and sorted out from government official documents, websites, academic journals, and other authoritative media, and the current focuses of research on functional foods in China and abroad are compared by visual analysis of high-frequency keywords. Moreover, this paper differentiates between the requirements for functional foods and those for health foods, and it suggests that top-level design be made for refined classification of functional foods on the market and puts forward suggestions on how to better connect each category with the current system.

Egg yolk is rich in nutrition and complex in structure. Its major components are egg yolk granules (EYGs) and egg yolk plasma (EYP). The physicochemical properties and microstructures of egg yolk and its components are greatly affected by different treatments during processing, and in turn affect their functional properties. Therefore, this paper reviews the effects of different treatments including salting, alkali treatment, heat treatment and enzymatic treatment on the physicochemical properties (surface hydrophobicity, oil exudation, and protein solubility) and microstructure of egg yolk as well as EYGs and EYP. In addition, this paper discusses the functional changes of egg yolk and its components after different treatments. We expect this review to provide theoretical support for future research on the physicochemical properties and microstructure of egg yolk components and on their effects on the functional properties of egg yolk components.

Temporal domination of sensations (TDS) is a temporal multidimensional dynamic sensory analysis method. This method provides the evaluators with a list of the attributes of products, and the evaluators obtain dynamic multi-attribute sensory evaluation results by selecting the perceptions they think to be dominant at each moment of tasting. In this paper, the concept and process of TDS and its application in food sensory evaluation are reviewed, and future directions in the improvement of TDS are discussed. We anticipate that this paper will provide new ideas for the development of new food products based on an understanding of the dynamic changes of sensory perception during food consumption.

Acetic acid is the major volatile acid in fruit wine and an excessive content of acetic acid will seriously affect the sensory quality of fruit wine. During alcoholic fermentation, acetic acid is mainly formed by the metabolism of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Therefore, fully understanding the regulation mechanism of acetic acid metabolism by S. cerevisiae, and breeding low acetic acid-producing strains are of great significance to solve the problem of excessive acetic acid in fruit wine. In this paper, recent progress in research on the metabolic pathways and key regulatory genes of acetic acid in S. cerevisiae is reviewed. Furthermore, this paper proposes the idea that omics technologies and quantitative trait locus mapping could be applied to explore the molecular mechanism of the regulation of acetic acid production by S. cerevisiae. Finally, the application of three functional strain-breeding methods in the breeding of low acetic acid-producing strains is summarized. This review is expected to provide a reference for obtaining excellent strains with low yield of acetic acid for precise regulation of acetic acid in fruit wine.

Deep-frying is a traditional cooking method in China, endowing the product with unique crispy characteristic but also greasiness. High-calorie fried foods can create health risks. Many attempts have been made by researchers to reduce the absorption of oil during the frying process while ensuring the good quality of deep-fried products. This paper reviews the oil-absorbing behavior of deep-fried starch-based products during the frying process and describes several methods to regulate the oil content of deep-fried products. Adding functional ingredients (proteins or starches and a combination of hydrocolloids with the main ingredients of the product) is in line with the current trend of nutritious and low-fat foods. Coating technology, which utilizes natural macromolecules as an oil barrier, has promising applications in the production of low-fat fried foods. In addition, new frying technologies such as vacuum frying, air frying and spray frying are becoming increasingly mature, and can gradually replace traditional frying for the production of low-fat fried products according to the needs of industrial production. All regulatory measures described in this paper can reducing the oil content of different fried products to different degrees, which will provide a scientific and theoretical basis for selecting a suitable measure for oil reduction in different fried starch-based products based on their oil absorption mechanisms, and provide a theoretical reference for the development of low-fat fried products.

In recent years, the number of patients with diabetes or obesity has increased rapidly, and the glycemic index (GI) of grains has attracted attention. Using GI value to guide the choice of grains is of great significance to the prevention and control of chronic diseases such as diabetes. However, the GI value of grains is influenced significantly by processing methods and is often directly related to measurement methods. Therefore, this paper summarizes the current methods used to determine the GI value of foods as well as their advantages and disadvantages. Thereafter, this review also analyzes the effects of different processing methods on the GI values of grains and their products, and explains the possible mechanism for changes in the GI value of grains from the perspective of the interaction between various components in grains caused by processing methods. This paper is expected to provide an effective basis for the prediction of changes in the GI value of grains and the selection of processing methods, and also provide a reference for the research and development of grain products with low GI value.

