Raw Tomatoes Research Articles

Improved antioxidant properties and sustainability of whole‐fruit yellow tomato puree

SummaryIn this study, a new process was proposed to make the yellow tomato puree more sustainable, avoiding any waste during production and including peels and seeds in it. In addition, as raw material tomatoes grown without irrigation and fertilisation procedures were used to increase the sustainability. With respect to a traditional puree, the whole‐fruit yellow tomato puree contained more β‐carotene and polyphenols, exhibiting greater antioxidant capacity, and showed greater consistency due to the high content of pectin in peels. Moreover, a higher content of glutamic acid, responsible for the umami taste, was detected particularly in products from GiaGiù ecotype. Sensory analysis assessed that whole‐fruit yellow tomato puree has good acceptability and consumers preferred it for the texture. In conclusion, the whole‐fruit yellow tomato puree is not only a sustainable product but can be also used as an excellent ingredient in food formulation with antioxidant properties.

Optimizing Ketchup Manufacturing Process: A Tecnomatix Simulation for Reduced Waiting Time and Improve Operational Efficiency

This research investigates the optimization of a ketchup production factory layout using Tecnomatix Plant Simulation software to enhance resource utilization and production efficiency. Both push and pull system were used to analyzed the entire ketchup production process, from receiving raw tomatoes to the final product storage, incorporating various processing stations with different processing times. In a push environment, driven by predetermined schedules, the simulation results showed an increasing trend in throughput over 4, 7, 11, and 14 days, with significant efficiency gains over time. In a pull environment, driven by actual customer demand, throughput simulations of 50, 100, 200, and 500 units demonstrated increasing productivity with higher workloads. The findings highlight the importance of optimized workstation layouts to reduce idle time and improve workflow, emphasizing that while push environments maintain consistent productivity, pull environments offer greater efficiency through flexibility and responsiveness to demand.

ОСНОВНЫЕ ИТОГИ НАУЧНО-ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКОЙ РАБОТЫ ДАГЕСТАНСКОЙ СЕЛЕКЦИОННОЙ ОПЫТНОЙ СТАНЦИИ ВИНОГРАДАРСТВА И ОВОЩЕВОДСТВА ЗА 2023 ГОД

The article presents the main results of the research work of scientists of the DBESVVG – branch of NCFSCHVW, carried out in accordance with the State Task for 2023 and the Research Plan for 2022-2026 on the basis of the PFSR of the state Academies of Sciences for 2021-2030. The research results reflect the main directions of the research station: genetic resources, breeding and variety studies of grapes, vegetable and subtropical fruit crops; development of a methodology for the creation and operation of intensive own-root plantations of grapes in the phylloxera infestation zone; obtaining environmentally safe products of grapes, vegetables and subtropical fruit crops. The main objectives of the research work are the creation of new genotypes of grapes, subtropical fruit and vegetable crops based on the mobilization of the potential of wild species, native and high-value introduced varieties with high productivity, product quality and resistance to abiotic and biotic stressors; improvement of the methodological base to accelerate the breeding process of grapes; identification of mechanisms for the realization of the genetic potential of indigenous and promising introduced grape varieties against the background of phylloxera infection, mechanisms for the formation of genetic and functional tolerance to the pest and scientific (biological) foundations for the creation of intensive own root plantations of grapes; identification of patterns of accumulation of dry matter and BAS in raw materials obtained from young broccoli plants and secondary products of grape and tomato processing depending on from varietal characteristics, stages of development, harvest period, processing methods; development of scientific and applied bases for obtaining environmentally safe raw materials for the production of functional food products and dietary supplements intended for the prevention of cardiovascular and oncological diseases. The research results expanded the base of genetic sources and methodological approaches for the creation of adaptive grape varieties in the changing climatic conditions of southern Russia, allowed to expand methodological approaches to the creation of root-related grape plantations and management of resistance to stressors, confirmed the fundamental possibility and effectiveness of hormonal management of the development of grape plants from the first year of life, as well as the quality of raw grapes, tomatoes and broccoli to create environmentally safe functional food products and dietary supplements, focused on the prevention of socially significant diseases.

