Decontamination of Powdery Foods Using an Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) Device for Practical Application

Ultraviolet and pulsed light treatment of spices and herbs and their products: Microbial safety, enzyme inactivation, bioactive retention, and shelf-life extension

Spices and herbs are a crucial component of the global food industry, valued for their unique flavors, aromas, and bioactive properties. However, microbial contamination and quality degradation during production, storage, and distribution pose significant challenges. Ultraviolet (UV) and pulsed light (PL) processing have emerged as nonthermal technologies offering effective, eco-friendly solutions for microbial decontamination and quality retention in spices. This review explores recent advancements and applications of UV and PL treatments in the spice industry, highlighting their impact on pathogenic and spoilage microbial safety, physicochemical properties, and bioactive compound retention. UV processing, primarily involving UV-C radiation, inactivates microorganisms by disrupting DNA, offering effective surface decontamination without compromising quality of spices and herbs. PL, which utilizes high-intensity, broad-spectrum light pulses, extends this capability to irregularly shaped surfaces, further enhancing microbial inactivation. Both methods preserve key quality attributes such as phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, ascorbic acids, and color while mitigating sensory losses, making them attractive alternatives to conventional thermal and chemical treatments. The review also examines critical factors influencing the efficacy of these technologies, including processing parameters, spice morphology, and microbial load. Despite promising results, challenges related to regulatory approval, equipment design, and consumer acceptance remain. This comprehensive analysis underscores the potential of UV and PL technologies to revolutionize spices and herbs processing, ensuring safety and quality while aligning with sustainable and consumer-driven demands in the food industry.

Unconventional Edible Plants of the Amazon: Bioactive Compounds, Health Benefits, Challenges, and Future Trends

The pursuit of an improved quality of life is a major trend in the food market. This is driving the reformulation of the industry's product portfolio, with the aim of providing nourishment while also contributing to beneficial health metabolic processes. In this context, the use of local biodiversity and the recovery of the traditional knowledge associated with the consumption of vegetables that grow spontaneously in nature emerge as more sustainable and nutritionally adequate concepts. The Amazon region is known for its abundant biodiversity, housing numerous unconventional food plants whose nutritional and biological properties remain unknown due to a lack of research. Among the different species are Xanthosoma sagittifolium, Acmella oleracea, Talinum triangulare, Pereskia bleo, Bidens bipinnata, and Costus spiralis. These species contain bioactive compounds such as apigenin, syringic acid, spilanthol, and lutein, which provide various health benefits. There are few reports on the biological effects, nutritional composition, bioactive compounds, and market prospects for these species. Therefore, this review provides an overview of their nutritional contribution, bioactive compounds, health benefits, and current market, as well as the use of new technologies that can contribute to the development of functional products/ingredients derived from them.

The impact of movement path of sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum L.) during treatment with intense pulsed light (IPL) using a continuous pilot-scale device on the reduction of indigenous microorganisms

The objective of this study was to enhance the microbial inactivation efficacy of sesame seeds through the utilization of a pilot-scale IPL device, while also identifying the process variables that influence the microbial inactivation effect. Three different types of IPL processes were employed, each with a distinct arrangement, to treat sesame seeds. The total fluences applied ranged from 1.33 to 53.94 J/cm2. Total aerobic bacteria and fungi exhibited a maximum reduction of 2.27 and 2.77 log, respectively. The curved pathway of the sample flow effectively extended the duration of exposure to the IPL emitted by the lamps. The arrangement of the IPL process using two lamps in parallel but at different locations proved the most efficient for microbial inactivation. The application of IPL was found to be effective in reducing the presence of indigenous microbes in sesame seeds while having no significant impact on the physicochemical properties of the seeds.

Postharvest Treatment of Chinese Kale (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra) by Pulse Light to Removal of Microbial Load, Pesticide Residue and Integrity of Physicochemical Quality and Phytochemical Constituent

Existence of microorganisms, pesticide residue on fresh vegetables has a potential hazard to human health. The demand for safe green Chinese kale (Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra) has increased recently. Chinese kale is a healthy botanical attached to the Brassicaceae class. It contains numerous nutritional and phytochemical constituents beneficial for human health. Besides health benefits, this green vegetable also poses food safety concerns due to pathogen and pesticide residue during cultivation. Non-thermal physical technology like pulsed light (PL) will be a promising alternative to eradicate microbial and pesticide residue while preserving the best physicochemical properties and phytochemical components. This research evaluated the influence of different pulsed light intensities (1.2-10.8 J/cm2) on the removal of microbial load and pesticide residue as well as weight attrition, texture hardness, dry matter, vitamin C, total phenolic content in the treated Chinese kale. Results showed that pulsed light intensity 8.4 J/cm2 was appropriate to completely eliminate pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella; pesticide substances such as carbendazim, abamectin, cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos ethyl, mancozeb. At pulsed light intensity 8.4 J/cm2, weight attrition in the treated sample was lower than weight attrition in the untreated; meanwhile textural hardness, dry matter, ascorbic acid and total phenolic content remained higher in the treated sample compared to the untreated. The results reveals that the pulsed light technique should be applied as a promising decontamination approach for removal of the pathogen as well as pesticide residue with minor impact on physicochemical properties and phytochemical constituents.