Assessment of Physicochemical Properties of Orange Juice Concentrate Formulated with Pectin, Xanthan, and CMC Hydrocolloids.

Orange concentrate (OC) is one of the main raw materials in the nonalcoholic beverage industry. Considering the difference in orange varieties, preserving its natural quality is essential to yield a product with favorable attributes and physical stability. Thus, the present study is aimed at assessing the effect of pectin, xanthan, and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in a concentration range of 0-0.2% (w/v) along with mixing temperature on Brix, pH, acidity, density, turbidity, and viscosity of OC and at calculating the model equation for each attribute. The results showed that, except for CMC, the influence of concentration, type, and amount of hydrocolloid on pH changes was insignificant. Adding each hydrocolloid individually, in pairs, or threes reduced the density, and the measured density was lower at a mixing temperature of 4°C. Also, it was observed that mixing temperature was the only factor influencing turbidity, and the values were significantly lower at 80°C compared to 4°C. A significant interaction effect of xanthan concentration and mixing temperature on the Brix was observed. Adding hydrocolloids, except pectin, resulted in a significant (p < 0.05) increase in viscosity, and xanthan had the greatest effect on the viscosity. A suitable model was designed using pectin and xanthan, pectin and CMC, and all three gums, resulting in a final OC product with high stability and improved physical and chemical attributes. The optimized values for Brix, pH, acidity, density, turbidity, and OC viscosity were achieved using 0.08% pectin, 0.19% xanthan, and 0.08% CMC at 80°C mixing temperature.

Assessment of properties of gluten-based edible film formulated with beeswax and DATEM for hamburger bread coating.

Using edible films and coatings is one of the effective methods of improving the quality of bread. The aim of the present work was the development of gluten-based films containing lipids to be applied as bread coating, intending to improve quality and delay staleness. In this study, two types of lipids including beeswax and DATEM (diacetyl tartaric ester monoglycerides) were incorporated into gluten film at different levels. The findings showed that inserting both lipids together into gluten for film preparation, weakened the developed films in terms of mechanical and moisture barrier properties. Adding DATEM to the gluten film formulae decreased the elongation at the break and the tensile strength of the film. Using gluten-beeswax coatings for hamburger bread, compared to gluten-DATEM coatings, indicated a significant decrease in the hardness and staling feature. Moreover, applying sorbate as a preservative along with the solvents used in the film preparation prevented the growth of mold during the bread shelf life. In conclusion, the findings in this study indicated that the type and levels of lipids added to the edible gluten-based films and coatings affected the film properties and coated hamburger bread quality, significantly.

Assessment of BIV1-CovIran inactivated vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibody against the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

OBJECTIVES: The BIV1-CovIran vaccine is highly effective against COVID-19. The neutralizing potency of all SARS-CoV-2 vaccines seems to be decreased against variants of concern. We assessed the sensitivity of the Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), and Delta (B.1.617.2) variants to neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) present in sera from individuals who had received the BIV1-CovIran candidate vaccine compared with an original Wuhan-related strain. METHODS: The ability of vaccine serum to neutralize the variants was measured using the conventional virus neutralization test. The correlation of spike (S) protein antibody and anti-receptor binding domain with neutralizing activity was investigated. RESULTS: The current study demonstrated that 29 of 32 (90.6%; 95% CI: 75.0-98.0) of the vaccinees developed NAbs against a Wuhan-related strain. It is noteworthy that 28 (87.50%) and 24 of 32 (75%) of the recipients were able to produce NAbs against Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants, respectively. Serum virus-neutralizing titres for different SARS-CoV-2 strains were weakly correlated with anti-receptor binding domain antibodies (Spearman r = 36-42, p < 0.05), but not S-binding antibodies (p > 0.05). DISCUSSION: Although there was a reduction in neutralization titres against the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants compared with the Wuhan strain, BIV1-CovIran still exhibited potent neutralizing activity against the SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.