Search

Energy auditing, modeling, and optimization are the important tools which can be considered toward achieving a sustainable food supply chain (FSC). In this regard, energy modeling and optimization have become a hot topic in the food sector, and thus, several mathematical and computational intelligent-based systems have been applied to model and optimize the energy flows of FSC. This study briefly reviewed the widely used mathematical (multiple linear regressions and data envelopment analysis) and computational intelligent-based (artificial neural networks, adaptive neuro fuzzy inference systems, and genetic algorithm) approaches for modeling and optimization of the energy flow in FSC. On basis of the literature review, it can be inferred that computational intelligent-based approaches could better model and optimize the energy flows than mathematical approaches, and the performance of computational intelligent-based systems showed that this approach can be generally applicable for modeling and optimizing energy flows of FSC.

Exergy analysis is receiving considerable attention as an approach to be applied for making decisions toward moving to a sustainable and energy-efficient food supply chain. This study focuses on how the selection of variety affects the exergy flow of a paddy rice production system. In this regard, nine varieties of rice in Italy, the largest rice producer in Europe, were evaluated using the cumulative exergy analysis approach. Sensitivity analysis of inputs consumption and the exergy management scenarios of the most sensitive inputs are also provided in this study. The results indicated that the cumulative exergy consumption value of the investigated rice varieties ranges from 16.09 GJha−1 to 25.80 GJ ha−1. Fossil fuels and chemical fertilizer consumption were the most significant contributors to the total energy consumption in all investigated varieties. Luna variety, with the cumulative degree of perfection value of 7.96 and renewability indicator of 0.88, was identified as the most exergy-efficient variety of rice in Italy.

Valorization of food waste is a potential strategy toward a circular food supply chain. In this regard, measuring the circularity of food waste valorization systems is highly important to better understand multiple environmental impacts. Therefore, this study investigated the circularity of a food waste valorization system (refining oil from olive kernel) using a life cycle assessment methodology. An inventory of an industrial-based olive kernel oil production system is also provided in this study. The system boundary was the cradle to the factory gate of the production system. The results indicated that natural gas consumption was the highest contributor to most of the investigated impact categories. The global warming potential of one kg of oil produced from olive kernel was calculated to be 1.37 kg CO2eq. Moreover, the calculated damages of 1 kg oil production from olive kernel to human health, ecosystem quality, and resource depletion were 5.29 × 10−7 DALY, 0.12 PDF∙m2∙yr., and 24.40 MJ, respectively.

The energy balance and life cycle assessment (LCA) of ohmic heating and appertization systems for processing of chopped tomatoes with juice (CTwJ) were evaluated. The data included in the study, such as processing conditions, energy consumption, and water use, were experimentally collected. The functional unit was considered to be 1 kg of packaged CTwJ. Six LCA impact assessment methodologies were evaluated for uncertainty analysis of selection of the impact assessment methodology. The energy requirement evaluation showed the highest energy consumption for appertization (156 kWh/t of product). The energy saving of the ohmic heating line compared to the appertization line is 102 kWh/t of the product (or 65% energy saving). The energy efficiencies of the appertization and ohmic heating lines are 25% and 77%, respectively. Regarding the environmental impact, CTwJ processing and packaging by appertization were higher than those of ohmic heating systems. In other words, CTwJ production by the ohmic heating system was more environmentally efficient. The tin production phase was the environmental hotspot in packaged CTwJ production by the appertization system; however, the agricultural phase of production was the hotspot in ohmic heating processing. The uncertainty analysis results indicated that the global warming potential for appertization of 1 kg of packaged CTwJ ranges from 4.13 to 4.44 kg CO2eq. In addition, the global warming potential of the ohmic heating system ranges from 2.50 to 2.54 kg CO2eq. This study highlights that ohmic heating presents a great alternative to conventional sterilization methods due to its low environmental impact and high energy efficiency.

