Engineering pineapple peel cellulose nanofibrils with oxidase-mimic functionalities for antibacterial and fruit preservation.

In this study, an antibacterial material (CNF@CoMn-NS) with oxidase-like activity was created using ultrathin cobalt­manganese nanosheets (CoMn-NS) with a larger specific surface area grown onto pineapple peel cellulose nanofibrils (CNF). The results showed that the CoMn-NS grew well on the CNF, and the obtained CNF@CoMn-NS exhibited good oxidase-like activity. The imidazole salt framework of the CNF@CoMn-NS contained cobalt and manganese in multiple oxidation states, enabling an active redox cycle and generating active oxygen species (ROS) such as singlet molecular oxygen atoms (1O2) and superoxide radical (·O2-), resulting in the significant inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus (74.14%) and Escherichia coli (54.87%). Importantly, the CNF@CoMn-NS did not exhibit cytotoxicity. The CNF@CoMn-NS further self-assembled into a CNF@CoMn-NS paper with flexibility, stability, and antibacterial properties, which can effectively protect the wound of two varieties of pears from decay caused by microorganisms. This study demonstrated the potential of using renewable and degradable CNF as substrate combined with artificial enzymes as a promising approach to creating antibacterial materials for food preservation and even extending to textiles and biomedical applications.

Changing the IgE Binding Capacity of Tropomyosin in Shrimp through Structural Modification Induced by Cold Plasma and Glycation Treatment.

Tropomyosin (TM) is the major allergen of shrimp (Penaeus chinensis). Previous studies showed that separate cold plasma or glycation have their drawback in reducing allergenicity of TM, including effectiveness and reliability. In the current study, a new processing combining cold plasma (CP) and glycation was proposed and its effect on changing IgE binding capacity of TM from shrimp was investigated. Obtained results showed the IgE binding capacity of TM was reduced by up to 40% after CP (dielectric barrier discharge, 60 kV, 1.0 A) combined with glycation treatment (4 h, 80 °C), compared with the less than 5% reduction after single CP or glycation treatment. Notably, in contrast to the general way of CP prompting glycation, this study devised a new mode of glycation with ribose after CP pretreatment. The structural changes of TM were explored to explain the decreased IgE binding reactivity. The results of multi-spectroscopies showed that the secondary and tertiary structures of TM were further destroyed after combined treatment, including the transformation of 50% α-helix to ß-sheet and random coils, the modification and exposure of aromatic amino acids, and the increase of surface hydrophobicity. The morphology analysis using atomic force microscope revealed that the combined processing made the distribution of TM particles tend to disperse circularly, while it would aggregate after either processing treatment alone. These findings confirmed the unfolding and reaggregation of TM during combined processing treatment, which may result in the remarkable reduction of IgE binding ability. Therefore, the processing of CP pretreatment combined with glycation has the potential to reduce or even eliminate the allergenicity of seafood.

Degradation of Aflatoxin M1 in skim and whole milk using high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) and quality assessment.

Cold plasma technology is a novel non-thermal technology that has shown promising results for food decontamination and improving food safety. This study investigates the efficacy of high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) system to reduce Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in skim and whole milk. A dielectric barrier discharge HVACP was employed at 90 kV using modified air (MA65: 65 % O2, 30 % CO2, 5 % N2) fill gas for 1,3, and 5 min. Skim and whole milk was spiked with 1.0 µg/L AFM1 and exposed to HVACP treatment in both direct or indirect mode with no post-treatment storage or 4.0 h post storage at room temperature. Optimum condition of toxin degradation was chosen as for quality assessment including color, conductivity, total dissolved solid (TDS), pH, viscosity, peroxide value (PV), Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) assay, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), as well as nutrient composition. A one-minute HVACP treatment degrades 41.9 % and 37.8 % of AFM1 in skim milk and whole milk, respectively. However, much greater reductions were seen after a short treatment and then post-treatment storage. A greater than 87 % reduction in AFM1 was observed for all samples after a 3 min HVACP treatment with 4.0 h of post treatment. These results suggest that a few minutes of HVACP treatment is sufficient to generate significant reactive plasma species in the milk. Quality changes were less significant with shorter post treatment time and indirect mode of exposure. Overall, HVACP is an effective solution for decontamination of milk from AFM1.

Modelling of inactivation kinetics of Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes on grass carp treated by combining ultrasound with plasma functionalized buffer.

Linear (first-order) and non-linear (Weibull, biphasic, and log-logistic) models were evaluated for predicting the inactivation kinetics of Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes on grass carp treated by a novel technique (UPFB) combining ultrasound (US) with plasma functionalized buffer (PFB). Results showed that UPFB was more effective for inactivating bacteria when compared with individual applications of US or PFB with reductions of 3.92 and 3.70 log CFU/g for Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes, respectively. Compared with the linear model, the three non-linear models presented comparable performances and were more suitable for describing the inactivation kinetics with superior adj-R2 (0.962-0.999), accuracies (0.970-1.006) and bias factors (0.995-1.031), and by assessing the strengths of evidence, weights of evidence and evidence ratios for the models, the biphasic model was identified as the best fit model. The current study provided new insights into the effective evaluation of decontamination methods.

