Fumihiko Tanaka

Kyushu University | Kyudai · Department of Agro-environmental Sciences

Postharvest heat treatments have recently received attention as a means to prevent fungal spoilage of strawberry during shelf life. Far infrared radiation (FIR) heating technology may be an alternative to conventional methods because it can achieve rapid and contactless heating. Monte Carlo FIR radiation simulations combined with convection–diffusi...

Low temperature blanching (LTB) is very attractive method for preserving texture of fresh vegetables however molecular bases of this treatment must be still elucidated. The mechanism of textural change in carrot by LTB was investigated. Carrot samples were treated by three kinds of blanching: high-temperature blanching (HTB), LTB and LTB followed b...

Computed tomography (CT) images were acquired for an intact fruit and the cell tissues of persimmon flesh using two types of X-ray CT devices. The relationship between the porosity and mean CT value for small tissue samples having a volume of 0.3 mm x 0.3 mm x 0.3 mm was investigated. The three-dimensional microstructure of the issue was reconstruc...

A novel composite edible coating film was developed from 0.8% chitosan (CS) and 0.5% sandalwood oil (SEO). Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) were used as a stabilizer agent of oil-in-water Pickering emulsion. We found four typical groups of CNF level-dependent emulsion stabilization, including (1) unstable emulsion in the absence of CNFs; (2) unstable em...

Dielectric properties of shrimp (Penaeus sp.) were measured at frequencies between 0.3 and 3 GHz from -25 to 70C by using a network analyzer. The relationship between dielectric properties and temperature was determined at 915 MHz and 2450 MHz. Below the freezing point, the dielectric constant (ɛ′) and dielectric loss factor (ɛ″) increased rapidly...

The development of edible coating to maintain the quality of fruit are rising. The aims of this work are to develop a novel chitosan nanoparticle (Chi-NP) in chitosan (Chi) Pickering emulsion coating co-stabilized cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and to characterize the antifungal and hydrophobicity features of the coating film. As an application, tanger...

Edible coating solutions consisting of pregelatinized cornstarch (PCS), basil essential oil (BEO), and cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were prepared by a Pickering emulsion method and the properties of the solutions (viscosity, pH, emulsion stability, oil droplets) and edible film (moisture content, contact angle, thermal properties, surface microscopy)...

The effect of edible coatings made from yam bean starch (ST), agarwood bouya essential oil (ES), and calcium propionate (CP) on strawberry fruit in cold storage for 16 days was investigated. Strawberries coated with four different coating formulations and uncoated fruits were packed in sealed containers and stored at 4 °C with 85 % of humidity. Ant...

This study investigated the antifungal features of sodium alginate (Alg) 1% combined with lemongrass essential oil (LGO) 0.25%, 0.5%, and 0.75% as a Pickering emulsion coating to control Penicillium digitatum and P. italicum, identified as citrus fruit pathogens. Cellulose nanofibers 0.24%, 42.55 ± 9.34 nm, were selected as a stabilizer. Confocal l...

The aims of the present study were to investigate the incorporation of chitosan nanoparticles (ChiNP) on the physicochemical properties and antifungal activity of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) bionanocomposite films. The films of 4% HPC and ChiNP at various dosages (0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 3% w/w of HPC) were prepared. Atomic force microscopy (AF...

There is growing interest toward the functional properties and health benefits of both probiotics and paraprobiotics. In this investigation, probiotic bacterial cells (viable and non‐viable Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IS‐10506) were incorporated into alginate‐(Alg) based edible films. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to confirm the pre...

Fruit become defenceless against mechanical damage and water loss, causing loss of quality and quantity. To avoid these risks, the edible coating might be one solution. The advantage of starch creates a fence between oxygen, either moisture and the product. The additional antimicrobial can be used in the coatings us calcium propionate in limited qu...

Botrytis cinerea is a ubiquitous fungal pathogen, mainly found on citrus and stone fruits. The use of mathematical models to quantify and predict the microbial growth curves has received much attention because of its usefulness in decision making to prevent risks to human and animal health. In this study, we used sodium propionate to inhibit myceli...

