Thermal Processing Techniques Research Articles

Recent advances in non‐thermal and thermal processing of jackfruit ( Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam ): An updated review

Jackfruit (Artocarpus Heterophyllus Lam.) is an underexploited seasonal fruit that is rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and carbohydrates. Its commercialization and storage are limited due to its highly perishable nature. At the same time, operations such as peeling, cutting, and coring operations are difficult to perform manually. This review sums up the recent development in the area of novel thermal and nonthermal processing techniques such as retort pouch processing, microwave processing, irradiation, high-pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric field technology, ultrasound, supercritical fluid extraction, cold freezing, hurdle technology, and minimal processing were discussed to preserve and processed jackfruit. The impact of different processing techniques on jackfruit's quality, sensory characteristics, and storage period was also demonstrated. Industrial challenges and their prospects are also explicated for entrepreneur beneficiaries. Thermal methods resulted in a more significant loss of nutrients than nonthermal methods. For better results, pooled heat treatment with nonthermal methods is effective. Ultrasonication significantly improved the quality of thermal techniques, micro-wave treatment, and nonthermal methods. Novelty impact statement Use of novel thermal and nonthermal methods for jackfruit processing is suggested. Combination of mild heat with nonthermal methods was more effective for jackfruit preservation. Microwave and ultrasonication are most effectively analyzed for jackfruit processing. Industrial challenges and their prospects are also explicated for entrepreneur beneficiaries.

A novel fault detection technique for PV systems based on the K-means algorithm, coded wireless Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing and thermal image processing techniques

Solar energy is considered one of the most ecological energy systems, which provides clean, reliable, and unlimited power. However, the solar system can be exposed during its operation to numerous failures that can immediately lead to a dangerous incident such as fire ignition. To ensure the productivity and safety of the system, it must be accompanied by fault detection and diagnostic (FDD) techniques. A new wireless communication system and its application in PV systems to detect damaged areas of solar panels are proposed to address these issues. The proposed approach is composed mainly of two parts; the first part aims to check and detect the existence of damaged areas in the thermal images of PV panels, while the second part focuses on the transmission of faulty panels using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation with three decoding algorithms, namely, Min-sum, Bit-Flipping, and Viterbi, to send and correct errors induced by a wireless transmission channel. The simulation results have shown that employing the K-means algorithm, OFDM modulation, and the Min-sum decoding scheme offers a significant performance improvement giving a rapid degradation with a BER of 10−4 for SNR = 3.7 dB and a null BER from SNR = 4 dB. From a financial point of view, it was proved that the adopted solution is cost-effective compared to literature-based ones. This solution could be very useful since the overall capital cost is about 5.41 USD/m2.

Sources, Processing-Related Transformation, and Gut Axis Regulation of Conventional and Potential Prebiotics.

One strategy to achieve a balanced intestinal microbiota is to introduce prebiotics. Some substances present in the diet, such as soybean extracts, koji glycosylceramides, grape extracts, tea polyphenols, and seaweed extracts, can be considered as potential prebiotics, because they can selectively stimulate the proliferation of beneficial bacteria in the intestine. However, the discovery of novel prebiotics also involves advances in screening methods and the use of thermal and non-thermal processing techniques to modify and enhance the properties of beneficial organisms. The health benefits of prebiotics are also reflected by their participation in regulating the microbiota in different gut axes. In the present review, we introduced the field of prebiotics, focusing on potential prebiotic substances, the process of screening potential prebiotics, the transformation of prebiotics by food-processing technologies, and the roles of prebiotics on gut axis regulation, which, it is hoped, will promote the discovery and utilization of novel prebiotics.

“Technological convergence” of preventive nutrition with non thermal processing

Post COVID-19 pandemic realization and expanding consumer demand for functional nutrition have compelled the food industry to focus on one, clean-label technologies to improve energy expenditure, microbial inactivation, shelf stability, and retention of functional nutrients, and second on the systematic evaluation of food matrices for bioactive potential (functionality) and designing novel food matrices and products healthier than the existing formats. The food industry is rapidly heading toward a “technological convergence” with the goal of establishing highly efficient processing technologies for safe, shelf-stable functional products. Novelty impact statement In this review, we evaluated the utility and efficiency of various non-thermal processing technologies (cold plasma, ultra-sonication, high pressure, pulsed electric field, pulsed light processing) with respect to their capabilities to retain phytonutrient functionality and antioxidant potential in processed foods. The review also discusses existing gaps in current non thermal processing techniques and explores potential improvements necessary to foster reliable next-generation processing technologies.

