Determination of physical and interaction parameters of green pepper (Zanthoxylum armatum): Investigation of the mechanism of significant factors against the repose angle

Detection of green pepper impurities based on hyperspectral imaging technology

To date, the intelligent assessment of green pepper quality remains an open question, particularly in aspects of color, as impurities closely resemble green peppers. Here, the hyperspectral imaging technology was employed to acquire the original spectral and image information of green and impurities. Subsequently, the original information was processed, and then trained using the super vector machine (SVM), to construct the green pepper impurity detection model. After training, the constructed model achieved 100% accuracy in the training set and 89.7% accuracy in the testing set, which generally met the application requirements. Visualization images of the constructed model in the application of identification green pepper impurity were prepared and optimized, which significantly achieved relatively satisfactory outcomes. Findings of this case study revealed that the presented strategy would provide a theoretical basis for the intelligent processing of green pepper, especially accelerate the development of impurity detection technology.

Effect of steam explosion on the morphological, textural, and compositional characteristics of betel nut

To reduce the adverse physical effects on the oral mucosa caused by excessive hardness of betel nut fibers, steam explosion was used to soften betel nuts. The effect of three operating parameters (pressure holding time, explosion pressure, and initial moisture content) on the morphology, texture, and chemical composition of the betel nuts was investigated. The fiber hardness and Shore hardness decreased by 56.17%-89.28% and 7.03%-34.29%, respectively, and the transverse tensile strength and fiber tensile strength also decreased by up to 60.72% and 24.62%, respectively. Moreover, the coefficient of static friction and moisture content increased. After steam explosion, the betel nut increased in transverse diameter, became darker and more yellow-red in color, and showed a damaged microstructure. The contents of free phenol and alkaloids decreased after steam explosion treatment, with free phenols and total alkaloids decreasing from 34.32 mg(GAE)/g and 7.84 mg/g to 21.58 mg(GAE)/g and 6.50 mg/g, respectively, after the A-50 s treatment condition. The steam explosion increased the quantity of phenols, alkaloids, and soluble solids released from the betel nut under the same simulated release conditions of the texture analyzer. The research also showed that increased pressure holding time and explosion pressure enhanced the explosion efficiency, while the initial moisture content was reduced the explosion efficiency. Therefore, steam explosion is an effective pretreatment approach to soften betel nut and facilitate healthy development of the betel nut industry.