The object of this study was to investigate the possibility of using xanthan gum and flaxseed mucilage as edible coatings for Cheddar cheese during ripening for 90 days. Five samples of Cheddar cheese blocks were coated with different coating materials in triplicate as follows: Coated with polyvinyl acetate as control (C), coated with 0.5% xanthan gum (XG), coated with 0.75% flaxseed mucilage (FM1), coated with 1% flaxseed mucilage (FM2), and coated with 1.25% flaxseed mucilage (FM3). All samples were kept at 8 ± 2 °C in a cold room for 90 days. The statistical analysis of the results showed that the moisture content of the samples decreased and the protein content increased during the ripening period (P < 0.01). The pH, acidity, fat in dry matter, and TCA-SN/TN of samples were significantly affected by xanthan gum and flaxseed mucilage treatment (P < 0.01). The free fatty acid composition of samples was significantly affected by edible coatings. Edible coatings affected the growth of non-starter lactic acid bacteria and the total mesophilic aerobic bacteria in a non-significant manner (P > 0.01). The growth of starter bacteria was significantly altered under the effect of edible coating materials (P < 0.05). Tyrosine and tryptophan contents as an index of proteolysis, lipolysis, and sensory evaluation of samples were not significantly different.

Drying is one of the most common and effective techniques for preserving the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of medicinal plants in the post-harvest phase. Therefore, in this research, the effect of the new refractance window (RW) technology on the kinetics, thermodynamics, greenhouse gasses, color indices, bioactive properties, and percentage of mint leaf essential oil was investigated in five different water temperatures in the form of a completely randomized design. This process was modeled by the methods of mathematical models and artificial neural networks (ANNs) with inputs (drying time and water temperature) and an output (moisture ratio). The results showed that with the increase in temperature, the rate of moisture removal from the samples increased and as a result, the drying time, specific energy consumption, CO₂, NO_x, enthalpy, and entropy decreased significantly (p < 0.05). In addition, the drying water temperature had a significant effect on the rehydration ratio, color indices, bioactive properties, and essential oil percentage of the samples (p < 0.05). The highest value of rehydration ratio was obtained at 80 °C. By increasing temperature, the main color indices such as b*, a*, L*, and Chroma decreased significantly compared to the control (p < 0.05). However, with the increase in temperature, the overall color changes (ΔE) and L* first had a decreasing trend and then an increasing trend, and this trend was the opposite for the rest of the indicators. The application of drying water temperature from 50 to 70 °C increased antioxidant, phenol content, and flavonoid content, and higher drying temperatures led to a significant decrease in these parameters (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the efficiency of the essential oil of the samples was in the range of 0.82 to 2.01%, and the highest value was obtained at the water temperature of 80 °C. Based on the analysis performed on the modeled data, a perceptron artificial neural network with 2-15-14-1 structure with explanation coefficient (0.9999) and mean square error (8.77 × 10⁻⁷) performs better than the mathematical methods for predicting the moisture ratio of mint leaves.

The process after harvesting medicinal plants, such as drying, is very important in the production cycle of these plants. The study’s objective is to evaluate the effect of different drying methods on some thermodynamic properties, qualitative and bioactive attributes, and yield of rose essential oil in form of a completely randomized design. The treatments of this study included drying in refractance window (RW), infrared (IR), and convective (CV) at three drying temperatures of 50, 60, and 70 °C, as well as fresh plants. The results showed that different drying methods and temperatures significantly affected the essential oil, thermodynamic, qualitative, bioactive, and yield characteristics. The lowest drying time, energy consumption, and the highest energy efficiency and rehydration ratio in the dried rose samples were related to the drying temperature of 70 °C in the RW method. The reduction of drying time by RW method compared to IR and CV methods was between 11.1–21.40 and 45.9–50%, respectively. The highest amount of antioxidant activity, total phenol, flavonoid and essential oil yield was observed in the RW drying method and at the drying temperature of 60 °C. This study showed that compared to other drying methods, the RW method showed a high quality in drying Rose flowers.