Effect of Combination of Time and Temperature on Quality Characteristics of Sous Vide Chicken Breast.

The use of minimal thermal processing techniques such as sous vide technology to improve the quality of meat-based foods has gained a special focus in recent years. A proper combination of temperature and time parameters in sous vide processing plays an important role in the water-holding capacity, texture properties, and juiciness of the meat. The present study aimed to assess the impact of the one-step and two-step sous vide processing on different quality properties of chicken breast with special emphasis on the cooking loss, color, texture properties, protein solubility, and lipid oxidation. According to the results, chicken breast treated with a two-step temperature (50 and 60 °C) showed improved texture parameters (shear force, hardness, chewiness, and gumminess), lower cooking loss, acceptable redness values, and decreased lipid oxidation levels than the chicken breast treated with the one-step temperature of 60 °C. Moreover, the two-step sous vide technique revealed significantly higher total protein solubility of the chicken breast than the one-step sous vide. Based on pasteurization values, the two-step sous vide technique was equally safe as the one-step sous vide technique for vegetative cells’ inactivation for the main pathogens of interest (C. perfringens and L. monocytogenes).

WSe2/MoS2 van der Waals Heterostructures Decorated with Au Nanoparticles for Broadband Plasmonic Photodetectors

Surface plasmons of metal nanostructures can resonantly enhance the light absorption of two-dimensional (2D) materials and stacked van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure-based photodetectors, realizing the improvement of responsivity. So far, it has remained challenging to control and tune surface plasmons via artificially varying the geometry of arrayed metal nanostructures. Here, we demonstrate a broadband plasmonic photodetector based on an integration of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on a WSe2/MoS2 vdW heterostructure. The plasmon resonance peaks could be tuned by the artificially patterning of Au NPs with the geometry controlled by a rapid thermal processing technique and enable a great improvement of light absorption crossing broadband spectral regimes from 400 to 1100 nm. Our device operates at room temperature and exhibits the highest responsivity of up to 1948 mA W–1, detectivity of 7.2 × 1011 cm Hz1/2 W–1, and the ultrafast response of 8.3 μs under an illumination with zero-bias voltage. These merits of high-performance detection and rapidly scalable production of controlled metal nanostructures, with the development of 2D material synthesis and transfer techniques, offer great potential for large-area and smart fabrication of nanoscale optoelectronic devices with low power consumption.

Alternative Thermal Processing Technique for Liquid Foods-membrane Processing

Liquid foods are sensitive to temperature and concentration by conventional methods results in product deterioration. Alternative processes, such as freeze concentration, have the drawback with respect to the maximum achievable concentration (only up to 40 to 45°Brix). In recent years membrane processes such as Microfiltration, Ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis are gaining importance for the concentration of liquid foods. Since heat is not involved in this process, it is also called Alternate thermal processing technique. This process can be employed as a pre-concentration step to reduce water load on subsequent processing steps and can be easily scaled up. Liquid foods such as fruit juices are of high nutritive value as they are naturally enriched with minerals, vitamins and other beneficial components required for human health. When extracted from their sources fruit juices have low solid content, color strength and high-water load. Recent advances and developments in this membrane processing used for the concentration of liquid foods are discussed here.

Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam (jackfruit) processing equipment: Research insights and perspectives

AbstractIndia is the largest producer of jackfruit (Artocarpus Heterophyllus Lam.) all over the world. It is an underutilized seasonal fruit rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and carbohydrates. A significant chunk of the jackfruit production is wasted due to a lack of postharvest technological interventions. Due to its bulky nature, thickness, and spiky skin, operations like peeling, cutting, and coring are difficult to perform manually. Recently, there is a considerable improvement in the mechanization of jackfruit postharvest processing, which helps to reduce the wastage by 80% in its production and utilization. This review summarizes the recently developed varied types of machinery, procedures, and working mechanism of various postharvest operations such as peeling, cutting, coring, bulb removal, and seed processing. Moreover, it critically evaluates and compares the machinery for each stage of unit operation involved in jackfruit processing. The development of various thermal processing techniques such as blanching, canning, boiling, and drying is also discussed in detail. However, on comparing thermal processing with other processing aids, there is always a critical nutrients loss during thermal processing. This review also finally explores the jackfruit potential for industrial application and commercialization.Practical ApplicationsUnit operations involving preprocessing of jackfruits such as peeling, cutting, coring, bulb removal, seed roasting, and seed dehulling remain the most tedious operation in jackfruit processing due to its irregular shape and hard surface. Manual operation of such unit operations consumes much time and causes drudgery. Hence, the development of suitable equipment for such unit operations becomes inevitable and helps make the jackfruit processing faster and more efficient. Critical analysis of various machineries for jackfruit processing will be of great use for industries to learn about various machineries used in jackfruit processing.

