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- The effect of microwave pretreatment on some physico-chemical properties and bioactivity of Black cumin seeds' oilPublication . Bakhshabadi, Hamid; Mirzaei, Habib; Ghodsvali, Alireza; Jafari, Seid Mandi; Ziaiifar, Aman Mohammad; Farzaneh, VahidIn the current study, different processing times including 90, 180 and 270 s and microwave powers including 180, 540 and 900W were applied for optimizing of the extraction process. After microwave pre-treatments, the oil seeds were extracted with screw press with different rates (11, 34 and 57 rpm), then parameters including extraction efficiency, oxidative stability, peroxide and acidity index, DPPH free radical scavenging activity as well as the refractive index of the extracted oil were studied. Statistical analysis and process optimization was performed with the use of response surface methodology (RSM). The results revealed that enhancement in the microwave power and the processing time increased extraction efficiency, acidity index and oil peroxide value, but it decreased the oxidative stability value of the achieved oil. The achieved results also showed up that the Studied parameters had no significant impacts on the refractive index; moreover the extraction efficiency was reduced with an enhancement in the rotational rate of the screw press. According to the process optimization results, it might be stated that with applying processing time for about 185.44S, microwave pretreatment of 718.65 Wand screw-rotation speed of the press of 11 rpm, the desired outcomes are reached. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- Modelling of mass transfer kinetic in osmotic dehydration of kiwifruitPublication . Jabrayili, Sharokh; Farzaneh, Vahid; Zare, Zahra; Bakhshabadi, Hamid; Babazadeh, Zahra; Mokhtarian, Mohsen; Carvalho, Isabel Saraiva deOsmotic dehydration characteristics of kiwifruit were predicted by different activation functions of an artificial neural network. Osmotic solution concentration (y(1)), osmotic solution temperature (y(2)), and immersion time (y(3)) were considered as the input parameters and solid gain value (x(1)) and water loss value (x(2)) were selected as the outlet parameters of the network. The result showed that logarithm sigmoid activation function has greater performance than tangent hyperbolic activation function for the prediction of osmotic dehydration parameters of kiwifruit. The minimum mean relative error for the solid gain and water loss parameters with one hidden layer and 19 nods were 0.00574 and 0.0062% for logarithm sigmoid activation function, respectively, which introduced logarithm sigmoid function as a more appropriate tool in the prediction of the osmotic dehydration of kiwifruit slices. As a result, it is concluded that this network is capable in the prediction of solid gain and water loss parameters (responses) with the correlation coefficient values of 0.986 and 0.989, respectively.
- Modelling of the Selected Physical Properties of the Fava Bean with Various Moisture Contents UsingFuzzy Logic DesignPublication . Farzaneh, Vahid; Ghodsvali, Alireza; Bakhshabadi, Hamid; Ganje, Mohammad; Dolatabadi, Zahra; Carvalho, Isabel S.The current paper indicates the systematic determination of the optimal conditions for the selected physical properties of the fava bean. The effects of varying moisture content of the Barkat fava bean grown in Golestan, Iran, in the range of 9.3-31.3% (Input) on the 15 selected physical properties of the crop, including geometric values as such length; width; thickness; arithmetic and geometric mean diameter; sphericity index surface and the area of the image; gravity and frictional parameters like the weight of 1000 seeds; true density; bulk density; volume and porosity as well as friction (filling and vacating angle stability) as the outputs were predicted. Afterwards, a model relying on fuzzy logic for the prediction of the 15 outputs had been presented. To build the model, training and testing using experimental results from the Barkat fava bean were conducted. The data used as the input of the fuzzy logic model are arranged in a format of one input parameter that covers the percentage of the moisture contents of the beans. In relation to the varying moisture content (input), the outcomes (15 physical parameters) were predicted. The correlation coefficients obtained between the experimental and predicted outputs as well as the Mean Standard Deviation indicated the competence of fuzzy logic design in predicting the selected physical properties of fava bean seeds. Practical ApplicationToday, because of the high demand for crops to be used extensively in the human diet, enhancements in the efficiency of the processing are getting more attention. In this way, finding and/or the determination of the optimal conditions for processing with minimum waste looks very substantial. Therefore, the use of prediction methods in food processing is considered to be a tool for improving the efficiency and the quality of the produced products. In this regard, the fuzzy logic design as a novel prediction tool, along with response surface methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), are applied extensively. Therefore Fuzzy Logic Design is optimized to predict the some of the selected physical properties of fava bean, as a function of seed's moisture content. Therefore predicting the behavior of this crop against different moisture contents can improve the quality and performance of the products with the minimum wastes during very short time.(c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
