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Microencapsulation is an advanced food processing technology, using which any compound can be encapsulated inside a particular material, making a tiny sphere of diameter ranging from 1 μm to several 100 μm. Microencapsulation is done for protecting the sensitive compounds and, hence, ensuring their safe delivery. The compound or active material which is encapsulated is called the core and the material which is used for encapsulating is called the encapsulant. Encapsulants can be either polymeric or nonpolymeric materials like cellulose, ethylene glycol, and gelatin. There are several techniques used for microencapsulation. Fluidized bed coating, spray cooling, spray drying, extrusion, and coacervation are few to be named. The selection of a particular technique depends upon the properties of the core material, encapsulant, and different properties and morphology of the capsules desired. The characterization and optimization of efficient and successful encapsulation can be done by studying the encapsulation efficiency and various properties of the capsules like morphology, size, hydrophobicity, hygroscopicity, solubility, surface tension, thermal behavior, and mechanical properties. Microencapsulation is a technology that is extensively used in foods, whether as a fortifying tool or as a mode for the development of a functional food. Based on the fundamental understanding of encapsulation and latest research and findings from literature, this review critically analyses and brings together the utilization of this particular technique in foods, different methods used for encapsulation, different properties of the capsules which result from the different techniques adopted for microencapsulation and different release mechanisms used for delivering the compounds.

Response surface methodology was used to investigate the influence of high shear homogenization speed (A: 3000–12 000 r/min) and processing time (B: 30–120 min) on bael fruit pulp quality parameters. The experimental results were best fitted in the suggested quadratic model to delineate and envision the responses in terms of color (values of L*, meaning brightness to blackness, 100–0; a*, meaning green –a* to red +a*; and b*, meaning blue –b* to yellow +b), total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, viscosity, and β-carotene content with the highest coefficients of determination (R2) ranging from 0.80 to 0.99. Significant (P

Food adulteration is a prevalent issue in the food industry. It affects safety and quality of food and causes harm to the health of the consumer. To reduce incidence of adulteration in food, it is necessary to study adulterants being added to food. Food safety concerns arise when adulteration occurs for a variety of reasons. The act includes use of expired ingredients, deceptive adulterated food labels, addition of harmful compounds to food, and more. Tests and techniques for suspected food items that are commonly adulterated with certain food or non-food products are studied and described here. The detection of adulteration in food sectors can be done qualitatively and quantitatively. Various methods like chemical analysis, spectroscopic, and chromatographic techniques used to detect adulteration are reviewed. Various laws and regulations are in effect around the world in order to prevent adulteration and ensure food safety to protect the consumers. Regulatory agencies play an important role in putting a check to food adulteration by monitoring the quality of food and penalizing defaulters.

In recent years membrane processes have received huge attention from researchers due to their wide applications and their advantages over other conventional thermal separation processes. Nanofiltration (NF) membranes fill the gap between ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis. The filtration efficiency of this pressure-driven separation process depends on steric and charge effects. The characteristic features of NF have made the separation of various organic compounds and inorganic salts much easier. NF is used by both food and pharmaceutical industries for concentration, fractionation, and purification of various compounds. This chapter highlights the scope and features of nanofiltration, the characteristics of NF membrane, mathematical modeling, the types of modules used in nanofiltration processes, and provides an overview of the processes used for membrane preparation. The applications of NF technology for juice concentration, water treatment, whey processing, and the effective separation of various biomolecules such as polyphenols from juices are also discussed.

Black pepper is known for its pungent constituent piperine. It has wide culinary uses and also possess certain preservative and medicinal properties. Piperine, beyond pungency, has been found to possess bio-transformative effects that can detoxify pathogen, prevent oxidation, and improve the bioavailability and absorption of various drugs. Piperine also shows immunomodulatory, antiasthmatic, anticarcinogenic, antiulcer, antiamoebic, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and antiulcer properties. On the other hand, curcumin, the curcuminoid of turmeric, mainly found in rhizomes of Curcuma spp., helped to prevent skin cancers, duodenum, forestomach, and colon cancers in mice. In India and many other regions of the world, piperine and curcumin have been part of the folk formulations used for treating various ailments for centuries. In this chapter, the recent developments regarding chemistry, extraction processes, pharmacological, and biological activities of both piperine and curcumin have been discussed.

Engineering properties as a function of moisture content are important for food processing and equipment designing, assessment of other properties, and for the product quality determination. Different engineering properties of Jamun seeds depending upon the moisture content in the range of 11.54 to 26% (db) were studied. It was noted that various properties like, length (L), breadth (B), thickness (T), and geometric mean diameter (Dg) increased linearly with increasing moisture content. The seed surface area (Sₐ), seed volume (V), thousand seed mass (M₁₀₀₀), increased from 220.5 to 303.2 mm², 257.2–443.7 mm³, 0.28–0.37 kg, respectively, with increasing moisture content. As the moisture content increased, bulk density (ρb) and true density (ρₜ) decreased from 899.33 to 778.66 and 1,270.89 to 1077.75 kg/m³, respectively, while porosity increased nonlinearly from 26.2 to 27.7%. With the increased moisture in seeds, the angle of repose increased linearly from 27.4 to 33.5°. Static coefficient of friction also increased from 0.23 to 0.40, 0.29 to 0.42, and 0.57 to 0.73 for glass, cardboard and plywood surfaces, respectively, with the increasing moisture content. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The physical properties of Jamun seeds will be helpful in machine designing for industrial processing and fabrication of postharvest handling equipment like sorter, grader, collector, dryer, pulper, and grinder. These properties may help in designing of grinding, packaging machines, and storage structures.

