Shyam S Sablani

Washington State University | WSU · Department of Biological Systems Engineering

Phase change materials (PCMs) are a class of thermoresponsive or thermoregulative materials that can be utilized to reduce temperature fluctuations and provide cutting-edge thermal storage. PCMs are commercially used in a variety of important applications, such as buildings, thermal engineering systems, food packaging, and transportation. The poten...

Microwave has the advantage over conduction-based heating as microwave heats the food volumetrically allowing to cook food faster. Unlike conventional heating methods, quicker heating maintains the quality of cooked food better. Electromagnetic energy interacts with foods and packages that goes under microwave and affects the properties of both. Th...

Pressure assisted thermal sterilization (PATS) is an advanced in-package food processing technique that utilizes flexible packaging having low oxygen and water vapor transmission rates (OTRs, WVTRs). In this study, pouches prepared from four metal oxide (MO)-coated films (A–D) and two ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) containing films (E, F) were fille...

In this study, ultrasound‐assisted covalent binding method, free radical‐induced method, was used to prepare Moringa protein isolate (MPI) – gallic acid conjugates (MPI‐GAC) to examine the improvement of the sonication application. Additionally, the influence of polyphenol conjugation on functional and structural attributes of MPI was assessed thru...

Carotenoids are colored bioactive substances increasingly used due to their antioxidant properties, vitamin A precursor role, and ability to function as a natural food color. Knowledge of carotenoid behavior during high-heat processing and subsequent storage in emulsified food matrix is essential to expand their application natural food colors and...

Polymer waste is currently a big and challenging issue throughout the world. Waste tires represent an important source of polymer waste. Therefore, it is highly desirable to recycle functional fillers from waste tires to develop composite materials for advanced applications. The primary theme of this review involves an overview of developing polyst...

Salmonella and Campylobacter are major foodborne pathogens that cause outbreaks associated with contaminated chicken liver. Proper cooking is necessary to avoid the risk of illness to consumers. This study tested the thermal inactivation of a 4-strain Salmonella cocktail and a 3-strain Campylobacter cocktail in chicken livers separately at temperat...

The impact of microwave-assisted thermal sterilization (MATS) on three natural pigments and their storage stability in vegetable purees was investigated. We selected carrot puree for beta carotene, red cabbage puree for anthocyanins, and red beetroot puree for betalains. The purees were packaged in multilayer flexible pouches of AlOx-coated PET (12...

Fresh apples are vulnerable to Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) contamination during handling and storage causing subsequent foodborne outbreaks. Gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO 2 ) is an effective antimicrobial agent against L. monocytogenes and could augment food safety. This study investigates the stress and virulence response of L. monoc...

Thermal processing is an important unit operation in the food industry for the production of prepackaged foods with extended shelf-life. Conventional thermal processes, such as canning, are widely employed in the food industry, but the energy efficiency of these processes is typically low. In addition, a significant amount of water is wasted during...

The wind energy can be used to power the seawater greenhouse. The aim of this study is to present the feasibility of wind energy in the seawater greenhouse desalination unit. The seawater greenhouse combines fresh water production with growth of crops in a greenhouse system. The technique is adapted for farms in arid coastal regions that are suffer...

Water and high-moisture foods are readily heated in microwaves due to their relatively high dielectric loss factors. Vegetable oil, on the other hand, has a much smaller loss factor (about 1/100th that of water), and is generally believed to be unsuitable for microwave heating. In this study, we conducted experiments to compare heating rates betwee...

In recent years, consumers are increasingly attracted to nutraceuticals, an important part of food considered propitious for human health. Therefore, consumers are willingly switching to nutraceuticals and are ready to pay the premium price. This review aims to identify various factors that govern consumer purchasing of nutraceutical products. The...

Microwave (MW) ovens, powered by traditional magnetrons, often produce unpredictable heating patterns in foods due to their wide and random frequency spectrum. This study investigated the potential of solid-state (SS) MW generators to overcome this limitation. The frequency spectra of the SS generator were measured, and computer simulation and expe...

Contamination of Salmonella in chocolate products has caused worldwide outbreaks and recalls. There is a lack of information on the impact of water activity (aw) on the stability of Salmonella in chocolate products during storage and thermal treatments. In this research, the survival and thermal resistance of a Salmonella cocktail (S. Enteritidis P...

