Qin Wang

• University of Maryland, College Park

The global food supply chain faces significant challenges related to inefficiencies, quality variability, and traceability issues, all of which contribute to food waste and consumer distrust. Spatial computing (SC) technologies, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and digital twins, offer promising solutions by enhancing precisi...

A facile, efficient, and high yield method for producing chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs) using ultrasound-assisted phosphoric acid (PA) hydrolysis was developed. The hydrolysis was conducted at high chitin loading of 40 wt% and at a mild temperature of 50 °C, with the chitin-PA mixture remaining in a solid paste-like form throughout the reaction. The C...

Addressing the critical need for swift and precise nutritional profiling in healthcare and in food industry, this study pioneers the integration of vision‐language models (VLMs) with chemical analysis techniques. A cutting‐edge VLM is unveiled, utilizing the expansive UMDFood‐90k database, to significantly improve the speed and accuracy of nutrient...

Maintaining food safety and quality is critical for public health and food security. Conventional food preservation methods, such as pasteurization and dehydration, often change the overall organoleptic quality of the food products. Herein, we demonstrate a method that affects only a thin surface layer of the food, using beef as a model. In this me...

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has attracted much attention worldwide due to its prevalence. In this study, the effect of a solid-in-oil-in-water (S/O/W) emulsion with Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE, a polyphenolic active ingredient in propolis) on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in C57BL/6 mice was evaluated. The results showed...

The escalating demand for rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective methods for food safety evaluation has led to the exploration of innovative analytical techniques. This year, Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to exploring of the quantum dots (QDs), which have emerged as promising tools for the real-time detection and quantification of various contamin...

Accurate shelf-life estimation of food products has the potential to improve the safety, reliability, and sustainability of food supply chains. Here, a scalable system for accurately indicating the freshness-related information of salmon for consumers was developed and characterized. The system comprises two parts, an optically changeable colorimet...

Nutrition information plays a pillar role in clinical dietary practice, precision nutrition, and food industry. Currently, food composition compilation serves as a standard paradigm to estimate food nutrition information according to food ingredient information. However, within this paradigm, conventional approaches are laborious and highly depende...

Food spoilage not only causes food waste, but also leads to serious foodborne illnesses. To address these concerns, a novel colorimetric sensor array (CSA) fabricated from oxidized chitin nanocrystals (O-ChNCs) combined with convolutional neural network (CNN) had been developed for real-time monitoring of beef freshness. The oxidation procedure dow...

Resveratrol loaded nanoparticles (nano-resveratrol) containing a zein core surrounded by surfactant (Tween-NPs) or carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS-NPs) shell were fabricated with different particle sizes, surface charges and colloidal stabilities. Changes of physicochemical properties for the two nano-resveratrols, as well as their antioxidant potenti...

Pickering emulsions stabilized by TEMPO-oxidized chitin nanocrystals (T-ChNCs) were developed for quercetin delivery. T-ChNCs were synthesized by TEMPO oxidation chitin and systematically characterized in terms of their physicochemical properties. T-ChNCs were rod-like with a length of 279.7 ± 11.5 nm and zeta potential around −56.1 ± 1.6 mV. The P...

Microgreens are edible young plants that have recently attracted interest because of their color and flavor diversity, phytonutrient abundance, short growth cycle, and minimal space and nutrient requirements. They can be cultivated in a variety of systems from simple home gardens to sophisticated vertical farms with automated irrigation, fertilizer...

Neural network (i.e. deep learning, NN)-based data analysis techniques have been listed as a pivotal opportunity to protect the integrity and safety of the global food supply chain and forecast $11.2 billion in agriculture markets. As a general-purpose data analytic tool, NN has been applied in several areas of food science, such as food recognitio...

Many studies have shown that caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) has various functions, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity, but its low bioavailability and stability limit its application. In this study, the colorectal targeted delivery system for CAPE based on a solid-in-oil-in-water (S/O/W) multilayer emulsion was prep...