Mechanical properties and tribological performance of A356/Cr3C2-NiCr surface composite developed by high-velocity oxy-fuel and post friction stir processing treatment

High-velocity oxy-fuel thermal spraying and post friction stir processing (FSP) techniques were utilized to fabricate a new lightweight metal matrix composite for industrial application in which A356 aluminum (Al) cast alloy and Cr3C2-NiCr were the matrix and reinforcements, respectively. The microstructure of the BM, friction stir processed samples, and composites were evaluated using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The investigations demonstrated that the coarse eutectic silicon blades were crushed to fine particles after FSP and the Cr3C2-NiCr coating were uniformly dispersed into the base metal (BM). The hardness of the samples was measured via microhardness and nanoindentation tests, which indicated a significant improvement (about twice the BM) in the hardness of the 4-pass friction stir processed composite. Considering the results of the uniaxial tensile test, the FSP enhanced the yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the samples. The YS and UTS of the 4-pass friction stir processed composite were nearly 53 and 22% higher than those of the BM, respectively. To study the tribological performance of the samples, the dry sliding wear test was conducted on the samples using a reciprocal wear machine. The results showed that the wear and friction performances of the composites improved dramatically (∼98% and 61% decrease in the wear rate and friction coefficient, respectively). Finally, the SEM investigations from the fracture surfaces, worn surfaces, and debris resulting from the wear tests were conducted on the samples to understand the fracture and wear mechanisms.

Recovery and virulence factors of sublethally injured Staphylococcus aureus after ohmic heating

Ohmic heating (OH) is an alternative thermal processing technique, which is widely used to pasteurize or sterilize food. However, sublethally injured Staphylococcus aureus induced by OH is a great concern to food safety. The recovery of injured S. aureus by OH and virulence factor changes during recovery were investigated in this study. The liquid media (phosphate-buffered saline, buffered peptone water and nutrient broth (NB)), temperature (4, 25 and 37 °C) and pH (6.0, 7.2 and 8.0) influenced the recovery rate and the injured cells completely repaired in NB at 37 °C, pH 7.2 with the shortest time of 2 h. The biofilm formation ability, mannitol fermentation, hemolysis, and coagulase activities decreased in injured S. aureus and recovered during repair process. Quantitative real-time PCR showed the expression of sek, clfB and lukH involved in virulence factors increased during recovery. The results indicated that the virulence factors of injured S. aureus recovered after repair.

Thermal processing implications on the digestibility of meat, fish and seafood proteins.

Thermal processing is an inevitable part of the processing and preparation of meat and meat products for human consumption. However, thermal processing techniques, both commercial and domestic, induce modifications in muscle proteins which can have implications for their digestibility. The nutritive value of muscle proteins is closely related to their digestibility in the gastrointestinal tract and is determined by the end products that it presents in the assimilable form (amino acids and small peptides) for the absorption. The present review examines how different thermal processing techniques, such as sous-vide, microwave, stewing, roasting, boiling, frying, grilling, and steam cooking, affect the digestibility of muscle proteins in the gastrointestinal tract. By altering the functional and structural properties of muscle proteins, thermal processing has the potential to influence the digestibility negatively or positively, depending on the processing conditions. Thermal processes such as sous-vide can induce favourable changes, such as partial unfolding or exposure of cleavage sites, in muscle proteins and improve their digestibility whereas processes such as stewing and roasting can induce unfavourable changes, such as protein aggregation, severe oxidation, cross linking or increased disulfide (S-S) content and decrease the susceptibility of proteins during gastrointestinal digestion. The review examines how the underlying mechanisms of different processing conditions can be translated into higher or lower protein digestibility in detail. This review expands the current understanding of muscle protein digestion and generates knowledge that will be indispensable for optimizing the digestibility of thermally processed muscle foods for maximum nutritional benefits and optimal meal planning.

Metallisation of polymers and polymer matrix composites by cold spray: state of the art and research perspectives

ABSTRACT Surface treatments on polymer-based materials are frequently used to enhance mechanical and physical properties. Cold spray is a metallisation technique that provides a viable solution to overcome the main drawbacks of conventional thermal spray processing techniques related to surface degradation at high temperatures. This review provides a critical overview on the metallisation of polymers and polymer matrix composites using cold spray. It offers an informative read on different approaches, bonding mechanisms, spraying procedures and parameters that influence the deposition efficiency, and the features of the coating. The future scope section broadly highlights potentially relevant areas for further developments using the method for metallising polymer-based substrates.

