Guava is a nutritious fruit that has perishable behavior during storage. We aimed to determine the influences of some edible coatings (namely, cactus pear stem (10%), moringa (10%), and henna leaf (3%) extracts incorporated with gum Arabic (10%)), on the guava fruits’ properties when stored under ambient and refrigeration temperatures for 7, 14, and 21 days. The results revealed that the coating with gum Arabic (10%) only, or combined with the natural plant extracts, exhibited a significant reduction in weight loss, decay, and rot ratio. Meanwhile, there were notable increases in marketability. Moreover, among all tested treatments, the application of gum Arabic (10%) + moringa extract (10%) was the superior treatment for most studied parameters, and exhibited for the highest values for maintaining firmness, total soluble solids, total sugars, and total antioxidant activity. Overall, it was suggested that coating guava with 10% gum Arabic combined with other plant extracts could maintain the postharvest storage quality of the cold-storage guava.

Developing a bioactive brew is a novel track for revalorization of palm date byproducts. The effect of roasting temperature (160, 180 and 200 °C ) and roasting time (10, 20 and 30 min) on the hardness of the roasted date seeds, moisture content of the defatted roasted date seed powder (DRDSP), bulk density of the DRDSP, color parameters of DRDSP, quality attributes (extraction yield, pH and browning index), the chemical properties (antioxidants and total phenolic content) and the sensory attributes (color, aroma, taste and overall preference) of the brew prepared from DRDSP was studied. The physicochemical, quality, and sensory attributes were found to be significantly influenced by the roasting temperature and time. Additionally, the models proposed could satisfactorily describe the changes in the different properties during the roasting process. The optimum conditions of the roasting process obtained using the superimposed contour plot were 199.9 °C and 21.5 min. In the longer term, the results of this study would be beneficial for the manufacturers of the date seeds powder and brew.

Air-frying is an innovative technique for food frying that uses hot air circulation to prepare healthy products. The objectives of this study were to establish simplified models to reflect the efficacy of the air frying process at varying temperatures and times on the quality attributes of falafel, and to optimize the frying conditions for producing air-fried falafel. Moisture content, color, fat content, hardness, and sensory evaluation of the fried falafel were analyzed under varied temperatures (140 °C, 170 °C, and 200 °C) and time periods (5 min, 10 min, and 15 min). Statistical analysis was then applied to obtain the best fit model that can describe the properties of fried falafel. Results indicated that moisture content, fat content, and L*-value of air-fried falafel were adversely related to the frying temperature and time, but the hardness and ΔE of fried falafel were increased as the frying temperature and time increased. Moreover, an increase followed by a decrease was shown for the appearance, aroma, crispness, taste, and overall preference scores with the increase in frying temperature and time. The regression analysis showed that the proposed models could be properly used for predicting the properties of the fried falafel. In addition, the overlaid plots resulted in the optimum frying temperature of 178.8 °C and time of 11.1 min. Interestingly, the fat content of the air-fried falafel reduced by 45% at optimal frying conditions compared with that for the deep-fat fried one at 180 °C for 7 min (control). In comparison, the air-fried falafel was lower in fat content, higher in hardness with more acceptable appearance and crispness scores than deep-fat fried falafel. Such information could be beneficial to the manufacturers of the falafel to produce an optimal and healthy product.

