The research aims to extract nutrients and bioactive compounds from spirulina using a non-toxic, environmentally friendly and efficient method-Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE). In this work, Response Surface Methodology (RSM)-Central Composite Design (CCD) was used to evaluate and optimize the extraction time (5-15 min), temperature (20-60 °C) and pH (4-10) during PLE extraction (103.4 bars). The multi-factor optimization results of the RSM-CCD showed that under the pressure of 103.4 bars, the optimal conditions to recover the highest content of bioactive compounds were 10 minutes, 40 °C and pH 4. Furthermore, the compounds and antioxidant capacity of PLE and non-pressurized extraction extracts were compared. The results showed that under the optimal extraction conditions (10 minutes, 40 °C and pH 4), PLE significantly improved the antioxidant capacity (2843.57±153.6 µM TE), protein yield (136.7±4.3 mg/g), chlorophyll a (1.46±0.04 mg/g), carotenoids (0.12±0.01 mg/g), total polyphenols (11.49±0.04 mg/g) and carbohydrates content (78.12±1.40 mg/g) of the extracts compared with non-pressurized extraction (p<0.05). The protein molecular distribution of the extracts was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and the results showed that there were more small-molecule proteins in PLE extracts. Moreover, Triple TOF–LC–MS–MS was used to analyze the phenolic profile of the extracts, and the results showed the extracts were rich on phenolic compounds, such as p-coumaric acid and cinnamic acid being the predominant phenolic compounds in the PLE extract. This indicates that PLE can promote the extraction of bioactive compounds from Spirulina, which is of great significance for the application of PLE technology to obtain active substances from marine algae resources.

Beer is susceptible to develop different faults (off-flavours/off-aromas) due to the nature of its main ingredients and variability in the conditions within the production stages and storage; this is especially challenging for craft breweries. Therefore, it is important to develop novel, rapid and non-destructive methods for detection of faults. A dry lager beer was used as the base to spike with 18 different faults commonly found in beer at two different concentrations. Those 18 samples and a control were analysed in triplicates using a low-cost and portable electronic nose (e-nose) to assess the volatile compounds. Three machine learning models based on artificial neural networks (ANN) were developed using the e-nose outputs as inputs to (i) classify the samples into control, low and high concentration of faults (Model 1), (ii) predict faults in the low concentration samples (Model 2), and (iii) predict faults in the high concentration samples (Model 3). The three models had very high accuracy (Model 1: R=0.95; Model 2: R=0.97; Model 3: R=0.96). This method may also be applied within different stages of beer production for early detection of faults, which may allow applying any corrective actions before obtaining the final product.

Fruits and vegetables are products which can be consumed in their raw form without undergoing processing or transformation. Drying is one of the oldest methods of food preservation [1]. It is still used widely to preserve foods for home consumption and for sale. Dried fruits are one of the most popular products made by small-scale processors. The health benefits of consuming fruit are well documented [2]. Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa cv Hayward) is a nutrient-dense fruit, and extensive research on its health benefits over the last decade has linked regular consumption to improvements not only in nutritional status, but also in digestive, immune, and metabolic health [2].Dried kiwis are highly needed in the food industry. The dehydration process removes much of the water content from kiwi slices, making them richer in nutrients. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of the air-drying temperature on the quality and nutritional compounds of dehydrated kiwi slices during 120 days of storage. Hot air drying of kiwi slices was investigated at drying temperatures ranging from 40°C to 55°C and a slice thickness of 4 mm. Fresh and dried kiwi slices were analysed for their pH, activity water, total solid soluble (TSS), colour, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, total phenols and flavonoids content, as well as radical scavenging activities evaluated by the ABTS test [3,4]. The analysis carried out on the dehydrated kiwifruit has shown a good disposition of the kiwi towards the drying process. In particular, it has been observed that drying treatment at a low temperature allows the preservation of the nutraceutical properties of the food matrix. Samples treated at 40°C showed the highest values of total phenols and flavonoids content with values of 2179 mg/100g dried weight (DW) and 281 mg/100 DW fruits, respectively. This high phytochemical content is responsible for the dried kiwifruit's promising antioxidant activity (1657 mmol Trolox/100g DW fruits). Moreover, all dried samples exhibited, at the end of storage, an average high content of ascorbic acid (429–339 mg/100g DW fruits) and a slight variation of physicochemical parameters.

[1] Ratti, C. (2001). Hot air and freeze-drying of high-value foods: A review. J. Food Eng. 49. 311-319. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/S0260-8774(00)00228-4.; [2] Richardson, D.P., Ansell, J., Drummond, L.N. (2018). The nutritional and health attributes of kiwifruit: a review. Eur J Nutr 57, 2659–2676. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-018-1627-z. [3] AOAC (1990) Official methods of analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. 2 vols. 15th ed. Washington, DC; [4] Sicari, V.; Pellicanò, T.M.; Laganá, V.; Poiana, M. (2018). Use of orange by‐products (dry peel) as an alternative gelling agent for marmalade production: Evaluation of antioxidant activity and inhibition of HMF formation during different storage temperature. J. Food Proces. Preserv. 42. e13429. 10.1111/jfpp.13429.