The properties of an antifungal coating film made from chitosan (CH) combined with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZNPs) and Indonesian sandalwood essential oil (SEO) were investigated. Incorporation of 0.5% SEO or 0.025% ZNPs plus 0.5% SEO into 0.8% CH coating solution showed outstanding effects on the inhibition of both mycelium growth and spore germin...

The objective of this study was to determine the properties of natural jicama starch and edible film made from the starch. The film was prepared by adding agarwood aetoxylon bouya essential oil and calcium propionate to investigate its properties as an edible coating for fruit or vegetables. The microstructure of the edible film was observed using...

This work evaluates the effect of antifungal agent based on chitosan (CS) or peppermint essential oil (PEO) treatment and their mixtures to control P. digitatum and B. cinerea, identified as the potential plant pathogens. The efficacy of each CS (0.6%) and PEO (0.1–0.6%) or in combination to inhibit spore germination is assessed. The distribution o...

Strawberry deterioration accelerates after harvesting when the fruit are exposed at ambient temperature. Therefore, it is imperative to utilize efficient methods to mitigate the deterioration of fruit at ambient temperature. In the current study, harvested strawberries were coated with Aloe vera gel either alone or mixed with essential oil from bas...

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L., cv. MKS-B107) is a highly perishable vegetable and it has a relatively short shelf life. Storage conditions and postharvest treatments are the important factors to determine the postharvest quality and the shelf life of broccoli. This study indicated the effects of 1–methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and temperature on the...

A novel composite edible coating film was developed from 0.8% chitosan (CS) and 0.5% n sandalwood oil (SEO). Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) were used as a stabilizer agent of oil-in-water Pickering emulsion. We found four typical groups of CNF level-dependent emulsion stabilization, including (1) unstable emulsion in the absence of CNFs; (2) unstable...

A novel formulation of composite coating comprising 0.8% chitosan (Chi) incorporating 0.025% CuO nanoparticles (CuO) and 0.5% Indonesian cedarwood essential oil (CEO) was fabricated by casting method. FTIR, CLSM, and SEM analyses were employed to characterize the biocompatibility of each formulation. Additionally, the physico-chemically properties...

Edible coatings were prepared with 1% (w/v) chitosan (CH) incorporated with 0.05%, 0.25%, or 0.5% (w/v) tea seed oil (TSO). The physicochemical properties andantifungal ability on Botrytis cinerea (B. cinerea) of the films were investigated. CH incorporated with TSO coatings were applied to preserve pears ( Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) then fungal decay,...

The properties of starch-based edible film prepared in the absence and the presence of citric acid; as cross-linking agent (chemical modification) and/or sunflower oil; as barrier enhancer (physical modifier) were investigated. Films containing citric acid had higher tensile strength (TS) but lower elongation at break (EB), while the films incorpor...

The pericarp in cucumber have potential to be processed separately into diverse products due to the different nutritional and mineral composition by layers. In this study, the drying characteristics of endocarp and mesocarp tissues in cucumber was investigated using various thin-layer drying models. pericarp cubes were prepared from the intact cucu...

Short postharvest life of button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus L.) is a serious problem in the expansion of marketing and long-distance transportation of this product. Edible coating is an effective way to delay the browning process and mitigate the deterioration of button mushroom. In this study, the impact of Aloe vera gel alone and combined with b...

Inhibition of B. cinerea by alginate (Alg) / cajuput essential oil (Caj) at different concentration (0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%) and the composite’s surface properties were investigated. Among the samples, the treated spore with Caj 0.75% showed the lowest germination percentage and germ tube length. The regarded antifungal action was confirmed by obse...

Strawberries are very perishable and decay rapidly after harvest. Among the several preservation techniques, application of edible coating is found to be an effective way to extend the fruits shelf life and has gained lots of attentions in the recent years. In the present study, the effect of Aloe vera gel coating alone and combined with basil esse...

In this study, the effect of Aloe vera coating alone and combined with basil (Ocimum basilicum) essential oil at 500 and 1000 µL L-1 concentrations on postharvest quality of peach (Prunus persica L.) was investigated. Parameters including weight loss, firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), color L*, a*, b* and hue angle were measured during the stor...

