Machine learning-based life cycle assessment for environmental sustainability optimization of a food supply chain.

Effective resource allocation in the agri-food sector is essential in mitigating environmental impacts and moving toward circular food supply chains. The potential of integrating life cycle assessment (LCA) with machine learning has been highlighted in recent studies. This hybrid framework is valuable not only for assessing food supply chains but also for improving them toward a more sustainable system. Yet, an essential step in the optimization process is defining the optimization boundaries, or minimum and maximum quantities for the variables. Usually, the boundaries for optimization variables in these studies are obtained from the minimum and maximum values found through interviews and surveys. A deviation in these ranges can impact the final optimization results. To address this issue, this study applies the Delphi method for identifying variable optimization boundaries. A hybrid environmental assessment framework linking LCA, multilayer perceptron artificial neural network, the Delphi method, and genetic algorithm was used for optimizing the pomegranate production system. The results indicated that the suggested framework holds promise for achieving substantial mitigation in environmental impacts (potential reduction of global warming by 46%) within the explored case study. Inclusion of the Delphi method for variable boundary determination brings novelty to the resource allocation optimization process in the agri-food sector. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;00:1-11. © 2024 SETAC.

Characterization of antimicrobial multilayer film based on ethylcellulose-pectin incorporated with nanoemulsions of trans-cinnamaldehyde essential oil.

In this study, polymer solution casting was utilized to fabricate a multilayer film with ethylcellulose (EC) as the outer layers and trans-cinnamaldehyde-loaded pectin as the inner layer. A significant increase in whiteness and UV-visible light blocking capability and a remarkable decrease in total color difference and yellowness of the films were seen via increasing the thickness of EC outer layers. Scanning electronic microscopy observation showed that the inner and outer layers had a smooth and uniform surfaces with clear boundary. The thicker film has better stretchability and strength, but is less flexible than thinner film. Glass transition temperature did not change remarkably with increasing thickness of EC outer layers, but thermal stability was slightly improved. FTIR-ATR spectra revealed the formation of hydrogen bonds between the two adjacent layers. The multilayer films exhibited excellent antimicrobial efficacy against Gram-positive and Gram-negative foodborne pathogens. The results suggested that this multilayer film has potential applications in active food packaging.

Inclusion of microbiological food safety as a novel aspect in life cycle assessments of food production.

The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology currently covers a limited number of human health-related impact categories. Microbiological food safety is an essential aspect for the selection of an appropriate food production system and has been neglected in the LCA so far. A framework for the inclusion of a microbiological food safety indicator, expressed as disability-adjusted life year (DALY) value of the consumed food product to the human health damage category (end-point) was created, and applied in a case study model on the cooked-chilled meals as the ready-to-eat meals can be associated with the occurrence of foodborne illness cases and outbreaks. This study suggests a framework for the inclusion of microbiological risk caused by Bacillus cereus associated with the consumption of ready-to-eat meals (in Belgium) in the LCA. The results indicated that the microbiological risk of one package of the investigated ready-to-eat meal was 1.95 × 10-6 DALY, and the obtained DALY value was included as an impact category in the LCA methodology. Inclusion of other categories of food safety (including chemical safety hazards, pesticide residues, heavy metals, and mycotoxins) in LCA could be done in the same fashion.

Nanoemulsion-Based Multilayer Films for Ground Beef Preservation: Antimicrobial Activity and Physicochemical Properties.

This study aimed to improve the physical, mechanical, and biological properties of a monolayer pectin (P) film containing nanoemulsified trans-Cinnamaldehyde (TC) by incorporating it between inner and outer layers of ethylcellulose (EC). The nanoemulsion had an average size of 103.93 nm and a zeta potential of -46 mV. The addition of the nanoemulsion increased the opacity of the film, reduced its moisture absorption capacity, and improved its antimicrobial activity. However, the tensile strength and elongation at break of the pectin films decreased after the incorporation of nanoemulsions. Multilayer films (EC/P/EC) showed a higher resistance to breaking and better extensibility compared to monolayer films. The antimicrobial activity of both mono and multilayer films was effective in inhibiting the growth of foodborne bacteria during storage of ground beef patties at 8 °C for 10 days. This study suggests that biodegradable antimicrobial multilayer packaging films can be effectively designed and applied in the food packaging industry.

Effect of pectin on the properties of nanoemulsions stabilized by sodium caseinate at neutral pH.

The effect of different concentrations of low methoxyl pectin (LMP) on lipid oxidation and physical stability of sodium caseinate (CAS) stabilized nanoemulsions under neutral pH was investigated. The addition of pectin at low concentration (≤ 0.10 wt%) had no significant effect on the average size of nanoemulsions, but a slight size increase and phase separation were observed at higher concentrations of pectin (≥ 0.25 wt%). This result suggests that LMP can not adsorb at the oil/water interfacial CAS membrane at neutral pH. However, in the presence of LMP, the physical stability of nanoemulsions against high salt concentrations and freeze-thaw cycles was significantly enhanced. Moreover, nanoemulsions containing pectin have a better ability to inhibit lipid and protein oxidation than nanoemulsions without pectin after 3 weeks, and the lowest lipid hydroperoxide content was observed for nanoemulsions containing 0.25 wt% pectin.

