Effect of low-frequency high-intensity ultrasound (HIU) on the physicochemical properties of chickpea protein.

The aim of this study was to improve the functional properties of chickpea protein for its potential application in the food industry. The effects of low frequency high intensity ultrasound (HIU) at different power (0-300 W) and time (15-30 min) on the rheological properties, gelation, thermal stability, solubility and microstructure of chickpea protein were tested and analyzed. Based on the analysis, it was found that HIU caused the disruption of non-covalent bonds between protein chains leading to the unfolding of chickpea. The HIU-treated chickpea isolate protein aggregates were smaller and more uniformly dispersed, with increased orderly structure, thermal stability, and exposure of hydrophobic and charged groups originally buried in the interior. The experimental results also showed that the effect of HIU did not become more pronounced with increasing power and time, as the power exceeding 150 W for 30 min led to the formation of new polymers by the interactions between the exposed non-covalent groups, which were more ordered and homogeneous than those without HIU.

Characterization of a Novel High Internal Phase Pickering Emulsions Stabilized by Soy Protein Self-Assembled Gel Particles.

In this paper, a novel high-internal-phase Pickering emulsion (HIPPE) prepared by acid-induced self-assembly SPI gel (A/S-SPIG) was investigated. The steady-state shear test results showed that all HIPPEs were typical shear thinning emulsion, which could form stable emulsion (0.2-1.2% SPI concentration). The network structure of HIPPE stabilized by A/S-SPIG particles (0.2-1.2% SPI concentration) was continuously enhanced with increasing SPI concentration. The high concentration of SPI particles increased the crystallization temperature of the stabilized HIPPE. Meanwhile, at a concentration of 1.2%, HIPPE has the best cohesive property and stability against delamination due to weakened mobility. In conclusion, A/S-SPIG was proved excellent HIPPE stabilized particle.

Effect of high pressure homogenization treatment on the rheological properties of citrus peel fiber/corn oil emulsion.

BACKGROUND: Citrus fiber is a main component in the peel of citrus and contains natural dietary fiber. It is often used as a functional additive to improve the texture or nutritional property of food. It is also widely used to reduce the content of absorbable fat in sausages and other meat products, and to improve food stability as an emulsifier. In this research, the dynamic rheological properties (linear and non-linear) of citrus peel fiber/corn oil (CF/CO) emulsion system under high pressure homogenization (HPH) treatment was investigated. RESULT: Rheological results illustrated HPH treatment significantly increased the apparent viscosity of the emulsion, reduced the activation energy of the emulsion and distinctly improved the viscoelasticity of the emulsion. Meanwhile, HPH treatment increased the linear viscoelastic region of the sample, and the behavior of the emulsion converted from strain thinning (without HPH treatment) to weak strain overshoot (with HPH treatment). Lissajous curves indicated the viscosity of the sample increased first and then decreased with strain increasing and the third harmonic contributed much more to the first harmonic compared with the fifth harmonic. Chebyshev stress decomposition revealed that, as strain increased, the samples with HPH treatment showed internal-cycle strain hardening behavior first, then turned to internal-cycle softening behavior. CONCLUSION: HPH treatment can significantly improve the processing performance of CF/CO emulsion as well as the stability against large periodic oscillations in food processing. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Process development for scum to biodiesel conversion.

A novel process was developed for converting scum, a waste material from wastewater treatment facilities, to biodiesel. Scum is an oily waste that was skimmed from the surface of primary and secondary settling tanks in wastewater treatment plants. Currently scum is treated either by anaerobic digestion or landfilling which raised several environmental issues. The newly developed process used a six-step method to convert scum to biodiesel, a higher value product. A combination of acid washing and acid catalyzed esterification was developed to remove soap and impurities while converting free fatty acids to methyl esters. A glycerol washing was used to facilitate the separation of biodiesel and glycerin after base catalyzed transesterification. As a result, 70% of dried and filtered scum was converted to biodiesel which is equivalent to about 134,000 gallon biodiesel per year for the Saint Paul waste water treatment plant in Minnesota.

