Sustainable Processing Technologies: Impact on Food Bioactivity, Safety and Quality

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2024) | Viewed by 12670

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Independent Researcher, Bioingredient Industry, Montreal, QC, Canada
Interests: innovation for sustainable food system; food waste valorisation & upcycling solutions; regulation policies; food technology; food chemistry; functional ingredients; green processing techniques; natural health products
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Guest Editor
Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Bogotá, Carrera 30 # 45-03, Edificio 500A, Bogota 111321, DC, Colombia
Interests: valorization of food industry by-products by using emerging technologies; emerging technologies; bioactive compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable processing technologies are emerging as a promising way to enhance the bioactivity, safety and quality of food products, while reducing the environmental impact of the food industry.

Green technologies (such as ozone, pulsed electric fields, ohmic heating, photosensitization, ultraviolet radiations, high‐pressure processing, cold atmospheric plasma, microwave- and ultrasonic-assisted processing, and nanotechnology) offer advantages over conventional methods in terms of speed, efficiency, effectiveness and environmental impact. These technologies can also offer benefits such as energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, extended shelf life, improved nutritional value and enhanced functional properties of food ingredients. Today, food sector also faces the challenge of meeting the growing food demand and ensuring adequate nutrition for everyone without depleting Earth’s resources or exceeding planetary boundaries. Therefore, green technologies need to be integrated with other strategies to achieve food security and sustainability while preserving or enhancing the bioactivity, safety and quality of food products.

Integration strategies for green technologies and conventional technics for food product processing are methods and practices that aim to combine the benefits of both approaches to achieve environmental, economic and social sustainability in the food industry. Some examples of integration strategies are as follows:

  • Hybrid separation processes: using a combination of green technologies such as supercritical-CO2 fluid extraction and conventional technologies such as distillation or evaporation to improve the efficiency and quality of food product separation.
  • Enzyme-enhanced conventional processing: using enzymes to assist or replace conventional processing steps such as heating, mixing or homogenization to reduce energy consumption and improve food product functionality.
  • Combined microbial control technologies: using a combination of emerging technologies such as high pressure or pulsed electric fields and conventional technologies such as thermal or chemical treatments to achieve optimal microbial inactivation and food product safety.
  • Green packaging technologies: using biodegradable, recyclable or edible materials to replace or reduce the use of conventional plastic or metal packaging materials to minimize waste generation and environmental impact.

This Special Issue aims to showcase the latest research and innovations in the field of green technologies applied to the food industry, covering topics such as those provided below:

  • Emerging technologies for microbial control;
  • Hybrid separation processes;
  • Circular economy;
  • Novel processing methods;
  • Revalorization;
  • Sustainable bioingredients;
  • Food safety;
  • Quality attributes and consumer acceptance.

Dr. Nassim Naderi
Dr. Luis Felipe Gutierrez Alvarez
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • natural food extracts
  • food bioactivity
  • sustainable production
  • quality attributes
  • sustainability
  • food waste
  • bioactive compounds
  • functional foods
  • bioactive health ingredients
  • circular economy

