Loss Of Product Quality Research Articles

Antioxidant Active Packaging with Soy Edible Films and Oregano or Thyme Essential Oils for Oxidative Stability of Ground Beef Patties

AbstractThe effectiveness of soy‐based edible films (EF) incorporated with essential oils (EO) from oregano (OR, Oreganum heracleoticum L.) or thyme (TH, Thymus vulgaris L.) applied on oxidative stability of ground beef patties (GBP) was investigated at 4C for 12 days. Higher antioxidant activity by OR than TH EO was determined with a 2,2'‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl radical‐scavenging assay. Induction time of oxidation measured with the Rancimat test in lipids of GBP was extended with the addition of EOs to EFs. Lower peroxide and free fatty acidity (P < 0.05) values were determined with OR‐EF or TH‐EF, particularly at later stages of storage. Incorporation of EO from OR or TH into the EFs resulted in reduced, but acceptable, redness (a*) values (P < 0.05) in ground beef. This study suggests that the addition of OR or TH EOs into EFs as an antioxidant active packaging is effective in retarding oxidative changes in meats.Practical ApplicationsOxidation reactions are among the most important factors responsible for loss of quality in meat products. Packaging using edible films (EFs) with the inclusion of natural plant extracts is becoming a promising active packaging approach to control oxidative changes in food products during storage. This study was focused on the inclusion of thyme or oregano essential oils (EOs) into EF formulation to control oxidative changes in ground beef patties. Results indicate that inclusion of EOs as antioxidants into soy‐based EFs offers great potential in industrial applications for controlling oxidative changes in the manufacture of natural meat products.

POSTHARVEST RESEARCH EDUCATION AND EXTENSION IN THAILAND: CAPACITY BUILDING IN POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL

ISHS II Asia Pacific Symposium on Postharvest Research Education and Extension: APS2012 POSTHARVEST RESEARCH EDUCATION AND EXTENSION IN THAILAND: CAPACITY BUILDING IN POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL

An Overview of Impact of Nonlinear Friction in Oscillating Control Loops: from Diagnosis to Compensation

Among the prominent reasons for oscillations in control loops such as poor controller tuning, inappropriate process design, oscillating load and disturbances with a high-frequency, the presence of static friction or stiction in the control valve is the most common reason. As a consequence of the friction, the control valves may present an oscillatory behavior, affecting the regulatory control performance and therefore it increases the variability of the control loop, causing loss of product quality and increasing energy consumption. Modeling of stiction using clear mathematical definition is hard due to its nonlinearity properties such as hysteresis, deadband or deadzone. This comparative study identifies the relative strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches of diagnosing of stiction in control loops and the compensation techniques to mitigate this effect. The aim is to determine the appropriate and precise model of stiction in order to design a proper controller to prevent control loops from oscillations. Numerous algorithms and methods which are either qualitative or quantitative in the literature show that despite these attempts to modeling, diagnosing and compensation of this phenomenon, lack of a reliable methodology to predict occurrence and properties of such oscillations and therefore lack of proper model is quite sensible. Furthermore exclusive of lack of precise model, even solving the problem were limited to some and different assumptions and applications and there is not one method which can cover all cases reliably. From this study too, it is seen that Data Driven model because of providing a simpler solution with fewer parameters is the most common method in contrast to physical based models with the presence of a number of unknown physical parameters. It is our view that hybrid approaches where different methods work in conjunction to solve parts of the problem are attractive and more effective methods. Lastly, numerous methods of stiction detection are available. Hence, it is suggested that the future research emphasis should be more on compensation of stiction especially for nonlinear processes.

Risk assessment in a damaged clean room by using the entropic Lattice Boltzmann method

Contamination risk factor (CRF) measures the effectiveness of clean room particle containment in preventing the airborne particles migration into a clean room from a corridor. This study describes the use of computer experiments to assess decontamination effectiveness of a barrier device such as a door to minimize particle migration rate. To this end, the air flow, which leaks out of the clean room through the gap of the door that is out of alignment, is simulated using the Lattice-Boltzmann method with the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (BGK) operator for collisions. The Knudsen number of the airborne particles is Kn~1, and they are in the transition regime. The blowing of airborne spherical particle in the corridor is simulated assuming that the forces experienced by a particle are a complex combination of interactions with individual gas molecules, and macroscopic interactions. It is shown that the misaligned door and uneven gaps along the edges induce an unstable pressure field. The unstable pressure results in an undesired air direction and increases the CRF level. This observation indicates that improper maintenance of a cleanroom can lead to contamination and a severe loss in end user product quality.