- The effect of ultrasound pretreatment on some selected physicochemical properties of black cumin (Nigella Sativa)Publication . Moghimi, Masoumeh; Farzaneh, Vahid; Bakhshabadi, HamidBackground In the present study, the effects of ultrasound pretreatment parameters including irradiation time and power on the quantity of the extracted phenolic compounds quantity as well as on some selected physicochemical properties of the extracted oils including oil extraction efficiency, acidity and peroxide values, color, and refractive index of the extracted oil of black cumin seeds with the use of cold press have been studied. Methods For each parameter, three different levels (30, 60, and 90 W) for the ultrasound power and (30, 45, and 60 min) and for the ultrasound irradiation time were studied. Each experiment was performed in three replications. Results The achieved results revealed that, with enhancements in the applied ultrasound power, the oil extraction efficiency, acidity value, total phenolic content, peroxide value, and color parameters increased significantly (P < 0.01). Enhancements in ultrasound irradiation time have not significantly increased the oil extraction efficiency, acidity value, total phenolic content, and peroxide value as well as the oil refractive index (P < 0.05). As the highest oil extraction efficiency (39.93%) was obtained from the seeds when the applied ultrasound power and time were 90 W and 60 min respectively, and the lowest acidity value of oil was achieved once the applied power and time of ultrasound were 30 W and 30 min respectively. The application of ultrasound as pretreatment has not shown any significant effects on the refractive index of the extracted oils (P > 0.05). Conclusions In summary, it could be mentioned that the application of ultrasound pretreatment in the oil extraction might improve the oil extraction efficiency, the extracted oil’s quality, and the extracted phenolic compounds content.
- Application of an adaptive neuro_fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) in the modeling of rapeseeds' oil extractionPublication . Farzaneh, Vahid; Bakhshabadi, Hamid; Gharekhani, Mehdi; Ganje, Mohammad; Farzaneh, Farahnaz; Rashidzadeh, Shilan; Carvalho, Isabel S.In the present study, the temperature and moisture content of the output seeds of the cooking pot were considered as inputs or independent variables and the insoluble fine partial content of the extracted oil, moisture content of the extracted oil and obtained meals, as well as the oil content of the achieved meals and acidity value of the extracted oil were considered as responses and were designed. Three different activation functions, including Gaussian membership and triangular as well as trapezoidal were applied and studied. The trapezoidal function with a 3-3 membership function for the three output variables including insoluble fine partials of oil, oil acidity and moisture content of the meals as well as the triangle membership function with 2-2 and 3-3 functions, respectively, for moisture content of the extracted oil and the oil content of the obtained meals were evaluated and detected as optimized models in the current study. The above mentioned models demonstrated higher correlation coefficients (R-2) between the experimental and predicted values and the lowest root mean squared errors, confirming the adaptability of the applied models in the present study. Practical applicationsToday, because of the high demand for crops for extensive application in the human diet, increases in the efficiency of the processing are attracting much more attention. In this regard, discovering and detection of the optimized conditions for processing with the minimum wastes looks very important and economic. Therefore, the uses of predictive methods in different food processes have been considered appropriate tools for improving of the efficiency of the processes as well as the enhancement of the quality of the produced products. In this respect, the ANFIS design as a novel predictive analytic tool, along with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), are applied extensively. Thus regarding the above mentioned content, ANFIS design was applied to predict and optimize some of the selected physico-chemical properties of the extracted oil through the extraction process. Therefore prediction of the optimized conditions of oil extraction could improve the quality of the extracted oil and performance of the extraction process with the minimum wastes during short and logical extraction time.
