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The presence of impurities, microorganisms, enzymes, suspended solids, and impurities in unclarified pomelo juice negatively affected the quality and shelf-life of the product in the food industry. The objective of this study focuses on the clarification of fresh pomelo juice using an ultrafiltration (UF) process. The study examined the influence of the operating pressure (OP) on the various quality attributes of pomelo juice, such as pH, total soluble solids (TSS), turbidity, color, total phenolic content (TPC), ascorbic acid content (AAC) and fouling mechanisms and permeate flux (J) behavior. To perform the clarification of pomelo juice, a 100 kDa membrane (polymeric) was used in a dead-end system, and the process was carried out in batch mode at OP values of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 bar. The findings revealed that increasing OP led to higher flux during ultrafiltration with limiting pressure (Plim). The limiting pressure (Plim) was anticipated to be beyond 3.0 bar due to the enzymatic pretreatment. The primary fouling mechanism during the clarification process was total pore blocking. After filtration, the resulting juice showed a significant reduction in turbidity of over 97, while TSS was lowered by 7–17 compared to fresh juice. The pomelo juice was efficiently clarified while the pH remained stable at ∼3.8. The clarified juice showed a minor decline of 10.1–13.9 in TPC and a 10.8–16.7 reduction in AAC compared to the fresh unclarified juice. In conclusion, a pressure of 3.0 bar is recommended for conducting the ultrafiltration process in order to attain desirable flux behavior and optimum properties of the juice.

In Malaysia, there is a demand and a promising market for cassava (Manihot esculanta, Crantz) leaves as a supplementary animal feed because of their nutritional value and availability throughout the year. However, cyanide accumulation has been a problem due to its toxicity in animal feed; therefore, finding the best variety with low cyanide, high protein, and phytochemical content can address this issue. The hydrocyanic (HCN) contents were analyzed for two local varieties, White and Pulut cassava, distinguished from leaf shapes and the color of the leaf petioles. Young leaves were identified from the plant’s top leaves, while matured leaves were defined from the plant’s bottom leaves. Two-way ANOVA was conducted to determine the interaction between the maturity and variety of cassava leaves for the cyanide and protein concentrations with Tukey’s multiple ranges to observe the significant difference at p < 0.05. The findings indicated significant differences in the HCN content of cassava leaves between different maturities, while other varieties significantly affected protein concentration. The maturity and variety of cassava leaves showed significant interactions with the HCN content. The young Pulut variety had the highest protein concentration and low HCN content. Thus, it is the best option as an animal feed by reducing its HCN content and maintaining its total phenolic (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC). The results imply that variety, as well as maturity, have significant effects on the protein and cyanide concentration of cassava leaves.

The effects of screw speed and oyster mushroom (OM) addition on the texture characteristics (hardness, gumminess, and chewiness) and specific mechanical energy (SME) were determined via factorial experiment design. Increasing screw speeds alone exhibited an insignificant effect (p > 0.05) compared to the effect exhibited by OM addition. The combined effects of screw speed and OM addition significantly reduced (p ≤ 0.05) all the texture characteristics. The hardness (3521.35 g) and gumminess (2717.85) of the meat analogue extruded at the maximum screw speed of 160 rpm and 15% OM addition were close to the characteristics of the chicken breast, respectively. The OM–soy protein (SP) extrudates were chewier than the non-hydrated texturised vegetable protein (TVP) and chicken meat. The SME values of the single-screw extrusion were linearly affected by the increasing screw speed, which also lies in the range < 200 kJ/kg for producing meat analogues with acceptable characteristics. Applying the superposition technique has successfully shifted the individual curves of the SME into a smooth master curve horizontally, allowing an interpolating in the prediction of SME value at a given screw speed value. An adequate low-grade OM content and extrusion screw speed value in the SP-based meat imitation provide hardness and gumminess that resembles the chicken breast. A prediction value on the specific mechanical energy of the SP-based meat analogue extrusion may be interpolated by a given screw speed value by using an established master curve.

