Dietary components have an important role on the structure and function of host gut microbial communities. Even though, various dietary components, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fibers, and vitamins, have been studied in depth for their effect on gut microbiomes, little attention has been paid regarding the impact of several food antioxidants on the gut microbiome. The long-term exposure to reactive oxygen species (ROS) can cause microbial dysbiosis which leads to numerous intestinal diseases such as microbiota dysbiosis, intestinal injury, colorectal cancers, enteric infections, and inflammatory bowel diseases. Recently, it has been shown that the food derived antioxidant compounds might protect the host from intestinal oxidative stress via modulating the composition of beneficial microbial species in the gut. The present review summarizes the impact of food antioxidants including antioxidant vitamins, dietary polyphenols, carotenoids, and bioactive peptides on the structure as well as function of host gut microbial communities. Several in vitro, animal model, and clinical studies indicates that food antioxidants might modify the host gut microbial communities and their health status. However, still further clarification is needed as to whether changes in certain microbial species caused by food additives may lead to changes in metabolism and immune function.

Decontamination of meat is commonly practiced to get rid of or decrease the microbial presence on the meat surface. Dielectric barrier discharge cold atmospheric plasma (DBD‐CAP) as innovative technology is a food microbial inactivation technique considered in high regard by food scientists and engineers in present times. However, cold atmospheric plasma application is at the experimental stage, due to lack of sufficient information on its mode of action in inactivating microbes, food shelf‐life extensibility, whereas, the nutritional value of food is preserved. In this review, we have appraised recent work on DBD‐CAP concerning the decontamination treatment of meat products, highlighting the processing value results on the efficacy of the DBD‐CAP microbial inactivation technique. Also, the paper will review the configurations, proposed mechanisms, and chemistry of DBD‐CAP. Satisfactory microbial inactivation was observed. In terms of DBD‐CAP application on sensory evaluation, inferences from reviewed literature showed that DBD has no significant effect on meat color and tenderness, whereas in contrast, TBARS values of fresh and processed meat are affected. DBD seems economically efficient and environmentally sustainable.

Exopolysaccharide (EPS) show remarkable properties in various food applications. In this review paper, EPS composition, structural characterization, biosynthesis pathways, and recent advancements in the context of application of EPS-producing Lactobacillus spp. in different food industries are discussed. Various chemical and physical properties of Lactobacillus EPS, such as the structural, rheological, and shelf-life enhancement of different food products, are mentioned. Moreover, EPSs play a characteristic role in starter culture techniques, yogurt production, immunomodulation, and potential prebiotics. It has been seen that the wastes of fermented and non-fermented products are used as biological food for EPS extraction. The main capabilities of probiotics are the use of EPS for technological properties such as texture and flavor enhancement, juiciness, and water holding capacities of specific food products. For these reasons, EPSs are used in functional and fermented food products to enhance the healthy activity of the human digestive system as well as for the benefit of the food industry to lower product damage and increase consumer demand. Additionally, some pseudocereals such as amaranth and quinoa that produce EPS also play an important role in improving the organoleptic properties of food-grade products. In conclusion, more attention should be given to sustainable extraction techniques of LAB EPS to enhance structural and functional use in the developmental process of food products to meet consumer preferences.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) was used to extract carotenoids from the carrot pomace. To investigate the effect of independent variables on the UAE, the response surface methodology (RSM) with central-composite design (CCD) was employed. The study was conducted with three independent variables including extraction time (min), temperature (°C), and ethanol concentration (%). The results showed that the optimal conditions for UAE were achieved with an extraction time of 17 min, temperature of 32 °C, and ethanol concentration of 51% of total carotenoids (31.82 ± 0.55); extraction time of 16 min, temperature of 29 °C, and ethanol concentration of 59% for a combination of β-carotene (14.89 ± 0.40), lutein (5.77 ± 0.19), and lycopene (2.65 ± 0.12). The non-significant (p > 0.05) correlation under optimal extraction conditions between predicted and experimental values suggested that UAE is the more productive process than conventional techniques for the extraction of carotenoids from the carrot pomace.

Availability of safe and pathogen-free food is becoming more critical due to difficulties in removing spores and spore-forming microorganisms from the food products. Spore-forming organisms, when exposed to industrial treatments (osmosis, desiccation, cold, heat, bases, and acid, etc.) on a long-term basis, become resistant. While traditional spore removal practices are making it extra challenging for the food industry. Recently, dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) based atmospheric cold plasma (ACP), as an emerging food preservation technology is a novel and promising plasma technology (a non-destructive preservation technology) that is potentially able to be applied in the food industry. In this context, the present study is an overview of the recent progress in the field of ACP application, and its impact on spores inactivation, physicochemical, and sensory attributes of food products, followed by the discussion on the plasma sources included corona discharge system, glow plasma under atmospheric pressure, atmospheric pressure plasma jet, resistive barrier discharge system, gliding arc discharge, DBD along with its bactericidal activities. The study will also address the impact of various process-parameters, mainly electrode type (plasma exposure direct or indirect), plasma power (voltage), treatment time, plasma-induced dose, sample distance between electrodes, and the plasma gas on the bacteriostatic efficiency. Besides, the interaction of plasma-induced reactive species with spore inactivation, deterioration mechanisms will also discuss in detail. Conclusively, the potential application of plasma technology in the food industry and its limitation with mutagenic risks or genetic toxicology will be described.