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Vegetables are a rich source of bioactive compounds and functional constituents that are beneficial to human health. However, the short shelf life of these vegetables can be a major cause of bio unavailability of nutrients when they are out of season especially during dry season. Drying is one of the most convenient technologies for the production of shelf stable food products. However, drying can lead to considerable loss of the available bioactive compounds due to thermal degradation depending on the drying method and temperature conditions. This study investigated the effect of three drying methods (oven, open sun and indirect solar (sun drying) on the retention of nutrients and nutri-pharmaceutical compounds. Samples were dried up to ~10% moisture content. The fresh and dried samples were analyzed for nutrient composition and nutri-pharmaceutical compounds. The results showed that the retention of nutrients and nutri-pharmaceutical compound was not significantly (p ≥ 0.05) affected by drying method and drying temperature with although differently affected. This study demonstrates that oven drying was the most effective in retaining the highest nutrients and bioactive compounds vegetables followed by indirect solar drying. Ethanol: Ethyl ether solvent was more effective in extraction for phytochemicals than n-Hexane. The effectiveness was based on their polarity of these solvents.

Fruit jam is a bioactive rich shelf stable food product containing a large amount of sugar. Higher sugar consumption leads to health risks such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension, which presents an urge for jam modification. Therefore, the present work was aimed to develop and characterize a reduced calorie Aloe vera based pineapple (AVP) jam followed by process optimization and storage study. The study showed that the increase of pineapple and sugar concentration during jam making resulted in a decrease in pH but an increase in viscosity and hardness of the AVP jam. The optimized jam (44% pineapple, 25% sugar and 16 min processing time) was obtained by targeting maximum bioactives and desirable textural characteristics using response surface methodology. Optimized reduced calorie jam presented hairy micro-structure, noticeable different from continuous smooth micro-surface of high sugar jam. The storage of jam at temperature of 5, 25, and 35 °C demonstrated a continuous decline in pH, bioactive compounds and prominent color change due to darkening of jam with increase in storage time. Chroma values followed first-order kinetics at higher temperature but linear kinetics at lower temperature. Further, bioactive degradation presented a linear trend at lower temperature but deviated from linearity at higher temperature. The developed reduced calorie AVP jam retained high bioactive properties and was microbiologically safe for at least five weeks of storage without any preservative. Storage of jam at elevated temperature had negative effects on physiochemical properties indicating better stability of jam at lower temperature.

Shelf-stable food commodities such as grains, spices, nuts, and herbs are grown conventionally or organically. Quality deterioration of shelf-stable food commodities is unavoidable under common storage systems. In order to avoid that, many chemical pesticides are being used to control the insect pest of shelf-stable food commodities. Controlled/modified atmosphere (CA/MA) methods are generally considered as promising alternative methods for chemical pesticide applications for stored food products. Hermetic, vacuum, and high-pressure carbon dioxide storage methods are known as MA technique. These MA treatments can effectively be used to control pests of stored foods and are comparatively low cost, safer, and environmentally sound methods than chemical pesticides.

Food date labels are commonly used by the food industry despite not being well understood by consumers. Consumers may mistakenly believe that food label dates are meant to convey information about a food's safety, but in many instances label dates are set by the food producer to indicate quality or freshness. Label date confusion may, therefore, contribute to household food waste, a growing social, economic, and environmental problem. Limited research has examined the impact food date labels may have on consumer food waste. The objective of this research was to determine consumer knowledge regarding three common food date labels and their meanings, and whether knowledge was related to food waste behaviors. An online survey of 1042 adults in the U.S. determined their use and knowledge of food date labels as well as their propensity to waste food as defined by disposing of food which would likely still be safe for consumption. The majority of respondents (81.6%) reported using food date labels. Only 57.4%, however, correctly identified what “best by, use by” meant, while 68.1% and 79.7% correctly identified the definitions of “expiration date” and “sell by date”, respectively. Respondents who correctly defined “best buy, use by” were less likely to throw food away if it had passed its “use by” date or was a shelf stable food without a visible date and were more likely to identify the “expiration date” as the only reason to throw away a food. The findings indicate that consumer education around the least understood food date label, “best by, use by” may help to reduce consumer food waste.

