Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122234

Authors: Supakit Chaipoot Sirinthip Jaijoi Gochakorn Kanthakat Kuntathee Chaimueng Chalermkwan Somjai Pairote Wiriyacharee Rajnibhas Sukeaw Samakradhamrongthai Pattavara Pathomrungsiyounggul Worachai Wongwatcharayothin Rewat Phongphisutthinant

Honeybee brood is a nutrient-rich food source containing natural umami-active compounds, such as glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and 5′-nucleotides, which are responsible for its characteristic umami taste. This study aimed to optimize drying conditions to enhance the umami composition and sensory properties of honeybee brood umami powder (HBb-UP). A factorial design was employed to evaluate the effects of drying temperature and time on umami-related amino acids, 5′-nucleotides, and equivalent umami concentration (EUC). Drying temperature and time significantly influenced the formation of umami compounds, with the optimized drying condition (65 °C for 3 h) promoting higher umami composition and improved sensory attributes of HBb-UP. Volatile flavor analysis using GC–MS and an electronic nose revealed a diverse range of aroma compounds contributing to the overall flavor profile. Descriptive sensory evaluation and electronic tongue analysis indicated that umami and saltiness were the dominant taste attributes, accompanied by mild seasoning and fishy notes associated with interactions between amino acids and nucleotides. Principal component analysis demonstrated positive correlations among umami-related amino acids, nucleotides, EUC, and sensory attributes, confirming their combined contribution to taste perception. These findings highlight the potential of optimized HBb-UP as a natural flavor enhancer and functional ingredient for use in sustainable food systems.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122232

Authors: Le Xiao Shengtong Wang Lulu Niu

Wheat is a major staple crop, and storage mold growth poses a severe threat to grain safety and quality stability. Natural mold development in stored wheat exhibits subtle, localized, and highly heterogeneous characteristics. Existing unimodal methods and global fusion approaches generally suffer from insufficient local feature sensitivity, hindering fine-grained mold severity grading. To address this limitation, we propose a Mask-Guided Fine-Grained Fusion Network, a weakly supervised framework based on local RGB–HSI fusion. This framework employs a dynamic parallel A/B experimental design to construct time-matched proxy labels via weakly supervised learning. A standardized preprocessing pipeline including single-kernel extraction, foreground segmentation, and cross-modal registration is established to resolve RGB–HSI spatial misalignment, ensuring physical-level spatial consistency of multimodal features. The model incorporates a Foreground-Aware Spectral Recalibration (FASR) module to suppress background noise, a Mask-Guided Dilated Cross-modal Local Attention (MDCLA) mechanism to establish fine-grained local mappings between RGB visual phenotypes and hyperspectral responses, and a sample-level adaptive fusion strategy to dynamically weight features by modal reliability, enhancing representation of complex samples across all mold stages. Experiments show that the Mask-Guided Fine-Grained Fusion Network achieves 0.9689 classification accuracy, 0.9698 Macro-F1 score, and 0.0593 Mean Absolute Error (MAE), significantly outperforming state-of-the-art unimodal deep models and global attention fusion baselines. This work provides a proof-of-principle framework for fine-grained non-destructive mold risk assessment in stored wheat.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122233

Authors: Angela Santilio Silvana Girolimetti

The European legislation sets the maximum residue levels for glyphosate in sesame seeds at 0.1 mg/kg (EU Regulation n. 293/2013) and for glufosinate and N-Acetyl-glufosinate expressed as glufosinate at 0.03 mg/kg (EU Regulation n. 2016/1002). The present work describes a rapid methodology to determine glyphosate, glufosinate and its metabolite and N-Acetyl-glufosinate in sesame seeds by LC/MS/MS. The method was studied in the framework of EU proficiency tests on sesame seeds. The analytical method was developed using methanol acidified with formic acid (1%, v/v) extraction with an isotope internal standard, followed by LC/MS/MS detection. The recoveries were performed in the range of 0.05–0.5 mg/kg for glyphosate and 0.02–0.2 mg/kg for glufosinate and N-Acetyl-glufosinate. All the recovery values were between 70 and 114%, which is the acceptable interval according to SANTE/11312/2021; the relative standard deviation (%RSD) values met the requirement of <20%. Linearity for each substance in solvent and matrix was studied, and the response was linear with R2 > 0.999. We considered precision, matrix effect, LOD and LOQ in the validation. All the parameters were in agreement with the acceptability criteria of the document SANTE/11312/2021. The method was considered suitable for the determination of the studied substances on sesame seeds.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122231

Authors: Barbara Peraboni Vanessa Lupetti Vera Lavelli

Food waste in school canteens is widely recognized as a significant issue because of its economic consequences, environmental impact, and implications for children’s health. Previous studies have used robust methods to quantify this problem and assess mitigation strategies. This case study of primary school children (6–11 years) used a child-driven approach to measure plate waste and explore reasons for uneaten food and concern about waste. The results indicated that a group of volunteer children (n = 104) directly involved in the assessment were able to evaluate their peers’ food waste, obtaining estimates comparable to those reported in previous studies (mean: 108.4 g per child). The students for whom food waste was measured (n = 443) took part in interviews and proved to be active participants capable of evaluating their own context, although their level of engagement could be further strengthened. Among children who reported leaving food uneaten, a substantial proportion provided specific reasons; nevertheless, generic explanations accounted for 26% of responses for the first course and 35% for the second. Approximately 78.5% of the children demonstrated a high level of sensitivity to food waste, recognizing its direct effects (wasting their parents’ money), indirect effects (waste in a broader sense), and social effects (world hunger/poverty). Establishing a baseline for children’s sensitivity to their own food waste is therefore needed, as it could serve as an indicator of both the urgency and the effectiveness of educational interventions.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122230

Authors: Lara Soler Laura Moreno-Mesonero Jorge García-Hernández Miguel García-Ferrús Andrés Zornoza Yolanda Moreno

The increasing consumption of fresh organic produce has given rise to concerns regarding the microbiological safety of minimally processed foods. Organic cultivation may be associated with increased exposure to environmental microorganisms due to soil-based inputs and reduced chemical interventions, including both beneficial taxa and potential foodborne pathogens. Fresh produce is known to harbour complex microbial ecosystems, which are shaped by farming practices, plant physiology, handling, packaging and storage, particularly in raw-consumed products such as leafy greens and strawberries. In this study, bacterial (16S rRNA) and eukaryotic (18S rRNA) communities were characterized by amplicon sequencing. In parallel, an amoeba-associated bacterial microbiome was analyzed and DVC-FISH was used to assess the viability and metabolic activity of pathogenic bacteria internalized within free-living amoebae (FLA). No significant differences in alpha or beta diversity were observed between organic and conventional products, suggesting microbiome convergence at the retail stage driven by post-harvest handling and processing. Potentially pathogenic genera, including Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, and Acinetobacter (bacterial), as well as Tilletiopsis, Candida, and Naegleria (eukaryotic), were identified in both organic and non-organic microbiomes. The viability of FLA-internalized Pseudomonas spp. was confirmed by DVC-FISH, demonstrating that FLA act as reservoirs, enhancing pathogen persistence in fresh produce. This integrated assessment of organic and conventional fruits and vegetables at the retail stage highlights the importance of post-harvest handling and retail conditions in shaping microbiological safety. The integration of microbiome profiling with targeted viability analyses demonstrates that downstream stages are critical control points for food safety and consumer exposure, beyond the influence of the production system alone.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122229

Authors: Mamin Yue Yanling Shang Qing Zhang Zihan He Yu Qiu Xiaomei Cheng Qin Zhang Wenliang Xiang Jie Tang

Natural microbial pigments offer important advantages and are widely studied for food applications. We investigated the biosynthetic pathways, characteristics, and bioactivities of the orange–red pigment produced by Bacillus velezensis YM–3, a strain isolated from the traditional Pixian Douban condiment. Whole-genome sequencing revealed complete pathways for melanin, phytoene, and heme biosynthesis. The purified extracellular pigment was characterized using ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and ultra-performance liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry; it was preliminarily characterized as melanin-like pigment. The pigment was highly soluble in alkaline solutions, moderately soluble in water, and insoluble in common organic solvents. It exhibited strong photostability and remained stable at low temperature, precipitated under acidic conditions, and showed high stability under alkaline environments. Furthermore, the pigment demonstrated in vitro free radical scavenging activity. Hence, this study provides a scientific foundation for exploring the potential utility of B. velezensis YM–3 and its pigment metabolites as functional agents.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122228

Authors: Yuan Yuan Micholas Dean Smith Tong Wang

Ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activity of peptides is influenced by both peptide length and secondary structure; however, whether combinations of peptides with different lengths exhibit cooperative or antagonistic effects remains poorly understood. Using molecular dynamics simulations, this study investigated how secondary structure and chain-length heterogeneity jointly affect the IRI activity of peptide-pair mixtures. For systems containing only β-sheet-rich peptides, mixtures of different chain lengths consistently reduced ice content relative to the corresponding single-peptide systems, suggesting cooperative enhancement of IRI activity. In contrast, individual α-helical peptides showed strong inhibition of ice growth, but this effect was diminished after they were mixed into peptide pairs. Structural analyses suggested that the improved performance of β-sheet mixtures was associated less with the simple preservation of native β-sheet structure than with mixing-induced changes in peptide–peptide coupling and surface exposure. By contrast, helix-containing mixtures retained more of their original local structure in some cases, but this structural retention was not accompanied by improved ice-growth suppression after mixing. Together, these findings suggest that peptide length effects on IRI are not universally synergistic but depend strongly on secondary-structure compatibility.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122227

Authors: Zhanglei Yan Zhiyang Li Zhihui Tang Zhao Zhang Tuanjie Li Xuping Feng Jingming Wu Qu Xie Xiaobo Li Xu Li

Accurate apple origin identification and non-destructive internal quality evaluation are important for fruit traceability, quality grading, and post-harvest management. Unlike previous studies mainly focusing on origin classification, this study established a dual-task near-infrared spectroscopy framework integrating geographical origin classification and soluble solid content (SSC, °Brix) prediction for Fuji apples. Samples were collected from three representative production regions in China: Alar in Xinjiang, Yantai in Shandong, and Luochuan in Shaanxi. Near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectra were acquired from 375 apples, generating 3000 spectral samples for origin classification and 750 SSC-calibrated samples for sugar content prediction. For classification, six deep learning models were evaluated using standardized full-spectrum input without chemometric spectral preprocessing, and the Transformer achieved the best performance, with a test accuracy of 96.22%. For SSC regression, spectra were preprocessed using standard normal variate and Savitzky–Golay filtering. The DNN model achieved the best prediction performance, with MAE = 0.5958 °Brix, RMSE = 0.7333 °Brix, R2 = 0.8646, and Pearson r = 0.9338. These results indicate that near-infrared spectroscopy combined with deep learning can support both Fuji apple origin authentication and non-destructive local tissue SSC assessment.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122226

Authors: Ying Xiang Jing Yu Xuexue Wang Kaiwen Gu Jinsong Bao Xiaoyong Xu

To characterize intraspecific variation in phenolic acid composition and in vitro antioxidant capacity, color parameters, total phenolic contents (TPCs), hydrolyzable phenolic acid profiles, and DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging capacities were systematically determined in the flesh of 33 Cucurbita pepo accessions. All accessions exhibited bright yellow flesh, with significant variation in red-green value (a). TPC and antioxidant capacity differed markedly among accessions and generally followed right-skewed distributions, indicating that a limited number of accessions accumulated high levels of phenolics and antioxidant activity. Eight phenolic acids were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), with p-hydroxybenzoic acid (8.97–341.98 μg/g), p-coumaric acid (2.42–761.88 μg/g), and ferulic acid identified as the major compounds. Ferulic acid and caffeic acid showed strong positive associations with both DPPH and ABTS scavenging capacities. Hierarchical clustering separated the accessions into two major groups, with Group 2 exhibiting higher TPC (208.89–657.69 µg GAE/g), total phenolic acid content (109.92–890.85 µg/g), and ABTS antioxidant capacity than Group 1. The high-antioxidant accessions may serve as promising candidates for antioxidant-enriched C. pepo products and quality-oriented breeding.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122225

Authors: Weifeng Chen Dan Tang Jia Huang Yu Yang Liangbo Zhang

Peach (Prunus persica) fruit pigmentation is largely associated with anthocyanin accumulation, whereas colorless flavonols such as kaempferol glycosides may reflect alternative use of shared flavonoid precursors. To examine the relationship between anthocyanin and selected kaempferol glycoside accumulation, we analyzed 15 peach accessions classified by red, white, or yellow flesh pigmentation. Skin color was quantified using the a*/b* ratio, where a* represents redness/greenness and b* represents yellowness/blueness. Red-fleshed accessions showed higher skin a*/b* values and accumulated higher levels of total anthocyanins, particularly cyanidin-3-glucoside, than white and yellow accessions. In contrast, kaempferol-3-rhamnoside preferentially accumulated in white-fleshed accessions. Expression analysis of flavonoid pathway genes showed that dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (PpDFR) was more highly expressed in red accessions, whereas flavonol synthase (PpFLS) was more highly expressed in white accessions; chalcone synthase (PpCHS), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (PpF3H), flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase (PpF3′H), and anthocyanidin synthase (PpANS) showed no significant differences among color groups. Heterologous overexpression of PpF3′H in Arabidopsis thaliana, a well-characterized model plant for flavonoid biosynthesis, was associated with increased seed anthocyanin accumulation and a lower kaempferol-to-quercetin ratio, supporting its catalytic capacity to influence flavonoid composition in an exogenous system. Overall, these results indicate that differential anthocyanin and selected kaempferol glycoside accumulation in peach is associated with the relative expression patterns of branch-related flavonoid genes, particularly PpDFR and PpFLS. This study provides targeted metabolic and transcriptional evidence for understanding peach flesh and skin pigmentation and provides mechanistic insight into flavonoid branch competition linking gene expression patterns with metabolite allocation, and identifies candidate genes for improving fruit color and flavonoid-related nutritional quality.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122224

Authors: Aidana Mashrapova Bibinur Nurmanova Zhuldyz Omarova Alua Zeinulla Didier Talamona Mei Yen Chan

Cultivar portfolio decisions and postharvest quality management in Kazakhstani fresh apple markets are made without locally validated consumer sensory benchmarks, limiting producers’ and breeders’ ability to align product design with regional consumer expectations. This exploratory study develops and pilot-tests a consumer sensory evaluation framework for fresh apple cultivars among young adults in an urban Kazakhstani context. Twenty-eight untrained adults evaluated firmness, crispness, juiciness, mealiness, sweetness, acidity, and aroma, alongside overall liking, using a 100 mm unstructured line scale, with reference-based calibration and triangle discrimination tests. Discrimination accuracy was high (96.4%; p < 0.001; d′ = 2.59), with no evidence of systematic anchoring bias, though this cannot be fully ruled out given the study design. Significant cultivar differences were observed for seven attributes (p < 0.01), with aroma showing no significant variation (p = 0.265). Crispness (⍴ = 0.44), sweetness (⍴ = 0.43), and juiciness (⍴ = 0.41) were the attributes most strongly and positively associated with overall liking, while mealiness exerted a negative influence (⍴ = −0.36). Exploratory factor analysis revealed three latent sensory dimensions—texture, taste, and aroma—explaining 71.22% of variance. Sex-based differences were limited to mealiness, acidity, and aroma. Given the small sample size and the absence of instrumental physicochemical measurements, these findings should be interpreted as exploratory and hypothesis-generating rather than definitive. As one of the first consumer sensory evaluation frameworks piloted in a Kazakhstani population, this study provides preliminary insights and a methodological foundation for future, larger-scale research on cultivar selection, postharvest management, and consumer-oriented product development.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122223

Authors: Despina Lola Christina Karadimou Theodoros Gkrimpizis Dimitrios-Evangelos Miliordos Kostas Nikolakis Serafeim Theocharis Niki Proxenia Stefanos Koundouras Yorgos Kotseridis

This study evaluates regulated deficit irrigation (IR) and post-harvest dehydration (DH) as complementary strategies to mitigate extreme thermal stress on the red grape variety Avgoustiatis during the hot 2024 vintage. Analysis of the berries reveals that while IR significantly expanded vine productivity to 2.75 kg/vine compared to 1.32 kg/vine recorded in control vines (CO), it successfully maintained berry weight (240 g). Conversely, DH induced controlled water loss, reducing berry weight to 93 g and concentrating must sugars to 27.3 °Brix, relative to the 23.2 °Brix observed in IR. Crucially, both IR and DH prevented the thermal degradation of total acidity (6.73 g/L and 7.25 g/L respectively) which caused by heat stress in CO samples (6.21 g/L). In the finished wines, both practices increased colour intensity by lowering anthocyanin extractability. However, chemical profiling clearly differentiated the treatments with DH maximized skin tannins (164.7 mg/L), yielding highly structured, astringent wines characterized by plum aromas driven by elevated nerol content (492.91 μg/L). Conversely, IR wines presented a more complex volatile profile, boosting fruity and floral notes. In conclusion, as irrigation becomes increasingly restricted by water scarcity under climate change, post-harvest dehydration offers an effective alternative for producing premium, structurally dense red wines.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122222

Authors: Hongyan Zhang Qiaoying Chang Jian Li Fuxiang Wu

Based on liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF/MS), a high-throughput method was developed and validated for the simultaneous detection of 270 pesticides and two quality markers (Q-markers)—ferulic acid and ligustilide—in Angelica sinensis (AS) decoction. Among 50 batches of commercial samples, 15 pesticides were detected. This study dynamically monitored the effects of processing on the content of these 15 pesticides and the two Q-markers. The results showed that distinct differences were observed in the transfer behaviors of the pesticides and Q-Markers during soaking and the first and secondary boiling stages. The decoction transfer rates were calculated and incorporated to establish a risk assessment model applicable to AS. During the decoction, density functional theory (DFT) analysis, combined with LC-Q-TOF/MS confirmation, was employed to elucidate the thermal degradation mechanism of chlorpyrifos. DFT-based thermodynamic analysis was used to explain the significant differences in thermal loss between ferulic acid and ligustilide.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122221

