Influence of Thermal Treatment and Granulometry on Physicochemical, Techno-Functional and Nutritional Properties of Lentil Flours.

Legume flours are an increasingly popular food ingredient. Thermal treatments applied prior to milling legumes and granulometry can modify flour properties, altering sensory, digestibility and functional attributes. Raw and treated (soaked and cooked) lentil flours of different granulometry were produced. The applied treatment resulted in an increase in fiber content (25.4 vs. 27.6% for raw and treated lentil flour, respectively) and water absorption capacity. It also led to a decrease in ash content (3.3 vs. 1.8% for raw and treated, respectively) and a darker flour. Treated lentil flour was mainly composed of fractions of high granulometry, which could be beneficial for products where a lower glycemic index is sought, as they demonstrated higher fiber and lower carbohydrate content than the finer fractions. Treated flour may be used as an ingredient in the development of raw products, including beverages and desserts, due to its reduced anti-nutritional compounds' content and enhanced organoleptic aspects. The obtained results allow an in-depth characterization of raw and treated lentils flour with different particle sizes to consider a formal and complete standardization of these flours and for understanding their utility and specific food applications.

A Review of Automation and Sensors: Parameter Control of Thermal Treatments for Electrical Power Generation.

This review delves into the critical role of automation and sensor technologies in optimizing parameters for thermal treatments within electrical power generation. The demand for efficient and sustainable power generation has led to a significant reliance on thermal treatments in power plants. However, ensuring precise control over these treatments remains challenging, necessitating the integration of advanced automation and sensor systems. This paper evaluates the pivotal aspects of automation, emphasizing its capacity to streamline operations, enhance safety, and optimize energy efficiency in thermal treatment processes. Additionally, it highlights the indispensable role of sensors in monitoring and regulating crucial parameters, such as temperature, pressure, and flow rates. These sensors enable real-time data acquisition, facilitating immediate adjustments to maintain optimal operating conditions and prevent system failures. It explores the recent technological advancements, including machine learning algorithms and IoT integration, which have revolutionized automation and sensor capabilities in thermal treatment control. Incorporating these innovations has significantly improved the precision and adaptability of control systems, resulting in heightened performance and reduced environmental impact. This review underscores the imperative nature of automation and sensor technologies in thermal treatments for electrical power generation, emphasizing their pivotal role in enhancing operational efficiency, ensuring reliability, and advancing sustainability in power generation processes.

Nutritional and chemical composition of Alpinia zerumbet leaves, a traditional functional food.

Alpinia zerumbet, a species of the Zingiberaceae family, is a common plant in tropical and subtropical areas used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases and also included as food in the traditional Okinawan diet (Japan). The leaves and rhizomes of this plant are used as spice and flavoring in foods such as rice, meats, and pasta. Studies of the chemical and nutritional characteristics of fresh leaves and of leaves submitted to thermal treatments such as boiling and steaming are lacking. In the current study, the leaves of A. zerumbet were subjected to boiling or steaming for 10, 20, and 30 min as part of the thermal treatments. The study also provides noteworthy results regarding the proximate composition, physical-chemical data, minerals, phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, volatile compounds, and LC-MS chromatographic profiles of the extracts produced with fresh leaves and with thermal treatments. The carbohydrate content of A. zerumbet leaves improved during the thermal treatments, showing an increase after steaming (18.86 to 19.79%) and boiling for 30 min (25.85%). After boiling treatment for 20 min, a significant amount of protein was found (6.79%) and all heat treatments resulted in low content of lipid (<1.0%). The boiling treatment for 10 min (BT10) resulted in the highest concentrations of total phenolic components (TPC), 339.5 mg/g, and flavonoids (TF), 54.6 mg/g, among the three thermal treatments (BT10, BT20 and BT30). The results of the steaming treatments (ST 10, 20, and 30 min) differed, with ST20 leading to higher TPC (150.4 mg/g) and TF (65.0 mg/g). The quantity of total phenolics and flavonoids, as well as the antioxidant activity, were significantly affected by the cooking method and the length of time of sample exposure to heat. The samples boiled for 30 and 10 min had higher concentrations of antioxidant activity as measured by the phosphomolybdenum and DPPH methods (151.5 mg/g of extract and 101.5 µg/mL, respectively). Thirty-eight volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified by chromatographic analysis of fresh and thermally treated leaves of A. zerumbet. Terpenoids were the predominant class of volatile compounds in the fresh leaves and in all thermal treatments. p-Cymene, 1,8-cineole, 4-terpineol, linalool, α-copaene and ß-bisabolene have the greatest impact on overall aroma perception, with odor activity values (OAV) greater than five. Among the phenolic compounds identified by LC-HRMS in the extracts of fresh and thermally treated leaves were proanthocyanidins, (+) catechin, (-) epicatechin, quercetin-3-O-glucoronide, isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoronide, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, pinocembrin, alpinetin, pinostrobin, and other compounds. The present results support the traditional use of this plant as a potential food with properties that certainly contribute to health improvement.

