Thermal Processing Conditions Research Articles

Removing Homocoupling Defects in Alkoxy/Alkyl‐PBTTT Enhances Polymer:Fullerene Co‐Crystal Formation and Stability

AbstractC14‐alkoxy/alkyl PBTTT‐OR‐R, a derivative of the prototype PBTTT polymer, is relevant for optoelectronic applications because it combines PBTTT‐like intercalation behavior with enhanced charge‐transfer absorption at longer wavelengths. Additionally, fundamental insights are achieved by comparing this alternating conjugated polymer in the presence and absence of homocoupling defects. While the homocoupling‐free oxidative variant, PBTTT‐OR‐R(O), as well as the Stille polymer with 19% homocoupling defects, PBTTT‐OR‐R(S), can both form co‐crystals when stoichiometrically mixed with PC61BM, the co‐crystal of the latter shows properties which are highly dependent on the thermal processing conditions because of the presence of these defects. The PBTTT‐OR‐R(S):PC61BM co‐crystal shows a low thermal stability and PC61BM can progressively be expelled upon heating. In cooling from the melt and depending on the cooling rate, mixtures of PBTTT‐OR‐R(S) and PC61BM show a competition between co‐crystallization (fast cooling) and separate crystallization (slow cooling). The PBTTT‐OR‐R(O):PC61BM co‐crystal is much more stable up to at least 260 °C and is not influenced by the applied cooling rate. These findings also translate to the device level. The performance of PBTTT‐OR‐R:PC61BM photodiodes is severely deteriorated after isothermal annealing in case of PBTTT‐OR‐R(S), whereas the thermally robust co‐crystals of PBTTT‐OR‐R(O) allow a more flexible design of optimized devices.

Polymer Bionanocomposites Based on a P3BH/Polyurethane Matrix with Organomodified Montmorillonite-Mechanical and Thermal Properties, Biodegradability, and Cytotoxicity.

In the present work, hybrid nanobiocomposites based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P3HB, with the use of aromatic linear polyurethane as modifier and organic nanoclay, Cloisite 30B, as a nanofiller were produced. The aromatic linear polyurethane (PU) was synthesized in a reaction of diphenylmethane 4,4'-diisocyanate and polyethylene glycol with a molecular mass of 1000 g/mole. The obtained nanobiocomposites were characterized by the small-angle X-ray scattering technique, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, and differential scanning calorimetry, and moreover, their selected mechanical properties, biodegradability, and cytotoxicity were tested. The effect of the organomodified montmorillonite presence in the biocomposites on their properties was investigated and compared to those of the native P3HB and the P3HB-PU composition. The obtained hybrid nanobiocomposites have an exfoliated structure. The presence and content of Cloisite 30B influence the P3HB-PU composition's properties, and 2 wt.% Cloisite 30B leads to the best improvement in the aforementioned properties. The obtained results indicate that the thermal stability and mechanical properties of P3HB were improved, particularly in terms of increasing the degradation temperature, reducing hardness, and increasing impact strength, which were also confirmed by the morphological analysis of these bionanocomposites. However, the presence of organomodified montmorillonite in the obtained polymer biocomposites decreased their biodegradability slightly. The produced hybrid polymer nanobiocomposites have tailored mechanical and thermal properties and processing conditions for their expected application in the production of biodegradable, short-lived products for agriculture. Moreover, in vitro studies on human skin fibroblasts and keratinocytes showed their satisfactory biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity, which make them safe when in contact with the human body, for instance, in biomedical applications.

Effect of Thermal Processing on Food Allergenicity: Mechanisms, Application, Influence Factor, and Future Perspective.

Thermally processed foods are essential in the human diet, and their induced allergic reactions are also very common, seriously affecting human health. This review covers the effects of thermal processing on food allergenicity, involving boiling, water/oil bath heating, roasting, autoclaving, steaming, frying, microwave heating, ohmic heating, infrared heating, and radio frequency heating. It was found that thermal processing decreased the protein electrophoretic band intensity (except for infrared heating and radio frequency heating) responsible for destruction of linear epitopes and changed the protein structure responsible for the masking of linear/conformational epitopes or the destruction of conformational epitopes, thus decreasing food allergenicity. The outcome was related to thermal processing (e.g., temperature, time) and food (e.g., types, pH) condition. Of note, as for conventional thermal processing, it is necessary to control the generation of the advanced glycation end products in roasting/baking and frying, and the increase of structural flexibility in boiling and water/oil bath heating, autoclaving, and steaming must be controlled; otherwise, it might increase food allergenicity. As for novel thermal processing, the temperature nonuniformity of microwave and radio frequency heating, low penetration of infrared heating, and unwanted metal ion production of ohmic heating must be considered; otherwise, it might be the nonuniformity and low effect of allergenicity reduction and safety problems.

