Search Results (74)

Proteomics combined with peptidomics approaches were used to analyze the protein degradation and the release pattern of umami peptides in stewed chicken. The results showed that a total of 422 proteins were identified, of which 273 proteins consistently existed in samples stewed for 0–5 h. Myosin heavy chain exhibited the highest abundance (26.29–30.26%) throughout the stewing process. The proportion of proteins under 20 kDa increased progressively with the duration of stewing and reached 61% at 4–5 h of stewing. A total of 8018 peptides were detected in the soup samples, and 2323 umami peptides were identified using the prediction platforms iUmami-SCM, UMPred-FRL, Umami_YYDS, and TastePertides-DM. Umami peptides derived from titin (accession number A0A8V0ZZ81) were determined to be the most abundant, accounting for 24% of the total umami peptides, and Val534 and Lys33639 were the key N-terminal and C-terminal amino acids of these umami peptides. Abundance analysis showed that the umami peptides KK16 and SK18 ranked among the top 5 in the samples stewed for 0–5 h, and they were most abundant in the 3 h stewed samples. The results obtained will provide data support for promoting the industrialization of high-quality chicken soup products. Full article

This study aimed to improve the visual appeal of texture-modified (TM) dishes for individuals with dysphagia by developing a method to unify the texture of solid and liquid components through innovative food processing techniques. It investigated various meat-softening methods while preserving its solid appearance and ensuring a uniform texture when combined with a thickened soup. A grinding and reconstitution approach enabled the incorporation of pea protein (0% and 1%), olive oil (0%, 5%, or 10%), and papain (0% and 0.2%) to enhance the nutritional and sensory properties. This method successfully matched the firmness of TM meat with that of the thickened soup. Papain significantly reduced the firmness, and olive oil decreased the cohesiveness. After categorizing the TM meat and thickened soup as IDDSI level 4, four dishes at three firmness levels were developed. This study highlighted the potential of this approach to integrate solid and liquid food matrices, contributing to the advancement of TM food engineering and to the challenge of improving visual sensory acceptance and personalizing TM diets for individuals with dysphagia. Full article

Background/Objectives: The consumption of microwave ready meals has increased significantly in recent years due to a noticeable reduction in the available time to spend cooking. However, one of the issues about this type of diet is its nutrient intake. The main objective of this study was to determine the content of macroelements (Na, K, Ca, and Mg) in samples of animal origin (omelette, chicken curry, meatballs, shredded meat, and prawns), vegetable origin (vegetable garnish, round rice, pesto pasta, cream of vegetable soup, and chickpeas with spinach), and mixed origin (pizza, lasagna, seafood paella, cannelloni, and spaghetti Bolognese). Methods: The macroelement content was determined by ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma—Optical Emission Spectrometry) in 288 samples of different microwave foods. Results: Likewise, the possible difference in the content of macroelements after the microwave heating process was studied, and significant differences in the Ca content were observed in the three analyzed food groups, indicating that there may have been migration from the container to the food. The concentrations of Na and Ca in the tails of garlic prawns (9381 ± 3102 mg Na/kg fw and 845 ± 134 mg Ca/kg fw) stood out. The vegetable side dish stood out for its higher concentration of K (3424 ± 1319 mg/kg fw). Pizza registered the highest concentrations of the four macrolements within the group of foods of mixed origin. The study of the dietary intake indicated that the consumption of some animal-based products offered a contribution to the safe and adequate intake of Na of almost 50%, which could pose a risk of dietary overdose as Na is an element found in many foods. Conclusions: It is recommended to moderate the consumption of some of the dishes analyzed mainly because of the risk of the high intake of Na. Full article