In this study, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to characterize the microstructure of chitosan-zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposite . Three dimensional image of AFM indicated that ZnO nanoparticles were in the ranging of 0.25-33.33 nm in height, 13-177 nm in diameter (confirmed by particle size analyzer), irregular and triangular cluster in mor...

This study aimed to evaluate and improve the uniformity of the UV–C dose distribution and microbial inactivation on the surface of strawberries using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation technique. Eight different UV–C configuration models were designed. The pattern of UV–C lamps and their covers affected the intensity of UV–C, whereas add...

In cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) fruit, transpiration is a significant factor that affects freshness and shelf-life. During storage, fresh cucumber requires careful management of moisture loss to delay quality deterioration. To assist with the determination of optimal storage conditions, this study was conducted to develop a simultaneous heat and m...

The effect of gelatin-based coating containing frog skin oil (FSO) at different concentration (5%, 25%, and 50%, w/w base in gelatin) on the quality of persimmon and its characteristics were investigated. Gelatin-based coating containing FSO at high concentrations significantly influenced the uniformity of the distribution of the emulsion system an...

The effect of Asian Bull Frog (R. tigerina) skin oil on the mycelium growth of pathogenic fungi, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, was studied in vitro. A poisoned substrate technique method (dilution in solid media) was employed to evaluate antifungal activity of the frog skin oil (FSO) at different concentrations (0-10%) against C. gloeosporioides....

Distributions of thermo-physical properties: such as porosity and thermal conductivity of Japanese apricot and pear during storage were determined based on X-ray CT image analysis. Japanese apricot was stored at 25 °C, whereas pear was stored at 25 °C and 5 °C. Average CT value was determined based on a series of X-ray CT images captured for each w...

We investigated the effects of Ultraviolet–C (UV–C) treatment on inactivation of green mold rot (Penicillium digitatum) and physico–chemical properties of strawberry fruit. Although, there was no significant difference (P≥0.05) in weight loss for all samples after immediately UV–C treatment, however, the loss dramatically increased during storage (...

Mild heating is an attractive method to improve the texture of vegetables. In this study, we applied mild heating treatment with various temperatures and durations to carrot roots, and we evaluated the effects on texture degradation and peroxidase inactivation during subsequent heating treatment to mimic pasteurization or blanching. Mild heating, e...

The efficacy of 1-MCP in modulating the ethylene sensitivity of Japanese persimmon (Diospyros kaki) in terms of thermal and structural properties was investigated at 0 °C and 25 °C. X-ray computed tomography was employed to quantify the structural properties. The physicochemical properties were measured destructively and correlated with X-ray image...

As a means of exporting agricultural produces, air transport is mainly adopted to keep them fresh in Japan. On the other hand, marine transportation has been focused to reduce freight costs recently. Although it is necessary to consolidate various kinds of fresh produces to fill a container, fruit and vegetables have each suitable storage temperatu...

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L., cv. Keirin) is a highly perishable produce and its postharvest life and quality greatly depend on storage conditions, such as temperature, atmosphere composition, relative humidity and packaging films. The effect of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on the quality of broccoli heads was investigated in the present s...

The efficacy of 1-methylecyclopropen (1-MCP) on the quality of Japanese apricot was investigated at 25C. X-ray computed tomography (CT) was employed to measure pixel based average CT values in terms of gray scale (GS) value. The ethylene production rate and weight loss were minimal, whereas firmness, apparent density and soluble solid content were...

Postharvest UV-C irradiation is expected to be a widely applicable sterilization technology for fruit and vegetables. In this study, the effects of UV-C irradiation on phytonutrients and tissue conditions in persimmon and cucumber were investigated. UV-C having a peak wavelength of 253.7 nm was irradiated on their surface (12.9 W m⁻²) for 0 to 15 m...

In this study, X-ray computed tomography (CT) was used as a non-destructive technique to characterize and quantify the internal structure of cucumber fruit during storage. The physical properties of cucumber fruit were also measured destructively and related to X-ray absorptivity, and also changes in three-dimensional heterogeneous internal structu...

Changes in the enzymatic and physicochemical properties of sweet potatoes processed by a combination of pre-heating and high-temperature blanching were investigated. First, the characteristics of the inactivation of peroxidase and pectin methylesterase were analyzed, showing that 112.7 and 119.6 kJ mol-1 of activation energy were required for inact...