Biofuel generation from local biomass resources can significantly contribute to greenhouse gas mitigation and cleaner energy production. In this regard, a hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach was employed to prioritize appropriate biomass resources for biofuel production. Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS), and Weighted Aggregates Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) were the employed MCDM approaches. Subsequently, ranking aggregation methods, i.e., Borda, Copeland, and Rank Mean, were applied to integrate the rankings obtained from the MCDM approaches. Guilan province of Iran was selected as a case study based on its promising potential for biofuel production from first-, second-, and third-generation biofuel resources. Initially, through an in-depth review of the literature and the use of academic professors' expert opinions, ten criteria were selected as the evaluation indices of the study: 1) creating technical side jobs, 2) preserving non-renewable energy resources, 3) relative advantage of biofuel production, 4) complexity of biofuel production process, 5) cost of the biomass conversion process, 6) biomass reusability, 7) cost of biomass supply, 8) environmental impacts of biomass accumulation, 9) adaptability of the biofuel production process to the size of biomass production units and the attitude and knowledge of the producers, and 10) energy self-sufficiency of the biomass producer. Moreover, the 11 investigated potential sources of biofuel production were rice, peanut, livestock and poultry wastes, rice waste, peanut waste, tea residues and its processing wastes, olive residues and its processing wastes, livestock and poultry slaughter and farm-raised fish wastes, municipal solid waste and sewage, forest and wood farming wastes, algae and Azolla. The results indicated that "municipal solid wastes and sewage", "forest and wood farming wastes" and "livestock and poultry wastes" from the second-generation biofuels were identified as the most important biomass resources in the studied area.

Determining the minimal effective free chlorine (FC) concentration for preventing pathogen survival and cross-contamination during produce washing is critical for developing science- and risk-based food safety practices. The correlation between dynamic FC concentrations and bacterial survival was investigated during commercial washing of chopped Romaine lettuce, shredded Iceberg lettuce, and diced cabbage as pathogen inoculation study during commercial operation is not feasible. Wash water was sampled every 30 min and assayed for organic loading, FC, and total aerobic mesophilic bacteria after chlorine neutralization. Water turbidity, chemical oxygen demand, and total dissolved solids increased significantly over time, with more rapid increases in diced cabbage water. Combined chlorine increased consistently while FC fluctuated in response to rates of chlorine dosing, product loading, and water replenishment. Total bacterial survival showed a strong correlation with real-time FC concentration. Under approximately 10 mg/L, increasing FC significantly reduced the frequency and population of surviving bacteria detected. Increasing FC further resulted in the reduction of the aerobic plate count to below the detection limit (50 CFU/100 mL), except for a few sporadic positive samples with low cell counts. This study confirms that maintaining at least 10 mg/L FC in wash water strongly reduced the likelihood of bacterial survival and thus potential cross contamination of washed produce.

beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) is a major whey protein with numerous techno-functional properties desirable for the food industry. Phycocyanobilin (PCB), a bioactive pigment of Arthrospira platensis with health-promoting effects, covalently binds to BLG at physiological pH. This study investigated the effects of this covalent modification on BLG functional properties. The BLG-PCB adduct possesses enhanced antioxidant properties, and bound PCB protects BLG against free radical-induced oxidation. Despite the similar thermal stabilities of BLG and BLG-PCB, BLG-PCB is less susceptible to covalent and noncovalent aggregation under moderate heat treatment (63 degrees C, 30 min). Blocked thiol group and reduced hydrophobicity due to hindering of hydrophobic residues by bound PCB, as well as the heat-induced transition of beta-sheet to alpha-helix, contributed to the low susceptibility of BLG-PCB to aggregation. BLG-PCB has a higher resistance to pepsin and pancreatin digestion than BLG and unaltered IgEbinding properties. The improved functional properties of BLG-PCB make it a useful ingredient in the food industry.