Effects of different types of starches on heat penetration and physicochemical characteristics in alfredo sauce

Corn starch is frequently used as a thickening agent in food products because of its stability under thermal processing conditions. However, with fluctuating raw material costs due to weather conditions, disruptions in supply chains, and geopolitical challenges, there is an increasing need to explore alternative sources of starch. This study examines the effect of retort processing on the heat penetration and physicochemical aspects of modified corn, tapioca, and potato starches in Alfredo sauce. Modified corn starch, commonly used in commercial sauces, was compared with tapioca and potato starches to evaluate their effects on viscosity, color, and processing times required to achieve a F0 = 6 for Clostridium botulinum. Using the reference starch concentration of 1.90%, modified corn starch showed a significant increase in viscosity from 3,328 cP to 13,296 cP with a processing time of 31.33 min. Modified tapioca starch, at the same concentration, increased from 3440 cP to 8176 cP over 38.38 min, indicating superior thermal stability being the longest cooking time evaluated between all samples. For modified potato starch, using the reference concentration, viscosity increased from 1,200 cP to 4,656 cP, with a processing time of 31.93 min. Adjusting the starch concentration to 3% for modified tapioca starch and 2.38% for modified potato starch increased viscosity to 14,400 cP and 16,336 cP, respectively. These adjustments resulted in a darker Alfredo sauce, with the L value decreasing from 92.27 to 83.67 due to the longer cooking time. Heat penetration findings suggest that modified potato starch can replace modified corn starch safely using the reference concentration (1.90%) without altering the process holding time but requiring further adjustments to match commercial viscosity standards, while modified tapioca starch, although requiring higher concentrations and longer processing times, was tested for retention time at 3.00% and to be a feasible alternative. This study offers valuable insights to the food industry in selecting appropriate starches to maintain the quality and safety of thermally processed Alfredo sauce.

Effects of different thermal methods and degrees on the flavor of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) fillets: Fatty acids, volatile flavor and taste compounds

The effects of different thermal processing conditions on the flavor profiles of channel catfish were evaluated in terms of fatty acids, volatile flavor and taste compounds using steaming, boiling, roasting, and microwaving with different degrees. After thermal processing, 72 volatile organic compounds were detected, including 20 hydrocarbons, 5 ketones, 20 aldehydes, 7 heterocyclic compounds, 12 alcohols and others. Meanwhile, the contents of unsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid and linoleic showed a significant decline due to their heat-sensitive properties. With regard to taste compounds, thermal processing contributed to umami amino acids and free nucleotides conversion, with the initial glutamate and IMP contents of 15.87 and 164.91 mg/100 g in raw samples mainly increasing by 2.8–10.3 and 14.4–105.5 mg/100 g in processed ones. Compared to other methods, microwaving had limited effects on flavor compounds, and steaming and roasting had better performance to improve the flavor complexity of channel catfish.

PH-Dependent interactions between β-casein and blueberry anthocyanins based on typical thermal processing conditions: Stability, structural characterization, and binding mechanisms

The color and structural stability of blueberry anthocyanins (BAs) are significantly affected by pH changes during processing. In this study, we present the potential effects of the thermal stability, structural characterization, and binding mechanism of BAs with β-casein (β-CN) at pH 2, 4, and 6 for the first time. The pH was found significantly affect the ability of β-CN to protect BAs from thermal, vitamin C, and sucrose induced degradation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) resolved the microstructural differences of β-CN-BAs at varying pH values. Multispectral analysis showed that as pH increases, the electrostatic interaction between β-CN and the major monomer of anthocyanins Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G) are replaced by hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces, and then electrostatic interactions are again the dominant force. In vitro gastrointestinal digestion confirmed that the protein stabilized C3G under varying pH conditions. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy reveals the connection between the multiple equilibrium forms of C3G (hemiketal, cis-chalcone, and trans-chalcone) and β-CN on the formation of complexes between multiple equilibrium forms to specifically elucidate the mechanism of its stabilizing effect. Molecular docking simulation revealed the significance of electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding, where the highest binding match was achieved at pH 2, with a minimum binding energy. These interactions can effectively promote stable complexation of β-CN with C3G. These findings have practical implications for protein regulation of the relationship between the equilibrium forms of different anthocyanins and can guide the stabilization of anthocyanin-rich products.

