Effect of spray-drying temperature on physicochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of pectin/sodium alginate microencapsulated carvacrol

Essential Oils and Their Application in Food Safety

Food industries are facing a great challenge due to contamination of food products with different microbes such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, etc. These microbes deteriorate food items by producing different toxins during pre- and postharvest processing. Mycotoxins are one of the most potent and well-studied toxic food contaminants of fungal origin, causing a severe health hazard to humans. The application of synthetic chemicals as food preservatives poses a real scourge in the present scenario due to their bio-incompatibility, non-biodegradability, and environmental non-sustainability. Therefore, plant-based antimicrobials, including essential oils, have developed cumulative interest as a potential alternative to synthetic preservatives because of their ecofriendly nature and generally recognized as safe status. However, the practical utilization of essential oils as an efficient antimicrobial in the food industry is challenging due to their volatile nature, less solubility, and high instability. The recent application of different delivery strategies viz. nanoencapsulation, active packaging, and polymer-based coating effectively addressed these challenges and improved the bioefficacy and controlled release of essential oils. This article provides an overview of essential oils for the preservation of stored foods against bacteria, fungi, and mycotoxins, along with the specialized mechanism of action and technological advancement by using different delivery systems for their effective application in food and agricultural industries smart green preservative.

Changes in the essential oil content and composition of Salvia limbata C.A. Mey at different growth stages and altitudes

Salvia limbata is of great importance to the pharmaceutical industry owing to its various biological effects. Therefore, it is important to investigate the main factors that affect its essential oil composition. Although some investigations have been performed with regard to the phytochemistry of S. limbata, this study investigates, for the first time, the effect of growth stage and altitude on the content and chemical composition of essential oil extracted from S. limbata. For this purpose, the essential oil was extracted from 45 air-dried samples by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS and GC-flame methods. The highest content of essential oil was obtained from aerial parts in the vegetative stage at an altitude of 1500 m (0.86% v/w). Our findings show that the vegetative stage at 1500 m is the optimal harvest time to extract the highest content of oil while the highest content of monoterpenes (including α-pinene and β-pinene) could be obtained in the same phenological stage at 2000 m. By contrast, the content of sesquiterpenes increased to the highest values in the ripening stage at 1500 and 2500 m. The results of this study help to find the optimal conditions to obtain the highest content of S. limbata essential oil, but additional studies are warranted.

Plant oils: From chemical composition to encapsulated form use

The last decade has witnessed a burgeoning global movement towards essential and vegetable oils in the food, agriculture, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and textile industries thanks to their natural and safe status, broad acceptance by consumers, and versatile functional properties. However, efforts to develop new therapy or functional agents based on plant oils have met with challenges of limited stability and/or reduced efficacy. As a result, there has been increased research interest in the encapsulation of plant oils, whereby the nanocarriers serve as barrier between plant oils and the environment and control oil release leading to improved efficacy, reduced toxicity and enhanced patient compliance and convenience. In this review, special concern has been addressed to the encapsulation of essential and vegetable oils in three types of nanocarriers: polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes and solid lipid nanoparticles. First, the chemical composition of essential and vegetable oils was handled. Moreover, we gather together the research findings reported by the literature regarding the different techniques used to generate these nanocarriers with their significant findings. Finally, differences and similarities between these nanocarriers are discussed, along with current and future applications that are warranted by their structures and properties.

Effect of inlet temperature on the physicochemical properties of spray-dried seed-watermelon seed protein powder

Here, we studied the effects of inlet temperature on the physicochemical properties of the hydrolyzed protein (seed-watermelon seed hydrolyzed protein [SWSP]) powder in seed-watermelon seeds. The inlet temperature of the study was in the range of 150 to 180 °C, and the remaining experimental parameters remained constant, that is, the feed flow rate was 0.2 L/hr, the concentration of maltodextrin was 30%, and the outlet temperature was 80 °C. We studied the water activity and moisture content, bulk density, flowability (Carr index and Hausner ratio), angle of repose, solubility, color, hygroscopicity, powder morphology, particle size, crystallinity, and odor of the sample. Inlet temperature of 170 to 180 °C reduced the moisture content and increased the particle size. It was found that the value of measured water activity was less than 0.5, which helped in maintaining stability of the sample. Powders produced at the temperatures showed smoother particle surfaces, whereas higher inlet temperature showed spherical particles with some shrinkage as analyzed by scanning electron microscope. The inlet temperature affected the color of the sample, thus at high temperature, the sample had a brighter color. The sample was approximately 18% crystalline. At a preparation temperature of 160 °C, the sample showed significant antioxidant activity (P < 0.05).

Microencapsulation of Tangeretin in a Citrus Pectin Mixture Matrix

The objectives of this research were to microencapsulate tangeretin, and to evaluate the basic characteristics of the microcapsule products. Tangeretin is a polymethoxyflavone (PMF) which has been revealed to possess various health benefits and is abundant in tangerine and other citrus peels. Microencapsulation technology is widely employed in the food and pharmaceutical industries to exploit functional ingredients, cells, and enzymes. Spray drying is a frequently applied microencapsulation method because of its low cost and technical requirements. In this research, tangeretin dissolved at different concentrations in bergamot oil was microencapsulated in a citrus pectin/sodium alginate matrix. The resulting microcapsule powder showed promising physical and structural properties. The retention efficiency of tangeretin was greater at a concentration of 2.0% (98.92%) than at 0.2% (71.05%), probably due to the higher temperature of the emulsion during the homogenizing and spray-drying processes. Encapsulation efficiency was reduced with increased concentration of tangeretin. Our results indicate that tangeretin could be successfully encapsulated within a citrus pectin/sodium alginate matrix using bergamot oil as a carrier.

Recent Trends in the Use of Pectin from Agro-Waste Residues as a Natural-Based Biopolymer for Food Packaging Applications

Regardless of the considerable progress in properties and versatility of synthetic polymers, their low biodegradability and lack of environmentally-friendly character remains a critical issue. Pectin is a natural-based polysaccharide contained in the cell walls of many plants allowing their growth and cell extension. This biopolymer can be extracted from plants and isolated as a bioplastic material with different applications, including food packaging. This review aims to present the latest research results regarding pectin, including the structure, different types, natural sources and potential use in several sectors, particularly in food packaging materials. Many researchers are currently working on a multitude of food and beverage industry applications related to pectin as well as combinations with other biopolymers to improve some key properties, such as antioxidant/antimicrobial performance and flexibility to obtain films. All these advances are covered in this review.