Hydrogels are attractive soilless media for plant cultivation with strong water and nutrient retention. However, pristine hydrogels contain mostly ultra-micro pores and lack air-filled porosity for root zone aeration. Herein we report a porous hydrogel composite comprising an agarose network and porous growing mix particle (GMP) fillers. The agaros...

Though there are many toxicological studies on metal nanoparticles (NPs), it remains difficult to explain discrepancies observed between studies, largely due to the lack of positive controls and disconnection between physicochemical properties of nanomaterials with their toxicities at feasible exposures in a specified test system. In this study, we...

Determining attributes such as classification, creating taxonomies and nutrients for foods can be a challenging and resource-intensive task, albeit important for a better understanding of foods. In this study, a novel dataset, 134k BFPD, was collected from USDA Branded Food Products Database with modification and labeled with three food taxonomy an...

Real-time monitoring of food freshness is critical to reducing food waste and pursuing sustainable development. Cross-reactive artificial scent screening systems provide a promising solution for food freshness monitoring, but their commercialization is hindered by the low sensitivity or pattern-recognition inaccuracy. Leveraging the cutting-edge ar...

High internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPPEs) have taken a center stage in the arena of delivery systems in the food industry because of their high loading capacity and stability. In addition, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a type of cutting-edge designable porous scaffolding material, have attracted attention in reticular chemistry, which sat...

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is a phenolic substance with beneficial biological activities. However, low water solubility and bioavailability limit its applications. In this study, a nanoscaled targeted delivery system for CAPE was constructed using casein, sodium alginate (NaAlg), and Ca²⁺. The physicochemical properties, encapsulation effi...

Food image recognition systems facilitate dietary assessment and in turn track users’ dietary behaviors. However, due to the diversity of Chinese food, a quick and accurate food image recognizing is a particularly challenging task. The success of deep learning in computer vision inspired us to investigate its potential in this task. To satisfy its...

A colorimetric sensor based on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is a simple and rapid method for detecting foodborne pathogens. However, the colorimetric method employed in previous studies involved short ssDNA (<100 nucleotides), including the aptamer and PCR products, resulting in the high detection limit of this techniq...

A stable water-in-water (W/W) emulsion was formed by mixing dextran and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) with addition of β-lactoglobulin (Blg) microgels. The microstructure and stability of the W/W emulsion were investigated under different conditions. The microgels accumulating at the liquid-liquid interface led to a stable emulsion at pH 3-5...

Foodborne illness outbreaks have significantly impacted public health. The contact antibacterial nanomaterials may have potential migration of nanomaterials and thus bring safety concerns. In this work, we develop photo-triggered nano-generators for on demand release of antibacterial essential oil vapor to achieve a non-contact antibacterial strate...

Automatic, accurate, and robust prediction of food attributes using emerging machine learning techniques including artificial intelligence may be helpful to rapid food analyze, and personal dietary record. In this paper we have, for the first time, evaluated 5 machine learning models for quantitatively predicting nutrients from foods based on their...

Washing is essential in fresh-cut produce industry to remove debris and ensure desirable shelf life. The intensive water usage during washing and water scarcity in the production regions necessitate proper water reuse and reconditioning. However, the organic compounds accumulated in the water elevate chlorine demand (CLD) and chemical oxygen demand...

Chitosan was modified by substituting alkynyl silver on chitosan (Ag-CS) through a two-step chemical modification to form a novel antimicrobial coating material. The physicochemical property, antimicrobial activity, cytotoxicity, and potential food applications of Ag-CS were systematically investigated. The Ag-CS presented a smooth sheet structure,...

Haze-active proteins are an important factor in haze formation in wine and clear beverages. The aim of this study was to understand the role of haze proteins from pland origin, which are rich in basic amino acids from the plants, in the haze formation involving proteins and polyphenols, as well as to develop strategies to prevent haze formation. Th...

