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The purpose of this study was to use an ultrasound‐assisted approach to maximize the extraction of polyphenols from defatted flaxseed cake. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the power intensity (757, 1010, 1262 W/cm2), solid–liquid ratio (1: 10, 1:20, and 1:30 g/ml), and sonication time (15, 20, and 25 min), using a three‐factor Box–Behnken design. The optimization was done on the basis of different responses viz. extract yield, total phenolics content (TPC), and DPPH radical scavenging activity. The linear effect of power intensity was significant (p <.01) on all the responses. However, TPC assay and DPPH radical scavenging activity was only significantly affected by power intensity in a negative linear fashion. The interactive effect of power intensity with sonication time was also significant (p <.05) on all the responses. The optimized values obtained for extract yield, TPC assay, and DPPH antioxidant activity were 19.126%, 51.984 mg GAE/g, and 72.149%, respectively, under the optimal condition of power intensity 1013.69 W/cm2, solid–liquid ratio 22.83 g/ml, and sonication time 22.22 min. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that ultrasound‐assisted extraction effectively disrupted the defatted flaxseed cake powder, thereby improving polyphenol yield. Practical Application: Defatted flaxseed cakes are normally used as fodder in animal nutrition or as fuel in industries. Economically, the potentiality of the defatted flaxseed cake seems to be ignored as they can be the good source of raw materials in pharmaceutical or act as functional food ingredient. Most of the antioxidants used in foods are synthetic ones which and have been restricted recently due to some major health issues. Therefore, nowadays there is interest in finding natural sources of antioxidants. Enrichment of defatted flaxseed cake extract into food not only increases it stability but also the nutritional value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resistance heating is unique to thermic food manufacturing applications, particularly getting popularity across the food sector. Here, a prototype ohmic heating device over a capability of 6.25 kg/hr has been developed to process fish. The developed device was used combined with PID‐controlled solar dryer, and the parameters have been optimized by using central composite rotatable design and artificial neural network (ANN). During the processing of hybrid drying (ohmic heating with solar drying), the selected input variables were voltage (160–200 V), salt concentration (0–2%), solar drying temperature (40–72°C), and loading density (109–190 g) to improve the drying rate (drying time, overall temperature, and final moisture content). The designed ohmic heater reduced the moisture in fish muscles from 348.5% (db) to 260.91% at the first stage of drying under optimum conditions (180 V ohmic voltage and 1% salt concentration) in the time interval of 165–300 s for all experiments, followed by final moisture content, which was reduced to 12.66% (db), and the overall drying rate was improved to 2.73 g/min at the second stage of solar drying during optimum conditions (72°C temperature and 0.672 cm2 load density). The R2 (determination coefficient 0.96–0.94) values, SSE (sum of square error values 0.15–025) values, and MSE (mean square values 1–8.7) were more significant for RSM than ANN. This developed resistance heating apparatus for enhancing fish drying rate and also reduced post‐harvest losses, and it is considered to be a good technology for drying the fish and making a fish powder that can be further used for value‐added product. Practical Applications: The fish comes readily digestible; on the other hand, extremely spoilable accordingly, and fish cannot be gathered for a longer time below atmosphere circumstance, leading to enormous reap as well as commercial disadvantage. The processing of fish may impede against spoiling before reaching the consumers. Dehydration becomes a more frequent also essential approach to post‐processing conservation. Fish dehydration must be promoted by farmers' stage in addition to micro‐industry scale by way of convenience to frozen food locker. Hybrid or combined drying is an attraction for its nutritive values retention, uniformity of drying, reducing the microbial load, and improving product storage properties. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop an ohmic device accompanied by solar drying for preservation of Rohu fish muscles under ambient condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was undertaken to analyze the dietary pattern and nutritional status of preschool children and to check the association between diet and socio-demographic factors. Dietary Pattern of 390 preschool children from Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand state of India was assessed. 24-Hour dietary recall and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used for collecting information regarding dietary intake for three consecutive days. Nutritional indices (weight for age, height for age, weight for height, and BMI for age Z score) were studied using WHO Anthro software. Results indicated that the nutrient intake was inadequate, with major children consuming less than 60% of the recommended intake. Family income, community, type of family, birth order (ordinal position), and the number of siblings were associated with dietary insufficiency (p < 0.05). Stunting and wasting were commonly prevalent in more number of girls as compared to boys, on the contrary; more boys were underweight as compared to girls. A higher proportion of girls 18% (95% C.I. 10.8, 25.3) were thin as compared to boys 15% (95% C.I. 8.4, 21.6). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for reducing the energy consumption during freeze drying has been proposed. Water activity variation with time has been explored for button mushroom ( Agaricus bisporus L.). The effect of primary and secondary drying temperatures on water activity was found significant ( p < 0.05) as compared to sample thickness and pressure. The economics of the process showed that an energy reduction up to 34.9% could be achieved if the final water activity was constrained at 0.6. Artificial neural network tool has been used to develop a model for predicting the water activity precisely for a given combination of time, initial moisture content, vacuum pressure, sample thickness, and primary and secondary drying temperatures. The model-predicted values were found to be in good agreement ( R = 0.97) with the experimental data. The model developed is expected to extend its aid in energy reduction for freeze drying of other food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Button mushroom cubes of constant cross-sectional area (0.75 cm × 1.5 cm) and varying thickness (2 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm) were freeze-dried. Pressure (0.04, 0.07, and 0.10mbar), primary drying temperature (-2°C, -5°C, and -8°C), and secondary drying temperature (25°C, 28°C, and 31°C) were taken as drying parameters. The protein, ascorbic acid, and antioxidant contents were taken as quality estimates for freeze-dried mushrooms. It was observed that the secondary drying temperature affected the protein (p < 0.05) and antioxidant content (p < 0.01) significantly, whereas all three freeze-drying parameters affected the ascorbic acid content with higher effect due to temperature parameters (p < 0.01) as compared to pressure (p < 0.05). The optimized values for protein, ascorbic acid, and antioxidant content obtained using response surface methodology were 7.28 ± 0.56mg/g, 26.92±0.87 mg/100 g, and 8.60±0.44mg/g, respectively, as compared to 8.43±0.21mg/g, 28.00±0.53 mg/100 g, and 9.10±0.10mg/g, respectively, for fresh button mushrooms. The optimum values for process variables were obtained as 0.09mbar, 0.36 cm, and -7.53°C and 25.03°C for pressure, sample thickness, and primary and secondary drying temperatures, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An image analysis and optimization technique exploiting Photoshop software coupled with genetic algorithm (GA) for a food processing application has been explored. Color characteristics (L*, a*, b*, change in color, hue, and chroma) for freeze‐dried mushrooms were determined. Mathematical models for predicting color characteristics of dried mushrooms with change in processing conditions were obtained using second order polynomials. Freeze‐drying (FD) conditions were optimized by an evolutionary algorithm. Results indicated that the temperature of primary and secondary drying cycles during FD have a significant impact on color. The search for optimum process conditions manifesting minimum color variation in the dried product as compared with fresh mushroom samples was done. Optimized response for color change and chroma were obtained as 4.58 and 9.78, respectively, after a 10 h drying cycle. The models developed can be used to determine the drying time for desired product color and processing conditions of FD. Practical applications: Consumer preference for color is often a concern for food processing industries. Color detection of food materials in bulk needs to be performed rapidly and at low costs, which cannot be easily achieved using sophisticated color detection devices. The use of image acquisition system coupled with imaging software and modeling and optimization tools could provide a simple solution for the identification of superior food products based on image analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]