At present, many food processing by-products are produced in the food industry and most of them are directly discarded, which results in waste of resources and causes potential environmental pollution. According to the reports, about 50% of the quality of raw materials becomes by-products during the processing of fruits and vegetables. For freshwater fish processing, it can be produced about 30-50 tons of by-products for every 100 tons of fish products. However, food processing by-products are rich in bioactive substances, such as polyphenols, polysaccharides, proteins, and unsaturated fats, etc. Compared with traditional thermal technology or organic solvent extraction, non-thermal processing technologies have the advantages of solvent saving, mild conditions, and a high extraction rate without changing the original structure of compounds. It has become an effective method for extracting bioactive compounds. In addition, because non-thermal processing technologies has moderate energy in the processing process, it can change the weak non-polar covalent bonds in the biological macromolecules, such as hydrogen bond, hydrophobic bond force, van der Waals force, etc., thereby could change the spatial structure of biomacromolecule, such as polysaccharides (starch, pectin, cellulose, chitosan, etc.) and proteins (soybean protein, lactoprotein, animal protein, etc.), and then change their physicochemical properties and processing characteristics, so it has become an innovative physical modification method to improve the biological properties or processing characteristics of recovered bioactive compounds.
This Research Topic will highlight the most recent advances in non-thermal processing technologies for extracting physiologically active chemicals from food processing byproducts, compound modification, and related research initiatives.
The submissions can cover but are not limited to the following:
• Non-thermal technologies (PEFs, ultrasound, HPP, etc.) for extracting bioactive compounds from food processing by-products, such as pectin, unsaturated fats, polysaccharides, and protein;
• Modification of the biomacromolecule compounds by non-thermal technologies, such as PEFs, cold plasma, HPP, ultrasound, etc;
• Impact of the non-thermal technologies on the food quality in the specific food processing that mainly focuses on the perspective of compound content, flavor, and safety;
• Chromatography based characterization of recovered bioactive compounds by non-thermal technologies, compared to the traditional technique;
• Spectroscopy and mass spectrometry for measuring the changes in the structure of the biological compounds by non-thermal technologies, compared to chemical modification or enzyme modification;
• In vivo and/or in vitro methods for determining the biological activity of the extraction or modified compounds by non-thermal technologies;
• Rheological, morphology, mechanical properties, or sensory evaluation system for determining the influence of the adding recovered bioactive compounds or modified compounds on the food quality.
At present, many food processing by-products are produced in the food industry and most of them are directly discarded, which results in waste of resources and causes potential environmental pollution. According to the reports, about 50% of the quality of raw materials becomes by-products during the processing of fruits and vegetables. For freshwater fish processing, it can be produced about 30-50 tons of by-products for every 100 tons of fish products. However, food processing by-products are rich in bioactive substances, such as polyphenols, polysaccharides, proteins, and unsaturated fats, etc. Compared with traditional thermal technology or organic solvent extraction, non-thermal processing technologies have the advantages of solvent saving, mild conditions, and a high extraction rate without changing the original structure of compounds. It has become an effective method for extracting bioactive compounds. In addition, because non-thermal processing technologies has moderate energy in the processing process, it can change the weak non-polar covalent bonds in the biological macromolecules, such as hydrogen bond, hydrophobic bond force, van der Waals force, etc., thereby could change the spatial structure of biomacromolecule, such as polysaccharides (starch, pectin, cellulose, chitosan, etc.) and proteins (soybean protein, lactoprotein, animal protein, etc.), and then change their physicochemical properties and processing characteristics, so it has become an innovative physical modification method to improve the biological properties or processing characteristics of recovered bioactive compounds.
This Research Topic will highlight the most recent advances in non-thermal processing technologies for extracting physiologically active chemicals from food processing byproducts, compound modification, and related research initiatives.
The submissions can cover but are not limited to the following:
• Non-thermal technologies (PEFs, ultrasound, HPP, etc.) for extracting bioactive compounds from food processing by-products, such as pectin, unsaturated fats, polysaccharides, and protein;
• Modification of the biomacromolecule compounds by non-thermal technologies, such as PEFs, cold plasma, HPP, ultrasound, etc;
• Impact of the non-thermal technologies on the food quality in the specific food processing that mainly focuses on the perspective of compound content, flavor, and safety;
• Chromatography based characterization of recovered bioactive compounds by non-thermal technologies, compared to the traditional technique;
• Spectroscopy and mass spectrometry for measuring the changes in the structure of the biological compounds by non-thermal technologies, compared to chemical modification or enzyme modification;
• In vivo and/or in vitro methods for determining the biological activity of the extraction or modified compounds by non-thermal technologies;
• Rheological, morphology, mechanical properties, or sensory evaluation system for determining the influence of the adding recovered bioactive compounds or modified compounds on the food quality.