The properties of peroxidase (POD) inactivation in potato during hot water heating were studied. In the conventional method, the vegetable sample is heated at a constant temperature, and the POD inactivation rate at each temperature is obtained. The activation energy and frequency factor are then calculated from Arrhenius plots of the inactivation...

Electrical impedance spectroscopy is expected to use for quality estimation of agricultural product. In this study, changes in moisture content, porosity and electrical and mechanical properties of sweet potato heated in hot water at 50, 55, 60, 65, and 70 °C were investigated. Additionally, the tissue structure was scanned by X‐ray computerized to...

Drying experiments with crushed feed rice (Oryza sativa, L., japonica, ‘Mizuhochikara’) were conducted to investigate the thermal decomposition effect on seventeen amino acids, including lysine which is the first limiting amino acid in pig nutrition, with drying air temperatures of 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 °C and relative humidity of 10%. The lysine c...

The effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas in combinations with nitrogen (N2) gas and temperature on the mortality of adult Tribolium confusum (Jacquelin du Val) were investigated at temperature levels of 20 °C, 25 °C, and 30 °C and CO2 gas concentration levels of 0%, 40%, 50%, 60%, and 80% (v/v). Soon after exposing the insects to the undesirable atm...

In order to examine microbial decontamination by UV-C treatment of strawberries on a continuously moving conveyor, we developed a three-dimensional irradiation model based on a discrete ordinates (DO) method to evaluate UV-C dose distribution on strawberries. The sliding mesh method was employed to describe the motion of strawberries placed on a UV...

The practical usage of UV-C to decontaminate fruits has been limited by the difficulty applying a uniform dose to complicated shapes. Simulation of UV-C radiation treatment was investigated in this study to find the optimal treatment conditions. A setup of strawberries being placed on a UV-transmittable film with radiation sources from the top and...

A thin-layer drying model taking into account the particle size distribution of crushed feed rice was developed to simulate moisture content during high-temperature drying. The model was based on the Page equation, which was regarded as a suitable empirical equation to describe the thin-layer drying of rice. The proposed model, with an assumed a Ro...

Hot water treatment is a common procedure during the processing and cooking of fruit and vegetables. To establish a technique that enables quality estimation during processing, we investigated the effects of hot water treatment on the electrical properties, cell membrane structure and texture of potato tubers. After hot water treatment at 50, 60, 7...

Steam infusion is a pasteurization method used for liquid food such as milk. As the first step in the optimization of the flow rate of milk in the steam infusion chamber, two computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations predicted droplet generation from injection water into air and an experiment was carried out. Model 1 only consisted of a nozzle...

Low temperature plays a very important role in postharvest storage. In this study a transient three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was applied to investigate the temperature distribution in two cold stores, whose humidity were supplied by nanomist and ultrasonic humidifiers. In order to validate with predicted data, the actual...

We describe here a three dimensional (3D) numerical study of the convective thermal transfer during forced-air drying of brown rice grains with the inclusion of moisture evaporation. Three levels of temperature were tested across a range from 40 to 60 oC. The objective of the study was to determine the temperature distributions in the drying chambe...

Inactivation characteristics by UV-C radiation of Cladosporium cladosporioides and Penicillium digitatum, known as decay-inducing molds on fruits, were investigated. The survival curve of C. cladosporioides with irradiation dose was found to be biphasic in nature; the inactivation rate was initially high and slowed with increasing irradiation dose....

In this study, a mass measurement system for round bales of whole crop rice for a self-propelled bale wrapper was developed. This system consisted of a hydraulic pressure sensor, an oil temperature sensor, and mass analysis equipment. The measurement process involved mounting a round bale on a turntable and then measuring its mass using the maximum...

Three types of solutions (distilled water, aqueous ascorbic acid solution and aqueous citric acid solution) were sprayed periodically on the surface of fresh-cut Japanese pear during hot air drying at 40, 50 and 60°C. The effects of solution spraying on the drying kinetics, the surface hardening, and the sample discoloration were investigated. The...