Ajwain seeds are used as spice and have high medicinal values. The ajwain seed varieties selected were set at 8, 12, 16, and 20% moisture content on dry basis (db) for this study. The geometrical dimensions showed linear increment with the increase in moisture content of ajwain seeds. The true density and porosity increased from 1,069 to 1,697 kg m⁻³ and 15.84–42.88%, respectively, across the three varieties of ajwain seeds with the increasing moisture content. The bulk density showed a decreasing trend of 1049.81–857.14 kg m⁻³ with the increasing moisture content. The coefficient of friction was also found to increase for all the varieties, but the maximum friction was found for the cardboard surface and the minimum friction was observed in case of aluminium sheet. The thermal diffusivity of seeds decreased from 4.09 to 2.46 m² s⁻¹ with the increasing moisture content. Thermal conductivity and specific heat showed a marked increase with increasing moisture content. Varietal differences among the ajwain seeds of variety AA‐1, AA‐2, and AA‐93 were also studied at 5% significance level. Significant differences were observed between the three ajwain varieties, namely AA‐1, AA‐2, and AA‐93 in context to their physical and thermal properties. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The physical and thermal properties of ajwain seeds will be useful in designing of processes and equipment required for its processing. These properties give detailed information about the quality of the seeds, its acceptability to consumers and the behavior of the ajwain post production, during storage and consumption and post consumption. The knowledge on physical properties such as seed size, shape, volume, surface area, mass, density, porosity helps in designing the separating, storing, handling, and drying systems. The grading and sizing machineries will be based on the size and shape of the ajwian seeds. The density and porosity of the ajwain seeds will help in sizing the hoppers and storage containers. The density of seeds will also play role in separation based on density or specific gravities. The frictional properties like coefficient of friction and angle of repose will help in designing the storage bins, chutes, hoppers, screw conveyers, threshers, and forage harvesters. Thermal properties of ajwain seeds will be useful in analyzing and designing of equipment involving heat transfer, such as in case of cooking, sterilizing and drying.

Waste utilization is a major challenge in recent years and keeping this problem in mind waste packaging materials were utilized for steam-pipe insulation. Conventionally corrugated cardboard is used for packaging and coconut rope is used for tying packaged boxes. These two materials have low thermal conductivity; therefore they act as good thermal insulators and were used to insulate the steam pipe. Thickness of the insulating materials was decided by determining critical thickness of insulation materials. Before insulation, heat loss was found to be 122.0 W/m whereas after insulation, it was 36.32 W/m. It can be concluded from this result that three times more heat loss could be prevented by utilizing waste packaging materials as insulators. Mathematical model was developed for steady state heat transfer and simulated results showed a good match of experimental and predicted values. These findings justify the validity of the developed model and its applicability for further studies.

Natural polymers such as proteins and polysaccharides are of great demand in packaging and medical applications. Horse gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) is a good source of protein and possess excellent antioxidant properties. The present study investigates the development and potential applications of transparent and water-resistant horse gram protein-based films crosslinked with citric acid. Films prepared were further characterized for their physical, chemical and biological properties. Films crosslinked at higher concentrations (15%) of citric acid exhibited 50% reduction in water sorption and reduced water vapor permeability. At 15% citric acid concentration, the films showed excellent free radical scavenging of up to 96%. Also, maximum antimicrobial activity against clinical isolates were observed for the 15% citric acid crosslinked films. Increase in thermal stability and decrease in water vapor permeability was obtained at higher levels of crosslinking. The crosslinked films were cytocompatible and showed potential to be used as substrates for cell culture. Citric acid crosslinked horse gram protein films have good physicochemical properties along with biological activities and could be suitable for applications in the packaging and medical fields.

In this research, sustainable and green bioproducts with controlled sorption and good mechanical properties have been developed from chitosan for commercial applications. Addition of citric acid, a biocompatible crosslinker, and later treating with alkali imparts excellent tensile strength and aqueous stability to the chitosan films. Films were developed from chitosan and studied for their sorption capabilities, mechanical properties, oxygen/water vapour transmission rates and antimicrobial abilities. Moisture sorption of up to 1466% based on the dry weight of chitosan was seen when the films were untreated. However, treating the films with alkali decreased their water sorption to 100–250% and made the films resistant even to boiling water. Modified chitosan could be moulded into various forms and made into bioproducts that could replace plastic based materials. The chitosan bioproducts developed have the potential to replace plastic based products and will help to provide a greener alternative for the plastic based commodity products in current use.