Classification of Tomato Ripeness Based on Convolutional Neural Network Methods

Sorting system for tomato is one of the important things to deploy to achieve better quality of tomato. Nowadays, many sorting system is done manually and this could spend a lot of time and become inefficient. One method can be implemented in the sorting system by using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) method to classify the ripeness of tomatoes. The objective of this research is to classify the ripeness of tomatoes based on the color of tomatoes. There are three categories of color level such as green for raw tomato, turning for half-ripe tomato and red for ripe tomato. Research methodology of this research is data collection, data pre-processing and image maintenance, CNN model, and training data. The image used in this research are 1148 images. These images were taken manually using smartphone camera in outdoor environment. These images were used to build CNN model. The results of this research show that by testing 10 images of tomatoes achieved raw tomatoes close to 90%, ripe tomatoes close to 90% and half-ripe tomatoes close to 80%. Based on the results, CNN can be used as a good alternative in image classification tasks.

Machine learning driven portable Vis-SWNIR spectrophotometer for non-destructive classification of raw tomatoes based on lycopene content

Most of the research on intact fruit spectroscopy is derivative in nature as it primarily showcase application of existing spectroscopy devices which are often proprietary in nature. The regression models developed by researchers to predict physicochemical attributes using spectra remain theoretical due to lack of mechanism to integrate the developed models back into proprietary devices. This poses challenge for commercial adaptation of this technology in commercial food quality supply chain. The present study addresses this research gap by presenting first of its kind innovative approach to classify tomatoes based on lycopene content using chemometrics-machine learning framework driven portable short-wave near infra-red (SWNIR) spectrophotometer developed by integration of open-source hardware (AS7265x multispectral chipset having wavelength range 410–940 nanometre (nm), Arduino Uno microcontroller) and software (R platform), housed in ergonomically designed and 3-dimension printed cabinet ensuring noise-free spectra acquisition. The lycopene content was observed to have strong negative correlation with wavelengths (nm) 485, 560 and 585 at ρ = – 0.65, – 0.70, – 0.70, whereas strong positive correlation with 760 nm at ρ = +0.64. Similar associations were qualitatively observed using principal component analysis. Atypical of literature, feature selection was performed based on analysis of variance and 14 wavelengths which exhibited statistically significant difference with respect to 15-days storage study (p ≤ 0.05) were selected for model development. Chemometrics-machine learning framework was used for development of optimised probabilistic and non-probabilistic models including logistic regression, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Random Forest (RF), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) models using 10-fold cross validation subjected to 80–20% train-test split of the dataset. In agreement with literature, 500–750 nm wavelength range dominated the classification of lycopene content. Notably, specific wavelengths for logistic regression (560 nm), LDA (730 nm, 645 nm, 560 nm, 535 nm), RF (760 nm, 585 nm, 560 nm, 645 nm), and ANN (585 nm, 560 nm) significantly influenced outcome instances across classifiers. Accuracy obtained from confusion matrix on test dataset was used as performance metric to compare different models. Logistic regression and RF showcased accuracy of 80%, LDA and SVM at 90% while ANN outperformed all models with accuracy of 95%. This study successfully augmented technological advancement in field of spectroscopy for non-invasive quality assessment of fruit. It is recommended to conduct similar studies on other climacteric fruits for wider adoption of this technology.