Authors: Giulia Salvatori Dario Mercatante Maria Teresa Rodriguez-Estrada

Agri-food by-products (BP) and BP-derived fractions are increasingly recognized as sources of functional and nutritional compounds (e.g., dietary fibers, proteins, waxes, phytosterols, phenolics, carotenoids) that can be upcycled into high-value food ingredients, to improve the sustainability of agri-food chains. This review provides a wide-ranging vision of the potential use of BP and BP-derived fractions in OG formulations, emphasizing the roles they can play (e.g., structuring agents, stabilizers, surfactants, physical scaffolds, fillers, sources of antioxidants), while offering mechanistic insights and science-based perspectives to support the rational design of tailor-made OGs for specific food applications. Particular attention is given to emerging areas including plant-based and hybrid products, and the valorization of insect BP and co-products. Finally, key gaps limiting BP-based OG design and application (e.g., effects on crystallization, interfacial phenomena, dispersion, scaffold/filler behavior, etc.) are identified and translated into a research roadmap and design guidelines for the formulation of tailor-made, scalable BP-based OGs.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122220

Authors: Ari Melo Mariano Gustavo Garcia Loguercio Ingrid Orlandini Carla Patricia Pareja-Daza Maíra Rocha Santos

This study aims to identify, based on a Means-End Chain model, the main linkages among attributes, benefits, and perceived value in specialty coffee. Specialty coffee, recognized for its superior quality and sustainable production practices, has experienced growing demand in Brazil and worldwide, intensifying competition and increasing the need to understand how value is constructed from the consumer’s perspective. A quantitative study was conducted using PLS-SEM to test a model adapted to the specialty coffee context, applied to a sample of 88 respondents. The model was validated and explained 29.4% of the variance in Perceived Value, highlighting the role of Attributes and particularly of Benefits and Consequences as the cognitive link that transforms product characteristics into perceived value. In addition to direct effects, significant indirect effects were identified, indicating that a substantial portion of the impact of attributes occurs through mediation, influencing particular, convenient, and rational benefits before being reflected in perceived value. The findings contribute to a systemic understanding of how elements of the coffee value chain are cognitively connected in consumers’ minds and provide insights for positioning, communication, and differentiation strategies to promote sustainable, high-quality coffees.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122219

Authors: Yijie Zhao Shuyao An Wenjuan Lu Zewei Hu Xiaosa Duan Yanbo Song Zhenyu Liu

Efficient monitoring of pork freshness is essential to minimize spoilage-related losses in the meat industry. To address the limitations of existing detection technologies, namely high cost, poor timeliness and high environmental sensitivity, this study developed a novel electronic nose system integrating a hybrid sensor array with dynamic gas path control. By combining metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) and electrochemical sensors (e.g., MQ137, MQ136), the system exhibits high sensitivity to the key volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released during pork spoilage, achieving a detection accuracy of over 90% in identifying spoilage stages. Combined with a dual-mode gas circuit design (solenoid valve switching time: 0.85 s), the reliability of the system was further demonstrated. This technology offers an economical and efficient real-time monitoring solution for slaughterhouses and cold chain logistics, providing a new low-cost scientific approach for pork freshness assessment.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122218

Authors: Karine R. D. Silveira Vanessa Haach Ana Paula Bastos

Cultivated-meat production relies on robust animal cell-line engineering, scalable tissue-engineering strategies, and clearly defined regulatory standards. This review examines the developmental pipeline from primary tissue biopsy to large-scale expansion and regulatory evaluation, focusing on stable and safe immortalized cell platforms. We compare muscle satellite cells, mesenchymal stromal/adipogenic progenitors and induced pluripotent stem cells, highlighting trade-offs among proliferative capacity, lineage commitment, genomic stability, and food-safety considerations. We then analyze immortalization strategies, including spontaneous senescence bypass, telomerase reactivation and CRISPR-based checkpoint modulation, highlighting their impact on genomic stability and food-safety risks. Recent advances in serum-free media, extracellular matrix-mimetic biomaterials and staged co-culture protocols have enabled centimeter-scale tissues with improved texture and marbling; however, cost, reproducibility and scalability remain bottlenecks. Integrating multi-omics surveillance with life-cycle assessment reveals that environmental benefits (land, water and antibiotic reduction) are attainable only when energy inputs and growth-factor sourcing are optimized. Finally, we examine regulatory frameworks that distinguish food-grade immortalized cells from pharmaceutical substrates and genetically modified crops. By integrating cell biology, animal biotechnology, and bioprocess engineering, this review identifies technical priorities for advancing cultivated meat from laboratory development to industrial implementation, positioning genomic monitoring as an essential framework for assessing biological stability, functional predictability, and food-production suitability.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122217

Authors: Eda Elgin Kiliç Songül Kesen

This study investigated the effects of drying method and ingredient form on the quality characteristics of tarhana enriched with purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.). Tarhana samples were formulated with purple sweet potato in two forms (puree and freeze-dried powder) at incorporation levels of 5% and 10%, and subjected to either traditional sun-drying or freeze-drying. The drying method emerged as the dominant factor influencing product quality. Freeze-dried samples exhibited significantly lower moisture content and water activity along with a highly porous microstructure, indicating favorable physicochemical characteristics associated with product stability. Purple sweet potato incorporation enriched the phenolic profile and improved antioxidant capacity, with greater retention observed under freeze-drying conditions, particularly in powder-based formulations. Microbiological analysis revealed that freeze-drying preserved higher populations of lactic acid bacteria while suppressing yeast and mold growth. Instrumental aroma analysis demonstrated a clear shift in volatile composition depending on processing conditions, with freeze-drying yielding a more favorable aroma profile compared to sun-drying. Freeze-drying was identified as a superior method for preserving bioactive compounds, microbial viability, and aroma quality in purple sweet potato-enriched tarhana. These findings highlight the functional potential of purple sweet potato as an ingredient in traditional fermented foods and provide a basis for the development of high-quality tarhana formulations.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122216

Authors: Mengrui Fan Yuxiao Wang Duanyin Gu Junjie Gao Hao Dong Xin Sun Qiyong Jiang Rentang Zhang

Blanching is a critical postharvest step that influences broccoli color, texture, flavor, and nutritional quality, and may affect the formation of warmed-over flavor (WOF) related volatile compounds under thermal processing. This study compares hot water blanching (HWB, 98 ± 1 °C, 30 to 150 s) and steam blanching (SB, 100 °C, 30 to 150 s) by analyzing color, texture, peroxidase activity, electronic nose, volatile compounds, sulforaphane content, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine how blanching conditions influence physicochemical attributes, cellular organization, and WOF-related volatile profiles in broccoli. Overall quality retention was superior with SB, particularly at 60 s, as evidenced by lower residual enzyme activity, improved firmness retention, better maintained cellular structure as observed microscopically, and higher sulforaphane retention relative to HWB. Multivariate analysis identified nine key volatile markers (variable importance in projection (VIP) > 1 and relative odor activity value (ROAV) > 1), including the WOF-associated aldehyde pentanal. Broccoli treated by SB for 60 s exhibited markedly lower levels of these aldehydes than samples subjected to HWB. Correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between sulforaphane and sulfur-containing volatile compounds, including dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide. This correlation mainly derived from the superimposed degradation of different precursor pools under thermal action: at high temperatures, dimethyl disulfide is one of the main volatile products generated from the thermal degradation of sulforaphane; meanwhile, during heating, intermediates derived from S-methyl-l-cysteine sulfoxide undergo thermal reactions to form dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide. Collectively, these results support SB as an effective strategy to mitigate WOF while maintaining the nutritional quality of broccoli and potentially other cruciferous vegetables.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122215

Authors: Annunziata Paolillo Assunta Napolitano Francesco Sottile Milena Masullo Sonia Piacente

The edible seeds of pumpkin plants (genus Cucurbita) are becoming increasingly appreciated as functional foods for their nutritional benefits, medicinal properties, and bioactive compounds, including lipids, proteins, and antioxidants. Particularly, the naked seeds of Cucurbita pepo var. styriaca have proved to yield both an edible oil showing anti-inflammatory properties in treating skin disorders and hydro-alcoholic extracts effective in inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. In this study, a detailed and extensive analysis of the eco-friendly alcoholic extract of the seeds of this variety was accomplished by using LC-HRMSMS techniques, with the main aim to broaden the knowledge on bioactive lipids other than the already reported fatty acids. The obtained results highlighted the occurrence of numerous compounds belonging to different classes of polar and neutral lipids, such as phospholipids, sphingolipids, glycolipids, acylglycerols, and oxylipins. Noteworthily, a significant presence of Cer-(EO)LCBs, i.e., Cer-EOS-type ceramides with different long chain base (LCB) and fatty acid composition, was detected, representing a real novelty for pumpkin. Additionally, a good number of multiflorane-type triterpenoids were detected, only some of which were previously reported in this plant. These findings highlight the nutraceutical value of these edible seeds.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122214

Authors: Raul Peralta Alfonso Manuel Vidal Francisco Espínola María Teresa Ocaña Manuel Moya

Phenolic compounds, particularly secoiridoids derived from oleuropein and ligstroside, are the main determinants of the antioxidant capacity and health-promoting properties of virgin olive oil, yet their content is strongly affected by processing conditions. This study aimed to enhance phenolic enrichment in Picual olive oil through mild acidification of the paste. Four olive samples were processed under a Central Composite Design varying malaxation time (40–80 min), acid concentration (0.02–0.08 mol/kg paste), and acid type (ascorbic or malic), across two maturity indices (MI) per acid, and evaluated by Response Surface Methodology. Ascorbic acid outperformed malic acid for most of the evaluated responses, with the majority of the monitored parameters exhibiting progressive improvements with increasing acid concentration across the tested range. Extraction efficiency reached 75.8–80.0%, increasing with ripening, malaxation time, and acid dose. Acidification did not affect standard quality parameters but enhanced pigment retention (up to 18.9 mg/kg carotenoids; 28.9 mg/kg chlorophylls) and selectively increased oleuropein- and ligstroside-derived secoiridoids. Antioxidant capacity correlated with phenolic content, reaching 1177.9 µmol Trolox equivalents/kg at high acid concentration and medium–high malaxation times. The optimal acid dose depended on MI, with higher doses favoring riper fruit. Overall, in the Picual cultivar, mild acidification is an effective strategy to enrich the antioxidant fraction of olive oil without compromising its quality.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122213

Authors: Muhammad Arif Ramzan Anna Wang Ligen Wu Muhammad Abdul Haseeb

The structure, functionality, nutritional value, and sensory properties of food are significantly influenced by interactions between proteins and carbohydrates. These interactions occur through hydrogen bonding, electrostatic forces, hydrophobic interactions, and, in many cases, the covalent attachment of sugars to proteins via the Maillard reaction. High starch content in food matrices promotes interactions between proteins and starch components such as amylose and amylopectin, affecting gelation, retrogradation, and thickening. These interactions improve shelf stability and product quality. Additionally, protein–carbohydrate interactions regulate nutrient digestibility and glycemic response, playing a crucial role in the development of functional foods for diabetes and weight management. In silico studies have demonstrated that dietary fibers like pectin and cellulose can improve water retention and textural properties in processed meat products. Furthermore, processing techniques such as enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, pulsed electric fields (PEF), and low-temperature drying have been found to improve the functional properties and shelf life of food products. This review synthesizes recent findings on protein–carbohydrate interactions and highlights their potential in creating healthier, more appealing, and sustainable foods that align with modern consumer preferences.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122212

Authors: Siyu He Xinyi Luo Zifan Zhao Liang Li Jiahong Duan Shang Lin Wen Qin

Mashed potatoes (MP) are widely consumed starch-based foods. However, their shelf life is limited by starch retrogradation during low-temperature storage, which causes texture hardening, water exudation, and sensory deterioration. Although natural polysaccharides can modulate starch properties, the specific anti-retrogradation effect of soluble arabinoxylan (AX) in complex MP matrices remains unknown. In this study, the effects of AX on the physicochemical and sensory qualities of MP during 7 d of storage at 4 °C were comprehensively investigated. Results demonstrated that AX significantly reduced the rheological moduli (i.e., G′ and G″ values) and hardness of stored MP. Additionally, LF-NMR, XRD, FTIR and SEM analyses, together with water holding capacity (WHC) measurement, revealed that AX improved water retention and restricted water mobility of the system, delayed starch recrystallization, inhibited the formation of short-range ordered structures, and physically disrupted the starch microstructure, thereby attenuating the overall starch retrogradation process. Moreover, the addition of AX helped maintain the sensory appeal of the products. These findings suggest that AX modulates the structural evolution of the starch matrix during storage. This distinguishes the present work from conventional hydrocolloid studies by demonstrating that AX can simultaneously inhibit starch retrogradation, stabilize color, and maintain soft texture. This work highlights the potential of AX as a clean-label multifunctional modifier to extend the shelf life of starchy convenience foods.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122211

Authors: Shenglan Xu Jun Xu Qingshan Wu Huimin Zhou Die Lu Lili Jia Fusheng Chen

Sauce-aroma Baijiu is produced through a one-year cyclic process involving multiple fermentations and distillations. However, the dynamic changes and correlations among fermented grains (FG), distilled fermented grains (DG), heart liquor (HL) and tail liquor (TL) remain unclear. In this study, the physicochemical indicators and volatile compounds (VCs) from the 3rd to 6th distillation rounds were systematically analyzed. Across successive rounds, FG and DG exhibited similar trends in key physicochemical indicators, as did HL and TL. Headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) identified 76, 73, 80 and 93 VCs in FG, DG, HL and TL, respectively. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed significant inter-round differences in volatile profiles, and further indicated that total acids and water contents in FG were positively correlated with the majority of VCs in liquor. These results clarify the dynamic change of physicochemical and flavor components during Baijiu production and provide a basis for quality evaluation.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122210

Authors: Huiqin Long Yiqing Zhu Gongjian Fan

Calcium-induced polysaccharide hydrogels have attracted growing interest in food science because of their mild gelation conditions, tunable structures, and compatibility with food-grade formulation. This review focuses on edible Ca2+-mediated polysaccharide hydrogels and related composite networks, focusing on alginate, low-methoxyl pectin, gellan gum, and carrageenan. Rather than treating all calcium-containing polysaccharide materials as well-defined complexes, we distinguish direct coordination, ionic bridging, charge screening, helix stabilization, and composite-assisted network regulation. Current evidence indicates that Ca2+-mediated assembly is governed by polysaccharide fine structure, calcium-release behavior, pH, ionic strength, and processing conditions, thereby determining crosslinking density, digestibility gel strength, water distribution, rheological properties, release behavior, and texture-related functionality. For texture-modified foods for older adults, these hydrogels may provide a useful material basis for designing swallowing-friendly matrices, sustained nutrient-delivery systems, and soft composite foods. However, available evidence is still largely derived from model gels, in vitro characterization, and static digestion models, while validation in real food matrices, dynamic gastrointestinal conditions, oral processing, sensory acceptance, and older-adult populations remains limited. Future studies should establish structure–function–population evidence chains linking molecular assembly to reliable geriatric food performance.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122209

Authors: Jiayi Ren Huilin Huang Yan Sun Shijie Bi Songgang Xia Xiaoming Jiang

Northern pike (Esox lucius) myofibrillar protein (MP) forms inherently weak gels due to endogenous proteolytic activity and the low thermal stability of fish myosin, limiting its application in surimi products. This study investigated the reinforcing effect and underlying mechanism of rice protein amyloid fibrils (RFs) on pike MP gels. Dynamic rheology revealed that RFs increased both the storage and loss moduli in a concentration-dependent manner, with the 5% group exhibiting an approximately threefold increase in the G′ at 100 rad/s relative to the control. The gel strength, hardness, and chewiness increased progressively with the RF content, whereas the water-holding capacity peaked at 1–3% RFs and declined sharply at 5% RFs. Microstructural imaging showed that moderate RF levels promoted a dense, homogeneous network architecture, while excessive RFs induced phase separation and structural heterogeneity. Hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds were strengthened via RF incorporation, while disulfide bonds decreased monotonically with the increasing fibril concentration. FTIR spectroscopy revealed an α-helix-to-β-sheet transition, with the β-sheet content reaching a maximum of 49.37% at 3% RFs, and SDS-PAGE confirmed that the RF–MP interactions were predominantly non-covalent in nature. These results demonstrate that RFs reinforce pike MP gels through a molecular mechanism involving rigid fibrils acting as structural scaffolds within the protein network and a progressive shift from disulfide-mediated covalent crosslinking toward non-covalent stabilization via hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding. The 1–3% RF range delivers the most balanced gel properties, while excessive fibril loading at 5% induces over-aggregation and impairs water retention. These findings establish amyloid fibrils as effective structural modifiers for freshwater fish gel products and provide a mechanistic basis for their application in surimi processing.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122208

Authors: Yi Sun Zhipeng Li Hua Xia Kaier Yang Feng Gao Yingxiao Peng Xiangyun Ma Qifeng Li

Rapid detection of foodborne pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms is critical for ensuring food safety and quality in liquid matrices. While Raman tweezers spectroscopy (RTS) enables label-free single-cell analysis, its application in high-throughput inline inspection faces a fundamental bottleneck: high flow rates required for efficiency induce severe motion blur and low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), which blind automated control systems and destabilize optical trapping. To overcome this, we present a Spatiotemporal Video-Enhanced Raman Tweezers (SVERT) system integrating a deceleration-optimized microfluidic chip with a deep learning-based visual feedback loop. We propose a Local–Global Unified Denoising Network (LGU-Net) tailored to recover high-fidelity bacterial structures from low-SNR video streams, achieving a deterministic processing latency of ~0.49 ms. Experimental results demonstrate that SVERT improves the optical trapping success rate from 21.27% ± 2% to 91.47% ± 1.8% compared to raw video input, enabling a four-fold increase in spectral acquisition efficiency. Leveraging the acquired high-quality dataset, we achieved a classification accuracy of 96.74% across four bacterial species of relevance to food safety and quality. Crucially, we validated the system’s practical robustness by successfully isolating and tracking trace E. coli in an unpurified commercial beverage. This capability to effectively mitigate natural background interference demonstrates the system’s promising potential to be expanded for broader applications in liquid food safety screening.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122206

Authors: Cai You Yining Feng Chengjun Wu Ayyoob Ujala Siddiki Md Robin Hossain Qin Hu Tianzhu Guan Jia Xu

