eChapters

The last two decades have seen rapid growth and development in the industrial sector as well as urbanization has increased. Due to globalization and mass production of commodities, the situation in the modern world nothing like ever before. Food and dairy industries are also not left out from this massive expansion. Due to changing behavior and food consumption habits too, there has been a surge in the risk of foodborne illness. This has created a problem in terms of public health and sustainability

Thermal heating methods are used from long time to decontaminate the food products from microorganism and therefore increase its shelf life and ultimately make the product safe for human consumption. But these methods diminish the sensory, physicochemical and nutritional properties of food (Barba et al., 2012). Also, the cost of generation of heat in manufacture of food product make the product costlier in thermal processing and also create environmental issue.

Electricity is one of the fundamental phenomena of nature. Electricity or electric current is caused due to the movement of charged particles i.e., electrons. Due to the potential difference between two points in a conductor, electron movement takes place. The potential difference between two points is caused due to the difference in charge density. Electron tends to flow from lower potential to higher potential which causes electricity to flow. In general, the electrons flow from cathode (negative) to anode (positive) but in a wire electricity, electrons flow from anode to cathode when connected to a battery or any electricity source.

High-pressure processing (HPP) is a novel method for non-thermal preservation technique of food that inactivates harmful pathogens and vegetative spoilage microorganisms. HPP is an alternate, non-thermal food processing method, wherein the food is subjected to a very high pressure range from 100 -800 MPa (1MPa = 145.03 Psi or 10 Bar). HPP is also referred as High hydrostatic pressure processing, Ultra high-pressure processing, Hyperbaric processing and Pascalization (Rao et al., 2014).

Milk is considered to be a perfect food which contains almost all the macroand micronutrients required for normal body growth. However, it is highly perishable in nature which poses problem during its storage. It gets spoiled within few hours after milking if not processed or cooled immediately. It can also be a source of several disease causing microbes as it is conducive for the growth of microorganisms.

Abstract

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field which plays a major role in various disciplines including drug discovery, pharmacogenomics, proteomics, comparative genomics, microbial genome applications in biotechnology. Food plays a vital role in various processes in body and also helps in controlling various chronic diseases. Food safety and food processing are very crucial factor for human lives. Bioinformatics has been successfully applied in food industry for improving various factors of food such as flavor, taste, allergenicity, probiotics, optimizing the quantitative and compositional parameters for food processing and assessing the food safety. In this chapter, we have given an overview about the role of bioinformatics in food industry.

Abstract

Fermentation in food processing is the process of converting carbohydrates to alcohol or organic acids using microorganisms; yeasts or bacteria under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation usually defines the desirable action of microorganism to enhance food safety by inhibition of pathogens, modify their sensory properties, improve their nutritional value by removing anti-nutritive compounds and by enhancing bioavailability of components. Pulses and Legumes are the major source of dietary nutrients all over the world. Fermentation can be the most simple and economical way of improving their nutritional value, sensory properties and functional qualities. Pulses and legume based fermented food products offer opportunities to include probiotics, prebiotics and fibers in the human diet. In the Indian subcontinent, making use of fermented food and beverages using local food crops and other biological resources is very common, although the nature of the products and the base material varies in different regions. This chapter focuses on some of the indigenous fermented foods produced in the country that have not received the scientific attention they deserve in the last decades. Products produced from different pulses and legumes substrates fermented by lactic acid bacteria, yeast and/or fungi are included.

Abstract

The waste utilization as derivative from different food processing sector has been emerged as the main challengeable problem around the world due to the generation of by-products at large quantities consisting seeds, peels, rags, unused flesh, bran, husk, germ, stalk etc. during various processing chain steps. Though these food by-products are potentially rich source of natural compounds which finds its wide utilization in different industries as affordable, cost-effective, novel ingredient comprising dietary fiber, phytochemicals, antioxidants, pectin, enzymes, organic acids, food additives, essential oils etc. subsequently after extractions, purified fractionation and fermentations methods. These food byproducts also have pharmaceutical and nutraceutical activity. A nutraceutical is like a medicine or food grade product, which not only provides physical benefits and nutritional supplements but also protects against various chronic diseases. This food processing waste utilization should be a topic of interest, by means of two ways, i.e., through waste quantity reduction and increased value-added food products production and also as renewable energy source. The purpose of this study is to highlight the opportunities to utilize food by-products from various food processing industries and to encourage the vital exploitation of the by-products containing large number of bio-active compounds having nutraceutical potential.