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2483 KiB  
Article
Antioxidant Potential Evaluation at Various Stages of Black Cumin Oil Production
by Dobrochna Rabiej-Kozioł and Aleksandra Szydłowska-Czerniak
Foods 2024, 13(21), 3518; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13213518 - 4 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1343
Abstract
Nigella sativa L. seeds and their industrial process products, oils, cake, and meal, are valuable sources of bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties. In this work, the effect of technological processes on the antioxidant capacity (AC) and total phenolic content (TPC) in the black [...] Read more.
Nigella sativa L. seeds and their industrial process products, oils, cake, and meal, are valuable sources of bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties. In this work, the effect of technological processes on the antioxidant capacity (AC) and total phenolic content (TPC) in the black cumin oils obtained by cold pressing and solvent extraction, as well as the by-products, were evaluated. The AC values of black cumin seeds (BCS), cold-pressed black cumin oil (BCCPO), black cumin oil extracted from seeds (BCEO-S), black cumin oil extracted from cake (BCEO-C), black cumin cake (BCC), and black cumin meal (BCM) were determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) assays, whereas TPC in these samples was analyzed by the Folin–Ciocalteu (FC) method. Two applied conventional oil extraction methods, screw pressing and solvent extraction, significantly affected the AC and TPC in the obtained black cumin oils and by-products. The solvent-extracted black cumin oils revealed higher antioxidant properties (DPPH = 4041–16,500 μmol TE/100 g, CUPRAC = 1275–4827 μmol TE/100 g) than the cold-pressed black cumin oil (DPPH = 3451 μmol TE/100 g and CUPRAC = 3475 μmol TE/100 g). In addition, the oil yield (20.92–48.86%) and antioxidant properties of BCCPO (DPPH = 2933–5894 μmol TE/100 g and TPC = 135–199 mg GAE/100 g) and BCC (DPPH = 1890–2265 μmol TE/100 g and TPC = 284–341 mg GAE/100 g) closely depended on the nozzle diameters (5, 8, and 10 mm) mounted in a screw press. Although both by-products were a rich source of antioxidants, BCM had significantly lower CUPRAC (1514 μmol TE/100 g) and TPC (92 mg GAE/100 g) values than BCC (CUPRAC = 3397 μmol TE/100 g and TPC = 426 mg GAE/100 g). Nevertheless, acid hydrolysis and alkaline hydrolysis of BCM extracts significantly increased their antioxidant potential. However, the DPPH (35,629 μmol TE/100 g), CUPRAC (12,601 μmol TE/100 g), and TPC (691 mg GAE/100 g) results were higher for the BCM extract after acid hydrolysis than those for alkaline hydrolysate (DPPH = 2539 μmol TE/100 g, CUPRAC = 5959 μmol TE/100 g, and TPC = 613 mg GAE/100 g). Finally, the generated AGREEprep metrics highlighted the sustainability and the greenness of the cold pressing of oil from BCS. Full article
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14 pages, 3631 KiB  
Article
Salt-Reduced Fish Sauce Produced under Pressurized Carbon Dioxide Treatment Using Sardinops melanostictus, Trachurus japonicus, Konosirus punctatus, Odontamblyopus lacepedii, Their Collective Mixture, and Unused Fish Mixture
by Johma Tagawa, Mikihide Demura and Seiji Noma
Foods 2024, 13(17), 2646; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13172646 - 23 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1266
Abstract
Fish sauce is produced at high salt concentrations (>20%) to inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms. The salt-reduced fish sauce (10% salt) was prepared under pressurized CO2 (pCO2) conditions at 30 °C and 5 MPa for 3 months ( [...] Read more.
Fish sauce is produced at high salt concentrations (>20%) to inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms. The salt-reduced fish sauce (10% salt) was prepared under pressurized CO2 (pCO2) conditions at 30 °C and 5 MPa for 3 months (FSCO2), from Sardinops melanostictus, Odontamblyopus lacepedii, Trachurus japonicus, Konosirus punctatus, and their collective mixture, as well as unused fish mixture obtained from the Ariake Sea in Japan. FSCO2 exhibited significantly better microbial quality and free amino acid content, lighter color, standardized odor (dashi-like odor), and umami richness qualities compared to fish sauces prepared using the conventional method (FScon) (20% salt), as previously demonstrated, after a fermentation period of 2 months. Bacterial flora analysis implied that the standardization of odor and umami richness may not be the result of specific microbial metabolism. Even when using previously unused fish, it was possible to produce FSCO2 equivalent to that produced by conventional sardines and other fish. These results indicate that the quality of fish sauce can be improved. The flavor of FSCO2 became similar regardless of the type of fish and fermentation period using pCO2 during fermentation, leading to the effective utilization of unutilized fish as a resource for high-quality salt-reduced fish sauce. Full article
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17 pages, 1230 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Extraction Protocols for the Recovery of Bioactive Compounds from By-Products of Pomegranate Fruit Processing
by Gabriele Ballistreri, Margherita Amenta, Simona Fabroni, Nicolina Timpanaro and Giusy Maria Platania
Foods 2024, 13(12), 1793; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13121793 - 7 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2060
Abstract
This study investigates sustainable extraction protocols for the recovery of bioactive compounds from by-products of various pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars, including Acco, Hicaz, Jolly Red, Parfianka, Valenciana, and Wonderful, generated during the industrial processing of the fruits. Advanced extraction technologies, including [...] Read more.