Effect of gums on the rheological characteristics and microstructure of acid-induced SPI-gum mixed gels.

The effect of addition of xanthan gum (XG) and guar gum (GG) on the rheological properties and microstructure of glucono-δ-lactone induced soy protein isolate (SPI)-XG gels and SPI-GG gels was investigated using steady and dynamic rheological tests, creep-recovery and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Results showed that the apparent viscosity of SPI-gum (XG, GG) mixed solutions increased with the increase in the gum (XG, GG) concentration. The storage (G') and loss (G″) moduli of SPI-gum (XG, GG) mixed gels increased in the presence and increase in the gum (XG, GG) concentration. The Burger's model fitted the creep recovery data well (R(2)>0.919) and showed that both the instantaneous and equilibrium (retarded) elastic components of this model increased with the increase in SPI and gum concentrations. The proportion occupied by gum in mixed gels was found to increase with the increase in the concentration of gums which increased the density of protein aggregates in the mixed gels.

Preparation and characterization of starch crosslinked with sodium trimetaphosphate and hydrolyzed by enzymes.

Crosslinked porous starch samples were produced by first crosslinking corn starch with sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) and then partially hydrolyzing it with a mixture of α-amylase and glucoamylase. The granule morphology, porosity, swelling power, adsorption capacity, crystalline nature, molecular structure, melting and viscometric properties of these starch samples were measured and analyzed. The results showed that the porous starch which was crosslinked with 6% (w/w) STMP (ScPS-6) possessed remarkable superiority in terms of thermal and shear resistance among all the starch samples tested. The ScPS-6 also had the highest porosity and largest average pore diameter values. The swelling power of crosslinked porous starch was 56.3% lower than that of uncrosslinked porous starch. First order reaction kinetics equation was found to excellently (R(2) ≥ 0.99, average error = 6.03%) predict the experimental adsorption kinetics data of methylene blue for the crosslinked porous starch samples.

Characterization of non-linear rheological behavior of SPI-FG dispersions using LAOS tests and FT rheology.

The effect of flaxseed gum (FG) on the rheological and nonlinear stress response behaviors of mixed soy protein isolate (SPI)-flaxseed gum (FG) dispersions were studied. Results showed that the viscosity of the SPI-FG mixed dispersions increased significantly with increase in the FG concentration. Both the shear stress and the apparent viscosity values as a function of shear rate were fitted well using Power law model as expected. The frequency dependence of G', G'' and tanδ of soy protein isolate decreased as the FG concentration increased. The large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) test and Fourier transform (FT) rheology analysis showed that the addition of flaxseed gum strongly affected the structure of the SPI-FG mixed dispersion system as shown by deformation of the nonlinear stress response curve and significantly altered magnitude of higher harmonic curve. The addition of FG increased the instantaneous strain softening effect of the SPI-FG mixed dispersion system.

Viscoelastic properties and fractal analysis of acid-induced SPI gels at different ionic strength.

The viscoelastic property and scaling behavior of acid (glucono-δ-lactone)-induced soy protein isolate (SPI) gels were investigated at various ionic strengths (0-800mM) and five protein concentrations ranging between 4% and 8% (w/w). The infinite storage modulus ( [Formula: see text] ) and the gelation start time (t(g)) which indicate the progress of gelation process exhibited strong ionic strength dependence. The storage modulus and critical strain were found to exhibit a power-law relationship with protein concentration. Rheological analysis and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) analysis were applied to estimate the fractal dimensions (D(f)) of the gels and the values were found to vary between 2.319 and 2.729. The comparison of the rheological methods and the CLSM image analysis method showed that the Shih, Shih, Kim, Liu, and Aksay (1990) model was better suited in estimating the D(f) value of acid-induced SPI gel system.