Abstract

Water is very essential nutrient and total of only 3% pure water is present on earth. Some natural, anthropogenic and human activities discharge wastes, containing heavy metals into the different water resources and ultimately destroying the ecosystem. Numbers of methods are used for water purification like conventional (includes physical and chemical) and biological. Conventional methods are expensive, generate large quantities of sludge and inefficient at low concentrations of metal. Biological method includes biosorption and bioaccumulation, are ecofriendly and economic and have advantages over conventional methods. Biosorbent material includes microbial biomass, agro-wastes, and industrial by-products are used to treat heavy metal from liquid samples. Actually these biosorbent have number of functional groups on their surfaces which help in binding of metal from aqueous solution. In this article, biosorption of zinc, arsenic and copper are described through lactic acid bacteria that are not harmful, nonsporulating, fastidious, fermentative and generally regarded as safe. Many of these species are probiotic and producing exopolysaccharides and biofilms. It has great resistance to survive in gut environment and efficiency to biosorb metal from gut. It has some significant characteristics that represent a useful tool for decontamination of food and beverages from heavy metals. Biosorption mechanism and factors behind the process make these strains competent of removing these heavy metals.

Abstract

Fruits like orange (citrus sinensis), mango (mangifera indica), banana (musa paradisiaca), guava (psidium guajava) and pomegranate (punica granatum) contain numerous vitamins, minerals, fibre. These fruits also contain phytochemicals, antioxidant and bioactive compounds including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponin, terpenoids, which enhance the nutritional value and reduce the free radicals and oxidative stress in human body. These fruits also show the anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-obesity, anti- diabetic, anti-proliferative, anti-hypertensive properties and are very effective against the pathogenic bacteria, which causes the harmful disease in human body. The chapter provides the production data of these fruits in different countries, their bioactive compounds and their utilization in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries.

Abstract

Fermentation technology holds immense promise in diverse fields. It offers opportunities for sustainable biofuel production, allowing us to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and promote a greener energy sector. In the pharmaceutical industry, fermentation plays a vital role in manufacturing antibiotics, enzymes, vaccines, and therapeutic proteins, paving the way for more efficient and cost-effective production processes. Furthermore, fermentation can be harnessed for waste management and environmental remediation, enabling the transformation of organic waste into valuable biogas. With ongoing advancements, fermentation technology continues to open new avenues for innovation and contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future. The present chapter compares types of fermentation process as well as gives an insight into various industrial prospects of fermentation technology.

Abstract

Enzyme is a highly efficient catalyst that is produced by active cells. When compared to chemical catalysts; enzymes have a number of benefits, including high specificity, high catalytic efficiency and flexible activity, all of which greatly help to promote their use in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and food sectors. The majority of enzymes such as protease, amylase, lipase and cellulase are relatively unstable and industrial uses are frequently restricted by a lack of long-term operational stability as well as the technically challenging recovery process and ruse of the enzyme. Enzyme immobilization provides an excellent base for increasing enzyme availability to the substrate with higher turnover over a long period of time. Enzyme immobilization are done by several methods and their performance are influenced by many factors. Physical and chemical based immobilization are the most commonly used methods. The matrix immobilizes the enzyme by holding it permanently or temporarily for a short stretch of time. The generally used matrixes for immobilizations includes natural, synthetic polymers and inorganic compounds.Currently, synergistic interactions of biotechnology and nanotechnology are useful for the development of immobilized enzymes. Enzyme immobilization is a commonly used technology in a variety of industries including food, pharmaceuticals, bioremediation, detergents, and textiles due to technical and economical advantages. This chapter focuses on most commonly used immobilized techniques in industry with many recent applications of immobilized enzymes.

