In this study, we designed high fiber cookie recipe without using additives by means of extrusion-based 3D printing. We aimed to relate printing quality and cookie physical properties with dough rheology and dietary fiber content depending on the flour (oat, rye, rice, and carob flour) and fat type (olive oil or butter). The flour choice influenced all cookie quality parameters: baking loss, color, line height and width, and dietary fiber content. Results indicated that lower baking loss and better printing quality were obtained for cookie dough containing olive oil, which had higher viscosity and consistency coefficient compared with dough containing butter. Cookies with olive oil in which part of the oat flour was replaced with rye and carob flour were printed with high accuracy (≥98%), close to the ideal 3D shape. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of selecting fat and particularly flour, as well as the extrusion rate on the quality and repeatability of 3D-printed cookies.

This review gives an overview of the impact of novel nonthermal food technologies on food safety, on quality, and on the environment. It confirms that research in this field is mainly focused on analyzing microbial and/or chemical aspects of food safety. However, recent research shows that in spite of various food safety benefits, some negative (quality oriented) features occur. Finally, this paper shows the necessity of analyzing the environmental dimension of using these technologies.

This study examined the effects of pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment on enzymes, non-starch polysaccharides, and bread-making potential of oat and barley flour. Enzyme activity, microstructure, β-glucan extractability, molecular weight (Mw) and structure of non-starch polysaccharides, dough rheology, and flat bread properties were determined. An exponential decay model explained better the residual activity of oat β-glucanase across electric field intensity than barley β-glucanase. PEF treatment of flour at 12 kV/cm for 162 ms significantly reduced β-glucanase activity (40.2–76.5%) while increasing the concentration of total β-glucans (33.5%) and water-extractable arabinoxylans (36–41%). Mw of linear β-d-glucans decreased (9%) while Mw of branched arabinoxylans increased (6–33%). Scanning electron microscopy showed changes in microstructure of barley proteins. Blending wheat flour (70%) with oat or barley flour (30% weight) after PEF treatment enhanced gluten aggregation energy (29–19%) and breakdown viscosity (18–43%) of dough, as well as increased β-glucan content (21–32%) but reduced specific volume (11–24%). The findings of this study provide a comprehensive insight into the PEF’s potential for retarding enzymatic reactions and preserving integrity of cereal non-starch polysaccharides.

This investigation was focused on the influence of long-living neutral reactive oxygen species on the physico-chemical properties of acryl-coated polypropylene foils for food packaging. Reactive species were formed by passing molecular oxygen through a microwave discharge and leaking it to a processing chamber of a volume of 30 L, which was pumped by a rotary pump. The density of neutral O-atoms in the chamber was tuned by adjustment of both the effective pumping speed and the oxygen leak rate. The O-atom density was measured with a catalytic probe and was between 3 × 10¹⁸ and 5 × 10¹⁹ m⁻³. Commercial foils of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) coated with acrylic/ poly(vinylidene chloride) (AcPVDC) were mounted in the chamber and treated at room temperature by O atoms at various conditions, with the fluence between 1 × 10²¹ and 3 × 10²⁴ m⁻². The evolution of the surface wettability versus the fluence was determined by water contact angle (WCA) measurements, the formation of functional groups by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the morphology by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The WCA dropped from the initial 75° to approximately 40° after the fluence of a few 10²² m⁻² and remained unchanged thereafter, except for fluences above 10²⁴ m⁻², where the WCA dropped to approximately 30°. XPS and AFM results allowed for drawing correlations between the wettability, surface composition, and morphology.