Surimi gel quality is crucial for seafood product texture and water retention, yet conventional processing often fails to maximize the potential of underutilized species like Hypomesus olidus. This study investigated the effects of ultrasonic power (100, 200, 400, 800 W) and time (5, 10, 15, and 20 min) on gel properties to establish optimal processing conditions. Results demonstrated that moderate ultrasonic treatment (200 W, 10 min) significantly enhanced gel quality, yielding a dense, uniform network with improved (p < 0.05) functionality: thr water-holding capacity increased by 35.88%, gel strength increased by 143.75%, and textural properties (hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess, chewiness) improved by 124.02%, 25%, 8.69%, 201.29%, 188.08% while maintaining color stability (1.59% whiteness increase). These improvements were attributed to optimized protein cross-linking and network formation. These findings provide a scientific basis for the ultrasonic processing of Hypomesus solidus surimi, offering practical parameters for industrial applications to enhance product quality efficiently. Future research should explore scaling effects and synergistic processing methods.

The natural fermentation of sausages often results in inconsistent gel texture and flavor stability. This study introduces a compound fermenter group (Weissella hellenica, Lactobacillus sakei, and Pediococcus pentosaceus) to improve the quality of fermented sausages. The aim was to evaluate its flavor-modulating and quality-preserving effects, addressing the research gap in applying these microbial synergies in fermented meats. Sausages inoculated with the compound fermenter group were compared with control group (naturally fermented) over 90-day frozen storage using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory analyses. The results showed that the compound fermenter group enhanced protein gel network stability (increased hardness and chewiness; reduced moisture loss), enriched the volatile aroma profile, with an 8.7% increase in the variety of flavor compounds and no detected lipid oxidation-derived off-flavor aldehydes (e.g., trans-2-nonenal), and improved oxidative and microbial stability (lower thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and total volatile basic nitrogen values; total viable counts within safety limits), with consistently higher sensory scores. The compound fermenter group effectively coordinates proteolysis, gelation, and flavor metabolism, offering a promising strategy for producing high-quality fermented meat gels with optimized texture and extended shelf life.

Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosusL.) is an insulin-containing crop, which has been paid an intensive attention in recent decades. Although, some progress has been made in the biochemistry of Jerusalem artichokes (JA), the inner adaptive mechanism of salt tolerance among JA varieties is still unclear. Elucidating salt-tolerant differences by integrated stress physiology and proteomics approach will provide comprehensive insights into their adaptive mechanism for various JA varieties, therefore serving for the large-scare cultivation in salt-affected marginal lands. JA seedlings were initially grown in half-strength Hoagland solution, and then exposed to 100 and 200 mM NaCl for 30 days. We found that salt stress decreased the plant height, root length, fresh and dry weight in both varieties, and the decreasing extents of N1 (Helianthus tuberosusvar. N1) was greater than M1 (Helianthus tuberosusvar. M1). Chloroplast ultrastructure in N1 was severely damaged, but appeared unaltered in M1. Also, N1 remained lower selective for K⁺over Na⁺, exhibiting more Na⁺accumulation in plant tissues compared to M1. Penetrating cutting-edge elementary proteomic results showed the regulation of protein expression in M1 was much more positive than in N1. Taken together, these results illustrated the considerable differences in adaption to saline environment between varieties.Graphic abstract

Forest enclosure is widely used for degraded forest restoration; however, microbial functional recovery across enclosure durations in subtropical deciduous secondary broadleaved forests remains poorly understood. This study evaluated microbial carbon metabolic recovery and associated environmental factors across a chronosequence of forests enclosed for 0–1, 5–6, 11–12, 20–24, and 28–34 years, with an old-growth forest as the reference. Forest enclosure significantly enhanced microbial carbon metabolic capacity and functional diversity. Average Well Color Development (AWCD) and Shannon, Simpson, and McIntosh indices increased with enclosure duration, with the lowest values in 0–1 year stands and the highest values in old-growth forests. Enclosure duration significantly altered carbon source utilization patterns, particularly amino acids and carboxylic acids, with carboxylic acids becoming the dominant utilized carbon source category after 5–6 years of enclosure. Furthermore, Bray–Curtis distance analysis revealed progressive convergence of microbial carbon-use profiles toward the old-growth reference state with increasing enclosure duration (Spearman’s ρ = −0.61, p = 0.0155). Soil carbon, nitrogen, moisture, bulk density, pH, and microbial diversity were significantly associated with these functional changes. These findings highlight microbial carbon-use profiles as effective indicators of soil functional recovery and provide insights for incorporating microbial traits into future forest restoration and management strategies.

To confirm the antagonistic activity characterization of the strain Pseudoalteromonas SW-1 (P. SW-1), its cell-free supernatant (CFS) was studied against a clam pathogenic strain of Vibrio.Alginolyticu. MP-1 (V.MP-1). The CFS of P. SW-1 exhibited evident antagonistic activities against the pathogens, and the absorbance value (600 nm) of V. MP-1 remained at a lower level at 24 h when compared with the control. The results showed that the inhibitory activities of strain P. SW-1 CFS showed differences after treatment with heat, acid and alkali, and proteinase K. The CFS of P. SW-1 inhibitory activities were decreased after treatment with heat, but the inhibitory activities of strain P. SW-1 CFS were still effective after treatment with proteinase Kfor 24 h. The acid and alkali treatments could increase the inhibitory activities of strain P. SW-1 CFS. Therefore, the ammonium sulfate precipitation test also indicated that P. SW-1 could produce some active protein compounds to antagonize pathogenic V. MP-1.