- Modeling of the lycopene extraction from tomato pulpsPublication . Dolatabadi, Zahra; Rad, Amir Hossien Elhami; Farzaneh, Vahid; Feizabad, Seyed Hashem Akhlaghi; Estiri, Seyed Hossein; Bakhshabadi, HamidThe inputs of this network were the concentration of pectinase and time of incubation, and the outputs were extracted lycopene and the activity of radical scavenging activity. Two different networks were designed for the process under the sonication and without it. For optimal network, networks' transfer functions and different learning algorithms were evaluated and the validity of each one was determined. Consequently, the feedforward neural network with function of logarithmic transfer, Levenberg Marquardt algorithm and 4 neurons in the hidden layer with the correlation coefficient of 0.96 and 0.99 were respectively observed for the treatments under sonication and without it, furthermore, root mean squared error and standard error values were obtained 0.46 and 0.22 respectively for the treatments under sonication and 0.77 and 0.38 without it as respectively optimal networks. The selected networks could determine the chosen responses, individually and in combined effect of both inputs as well (R-2 > 0.98). (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Development of the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications of plants selected from Portugal and Iran with presumptive health potentialsPublication . Farzaneh, Vahid; Carvalho, Isabel Saraiva deAll over the years scientists have studied an extensive range of medicinal and aromatic plants species which exist in nature and contain an unlimited category of bioactive compounds that could potentially be used within an extensive range of products including nutraceutical; pharmaceutical and even cosmetic. This seems to be more substantial since scientists have detected an extensive range of negative adverse effects among many of the synthetic compounds commonly used today. In this research, we have selected plants which, are particularly well known among people as being healthy and could have therapeutic for chronic and acute diseases. Therefore, after the precise researches and discussions with native residents of the selected regions-including the northwest of Iran and south Portugal, with focus on the Algarve, about 14 different plant species were selected and identified for this research. Among them, different individual parts of plants including seeds (Portugues and Iranian Pimpinella anisum L., with Coriandrum sativum L., and Levisticum officinale W. D. J. Koch., from Iran); flowers (Echium amoenum Fisch & C.A. Mey., Echinacea angustifolia DC., Matricaria chamomilla L., and Althaea officinalis L., from Iran); leaves (Thymus vulgaris L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Salvia officinalis L., and Alisma plantago-aquatica L. subsp. orientale (Sam.)Sam., from Iran and Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris., from Portugal) have been studied. Moreover the aerial parts of Lavandula pedunculata L. subsp. pedunculata., from Portugal were selected and studied in this research. An extensive range of in vitro chemical and microbial experiments as well as optimization of different variables in the extraction process and encapsulation efficiency of the bioactive compounds have been performed on the different species of plants. Initially, the research intended to study the encapsulation of two of the selected plants’ infusions including Olea europaea., and Alisma plantago-aquatica., with the preparation of calcium-alginate beads in combine of potato starch as a filling substance to study and optimise the release kinetics and encapsulation efficiency of the bioactive compounds in deionised water and simulated gastric fluid (SGF) (as solvents) respectively for each plant. The results confirmed the positive role of the potato starch, in a particular concentration, in the monitoring of release kinetics of phenols from the CAS (Calcium Alginate Starch) beads. On the other hand, the performance of the applied models of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) on the optimisation of the release kinetics and encapsulation efficiency of the bioactive compounds from the encapsulated infusion in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) as the solvent was compared, and the ANN design was reported as the more accurate tool compared to RSM in the prediction of the optimum range of the selected independent parameters including potato starch as one of the variables. Portugues P. anisum., seeds was selected to optimise the extraction process of the bioactive compounds regarding the two selected independent variables, including the time and temperature of extraction using water as a solvent. Maximum desirability was obtained for 𝐷𝑃𝑃𝐻.− and TMA parameters. