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Special Issue "Features, Reviews and Perspectives for the 10th Anniversary of Processes"

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A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2023 | Viewed by 5754

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Giancarlo Cravotto

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Guest Editor

Department of Drug Science and Technology, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 9, 10125 Turin, Italy
Interests: green chemistry; process intensification; green extraction; enabling technologies (ultrasound, microwaves, hydrodynamic cavitation, ball milling, flow chemistry); sustainable chemical processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Zhen Fang

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Guest Editor

College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, A503 YuXian Building, 40 Dianjiangtai Road, Nanjing 210031, China
Interests: biofuels; biomass; supercritical water; biodiesel

Prof. Dr. Jose V. Garcia-Perez

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Guest Editor

Department of Food Technology, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain
Interests: high power ultrasound; pulsed electric fields-PEF; moderate electric fields-MEF; supercritical fluids; drying; extraction; heat transfer; modeling; non-destructive ultrasonic testing; texture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As Processes editors, authors, reviewers, and readers, we have the opportunity to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the journal with a Special Issue. Our goal is to highlight the advances and achievements of the past few years. In various fields, new technologies, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and machine learning could revolutionise the traditional methods and protocols. The current transdisciplinary approach to design highly efficient and sustainable processes will open up new scenarios with major implications for industrial production, research laboratories and society.

I expect that the special issue "Features, Reviews and Perspectives for the 10th Anniversary of Processes" will redraw the scientific and technical skyline of the third millennium.

Prof. Dr. Giancarlo Cravotto
Prof. Dr. Zhen Fang
Prof. Dr. Jose Garcia-Perez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Soy Protein Nanofibers Obtained by Solution Blow Spinning

Agata Penconek

Dorota Kasak

and

Arkadiusz Moskal

Processes 2023, 11(8), 2310; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11082310 - 01 Aug 2023

Viewed by 348

Abstract

The climate crisis, growing pollution of the environment with waste, and ubiquitous microplastics have encouraged the search for new methods and new opportunities to use natural materials in the least harmful processes. Replacing synthetic materials with raw materials is not only a matter of “fashion”, but also a necessity. Therefore, this study aimed to produce fibers from an aqueous solution containing the highest possible concentration of soy protein isolate (SPI) through solution-blowing. As the aqueous solution of SPI has no fiber-forming potential, polyethylene oxide (PEO) was used as the carrier/matrix. The rheology of the aqueous PEO solution and PEO/SPI blends (flow curves, loss modulus, and storage modulus) was then analyzed. The proportions of the PEO/SPI mixtures and the process parameters were determined on this basis. As a result of the conducted research, nanofibers were produced from water solutions of PEO/SPI with a soy protein content of up to 7.88%, with a PEO share of 1.25%. The average diameter of the obtained fibers was 225–495 nm, depending on the process parameters and SPI content—as the SPI content in the PEO/SPI mixture increased, the average fiber diameter decreased. The production of nanofibers with a high soy protein content increases their application possibilities. Firstly, due to a much larger surface area, and secondly, due to the presence of numerous functional groups in the protein structure, which can be a place of attachment for additional compounds that give the obtained nanofibers the desired properties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Features, Reviews and Perspectives for the 10th Anniversary of Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

Environmental Life Cycle Analysis of Açaí (Euterpe oleracea) Powders Obtained via Two Drying Methods

Natalia Salgado-Aristizabal

Tatiana Agudelo-Patiño

Sebastian Ospina-Corral

Ignacio Álvarez-Lanzarote

and

Carlos Eduardo Orrego

Processes 2023, 11(8), 2290; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11082290 - 31 Jul 2023

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Abstract

Açaí is a fruit native to Brazil that is found in Colombia, and it is recognized for containing more than 90 compounds with anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and other biological activities. In this study, a cradle-to-gate life cycle analysis (LCA) was conducted for the production of açaí powder, following the methodology outlined in the ISO 14040 standard. The investigation focused on examining the impact of utilizing or not utilizing the residues generated during the pulp extraction step as fertilizers. Four scenarios were analyzed and compared: (i) production of açaí powder via vacuum drying, (ii) via spray drying, and via the same two types of drying but using residues from the pulping operation as fertilizer (Scenarios 3 and 4). It was found that to produce 1 kg of açaí in a crop cycle, 1.17 kg of CO₂ eq is produced. The drying stage in Scenarios 1 and 2 generated 8.04 and 7.93 kg of CO₂ eq, respectively. Similarly, when solid waste is used as fertilizer, CO₂ emissions barely increased for Scenarios 3 and 4, respectively. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first carbon footprint study of the production of açaí powder whit these scenarios. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Features, Reviews and Perspectives for the 10th Anniversary of Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

In Situ Indoor Air Volatile Organic Compounds Assessment in a Car Factory Painting Line

and

Processes 2023, 11(8), 2259; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11082259 - 27 Jul 2023

