Natural Polyphenols for the Preservation of Meat and Dairy Products

Food spoilage makes foods undesirable and unacceptable for human use. The preservation of food is essential for human survival, and different techniques were initially used to limit the growth of spoiling microbes, e.g., drying, heating, salting, or fermentation. Water activity, temperature, redox potential, preservatives, and competitive microorganisms are the most important approaches used in the preservation of food products. Preservative agents are generally classified into antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-browning agents. On the other hand, artificial preservatives (sorbate, sulfite, or nitrite) may cause serious health hazards such as hypersensitivity, asthma, neurological damage, hyperactivity, and cancer. Thus, consumers prefer natural food preservatives to synthetic ones, as they are considered safer. Polyphenols have potential uses as biopreservatives in the food industry, because their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities can increase the storage life of food products. The antioxidant capacity of polyphenols is mainly due to the inhibition of free radical formation. Moreover, the antimicrobial activity of plants and herbs is mainly attributed to the presence of phenolic compounds. Thus, incorporation of botanical extracts rich in polyphenols in perishable foods can be considered since no pure polyphenolic compounds are authorized as food preservatives. However, individual polyphenols can be screened in this regard. In conclusion, this review highlights the use of phenolic compounds or botanical extracts rich in polyphenols as preservative agents with special reference to meat and dairy products.     

A perspective of the engineering applications of carbon-based selenium-containing materials

Carbon-based selenium-containing materials are novel materials just being invented recently. Owing to the low cost and bio-compatible features of carbon and selenium, these materials are practical. The unique chemical- and bio-activities of selenium endow them wide range of applications in catalysis, environment-protection, fertilizer and biocide development etc. Recent progresses in this field are summarized and prospected from the engineering application viewpoint in this mini-review.     

γ-Radiation Effects on the Thermal Stability of Bovine γ-Globulin

Low-dose γ-radiation produces subtle effects on bovine γ-globulin, as revealed by calorimetric investigations carried out on concentrated aqueous solutions. The irradiation rate used seems below the threshold that allows complete protein denaturation; the denaturation temperature, T_d, remained unaffected; nonetheless, modifications of the shape of the calorimetric signal reveal that other changes, such as the dissociation of protein oligomers, could take place. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Periodic Solution of a Nonautonomous Diffusive Food Chain System of Three Species with Time Delays

Abstract By using the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory,the existence of a positive periodicsolution for a nonautonomous diffusive food chain system of three species. dx_1(t)/dt=x_1(t)[r_1(t)-a_(11)(t)x_1(t)-a_(12)(t)x_2(t)]+D_1(t)[y(t)-x_1(t)], dx_2(t)/dt=x_2(t)[-r_2(t)+a_(21)(t)x_1(t-r_1)-a_(22)(t)x_2(t)-a_(23)(t)x_3(t)], dx_3(t)/dt=x_3(t)[-r_3(t)+a_(32)(t)x_2(t-r_2)-a_(33)(t)x_3(t)], dy(t)/dt=y(t)[r_4(t)-a_(44)(t)y(t)]+D_2(t)[x_1(t)-y(t)]+D_2(t)[x_1(t)-y(t)],is established,where,r_i(t),a_(ii)(t)(i=1,2,3,4),D_i(t)(i=1,2),a_(12)(t),a_(21)(t),a_(23)(t)and a_(32)(t) are all positiveperiodic continuous functions with period w>0,T_i(i=1,2)are positive constants.     

Determination of metoserpate,buquinolate, and diclofenac in pork,eggs, and milk using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

In this work, a method was developed for the simultaneous determination of residual metoserpate, buquinolate and diclofenac in pork, milk, and eggs. Samples were extracted with 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile, defatted with n‐hexane, and filtered prior to analysis using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The analytes were separated on a C₁₈ column using 0.1% acetic acid and methanol as the mobile phase. The matrix‐matched calibration curves showed good linearity over a concentration range of 5–50 ng/g with coefficients of determination (R²) ≥0.991. The intra‐ and inter‐day accuracies (expressed as recovery percentage values) calculated using three spiking levels (5, 10, and 20 μg/kg) were 80–108.65 and 74.06–107.15%, respectively, and the precisions (expressed as relative standard deviation) were 2.86–13.67 and 0.05–11.74%, respectively, for the tested drugs determined in various matrices. The limits of quantification (1 and 2 μg/kg) were below the uniform residual level (0.01 mg/kg) set for compounds that have no specific maximum residue limit (MRL). The developed method was tested using market samples and none of the target analytes was detected in any of the samples. The validated method proved to be practicable for detection of the tested analytes in pork, milk, and eggs.     