Peaches are grown in many Egyptian orchards for local and global fresh market sales. The interior fruit tissue breakdown (IFTB), often resulting in decayed peaches, is a severe problem during marketing. Therefore, to minimize FTB of peaches, in this study, gum arabic (GA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were mixed with different concentrations of salicylic acid (SA) (0, 1, and 2 mM) and were applied as edible coating to extend the shelf life of peach fruits. Mature peaches were selected and harvested when peaches reached total soluble solid content (SSC: 8.5%) and fruit firmness of about 47 N. Fruits were coated and stored at room temperature (26 ± 1 °C and air humidity 51 ± 1%) for 10 days during two seasons: 2020 and 2021. Fruit coated with GA/PVP-SA 2 mM showed a significant (p < 0.05) inhibition in degrading enzyme activities (CWDEs), such as lipoxygenase (LOX), cellulase (CEL), and pectinase (PT), compared to uncoated and coated fruits during the shelf-life period. Hence, cell wall compartments were maintained. Consequently, there was a reduction in browning symptoms in fruits by inhibiting polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activities. Thus, the fruit skin browning index showed almost no symptoms. The lipid peroxidation process and ionic permeability declined as well. The result suggests that, by applying GA/PVP-SA 2 mM as an edible coating, fruit tissue breakdown can be minimized, and the shelf life of peach can be extended up to 10 days without symptoms of tissue breakdown.

Investigating the extraction of bioactive compounds represents a hopeful direction for maximizing the value of longan fruit byproducts. This study explored the influence of ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) parameters-specifically ultrasonic power ratios, temperatures, and exposure times-utilizing water as a green solvent on several properties of the longan seeds extract (LSE). These properties encompassed the energy consumption of the UAE process (EC), extraction yield (EY), total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC), and antioxidant activity (DPPH). Additionally, the study sought to optimize the conditions of UAE process and examine its thermodynamic properties. A three-level, three-factor full factorial design was utilized to assess the effects of different factors on LSE properties. Results indicated that EC, EY, TPC, TFC, and DPPH were significantly influenced by power ratios, temperatures, and exposure time. Moreover, the proposed models effectively characterized the variations in different properties during the extraction process. The optimized extraction conditions, aimed at minimizing EC while maximizing EY, TPC, TFC, and DPPH radical scavenging activity, were demonstrated as an ultrasonic power ratio of 44.4 %, a temperature of 60 °C, and an extraction time of 17.7 min. Optimization led to 563 kJ for EC, 7.85 % for EY, 47.21 mg GAE/mL for TPC, 96.8 mg QE/mL for TFC, and 50.15 % for DPPH radical scavenging activity. The results emphasized that the UAE process exhibited characteristics of endothermicity and spontaneity. The results provide valuable insights that could inform the enhancement of extraction processes, potentially benefiting industrial utilization and pharmaceutical formulations.

Convection drying in combination with ultrasound pretreatment has emerged as a promising technology for seafood manufacturing. The primary objective of this research was to model the mass transfer process of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) fish skin without and with ultrasound pretreatment during convection drying at different temperatures (45, 55, and 65 °C). Additionally, the study aimed to examine the impact of ultrasound pretreatment and temperatures on the drying characteristics and specific energy consumption for drying of Asian seabass fish skin. Seven semi-theoretical models, namely Lewis, Page, modified Page, Vega-Lemus, Verma, Henderson and Pabis, and two-term models, were employed to characterize the moisture transfer process. The results of the study indicated a decrease in the moisture content as the drying time increased at different drying temperatures. Higher drying temperatures were associated with an increased drying rate. Among the mathematical models tested, the modified Page model provided a satisfactory description of the thin-layer drying characteristics of fish skin. Fick’s law of diffusion was utilized to determine the effective moisture diffusivities. Comparing the drying of fish skin without (SS) and with ultrasound pretreatment (US-SS), the drying of the latter generally showed higher D_eff values. The temperature dependence of the effective diffusivity coefficient was well described by the Arrhenius-type model. An increase in the drying temperature resulted in an increment of the effective moisture diffusivity. In general, the skin pretreated using ultrasound had a reduced drying time, by up to 28%. Additionally, this approach contributed to an approximate 22% reduction in the specific energy consumption, concurrently enhancing the energy efficiency. The microstructure analysis showed that fresh and dried US-SS samples had a more open structure and higher porosity, in comparison to the corresponding SS samples. These findings contribute to the knowledge on the application of ultrasound as the pretreatment of fish skin before drying and provide valuable insights for the development of potential drying techniques in the seafood industry.