Background: Most studies on polyphenols and antioxidant activity focus on raw ingredients, often overlooking the impact of technological processes—a gap that is particularly notable given that many population studies rely on theoretical calculations from nutritional databases. Therefore, it is essential to verify whether these theoretical values align with experimental findings on model dishes and to determine the extent to which processing affects polyphenol content and antioxidant activity in processed foods. Methods: As model dishes, this study analyzed soups prepared through thermal processing, along with commercially available ready-to-eat and instant soups. Total polyphenol content was measured using the Singleton–Rossi method, while antioxidant activity was assessed using the FRAP (ferric-reducing antioxidant potential) method and an electrochemical method. Theoretical calculations were performed based on original recipes from Polish nutritional value tables, as well as data from available polyphenol and antioxidant activity databases for raw ingredients. Results: The total polyphenol content varied significantly between experimental measurements and theoretical calculations, with deviations ranging from −42% to +1370%. FRAP antioxidant activity also differed, ranging from −62% to +524%, depending on the type of soup. The polyphenol content in homemade soups ranged from 3.692 to 16.534 mg GAE/100 mL, in ready-to-eat soups from 4.387 to 18.431 mg GAE/100 mL, and in instant soups from 1.624 to 7.254 mg GAE/100 mL, with tomato soups consistently having the highest polyphenol content across all categories. FRAP values ranged from 0.021 to 0.189 mmol/100 g in homemade soups, 0.029 to 0.269 mmol/100 g in ready-to-eat soups, and 0.033 to 0.134 mmol/100 g in instant soups, with tomato soups again showing the highest FRAP values. Antioxidant activity measured electrochemically ranged from 44.410 to 52.467 mC/g in homemade soups, 22.750 to 58.900 mC/g in ready-to-eat soups, and 22.515 to 47.680 mC/g in instant soups, with broccoli soups showing the highest values. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that theoretical models alone are insufficient for accurately determining polyphenol content and antioxidant activity in food, reinforcing the importance of experimental validation in processed food. Full article

This study enhanced the odor retention of instant black tea powder by utilizing ultrasonic-assisted extraction and β-cyclodextrin embedding technology. Through single-factor tests considering variables such as the tea-to-water ratio, extraction temperature, ultrasonic extraction duration, and β-cyclodextrin addition, the optimal extraction conditions were determined. The ideal parameters were identified as follows: β-cyclodextrin was added at a rate of 7.5%, the tea-to-water ratio was 1:16, the ultrasonic extraction temperature was 52 °C, and the extraction duration was 30 min, and then the extract was processed by freeze-drying to obtain instant tea powder. Electronic nose trials revealed that the primary volatile odor compounds distinguishing the 14 groups of instant black tea soups were sulfides, terpenes, nitrogen oxides, alkanes, and aromatic compounds. HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis identified 65 effective volatile compounds, among which 11 key odor compounds, including Benzyl alcohol, Phytol, phenylethyl alcohol, 1,6,10-Dodecatrien-3-ol,3,7,11-trimethyl-,(E)-, Benzeneacetaldehyde, Undecanoic acid, ethyl ester, Dodecanoic acid, ethyl ester, Tetradecane, 2,4-Di-tert-butylphenol, 2-Pentadecanone, 6,10,14-trimethyl-, and indole, were the main contributors to the odor profile of instant black tea. The instant black tea powder produced under these conditions exhibited high quality, providing a valuable reference for further research on the production process of instant black tea powder. Full article

Many scholars have studied Tricholoma matsutake soup, but there are relatively few studies exploring the aroma changes during its cooking process using different detection methods. The aroma of T. matsutake soup was analyzed and compared using electronic nose (E-nose) analysis, headspace gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS), and headspace-solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). A significant effect of cooking time on the overall aroma profile of T. matsutake soup was identified through E-nose analysis. By HS-GC-IMS and HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis, 51 volatile aroma compounds were detected, with alcohols and aldehydes identified as the main aroma substances. Based on the relative odor activity value (ROAV) and multivariate statistical analysis, 1-octen-3-ol, 1-octanol, methyl cinnamate, and 2-pentyl furan were determined to be the key aroma compounds in the cooking process. We observed that shorter cooking time preserved the mushroom aroma of T. matsutake soup most effectively. These findings can be utilized for the industrial production of T. matsutake soup and for optimization of its key aroma components. Full article

