Waste fractions of food processing are promising sources of polyphenols, which are of high demand because of their favourable bioactivities. More recently, also wastewater and process water fractions are in focus of research and technologies for downstream processing, which is reviewed here. Adsorption as well as membrane technologies are widely used to achieve selective recovery of polyphenols from waste water. For technical implementation the processing of waste fractions must be separated from the primary food production process. Therefore, the key step is the efficient transfer of the waste fractions into a storable and transportable form of polyphenol-enriched fractions. This strategy is shown exemplarily for the marzipan production. Almond skin and blanch water are waste fractions containing catechin and procyanidins, for which a recycling concept has been developed. The polyphenolic ingredients of the blanch water can be specifically adsorbed by means of Amberlite resins or zeolites with high yield followed by ultrafiltration.

Aside from the many services that soil provides, it also stores water and makes it available to crops, which is critical for food security. However, the necessity of further studies for overcoming the existing gap in relation to the role of soil in the water, energy, and food nexus system has been preoccupying the experts and specialists around the world for some time. In this sense, the balance between many key ecosystem components based on the Soil, water, energy, and food (SWEF) nexus framework is one of the key characteristics of holistic and accommodative watershed management systems. To the best of our knowledge, the watershed scale is used as a planning unit for the first time in the current study to construct a conceptual model for adaptive management of optimum land-use/cover allocation using SWEF. The method was then used for the Shazand Watershed, Iran. Numerous metrics, such as soil erosion, soil organic carbon (SOC), water and energy use, mass efficiency, and economic efficiency, were investigated. Finally, a compound indicator was used to generate the SWEF nexus index (SWEFNI) for various land-uses/crops for the node year 2014. SWFENI ranged from 0.19 (worst) for rangeland to 0.78 (best) for almond plantations, according to the findings. The study's present approach may be tested worldwide.

The increasing demands of the population and the need for development obliged the optimal use and adaptive management of the watershed resources. Accordingly, it is necessary to adopt comprehensive measures to reach sustainable development goals. This objective can be achieved by the application of interdisciplinary and professional approaches through establishing dynamic and optimal balance in supply and demand resources. However, such important optimization approaches have been rarely practiced at the watershed scale. The present study has been therefore formulated to apply a linear water-energy-food nexus optimization for the Shazand watershed, Markazi Province, Iran. This approach was applied for planning 14 crops planted in orchard, irrigated farms, and rain-fed farms, between 2006 and 2014, and targeting water-energy-food nexus index (WEFNI) maximization. The connections among the water, energy, and food were then evaluated through determining the amount of consumption, mass productivity, and economic productivity of water and energy. The results of WEFNIs revealed that almond has the highest WEFNI with values of 0.92, 0.76, 0.76, 0.83, 0.86, 0.86, 0.87, 0.87, and 0.88. Whilst, potato with WEFNI of 0.05, 0.05, 0.05, 0.06, 0.09, 0.10 and 0.11, sugar cane with WEFNI of 0.10 and cucumber with WEFNI of 0.13 had the lowest scores and the corresponding lowest performance among the study crops. The outcomes of optimization study explained that the current situation of land use in the Shazand Watershed is unsuitable to minimize water and energy consumption and maximize benefit. The results can be used as an effective tool for designating proper soil and water resource management strategies in the region.

Recent outbreaks and recalls of low-moisture foods contaminated with Salmonella have been recognized as a major public health risk that demands the development of new Salmonella mitigation strategies and technologies. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of X-ray irradiation for inactivating Salmonella on or in almonds (kernels, meal, butter), dates (whole fruit, paste), and wheat (kernels, flour) at various water activities (aw) and storage periods. The raw materials were inoculated with Salmonella Enteritidis PT30, conditioned to 0.25, 0.45, and 0.65 aw in a humidity-controlled chamber, processed to various fabricated products, and reconditioned to the desired aw before treatment. In a storage study, inoculated almond kernels were stored in sealed tin cans for 7, 15, 27, and 103 weeks, irradiated with X ray (0.5 to 11 kGy, targeting up to a ∼2.5-log reduction) at the end of each storage period, and plated for Salmonella survivors to determine the efficacy of irradiation in terms of D10-value (dose required to reduce 90% of the population). Salmonella was least resistant (D10-value = 0.378 kGy) on the surface of almond kernels at 0.25 aw and most resistant (D10-value = 2.34 kGy) on the surface of dates at 0.45 aw. The Salmonella D10-value was 61% lower in date paste than on whole date fruit. Storage of almonds generally had no effect on the irradiation resistance of Salmonella over 103 weeks. Overall, these results indicate that product structure (whole, meals, powder, or paste), water activity (0.25 to 0.65 aw), and storage period (0 to 103 weeks) should be considered when determining the efficacy of X-ray irradiation for inactivating Salmonella in various low-water-activity foods.