Background Defining the exact shelf-life of a shelf-stable food product is still a real challenge for food manufacturers as there are many variables to be considered. Currently, many shelf-life determinations of commercial shelf-stable products are based on trial-and-error methods which could pose risks resulting in brand damage (overestimation) or food waste (underestimation). Because degradation reactions determining shelf-life are really complex, predicting quality changes remains a challenge; consequently, a scientific approach which considers multiple variables is greatly needed. Recent advances in analytical methods (e.g. GC-MS fingerprinting) and data analysis techniques (e.g. multivariate data analysis and kinetic modelling) can play a key role in this context if they are used in (accelerated) shelf-life studies. Moreover, the role of sensory evaluations should not be forgotten as changes in sensorial properties or decreases in consumer acceptance levels as a function of storage time are in most cases the primary reasons for defining the end of shelf-life. Scope and approach This review paper focuses on research progresses in this field and addresses future challenges for quality investigation during storage and prediction of shelf-life dates. As proof of concept, the paper focuses on investigating quality changes of pasteurised shelf-stable orange and mango juices during storage. Key findings and conclusions In the study of shelf-stable orange and mango juices, the (combined) analytical targeted and untargeted fingerprinting approach proved to be a useful approach for identifying major-quality related chemical changes and was able to select shelf-life markers (i.e. quality parameters with a clearly observable time- (and temperature-) dependent change). In studying the kinetics of change of the monitored quality attributes, it is tempting to think that the fastest reactions will determine the shelf-life of a shelf-stable product. However, consumer acceptance through sensory evaluation plays also an important role in determining the acceptability limit and therefore the best before date. The integrated science-based approach put forward can be used to investigate quality changes of a wide range of shelf-stable products during storage. ispartof: Trends in Food Science & Technology vol:73 pages:76-86 status: published

African eggplants (Solanum aethiopicum L.) are a rich source of bioactive compounds and functional constituents that are beneficial to human health. However, the short shelf life of these vegetables can be a major cause of postharvest losses especially during peak harvesting season. Drying is one of the most convenient technologies for the production of shelf stable food products. However, drying can lead to considerable loss of the available bioactive compounds due to thermal degradation depending on the drying method and temperature conditions. This study investigated the effect of four drying methods (solar, oven, vacuum, and freeze) on the retention of total phenolics, beta‐carotene, antioxidant capacity, and lycopene in five African eggplant (S. aethiopicum) accessions (sangawili, manyire green, S00047A, AB2, and aubergine blanche). Samples were dried up to ~10% moisture content. The fresh and dried samples were analyzed for total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, beta‐carotene content, and the lycopene content. In the fresh state, beta‐carotene, total phenolic content, and free radical scavenging activity ranged between 14.75 ± 0.50 and 29.50 ± 0.77 mg/100 g db, 751.21 ± 1.73 and 1,363.95 ± 2.56 mg/100 g GAE db, and 99.58 and 325.61 mg/ml db IC 50 value, respectively. The accession S00047 showed highest total phenolic content and lowest IC 50 value in the fresh samples. The results also showed that total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, and beta‐carotene contents were significantly (p

A multi-target (combination preservation) technique has been extensively applied to develop minimally processed and completely stabilized shelf stable food produces. A combination of irradiation and osmotic dehydration decrease the need for thermal treatments for enhancing the shelf life and microbial safety of cut fruits and vegetables. The present study aims at identifying combined effect of ã-irradiation pre-treatment and osmotic dehydration treatment on guava. The guavas packed in LDPE pouches were irradiated at 0.25 kGy, and 1.0 kGy dosages at the dose rate of 2.75 kGy/hr. The guava slices with and without irradiation were infused for osmotic dehydration process. Optimization of the process time (3,6 and 9 hr) was also investigated. Further, stored guava slices were analyzed for their physico – chemical, antioxidant and microbial analysis. Mass transfer kinetics of guava slices osmotically dehydrated in sucrose solutions were significantly affected by irradiation dosage and sucrose concentration and treatment duration. The evaluation of hurdle approach on guava slices showed that, combination treated slices were significantly less susceptible to nutrient and colour changes during storage. The synergy between the irradiation and dehydration also resulted in adequate microbiological stability of the slices.

Irradiation of food with high doses (radappertization) is a way, how to prepare shelf-stable ready-to-eat food. The radappertization process requires that the food be heated at first to an internal temperature of at least 75°C to inactivate autolytic enzyme, which could cause the spoilage during storage without refrigeration. In order to prevent radiation induced changes in sensory properties (off flavors, odors, undesirable color change, etc.) the food was vacuum packed and irradiated in frozen state at −30°C or less to a minimum dose of 35 kGy. Such products have characteristics of fresh food prepared for eating even if they are stored for long time under tropical conditions. The wholesomeness (safety for consumption) has been confirmed during 40 years of testing. Within the NRI Řež 10 kinds of shelf-stable meat products have been prepared. The meat was cooked, vacuum packed in SiO x -containing pouch, freezed in liquid nitrogen and irradiated with electron beam accelerator. The microbial, chemical, and organoleptic properties have been tested.