Quality changes in ready-to-eat, shelf-stable foods, during storage can be influenced by many factors, such as processing, storage conditions, and the barrier properties of the packaging. This research investigated retention of vitamin C and anthocyanin in purple mashed potatoes as influenced by packaging barrier properties and encapsulation during...

The crewed suborbital and space flights launched by private companies over the past three years have rejuvenated public interest in space travel, including space tourism. Ready-to-eat meals (MREs) are the main source of nutrients and energy for space travelers. It is critical that those meals are free of bacterial and viral pathogens and have adequ...

We investigated the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), antibacterial activity, and preservation ability of four molar masses of γ-polyglutamic acid (PGA) against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and yeast. The antibacterial mechanism was determined based on the cell structure, membrane permeability, and microscopic morphology of the microo...

Thermal pasteurization is important unit operation to the food industry for producing high quality foods with extended shelf-life in refrigeration or cold storage. Pasteurization processing aims at improving the safety of food by inactivating food-borne pathogens and viruses. Thermal pasteurization also partially inactivates enzymes and kills micro...

Donuts are the snack food which are coated with powdered seasonings to increase flavour and shelf life. In this regard, electrostatic coating is being developed for efficient coating method and to overcome uneven coating and dust production. During electrostatic coating, charged powder particles produce even coating on target surface. Electrostatic...

Identifying equivalent processing conditions is critical for the relevant comparison of food quality attributes. This study investigates equivalent processes for at least 5‐log reduction of Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua in pineapple juice–coconut milk (PC) blends by high‐pressure processing (HPP), pulsed electric fields (PEF), and ultrasoun...

Biodegradable polyesters polybutylene succinate (PBS) and polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) were blended with gallic acid (GA) via cast extrusion to produce oxygen scavenging polymers. The effects of polyesters and GA contents (5 to 15%) on polymer/package properties were investigated. Increasing GA formed non-homogeneous microstructures...

Defects can increase oxygen and water vapor transmission rates (OTRs, WVTRs) of metal-oxide (MO)-coated films, reducing their effectiveness as packaging for shelf-stable foods. These defects are microscopic, can occur at random places in the coating and are highly challenging to locate. This study focused on formulating methylene blue (MB)-containi...

Magnetrons are the most common microwave power sources. However, variation of output frequencies of magnetrons makes heating patterns of foods in multi-mode microwave cavities random and unpredictable. It is desirable to find effective alternatives, such as solid-state microwave generators. Here, we compared the frequency spectra of magnetrons and...

Plant-based food materials (PBFMs) such as fruits and vegetables contain various irregular cellular compartments. Like other engineering materials, the characterisation of micromechanical properties (MMPs) of PBFMs is intensely important for accurately estimating the functionality of dried food products. The application of a machine learning (ML)–b...

The working population growth have created greater consumer demand for ready‐to‐eat (RTE) foods. Pasteurization is one of the most common preservation methods for commercial production of low‐acid RTE cold‐chain products. Proper selection of a pasteurization method plays an important role not only in ensuring microbial safety but also in maintainin...

Augmentation of alternative energy supply in the global energy mix and amplifying the energy efficiency of thermal systems are emphasized in the Sustainable Development Goals-Envision 2030 of the United Nations. The use of locally accessible renewable energy in lieu of fossil fuels and reducing the energy loss is inevitable to bring down the higher...

Freezing is a frequently used way to expand the storage life of foods with high water content. Under suitable cooling rates, frozen systems attain a condition of maximum freeze concentration, which is characterized by the glass transition temperature (Tg′), end point of freezing or onset of melting (Tm′), and concentration of solids (Xs′) in the ma...

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of developing shelf stable avocado puree processed with pressure-assisted thermal sterilization (PATS). A pressure of 600 MPa and initial vessel temperature of 90 °C was used over 5 min processing time. Two high barrier polymeric packages were used: Film A-PE/PA6//EVOH and Film B-AlOx...

A hybrid mixture theory (HMT)‐based unsaturated transport (pores not saturated with liquid) model was applied to a food matrix subjected to freezing and freeze–thaw cycles. The model can explain the fluid, species, and heat transport, ice formation, thermomechanical changes, and the freezing point depression occurring inside food biopolymers during...

The almond industry suffers product losses caused by mold growth and toxin contamination. Gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO2) has the potential for postharvest reduction of mycotoxic Aspergillus flavus. In this study, almonds inoculated with A. flavus were fumigated with gaseous ClO2 for 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, and 24 h using a dry precursor sachet batch metho...

