Emerging Drying Technologies and Their Impact on Bioactive Compounds: A Systematic and Bibliometric Review
, Gabriela Fonsêca Leal 1, Matheus Robim Marques 1, Lucas Caiafa Cardoso Reis 1, João Renato de Jesus Junqueira 2, Leandro Levate Macedo 3 and Jefferson Luiz Gomes Corrêa 1Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsReview Applsci-3664166
The work contains some useful information. However, the current content was much descriptive without in-depth discussion or analysis. It is expected that the authors can critically analyze the results, with certain perspectives.
Whether the ‘foods’ searched was only with plant-based foods? If yes, the key information should be reflected in the title of the manuscript.
Line 322: the authors emphasized here with ‘rapidly release flavonoids’. However, this information might be misleading. For the health role of dietary flavonoids, the effect is mainly due to gut microbiota regulation, not just being directly utilized timely. Therefore, whether rapid release or not is not a critical factor when considering the health role of dietary flavonoids. The authors are suggested to search database like Web of Science with health role (Title) AND dietary flavonoids (Title) to get reference to elaborate it further.​
Protein is a key component in food. However, drying can result in protein aggregation which finally affects significantly the release or extraction of bioactive compounds. This is an important topic deserves further discussion. The drying-caused food protein aggregation has different modes, corresponding to different application scenarios. The authors are suggested to search database like Web of Science with protein aggregation (Title) AND food application (Title) to get reference to discuss it further.
The authors mentioned a couple of times matrix. However, the matrix effect was not discussed much in this manuscript. For many bioactive compounds, the analysis in complex food system is often affected by matrix effect. It should be discussed how matrix compounds removal was performed for achieving satisfactory assay for the analysis of bioactive molecules in food. The authors can search database like Web of Science with matrix compound removal (Title) AND assay (Title) to get reference to enhance the discussion.
Author Response
Comments and Suggestions for Authors:
The work contains some useful information. However, the current content was much descriptive without in-depth discussion or analysis. It is expected that the authors can critically analyze the results, with certain perspectives.
Whether the ‘foods’ searched was only with plant-based foods? If yes, the key information should be reflected in the title of the manuscript.
R: The research was not limited to plant-based foods but encompassed foods in general. Therefore, for instance, milk is included among the products listed in Table 1.
Line 322: the authors emphasized here with ‘rapidly release flavonoids’. However, this information might be misleading. For the health role of dietary flavonoids, the effect is mainly due to gut microbiota regulation, not just being directly utilized timely. Therefore, whether rapid release or not is not a critical factor when considering the health role of dietary flavonoids. The authors are suggested to search database like Web of Science with health role (Title) AND dietary flavonoids (Title) to get reference to elaborate it further.​
Protein is a key component in food. However, drying can result in protein aggregation which finally affects significantly the release or extraction of bioactive compounds. This is an important topic deserves further discussion. The drying-caused food protein aggregation has different modes, corresponding to different application scenarios. The authors are suggested to search database like Web of Science with protein aggregation (Title) AND food application (Title) to get reference to discuss it further.
The authors mentioned a couple of times matrix. However, the matrix effect was not discussed much in this manuscript. For many bioactive compounds, the analysis in complex food system is often affected by matrix effect. It should be discussed how matrix compounds removal was performed for achieving satisfactory assay for the analysis of bioactive molecules in food. The authors can search database like Web of Science with matrix compound removal (Title) AND assay (Title) to get reference to enhance the discussion.
R: We sincerely thank the reviewer for the insightful comments and suggestions. We fully recognize the scientific relevance of the points raised, particularly regarding the health-related mechanisms of flavonoids, the implications of protein aggregation during drying, and the influence of matrix effect. Regarding these observations, we would like to clarify that while we acknowledge their importance, these topics fall slightly outside the scope and objectives of the present review. The primary aim of this manuscript is to provide a systematic and bibliometric overview of emerging drying. To maintain a focused and coherent narrative aligned with our methodological approach, we have opted not to expand on these specific aspects at this time. The sentence was reformulated from “These findings align with previous studies showing that microwave drying can more rapidly release flavonoids from the cellular matrix” to “These findings are consistent with previous studies, which indicate that microwave drying can accelerate the disruption of the cellular matrix, thereby promoting a faster release of flavonoids previously bound to cellular structures” (lines 329-332) with the aim of improving clarity and facilitating content comprehension.