Polysaccharides have been considered as a group of promising candidate for preventing the protein–polyphenol haze formation in beverages. In order to select effective polysaccharides to prevent the haze formation, four protein–polyphenol haze model systems were successfully established using two proteins (i.e., gelatin and bovine serum albumin) and...

To develop the interface enhanced emulsion, the Pickering emulsions stabilized by gliadin-sodium alginate (SA) coacervate particles (GSCPs) under crosslinking of transglutaminase (TG) and calcium ion (Ca²⁺) were investigated. The interaction, microstructure, rheology, texture, physical and oxidation stabilities of bi-crosslinking Pickering emulsion...

In this study, a novel metal-organic framework (MOF) delivery system for a food bioactive was developed. A series of molecular simulations tools, reported in recent years, have been applied to predict and optimize the delivery system. First, Zr-based MOF UiO-66, was synthesized with zirconium (IV) chloride and benzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid. Then, c...

Microgel particles formed from β-lactoglobulin (Blg) are able to stabilize Pickering emulsions, yet their interfacial properties have not been fully characterized. In this study, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) was employed to investigate adsorption behavior of Blg microgels on a hydrophobic solid surface. The QCM-D results sho...

This paper investigated the pH-induced interaction between gliadin and chitosan (CS), as well as its relationship with encapsulation and controlled release properties, by embedding curcumin. According to the turbidimetric analysis, the critical pHc and pHφ of gliadin-chitosan nanoparticles (GCNPs), as well as gliadin nanoparticles (GNPs), were obta...

Magnetic particles (MPs) are of great interest in many varied applications in the fields of biotechnology, biomedicine, and environmental remediation. To accommodate different applications, size-control synthesis of MPs is of particular interest. Here, we report a simple synthesis of MPs in the range of nano to microsize (23 nm to 1.2 μm). Specific...

Water conservation and economics dictate that fresh produce processors reuse/recirculate the process water. However, the ensuing accumulation of organic matter in water depletes the chlorine sanitizer required for food safety. In this study, we comprehensively investigated chemical compounds that are responsible for water quality in relation to che...

Representative chromatographs on cabbage wash water for a) absorbance at 210 nm (citric and malic acid), and b) absorbance at 246 nm (oxalic acid). (PDF)

Protein/peptide content in different fractions of cabbage wash water. (PDF)

Composition of the high-MW fraction obtained in cabbage wash water. (PDF)

Effect of chlorination on COD of cabbage wash water diluted to 1,500 mg/L COD. (PDF)

Time-dependent chlorine demand of selected compounds. (PDF)

Representative chromatographs on cabbage juice and wash water for sugar profile analysis. (PDF)

Quadratic models for predicting chlorine demand of different compounds by their concentrations. (PDF)

Dose-dependent chlorine demand of selected compounds. (PDF)

This paper investigated the formation of Pickering emulsion stabilized by three types of structure of gliadin–chitosan nanoparticles (GCNPs). The stability, rheological and antioxidant properties of the Pickering emulsion were mainly studied. Three types of GCNPs structure, including primary complexation, soluble complexes, and coacervates were obt...

The increasing demand for safety and quality in food products has stimulated research on developing natural preservatives and their carrier systems as a novel preventive control strategy. In this study, metal-organic framework (MOF) was investigated, for the first time, as a carrier for volatile antimicrobial essential oils. Zinc metal-organic fram...

The increasing demand for high food quality and safety, and concerns of environment sustainable development have been encouraging researchers in the food industry to exploit the robust and green biodegradable nanocomposites, which provide new opportunities and challenges for the development of nanomaterials in the food industry. This review paper a...

Microgreen is a class of emerging fresh produce that are generally rich in vitamins, carotenoids, and other phytochemicals. However, their genetic diversity in phytonutrients has yet to be discovered. In this study, 30 varieties of microgreens in the Brassicaceae family were assayed for phytochemical concentrations and antioxidant capacity. Distinc...