Breast milk preservation: thermal and non-thermal processes and their effect on microorganism inactivation and the content of bioactive and nutritional compounds.

Human Breast Milk (HBM) is widely acknowledged as the best nutritional source for neonates. Data indicates that, in 2019, 83.2% of infants in the United States received breast milk at birth, slightly reducing to 78.6% at 1 month. Despite these encouraging early figures, exclusive breastfeeding rates sharply declined, dropping to 24.9% by 6 months. This decline is particularly pronounced when direct breastfeeding is challenging, such as in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) and for working mothers. Given this, it is vital to explore alternative breast milk preservation methods. Technologies like Holder Pasteurization (HoP), High-Temperature Short-Time Pasteurization (HTST), High-Pressure Processing (HPP), UV radiation (UV), and Electric Pulses (PEF) have been introduced to conserve HBM. This review aims to enhance the understanding of preservation techniques for HBM, supporting the practice of extended exclusive breastfeeding. It explicitly addresses microbial concerns, focusing on critical pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Cytomegalovirus, and explores how various preservation methods can mitigate these risks. Additionally, the review highlights the importance of retaining the functional elements of HBM, particularly its immunological components such as antibodies and enzymes like lysozyme and Bile Salt Stimulated Lipase (BSSL). The goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of HBM treatment, critically assess existing practices, identify areas needing improvement, and advocate for extended exclusive breastfeeding due to its vital role in ensuring optimal nutrition and overall health in infants.

Inactivation of Dairy Bacteriophages by Thermal and Chemical Treatments.

This article provides information on the characteristics of diverse phages of lactic acid bacteria and highlights the incidence of their presence in different dairy fermentations. As it is known, thermal treatments on raw milk and use of sanitizers in the disinfection of surfaces and equipment are strategies usually applied in dairy to prevent bacteriophage infections. In this sense, this review mainly focuses on the existing data about the resistance against thermal treatments and sanitizers usually used in the dairy industry worldwide, and the differences found among bacteriophages of diverse genera are remarked upon. Also, we provide information concerning the problems that have arisen as a consequence of the potential presence of bacteriophages in cheese whey powder and derivatives when they are added in fermented dairy product manufacturing. Finally, some important conclusions on each topic are marked and checkpoints to be considered are suggested.

Remoción de crooo vi de soluciones acuosas por adsorción sobre carbones activados modificados / Reoval of cromiuum (vi) from aqueous solutions over modified activated aarbons / Remoão de crómioo vi de soluções aqusas por adsorção em carvões acttivados modificados

