Alginate coatings applied on apple cubes as a vehicle for Lacticaseibacillus casei: probiotic viability and overall quality of a new functional product.

Background: Worldwide, vegan and vegetarian lifestyles, as well as food allergies and intolerance (e.g. lactose intolerance and milk protein allergy) demand the development of alternatives to dairy-based probiotic foods.

Effects of combined application of high-pressure processing and active coatings on phenolic compounds and microbiological and physicochemical quality of apple cubes.

Background: In recent years the use of high-pressure processing (HPP) of fruit products has steadily increased due to its antimicrobial effectiveness and the retention of nutritional and quality attributes compared to conventional thermal technologies. Edible coatings are already being used to enhance the quality of minimally processed fruits. Thus, apple cubes (AC) and alginate-vanillin-coated apple cubes (AVAC) were subjected to HPP (400 MPa/5 min/35 °C).

Green ultrasound-assisted processing for extending the shelf-life of prebiotic-rich strawberry juices.

Background: Adding value to conventional fruit juices by including prebiotic compounds into their formulation and preserving them using non-thermal, eco-friendly and safe technologies represent interesting and strategic approaches to diversify healthy and innovative food products. In this context, the effect of ultrasound-assisted processing (for 15 and 30 min, 40 kHz, 180 W) on microbiological, physicochemical, nutritional and sensory quality of prebiotic-rich strawberry juices was investigated during storage (14 days, 5 °C).

Results: Compared to untreated samples, the applied preservation treatments enhanced the microbiological and nutritional quality of samples by significantly reducing native microflora counts (reductions up to 1 log CFU mL at day 14) and increasing the total phenolic content (by more than 25% in comparison to controls at day 14) leading to higher antioxidant capacity of prebiotic-rich strawberry juices.

Novel functional blueberries: Fructo-oligosaccharides and probiotic lactobacilli incorporated into alginate edible coatings.

Minimally processed fruits are an alternative to dairy products to deliver probiotics. Bio-protection against several factors that affect their viability has been proposed in the food industry. In this study, probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus CECT 8361 was added to alginate-based coatings enriched with inulin and oligofructose and applied on fresh-blueberries.

A Combined Approach of Infrared Spectroscopy and Multivariate Analysis for the Simultaneous Determination of Sugars and Fructans in Strawberry Juices During Storage.

Unlabelled: In this work, a Fourier transform mid-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)-based method was developed for simultaneously quantifying simple sugars and exogenously added fructooligosaccharides (FOS) in strawberry juices preserved for up to 14 d using nonthermal techniques (geraniol and vanillin+ultrasound). The main spectral differences were observed in the 1200 to 900 cm region. The presence of FOS was identified by the typical bands at 1134, 1034, and 935 cm .

Lactic acid as potential substitute of acetic acid for dissolution of chitosan: preharvest application to Butterhead lettuce.

Chitosan must be dissolved in acid solution to activate its antimicrobial properties. The objectives of present study were to determine whether acetic and lactic acids used to dissolve chitosan would influence its effectiveness to control the native microflora of Butterhead lettuce at harvest and during postharvest storage (7-8 °C, 5 days). Chitosan was applied as a SINGLE DOSE (14, 10, 7, 3 or 0 days previous to harvest) or in SUCCESSIVE DOSES (at 14 + 10 + 7+3 + 0 days prior to harvest).

Statistical optimization of medium components and physicochemical parameters to simultaneously enhance bacterial growth and esterase production by Bacillus thuringiensis.

Bacillus thuringiensis is a genus extensively studied because of its high potential for biotechnological application, principally in biocontrol techniques. However, the optimization of esterase production by this strain has been scarcely studied. The aim of this work was to select and optimize the physicochemical and nutritional parameters that significantly influence the growth and esterase production of B.

Optimization of medium components and physicochemical parameters to simultaneously enhance microbial growth and production of lypolitic enzymes by Stenotrophomonas sp.

The optimization of lipase and esterase production (LP and EP) and bacterial growth (BG) of a Stenotrophomonas sp. strain was developed. For this purpose, the effect of five different medium components and three physicochemical parameters were evaluated using a Plackett-Burman statistical design.

Antimicrobial effectiveness of bioactive packaging materials from edible chitosan and casein polymers: assessment on carrot, cheese, and salami.

Antimicrobial packaging is one of the most promising active packaging systems for controlling spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. In this work, the intrinsic antimicrobial properties of chitosan (CH) were combined with the excellent thermoplastic and film-forming properties of sodium caseinate (SC) to prepare SC/CH film-forming solutions and films. The antimicrobial effectiveness of SC, CH, and SC/CH coatings on the native microfloras of cheese, salami, and carrots was evaluated.