Conventional essential oil extraction systems cannot meet the green extraction concepts and sustainable development goals (SDGs). Therefore, there is a need to develop alternative systems based on clean energy. The present study aims to investigate the possibility of essential oil extraction using solar energy without utilizing synthetic solvents. Hence, an eco-friendly solar energy-based extraction system (SEE) was developed to extract essential oils from cloves and cinnamon barks, orange and lemon peels, eucalyptus leaves, and cardamom seeds. Essential oils were assessed in terms of yield, physical properties, and chemical composition using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry assay. Also, the process sustainability was analyzed by the green extraction evaluation approach, and results were compared with those of traditional hydro-distillation (THD). Replacing THD with SEE increased the extraction time by 0.65, 0.80, 0.41, 0.61, 0.39, and 0.45 h for processing clove, cinnamon, orange, lemon, eucalyptus, and cardamom, respectively. The optimum solar radiation for extraction was about 1000 W/m2. Also, oxygen compounds (96.45, 79.640, 42.98, and 83.76%) comprised the main proportion in the clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and cardamom essential oils, while orange and lemon essential oils had a high presence of terpenes. Furthermore, essential oils obtained by SEE had a similar yield and alcohol solubility to THD. According to green extraction process analysis, solar energy-based extraction was 23–34% greener than THD, depending on the type of plant material.

Water is a critical resource necessary for life to be sustained, and its availability should be secured, appropriated, and easily obtainable. The continual detection of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) (ng/L or µg/L) in water and wastewater has attracted critical concerns among the regulatory authorities and general public, due to its associated public health, ecological risks, and a threat to global water quality. Presently, there is a lack of stringent discharge standards regulating the emerging multiclass contaminants to obviate its possible undesirable impacts. The conventional treatment processes have reportedly ineffectual in eliminating the persistent EDCs pollutants, necessitating the researchers to develop alternative treatment methods. Occurrences of the EDCs and the attributed effects on humans and the environment are adequately reviewed. It indicated that comprehensive information on the recent advances in the rejection of EDCs via a novel membrane and membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment techniques are still lacking. This paper critically studies and reports on recent advances in the membrane and MBR treatment methods for removing EDCs, fouling challenges, and its mitigation strategies. The removal mechanisms and the operating factors influencing the EDCs remediation were also examined. Membranes and MBR approaches have proven successful and viable to eliminate various EDCs contaminants.

In recent years, downstream bioprocessing industries are venturing into less tedious, simple, and high-efficiency separation by implementing advanced purification and extraction methods. This review discusses the separation of proteins, with the main focus on amylase as an enzyme from agricultural waste using conventional and advanced techniques of extraction and purification via a liquid biphasic system (LBS). In comparison to other methods, such as membrane extraction, precipitation, ultrasonication, and chromatography, the LBS stands out as an efficient, cost-effective, and adaptable developing method for protein recovery. The two-phase separation method can be water-soluble polymers, or polymer and salt, or alcohol and salt, which is a simpler and lower-cost method that can be used at a larger purification scale. The comparison of different approaches in LBS for amylase purification from agricultural waste is also included. Current technology has evolved from a simple LBS into microwave-assisted LBS, liquid biphasic flotation (LBF), thermoseparation (TMP), three-phase partitioning (TPP), ultrasound-assisted LBS, and electrically assisted LBS. pH, time, temperature, and concentration are some of the significant research parameters considered in the review of advanced techniques.

Over the years, the persistent occurrence of superfluous endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) (sub µg L−1) in water has led to serious health disorders in human and aquatic lives, as well as undermined the water quality. At present, there are no generally accepted regulatory discharge limits for the EDCs to avert their possible negative impacts. Moreover, the conventional treatment processes have reportedly failed to remove the persistent EDC pollutants, and this has led researchers to develop alternative treatment methods. Comprehensive information on the recent advances in the existing novel treatment processes and their peculiar limitations is still lacking. In this regard, the various treatment methods for the removal of EDCs are critically studied and reported in this paper. Initially, the occurrences of the EDCs and their attributed effects on humans, aquatic life, and wildlife are systematically reviewed, as well as the applied treatments. The most noticeable advances in the treatment methods include adsorption, catalytic degradation, ozonation, membrane separation, and advanced oxidation processes (AOP), as well as hybrid processes. The recent advances in the treatment technologies available for the elimination of EDCs from various water resources alongside with their associated drawbacks are discussed critically. Besides, the application of hybrid adsorption–membrane treatment using several novel nano-precursors is carefully reviewed. The operating factors influencing the EDCs’ remediations via adsorption is also briefly examined. Interestingly, research findings have indicated that some of the contemporary techniques could achieve more than 99% EDCs removal.