Climatic anomalies, such as heatwaves and bushfires, are increasing in number, intensity, and severity worldwide due to climate change. Bushfires are especially important in winemaking countries since smoke contamination can reach vineyards in critical periods of berry development, producing smoke contamination, which is passed to the wine as smoke taint in the winemaking process. The only alternative for winemakers to assess berry or wine contamination is by sending samples to specialised laboratories, which can be time consuming and cost-prohibitive and only sentinel plants or batches can be monitored. New and emerging technologies based on non-destructive remote sensing, such as near-infrared spectroscopy and the development of low-cost e-noses coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) tools, have been developed by our research group. The machine learning (ML) classification models developed showed high accuracy (97 - 98%) for berries, leaves and wine assessment to predict the level of smoke contamination. Furthermore, ML regression models to predict smoke-derived compounds in berries, must and wine also presented very high accuracy (R = 0.98 - 0.99). On the other hand ML models to predict consumers acceptability towards smoke tainted wines were also successfully developed (R = 0.97 - 0.98). These models can result in cost-effective and accurate technologies applicable to the vineyard and wineries to assess levels of smoke taint and associated compounds for decision-making purposes.

The latest pandemic due to COVID-19 appearance in 2020 has led to lockdown worldwide, which have affected companies and universities conducting sensory evaluation. Therefore, a novel method to conduct sensory sessions in isolation has been developed. This consists of using communication software such as Zoom and online software such as Google forms or RedJade to conduct the sensory sessions remotely. Different studies have been conducted using this technology (i) to assess consumers acceptability towards coffee labels, (ii) videos of beer while pouring, and (iii) images from the Geneva affective picture database using self-reported and biometric (subconscious) responses from consumers, and (iv) wine samples using a trained panel. The researcher shared the questionnaire link with the participants and connected through Zoom during the session using the camera to record videos of consumers responses while evaluating the samples for the biometrics. Findings were consistent with those from similar studies conducted in a sensory laboratory, which confirms the reliability of the proposed virtual method. Further developments will involve the assessment of multiple participants to record their biometrics simultaneously and optimise the sensory session time.

The widespread of antimicrobial resistance has drawn the public’s attention worldwide. The presence of ESBL E. coli in fresh produce and other food represents a growing problem involving food safety and has become a global food safety issue. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of ESBL producing E. coli in raw vegetables (lettuce and bean sprouts) from hypermarkets and wet markets and to establish the antibiogram of the isolates. In this study, a total of 179 samples (95 samples of lettuce and 84 samples of bean sprouts) were collected from hypermarkets and wet markets. The most-probable-number analysis and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (MPN-mPCR) was used to detect and quantify the ESBL producing E. coli in raw vegetable samples. The prevalence rate of ESBL producing E. coli in lettuce and bean sprouts were 62.11% (59/95) and 64.29% (54/84), respectively, with a microbial load range of <3 to >1100 MPN/g. The predominant ESBL gene detected in this study was bla_SHV. A total of 15 isolates of ESBL producing E. coli recovered from the samples were tested with antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) with different antibiotic classes. All isolates were found susceptible to cefepime, piperacillin/tazobactam, and meropenem. A total of nine ESBL producing E. coli strains showed multidrug resistance. In conclusion, the high prevalence rate of ESBL producing E. coli in raw vegetables showed that raw vegetables could act as a potential vehicle to transmit ESBL producing E. coli to the human population.

Consumers’ demand for fresh fruits and vegetables has increased over the last years seeking healthy beneficial effects attributed to their high content in micronutrients and bioactive compounds with antioxidant and free-radical scavenging properties. In order to obtain fresh-like products, several innovative food processing technologies have emerged such as pulsed electric fields (PEF) (Sánchez-Moreno et al., 2009). PEF technology constitute an effective tool for inactivating microorganisms at low temperatures with a minimum impact on food nutritional and functional characteristics (Knorr et al., 2011; Gabri´c et al., 2018). More recently, these technologies have been explored by various authors as useful tool for removing foods contaminants, such as mycotoxins (Vijayalakshmi et al., 2017 and 2018; Gavahian et al., 2020). Mycotoxins are toxic natural contaminants of food and feeds produced by various fungi and are linked with a variety of adverse health effects in humans and animals. Aspergillus genera is responsible of aflatoxins (AFs) production, being AFB1 among the most potent mutagenic and carcinogenic substances known (Marín et al., 2013). The aim of the present study is to explore the potential of PEF technology on AFB1 reduction in fruit juice milk-based beverages and to compare it with the effect of the traditional thermal processing. For this purpose, orange juice/milk beverage and strawberry juice/milk beverages were prepared and spiked with AFB1 at concentration of 100 µg/L. Subsequently, the samples were processed under PEF (field strength of 3 Kv /cm and specific energy of 500 KJ/kg) or thermal treatment (90 °C during 21 s). After respective treatments, AFB1 was extracted from treated samples and controls employing dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method (DLLME) and determined by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/ MS-IT). The results revealed a significant AFB1 reduction after PEF treatment, with reduction percentages up to 37% in orange juice/milk beverage and 21% in strawberry juice/milk beverage. Thermal treatment did not reach any AFB1 reduction in both juice models, being PEF technology more effective in AFB1 mitigation.