Abstract

In biocatalysis, isolated enzymes, enzyme mixtures, immobilized enzymes or microbes (enzymes that are still present within the living cells) are used to perform chemical transformation of organic compounds into novel compounds. Both in academia and across chemical and pharmaceutical industry, biocatalysts are used as isolated preparations or in whole cell format or as recombinant proteins produced in alternate host cells. Biocatalysts catalyze novel small molecule transformations that are usually difficult or impossible using traditional synthetic organic chemistry. Biocatalysts exhibit high chemoselectivity, regioselectivity, diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity towards their substrates. As a result, the use of biocatalysts during chemoenzymatic synthesis minimizes the issues of unwanted side-reactions such as decomposition, isomerization, racemization and rearrangement. The process of biocatalysis has become an important tool in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and enantiopure compounds. Biocatalysis offers a more sustainable, efficient, and less polluting methods for the production of APIs and advanced pharmaceutical intermediates. Biocatalysts have received tremendous attention in pharmaceutical industry because they typically catalyze reactions under mild conditions, so they do not consume much energy or emit much greenhouse gas. Biocatalysts are currently employed for the development of products in different fields, such as pharmaceuticals or intermediates of their production (e.g., antibiotics, statins, and enantiopure building blocks), fine chemicals (e.g., amino acids and vitamins), and food ingredients (e.g., sweeteners, lipids, and nutraceuticals). However, it would be helpful for the pharmaceutical industry to take advantage of developments in biochemistry, molecular cloning, random and site-directed mutagenesis, advanced tools for enzyme discovery, enzyme-directed evolution, high-throughput laboratory evolution techniques for biocatalyst optimization, immobilization, and fermentation technology to gain access to a new class of biocatalysts (enzymes), cells and other microbes.

Abstract

The natural color of foods is due primarily to carotenoids, anthocyanins, betanin and chlorophylls, either as inherent food constituents or as food or feed additives. These compounds have drawn considerable attention in recent years, not because of their coloring properties, but due to their potential health-promoting effects. Their occurrence and levels in foods, along with the factors that influence the composition, have been widely investigated. Processing effects have been actively studied. In spite of the intense search for plant and microbial sources and efforts to increase yield, few natural food color additives have reached the market. Developing new colors for the food industry is challenging, as colorants need to be compatible with a food flavors, safety, and nutritional value, and which ultimately have a minimal impact on the price of the product. In addition, food colorants should preferably be natural rather than synthetic compounds. Micro-organisms already produce industrially useful natural colorants such as carotenoids and anthocyanins. Microbial food colorants can be produced at scale at relatively low costs. This chapter highlights the significance of color in the food industry, why there is a need to shift to natural food colors compared to synthetic ones and how using microbial pigments as food colorants, instead of colors from other natural sources, is a preferable option.

Abstract

Starch is an important plant-based product and an abundant biomaterial, used worldwide for different purposes in many industrial sectors including food, health, chemical and engineering sector. Starch versatility in industrial applications is largely defined by its physicochemical properties and functionality. Starch in its native form has limited functionality and application but advancements in technological processing have led to the wide-range modification of starch for different purposes. It can be easily degraded by microorganisms hence is a natural source of bioenergy in the form of bioethanol and biohydrogen as well as in the development of biodegradable packaging materials. Various technological interventions can significantly improve the characteristics of native starch and be tailor-made to the specific needs of the packaging and food industry. Native starch can be treated by various methods to modify its characteristics. Modification improves starch paste clarity, viscosity, syneresis and freeze-thaw stability leading to a wide range of food applications. Esterification lowers gelatinization temperature and retrogradation lowers the tendency to form gel and higher paste clarity which shows applications in refrigerated and frozen foods, as emulsion stabilizers and for encapsulation. Cross-linking increases the stability of granules towards swelling, high temperature, high shear, and acidic conditions. Starch-based nano-composite polymers have their application in coating and packaging of food as well as non food commodities. Techniques involving extrusion, casting, spinning, and nanotechnology can be used in the production of films, foams, and nanocomposite materials. Due to the unique characteristics of resistant starch, it is being used as a valuable supplement in the formulation of drugs, pharmaceuticals, various functional foods and in the microencapsulation of probiotics and bioactive compounds.

Abstract

Dietary fibre concentrates (DFC) are the major component of fruit by-products generated during the processing at commercial level. These are the blessings for human gut health along with many other positive health benefits. Fruit by-products are the so-called nuisance for the environment that enfolds numerous positive signs inside. Lignin, cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectin, waxes, mucilage’s, oligosaccharide, gums and many other associated compounds are the part of DFCs. These DFCs when taken in the form of functional ingredient reaches to the colonic microbiota and consequently provides them a healthy growth medium that promotes the cell metabolism upto 67%, enhances the growth of good gut bacteria like Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. This article enlightens the content of DFCs in various fruit by-products that shows their prebiotic potential.