Dried shrimp is a popular dietary ingredient that is often included in appetizer soups, stir-fry dishes, or other stews to improve the umami taste. The effects of adding dried shrimp on the sensory characteristics and taste components of sheep bone soup were investigated through sensory evaluation and untargeted approaches. The results of the single-factor and orthogonal experiments showed that the flavor qualities of sheep bone soup were optimal under the following conditions: 30% dried shrimp added, a 1:4.5 material–water ratio, and 2.7 h of stewing time. Sensory analysis showed a significant increase in the aroma, umami, kokumi, and texture intensity of the optimized sheep bone soup with dried shrimp. The untargeted approach combined with multivariate statistical analysis showed that compounds with a sweet taste (Lys and Ser), a umami taste and umami enhancement (Ala-Leu, Glu-Pro, Glu-Glu, Asp-Phe, pyroglutamic acid, and cinnamic acid), a bitter taste (Gly-Leu, Leu-Leu, Ile-Lys, and taurine), a kokumi taste (γ-Glu-Met, γ-Glu-Leu, γ-Glu-Ile, N-acetylmethionine, and N-acetylphenylalanine), a sour taste (malic acid), and a popcorn-like aroma (2-acetylthiazole) contributed significantly to the flavor enhancement of sheep bone soup. In addition, the contribution of Ac-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro could not be ignored. These results contribute to a better understanding and improvement of the flavor qualities of sheep bone soup. Full article

To investigate the formation of flavor compounds in sheep bone soup, E-nose, gas chromatograph (GC), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to determine the changes in lipid oxidation, Maillard reaction, and volatile flavor compounds during the slow cooking process of 4 h. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) value began to increase significantly (p < 0.05) after 2 h of cooking, reaching its peak in the third hour before significantly decreasing. The intensity of the Maillard reaction significantly increased after 2 h of cooking and subsequently stabilized. Thirty-nine flavor compounds were identified, primarily comprising aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, esters, aromatic compounds, and heterocyclic compounds. The formation of volatile flavor compounds in sheep bone soup was associated with lipid oxidation, particularly the oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids, and the Maillard reaction. Lipid oxidation produced a large number of volatile flavor compounds, such as aldehydes and ketones. The Maillard reaction gave sheep bone soup a certain flavor. Aldehydes were mostly influenced by cooking time, becoming the main flavor compounds in the bone soup after 2.5 h of cooking, accounting for more than half of the total volatile flavor compounds. The highest content and richest profile of volatile flavor compounds were obtained in the soup cooked for 2.5 h and 3 h. This study provides a theoretical basis for the flavor regulation of sheep bone soup. Full article

Accurate prediction of the temperature and pressure fields in carbon dioxide (CO₂) injection wells is critical for enhancing oil recovery efficiency and ensuring safe carbon sequestration. At present, the prediction model generally assumes that CO₂ is pure and does not consider the influence of impurities in CO₂ components. This study takes into account the common impurities, such as air and various alkanes in CO₂, and uses Refprop 9.0 software to calculate the physical parameters of the mixture. A comprehensive coupling model was developed to account for axial heat conduction, convective heat transfer, frictional heat generation, the soup coke effect, pressure work, and gas composition. The model was solved iteratively using numerical methods. We validated the accuracy of the calculated results by comparing our model with the Ramey model using measured injection well data. Compared with the measured bottom hole temperature and pressure data, the error percentage of our model to predict the bottom hole temperature and pressure is less than 1%, while the error percentage of Ramey model to predict the bottom hole temperature and pressure is 5.15% and 1.33%, respectively. Our model has higher bottom hole temperature and pressure prediction accuracy than the Ramey model. In addition, we use the model to simulate the influence of different injection parameters on wellbore temperature and pressure and consider the influence of different gas components. Each injection parameter uses three components. Based on the temperature and pressure data calculated by the model simulation, the phase state of CO₂ was analyzed. The results show that the impurities in CO₂ have a great influence on the predicted wellbore pressure, critical temperature, and critical pressure. In the process of CO₂ injection, increasing the injection pressure can significantly increase the bottom hole pressure, and changing the injection rate can adjust the bottom hole temperature. The research provides valuable insights for CO₂ sequestration and enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Full article