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was performed on P. anisum., seeds’ infusion to determine the major compounds profile. The obtained results demonstrated that, fatty acids with indicating 47.68% of the whole detected compounds are the most detected predominant compounds found in the tested extracts followed by triterpenoids; among fatty acids, linoleic acid in combine of oleic and palmitic acids were detected as major compounds. In the current research, the authors also detected bioactive compound content alongside different anti-oxidant parameters of 10 different plants’ infusions picked from Iran. In this regard, total phenolic content (TPC); total flavonoid content (TFC); total chlorophyll content (TCC) values along with total anti-oxidant activity (TAA); reducing power (RP); ferric reducing anti-oxidant power (FRAP); ABTS free radical inhibition and the DPPH free radical scavenging activity of different plants species were determined. The extraction of the bioactive compounds was performed using different pathways; firstly: hot aqueous infusions were obtained at 90 ºC within 5 minutes’ extraction time and cold aqueous extracts were obtained at room temperature within 2 hours blending. Most of the achieved values for the hot infusions were significantly higher compared to cold aqueous extracts. In some cases, a few exceptions were found in P. anisum., and L. officinale., species (seeds) justified by their tough and wooden textures (abnormality in extraction). The Pearson correlation coefficient established that the highest anti-oxidant parameters are related to phenols; chlorophylls and eventual further bioactive compound existence such as triterpenoids; fatty acids; sterols or others rather than flavonoids and further bioactive compounds. On the other hand, synergistic activity hypothesis among at least two or more compounds were proposed. Mostly, the examined leaves, particularly T. vulgaris., presented higher bioactivity than the other studied seeds and flowers species in this research. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was used in the identification of the bioactive compounds in the leaves and two seeds. The achieved results demonstrated an extensive range of compounds with eventual bioactivity including: fatty acids; fatty alcohols; sterols; triterpenoids; monoacylglycerols; aromatics; alkanes; waxes; di-acids; α-hydroxy fatty acids and sugars. It has been observed that in the leaves triterpenoids combined with sterols are the most abundant compounds demonstrating 63.42; 47.64 and 33.51% of the total characterised compounds respectively in R. officinalis., S. officinalis., and T. vulgaris., while in the seeds, fatty acids were discovered as the most predominant compounds, expressing 80.22, 49.04 and 47.68% of the specified compounds in Iranian C. sativum., and P. anisum from Iran and from Portugal., respectively. Betulinic, maslinic, ursolic and oleanolic acids were the most predominant triterpenoids in the leaves and oleic, palmitic and linoleic acids were identified as the most abundant fatty acid content in the seeds. The obtained results proposed that in the plants, the synergistic effects among different bioactive compounds might be expected. According to the characterised and identified bioactive compounds of the plants’ infusions in this study and their established potential health benefits, it could be expected that these plants might demonstrate further potential health benefits for human body such as anti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic, anti-Alzheimer’s, anti-Parkinson’s, or others. Therefore, this research expanded the research and studied the potential health benefits including anti-bacterial and in vitro anti-diabetic, as well as anti-Alzheimer’s disease, along with anti-radical and further anti-oxidant properties of the plants. Finally the relations between the achieved in vitro results with the characterised compounds of the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) were interpreted. Selected leaves’ water infusions also were detected as stronger inhibitors in supressing of the enzymes attributed in revealing of diabetes and Alzheimer’s diseases. The anti-bacterial potential of some of the plants against five different bacterial species showed that the selected Iranian plants, except E. angustifolia., (flower) inhibited E. faecalis in MIC value ≤0.156 mg. mL-1, while other bacterial species showed activities in MIC values ≤10 mg. mL-1. Among flowers M. chamomilla., and among leaves S. officinalis., alongside R. officinalis., revealed slightly higher anti-bacterial activities than others. Alongside the abovementioned studies this research also studied the modelling of the extraction of monomeric anthocyanins using microwave assisted extraction (MAE) from L. pedunculata., picked in Algarve-Portugal. Three independent variables were selected for two responses including TAA and TMA values, among variables microwave power showed 465 W as the optimized value for the extraction of monomeric anthocyanins. In the final of this study, the inhibitory activities of Portugues P. anisum., seeds’ infusion against α-Amylase and Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) were determined, confirming the eventual anti-oxidant; anti-diabetic and anti-Alzheimer’s activities of this plant. Free fatty acids as well as terpenoids and sterols respectively, have demonstrated higher quantities in Portugues P. anisum L., seeds. With respect to the obtained results of inhibitory activities of this infusion against tested enzymes and free radicals, it has been approved that compounds with free radical suppressing activities might not able to participate in competitive enzymes suppressive reactions with substrates. Therefore the needs to in vivo tests for obtaining most reliable results are revealed. This research aims to introduce novel and natural sources of bioactive compounds that might be used in promoting good health, in general, and in particular in the treatment of chronic disorders such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancers as well as Parkinson’s disease along with microbial infections. This research revealed that the tested plants from Portugal and Iran could be potential sources of compounds with an extensive range of application for health benefits as well as in nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.