Salmonella contamination of chocolate-derived products has caused a number of outbreaks and recalls in recent years. Earlier research found that reducing moisture content or water activity of low-moisture foods sharply enhances the resistance of Salmonella during thermal treatments. However, there is a lack of data that correlates the relationship...

Outbreaks and recalls associated with foods containing spices suggest a need for risk assessment of Salmonella in spices. In this study, the survivability of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 30, Salmonella cocktail (S. Enteritidis PT 30, S. Tennessee K4643 and S. Agona 447967) and Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 in chili, cinnamon and black pepper at wat...

Electrostatic coating is being developed as an attractive alternative to overcome the problems encountered during conventional coating which includes non‐uniform coating, dust generation, high energy and time consuming, equipment cleaning, and operating expenses. In this method, powder particles are charged by passing through an ion‐rich region, wh...

Food processing is a complex, multifaceted problem that requires substantial human interaction to optimize the various process parameters to minimize energy consumption and ensure better‐quality products. The development of a machine learning (ML)‐based approach to food processing applications is an exciting and innovative idea for optimizing proce...

This study aims at providing knowledge on the ability of food oil-in-water emulsions at sustaining extremely high temperature such that they can be used for sterilized food. Emulsions were prepared using biopolymer chitosan as Pickering emulsifier and ultrasonication for size reduction of oil droplets. Zeta potential, physical stability, and partic...

This study investigates the effect of high hydrostatic pressure, also known as high pressure processing (HPP), on microbial inactivation and changes in physicochemical characteristics of carrot-orange juice blends at different pH values. HPP conditions (200–400 MPa, up to 5 m) were evaluated to reach at least 5-log inactivation of L. innocua (ATCC...

The selection of appropriate packaging is important for in-package thermal processing technologies. The package should be able to withstand thermal processes while maintaining its visual integrity and barrier properties after processing and during storage. Oxygen and water vapor barrier properties of packages are critical for retaining food quality...

Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) causes an estimated 1600 foodborne illnesses and 260 deaths annually in the U.S. These outbreaks are a major concern for the apple industry since fresh produce cannot be treated with thermal technologies for pathogen control before human consumption. Recent caramel apple outbreaks indicate that the current...

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of pressure-assisted thermal sterilization (PATS) on properties of polymer packaging and packaged avocado puree. High pressure of 600 MPa and initial vessel temperature of 90 °C were used over 5 min processing time. We used two high barrier film pouches: Film A-PE/PA6//EVOH//PA6/PE and film B-AlOx-...

This study investigated the impact of two pasteurization methods on the quality of ready-to-eat green beans during storage at 2 and 7 °C. Green beans were preheated to 45 °C, then subjected to high pressure processing (HPP) at 600 MPa, 20 min. Green beans were also pasteurized by a microwave-assisted pasteurization system (MAPS) with a minimum past...

Black peppercorn is a common ingredient imported and used in uncooked or ready-to-eat foods in the United States. They might be exposed to fecal coliforms and other microbial contamination due to a lack of good agricultural and manufacturing practices in some developing countries under which they were grown and harvested, thus causing economic loss...

Microwave assisted thermal sterilization and pasteurization systems, as emerging thermal processing technologies, use circulation water to reduce edge heating of the food packages in the heating sections. Yet, the influence of the circulation water on microwave heating efficiency for food is unknown. This research studied the dielectric properties...

Plant protein isolates are used as functional ingredients in food products. To suit the final application, various physical, chemical, and enzymatic approaches are commonly used to modify the properties of these proteins. Chemical and enzymatic methods have the disadvantage of leaving behind residues during treatment, affecting the purity and label...

Introduction Cracks and pinholes in metal-oxide-coated polymer films increase the oxygen and water vapor transmission rates (OTRs, WVTRs), lowering the shelf-life of packaged foods. These defects have nano to micrometer dimensions, are randomly located and invisible to the naked eye, making them highly challenging to find and characterize with mic...

Metal oxide coated-PET based multilayer films used for food packaging applications are highly efficient in preventing the oxygen and moisture ingress, thus can provide extended shelf life. However, when used as in-package sterilized food packaging for pressure assisted thermal sterilization (PATS) process, they are exposed to the high temperature a...

Raw chicken livers are often contaminated with Campylobacter and Salmonella. Cooking is considered the last defense in pathogen control in meals containing chicken livers. However, consumers’ preference for pink color and a creamy texture as desired attributes in preparing liver pâté may lead to inadequate cooking, thereby increasing the risk of fo...