Effects of in-package cold plasma treatment on the physicochemical and oral toxicological properties of raw grape tomatoes and the probability of salmonellosis from consumption of the tomatoes

Effects of in-package cold plasma treatment on the physicochemical and oral toxicological properties of raw grape tomatoes and the probability of salmonellosis from consumption of the tomatoes

Chemometrics driven portable Vis-SWNIR spectrophotometer for non-destructive quality evaluation of raw tomatoes

Most of the contemporary research published in field of visible-short wave near-infrared (Vis- SWNIR) fruit spectroscopy is ‘derivative’ in nature as they primarily showcase the application of existing spectroscopic devices coupled with traditional multivariate analysis techniques subjected to different fruits. The results of such studies often remain theoretical due to lack of integration mechanisms to incorporate developed models back into these proprietary devices. In present study, an open-source portable spectrophotometer has been proposed using commercially available multi-spectral sensor chipset integrated with microcontroller, housed in an ergonomically designed cabinet for spectral data acquisition in reflectance mode. During a 15-day post-harvest storage study of over 100 samples of raw tomatoes, the spectral data was acquired at 18 different wavelengths ranging from 410 nanometer (nm) to 940 nm, along with laboratory estimation 14 physicochemical attributes. Statistical and chemometrics analysis revealed that blue (380–440 nm) and green (440–600 nm) spectra varied with attributes associated with loss in water content, while red (600–750 nm) and SWNIR (750–1100 nm) spectra varied with attributes associated with carotenoid content, such as lycopene, antioxidant activity, and colour pigmentation. In order to predict physicochemical attributes using spectral wavelengths as regressor variables, various linear models including multiple linear regression (MLR), principal component regression (PCR), partial least squares regression (PLSR) and non-linear models including random forest regression (RF), support vector machine regression (SVM), and artificial neural network (ANN) were developed using 10-fold cross-validation on 80-20% train-test split of the dataset. MLR was observed to have exhibited a linear relationship between lycopene and wavelengths 560 nm, 645 nm and 730 nm with highest coefficient of determination (R2) among linear models at 0.6361 (p < 0.05) but SVM outperformed all models with root mean squared error on test dataset, RMSE (Test) at 0.087 (p < 0.05). MLR was found to be best suitable for prediction of red colour pigmentation in tomatoes with 93.17% accuracy and lowest RMSE (Test) at 0.0608 (p < 0.05) for wavelengths 560 nm, 645 nm, 730 nm and 810 nm. While non-linear models demonstrated competence in capturing the underlying relationship between physicochemical attributes and spectra the optimised MLR models, albeit time and computationally dearer due to extensive pre-processing and criterion-based selection strategies, showed outstanding performance with high R2 and competitive RMSE (Test). Additionally, these MLR models offered interpretability to facilitate better understanding of spectral features that were influential in making predictions of carotenoid associated attributes, which is often absent in contemporary research papers. The present work augments technological advancement in portable fruit spectroscopy for rapid and non-invasive estimation of physicochemical attributes through chemometrics-machine learning framework.

Associations between colorectal cancer risk and dietary intake of tomato, tomato products, and lycopene: evidence from a prospective study of 101,680 US adults.

Previous epidemiological studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding the effects of dietary tomato, tomato products, and lycopene on the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC), possibly due to variations in sample sizes and study designs. The current study used multivariable Cox regression, subgroup analyses, and restricted cubic spline functions to investigate correlations between CRC incidence and mortality and raw tomato, tomato salsa, tomato juice, tomato catsup, and lycopene intake, as well as effect modifiers and nonlinear dose-response relationships in 101,680 US adults from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. During follow-up 1100 CRC cases and 443 CRC-specific deaths occurred. After adjustment for confounding variables, high consumption of tomato salsa was significantly associated with a reduced risk of CRC incidence (hazard ratio comparing the highest category with the lowest category 0.8, 95% confidence interval 0.65-0.99, p for trend = 0.039), but not with a reduced risk of CRC mortality. Raw tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato catsup, and lycopene consumption were not significantly associated with CRC incidence or CRC mortality. No potential effect modifiers or nonlinear associations were detected, indicating the robustness of the results. In the general US population a higher intake of tomato salsa is associated with a lower CRC incidence, suggesting that tomato salsa consumption has beneficial effects in terms of cancer prevention, but caution is warranted when interpreting these findings. Further prospective studies are needed to evaluate its potential effects in other populations.

Dissipation, Processing Factors and Dietary Exposure Assessment of Myclobutanil in Tomato.

