Beef-in-sauce catering meals under blast-cooling have been investigated in a research project which aims at quantitative HACCP (hazard analysis critical control point). In view of its prospective coupling to a predictive microbiology model proposed in the project, zero-order spatial dependence has proved to suitably predict meal temperatures in response to temperature variations in the cooling air. This approach has modelled heat transfer rates via the a priori unknown convective coefficient hc which is allowed to vary due to uncertainty and variability in the actual modus operandi of the chosen case study hospital kitchen. Implemented in MS Excel®, the numerical procedure has successfully combined the 4
th order Runge-Kutta method, to solve the governing equation, with non-linear optimization, via the built-in Solver, to determine the coefficient hc. In this work, the coefficient hc was assessed for 119 distinct recently-cooked meal samples whose temperature-time profiles were recorded in situ after 17 technical visits to the hospital kitchen over a year. The average value and standard deviation results were hc = 12.0 ± 4.1 W m−2 K −1 , whilst the lowest values (associated with the worst cooling scenarios) were about hc ≈ 6.0 W m−2 K −1 .Convective heat transfer

This study aimed to establish the effects of lactic fermentation on the levels of β-carotene in selected  orange fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) varieties from Kenya.  Furthermore,it sought to demonstrate fermentation as a potential process for making new products from sweet potato with enhanced nutraceutical attributes. The varieties (Zapallo, Nyathiodiewo and SPK004/06) were fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum MTCC 1407 at 25 ± 2°C for 48 h and kept for 28 days to make lacto-pickles. During fermentation both analytical [pH, titratable acidity (TA), lactic acid (LA), starch, total sugar, reducing sugar (g/kg roots), texture (N/m2), β-carotene (mg/kg roots)] and sensory (texture, taste, flavour and after taste) attributes of sweet potato lacto-juice were evaluated. Process conditions were optimized by varying brine levels, with fermentation time. A UV-visible spectrophotometer was used to identify and quantify β-carotene. Any significant variations (p < 0.05) in analytical attributes between the fermented and unfermented samples (pH, LA, TA and β-carotene concentration) of lacto-pickles, prepared from the potato roots, were assessed. The study reported a final composition of 156.49mg/kg, 0.53mg/kg, 0.3N/m2, 1.3g/kg, 5.86g/kg, 0.5g/kg and 5.86g/kg for β-carotene, Ascorbic acid, texture; Starch, total sugars, LA and TA respectively, and a pH of 3.27. The fermented products were subjected to flavour profiling by a panel. The product sensory scores were 1.5 to 2.5 on a 5 point hedonic scale, ranging from dislike slightly to like much. The products with brine levels at 4 and 6% were most preferred. The retention of β-carotene was 93.97%. This demonstrated lactic acid fermentation as a better method for processing OFSP as the main nutritional attributes are retained. The final product was resistant to spoilage microorganisms after 28 days of fermentation. Further preservation could be obtained by addition of sodium metabisulphite. In conclusion, Lactic acid fermentation using L. plantarum is a novel method of producing Lacto pickles from Zapallo OFSP, with 93.97% β-carotene retention and adequate shelf life.

γ-Glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) hydrolyzes γ-glutamyl compounds and transfers their γ-glutamyl moieties to amino acids and peptides.  We previously showed that the “umami” taste of soy sauce could be improved by the addition of salt-tolerant Bacillus subtilis GGT to the fermentation mixture, “moromi”.  Although miso fermentation is a semi-solid fermentation, unlike soy sauce fermentation, this was also the case. When 15 units of purified B. subtilis GGT were added to 418 g miso “moromi” (fermentation mixture), the glutamate concentration in “moromi” became 20 mM higher and the “umami” taste became stronger than without the addition of GGT after 2 to 6 months of fermentation.  In addition, γ-Glu-Val and γ-Glu-Val-Gly, which are known as “kokumi” peptides, were identified in “tamari”, and the concentrations of these γ-glutamyl peptides in “tamari" fermented by the addition of GGT were significantly higher than those of “moromi” without the addition of GGT.  These results indicate that B. subtilis GGT is able to improve the taste of miso.

Antimicrobials like potassium sorbate, sodium propionate, and benzoic acid were incorporated in corn starch based formulation to investigate their effect on mechanical, water vapour barrier and optical properties of the developed self supporting edible film. The film was prepared by casting technique.When incorporated at 1.40% and above, potassium sorbate decreased the tensile strength (about 22%) and increased the elongation (about 55%) of control film; whereas, it increased the water vapour permeability by 15% only when added at 2.66%. At 2.66%, benzoic acid reduced the tensile strength by 24% and sodium propionate increased elongation by 17%. These two antimicrobials did not change the water vapour permeability. However, all the three antimicrobials adversely affected the optical properties by decreasing the whiteness index, increasing yellowness index, and reducing the surface gloss, with potassium sorbate showing the maximum effect. Among the three antimicrobials, sodium propionate appeared to be the best with minimum deterioration of film properties.