Strategy to achieve a 5-log Salmonella inactivation in tender coconut water using high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP).

This study examined high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) technology as a non-thermal intervention for inactivating Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2 (ST2) in tender coconut water (TCW). Treatment with HVACP in air at 90 kV for 120 s inactivated 1.30 log10 of ST2. Development of a TCW stimulant suggested an interfering role of magnesium and phosphate salts with HVACP inactivation. Generation of reactive gas species, viz. ozone and hydrogen peroxides were found to be responsible for microbial inactivation. The addition of 400 ppm citric acid to the TCW effectively reduced ST2 by 5 log10 during HVACP treatment. Under these conditions, higher cellular leakage and morphological damage were observed in ST2. Minimal physico-chemical changes in TCW were observed with HVACP treatment, except for an 84.35% ascorbic acid loss (added externally). These results demonstrate a potential pathway for developing highly effective cold plasma treatments to preserve fruit and vegetable juices.

Effects of Cold Plasma on Food Quality: A Review.

Cold plasma (CP) technology has proven very effective as an alternative tool for food decontamination and shelf-life extension. The impact of CP on food quality is very crucial for its acceptance as an alternative food processing technology. Due to the non-thermal nature, CP treatments have shown no or minimal impacts on the physical, chemical, nutritional and sensory attributes of various products. This review also discusses the negative impacts and limitations posed by CP technology for food products. The limited studies on interactions of CP species with food components at the molecular level offers future research opportunities. It also highlights the need for optimization studies to mitigate the negative impacts on visual, chemical, nutritional and functional properties of food products. The design versatility, non-thermal, economical and environmentally friendly nature of CP offers unique advantages over traditional processing technologies. However, CP processing is still in its nascent form and needs further research to reach its potential.

Degradation kinetics of organic dyes in water by high voltage atmospheric air and modified air cold plasma.

High voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) is a novel, non-thermal technology which has shown potential for degradation of various toxic components in wastewater. In this study, HVACP was used to examine the degradation kinetics of methyl red, crystal violet and fast green FCF dyes. HVACP discharge was found to be a source of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species. High voltage application completely degraded all dyes tested in less than 5 min treatment time. Plasma from modified gas (∼65% O2) further reduced the treatment time by 50% vs. plasma from dry air. First order and Weibull models were fitted to the degradation data. The Weibull model was found better in explaining the degradation kinetics of all the treated dyes.

Evaluation of physical and chemical properties and their interactions in fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposits.

Fat, oil and grease (FOG) blockages in sewer systems are a substantial problem in the United States. It has been estimated that over 50% of sewer overflows are a result of FOG blockages. In this work, a thorough laboratory study was undertaken to examine key variables that contribute to FOG deposit formation under controlled conditions. Physical and chemical properties and their interactions were evaluated and conditions that generated deposits that mimicked field FOG deposits were identified. It was found that 96 of the of 128 reaction conditions tested in the laboratory formed FOG deposits with similar physical and chemical characteristics as field FOG deposits. It was also found that FOG deposits can be created through fatty acid crystallization and not just saponification. Furthermore FOG deposits were found to be more complex than previously documented and contain free fatty acids, fatty acid metal salts, triacylglycerol's, diacylglycerol's and, monoacylglycerol's. Lastly it was found that FOG deposits that only contained saturated fatty acids were on average 2.1 times higher yield strength than deposits that contained unsaturated fatty acids.

Structures of Degradation Products and Degradation Pathways of Aflatoxin B1 by High-Voltage Atmospheric Cold Plasma (HVACP) Treatment.

High-voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) is a novel nonthermal decontamination technology that has potential for use in the food industry. In this study, HVACP was applied to treat pure aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) powder on a glass slide. AFB1 was degraded by 76% using a 5 min HVACP treatment in air having 40% relative humidity. The degradation products of AFB1 were separated, and their molecular formulas were elucidated using liquid-chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-TOF-MS). Six main degradation products were observed. The structures of the degradation products were further clarified via orbitrap mass spectrometry by means of fragmentation of the parental ions. Two degradation pathways were proposed on the basis of the structure of the degradation products. Among the six degradation products, two were ozonolysis products of AFB1. The appearance of the other four degradation products indicates that AFB1 was degraded by other reactive species besides ozone that were generated during HVACP treatment. Reactive oxygen gas species are suggested as the major agents for aflatoxin degradation during HVACP treatment. Two degradation pathways of AFB1 by HVACP treatment were proposed. One pathway involves reactions in which H•, OH•, CHO• radicals are added. The other involves epoxidation by HO2• radicals and oxidation of AFB1by the combined effects of the oxidative species OH•, H2O2, and O3. According to the structure-bioactivity relationship of AFB1, the bioactivity of the AFB1 samples subjected to HVACP treatment is significantly reduced because of the disappearance of the C8═C9 double bond in the furofuran ring in all of the major degradation products as well as the modification of the lactone ring, cyclopentanone, and the methoxyl group.

