Milk phospholipids (MPLs) have been used as ingredients for food fortification, such as bakery products, yogurt, and infant formula, because of their technical and nutritional functionalities. Starting from either buttermilk or beta serum as the original source, this review assessed four typical extraction processes and estimated that the life-cycle carbon footprints (CFs) of MPLs were 87.40, 170.59, 159.07, and 101.05 kg CO₂/kg MPLs for membrane separation process, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) by CO₂ and dimethyl ether (DME), SFE by DME, and organic solvent extraction, respectively. Regardless of the MPL content of the final products, membrane separation remains the most efficient way to concentrate MPLs, yielding an 11.1–20.0% dry matter purity. Both SFE and solvent extraction processes are effective at purifying MPLs to relatively higher purity (76.8–88.0% w/w).

Ultrafine grinding is an important pretreatment to achieve the physical modification of dietary fiber. In this study, ultrafine grinding treatments were performed for different times to give pea insoluble dietary fiber (PIDF) samples with varied particle sizes (D₅₀). The correlations and quantitative relationships between the microstructures of multi-scales PIDF and its in vitro glucose adsorption and diffusion behaviors were comprehensively evaluated. The results indicated that the specific surface area (SSA), pore volume (PV) and oxygen-to-carbon surface ratio (O/C) of PIDF were significantly increased by ultrafine grinding at the cellular scale, while D₅₀ and cellulose crystallinity (CrI) were significantly decreased. These changes significantly improved the glucose adsorption capacity (GAC) of PIDF. The order of importance of microstructural changes on GAC was O/C > PV > SSA > CrI > D₅₀. GAC showed positive exponential relationships with SSA, PV, and O/C and showed a negative linear relationship with CrI. The ability to retard glucose diffusion increased significantly with decreased fiber particle size because of improved adsorption and interception of glucose and the dense physical barrier effect of PIDF. The quantitative equation of maximum glucose dialysis retardation index was GDRI_max = −1.65 ln(D₅₀) + 16.82 ln(GAC) − 68.22 (R² = 0.99). The results could provide theoretical support for quantitative and targeted intervention of dietary fiber structure for blood glucose control.

The permeation and absorption of solutes into human hair are highly relevant to various applications, including the formulation of hair-care products, the development of water pollution control and remediation, and the risk assessment of environmental exposure. Based on a detailed introduction of the structure and composition of hair, the effects of the properties of hair (structure, composition, and charge properties), the physicochemical properties of solutes (molecular size, shape, and hydrophobicity), and the conditions of the surrounding medium (solvent composition, temperature, and pH) on the permeation and absorption were comprehensively analyzed. Several theoretical models were reviewed, including two-part/two-state, porous media diffusion, homogeneous medium diffusion, heterogeneous medium partition, and diffusion models. Finally, future research directions for the permeation and absorption of solutes in hair were proposed to provide a foundation for the further optimization and application of permeation models.

Blueberry pomace (BP) powders are rich in bioactive compounds and possesses a fruity aroma, making them promising food ingredients. Micronization can improve their microstructure, phenolic release, aroma, and color. This study applied coarse grinding and superfine grinding to produce BP powders with five distinct particle sizes at three scales: plant scale (>500 μm), tissue scale (100–500 μm) and cellular scale (10–100 μm). The results and a correlation analysis indicated that at an intermediate grinding between the tissue and cellular scale, the microstructural changes of the increasing particle porosity and decreasing particle size enhanced the phenolic release capacity. However, the phenolic contents in particles at the cellular scale decreased, attributable to thermal degradation from grinding. Furthermore, a total of 45 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified. Notably, cellular grinding scale enriched both fruity and roasted aroma associated with the increasing pore volume (PV) and the specific surface area (SSA) and the decreasing particle size. In addition, grinding enhanced powder lightness and redness with the control. In conclusion, considering the microstructures, functional components, aroma and color, grinding at 20 min with the particle size mostly between 10 and 100 μm, with a small portion between 100 and 200 μm, is the preferred method for blueberry pomace.

The present study investigated the effects of degree of starch gelatinization (DSG) and drying methods (FD: freeze-drying; OD: oven-drying) on the multi-scale structure of potato starch and its functionality in noodles. Potato starches with varying DSG (0–91.39%) were prepared by FD and OD and characterized by DSC, XRD, FTIR, RVA, and SEM. The short- and long-range ordered structure decreased significantly as DSG increased. Notably, OD samples showed significantly higher relative crystallinity than FD samples (18.55% vs. 10.90%). Peak, trough, and final viscosities increased, while breakdown decreased with increasing DSG. Microstructurally, FD samples exhibited fragmented flakes, whereas OD samples formed a dense and compacted solid matrix. In noodles, low-DSG FD starch significantly enhanced lightness (L* increased from 75.27 to 83.27), hardness (increased by 15.9%), gumminess, and chewiness, whereas this hardness-enhancing effect was reversed at higher DSG levels. Strong correlations were observed between DSG and structural parameters (r > 0.80). These findings demonstrate that the drying method fundamentally alters the molecular structure of partially gelatinized starch even at comparable DSG levels, and low-DSG FD starch enhanced noodle color and texture. The findings provide a scientific basis for the targeted selection of drying methods to tailor starch functionality for specific noodle applications.