Developing functional foods that address both oxidative stress and physiological challenges like dysphagia is a critical frontier in personalized nutrition. This study investigates the multi-component synergy of Fu Ling Yin Zi (FLYZ), a traditional dietary therapy, and translates its functional properties into a 3D-printed dysphagia-friendly food. Using response surface methodology, the optimal FLYZ formulation was established at a 5:1:5 ratio of Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf., Amygdalus communis Vas, and Citrus reticulata. Network pharmacology and molecular docking suggested that FLYZ’s active compounds (e.g., nobiletin, stigmasterol, tangeretin, l-SPD, glabridin, estrone) may mitigate oxidative stress via multiple targets (PTGS2, AKT1, TNF, ESR1, MMP9, and MAOA), with pathway analysis pointing to a potential role of the AKT1/GSK3β/HIF-1α axis. Subsequent in vitro cellular assays demonstrated that FLYZ enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities, reduced intracellular ROS, and modulated the expression of associated genes, supporting a potential link to this pathway. To actualize these functional benefits for patients with swallowing difficulties, a novel 3D-printing ink incorporating FLYZ and walnut oil within a hydrogel matrix (3% xanthan gum, 3% pectin, 1.5% carrageenan) was developed. The printed constructs exhibited excellent shape fidelity and, based on standardized IDDSI fork and spoon tests, were categorized as level 4 (pureed/extremely thick). Furthermore, a simulated in vitro digestion model showed that the colloidal network significantly protected FLYZ’s polyphenols and flavonoids, markedly improving their bioaccessibility and post-digestion antioxidant capacity. Collectively, this work establishes an integrated approach that combines predictive molecular profiling with advanced 3D food printing, thereby supporting the development of future foods tailored for personalized nutrition.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122207

Authors: Zhenhua Fan Qiuyun Li Weiliang Wu

Tremella fuciformis polysaccharides (TFPS) exhibit anti-inflammatory and gut-microbiota-modulating activities, but conventional extraction methods often show limited efficiency and may affect polysaccharide structural integrity. This study optimized a deep eutectic solvent (DES)-based extraction method with potential environmental advantages for TFPS, characterized the major purified fraction, and evaluated its effects in a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced experimental colitis model. Extraction parameters for the choline chloride–lactic acid DES system were refined through single-factor testing combined with response surface methodology. The purified fraction TFPS-1 was characterized by chromatographic, spectroscopic, methylation, and NMR analyses, and its biological effects were assessed in DSS-treated mice. Under the optimized conditions, the TFPS yield reached 33.09 ± 1.52%, representing a 77.6% increase compared with hot-water extraction. TFPS-1 was identified as a low-molecular-weight glucan mainly containing α-(1→4)- and β-(1→6)-linked glucose residues. In experimental colitis mice, TFPS-1 alleviated body weight loss, colon shortening, and histopathological injury; increased mucus secretion and barrier-related gene expression; reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines; increased IL-10; and partially adjusted gut microbiota composition. These results indicate that DES-based extraction is an efficient strategy for preparing TFPS and provide evidence that TFPS-1 may be further explored as a food-derived polysaccharide ingredient for intestinal protection in experimental colitis-related contexts.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122205

Authors: Shan Dong Lele Lu Li Hou Wentong Wu Lidong Wang Changsheng Li Changyuan Wang

Polishing enhances the appearance and market competitiveness of rice. To better understand the effect of polishing on rice flavor, volatile flavor compounds in polished rice (PR), unpolished rice (UR), cooked polished rice (CPR), and cooked unpolished rice (CUR) were examined using headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). The results revealed fourteen volatile flavor compounds displayed significant differences in abundance, with eight of these compounds potentially contributing to the overall flavor profile based on their volatility and reported odor characteristics. Among these compounds, only eicosane and hexanal were detected in uncooked rice, whereas acetophenone, hexadecanol, dodecane, and octadecane were unique to CUR. Four compounds were associated with aroma notes reminiscent of flowers, wax, and almond, among others. However, nonanal and nerol were common in both cooked rice samples, and they may contribute to a sweet-like aroma in cooked rice. These findings illuminate the changes in volatile composition, offer insights to prevent over-polishing, and inspire further research toward producing rice with potentially improved aroma profiles.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122204

Authors: Al Kaxier G. Ancheta Hiroyuki Kozu Takumi Umeda Marcos A. Neves Isao Kobayashi

Three-dimensional (3D) food printing, a relatively new food-processing method, was explored using gelatinized sweet potato starch (SPS) as a food ink. Prior to the production of intricate 3D shapes, this study focused on the precise extrusion of filaments, specifically the optimization of the printing conditions for nozzle diameters of 1.5 and 4.0 mm to produce filaments with an acceptable appearance and size. The rheological and mechanical properties of the (SPS) sol were also determined to describe the extrudability and shape retention of the food materials. The optimization process employed the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and a desirability function to generate mathematical models of the width and height of the filaments as functions of the moisture content, the print temperature, and the print speed. The generated mathematical models were used to determine the optimum printing conditions. Hence, for the 1.5 mm nozzle, the optimum condition was at 82% moisture content, 57 °C print temperature, and 10 mm/s print speed, with a desirability of 0.842. In contrast, for the 4.0 mm nozzle, the optimum condition was at 82.3% moisture content, 50 °C print temperature, and 5 mm/s print speed, with a desirability of 0.911. The optimized filaments are expected to be used in 3D food printing to create 3D shapes.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122203

Authors: Adriano Cezar Delphim Gerson Lopes Teixeira Adaucto Bellarmino Pereira-Netto

Euterpe oleracea Mart. (açaí), a palm fruit native to the Amazon basin, has attracted growing global scientific interest over the past decade owing to its distinctive phytochemical richness and broad functional potential. This narrative review synthesizes research published between 2015 and 2025 on açaí’s nutritional composition, biological activities, food technological applications, processing innovations, by-product valorization, and sustainability challenges. Açaí pulp contains a distinctive nutrient matrix—including anthocyanins (particularly cyanidin-3-glucoside), polyphenols, oleic and linoleic fatty acids, and dietary fiber—underpinning antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, and antiobesity effects demonstrated primarily in in vitro and animal models, with human clinical evidence still limited. Processing strategies such as ultrasound-assisted extraction, nanoencapsulation, freeze-drying, and supercritical CO2 extraction have advanced bioactive stability and bioaccessibility, enabling açaí’s incorporation into dairy products, functional beverages, biodegradable packaging, reformulated meat products, and edible films. Processing residues—seeds and pomace—are increasingly repurposed into nutraceuticals, biosorbents, and bio-based polymers, reinforcing the species’ circular bioeconomy potential. Food safety risks, particularly Trypanosoma cruzi contamination in minimally processed products, require standardized mitigation protocols. Key remaining challenges include the absence of validated bioaccessibility methodologies, the scarcity of human clinical trials, and the need for scalable processing technologies suitable for smallholder production contexts. Overall, açaí emerges as a model bioresource at the convergence of nutrition science, food technology, and environmental sustainability.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122202

Authors: Joana Gonçalves Raquel P. F. Guiné Paulo Ribeiro Sofia G. Florença Luisa Cruz-Lopes Ofélia Anjos Da-Wen Sun

Recently, the problem of food waste management has attracted the attention of producers, processors, retailers, and consumers due to economic, environmental, food safety, and sustainability consequences, affecting the entire food supply chain. This article reviews data on food waste of animal origin at different stages along the production and transformation systems, from an environmental, economic, or social perspective. Results show differences between developed and developing countries. While in developed countries, most waste occurs at the end of the food chain, in developing countries, most waste occurs in primary production and transportation. Food waste is very expressive in production and retail, but also in final consumption in households and food services. Mitigating measures include upcycling, i.e., recovering valuable food components for industrial use with economic and environmental benefits, and alternatives for food waste reutilization. The role of the consumer is unquestionable, particularly when shopping for food for the household or when consuming food in restaurants or canteens. Hence, it is crucial to understand the behaviours leading to food waste as a way to reduce it and implement strategies to effectively reduce food waste at various levels. The role of education, regulation, and policies is pivotal in achieving minimal food waste.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122201

Authors: Marian Ilie Luca Mădălina Ungureanu-Iuga Viorela-Gabriela Ciobanu Ana Batariuc Silvia Mironeasa

This study aimed to investigate the effects of incorporating carrot pomace from different varieties (Baltimore, Belgrado, Niagara, and Sirkana) into pasta formulations made from durum and common wheat flours, as well as to optimize the addition level and characterize the resulting products. To this end, dough rheological properties, pasta chemical composition, cooking behavior, color, texture, sensory attributes, and microstructure were evaluated. Increasing levels of carrot pomace significantly influenced flour functionality, dough rheology, pasta texture, cooking behavior, and color characteristics. Higher pomace addition resulted in increased flour water absorption, dough complex modulus and hardness, pasta fracturability, cooking losses, and contents of crude fiber and total yellow pigments, while reducing dough deformation resistance, pasta color intensity, and chewiness. The magnitude of these changes was dependent on the carrot variety used. Process optimization allowed the determination of variety-specific optimal inclusion levels of carrot pomace for both flour types. For durum wheat flour, optimal levels ranged from 6.34% to 9.25%, while for common wheat flour they ranged from 8.12% to 11.17%. At these levels, cooking losses remained within acceptable limits (<8%), yellow coloration was enhanced, and dough structure rigidity increased, accompanied by delayed starch gelatinization. Pasta samples containing Niagara and Sirkana pomace showed the highest contents of dietary fiber and yellow pigments, reflecting their elevated β-carotene levels. Sensory evaluation indicated improved overall acceptability compared with control samples. These results demonstrate the potential of carrot pomace as a functional ingredient for the development of nutritionally enriched, value-added pasta products.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122200

Authors: Dongsheng Niu Daiyi Zhao Aerzuguli Yalikun Feng Li

Fruit and vegetable juices are ideal probiotic carriers and pectin supplementation is promising for probiotic survival. In this study, we investigated the effects of high- and low-methoxyl pectin on Lacticaseibacillus casei 37 and Lactobacillus helveticus 76 in fermented pear juice (PJ) regarding fermentation, viability, and functionality. Our results showed that pectin protected probiotic viability at 4 °C for 28 days, with viable cell counts reaching 8.39–8.63 log colony-forming units/mL. Furthermore, it promoted phenolic compound release (e.g., gallic acid and protocatechuic acid), raising total phenolic content by 8.3–21.9% and total flavonoid content by 79.6–140.3%. It significantly enhanced DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging activity, and FRAP antioxidant capacity. In vitro digestion revealed that pectin supplementation elevated the survival rate of probiotics in simulated gastric juice by 6.2–66.4%. Additionally, correlation analysis linked specific phenolics (p-coumaric acid, epicatechin, rutin) to antioxidant activity. An addition of 0.3% low-methoxyl and 0.2% high-methoxyl pectin was considered the optimal treatment, benefiting probiotic viability, phenolic accumulation and antioxidant stability of fermented PJ under cold storage and gastrointestinal environment. Thus, pectin is an effective carrier for high-viability, high-antioxidant probiotic fermented PJ beverages.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122199

Authors: Daniela Jaikel-Víquez Ilhami Okur Alejandra Gómez-Arrieta Fabio Granados-Chinchilla Graciela Artavia Carolina Cortés-Herrera Georgina Gómez-Salas Mauricio Redondo-Solano Bing Wang

Acrylamide (AA) is a contaminant with carcinogenic and genotoxic properties that occur in heat-produced food products. This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of AA in different coffee products commercially sold in retail markets of Costa Rica and to develop a probabilistic exposure assessment model to assess the potential human health risk due to its consumption. The average AA concentration in the coffee samples analyzed (n = 110) was 110.29 ± 151.61 µg kg−1. The mean dietary exposure (DE) values, for the middle-bound (MB) approach, varied from 0.025 to 0.083 µg kg−1 BW per day. The margin of exposure (MOE) was calculated with a BDML10: 430 μg kg−1 BW day−1 for neurotoxicity and 170 μg kg−1 BW day−1 for cancer effect, according to EFSA (2015). No neurotoxicity risk was identified as MOE values ranged from 4291 to 467,984 for the adult male population, from 4566 to 477,203 for the adult females, from 4265 to 506,062 for the male minors and from 2512 to 495,151 for the female minors. On the other hand, MOE values for the carcinogenic risk were below 10,000 for the mean and P95th coffee consumers, denoting a possible health concern. The values ranged from 1696 to 6717 for the adult male population, from 1805 to 7201 for the female adults, from 1686 to 6304 for the male minors and from 993 to 2155 for the female minors. The mean incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) values for male adult, female adult, male minor, and female minor were 1.7 × 10−5, 1.6 × 10−5, 1.9 × 10−5, and 3.9 × 10−5, respectively, for the MB approach. These results denote a potential or considerable risk in consumption of coffee due to AA intake. Thus, no neurotoxicity risk was identified; however, a potential carcinogenic risk was observed based on MOE and ILCR results.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122198

Authors: Meyli Claudia Escobar-Ramírez Emmanuel Pérez-Escalante Luis J. Montiel-Olguín Elizabeth Contreras-López Luis Humberto López-Hernández Luis Guillermo González-Olivares

This study aimed to evaluate whey fermentation with Enterococcus faecium ABMC-05 to obtain a product with three functional ingredients: probiotic strains, selenium enrichment, and hydrolysates with antioxidant and antihypertensive properties. Whey, with and without sodium selenite (184 mg/mL), was fermented by Enterococcus faecium ABMC-05 and analyzed for 120 h. Free amino groups (TNBS), protein hydrolysis (Tris-Glycine-SDS-PAGE), lower molecular protein fractions (Tris-Tricine-SDS-PAGE and SEC-HPLC), antioxidant activity (DPPH and FRAP), and antihypertensive activity (ACE inhibition) were determined. The results showed that selenium accumulation in Enterococcus faecium ABMC-05 gradually increased during fermentation, reaching 2.21 µg Se/Log CFU. This was associated with a delay in the initial stage of bacterial growth and a greater release of free amino groups. Partial hydrolysis of serum β-lactoglobulin was observed by SDS-PAGE and confirmed by HPLC only in the fermentation without selenium. The levels of inhibition of the DPPH radical decreased during fermentation in both systems, while FRAP remained unchanged during the fermentation time in the selenium system. In contrast, ACE inhibitory activity increased to 53% at 120 h of fermentation in the selenium system. Therefore, the combination of the three functional ingredients may enhance bioactivity and serve as an alternative in functional dairy foods.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122197

Authors: Vanessa Abad-Quevedo Fabiola Cornejo Pedro Maldonado-Alvarado

Few strategies have been developed to mimic and control the supramolecular degradations induced by spontaneous fermentation in sour cassava starch, which are partly responsible for its characteristic expansion capacity in breadmaking, and their effectiveness has remained limited. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding α-amylase on the functional and nutritional properties of cassava starch used in breadmaking. Cassava starch from the INIAP 651 variety was modified with different α-amylase dosages (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 9 U/g α-amylase for 20 min), followed by hydration and pre-gelatinization before baking. Determinations of the specific volume of the bread (SV), dough characterization by Mixolab, pasting properties using a rheometer, and nutritional properties were performed. The treatment with 6 U/g α-amylase showed the best functional properties, achieving the highest SV (4.28 mL/g), C3 (1.67 Nm), C4 (1.11 Nm), and peak viscosity (6550 mPa·s), as well as the lowest setback (1526 mPa·s). In contrast, the treatment with 9 U/g α-amylase exhibited the most favorable nutritional profile, with the lowest estimated glycemic index (51.25) and rapidly digestible starch (15.85 g/100 g). These results confirm that controlled α-amylase dosing modulates cassava starch functionality for breadmaking and glycemic control.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122196

Authors: Yanbing Wang Xiaoyuan Wang Ping Du Xiaogang Liu

Mass spectrometry-based lipidomics has created new opportunities to investigate the role of lipids in coffee quality formation and stability across the production chain. Coffee lipids contribute to flavor precursor formation, aroma release, mouthfeel, and storage behavior, but their molecular remodeling during maturation, processing, roasting, and storage remains insufficiently integrated. This review summarizes recent progress in lipidomics methodologies relevant to coffee research, with emphasis on sample preparation, mass spectrometry platforms, data analysis, and the strengths and limitations of current lipid annotation strategies. It further examines how lipid profiles change during bean maturation, how they differ among coffee species and varieties, and how they are reshaped by postharvest processing, roasting, and storage. However, it is important to note that most of these associations are currently correlational rather than causal; direct evidence linking specific lipid species to particular sensory attributes remains limited. Existing studies suggest that lipid composition, rather than total lipid content alone, is more informative for understanding coffee quality differences and for identifying candidate markers associated with origin, processing method, roasting degree, and storage conditions. In particular, alterations in glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, fatty acids, diterpenes, and other minor lipid constituents are increasingly associated with lipid oxidation, thermal degradation, and flavor-related transformations in coffee. However, current evidence is still limited by incomplete structural annotation, isomeric ambiguity, platform dependence, and the frequent gap between statistical discrimination and mechanistic validation. Future work integrating high-resolution mass spectrometry, ion mobility, targeted quantification, stable isotope tracing, sensory analysis, and multi-omics approaches will be essential to improve marker reliability and to clarify the functional roles of coffee lipids. Overall, lipidomics provides a promising framework for linking molecular composition with coffee quality control, traceability, and process optimization, although substantial work is still needed to establish mechanistic links to flavor formation.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122195

Authors: Elizabeth Emperatriz García-Salirrosas Karla Liliana Haro-Zea Ángel Acevedo-Duque Elena Matilde Urraca-Vergara Amit Roy Flores Rivera Dany Yudet Millones-Liza

This study examines the relationship between health consciousness, the components of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and self-identity, as well as consumers’ willingness to pay more for Andean grains, which are recognised for their nutritional benefits and contribution to sustainable food systems. The study was conducted with 600 young university students living in Lima, Peru. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), the findings revealed a positive association between health consciousness and attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and self-identity related to healthy food consumption. Of the TPB components, self-identity was found to be the strongest predictor of willingness to pay more for Andean grains, followed by perceived behavioural control; attitude and subjective norms, however, showed no significant effect. These results suggest that the willingness to pay for sustainable heritage foods is driven more by identity-based motivations and perceived access conditions than by favourable evaluations or social pressure alone. The study extends the TPB by incorporating health consciousness as an antecedent variable and by highlighting the prominent role of self-identity in sustainable food choices within the context of an emerging economy. Furthermore, the findings provide practical insights for designing marketing strategies and public policies aimed at promoting healthy and sustainable food consumption.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122194