This work identified new treatments to develop red raspberries for baking applications for better consumer appeal. Fresh or frozen fruits are often incorporated in baked products such as muffins and pies. These baked products are very popular due to their fresh, fruity flavor. Raspberries are used as an ingredient in many foods due to their delicio...

Use of plastic food packaging has long been debated due to its negative environmental impact. As a result of this, the need to develop sustainable and biodegradable packaging continuously grows, particularly that using plant-based materials. There is a potential to incorporate plant-based food waste or by-products (PWBs) as raw materials into biode...

Demand for value-added spices all year round has warranted suitable post-harvest processing, since most are non-perennial by nature and perishable owing to enzymatic or maillard reactions and pathogenic microbial contamination. Drying involves the minimization of biologically active water up to the safe water activity level and increases the shelf...

In this study, we investigate the influence of flour replacement and sugar removal on the thermal and mechanical properties of frozen pancakes, along with the measurement of accompanying ice recrystallization. Results demonstrate that the moisture content and chemical composition of the pancakes influence their thermal properties. Sugars enabled th...

In this study, the oxygen barrier and physical properties of two maltodextrin/gum Arabic (MD/GA) (3:1 w/w) microcapsules with dextrose equivalence (DE) 26 and 6 were assessed with or without the incorporation of cellulose nanofibres (CNF). The oxygen diffusion coefficient (Deff) was between 10.6 × 10⁻¹⁵ m² s⁻¹ and 17.3 × 10⁻¹⁵ m² s⁻¹ for all microc...

Recent studies have documented quantitative relationships between water activity (aw) and thermal resistance of Salmonella in a wide range of low-moisture foods. Such quantitative data are useful in developing effective thermal treatments. However, the influence of aw on thermal inactivation of Salmonella in spices has not been systematically studi...

This research investigated the influence of 915 MHz microwave-assisted thermal pasteurization and conventional hot water pasteurization (F9010=10 min) on chlorophylls, greenness (a*), ascorbic acid, and the growth of spoilage microorganisms in green beans in storage at 10, 7, and 2 °C for up to 100 days. Frozen cut green beans were processed in vac...

The purpose of this study was to develop a convenient method to assist the food industry in developing process schedules for production of ready-to-eat meals using microwave assisted pasteurization systems (MAPS). An analytical model was applied to estimate the temperature increase in the cold zone in packaged foods during heating in a 915 MHz sing...

Salmonella spp. are resilient bacterial pathogens in low-moisture foods. There has been a general lack of understanding of critical factors contributing to the enhanced thermal tolerance of Salmonella spp, in dry environments. In this study, we hypothesized that the moisture content (XW) of bacterial cells is a critical intrinsic factor influencing...

This accelerated shelf life study of a ready-to-eat meal processed with a microwave-assisted thermal sterilization (MATS) system aimed to evaluate the performance of double metal oxide coated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layers-based ultra-high barrier packaging along with ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH)-based pouches, and aluminum (AL) foil-base...

Application of machine learning (ML)-based algorithms in food drying is an exciting and innovative approach to advance the drying technology. In order to appropriately develop this novel approach in all aspects of food drying field, significant scientific research is required. The main aspects of food drying research are the determination of materi...

Market demand for affordable frozen foods has grown due to changes in consumer lifestyle. The quality of frozen food must be maintained throughout production, storage, transport, and distribution. Recent developments in the science and technology of food freezing have led to improvements in the quality of frozen foods. Examples include the control...

The goal of this research was to design a thinner wall tray for microwave-assisted thermal processing technologies. Three-layer (PP//EVOH//PP) sheets of different EVOH- and PP-layer thicknesses were coextruded. The sheets were then thermoformed into 8-oz trays with dimensions of 150 × 100 × 50 mm (L × W×D). Trays were filled with model foods and su...

This study investigated the behavior of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Salmonella, and potential surrogate bacteria (nonpathogenic E. coli and attenuated Salmonella) subjected to gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO2). Pathogenic and surrogate bacteria were separately inoculated on carrots (400 g) and treated with gaseous ClO2 at low (1 g)...

Salmonellosis has been frequently associated with the consumption of high-sugar, low-moisture foods. Honey and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are widely used liquid sugars that are added as humectants in low-moisture foods. The objective of thi