Publications by authors named "Jianyong Yi"

This study investigated the ice recrystallisation inhibition (IRI) activity of pectin with different hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups through both experimental methods and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The experimental results revealed that pectin with a moderate degree of esterification (DE) of 51 % exhibited enhanced IRI activity, characterized by the smallest particle size (535.83 nm), polydispersity index of 0.

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Background: Polysaccharides are increasingly being recognized as promising food-grade cryoprotectants due to their broad availability and health benefits. However, their practical application is hindered by limited ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activity. The purpose of this study was to compare the IRI activity of several natural polysaccharides.

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Background: The physical quality of freeze-dried food products is defined by their porous morphology. To enable efficient regulation of the physical quality of fruits and vegetables, pectin-sucrose cryogels were selected as a model system. Cryogels frozen under varying magnetic field conditions were subsequently freeze-dried, and their drying characteristics, microstructure, texture, and rehydration properties were analyzed.

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With the annual increase in the production of fig fruit (Ficus carica Linn.) in China, the processing and utilization of its by-products have become an important topic in fig research. In this study, a new type of natural low-methoxyl pectin (LMP) was obtained from figs by acid extraction (DE = 44.

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Saccharides are the dominant factor shaping the texture of freeze-dried products. This study investigated the impact of various molecular-weight saccharides at different concentrations on the physical properties and intermolecular interactions of pectin-CMC cryogels by experiment and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. Results showed that the increased shrinkage of cryogels and enhanced molecular interactions between saccharides and pectin-CMC were mechanisms that enhanced the hardness of cryogels.

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Understanding the formation of ice crystals is essential for tailoring the microstructure and physical properties of cryogels. This study investigated the effects and mechanisms of pectin molecular weight (Mw) on impacting ice crystal formation. Pectin fractions various Mw (10.

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Porous morphology and mechanical properties determine the applications of cryogels. To understand the influence of the ionic network on the microstructure and mechanical properties of pectin cryogels, we prepared low-methoxyl pectin (LMP) cryogels with different Ca concentrations (measured as R-value, ranging from 0 to 2) through freeze-drying (FD). Results showed that the R-values appeared to be crucial parameters that impact the pore morphology and mechanical characteristics of cryogels.

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Pectic polysaccharides modulate gut fermentation ability, which is determined by structural characteristics. In this work, apple pectins were extracted by HCl (HAEP), NaOH (AEP), cellulase (EAEP), and in parallel cell wall pectic fractions were sequentially extracted by water (WEP), chelator (CEP) and NaOH (NEP). The aim is to comprehensively compare the impact of extraction on pectin structure and gut fermentation behavior.

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The ice crystal morphology formed under a series of amidated pectin gels with various crosslink strengths were investigated. The results showed that as the degree of amidation (DA) increased, pectin chains exhibited shorter homogalacturonan (HG) regions. Highly amidated pectin exhibited a faster gelation rate and a stronger gel micro-network via hydrogen bonds.

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The influence of cell morphology on the textural characteristic of freeze-dried apple, strawberry, and mango cubes was evaluated. Corresponding restructured cube samples without intact cell morphology were prepared as controls. Results indicated that the presence of cell morphology strengthened the shrinkage and collapse of samples during freeze-drying, especially in mangoes due to the high content of sugar.

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Freeze-dried (FD) fruit and vegetable materials with a large amount of sugar are unstable. With the aim to understand the structure formation of FD products, the effects of fructose content on the texture and microstructure of FD matrix were investigated by using pectin-cellulose cryogel model. Cryogels containing fructose of 0-40% were produced using freeze-drying at three different primary drying temperatures of -40, -20, and 20°C.

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The applications of cryogels are defined by their porous morphology as well as mechanical properties. To achieve efficient regulation of porous properties for pectin cryogels, we selected starch as a potential polysaccharide regulator. Pectin/starch composite cryogels with different degrees of gelatinization were formulated, and two ways of starch gelatinization were considered: starch gelatinization occurred before or after pectin crosslinking during forming the hydrogel network.

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To fully understand the role of xyloglucan (XyG) on the microstructural and mechanical properties of pectin cryogels, we formulated two types of low methoxyl pectin cryogels containing different XyG content (with or without an ionic network) using freeze-drying. The interaction between the pectin and XyG was explored, and the morphologies of ice crystals were characterized by the pore morphometric of freeze-dried scaffolds. Results showed that XyG and pectin could be cross-linked via hydrogen bonding interactions.

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In order to select the critical factors on the texture and hygroscopic characteristics of freeze-dried fruit and vegetable cubes, the correlation analysis was performed on the major chemical compositions of 12 fresh materials, and the microstructure, texture, hygroscopicity of corresponding freeze-dried samples. The dry proportion of starch-rich materials, such as taro, was mainly composed of polysaccharides (0.76-0.