Authors: Jiayue Li Yuanyuan Sun Mengran Zhang Mengjia Chen Hongzhi Liu Xuchun Zhu Feiyue Ren Linyi Zhou Zhongjiang Wang

Rice bran polysaccharides (RBPs) are natural plant-derived polysaccharides predominantly found in the rice bran layer, a major byproduct of rice milling, and exhibit a wide range of biological activities. These bioactive components, with their complex structures and diverse functions, hold immense potential for application in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. This review summarizes recent advances in the composition and bioactive functions of RBPs, with particular emphasis on how extraction methods and physicochemical modifications alter their molecular weight, monosaccharide composition, and chain conformation, thereby modulating key biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and gut microbiota-regulating effects. Furthermore, to better elucidate their potential in industrial applications, this study systematically analyzes how the physicochemical properties of rice bran polysaccharides influence production and processing, with particular attention to their emerging roles as delivery carriers, food additives, and bioactive components.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122193

Authors: Ionut-Dumitru Veleșcu Ioana Cristina Crivei Andreea Bianca Balint Florina Stoica Florin Daniel Lipșa Roxana Nicoleta Rațu

Brewing generates several by-products with high potential for conversion into food in-gredients, including brewer’s spent grain, brewer’s spent yeast, spent hops, and hot trub. These streams contain dietary fibre, proteins, β-glucans, phenolics, minerals, and others with nutritional and technological value. This review evaluates their suitability for food applications by linking composition, processing routes, techno-functional behaviour, safety, sensory quality, and industrial readiness. A structured literature search covering publications from 2015 to 2026 was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar to support a critical narrative synthesis of food-relevant applications of brewing by-products. The review shows that brewer’s spent grain is the most suitable by-product for wider food use, mainly in bakery, snacks, pasta, and cereal-based products, due to its high availability and fibre-rich composition. Brewer’s spent yeast is more appropriate for fraction-based applications involving proteins, peptides, β-glucans, and mannoproteins, especially in dairy products, savoury foods, beverages, and encapsula-tion systems. Spent hops and hot trub are less suitable for direct incorporation, but they may be used for selective recovery of phenolic-rich, antioxidant, flavour-active, or pro-tein-containing fractions. The conversion of these materials into food ingredients depends strongly on stabilization, drying, milling, extraction, fermentation, enzymatic treatment, debittering, and fractionation. Main limitations include high moisture content, short shelf-life, microbial spoilage, compositional variability, bitterness, dark colour, high nucleic acid content in yeast-derived fractions, regulatory uncertainty, and limited pilot-scale validation. Overall, brewing by-products can support the development of up-cycled ingredients when processing, safety, sensory quality, and product compatibility are controlled. Future progress requires standardized recovery protocols, stronger quality control, sensory validation, legal assessment, and scale-up studies to support their use in commercial food production.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122192

Authors: Sudip Pandey Poonam Pant Giovanni Corbioli Erica Bonazzi Miluska Cisneros-Yupanqui Paola Salmaso Stefano Dall’Acqua

Withania somnifera L. (Dunal), commonly known as Ashwagandha, is widely used in traditional medical systems, particularly Ayurveda, and is increasingly included in nutraceuticals and dietary supplements. This narrative review summarizes and critically discusses the literature published from 2015 to 2026 on WS, with a focus on CNS-related outcomes, proposed mechanisms, extract standardization, dosage, and safety considerations. Evidence from preclinical research and human studies suggests that WS preparations may influence stress-related and sleep-related outcomes and support neuroprotective pathways suggesting a significant role in nutraceuticals; however, the overall strength of evidence varies across indications and products, and heterogeneity in extract composition and study design limits firm conclusions. Further well-designed, adequately powered clinical trials using standardized preparations are needed to clarify efficacy, mechanisms of action, and long-term safety.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122191

Authors: Mingyuan Sha Zemao Chen Jingxiao Yu Qingyi Wei

Freshness prediction of starch-coated snakehead fish fillets across different storage times remains challenging due to complex quality deterioration and spectral distribution shifts. In the current research, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) combined with transfer learning (TL) was developed to predict the freshness of starch-coated snakehead fish fillets during short-term refrigerated and long-term frozen storage. The results showed that storage led to texture deterioration, pH increase, TVB-N accumulation, and lipid oxidation, while starch coating effectively delayed quality degradation. Compared with models based only on short-term or long-term data, the domain transfer convolutional neural network (DT-CNN) model improved the robustness of freshness prediction across storage stages. The DT-CNN model based on VIS spectra achieved the best performance for TBA prediction in the starch coating treatment group, with an RP2 of 0.76 and RMSEP of 0.13, and showed strong performance for TVB-N prediction in the starch coating treatment group, with an RP2 of 0.85 and RMSEP of 8.66. These results demonstrate that HSI combined with TL is a promising non-destructive method for freshness evaluation of starch-coated snakehead fish fillets during storage.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122190

Authors: Lunrongyi Tian Meihong Xu

Background: Exogenous nucleotides are bioactive compounds involved in nucleic acid synthesis, cellular metabolism, intestinal function, immune regulation, and related physiological processes. Owing to their potential roles in supporting growth, gut health, immune function, metabolic regulation, and physiological resilience, they have attracted increasing attention as functional dietary supplements and feed additives. However, the global research landscape of exogenous nucleotides has not been systematically characterized. This study aimed to map the development of this field and identify its major contributors, knowledge structures, application domains, and emerging research hotspots. Methods: Global literature on exogenous nucleotides published between 2000 and 2025 was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. After screening and data standardization, 710 records were analyzed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and R-based visualization tools. The bibliometric analysis included publication output, country and institutional collaboration, keyword co-occurrence, co-cited references and journals, and citation burst detection. Results: A total of 710 publications were included. Annual publication output showed an overall upward trend, with marked growth after 2017. China and the United States were the leading contributors, while the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University were among the most productive institutions. Keyword and co-citation analyses identified three major research themes: basic molecular mechanisms, physiological and health-related effects, and practical applications. Aquaculture and animal nutrition represented the most prominent application areas, with studies mainly focusing on growth performance, feed utilization, intestinal morphology, immune responses, oxidative stress resistance, and disease resistance. In human nutrition, research was mainly related to infant nutrition, intestinal and immune health, nutritional recovery, metabolic regulation, and healthy aging. Burst detection indicated a shift in research attention from early topics such as human milk and receptors to intestinal morphology and, more recently, nicotinamide mononucleotide and molecular activation. Conclusions: Research on exogenous nucleotides has expanded rapidly and is moving toward more mechanism-oriented and more diverse applications. Current evidence suggests that exogenous nucleotides have potential value as functional dietary supplements and feed additives, particularly in aquaculture, animal nutrition, infant nutrition, gut and immune health, metabolic regulation, and healthy aging. Future studies should further clarify compound-specific mechanisms, effective dose ranges, bioavailability, long-term safety, and population- or species-specific benefits to support their evidence-based application in functional foods, dietary supplements, infant formula, clinical nutrition, and functional feed products.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122189

Authors: Mirela Kopjar Mary Ann Lila Anureet K. Thind Josip Šimunović Dražen Raucher

The main objective of this study was to generate protein-polyphenol microparticles on the basis of pea and rice proteins in combination with pomegranate juice. Protein microparticles were prepared as a freeze-dried powder and evaluated for total polyphenols and proanthocyanidins using spectrophotometric methods, and for individual polyphenols using the HPLC method. In addition, they were assessed for antioxidant activity, and IR spectra were recorded to establish structural changes in proteins upon adsorption of pomegranate polyphenols. The potential of the formulated microparticles to inhibit colon cancer cell proliferation (SW1116 and Colo205) was also investigated and compared with pomegranate juice. The adsorption capacity of total polyphenols for both protein matrices were 47%. All compounds had a higher affinity for the pea protein matrix except gallic acid. The highest affinity for proteins had punicalagin, with 88% and 80% for pea and rice proteins, respectively. The microparticles demonstrated antioxidant potential using DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and CUPRAC methods. Both pomegranate juice and protein microparticles exhibited high antioxidant potential and inhibitory effects on both types of colon cancer cells. Screening of IR spectra of protein microparticles revealed the adsorption of pomegranate polyphenols through changes in protein structures, particularly in regions characteristic of proteins.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122188

Authors: Chu Zhang Kai Gao Xiaoyu Fu Wenjie Liu Qinfeng Zhang Biyao Jin Guoyi Yu Junwei Sun Shenhui Shen Lei Zhou Xiaoping Wu Hengnian Qi Lu Huang Chenchen Xue

Soybean is an important food and oil crop, and rapid nondestructive identification of seed cultivars is crucial for seed purity inspection, varietal certification, breeding management and food-quality control. However, the global spectral profiles of individual soybean seeds from different cultivars are often highly similar, making it difficult for single-representation models to simultaneously capture spectral sequential dependency and inter-band relational structure. To address this issue, this study proposes a GADF–Mamba Fusion Network (GMFNet) for soybean seed hyperspectral classification. Hyperspectral images of 24,800 seeds from eight cultivars were acquired, and reflectance spectra in the range of 900–1700 nm were collected. After preprocessing, 200 effective bands were retained. The preprocessed one-dimensional spectral sequence was fed into a Mamba-based branch to model continuous wavelength dependency and global spectral evolution, while the same sequence was transformed into a GADF image, resized to 208 × 208, and input into a ResNet18-based structural branch to extract inter-band relational features. The two heterogeneous representations were then integrated through a weighted feature fusion module for final classification. Experimental results showed that Mamba achieved the best test accuracy (0.8721) among the raw spectral models, whereas ResNet18 achieved the best test accuracy (0.8737) among the GADF-based structural models. More importantly, the proposed weighted fusion strategy achieved the best overall performance, reaching validation and test accuracies of 0.9039 and 0.9011, respectively. These results demonstrate that spectral sequential information and GADF-based structural semantics are highly complementary. Overall, the proposed framework provides an effective hyperspectral solution for single-seed soybean cultivar identification and shows potential for non-destructive automated quality control in food-industry applications.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122187

Authors: Xiaoyu Liu Ming Zhang Manqi Yang Cui Han Yuxi Shen Yujie Su Yining Zhang Yuanqi Lv

Peanut protein (PP) is an abundant plant protein resource with limited gelation performance. In this study, the effects of co-precipitation with egg white protein (EWP) on the structural and gelation properties of PP were investigated. Structural analysis revealed that co-precipitation induced secondary structure rearrangement of PP, accompanied by decreased α-helix and β-sheet contents and increased random coil and β-turn contents. These changes were associated with the exposure of hydrophilic groups and the partial shielding of hydrophobic regions, contributing to the significantly improved solubility of PP-EWP co-precipitated proteins (p < 0.05). These structural changes were conducive to the formation of a denser and more continuous gel network. Compared with the PP gel, the gel prepared from PP-EWP co-precipitated protein at the PP:EWP ratio of 2:1 showed an increase in gel strength from 429.30 g to 911.94 g and in water holding capacity from 56.78% to 85.53%. This study provides a theoretical basis and practical guidance for improving the gel properties of PP through co-precipitation and developing functional peanut protein ingredients, although the relatively high cost of EWP should be considered in practical applications.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122186

Authors: Mariana Estrela de Andrade Isabela Soares Magalhães Maurilio Lopes Martins Fabiana de Oliveira Martins Eliane Maurício Furtado Martins Luana Lucas Dutra Bruno Ricardo de Castro Leite Júnior

This study aimed to develop low-fat acerola ice creams enriched with partially hydrolyzed guar gum (PHGG) at concentrations of 6% and 12% and supplemented with Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG. Three formulations were prepared by partially or totally replacing fat with PHGG. After preparation, the ice creams were stored at −18 °C and evaluated over 180 days. Physicochemical analyses showed no differences in pH, acidity, moisture, or ash content among the samples. However, soluble solids and fat content varied depending on the PHGG level. The melting rate remained stable, while overrun increased proportionally with PHGG incorporation. Rheologically, PHGG addition significantly enhanced consistency. Microbiological analyses confirmed that all samples complied with safety standards. The ice creams exhibited symbiotic potential, maintaining L. rhamnosus GG viability > 8 log CFU/g for up to 180 days. In simulated gastrointestinal resistance tests, probiotic survival increased with PHGG concentration. After one day, counts during the enteric phase were 3.87, 6.20, and 6.08 log CFU/g for 0%, 6%, and 12% PHGG, respectively. After 180 days, the counts were 1.98, 4.41, and 3.25 log CFU/g, with corresponding survival rates of 47%, 84%, and 78% after one day, and 36%, 53%, and 42% after 180 days. Sensory analysis with 121 untrained panelists revealed no significant differences in aroma and taste. However, samples with higher fat content were better accepted in terms of appearance, texture, and purchase intent. Overall, partial fat replacement with PHGG proved effective in reducing fat while maintaining quality and enhancing probiotic stability, supporting its potential for functional low-fat foods.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122185

Authors: Joice Barbosa do Nascimento Natália Kelly Gomes de Carvalho José Galberto Martins da Costa

Caryocar coriaceum Wittm. (Caryocaraceae) is a native Brazilian species predominantly distributed in Cerrado areas and transitional regions with the Caatinga in Northeastern Brazil, whose fruits exhibit significant nutritional, technological, and biofunctional potential. This review systematizes and critically analyzes the available scientific evidence regarding the fixed oil extracted from its fruits, addressing extraction methods, chemical composition, physicochemical parameters, nutritional value, technological applications, and the main bioactivities described in experimental models. Chromatographic and bromatological studies demonstrate that the oil presents a lipid profile characterized by the predominance of monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids, especially oleic acid and palmitic acid, in addition to the presence of carotenoids, phenolic compounds, and other bioactive lipophilic constituents. Available preclinical evidence indicates antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing, gastroprotective, respiratory, anticonvulsant, and microbial resistance-modulating properties, suggesting potential applications in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and biotechnological fields. From the perspective of Food Science, the oil demonstrates characteristics compatible with lipid matrices of functional interest, although aspects related to oxidative stability, compositional standardization, sensory acceptability, and industrial scale-up remain insufficiently explored. Additionally, important limitations persist regarding the scarcity of systematic toxicological studies, the absence of clinical trials in humans, and the limited elucidation of the molecular mechanisms involved in the observed bioactivities. Although C. coriaceum presents promising biotechnological potential, its translational application still depends on further multidisciplinary studies integrating chemical standardization, toxicological safety, and technological development.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122184

Authors: Shakhnozakhon Gaipova Umrbek Mavlanov Tomasz Pawel Czaja

Sixteen functional vegetable oils were incorporated at a 20% substitution level into a standard mayonnaise formulation to assess the impact of fatty acid composition on physicochemical, textural, rheological, and microstructural properties. Color analysis revealed substantial variation in yellowness (b* = 11.37–30.08) and lightness (L* = 74.39–82.31), while pH remained unaffected across all formulations (3.3–3.6). Texture analysis demonstrated that PUFA-rich oils, particularly linseed, thistle, and corn, produced markedly lower consistency values (17.02–18.68 N·s) compared to MUFA-rich counterparts (up to 69.95 N·s), indicating weaker interfacial network organization. All formulations exhibited non-Newtonian shear-thinning behavior described by the power law model (K = 90.12–130.63 Pa·sn; n = 0.162–0.249). Low-field NMR relaxometry identified three distinct proton populations reflecting differences in proton mobility, while diffusometry revealed mean droplet radii ranging from 2.653 µm (pomegranate oil) to 3.203 µm (linseed oil). Pearson correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed fatty acid unsaturation as the primary driver of droplet size distribution and textural differentiation among formulations. The study was designed as an exploratory screening of single-batch formulations, and the results are presented descriptively to identify comparative trends among the different oils. Linseed, walnut, and pomegranate oils showed favorable compositional profiles for mayonnaise reformulation, combining favorable PUFA-to-SFA ratios with acceptable emulsion stability and rheological performance.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122183

Authors: Yanmeng Fu Qiyue Shao Liang Chen Tianxiao Zhang Jingyi Zhao Wenhui Zhou Bin Long Dai Lu Wei Wang Xing Tian

Cyclocarya paliurus leaves, commonly consumed as “sweet tea”, remain underutilized after spring harvest. This pilot study investigated harvest month-associated changes in bioactivity-related properties and volatile profiles of mature leaves collected from May to September (Q5–Q9) at one site in 2024. Aqueous extracts were analyzed for TPC, TFC, TP, TSC, DPPH and ABTS•+ radical scavenging activities, and inhibition of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) formation in glucose/fructose-BSA models, with aminoguanidine as a positive reference. Dried leaf powders were profiled by SPME-GC-MS for tentative VOC annotation. TPC, TFC, TP, and TSC ranged from 28.04 to 28.87, 15.42 to 40.22, 2.14 to 2.51, and 23.15 to 25.30 mg/g, respectively. Q9 showed the strongest radical scavenging response, with the lowest DPPH and ABTS•+ IC50 values (0.119 and 0.131 mg/mL), while Q6 also exhibited relatively strong activity. Furthermore, Q6 and Q9 exhibited superior advanced glycation end-product (AGE) inhibitory responses, with Q9 being particularly effective in the fructose-BSA model. VOC profiles varied markedly by month, shifting from alkene/terpene predominance in Q5–Q6 to alcohol enrichment in Q7 and renewed alkene/terpene predominance in Q9. Integrated heatmap and Pearson correlation analyses identified clear temporal co-variations and pairwise associations between distinct VOC classes and bioactivity indices. Collectively, these results provide preliminary, site- and year-specific evidence that harvest month is associated with changes in the bioactivity-related properties and aroma-related phytochemical profiles of mature C. paliurus leaves, offering a cautious reference for harvest-stage-oriented utilization.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122180