Myclobutanil residue poses a potential threat to consumers' health. This work aims to investigate the degradation behavior, residue levels, processing factors (PFs) and dietary risk of myclobutanil in tomato. Myclobutanil was analyzed using a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe (QuEChERS) method combined with ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), and average recoveries ranged from 82% to 102% with relative standard deviations RSDs ≤ 9.1%. After spraying myclobutanil miscible oil under field conditions, the initial concentration of myclobutanil was 0.055 mg/kg, and its dissipation followed the first-order kinetics equation with a half-life of 2.88 days. Myclobutanil was mainly present in the tomato skin, and its concentration was about four times that in the whole tomato. The initial concentration of myclobutanil in raw tomato was 0.100 mg/kg. After washing, peeling, homogenization, simmering and canning, the residual level of myclobutanil decreased to 0.067 mg/kg, 0.023 mg/kg, 0.013 mg/kg, 0.044 mg/kg and 0.041 mg/kg, respectively. Although the procedure of simmering led to an increase in myclobutanil concentration, the PFs were all less than 1 in the whole process, showing that the processing procedure significantly decreased the residual level of myclobutanil canned tomato paste in comparison with the raw agricultural commodity. Washing, peeling, and homogenization played critical roles in reducing pesticide residues. The residues of myclobutanil during the processing of tomato pose low dietary exposure risks to consumers in China, which were acceptable. However, the acute and chronic risk quotient for children revealed that it was necessary to monitor the dietary exposure of pesticide residues for children closely.

Hierarchically Templated Synthesis of 3D-Printed Crosslinked Cyclodextrins for Lycopene Harvesting.

Plants produce a wide range of bioactive phytochemicals, such as antioxidants and vitamins, which play crucial roles in aging prevention, inflammation reduction, and reducing the risk of cancer. Selectively harvesting these phytochemicals, such as lycopene, from tomatoes through the adsorption method is cost-effective and energy efficient. In this work, a templated synthesis of 3D-printed crosslinked cyclodextrin polymers featuring nanotubular structures for highly selective lycopene harvesting is reported. Polypseudorotaxanes formed by triethoxysilane-based telechelic polyethylene glycols and α-cyclodextrins (α-CDs) are designed as the template to (1) synthetically access urethane-based nanotubular structures at the molecular level, and (2) construct 3D-printed architectures with designed macroscale voids. The polypseudorotaxane hydrogels showed good rheological properties for direct ink writing, and the 3D-printed hydrogelswereconverted to the desired α-CD polymer network through a three-step postprinting transformation. The obtained urethane-crosslinked α-CD monoliths possess nanotubular structures and 3D-printed voids. They selectively adsorb lycopene from raw tomato juice, protecting lycopene from photo- or thermo-degradations. This work highlights the hierarchically templated synthesis approach in developing functional 3D-printing materials by connecting the bottom-up molecular assembly and synthesis with the top-down 3D architecture control and fabrication.

Determination and analysis of pesticide residues in fieldgrown and greenhouse-grown tomatoes using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

The present study aimed to extract pesticide residues in the field and greenhouse-grown tomatoes and homemade paste based on the (QuEChERS) method before being determined by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The mean difference in percentage reduction of deltamethrin (DLM) and acetamiprid (ACT) in raw tomatoes of greenhouse-grown was obtained at 91.42 and 90.00%, respectively, which was insignificantly more than filed condition (84.91% and 86.34%). Maximum reduction percentages of the DLM in paste under greenhouse and field tomato conditions were achieved by more than 95.86% and 93.11%, respectively. The residual concentration of both DLM (91.42%) and ACT (90.00%) in the greenhouse decreased more than the field (84.91% and 86.34%), respectively. Abamectin(ABA) reached below the MRL in a shorter time after spraying (2 days). Considering the pre-harvest interval (PHI) period of deltamethrin and abamectin can reach their residual concentration to the MRL in both conditions, which were determined by LC-MS. According to the results of the current study, 7 and 5 days can be suggested as the PHI period of the acetamiprid for field and greenhouse-grown tomatoes, respectively. Therefore, using pesticides in the proper dosage, considering appropriate PHI, and harvesting can reduce their residues in agricultural products.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of tomato retailers towards hygiene and food safety in Harar and Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