urian known as the King of Fruit is a prominent, common native Southeast Asian fruit and very popular among the local Malaysians. Nowadays, there are various types of durian-based products available in the market such as ice-cream, cakes, chips, chocolate bars, and pre-mixed powders. There are also traditional dessert products produced using fresh durian filling such as ‘dodol’, ‘lempuk’ and ‘bingka’. However, as time goes on, traditional desserts are increasingly forgotten. The aim of this study was to diversify durian-based products into Ready-To-Eat (RTE) durian stick. The stick production technique began with the process of grinding the durian paste, mixing the ingredients, stuffing the mixture into the sausage casing, steaming the mixture and chilling the RTE durian stick. Next, the firmness and moisture content of the RTE durian stick production were also analyzed. Apart from that, sensory evaluation is conducted to determine the consumer acceptance of the RTE durian stick that has been produced. Based on the results obtained, the best firmness for this RTE durian stick is 10.42 N. The value of the moisture content obtained is high, which is between 52.05% to 61.89%. The overall acceptability of RTE durian stick resulted 3.7 out of its full score which is 5. For the RTE durian stick, where the RTE durian stick was satisfactory to the panellists, the overall acceptability showed a score of 74%. In conclusion, this method can be used to increase the added value and uniqueness of the RTE durian-based stick produced, however, improvements such as product formulations and freezing methods to extend the product’s shelf life is necessary for the future to produce better RTE dessert products. The RTE durian stick has potential to be commercialized for local and international markets based on the overall acceptability in terms of the texture, appearance, smell and taste.

Bambangan (Mangifera pajang) is an indigenous fruit that merely cultivated in Borneo Island. This fruit has great potential to be commercialized particularly in food applications such as production of juice and ingredient for functional foods. In this study, the effect of different heat treatment on the physicochemical properties of bambangan fruit juice (BFJ) was evaluated. The BFJ was subjected to three different heat treatment conditions: sterilization at 121°C for 3 min, mild temperature long time (MTLT) pasteurization at 65°C for 15 min, and high temperature short time (HTST) pasteurization at 90°C for 1 min. After heat treatment, the BFJ samples were further analyzed for their physicochemical properties including moisture content, color, total soluble solid, pH and vitamin C. It was found that heat treatment could decrease the BFJ moisture content. Heat treatment has changed the color of juice in terms of lightness (L*), green to red (a*), and blue to yellow (b*). The total soluble solid was increased with heat treatment, but decreased in vitamin C, and no changes in pH. The results provide important information on the physicochemical characteristic of BFJ in different heat treatment conditions.

Paperboard box produced in large volume for packaging purpose either to pack light or heavy product. When a heavy product is packed, high strength and structural stability against compression and deformation of the paperboard box are demanded. This paper investigates the effects of different shape of fluting mediums on the von Mises stress and deformation using finite element analysis (FEA) tool. Solidworks and ANSYS software were used to design a 3-D model and perform static structural analysis, respectively. The result from the analysis and simulation revealed that common s-shape geometry experienced the lowest von Mises stress and deformation. Honeycomb geometry experienced the highest von Mises stress of 0.19576 MPa while triangle fluting medium recorded the highest deformation at 1.8695E-4mm.

Single-screw extrusion of a fibrous-structured meat analog from soy proteins added with low-grade oyster mushroom was successful. Satisfactory extrudates were obtained at a barrel temperature of 140 °C, screw speed range of 100–160 rpm, and oyster mushroom addition at 0%, 7.5%, and 15% via factorial experiments. Single-screw extrusion equipped with a slit die successfully produced expanded oyster mushroom-soy protein extrudates. However, the increase in the oyster mushroom content significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.05) the expansion ratio of the extrudate from 1.26 to 0.98. This result indicated that adding more oyster mushroom restrained the expansion ratio. The extrudates had a medium density range (max of 1393.70 ± 6.30 kg/m3). By adding oyster mushroom, the extrudates attained a higher moisture content (range = 34.77% to 37.93%) compared with the extrudates containing the protein mixture only (range = 26.99% to 32.33%). The increase in screw speed and oyster mushroom significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05) the water absorption index. The increase in the texturization index was significantly influenced (p ≤ 0.05) by oyster mushroom addition rather than the screw speed. A defined fibrous structure supported the high texturization index and small shape of air cells observed in the extrudates.