Recent trends in bacterial decontamination of food products by hurdle technology: A synergistic approach using thermal and non-thermal processing techniques

Researchers are continuously discovering varied technologies for microbial control to ensure worldwide food safety from farm-to-fork. The microbial load and virulence of spoilage causing microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, yeasts, virus, and protozoa, determines the extent of microbial contamination in a food product. Certain pathogenic microbes can cause food poisoning and foodborne diseases, and adversely affect consumers' health. To erade such food safety-related problems, various traditional and novel food processing methods have been adopted for decades. However, some decontamination techniques bring undesirable changes in food products by affecting their organoleptic and nutritional properties. Combining various thermal and non-thermal food processing methods is an effective way to impart a synergistic effect against food spoilage microorganisms and can be used as an alternative way to combat certain limitations of food processing technologies. The combination of different techniques as hurdles put the microorganisms in a hostile environment and disturbs the homeostasis of microorganisms in food temporarily or permanently. Optimization and globalization of these hurdle combinations is an emerging field in the food processing sector. This review gives an overview of recent inventions in hurdle technology for bacterial decontamination, combining different thermal and non-thermal processing techniques in various food products.

Emerging non-thermal processing techniques for preservation of tender coconut water

Tender coconut water (TCW) possesses appreciable nutritional and health-promoting benefits. The high nutritional potential of the drink had raised the overall demand globally among the consumers. Nevertheless, the processing and appropriate shelf-life extension is significant hurdles in tapping the nutritional potential of TCW. Besides, the possible chance of enzymatic browning and the associated biochemical reactions impart unfavorable effects to the TCW quality parameters. Although thermal processing techniques are being widely explored, their inherent limitation and the generation of off-flavor and discoloration urge to explore alternative non-thermal techniques. The major mechanism of non-thermal techniques behind enzyme inactivation and antimicrobial effect is the conformational change of protein structure and cell destruction, respectively. In this review, the application of non-thermal techniques viz. ozone technology, high-pressure processing, filtration, ultrasound, ultraviolet, cold plasma, pulsed light, and electric field treatments are explored and compared.

Global proteomic responses of sublethally injured Staphylococcus aureus induced by ohmic heating

Ohmic heating (OH) is an emerging thermal processing technique that has been utilized in food industry for sterilization and pasteurization. To deeply understand the sublethal injury and inactivation mechanism on microorganisms by OH, TMT-labeled quantitative proteomic was employed to investigate the responses of injured Staphylococcus aureus in this study. The results indicated that OH could induce the occurrence of injured Staphylococcus aureus cells. There were 145 and 250 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) observed after OH and water bath heating treatments, respectively, and the majority of DEPs of both treatments were cell membrane proteins. OH caused the osmotic imbalance and membrane damage, inhibited gene expression and decreased the virulence of Staphylococcus aureus. Meanwhile, more energy was required for injured cells to maintain osmotic pressure, repair the damaged membrane and express the specific genes.

Recovery of Sevoflurane Anesthetic Gas Using an Organosilica Membrane in Conjunction with a Scavenging System.

Approximately 95% of the anesthetic gas administered to a patient is exhaled and ultimately released into the atmosphere. Most anesthetic gases have high global warming potential and so this approach adds significantly to the global greenhouse gas footprint. In this work, we develop a feasible means to capture such an anesthetic gas (sevoflurane) before it is released to the hospital scavenging system so that it is retained within the anesthetic circuit. Sevoflurane is retained using a microporous 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE) membrane prepared by a sol-gel method. The use of a ceramic membrane facilitates sanitization at high temperatures. A rapid thermal processing (RTP) technique is employed to reduce production time and to create a looser organosilica network, resulting in higher gas permeances, compared with the membrane synthesized from conventional thermal processing. The RTP membrane shows a slight decline in gas permeance when used with a dry mixture of CO2/N2/sevoflurane. This permeance falls again under 20% relative humidity feed conditions but the CO2/sevoflurane selectivity increases. The membrane performance shows little variation when the relative humidity is further increased. These promising results demonstrate that this microporous BTESE membrane has great potential for the recovery of sevoflurane in an anesthetic application.