In this study, we assessed knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) related to tomato hygiene and food safety, among tomato vendors in the Ethiopian cities of Harar and Dire Dawa. From a total of 1498 tomato retail market vendors identified in the two cities through vendor mapping exercises, 151 outlets were randomly selected for a cross-sectional KAP survey on tomato handling, marketing, loss due to damage, safety, and hygienic practice. Tomato vendors claimed that they knew about food safety and hygiene, and risks associated with raw tomatoes. We found considerable variation in food safety knowledge, barriers, and practices during handling and marketing. The major concern of tomato traders in terms of food safety for vegetables was contamination with dirt. Around 17% of street vendors did not know about the importance of water quality and cleanliness for food safety. About 20% of tomato traders washed tomatoes after they purchased them and 43% and 14% of respondents who practiced tomato washing revealed that they cannot get the quantity and quality of water needed, respectively. Tomatoes were displayed in direct sunlight in about 85% of stalls. About 37% of vendors said rodents were present at night and could contact surfaces tomatoes are displayed on. For about 40% of outlets one or more flies were seen to be present on a third to two-thirds of their tomatoes. Overall, 40% of respondents reported they do not have adequate toilet facilities and 20% of those that use a toilet do not have water for washing hands after. The study identified areas that should be targeted by interventions aiming to improve food safety in this setting, however, without improvements in basic infrastructure to provide the pre-requisites for food safety the impact of small-scale food safety interventions may be limited.

Effects of different processed tomatoes on carotenoid release and microbiota composition during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation.

Carotenoids in tomatoes confer significant health benefits to humans but with the disadvantage of the carotenoids from raw tomatoes not being easily absorbed for utilization. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of different cooking processes on carotenoid release and human gut microbiota composition during in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion of tomatoes. The results showed that stir-frying significantly increased the release of lycopene and β-carotene during gastrointestinal digestion, with boiling being the second most effective treatment. The boiling-treated tomatoes enhanced the carotenoid release during in vitro fermentation. Gut microbiota analysis revealed that the digestion of the raw and boiled tomatoes promoted the growth of potentially beneficial microbiota while reducing the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroides, which potentially helps prevent obesity. Boiling treatment significantly reduced the growth of Peptostreptococcus and was negatively correlated with carotenoid release. Overall, the boiling-treated tomatoes were more effective than the raw or stir-fried tomatoes in terms of both colon health benefits and carotenoid release.

Thermal concentration effects of tomato pulp and carotenoids extraction from the residue

The present study evaluated the effect of two thermal concentration systems on bioactive compounds, the sugar content of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) pulp, and the carotenoid bioaccessibility of pulp concentrate. The closed processing system ensured a higher retention of phenolic and carotenoid compounds. The bioaccessibility of lycopene in tomato pulp concentrate was relatively low (0.54 %) but higher than in raw tomato pulp (0.15 %), corroborating other results that have reported the low availability of the compound in these matrices. Carotenoid extraction from tomato residue was also evaluated through both conventional (CE) and ultrasound (UAE) extractions together with the stability of extracts over 30 days. UAE promoted a superior release of lycopene and lutein than conventional extraction. Lycopene showed less stability with a reduction of 18 % in 30 days.

