Essential oils (EOs) and their active components are attracting a lot of attention as sustainable feed additives due to their known antimicrobial properties against a variety of microorganisms, including bacteria, protozoa, and fungi. They also have biological therapeutic, antioxidant, and flavor properties. They can be used for modifying the rumen environment and improving animal productivity. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of supplementation with 2.5 and 5 g/head/day of an essential oils blend (EOB) of clove, oregano, and juniper in equal proportions on milk production and quality, and physiological status of early lactating Holstein dairy cows for 8 weeks of treatment followed by 8 weeks of posttreatment. The results revealed an improvement in milk yield (p ≤ 0.02) and feed efficiency (p ≤ 0.001) with EOB at a dose of 2.5 g/head/day. The percentages of milk protein and lactose were increased (p ≤ 0.03) with a high dose of EOB inclusion during the treatment period as compared with the control group. Milk fat percentage, fat-corrected milk, and energy-corrected milk were not significantly affected by EOB supplementation. The supplementation of EOB tended to decrease milk total bacterial and somatic cell counts when compared to the control group. The supplementation of EOB at both doses increased serum total protein (p ≤ 0.02) and globulin (p ≤ 0.05), and decreased cholesterol level (p ≤ 0.001) and creatinine (p ≤ 0.001) as compared to the control group. Furthermore, the results show that the low dose of EOB had more desirable effects on milk yield, milk total bacterial count, milk somatic cell count, and feed efficiency than the high dose, suggesting that lower doses may not inhibit rumen microbial populations. Moreover, the low doses of EOB could be used as sustainable natural alternatives to antibiotics in livestock diets.

The use of natural preservatives in the storage of fresh fruits is a promising approach to healthier and more sustainable food processing. The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of pomegranate peel extract (PPE) and lactic acid (LA) as natural preservatives on the shelf life of Khalal Barhi date fruits. Physicochemical properties, antioxidant activity, color parameters, texture profile, sensory characteristics, and microbiological quality of date fruits were evaluated during six weeks of cold storage (4 ± 1 °C). The bioactive compounds in PPE were determined by HPLC analysis, which showed that PPE is a rich source of bioactive compounds, particularly phenolics and flavonoids. The results exhibited decreased moisture content (from 68.36–68.43 to 62.13–63.11%) and an increased soluble solids content (from 27.16–27.24 to 31.45–33.91%) in all samples with prolonged storage. Likewise, a slight decrease in the pH (from 6.00–6.28 to 4.89–5.29) with an increase in acidity (from 0.12–0.14 to 0.23–0.27%) during storage was observed. Generally, treated samples showed lower changes in moisture content, soluble solids content, pH, and acidity than the control. A decrease in total phenolic content (TPC) (from 8.22–12.36 to 3.19–5.17 mg GAE/g) and antioxidant activity (from 44.11–68.26 to 23.84–38.52%) of all samples was observed with progressed storage, meanwhile, the treatment with PPE significantly (p < 0.05) increased TPC with a concomitant increase in antioxidant activity and maintained higher values of both throughout storage. The results exhibited a decrease in L* (from 54.87–55.92 to 41.68–45.68) and b* (from 36.25–37.09 to 23.59–25.42) values of all samples, while the a* value of all samples increased (from 1.29–1.40 to 2.22–2.43) with storage. Dipping treatment in PPE solution improved the color, exhibited the lowest change in color parameters, and maintained better texture properties during storage. Similarly, sensory properties decreased (from 8.21–8.66 to 6.71–7.21) during storage with insignificant (p > 0.05) differences among samples. Dipping treatments inhibited the growth of yeasts and molds over time, with the lowest microbial count recorded in the PPE-treated samples. It can be concluded that PPE was found to have protective effects on Khalal Barhi date fruit quality by controlling post-harvest changes and lowering the microbial load.

Date press cake (DPC) is a by-product of the date syrup industry with a high content of dietary fibers, minerals, and antioxidant compounds. Accordingly, the present study aimed to evaluate the inclusion of DPC on the color parameters, texture profile, sensory evaluation, microstructure properties, total phenolics, and antioxidant capacity of date jam. The DPC was included in the preparation of date jam in an increasing level of 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12% (w/w). The results revealed that increasing DPC levels significantly increased the hardness, cohesiveness, adhesiveness, and chewiness properties of date jam. The increase in DPC inclusion levels significantly decreased the L* values and increased the a*, b*, and ΔE values of the jam. The DPC addition significantly increased the phenolics content and antioxidant capacity in a dose-dependent manner and the highest value reported in the jam contained 12% DPC by 40.02 and 11.50% compared to the control, respectively. The scanning electron microscopy results revealed that the addition of DPC up to 9% resulted in a jam surface with a denser network, homogeneous structure, and without cracks and pores, indicating improvement in the morphological properties. The sensory evaluation results showed that date jam prepared with 9% DPC had the highest overall acceptability score. This study revealed the potential use of DPC in date jam formulation up to 9% as a natural, functional, and low-cost ingredient to improve the jam’s textural properties, antioxidant capacity, and overall acceptability.