The combination of cinnamon essential oil (cinnamomum zeylanicum) and packaging methods was assessed in order to increase the shelf life of lean pork and salmon. The foodstuffs were dipped in 1 w/w% cinnamon, and the treated foodstuffs were stored (4 °C) in vacuum or MAP package (pork in 70% O2/30% CO2 and salmon in 60% CO2/40% N2). For both packaging methods the use of cinnamon increased the microbial shelf life of pork but not of salmon. For salmon, vacuum packaged salmon reached end of microbial shelf life faster than MAP packaged salmon. Off-odors occurred faster in MAP packaged pork than in vacuum and off-odors in salmon developed independent of packaging method. Cinnamon essential oil application was neutral towards the color and odor of the food matrices. Cinnamon essential oil shows promise as antimicrobial treatment on vacuum or MAP packaged lean pork, but not on salmon.

This study is a comparative evaluation of three approaches to biofuel production from energy crops including biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel to ascertain which one is the most effective and more energy-efficient than the others. Moreover, the potential of biofuel production from the best option was studied. For this purpose, biogas generation from corn silage, bioethanol generation from corn, and biodiesel production from peanuts in Iran (as a case study) were studied. The results revealed that 10,683.36 m3 of biogas, 2.53 m3 of bioethanol and 0.70 m3 of biodiesel could be produced per each hectare of energy crops. The total greenhouse gas emissions for each MJ energy generation of biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel were 0.01, 0.04 and 0.03 kgCO2eq, respectively. Accordingly, the total annual biogas potential from corn silage (as the best option) in Iran is 3953.74 million m3, which is equivalent to 1515.94 million barrels of oil.

Particulates of harvest debris are common in tomato packinghouse dump tanks, but their role in food safety is unclear. In this study we investigated the survival of Salmonella enterica and the shifts in relative abundance of culturable mesophilic aerobic bacteria (cMAB) as impacted by particulate size and interaction with chlorine treatment. Particulates suspended in grape tomato wash water spanned a wide size range, but the largest contribution came from particles of 3–20 μm. Filtration of wash water through 330 μm, applied after 100 mg/L free chlorine (FC) wash, reduced surviving cMAB by 98%. The combination of filtration (at 330 μm or smaller pore sizes) and chlorinated wash also altered the cMAB community, with the survivors shifting toward Gram-positive and spore producers (in both lab-simulated and industrial conditions). When tomatoes and harvest debris inoculated with differentially tagged Salmonella were washed in 100 mg/L FC for 1 min followed by filtration, only cells originating from harvest debris survived, with 85 and 93% of the surviving cells associated with particulates larger than 330 and 63 μm, respectively. This suggests that particulates suspended in wash water can protect Salmonella cells from chlorine action, and serve as a vector for cross-contamination.

Washing in chlorinated water is widely practiced for commercial fresh produce processing. While known as an effective tool for mitigating food safety risks, chlorine washing could also represent an opportunity for spreading microbial contaminations under sub-optimal operating conditions. This study evaluated Salmonella inactivation and cross-contamination in a simulated washing process of cherry and grape tomatoes. Commercially harvested tomatoes and the associated inedible plant matter (debris) were differentially inoculated with kanamycin resistant (KanR) or rifampin resistant (RifR) Salmonella strains, and washed together with uninoculated tomatoes in simulated packinghouse dump tank (flume) wash water. Washing in chlorinated water resulted in significantly higher Salmonella reduction on tomatoes than on debris, achieving 2–3 log reduction on tomatoes and about 1 log reduction on debris. Cross-contamination by Salmonella on tomatoes was significantly reduced in the presence of 25–150 mg/L free chlorine, although sporadic cross-contamination on tomatoes was detected when tomatoes and debris were inoculated at high population density. The majority of the sporadic cross-contaminations originated from Salmonella inoculated on debris. These findings suggested that debris could be a potentially significant source of contamination during commercial tomato washing.