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Abstract

Proper working conditions must be one of the employers’ main concerns in any type of company but particularly in work locations where the employees are chronically exposed to hazardous compounds, like factories and production lines. Regarding this challenge, the present research addresses the mapping of a car factory painting line to possibly toxic volatile organic compounds emitted by all the coatings and chemicals used during the work shifts for the future evaluation of employees’ exposure. For the first time, a Gas Chromatography–Ion Mobility Spectrometry device was employed for the in situ detection of volatile organic compounds in an automotive factory. A total of 26 analytes were detected at nine different locations, of which 15 VOCs were accurately identified. Pure chemical-grade substances were used for the development of the VOC database. Although quantitative analysis was not the goal of this study, a calibration model was presented to one analyte for exemplificative purposes. Relative intensity profiles were plotted for all locations, revealing that some indoor VOCs can reach intensity levels up to 60 times higher than in outdoor air samples. The achieved results proved that the painting line has an abundant number of VOCs emitted from different sources and may lead to serious health risks for the employees. Additional studies shall be developed in the painting line for quantitative evaluation of the existing VOCs and their influence on the employees’ health conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Features, Reviews and Perspectives for the 10th Anniversary of Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

Extraction and Characterization of Bromelain from Pineapple Core: A Strategy for Pineapple Waste Valorization

Simonetta Oliaro-Bosso

Giancarlo Cravotto

Fabrizio Dal Piaz

and

Salvatore Adinolfi

Processes 2023, 11(7), 2064; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11072064 - 11 Jul 2023

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Abstract

Bromelain is a mixture of cysteine endopeptidase usually extracted from pineapple juice and is used for the treatment of various human diseases and in industrial applications. Bromelain demand is quickly increasing, and its recovery from pineapple residues appears to be a sustainable waste management strategy. Pineapple core is among the most significant waste materials in the production of canned pineapple and is richer in bromelain than other pineapple residues. In this project, we compared the enzymatic properties and composition of bromelain extracts from either pineapple core or pulp to address the recovery of bioactive bromelain from pineapple core, thus contributing to the valorization of this waste material. Although significant differences were detected in the protein content of the two preparations, no differences could be detected for their proteolytic activity and for the effect of pH on their enzymatic activity. Mass spectrometry (MS) approaches identified the same peptidases in the fruit and in the core. This confirmed the possibility of using pineapple core to obtain relevant amounts of bioactive bromelain by applying a relatively simple procedure, thus paving the way to implementing a circular economy in this specific industrial sector. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Features, Reviews and Perspectives for the 10th Anniversary of Processes)

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Open AccessArticle

Effect of the Freezing Step on Primary Drying Experiments and Simulation of Lyophilization Processes

and

Processes 2023, 11(5), 1404; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11051404 - 05 May 2023

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Abstract

Lyophilization is a widely used preservation method for thermosensitive products. It consists of three process steps: freezing, primary and secondary drying. One of the major drawbacks is the long processing time. The main optimization effort was put into the primary drying phase since it is usually the longest phase. However, the freezing step is of immense importance for process efficiency and product quality. The lack of control during freezing comprises a challenge for process design and tech transfer. In this study, four different freezing steps (shelf-ramped freezing with and without holding step, precooled shelves and an ice fog method for controlled nucleation) are used and their impact on primary drying experiments and simulations is shown. Only the ice fog method is able to control the nucleation temperature leading to low dry layer resistances with low deviations. During the primary drying simulations, the control of the nucleation temperature drastically increases the precision and accuracy of the product temperature prediction. For optimal primary drying design and model predictive control, the nucleation temperature is strongly recommended to be controlled inside a Process Analytical Technology (PAT) concept to achieve reliable and reproducible process conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Features, Reviews and Perspectives for the 10th Anniversary of Processes)

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Review

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Open AccessFeature PaperReview

An Overview of Carbon Emission Mitigation in the Food Industry: Efforts, Challenges, and Opportunities

Ting-Chun Liu

Yi-Ching Wu

and

Chi-Fai Chau

Processes 2023, 11(7), 1993; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11071993 - 01 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1866

Abstract

The food system plays a significant role in anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing to over one-third of these emissions. However, there has been limited attention given in the literature on how the food industry can effectively address the carbon issue. This review aims to bridge this research gap through providing a comprehensive overview of anthropogenic GHG emissions and exploring the role of carbon markets in mitigating climate change, with a specific emphasis on the food industry. It delves into the introduction of emission hotspots within the food industry, examines ongoing efforts in GHG emissions mitigation, and addresses the challenges associated with GHG verification and offsetting. Notably, emission hotspots are primarily found in the farm, manufacturing, and post-production stages of the food industry. The emissions from the farm stage, which are often overlooked, make a significant contribution to overall emissions. Carbon verification encounters limitations due to a lack of standardized methodologies, inaccurate data, and insufficient reporting of emissions. Currently, achieving carbon neutrality without relying on carbon offsets presents a significant challenge for the entire food industry. Comprehensive mitigation strategies and collaboration across agricultural producers and the food manufacturing industry are considered potential solutions to achieve genuine sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Features, Reviews and Perspectives for the 10th Anniversary of Processes)

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