En este trabajo se determina la adsorción de Cr6+ de disoluciones acuosas en dos carbones activados comerciales en función del grado de modificación (reducción, oxidación) de la superficie de los adsorbentes, con tratamientos térmicos en presencia de hidrógeno, oxígeno y ácido nítrico. La química superficial de los carbones activados originales y modificados se examina por los métodos de titulaciones de Böehm y descomposición con temperatura programada (DTP). Los ensayos de evaluación de la capacidad de adsorción se realizan con soluciones modelo de ión cromato y bajo distintas condiciones de concentración inicial, tiempo de contacto, pH del medio, temperatura y masa de adsorbente. Se comprueba que la modificación de la superficie de los adsorbentes afecta el grado de adsorción del ión cromato en la medida en que los sólidos tratados con H2 muestran la mayor capacidad de remoción. Las variables que afectan favorablemente la extensión de la remoción de cromo son: concentración inicial de 100 ppm, pH inicial de 2,0, temperatura de 25 °C y masa de adsorbente de 100 mg.

In this work, the influence of the degree of surface modification of activated carbons in the adsorption of Cr6+ from aqueous solution was determined modifying two commercial activated carbons by thermal oxidative and reductive treatments (oxygen or nitric acid and hydrogen, respectively). The surface chemistry of the original and modified activated carbons was examined by Böehm’s titrationand thermal programmed decomposition (TPD). The adsorption capacities were tested with model solutions of chromate ion, and under different initial concentrations, contact times, pH, temperature and adsorbent mass. The surface chemistry modifications showed that they have an important influence in the adsorption capacity of the activated carbons, being the hydrogen modified carbons the best for the chromate ion adsorption. The conditions that presented the maximum adsorption capacity were: initial concentration of 100 ppm, initial pH of 2.0, temperature of 25°C and adsorbent mass of 100 mg.

Neste trabalho estudou-se a adsorção de Cr6+ de soluções aquosas em dois carvões activados comerciais em função do grau de modificação (redução, oxidação) da superfície dos adsorventes com tratamentos térmicos na presença de hidrogénio, oxigénio e ácido nítrico. A química superficial dos carvões activados originais e modificados foi examinada pelos métodos de titulação de Böehm e de decomposição a temperatura programada (DTP). Os ensaios de avaliação da capacidade de adsorção realizaram-se com soluções modelo de ião cromato sob diferentes condições de concentração inicial, tempo de contacto, pH do meio, temperatura e massa de adsorvente. Comprovou-se que a modificação da superfície dos adsorventes afecta a extensão da adsorção do ião cromato, sendo que os sólidos tratados com H2 mostram a maior capacidade de remoção. As variáveis que afectam favoravelmente a extensão da remoção do crómio são: concentração inicial de 100 ppm, pH inicial de 2.0, temperatura de 25ºC e massa de adsorvente de 100 mg.

Grupos superficaales en materiales carbonosos. caracterización por diferentes técniass / Surface goups onn carbonaceous materials.characterization by different techniqees / Grupos sperficiaais em materiais de carbono.caracterização por diferentes técnicas

Se modificó la química superficial de dos materiales carbonosos comerciales mediante tratamientos con hidrógeno, oxígeno al 8,8% en nitrógeno y ácido nítrico. Estos tratamientos producen diversas características en la superficie de los materiales, que se confirman por las titulaciones potenciométricas y de Boehm, y análisis de descomposición con temperatura programada (DTP). Los resultados guardan relación con la presencia o ausencia de grupos superficiales oxigenados.

The surface chemistry of two commercial carbonaceous materials was modified by hydrogen, 8.8% oxygen in nitrogen and nitric acid. These treatments produce diverse characteristics on the surface of the carbonaceous materials, which were confirmed by potentiometric and Boehm titrations, and temperature programmed desorption analysis (TPD). The results are related to the presence or absence of oxygenated surface groups.

A química superficial de dois materiais de carbono comerciais foi modificada através de tratamentos com hidrog ê nio, oxig ê nio diluído em azoto (8.8%) e ácido nítrico. Estes tratamentos produzem várias características na superfície dos materiais, confirmadas por titulações potenciométricas e de Boehm e por análises de desorção a temperatura programada (TPD). Os resultados relacionam-se com a presença ou ausência de grupos superficiais contendo oxig ê nio.