Authors: Fabiola Valdivieso José Luis Vila Patricia Mollinedo Luis Apaza Ticona

Potato starch (Solanum spp.) undergoes structural and functional modifications during traditional Andean chuño production; however, the integrated effects of processing history, cultivar-associated characteristics, and field-based environmental conditions remain insufficiently characterised. This study investigated the effects of chuño processing on the compositional, pasting, morphological, molecular, and crystalline properties of starches isolated from three potato cultivars (Condor Imilla, Luk’i Turno, and Dutch Désirée). Native and chuño starches were characterised by amylose quantification, viscoamylography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), together with severe thermal treatment to evaluate structural stability. Chuño processing was associated with a reduction in amylose content across all cultivars (6.9–23.4%) and an increase in gelatinisation onset temperature of approximately 21.5% (from ~65 °C to ~79 °C). Peak viscosity decreased substantially after processing (457.5–1110 BU to 194.5–442.5 BU), while breakdown values remained close to zero, indicating increased resistance to viscosity loss during heating. SEM analysis revealed changes in granule morphology and size distribution associated with chuño processing and subsequent thermal treatment, with more pronounced reductions in granule size observed in Condor Imilla and Luk’i Turno than in Dutch Désirée. FT-IR analysis demonstrated modifications in short-range molecular organisation without the appearance of new functional groups, indicating structural reorganisation rather than chemical transformation. XRD analysis confirmed that all starches retained the native B-type crystalline polymorph after chuño processing, although reductions in diffraction intensity and peak definition indicated decreased long-range structural order. Severe thermal treatment eliminated detectable crystalline order in all samples, producing predominantly amorphous diffraction profiles. Overall, chuño processing was associated with reduced swelling capacity, lower paste viscosity, enhanced thermal stability, and multiscale structural reorganisation while preserving the fundamental B-type polymorph. Given that the plant material originated from distinct agroecological environments and that traditional chuño production involved a variable number of processing cycles, the observed differences should be interpreted as integrated responses of starch systems to processing history and material characteristics rather than strictly genotype-driven effects. These findings highlight the potential of chuño as a naturally modified starch system with distinctive technological properties.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122182

Authors: Feirong Bai Chengshan Cai Tianci Zhang Ling Xu Yunzhen Liu Rui Liu Ziying Ma Minghui Jiang Jiaqi Gao Jingjing Zhang Xuejian Yu Tengfei Tang Juan Chen Su Yao

Daqu is a key starter used in Baijiu production, and its microbial composition and associated metabolic functions play critical roles in fermentation performance and flavor development. This work aimed to reveal how Daqu-making temperature regulates microbial community divergence and subsequent metabolite formation via multi-omics analysis so as to provide theoretical guidance for Daqu quality control. In this study, physicochemical analysis, metagenomic sequencing, and metabolomic profiling were combined to investigate the microbial community structure, functional differentiation, and metabolite characteristics of nine Daqu samples collected from six major Baijiu-producing regions in China. The temperature during Daqu preparation was found to be a primary factor driving microbial community assembly and functional specialization. Medium-temperature Daqu exhibited higher saccharifying activity (up to 867 U) and greater microbial diversity with the enrichment of amino acid metabolism-related pathways, indicating enhanced protein degradation and amino acid utilization for the formation of flavor precursors. In contrast, high-temperature Daqu showed stronger capacities for carbohydrate degradation and conversion, particularly in starch and sucrose metabolism, which were closely associated with the enrichment of thermotolerant fungi and bacteria. LEfSe analysis identified 47 distinct microbial biomarkers (LDA score > 3.0), which could differentiate between medium- and high-temperature Daqu. Redundancy analysis indicated that environmental factors (moisture and acidity) together with functional properties (fermentation, esterification, liquefaction, and saccharification) act as key drivers of microbial functional patterns. Metabolomic analysis further revealed that medium-temperature Daqu had higher abundances of esters and fatty acids, whereas high-temperature Daqu had higher proportions of alcohols and ketones. Taken together, these results provide a multi-omics perspective on temperature-driven microbial functional differentiation in Daqu and offer a scientific basis for quality-oriented regulation and process optimization in Baijiu production.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122181

Authors: Qimai Wang Xing Zheng Xiaoli Gu Qiuxiang Tang Ping Song

Seasonal fluctuations in open solid-state fermentation drive batch-to-batch variability in Chinese Baijiu Daqu; however, how environmental shifts reshape microbial functional expression and non-volatile flavour precursors in medium-high-temperature Daqu remains poorly resolved. In this study, data-independent acquisition (DIA)-based quantitative metaproteomics and untargeted liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomics were integrated to characterise winter and summer Daqu from Luzhou, Sichuan. Among 2904 annotated non-volatile metabolites, orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) revealed clear seasonal separation; 1472 differential metabolites (560 up- and 912 downregulated in winter vs. summer; variable importance in projection [VIP] > 1, p < 0.05) were enriched in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, amino acid biosynthesis, and starch/sucrose metabolism. DIA-based quantitative metaproteomics further resolved season-specific enzyme expression: summer Daqu exhibited elevated saccharolytic, glycolytic and amino-acid-converting enzymes (β-glucosidase, 6-phosphofructokinase, pyruvate dehydrogenase), whereas winter Daqu was enriched in glucose oxidase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and aldehyde dehydrogenase, consistent with a pattern suggestive of carbon-storage prioritisation. Proteome–metabolome integration established a coherent “enzyme protein abundance–inferred metabolic tendency–metabolite accumulation” correlative framework axis: higher hydrolytic and central-carbon enzyme abundance in summer corresponded to increased maltose, lactate, acetate, L-glutamate and L-aspartate. Therefore, production season reshapes Daqu quality chiefly by corresponding to distinct patterns of in situ enzyme protein abundance, providing a DIA quantitative metaproteome-anchored mechanistic framework for screening high-expression starters and stabilising seasonal Daqu quality.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122179

Authors: Stergios Melios Niamh Harbourne Declan Bolton Emily Crofton

Growing concerns about health and sustainability have increased interest in meat consumption and reduction. Emotions evoked during the consumption of meat and plant-based alternatives can significantly shape choices. This review examines theoretical and empirical evidence on emotions experienced during the consumption of meat and plant-based alternatives. Drawing on practice theory and the theory of constructed emotion, it proposes a mechanism through which emotions evoked during consumption influence subsequent decisions to consume or reduce meat. This narrative review first defines emotions and examines their role in meat consumption and reduction and then evaluates studies on emotions elicited by tasting meat and plant-based alternatives. The findings suggest that discussions around meat consumption evoke emotions of both positive and negative valence, which may create cognitive dissonance. However, during actual meat consumption, emotions of positive valence are most commonly reported. In contrast, plant-based alternatives tend to elicit emotions of negative valence, particularly when their sensory characteristics differ substantially from those of meat. This review hypothesises that emotions experienced during meat consumption generate prediction errors that update the brain’s internal model, thereby reinforcing or adjusting subsequent attitudes and choices. This mechanism is conceptualised as the Consumption-Emotion-Update (CEU) framework. Understanding how consumption-evoked emotions shape food choice behaviour may inform strategies aimed at promoting healthier and more sustainable diets.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122178

Authors: Lin Yuan Weixue Yuan Jiaxin Han Ge Wang Jie Jia Wenqi Xu Shuang Wang Shuang Bi Menglei Xia Lijuan Ma

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are promising enzymes for lignocellulose degradation; however, wild-type LPMOs often exhibit limited catalytic activity and stability. In this study, computer-aided virtual saturation mutagenesis was applied to AnLPMO15g from Aspergillus niger, and eight potentially beneficial mutants (S197H, S197F, E185V, E185L, E185M, E185I, Q108M, and A249P) were identified based on predicted changes in unfolding free energy (∆∆G). Six mutants demonstrated enhanced activity in a 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (2,6-DMP) oxidation assay, which serves as a proxy for peroxidase-like activity. The E185V mutant exhibited a 45% increase over the wild type. The triple mutant E185V/Q108M/A249P further increased the catalytic efficiency by 56%. Notably, when combined with cellulase, E185V/Q108M/A249P enabled a 202.5% increase in reducing sugars from wheat straw, achieving a synergy degree of 1.83, highlighting its potential to improve agricultural residue conversion. Molecular dynamics simulation suggested that the E185V/Q108M/A249P triple mutant induced flexible conformational changes in six residues, which may improve substrate binding affinity. This study presents an effective strategy for engineering AA9 family LPMOs to enhance catalytic performance, facilitating efficient and cost-effective degradation of lignocellulosic biomass with implications for sustainable agricultural waste management and circular bioeconomy.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122177

Authors: Jorge García-Montalvo Lucía Olmo-García Nuria Moreno-Rúa David Oreja-Remartínez Jorge Fernández-Sánchez Alegría Carrasco-Pancorbo Miguel Ladero Juan M. Bolivar

Vine shoot residues represent an abundant lignocellulosic by-product of the wine industry and a promising source of phenolic compounds with potential functional applications. In this work, a biocatalytic strategy combining aqueous citric acid treatment and subsequent laccase-mediated oxidation was developed for the valorization of vine shoot-derived phenolic liquors. The pretreatment was optimized by response surface methodology, and the selected conditions, 190 °C, 75 min, and 0.82% citric acid, yielded a pretreated solid containing 2.9 ± 0.02% hemicellulose, 47.5 ± 0.20% cellulose, and 51.8 ± 1.87% lignin, together with a phenolic-rich liquor containing 27.66 ± 0.39 mg GAE g−1 dry solid. Chemical characterization by UHPLC-timsTOF-MS revealed a complex mixture of phenolic acids, lignin-derived compounds, carbohydrate derivatives, and secondary metabolites. Laccase-catalyzed oxidation was first used as a reactivity assessment step, showing that the phenolic compounds present in the liquor were susceptible to enzymatic transformation. This treatment decreased the total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, and antimicrobial activity of the liquor. Subsequently, enzymatic oxidation was carried out in the presence of starch, yielding washed starch solids with retained Folin-reactive phenolic content of approximately 4 mg GAE g−1 starch and measurable antioxidant capacity. Overall, this study demonstrates an integrated valorization route in which citric acid-assisted fractionation of vine shoot residues generates phenolic-rich liquors that can be chemically characterized, enzymatically activated, and directly used for starch functionalization, providing a sustainable strategy to convert agro-industrial residues into bio-based functional systems.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122176

Authors: Yipsy Arozarena Víctor Zambrano Rubén Bustos Silvia Matiacevich Claudia De Paula Andrea Mahn

Sulforaphane (SFN) is an anti-cancer isothiocyanate occurring in Brassicaceae. SFN is decomposed by heat, oxygen, and alkaline conditions. Microencapsulation is a way to improve its stability. This work presents the development of SFN microcapsules using an oil-in-water emulsion with gum arabic (GA) as the wall material for incorporation into yogurt. The process for obtaining SFN microcapsules was optimized using response surface methodology. The optimal microencapsulation conditions were 7 min of stirring, an SFN/GA mass ratio of 0.7, and a surfactant concentration of 7%, resulting in an entrapment efficiency of 90.0 ± 3.0%, the highest reported. The microcapsules had a regular spherical shape with 0.5–5.5 µm diameter and no cracks. Freezing temperature (−4 °C) preserved 100% of SFN in the microcapsule for 90 days. Yogurt added with SFN microcapsules maintained physical and microbiological quality. SFN retention in yogurt after 30 days was 57% when microencapsulated, showing a 14-fold reduction in the kinetic degradation constant compared with free SFN, confirming the efficacy of this method.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122175

Authors: Héctor Elvira-Pérez Carmen Martínez-Alonso María-José Ruiz Yelko Rodríguez-Carrasco

Almonds are widely cultivated in Mediterranean regions, and their processing generates by-products such as almond skins, which are often discarded or used in low-value applications, leading to economic and environmental concerns. These skins are rich in bioactive compounds like polyphenols and flavonoids, with putative protective effects against toxins. Fungi such as Aspergillus and Penicillium species can contaminate nuts and their by-products and produce neurotoxic metabolites, like cyclopiazonic acid (CPA). This study aimed to characterize the phenolic compounds in aqueous extracts of almond skin and evaluate their cytoprotective effects on the viability of human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) under individual CPA exposure and simultaneous co-exposure with almond skin extract. The extracts were optimized for extraction conditions, and UPLC-Triple-TOF-MS/MS analysis identified epicatechin, quercetin and kaempferol as the predominant phenolic compounds. Also, cell viability results showed that CPA induced cytotoxic effects on SH-SY5Y cells in a concentration-dependent manner. However, cells exposed to almond skin extract, at various dilutions (from 1/4 to 1/16), significantly increased cell viability from 43% to 57% relative to the control. Moreover, when SH-SY5Y cells were simultaneously co-exposed to CPA (400–600 nmol/L) and almond skin extract (1/4 dilution), a partial attenuation of CPA-induced toxicity (from 9% at 400 nmol/L to 20% at 600 nmol/L) was observed when compared with CPA alone. These findings suggest cytoprotective potential of almond skin extract in an in vitro neuronal-like model which may be associated with their content of phenolic compounds, providing new insights into their action against the emerging mycotoxin CPA, which remains underexplored in food safety research.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122174

Authors: Hatice Kubra Sasmaz Pınar Kadiroglu Turkan Uzlasir Serkan Selli Onur Ketenoglu Hasim Kelebek

Allicin, the most critical bioactive compound of garlic (Allium sativum L.), is of significant industrial importance when extracted at high purity while preserving its structural integrity. In this study, the combined use of supercritical-CO2 (SC-CO2) extraction and molecular distillation (MD) techniques was investigated to obtain garlic extracts with high allicin content from Gaziantep (Araban) garlic. The SC-CO2 extraction process was optimized using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) within a range of 150–300 bar pressure, 50–80% co-solvent concentration and 0.5–3.0 mL/min solvent flow rate. The obtained extracts were characterized by LC-ESI-DAD-MS/MS, and their biological activities were evaluated using a comprehensive in vitro digestion model. Allicin in vitro digestion was performed using models simulating gastrointestinal conditions of young adults (<65 years) and older adults (>65 years), and its bioactive properties were comparatively evaluated. In the antimicrobial analysis, for SC-CO2, a strong activity was demonstrated against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in the oral phase of the in vitro digestion model, with inhibition zones of 36.33 mm and 26.50 mm in young samples and 34.67 mm and 25.83 mm in older samples, respectively. Owing to the immediate nucleophilic attack triggered by the subsequent alkaline pH shift and pancreatic enzymatic stress, free allicin underwent total structural degradation, falling below detectable limits within the intestinal chyme. In terms of purification performance, allicin content increased from 45.77% after SC-CO2 extraction to 67.10% after molecular distillation. Crucially, due to the immediate nucleophilic attack driven by the subsequent alkaline pH shift and pancreatic enzymatic stress, free allicin underwent complete structural degradation and was rendered strictly undetectable within the intestinal chyme. This approach provides a sustainable and environmentally friendly purification strategy that effectively limits the thermal degradation of allicin. The results present a practical framework for the scalable production of allicin-rich nutraceutical intermediates and functional food ingredients.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122173

Authors: Zibo Wang Feifei Wang Haizhou Wu Jingnan Zhang

Apple pomace is a widely available food processing by-product that has attracted increasing attention in circular and resource-efficient food systems for its potential in value-added food applications. The use of apple pomace in ready-to-eat (RTE) plant-based meat analogs represents a promising pathway. Unlike plant-based meats intended for cooking, RTE systems impose stricter constraints on structural stability, water retention, flavor integrity, and safety under cold chain conditions. Within this framework, apple pomace represents a compositionally complex material with both opportunities and constraints. This review examines how apple pomace and its derived ingredients can be utilized in RTE plant-based meat analogs, with particular attention to the distinct structural and functional requirements of minced-type and whole-cut products. Current evidence indicates that direct incorporation is more feasible for minced systems, where apple pomace fiber and pectin can support water retention, binding, and refrigerated slice stability when particle size, hydration, and sensory limits are controlled. By contrast, whole-cut applications are more likely to require fractionation, selective extraction, or additional structuring because particulate heterogeneity may disrupt continuous phase integrity and anisotropic structure formation. The review further identifies the main barriers to industrial translation, including water management under refrigerated conditions, flavor and color deviations, challenges in raw material standardization, and techno-economic constraints related to dewatering, processing intensity, and quality control. Overall, this review indicates that apple pomace can function as a technically relevant ingredient in RTE plant-based meat analogs. Its successful implementation depends on converting compositional complexity into predictable functionality through raw material standardization, controlled fraction use, food safety verification, and economically viable processing. In this way, sustainability-driven valorization can be better aligned with the practical requirements of industrial food production.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122172

Authors: Kilmara Ábrego-González Abdy Morales Hugo A. Sánchez-Martínez Maricselis Díaz Aracelly Vega Juan A. Morán-Pinzón Jose Luis López-Pérez Esther del Olmo Estela Guerrero De León

Geisha coffee (Coffea arabica L. cv. Geisha) is internationally recognized for its exceptional sensory quality; however, its functional properties and bioactive composition remain insufficiently explored. This study evaluated the phytochemical profile, antioxidant capacity, vascular bioactivity, and toxicological safety of an aqueous extract of roasted Geisha coffee (AErGC) from the Chiriquí highlands, Panama. The chemical composition was determined using HPLC-PDA. Antioxidant activity was assessed using DPPH, ABTS, and lipid peroxidation assays. Vascular effects were studied in rat aortic rings, and safety was evaluated through Artemia salina and a single-dose acute oral toxicity model in rats (OECD 423). Chemical characterization was performed by HPLC-PDA, revealing notably elevated levels of caffeine (69.5 ± 6.4 mg/g) and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (74.5 ± 6.9 mg/g). The extract exhibited strong free radical scavenging capacity, with an IC50 value of 14.7 ± 4.9 µg/mL in the DPPH assay, and inhibited lipid peroxidation by 72.71 ± 1.63% at 15.6 µg/mL. In endothelium-intact rings, AErGC induced a concentration-dependent vasorelaxant effect, reaching a maximum relaxation of 70.84 ± 2.9%. Toxicological results showed an LC50 > 1000 µg/mL in A. salina and an oral LD50 > 2000 mg/kg, classifying the extract as Category 5 (low toxicity). These findings highlight Panamanian Geisha coffee as a promising functional beverage with antioxidant and vascular protective properties, supporting its potential as a nutraceutical.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122171