Internet of Nonthermal Food Processing Technologies (IoNTP): Food Industry 4.0 and Sustainability

With the introduction of Industry 4.0, and smart factories accordingly, there are new opportunities to implement elements of industry 4.0 in nonthermal processing. Moreover, with application of Internet of things (IoT), smart control of the process, big data optimization, as well as sustainable production and monitoring, there is a new era of Internet of nonthermal food processing technologies (IoNTP). Nonthermal technologies include high power ultrasound, pulsed electric fields, high voltage electrical discharge, high pressure processing, UV-LED, pulsed light, e-beam, and advanced thermal food processing techniques include microwave processing, ohmic heating and high-pressure homogenization. The aim of this review was to bring in front necessity to evaluate possibilities of implementing smart sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, additive technologies with nonthermal technologies, with the possibility to create smart factories together with strong emphasis on sustainability. This paper brings an overview on digitalization, IoT, additive technologies (3D printing), cloud data storage and smart sensors including two SWOT analysis associated with IoNTPs and sustainability. It is of high importance to perform life cycle assessment (LCA), to quantify (En)—environmental dimension; (So)—social dimension and (Ec)—economic dimension. SWOT analysis showed: potential for energy saving during food processing; optimized overall environmental performance; lower manufacturing cost; development of eco-friendly products; higher level of health and safety during food processing and better work condition for workers. Nonthermal and advanced thermal technologies can be applied also as sustainable techniques working in line with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2030 issued by United Nations (UN).

Effect of Extrusion Temperature and Thermal Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ti-1300 Alloy Tube

Effects of extrusion temperature and heat treatment process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-1300 titanium alloy tube billets were studied by tensile testing and microstructure observation, and the relationship among the thermal processing technique and microscopic structure and mechanical properties of the billets were also investigated. The results showed that the transverse structure of Ti-1300 alloy after extrusion in the a+b two-phase region was uniform and fine. And the longitudinal structure could be seen that the extrusion processing streamline was broken uniformly. Ti-1300 alloy extruded at a+b two-phase has a good match of the strength and ductility, and the ductility of two-phase extrusion is obviously better than that of β single-phase extrusion, especially for the reduction of area.

Calibration and Image Processing of Aerial Thermal Image for UAV Application in Crop Water Stress Estimation

Crop monitoring is a very important area of precision agriculture and smart farming. Through an accurate monitoring, it is possible to more efficiently manage the irrigation, fertilization, and pest control. In this study, we propose aerial thermal image calibration method and thermal image processing techniques to analyze the water stress level of fruit trees under different irrigation conditions. The calibration was performed using Gaussian process regression, and it was demonstrated as an appropriate regression method because it satisfied all requirements including the residuals’ normality, independence, and homoscedasticity. In addition, an appropriate image processing technique was necessary to selectively extract only the canopy temperature from the aerial thermal images, while excluding irrelevant elements such as the soil and other objects. For the image processing techniques, three methods (Gaussian mixture model, Otsu binarization algorithm, and Otsu binarization algorithm after Gaussian blurring) were employed. The Gaussian mixture model provided the highest accuracy and stable results for the extraction of the canopy temperature. After the aerial thermal images were subjected to calibration and image processing, the degree above nonstressed canopy (DANS) water stress index was calculated for the fruit trees under different water supply conditions. The distribution of the DANS water stress index was similar to the distribution of the canopy temperature and inversely proportional to the amount of supplied water content. Therefore, we expect that the DANS water stress index, calculated using the calibration and image processing techniques proposed in this study, can be a reliable measure for the estimation of the water stress of crops for the application of aerial infrared techniques to remote sensing.

Membran karbon templated silika dari karbon nipah (Nypa fruticans) untuk aplikasi desalinasi air rawa asin [Carbon templated silica membranes from nypa carbon (Nypa fruticans) applied for wetland saline water desalination

Nypa carbon templated into silica matrices is an innovation to enhance inorganic silica membrane robustness. Performance of the membrane will be more stable during application for desalination process. This research aims to investigate silica-nypa membrane performance for desalination of wetland saline water. Silica-nypa was fabricated by carbon templated which obtained from nypa fruticans leaves and mixed into silica sol by sol-gel method. Support membrane was coated into silica-nypa sol by dip-coater and calcined via rapid thermal processing (RTP) technique. Silica-nypa membrane applied for wetland saline water desalination via pervaporation. The results showed that silica membrane performed the highest water flux by adding nypa 2.5 wt% calcined at 350°C (1.008 kg m-2h-1). Carbon from nypa offered great effect to silica membrane performance. Furthermore, all membranes had high salt rejection >98%. Therefore, carbon template silica membrane from nypa was successfully fabricated and applied for wetland saline water desalination.