Discovering melting temperature prediction models of inorganic solids by combining supervised and unsupervised learning.

The melting temperature is important for materials design because of its relationship with thermal stability, synthesis, and processing conditions. Current empirical and computational melting point estimation techniques are limited in scope, computational feasibility, or interpretability. We report the development of a machine learning methodology for predicting melting temperatures of binary ionic solid materials. We evaluated different machine-learning models trained on a dataset of the melting points of 476 non-metallic crystalline binary compounds using materials embeddings constructed from elemental properties and density-functional theory calculations as model inputs. A direct supervised-learning approach yields a mean absolute error of around 180K but suffers from low interpretability. We find that the fidelity of predictions can further be improved by introducing an additional unsupervised-learning step that first classifies the materials before the melting-point regression. Not only does this two-step model exhibit improved accuracy, but the approach also provides a level of interpretability with insights into feature importance and different types of melting that depend on the specific atomic bonding inside a material. Motivated by this finding, we used a symbolic learning approach to find interpretable physical models for the melting temperature, which recovered the best-performing features from both prior models and provided additional interpretability.

Enhancing the Quality of Low-Salt Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) Surimi Gel Using Psyllium Husk Powder: An Orthogonal Experimental Approach.

Low-salt surimi production is crucial as it addresses health concerns related to sodium intake while maintaining the quality and shelf-life of seafood products. This research focused on optimizing the gelation conditions for silver carp surimi with the addition of psyllium husk powder at low salt concentrations (0.5% and 1%, w/w) to investigate the effects of psyllium husk powder concentration, temperature, and time on gel strength and water-holding capacity. The quality was assessed in terms of gel strength and water-holding capacity. Following a single-factor exploration, a three-level orthogonal experiment was designed to evaluate the influence of these three variables using a combined scoring system. Results indicated that psyllium husk powder levels between 0.1% and 0.3% (w/w) enhanced gel strength and water-holding capacity. The optimal conditions were identified as follows: 1% (w/w) NaCl with 0.2% (w/w) psyllium husk powder for 2.5 h at 35 °C, and 0.5% (w/w) NaCl with 0.3% (w/w) psyllium husk powder for 3 h at 35 °C. Texture profile analysis revealed that psyllium husk powder increased the hardness of the surimi gel, promoting myosin cross-linking and denser gel structure. Compared to traditional surimi gel, which relies on ionic bonds, the optimized gel showed higher levels of disulfide cross-linking and enhanced hydrophobic interactions, resulting in a stronger gel structure. Sensory evaluation suggested that surimi gels with psyllium husk powder were perceived as better than those without psyllium husk powder. The study concludes that selecting the appropriate psyllium husk powder quantity and thermal processing conditions based on salt concentration can significantly improve the quality of low-salt surimi gels. Error analysis using one-way ANOVA was performed on all experimental data and (p < 0.05) indicated the significant difference.

Effect of thermal processing conditions on the structure and properties of porous PENK/PVDF composite films and its application as lithium-ions separators

By developing high-performance lithium-ion battery technology, the demands on the design of separator modification have increased. However, battery performance and safety are limited by conventional polyolefin separators' poor thermal resistance and electrolyte wettability. Biphenyl-type poly (arylene ether nitrile ketone) (BP-PENK) is synthesized. PENK polymers are a class of poly (aryl ether) with excellent properties of both Poly (aryl ether nitrile) (PEN) and Poly (ether ketone) (PEEK). The BP-PENK/PVDF composite film is further processed by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS), and the impact of annealing temperatures on the thermal resistance and crystalline phase structure of composite separators has been studied. The composite separator owns enhanced ionic conductivity, excellent electrolyte wettability, and superior thermal durability. The cell equipped with the composite separator has a discharge-specific capacity of 146.5 mAh·g−1 and a capacity retention rate of 86.64 %. In this way, A novel approach to producing lithium-ion battery separators that possess outstanding electrochemical properties and high thermal durability is provided.