We greatly appreciate the reviewer’s input and will certainly consider these perspectives in future research and publications that may explore these interconnected themes in greater detail. Thank you once again for your valuable contribution to improving the clarity and scientific depth of our work.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors address a topic of interest: emerging drying technologies and how they influence the preservation or presence of bioactive compounds. The bibliographic analysis addresses the central topics and focuses on advances in this regard in the 10 years before 2024. The data provided provides information regarding the distribution of emerging technologies by country, technology, etc. It also includes information on the selected emerging technologies, their impact on bioactive compounds, and where they are most frequently used. We suggest including more details in the graphs in the manuscript (at the bottom of Figures 1 to 5) for a better understanding of the topics. While the document provides perspectives, it is suggested that conclusions be included. We recommend adding a graphical abstract to make the manuscript more attractive.
Author Response
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Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe current review study summarizes the trends over the last decade in the utilization of developing technologies in plant drying, with a focus on bioactive compounds.
The text is almost error-free. To clarify the meaning, the word 'around' in line 266 can be substituted with "as low as."
A study on optimisation for infrared drying could be included (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifset.2022.103264).
Most drying methods pretreatment techniques, such as ethanol, is required to be successful (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbp.2024.01.008. Other pretreatments, such as CMC, are described in the text.
These are simply some examples that I am familiar with. I assume that the references used have been reviewed. Perhaps you could include bibliometrics for each drying process so that the reader has a better understanding. After all, a reader's interest is either plant-oriented (across several technologies) or technology-focused across multiple plant substrates. As a result, each chapter on each technology/method should be as comprehensive as possible, rather than focused on mainly on the mechanisms of drying during operation. Thus a reader who is interested on a specidic plant/ method would find a detailed enough review on it as well as information on the bibliometrics of his/her inquiry.
Author Response
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Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsComments on Manuscript ID applsci-3664166
The authors of the review “Emerging Drying Technologies and Their Impact on Bioactive Compounds: A Systematic and Bibliometric Review” gave a thorough review of the most promising emerging technologies for food drying developed over the last ten years, as well as their specific impacts on thermosensitive bioactive compounds. The study evaluated the effectiveness of these technologies, their impact on the preservation of bioactive compounds, and the final quality of dried products.
The manuscript is well written with references from 2014 to 2024. The paper is concise, comprehensible, and well organised, and the reader can have a clear overview of the subject covered.
The data given in the tables contributed to the overall coherence of the paper.
However, the authors are asked to uniform the presentation of the data in the tables – namely, when mentioning the data regarding the food, when referring to plants, give the full Latin name, with species name, author name, and Family name, with the common name and the part of plants used (for example: Table 2, Averrhoa bilimbi L., Oxalidaceae (Belimbih Buluh), fruit…etc). Please check through the text and tables and make the appropriate changes.
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Reviewer 5 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript entitled “Emerging Drying Technologies and Their Impact on Bioactive Compounds: A Systematic and Bibliometric Review” is eligible for publication in Applied Sciences.
The manuscript presents a review of the different drying methods that have been applied to foodstuffs over the last 10 years. Among the different emerging technologies are: microwave, radiofrequency, freeze-drying, ultrasound, cold plasma and infrared. These technologies allow preserving the sensory, nutritional and functional properties of foods, as well as improving the preservation of foods for a longer period of time.
The manuscript is clear and well written. The introduction addresses the overall state of the art, the methodology is properly described and the following sections are covered in a clear and efficient way: bibliometric analysis, review and future perspectives and challenges.
Only these corrections are suggested:
Line 130: it is suggested to delete number 1.
Lines 202, 302, 363, 414, 479, 531: it is suggested to put the titles of the different technologies in the same form, with or without italics, following the guidelines of the journal.
Author Response
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Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsReview applsci-3664166-v2
Though the authors revised related places and provided justification. In general, there are still several concerns of the revised manuscript.
Firstly, as the authors replied that general ‘food’. However, it is simply to find the biased results in Figures and Tables that almost all the listed examples belong to fruit and vegetables. The authors listed microwave, radiofrequency, infrared, ultrasound, cold plasma, and freeze-drying approaches as ‘emerging technologies’, and the authors search the database with ‘emerging technologies’. However, with this search method, a lot of references might not be included though the content might meet the topic need. For instance, many published papers may not have the words like ‘emerging technologies’ but might use the specific name like microwave, ultrasound etc directly. This might be part of the reason why only 34 was found in Scopus while 29 was found in Web of Science with more than 10 years (2014-2024). With this biased approach of literature search, how can the authors guarantee the objective of conclusion derived based on these limited references used.
Secondly, as commented in last round, the authors were not supposed to just list related literature and elaborate the contents there. One key merit of a scientific review is to provide critical analysis and/or comments on the literature used. The current manuscript needs more in-depth discussion and elaboration of much broader research significance.
Author Response
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