Crambe meal subjected to chemical and physical treatments in sheep feeding

The substitution of mineral aggregates with crumb rubber (CR) from waste end-of-life tires (ELTs) in the asphalt concretes, has been considered a sustainable paving industry approach. The rubber has been used to construct pavements with proven enhanced resilience and improved durability. However, some issues related to the rubber’s surface adhesion or swelling may arise with these practices and generate complications (binder consumption, temperatures, mixing times). One possible solution to overcome the materials’ compatibility problems is to pre-treat the CR’s surface before its incorporation into the asphalt mixes to allow a surface functionalization that can enhance coverage and cohesion inside the mixes. The physical treatments using radiations-based beam are already exploited in the plastic recycling industries avoiding the use of chemicals in considerable amounts. Such treatments permit the recovering of large quantities of polymer-based materials and the enhancement of interfacial properties. This article provides an overview of existing surface treatments of polymers and especially rubber, including gamma ray, UV-ozone, microwaves, and plasma. Several studies have shown an overall improvement of the rubber surface’s reactive properties due to contaminant removal or roughness enhancement attributed to cross-linking or scission reactions occurring on the rubber’s surface layer. With those properties, the asphalt mixes’ phase stability properties are increased when the pre-treated rubber is incorporated. The treatments would permit to increase the CR quantities, yet reduce the layer stiffness, and improve the durability and the sustainability of future advanced road pavements.

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The Influence of Physical Treatments on Phytochemical Changes in Fresh Produce after Storage and Marketing

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11040788 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 788

Author(s):

Elazar Fallik ◽

Zoran Ilić

Keyword(s):

Fruits And Vegetables ◽

Growth Conditions ◽

Nutritional Content ◽

Nutrition And Health ◽

Phytochemical Content ◽

Post Harvest ◽

Crop Genetics ◽

Anti Cancer ◽

Nutritional Qualities ◽

Physical Treatments

More food with high nutritional content will be needed to feed the growing global human population, which is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. Fruits and vegetables contain most of the minerals, micronutrients, and phytonutrients essential for human nutrition and health. The quantity of these phytochemicals depends on crop genetics, weather and environmental factors, growth conditions, and pre-harvest and post-harvest treatments. These phytochemicals are known to have anti-cancer properties and to regulate immunity, in addition to hypolipidemic, antioxidant, anti-aging, hypotensive, hypoglycemic, and other pharmacological properties. Physical treatments have been reported to be effective for managing several post-harvest diseases and physiological disorders. These treatments may affect the external, internal, and nutritional qualities of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize the information recently reported regarding the use of physical treatments applied either directly or in combination with other means to maximize and maintain the phytochemical content of fresh and fresh-cut or processed fruits and vegetables.

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