Food-related Industries Research Articles

Unveiling the novel anti-corrosion and anti-bacterial biofilm forming characteristics of eco-safe MWCNT-AZ91E alloy for food-processing surfaces

This study explores the eco-friendly modification of AZ91E alloy with MWCNT casting to enhance surfaces crucial for food processing, storage, and transportation, with a specific focus on reducing bacterial biofilm formation and preventing corrosion. Incorporating nanomaterials like MWCNT into magnesium alloys offers promising prospects for improving the surfaces of equipment and structures used in food-related industries. The advanced mechanical properties observed in MWCNT-doped alloys can lead to the development of lightweight yet durable surfaces essential for maintaining hygiene standards and ensuring food safety during processing, storage, and transportation. Employing sophisticated systematic practices such as XRD, FTIR, and Vickers hardness testing allows for comprehensive evaluation of surface modifications and mechanical enhancements. Furthermore, the demonstrated corrosion resistance of MWCNT-doped magnesium alloys is crucial for protecting surfaces from degradation caused by exposure to corrosive environments commonly encountered in food processing facilities and transportation systems. Additionally, the remarkable antibacterial properties exhibited by MWCNT-doped alloys hold promise for mitigating bacterial biofilm formation on surfaces, thereby contributing to enhanced sanitation and hygiene practices in food-related industries. KEY WORDS: Multiwalled carbon nanotube, Magnesium alloys, Anticorrosion, Squeeze casting, Antibacterial, Biofouling Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2024, 38(6), 1897-1914. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v38i6.30

Functional characterization and biotechnological applications of exopolysaccharides produced by newly isolated Enterococcus hirae MLG3-25-1.

This study investigated the potential applications of Enterococcus hirae MLG3-25-1 exopolysaccharides (EPS), with a focus on their isolation, identification, production, and functional characteristics. After the bacterial strain was cultured in De Man-Rogosa-Sharpe (MRS) medium containing 1% glucose at 37°C, the EPS was refined, and the highest yield of 0.85mg/mL was achieved at the 24-h incubation period. Enterococcus hirae MLG3-25-1 was found to be able to produce EPS. The study explored the microstructure of the EPS, which resembles polysaccharide sheets with smooth surfaces, through scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. Through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) analysis, the chemical composition, aligning with glycosidic bond characteristics, has been deciphered. Furthermore, the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities against pathogenic bacteria, particularly Bacillus sp., demonstrated potential applications in combating antibiotic resistance. The EPS exhibited notable antioxidant activity (89.36% DPPH scavenging), along with high water-holding capacity (575%), emulsifying activity, and flocculation activity, suggesting its potential as a stabilizing agent in the food industry. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive characterization of Enterococcus hirae MLG3-25-1 EPS, emphasizing its diverse applications in antimicrobial, antioxidant, and food-related industries. These findings lay the groundwork for further exploration and utilization of this EPS in various sectors.

Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of tert-butylhydroquinone, butylated hydroxyanisole and propyl gallate as synthetic food antioxidants.

Synthetic food antioxidants such as tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and propyl gallate (PG) have been extensively utilized in different food industries because of their high protectant activities to stop food spoilage and remove foodborne diseases in humans and animals. It would be emphasized that increasing the intake of antioxidants through intracellular may lead to cyto/genotoxicity, and their complex formation with biological molecules eventually accelerate the progress of various diseases like multiple sclerosis, diabetes, neurological disorders, cardiac vascular disease, cancer, etc. Therefore, their toxicity is one of the challenging subjects due to their extensive use in food-related industries. TBHQ, BHA, and PG antioxidants have cytotoxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic effects if absorbed in high doses through the gastrointestinal tract. Thermodynamic parameters presented that the hydrophobic bind plays a key role in the complexation of the TBHQ, BHA, and PG with albumin. The molecular modeling results showed that subdomain IIA plays a vital role in the interaction of TBHQ and BHA with albumin. To comprehend the mechanisms of the cyto/genotoxicity effects of these food antioxidants and conformational alterations of albumin macromolecule, we aim to overview numerous types of research that evaluated the cyto/genotoxicity effects of these antioxidants using several procedures.