Authors: Eid I. Brima Parvez I. Haris Michael Frei

Background: Foods containing essential elements are important to human health. There is concern regarding micronutrient deficiency in the African population, and there is a need to identify foods that can address this public health issue. This study focuses on the determination of essential elements (EEs) in four African food categories: plant-based agricultural products (PBAPs), spices (SPs), fishery products (FPs), and non-food items/additives (NFAs) on sale in the UK market. Methods: Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used for measuring trace essential elements (TEEs—Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Se) and major essential elements (MEEs—Na, Mg, K, Ca) in the four categories of the African foods. Results: Mean concentrations (µg/g) for the TEEs were Cu 5.3, 7.3, 23.5, and 7.4; Fe 79.0, 263, 107.7, and 1311.3; Mn 23.4, 28.5, 15.9, and 47.4; Se 0.3, 0.1, 1.6, and 0.6; Zn 8.9, 11.4, 26.8, and 6.2 (PBAPs, SPs, FPs, NFAs, respectively). Mean concentrations of the MEEs (mg/g) were Na 0.6, 11.2, 13.3, and 32.9; Mg 1.6, 1.9, 2.4, and 5.5; K 9.2, 14.6, 9.6, and 8.3; Ca 4.1, 3.3, 27.5, and 127.8. All elements were below the upper intake limits (ULs) established by WHO/EFSA. When expressed as a percentage of the recommended daily allowance (%RDA) for adult males/females, 100% or more of the requirement was achieved for Cu (107.1%) and Ca (112.8%) in FPs. Excess index (EI), hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) values for all TEEs were <1, indicating there is no non-cancerogenic health concern across all food categories. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that African foods available in the UK are substantial sources of essential micronutrients. The fishery products contain high levels of nutrients that are often deficient in African diets. However, before recommending these foods for nutritional interventions, a comprehensive risk–benefit assessment, considering potential toxic metal contamination and microbial hazards must be undertaken. Future studies should expand the sample pool to include a broader range of African foodstuffs and national representation, coupled with integrated risk-benefit analyses.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122168

Authors: Ana Rita Soares Mateus João Vindeirinho Khaoula Khwaldia Joana Castro Daniela Araújo Angelina Pena Matheus Lemos Ana Rita Barata Maria José Saavedra Gonçalo Almeida Ana Sanches Silva Carina Almeida

Date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) pits are a by-product of the date processing industry and are being explored as a source of bioactive compounds within the framework of the circular economy. This study aimed to perform a preliminary safety screening of the in vivo toxicity and mutagenic potential of ethanolic extracts obtained from different date pit varieties. Extracts from Alig (DA), Deglet Nour (DDN), and Kentichi (DK) varieties were administered to Galleria mellonella larvae at different concentrations, and health indices and survival were monitored for 4 days. No significant toxicity was observed at concentrations up to the MIC (6.25 mg/mL), while higher doses (≥2 MIC) had moderate effects on larval viability. The mutagenic potential was evaluated for two extracts (DDN and DK) using the Ames test with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100, in the absence of metabolic activation. Mutagenic index values were below 2.0 for all conditions tested, with the exception of DDN on TA98, where values consistently exceeded 2.0 without a clear dose–response relationship. Due to the absence of metabolic activation and the limited strain panel, the results should be interpreted as preliminary. Overall, the combined preliminary in vitro and in vivo initial findings suggest that ethanolic extracts of date pits do not exhibit an evident mutagenic or toxic effects at biologically relevant concentrations under the conditions tested, providing a basis for further safety evaluation towards their application in the food industry.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122170

Authors: Mónica Cortés-Higareda Rosa I. Ventura-Aguilar Daniel Tapia-Maruri Mónica Hernández-López Patricia Landa-Salgado Silvia Bautista-Baños

Recent foodborne outbreaks by Salmonella Typhimurium associated with the consumption of ‘Maradol’ papaya have prompted an assessment of the pathogen’s behavior with regard to the fruit. The objective of this research was to assess the survival and possible internalization of S. Typhimurium in inoculated ‘Maradol’ papaya harvested at two maturity stages and stored for various days at 11 °C and 24 °C. The physicochemical analysis on fruit included firmness (N), total soluble solids (%), and pH. The location of S. Typhimurium in fruit exocarp and mesocarp tissues was observed using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Results indicated that the high temperature (24 °C) was the most important factor for the survival of S. Typhimurium. At this same temperature, it was the variable firmness that was the most affected, regardless of storage days, whether inoculated or not. The principal component analysis (PCA) separated the data into two components that explained 57% of the variance. PC1 linked higher S. Typhimurium populations with declining firmness, TSS, and exocarp pH were found in fruit stored at 24 °C, whereas PC2 was associated with moderate physicochemical changes at 11 °C. The CLSM observations confirmed superficial colonization of the bacteria on papaya fruit rather than an internalization but only at 24 °C, regardless of ripening stage throughout the 7 days sampling period. Maintaining the cold chain is essential to mitigate the risk of salmonellosis in papaya.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122167

Authors: Jiling Song Junwen Cheng Ya Xin Weidong Yuan Juanping Jiang

This study investigates the effect of hot-air drying temperature (45–70 °C) on the major bioactive constituents and in vitro antioxidant activity of artificially cultivated Sanghuangporus vaninii fruiting bodies. The contents of polyphenols and polysaccharides gradually rose with elevated temperature and peaked at 70 °C, whereas the flavonoid content reached the maximum at 55 °C and declined continuously afterwards. Among the tested bioactive substances, polyphenols exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity, with their DPPH and superoxide anion radical scavenging capacities peaking at 70 °C and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity peaking at 55 °C. Correlation analysis revealed that the contents of polyphenol and polysaccharide possessed markedly positive correlations with DPPH and superoxide anion scavenging activities, yet no statistically relevant correlation was observed for flavonoids. Cluster analysis classified all tested temperatures into two clusters: low-temperature drying (45–50 °C) yielded inferior bioactive constituents and antioxidant activity, whereas medium-to-high-temperature drying (55–70 °C) delivered superior performance. From a practical perspective, drying at temperatures ≥55 °C is recommended to enhance product quality. Specifically, 70 °C is optimal to maximize overall antioxidant capacity, whereas 55 °C is preferable for flavonoid enrichment and color preservation. These findings provide an evidence-based strategy for the optimization of post-harvest drying processes of S. vaninii.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122169

Authors: Shu Zhou Lei He

Amid intensifying extreme climate events, geopolitical conflicts, and sudden trade policy disruptions, the resilience and vulnerability of global staple food trade systems have emerged as pressing governance concerns. This study constructs directed weighted trade networks for wheat, maize, and rice from 2015 to 2024 and evaluates their vulnerability and resilience evolution using a three-dimensional structural resilience framework and underload cascading failure models. The results reveal that all three networks display scale-free and disassortative properties. The wheat network gradually recovered following the Russia–Ukraine conflict, whereas structural imbalance continues to deepen in the maize network, and the rice network faces persistent resilience pressure arising from excessive dependence on core exporters. Cascading failure simulations indicate that targeted attacks on key exporting countries can trigger large-scale network collapse. Introducing cross-crop substitution effects markedly enhances the resilience of individual food trade networks through cross-layer substitution and supplementation; yet under simultaneous attacks, crop substitution effects instead serve as a conduit for cross-layer cascading failure propagation, and even a minimal willingness to substitute can weaken network resilience. Accordingly, this study proposes policy recommendations to strengthen the resilience of the global staple food trade network.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122166

Authors: Sarmad Ahmad Qamar Simona Piccolella Luana Izzo Emilio Di Stasio Giampaolo Raimondi Severina Pacifico

The valorization of lignocellulosic residues into bioactive and biodegradable materials offers a sustainable route for functional food packaging. In this study, hazelnut shells were exploited through an integrated process enabling the integrated recovery of polyphenols and cellulose. Polyphenols were extracted via hot water, liquid–liquid partitioning, and column chromatography, yielding a purified bioactive fraction. The residual biomass after polyphenol recovery was used for cellulose extraction (approximately 23% w/w) and converted into carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with a degree of substitution (DS) of 0.77. Active CMC films incorporating polyphenolic extracts exhibited improved mechanical performance, reaching tensile strengths of about 78 MPa and elongation at break values above 20%, while reducing water solubility to approximately 31%. The addition of carnauba wax further enhanced water resistance while modulating flexibility and stiffness. Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses confirmed the conversion of crystalline cellulose into amorphous CMC and the successful incorporation of additives within the polymer matrix. The resulting films showed tunable mechanical, optical, and barrier properties, along with UV-blocking and antioxidant activity. These findings demonstrate that hazelnut shell-derived CMC films enriched with polyphenols and carnauba wax represent promising candidates for a sustainable platform for active food packaging applications, supporting a circular waste-to-value approach.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122165

Authors: Valentina Civa Ignacio Arias-Pérez Carolina Castillo-Rio Purificación Fernández-Zurbano Maria-Pilar Sáenz-Navajas Paola Domizio

Despite the widespread use of yeast derivatives (YDs) in winemaking, comparative studies on the impact of different inactivation technologies remain limited, especially when applied to non-conventional yeast species. To address this, the present study evaluated the impact of Saccharomycodes ludwigii (SL#64) derivatives, a non-conventional species characterized by a high cell wall polysaccharide content, produced via Thermal Inactivation (TI), High-Pressure Processing (HPP), and Partial Lysis combined with HPP (PL + HPP), on the polysaccharide content, colloidal stability, and sensory profiles of Garnacha Blanca and Tempranillo Blanco wines. A commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae derivative was used as a reference yeast derivative. Polysaccharide concentration and colloidal stability were monitored at 2 and 15 days post-addition. All YDs significantly increased polysaccharide levels (3–21%), primarily within the first 48 h. HPP-treated SL#64-YDs proved the most effective in enhancing protein stability, reducing heat-induced turbidity by 21% after 15 days. SDS-PAGE analysis suggested that YD-derived polysaccharides acted as protective colloids, partially maintaining pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins in solution. In contrast, no significant improvement in tartaric stability was observed across treatments. Overall sensory evaluation, including quality, balance, aroma intensity, and Flash Profile characterization, revealed that YD treatments more clearly modified the sensory profile of the aromatically neutral Garnacha Blanca wines, whereas the greater aromatic complexity of the Tempranillo Blanco matrix partially masked these effects, although prolonged contact with TI and HPP reduced aroma intensity and perceived quality. These results suggest that HPP-derived yeast derivatives could be especially suitable for short contact applications, representing a promising non-thermal strategy for tailoring functional YDs to specific wine matrices.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122164

Authors: Zongzhuang Fang Xiaoyan Zheng Zhenduan Wang Kai Guo Xingsheng Yue Shanying Zhang

This study investigated the influences of geographical origin, harvest season, and plucking position on the chemical composition and flavor characteristics of Hainan Dayezhong black tea. Systematic analysis of basic components, volatile profiles and metabolomes of tea samples collected under different pre-harvest conditions revealed significant variations in polyphenols, flavonoids and catechins, as well as distinct differences in volatile composition. Key aroma-active compounds identified were nerolidol, linalool, benzaldehyde, benzeneacetaldehyde and methyl salicylate, which were determined to be decisive for the characteristic aroma profile of Dayezhong black tea. Untargeted metabolomics further demonstrated that these factors do not merely alter individual metabolite levels, but also reprogram energy metabolism, carbon–nitrogen allocation, and secondary metabolic pathways, resulting in distinct metabolic signatures among samples. From a systematic chemical perspective, this study elucidates the metabolic basis of Hainan Dayezhong black tea quality formation and establishes a scientific foundation for targeted quality optimization through regulation of key components.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122163

Authors: Shangwu Chen Kaizhang Wu Wenqing Yu Xiaoning Zhai Zecheng Zhang Yang Zheng Jie Gao

Baijiu distillers’ grains (BDG), a major fermented cereal by-product of baijiu production, represent an underutilized source of structurally modified dietary fiber with potential value for functional food development. Here, we found that BDG-derived dietary fiber (BDG-DF), mainly composed of mannose (34.83 ± 0.38%) and xylose (35.14 ± 0.25%), promoted short-chain fatty acid production during in vitro fermentation, and its fermentation supernatants reduced IL-1β and TNF-α levels and modestly decreased IL-6 production in a Caco-2/HepG2 co-culture model. In T2D mice, BDG-DF improved glucose tolerance, with high-dose BDG-DF reducing the OGTT area under the curve by 12.4% compared with the T2D group, and alleviated hepatic steatosis. These effects were accompanied by enrichment of Akkermansia and Bifidobacterium and remodeling of bile acid profiles. High-dose BDG-DF was also associated with elevated CA and CDCA levels, altered TGR5/GLP-1 signaling, increased hepatic FXR expression, and reduced CYP7A1 expression. Integrated hepatic proteomics and metabolomics further indicated that BDG-DF was associated with changes in unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis and PPAR-γ-related metabolic signaling. Overall, these findings suggest that BDG-DF may improve glucose–lipid homeostasis in association with gut microbiota and bile acid remodeling and hepatic PPAR-γ-related metabolic signaling.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122162

Authors: Nursel Söylemez Milli

Spoilage in vacuum-packaged chicken breast is driven by coupled microbial succession and physicochemical changes that cannot be adequately described by a single indicator. In this study, MALDI-TOF MS-based species-level identification of culturable isolates was integrated with microbiological counts (total viable count, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and molds, and Enterobacteriaceae), physicochemical parameters (pH, water activity, CIE L∗a∗b∗, and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N)), and sensory evaluation of odor, appearance/color, surface texture/slime and overall acceptability (trained panel, n=8) during 15 days of storage at 4 °C. Associations among variables were assessed using Spearman correlation analysis. MALDI-TOF MS identified 625 isolates belonging to 67 species across 19 families. The microbial community shifted from an initially diverse flora toward late-stage dominance by Latilactobacillus sakei, L. curvatus, Hafnia alvei, Serratia spp., Carnobacterium maltaromaticum and Brochothrix thermosphacta, while Candida zeylanoides persisted throughout storage. TVC exceeded 7 log CFU/g, and TVB-N increased from 10.65 to 23.20 mg N/100 g (p<0.05). TVB-N showed strong positive correlations with all microbial groups (rs≥0.90, p<0.01) and with seven microbial families at the family level. Hafniaceae dominance coincided with a transient mid-storage decrease in pH, consistent with the deaminative activity of H. alvei. bin∗ showed significant associations with four microbial families and with both microbial counts and TVB-N, supporting its value as a practical spoilage indicator. Sensory evaluation identified Day 13 as the rejection point, corresponding to TVC of 6.79 log CFU/g and TVB-N of 20.80 mg N/100 g, with simultaneous deterioration of odor and appearance, in contrast to the sequential pattern typically reported under aerobic conditions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to integrate time-resolved MALDI-TOF MS-based family-level profiling with physicochemical and sensory monitoring in vacuum-packaged chicken breast stored at 4 °C, offering a condition-specific framework for shelf-life assessment.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122161

Authors: Arianna Ricci Cristian Galaz Torres Giuseppina Paola Parpinello Antonio Pizzi Andrea Versari

Acidification and the application of exogenous tannins are well-established oenological practices designed to ensure wine stability and quality, playing a pivotal role to address the grape compositional imbalances associated with climate change. This study investigates precision enology techniques using a 2023 Sangiovese di Romagna, analyzing the interaction between pH modulation (3.2, 3.6, 3.8) and the addition of commercial grape seed tannins with varying medium degrees of polymerization (TanA: 3.1 mdp vs. TanB: 10.8 mdp). Following alcoholic fermentation, a full factorial design was implemented, including control batches (pH adjustment only). After a 40-day mild thermal treatment (T = 25 ± 1 °C) to simulate aging, results indicate that the high-mdp tannin (TanB) dominated color evolution regardless of pH, whereas the low-mdp tannin (TanA) effect was pH-dependent. Notably, a pH of 3.8 resulted in colloidal instability across all samples. The findings highlight the importance of customized protocols to mitigate climate-related challenges in winemaking.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122160

Authors: Mihai Cătălin Ciobotaru Bianca-Georgiana Anchidin Diana-Remina Manoliu Marius Mihai Ciobanu Paul-Corneliu Boișteanu

Improving tenderness in whole-muscle pork products remains a technological challenge, particularly when natural processing strategies are preferred over conventional additives, as texture is regarded as one of the most important quality attributes influencing consumer perception and acceptance of meat products. This study investigated whether two plant proteases, papain and bromelain, incorporated into a red algae-based brine containing Palmaria palmata could enhance the quality of injected pork loin without compromising microbiological safety or sensory acceptance. Seven batches were produced: a control sample and six enzyme-treated samples containing papain or bromelain at 0.015%, 0.030%, and 0.045%. Overall, the enzymatic treatments had a limited effect on proximate composition. However, a modest decrease in fat content was observed, from 3.09% in the control sample to 2.70–2.82% in the samples treated with the highest concentrations of papain and bromelain (0.045%). In contrast, instrumental color and texture were strongly affected. Enzyme-treated samples became lighter, less red, and less saturated, with redness decreasing from 13.07 in the control to 5.19–6.66 in the highest-dose treatments and total color differences reaching 8.66. The most relevant effect was observed in texture, where papain and bromelain markedly reduced shear force, shear work, hardness, gumminess, and chewiness; shear force decreased from 26.22 N/cm2 in the control to 10.78 N/cm2 and 9.38 N/cm2 in the batches treated with the highest enzyme concentrations. During refrigerated storage, total viable counts increased gradually but remained low, with a maximum of 4.56 × 102 CFU/g, while Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes were not detected. Sensory analysis further showed that enzymatic treatment improved perceived tenderness and juiciness without reducing overall acceptability. These findings indicate that papain and bromelain can be used as natural tenderizing tools in injected pork loin, offering a promising route toward cleaner-label meat products with improved texture and preserved microbiological quality.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122159

Authors: Maiara Piva Geovana Martelossi-Cebinelli Soraia Mendes-Pierotti Willian H. Chinen Pedro H. F. Cardines Renata M. Martinez Sandra R. Georgetti Marcela M. Baracat Fabiana T. M. C. Vicentini Waldiceu A. Verri Rubia Casagrande