This study investigated the continuous dosing of chlorine to the wash water by means of a pump to maintain antimicrobial levels of free chlorine in the wash water during the washing of 12 batches of Pangasius fillets. In comparison to the control (no chlorination), total psychrotrophic bacteria were reduced by between 2 and 4 log CFU/100 ml. After the final batch was washed, total chlorine and organic matter in the water sampled had accumulated to 482.9 ± 17.0 ppm and 4447.5 ± 187.4 mg O 2 /L, respectively. However, only 8.9 ± 1.3 μg/L of trihalomethanes was formed in the chlorinated wash water whereas no trihalomethanes were detected in the washed Pangasius fillets after rinsing. It was concluded that the Pangasius fillets washed in chlorinated water continuously dosed with chlorine were safe for human consumption even after a throughput of 12 batches. However, the organoleptic properties of Pangasius fillets washed in the final batch differed significantly from those washed earlier batches.

Water conservation and economics dictate that fresh produce processors reuse/recirculate the process water. However, the ensuing accumulation of organic matter in water depletes the chlorine sanitizer required for food safety. In this study, we comprehensively investigated chemical compounds that are responsible for water quality in relation to chemical oxygen demand (COD) and chlorine demand (CLD), the two most critical factors associated with water treatment and chlorine replenishment. Simulating commercial fresh-cut wash operations, multiple batches of diced cabbage (0.3 x 0.3 cm2) were washed in the same tank of water. The major components were isolated from the wash water and analyzed by HPLC. Sugars were the predominant compounds (82.7% dry weight) and the major contributor to COD (81.6%), followed by proteins/peptides (7.3% dry weight, 5.3% COD), organic acids (6.2% dry weight, 3.6% COD), and phenolics (0.5% dry weight, 0.5% COD). By repeated time course measures, the effect of these chemicals on CLD are dependent on the chemical structure, concentration in the wash water, and their rate of reaction. Proteins/peptides accounted for about 50% of the total CLD over a 120-min period and phenolics was 21% at 5 min, but diminished with time. The contribution by organic acids and sugars increased continuously, reaching 22% and 16% of total CLD at 120 min of chlorination, respectively. Collectively, these compounds represented 86% of the CLD in cabbage wash water at 5 min and greater than 94% CLD afterwards. This is the first systematic report on the source of COD and CLD during fresh produce washing. It provides essential information for the produce processors to develop safe, effective, and economical wash water treatment/reuse and chlorine replenishment strategies.

This study evaluated the decontamination of Pangasius fillets in chlorine or peracetic acid treated wash water. First, the decontamination efficacy of the washing step with chlorinated water applied by a Vietnamese processing company during trimming of Pangasius fillets was evaluated and used as the basis for the experiments performed on a laboratory scale. As chlorine was only added at the beginning of the batch and used continuously without renewal for 239 min; a rapid increase of the bacterial counts and a fast decrease of chlorine in the wash water were found. This could be explained by the rapid accumulation of organic matter (ca. 400 mg O 2 /L of COD after only 24 min). Secondly, for the experiments performed on a laboratory scale, a single batch approach (one batch of wash water for treating a fillet) was used. Chlorine and PAA were evaluated at 10, 20, 50 and 150 ppm at contact times of 10, 20 and 240 s. Washing with chlorine and PAA wash water resulted in a reduction of Escherichia coli on Pangasius fish which ranged from 0–1.0 and 0.4–1.4 log CFU/g, respectively while less to no reduction of total psychrotrophic counts, lactic acid bacteria and coliforms on Pangasius fish was observed. However, in comparison to PAA, chlorine was lost rapidly. As an example, 53–83% of chlorine and 15–17% of PAA were lost after washing for 40 s (COD = 238.2 ± 66.3 mg O 2 /L). Peracetic acid can therefore be an alternative sanitizer. However, its higher cost will have to be taken into consideration. Where (cheaper) chlorine is used, the processors have to pay close attention to the residual chlorine level, pH and COD level during treatment for optimal efficacy.