Abstract

Bioprocessing is much greener than chemical methods, since biocatalysts (enzymes or cells) involved are extremely selective, producing higher product yield with less or no by products, which are basically difficult to separate. Biotechnology can offer both economic and environmental benefits to the chemical industry and thus has great potential to achieve the sustainable production of existing and new products from renewable feedstocks. Fuel and energy production from biomass are major market sector for bioprocessing. They are considered in the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, food, food additives, chemicals, and several other products. Generally, a bioprocess involves feedstock pretreatment, fermentation or biocatalysis, and downstream processing for obtaining product and its purification. It is explored for the production of xylitol, fatty alcohol, butanol and biorefinery. Deep understanding of the process is required to create robust control strategy. Based on the requirements, sophisticated instrumentation and complex control laws or simple control law having intricate monitoring system can be selected. Supercritical fluids (SCFs) are advantageous for bioprocessing due to its transport properties, high diffusivity and low viscosity facilitate mass transfer phenomena, variation of pressure and/or temperature are adjusted providing high flexibility in the extraction of metabolites from cells. Microfluidic devices in which small amounts of fluids (10^-9 and 10^-18) are manipulated have emerged for high throughput applications. Automation of the optimization processes is enabled through microtiter plates with simplicity and operate with very small volumes. Therefore, more research is necessary to develop integrated processes that will allow combining one or more techniques to enhance bioprocessing at lower costs.

With recent work it has become clear that bacterial societies are very complex. Gene expression in bacterial communities are heterogenous. The heterogeneous gene expression contributes towards the biofilms in fluctuating environments which needs to be understood.Technique like single-cell analysis can help in the investigation of more complex communities. Recently, Jahid and Ha, (2012) have written a review on microbial biofilms of produce and the future challenges to food safety many outbreaks have been observed involving food- borne pathogens. Therefore, there is an urdent need for the safety of foods especially against microbial attacks and biofilm formation as they cause a risk to public health. Medically, the pathogenic microorganisms form biofilm- associated with the epithelial or endothelial lining which are embedded in the lungs, intestinal or vaginal mucus layer, the teeth or other medical implant surfaces or formed intracellularly (Dewasthale et al., 2018). Teichoic acids are characteristic major components of the cell surface in Gram-positive bacteria.

Ali Demirci et al., (2014) studied the reactors with biofilms which are used to produce many value added products. These include organic acids, alcohols, enzymes, antibiotics, bacteriocins and many more. Many bioreactor designs favor the biofilm formation in a reactor. The biofilm reactors are utilized for fermentation and bioconversion of large amount of biomass. Recently, the biofilm reactors have been applied for production of many value-added products with novel designs. According to Ercan and Demirci (2015) the biofilms can cause both detrimental and beneficial effects in the environment. Biofilms in bioreactors has many advantages due to the membrane fouling which reduces the cost. Higher biomass density can be utilized and the operation is more stable.Biofilm reactors are commercially being utilized for waste water treatment, bench and pilot-scale production of value-added products. In order to run the biofilm reactor at optimum conditions it is important to understand the fundamentals of biofilm formation, the different properties

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen giving rise to nosocomial infections causing threat to public health. Studies of biofilm-forming genes was done in A. baumannii isolates by PCR technique. To study the relationships of genes a technique based on PCR sequences along with multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were utilized (Saeed et al., 2020). Goudarzi, Mehdi et al. (2019) studied the genetic diversity and biofilm formation analysis of Staphylococcus aureus causing urinary tract infections in Tehran, Iran. The biofilm forming and adhesion encoding genes were studied along with distribution of different agr and spa types in S. aureus isolates by PCR screening and multiplex PCR. The workers found that the ability to produce biofilm was higher among MRSA strains as compared to MSSA strains. The most prevalent biofilm forming gene was icaD (77.3%), followed by icaA (76%), icaB (57.3%) and icaC (50.7%). Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen which is commonly present in hospitals and is a causal organism of many diseases. A. baumannii isolates have been known as multidrug-resistant (MDR). For controlling such serious organism only molecular techniques have been found to be effective.