Processed cheese has rapidly been established as a commercial product in recent years. A new ingredient, a byproduct from date fruit seed (DFS), was obtained and tested as a fortified fiber from food industrial waste in block-type processed cheese. This is the first inclusive investigation to report such a test. Different concentrations of DFS (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) were added to block-type processed cheese as a partial substitution for butter. The current investigation was undertaken to estimate the impact of the partial substitution of butter by DFS and its effect on the product’s quality in terms of its shelf life and physicochemical, microstructure, color, and sensory properties. Quality was assessed over a 150-day storage period. The results indicate that adding DFS to cheese increased its nutritional value due to the addition of fiber. Additionally, the texture profile of cheese was decreased in terms of hardness, adhesion, springiness, and cohesiveness. The overall structure of cheeses became less compact and had a more open cheese network, which increased with increasing DFS% and duration of storage. Moreover, DFS exhibited the darkest color with increasing ratios of supplementary DFS and duration of storage. Based on the results found in the present investigation, it was concluded that an acceptable quality of block-type processed cheese could be achieved using DFS fiber at 5% and 10% levels of fortification.

The extraction of date syrup produces a large quantity of by-product known as date press cake (DPC). This study aimed to utilize valuable ingredients of the DPC by adding 0 (Control), 2, 4, and 6% (g/100 g) of its powder to drinkable yogurt before fermentation. The physicochemical properties, texture profile, and sensory evaluation of the treated DPC-based drinkable yogurt (DPC drinkable yogurt) were measured after fermentation and 5, 10, and 15 days of storage at 4 °C. The modeling of the most critical quality attributes, i.e., pH, acidity, syneresis, water holding capacity (WHC), viscosity, and color difference (ΔE), was conducted to predict their values based on the DPC percentage and storage period. The DPC drinkable yogurt’s total solids, protein, and fat ranged between 11.19–11.83, 3.10–3.42, and 2.26–2.34%, respectively. Adding 2–6% DPC slightly increased the pH of DPC drinkable yogurt and decreased its acidity (p > 0.05) during storage. Increasing the DPC percent in DPC drinkable yogurt decreased the syneresis value, and WHC increased during storage. The color parameters and viscosity of DPC drinkable yogurt recorded the highest value at the end of the storage period for all treatments and increased steadily with the increase in DPC. The evaluation of the prediction models indicated that the predicted values were close to the actual experimental values for pH (R² = 0.779), acidity (R² = 0.973), syneresis (R² = 0.961), WHC (R² = 0.989), viscosity (R² = 0.99), L* (R² = 0.919), a* (R² = 0.995), b* (R² = 0.922), and ΔE (R² = 0.921). The textural analysis indicated that increasing the concentration of DPC in the DPC drinkable yogurt increased hardness (g), springiness, cohesiveness, and gumminess and decreased adhesiveness and resilience during cold storage. The evaluation of sensory acceptance during the cold storage of the DPC drinkable yogurt was conducted by 30 expert panelists. Each panelist received four cups of 10 mL drinkable yogurt treatments at 5–10 °C. The evaluation results indicated that adding 2% of DPC was closest in overall sensory acceptability to the control sample (p < 0.05). This study revealed the potential use of DPC in drinkable yogurt as a natural, functional, and low-cost ingredient to improve the fiber content, physicochemical properties, and overall acceptability. Therefore, the fermented DPC-based yogurt drink has the potency to be a practical, value-added, and novel alternative to dairy-based yogurt.

The postharvest preservation of fresh produce is crucial for enhancing food sustainability and security. The study investigates the combined effects of coating with gum Arabic (GA), storage temperature, and packaging methods on the quality of Barhi date during storage. In addition, the artificial neural network (ANN) model was used to predict fruit quality parameters, including fruit weight, volume, density, weight loss, hardness, decay percentage, moisture content, pH, Total soluble solid, water activity, color parameters, color difference, and browning index based on the coating and storage conditions and the initial fruit weight, size, moisture content, total soluble solids, and color parameters at the beginning of storage. The findings indicated that vacuum packaging, coating with 10 % GA concentration, and cold storage were the most effective combinations for prolonging shelf life and preserving the quality parameters of stored Barhi dates. The implemented ANN model effectively predicted most fruit quality parameters, closely corresponding with observed data across various storage environments, as indicated by the low values of the evaluation metrics, i.e., mean absolute error, mean absolute percentage error, relative error, and root mean squared error. The R² values observed for the quality parameters of fruit weight (0.951), volume (0.746), density (0.735), weight loss (0.989), hardness (0.967), decay percentage (0.962), moisture content (0.901), pH (0.965), total soluble solids (0.973) water activity (0.859), and color parameters of L∗ (0.978), a∗ (0.784), b∗, ΔE∗ (0.955), and browning index (0.951), validate the precision and dependability of the ANN models in their ability to predict the quality attributes of Barhi date fruits. The study outcomes contribute to food quality and supply chain management by finding the best combination of edible GA coating and storage conditions. Inaddition, predicting fruit quality during storage helps maintain their quality and reduce postharvest losses.