- Screening of the aerodynamic and biophysical properties of barley maltPublication . Ghodsvali, Alireza; Farzaneh, Vahid; Bakhshabadi, Hamid; Zare, Zahra; Karami, Zahra; Mokhtarian, Mohsen; Carvalho, Isabel Saraiva deAn understanding of the aerodynamic and biophysical properties of barley malt is necessary for the appropriate design of equipment for the handling, shipping, dehydration, grading, sorting and warehousing of this strategic crop. Malting is a complex biotechnological process that includes steeping; ger-mination and finally, the dehydration of cereal grains under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. In this investigation, the biophysical properties of barley malt were predicted using two models of artificial neural networks as well as response surface methodology. Stepping time and germination time were selected as the independent variables and 1 000 kernel weight, kernel density and terminal velocity were selected as the depen-dent variables (responses). The obtained outcomes showed that the artificial neural network model, with a logarithmic sigmoid activation function, presents more precise results than the response surface model in the prediction of the aerodynamic and biophysical properties of produced barley malt. This model presented the best result with 8 nodes in the hidden layer and significant correlation coefficient values of 0.783, 0.767 and 0.991 were obtained for responses one thousand kernel weight, kernel density, and terminal velocity, respectively. The outcomes indicated that this novel technique could be successfully applied in quantitative and qualitative monitoring within the malting process.
- A review of the health benefit potentials of herbal plant infusions and their mechanism of actionsPublication . Farzaneh, Vahid; Saraiva De Carvalho, IsabelNowadays, there has been a universal propensity to application of natural phytochemicals accessible in diverse intrinsic rich sources such as fruits, leaves, branches as well as roots of different plants because of existence of substituents with bioactive potentials, well-being advantages and functional ingredients. The preservative consequence of many herbs and spices are proposing the existence of compositions with varied remedial specifications in their structures. Plants are classified by geographical status and inharmonious territory that created further than several thousands herbages with various advantages. The various superiority of herbaceous infusions, such as antidiabetic, anti-carcinogenic, antimicrobial and antioxidant are appeared in diverse functions. Phenolic as well as secondary metabolite components have been reported as the major components having health superiority, and follow this, superb relationship between those advantages and various measured antioxidant values, such as reducing power, scavenging and inhibition capability of free radicals, and metal gelation activity are observed. Hence, the current review intends to debate the effectual fragments of medicinal plants with vulnerary potentials and explains their mechanism of functions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- Modelling of microwave assisted extraction (MAE) of Anthocyanins (TMA)Publication . Farzaneh, Vahid; Carvalho, Isabel S.Box Behnken design was applied to study the effects of the selected independent variables on the responses. The obtained results presented that the quadratic modes of all independent variables on total monomeric anthocyanin parameter as well as the quadratic modes of microwave irradiation time and solvent/sample proportion on total antioxidant activity parameter have negative and significant effects. Moreover the interactive effect between microwave power and solvent/sample proportion was detected negatively significant (P < 0.05) on total antioxidant activity parameter. The maximum value for total monomeric anthocyanins (273.284 (mg L-1)) was obtained when solvent/sample proportion and microwave power were 30.321 (mL g(-1)) and 464.876 W respectively, with 114.28 s microwave irradiation time. Considerable desirability value (0.878) was obtained at this point. Meanwhile, the optimised status (maximum value) for total antioxidant activity parameter (369.734 (mg (AAE) g(-1) (dw))) was recorded at the following conditions: 34.807 (mL g(-1)) for solvent/sample proportion, with microwave power of 300 W within 107.339 s microwave irradiation time. Desirability value was obtained 0.952 at the optimum point. Obtaining the higher correlation coefficient (R-2) between the experimental and predicted values of the responses confirmed once again the validity (reliability) of the predicted model and fitness of the selected design in the current study.