Investigation on 3D printing of shrimp surimi under different printing parameters and thermal processing conditions

Improving the printing accuracy and stability of shrimp surimi and finding appropriate printing parameters and suitable thermal processing method can help to develop high value-added 3D printing products of shrimp surimi. It was found that in order to make the 3D printing products of shrimp surimi have higher printing adaptability (printing accuracy and printing stability reach more than 97%), by choosing nozzle diameter of 1.20 mm and setting the printing height of the nozzle to 2.00 mm, the layers of the printed products were better fused with each other, and the printing accuracy of the products could be greatly improved; there was no uneven discharge and filament breakage when the nozzle moved at the speed of 30 mm/s; and the products were internally compact and had good stability when the printing filling rate was 80%. In addition, the deformation rates of steamed, boiled and deep-fried shrimp surimi products were significantly higher than those of oven-baked and microwaved shrimp surimi products (P < 0.05). Microwave heating had a greater effect on the deformation and color of shrimp surimi products, and was not favored by the evaluators. In terms of deformation rate, sensory score, and textural characteristic, the oven-baked thermal processing method was selected to obtain higher sensory evaluation scores and lower deformation rates of shrimp surimi 3D printed products. In the future, DIY design can be carried out in 3D printing products of shrimp surimi to meet the needs of different groups of people for modern food.

In vitro testing of honey quality and biological functionality: underestimated elements in the clinical testing of honey.

Honey is an attractive functional food that often becomes a subject of clinical studies on the treatment of diverse diseases. However, the clinical efficacy of honey is rather controversial due, at least in part, to its variable composition and botanical origin as well as thermal processing or improper storage conditions. This review addresses the importance of honey quality standards and in vitro testing of the biological properties of honey prior to performing clinical studies, which can have a great impact on clinical outcomes. It focused on recently performed meta-analyses and systematic reviews where honey was used in the management of various disorders including respiratory tract infections, and metabolic and cardiometabolic diseases, with the goal of characterising the honeys used in clinical studies. In addition, it provides recommendations for the use and storage of honey for clinical testing. The vast majority of clinical studies included in meta-analyses do not provide any information about honey quality parameters. In fact, indicators of thermal damage or prolonged storage of honey were analysed only in one clinical study. This observation highlights on the alarming status of honey quality in clinical studies. Furthermore, in vitro biological properties of the analysed honeys were assessed in two clinical studies. Therefore, this review strongly advocates the clinical use of only fully characterised honey samples of known botanical origin with proven in vitro biological functionality and no or minimal thermal processing.

Development of low-cost, compact chiroptical imaging systems.

Circular dichroism spectroscopy is a key probe of the structural and optical properties of chiral materials, however, commercial circular dichroism spectrometers are large, prohibitively expensive and rarely offer environmental control of the sample under test. Using Fresnel rhombs as inexpensive broadband quarter-wave plates, we demonstrate two novel, low-cost (<£2000) and portable imaging systems controlled by our own bespoke open-source control software which are capable of spatially mapping the circular dichroism of chiral solid state films. By coupling these imaging systems with a temperature controlled stage, we show that we can rapidly identify the thermal processing conditions required to maximise circular dichroism in chiral solid state films by measuring circular dichroism in situ during thermal annealing of a sample under test. The accuracy and spatial resolution of these circular dichroism imagers are cross-compared against our previous studies using an existing circular dichroism imaging system at the Diamond Light Source and are shown to be in good agreement, with a sensitivity down to 250 mdeg and a spatial resolution of 100 μm.

Scalable exothermic synthesis of sprout-like Ni-Co-Fe trimetallic oxide nanoparticles anchored on N-doped carbon nanotubes as bifunctional oxygen catalysts for zinc-air batteries

