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Quality of lupin protein is considerably compromised by the presence of anti-nutritional (ANF), such as polyphenols, alkaloids and saponins and anti-technological factors (ATF), like polyphenols and fat. This work explores how high-power ultrasound-assisted (HPU) pretreatment of lupin flour (LF) before protein extraction could affect ANF and ATF content, as well as protein yield and techno-functional properties. LF pretreatments for 3 and 9 min, using water and ethanol–water (1:4 v/v), were carried using conventional mechanical stirring (952 rpm) and HPU (sonotrode, 24 kHz) at 30 and 60 °C. Ultrasonic field was characterized by computing acoustic pressure from frequency spectra analysis.In general terms, pretreatment reduced noticeably ANF and ATF in both LF and protein isolate (LPI), while also producing a protein concentrate (LPC, avg. 65 g protein/100 g) with low ANF and ATF content. Total protein yield, adding LPC and LPI, was increased by 15 % due to the pretreatment, which also enhanced the techno-functional properties of LPI, such as water absorption index (avg. 26 %) and foaming (avg. 8 %) and emulsifying properties (avg. 14 %). But, the efficiency of the pretreatment was largely affected by process variables. In particular, HPU reduced fat (avg. 27 %), saponin (avg. 21 %) and phenolic content (avg. 17 %), as well as antioxidant activity (avg. 11 %). In addition, the highest protein yield was achieved by sonication using water at 30 °C. This may be explained by ultrasonic field measurements, which revealed higher acoustic pressure levels under these conditions.

Global population growth is putting pressure on the food supply, necessitating the exploration of new, alternative, and sustainable protein sources. Lupin, an underutilized legume in human nutrition, has the potential to play a significant role in addressing this challenge. However, its incorporation into the human diet requires thorough investigation, including exploring and optimizing functionalization processes to maximize its potential. This study aimed to optimize the parameters (pressure, time, and CO2 flow) for extracting anti-technological factors (ATFs) from lupin using supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) and to evaluate the effects of this extraction on both the flour and the protein isolate derived from it. Optimization revealed that the optimal SC-CO2 conditions were a CO2 flow rate of 4 kg/h at 400 bar for 93 min. Under these conditions, significant changes were observed in the flour composition, including a reduction in oil, polyphenols, and moisture content, along with an increase in ash content. Improved color parameters were also noted. These variations were attributed to the removal of oil and phenolic compounds during processing. Furthermore, this research demonstrated that SC-CO2 treatment improved lupin protein isolate (LPI) purity (93.81 ± 0.31% vs. 87.42 ± 0.48%), significantly reduced oil content (8.31 ± 0.09% vs. 14.31 ± 0.32%), and enhanced color parameters. The SC-CO2 procedure also resulted in a higher protein extraction yield (56.95 ± 0.45% vs. 53.29 ± 2.37%). However, the total extraction yield (g LPI/100 g of flour) was not affected by SC-CO2 treatment, remaining at 24.30 ± 0.97% for the control sample and 24.21 ± 0.26% for the treated sample. The extracted oil (2.71 ± 0.11 g/100 g of flour), a co-product of the SC-CO2 step, exhibited a fatty acid profile characterized by high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (62.8 ± 0.74 g/100 g oil), oleic acid (27.76 ± 0.77 g/100 g oil), linoleic acid (25.98 ± 0.73 g/100 g oil), and α-linolenic acid (5.32 ± 0.16 g/100 g oil), as well as a balanced ratio of essential fatty acids (n-6/n-3 = 4.89). The treatment had minimal to no effect on amino acid content or chemical score, and the protein was characterized by high amounts of essential amino acids (334 ± 3.12 and 328 ± 1.05 mg/g protein in LPI-control and LPI-SF, respectively). These findings demonstrate that both the LPI and the oil extracted using SC-CO2 possess high nutritional quality and are suitable for human food applications.