Fish side streams represent between 20-80% of the weight of fish, and their disposal represents an environmental and economic problem. These side streams contain proteins and antioxidant compounds that give them added value. In order to valorise these side streams, an extraction assisted by pulsed electric fields (PEF) was carried out to obtain proteins and compounds with antioxidant activity. An extraction for the same time but without PEF pre-treatment was used as a control. The side streams used were head, skin, viscera and backbone from sea bass. The antioxidant capacity was measured by two complementary methods, TEAC and ORAC. The results showed that in the case of head and skin, treatment with PEF notably improved protein extraction by 37.7 and 37.8%, respectively. However, for viscera the best values were achieved with the control extraction. Finally, backbone did not show significant differences in protein recovery between PEF-assisted extraction and control extraction. Regarding antioxidant capacity, the results followed the same trend as for proteins. For head and skin, the pre-treatment with PEF increased the extraction of antioxidant compounds, improving the TEAC values by 21.74 and 29.11% respectively. On the other hand, ORAC results increased 22.11% for head extracts and 40.93% for skin extracts. In the extracts obtained from the viscera, the TEAC and ORAC values were better in the control sample, being 21.43% and 24.82% higher, respectively. The antioxidant compounds present in the samples may be the bioactive peptides, but a more exhaustive analysis using chromatographic techniques would be necessary to complete the information. Therefore, it has been seen that PEF-assisted extraction can be a good strategy to increase the recovery of proteins and antioxidant compounds from fish side streams like head or skin, but not for viscera and backbone.

Currently, there is a growing nutritional interest in microalgae because they are a good source of nutrients and bioactive compounds. These bioactive compounds include polyphenols, which are known to be beneficial to health due to their antioxidant capacity. However, its extraction by conventional methods requires time and uses organic solvents, which are harmful to the environment. To reduce both time and environmental impact, the use of pulsed electric fields technology as a pre-treatment prior to extraction by stirring has been studied. For this purpose, a treatment of 100 kJ/kg at 3kV/cm was applied to a suspension of 2% spirulina in water. Afterwards, a extraction was carried out using ethanol (EtOH) 50% or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) 50% in water (v/v) for 3h. In order to evaluate both the polyphenol extraction and the antioxidant capacity, a kinetic curve for each one was carried out at different extraction times with the different solvents. It was observed that the pre-treatment with PEF had a significant (p<0.05) positive effect on the extraction at all times with respect to the conventional treatment. The greatest differences were observed in the first times of the extraction (5-15) min. The highest antioxidant capacity measured by ORAC and TEAC was obtained using EtOH as solvent. When DMSO was used, PEF pre-treatment allowed higher recovery of polyphenols after 5 min (12.53±0.31 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight) than control sample after 180 min (4.84±0.48 mg/g). For both solvents, the highest value of total phenolic compounds (TPC) was obtained after 120 min of extraction. Finally, PEF increased the extraction of polyphenols by 408% using EtOH 50% as solvent. Then, it can be concluded that PEF technology increases the extraction of polyphenols from microalgae, reducing the process time and the consumption of organic solvents.

Pulsed electric fields (PEF) is an innovative technology that allows the creation of pores in the cell membrane through the application of an electric field. Among its main advantages, the increase in the extraction performance of intracellular compounds stands out. In order to study this effect on pigment recovery, a PEF-assisted extraction was performed. For that purpose, a PEF treatment at 3 kV/cm and 100 kJ/kg was applied to a 2% (p/v) suspension of the Arthrospira platensis microalgae, also known as spirulina. After pre-treatment with PEF, the suspension was stirred for 3h, taking samples at different times. This extraction was compared with a control extraction, which consisted of stirring for 3h, without PEF pre-treatment. Furthermore, the influence of the solvent was evaluated in each case. Therefore, the extraction yield obtained using ethanol 50% (v/v) and DMSO 50% (v/v) was compared. The best results were obtained using 50% (v/v) ethanol as solvent. In addition, a greater extraction of pigments was observed in the samples pre-treated with PEF. This was especially noticeable at lower extraction times. In conclusion, these results showed that PEF is a promising technology for pigment extraction as it is environmentally friendly while improving the profitability of the process.