Dietary Patterns Associated with General Health of Breastfeeding Women 1–2 Months Postpartum: Data from the Japanese Human Milk Study Cohort

BackgroundThe effects of dietary patterns on health outcome of lactating women remain unclear. ObjectivesTo describe the dietary patterns of lactating Japanese women and explore the association between dietary patterns and their general health. MethodsThis study included 1096 lactating women from the Japanese Human Milk Study Cohort. The maternal diet during lactation 1–2 mo postpartum was determined using a FFQ. Dietary patterns were identified using a factor analysis based on the energy-adjusted intake of 42 food items. Trend associations between maternal and infant variables and quartiles of dietary pattern scores were tested, and logistic regression was performed to estimate the OR and 95% CI of maternal self-reporting anemia, constipation, rough skin, sensitivity to cold, and mastitis. ResultsFour dietary patterns were identified in this study. The versatile vegetable diet, characterized by a high intake of vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds, and tofu, was associated with maternal age, BMI prepregnancy and during the lactation periods, education, household income, and anemia. The plain Japanese diet contained a high intake of typical Japanese foods such as rice and miso soup and a low intake of bread and some confectioneries and was associated with maternal BMI during both periods. The salad vegetable diet, characterized by a high intake of raw vegetables and tomatoes with mayonnaise or dressing, was associated with parity and season in which data collection was conducted. The seafood diet, characterized by a high intake of fish, squid, octopus, shrimp, and shellfish, was associated with days postpartum and sensitivity to cold. ConclusionsFour dietary patterns were identified and were independently associated with socioeconomic factors. The versatile vegetables diet and seafood diet were associated with anemia and sensitivity to cold, respectively, among the participants. This trial was registered at the Japanese Clinical Trials Registry (https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/icdr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000017649) as UMIN000015494.

Comparative Study of Methane Production in a One-Stage vs. Two-Stage Anaerobic Digestion Process from Raw Tomato Plant Waste

An anaerobic digestion process performed in two stages has the advantages of the production of hydrogen in addition to methane, and of further degradation of the substrate over the conventional process. The effectiveness of the implementation of this system for the treatment of lignocellulosic waste has been demonstrated. In 2020, more than 180 million tons of organic waste were generated worldwide from tomato crop production, posing a serious environmental risk. In the present investigation, methane production was compared in a two-stage system versus one-stage system from non-pretreated tomato plant residues. For this, different temperature (37 and 55 °C) and initial pH (5.5 and 6.5) conditions were evaluated during hydrogenesis and a constant temperature (37 °C, without pH adjustment) during methanogenesis. At the same time, a one-stage treatment (37 °C, without pH adjustment) was run for comparison purposes. The two-stage treatment in which the highest production of hydrogen, 12.4 mL/g VS, and methane, 252.3 mL/g VS, was observed occurred under the conditions of pH 6.5 and at 37 °C. However, this energy production was statistically similar (p &lt; 0.5) to the one-stage treatment (365.4 mL CH4/g VS). Furthermore, there were also no significant differences in the removal of volatile solids between the different treatments.

Artificial intelligence-based prediction of lycopene content in raw tomatoes using physicochemical attributes.

Lycopene consumption reduces risk and incidence of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Tomatoes are a rich source of phytochemical compounds including lycopene as a major constituent. Lycopene estimation using high-performance liquid chromatography is time-consuming and expensive. To develop artificial intelligence models for prediction of lycopene in raw tomatoes using 14 different physicochemical parameters including salinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), firmness, pH, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), colour values on Hunter scale (L, a, b), total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant activity (AOA). The post-harvest data acquisition was collected through investigation for more than 100 raw tomatoes stored for 15 days. Linear multivariate regression (LMVR), principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were developed by splitting data set into train and test datasets. The training of models was performed using 10-fold cross validation (CV). Principal component analysis showed strong positive association between lycopene, colour value 'a', TPC, TFC and AOA. The R2 (CV), root mean square error (RMSE) (CV) and RMSE (Test) for best LMVR model was observed to be at 0.70, 8.48 and 9.69 respectively. The PCR model revealed R2 (CV) at 0.59, RMSE (CV) at 8.91 and RMSE (Test) at 10.17 while PLSR model revealed R2 (CV) at 0.60, RMSE (CV) at 9.10 and RMSE (Test) at 10.11. Results of the present study show that epidemiological studies suggest fully ripened tomatoes are most beneficial for consumption to ensure recommended daily intake of lycopene content.