Zn-air batteries (ZABs) offer a high specific energy density, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendliness. Hence, they are attractive candidates for use as sustainable energy-storage devices. However, their practical applications are limited by their high bifunctional oxygen evolution reaction/oxygen reduction reaction (OER/ORR) overpotential and sluggish kinetics. To address these limitations, in this study, a highly active bifunctional oxygen catalyst, TNPs@N-CNT, is developed, in which Ni-Co-Fe trimetallic nanoparticles are anchored on N-doped carbon networks. TNPs@N-CNT is synthesized via the thermally driven combustion of collodion fuel. The carbonization of melamine foam containing pyridinic N in TNPs@N-CNT enhances the ORR and affords a high catalytic surface area and high electrical conductivity. Morphological studies and chemical characterization aid in finely tuning the thermal processing conditions, affording a TNPs@N-CNT suitable for charge transfer. TNPs@N-CNT shows enhanced ORR activity (half-wave potential = 0.62 V and onset potential = 1.49 V) in alkaline media. A ZAB with TNPs@N-CNT as the air cathode exhibits an output power density of 90 mW cm−2 and excellent cycling stability for over 200 h, outperforming previously reported carbon-supported precious-metal catalysts. This tunable and scalable fabrication strategy could promote the development of novel mesoporous structures combined with high-efficiency multi-metallic catalysts for applications in energy-storage systems.

Facile heteroatoms modification biochar production from mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) pericarps for enhanced the suppression of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are critical environmental concerns due to their intrinsic toxic aromatic nature and concomitant circumstances that potentially harm the ecological and human health. In this study, converting mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) pericarps to value-added biochar by pyrolysis for evaluating the potential formation/destruction of biochar-bound PAHs was studied for the first time. This study designed and optimized the thermal processing conditions at 300–900 °C in the CO2 or N2 atmosphere, and heteroatoms (N, O, B, NB, and NS) were modified for mahogany pericarps biochar (MPBC) production. The MPBC500 exhibited significantly higher pyrolysis products of PAHs (2780 ± 38 ng g−1) than that of MPBC900 (78 ± 6 ng g−1) under N2 without introducing modified elements. Specifically, the inhibition capacity of MPBC500 for PAHs under CO2 was improved most efficiently by the active nitrogen species of the pyridinic N and pyrrolic N groups. The pyrolysis conditions and heteroatom modification of MPBC altered its physicochemical properties, that is, aromaticity and hydrophobicity, affecting the PAH concentration and composition in the pyrolysis products. This study reveals sustainable approaches to reduce the environmental footprint of biochar by focusing on increases in PAHs pollution in sustainable biochar produced from a low-carbon bioeconomy perspective.

Mathematical Modeling of Thermal Processing for an Al-Si Alloy

This paper presents the realization of a mathematical model of a heat treatment process of an Al-Si alloy, with the help of which the values of some mechanical properties are preached. The method of elaborating the mathematical model is a statistical method, namely the method of the active experiment.With the help of the MATLAB software and based on the elaborated mathematical model, we created a graphic interface that allows the prediction of the values of three mechanical properties depending on the thermal processing conditions of the studied alloy.

A Quality Assessment of Strawberry Nectar Stabilized by Thermal and High-Pressure Processing Conditions

This study is aimed at evaluating the quality of strawberry nectar following high-pressure processing (HPP) at different pressure levels (400, 500, and 600 MPa for 3 minutes) and thermal pasteurization (TT) at 75°C for 15 s. Key parameters include total colour difference ( Δ E ∗ ), aparent viscosity, colour analysis via CIELAB coordinates, and pH. Additionally, residual enzymatic activity (RA%) of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) was measured. Strawberry nectar (12°Brix) was prepared and subjected to processing, with thermal treatment in 50 mL tubes and HPP in 40 mL polyethylene bags. Samples were stored under refrigeration during 21 days, with microbial analysis conducted to assess microbiological stability during storage. TT exhibited a more pronounced reduction in total aerobic microbial count (TAMC) compared to HPP, which showed no detectable yeast and mould. Apparent viscosity varied among samples, with HPP at 600 MPa displaying a significant increase of 52.1% compared to the control. The pseudoplastic behavior, characterized by n values lower than 1, was consistent across all treatments. TT led to a reduction in L ∗ brightness value during storage, whereas HPP-treated samples underwent colour changes over time with Δ E ∗ of 3.1 for 400 MPa, 3 minutes, at 21 days. For PPO and POD, the 600 MPa treatment exhibited the highest inhibition (44% and 4% RA, respectively). This comprehensive study provides insights into how different HPP processing conditions affect the quality attributes, enzymatic activity, and microbiological stability of strawberry nectar during production and refrigerated storage. The research’s significance lies in its holistic comparison of HPP with traditional thermal pasteurization, offering valuable information for both industry and consumers.