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is an annual herb of the family Convolvulaceae and ranked as the world's seventh most important food crop with a major contribution to energy and phytochemical source of nutrition. Three different conditions of sweet potatoes are unpeeled tuber (UPSP), peeled tuber (PSP) and skin of tuber (SSP). The objective of this study is to evaluate the phytochemical availability (total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC) and anthocyanin content) in the different parts of the sweet potato tuber. Folin-Ciocalteau (FC) assay showed that phenolic contents for UPSP (41.14±1.69 mg GAE/100 g dry basis) and PSP (42.24±2.19 mg GAE/100 g dry basis) were significantly (50%) higher than SSP (26.01±2.04 mg GAE/100 g dry basis). In terms of flavonoid content, the highest value was retained in PSP (9.55±0.82 mg quercetin/100 g dry basis) followed by UPSP (3.30±0.19 mg quercetin/100 g dry basis) and SSP (1.43 ± 0.03 mg quercetin/100 g dry basis). PSP (9.43±0.08 mg/100 dry basis) had a higher anthocyanin content compared to UPSP (5.21±0.02 b mg/100 g dry basis) and SSP (5.21±0.02 b mg/100 g dry basis). The phytochemical properties were available in all conditions of the sweet potato. However, PSP was suggested to be the most preferable condition for further processing in the sweet potato industry.

Banana puree is one of the main commercial banana products available in the market worldwide. However, like other purees, banana puree deteriorates quite rapidly and gets a chilling injury when refrigerated. Therefore, this study focused on the dehydration of banana puree using a foam mat drying (FMD) technique to prolong its shelf life. It involved whipping the banana puree to form foams with the help of whey protein concentrate (WPC) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as the foaming agent and foam stabilizer, respectively. The study evaluated the effect of different foaming agent percentages (5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15%) and drying temperatures (50, 60, 70 and 80°C) on the production of the foam mat dried banana powder. Besides that, the drying curves of banana puree using FMD and oven drying methods were compared. The banana powders produced were also analyzed in terms of the foam density, moisture content, solubility, color (browning index) and flowability (caking strength). Based on the findings, the FMD technique has proven to produce a good quality banana powder better than the control sample especially at a higher foaming agent concentration (15%) and drying temperature (80°C). By using the FMD technique, the banana puree has the capacity to be dried three times faster compared to the conventional oven drying method to form a more stable banana powder.

A corn-mango peel blend was processed using a laboratory-scale single-screw extruder, which led to the determination of the apparent density, yellowness, and specific mechanical energy of the extrudate. The effects of the extrusion variables (barrel temperature from 75–175°C, screw speed from 76–100 rpm, feed moisture from 15–21%, and mango peel powder addition from 0–33.33%) were analyzed, and predictive models were obtained using the response surface methodology (RSM). At elevated barrel temperature and screw speed, the extrudates’ apparent density decreased but then increased when the feed moisture and mango peel powder addition increased. At increasing barrel temperature but decreasing mango peel powder addition, the yellowness intensity decreased, and the same response was observed at a low barrel temperature and high mango peel powder addition. The calculated specific mechanical energy (SME) for the production of corn-mango peel extrudate was decreased as the barrel temperature increased.

Fresh guava juice was clarified using ultrafiltration (UF) process on a laboratory scale in this study. The observation was undertaken to determine the effect of the operating pressure (OP) on the permeate flux (J) behaviour, the fouling mechanisms as well as the quality attributes of the guava juice i.e. pH, turbidity, colour, total soluble solids (TSS), total phenolic content (TPC) and ascorbic acid content (AAC). The clarification of guava juice was performed in a batch mode using a 100 kDa polymeric membrane in a dead-end module at an operating pressure OP of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 bar. The results showed that a high OP resulted in high flux during the UF process. The flux-pressure curves exhibited no increase for an OP higher than 2.0 bar (Plim), with a limiting flux (Jlim) identified at 17.22 kg/m2 /hr. Intermediate and total pore-blocking has been identified as the major fouling mechanisms in the process. The resulting juice after filtration showed a reduction of more than 97% turbidity with a lower TSS by 7 to 17%, compared to the fresh juice. The UF process permitted a good level of clarification with improvement in colour properties with a stable pH at 3.8. However, a 19 to 27% and 18 to 22% reduction of TPC and AAC, respectively were found in the filtered juice with respect to the fresh juice. For appropriate flux behaviour and juice quality attributes, the process UF should be conducted at 2.0 bar.

