Overview on Innovative Packaging Methods Aimed to Increase the Shelf-Life of Cook-Chill Foods

Innovative Biobased and Sustainable Polymer Packaging Solutions for Extending Bread Shelf Life: A Review

Sustainable packaging has been steadily gaining prominence within the food industry, with biobased materials emerging as a promising substitute for conventional petroleum-derived plastics. This review is dedicated to the examination of innovative biobased materials in the context of bread packaging. It aims to furnish a comprehensive survey of recent discoveries, fundamental properties, and potential applications. Commencing with an examination of the challenges posed by various bread types and the imperative of extending shelf life, the review underscores the beneficial role of biopolymers as internal coatings or external layers in preserving product freshness while upholding structural integrity. Furthermore, the introduction of biocomposites, resulting from the amalgamation of biopolymers with active biomolecules, fortifies barrier properties, thus shielding bread from moisture, oxygen, and external influences. The review also addresses the associated challenges and opportunities in utilizing biobased materials for bread packaging, accentuating the ongoing requirement for research and innovation to create advanced materials that ensure product integrity while diminishing the environmental footprint.

Metabolic Syndrome: A Narrative Review from the Oxidative Stress to the Management of Related Diseases

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a growing disorder affecting thousands of people worldwide, especially in industrialised countries, increasing mortality. Oxidative stress, hyperglycaemia, insulin resistance, inflammation, dysbiosis, abdominal obesity, atherogenic dyslipidaemia and hypertension are important factors linked to MS clusters of different pathologies, such as diabesity, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders. All biochemical changes observed in MS, such as dysregulation in the glucose and lipid metabolism, immune response, endothelial cell function and intestinal microbiota, promote pathological bridges between metabolic syndrome, diabesity and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. This review aims to summarise metabolic syndrome's involvement in diabesity and highlight the link between MS and cardiovascular and neurological diseases. A better understanding of MS could promote a novel strategic approach to reduce MS comorbidities.

Effect of Green Food Processing Technology on the Enzyme Activity in Spelt Flour

In this research, a new approach to enzyme inactivation in flour was presented by supercritical technology, considered a sustainable technology with lower energy consumption compared to other technologies that use ultra-high temperature processing. Total protein concentration and the activity of enzymes α-amylase, lipase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, and protease were determined in flour pre-treated with scCO₂. During the study, it was observed that the activity of enzymes such as lipase and polyphenol oxidase, was significantly reduced under certain conditions of scCO₂ treatment, while the enzymes α-amylase and protease show better stability. In particular, polyphenol oxidase was effectively inactivated below the 60% of preserved activity at 200 bar and 3 h, whereas α-amylase under the same conditions retained its activity. Additionally, the moisture content of the scCO₂-treated spelt flour was reduced by 5%, and the fat content was reduced by 58%, while the quality of scCO₂-treated flour was maintained. In this regard, the sustainable scCO₂ process could be a valuable tool for controlling the enzymatic activity of spelt flour since the use of scCO₂ technology has a positive effect on the quality of flour, which was verified by the baking performance of spelt flour with the baked spelt bread as an indicator of quality.

Special Issue “Innovations in the Food System: Exploring the Future of Food”

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2018 provided a definition of “food systems” highlighting that they “encompass the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption, and disposal of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry or fisheries, and food industries, and the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded” [...]

Improving the Oxidation Stability and Shelf-Life of Peanut Oil by Addition of Rosemary Extract Combined with Vitamin C and Ascorbyl Palmitate

Rosemary extracts are natural antioxidants, which can be considered an alternative for synthetic antioxidants in the food industry. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the oxidation stability and shelf-life of rosemary extracts combined with vitamin C (VC) and ascorbyl palmitate (AP) in peanut oil stored at 65°C. Peanut oil with tertbutyl hydroquinone (TBHQ) and without additives served as positive and negative controls, respectively. The peroxide value (POV), thiobarbituric acid reactant (TBARs), conjugated diene (CD), and conjugated triene (CT) values of the peanut oil samples were evaluated during accelerated storage every 48 h. Among them, 0.23 g/kg rosemary extracts combined with 0.13 g/kg VC and 0.07 mg/kg AP exhibited the best oxidative stability. Additionally, the oxidation kinetics model predicated that the rosemary extracts combined with VC and AP could effectively prolong the shelf-life of peanut oil. In accelerated storage, the rosemary extracts combined with VC and AP not only inhibited peanut oil oxidation like chemical antioxidants, but also were safer than chemical antioxidants. Therefore, the rosemary extracts combined with VC and AP were an effective alternative to chemical antioxidants, which could improve the oxidation stability and shelf-life of peanut oil.