In this study, we focused on information regarding the food preparation process and aimed to investigate the influence of the presence of a person cooking on food evaluation. For the same-food-photo (rice ball or miso soup), participants had to complete a nine-item questionnaire related to their food evaluation using a seven-point Likert scale, divided into cases where only the name of the food was written and where it was written as being machine-made or handmade. We also administered the same questionnaire divided into cases with text-only recipes, with photos of cooking utensils and ingredients, or with photos of the cook. The groups labeled with only the food names and the handmade label had significantly higher scores than those labeled as being machine-made regarding healthiness, time and effort, and whether the food was ‘made with love.’ The text-only versions significantly improved the appearance of the miso soup compared to photos with the cook. This study revealed that information regarding food being handmade had a more positive impact than that which was machine-made, but this was comparable to text-only photos. Because the handmade label can be influenced by context, future research should investigate in more detail the circumstances in which the handmade label influences it. Full article

Self-play methods have achieved remarkable success in two-player zero-sum games, attaining superhuman performance in many complex game domains. Parallelizing learners is a feasible approach to handle complex games. However, parallelizing learners often leads to the suboptimal exploitation of computational resources, resulting in inefficiencies. This paper introduces the Mixed Hierarchical Oracle (MHO), which is designed to enhance training efficiency and performance in complex two-player zero-sum games. MHO efficiently leverages interaction data among parallelized solvers during the Parallelized Oracle (PO) process, while employing Model Soups (MS) to consolidate fragmented computational resources and Hierarchical Exploration (HE) to balance exploration and exploitation. These carefully designed enhancements for parallelized systems significantly improve the training performance of self-play. Additionally, MiniStar is introduced as an open source environment focused on small-scale combat scenarios, developed to facilitate research in self-play algorithms. The MHO is evaluated on both the AlphaStar888 matrix game and MiniStar environment, and ablation studies further demonstrates its effectiveness in improving the agent’s decision-making capabilities. This work highlight the potential of the MHO to optimize compute resource utilization and improve performance in self-play methods. Full article

The treatment of wastewater from the food processing industry, such as canned soup production, presents challenges due to its high organic load and limited nutrient concentrations. This study evaluated the efficiency of a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) in the removal of organic matter, color, turbidity, and nutrients under different solid retention times (SRTs) and operational cycle times (OCTs). The reactor operated with SRTs of 15 and 25 days and an 8-h cycle, and parameters such as COD, BOD5, color, turbidity, nitrogen content, and phosphorus content, as well as COD fractionation were analyzed to assess biodegradability. The results showed high removal rates of organic matter, with 84.8% COD and >90% BOD5, revealing that 54.3% of the COD was readily biodegradable. Significant reductions in color (72.3%) and turbidity (83.3%) were achieved, improving the quality of the treated effluent. Nitrogen removal occurred primarily through assimilation due to the absence of anoxic conditions, while phosphorus was also removed via biomass assimilation. The addition of macronutrients did not significantly influence treatment efficiency, reducing the need for additional inputs and operational costs. This study demonstrates the flexibility and effectiveness of the SBR in treating wastewater with a high organic load and low nutrient concentrations, highlighting its ability to produce a high-quality effluent suitable for discharge or reuse. The novelty of this work lies in combining COD fractionation analysis, nutrient removal mechanisms, and water quality parameters, providing key insights for optimizing biological processes in industrial contexts. Full article