Advancements in Biodegradable Active Films for Food Packaging: Effects of Nano/Microcapsule Incorporation.

Food packaging plays a fundamental role in the modern food industry as a main process to preserve the quality of food products from manufacture to consumption. New food packaging technologies are being developed that are formulated with natural compounds by substituting synthetic/chemical antimicrobial and antioxidant agents to fulfill consumers' expectations for healthy food. The strategy of incorporating natural antimicrobial compounds into food packaging structures is a recent and promising technology to reach this goal. Concepts such as "biodegradable packaging", "active packaging", and "bioactive packaging" currently guide the research and development of food packaging. However, the use of natural compounds faces some challenges, including weak stability and sensitivity to processing and storage conditions. The nano/microencapsulation of these bioactive compounds enhances their stability and controls their release. In addition, biodegradable packaging materials are gaining great attention in the face of ever-growing environmental concerns about plastic pollution. They are a sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective alternative to conventional plastic packaging materials. Ultimately, a combined formulation of nano/microencapsulated antimicrobial and antioxidant natural molecules, incorporated into a biodegradable food packaging system, offers many benefits by preventing food spoilage, extending the shelf life of food, reducing plastic and food waste, and preserving the freshness and quality of food. The main objective of this review is to illustrate the latest advances in the principal biodegradable materials used in the development of active antimicrobial and antioxidant packaging systems, as well as the most common nano/microencapsulated active natural agents incorporated into these food-packaging materials.

Life cycle assessment of edible insects (Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae) as a future protein and fat source.

Because it is important to develop new sustainable sources of edible protein, insects have been recommended as a new protein source. This study applied Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental impact of small-scale edible insect production unit in South Korea. IMPACT 2002 + was applied as the baseline impact assessment (IA) methodology. The CML-IA baseline, EDIP 2003, EDP 2013, ILCD 2011 Midpoint, and ReCiPe midpoint IA methodologies were also used for LCIA methodology sensitivity analysis. The protein, fat contents, and fatty acid profile of the investigated insect (Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae) were analyzed to determine its potential food application. The results revealed that the studied edible insect production system has beneficial environmental effects on various impact categories (ICs), i.e., land occupation, mineral extraction, aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicity, due to utilization of bio-waste to feed insects. This food production system can mitigate the negative environmental effects of those ICs, but has negative environmental impact on some other ICs such as global warming potential. By managing the consumption of various inputs, edible insects can become an environmentally efficient food production system for human nutrition.

Life cycle assessment and energy comparison of aseptic ohmic heating and appertization of chopped tomatoes with juice.

The energy balance and life cycle assessment (LCA) of ohmic heating and appertization systems for processing of chopped tomatoes with juice (CTwJ) were evaluated. The data included in the study, such as processing conditions, energy consumption, and water use, were experimentally collected. The functional unit was considered to be 1 kg of packaged CTwJ. Six LCA impact assessment methodologies were evaluated for uncertainty analysis of selection of the impact assessment methodology. The energy requirement evaluation showed the highest energy consumption for appertization (156 kWh/t of product). The energy saving of the ohmic heating line compared to the appertization line is 102 kWh/t of the product (or 65% energy saving). The energy efficiencies of the appertization and ohmic heating lines are 25% and 77%, respectively. Regarding the environmental impact, CTwJ processing and packaging by appertization were higher than those of ohmic heating systems. In other words, CTwJ production by the ohmic heating system was more environmentally efficient. The tin production phase was the environmental hotspot in packaged CTwJ production by the appertization system; however, the agricultural phase of production was the hotspot in ohmic heating processing. The uncertainty analysis results indicated that the global warming potential for appertization of 1 kg of packaged CTwJ ranges from 4.13 to 4.44 kg CO2eq. In addition, the global warming potential of the ohmic heating system ranges from 2.50 to 2.54 kg CO2eq. This study highlights that ohmic heating presents a great alternative to conventional sterilization methods due to its low environmental impact and high energy efficiency.

Dietary fiber components, microstructure, and texture of date fruits (Phoenix dactylifera, L.).

Date fruits vary widely in the hardness of their edible parts and they are classified accordingly into soft, semi-dry, and dry varieties. Fruit texture, a significant parameter in determining consumer acceptance, is related to the tissue structure and chemical composition of the fruit, mainly the ratio of sucrose to reducing sugars. This study aimed to understand the relationship between the chemical composition, microstructure, and texture profile of 10 major Emirati date fruits. The soluble sugars, glucose and fructose, represent ca 80 g/100 g of the fruits on the basis of dry weight (DW) while the dietary fiber contents varied 5.2-7.4 g/100 dg D.W. with lignin being the main determinant of the variability. The textures of the samples were studied using instrumental texture profile analysis. While no correlation was found between the soluble sugar and texture parameters in this study, the different fiber constituents correlated variably with the different parameters of date fruit texture. Lignin, arabinoxylan, galactomannan, and pectin were found to correlate significantly with fruit hardness and the related parameters, gumminess and chewiness. Both lignin and arabinoxylan correlated with resilience, and arabinoxylan exhibited a strong correlation with cohesiveness.