Meat processing involves different transformations in the animal muscle after slaughtering, which results in changes in tenderness, aroma and colour, determining the quality of the final meat product. Enzymatic glycolysis, proteolysis and lipolysis play a key role in the conversion of muscle into meat. The accurate control of enzymatic reactions in meat muscle is complicated due to the numerous influential factors, as well as its low reaction rate. Moreover, exogenous enzymes are also used in the meat industry to produce restructured products (transglutaminase), to obtain bioactive peptides (peptides with antioxidant, antihypertensive and gastrointestinal activity) and to promote meat tenderization (papain, bromelain, ficin, zingibain, cucumisin and actinidin). Emerging technologies, such as ultrasound (US), pulsed electric fields (PEF), moderate electric fields (MEF), high-pressure processing (HPP) or supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2), have been used to intensify enzymatic reactions in different food applications. This review aims to provide an overview of the enzymatic reactions taking place during the processing of meat products, how they could be intensified by using emerging technologies and envisage potential applications.

For the first time, this study addresses the intensification of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) treatments using high-power ultrasound (HPU) for the inactivation of fungal (Aspergillus niger) and bacterial (Clostridium butyricum) spores in oil-in-water emulsions. The inactivation kinetics were analyzed at different pressures (100, 350 and 550 bar) and temperatures (50, 60, 70, 80, 85 °C), depending on the microorganism, and compared to the conventional thermal treatment. The inactivation kinetics were satisfactorily described using the Weibull model.Experimental results showed that SC-CO2 enhanced the inactivation level of both spores when compared to thermal treatments. Bacterial spores (C. butyricum) were found to be more resistant to SC-CO2 + HPU, than fungal (A. niger) ones, as also observed in the thermal and SC-CO2 treatments. The application of HPU intensified the SC-CO2 inactivation of C. butyricum spores, e.g. shortening the total inactivation time from 10 to 3 min at 85 °C. However, HPU did not affect the SC-CO2 inactivation of A. niger spores. The study into the effect of a combined SC-CO2 + HPU treatment has to be necessarily extended to other fungal and bacterial spores, and future studies should elucidate the impact of HPU application on the emulsion’s stability.

The pharmaceutical cold chain (PCC) deals with specific logistics operational require-ments related to product quality, safety, and regulations that make the supply chain management process complex. Also, the pharma industry market growth increases the awareness, in terms of good's temperature monitoring and controlling, of the storage and transportation processes across the network. This study provides a novel approach to PCC, based on a systematic literature review with an extensive analysis of the main aspects that influence the supply chain processes. The major findings highlight the recently worldwide research progress on the PCC subjects related, the challenges involving the PCC and its associated technological advances based on three attributes (product characteristics, vehicle capabilities, and logistics service provider’s expertise) and, finally, the impact of technologies and its potential utilization to im-prove the decision-making process on integrated cold chain operations.

Moisture adsorption is considered a critical factor during production and shelf-life of puffed corn cakes (PCC). This study aims to develop and validate an instrumental method and a mathematical model for the characterization of the textural modifications caused by the moisture adsorption in PCC. For that purpose, PCC were stored at different relative humidities to achieve a wide range of water activities (from 0.1 to 0.8 at 22 ± 1 °C). A flexion–compression test was successfully validated in order to characterize the average textural properties of a PCC batch. A mathematical model considering consecutive elastic and plastic zones satisfactorily fitted (average VAR 99.65% and MRE 3.29%) the average stress–strain profiles of PCC and reported useful textural parameters, such as the deformability modulus (E), critical strain (εc), and n curvature parameter. The structural modifications caused by moisture adsorption led to the reduction in E and n and the increase in εc. Even minor changes on the PCC moisture content involve remarkable modifications of the textural properties, which has to be considered for industry and retail distribution.

Porcine liver has a high nutritional value and is rich in proteins, minerals, and vitamins, making it an interesting co-product to alleviate the growing global demand for protein. The objective of this study was to analyze how the drying and defatting processes of porcine liver affect the physicochemical and techno-functional properties of its proteins. Two drying temperatures (40 and 70 °C) were studied, and dried samples were defatted using organic solvents. The drying process turned out to be an effective method for the stabilization of the protein fraction; however, when the drying temperature was high (70 °C), greater protein degradation was found compared to drying at a moderate temperature (40 °C). Regarding the defatting stage, it contributed to an improvement in certain techno-functional properties of the liver proteins, such as the foaming capacity (the average of the dried and defatted samples was 397% higher than the dried samples), with the degree of foaming stability in the liver dried at 40 °C and defatted being the highest (13.76 min). Moreover, the emulsifying capacity of the different treatments was not found to vary significantly (p > 0.05). Therefore, the conditions of the drying and defatting processes conducted prior to the extraction of liver proteins must be properly adjusted to maximize the stability, quality, and techno-functional properties of the proteins.