Modeling Present Worth of Product Quality Loss of STB Characteristic Based on Service Life Distribution

The product smaller-the-better (STB) quality characteristics are continually changing and out of specification limits because of the constant stress, wear and others after the product is put into use, which will cause loss because of the product rejected and scrapped. On the basis of the quality viewpoint that product quality loss is present worth of a loss caused as a result of its quality characteristics because its quality characteristic is out of specification and lead to product scrap after the product is put into service, the paper establishes the present worth model of quality loss of STB characteristic based on service life distribution, and proposes the calculation method on the probability density function (PDF) of the product service life based on the technical specifications of STB quality characteristic. It takes the concentricity between the inner cylindrical surface and the outer cylindrical surface of the link bushing as an example to analysis the various factors that impact on the present worth of concentricity quality loss in the new model, and contrast with Taguchi quality loss model. The results show that the new model describes an actual loss that a product imparts to society after the product is put into service, and can reflect the quality loss of STB characteristic in the product service process, and is more realistic than Taguchi quality loss model of STB. The new model extends tolerance design of STB characteristic from the manufacturing stage to the service stage.

Briefing: Donkin’s 1902 paper on motive power from blast-furnace gases

Bryan Donkin’s 1902 paper on motive power from blast-furnace gases provides a valuable snapshot of the situation at the time and, in particular, illustrates the high degree of development of the gas engine. It is an integrating paper, both comprehensive and authoritative. Manufacturers are always interested in ways of avoiding the waste of expensive raw materials and ways of reducing operational costs, including the use of fuel at maximum efficiency; provided, of course, that these innovations do not risk delays in production or loss of product quality. Nevertheless, although first proposed and demonstrated in Britain, the conversion of blast furnace gas in engines was first adopted generally in continental Europe. The Donkin family have been engineers over many generations and are responsible for establishing an engineering industry and also for many useful innovations. The iron (later steel) industry was the basis for the Industrial Revolution. Blast furnace efficiency had been substantially improved and by 1900 world iron production had reached 40 Mt per year, and following improved methods of steel production steel had considerably overtaken the production of wrought iron.

Energy-saving sorbitization of high-carbon wire rod in the 150 mill

The structure formation in 80K steel is studied after austenitization and subsequent cooling at ∼15°C/s for 1–20 s, with final cooling in water. Energy-saving sorbitization of high-carbon wire rod is introduced in the 150 mill at OAO BMZ-UKKh BMK. Such sorbitization reduces the energy consumption, without loss of productivity or product quality.

Emerging Role of Phenolic Compounds as Natural Food Additives in Fish and Fish Products

Chemical and microbiological deteriorations are principal causes of quality loss of fish and fish products during handling, processing, and storage. Development of rancid odor and unpleasant flavor, changes of color and texture as well as lowering nutritional value in fish can be prevented by appropriate use of additives. Due to the potential health hazards of synthetic additives, natural products, especially natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents, have been intensively examined as safe alternatives to synthetic compounds. Polyphenols (PP) are the natural antioxidants prevalent in fruits, vegetables, beverages (tea, wine, juices), plants, seaweeds, and some herbs and show antioxidative and antimicrobial activities in different fish and fish products. The use of phenolic compounds also appears to be a good alternative for sulphiting agent for retarding melanosis in crustaceans. Phenolic compounds have also been successfully employed as the processing aid for texture modification of fish mince and surimi. Thus, plant polyphenolic compounds can serve as potential additives for preventing quality deterioration or to retain the quality of fish and fish products.

Efecto del Salvado de Trigo en las Propiedades Fisicoquímicas y Sensoriales del Yogurt de Leche de Búfala

The effect of adding wheat bran (at concentrations of 0, 1, 3 and 5% w/v) and of the storage time on physicochemical and sensory properties of buffalo milk yoghurt were evaluated. Physicochemical tests, such as acidity, pH, fat, total solids, syneresis and density were done and sensory acceptance analysis using the 9point hedonic scale with 50 tasters were performed. The addition of wheat bran directly influenced acidity, syneresis, total solids and density, and inversely influenced pH and sensory acceptance of the product. During the storage period there was an increase in acidity and syneresis, which showed loss of product quality. Sensory analyses showed that buffalo milk yoghurt with 1% of wheat bran presented organoleptic characteristics similar to that of yoghurt without bran addition.

Stress relaxation behavior of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in relation to caking

Interaction of DDGS with the environment causes logistical challenges during handling and transportation, and leads to final product quality loss which is currently a major hurdle in marketing DDGS. Understanding the caking behavior of DDGS is one of the major unsolved problems that impacts the logistics and marketability of DDGS. Moisture content, temperature, compression force and time of consolidation influence the mechanical properties of powder materials by stimulating stickiness and eventual caking of bulk powders. The effect of these variables on stress relaxation behavior of DDGS was studied. The bulk density of DDGS increased in the range of 40–50% by compression which indicated the reduction in interparticle distance that would cause potential flow problems due to compression. The solidity values decreased with increase in moisture content implying higher cohesion between the DDGS particles. The relatively high asymptotic residual modulus for low moisture content samples indicated the recoverable compressive work and the degree of elasticity which aids to make the bulk solid flow. The results from this study show that dry (< 10%, w.b.) DDGS bulk flowability will reduce its caking propensity and is better than high moisture (> 13%) DDGS which is cohesive.