The overweight or obese population in sub-health status and the aging population in China are increasing year by year. The intracellular level of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) decreases dramatically with age and obesity. NAD+ is the key target of cellular energy metabolism and cell function regulation, which affects senescence. Therefore, improving physiological functions and delay aging by supplementing NAD+ precursors has become a hot topic of current research. β-Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) is an intermediate metabolite of NAD+ in animals, and it is also the most direct and efficient NAD+ supplement precursor at present. However, NMN has complex effects on the physiological functions of various organs, the results of animal tests are not consistent with those of human clinical tests, and the optimal dosage has not been determined. This paper summarizes the results of recent animal and human clinical tests of NMN aiming to explore the effects, mechanisms, doses and adverse reactions of NMN supplementation on animal and human physiological functions. Through this paper, we hope to provide ideas for future research and application of NMN.

Protein gels are three-dimensional protein networks with high moisture content, which have been widely applied in several fields such as food, medicinal, and industrial sectors. Gel texture can be improved by adding dietary fiber due to its good physical, chemical and physiological properties, which has become the focus of attention of researchers. In order to better understand recent progress in research on dietary fiber-protein composite gels, this paper focuses on the classification, structure and functional characteristics of dietary fiber, and summarizes the current state of knowledge on the effect and mechanism of dietary fiber on the characteristics of protein gels. Moreover, it gives an overview of the application of fiber-protein gels in the fields of food and medicine and predicts future development directions. This paper will provide a basis for the preparation and application of fiber-protein gels.

Melatonin, a trace efficient natural plant signaling molecule, has been widely reported in plant growth and development, abiotic stress, and postharvest preservation and other aspects. In recent years, melatonin has been found to play a positive role in inducing disease resistance in fruits. This paper describes the effect of melatonin on pathogens in vitro and in infected fruits, with a focus on the mechanism by which melatonin induces fruit resistance to invasive diseases. Furthermore, this paper reveals that melatonin and plant signal transduction pathways constitute a regulation network to mediate disease resistance responses in fruits. We conclude this paper with an outlook on future research directions in order to provide a theoretical reference for further research on the mechanism by which melatonin induces disease resistance.

Kudingcha (Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume) is widely used as a traditional medicinal and culinary plant of great economic value. It has a long history of use as an ethnic medicine and an alternative to tea in Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China, and has attracted much attention in recent years. The chemical composition of kudingcha (Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume) is complex, from which phenylpropanoids, phenylethanoids, monoterpenes, iridoids, flavonoids and volatile oils have been isolated. It has a wide range of pharmacological effects, including lipid-lowering, antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, immune regulatory and anticancer activities. However, in recent years, there are few systematic reviews on Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume, even though it is only mentioned in the reviews on Ligustrum plants or kudingcha, which is not conducive to the standardized research, development and utilization of kudingcha (Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume). This paper comprehensively summarizes recent research on the composition, pharmacological activity and quality control of kudingcha (Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume) with focuses on the structural features and pharmacological mechanism of its characteristic components. This paper will provide a theoretical reference for the preparation, separation, structure identification and pharmacological research of the characteristic components of kudingcha (Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume).

Phospholipid is widely found in eggs, poultry, legume seeds and aquatic products, which is prone to oxidation degradation during food processing and storage. Moderate oxidation gives food a special flavor, while excessive oxidation will cause food quality deterioration and a decrease in food flavor. The oxidation of phospholipid could be influenced by light, temperature, and oxygen. Phospholipid oxidation is complex and gives rise to a wide range of products. When used singly, existing analytical techniques cannot accurately evaluate the level of phospholipid oxidation, and the regulation techniques for phospholipid oxidation have limitations from safety and economical perspectives. This paper gives an overview of the mechanism, detection and regulation techniques for the oxidative degradation of phospholipids, which will facilitate a systematic understanding of the oxidative degradation of phospholipids during the processing and storage of meat and aquatic products and may also provide a theoretical basis for regulating food flavor and improving food quality.

