Nanoantimicrobials

One of the major issues food technologists deal with is food preservation and safety. Growth of micro-organisms in food poses risk to its quality and safety. Moreover, resistance of food spoilage micro-organisms against various chemical food preservatives has led to an emergence of novel antimicrobial agents with improved action and low rates of microbial resistance. Development in nanotechnology has led to the production of nanoparticles that are not only safe but also effective to resolve the problem of microbial resistance. Nanoantimicrobials have shown improved bioactive performances and controlled toxicity to human beings. They are steadily gaining popularity and the trend will continue in coming years. The chapter gives a comprehensive view of nanoantimicrobials of organic and inorganic origin, various mechanisms adopted by these nanoparticles for the destruction of micro-organisms, factors affecting anti-microbial activities of these particles along with their applications in various fields of food technology.

Non-Thermal Food Preservation Methods in the Meat Industry

The most commonly used meat preservation methods include cooling, freezing, drying, vacuum packing, and curing. Meat quality is impaired by a wide range of changes including physical, chemical, microbiological, and enzymatic reactions. Food manufacturers focus on processes that require fewer chemical additives to meet the increased demand of consumers and to obtain more natural, healthy, and nutritious meat products. Non-thermal food preservation methods are one of the new trends to minimise thermal effects on texture, nutritional value, and flavor losses of meats. The chapter focuses on two novel approaches; non-thermal (Pulsed Electric Field) and Atmospheric Pressure Cold Plasma (APCP) Technologies.

Recent Trends in Cold Storage Systems

The cold storage is a big room or commercial building used to store perishable items like vegetables, fruits, fish, milk products, meat, etc. under controlled conditions where temperature, humidity, etc. are controlled for a longer duration. Different types of cold storages are available and selection of cold storage is based on the application. In recent years, solar hybrid cold storage systems are getting popular due to lower operating cost and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Also, thermal energy storage systems with phase change materials are being used in cold storage systems. The new technologies are developed to reduce the energy consumption of cold storage systems. The quality of the perishable items stored in the cold storage may be retained by applying nano coating on the fruits. This chapter reviews cold storage systems, elements of cold storage, design of cold storage, application of phase change and nano particles in cold storage system.

Non-Thermal Preservation of Dairy Products

Dairy products include carbohydrates, protein, fatty acids, and different micronutrients, such as minerals and vitamins. Thermal treatment is generally used in dairy products to provide product safety and increase shelf life. But it can also lead to undesirable effects on dairy products such as protein denaturation, maillard reaction, and loss of vitamins. Non-thermal technology is an alternative method in the preservation of food products due to improving product safety and shelf life without any negative effects on food nutritional content. High hydrostatic pressure (HHP), pulsed electric field (PEF), ultrasound, cold plasma (CP), and pulsed light (PL) are the main non-thermal techniques that are used in the food industry. This chapter gives general principles of the non-thermal techniques, current applications in the dairy products, and recent advances in the dairy industry.

Novel Packaging Technologies in Dairy Products

The packaging process is an important step in maintaining the quality characteristics of foods. Packaging foods protects products from external effects and provides product information to consumers. Due to the various changes occurring during the distribution and storage of the products, some significant quality characteristics can be lost. In recent years, novel packaging technologies have been developed to supply long shelf life, safety, and ‘fresh-like' characteristics to the products. These novel technologies include nanotechnology, modified atmosphere packaging, active packaging, and intelligent/smart packaging. Since dairy products are generally vulnerable to biological, physical, and chemical changes, they lose their quality characteristics within a short term. Therefore, the use of these novel techniques in dairy products is greatly important. This chapter informs about general principles of the novel packaging techniques and their current applications in dairy technology.

Recent Trends and Challenges in Sensory and Perception Science

Eating is a vital and essential part of life. The routine process is not straightforward but highly sophisticated in that it incorporates dynamic changes on the food structure that triggers different modalities of food sensation. Sensory studies are being expanded with contributions from physiology, psychology, dentistry, neuroscience, and food science. All these experts seek answers to catastrophic and complicated procedures created by the oral process. This chapter provides information about the past and present of sensory science in 5 main sections: Sensation and perception (to provide an insight to psychological and physiological approaches); psychophysical laws (to interpret the missing link between the stimulus and perception); sensory market success and consumer behavior (to highlight the necessity of sensory testing for the industry and consumer); sensory evaluation methods; and recent developments in the field.

Probiotics as an Alternative Food Therapy

Antibiotics have been responsible for the evolution of multidrug-resistant microbes. The side-effects of existing drugs and increased treatment costs have led to nutraceuticals gaining popularity. Nutraceuticals have therapeutic applications due to the ability of the probiotics to be viable in encapsulated pills and drinks. Due to their ability to exclude carcinogenic microorganisms by limiting the nutrients available and by competing for receptors nutraceuticals are useful against cancers. Nutraceuticals are useful against diabetes by controlling the genes involved in the insulin-signaling pathway. The future perspective for nutraceuticals includes an increase in production, reduction in manufacturing cost, and enhanced benefits.

Solid-State Fermentation

Globally, many byproducts or wastes are produced through diverse food industries. These food industries dispose of their waste in the surroundings; merely a few of them reprocess their waste and use it as functional food ingredients. Fermentation techniques can be adopted as one of the methods to prevail over this waste problem. Among the different fermentation methods, solid state fermentation is reviewed as it is elegantly simple and persists to lift interest of scientists and industries around the world. The last decade has included an unprecedented rise in the significance of solid state fermentation (SSF) for the progress of bioprocesses for nutritional enrichment. This chapter focuses on a general review of the advantages of solid state fermentation over conventional fermentation, bioreactor design for SSF, production of bioactive substances from various food stuffs, bioconversion of agro-industrial wastes, and bio refining strategy. SSF is a remarkable tool to elevate nutritional and functional values of the substrate to a large extent.

Ultrasound Pretreatment Applications in the Drying of Agricultural Products

This chapter presents the effect of ultrasound pretreatment on drying kinetics and product temperature. Drying provides a longer shelf life of agricultural products and low-cost transport and storage. The researchers performed pretreatments to the products to accelerate the drying process and to increase the quality for decades. The ultrasound applications considered as one of these are shown as the promising technology in the drying industry. The ultrasound application is used in drying processes in two different ways as ultrasound-assisted drying or as a pretreatment. In ultrasound-assisted drying, mechanical waves directly move to the cell wall of the product. On the other hand, the agricultural product to be dried is immersed in a liquid medium with different solution and ultrasound are applied at specified times by using as a pretreatment. They demonstrate that the ultrasound pretreatment method could be suitable for industrial production.

Microbial Inactivation by Ultrasound in the Food Industry

Pasteurization is the most common processing method for microbial and enzyme inactivation to preserve foods. With this method, foods are exposed to high temperatures and there are disadvantages for many products: thermal treatments cause modifications of sensory attributes (for instance: flavour, colour, nutritional qualities). Now, another method can replace pasteurization: microbial inactivation by ultrasounds. It is a new alternative technology of food processing also called sonication, and it can be used coupled with pressure and/or heat. These techniques inactivate microorganisms in foods. They are effective and energy efficient to kill them, making the techniques promising for the food industry. In this chapter, the method of microbial inactivation by ultrasounds was explained, after that the applications in food industry for instance in milk, orange juice, wastewater, and whole liquid eggs were well-defined, and finally, the advantages, disadvantages, and the limitations of this method were examined.