Cost-effective methods for concentration and stabilization of otherwise perishable mango fruit phytoactives into shelf stable high protein ingredients were developed to combat stunting (malnutrition) in rural Africa. Mango juices complexed with sunflower oil and protein-rich legume flours yielded carotenoid-enriched oils and pelleted polyphenol-enriched flour matrices. Carotenoids from juices were concentrated 9-10 times in the fortified sunflower oil. Protein-rich soy and peanut flours captured 2.2-3.2 mg/g polyphenols from the juices. Alternatively, mango juice was sorbed and co-dried with flours, which stably bound the polyphenols, carotenoids, and natural sugars in soy or peanut protein-rich matrices. The concentration of provitamin A carotenoids was almost doubled and total polyphenols were enriched 4-5 times higher in the matrices compared to fresh pureed juice. Both strategies require minimal instrumentation, are compatible with rural village dietary practices; and capture the benefits of otherwise perishable seasonal resources by complexing healthful proteins together with phytoactive compounds.

During production, harvesting, processing, packaging, transportation, preparation, storage, and service, any food may be exposed to contamination with poisonous substances or infectious or toxigenic microorganisms. Processing or preparation failure may lead to survival of microorganisms or toxins, and time–temperature abuse can allow proliferation of pathogenic bacteria and molds. In addition, some plants are intrinsically toxic. Animals may acquire toxins from their food or metabolize them, or they become infected with or colonized by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and parasites. If a product contaminated with sufficient quantities of poisonous substances or pathogenic microorganisms is eaten, susceptible persons may develop foodborne illness. The food supply may be local or global. In fact today, fresh as well as shelf stable food is available from sources all over the world. Foodborne illness outbreaks are routinely being linked to sources of contamination far distant from the point of consumption. Whatever the source, an investigation always begins at one or more local levels and can expand from there. Therefore, foodborne illness surveillance, investigation, and response systems require the close collaboration and coordination of food safety and public health agencies at local, state/provincial, federal/national, and international levels.

Food fermentations with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are employed to produce safe and shelf stable food products with characteristic flavour and texture. Advances in genomics and physiology of lactic acid bacteria enabled to link individual genetic and metabolic traits of starter cultures to specific food quality attributes. The empirical selection of starter cultures is increasingly supported by the targeted selection of functional starter cultures to achieve an improved quality of fermented foods. This review highlights recent developments related to metabolic traits of LAB that are relevant for the quality of foods; emphasis is placed on starter cultures for use in bread production. Although the food use of antibacterial metabolites of LAB is well established, antifungal compounds were only recently shown to extend the shelf life of foods. Redox reactions catalysed by LAB alter the technological functionality of proteins and influence the (off)-flavour development through lipid oxidation pathways. LAB produce polysaccharides and oligosaccharides from sucrose through the glycansucrase activities. The exploitation of glycansucrase biodiversity enables the generation of a large variety of glucans or fructans in food fermentation. Poly- and oligosaccharides influence food texture, increase the dietary fibre content of foods and can be applied to protect bacterial during culture preparation and storage. The transformation of amino acids or peptides to aroma compounds contributes substantially to food flavour of food and particularly the conversion of glutamate by LAB enables the targeted optimisation of food flavour.

Gari is a widely consumed stored staple from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). Processing involves peeling, grating, fermentation, dewatering and roasting, resulting in a granular product. It is a shelf stable food consumed as processed or cooked. When retailed, it is subject to post-process contamination. Investigations were carried out to establish the stability of processed gari. Samples of various water activities (a(w)) were packaged in 250 gauge polyethylene bags with or without vacuum packaging and in nylon sacks. Initial and weekly determination of pH, a(w) and mycoflora were undertaken over 16 weeks. An initial pH of 4.3 +/- 0.1 was stable during the experiment. Nylon sack samples with initial a(w) of 0.40 and 0.55 showed an increase of a(w) to 0.65 at the end of the storage. Vacuum packed polyethylene bag samples with initial a(w) of 0.70, 0.55 and 0.40 recorded 30, 20 and 10%, respectively of the initial mycoflora after 16 weeks. A low mycological load, a(w)0.70 and vacuum sealed plastic packaging ensure physico-chemical and microbiological stability of stored gari.

A study was designed to produce a shelf stable food ingredient from muscadine grape press cake using enzyme modification and intermediate moisture technology. Two pectinases and a cellulase were screened for their capacity to tenderize the grape skins; sucrose syrup and grape concentrate were tested as osmotic soaking solutions. Treatment of deseeded press cake in an aqueous enzyme solution of 0.05% Rohament P, followed by soaking in grape concentrate ahd drying at 60°C yielded a chewy, shelf-stable food ingredient with a tart grape flavor. Sensory and instrumental evaluation confirmed the texture modification. Baked and snack foods containing the grape skin product in place of raisins or dates were highly acceptable based on sensory panel scores.