Automatic oscillation detection and characterization in closed-loop systems

It is well known that oscillations are a major cause for inferior product quality and productivity losses. Understanding the nature and the phenomena that underlie the oscillations is the first step in mitigating their effect on plant performance. Industrial reality is that multiple oscillations are generally present in the data due to several underlying sources. Detection of oscillations and identification of their time periods are difficult due to the presence of noise in data that might lead to spurious peaks in the power spectrum of the process output. This problem of oscillation detection has received much attention in the literature in recent years. In this paper, an oscillation detection approach that is based on processing of the intrinsic modes that are identified by the sieving process of Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) is proposed. The advantages of the proposed method are: (i) ability to detect the presence of single/multiple oscillations and identify their time periods, (ii) ability to provide the amplitude of oscillations, (iii) robustness to noise, (iv) capability to handle nonstationary trends and, (v) ability to provide information about dominant and weak oscillatory modes in the process data. Simulation studies demonstrate the robustness of the proposed approach to noise and its ability to characterize multiple oscillations in the process output. Results obtained from this approach on various industrial case studies are promising and seem to indicate that the proposed technique can be readily implemented in industrial environment.

Enhanced Extraction of Phenolic Compounds from Merlot Grapes by Pulsed Electric Field Treatment

The objective of this investigation was to study the influence of pulsed electric field application on fermentation process and wine characteristics. Investigations were related, in particular, to the effects of pulsed electric field pretreatment (500–700 V/cm) of grapes with a short treatment duration (40–100 ms) on the evolution of color intensity, anthocyanins, and phenolic content during the alcoholic fermentation of Merlot grapes and seven months after bottling. The kinetics of the extraction of valuable compounds during the vinification stage was established. Sensory analyses of untreated wines were compared to those of pulsed electric field-treated wines. These results showed that the permeabilization of Merlot skin by a pulsed electric field treatment resulted in increased extraction of polyphenols and anthocyanins. Pulsed electric field of moderate intensity and short duration accelerated the flow kinetics of phenolic compounds through the cell membranes. Compared to the classical process, pulsed electric field treatment has the advantage of nonthermal selective extraction (&lt;5°C) involving no loss of product quality. Phenolic compounds have an important role in enology owing to their contribution to the sensory properties of wine and to their participation in various phenomena during the vinification and aging processes. Sensory analysis indicated that pulsed electric field treatment contributes to the enhancement of the sensory attributes of wine. This technique seems to be an interesting alternative to current prefermentative techniques.

Designing the optimal mean for an asymmetrically distributed process

In a manufacturing environment where concerns for product quality or excessive cost are often present, process optimisation is typically an engineering objective. One method that supports the reduction of nonconformance costs and loss in product quality is the identification of the optimal process mean. Given the specification limits and associated costs for a process, the traditional method uses assumed values for the process parameters to estimate the ideal location of the mean. In contrast, this paper proposes using a methodology that removes the need to make assumptions on the process parameters. Furthermore, while most research examines the role of the nominal-the-best characteristic in the design of the optimal process mean, this paper specifically looks at smaller-the-better and larger-the-better quality characteristics. The skew normal distribution, which is relatively new to engineering applications, is considered in modelling these characteristics. A non-linear programming routine with economic considerations is used to facilitate this study.

Modeling Present Worth of Product Quality Losses Based on Service Life Distribution

Taguchi defines product quality as a loss that a product imparts to society from the time the product is shipped,and describes the loss with a quadratic function,but does not indicate what the loss is specifically.The product quality characteristics are continually changing because of pressure,movement and attrition after the product is put into use,which will cause loss because of the product rejected and scrapped.The paper defines product quality losses as present worth of a loss caused by product obsolescence because its quality characteristics are out of specification after it's put into service.On the basis of this view on quality,it establishes the present worth of quality losses model based on service life distribution with the principle of discounted cash flow,and proposes the calculation method of product service life distribution density function based on the technical requirements for tolerance of quality characteristic.It takes the interior diameter dimension characteristic of the shaft sleeve as an example to analysis the impact of various factors of the new model on the present worth of shaft sleeve quality losses,and contrast with Taguchi quality loss model and Teran present worth of quality loss model.The results show that the new model describes an actual loss that a product imparts to society after the product is put into service,and can reflect quality loss of different products in the different service conditions and environment,and is more realistic than Taguchi quality loss model and Teran quality loss model.The new model extends product quality assurance and tolerance design from the manufacturing stage to the service stage,and provides new perspective for quality variation in the life cycle of product design,processing,operation,et al.

