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Background and objective: Considering the harmful effects of oil from a nutritional point of view on the one hand, and high oil uptake in fried products on the other, reducing the amount of oil in frying is essential. In this study, feasibility of producing low-fat kiwi chips based on aloe vera gel and the influence of various pre-treatment methods on reducing oil uptake of the product were investigated. Materials and methods: To produce low-fat kiwi chips, the effect of coating type (CMC gum and aloe vera gel) and pretreatment (osmotic dehydration and osmo-ultasound) on the mass transfer of fried kiwi chips were investigated. The qualitative tests carried out on the samples included determination of moisture content, oil uptake, fried yield , coating percentage and water loss during frying. Results: The result indicated that, as compared to the control (blank) and osmo-ultrasound samples, osmotic dehydration pretreatment in the experimental sample could reduce oil uptake of kiwi chips. The results of optimization of the method of kiwi chips production showed that kiwi chips prepared with osmotic dehydration pretreatment and coated with 1% CMC in aloe vera gel (i.e. C3T1) was the best treatment for production of low-fat kiwi chips. Conclusion: The result of this study show that aloe vera gel as a hydrocolloid compound can reduce oil uptake during deep fat frying. Keywords: Osmotic dehydration, Edible coating, Aloe vera gel, Ultrasound

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Background and Objectives: Pistachio nut is one of the main Iranian non-oil exporting goods. Due to the importance of drying method to prevent of the quality properties of product from pistachio kernel and also utilizing renewable sources of energy, a solar dryer equipped with air recycle system was designed and fabricated, and its results were compared with traditional drying  method (exposing to direct sunlight).

Materials and Methods: Fresh Kalle-Ghuchi variety whole Pistachio was purchased daily from one of the gardens of Sabzevar County. To test the solar dryer, daily data recording was conducted from 9:00 AM to 15:00 PM. Some quality properties of dried pistachio such as shrinkage, moisture content, color indexes and sensory attribute were measured and evaluated.

Results: The results indicated that the solar drying method reduced the drying time by 31.57% compared to the traditional method. Investigation of quality properties showed that solar dried pistachio nut in air recycle mode had the lowest shrinkage, moisture content and color change. Also the results illustrated that the traditional method had the highest score in roasting index.

Conclusion: Overall, according to Iran’s high potential of solar energy, using it for drying agriculture crops, especially pistachio nut, is recommended and emphasized.

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Background and Objectives: Pomegranate seed oil contains significant amounts of estrols such as β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, and also, 𝛼, 𝛽 and 𝛾 tocopherols. The object of this article is encapsulation of pomegranate seed oil in zein nanoparticles and investigation of the stability of these encapsulated functional compounds in food systems model (such as acidic beverages) and passing under gastric simulating conditions and release in the intestinal tract.

Materials and Methods: Zein was chemically cross-linked with citric acid in the presence of sodium hydroxide as catalyst. Water was then used to desolvate the zein and generate core-free or pomegranate seed oil-loaded particles.

Results: The mean sizes of the particles obtained from non-cross-linked and cross-linked zeins were 350 and 246 nm, respectively. Cross-linking of the particles resulted to increase in the oil encapsulation efficiency from 87% to 95%. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a spherical morphology for particles. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed the occurrence of chemical linkages between citric acid and zein. Also it was found that oil entrapment inside the zein particles was merely physical.

Conclusion: The results showed that citric acid in the presence of NaOH as alkaline catalyst can be used successfully for production of cross-linked zein.

Keywords: Zein nanoparticles, Citric acid, Cross-linking, Desolvation, Pomegranate seed oil

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Background and Objectives: The non-dairy probiotic products with valuable nutritional and therapeutic properties are novel issues in the field of industry, nutrition and medicine. The aim of this study is investigation of the effects of encapsulation on the survival of probiotic bacteria by emulsification method during heat the pasteurization process of orange juice.

Materials and Methods: In this research, L. acidophilus bacterium was used as probiotic genus in the orange juice. The probiotic bacteria were inoculated into orange juice in four forms: free, uncoated, monolayer coating and multilayer coating. Encapsulation of the probiotic bacteria was carried out by emulsification method by calcium alginate. The enumeration of probiotic microorganisms were carried out as pure plate in the culture medium of MRS Agar under the aerobic conditions at 37^oC for 48-72h. Statistical analysis was performed by factorial arrangement based on completely randomized design (CRD) in 0.05% confidence level.

