Heat processing is one of the most efficient strategies used in food industry to improve quality and prolong shelf life. However, conventional processing methods such as microwave heating, burning charcoal treatment, boiling, and frying are energy-inefficient and often lead to inferior product quality. Superheated steam (SHS) is an innovative technology that offers many potential benefits to industry and is increasingly used in food industry. Compared to conventional processing methods, SHS holds higher heat transfer coefficients, which can reduce microorganisms on surface of foodstuffs efficiently. Additionally, SHS generates a low oxygen environment, which prevents lipid oxidation and harmful compounds generation. Furthermore, SHS can facilitate development of desired product quality, such as protein denaturation with functional characteristics, proper starch gelatinization, and can also reduce nutrient loss, and improve the physicochemical properties of foodstuffs. The current work provides a comprehensive review of the impact of SHS on the nutritional, physicochemical, and safety properties of various foodstuffs including meat, fruits, and vegetables, cereals, etc. Additionally, it also provides food manufacturers and researchers with basic knowledge and practical techniques for SHS processing of foodstuffs, which may improve the current scope of SHS and transfer current food systems to a healthy and sustainable one.

This study aims to elucidate the quality differences among Tan lamb from three major production regions and investigate the influence and regulation of lipids on regional sheep meat quality. The Ningxia Tan lamb exhibited higher pH values, lower lightness and yellowness, better water-holding capacity and more polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to the other regions. GC-IMS revealed different flavor profiles of Tan lamb from different regions. A total of 1080 lipids across 41 lipid subclasses were identified, with 10 lipid molecules, including PC (16:0_16:1), Carnitine C3:0 and Carnitine C5:1, serving as key differentiators among the regions, as determined by the Random Forest method. Correlation analysis revealed strong associations between acyl lipid characteristics and pH, lightness and centrifugal loss, while glycerophospholipid characteristics were significantly correlated with basic nutritional indices. Lipid metabolic pathway analysis indicated that thermogenesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism and metabolic pathways as crucial for Tan lamb growth, serving as major pathways for distinguishing different regional Tan lamb. These findings indicate that origin influences lamb quality and lipid composition and that a relationship may exist between lamb quality and lipid variations. This provides a comprehensive understanding of how lamb quality is formed and contributes to future identification of lamb origins, as well as control and enhancement of meat quality.

Aluminum-based flameless ration heaters (AFRHs) are heatingelementsin food packaging. Water is used to activate AFRHs. The material propertiesof each region of AFRHs were determined by X-ray diffraction, scanningelectron microscopy, and hydrogen and heat generation. The resultsshow that the internal cross-section shows stratification with hydrogenand heat production capacities of 105.2 & PLUSMN; 9.7 mL/g and 1435.0 & PLUSMN; 30.3 J/g for the outer layer, 27.1 & PLUSMN; 4.4 mL/g and 80.4 & PLUSMN; 3.1 J/g for the inner layer, and 1.1 & PLUSMN; 0.01 mL/g and 1.2 & PLUSMN; 0.05 J/g for the middle layer, respectively. According to thecorrespondence between aluminum and hydrogen in the aluminum-waterreaction relationship, the reaction efficiency of the outer layerand the inner layer is as low as 64 and 80%, which is an indicationof low reaction efficiency. To analyze the reasons for low reactionefficiency, a pore channel model of 3.5 nm tricalcium aluminate (C(3)A) was developed using molecular dynamics (MD) to reveal theadsorption behavior of the activator in the pore channel. The resultsshow that the activator is subject to solid surface adsorption inthe pore channel with a low diffusion coefficient. Oxygen atoms onthe surface adsorb hydrogen atoms to form hydrogen bonds and sodiumions to form ionic bonds with calcium ions. This increases the retentiontime of the activator on the surface. The MD results explain the lowreaction efficiency of AFRHs at the microscopic scale. Moreover, itprovides ideas and a basis for the optimization of AFRHs.