A digestibility trial was conducted with African catfish hybrid juveniles in order to determine the apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of different nutrients. The experimental diets contained defatted black soldier fly (BSL), yellow mealworm (MW), or fully fat blue bottle fly (BBF) meals, in a 70 : 30 ratio between the control diet and the tested insect meals. The indirect method for the digestibility study was performed using 0.1% yttrium oxide as an inert marker. Fish juveniles of initial weight were distributed in 1 m³ tanks (75 fish/tank) of a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS), in triplicates, and fed until satiation for 18 days. The average final weight of the fish was . The ADCs of the dry matter, protein, lipid, chitin, ash, phosphorus, amino acids, fatty acids, and gross energy for the test ingredients and diets were calculated. A six-month storage test was carried out to evaluate the shelf life of the experimental diets, while the peroxidation and microbiological status of the diets were also assessed. The ADC values of the test diets differed significantly ( ) compared to those of the control for most of the nutrients. Altogether, the BSL diet was significantly more digestible for protein, fat, ash, and phosphorus than the control diet but less digestible for essential amino acids. Significant differences were found between the ADCs of the different insect meals evaluated ( ) for practically all nutritional fractions analyzed. The African catfish hybrids were able to digest BSL and BBF more efficiently than MW, and the calculated ADC values agreed with those of other fish species. The lower ADCs of the tested MW meal correlated ( ) with the markedly higher acid detergent fiber (ADF) levels present in the MW meal and MW diet. Microbiological evaluation of the feeds revealed that mesophilic aerobic bacteria in the BSL feed were 2–3 orders of magnitude more abundant than those in the other diets and their numbers significantly increased during storage. Overall, BSL and BBF proved to be potential feed ingredients for African catfish juveniles and the shelf life of the produced diets with 30% inclusion of insect meal retained the required quality during a six-month period of storage.

This research presents a novel approach to protein extraction from cauliflower (CL) and broccoli (BL) waste leaves by using enzymatic pretreatment, demonstrating its effectiveness on protein yield. Enzymatic pretreatment (pH 4.5, 10 h, t = 35 °C), was performed using commercial enzyme preparations, Viscozyme^® L and Vinozyme^®, in three different enzyme-to-substrate ratios E/S (0.2%, 2.5%, and 4.8%) of each enzyme. Leaf proteins (LPs) were obtained with alkaline extraction at pH 10–11 and their isoelectric precipitation at pH 4, following the control sample (extraction without enzymes). Protein yield (%), which was used as a parameter to monitor enzymatic efficiency, demonstrated a direct correlation with the enzyme-to-substrate (E/S) ratio. The highest protein yields were obtained at an enzyme concentration of 4.8% for both cellulolytic and pectolytic enzyme preparations, yielding 14.90 ± 0.12% for CL and 29.88 ± 0.86% for BL. The obtained proteins were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, and these methods confirmed the enzymatic efficiency of protein isolation. Isolated LPs showed high protein content for CLP 4.8% (77.27 ± 0.14%) and BPL 4.8% (84.66 ± 0.51%), and an increase in total amino acids, while the content of essential amino acids was over 40%. Protein solubility was assessed, revealing significant improvements (p < 0.05) in LPs derived from CL and BL at the highest E/S ratio of 4.8%, compared to the control sample C0%. Specifically, the solubility of CLP reached 29.4 mg/mL at pH 11, while BLP achieved 36.4 mg/mL at pH 10. As a result, these leaf proteins not only meet nutritional demands but also open innovative avenues of research in food science and biotechnology.