The immune response is essential in the protection of our body against pathogens; however, the inflammatory response caused by the immune system can become a disease itself. In fact, anti-inflammatory and immune-suppressive drugs are applied to limit the immune response to treat inflammatory diseases. Flavonoids are plant-derived polyphenols extensively investigated for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties in inflammatory diseases. Studies applying isolated compounds as well as using supplements as nutraceuticals based on flavonoids have been conducted. Our review systematically analyzed the top five studied flavonoids between 2020 and 2025: quercetin (1742 articles), kaempferol (642), luteolin (589), apigenin (419), and epicatechin (354), highlighting their major therapeutic applications in diseases affecting the liver (12%), nervous system (11%), and lungs (10%). Mechanistically, these compounds act as multi-target agents mainly by inhibiting NF-κB and inducing Nrf2-dependent antioxidant programs. Application of advanced delivery systems, which increase oral bioavailability by up to 20-fold, overcomes pharmacokinetic bottlenecks. Clinical highlights demonstrated promising therapeutic effects, including reduced intrahepatic lipid accumulation in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients following quercetin supplementation (11.5% to 9.6%) and accelerated SARS-CoV-2 clearance after quercetin phytosome administration. The translation of flavonoids into standardized clinical therapies remains limited by the lack of large-scale, well-controlled clinical trials.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122158

Authors: Gus Chang-Hung Han Shuo-Wen Tsai

Vitis vinifera L. × Vitis labrusca L. cv. Black Queen (BQ) is a hybrid cultivar with oenological potential in subtropical climates, yet its sensory structure remains insufficiently systematized. This study aimed to construct an integrated sensory framework by merging two Balanced Complete Block Design (BCBD) datasets into a unified database and developing a structured descriptor reduction workflow to address multicollinearity and redundancy. The resulting “BQ Lexicon v.0” comprised nine Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) attributes and twelve check-all-that-apply (CATA) descriptors. Based on this optimized dataset, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was developed to predict overall liking (OL), achieving a satisfactory performance (R2(train) = 0.70 and R2(validation) = 0.74). Three-dimensional response surface visualization further illustrated non-linear relationships as a process monitor, indicating sourness as a primary negative driver of acceptance and revealing interactive and synergistic effects between tannin, sweetness, and aroma. These findings demonstrate that integrating structured data management with machine learning can enhance sensory modeling efficiency. Ultimately, the validated BQ Lexicon v.0 and the aligned data framework establish a reliable foundation for future oenological research in Black Queen grape. This structured approach effectively resolves the challenges of integrating distributed sensory datasets, while offering practical insights for targeted winemaking strategies.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122157

Authors: Jing Xiong Yufang Xu Shiyu He Xiya Hong Bingying Zhang Xinli Ouyang Qiyuan Zhang Fu Wan

The quality of fresh blueberries is determined by physicochemical properties and sugar–acid composition, which exhibit significant variations across different cultivars and ripening stages. This study investigated two rabbiteye blueberry cultivars (‘Brightwell’, ‘Homebell’) and three highbush blueberry cultivars (‘Bluegold’, ‘Emerald’, ‘Legacy’), measuring basic physicochemical indices, soluble sugar and organic acid profiles at six ripening stages. HPLC analysis revealed that soluble sugars in blueberries are primarily composed of fructose and glucose. The organic acids in highbush blueberries are dominated by malic and citric acids, while rabbiteye blueberries contain higher levels of quinic acid in addition to malic and citric acids. Correlation analysis demonstrated that glucose and fructose contents were significantly positively correlated (p ≤ 0.01) with average fruit weight, soluble pectin to total pectin ratio (SP/TP), and total soluble solids to titratable acidity ratio (TSS/TA), but showed a highly significant negative correlation with malic acid. In contrast, malic acid exhibited a significant positive correlation (p ≤ 0.05) with firmness and moisture content. Cluster analysis divided the measured parameters into two groups: Class 1 includes average fruit weight, SP/TP, TSS/TA, and soluble sugars. Class 2 comprises fruit shape index, firmness, moisture content, and organic acids. Quality variation patterns among blueberry cultivars clustered according to cultivated type (rabbiteye and highbush), with differences within the same type being smaller than those between the two types. Rabbiteye blueberries exhibited a higher TSS/TA and a sweeter taste, whereas highbush varieties displayed softer texture, higher moisture content, and a balanced sweet–sour juiciness. This study clarified the dynamics of sugar and acid metabolism during blueberry ripening, providing a theoretical basis for quality evaluation, harvest timing, and breeding.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122156

Authors: Slim Smaoui

Agro-industrial wastes are abundant, low-cost feedstocks used for the sustainable production of prebiotic oligosaccharides via enzymatic methods. This review summarizes recent advances, with particular emphasis on studies published after 2020, in the enzymatic valorization of these by-products, highlighting pretreatment strategies, enzyme classifications, and reaction conditions for converting complex substrates into functional prebiotic ingredients. In parallel, pioneering studies are recognized as foundational work, as they offer key mechanistic insights and continue to play a key role in supporting the interpretation of recent advances in the field. The functionality of the resulting prebiotic oligosaccharides, assessed through various in vitro models, is discussed, with emphasis on their impact on the technological performance of different food matrices. Evidence from in vitro and human studies further illustrates the biological activity and added value of waste-derived prebiotic oligosaccharides. While enzymatic technologies demonstrate high efficiency and selectivity, the full potential of many agro-industrial wastes for bioconversion remains underexplored. Optimizing enzymatic processes and systematically assessing functionality are essential in order to fully harness these resources, supporting the development of innovative, value-added food products within a circular bioeconomy. This review provides an integrated platform linking prebiotic oligosaccharide production, functionality, and food applications, promoting the valorization of agro-industrial waste into high-value prebiotic ingredients.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122154

Authors: Jiayi Lin Shengang Yao Lanlan Li Wanrong Li Fangxue Hang Kai Li Caifeng Xie

Octacosanol (OCT) is a natural bioactive compound with multiple physiological activities. However, its poor aqueous solubility limits its application in functional beverages, and existing delivery systems suffer from low loading and excessive emulsifier use. This study aimed to develop a food-grade OCT-loaded microemulsion (OCT-ME) with high loading capacity. The formulation was optimized via pseudo-ternary phase diagram analysis combined with particle size and polydispersity index (PDI) measurements, and the characterization and biocompatibility of the optimized OCT-ME were systematically evaluated. The optimal formulation (w/w) consisted of 2.4% corn oil, 16.2% mixed emulsifiers (Tween 80/Span 80, HLB = 13), 5.4% 1,2-propanediol (Km = 3:1), and 75.0% deionized water, achieving a high OCT loading capacity of 1.0% (w/w). The resulting OCT-ME displayed a uniform particle size of 10.37 nm with a low PDI and exhibited excellent stability, favorable gastric OCT protection, and superior biocompatibility (cell viability > 90% at 5–25 μg/mL). This work addresses the key limitations of existing OCT delivery systems, providing theoretical support for the efficient solubilization and delivery of OCT in functional beverages.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122155

Authors: Sreehitha Pilli Jeyan Arthur Moses Senthilkumar Thiruppathi Sinija Vadakkepulppara Ramachandran Nair Loganathan Manickam

Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are generated in millions of tonnes annually due to rising global coffee consumption, posing significant challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions, waste-disposal problems, and the loss of valuable compounds like caffeine, dietary fibre, phenolics, antioxidants, proteins, and lipids, offering prospects for potential valorization. Its composition is influenced by several factors. This review focuses on recent advancements in the valorization of SCG across sectors such as food, nutraceuticals, bioenergy, and packaging. The emphasis is on pretreatment, extraction, and bioconversion methods, as well as current research gaps, limitations, and future directions. SCG valorization is oriented toward integrated, multi-product biorefinery systems based on green extraction and bioconversion technologies to recover high-value compounds in both the food and non-food sectors. Nonetheless, industrial scalability is limited by composition variability, energy-intensive processing, techno-economic constraints, and safety and regulatory issues that remain unresolved. The shortcomings, such as inadequate standardized characterization, toxicological validation, and pilot-scale studies, are critical gaps. Scalable, energy-efficient processes, AI-assisted optimization, and regulatory alignment development should be a priority in future research, so that sustainable and commercial deployment is possible.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122152

Authors: Xin Chen Yunzhe Guo Xiaotong Dong Yujin Cao Min Xie Yibin Li Li Wu

Sparassis crispa sensu lato (S. crispa) is a highly valued medicinal and culinary fungus rich in nutritional and bioactive compounds. Polysaccharides, particularly β-glucans, are its most extensively studied constituents, accounting for up to 43.6% of its dry weight—the highest concentration reported among edible fungi. Alongside proteins, terpenoids, phenolics, and ergosterol, these biomolecules confer diverse physiological benefits, including immunomodulatory, antitumor, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects, as well as the capacity to modulate gut microbiota. Consequently, S. crispa exhibits substantial market potential and is increasingly incorporated into functional foods, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. This review systematically summarizes the primary bioactive components of S. crispa sensu lato and their associated health benefits, with emphasis on recent advances in immunomodulatory, antitumor, and antioxidant activities. Furthermore, it critically compares the retention of active ingredients, product quality, and bioavailability of key processing technologies. These technologies include various drying methods, grinding techniques, extraction methods, and formulation systems. Despite significant research progress, challenges persist regarding optimal cultivation conditions and standardized industrial processing. Future perspectives highlight the necessity for intelligent cultivation strategies, the adoption of advanced processing technologies, and robust policy support to drive the sustainable development and commercial exploitation of the S. crispa industry.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122153

Authors: Cristina Campanero Pintado Kharla Andreina Segovia Bravo Antonio Benítez Cabello Francisco Noé Arroyo-López Efrén Pérez-Santín

Table olive processing comprises multiple stages in which physical, chemical, and biological hazards may occur. Although risk assessment is a core element of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems, the selection of assessment tools remains insufficiently standardized. This study compared a 4 × 4 risk matrix and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) for hazard evaluation in Spanish-style and Californian-style table olive processing. Hazards were assessed across 41 processing stages for Spanish-style olives and selected key stages for Californian-style olives using probability × severity in the 4 × 4 matrix and severity × occurrence × detection in FMEA. Significant hazards were further evaluated using the Codex Alimentarius decision tree to identify critical control points (CCPs) and strengthened prerequisite programs (PRPs). Both tools identified similar significant hazards, including biological hazards associated with fermentation, brine management, storage, container sealing, and heat treatment, as well as physical hazards from foreign bodies and chemical hazards related to heavy metals, pesticide residues, mycotoxins, and food-contact material migration. FMEA provided greater analytical detail through the detection parameter, whereas the 4 × 4 matrix was simpler and more practical for complex flow diagrams. Overall, both tools were suitable for HACCP-based risk assessment in table olive processing.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122151

Authors: Giuseppina Crescente Michela Famiglietti Francesco Siano Giovanni Cascone Gabriella Fasulo Carmela Spagnuolo Maria Grazia Volpe Gian Luigi Russo Stefania Moccia

Cereal lipids influence both the nutritional value and technological properties of flours; however, their composition remains poorly characterised, particularly in ancient wheat cultivars. This study investigated the lipid fraction of flours from three ancient wheat cultivars: Risciola and Carosella (soft wheat) and Saragolla (durum wheat). Fatty acid and phytosterol profiles were analysed by GC-FID, while ATR-FTIR spectroscopy provided complementary spectral information. Antiradical activity was assessed by DPPH and ABTS assays. In all samples, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) predominated (60.23–64.04% of total identified fatty acids), with linoleic acid as the major component. Risciola showed the highest PUFA percentage and the most favourable PUFA/SFA ratio (SFA, saturated fatty acids). β-Sitosterol was the predominant phytosterol in all cultivars, while Saragolla showed a higher percentage of phytostanols (campestanol and sitostanol). Exploratory multivariate analysis provided a visual overview of compositional patterns among cultivars, consistent with differences in lipid profiles within the analysed sample set. ATR–FTIR analysis supported the chromatographic findings, while antiradical assays indicated differences in radical-scavenging capacity. Overall, the combined chromatographic, spectroscopic, and antiradical approach highlights the lipid fraction as an informative descriptor of nutritional quality, cultivar-related compositional diversity, and potential functional relevance, supporting the targeted use of ancient wheat flours in cereal-based applications.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122150

Authors: Serena Wellbelove John Gieng Valerie Carr Kate McLeod Xi Feng

Regular consumption of excess sugar is linked to nutrition-based diseases, including gut problems, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Increasing sweetness perception is a novel technique to decrease sugar consumption. This experiment compared the sweetness perception of sweetened and unsweetened almond milk in response to different virtual environments with music and visuals. Two music types, the classical song Goldberg Variations, BMV. 998-Variation 13 and a jazz song generated by AI were used. Additionally, fall and spring forest backgrounds were generated by the Blockade Labs 3D image generator. Each participant tasted sweetened and unsweetened almond milk in music-only, background-only, and combination music and background environments. Results revealed significant differences in sweetness ratings for music type (p = 0.015) and between milk types (p < 0.001). Viscosity rating differed significantly between backgrounds (p = 0.04) and by milk type (p < 0.001). Liking ratings varied significantly between backgrounds (p < 0.001) and between music genres (p = 0.011). The results suggest that altering music and background may be a strategy to change sweetness and viscosity perception in unsweetened beverages.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122149

Authors: Hongbo Zhao Zhijia Wang Linrui Deng Huijuan Yang Luoyi Zheng Guangyao Jian Jiyuan Cai Yuanhao Zhang Zhiyong Cao

In complex mountainous environments, the asynchronous development between external color turning and internal sugar accumulation (often termed “false maturity”) in coffee cherries poses a severe challenge to post-harvest quality sorting and the consistency of final coffee products. To overcome the limitations of single-phenotype detection in raw material screening, this study proposed a multimodal quality discrimination framework integrating fruit hyperspectral imaging, micro-topography, and plant physiological characteristics. Taking typical mountain-grown fresh coffee cherries as the research object, and after comparing various spectral preprocessing and feature dimensionality reduction algorithms, the multimodal fusion efficacy of nine machine learning classifiers was systematically evaluated. The results demonstrated that: (1) Full-spectrum difference analysis quantitatively confirmed the limitations of visual harvesting; spectral reflectance differences between high- and low-sugar fruits were highly concentrated in the red and red-edge regions, with the maximum difference precisely located at 676 nm. (2) Compared to the single-spectrum model (mean accuracy of 75.93%), the fully fused Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) network effectively mitigated background noise induced by heterogeneous environments, improving the mean classification accuracy to 77.22% with a mean Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.827. (3) Correlation analysis clarified the quantitative association between topography and quality; micro-topographic slope (r = 0.346) was identified as the key environmental driver of spatial differentiation in fruit sugar content, while plant chlorophyll A content (r = 0.183) exhibited a corresponding physiological response trend. This study not only explains the root cause of visual assessment failure from a physical optics perspective but also reveals the spatial variation laws of quality driven by micro-topography, providing preliminary data support for the intelligent sorting of raw materials and ensuring post-harvest quality consistency of mountainous crops.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122148

Authors: Mia Radović Tomislava Grgić Martina Banić Katarina Butorac Andreja Leboš Pavunc Jagoda Šušković Jasna Novak Blaženka Kos

Probiotic lactic acid bacteria are widely recognized for their health-promoting effects. However, the use of live microorganisms may pose safety concerns and stability limitations. Consequently, postbiotics, defined as inactivated microbial cells and/or their components, have emerged as a promising alternative. This study integrates genome-guided evaluation of probiotic potential, experimental validation of in silico predictions and process optimization for the production of inactivated Lactiplantibacillus plantarum DM1 and KK1 cells as postbiotics. Genome mining identified genes and gene clusters associated with metabolic versatility, antimicrobial activity, gastrointestinal stress tolerance, adhesion and prebiotic substrate utilization. Building on these findings, to generate postbiotics, the efficiency of thermal, enzymatic, mechanical and radiation-based inactivation methods was evaluated in bacterial suspensions prepared in three dairy by-product matrices: milk permeate, sweet whey and sour whey. Complete inactivation of both strain cells was achieved by thermal treatment (3 min pasteurization), γ-irradiation (3 kGy), and combined lysozyme–pasteurization treatment, whereas other treatments showed partial and matrix-dependent effects. Matrix composition significantly influenced treatment efficacy, suggesting a protective role of food components used. These findings highlight the importance of combining genome mining for potential probiotic strain characterization with robust, matrix-adapted inactivation strategies for the development of stable postbiotic formulations.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122147

Authors: Liyao Zhou Wenying Tong Jie Chen Shun Yang Donglu Fang Ning Ma Wenjian Yang Qiuhui Hu Fei Pei

Agaricus bisporus (A. bisporus) is susceptible to rapid postharvest deterioration. Although elevated CO2 (6%) delays senescence, the metabolic mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, untargeted and targeted metabolomic analyses were employed to explore these pathways in A. bisporus. The results revealed that elevated CO2 treatment promoted glycolysis by upregulating Hexokinase (HK), Phosphofructokinase (PFK), and Pyruvate Kinase (PK), accumulating Glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P) and Fructose-6-phosphate (F-6-P). Concurrently, elevated CO2 treatment upregulated the expression of genes associated with the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and increased the enzymatic activities of Malate Dehydrogenase (MDH) and Fumarate hydratase (FUM). These changes led to the rapid consumption of key intermediate metabolites (Fumarate (Fum), Malate (Mal), and α-Ketoglutarate (α-KG)), collectively enhancing the efficiency of the TCA cycle. Furthermore, elevated CO2 treatment significantly suppressed the activities of Glutamine Synthetase (GS) and Xanthine Oxidase (XOD), inhibiting the synthesis of Glutamine (Gln) and Pyroglutamate (pGlu) while promoting the accumulation of Hypoxanthine (Hx). This coordinated reprogramming of amino acid metabolism and purine metabolism contributed to improved energy efficiency and enhanced cellular integrity in postharvest A. bisporus. This study elucidates the specific mechanism by which elevated CO2 levels regulate the postharvest energy metabolism of A. bisporus from a metabolomics perspective, providing a theoretical basis for developing strategies to control its postharvest quality.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122146

Authors: Jie Tian Nan Wang Chen Song Fanhua Kong Chengrong Wen Zedong Jiang Shuang Song