Gaseous oil fume is complex in composition and contains a large number of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are one of the major pollutants in indoor air and also the major source of oil fume odor, with aldehydes accounting for the major proportion. This paper reviews the formation and composition of cooking oil fume, the hazards of and the detection methods for volatile aldehydes in cooking oil fume, and the factors influencing their formation. It also summarizes the current techniques to control the formation of aldehydes in cooking oil fume to provide a theoretical basis for the scientific regulation of aldehydes pollution from cooking oil fume.

Food image retrieval, a major task in food computing, has garnered extensive attention in recent years. However, it faces two primary challenges. First, food images exhibit fine-grained characteristics, implying that visual differences between different food categories may be subtle and often can only be observable in local regions of the image. Second, food images contain abundant semantic information, such as ingredients and cooking methods, whose extraction and utilization are crucial for enhancing the retrieval performance. To address these issues, this paper proposes an enhanced ViT hash network (EVHNet) based on a pre-trained Vision Transformer (ViT) model. Given the fine-grained nature of food images, a local feature enhancement module enabling the network to learn more representative features was designed in EVHNet based on convolutional structure. To better leverage the semantic information in food images, an aggregated semantic feature module aggregating the information based on class token features was designed in EVHNet. The proposed EVHNet model was evaluated under three popular hash image retrieval frameworks, namely greedy hash (GreedyHash), central similarity quantization (CSQ), and deep polarized network (DPN), and compared with four mainstream network models, AlexNet, ResNet50, ViT-B_32, and ViT-B_16. Experimental results on the Food-101, Vireo Food-172, and UEC Food-256 food datasets demonstrated that the EVHNet model outperformed other models in terms of comprehensive retrieval accuracy.

pH, NaCl and temperature are important process parameters for the manufacturing of soybean protein isolate (SPI). pH and NaCl affect protein aggregation by modifying the surface charge and electrostatic repulsion, whereas temperature affects protein aggregation by changing the surface hydrophobicity and/or disulfide bonding, which in turn changes the particle size and compactness and then the rheology and downstream application characteristics of SPI. This paper reviews the effects and possible mechanisms of pH, NaCl, and temperature on the denaturation, aggregation, and rheological properties of SPI and its components glycinin and β-conglycinin with respect to interaction, thermal stability, degree of aggregation, and gelling properties. The relationship between the degree of protein aggregation, gel strand thickness, gel strand curvature and gel network continuity and gel strength is discussed, and the differences among the effects of pH, NaCl and temperature on protein aggregation are summarized for the purpose of providing an assistance in regulating the degree of SPI aggregation by preparation parameters.

As people’s diet structure changes in modern society, diabetes and its complications have become a global public health concern. China has the world’s largest number of diabetics. Modern science has proved that tea is an important source of natural hypoglycemic polyphenols and plays an important role in the dietary treatment of diabetes as a healthy drink. Tea catechins are the key functional substances in tea, which can effectively regulate blood glucose levels through various pathways, such as inhibiting exogenous carbohydrate hydrolysis, regulating glucose transfer, promoting oxidative decomposition of glucose, inhibiting gluconeogenesis, regulating glycogen synthesis and decomposition, promoting insulin secretion, rescuing insulin resistance and reducing oxidative stress status. Beginning with a summary of recent studies on the effects of tea catechins on obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndromes, this paper moves on to review the latest knowledge on the physiological mechanism of blood glucose stabilization by tea catechins, hoping to provide a theoretical basis for the precise development and application of tea catechins.

With the continuous improvement of living standards, people are concerned about not only whether foods are tasty or not, but also the combination of health elements and good flavor. Food flavor components are not only important factors in sensory quality, but also key indicators of the nutritional level of foods. At present, the traditional methods to evaluate and predict food flavor components are time-consuming and labor-intensive, and unable to handle large amounts of data. In contrast, machine learning (ML), the core of artificial intelligence, has incomparable advantages over traditional analytical techniques in distinguishing differences and finding commonalities, and has found good application in the field of food flavor analysis. In this context, this paper focuses on the current research status of ML in the field of food flavor, and introduces the principles and advantages of commonly used ML methods, as well as their latest applications and prospects in food flavor prediction and regulation. It also focuses on the advantages and future trends of modern intelligent sensory evaluation techniques combined with ML in the field of food flavor analysis, with a view to providing new ideas and theoretical foundations for food flavor analysis and prediction.

