Apple juice that is designated ‘Not from concentrated’ (NFC) is now increasingly popular with consumers due to its unique taste and rich nutritional value. However, layered precipitation and instability have emerged as serious technical problems that restrict the viability of the NFC apple juice industry. This study researched the influence of water-cored ‘Fuji’ apple fruit storage under different temperatures (0, 20 °C) and times (0, 9, 18, 30, 60 days) on the turbidity stability of NFC apple juice. Changes in the physicochemical properties (juice yield, pH, total soluble solids and titratable acid), turbidity stability (turbidity and particle size) and precipitation sensitive substances (insoluble starch, total phenolics, soluble protein and pectin) of NFC apple juice were determined, combined with the respiratory rates and ethylene release of apples, in order to study post-harvest regulation and control of processed fruit. Results indicated that fruit storage temperature and time significantly guided the turbidity stability of NFC apple juice. As a typical respiratory climacteric fruit, apple fruit stored 45 days at 0 °C and 15 days at 20 °C gained the best juice stability, respectively. This is basically consistent with the respiratory peak of fruit when processing raw materials. During the post-ripening process, the insoluble starch in apple gradually hydrolyzed into fructose and glucose, while total phenolics diminished and water-soluble pectin content increased. On the other hand, the amounts of pectin, soluble protein and phenolics in fruit juice declined as the fruit aged in the late storage period (stored 75 days at 0 °C and 40 days at 20 °C). Meanwhile particle size became larger and the turbidity stability of cloudy juices also decreased. This study’s results will provide a sound theoretical basis for improving the turbidity stability of NFC apple juice by regulating the physiological state of processed raw materials.

Poor water solubility and low chemical stability, seriously limit the efficient bioavailability of resveratrol. Here, we propose encapsulating resveratrol in lecithin-polysaccharide self-assembled microspheres (LPSM). An LPSM was designed with a lecithin core, and alginate-carboxymethyl chitosan biolayer shell. The LPSM had a spherical shape with 12.171 ± 0.960 μm of particle size and −30.86 ± 1.37 mV of zeta potential. The introduce of lecithin remarkably increased the encapsulation efficiency of resveratrol to 92.78 ± 0.82%. The LPSM elevated the antioxidant capacity and ultraviolet resistance of resveratrol. Moreover, LPSM inhibited release in a simulated gastric environment, promoted sustained release in simulated intestinal environment, and elevated the bioavailability of resveratrol during in vitro simulated digestion. Results indicate that LPSM is promising as a carrier for resveratrol delivery to enhance stability and bioaccessibility.

This paper introduces a novel cold storage: phase-temperature storage, which is characterized by its distinctive coupling jacket structure that connects the sub-storehouse units to the main storehouse. This innovative design facilitates heat transfer while effectively inhibiting mass transfer. Experimental results indicate that polyethylene film, with a thermal conductivity of 0.42 W/m·K, is a more suitable material for constructing sub-storehouses. Enhancing the surface area of the sub-storehouse and increasing convective wind speed are identified as key factors for improving convective heat transfer within the sub-storehouse. Moreover, the optimized design ensures a more uniform temperature distribution inside the sub-storehouse. In contrast to conventional cold storage, the defrosting unit in phase-temperature storage consumes only 5.72 units of energy under equivalent conditions, compared to 154.02 units for conventional cold storage. This demonstrates that the energy expenditure during the defrosting process of phase temperature storage is less than 4% of that required by conventional cold storage, achieving an energy savings rate exceeding 96%. Under identical circumstances, conventional cold storage consumes a total of 36.359 units of electrical energy for defrosting, with 34.231 units being released as defrosting waste heat into the cold storage environment, resulting in a loss rate of approximately 94.13%. Based on apple preservation experiments, phase-temperature storage exhibited significantly superior performance compared to conventional cold storage in terms of apple respiratory peak, weight loss rate, hardness, and TSS content, with respective values of 17.05 CO₂ mg·kg⁻¹·h⁻¹, 2.89%, 9.29 N, and 16.3%. In contrast, the conventional cold storage group recorded values of 18.15 CO₂ mg·kg⁻¹·h⁻¹, 5.16%, 8.42 N, and 14.9%. These results highlight the exceptional freshness-retention capabilities of phase-temperature storage, underscoring its considerable potential for application in storage systems.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of exogenous selenium on selenium enrichment and antioxidant activity of germinated chestnuts. We treated ‘Zaofeng’ chestnuts with Na₂SeO₃ at concentration of 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 mg/L, and analyzed, during germination, the level of total Se, SeCys₂, MeSecys, Se^IV, SeMet, Se^VI, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), antioxidant enzyme (phenylalanine ammonialyase (PAL), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)) activity, non-enzymatic antioxidant substances (total polyphenols and flavonoids) content and antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS). The results indicated that low concentrations of selenium (20–40 mg/L) significantly promoted the organic transformation of selenium, with a Se-enrichment rate over 74%. Antioxidant enzyme (PAL, SOD, CAT) activities and total phenol content were enhanced by 1.1 to 1.9-fold compared with the control, leading to a 12.2–29.2% improvement in antioxidant capacity (DPPH and ABTS). In contrast, the high concentration of selenium (80 mg/L) induced oxidative stress, inhibiting enzyme (PAL, SOD, CAT) activities (reduced by 14.1–20.5%) and decreasing antioxidant capacity (DPPH) by approximately 19.0%. During chestnut germination, selenite was absorbed by the embryo and subsequently transformed into organic Se in vivo, ultimately being stored mainly as SeCys₂. The selenium enrichment rate decreased significantly with increasing Na₂SeO₃ treatment concentration: from 86.4% at 20 mg/L to 62.2% at 80 mg/L. Furthermore, treatment with 40 mg/L Na₂SeO₃ led to a significant increase in GABA content of germinated chestnuts, reaching 1.3 times that of the control group. Overall, germination with 20–40 mg/L Na₂SeO₃ is an effective condition for producing Se-enriched chestnut sprouts with enhanced GABA and antioxidant capacity, offering a potential functional food ingredient.

To investigated the effect of exogenous selenium on selenium enrichment and antioxidant activity of germinated chestnut. We treated ‘Zaofeng’ chestnuts with 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 mg/L concentration of Na₂SeO₃, and the analyses focused on total Se, SeCys₂, MeSecys, Se^IV, SeMet, Se^VI, γ -aminobutyric acid (GABA), antioxidant enzyme (PAL, SOD, GPX, CAT) activity, non-enzymatic antioxidant substances (total polyphenols and flavonoids) content and antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS) during germination. The results indicated that low concentration of selenium (20-40 mg/L) significantly promoted the organic transformation of selenium, increased antioxidant enzyme activity and phenol accumulation, and enhanced antioxidant capacity of chestnut. High concentration of selenium (80 mg/L) induced oxidative stress, inhibited enzyme activity and reduces antioxidant capacity of chestnut. During the germination of chestnut, selenite was absorbed by embryo and subsequently transformed into organic Se in vivo, ultimately being stored in the form of SeCys₂. The selenium enrichment rate decreased significantly with the increase of Na₂SeO₃ treatment concentration. Furthermore, the treatment with 40 mg/L Na₂SeO₃ led to a significant increase in GABA content of germinated chestnut. Overall, 20-40 mg/L Na₂SeO₃ were identified as the suitable concentration for germinated chestnut. This study provides a theoretical basis for developing functional food of selenium-enriched germinated chestnut.