Deformation of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu composite samples under nonstationary thermomechanical conditions

The paper studies the technology of deformation and heat treatment of an aluminum-matrix composite material under nonstationary conditions, which is upsetting with gradual heating to near-solidus temperatures under mild loading conditions. The composite material is based on the V95 aluminum alloy discretely reinforced with 10% of SiC particles. The purpose of the study is to compare the deformation behavior of the samples and analyze their microstructure under different conditions of thermal deformation processing. The structure of the material is studied by optical and electron scanning microscopies. The paper discloses the behavior of the rate of relative strain as dependent on temperature, as well as the features of structure formation in an aluminum-matrix composite depending on the heating conditions. The most pronounced differences are found in the central part of the samples closer to the deforming tool (flat dies). On the symmetry axis in the central region of the samples there are differences in the crystallographic orientations of the material textures. Microhardness values and their distribution on the section are obtained. For the sample with slow heating, there is no tendency for the increase of the microhardness values in the regions with high values of plastic strain, this being indicative of a more complete recrystallization process and lower dislocation density.

Revealing oxidative degradation of lipids and screening potential markers of four vegetable oils during thermal processing by pseudotargeted oxidative lipidomics

The oxidative degradation of lipids in vegetable oils during thermal processing may present a risk to human health. However, not much is known about the evolution of lipids and their non-volatile derivatives in vegetable oils under different thermal processing conditions. In the present study, a pseudotargeted oxidative lipidomics approach was developed and the evolution of lipids and their non-volatile derivatives in palm oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, and flaxseed oil under different thermal processing conditions was investigated. The results showed that thermal processing resulted in the oxidative degradation of TGs in vegetable oils, which generated oxTGs, DGs, and FFAs, as well as TGs with smaller molecular weights. The lower the fatty acid saturation, the more severe the oxidative degradation of vegetable oils and thermal processing at high temperatures should be avoided if possible. From the accumulation of oxTGs concentrations, the hazards during thermal processing at high temperatures were, in descending order, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, flaxseed oil, and palm oil. The non-volatile potential markers were screened in palm oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, and flaxseed oil for 1, 7, 5, and 2 markers related to thermal processing time, respectively. The study provided suggestions for the consumption of vegetable oils from multiple perspectives and identified markers for monitored oxidative degradation of vegetable oils.

Influence of Fermentation Time on the Nutritional and Antioxidant Properties of Black Garlic

Black garlic (BG) is a nutritive food produced by subjecting fresh garlic (FG) to controlled thermal processing and humidity conditions for at least 4 weeks. To date, the effect of the fermentation period on the nutritional values of black garlic remains vague in Brunei Darussalam. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the nutritional compositions of BG fermented for 4, 6 and 8 weeks at 65 °C and relative humidity of around 70%. The salt, sugar, alcohol, protein, lipid content and antioxidant activity of BG were examined and compared with FG. The study showed that different fermentation periods demonstrated a significant effect (p &lt; 0.05) on the salt, sugar, protein and lipid content of the garlic samples. No alcohol content was detected in all garlic samples. The present study also revealed that BG exhibited higher antioxidant properties, about 5-7 times higher as compared to FG. Our study indicated that the best treatment is black garlic fermented for 4 weeks (BG4) owing to its high protein content and antioxidant properties. Overall, BG is a promising high-value product that can be exploited by the food or nutraceutical industries.

Detection of β-lactoglobulin under different thermal-processing conditions by immunoassay based on nanobody and monoclonal antibody.

The problems of inaccurate detection values of thermal-processed β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) content seriously affect the screening of allergens. A monoclonal antibody (mAb) against β-LG was successfully prepared and a highly sensitive sandwich ELISA (sELISA) was constructed with specific nanobody (Nb) as the capture antibody with detection limit of 0.24ng/mL. Based on this sELISA, the ability of Nb and mAb to recognize β-LG and β-LG interacting with milk components was explored. Combined with protein structure analysis to elaborate the mechanism of shielding β-LG antigen epitopes during thermal-processing, thus enabling the differentiation between pasteurized and ultra-high temperature sterilized milk, the detection of milk content in milk-containing beverages, and the highly sensitive detection and analysis of β-LG allergens in dairy-free products. The method provides methodological support for identifying the quality of dairy products and reducing the risk of β-LG contamination in dairy-free products.