Spray-drying of protein/polysaccharide complexes: Dissociation of the effects of shearing and heating.

The aim of this study was to dissociate the effect of atomization from that of heating during the spray-drying of Low Methoxyl (LM) pectin/sodium caseinate complexes. The properties of these complexes were studied by measuring turbidity, particle size distribution, zeta-potential, as well as surface hydrophobicity of caseinate within the formed complexes. The results showed that the spraying step had a significant effect on the charge and the size of the complexes. In fact, the application of atomization resulted in the dissociation of caseinate/pectin aggregates especially for high pectin concentrations. Besides, the analysis of the surface hydrophobicity of caseinate indicated that complexation with high concentrations of pectin is able to protect the structure of the protein against heat denaturation. This study allowed a better understanding of the influence of atomization and heat treatment (during the dehydration step) on the molecular interactions within caseinate/pectin complexes.

Spray-drying microencapsulation of nisin by complexation with exopolysaccharides produced by probiotic Bacillus tequilensis-GM and Leuconostoc citreum-BMS.

This work aims to encapsulate nisin by complexation with exopolysaccharides (EPS), produced by Bacillus tequilensis-GM and Leuconostoc citreum-BMS, namely EPS-GM and EPS-BMS, respectively, using spray-drying technique, and to evaluate the effect of this encapsulation on the structure of nisin. Results related to suspensions turbidity showed that EPS/nisin complexes were formed through electrostatic attractions. These interactions were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs of the spray-dried complexes revealed the presence of well-separated spherical microcapsules. Besides, results obtained by UV spectra showed that no significant changes occurred on EPS-GM/nisin microcapsules suggesting that this EPS may act as protective agent of nisin structure against spray-drying conditions.

Application of analytic hierarchy process to develop a weighting scheme for life cycle assessment of agricultural production.

The Impact Assessment (IA) step in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies is classified into three steps of characterization, normalization and weighting. In this research, various impact categories were weighted using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), as a multi criteria decision making tool. Iranian tobacco production system was the example of agricultural system. The data for LCA analysis were collected from 225 farms. The data for AHP analysis were gathered by surveying 12 LCA experts. The results indicated that on-farm emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O, NH3, NOx and SO2 were accounted for 25, 96, 93, 99, 21 and 2% of the total emissions (cradle to farm gate), respectively. The characterization indices for the impact categories of acidification, terrestrial eutrophication, global warming, phosphate resources depletion, potash resources depletion and fossil resources depletion for one ton tobacco production were calculated to be 13.87 kgSO2eq, 19.69 kgNOxeq, 1883.90 kgCO2eq, 19.69 kgNOxeq, 4.19 kgP2O5, 6.14 kgK2O, and 59,659.23 MJ, respectively. The LCA + AHP showed that the weighted factors of global warming, terrestrial eutrophication, acidification, fossil resources depletion, phosphate resources depletion and potash resources depletion were 1, 0.790, 0.518, 0.681, 0.422, and 0.263, respectively. Many agricultural systems could benefit from using the developed weighting factors for LCA studies in the agricultural sector. Based on the new developed weighted factors, the weighted indices of aforementioned impact categories for Iranian tobacco production were 0.24, 0.41, 0.19, 1.04, 0.23, and 0.20, respectively. This implies that fossil resources depletion impact category was attributed the highest negative environmental impacts of tobacco production followed by terrestrial eutrophication.

The New Paradigm for Lipid Oxidation and Insights to Microencapsulation of Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

The consumption of omega-3 fatty acids provides a wide range of health benefits. However, the incorporation of these fatty acids in foods is limited because of their high oxidative instability. A new paradigm has emerged to better explain the oxidation mechanism of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which will be discussed here with reference to bulk lipids considered a special case of water in oil microemulsion. This paradigm suggests that lipid oxidation reactions are initiated by heterogeneous catalysis by metal oxides followed by the formation of micelles containing initial hydroperoxides, water, and other amphiphilic compounds. The induction period comes to the end when the formed micelles reach a critical micelle concentration and start to decompose opening the way to intense free radical reactions. Antioxidants and synergists extend the induction period not only by scavenging free radicals but also by stabilizing the micelles. With better understanding of the lipid oxidation mechanism, a tailored choice of antioxidants and synergistic combinations, and efficient encapsulation methods may be optimized to provide stable encapsulates containing highly n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Smart processing and encapsulation technologies utilizing properly stabilized oils as well as optimized packaging parameters aiming to enhance n-3 fatty acid stability by smart selection/design of antioxidants, control of the interfacial physics and chemistry, and elimination of surface oil are needed for this purpose.