Lemon juice vesicles have abundant flavor components that can undergo complex changes during drying. Three drying methods, including integrated freeze-drying (IFD), conventional freeze-drying (CFD), and hot-air drying (AD), were studied to determine their effects on the dynamic changes in the flavor compounds in lemon juice vesicles. Compared with the fresh samples, the final dried samples that underwent IFD, CFD, and AD lost seven, seven, and six volatile flavor compounds and three, four, and five amino acids, respectively; the order of the loss ratios with respect to the volatile compound content was: 82.73% in CFD > 71.22% in IFD > 28.78% in AD. AD resulted in the highest total amino acid content (10.83 ± 0.20 mg/g), which was 1.39 and 5.54 mg/g higher than that of IFD and CFD, respectively; CFD resulted in the highest total organic acid content (45.94 ± 0.34 mg/g), which was 8.01 and 7.87 mg/g higher than that of IFD and AD, respectively; and AD contributed to the highest total soluble sugars (17.12 ± 0.20 mg/g), which was 1.24 and 1.49 mg/g higher than that of IFD and CFD, respectively. A correlation analysis demonstrated that most of the amino acids and the soluble sugars were closely related to the profiles of the volatile compounds in the lemon juice vesicles during drying.

With its high moisture content and tender texture, fresh strawberry is very susceptible to mechanical damage and microbial infection. Drying is one of the most frequently employed methods to extend its shelf life, and freeze-dried restructured strawberry block (FRSB) is an emerging popular food. Here, in order to enhance the quality of FRSB, edible gums of guar gum, pectin, and gelatin were added and the combination was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) with chewiness, hardness, and organoleptic evaluations of the dried sample as the response indicators. The results showed that the combination addition of 0.10% guar gum, 0.22% pectin, and 0.30% gelatin contributed to the highest comprehensive quality of the dried sample. Compared with the untreated sample, the optimal combination addition of the three edible gums resulted in a higher moisture content for the dried sample (increased by 0.8%), and increased the chewiness, hardness, and porosity by 82.04%, 27.09%, and 3.01%, respectively, while maintaining more original color and forming a denser porous microstructure. The findings in the current work will be useful for the application of edible gums in freeze-dried restructured fruits and vegetables.

To improve the performance of green manure sowing and processing equipment, it is necessary to investigate the physical properties of seeds, including their dimensions, bulk density, and frictional characteristics. Focusing on the main cultivated varieties of green manure in China—milk vetch, hairy vetch, and sesbania—this study proposes three low-cost, convenient, and high-precision experimental methods to measure the geometric size of small seeds. The measured results show that the milk vetch seeds were 2.60–3.40 mm in length, 1.90–2.40 mm in width, and 0.71–0.97 mm in height. The hairy vetch pods were 23.03–32.83 mm in length, 7.39–9.74 mm in width, and 4.06–6.15 mm in height, and the seeds were 3.04–4.10 mm in diameter. The sesbania seeds were 3.81–4.29 mm in length, 1.98–2.37 mm in width, and 1.85–2.08 mm in height. The thousand-seed weights of milk vetch, hairy vetch, and sesbania seeds were 3.40 g, 26.50 g, and 15.58 g, with moisture contents of 7.18%, 9.81%, and 8.73%, respectively. The bulk densities of milk vetch, hairy vetch, and sesbania seeds were 732 g/L, 761 g/L, and 845 g/L. The angles of repose of milk vetch, hairy vetch, and sesbania seeds were 31.66°, 28.15°, and 29.82°, measured using an angle-of-repose tester. Sliding friction angles of 25.85°, 23.55°, and 24.03° for milk vetch, hairy vetch, and sesbania seeds were obtained using a dividing head. These methods and results provide valuable references for the measurement of the physical properties of small-seeded crops (e.g., green manures) as well as other small or irregularly shaped particles.