The potential cross-contamination of pathogens between clean and contaminated produce in the washing tank is highly dependent on the water quality. Process wash water disinfectants are applied to maintain the water quality during processing. The review examines the efficacy of process wash water disinfectants during produce processing with the aim to prevent cross-contamination of pathogens. Process wash water disinfection requires short contact times so microorganisms are rapidly inactivated. Free chlorine, chlorine dioxide, ozone, and peracetic acid were considered suitable disinfectants. A disinfectant’s reactivity with the organic matter will determine the disinfectant residual, which is of paramount importance for microbial inactivation and should be monitored in situ. Furthermore, the chemical and worker safety, and the legislative framework will determine the suitability of a disinfection technique. Current research often focuses on produce decontamination and to a lesser extent on preventing cross-contamination. Further research on a sanitizer’s efficacy in the washing water is recommended at the laboratory scale, in particular with experimental designs reflecting industrial conditions. Validation on the industrial scale is warranted to better understand the overall effects of a sanitizer.

Maintaining free chlorine (FC) residual at appropriate pH values is a control approach used to prevent pathogen cross-contamination during tomato dump tank handling and fresh-cut produce washing operations. Oxidation reduction potential (ORP) is a rapid measurement of oxidant-based sanitizer strength, and has been used to estimate FC residual. However, factors, in addition to FC and pH, which influence ORP are not fully understood. This study examined the relationship between ORP and FC under chlorine demand (CLD) free conditions and during fresh produce washing. An equation predictive of FC was developed in the form logFC = f(ORP, ORP2, ORP.pH). A good correlation between ORP and logFC was maintained when other variables changed, but the resulting ORP-logFC curve changed (slope, intercept). A decrease in pH or temperature led to an increase in ORP. Using tap water to wash the produce instead of distilled water significantly changed the ORP. For different types of tested produce, i.e., fresh-cut carrot, onion, romaine and iceberg lettuce, and for whole tomatoes, increasing the product-to-water ratio (i.e., increasing the organics transferred into the water) led to a decrease in ORP for a specific FC residual. The choice of acidulant during washing also influenced ORP. Overall, the correlation of ORP with logFC is more reliable at the lower end (5 mg/L FC) than at the higher end (100 mg/L FC) of the FC range used in fresh produce washing. However, since the ORP in fresh produce wash water is affected significantly in multiple ways by the wash water and process conditions, the predicted FC values with ORP under certain fresh-cut produce washing conditions cannot be generalized for other conditions.

This paper comprises a selection tool for water disinfection methods for fresh produce pre- and postharvest practices. A variety of water disinfection technologies is available on the market and no single technology is the best choice for all applications. It can be difficult for end users to choose the technology that is best fit for a specific application. Therefore, the different technologies were characterized in order to identify criteria that influence the suitability of a technology for pre- or postharvest applications. Introduced criteria were divided into three principal components: (i) criteria related to the technology and which relate to the disinfection efficiency, (ii) attention points for the management and proper operation, and (iii) necessities in order to sustain the operation with respect to the environment. The selection criteria may help the end user of the water disinfection technology to obtain a systematic insight into all relevant aspects to be considered for preliminary decision making on which technologies should be put to feasibility testing for water disinfection in pre- and postharvest practices of the fresh produce chain.

Volume 79, no. 9, p. 2850–2861, 2013. Page 2855, column 1, equation 9: “ N ( t ) =

