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Food
Published in John C. Ayers, Sustainability, 2017
Although many believe that organic produce is more nutritious than conventional produce, there is no strong evidence to support this,13 although substitution of organic for conventional produce can reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Smith-Spangler et al. 2012). Organic produce is less likely to be contaminated with bacteria than conventional produce, a problem that has caused hundreds of food-poisoning deaths in the United States within the last five years. The CDC concluded that leafy green vegetables are one of the most common sources of food poisoning.14 However, even small organic farms can have problems with biological contamination, as shown by an outbreak of Salmonella from eggs produced at a small organic farm in Minnesota in October 2011.15
Development of a novel non-water infrared refractance window drying method for Malabar spinach: Optimization of process parameters using drying kinetics, mass transfer, and powder characterization
Published in Drying Technology, 2023
P. Balasubramanian, Parag Prakash Sutar
All vegetables, including green leafy vegetables, are an important contributor to human nutritional needs and are a good source of phytochemicals, fibers, minerals, and vitamins.[1] Consumption of vegetables in the right amount helps to maintain proper health and prevents from many diseases.[2,3] Malabar spinach, a tropical leafy-green vegetable belonging to the Basellaceae family, is the richest source of essential amino acids, fiber, phenolic compounds, minerals, and vitamins.[4] Despite being nutritionally dense, it is still an underutilized and rarely consumed leafy vegetable. Due to its high perishability nature, it is challenging to keep it fresh for a prolonged time once harvested; therefore, most of it has to be discarded.[4] To obtain an economical source of a variety of crucial nutrients and reduce food loss, it is essential to examine the various strategies for preserving food. Drying an easy and efficacious preservation method, that inhibits the growth of microbial spoilage organisms and the deterioration reaction. The selection of a drying method for the plant-based material is important to retain the nutritional and sensory properties of the product. Putriani et al.[5] reported that the hot air drying of green leafy vegetables, including spinach, resulted in the reduction of bioactive compounds like chlorophyll, ascorbic acid, and phenolic content. Researchers showed that the freeze-dried curry leaves powder retained higher chlorophyll content, but lower volatile components than the microwave-dried curry leaves powder.[6] A potential method for drying this sort of vegetable into a powder form is refractance window drying (RWD).