Food Research International 

Abstract: Spray-drying process has been used for decades to encapsulate food ingredients such as flavors, lipids, and carotenoids. During this drying process, the evaporation of solvent, that is most often water, is rapid and the entrapment of the interest compound occurs quasi-instantaneously. This required property imposes a strict screening of the encapsulating materials to be used in addition to an optimization of the operating conditions. Likewise, if the encapsulated compound is of hydrophobic nature, the stability of the feed emulsion before drying should also be considered. Thus, spray-drying microencapsulation process must rather be considered as an art than a science because of the many factors to optimize and the complexity of the heat and mass transfer phenomena that take place during the microcapsule formation. This paper reports the main process engineering information that are considered useful to the success of a microencapsulation operation by spray-drying. Besides, a summary of the most commonly used wall materials and the main encapsulated food compounds are presented.

Abstract: Biogenic amines are natural antinutrition factors and are important from a hygienic point of view as they have been implicated as the causative agents in a number of food poisoning episodes, and they are able to initiate various pharmacological reactions. Histamine, putrescine, cadaverine, tyramine, tryptamine, β-phenylethylamine, spermine, and spermidine are considered to be the most important biogenic amines occurring in foods. These amines are designated as biogenic because they are formed by the action of living organisms. Histamine has been implicated as the causative agent in several outbreaks of food poisoning, while tyramine and β-phenylethylamine have been proposed as the initiators of hypertensive crisis. The toxicity of biogenic amines to chicks in terms of loss of weight and mortality was also reported. The toxicity of histamine appeared to be enhanced by the presence of other amines such as cadaverine, putrescine, and tyramine. Biogenic amines may also be considered as carcinogens because of their ability to react with nitrites to form potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines. The biogenic amine content of various foods and feed have been widely studied and found in cheese, fish and meat products, eggs and mushrooms. Food substances that have been prepared by a fermentative process, or have been exposed to microbial contamination during aging or storage, are likely to contain amines. Alcoholic beverages such as beers can contain biogenic amines, as do some other fermented foods such as sauerkraut and soy bean products. Amines were also considered as endogenous to plant substance that is commonly used for food, where some fruits and vegetables were found to contain high concentrations of various amines.

Abstract: Most materials currently used for food packaging are non-degradable, generating environmental problems. Several biopolymers have been exploited to develop materials for eco-friendly food packaging. However, the use of biopolymers has been limited because of their usually poor mechanical and barrier properties, which may be improved by adding reinforcing compounds (fillers), forming composites. Most reinforced materials present poor matrix–filler interactions, which tend to improve with decreasing filler dimensions. The use of fillers with at least one nanoscale dimension (nanoparticles) produces nanocomposites. Nanoparticles have proportionally larger surface area than their microscale counterparts, which favors the filler–matrix interactions and the performance of the resulting material. Besides nanoreinforcements, nanoparticles can have other functions when added to a polymer, such as antimicrobial activity, enzyme immobilization, biosensing, etc. The main kinds of nanoparticles which have been studied for use in food packaging systems are overviewed, as well as their effects and applications.

Abstract: Mackerel (Scomber austriasicus) hydrolysates were prepared by an autolytic process and accelerated hydrolysis with a commercial enzyme, Protease N. Changes in the levels and compositions of free amino acids and small peptides during hydrolysis were investigated to find out their relationships with antioxidant activities. Increased levels of free amino acids, anserine, carnosine and other peptides of the hydrolysates obtained with protease were much higher than those by autolysis. Different antioxidant measurements including the inhibition of linoleic acid autoxidation, the scavenging effect on α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl free radical, and the reducing power showed that mackerel hydrolysates possessed noticeable antioxidant activities. A good correlation existed between the amount of peptides and antioxidant activity. Three peptide fractions were separated from the hydrolysate by size exclusion chromatography. Results revealed that the peptide with molecular weight of approximately 1400 Da possessed a stronger in vitro antioxidant activity than that of the 900 and 200 Da peptides.

Abstract: Pulses (pea, chickpea, lentil, bean) are an important source of food proteins. They contain high amounts of lysine, leucine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and arginine and provide well balanced essential amino acid profiles when consumed with cereals and other foods rich in sulphur-containing amino acids and tryptophan. The protein content of most pulse legumes fall within the range of 17–30% (d.w.b.). Apart from their nutritional properties, pulse proteins also possess functional properties that play an important role in food formulation and processing. Examples of such functional properties include solubility, water and fat binding capacity and foaming. Various research studies indicate that some functional properties of pulse proteins may be comparable to those of other frequently used proteins such as soy and whey. The functional properties of pulse proteins have been exploited in the preparation and development of products such as bakery products, soups, extruded products and ready to eat snacks. The growing body of research on the health benefits associated with the consumption of pulses has increased interest in developing innovative technologies to expand the use of pulses in food products. At the same time, there are growing global food security challenges and protein malnutrition continues to be a problem in many countries around the world. Pulses, especially when blended with cereal proteins, may offer a promising alternative source for nutritional and functional proteins. This review provides an overview of the characteristics of pulse proteins, current and emerging techniques for their fractionation, their major functional properties and opportunities for their use in various applications.