Marcos Antonio Neves

Three-dimensional (3D) food printing, a relatively new food-processing method, was explored using gelatinized sweet potato starch (SPS) as a food ink. Prior to the production of intricate 3D shapes, this study focused on the precise extrusion of filaments, specifically the optimization of the printing conditions for nozzle diameters of 1.5 and 4.0 mm to produce filaments with an acceptable appearance and size. The rheological and mechanical properties of the (SPS) sol were also determined to describe the extrudability and shape retention of the food materials. The optimization process employed the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and a desirability function to generate mathematical models of the width and height of the filaments as functions of the moisture content, the print temperature, and the print speed. The generated mathematical models were used to determine the optimum printing conditions. Hence, for the 1.5 mm nozzle, the optimum condition was at 82% moisture content, 57 °C print temperature, and 10 mm/s print speed, with a desirability of 0.842. In contrast, for the 4.0 mm nozzle, the optimum condition was at 82.3% moisture content, 50 °C print temperature, and 5 mm/s print speed, with a desirability of 0.911. The optimized filaments are expected to be used in 3D food printing to create 3D shapes.

The global demand for food has been increasing, presenting new challenges in meeting this demand. To address this growing need, the use of coating technology through nanoemulsions shows great potential. The use of thyme essential oil stabilized by chitosan nanoparticles offers a promising and sustainable approach for the development of edible coatings. Chitosan was extracted from shrimp shell waste and used to produce nanoparticles via the ionotropic gelation method, using sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) as a crosslinking agent. To prepare the nanoemulsions, thyme essential oil was used as the dispersed phase, combined with an aqueous phase containing chitosan nanoparticles and Tween 80 as the emulsifier. Two techniques were employed to produce nanoemulsions: high-pressure homogenization and ultrasonication. Nanoemulsion formulations with different concentrations were prepared and characterized in terms of droplet size (Z-Average) and stability using dynamic light scattering (DLS). The average droplet sizes obtained were above 100 nanometers for samples produced via high-pressure homogenization and below 100 nanometers for those prepared using ultrasonication. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed that both the method (p = 0.002) and the oil phase concentration (p < 0.001) had statistically significant effects on droplet size. Regression analysis showed that oil concentrations below 2.0 g (w/w) increased droplet size, while concentrations above 4.0 g (w/w) significantly reduced it (p < 0.05). However, physical stability tests conducted at 5 °C for 30 days showed consistent values across both formulations, with only minor fluctuations, suggesting overall good stability.

Solid–liquid equilibrium (SLE) data were measured for gallic acid (model polyphenol) and raffinose (model saccharide) in ethanol–water mixtures at temperatures from 278.15 to 303.15 K. The solubility of raffinose decreased 400-fold with increasing ethanol content, while gallic acid solubility increased 29-fold under identical conditions, demonstrating divergent solubility behavior consistent with the thermodynamic requirements for selective drowning-out crystallization. The modified Universal Quasi-Chemical (UNIQUAC) model with Larsen’s combinatorial term successfully correlated the experimental data (average absolute deviations < 5%). UNIQUAC Functional-group Activity Coefficients (UNIFAC) group contributions, including specialized saccharide groups (pyranose, furanose, OH _ring ), were used to calculate molecular parameters. Thermodynamic properties of dissolution (Δ _sol H °, Δ _sol G °, Δ _sol S °) were derived from van’t Hoff analysis. Favorable separation conditions were identified at ethanol mass fractions of 0.70–0.80 and temperatures of 283.15–293.15 K, achieving selectivity factors of 70–180. The thermodynamic framework provides a quantitative foundation for process design of polyphenol recovery from olive mill wastewater via drowning-out crystallization, as confirmed by preliminary separation experiments achieving 92.5% raffinose recovery at 96.3% purity.

The purpose of the study was to characterize the basic structure of nanoparticles (Zein-CS-Cur-Que) embedded in curcumin and quercetin, realize the synergistic antioxidant of dietary polyphenols, and improve the transmembrane transport rate and bioavailability of curcumin. The oral delivery system Zein-CS-Cur-Que developed based on the synergistic encapsulation of curcumin and quercetin using the anti-solvent method with corn alkyd-soluble proteins and sodium caseinate possessed varying nanoparticle sizes (173.96–191.03 nm) and good dispersibility (PDI < 0.17), and relied on electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions to successfully encapsulate curcumin (94.62%) and quercetin (73.75%). The results showed that Zein-CS-Cur-Que enhanced the stability and antioxidant activity of curcumin, and increased the bioaccessibility (nearly 2-fold) and rate of translocation (nearly 2-fold) of curcumin in the gastrointestinal tract significantly. Therefore, the nanocomposite system developed in this study is crucial for the development of functional foods and dietary supplements, providing effective insights into the synergy of polyphenol interactions.

Cassava peels are rich in polysaccharides but highly unexplored and underutilized, as they could be used to meet the increasing demand for clean-label foods. This study investigated the effect of temperature on the solubilization of cassava peel during hydrothermal treatment to determine the emulsifying ability of solubilized cassava peel (SCP). Subcritical water conditions were employed via hydrothermal (120–200 °C; 2 MPa) or autoclave (127 °C; 0.2 MPa) treatments to solubilize cassava peels. The composition of the SCPs was determined, and their emulsifying ability was assessed using interfacial tension and zeta potential measurements. Under the best treatment conditions (140 °C at 2 MPa [hydrothermal]; 127 °C at 0.2 MPa [autoclave]), SCPs reduced interfacial tension against soybean oil to 12.9 mN/m and 13.4 mN/m, respectively. A strengthened co-emulsifier system was developed by incorporating SCPs with Quillaja saponins (QS) or Tween 20 to enhance the performance. Dynamic interfacial tension and zeta potential measurements revealed synergistic interactions, showing a remarkable reduction in interfacial tension from 12.94 to 5.33 mN/m. This suggests that the SCP has a surfactant-like structure owing to its amphiphilic structure and hydrophobic chains (nonpolar region) attached to the -OH functional group (polar region). Combining a second surface-active compound or co-emulsifier results in an additive effect, reducing the interfacial tension. These findings provide novel insights into carbohydrate-saponin binding and elucidate the impact of peel composition, concentration, and hydrothermal treatment conditions on co-emulsifier system performance, which will assist in the development of emulsifiers, contributing to the advancement of clean-label food technologies, effectively replacing synthetic emulsifiers in food formulations, and offering both sustainability and functionality. A systematic investigation of processing conditions and co-emulsifier interactions provides a practical framework for developing high-performance natural emulsifiers from agricultural waste.