Results: The results indicated that the viability loss of L. acidophilus bacteria undergoing pasteurization process was about 5 logarithmic cycles in free form whereas in the orange juice contained uncoated, monolayer and multilayer bacteria, this value was much lower (reported as about 3.33, 2.90 and 2.50 logarithmic cycles, respectively).

Conclusion: Orange juice is an appropriate raw material to provide the growth of L. acidophilus bacteria, and could be considered as a carrier for transferring the probiotic bacterium to the host body.

Keywords: Orange juice, Pasteurization, Encapsulation

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Background and Objectives: In beverages industry, clarification is one of the unit operations that it is used to remove the color, aroma and undesirable flavor, haziness, bitterness and acridity.
Materials and Methods: For clarification of celery juice, different clarification methods such as mechanical (I), bentonite earth (II), active charcoal (III) and gelatin (IV) were used. Then, in each of the studied methods, the processing parameters including the concentration of compounds, rotation and process time were optimized by RSM approach.
Results: After optimization process, the optimum points for methods I, II, III and IV were obtained as (3999.5 rpm and 14.77 min), (500 ppm and 25 min), (1418.37 ppm and 81.17 min) and (105.89 ppm and 119.48 min), respectively. Type of clarification method had significant effect (p<0.05) on the transmittance index of produced celery juice, and the amount of transmittance in different clarification methods I, II, III and IV was 8.71, 1.965, 0.477 and 31.31%, respectively; the loss of cholerophyll pigmenty corresponding to each of these methods comparing to the blank sample was computed as 65.37, 41.64, 16.84 and 86.24%, respectively. The lowest amount of pH (5.69) was observed in method IV, which corresponds to the greatest acidity value. Also the change of specific gravity was very trivial and the lowest amount of it was related to method IV (SG=1.0114), most probably due to the loss of suspension particles present in celery juice.
Conclusion: Goodness clarification methods of celery juice in order of importance included IV, I, II and III. Generally, application of clarification method IV as the best treatment is recommended for the processing factories of this crop.
 

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Background and Objectives: Processed ready-to-eat seafood is one of the most important sources of animal proteins for humans, which synthetic preservatives are used to extend their shelf-life. In the current study, possibleuse of a natural preservative compound (propolis ethanolic extract) was investigated.
Materials & Methods: After formulating and preparing fish burgers, various freeze-dried propolis powder concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 g/100 g) were added to the grounded fish fillets. Prepared samples were packed in polyethylene bags and stored at -18^oC ±1. Then, relevant qualitative factors of the samples were assessed at various time intervals (0, 30, 60 and 90 days).
Results: Replacement of propolis powder (0.4 g/100 g) was able to decrease peroxide and TBA values to nearly 31.77 and 22.71% during 90 days of storage. The highest amount of total volatile nitrogen index(corresponding to the lowest pH) was related to the control sample (on the 90^th day of storage). Also, the result show that, there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.01) between the samples in terms of color changes.
Conclusion: Based on the results of sensory evaluation and quality assessment, using 0.2–0.4 (g/100 g) of propolis powder can be recommended for the industrial production of fish burgers.

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Background and Objectives: Greenhouse cucumber is one of the most important summer crops of Iran. Quality of the product is immediately lost after harvest due to physicochemical changes. Thus, use of special pre-processes (especially use of edible coating) to delay their maturity and increase the shelf-life of the product is important.
Materials and Methods: To decrease weight loss, preserve nutritional value (protects against the breakdown of vitamin C) and texture brittleness (corresponding to the higher acceptability of consumers), greenhouse cucumbers were processed with various edible coatings; control (I), Shiraz gum (II) and Shiraz gum containing 1000 ppm peppermint essential oil (III). Then, physicochemical characteristics (pH, weight loss, vitamin C and hardness) and color parameters (L*, a* and b*) of the samples were assessed at storage days of 1, 8 and 16 at 4 ^oC.
Results: While the vitamin C and firmness of uncoated greenhouse cucumbers (control) respectively decreased to 4.8 and 2.26 times during 16 days of storage, the highlighted parameters decreased at rates of ~3.85 and ~1.20 times in samples treated with coating (III) at similar conditions, respectively. Moreover, strong positive correlations between vitamin C and firmness factors (r = +0.9654 and R² = 0.932) included significant effects on the perception of consumer mouth feels.
Conclusion: Regarding that the control sample achieved only 57.5% of the maximum organoleptic score (flavor, aroma, color and texture), greenhouse samples treated with coating (III) achieved up to 94% of these characteristics and have been recommended as the best edible coating for the shelf-life extending of greenhouse cucumbers.