In the dairy industry, dairy by-products such as skim milk, buttermilk and butter serum which possess different specific compositions, could contact with processing surfaces to form conditioning layers and subsequently alter bacterial attachment behavior of the surfaces. In order to simulate and elucidate this process, stainless steel coupons were...

Thin-layer drying experiments of rough, brown and crushed rice for animal feed were conducted to determine drying characteristics. Since optimization of the drying process reduces cost, we also investigated the conditions for improving the efficiency of rice drying. Rice samples were dried at 40–80 °C with 10%RH. The results showed that 1) the time...

Fresh figs have a short shelf-life due to a fast softening rate and fungal spoilage. Infrared heating treatment as a surface decontamination technique could be applied to the ostiole, where most mould growth is observed. However, the quality of fresh fruits could be degraded if the heat treatment is too severe. The objective of this study is to fin...

Taro, potato, yam and Japanese radish samples cut into cylindrical shapes (diameter = 29mm; length = 40mm(taro and potato), 120mm(yam and Japanese radish) were examined gelatinization enthalpy, electrical impedance, moisture content and thermal conductivity during hot water treatment (100°C). The gelatinization enthalpy was measured with a differen...

'Oushuu' is a late ripening cultivar of Pyrus pyrifolia. In the present study some of the physical and gas transport properties of this cultivar have been measured or estimated from a mathematical model written with COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2a, using the exact 3D geometry of the pear obtained with NextEngine 3D laser scanner. The experiments were done...

The heterogeneous moisture diffusion of milled rice grains at 25, 35 and 45 °C was simulated in 3D using the finite element method. The objectives of the study were to investigate the effects of temperature on moisture absorption and to predict the heterogeneous moisture diffusion in milled rice grains. Major routes and cracks channeled and facilit...

Over the past few decades, consumers have been increasingly demanding high-quality, minimally processed food. These requests, coupled with the inadequacy of traditional food processing technologies, have been the driving forces behind improvements in existing technologies and for the development of new food preservation technologies, such as high-i...

This research was conducted to study gas transfer in three cultivars of Japanese pear based on their actual geometry obtained from a 3D Laser Scanner. Gas diffusivity and skin resistance to gas diffusion found to be dependent on the cultivar. Gas diffusivity for ethane was found to be 8.10±1.2, 3.67±0.11 and 5.97±0.42 (×10−8 m2 s−1) for Kosui, Niit...

The inactivation effect of infrared (IR) heating (peak wavelength of the lamp = 0.96 ìm) at different intensities on two kinds of mold conidia (Cladosporium sp. and Penicillium sp.) isolated from peaches was investigated on an agar growth medium. Treatment times of 40 s and 60 s were required for a one log reduction in the population of Cladosporiu...

This research was conducted to study heat transfer in Japanese pears based on their exact geometry as measured by a 3D laser scanner. Some of the thermal properties of three cultivars of Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) were measured, boundary conditions were defined and heat transfer modeling was conducted using COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2a software ba...

This study was designed to investigate the particle size distribution of a new type nanomist humidifier. The measurement of particle size was performed inside storage chamber at 50C and 15°C by means of using a scanning mobility particle sizer and a light-scattering spectrometer. The nanomist generator was set to operate at frequencies of 3500,4000...

A finite element analysis was conducted to determine the effect of moisture diffusion and hygroscopic swelling in rice. A parallel simple stochastic modeling was performed to predict the number of grains cracked as a result of moisture absorption and hygroscopic swelling. Rice grains were soaked in thermally (25 oC) controlled water and then tested...

Optimal drying condition of brown rice was discussed for the low-moisture-content storage. A 100 g of brown rice samples with 15.5% moisture content wet basis (m.c.) was dried to 10.0% m.c. at 40, 50, 60, and 70℃ by thin-layer drying. The germination rate of the brown rice dried at 70℃ decreased, and drying operation did not affect the germination...

The efficacy of vapors from polar and non-polar sub-fractions of propolis on microbial and oxidation control during rice (Oryza sativa, hinohikari var.) storage was evaluated. The sub-fractions (absolute ethanol, methylene chloride, hexane extracts: AEPEV, MCPEV and HEPEV, respectively) were infused in synthetic adsorbents and their volatiles relea...