Rice starch (RS) is widely consumed, but is usually rapidly digested, which may increase postprandial blood glucose levels. Therefore, regulating RS digestibility is important for development functional starch-based foods. In this study, sodium alginate (NaAlg) was incorporated into RS gels and subsequently crosslinked with Ca2+ to form a calcium alginate (CaAlg) network, and its effects on the physicochemical properties, digestion behavior, and physiological responses of RS gels were evaluated. Rheological measurement showed that the Ca2+-crosslinked alginate network increased the viscosity and viscoelastic moduli of RS gels. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance analysis showed that the Ca2+-crosslinked alginate network reduced free water mobility. Structural characterization using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and cold-field scanning electron microscopy shows that the Ca2+-crosslinked alginate network was associated with enhanced intermolecular interactions and a more continuous gel network, while all gelatinized samples exhibited predominantly amorphous structures. In vitro digestion experiments showed that the hydrolysis degree at 120 min decreased from 92.3% in RS to 85.6% in HCaAlg/RS. The rapidly digestible starch content significantly decreased from 72.4% to 68.4% (p < 0.05), while resistant starch significantly increased from 7.7% to 14.4% (p < 0.05). First-order kinetic fitting showed that C∞ significantly decreased from 93.0% to 86.0%, and k significantly decreased from 0.027 to 0.013 min−1 (p < 0.05). In vivo experiments showed that the Ca2+-crosslinked alginate/RS gels were associated with a lower postprandial glycemic response, with the incremental area under the curve significantly decreased from 747.2 to 591.7 mmol·min/L (p < 0.05), and the intestinal propulsion rate decreased from 89.6% to 75.3% (p < 0.05). These results suggest that Ca2+-crosslinked alginate network formation may modulate the structural properties, digestion behavior, and digestion-related physiological responses of RS gels, providing a basis for the development of starch-based functional foods with improved glycemic control.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122145

Authors: Tomáš Taubner Michaela Englmaierová Marie Bjelková Věra Skřivanová Klára Bejčková Tomáš Vít Kateřina Růnová

Hemp and linseed are nutritionally valuable commodities that exhibit considerable varietal differences in composition. Nutrient composition was evaluated in 12 hemp and 11 linseed varieties, including commercially cultivated varieties from the EU Common Catalogue and newly bred lines, to assess varietal variability. Field experiments were conducted under uniform agronomic conditions in the Czech Republic during a single growing season using field-block samples. Analyses included proximate composition (dry matter, crude protein, fat, fiber, ash), fatty acid and amino acid profiles, carotenoids, vitamins, and cannabinoid content. Statistical evaluation was performed using a General Linear Model with Duncan’s multiple range test (p < 0.05). Significant differences were observed across most parameters, indicating substantial inter-varietal variability under the experimental conditions. Fat content ranged from approximately 200 to 377 g/kg in both oilseeds, with lipids dominated by polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly linoleic (n-6) and α-linolenic (n-3) acids. Hemp and linseed show potential as alternative plant protein sources in animal nutrition, but further digestibility and feeding studies are needed to confirm their suitability as partial soybean meal substitutes. Varietal selection may contribute to improved nutritional quality while influencing levels of undesirable constituents such as Δ9-THC in hemp.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122144

Authors: Yue Wang Xiang Li Yu Zhou Zilin Wang Yuanli Wang Fengyating Wu Yang Tian Liang Tao

This study aimed to systematically compare the functional properties of the four major components (albumin, globulin, prolamin, and glutelin) of protein from Yunnan deep-veined walnuts to screen for protein-based carrier materials with good processing adaptability and the ability to efficiently encapsulate the active ingredient rutin. In addition, the binding and molecular interactions between the preferred protein and rutin were analyzed. The results indicated that albumin exhibited superior performance compared to the other three components in solubility, emulsifying properties, foaming properties, and gel properties, and demonstrated the strongest processing applicability. Further analysis revealed that albumin possessed an excellent amino acid composition (essential amino acid content accounting for 42.30%) and antioxidant activity (with the highest ABTS scavenging rate reaching 85.71 ± 0.26%), which indicated its considerable potential as a functional carrier. Loading rutin onto albumin yielded a walnut albumin–rutin complex (WA@Rut), which significantly enhanced the thermal stability of albumin (with the thermal denaturation temperature elevated to 108.72 °C) and the storage stability of rutin (66.16 ± 5.05% retention after 22 days of storage). Combined analyses of FT-IR spectroscopy, intrinsic fluorescence spectroscopy, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations confirmed that rutin primarily bound to albumin via hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, and formed a stable complex structure. SEM images revealed that the composite surface was smooth and exhibited a flake-like morphology. In conclusion, walnut albumin is a protein resource with significant functional potential in Yunnan deep-veined walnuts, and it exhibits strong processing applicability and enables efficient encapsulation and protection of active ingredients. This study provides novel strategies and theoretical foundations for the high-value utilization of walnut protein.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122143

Authors: Martina Pšenková Róbert Toman Ivona Jančo

The study aimed to evaluate the nutritional contribution of essential elements (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Zn) and assess health risks associated with potentially toxic elements (Cd, Pb, As, Al, and Sr) in three types of cheese from retail chains and produced by two different producers. One hundred forty-four cheese samples were collected in 12 months. All samples were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The average concentrations of Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Zn, Al and Sr in cheese samples were 4183.87–6227.98 mg/kg, 1.00–1.63 mg/kg, 695.90–884.39 mg/kg, 175.00–255.70 mg/kg, 21.49–27.56 mg/kg, 2.65–5.73 mg/kg and 1.91–5.82, respectively, depending on cheese type and producers. Concentrations of As, Cd and Pb in all analyzed samples were below the limit of detection (LOD). From a nutritional perspective, the analyzed cheeses represented important dietary sources of calcium and zinc, with substantial contributions to recommended daily intakes, particularly under the higher consumption scenario (100 g/day). Magnesium also contributed meaningfully to dietary intake, especially in children, whereas the contributions of iron and potassium remained relatively low in all evaluated consumption scenarios. Health risk assessment was expressed as the percentage of the tolerable daily intake (%TDI) or provisional tolerable weekly intake (%PTWI). Under the higher consumption scenario (100 g/day), children represented the most highly exposed population group, with %PTWI values for aluminum ranging from 0.25 to 9.10% and %TDI values for strontium ranging from 6.92 to 20.00%, depending on cheese type and producer. Overall, the analyzed cheeses showed high nutritional value and low toxicological risk; however, continuous monitoring of potentially toxic elements remains important to ensure food safety.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122141

Authors: Luciana B. Malbos Paula Garcia-Oliveira Irene T. Seoane Jesus Simal-Gandara Liliana B. Manfredi Viviana P. Cyras Lucía Cassani

Brewer’s spent grain (BSG), the main by-product of the brewing industry, is an abundant lignocellulosic residue that remains underused. In this study, antioxidant-rich extracts were obtained from BSG using pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and subsequently incorporated into thermoplastic starch (TPS) films for sustainable food packaging applications. The phenolic profile analysis revealed 13 compounds, with caffeic acid and its hexoside as the most abundant. Extraction conditions were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) to maximize yield and total phenolic content, showing that temperature had a significant positive effect. The selected extract had a total phenolic content of 3.19 mg/g dw and exhibited notable antioxidant activity. It was then incorporated into the polymer matrix, and the resulting films were analyzed for their structural, thermal, and antioxidant properties. The incorporation of BSG extracts improved the film antioxidant activity. Additionally, the release of phenolic compounds was evaluated and successfully described using a diffusion model based on Fick’s law, which allowed the calculation of a diffusion coefficient D = 2.63 × 10−8 cm2/s. Overall, the findings indicate that BSG-based extracts may represent promising functional additives for biodegradable polymer films, and the developed TPS films serve as proof-of-concept active packaging materials from renewable agro-industrial residues.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122142

Authors: Marcos Eduardo Valdés-Alarcón Andrea Cristina Aulestia-Vizcaíno Alexander Sánchez-Rodríguez Rodobaldo Martínez-Vivar Gelmar García-Vidal Reyner Pérez-Campdesuñer

This study examines how auditory contexts, or soundscapes, shape chocolate taste perception, affective response, hedonic liking, and the extent to which emotion mediates these effects. Using a within-subjects design with 120 participants aged 18–25 years, four auditory conditions were compared: silence, natural soundscape, relatively low-pitched soundscape, and relatively high-pitched soundscape. Participants evaluated perceived bitterness, sweetness, acidity, emotional valence, arousal, and overall liking after tasting the same 65% dark chocolate under each auditory condition. The results showed that auditory context significantly modulated taste perception, affective response, and liking. The natural soundscape produced the most favorable profile, increasing liking and emotional valence while reducing arousal. In contrast, the relatively high-pitched condition increased arousal and enhanced perceived acidity (Δ ≈ 6.77 VAS points). Effect sizes indicated stronger effects on arousal (partial η2 ≈ 0.46), liking (partial η2 ≈ 0.29), acidity (partial η2 ≈ 0.28), and valence (partial η2 ≈ 0.26) than on sweetness perception (partial η2 ≈ 0.05). Mediation analysis showed that emotional valence partially explained the relationship between the natural soundscape and liking, whereas arousal did not play a significant mediating role. These findings suggest that auditory environments influence chocolate evaluation through both affective and crossmodal pathways. Overall, the study provides controlled evidence that sound can function as a relevant contextual variable in multisensory chocolate-tasting experiences, with implications for sensory evaluation, gastronomy, and experience design.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122140

Authors: Sungwan Tuisri Trisadee Khamlor Sa-nguansak Thanapornpoonpong Sukhuntha Osiriphun Karn Chitsuthipakorn Vacharapan Trivilatratana Thanadol Yurak Watcharapong Naraballobh

Microbial inactivation is essential for extending the shelf life of raw milk. Radio frequency (RF) thermal pasteurization has emerged as a promising technology for small-scale dairy processing. This study aimed to determine optimal RF temperature–time conditions, evaluate their effects on milk quality across milk from different species of cows, and assess economic feasibility. Raw milk from Holstein Friesian, Jersey, and Brown Swiss cows was treated using a dielectric heating system (40.68 MHz) at 72–92 °C for 20–100 s. The results were compared with conventional low-temperature long-time (LTLT) pasteurization of untreated milk. The optimal condition was 92 °C for 50 s, reducing the aerobic plate count from 5.80 to 0.69 log CFU/mL (a 5.11 log reduction), with no detection of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, and Escherichia coli. RF treatment did not significantly affect milk composition (p > 0.05), and color changes remained within acceptable limits. Milk stored at 4 °C maintained quality and safety for up to 28 days. Economic analysis indicated a net present value of USD 134,721.78, a benefit–cost ratio of 3.25, and a payback period of 6.8 months, confirming economic feasibility. These findings demonstrate that RF pasteurization can improve processing efficiency and support sustainable dairy production.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122138

Authors: Paul K. Agyei Yemane H. Gebremeskal Anastasia A. Mentova Tatyana F. Chernykh Tarek N. Soliman Hassan Barakat Khalid A. Alsaleem Tamer M. El-Messery Mohamed S. Boulkrane

This study examined Kefiran, an exopolysaccharide derived from milk kefir grains, as a novel biopolymer for encapsulating phenolic extracts from sunflower cake and its antimicrobial properties in the development of natural and functional food ingredients. Kefiran was obtained from kefir grains using three extraction protocols: hot water (M1), hot water with 30% trichloroacetic acid (M2), and mild heat combined with ultrasound at 60 °C (M3). The ultrasound-assisted method produced the highest carbohydrate concentration. Spectrophotometric assays (phenol–sulfuric and Bradford), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and water-holding capacity were employed to characterize the composition, structure, and morphology of the extracts, revealing well-preserved polysaccharide fingerprints and a highly porous microstructure, consistent with their potential application in food systems. Kefiran was then evaluated as an encapsulating agent in complex coacervation at pH 3.75, using three Kefiran-based wall formulations (M1, M2, and M3) with gum arabic and whey protein isolate (WPI) as co-wall materials, and their performance was compared with gum arabic and WPI controls. Across formulations, coacervate microcapsules achieved high encapsulation efficiencies (83–93%), tunable particle sizes, and predominantly negative zeta potentials, indicative of good colloidal stability. The Kefiran extract and coacervate microcapsules demonstrated significant antioxidant and antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans, with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 250 to 1000 µg/mL. The findings support ultrasound-extracted Kefiran as a multifunctional biopolymer suitable for bioactive delivery and as a natural antimicrobial component in advanced functional food formulations.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122139

Authors: Musa Gün Mustafa Savcı

The economic resilience of agricultural enterprises is increasingly relevant for maintaining processing continuity and food quality in highly perishable agro-food chains. This study examines the associations between financial knowledge, financial management competency, business liquidity, and operational food-processing continuity in Türkiye’s tea sector. A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed, using structured survey data from 203 senior managers across 86 public and private tea-processing firms in Rize Province. The data were analysed using Ordinary Least Squares regression, mediation analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and robustness checks in accordance with OECD/INFE guidelines. Results indicate a significant deficit in theoretical financial knowledge (mean score: 4.47/10) alongside widespread overconfidence among 85% of managers. Applied financial management competency is positively associated with perceived business liquidity (β = 0.336, p < 0.001), suggesting that practical budgeting, cash-flow planning, and financial decision-making capabilities are relevant to maintaining operational funding capacity. In contrast, cash-flow difficulties are not significantly explained by firm-level financial knowledge, managerial competency, liquidity, or ownership structure (R2 = 0.014, p = 0.722), indicating that these difficulties may reflect broader seasonal and sector-wide financing constraints. The findings challenge the assumption of a linear relationship between theoretical financial knowledge and managerial outcomes. They suggest a dual policy approach that combines applied financial management training with structural financing mechanisms to ensure the continuity of fresh leaf procurement and processing. While the study does not directly measure food safety, post-harvest losses, or SDG outcomes, the results have potential implications for reducing processing disruptions and supporting more resilient agro-food processing systems.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122136

Authors: Anna Gajda Bartosz Lewandowski Przemysław Rujna Joanna Katarzyna Banach Renata Pietrzak-Fiećko Ewaryst Tkacz

Honey maturity is increasingly discussed in relation to product integrity, fair trade, and the classification of immature honey production as a form of adulteration. This narrative critical review examines honey maturity using evidence from peer-reviewed microbiological, physicochemical, and metabolomic studies, combined with an analysis of international and European regulatory frameworks, including Codex Alimentarius CXS 12-1981, Council Directive 2001/110/EC, Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. Particular attention is given to the interpretation of osmophilic yeast counts, water activity (aw), moisture content, comb cell capping, fermentation, and technological dehumidification. The reviewed evidence indicates that osmophilic yeasts are natural components of honey and that their presence, expressed as colony-forming units per gram (CFU/g), should not be treated as an independent non-compliance criterion in the absence of active fermentation. Existing honey standards define compositional and quality requirements, including moisture, hydroxymethylfurfural, enzymatic activity, and absence of fermentation or effervescence, but do not establish a honey-specific CFU/g limit for yeasts. On this basis, the review formulates a functional maturity assessment framework integrating aw, moisture, enzymatic indicators, and metabolomic biomarkers. The proposed framework is presented as a conceptual model derived from the synthesis of the existing literature and requiring further multilaboratory validation prior to adoption in official control practice. This approach may improve proportionality in honey quality assessment and reduce the risk of misclassifying microbiologically stable honeys as immature or adulterated.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122137

Authors: Qi Zheng Wenhui Tian Ling Yue Qiulian Kong Haihong Wang Zhijun Chen Yi Zhang Chunfang Wang Songheng Wu Weiqiang Yan Shujun Wu

Japonica rice offers high cost-effectiveness and yield, with the potential to replace glutinous rice in Chinese sweet rice wine (CSRW) brewing. It can be classified into aromatic and non-aromatic types, but whether different varieties cause flavor and metabolite differences in CSRW remains unclear. In this study, glutinous rice (GR), three aromatic japonica varieties (CS-217, HXR-450, SXJ-1018), and two non-aromatic varieties (TA-1, HR-1212) were used as raw materials. The qualities of different CSRWs were evaluated through physicochemical indices, sensory evaluation, phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant capacities, HS-GC-IMS, and UPLC-MS/MS. The results showed that CS-217 displayed the highest total acid content, along with excellent overall sensory evaluation, total phenolic content, and antioxidant capacity. A total of 28 VOCs were identified by HS-GC-IMS, among which 13 compounds with VIP ≥ 1, including butyl isobutyrate, butyl acetate, and ethyl pentanoate, were identified as key flavor discriminant factors. Additionally, 2501 non-volatile metabolites were identified, and five key metabolic pathways were revealed. These pathways synergistically regulate CSRW flavor and nutritional quality. Different japonica rice varieties exhibited respective advantages in CSRW quality indicators, providing a basis for the diversification of raw materials in CSRW production.

Foods doi: 10.3390/foods15122135

Authors: Lu Wang Zhixiu Xiao Jiaxin Yang Chunyan Lu Xiaomeng Ren Shuang Song Jinchi Jiang Chunqing Ai

Salmonella primarily affects the gastrointestinal tract, causing local and systemic symptoms. Fucoidan exhibits therapeutic potential against Salmonella-induced pathology; however, the influence of its molecular weight on efficacy remains poorly understood. In this study, low-molecular-weight fucoidan from Undaria pinnatifida (LUPF) was prepared and characterized, and its protective effects against Salmonella infection were evaluated in a mouse model. LUPF effectively mitigated Salmonella-induced multiple organ damage by preserving mucin secretion and tight junction protein expression. Metabolomics analysis further demonstrated that LUPF normalized Salmonella-induced metabolic disturbances, thereby reducing systemic dysfunction. Mechanistically, LUPF suppressed inflammation by inhibiting mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathways, while alleviating oxidative stress through activation of the Nrf2 pathway. In addition, LUPF restored gut microbiota homeostasis by reducing Proteobacteria levels, improving the Bacteroidota/Firmicutes ratio, enriching beneficial taxa, and enhancing short-chain fatty acid production. In vitro experiments further revealed that LUPF attenuated Salmonella-induced inflammation by modulating macrophage polarization. Collectively, these results suggest that LUPF has promising potential as a prebiotic candidate for reducing the risk of Salmonella-associated diseases.