This study aims to reveal the evolution mechanism of odour and taste active compounds in cooked marinated pork knuckles via typical process steps; among them, the brine soup stage was the most important part due to spices’ enriching flavours. These results revealed that the content and diversity of volatile compounds increased due to the addition of spices and heating temperature, imparting a unique aroma. Aldehydes played the main role in the overall odour. Benzaldehyde, hexanal, 1-octen-3-ol, levulinic acid, hydroxyacetone, ethyl octanoate, and 2-pentyl-furan were identified as the most important odour-active compounds. The key taste-active amino acids were glutamine, leucine, valine, and lysine. The IMP, AMP, and GMP provided a strong umami taste. Taste nucleotides and Val, Leu, Ile, and Phe were important precursor substances for aldehydes. The high responses of the electronic nose indicated that the gas component contained alkanes, alcohols, and aldehydes. The synergistic effects between umami-free amino acids and nucleotides correlated well with umami, as assessed by the electronic tongue. These results could be a starting point for the manufacturing industry, contributing to a better understanding of product performance. Full article

Tarhana is a popular Turkish fermented food, made of a mixture of cereal and yoghurt, generally consumed as soup. Both lactic acid bacteria and yeasts are responsible for the fermentation. The selection and proportions of ingredients integrated along with the production process specify the nutritional value and sensory properties of the final product. Therefore, the first objective of the present study was to process a dried “chicken meat powder (CMP)” that could be used in food formulations. The second objective was to determine the impact of CMP addition on the nutritional and sensorial properties of Uşak tarhana recipe with geographical indication. In order to fulfill these challenges dried chicken meat powder (CMP) at levels of 20, 25, 30, and 35% were included in tarhana recipes for the very first time. Within the scope of the study, organoleptic properties of tarhana soups (control and CMP added) were determined, and the formulation with 30% CMP (TCMP₃₀) achieved the highest sensory evaluation scores. This sample was analyzed further, and its physicochemical properties were compared to a control sample strictly following the traditional Uşak tarhana recipe. In the tarhana samples, the moisture, protein, and total fat content increased with higher CMP additions, while the ash, crude cellulose, carbohydrates, energy, salt, and dietary fiber decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The calcium and sodium contents decreased, however, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc contents increased. The fatty acid composition analysis revealed that Uşak tarhana contained more saturated fatty acids than either CMP or TCMP₃₀; adding 30% CMP reduced the total saturated fatty acids while increasing the monounsaturated fatty acids. The main fatty acids in traditional samples were linoleic, palmitic, and oleic acids, comprising 83.82% of the total fat. In TCMP₃₀, the order changed to oleic > linoleic > palmitic with 83.89% of total fat. Over time, the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity decreased in the control sample but increased in TCMP₃₀. These results suggest that a formulation including 30% CMP effectively enhances the sensory, functional, and nutritional aspects in tarhana. Full article

This work investigated the underlying mechanism of thermo-ultrasonic treatment to improve the nutritional properties and emulsion stability of sea bass fish head broth. The effects of ultrasonication on the processing of fish broth were compared with boiling water treatment. The nutritional properties of fish broth mainly include protein, fat, total sugar, 5′-nucleotide and free amino acid content. To achieve a similar effect of nutrient extraction, the thermo-ultrasonic treatment required a shorter time (30 min) than boiling water (120 min). The water-soluble protein, fat and total sugar contents were at their maximum at 120 min of the thermo-ultrasonic treatment. In particular, the fat content increased with the time of thermo-ultrasonic treatment from 0.58% to 2.70%. The emulsion structure of the fish soup was characterized by measuring its color and particle size, using optical microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy, and determining its storage stability. Thermo-ultrasonic treatment reduced the particle size of the fish broth emulsion and the fat globules became smaller and more homogeneous. Ultrasonication not only accelerated the nutritional and flavor content of the fish head broth, but also reduced the particle size and enhanced the stability of the emulsified system of the fish broth. The fish head tissue was more severely disrupted by the cavitation effect of an ultrasound, and nutrients migrated more and faster. This was mainly due to the cavitation and mechanical breaking force of the ultrasound on the fish head tissue and the fat globules of the fish broth. Altogether, these findings suggest that the thermo-ultrasonic treatment technique is useful for processing nutrient-rich, storage-stable and ready-to-eat fish head broth. Full article