Free chlorine is used in industrial fresh-cut produce washing to avoid cross-contamination from pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms, although chlorine dosing typically depends on feedback control. Control of free chlorine levels in fresh-cut produce wash water could be improved if chlorine demand (CLD) could be determined real-time, during proce...

Quorum sensing (QS) enables intercellular communication after bacterial cells sense the autoinducers have reached or exceeded a critical concentration. Selectively amplifying specific bacterial "quorum" activity at a lower cell density is still a challenge. Here, we propose a novel platform of immune magnetic nano-assembly to amplify specific bacte...

A novel gas storage and release system was developed for ethylene, an exogenous plant hormone that regulates fruit ripening and senescence. This system consists of a metal organic framework (MOF) core and an alginate-based shell. The MOF comprises a coordination complex of Al and [btc]3- ligands, which formed hexagonal structure (P63/mmc) with unit...

Recently, hollow protein microcapsules have been made simply by heating the microphase separated soy glycinin microdomains. However, the properties (e.g. mechanical properties and permeability) that relate to the application of these microcapsules are unknown. In this study, the permeability of the soy glycinin microcapsules was investigated by con...

Quorum sensing (QS) exists widely among bacteria, enabling a transition to multicellular behavior after bacterial populations reach a particular density. The coordination of multicellularity enables biotechnological application, dissolution of biofilms, coordination of virulence, etc. Here, a method to elicit and subsequently disperse multi‐cellula...

Pathogen inactivation efficacy is substantially lower on cracks/crevices than on smooth produce surfaces. In this study, an interlocking design of three‐dimensionally printed chip coated with zein‐N,N‐diethyl‐p‐phenylenediamine (DPD) film is developed to study chlorine permeation in simulated cracks. The primary interaction of zein and DPD in film...

The complex coacervation between zein and chitosan (CS) as well as the relationship with the controlled release properties of their complex nanoparticles were studied. The factors influencing the nanoparticle formation between zein and CS, including solid to liquid ratio, zein to CS ratio and pH, were systematically investigated. The structural ana...

Chlorine, the most commonly used sanitizer for fresh produce washing, has constantly shown inferior sanitizing efficacy in the presence of organic load. Conventionally this is attributed indirectly to the rapid chlorine depletion by organics leading to fluctuating free chlorine (FC) contents. However, little is known on whether organic load affects...

Glucosinolates (GLS), namely glucoraphanin (GLR) and glucoerucin (GLE), are a class of phytonutrients which are beneficial to human health. Broccoli flower buds (florets) have been known to be rich in GLS. The present study indicated that the florets, mature leaves and microgreen of broccoli varied in their GLR, GLE and total aliphatic GLS contents...

Nanomedicines that co-deliver DNA, RNA, and peptide therapeutics are highly desirable yet remain underdeveloped for cancer theranostics. Herein, we report self-assembled intertwining DNA-RNA nanocapsules (iDR-NCs) that efficiently delivered synergistic DNA CpG and short hairpin RNA (shRNA) adjuvants, as well as tumor-specific peptide neoantigens in...

Novel Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) were developed using beta-lactoglobulin (Blg) as a stabilizer in redox systems of selenite and ascorbic acid in this study. Particle size, morphology, stability, and in vitro biological activity of synthesized Blg stabilized selenium nanoparticles (Blg-SeNPs) were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS),...

This study investigated whether and how gypenosides from jiaogulan tea at 100 and 300 mg/kg/d levels could reduce the development of overweight and insulin resistance in C57 BL/6J mice fed a high-fat diet in 12 weeks. The 300 mg/kg/d gypenosides supplement significantly reduced final body weight, plasma total cholesterol and homeostasis model asses...

Highly efficient antimicrobial agents with low toxicity and resistance have been enthusiastically pursued to address public concerns on microbial contamination in food. Silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) are known for their ultra-small sizes and unique optical and chemical properties. Despite extensive studies of AgNCs for biomedical applications, previou...