Despite the utilization of dusting flour and oil to reduce dough stickiness during the production process in food industry, they do not effectively help in eliminating the problem. Stickiness remains the bane of the production of bakery and confectionery products, including cookies. In addition, the high moisture content of cookie dough is unduly important to obtain a high breaking and compression strengths (cookies with high breaking tolerance). This study was conducted in light of insufficient research hitherto undertaken on the utilization of response surface methodology and superimposition to enhance the stickiness and moisture content of quick oat-based cookie dough. The study aims at optimizating, validating and superimposing the best combination of factors, to produce the lowest stickiness and highest moisture content in cookie dough. In addition, the effect of flour content and resting time on the stickiness and moisture content of cookie dough was also investigated, and microstructure analysis conducted. The central composite design (CCD) technique was employed and 39 runs were generated by CCD based on two factors with five levels, which comprised flour content (50, 55, 60, 65, and 70%), resting time (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 min) and three replications. Results from ANOVA showed that all factors were statistically significant at p < 0.05. Flour content between 56% and 62%, and resting time within 27 and 50 min, resulted in dough with high stickiness. High-region moisture content was observed for flour content between 60% and 70%, and within 10 and 15 min of resting time. The optimized values for flour content (V1) = 67% and resting time (V2) = 10 min. The predicted model (regression coefficient model) was found to be accurate in predicting the optimum value of factors. The experimental validation showed the average relative deviation for stickiness and moisture content was 8.54% and 1.44%, respectively. The superimposition of the contour plots was successfu

Optical imaging techniques have gained wide attention for quality detection of agricultural and food products. In this work, the non-destructive ability of the laser-light backscattering imaging technique (LLBI) for monitoring and classifying the quality changes of sweet potatoes under different storage conditions was investigated. Freshly-harvested sweet potato root samples were stored at 5 °C, 15 °C and 30 °C for a period of 21 d with 120 samples in each storage group. Laser diode emitting light at 658 nm wavelength along with the camera system was employed to capture the backscattered light from the subjected samples. The acquired backscattering images were then pre-processed and segmented, and the intended backscattering parameters (BP) were extracted. Quality parameters (QP) such as moisture content (MC), soluble solids content (SSC), texture and color properties (L*, a*, b*) were measured using the conventional methods as standard reference data. Multivariate analysis in terms of partial least squares regression (PLSR), principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was carried out to correlate and classify the sweet potatoes based on the BP. Results showed that storage had a significant effect both in the BP and QP of sweet potatoes as well as in the interaction between the BP and the treatments (day and temperature) applied. Among all the QP, SSC gave the most promising results (R = 0.56-0.66; RMSE = 0.76–1.10) across all the storage conditions. The analysis also revealed that 15 °C was the most suitable storage condition with the favourable PLSR results (R > 0.50) in all the examined parameters. Moreover, variations on the BP of the samples with respect to the different storage conditions were correctly classified with over 90 % and 80 % accuracies using the PCA and LDA, respectively. Thus, the study indicates that the LLBI technique is feasible and can be a useful tool for a non-destructive quality measurement and classification

Effects of extruder parameters (barrel temperature: 75–175°C; screw speed: 76–100 rpm) and feed formulations (feed moisture: 15–21%; mango peel powder: 0–33.33%) on the extrudate properties, moisture loss, and the mixing torque during extrusion was studied. Feed formulations containing high moisture and mango peel powder produced less expand and hard extrudates. The torque decreased as the barrel temperature, screw speed and mango peel powder content increased. Low temperature extrusion increased the moisture loss of extrudates. Increasing the mango peel powder reduced the extrudate expansion, but the post-drying subjected to the extrudate produced improved texture.