A screening in a sugar snap packaging company showed a converged build-up of aerobic psychrotrophic plate count (APC) (ca. 6.5 log CFU/100mL), yeasts and molds (Y&M), and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (both ca. 4.5 log CFU/100mL) in the wash water in the absence of water sanitizer, and a low build-up of chemical oxygen demand (30 ± 5 mg O2/L) and turbidity (5.2 ± 1.1 NTU). Decontamination experiments were performed in the lab with Purac FCC 80® (80% L(+) lactic acid), two other commercial water sanitizers based on organic acids (NATRApHASe-ABAV®, and NATRApHASe-FVS®) and chlorine to evaluate their performance in reduction of the sugar snap microbial load as well as their functionality as disinfectant of the wash water to avoid cross-contamination. An additional 1 log reduction of APC on the sugar snaps was achieved with lactic acid in the range 0.8 to 1.6%, ABAV 0.5%, and free chlorine 200mg/L when compared to a water wash, while no significant difference in the numbers of Y&M was obtained when washing in sanitizer compared to water. There was no significant influence of the studied concentration and contact time on decontamination efficiency. Treatment with lactic acid 0.8% resulted in a lower APC contamination on the sugar snaps than on the untreated and water washed samples for 10 days. Chlorine 200mg/L was the only treatment able to maintain the Y&M load lower than the untreated samples throughout the entire storage duration. The use of water sanitizers could not extend the sensorial shelf-life. Microbial loads were not indicative/predictive of visual microbial spoilage (shelf-life limiting factor), whereas maturity and amount of damage at the calyx end of the pods were. The APC wash water contamination (5.2 log CFU/100mL) was reduced significantly by chlorine 20 to 200mg/L (to 1.4 log CFU/100mL), ABAV 0.5 to 1.5% (to 2.7 log CFU/100mL), FVS 0.5% (to 2.7 log CFU/100mL) and lactic acid 0.8 to 1.6% (to 3.4 log CFU/100mL). Only the use of chlorine enabled the reduction of the Y&M wash water contamination significantly (from 3.4 to 1.4 log CFU/100mL). The low physicochemical build-up of the sugar snap wash water during the industrial washing process makes free chlorine attractive as a water disinfectant to prevent bacterial and fungal cross-contamination, whereas the sanitizers based on organic acids are not, due to their weak water disinfection efficiency.

The aim was to provide information about E. coli contamination of washing water to prevent water becoming a vehicle for transfer of microbial contamination to lettuce and to get insight on the factors affecting proper water management. A lettuce wash process was simulated to determine (1) the ability to use “clean” water and the tolerable E. coli levels for “clean” water and its’ potential to respect it upon re-use of water in the first washing bath, (2) the need and effect of using potable water in the second washing bath, (3) the use of a final rinsing step after washing to reduce the microbial contamination level of lettuce, (4) the influence of initial E. coli contamination levels of lettuce on the washing bath water quality and (5) the use of chlorine to control the water quality in the first washing bath (prevent cross-contamination of lettuce). Due to transfer via drain water of washed lettuce, the contamination level of the “clean (re-used) water” in the first wash bath determined the contamination of the second wash bath (aimed to be potable water). For lower contaminations (

Demand for camel milk (CM) is increasing worldwide, due to its high nutritious value and health benefits. In this study, whole CM powders were produced by spray drying (SD) at six inlet temperatures (190 °C–250 °C) and by freeze drying (FD). Physicochemical and functional properties of CM powder proteins were investigated. SD at higher inlet temperatures (230 °C–250 °C) resulted in higher extent of Maillard reaction (MR), in comparison to lower temperatures (190 °C–200 °C) and FD treatment. Both treatments had negative effect on casein solubility, while whey proteins remained soluble and slightly increased its solubility with the extent of MR. The CM powders obtained at higher inlet temperatures demonstrated improved antioxidant activity. Secondary structure of whey proteins did not differ among the samples, while surface hydrophobicity of whey proteins was higher in all SD than in FD samples, suggesting only limited denaturation of camel whey proteins at higher inlet temperatures of drying. Thus, the effects of SD under the conditions applied in our study did not decrease camel whey protein solubility, while drying procedure itself regardless of temperature decreased solubility of camel milk caseins. MR generated during CM processing could be an important means of compensating for the lack of antioxidant protection normally associated with β-lactoglobulin but happens to be absent from this milk. This is peer-reviewed version of the following article: Perusko, M.; Ghnimi, S.; Simovic, A.; Stevanovic, N.; Radomirovic, M.; Gharsallaoui, A.; Smiljanic, K.; Van Haute, S.; Stanic-Vucinic, D.; Cirkovic Velickovic, T. Maillard Reaction Products Formation and Antioxidative Power of Spray Dried Camel Milk Powders Increases with the Inlet Temperature of Drying. LWT 2021, 143, 111091. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2021.111091]. Supplementary material: [https://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/4334]