Search

Pulsed light (PL), a relatively new non-thermal technology can be used as a possible substitute to the conventional (thermal and chemical) technology for disinfecting a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. The short-duration light pulses, ranging from 1 to 20 flashes per second with an energy density of about 0.01–50 Jcm−2, ensure the killing of several disease-causing microorganisms by causing minimal impact on the quality parameters in fruits and vegetables. This technology enhances safety and extends shelf-life period of fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, PL decreases or inhibits the harmful effect of conventional techniques on nutritional components. The review discusses recent research on PL's influence on nutritional and physicochemical parameters and its potential applications for extending the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. This PL technology can be successfully employed alone or in combination with other techniques for enhancing fresh produce life. PL is considered a safe, eco-friendly and non-thermal technique for shelf-life extension. For this review article, keywords such as pulsed light, fruits and vegetables, microbial safety and shelf life were selected and most relevant papers were cited. Thus, the present review article, supported by 70 references, highlights the novel potential of PL treatment and its diverse applications in the fruit and vegetable sector.

The demand for the preparation of functional and nutrients-rich juice or beverages for the boosting immunity is the prime focus of consumers. So, this study was aim to optimization of different proportion for the preparation of blended juice from beetroots, grapes, turmeric, and lemons by using response surface methodology (RSM) and assessment of the quality parameters such as acidity, ascorbic acid, antioxidant activity and overall acceptability of blend juice were considered. Beetroot is widely recognized for its pigments known as betalains and have been utilized in the development of functional food and beverage products. Beetroots, grapes, turmeric, and lemons have been used in this study to prepare functional drinks, known for their nutritional value and medicinal properties. To optimize the blend juice, the dependent variables mainly beetroot juice, grapes juice, turmeric juice, and lemon juice in the range of 50–60, 30–40, 1–5, and 1–5 mL, were selected respectively. The optimized formulation for blended juice with a maximum desirability value of 0.921, an acidity of 0.60 %, an ascorbic acid of 14.17 mg/100 mL, an antioxidant activity of 93.94 %, and an overall acceptability of 8.07 was finalized at 53.12 mL of beetroot juice, 40 mL of grapes juice, 1.88 mL of turmeric juice and 5 mL of lemon juice.

Abstract The demand for the development of functional and nutrients‐rich products for boosting immunity is the prime focus of consumers. The carrot pomace, a potential by‐product of carrot juice, was used to develop fortified sweet corn porridge. Response surface methodologies used for the optimization process parameters, like, the proportion of carrot pomace (10–50 g/100 g), milk (50–250 mL/100 g), sugar (12–20 g/100 g), and cooking time (10–20 min) were selected for to assess the product quality parameters, like, color L*, a*, and b* value, pH, total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, reducing sugar, total sugar, moisture content, and ash content of carrot pomace‐fortified sweet corn porridge. The sweetness of sweet corn and carrot minimized the need for additional sugar, which is an essential part of the preparation of porridge. The R2 value for the various models ranged from 0.7062 to 0.8739. The optimized sample based on a maximum value of ascorbic acid (20.19 mg/100 g) and overall acceptability (7.82) was finalized at 35 g carrot pomace, 100 mL milk, 16.00 g sugar, and 13 min cooking time of the final product. The optimized product was dehydrated, which can be stored for a longer duration and used after reconstitution.

Tea is the most widely consumed non-alcoholic beverage worldwide. In the tea sector, the high demand for tea has led to an increase in the adulteration of superior tea grades. The procedure of evaluating tea quality is difficult to assure the highest degree of tea safety in the context of consumer preferences. In recent years, the advancement in sensor technology has replaced the human olfaction system with an artificial olfaction system, i.e., electronic noses (E-noses) for quality control of teas to differentiate the distinct aromas. Therefore, in this review, the potential applications of E-nose as a monitoring device for different teas have been investigated. The instrumentation, working principles, and different gas sensor types employed for E-nose applications have been introduced. The widely used statistical and intelligent pattern recognition methods, namely, PCA, LDA, PLS-DA, KNN, ANN, CNN, SVM, etc., have been discussed in detail. The challenges and the future trends for E-nose devices have also been highlighted. Overall, this review provides the insight that E-nose combined with an appropriate pattern recognition method is a powerful non-destructive tool for monitoring tea quality. In future, E-noses will undoubtedly reduce their shortcomings with improved detection accuracy and consistency by employing food quality testing.