Effect of high voltage atmospheric cold plasma on white grape juice quality.

BACKGROUND: This study focuses on the effects of novel, non-thermal high voltage atmospheric cold plasma (HVACP) processing on the quality of grape juice. A quality-based comparison of cold plasma treatment with thermal pasteurization treatment of white grape juice was done. RESULTS: HVACP treatment of grape juice at 80 kV for 4 min resulted in a 7.4 log10 CFU mL-1 reduction in Saccharomyces cerevisiae without any significant (P > 0.05) change in pH, acidity and electrical conductivity of the juice. An increase in non-enzymatic browning was observed, but total color difference was very low and within acceptable limits. Spectrophotometric measurements showed a decrease in total phenolics, total flavonoids, DPPH free radical scavenging and antioxidant capacity, but they were found to be comparable to those resulting from thermal pasteurization. An increase in total flavonols was observed after HVACP treatments. CONCLUSION: HVACP treatment of white grape juice at 80 kV for 2 min was found to be comparable to thermal pasteurization in all analyzed quality attributes. HVACP has shown the potential to be used as an alternative to thermal treatment of white grape juice. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

In-package atmospheric pressure cold plasma treatment of cherry tomatoes.

Cold plasma is increasingly under research for decontamination of foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. The effect of cold plasma on food quality, however, remains under researched. This study investigates the effects of cold plasma generated within a sealed package from a dielectric barrier discharge on the physical quality parameters and respiration rates of cherry tomatoes. Respiration rates and weight loss were monitored continuously, while other parameters are reported at the end of storage period. Differences among weight loss, pH and firmness for control and treated cherry tomatoes were insignificant towards the end of storage life. Changes in respiration rates and colour of tomatoes were recorded as a function of treatment, which were not drastic. The results implicate that cold plasma could be employed as a means for decontamination of cherry tomatoes while retaining product quality.

Field characterization of external grease abatement devices.

This study characterized some of the physical and chemical features of large outside field grease abatement devices (GADs). 24-hour measurements of several food service establishments' (FSEs') influent GAD flowrates indicated highly intermittent conditions with hydraulic retention times (HRTs) that exceeded the common recommendation (30 minutes) by two to five times. Investigation into the chemical characteristics of GADs indicated highly variable influent and effluent fat, oil, and grease (FOG) concentrations. Low pH and dissolved oxygen values were measured throughout the GAD, indicating the likely occurrence of anaerobic microbial processes. Detailed spatial and temporal observations of the accumulation of FOG and food solids were also discussed. Though the FOG layer remained relatively constant for all GAD configurations investigated, results indicated that commonly-used GAD configurations with a straight submerged inlet tee or no-inlet tee configuration may result in the transport of food solids into the second compartment. The present research showed increased accumulation of food solids in the first compartment with a retro-fit flow distributive inlet. This retro-fit displays promise for potentially improving the separation characteristics of existing GADs.

A simulation based method to assess inversion algorithms for transverse relaxation data.

NMR relaxometry is a very useful tool for understanding various chemical and physical phenomena in complex multiphase systems. A Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) [P.T. Callaghan, Principles of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Microscopy, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1991] experiment is an easy and quick way to obtain transverse relaxation constant (T2) in low field. Most of the samples usually have a distribution of T2 values. Extraction of this distribution of T2s from the noisy decay data is essentially an ill-posed inverse problem. Various inversion approaches have been used to solve this problem, to date. A major issue in using an inversion algorithm is determining how accurate the computed distribution is. A systematic analysis of an inversion algorithm, UPEN [G.C. Borgia, R.J.S. Brown, P. Fantazzini, Uniform-penalty inversion of multiexponential decay data, Journal of Magnetic Resonance 132 (1998) 65-77; G.C. Borgia, R.J.S. Brown, P. Fantazzini, Uniform-penalty inversion of multiexponential decay data II. Data spacing, T2 data, systematic data errors, and diagnostics, Journal of Magnetic Resonance 147 (2000) 273-285] was performed by means of simulated CPMG data generation. Through our simulation technique and statistical analyses, the effects of various experimental parameters on the computed distribution were evaluated. We converged to the true distribution by matching up the inversion results from a series of true decay data and a noisy simulated data. In addition to simulation studies, the same approach was also applied on real experimental data to support the simulation results.

Properties influencing fat, oil, and grease deposit formation.

Fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposits are the reported cause of 50 to 75% of sanitary sewer overflows in the United States, resulting in 1.8 X 10(6) m3 (500 mil. gal) of raw wastewater released into the environment annually. The objective of this research was to characterize the chemical and physical properties of FOG deposits. Twenty-three cities from around the United States contributed FOG samples for the study. The FOG deposits showed a wide range in yield strength (4 to 34 kPa), porosity (10 to 24%), and moisture content (10 to 60%), suggesting uncontrolled formation processes. A majority of these deposits display hard, sandstonelike texture, with distinct layering effects, suggesting a discontinuous formation process. The results found that 84% of FOG deposits contained high concentrations of saturated fatty acids and calcium, suggesting preferential accumulation.