This study investigates sustainable extraction protocols for the recovery of bioactive compounds from by-products of various pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars, including Acco, Hicaz, Jolly Red, Parfianka, Valenciana, and Wonderful, generated during the industrial processing of the fruits. Advanced extraction technologies, including ultrasounds, microwaves, and hydrodynamic cavitation, have been compared to conventional extraction procedures and utilized to enhance extraction efficiency while also minimizing environmental impact. Water-based extraction methods have been utilized to promote the development of sustainable and eco-friendly processes. The comparison between conventional extractions and ultrasound-assisted extractions (UAEs) and microwave-assisted extractions (MAEs) demonstrated notable improvements in extraction yields, particularly for ellagitannins (punicalins, punicalagins, and ellagic acid) and total polyphenols, with increases ranging from about 45 to 200%. However, the increases directly comparing UAEs to MAEs ranged from about 4 to 6%. This indicates that while both UAEs and MAEs offer notable improvements over conventional extractions, the differences in extraction efficiency between the two advanced methods were relatively modest. These advancements were observed across various pomegranate cultivars, highlighting the versatility and effectiveness of these methods. Notably, hydrodynamic cavitation-based extractions (HC) emerged as particularly promising, consistently yielding the highest levels of bioactive compounds (ellagitannins and total polyphenols), especially when operated at higher frequencies. Compared to conventional extractions, HC exhibited substantial increases in extraction yields for Wonderful pomegranate by-products, surpassing the efficiency of both UAEs and MAEs (approximately 45 and 57% for UAE and MAE, respectively, versus about 80% for HC). Among these advanced techniques, HC has emerged as particularly promising, yielding the most favorable results and leading to significant improvements in the yield of bioactive compounds. When directly compared to UAEs and MAEs, HC increased extraction yields by over 20%. Furthermore, HC allowed for shorter extraction times. The Wonderful cultivar consistently exhibited the highest levels of ellagitannins and the highest total polyphenol content among all types of extraction procedures used, whether conventional or advanced. This highlights the great potential of the Wonderful cultivar in terms of bioactive compound extraction and underscores its significance in research and applications related to pomegranate processing and utilization. This study suggests that the implementation of these advanced technologies into extraction processes represents a significant advancement in the field, offering a promising avenue for the development of efficient and environmentally friendly extraction methods for obtaining valuable bioactive compounds from pomegranate processing by-products. Full article
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17 pages, 3643 KiB  
Article
Cryogenic Pretreatment Enhances Drying Rates in Whole Berries
by Esperanza Dalmau, Monica Araya-Farias and Cristina Ratti
Foods 2024, 13(10), 1524; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13101524 - 14 May 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1836
Abstract
The impact of cryogenic pretreatments on drying performance was studied in blueberries, seabuckthorn fruits and green grapes. The fruits were immersed in liquid nitrogen in 2 min freezing/thawing cycles (one to five). Untreated samples were used as the control. Drying experiments were carried [...] Read more.
The impact of cryogenic pretreatments on drying performance was studied in blueberries, seabuckthorn fruits and green grapes. The fruits were immersed in liquid nitrogen in 2 min freezing/thawing cycles (one to five). Untreated samples were used as the control. Drying experiments were carried out on treated and non-treated berries at 50 °C and 1 m/s (hot-air-drying), 50 °C and 25″ Hg vacuum (vacuum-drying), 30 mTorr total pressure and 25 °C shelf temperature (freeze-drying). The weight loss evolution of the foodstuffs was measured as a function of time. Microscopic (SEM and optical) determinations of the epicarp were performed. A visual inspection was performed and color changes and volume reductions were assessed before and after dehydration. The thickness of the berries’ epicarp decreased between 20 and 50% (depending on the fruit) after 3–5 immersions in liquid N2. The drying kinetics was accelerated significantly for the three tested drying processes (i.e., drying time decreased from 48 to 16 h for blueberry freeze-drying). The best quality of dried berries was observed for pretreated blueberries after freeze-drying, keeping their volume, shape and color after the process. This work shows that “tailor-made” dried berry products with desired properties can be achieved and drying performance can be improved by the application of ultra-low temperature pretreatments. Full article
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21 pages, 4819 KiB  
Opinion
The Role of Total Quality Management in the Pharmaceutical, Food, and Nutritional Supplement Sectors
by Vassilios Vassos, Agathi Voltezou, Agathangelos Stavropoulos, Elisavet Stavropoulou, Christos Stefanis, Christina Tsigalou, Evangelia Nena, Ekaterini Chatzaki, Theodoros C. Constantinidis and Eugenia Bezirtzoglou
Foods 2024, 13(16), 2606; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13162606 - 20 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5136
Abstract
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a holistic approach widely adopted across industries to ensure quality control and management. This document examines TQM practices in the pharmaceutical, food, and nutritional supplement sectors, highlighting their vital role in public health, sustainability, and consumer acceptance. By [...] Read more.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a holistic approach widely adopted across industries to ensure quality control and management. This document examines TQM practices in the pharmaceutical, food, and nutritional supplement sectors, highlighting their vital role in public health, sustainability, and consumer acceptance. By analyzing the literature and case studies, the article demonstrates how TQM significantly ensures product safety and quality. Real-world examples and empirical evidence showcase the benefits of TQM methodologies, from rigorous quality control to efficient management processes, helping to meet and exceed regulatory standards. The article also underscores TQM’s critical role in addressing sustainability challenges, integrating eco-friendly practices, reducing waste, and optimizing resources. Furthermore, TQM fosters consumer trust and loyalty through transparency, continuous improvement, and responsiveness to feedback, building lasting business–customer relationships. In conclusion, this manuscript illuminates TQM’s multifaceted impact on the pharmaceutical, food, and nutritional supplement sectors, presenting it as a pivotal framework for safeguarding public health, promoting sustainability, and enhancing consumer acceptance in a dynamic global landscape. Full article
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