Evaluation of Physicochemical, Functional and Morphological Characteristics of Starch Extracted from Defatted Conophor Seed (Tetracarpidium conophorum)

Aim: Starch is the main carbohydrate store for numerous crops and each crop has distinct and unique characteristics. This study was aimed at investigating the physicochemical composition, functional properties and morphological characteristics of starch extracted from defatted Conophor seed flour.
 Place and Duration: Food Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Technology, and Biochemistry Laboratory of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, from March 2023 to September 2023.
 Methodology: Conophor seeds were washed, shelled manually, oven dried, milled into coarse flour and then defatted using solvent extraction method with the use of a soxhlet extractor. The defatted flour was air dried and grounded into fine powder. Starch was extracted by sedimentation at pH 11.0 and then oven dried and grounded into powder. The physicochemical composition, functional properties and morphological characteristics of Conophor starch were studied.
 Results: The physicochemical study shows that Conophor starch was abundant in carbohydrate (77.26%) but had a low protein (4.46%), fat (1.99%) and fibre (1.20%) content. Mineral content of the starch were high with calcium (194.17mg/g), copper (0.05mg/g), manganese (0.42mg/g), magnesium (4.26mg/g), iron (0.34mg/g), zinc (1.59mg/g), phosphorus (26.1mg/g), sodium (23.20mg/g) and potassium (37.13mg/g). The functional property of Conophor starch showed a high water absorption capacity (513.33%), oil absorption capacity (347.57%), emulsion capacity (45.48%), emulsion stability (50.00%), swelling index (246.67%), gelation capacity (12.00m/v) and low foaming capacity (12.69%) and foaming stability (3.26%). Conophor starch had a low pasting property with peak viscosity (14.00 RVU), final viscosity (16.00 RVU) and set-back viscosity (4.00 RVU).
 Conclusion: The study showed Conophor starch to be a rich source of mineral which makes it suitable for use as a supplement and its functional property makes it capable to be used in some industrial processes. However, the low paste quality of the starch renders it unsuitable for use in food processes that requires high paste formation but may be considered suitable for use in non- food related industries.

Salt and drought stress-mitigating approaches in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) to improve its performance and yield.

Although sugar beet is a salt- and drought-tolerant crop, high salinity, and water deprivation significantly reduce its yield and growth. Several reports have demonstrated stress tolerance enhancement through stress-mitigating strategies including the exogenous application of osmolytes or metabolites, nanoparticles, seed treatments, breeding salt/drought-tolerant varieties. These approaches would assist in achieving sustainable yields despite global climatic changes. Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is an economically vital crop for ~ 30% of world sugar production. They also provide essential raw materials for bioethanol, animal fodder, pulp, pectin, and functional food-related industries. Due to fewer irrigation water requirements and shorter regeneration time than sugarcane, beet cultivation is spreading to subtropical climates from temperate climates. However, beet varieties from different geographical locations display different stress tolerance levels. Although sugar beet can endure moderate exposure to various abiotic stresses, including high salinity and drought, prolonged exposure to salt and drought stress causes a significant decrease in crop yield and production. Hence, plant biologists and agronomists have devised several strategies to mitigate the stress-induced damage to sugar beet cultivation. Recently, several studies substantiated that the exogenous application of osmolytes or metabolite substances can help plants overcome injuries induced by salt or drought stress. Furthermore, these compounds likely elicit different physio-biochemical impacts, including improving nutrient/ionic homeostasis, photosynthetic efficiency, strengthening defense response, and water status improvement under various abiotic stress conditions. In the current review, we compiled different stress-mitigating agricultural strategies, prospects, and future experiments that can secure sustainable yields for sugar beets despite high saline or drought conditions.