Among the most frequently used experimental design techniques is the response surface methodology (RSM), which uses an approximation of the real objective function, in the form of an empirical quadratic function. RSM allows the identification of the relations between independent variables (or factors) and a (dependent) response variable. The main contribution of this article is to propose a new procedure that considers the insertion of uncertainties in the coefficients of this empirical function, which is what generally occurs, in practical experimental problems. The new procedure was applied to a real case related to a stamping process in an automotive company, and the results were compared to those obtained by applying classic RSM. The advantages offered by this innovative procedure are presented and discussed, including the statistical validation of the results. The proposed procedure reduces, and sometimes eliminates, the need for additional confirmatory experiments in the laboratory, and allows getting a better adjustment of the factor values and the optimized response variable value compared to the results calculated by classic RSM. It was possible to determine that the proposed procedure outperforms the use of (deterministic) optimization, using the generalized reduced gradient (GRG) algorithm, which is traditionally employed in RSM applications. Keywords: Stamping process, Experimental problems, Response surface methodology, Uncertainty, Optimization via Monte Carlo simulation

In recent years, modelling techniques have become more frequently adopted in the field of food processing, especially for cereal-based products, which are among the most consumed foods in the world. Predictive models and simulations make it possible to explore new approaches and optimize proceedings, potentially helping companies reduce costs and limit carbon emissions. Nevertheless, as the different phases of the food processing chain are highly specialized, advances in modelling are often unknown outside of a single domain, and models rarely take into account more than one step. This paper introduces the first high-level overview of modelling techniques employed in different parts of the cereal supply chain, from farming to storage, from drying to milling, from processing to consumption. This review, issued from a networking project including researchers from over 30 different countries, aims at presenting the current state of the art in each domain, showing common trends and synergies, to finally suggest promising future venues for research.

Due to the interest in identifying cost-effective techniques that can guarantee the microbiological, nutritional, and sensorial aspects of food products, this study investigates the effect of CO2 preservation treatment on the sensory quality of pomegranate juice at t0 and after a conservation period of four weeks at 4 °C (t28). The same initial batch of freshly squeezed non-treated (NT) juice was subjected to non-thermal preservation treatments with supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2), and with a combination of supercritical carbon dioxide and ultrasound (CO2-US). As control samples, two other juices were produced from the same NT batch: A juice stabilized with high pressure treatment (HPP) and a juice pasteurized at high temperature (HT), which represent an already established non-thermal preservation technique and the conventional thermal treatment. Projective mapping and check-all-that-apply methodologies were performed to determine the sensory qualitative differences between the juices. The volatile profile of the juices was characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that juices treated with supercritical CO2 could be differentiated from NT, mainly by the perceived odor and volatile compound concentration, with a depletion of alcohols, esters, ketones, and terpenes and an increase in aldehydes. For example, in relation to the NT juice, limonene decreased by 95% and 90%, 1-hexanol decreased by 9% and 17%, and camphene decreased by 94% and 85% in the CO2 and CO2-US treated juices, respectively. Regarding perceived flavor, the CO2-treated juice was not clearly differentiated from NT. Changes in the volatile profile induced by storage at 4 °C led to perceivable differences in the odor quality of all juices, especially the juice treated with CO2-US, which underwent a significant depletion of all major volatile compounds during storage. The results suggest that the supercritical CO2 process conditions need to be optimized to minimize impacts on sensory quality and the volatile profile.

Objetivando verificar a produtividade da soja em varios estadios reprodutivos, quando submetida a diferentes niveis de desfolha, foi conduzido um ensaio na safra 1999/2000, em Gurupi - TO. A cultivar utilizada foi 'M-SOY 109'. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos ao acaso com tres repeticoes e nove tratamentos, instalados em um esquema fatorial 3 X 3, constituido por tres niveis de desfolha (33%, 66% e 100%) e três estadios reprodutivos (R4, R5 e R6), alem da testemunha sem desfolha. Os niveis de desfolha e os estadios reprodutivos influenciaram significativamente todas as caracteristicas avaliadas sendo que a produção de graos decresceu com o incremento da desfolha. UNITERMOS: Estadios reprodutivos, Desfolha, Soja, Producao.