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Physicochemical Properties of Food - 2nd Edition

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 17163

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Prof. Dr. Adam Figiel

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Guest Editor

Department of Thermal Technology and Process Engineering, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Chelmonskiego 37a, 51-630 Wroclaw, Poland
Interests: food engineering; food processing using combined drying methods; drying kinetics and energy consumption; microencapsulation and other nanotechnology as a method for nutraceuticals production; modeling the quality of plant foods using innovative drying methods and pretreatments including osmotic dehydration; development of functional food products with pro-health properties dedicated to people with civilization diseases
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Dr. Anna Michalska-Ciechanowska

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Guest Editor

The Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Science, Wroclaw University ofEnvironmental and Life Sciences, Chelmonskiego 37/41, 51-630 Wroclaw, Poland
Interests: drying technology; food preservation; food engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This is the second edition of the Special Issue "Physicochemical Properties of Food". Among different quality aspects of food products, their physical and chemical properties play an important role due to their significant impact on the bioactive potential and sensory attributes that influence consumer acceptance. Biological raw materials have native physicochemical properties that can be modified during processing, leading to changes in and providing the specific functions of the resulting food products. The modification of the physicochemical properties of biological materials comprises structural changes and alterations in their chemical composition under the influence of external factors such as temperature, pressure, and numerous treatments including microwaving, sonication, or chemical fortification. All these elements affect the final physicochemical properties of food products. The most important features from the scientific point of view are physical and chemical relationships within the food product occurring at the molecular level. The understanding and modeling of these relationships are crucial for the design of high-quality functional food, with not only a high nutritional value and a desired sensory profile, but also health-promoting properties. Therefore, papers describing the results of research works dealing with the interactions between the physical and the chemical properties of food during its preparation and storage, considering the possibility of solving contemporary problems related to food and nutrition, are especially welcome. The manuscripts submitted may be original research papers describing new investigations or review articles highlighting recent achievements regarding the modification of the physicochemical properties of food products.

Prof. Dr. Adam Figiel
Dr. Anna Michalska-Ciechanowska
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Chemical composition
Functional compounds
Bioactivity
Volatiles
Color
Water activity
Sorption isotherms
Thermodynamics
Electric properties
Texture
Rheology

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1975 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of an Edible Oil–Medium-Chain Triglyceride Blend on the Physicochemical Properties of Low-Fat Mayonnaise

by Heng-I Hsu, Tan-Ang Lee, Ming-Fu Wang, Po-Hsien Li and Jou-Hsuan Ho

Molecules 2022, 27(15), 4983; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27154983 - 05 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1481

Abstract

Mayonnaise is a semisolid oil-in-water emulsion comprised of egg yolk, oil, and vinegar. One main problem with mayonnaise is its high fat content, so efforts have been made to develop low-fat sauces with similar characteristics to real mayonnaise. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) blended with edible oil (soybean and olive oil) on the rheological, physicochemical, and sensory properties of low-fat mayonnaise. The results revealed that the shear viscosity decreased with the increase in medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) contents and decreased with an increasing shear rate. Tan δ was <1, and a semisolid fluid with shear-thinning behavior was formed. The oscillation frequency test showed that the MCFA-containing mayonnaise was viscoelastic. The particle size and oil droplet analyses revealed that the emulsion droplet size and distribution were not significantly different in the MCT group compared to the control. The sensory evaluation demonstrated that the MCFA-containing mayonnaise was acceptable. This study illustrates that MCTs are a good substitute to produce the proper physicochemical properties of mayonnaise. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Properties of Food - 2nd Edition)

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14 pages, 5500 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mimic Pork Rinds from Plant-Based Gel: The Influence of Sweet Potato Starch and Konjac Glucomannan

by Qibo Zhang, Lu Huang, He Li, Di Zhao, Jinnuo Cao, Yao Song and Xinqi Liu

Molecules 2022, 27(10), 3103; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27103103 - 12 May 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2370

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of sweet potato starch (SPS) and konjac glucomannan (KGM) on the textural, color, sensory, rheological properties, and microstructures of plant-based pork rinds. Plant-based gels were prepared using mixtures of soy protein isolate (SPI), soy oil, and NaHCO₃ supplemented with different SPS and KGM concentrations. The texture profile analysis (TPA) results indicated that the hardness, cohesiveness, and chewiness of the samples improved significantly after appropriate SPS and KGM addition. The results obtained via a colorimeter showed no significant differences were found in lightness (L*) between the samples and natural pork rinds after adjusting the SPS and KGM concentrations. Furthermore, the rheological results showed that adding SPS and KGM increased both the storage modulus (G’) and loss modulus (G’’), indicating a firmer gel structure. The images obtained via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the SPS and KGM contributed to the formation of a more compact gel structure. A mathematical model allowed for a more objective sensory evaluation, with the 40% SPS samples and the 0.4% KGM samples being considered the most similar to natural pork rinds, which provided a comparable texture, appearance, and mouthfeel. This study proposed a possible schematic model for the gelling mechanism of plant-based pork rinds: the three-dimensional network structures of the samples may result from the interaction between SPS, SPI, and soybean oil, while the addition of KGM and NaHCO₃ enabled a more stable gel structure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Properties of Food - 2nd Edition)

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16 pages, 849 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ancient Wheat and Quinoa Flours as Ingredients for Pasta Dough—Evaluation of Thermal and Rheological Properties

by Dorota Gałkowska, Teresa Witczak and Mariusz Witczak

Molecules 2021, 26(22), 7033; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules26227033 - 21 Nov 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1856