In this study, dry fractionation process was proposed in order to obtain protein-enriched sunflower meal fractions. The process includes two-stage grinding using a hammer mill and a roll mill, and fractionation of sunflower meal by sieving. Central composite design (CCD) with four variables on three levels within response surface methodology was applied in order to estimate the influence of grinding parameters (sieve openings diameter of the hammer mill: 2, 4, and 6 mm, roll gap: 0.15, 0.2, and 0.25 mm, feed rate: 0.1, 0.175, and 0.25 kg/cm min, and roll speed: 400, 500, and 600 rpm) on responses (protein content, fraction yield and grinding energy consumption). Sieve openings diameter expressed the highest impact on fraction yield while roll gap expressed the most dominant influence on protein content in the fraction and grinding energy consumption. The highest protein content obtained was 48.06%_(dm) with fraction yield of 77.22%. A multi-response optimization procedure was performed and optimal values were: sieve openings diameter of 2 mm, roll gap of 0.25 mm, feed rate of 0.2 kg/cm min, and roll speed of 400 rpm, while predicted values for a desired range of responses were: protein content 45.5%_(dm), fraction yield 77.89%, and grinding energy consumption 8.31 Wh/kg.

A novel rice-based snack enriched with chicory root flour (CRF) was developed by twin-screw extrusion. Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is one of the promising medicinal plants for the development of innovative food and may be considered a functional food ingredient. Central composite design (CCD) was employed to generate snack formulations by varying feed moisture (M, 16.3–22.5%), screw speed (SS, 500–900 rpm) and CRF content (20–40%). The optimization according to artificial neural network modeling and a genetic algorithm was applied to define optimal process conditions (17.6% moisture, 820 rpm and 24.1% of CRF) for obtaining the product with the highest expansion (3.34), crispiness (3.22 × 10⁻³), volume (2040 m³), degree of gelatinization (69.70%) and good color properties. Bulk density (110.33 g/L), density (250 kg/m³), and hardness (98.74 N) resulted in low values for the optimal sample. The descriptive sensory analysis evaluated low hardness and bitterness, with high crispiness for the optimal extrudate. This study points to the possibility of a novel chicory enriched extrudate production with desirable physicochemical and sensory properties.

Sunflower meal, a by-product of oil extraction from sunflower seeds, is an important protein source in domestic as well as European feed industry. There is a common interest for the proper utilization of sunflower meal and for the development of an effective fractionation process in order to obtain a nutritionally improved sunflower meal. This paper proposes and compares two dry fractionation processes for the improvement of sunflower meal protein content on a laboratory scale. The first phase of both processes included two step milling using a hammer and roller mill. In the second phase, the ground sunflower meal was fractionated by sieving or by air classification. Results indicated that the implementation of any of the suggested processes improved protein content of the starting sunflower meal to a level sufficient to categorize it as "high-protein" according to current national regulation on animal feed quality, with the fraction yields over 50%. For the air classification process the most promising result was achieved for air flow of 7 m3 /h (12.8% relative protein enrichment, 56.42% fraction yield). For the fractionation process with sieving as a separation step, when fractions smaller than 350 µm were conjoined, relative protein enrichment of 28.5% and fraction yield of 51.17% were achieved. The high protein content (48.81% on dry basis) of the joined fraction enables enough space for optimizing the protein content - fraction yield ratio of obtained sunflower meal. By applying sieves with larger aperture, it is possible to obtain higher yields of sunflower meal categorized as high-protein on account of a slight decrease in protein content, which gives this process a certain flexibility and potential for application on a larger scale.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of fractionation by sieving on cold-pressed camelina cake by separating it into particle-sized fractions and evaluating their nutritional and functional properties. Two Camelina sativa varieties, NS Zlatka and NS Slatka, were mechanically cold-pressed using a screw press then ground into flour. The resulting material was fractionated into three particle-sized fractions, >250 µm, 250–180 µm, and <180 µm, using a laboratory dry sieving system. Both the whole cake and the separated fractions were analyzed for proximate composition, amino acid and fatty acid profiles, tocopherol content, antioxidant potential, color characteristics, and water and oil absorption capacities. The results indicated that the finest cake fraction (250 µm) had increased crude fiber content (13–15%), higher antioxidant potential, the greatest water absorption capacity, and a darker color with a more pronounced reddish color. It also contained the lowest levels of glucosinolates (19–21 μmol/g) and phytic acid (17–20 g/kg). In conclusion, whole camelina cake and its fractions demonstrate considerable potential for use in animal feed and a variety of human nutritional products, due to their favorable nutritional composition and functional properties. Fine fractions with high levels of antinutritional compounds could be used as a substrate for the extraction of bioactive compounds and may find further application in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.