Determining the minimal effective free chlorine (FC) concentration for preventing pathogen survival and cross-contamination during produce washing is critical for developing science- and risk-based food safety practices. The correlation between dynamic FC concentrations and bacterial survival was investigated during commercial washing of chopped Ro...

The mineral element composition was analyzed for 30 varieties of microgreens, representing 10 species within 6 genera of the Brassicaceae family. Brassicaceae microgreens were assayed for concentrations of macroelements, including calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), phosphorous (P), sodium (Na), potassium (K), and of microelements, including copper (Cu),...

Crosslinking is essential for maintaining the integrity of protein-based nanoparticles against environmental fluctuations. However, conventional crosslinkers (e.g. glutaraldehyde) are usually toxic and environmental unfriendly. In this study, a tyrosinase-aided crosslinking procedure was developed and compared to the conventional glutaraldehyde-bas...

Radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) microgreens were produced from seeds inoculated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 by using peat moss-based soil-substitute and hydroponic production systems. E. Coli populations on the edible and inedible parts of harvested microgreen plants (7 days postseeding) and in growth medium were examined. E. Coli O1...

Maintaining effective sanitizer concentration is of critical importance for preventing pathogen survival and transference during fresh-cut produce wash operation and for ensuring the safety of finished products. However, maintaining an adequate level of sanitizer in wash water can be challenging for processors due to the large organic load in the w...

A magnetic nanocomposite film with capability of reversibly collecting functionalized magnetic particles was fabricated by simultaneously imposing two orthogonal stimuli (electrical and magnetic). We demonstrated that cathodic co-deposition of chitosan and Fe3O4 nanoparticles while simultaneously applying a magnetic field during co-deposition can (...

In the past few decades, encapsulation has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance the bioavailability of poorly absorbed nutraceuticals. Proteins as natural polymers are generally recognized as safe (GRAS), and they exhibit unique advantages such as natural abundance, amphiphilic nature, satisfactory biodegradability, and desirable functional p...

Determination of the minimum free chlorine concentration needed to prevent pathogen survival/cross-contamination during produce washing is essential for the development of science-based food safety regulations and practices. Although the trend of chlorine concentration-contact time on pathogen inactivation is generally understood, specific informat...

This study aimed at developing protein nanoparticles with desirable loading efficiency (LE) and low crosslinker concentration. Using β-lactoglobulin (BLG) and curcumin as a model system, we demonstrated that the LE could be improved by up to 157% by maintaining low antisolvent content before mild evaporation. Moreover, the optimal level of glutaral...

Zein is the major storage protein from corn with strong hydrophobicity and unique solubility and has been considered as a versatile food biopolymer. Due to the special tertiary structures, zein can self-assemble to form micro- and nano-particles through liquid–liquid dispersion or solvent evaporation approaches. Zein-based delivery systems have bee...

A novel microbial transglutaminase catalyzed aqueous-organic biphasic reaction system was successfully developed to prepare caseinate derivatives by cross-linking and incorporating non-polar octyltails for the first time. SDS-PAGE and 1H-NMR analysis confirmed that cross-linking and octyl conjugation occurred simultaneously. The octyl substitution...

Microbial transformations of intrinsic substrates offer immense potential for generating new bioactive compounds in fermented food products. The aim of this work was to characterize the secondary metabolites in soy sauce, one of the oldest fermented condiments. Ethyl acetate extract (EAE) of soy sauce was separated using flash column chromatography...

We have developed a two-step replica molding method for rapid fabrication of biomimetically-patterned plant surfaces (BPS) using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-BPS) and agarose (AGAR-BPS). Beyond providing multiple identical specimens that faithfully reproduce leaf surface microstructure, this approach also offers unique chemical, physical, and biologi...

Aquatic toxicity testing generally focuses on the water absorption/dermal route of exposure to potential toxic chemicals, while much less work has been done on the oral route of exposure. This is due in part to the difficulties of applying traditional oral toxicity testing to aquatic environments, including the tendency for test chemicals to dissol...