Solid lipid microparticles produced with a mixture of cupuacu butter and stearic acid were used to microencapsulate a commercial casein hydrolysate (Hyprol 8052). The composition of the lipid matrix used for the production of the lipid microparticles was chosen according to data on the wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of bulk lipid mixtures, which indicated that the presence of 10 % cupuacu butter was sufficient to significantly change the crystalline arrangement of pure stearic acid. Preliminary tests indicated that a minimum proportion of 4 % of surfactant (polysorbate 80) was necessary to produce empty spherical lipid particles with average diameters below 10 mm. The lipid microparticles were produced using 20 % cupuacu butter and 80 % stearic acid and then stabilized with 4 % of polysorbate 80, exhibiting an encapsulation efficiency of approximately 74 % of the casein hydrolysate. The melting temperature of the casein hydrolysate-loaded lipid microparticles was detected at 65.2 °C, demonstrating that the particles were solid at room temperature as expected and indicating that the incorporation of peptides had not affected their thermal behavior. After 25 days of storage, however, there was a release of approximately 30 % of the initial amount of encapsulated casein hydrolysate. This release was not thought to have been caused by the liberation of encapsulated casein hydrolysate. Instead, it was attributed to the possible desorption of the adsorbed peptides present on the surface of the lipid microparticles.

This work aimed to determine the mechanical properties of rough and dehulled rice grains, for different moisture contents, by obtaining their rupture force, deformation, maximum compression force and proportional deformity modulus under a compression test. Rice grains, with moisture content varying from 0.12 to 0.30 (d.b.), were subject to an uniaxial compression in order to analyze these properties. On reducting moisture content the rupture force increased from 37.2 to 70.6 N for dehulled rice and 48.0 to 79.5 N for rough rice. The average compression force varied from 131 to 171 N for dehulled rice and 203 to 283 N for rough rice. The value range of proportional deformity modulus was from 5.5 x 109 to 7.4 x 109 Pa for dehulled rice and 9.5 x 109 to 12.3 x 109 Pa for rough rice. Rough rice presented more resistance to compression compared to dehulled rice.

The objective of this research was to study the effects of modified atmosphere, associated with masterpack transport packaging, and refrigerated storage time on the quality characteristics of pork loin cuts. Cuts of pork loin were packaged in trays, covered with poly(vinyl chloride) film. The trays were placed in a masterpack (MP), containing three gas compositions:  A) 75% O2 : 25% CO2, B) 50% O2 : 50% CO2 or C) 100% CO2, and stored at 2 °C. Samples were taken after 1, 8, 15, and 22 days of storage, and evaluated for numerous shelf life traits. The development of Psychrotrophic aerobic bacteria and Pseudomonas spp. was found from the 15th day of storage. There was a significant treatment effect for some of the considered parameters, such as pH (P < 0.05) and color [L* (P < 0.07), a* (P < 0.07) and b* (P < 0.01)]. There was a significant interaction (P < 0.01) for the TBARS values. It can be concluded, from the microbiological point of view, that the use of modified atmospheres containing 25% to 100% CO2 promotes the conservation of meat for up to 15 days of storage under refrigeration. From the point of view of color, atmospheres containing 75% O2 : 25% CO2 and 50% O2 : 50% CO2 ensure the color of packaged pork meat when stored at 2 °C for up to 15 days. From the point of view of lipid oxidation, packages with 100% CO2 are recommended for storage periods of more than 15 days, whereas those with 75% O2 : 25% CO2 are recommended for storage periods of up to 8 days.

The quality of frozen foods can be negatively affected if improper storage and distribution temperatures are allowed. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of freeze-thaw cycles, which may occur in the cold chain, on colour (Lab, Total Colour Differences (TCD), chroma and hue angle) and vitamin C (ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids) content of frozen strawberries (Fragaria ×ananassa, Duschesne, cv. Selva). A plan of temperature abuses (TAs) was established, based on a real situation, and applied to frozen strawberries during a four month frozen storage period. The results showed that the lightness (L) was the only parameter that was not significantly affected by range of TAs studied. The colour showed some variation on the parameters a, b, TCD, chroma and hue angle. During TAs, ascorbic acid decreased about 75% and dehydroascorbic acid increased 73%. The non-abused strawberry samples showed better overall appearance than the abused samples.This work contributes to an understanding of the quality changes of frozen strawberries that might occur during frozen storage and cold chain distribution.