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate thermal and rheological properties of selected ancient grain flours and to evaluate rheological properties of mixtures thereof represented by pasta dough and dry pasta. Flours from spelt, einkorn, and emmer ancient wheat varieties were combined with quinoa flour. All these flour sources are considered healthy grains of high bioactive component content. Research results were compared to durum wheat flour or spelt wheat flour systems. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and a rapid visco analyzer (RVA) were used to investigate the phase transition behavior of the flours and pasting characteristics of the flours and dried pasta. Angular frequency sweep experiments and creep and recovery tests of the pasta dough were performed. The main components modifying the pasta dough structure were starch and water. Moreover, the proportion of the individual flours influenced the rheological properties of the dough. The durum wheat dough was characterized by the lowest values of the K′ and K″ parameters of the power law models (24,861 Pa·sⁿ′ and 10,687 Pa·sⁿ″, respectively) and the highest values of the instantaneous (J₀) and retardation (J₁) compliances (0.453 × 10⁻⁴ Pa and 0.644 × 10⁻⁴ Pa, respectively). Replacing the spelt wheat flour with the other ancient wheat flours and quinoa flour increased the proportion of elastic properties and decreased values of the J₀ and J₁ of the pasta dough. Presence of the quinoa flour increased pasting temperature (from 81.4 up to 83.3 °C) and significantly influenced pasting viscosities of the spelt wheat pasta samples. This study indicates a potential for using mixtures of spelt, einkorn, and emmer wheat flours with quinoa flour in the production of innovative pasta dough and pasta products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Properties of Food - 2nd Edition)

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17 pages, 2475 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Filtrated Osmotic Solution Based on Concentrated Chokeberry Juice and Mint Extract on the Drying Kinetics, Energy Consumption and Physicochemical Properties of Dried Apples

by Klaudia Masztalerz, Jacek Łyczko and Krzysztof Lech

Molecules 2021, 26(11), 3274; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules26113274 - 28 May 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2090

Abstract

Background: Filtration of osmotic solution affects selective penetration during osmotic dehydration (OD), and after drying is finished, this can influence the chemical composition of the material, which is also modified by OD. Methods: Osmotic dehydration was carried out in filtrated and non-filtrated concentrated chokeberry juice with the addition of mint infusion. Then, this underwent convective drying, vacuum-microwave drying and combined convective pre-drying, followed by vacuum-microwave finishing drying. Drying kinetics were presented and mathematical models were selected. The specific energy consumption for each drying method was calculated and the energy efficiency was determined. Results and Discussion: The study revealed that filtration of osmotic solution did not have significant effect on drying kinetics; however, it affected selective penetration during OD. The highest specific energy consumption was obtained for the samples treated by convective drying (CD) (around 170 kJ·g⁻¹ fresh weight (fw)) and the lowest for the samples treated by vacuum-microwave drying (VMD) (around 30 kJ·g⁻¹ fw), which is due to the differences in the time of drying and when these methods are applied. Conclusions: Filtration of the osmotic solution can be used to obtain the desired material after drying and the VMD method is the most appropriate considering both phenolic acid content and the energy aspect of drying. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Properties of Food - 2nd Edition)

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18 pages, 2418 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predicting Deliquescence Relative Humidities of Crystals and Crystal Mixtures

by Heiner Veith, Christian Luebbert and Gabriele Sadowski

Molecules 2021, 26(11), 3176; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules26113176 - 26 May 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3092

Abstract

The presence of water in the form of relative humidity (RH) may lead to deliquescence of crystalline components above a certain RH, the deliquescence RH (DRH). Knowing the DRH values is essential, e.g., for the agrochemical industry, food industry, and pharmaceutical industry to identify stability windows for their crystalline products. This work applies the Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (PC-SAFT) to purely predict the DRH of single components (organic acids, sugars, artificial sweeteners, and amides) and multicomponent crystal mixtures thereof only based on aqueous solubility data of the pure components. The predicted DRH values very well agree with the experimental ones. In addition, the temperature influence on the DRH value could be successfully predicted with PC-SAFT. The DRH prediction also differentiates between formation of hydrates and anhydrates. PC-SAFT-predicted phase diagrams of hydrate-forming components illustrate the influence of additional components on the hydrate formation as a function of RH. The DRH prediction via PC-SAFT allows for the determining of the stability of crystals and crystal mixtures without the need for time-consuming experiments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Properties of Food - 2nd Edition)

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15 pages, 2385 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rheological and Solubility Properties of Soy Protein Isolate

by Timothy D. O′Flynn, Sean A. Hogan, David F. M. Daly, James A. O′Mahony and Noel A. McCarthy

Molecules 2021, 26(10), 3015; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules26103015 - 19 May 2021

Cited by 49 | Viewed by 5275

Abstract

Soy protein isolate (SPI) powders often have poor water solubility, particularly at pH values close to neutral, which is an attribute that is an issue for its incorporation into complex nutritional systems. Therefore, the objective of this study was to improve SPI solubility while maintaining low viscosity. Thus, the intention was to examine the solubility and rheological properties of a commercial SPI powder at pH values of 2.0, 6.9, and 9.0, and determine if heat treatment at acidic or alkaline conditions might positively influence protein solubility, once re-adjusted back to pH 6.9. Adjusting the pH of SPI dispersions from pH 6.9 to 2.0 or 9.0 led to an increase in protein solubility with a concomitant increase in viscosity at 20 °C. Meanwhile, heat treatment at 90 °C significantly improved the solubility at all pH values and resulted in a decrease in viscosity in samples heated at pH 9.0. All SPI dispersions measured under low-amplitude rheological conditions showed elastic-like behaviour (i.e., G′ > G″), indicating a weak “gel-like” structure at frequencies less than 10 Hz. In summary, the physical properties of SPI can be manipulated through heat treatment under acidic or alkaline conditions when the protein subunits are dissociated, before re-adjusting to pH 6.9. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physicochemical Properties of Food - 2nd Edition)

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