Effect of Thermal Treatments on Soluble-Free, Soluble-Conjugated, and Insoluble-Bound Phenolic Components and Free Radical Scavenging Properties of Tomato Seeds

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different thermal treatments (steaming and baking) on the chemical compositions, total content of antioxidant components, and the antioxidant properties of soluble-free, soluble-conjugated, and insoluble-bound phenolics from tomato seeds. Total phenolic content (TPC) and free radical scavenging activities against ABTS•+, DPPH•, and peroxyl radicals were also investigated. As compared to the raw tomato seeds, phenolic compositions of tomato seeds in different phenolic fractions were significantly altered after thermal treatments. All thermal treatments did not significantly affect the TPC of the soluble-free phenolic fraction; however, they significantly increased the TPC values of the soluble-conjugated phenolic fraction. Steaming for 60 min significantly increased the radical scavenging activities against ABTS•+, DPPH•, and peroxyl radicals in the soluble-free and soluble-conjugated phenolic fractions. All thermal treatments had no prompt effects on the TPC values and free radical scavenging activities of the insoluble-bound phenolic fraction. Taken together, these results indicated that thermal treatments may alter the bioactivities of tomato seeds and steaming can be an effective way to obtain their health beneficial effects.

The Design of a Tomato Powder Processing Plant with a Capacity of 75,000 Tonnes Per Annum in Oyo State, Nigeria, West Africa

Abstract This project designed a plant that will process 250 tonnes of raw tomatoes per day. The duration of this production was spread across 24 hours and operated for 300 days in a year, which gave a yield of 17.5 tons of tomato powder per day. From these specifications, the best process route was synthesized. The process route selected involved choosing and sorting the tomatoes, washing, blanching, blending, spray drying (as the drying process), packaging and labeling. Through a series of investigations, the most feasible way to dry tomato powder on an industrial scale proved to be the spray-drying method because the process was very rapid, required low labor cost, and was relatively simple to operate and sustain. The particle size was also easy to control with this technology, making it easy to correlate with product standards. The equipment to be used was then identified which included the machine vision, a spray washer, a water Blancher, an industrial blender, a spray dryer, and a powder packaging machine. Material and energy balance were evaluated around the whole plant. A process flow diagram and basic piping and instrumentation diagram were also computed using engineering software such as Microsoft Visio. From the previous work done, the selected process unit, the spray dryer, was designed with a detailed piping and instrumentation diagram made around it. The site of the plant was resolved, adjacent oriental foods along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. It was necessary to site the plant in an area where raw materials can easily be delivered to. The area selected was directly linked to a major highway, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, thereby making transport quite affordable. The site layout alongside the plant layout was constructed. The layouts clearly showed the standard flow process.

Conceptual System Dynamics and Agent-Based Modelling Simulation of Interorganisational Fairness in Food Value Chains: Research Agenda and Case Studies

System dynamics and agent-based simulation modelling approaches have a potential as tools to evaluate the impact of policy related decision making in food value chains. The context is that a food value chain involves flows of multiple products, financial flows and decision making among the food value chain players. Each decision may be viewed from the level of independent actors, each with their own motivations and agenda, but responding to externalities and to the behaviours of other actors. The focus is to show how simulation modelling can be applied to problems such as fairness and power asymmetries in European food value chains by evaluating the outcome of interventions in terms of relevant operational indicators of interorganisational fairness (e.g., profit distribution, market power, bargaining power). The main concepts of system dynamics and agent-based modelling are introduced and the applicability of a hybrid of these methods to food value chains is justified. This approach is outlined as a research agenda, and it is demonstrated how cognitive maps can help in the initial conceptual model building when implemented for specific food value chains studied in the EU Horizon 2020 VALUMICS project. The French wheat to bread chain has many characteristics of food value chains in general and is applied as an example to formulate a model that can be extended to capture the functioning of European FVCs. This work is to be further progressed in a subsequent stream of research for the other food value chain case studies with different governance modes and market organisation, in particular, farmed salmon to fillet, dairy cows to milk and raw tomato to processed tomato.