Decontamination of Microbiologically Contaminated Specimen by Direct and Indirect Plasma Treatment

AbstractGentle sanitation of fresh fruits and vegetables is highly demanded. Currently used methods lead to losses in product amounts and quality. Furthermore, these methods go along with high costs and chemical residues. One reason for such problems is microbial contamination. Due to the fact that conventional decontamination processes are not suitable for preservation of fresh produce, alternatives such as plasma technology can be helpful. Three different artificial specimen and seeds of Brassica napus were contaminated with endospores of Bacillus atrophaeus and afterwards plasma treated directly with DBD plasma and indirectly with microwave plasma processed air. After a treatment time of 15 minutes reduction rates between 0.5 and 5.2 log were achieved. The viability of seeds was not affected. The advantages of plasma and promising results offer a wide range of possible uses in food industry.magnified image

Proceso tradicional de aderezo de aceitunas verdes de mesa. Racionalización del cocido

In order for olives of the Manzanilla variety to be produced as Spanish-style, they require a previous storage period before their alkaline treatment with NaOH. This holding time prevents the breakage and shedding of the fruit epidermis, but at the same time, causes an increase in the number of olives with surface blemishes and, consequently, loss in product quality. The objectives of this work were to investigate, at industrial scale, different alternatives to the holding period; specifically, the use of low-concentration alkaline solutions before the real alkaline treatment, and the use of alkaline solutions at low temperatures for this alkaline treatment. Basic parameters of the fermentative processes carried out in every treatment were monitored, and commercial quality of the final product was ascertained. The results indicate that both modifications are alternatives to the traditional treatment, and the products obtained applying these modifications have the same or higher quality than those obtained by the traditional process.

Proteomic characterisation of hydrothermal redox damage

Peptide and protein damage contributes to the loss of quality and value in protein-based food and textile products as well as to the degeneration of biological tissues such as hair and skin. The effects of elevated temperature on such substrates at the molecular level are, however, relatively unknown. This paper examines the response of peptides and proteins to hydrothermal damage using mass spectrometry and reports the location of molecular markers of hydrothermal damage within wool proteins. The hydrothermal exposure of model peptides containing the oxidatively sensitive residues tryptophan and tyrosine revealed the formation of a number of products such as hydroxytryptophan and dihydrophenylalanine. A variety of degradation products were also observed in intermediate filament proteins, including products arising from deamidation and from oxidation of histidine, tyrosine and tryptophan residues. The products observed to form during hydrothermal exposure indicated the involvement of reactive oxygen species. Molecular markers were identified within a proteinaceous system to allow the evaluation of damage type or severity. These findings have important implications for the thermal processing of foods and textiles.

Construction and validation of distribution-based regression simulation metamodels

Metamodels are used as analysis tools for solving optimization problems. A metamodel is a simplification of the simulation model, representing the system's input–output relationship through a mathematical function with customized parameters. The proposed approach uses confidence intervals as an acceptance procedure, and as a predictive validation procedure when new points are employed. To improve the knowledge about the system, the response is depicted by modelling both the mean and variance functions of a normal distribution along the experimental region. Such metamodels are specially useful when the variance of the output varies significantly. These metamodels may be used for minimizing product quality loss and improving production robustness. The development of such metamodels is illustrated with two examples.

Amorphous cellulose gel as a fat substitute in fermented sausages

Fermented sausages were produced with 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of their pork back fat content replaced by amorphous cellulose gel. The sausage production was monitored with physical, chemical and microbiological analyses. The final products were submitted to a consumer study, and the volatile compounds of the final products were extracted by solid-phase microextraction and analyzed by GC/MS. The reformulated fermented sausages had significant reductions in fat and cholesterol, and the volatile compounds derived from lipid oxidation were also reduced in the final products. These results suggest that the substitution of up to 50% of the pork back fat content by amorphous cellulose gel can be accomplished without a loss of product quality, enabling the production of fermented sausages with the levels of fat and cholesterol decreased by approximately 45% and 15%, respectively.

Economic production order quantity and quality

The purpose of this study is to integrate a conventional production-inventory management approach and a process-quality design approach so as to promote quality and reduce costs. Because the integration of these two approaches into a single system is conducted under the influence of a deterioration process, estimated costs of production must be modified. Only then can these various costs be presented as a total cost for the present integrated system. This total cost includes: a setup cost for production reordering and process resetting, quality-related costs stemming from the loss of product quality along with a tolerance-related production process cost and a failure cost for product defects, backorder costs for production shortage, carrying costs generated by the storing and handling of inventory, and material costs for determining the process mean. The Taguchi quality loss function is introduced to assess quality loss in the system. The decision variables include the initial setting (process mean), process tolerance, and production order quantity. These variables need to be determined simultaneously to minimise the average total cost for a cycle time. An example is presented to demonstrate the proposed approach.