In the Chinese strong-flavor baijiu (CSFB) fermentation ecosystem, the caproic acid-anabolism of caproic acid-producing bacteria (CPBs) is very important for improving the fermentation quality of CSFB. Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly understand the types of CPBs and their caproic acid-anabolism characteristics. This minireview introduces readers to the diversity, phylogenetic relationship, physiological and metabolic characteristics, and caproic acid synthesis mechanism of CPBs isolated from the CSFB fermentation ecosystem as well as their synergistic metabolic relationships with other CPBs or non-CPBs. This paper provides a reference for understanding the in-situ caproic acid-anabolism pattern of CPBs from the CSFB fermentation ecosystem, and further provides a theoretical basis for the future targeted application of CPBs in CSFB fermentation and for CPBs culture engineering for the synthesis of high value-added caproic acid.

Carbohydrates play a vital role in food science, medicine science, life science and other fields. Carbohydrates can be divided into monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides, among which monosaccharides and oligosaccharides are mostly soluble, which can not only serve as structural substances, but also have various biological activities such as antioxidant, anticancer, antibacterial, and antiviral activities. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography makes up for the deficiency of reversed-phase liquid chromatography in the separation of carbohydrates. This paper reviews the stationary phases including amino bonded stationary phase, amide bonded stationary phase, carbohydrate bonded stationary phase and zwitterionic bonded stationary phase used in hydrophilic interaction chromatography for the separation and analysis of monosaccharides and oligosaccharides during 2017­–2022, and summarizes the effects of chromatographic separation conditions such as acetonitrile content, buffer salt concentration, mobile phase pH and column temperature on the hydrophilic separation efficiency so as to provide a reference for the separation and analysis of monosaccharides and oligosaccharides.

Plant essential oils, which can effectively extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, possess antioxidant, antibacterial and insect repellent properties, demonstrating them as promising natural preservatives for fruits and vegetables. However, the applications of plant essential oils in fruit and vegetable preservation are limited due to their disadvantages such as high volatility, poor stability and weak hydrophilicity, as well as strong aroma. Stable plant essential oil delivery systems that can form a barrier to the external environment provide new methods and approaches to overcome these limitations. In addition, the delivery systems can improve biocompatibility and have controllable release function, thus enhancing the utilization rate of plant essential oils. In the present paper, we review the composition, antioxidant, antibacterial and insect repellent activity and mechanisms of action of plant essential oils, and summarize various delivery systems including nano-emulsions, microemulsions, microcapsules, and liposomes and their preparation methods, and discuss the major factors affecting the encapsulation efficiency, particle size and physical stability of plant essential oils such as preparation methods, emulsifiers, the type and concentration of wall material. Finally, we summarize the applications and prospects of delivery systems for plant essential oils in fruit and vegetable preservation with the aim of providing a theoretical foundation for the development of new, effective fruit and vegetable preservatives.

Crustacean products are popular for its rich nutritional value, despite causing serious allergy symptoms. The presence of allergens is one of the main factors restricting the further development of the consumer market of crustacean products. The Maillard reaction widely exists in the processing and storage of aquatic products and can affect the allergenicity of foods. This review systematically introduces readers to the Maillard reaction, and summarizes the recent progress in research on the structure and epitopes of crustacean allergens. More importantly, it reviews the changes in the allergenicity of crustacean allergens after Maillard reaction and the underlying mechanism. It is our hope that this paper will provide a reference for controlling and reducing the allergenicity of crustacean products by Maillard reaction.