Optimal harvesting for an age-dependent <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-dimensional food chain model

This paper is concerned with optimal harvesting policy for an age-dependent n-dimensional food chain model. The existence and uniqueness of non-negative solution of the system are proved using the fixed point theorem. By Mazur＇s theorem, the existence of optimal control strategy is demonstrated and optimality conditions derived by means of normal cone.     

Direct contact ultrasound assisted freezing of chicken breast samples

Nowadays, rapid freezing is sought to favor the formation of small ice crystals. Several studies have shown that the application of ultrasounds (US) accelerates the processes of energy and mass transfer when they are applied through immersion systems. However, there are hardly any studies on its application in direct systems without the use of a liquid medium for its transmission. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of the application of US for improving the freezing process of chicken breast samples. First, the application of intermittent US treatments at different net sonication times of 7, 17, 37, 50 and 67% during the freezing of distilled water samples in a conventional freezer was evaluated. It was observed that net sonication times of 37, 50 and 67% reduced the phase change period by 30.0, 21.4, 27.0%, respectively. The effective freezing time was also reduced by 12.4 and 12.8% by applying net sonication times of 37 and 50%. Considering these results, an intermittent US treatment with a net sonication time of 37% was chosen for chicken breast freezing in an air-forced cooling tunnel at ambient temperatures from −13 to −22 °C. The length of all the freezing phases was reduced upon application of US, leading to an overall process time reduction of approx. 11%. On the other hand, no significant differences were found either in the Water Holding Capacity (WHC) or Cooking Loss (CL) values between control and US assisted frozen chicken breast samples. Furthermore, in vitro experiments showed that US-assisted freezing did not influence protein digestibility of chicken meat samples.This study demonstrates the potential of the application of US by direct contact to favor energy transfer processes during freezing of water and chicken breasts samples. However, its effect on the quality of the frozen products should be further studied.     

Determination of Synthetic Phenolic Antioxidants in Vegetable Oil and Oil-Enriched Foods by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Electrochemical Detection

Three synthetic phenolic antioxidants, tertiary butyl hydroquinone, butylated hydroxytoluene, and butylated hydroxyanisole, were determined in vegetable oil and oil-enriched food by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection. The separation was achieved using a reverse-phase column and gradient elution with methanol and 1% acetic acid. The limits of detection and quantification of the analytes were 2–120 lower, higher than those obtained by diode-array detection. The recoveries were 103.3% for tertiary butyl hydroquinone, 97.3% for butylated hydroxyanisole, and 95.2% for butylated hydroxytoluene. The results showed that HPLC with electrochemical detection is suitable for the quantification of low concentrations of phenolic antioxidants in vegetable oil and oil-enriched food with high sensitivity and accuracy.     

Migration of Stabilizers from Polypropylene into Simulated Food

This study has investigated the migration of stabilizers from three polypropylene materials: a polypropylene homopolymer, a polypropylene block copolymer, and a polypropylene random copolymer in 10% ethanol, 3% acetic acid, 20% ethanol, 50% ethanol, and isooctane according to Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011. Measurements were performed at 20, 40, and 70°C and migration was evaluated from 10?min to 10 days. Measurements were performed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with external calibration. The HPLC method provided high correlation coefficients, good precision, good accuracy, and suitable reproducibility. Diffusion coefficients for stabilizers were obtained using a rigorous model based on Fick’s second law and the values were between 6.1?×?10^?13 and 3.8?×?10^?9?cm²?s^?1. By applying an Arrhenius-type equation to the diffusion coefficients, an estimation of activation energy of the diffusion was obtained. The activation energies were from 39.97 to 98.75?kJ?mol^?1 for the stabilizers. The results indicate that the polypropylene material structure influenced the migration rate, which decreased in the order of the increasing crystallinity in the materials. The diffusion coefficients for stabilizers in the polypropylene random copolymer were higher than in the polypropylene block copolymer and polypropylene homopolymer. The random polypropylene copolymer had the lowest activation energy. These results show that a higher diffusion coefficient indicates a higher migration rate, and a system with a lower activation energy allows more migration.     

Lubricated squeezing flow of a Newtonian liquid between elastic and rigid plates

Theoretical force-time relationships were derived for squeezing flow of a Newtonian liquid between lubricated rigid and elastic plates. It is shown how the elastic number, representing the ratio between the elastic plate's rigidity and the specimen's viscosity, affects the force-time curve and under what circumstances the fluid specimen's thickness becomes a significant factor. Potential implications of the analysis in oral sensory evaluations of viscous foods are also considered.