Artificial Neural Network Prediction of Antiadhesion and Antibiofilm-Forming Effects of Antimicrobial Active Mushroom Extracts on Food-Borne Pathogens.

The problem of microbial biofilms has come to the fore alongside food, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industrialization. The development of new antibiofilm products has become urgent, but it includes bioprospecting and is time and money-consuming. Contemporary efforts are directed at the pursuit of effective compounds of natural origin, also known as "green" agents. Mushrooms appear to be a possible new source of antibiofilm compounds, as has been demonstrated recently. The existing modeling methods are directed toward predicting bacterial biofilm formation, not in the presence of antibiofilm materials. Moreover, the modeling is almost exclusively targeted at biofilms in healthcare, while modeling related to the food industry remains under-researched. The present study applied an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model to analyze the anti-adhesion and anti-biofilm-forming effects of 40 extracts from 20 mushroom species against two very important food-borne bacterial species for food and food-related industries-Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enteritidis. The models developed in this study exhibited high prediction quality, as indicated by high r2 values during the training cycle. The best fit between the modeled and measured values was observed for the inhibition of adhesion. This study provides a valuable contribution to the field, supporting industrial settings during the initial stage of biofilm formation, when these communities are the most vulnerable, and promoting innovative and improved safety management.

Thermodynamic Modeling and Experimental Validation of Acetic Acid Attack on Hardened Cement Paste: Effect of Silica Fume.

Concrete structures are increasingly becoming exposed to organic acid attack conditions, such as those found in agriculture and food-related industries. This paper aims to experimentally verify the thermodynamic modeling of cement pastes under acetic acid attack. For this, a modeling approach implemented in IPHREEQC via Matlab is described, and results are compared with measured pH and compositions of equilibrated solutions (MP-AES) as well as unreacted/precipitated solids (XRF, XRD and STA) for a wide range of acid concentrations. The 11% replacement of cement by silica fume (SF) led to a 60 or 70% reduction (measured or modeled, respectively) of Portlandite content in the hardened cement paste due to the pozzolanic reaction resulting in higher content of CSH phases, which has effects on the progression of dissolution processes and a resulting pH with increased acid concentrations. Considering that no fitting parameter was used, the model predictions showed good agreement with measured values of pH, dissolved ion concentrations and composition of the remaining (degraded) solids overall. The discrepancies here were more pronounced at very high acid concentrations (equilibrium pH < ~4), i.e., after the full dissolution of hydrate phases due to limitations in the model used to describe Al-, Si- and Fe-gel phases and/or identified experimental challenges in precipitation of calcium and aluminum acetate hydrates.

Novel strategies for extraction, purification, processing, and stability improvement of bioactive molecules.

Bioactive molecules gain significance in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries for showcasing various beneficial biological properties including but not limited to anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, and antidiabetic. However, the practice of using traditional approaches to produce bioactive molecules is gradually declining due to various limitations such as low product quality, high toxicity, low product yield, low efficiency, and product degradation. Thus, with the escalating demand for these bioactive molecules and active agents in food and other food-related industries, it has become a dire need for the scientific world to come up with novel approaches and strategies that cannot just improve the quality of these bioactives but also prepare them in a comparatively shorter time span. This review includes the latest approaches and techniques used either independently or in combinations for the extraction, purification, processing, and stability improvement of general bioactive molecules. Different parameters of these versatile techniques have been discussed with their effectiveness and work principles.

