Textural formation of instant controlled pressure drop-dried peach chips: Investigation of the electrical, thermal, and textural properties of predried peach slices with osmotic dehydration pretreatment.

In this study, the effect of osmotic dehydration (OD) pretreatment with various sugar (erythritol, glucose, and trehalose) on the quality of hot-air-predried peach slices was investigated, particularly focusing on electrical properties, texture, thermal stability, and cell wall strength. Furthermore, the correlation between the properties of predried peach slices and the texture of the instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) dried peach chips was explored. OD pretreatments improved the stability and integrity of the cell wall and cell membrane of pre-dried peach slices, which inhibited the excessive expansion of samples during DIC drying. Especially, peach chips with trehalose-OD exhibited the highest crispiness (1.05 mm), the highest hardness (101.34 N) was obtained in erythritol-OD samples. Overall, the type of osmotic agents affected the texture of DIC peach chips with OD pretreatments. It should be noted that trehalose is a promising osmotic agent for controlling and regulating the quality of DIC peach chips.

Characterization of fruit pulp-soy protein isolate (SPI) complexes: Effect of superfine grinding.

Superfine grinding (SG), as an innovative technology, was conducted to improve the physicochemical and structural properties of fruit pulps. Nectarine, apple, and honey peach were selected as the materials. With the increase in SG frequency, the soluble solids content, viscosity, D[4, 3], D[3, 2], G' and G″ of fruit pulps were evidently decreased, whereas the turbidity was increased. The smallest D[4, 3] (294.90 µm) and D[3, 2] (159.67 µm) were observed in nectarine pulp under SG at 50 Hz. The highest turbidity (266.33) was shown in honey peach pulp under SG at 50 Hz. The active groups of the fruit pulps with SG were exposed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Notably, the excessive destruction in structure was confirmed in SG with 50 Hz. With soy protein isolate (SPI) addition, D[4, 3] and D[3, 2] of complexes decreased, whereas G' and G″ increased. The formation of new fruit pulp-SPI complexes was demonstrated by FT-IR and LF-NMR analysis. The dense and uniform structure was found in complexes prepared by SPI and fruit pulp with 30 Hz SG. Especially, apple-SPI complex with 30 Hz SG showed the highest water-holding capacity (WHC) (0.75) and adhesiveness (7973.00 g s). A significant correlation between fruit pulps and the complexes was revealed. Taken together, the impact of SG modification on fruit pulps would enhance WHC, rheology, and textural properties of the fruit pulp-SPI complexes, especially for SG with 30 Hz. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This research provided a comprehensive exploration of the potential of SG technology to modify fruit pulps, solving the diversity of textural customization problems and offering valuable insights for the development of semisolid food products.

Insight into the effect of osmosis agents on macro- and micro- texture, water distribution, and thermal stability of instant controlled pressure drop drying peach chips.

To investigate the influence of sugar structure on the quality of peach chips produced using osmotic dehydration (OD) in combination with instant controlled pressure drop (DIC) drying, erythritol, glucose, maltose, and trehalose were selected as osmotic agents. The properties of the osmotic solutions, as well as the macro- and micro-texture, water distribution, and thermal stability of peach chips were investigated. Results showed that OD pretreatments inhibited the formation of large cavity structures. The highest hardness (101.34 N) and the lowest hydrophobicity (0°) were obtained in erythritol-OD samples. Trehalose-OD samples with the most homogeneous pore structure exhibited the highest crispness (1.05 mm) and the highest glass transition temperature (52.06 °C). Various absorption peaks of peach chips pretreated with different OD methods, characterized by Raman spectroscopy, suggested changes in composition and functional groups due to the diffusion of sugars into the cells of peach tissues, which also contributed to the higher Tg.

Effect of osmotic dehydration with different osmosis agents on water status, texture properties, sugars, and total carotenoid of dehydrated yellow peach slices.

The water status, texture properties, sugars, and total carotenoid of dehydrated yellow peach slices pretreated with or without osmotic dehydration (OD) combined with heat pump drying were studied. In this study, different osmotic agents were used, namely, sucrose and isomaltooligosaccharide (IMO) with 30 °Brix for 1, 3, and 5 h. Results showed that the dehydrated samples pretreated by sucrose-OD with the best shape and cell structure showed lower hardness compared to the dehydrated yellow peach slices with IMO-OD pretreatment and without OD pretreatment. Notably, the highest total carotenoid content was found in dehydrated yellow peach slices pretreated by IMO-OD, followed by samples without OD, and samples with sucrose-OD pretreatment. In addition, the lowest aW (0.517) was obtained in samples with IMO-OD for 5 h, which was beneficial for storage. The assessment of water status and total carotenoid content of dehydrated yellow peach slices showed that IMO-OD pretreatment could better improve the quality of dehydrated fruits. Moreover, the use of IMO in OD treatment was a good alternative to sucrose.

Combined general and regional anesthesia and effects on immune function in patients with benign ovarian tumors treated by laparoscopic therapy.

OBJECTIVE: Anesthesia has been shown to suppress immune function, which can negatively affect the treatment of patients with various tumors. Here, we assessed two different anesthesia methods, general versus combined regional/general, in treatment of benign ovarian tumor by laparoscopic therapy. METHODS: Out of 160 patients with benign ovarian tumors treated by laparoscopic therapy, 80 received general anesthesia combined with thoracic epidural anesthesia during surgery, and 80 received general anesthesia only. Venous blood samples were obtained at the following time points: before induction of anesthesia (T0), 2 hours after anesthesia, during operation, 3 days (d) after operation, 5 d after operation, and 7 d after operation. Percentages of CD3(+), CD4(+), and CD4(+)/CD8(+) T lymphocytes were determined at these time points by flow cytometry to assess immune function. RESULTS: For both groups, percentages of CD3(+), CD4(+), and CD4(+)/CD8(+) T cells decreased significantly from T0 to 2 hr after anesthesia (P < 0.05). These percentages decreased again during surgery. However, T cell percentages in patients receiving combined anesthesia returned to normal levels 5 d after surgery, and those receiving only intravenous anesthesia returned to normal by 7 d after surgery. There were no significant differences in CD3(+), CD4(+), or CD4(+)/CD8(+) T cell percentages between the two anesthesia groups at T0 and 7 d. However, significant differences in these percentages were observed between the two groups at all other time points. Interestingly, the decrease observed within the combined group were less dramatic than those observed within the intravenous-only group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that, while any anesthesia may suppress immune function of patients treated by laparoscopic therapy, the effect of general anesthesia combined with thoracic epidural anesthesia on immune function was less than that produced by general anesthesia alone.