Peaches are an ancient fruit in China, with great nutritional and commercial value. Peach fruit is a typical respiratory climacteric fruit, which is prone to browning within a short period of time after harvesting, and rapid browning and high browning degree occur during peach processing, which are difficult to control, affecting the quality and economic value of the fruit. At present, systematic research on the characteristics and mechanism of peach browning is lacking, as well as effective control techniques and methods. In this paper, the current status of research on the characteristics and mechanism of and the key factors for enzymatic browning in peach fruit is reviewed, and the techniques used for its control are summarized, aiming to provide a reference for the regulation of enzymatic browning during peach storage and processing and consequently to promote the quality improvement of fresh and processed peach products.

Gelation, an important quality attribute of meat products, significantly influences the appearance, flavor, and texture of meat products. Enhancing gelation in meat products holds immense importance in improving the production process and the quality. The gel properties of meat products are influenced by the content and structure of protein aggregates and the aggregation rate during processing. Protein additives have the potential to partially replace myofibrillar proteins in gelation and emulsification properties, leading to cost reduction, and therefore have attracted much research interest for the development of new meat products and the optimization of the processing technology. This paper summarizes recent studies on the gelation mechanism of myofibrillar proteins, and reviews the properties and applications of the major protein additives as well as recent progress in using protein additives combined with polysaccharide colloids, enzymes or phosphates to enhance the gelation of meat products. This review may serve as a valuable reference for enhancing the quality of gel-type meat products.

Food safety incidents caused by foodborne pathogens have attracted widespread attention. In order to ensure food safety, it is essential to adopt effective detection means. The emerging clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) system, consisting of CRISPR and Cas, is an acquired immune system widely found in bacteria and archaea, which efficiently and specifically recognizes and cleave exogenous nucleic acids and is more efficient than conventional techniques for detecting pathogenic bacteria. Based on a review of recent progress in research on CRISPR/Cas biosensing system coupled with isothermal amplification technology, this paper summarizes the classification and principle of CRISPR/Cas and recent progress in the application of CRISPR/Cas coupled with isothermal amplification in foodborne pathogen detection, and discusses the prospects and challenges for CRISPR/Cas coupled with isothermal amplification in the real-time detection of foodborne pathogens. We expect that this review will provide a reference for the further development of CRISPR/Cas biosensing system.

Anticancer chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide (CTX) is accompanied by toxic side effects such as bone marrow suppression and intestinal mucosal injury, which seriously affects the treatment tolerance and prognosis of patients. In recent years, polysaccharides have been used as detoxifying and synergistic adjuncts for antitumor drugs due to their anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and immunoregulatory activities. This paper systematically summarizes polysaccharide purification technologies, elaborates on the detoxification mechanism of polysaccharides on CTX from multiple perspectives such as immunomodulation, antioxidation, intestinal protection, liver and kidney protection, and reproductive system protection, and discusses the synergistic effect of polysaccharides with CTX by directly or indirectly killing tumors. Furthermore, the regulatory pathways of polysaccharides in cancer chemotherapy are summarized from two aspects: toxicity reduction and efficacy enhancement. We hope that this review could provide a reference for research on the mechanism of action of polysaccharides in reducing the toxicity and enhancing the efficacy of CTX, and provide new directions for reducing the toxic side effects of CTX.

Postharvest preservation of edible fungi is crucial for promoting the healthy development of the edible fungi industry. To systematically review the development history of research on postharvest preservation of edible fungi and to predict future trends, this paper used bibliometric methods to analyzes 421 pieces of relevant literature published in the Web of Science database between 2000 and the first three quarter of 2022 in terms of literature publishing, research collaboration, key authors, important literature, literature citations, and keywords. CiteSpace software was used for visual analysis. The results indicated that the amount and citations of literature on the preservation of edible fungi had steadily increased since 2000, with a trend of rapid growth since 2015 until the third quarter of 2022. Chinese research institutions and authors had significant impact in this field, who had participated in international collaboration most extensively and produced the most research achievements. The analysis of literature citations and keywords revealed that the frontier hotspots in this field were cell wall metabolism, energy metabolism, and active packaging research. The direction of energy metabolism was particularly noteworthy. Maintaining normal cell energy metabolism and antioxidant activity is essential for edible fungi to resist postharvest deterioration. Therefore, exploring new preservation technologies and elucidating their molecular mechanisms will be an important research direction in the future.