Recent Trends in Urban Agriculture to Improve Bioactive Content of Plant Foods

Urban agriculture is an important part of the food and nutrition security of many cities and is growing in importance, especially with social disruptions such as climate change and pandemics. Plant foods, in particular, provide bioactive compounds and other essential nutrients. Therefore, it is important to provide timely and useful research resources to horticultural sector and food-related industries that want to produce high-quality plant foods at low cost to meet the market demands of urban agriculture. This study focuses on up-to-date information on urban agriculture, the mechanisms of production of bioactive compounds in plant foods, and the main factors influencing the levels of bioactive compounds in plant foods. As a strategy to improve the bioactive compounds of plant foods in urban agriculture, the recent trends in urban agriculture were investigated according to four categories: ground-based uncontrolled or controlled agriculture and building-integrated uncontrolled or controlled agriculture. In ground-based urban agriculture, the application of short-term abiotic or biotic stresses, such as agronomic management practices, can significantly affect the bioactive compound levels in fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, in building-integrated urban agriculture, horticultural scientists have been interested in artificial lighting, cultivation medium, and water use efficiency to improve the level and composition of functional components of plants. The future trend of urban agriculture is expected to change from ground-based to building integration considering the sustainability of agriculture. Therefore, ongoing research on the growth and bioactive content improvement of plant foods using building-integrated agriculture is an important aspect for urban agriculture.

Medicinal mushroom: What should we know?

Mushrooms are the epigeous fruiting bodies of terrestrial fungi and as they lack cellulose and chlorophyll, they have a different lifestyle to other nonmotile life, such as plants. Mushrooms have been documented for centuries as use as food and medicine as they are generous sources of nutrients and biologically active compounds that have various applications in agriculture, food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food related industries, and others. Research on various metabolic activities of medicinal mushrooms have been performed both in vitro and in vivo studies. Over the past two decades, medicinal mushrooms industry have developed greatly and today offers thousands of products to the markets. This paper describes the current status of some important world medicinal mushrooms, products, and provides suggestions for further research.

What are the fundamental knowledge-sharing drivers of small family businesses in the restaurant and fast-food industry?

PurposeDespite the undoubted role of knowledge in the small family business (FB) in the restaurant and fast-food industry, there are some main challenges in the knowledge-sharing (KS) orientation for promoting their business. This study tries to recognise and explore the drivers influencing these enterprises' KS processes.Design/methodology/approachThe authors applied combined exploratory and confirmatory analysis in two studies. In the first study, by the Delphi method, the 22 experts consisting of managers, FB owners and academic professors explore and forecast significant items and drivers. The second study is a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for validating the first study's indicators using the survey collected amongst 218 restaurants and fast foods employees.FindingsThe findings indicate 23 indicators in three main drivers of individual, organisational and technological, are critical for KS in small FBs in the investigated industry.Originality/valueThis research supports the understanding of knowledge management and the FB and contributes to recognising the influential factors for KS amongst small and medium-sized family businesses in the food-related industry. Also, by identifying and ranking the most significant factors, this research will help entrepreneurs facilitate FB entrepreneurship. Finally, the results provide practical implications for current and future KM and FB decision-makers.

Highly crystalline covalent organic frameworks for ratiometric fluorescent sensing of trace water in honey and N2 gas

The detection of trace water (H2O) content is important and challenging in food and food-related industries. Herein, highly crystalline two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (TAPT-BTCA-COF) with yellow-green fluorescence were prepared by using 1,3,5-tris(4-aminophenyl)triazine (TAPT) and 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxaldehyde (BTCA) as precursors. The fluorescence of TAPT-BTCA-COF is sensitive to the solvent polarity due to the intermolecular charge transfer (ICT) effect and can be quenched by trace H2O due to the block of ICT effect by H2O. On this base, TAPT-BTCA-COF is applied for sensing of trace H2O in common organic solvents such as DMF, acetonitrile, THF and acetone with fast response and high sensitivity. The limits of detection for H2O in DMF, acetonitrile, THF and acetone are 0.082 wt%, 0.0053 wt%, 0.0091 wt% and 0.0061 wt%, respectively. Furthermore, a ratiometric fluorescent sensor is proposed by using TAPT-BTCA-COF as the signal probe and red fluorescent tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) dichloride as the reference and successfully applied for quantitatively and semi-quantitatively sensing of trace H2O in honey sample and the moisture in N2 gas.

