Near-Infrared Spectroscopy for the Monitoring of Food Fermentation

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Analytical Methods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 445

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: food science and technology; food product and process optimization; food authentication; IR spectroscopy; rheology; chemometrics
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: process analytical technology (PAT) applied to food; food quality evaluation; food authentication; non-invasive technologies; e-sensing technologies; spectroscopy; image analysis; electronic nose; chemometrics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fermentation-based processes have been of great interest to humans since the ancient times, due to their several applications. In particular, food and beverage fermentations are among the oldest known uses of biotechnology. They are performed not only to preserve foods but also to enhance the sensory, nutritional, and functional attributes of the final products. Traditionally, foods have been preserved through naturally occurring fermentation; however, modern large-scale production generally uses starter culture or enzymatic systems to ensure consistency and quality in the final product. The development of fermentation technology is still being carried out in order to improve the yield and quality of products, reduce the costs of production, and search for environmentally friendly processes. Sensing technologies can help in overcoming some of these issues, providing convenient, accurate, and cost-effective ways to monitor key biochemical parameters in fermentation processes. In particular, near-infrared spectroscopy can be a suitable tool for precise fermentation, especially when combined with chemometrics for big data management. Infrared sensors are, in fact, among the most common tools for the process analytical technology applied to food processing control.

Thus, the main goal of this Special Issue is to collect research and review manuscripts providing new insights in the use of NIR spectroscopy, coupled with chemometrics, for the monitoring of food and beverage fermentations as well as starter production, in order to move a significant step forward in the application of the Industry 4.0 and 5.0 principles in the food field.

Prof. Dr. Cristina Alamprese
Dr. Silvia Grassi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • near-infrared spectroscopy
  • fermented food
  • process analytical technology
  • process monitoring
  • chemometrics
  • deep learning
  • artificial intelligence
  • precise fermentation
  • online/in-line monitoring

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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12 pages, 1198 KiB  
Article
Purslane-Fortified Yogurt: In-Line Process Control by FT-NIR Spectroscopy and Storage Monitoring
by Ayse Burcu Aktas, Silvia Grassi, Claudia Picozzi and Cristina Alamprese
Foods 2025, 14(12), 2053; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14122053 - 11 Jun 2025
Viewed by 171
Abstract
Yogurt fortification with purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) can improve its health benefits, but it may alter the fermentation step and its final properties. Thus, the current study investigated the suitability of Fourier Transform-Near Infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy for in-line monitoring of lactic acid [...] Read more.
Yogurt fortification with purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) can improve its health benefits, but it may alter the fermentation step and its final properties. Thus, the current study investigated the suitability of Fourier Transform-Near Infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy for in-line monitoring of lactic acid fermentation of purslane-fortified yogurt compared with fundamental rheology. Changes in the yogurt properties during storage were also assessed. Set-type yogurts without and with lyophilized purslane leaves (0.55%) were produced and stored at 4 °C for up to 18 days. Lactic acid bacteria concentrations before and after fermentation at 43 °C for 2.5 h showed that the presence of purslane did not interfere with bacterial growth. The purslane addition increased the milk viscosity, resulting in a yogurt with complex modulus values higher than those of the reference sample (360 vs. 172 Pa). The elaboration of spectral data with Principal Component Analysis and the Gompertz equation enabled calculation of the kinetic critical points. Applying the Gompertz equation to the rheological data, it was evident that FT-NIR spectroscopy detected earlier the fermentation progression (the critical times were about 18% earlier on average), thus enabling better control of yogurt production. No significant changes in microbial or textural properties were noted during yogurt storage, demonstrating that purslane addition did not affect the product stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Near-Infrared Spectroscopy for the Monitoring of Food Fermentation)
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