Moringa is a multipurpose tree used in food preparation and for health. Almost all parts of Moringa serve as good source of nutrition. Its leaves, seeds, bark, roots, sap and flowers are widely used in traditional medicine and leaf extract exhibits high antioxidant activity. No adverse effects have been reported in association with human studies. Several studies have shown that Moringa and its components exhibit a wide range of additional biological activities including wound healing, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, tissue protective, analgesic, antiulcer, antihypertensive, radio protective and immune modulatory actions. It is also used to improve eyesight, mental alertness and bone strength. A wide variety of polyphenols, phenolic acids, flavonoids, Glucosinolates and alkaloids are believed to be responsible for the health benefit. This review highlights the health benefits of this “Miracle Tree†, Moringa.

This chapter presents principles and practical applications of good manufacturing practices for food processing industries. Food manufacturing and producing industries should follow and adopt Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) to make sure that all products are manufactured under a safe and healthy environment, which ensures the safety and quality of their products to fulfill requirement of standards regulations. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is well recognized in the food industry as an effective approach to establishing good production, sanitation, and manufacturing practices that produce safe foods. The place, primary materials, people, process and product are the five important factors of production and processing of food product that affect the quality and safety while following GMPs. GMP compliance is not an option but it should be followed. Quality should be built into the food product.

article i nfo Keywords: Rotor Mill Cryogenic Ambient Grinding The suitability of a grinder based on their performance, fenugreek and black pepper seeds were ground under ambient and cryogenic grinding condition with the help of rotor, ball, hammer and pin mills. Rotor, hammer and pin mills were found to be good for small scale grinding at a feed rate of 22.5 g min �1 under ambient condi- tions and at 24.5 g min �1 for cryogenic grinding (continuous process) whereas the ball mill could be used for a lower feed rate of 1.56 g min �1 under ambient grinding; and 2.08 g min �1 under cryogenic grinding (batch processes). Time taken in grinding an equal amount of sample to a definite size in various grinders was found to be in the order: ball mill N rotor mill N pin mill N hammer mill; order of feed rate: hammer mill N rotor mill N pin mill N ball mill; order of power consumptions: pin mill N hammer mill N rotor mill N ball mill; and order of surface area created: rotor mill N hammer mill N pin mill N ball mill. Out of the above selected grinders, the rotor mill was found to be the most suitable for grinding fenugreek and black pepper spices. Power consumption was found to be increasing with an increasing specific surface area. This study will be useful for food process in- dustries while considering spice-grinding applications; and also in academic field to understand suitability of grinders, their grinding mechanism.

Comparative study on ambient and cryogenic grinding based on determination of flow behavior of their powders has been discussed extensively in the present study. Cryogenic grinding helps in retention of aroma, volatile oil and protein structure of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum). Angle of slide, volume, density of powder, Hausner ratio, Carr index, angles of repose and particle size distribution were determined at different moisture content ranging from 11 to 20% on dry basis for ambient and cryogenic grinding. Angle of slide for different planes was found to be increasing in the range of 39–60°. Dynamic and drained angle of repose were found to be increasing for ambient and cryogenic grinding. Mean, mode, median, variances, deviations, skewness, kurtosis and uniformity of powder were also evaluated. It may be concluded that ambient and cryogenically ground fenugreek powder affects its flow behavior, in turn resulted in direct influences on handling, transportation and processing practices. Practical Applications The flow characteristics of fenugreek powder will be useful to have control over processing parameters and will lead to improved quality and output of the fenugreek powder. The present work on flow characteristics of fenugreek powder provides reliable information for design of equipments for handling, processing, packaging and transportation of ground powder, which will in turn be economically helpful for powder processing industries. Sticking and agglomeration of powder also cause loss of economy that can be overcome with the help of present studies.

In present study the thermal properties of the fenugreek powder have been determined and discussed here. The thermal properties of the fenugreek powder are important parameter in designing and fabricating equipment for its processing, developing structures for handling, transporting, processing at different temperature and storage, and also for assessing quality. The study was conducted to investigate thermal properties of fenugreek seed powder at varying moisture content. Thermal conductivity was measured by thermal conductivity meter, specific heat by Differential Scanning Calorimeter whereas bulk thermal diffusivity was determined by using standard relationship. It was found that as moisture content and temperature of fenugreek powder increases, the thermal conductivity and specific heat are increasing, but bulk thermal diffusivity was found to be decreasing in nature.

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is a very widely used spice, known for its pungent constituent piperine. However, in addition to its culinary uses, pepper has important medicinal and preservative properties, and, more recently, piperine has been shown to have fundamental effects on p-glycoprotein and many enzyme systems, leading to biotransformative effects including chemoprevention, detoxification, and enhancement of the absorption and bioavailability of herbal and conventional drugs. Based on modern cell, animal, and human studies, piperine has been found to have immunomodulatory, anti-oxidant, anti-asthmatic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, and anti-amoebic properties. In this review, the chemical constituents, biological activities, effects of processing, and future potential of black pepper and piperine have been discussed thoroughly.