Impact of COVID-19 on Food Consumption and Dietary Behavior in South Korea

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 in South Korea has significantly raised the perceived risk of people about the new epidemic. Consumers’ perceived risks made them reluctant to make face-to-face contact, changing their food consumption behavior. Knowing the changes in the food industry caused by COVID-19 can help plan mid- to long-term measures in the future. In this regard, we examined how consumers’ tendency to avoid face-to-face contact changed their food consumption behaviors, and impacted on food-related industries.

An evaluation of the investment of the delivery industry in America a specific example for DoorDash

We can still see that the delivery industry in American is still growing and has not mature. To analyze it, I use the traditional swot and pestle analysis. These two tools are more accurate when we need to judge low-end products like the delivery industry. Also, I use financial analysis to deal with the data. The conclusion for most investors is not to recommend investing in these companies because the delivery industry is unstable now. DoorDash is a great example to prove. For the decision of whether investing DoorDash or not, I think it depends. Because the market in America is always that big, there has to be someone to occupy the market, but just as I mentioned, the first person to figure out the way to save their operating cost can be the winner, because the gross profit seems cannot change so much in the future, in a food-related industry, the consumer's bargaining power is pretty strong. It may not invest in this industry unless investors are angel investors and willing to take the risk.

Development and Performance of the Pepper Industry in Malaysia: A Critical Review

The National Commodity Policy 2011-2020 was developed to increase the national income by harnessing the potential of commodity export revenues. Despite continuous efforts implemented by various related agencies, the overall performance of major commodities, particularly pepper, remains unsatisfactory. Regarded as a sought-after ‘king of spices’, pepper has become one of the most prized and important commodities traded globally. This paper highlights the development and performance of the pepper industry in Malaysia and discusses practical strategies and recommendations to transform the pepper industry. Besides conducting interviews with the industry experts to gain first-hand information, content and thematic analysis was employed based on secondary data research in this study. The findings of the study show that even though pepper is mostly used in food-related industries, its potential in pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical sectors remains underexplored. Globally, the overall supply and demand of pepper continue to increase, though the demand has recently exceeded supply. However, continuous new planting and farmexpansion initiatives by major producers caused the total global pepper supply to exceed consumption in 2018. In fact, pepper prices have declined more than 70% since 2015, which affected the overall household income of the rural community engaged in pepper farming. While experiencing low prices, smallholder pepper farmers and the industry continue to struggle with low domestic consumption, low production, higher cost of farm inputs, lack of extension services, low impact of research, development and innovation, ageing farming population, intense competition from other producing countries, low prices for quality pepper, limited subsidy to support continuous farming, pepper-related diseases, lack of new technology, and poor investment in downstream activities. Given this, the performance of the Malaysian pepper industry has fallen below expectations.

Forecasting Machine Failure Using DMG and Weibull Analysis in an Automotive Industry: A Case Study

In manufacturing or production setup, maintenance cost is one of the major portions of overall operating expenditure. It can vary between 15 to 60 percentage of overall cost for various industries including food related industries, iron, steel and other heavy industries. Such a high cost directly impacts manufacturing setup, profitability and sustainability in long run. In most of the industries, ineffective maintenance management can result in loss of capital and inefficient human resource deployment. This in turn affects the plants’ ability to manufacture quality products that are competitive in the market. Various maintenance management strategies including Operate to Failure (OTF), Design Out Maintenance (DOM), Skill Level Upgrade (SLU), ConditionBased Monitoring (CBM) and Fixed Time Maintenance (FTM) are used in industries for maximizing productivity. In recent years, Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) has become an integral part of most of the industries so its importance and characteristics cannot be understated. While CMMS cannot live standalone, it requires some decision-making techniques to be equipped with. These techniques range from Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) to Decision Making Grid (DMG). In this paper, concept of DMG has been applied to an automotive parts Manufacturing Industry in conjunction with Weibull analysis. Parallels are drawn between the results of DMG and Weibull analysis.

