Ultra High Pressure Homogenization of Soy Milk: Effect on Quality Attributes during Storage
The present work analyzed soy milk prepared from whole dehulled soybeans. The traditional method of soy milk preparation leads to wastage of about 35% of soybean solids in the form of okara, which gets filtered out. In the current study, soy milk was prepared with practically 100% recovery of soybean solids and treated with continuous flow high pressure processing (207 and 276 MPa pressure, 121 and 145 °C exit temperatures, and 0.75 and 1.25 L/min flow rates), and the changes in the physical, chemical, microbial, and sensory properties during 28 days of storage at 4 °C were analyzed. The treated soy milk remained stable for 28 days. There was a significant reduction in the particle size of soybean solids which did not change during storage. The pH of the treated soy milk was significantly lower than the untreated soy milk and it reduced further upon storage. The soy milk was pasteurized with high pressure processing coupled with preheating. No lipoxygenase activity was detected. Compared to commercial samples, there was no significant difference in the astringency, bitterness, or chalkiness of soy milk prepared in the study.
The Effect of the Ultra-High-Pressure Homogenization of Protein Encapsulants on the Survivability of Probiotic Cultures after Spray Drying
Interest in probiotic foods and ingredients is increasing as consumers become more aware of their potential health benefits. The production of these products often involves the use of dry culture powders, and the techniques used to produce such powders often suffer from significant losses of viable cells during drying or require the use of expensive drying technologies with limited throughput (e.g., freeze drying). In this study, the authors examined whether culture survivability during spray drying could be increased via the treatment of two common protein encapsulants with ultra-high-pressure homogenization (UHPH). Lactobacillus plantarum NRRL B-1927 (also known as ATCC 10241), a probiotic strain, was suspended in either soy protein isolate (SPI) or whey protein isolate (WPI) which had been either treated with UHPH at 150 Mpa or left untreated as a control. The suspensions were then dried using either concurrent-flow spray drying (CCSD), mixed-flow spray drying (MFSD) or freeze drying (FD) and evaluated for cell survivability, particle size, moisture content and water activity. In all cases, UHPH resulted in equal or greater survivability among spray dried cultures, showed reductions in particle size measures and, except for one marginal case (CCFD SPI), significantly reduced the moisture content of the dried powders. The combination of these findings strongly suggests that UHPH could allow probiotic powder manufacturers to replace freeze drying with spray drying while maintaining or increasing product quality.
Genetics of the phenotypic evolution in sheep: a molecular look at diversity-driving genes
Background After domestication, the evolution of phenotypically-varied sheep breeds has generated rich biodiversity. This wide phenotypic variation arises as a result of hidden genomic changes that range from a single nucleotide to several thousands of nucleotides. Thus, it is of interest and significance to reveal and understand the genomic changes underlying the phenotypic variation of sheep breeds in order to drive selection towards economically important traits. Review Various traits contribute to the emergence of variation in sheep phenotypic characteristics, including coat color, horns, tail, wool, ears, udder, vertebrae, among others. The genes that determine most of these phenotypic traits have been investigated, which has generated knowledge regarding the genetic determinism of several agriculturally-relevant traits in sheep. In this review, we discuss the genomic knowledge that has emerged in the past few decades regarding the phenotypic traits in sheep, and our ultimate aim is to encourage its practical application in sheep breeding. In addition, in order to expand the current understanding of the sheep genome, we shed light on research gaps that require further investigation. Conclusions Although significant research efforts have been conducted in the past few decades, several aspects of the sheep genome remain unexplored. For the full utilization of the current knowledge of the sheep genome, a wide practical application is still required in order to boost sheep productive performance and contribute to the generation of improved sheep breeds. The accumulated knowledge on the sheep genome will help advance and strengthen sheep breeding programs to face future challenges in the sector, such as climate change, global human population growth, and the increasing demand for products of animal origin.