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The intestinal fermentability of pectic polysaccharides is largely determined by its molecular size. In this study, fermentation properties of enzymatic-modified apple pectin (AP) and homogalacturonans (HG) with high, medium and low molecular weight (Mw) were evaluated by in vitro fermentation model, and their structural changes were also investigated. Results showed that Mw, monosaccharide contents and molecular linearity of the AP hydrolysates were reduced after microbial degradation.

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As the most widely consumed fruit in the world, apple ( Borkh.) fruits provide a high level of phenolics and have many beneficial effects on human health. The composition and content of phenolic compounds in natural apples differs according to the tissue types and cultivar varieties.

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Pectin, a major polysaccharide found in the cell walls of higher plants, plays major roles in determining the physical and nutritional properties of fruit- and vegetable-based products. An in-depth understanding of the effects of processing operations on pectin structure and functionality is critical for designing better products. This review, therefore, focuses on the progress made in understanding the effects of processing on pectin structure, further on pectin functionality, consequently on product properties.

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Background: Carrot carotenoids are typically located in chromoplasts, forming a crystalline substructure. Cell walls and chromoplasts therefore constitute two major physical barriers to the release of carotenoids from the food matrix during digestion. The release of carotenoids from these physical barriers is supposed to be substantially affected by mechanical factors during food processing and oral mastication.

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Background: Osmotic pretreatment is an effective processing unit for improving the textural quality of dried fruit and vegetable snacks, whereas nutrition loss and high calorie after impregnation is still a noteworthy shortcoming of sugar-immersed products. Therefore, the use of apple juice concentrate as a clean label solution to improve the qualities of instant controlled pressure drop (DIC)-dried carrot chips was investigated.

Results: Apple juice concentrate impregnation substantially enhanced the physical properties of the carrot chips, including hardness (38.

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To better understanding the role of cell wall pectic polysaccharides (CWPs) on the formation of textural properties of carrot chips dried by instant controlled pressure drop technology (French for Détente Instantanée Contrôlée, DIC), the characteristics of CWPs from ground tissue (GT), junction of ground and vascular tissue (JT), and vascular tissue (VT) of carrot were investigated. Larger expansion volume was obtained in the carrot chips derived from GT, which accompanied with superior textural qualities compared with the chips derived from JT and VT. Remarkable differences were obtained in the amount of pectic fractions, galacturonic acid content, degree of methoxylation, sugar composition and linearity of CWPs that fractionated from different tissue zones of raw carrots.

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Background: An abundance of shiitake mushrooms is consumed in dried form around the world. In the present study, changes in water state, water distribution and microstructure of shiitake mushrooms during hot-air drying (HAD) and far-infrared radiation drying (FIRD) processes were investigated using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance and scanning electron microscopy. Quality attributes of the dried products were compared in terms of drying property, appearance, rehydration behavior, texture and storage stability.

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Effects of high pressure homogenization (HPH) on stability, water-soluble pectin (WSP) and total carotenoid bioaccessiblity (TCB) of carrot juice were investigated to reveal the feasibility of applying HPH for improving TCB and the relationships between WSP and TCB induced by HPH. Results illustrated that HPH improved the juice stability and TCB. HPH increased the uronic acid content (UAC), and decreased the degree of methoxylation (DM) and acetylation (DAc) of WSP compared to non-homogenization.

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Background: Computer vision-based image analysis systems are widely used in food processing to evaluate quality changes. They are able to objectively measure the surface colour of various products since, providing some obvious advantages with their objectivity and quantitative capabilities. In this study, a computer vision-based image analysis system was used to investigate the colour changes of apple slices dried by instant controlled pressure drop-assisted hot air drying (AD-DIC).

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The hard-to-cook (HTC) defect in legumes is characterized by the inability of cotyledons to soften during the cooking process. Changes in the non-starch polysaccharides of common bean seed coat and cotyledon were studied before and after development of the HTC defect induced by storage at 35°C and 75% humidity for 8months. Distinct differences in the yields of alcohol insoluble residues, degree of methoxylation (DM), sugar composition, and molar mass distribution of non-starch polysaccharides were found between the seeds coat and cotyledons.

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The effects of hot air drying (AD), freeze drying (FD), infrared drying (IR), microwave drying (MV), vacuum drying (VD) as pre-drying treatments for explosion puff drying (EPD) on qualities of jackfruit chips were studied. The lowest total color differences (∆E) were found in the FD-, MV- and VD-EPD dried chips. Volume expansion effect (9.

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