Structural characterization, functional properties and antioxidant activities of polysaccharide extract obtained from okra leaves (Abelmoschus esculentus)

Polysaccharides have been isolated from okra pods (Abelmoschus esculentus), with little focus on the leaves. This study characterized a water-soluble polysaccharide isolated from okra leaves (OLP), and investigated its functional properties, for their potential applications. FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy were used to describe structural characteristics and the influence on functional properties was examined. The result revealed OLP as a low-molecular-weight polysaccharide (26.9 × 103 g/mol−1) consisting of galactose (~54 mol%), galacturonic acid (~29 mol%), rhamnose (~9mol%) and arabinose (~5mol%) as the primary sugars, and rhamnogalacturonan-I as the predominant structural unit. OLP was found to be an extensively-branched, highly acetylated, and unmethylated polysaccharide. OLP exhibited non-Newtonian flow behavior and showed comparable or superior functional properties such as thermal stability and emulsifying capacity, and higher antioxidant capacity than polysaccharide previously obtained from okra pods. This study presents a means of utilizing okra leaves as a new polysaccharide source, with potential applications in food-related industries.

Elaeocarpus floribundus Bl. seeds as a new source of bioactive compounds with promising antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

The fruits of Elaeocarpus floribundus Bl. (Elaeocarpaceae) are edible and are normally prescribed for treatment of diseases. The medicinal uses of the fruit create considerable quantities of seeds as wastes. In an attempt to valorise this biomass, we studied the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the ethanolic seed extract. The extract inhibited the growth of the tested pathogens and was also a very strong scavenger of DPPH free radicals. Consequently, the extract was phytochemically investigated and this study reports the initial isolation of five phenolic compounds from this source. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by spectra analyses including HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR experiments. The isolated compounds exhibited a wide range of antimicrobial activities against the tested pathogens. Gallic acid (4) showed the most activity against Bacillus subtilis with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 30µg/mL, while the MIC values of the antimicrobial standards range between 10 and 35µg/mL. Compound 4, crude ethanolic extract, and the ethyl acetate fraction were more a potent free radical scavenger of DPPH compared to ascorbic acid. Hence, the seeds of E.floribundus could be considered as a new source of bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical and food-related industries.

Building a stable and accurate model for heavy metal detection in mulberry leaves based on a proposed analysis framework and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was used to rapidly detect heavy metals in mulberry leaves. For the purpose of increasing detection stability and accuracy, a novel analysis framework consisting of a Kohonen self-organizing map (SOM), a variable selection method using the successive projection algorithm (SPA) and uninformative variable elimination (UVE), and a consensus modeling strategy was proposed for processing LIBS data to determine copper (Cu) and chromium (Cr) content. Results showed that the best regression model for Cu and Cr content achieved the residual predictive deviation (RPD) values of 10.0494 and 8.3874, respectively, and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) values of 110.4550 and 41.4561, respectively. The proposed strategy provides a high-accuracy and rapid alternative to the traditional method for monitoring heavy metals in mulberry leaves, which could guarantee the quality of mulberry leaves and potentially be used in food-related industries.

Oxidized Oligosaccharides Stabilize Rehydrated Sea Cucumbers against High-Temperature Impact.

Small-molecule crosslinkers could diffuse into and stabilize protein hydrogels without damaging their appearance, but they are absent from the food industry due to the high safety and efficacy requirements for foods. Oxidized oligosaccharides are non-toxic small polyaldehydes previously found capable of crosslinking proteins by premixing. In this study, we managed to diffuse various oxidized oligosaccharides into the protein wall of rehydrated sea cucumbers, and the texture profile analysis, total soluble material assay and SEM (scanning electron microscope) images all suggested the treated sea cucumbers acquired significantly enhanced stability against high-temperature-promoted deterioration. The stabilization was positively correlated with the aldehyde content of oxidized oligosaccharides but negatively correlated with molecular size. The mechanism of stabilization was found to include both covalent and hydrogen bond crosslinking. These results have demonstrated that oxidized oligosaccharides could enter food protein hydrogel by free diffusion and stabilize the 3D network effectively and thereby has great potential in food-related industry.